latin america and the united states addresses by elihu root collected and edited by robert bacon and james brown scott [illustration] cambridge harvard university press london: humphrey milford oxford university press copyright, harvard university press contents page introductory note ix foreword xiii speeches in brazil rio de janeiro at the third conference of the american republics: his excellency joaquim nabuco, president of the conference mr. root, honorary president mr. mariano cornejo, delegate from peru honorable a. j. montague, delegate from the united states. his excellency baron do rio branco, honorary president at the banquet of the minister for foreign affairs: his excellency baron do rio branco mr. root dr. james darcy mr. root in the federal senate: senator ruy barbosa senator alfredo ellis in the chamber of deputies: dr. paula guimarÃes mr. root sÃo paulo at a mass-meeting of law school students: mr. theodomiro de camargo mr. galaor nazareth de arujo mr. gama, jr mr. root at a football game: mr. root santos at the commercial association: dr. rezende mr. root parÁ at a breakfast given by the governor: his excellency augusto montenegro mr. root pernambuco at a breakfast given by the governor: summary of speech of his excellency sigismundo gonÇalvez mr. root bahia at a banquet given by the governor: his excellency josÉ marcelino de souza mr. root senator ruy barbosa speeches in uruguay montevideo at a banquet of the minister for foreign affairs: his excellency josÉ romeu mr. root at a banquet given by the president of uruguay: his excellency josÉ batlle y ordÓÑez mr. root at a breakfast by the reception committee: dr. zorrilla de san martÍn mr. root speeches in argentina buenos ayres in the chamber of deputies: honorable emilio mitre at a banquet given by the president of argentina: his excellency j. figueroa alcorta mr. root at a reception by american and english residents: mr. francis b. purdie mr. root at a banquet at the opera house: dr. luis m. drago mr. root speeches in chile santiago at the government house: his excellency jermÁn riesco mr. root at a banquet given by the president of chile: his excellency antonio huneeus mr. root speeches in peru lima at a banquet given by the president of peru: his excellency josÉ pardo y barreda mr. root banquet of the minister for foreign affairs: his excellency javier prado y ugarteche mr. root reception at the municipal council: dr. federico elguera mr. root at an extraordinary session of the senate: senator barrios mr. root university of san marcos: dr. luis f. villarÁn dr. ramÓn ribeyro mr. root speeches in panama panama in the national assembly: his excellency ricardo arias mr. root speeches in colombia cartagena at a breakfast by the minister for foreign affairs: his excellency vÁsquez-cobo mr. root the visit to mexico san antonio, texas at a banquet by the international club: mr. root nuevo laredo general pedro rincÓn gallardo mr. root city of mexico at a banquet at the national palace: president dÍaz mr. root at a reception at the municipal palace: governor guillermo de landa y escandÓn mr. root reception by the chamber of deputies: licentiate manuel calero mr. root luncheon by the american colony: general c. h. m. y agramonte mr. root mexican academy of legislation and jurisprudence: licentiate luis mÉndez licentiate joaquÍn d. casasus mr. root banquet of the american ambassador: ambassador thompson vice-president corral mr. root licenciado don josÉ ives limantour banquet of the minister for foreign affairs: licentiate ignacio mariscal mr. root farewell supper given by mr. root: mr. root vice-president corral puebla at the governor's banquet at the municipal palace: general mucio p. martÍnez mr. root orizaba luncheon at the cocolopan factory: governor d. teodoro a. dehesa mr. root guadalajara governor ahumada mr. root addresses in the united states on latin american relations the central american peace conference opening address, washington, d. c., december , closing address, washington, december , the pan american cause response to the toast of the ambassador of brazil at a dinner in honor of the rear-admiral and captains of visiting brazilian ships, washington, d. c., may , the pan american union address at the laying of the corner stone of the building for the pan american union, washington, d. c., may , address at the dedication of the building, washington, d. c., april , our sister republic--argentina address at a banquet of the chamber of commerce, new york, april , our sister republic--brazil address at a banquet of the chamber of commerce, new york, june , how to develop south american commerce address before the trans-mississippi commercial congress, kansas city, missouri, november , south american commerce address at the national convention for the extension of the foreign commerce of the united states, washington, d. c., january , individual effort in trade expansion address at the pan american commercial conference, washington, d. c., february , the second pan american scientific congress address of welcome, washington, d. c., december , introductory note the collected addresses and state papers of elihu root, of which this is one of several volumes, cover the period of his service as secretary of war, as secretary of state, and as senator of the united states, during which time, to use his own expression, his only client was his country. the many formal and occasional addresses and speeches, which will be found to be of a remarkably wide range, are followed by his state papers, such as the instructions to the american delegates to the second hague peace conference and other diplomatic notes and documents, prepared by him as secretary of state in the performance of his duties as an executive officer of the united states. although the official documents have been kept separate from the other papers, this plan has been slightly modified in the volume devoted to the military and colonial policy of the united states, which includes those portions of his official reports as secretary of war throwing light upon his public addresses and his general military policy. the addresses and speeches selected for publication are not arranged chronologically, but are classified in such a way that each volume contains addresses and speeches relating to a general subject and a common purpose. the addresses as president of the american society of international law show his treatment of international questions from the theoretical standpoint, and in the light of his experience as secretary of war and as secretary of state, unrestrained and uncontrolled by the limitations of official position, whereas his addresses on foreign affairs, delivered while secretary of state or as united states senator, discuss these questions under the reserve of official responsibility. mr. root's addresses on government, citizenship, and legal procedure are a masterly exposition of the principles of the constitution and of the government established by it; of the duty of the citizen to understand the constitution and to conform his conduct to its requirements; and of the right of the people to reform or to amend the constitution in order to make representative government more effective and responsive to their present and future needs. the addresses on law and its administration state how legal procedure should be modified and simplified in the interest of justice rather than in the supposed interest of the legal profession. the addresses delivered during the trip to south america and mexico in , and in the united states after his return, with their message of good will, proclaim a new doctrine--the root doctrine--of kindly consideration and of honorable obligation, and make clear the destiny common to the peoples of the western world. the addresses and the reports on military and colonial policy made by mr. root as secretary of war explain the reorganization of the army after the spanish-american war, the creation of the general staff, and the establishment of the army war college. they trace the origin of and give the reason for the policy of this country in cuba, the philippines, and porto rico, devised and inaugurated by him. it is not generally known that the so-called platt amendment, defining our relations to cuba, was drafted by mr. root, and that the organic act of the philippines was likewise the work of mr. root as secretary of war. the argument before the hague tribunal in the north atlantic fisheries case is a rare if not the only instance of a statesman appearing as chief counsel in an international arbitration, which, as secretary of state, he had prepared and submitted. the political, educational, historical, and commemorative speeches and addresses should make known to future generations the literary, artistic, and emotional side of a statesman of our time, and the publication of these collected addresses and state papers will, it is believed, enable the american people better to understand the generation in which mr. root has been a commanding figure and better to appreciate during his lifetime the services which he has rendered to his country. robert bacon. james brown scott. april , . foreword the visit of the secretary of state to south america in was not a summer outing. it was not an ordinary event; it was and it was intended to be a matter of international importance. it was the first time that a secretary of state had visited south america during the tenure of his office, and the visit was designed to show the importance which the united states attaches to the pan american conferences, and by personal contact to learn the aims and views of our southern friends, and to show also, by personal intercourse, the kindly consideration and the sense of honorable obligation which the government of the united states cherishes for its neighbors to the south without discriminating among them, and to make clear the destiny common to the peoples of the western world. these were the reasons which prompted mr. root to undertake this message of good will and of frank explanation, and these were also the reasons which caused the president of the united states in his message to congress to dwell upon the visit, its incidents and its consequences. thus president roosevelt said in his message of december , : the second international conference of american republics, held in mexico in the years - , provided for the holding of the third conference within five years, and committed the fixing of the time and place and the arrangements for the conference to the governing board of the bureau of american republics, composed of the representatives of all the american nations in washington. that board discharged the duty imposed upon it with marked fidelity and painstaking care, and upon the courteous invitation of the united states of brazil, the conference was held at rio de janeiro, continuing from the twenty-third of july to the twenty-ninth of august last. many subjects of common interest to all the american nations were discussed by the conference, and the conclusions reached, embodied in a series of resolutions and proposed conventions, will be laid before you upon the coming-in of the final report of the american delegates. they contain many matters of importance relating to the extension of trade, the increase of communication, the smoothing away of barriers to free intercourse, and the promotion of a better knowledge and good understanding between the different countries represented. the meetings of the conference were harmonious and the conclusions were reached with substantial unanimity. it is interesting to observe that in the successive conferences which have been held the representatives of the different american nations have been learning to work together effectively, for, while the first conference in washington in , and the second conference in mexico in - , occupied many months, with much time wasted in an unregulated and fruitless discussion, the third conference at rio exhibited much of the facility in the practical dispatch of business which characterizes permanent deliberative bodies, and completed its labors within the period of six weeks originally allotted for its sessions. quite apart from the specific value of the conclusions reached by the conference, the example of the representatives of all the american nations engaging in harmonious and kindly consideration and discussion of subjects of common interest is itself of great and substantial value for the promotion of reasonable and considerate treatment of all international questions. the thanks of this country are due to the government of brazil and to the people of rio de janeiro for the generous hospitality with which our delegates, in common with the others, were received, entertained, and facilitated in their work. incidentally to the meeting of the conference, the secretary of state visited the city of rio de janeiro and was cordially received by the conference, of which he was made an honorary president. the announcement of his intention to make this visit was followed by most courteous and urgent invitations from nearly all the countries of south america to visit them as the guest of their governments. it was deemed that by the acceptance of these invitations we might appropriately express the real respect and friendship in which we hold our sister republics of the southern continent, and the secretary, accordingly, visited brazil, uruguay, argentina, chile, peru, panama, and colombia. he refrained from visiting paraguay, bolivia, and ecuador only because the distance of their capitals from the seaboard made it impracticable with the time at his disposal. he carried with him a message of peace and friendship, and of strong desire for good understanding and mutual helpfulness; and he was everywhere received in the spirit of his message. the members of government, the press, the learned professions, the men of business, and the great masses of the people united everywhere in emphatic response to his friendly expressions and in doing honor to the country and cause which he represented. in many parts of south america there has been much misunderstanding of the attitude and purposes of the united states toward the other american republics. an idea had become prevalent that our assertion of the monroe doctrine implied, or carried with it, an assumption of superiority, and of a right to exercise some kind of protectorate over the countries to whose territory that doctrine applies. nothing could be farther from the truth. yet that impression continued to be a serious barrier to good understanding, to friendly intercourse, to the introduction of american capital and the extension of american trade. the impression was so widespread that apparently it could not be reached by any ordinary means. it was part of secretary root's mission to dispel this unfounded impression, and there is just cause to believe that he has succeeded. in an address to the third conference at rio on the thirty-first of july--an address of such note that i send it in, together with this message--he said: we wish for no victories but those of peace; for no territory except our own; for no sovereignty except the sovereignty over ourselves. we deem the independence and equal rights of the smallest and weakest member of the family of nations entitled to as much respect as those of the greatest empire, and we deem the observance of that respect the chief guaranty of the weak against the oppression of the strong. we neither claim nor desire any rights or privileges or powers that we do not freely concede to every american republic. these words appear to have been received with acclaim in every part of south america. they have my hearty approval, as i am sure they will have yours, and i cannot be wrong in the conviction that they correctly represent the sentiments of the whole american people. i cannot better characterize the true attitude of the united states in its assertion of the monroe doctrine than in the words of the distinguished former minister of foreign affairs of argentina, doctor drago, in his speech welcoming mr. root at buenos ayres. he spoke of-- the traditional policy of the united states, which, without accentuating superiority or seeking preponderance, condemned the oppression of the nations of this part of the world and the control of their destinies by the great powers of europe. it is gratifying to know that in the great city of buenos ayres, upon the arches which spanned the streets, entwined with argentine and american flags for the reception of our representative, there were emblazoned not only the names of washington and jefferson and marshall, but also, in appreciative recognition of their services to the cause of south american independence, the names of james monroe, john quincy adams, henry clay, and richard rush. we take especial pleasure in the graceful courtesy of the government of brazil, which has given to the beautiful and stately building first used for the meeting of the conference the name of "palacio monroe." our grateful acknowledgments are due to the governments and the people of all the countries visited by the secretary of state, for the courtesy, the friendship, and the honor shown to our country in their generous hospitality to him. in view of the statements made by mr. root himself in his various addresses, and in view of president roosevelt's statement of them, and of the results of the visit, it does not seem necessary further to detain the reader. it is, however, proper to call attention to the fact that, in addition to the speeches delivered by mr. root in south america, which were published by the government of the united states in an official volume, the reader will find mr. root's addresses during a visit to mexico which he made in , upon his return from south america; mr. root's addresses before the central american peace conference, which met in washington in the fall of ; and the various addresses which mr. root made in the united states in his official and unofficial capacity, explaining to his countrymen the aims and aspirations of the american peoples to the south of our own republic, the progress they have made since their emancipation from european tutelage, and the future before them which, like ripening fruits, they need only stretch forth the hand to pluck. the undiscovered land--for to many of us it is unknown--is a land of exquisite beauty, grace and courtesy, which the reader may here visit, if he choose, in company with mr. root. * * * * * mr. root's addresses on his south american trip were all in english. the addresses of welcome and congratulation were in the language of the country in which they were delivered. they appear in translated form in the present volume, and attention is called to the fact that they are translations, in order to relieve the speakers of responsibility for any infelicities of expression in their english form. latin america and the united states brazil the third conference of the american republics rio de janeiro, july , as secretary of state mr. root was _ex-officio_ chairman of the governing board of the bureau of american republics, now called the pan american union. as chairman, he took a very great interest in considering and arranging the program of the third conference which was to meet in rio de janeiro on july , . indeed, he was so deeply interested in the conference of the american republics upon the eve of the meeting of the second hague peace conference, that he decided to visit rio de janeiro during the meeting of the conference. the american republics welcomed this decision as soon as it was made known and urged him to visit them, and it was with great regret that mr. root found himself unable to visit all of the republics. he was made honorary president of the conference and in that capacity delivered the following address. it is proper to state, in this connection, that all the american republics were invited to attend and to participate in the second hague peace conference and that the conference was set for . mr. root was unwilling that either conference should interfere with the other, and through his intervention with the european powers the second hague peace conference was postponed to the summer of , in order not to interfere with the pan american conference held at rio de janeiro in the summer of , and the participation of the american republics in that conference. only three american republics were invited to the first hague peace conference, namely, brazil, mexico, and the united states. through the efforts of the united states, and particularly through mr. root's efforts as secretary of state, all of the american republics were invited to the second hague peace conference. the noble passage in mr. root's address as honorary president of the conference, proclaiming the equality of american states, and quoted by president roosevelt in his message to congress, reproduced in the preface to this volume, was constantly referred to by latin american delegates in the hague peace conference, and was quoted by mr. ruy barbosa, the brazilian delegate, who added, "these words reverberated through the length and the breadth of our continent, as the american evangel of peace and of justice."[ ] speech of his excellency joaquim nabuco ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary from the united states of brazil to the united states of america, president of the conference you do not come here tonight as a stranger to take your place as an honorary president of this conference. you were the first to express a desire that the conference should meet this year; it was you who, in washington, brought to a happy conclusion the difficult elaboration of its program and of its rules. neither can we forget that at one time you expected to be one of us, a plan you abandoned in order that you might divide your time among all the republics that claimed the honor of your visit. the meeting of this conference is thus to a great extent your own work. in nothing else since you came to your high post have you taken a more direct and personal interest. you seem to divine in the spirit that animates you with regard to our continent the mark that your name will leave in history. i believe that you and the conference understand each other fully. the periodical meeting of this body, exclusively composed of american nations, assuredly means that america forms a political system separate from that of europe--a constellation with its own distinct orbit. by aiming, however, at a common civilization and by trying to make of the space we occupy on the globe a vast neutral zone of peace, we are working for the benefit of the whole world. in this way we offer to the population, to the wealth, and to the genius of europe a much wider and safer field of action in our hemisphere than if we formed a disunited continent, or if we belonged to the belligerent camps into which the old world may become divided. one point specially will be of great interest for you, who so heartily desire the success of this work. the conference is convinced that its mission is not to force any nation belonging to it to do anything she would not be freely prepared to do upon her own initiative; we all recognize that its sole function is to impart our collective sanction to what has already become unanimous in the opinion of the whole continent. this is the first time, sir, that an american secretary of state officially visits a foreign nation, and we all feel happy that the first visit was to latin america. you will find everywhere the same admiration for your great country, whose influence in the advance of moral culture, of political liberty, and of international law has begun already to counterbalance that of the rest of the world. mingled with that admiration you will also find the sentiment that you could not rise without raising with you our whole continent; that in everything you achieve we shall have our share of progress. there are few rolls of honor so brilliant in history as that of men who have occupied your high position. among them any distinction on the ground of their merits would be fated to be unjust; a few names, however, that shine more vividly in history, such as those of jefferson, monroe, webster, clay, seward, and blaine--the latter the creator of these conferences--suffice to show abroad that the united states have always been as proud of the perfection of the mould in which their secretaries of state have been cast and as zealous in this respect as they have been in the case of their presidents. we fully appreciate the luster added to this conference by the part you take in it tonight. it is with sincere gratification that we welcome you. here, you may be sure, you are surrounded by the respect of our whole continent for your great nation; for president roosevelt, who has shown himself during his term of office, and will ever remain, whatever position he may choose to occupy in public life, one of the leaders of mankind; and for yourself, whose sound sense of justice and whose sincere interest in the welfare of all american nations reflect the noblest inspiration that animated the greatest of your predecessors. this voyage of yours demonstrates practically to the whole world your good faith as a statesman and your broad sympathy as an american; it shows the conscientiousness and the care with which you wish to place before the president and the country the fundamental points of your national external policy. you are now exploring political seas never navigated before, lands not yet revealed to the genius of your statesmen and toward which they were attracted, as we are all attracted one to another, by an irresistible continental gravitation. we feel certain, however, that at the end of your long journey you will feel that, in their ideals and in their hearts, the american republics form already a great political unit in the world. speech of the secretary of state honorary president of the conference i beg you to believe that i highly appreciate and thank you for the honor you do me. i bring from my country a special greeting to her elder sisters in the civilization of america. unlike as we are in many respects, we are alike in this, that we are all engaged under new conditions, and free from the traditional forms and limitations of the old world in working out the same problem of popular self-government. it is a difficult and laborious task for each of us. not in one generation nor in one century can the effective control of a superior sovereign, so long deemed necessary to government, be rejected, and effective self-control by the governed be perfected in its place. the first fruits of democracy are many of them crude and unlovely; its mistakes are many, its partial failures many, its sins not few. capacity for self-government does not come to man by nature. it is an art to be learned, and it is also an expression of character to be developed among all the thousands of men who exercise popular sovereignty. to reach the goal toward which we are pressing forward, the governing multitude must first acquire knowledge that comes from universal education; wisdom that follows practical experience; personal independence and self-respect befitting men who acknowledge no superior; self-control to replace that external control which a democracy rejects; respect for law; obedience to the lawful expressions of the public will; consideration for the opinions and interests of others equally entitled to a voice in the state; loyalty to that abstract conception--one's country--as inspiring as that loyalty to personal sovereigns which has so illumined the pages of history; subordination of personal interests to the public good; love of justice and mercy, of liberty and order. all these we must seek by slow and patient effort; and of how many shortcomings in his own land and among his own people each one of us is conscious! yet no student of our times can fail to see that not america alone but the whole civilized world is swinging away from its old governmental moorings and intrusting the fate of its civilization to the capacity of the popular mass to govern. by this pathway mankind is to travel, whithersoever it leads. upon the success of this our great undertaking the hope of humanity depends. nor can we fail to see that the world makes substantial progress toward more perfect popular self-government. i believe it to be true that, viewed against the background of conditions a century, a generation, a decade ago, government in my own country has advanced, in the intelligent participation of the great mass of the people, in the fidelity and honesty with which they are represented, in respect for law, in obedience to the dictates of a sound morality, and in effectiveness and purity of administration. nowhere in the world has this progress been more marked than in latin america. out of the wrack of indian fighting and race conflicts and civil wars, strong and stable governments have arisen. peaceful succession in accord with the people's will has replaced the forcible seizure of power permitted by the people's indifference. loyalty to country, its peace, its dignity, its honor, has risen above partisanship for individual leaders. the rule of law supersedes the rule of man. property is protected and the fruits of enterprise are secure. individual liberty is respected. continuous public policies are followed; national faith is held sacred. progress has not been equal everywhere, but there has been progress everywhere. the movement in the right direction is general. the right tendency is not exceptional; it is continental. the present affords just cause for satisfaction; the future is bright with hope. it is not by national isolation that these results have been accomplished, or that this progress can be continued. no nation can live unto itself alone and continue to live. each nation's growth is a part of the development of the race. there may be leaders and there may be laggards; but no nation can long continue very far in advance of the general progress of mankind, and no nation that is not doomed to extinction can remain very far behind. it is with nations as it is with individual men; intercourse, association, correction of egotism by the influence of others' judgment; broadening of views by the experience and thought of equals; acceptance of the moral standards of a community, the desire for whose good opinion lends a sanction to the rules of right conduct--these are the conditions of growth in civilization. a people whose minds are not open to the lessons of the world's progress, whose spirits are not stirred by the aspirations and the achievements of humanity struggling the world over for liberty and justice, must be left behind by civilization in its steady and beneficent advance. to promote this mutual interchange and assistance between the american republics, engaged in the same great task, inspired by the same purpose, and professing the same principles, i understand to be the function of the american conference now in session. there is not one of all our countries that cannot benefit the others; there is not one that cannot receive benefit from the others; there is not one that will not gain by the prosperity, the peace, the happiness of all. according to your program, no great and impressive single thing is to be done by you; no political questions are to be discussed; no controversies are to be settled; no judgment is to be passed upon the conduct of any state, but many subjects are to be considered which afford the possibility of removing barriers to intercourse; of ascertaining for the common benefit what advances have been made by each nation in knowledge, in experience, in enterprise, in the solution of difficult questions of government, and in ethical standards; of perfecting our knowledge of each other; and of doing away with the misconceptions, the misunderstandings, and the resultant prejudices that are such fruitful sources of controversy. and some subjects in the program invite discussion that may lead the american republics toward an agreement upon principles, the general practical application of which can come only in the future through long and patient effort. some advances at least may be made here toward the complete rule of justice and peace among nations, in lieu of force and war. the association of so many eminent men from all the republics, leaders of opinion in their own homes; the friendships that will arise among you; the habit of temperate and kindly discussion of matters of common interest; the ascertainment of common sympathies and aims; the dissipation of misunderstandings; the exhibition to all the american peoples of this peaceful and considerate method of conferring upon international questions--this alone, quite irrespective of the resolutions you may adopt and the conventions you may sign, will mark a substantial advance in the direction of international good understanding. these beneficent results the government and the people of the united states of america greatly desire. we wish for no victories but those of peace; for no territory except our own; for no sovereignty except sovereignty over ourselves. we deem the independence and equal rights of the smallest and weakest member of the family of nations entitled to as much respect as those of the greatest empire; and we deem the observance of that respect the chief guaranty of the weak against the oppression of the strong. we neither claim nor desire any rights or privileges or powers that we do not freely concede to every american republic. we wish to increase our prosperity, to expand our trade, to grow in wealth, in wisdom, and in spirit; but our conception of the true way to accomplish this is not to pull down others and profit by their ruin, but to help all friends to a common prosperity and a common growth, that we may all become greater and stronger together. within a few months, for the first time, the recognized possessors of every foot of soil upon the american continents can be and i hope will be represented with the acknowledged rights of equal sovereign states in the great world congress at the hague. this will be the world's formal and final acceptance of the declaration that no part of the american continents is to be deemed subject to colonization. let us pledge ourselves to aid each other in the full performance of the duty to humanity which that accepted declaration implies; so that in time the weakest and most unfortunate of our republics may come to march with equal step by the side of the stronger and more fortunate. let us help each other to show that for all the races of men the liberty for which we have fought and labored is the twin sister of justice and peace. let us unite in creating and maintaining and making effective an all-american public opinion, whose power shall influence international conduct and prevent international wrong, and narrow the causes of war, and forever preserve our free lands from the burden of such armaments as are massed behind the frontiers of europe, and bring us ever nearer to the perfection of ordered liberty. so shall come security and prosperity, production and trade, wealth, learning, the arts, and happiness for us all. not in a single conference, nor by a single effort, can very much be done. you labor more for the future than for the present; but if the right impulse be given, if the right tendency be established, the work you do here will go on among all the millions of people in the american continents long after your final adjournment, long after your lives, with incalculable benefit to all our beloved countries, which may it please god to continue free and independent and happy for ages to come. speech of mr. mariano cornejo envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary from the republic of peru to the kingdom of spain, former president of the chamber of deputies, delegate from peru [the president. there is before me a motion presented by the peruvian delegation. the motion was then read: "the peruvian delegation moves that the minutes of the grand session of today, signed by all the delegates, be presented to the department of state at washington as an expression of the great pleasure with which the pan american conference has received its honorary president, the honorable elihu root."] the delegation from peru desires that there may remain a mark of this solemn session, in which all america has saluted as a link of union the eminent statesman who has honored us with his presence, and, in his person, the great american who, for the elevation of his ideas and for the nobleness of his sentiments, is the worthy chief magistrate of the powerful republic which serves as an example, as a stimulus, and a center of gravitation for the political and social systems of america. honorable minister, your country sheds its light over all the countries of the continent, which in their turn, advancing at different rates of velocity, but in the same direction, along the line of progress, form in the landscape of american history a beautiful perspective of the future, reaching to a horizon where the real and the ideal are mingled, and on whose blue field the great nationality that fills all the present stands out in bold relief. these congresses, gentlemen, are the symbol of that solidarity which, notwithstanding the ephemeral passions of men, constitutes, by the invincible force of circumstances, the essence of our continental system. they were conceived by the organizing genius of the statesmen of washington, in order that the american sentiment of patriotism might be therein exalted, freeing it from that national egotism which may be justified in the difficult moments of the formation of states, but which would be today an impediment to the development of the american idea, destined to demonstrate that just as the democratic principle has been to combine liberty and order in the constitution of states, it will likewise combine the self-government of the nations and fraternity in the relations of the peoples. honorable minister, your visit has given impulse to this undertaking. the ideas you have presented have not only defined the interests, but have also stirred in the soul of america all her memories, all her dreams, and all her ideals. it is as if the centuries had awakened in their tombs to hail the dawn of a hope that fills them with new vigor and light. it is the wish of peru that this hope may never be extinguished in the heart of america, and that the illustrious delegates who will sign these minutes may remember that they are entering into a solemn engagement to strive for the cause of american solidarity. speech of honorable a. j. montague former governor of virginia, delegate from the united states of america if in disparagement of our modesty, yet in recognition of our gratitude, the delegates from the united states have just requested me to express our profound appreciation of the extraordinary courtesy you have extended to our country in the person of her distinguished and able secretary of state, whose wise and exalted address we have all heard with delight and satisfaction. however, the honors you have paid him, and which come so graciously from a polite and hospitable people, convey a deeper meaning, for in them we must see a gratifying evidence of that american solidarity which unites our republics in the common development of popular government, energized by liberty, illumined by intelligence, steadied by order, and sustained by virtue. the liberty of law, and the opportunity for duty, and the dignity of responsibility come to us by the very genius of our institutions. therefore, in recognition of the fraternity which inspires the greatest tasks which have yet fallen to the lot of so many peoples, working together for a common end, we receive your compliment to our country, and for this purpose i have thus detained you to hear this imperfect expression of our thanks. speech of his excellency baron do rio branco minister for foreign affairs of the united states of brazil honorary president of the conference i have risen merely to make a statement which i am sure will be received with pleasure by this illustrious assembly. his excellency the president of the republic, in remembrance of the visit paid by his excellency president roosevelt to this building in st. louis, and in order to perpetuate the memory of the coming of the distinguished secretary elihu root to this country, has resolved by a decree bearing today's date to give to this edifice in which the international pan american conference is now in session the name of palacio monroe. [the conference then adjourned.] banquet of the minister for foreign affairs speech of his excellency baron do rio branco minister for foreign affairs rio de janeiro, july , the enthusiastic and cordial welcome you have received in brazil must certainly have convinced you that this country is a true friend of yours. this friendship is of long standing. it dates from the first days of our independence, which the government of the united states was the first to recognize, as the government of brazil was the first to applaud the terms and spirit of the declarations contained in the famous message of president monroe. time has but increased, in the minds and hearts of successive generations of brazilians, the sympathy and admiration which the founders of our nationality felt for the united states of america. the manifestations of friendship for the united states which you have witnessed come from all the brazilian people, and not from the official world alone, and it is our earnest desire that this friendship, which has never been disturbed in the past, may continue forever and grow constantly closer and stronger. gentlemen, i drink to the health of the distinguished secretary of state of the united states of america, mr. elihu root, who has so brilliantly and effectively aided president roosevelt in the great work of the political _rapprochement_ of the american nations. reply of mr. root i thank you again and still again for the generous hospitality which is making my reception in brazil so charming. coming here as head of the department of foreign affairs of my country and seated at the table of the minister of foreign affairs of the great republic of brazil, where i am your guest, i am forcibly reminded of the change which, within the last few years, has taken place in the diplomacy of the world, leading to a modern diplomacy that consists of telling the truth, a result of the government of the people by the people, which is in our days taking the place of personal government by sovereigns. it is the people who make peace or war; their desires, their sentiments, affections, and prejudices are the great and important factors which diplomacy has to consult, which diplomats have to interpret, and which they have to obey. modern diplomacy is frank, because modern democracies have no secrets; they endeavor not only to know the truth, but also to express it. and in this way i have come here as your guest; not because the fertile or ingenious mind of some ruler has deemed it judicious or convenient, but because my visit naturally represents the friendship which the eighty million inhabitants of the great republic of the north have for the twenty million people of brazil; and it is a just interpretation of that friendship. the depth of sentiment which in me corresponds to your kind reception results from the knowledge i have that the cordiality which i find here represents in reality the friendship that brazilians entertain for my dear country. not in my personal name or as representative of an isolated individual, but in the name of all the people of my country and in the spirit of the great declaration mentioned by you, mr. minister, the declaration known by the name of monroe, and which was the bulwark and safeguard of latin america from the dawn of its independence, i raise my glass, certain that all present will unite with me in a toast to the progress, prosperity, and happiness of the brazilian republic. speech of dr. james darcy the same deep and profound emotion which i, as a brazilian and an american, feel in this hour is undoubtedly felt by all here on the floor--representatives of the nation, and identical with the nation itself. when the chamber of deputies sees the secretary of state of the united states of america in the gallery it cannot go on with its regular work even for a minute longer. so great and extraordinary have been the demonstrations occasioned by the presence in our country of the eminent envoy of the great republic of the united states that it is necessary that the chamber, in this hour unequaled in the whole life of the american continent, manifest without delay its feelings of sympathy with the work for the closer _rapprochement_ of the american nations. in scandinavia, the land of almost perpetual fogs and mists, there died not long ago an extraordinary man. ibsen, by some called revolutionary, by others evolutionary, dreamed in all his works of a new day of peace and concord for all mankind. this dream did not exist in the poet's brain alone, for it has imbedded itself in the mind and heart of a great american politician--elihu root. from the moment he set foot on brazilian soil he has been received with loud acclamations of joy, in which all brazilians have joined. the demonstration which the student-body of brazil made a short time ago, which for enthusiasm and spontaneity of feeling has never been equaled, manifested our feeling toward mr. root. in his speech at the third conference of the american republics, the statesman, the philosopher, the sociologist, the great humanitarian that elihu root is, opened up a new era for the countries of the continent of such an order that the old standard of morality has fallen to the ground in ruins. on the public buildings, on the fortresses and masts of war vessels, waves the same flag--a white flag, reminding the american people that a new epoch of fraternity has risen for them. nothing has ever done so much for peace as this visit of elihu root among us. it forms a spectacle that must mark an epoch in our national life. the chamber of deputies, interpreting the unanimous sentiment of the nation, from north to south, of old and young alike, has suggested that i offer a motion, which is already approved in advance, and make the request that mr. elihu root be invited to take a seat on the floor of the chamber, as a mark of homage in return for the honor he has done us in making a visit to this house. the memory of this visit will live forever in our hearts. he who bestows all favors will undoubtedly reward those who have done so much for american peace and fraternity by setting them up as models for the whole world. reply of mr. root i thank you sincerely for the flattering expressions which, through your able and happy spokesmen, you have made regarding myself. i thank you still more deeply for the expressions of friendship for my country. i beg you to permit me in my turn to make acknowledgment to you, the representatives of the people of brazil--acknowledgment which i can make to the president of the republic, which i can make personally to your distinguished and most able secretary for foreign affairs, but which i wish to make on this public occasion to the people of brazil. i wish to thank the brazilian people for sending to my country a man so able and so successful in interpreting his people to us as my good friend mr. nabuco. i wish to thank the people of brazil--its legislators, its educated men of literature and of science, its students in their generous and delightful enthusiasm, and its laboring people in their simple and honest appreciation--for the reception which they have given me, overwhelming in its hospitality and friendship; for the courtesy, the careful attention to every detail that could affect the comfort, the convenience, and the pleasure of myself and my family; for the abundant expressions of friendship which i have found in your streets and in your homes; for the bountiful repasts; for the clouds of beautiful flowers with which you have surrounded us; and, more than all, for the deep sense of sincerity in your friendship which has been carried to my heart. i wish to make this acknowledgment directly to you, the direct and immediate representatives of the people. we, who in official life have our short day, are of little consequence. you and i, mr. president, baron rio branco, the president of the republic himself--we are of little consequence. we come and go. we cannot alter the course of nations or the fate of mankind; but the people, the great mass of humanity, are moving up or down. they are marching on, keeping step with civilization and human progress; or they are lapsing back toward barbarism and darkness. the people today make peace and make war--not a sovereign, not the whim of an individual, not the ambition of a single man; but the sentiment, the friendship, the affection, the feelings of this great throbbing mass of humanity, determine peace or war, progress or retrogression. and coming to a self-governing people from a self-governing people, i would interpret my fellow-citizens--the great mass of plain people--to the great mass of the plain people of brazil. no longer the aristocratic selfishness, which gathers into a few hands all the goods of life, rules mankind. under our free republics our conception of human duty is to spread the goods of life as widely as possible; to bring the humblest and the weakest up into a better, a brighter, a happier existence; to lay deep the foundations of government, so that government shall be built up from below, rather than brought down from above. these are the conceptions in which we believe. true, our languages are different; true, we draw from our parent countries many different customs, different ways of acting and of thinking; but, after all, the great, substantial, underlying facts are the same, humanity is the same. we live, we learn, we labor, and we struggle up to a higher life the same--you of brazil and we of the united states of the north. in the great struggle of humanity our interests are alike, and i hold out to you the hands of the american people, asking your help and offering you ours in this great struggle of humanity for a better, a nobler, and a happier life. you will make mistakes in your council, that is the lot of humanity; no government can be perfect--till the millennium comes; but year by year and generation by generation substantial advance toward more perfect government, more complete order, more exact justice, and more lofty conceptions of human duty will be made. god be with you in your struggle as he has been with us. may your deliberations ever be ruled by patriotism, by unselfishness, by love of country, and by wisdom for the blessing of your whole people, and may universal prosperity and growth in wisdom and righteousness of all the american republics act and react throughout the continents of america for all time to come. speech of senator ruy barbosa in the federal senate of brazil, at rio de janeiro, august , if your excellency will permit me, mr. president, i will call your attention and that of the senate to the fact that at this moment this house is honored by the presence of mr. elihu root, secretary of state of the united states. for a week his stay among us has been spreading interest throughout the country and filling the capital with joy, causing excitement among the neighboring nations, and fixing the eyes of europe on this obscure part of the world. the fact is that we are not only in the presence of an individual of great renown, who is one of the highest personages among contemporaneous statesmen, with a reputation which is dear to the western hemisphere, but we are experiencing an event of the most far-reaching international importance, in the sense in which this word corresponds to the common interests of the human race. in the organization of the government of the united states, the portfolio of secretary of state constitutes a notably characteristic and peculiar feature. the secretary is not merely a minister for foreign affairs, but is the guardian of the seals of state, the medium through whom the laws are promulgated, the depositary of the government archives, and the first assistant of the chief executive. tradition has conferred upon him a dignity next to that of president, the law making him second in the order of succession to the presidency by vacancy of the office, while it has become the custom for the president to invite him to participate in the performance of his duties rather as a colleague and associate than as an adviser and servant. the triumphant candidate in a presidential election has at times called to this office his vanquished opponent, thus showing the homage paid by party spirit to the value of merit. being popularly designated as head of the cabinet, and granted the honors of precedence at diplomatic functions, his high political entity inscribes him, together with the head of the nation, the secretary of the treasury, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the chairmen of the two great financial committees of congress, among the five or six personalities whose influence usually directs the government of the united states. but a true idea of this eminent position cannot be formed without some light on its history; for the line of secretaries of state sparkles with the almost continuous luster of a long, luminous zone, in which irradiate the dazzling names of jefferson, one of the patriarchs of independence in the foundation and organization of the united states, the philosopher, the writer, the statesman, the creator of parties, the systematizer of popular education, and the twice-elected successor of washington; of randolph, through whose initiative the stain produced by the word "slavery" was effaced from the provisional draft of the american constitution; of marshall, the most eminent jurist in the republic, the oracle of the constitution and the constructor of the federal law; of madison, the emulator of hamilton in the editing of _the federalist_; of monroe, the asserter of the international doctrine of the independence of this continent; of john quincy adams, the pioneer of abolitionism in his radical condemnation of slavery; of clay, the warm defender of the south american colonies in their struggle for emancipation; of webster, the demosthenes of the union and of american liberty; of seward, the rival for election of lincoln, but who, being defeated by the latter, was invited by him to form part of his cabinet; of forsyth, calhoun, everett, marcy, evarts, blaine, bayard, and hay. it is a path of stars, at the termination of which the administration of mr. elihu root does not pale. the annals of the united states could be traced by the route of this numerous constellation, whose radiant points sparkle around yon apex, to send forth their beams today from yon gallery, illumining the brazilian senate, transfiguring the scene of our ordinary deliberations, and realizing, with the pomp of the evocation of this glorious past, the spectacle of the visit of one nation to the other which the illustrious secretary of state presented before our eyes when, a few days ago, he said in response to our eminent and worthy minister for foreign relations, that his coming in the official capacity of his office to the land of the cruzeiro constitutes a natural expression of the friendship which the eighty millions of inhabitants of the great republic of the north feel toward the twenty million souls of the republic of brazil. it is not, then, a diplomatic representation; it is not an embassy. it is the government of the united states itself in person, in one of its predominant organs--an organ so exalted that it holds almost as high a position there in the national sentiment as the presidency itself. for the first time is the north american union visiting another part of the continent--latin america. and this direct, personal and most solemn visit of one america to the other has now as its scene the brazilian senate, assuming, within the brief dimensions of this chamber, the magnificent proportions of a picture for which our nation constitutes the frame and the attentive circle of the nations the gallery. for the modest importance of our nation, the event is of incomparable significance. none other can be likened to it in the history of our existence as a republic. after sixteen years of embarrassments, perils, and conflicts, the latter appears to be receiving its final consecration in this solemnity. it is the grand recognition of our democracy, the proclamation of the attainment of our majority as a republic. the stability of the government, its prestige, its honor and its vigor, could not have received a greater attestation before the world. replying to the doubts, the negations, and the affronts with which our ' was received, amidst passions at home and prejudices abroad, it signifies the irrevocable triumph of our revolution, closes forever the era of monarchical reassertions and opens up our future to order, confidence, and labor. almost all of us who compose this assembly, mr. president, belong to that generation who were opening their eyes to public life, or were preparing for it by their higher studies, when the struggle was going on in the united states between slavery and freedom--that campaign of titans which tore the entrails of america and shook the globe for many years. washington, jefferson, and madison had died, despairing of the extinction of slavery. this being openly proclaimed as the corner stone of the confederacy, which gloried in having as its basis and in holding as a supreme truth the subjection by providence of one race to the other, it looked as if the work of the patriarchs of was doomed to inevitable destruction against the black rock, thus consummating the jeffersonian prophecy. but christian order prevailed against the chaos of servile interests, showing that the constitution of the united states was not that "league with death" and that "compact with hell," as was boldly declared by garrison upon the breaking out of the abolitionist reaction. and when the union rose again, still clinging to liberty, on the ruins of slavery and dismemberment, we who had heard the earthquake, we who had witnessed the opening of the abyss, we who had seen swallowed up in it a million lives and an incalculable amount of wealth, and knew of the misfortunes and tears it had caused, were surprised by the divine dawn which finally appeared with the consoling victory of justice; and we felt the penetration of its rays here into the depths of the brazilian conscience, realizing, with a holy horror of the tragedy of which we had just been the witnesses, that we were still a country of slaves. very soon, however, the law of september , , immediately thereafter brazilian abolitionism, and shortly thereafter the brilliant stroke of abolition in , responded to the splendid american lesson by our purification from this stigma. and if we adopted this lesson in and , when we embraced the federal system and framed a republican constitution, it was not, as has been said, in obedience to the wishes, caprices, or predilections of theorists. ever since the beginning of the past century, the liberal spirit among us had become imbued with americanism through reading _the federalist_. the idea of federation carried away the brazilian liberals in . the condemnation of the monarchy in brazil involved fundamentally that of administrative centralization and the single-headed form of government which were embodied in that régime. the united states gave us the first model, and up to that time had furnished us the only example of a republican form of government, extending over a territorial expanse such as only monarchies had previously shown themselves capable of governing. the dilemma was inevitable. we had either to adhere to the european solution, which is a constitutional monarchy, or else establish a republic on the american model. we are still today as far from the perfect model which the united states present of a federal republic, as we were from a likeness to england under the parliamentary monarchy, although england was the example we followed in that régime, just as the united states is our example in our present government. but just as our backwardness in parliamentary customs was no cause for us to revert from a constitutional to an absolute monarchy, so the insufficiency of our republican customs constitutes no reason for abandoning the federal republic. there are no conditions more favorable for the political education of a nation than those presented by our constitutional mechanism, modeled after the american type; nor could a practical schooling be offered us for such education equal to that of an intimate approximation between us and our great model, our relations of all kinds with the united states being drawn closer and multiplied. between them and us there was interposed the stupid, sullen wall of prejudices and suspicions with which weakness naturally imagines to shelter and protect itself from force. but this wall is cracking, tottering, and beginning to crumble to ruins under the action of the soil and the atmosphere--under the influx of the sentiments awakened by this great movement of friendship on the part of the united states toward the other american nations. in this attitude, in the transparent clearness of its intentions, in the eloquence of its language, and in the manifest frankness of its promises, there stands forth a broad image of truthfulness, which may be likened to those breezes in the sky on bright and sunny days which clear the horizon, cause the azure of the firmament to pervade our souls, and communicate the energy of life to our lungs. may god sustain the strong spirit of magnanimity, which is as advantageous to themselves as to the weak; and may he illumine the minds of the weak with an understanding of a situation which, mutually comprehended and maintained with firmness and honesty, will be productive of incalculable benefits for both parties! the united states would already, long ago, have exhausted the admiration of the universe by the constant marvels of their greatness, if they were not continually surpassing themselves. i do not allude to their wonderful fecundity, which in a hundred years has raised their population from five to eighty millions of souls. i do not speak of the greatness of their expansion, which has almost quintupled their territorial area in one century; i do not refer to the greatness of their military prowess, which has never yet met a conqueror either by land or sea. neither am i occupying myself with the greatness of their opulence, which is tending to transfer from london to new york the center of capital and the money market of the world. i am thinking only of their benefits to democracy, to right, and to civilization. their fundamental principles as colonies were based on religious freedom. their first charters embodied the essence of liberty in the british constitution. their federal constitution is considered by the best judges as the highest product of political genius extant among mankind. the five years of their civil war constituted a most tremendous sacrifice, made by the superhuman heroism of a nation in the higher interests of humanity, for the principle of human freedom. their international influence is frequently exerted in the great causes of christianity and civilization, first struggling as they did against piracy in the mediterranean; then opening the doors of japan to the commerce of the world in the pacific, or fighting for the armenians against ottoman despotism, or intervening in behalf of the jews against the tyranny of the muscovite; here sympathizing with south america against spain, with greece against turkey, and with hungary against austria; there promoting that memorable peace between the russians and japanese at portsmouth, which terminated one of the most horrible hecatombs of peoples on record in the history of warfare. the methods and rules of their teaching, the inspiration of their inventors, the penetrating nature of their institutions, the reproductive influence of their example, the contagious activity of their doctrines, the active proselytism of their reforms, the irresistible fascination of their originality, the exuberant florescence of their christianity, all exert a profound influence upon european culture and on the morals, the politics, and the destinies of the world, and guide, improve, and transform the american nations. nothing, however, could be conceived which would more magnificently crown this miraculous career and assure forever to that nation the title, _par excellence_, of the civilizer among nations, serving the interests of its own prosperity as well as ours by a sincere, effective, and tenacious adherence to the doctrine announced by mr. root, namely the doctrine of mutual respect and friendship, of progressive coöperation among the american states, large or small, weak or strong; abandoning foolish race prejudices and admitting the superior power of imitation, science, and modern inventions, which are the moral factors in the development of peoples; and recognizing the natural truth that the growing evolution of the human race must embrace in its orbit of light all the civilized nations on this and the other continents. everything in the visit of mr. root, everything in his words, in his acts, in the impressions left among us by his person, everything speaks to us with absolute sincerity and resolute mind of devotion to this auspicious program. our eminent guest has seen how brazil receives the living message of the people of the united states; and, when he returns, a faithful witness of our civilization, which is so little known, so ill-treated, and so calumniated abroad, he will in all probability carry with him a conviction of having found in this disliked south america, between the oyapoc and the plata, the atlantic and the andes, a non-indigenous, although new sister of the united states, in which the opinion of public men and popular sentiment have but one ambition in regard to the policy now inaugurated--that it may become rooted for centuries and that it may shelter our future under its branches. i wished, gentlemen--and all the members of this senate wished--that mr. root might hear from the mouth of the man of experience, authority, and austere demeanor who is to preside over us, the most eloquent and highest of these expressions of good wishes. for this purpose i move that the senate do now resolve itself into a committee of the whole, and that the secretary of state of the united states be invited to take the post of honor in this assembly. in this manner the proceedings of the brazilian senate and its traditions will preserve the memory of this date forever. for it is not one of those dates which flash and vanish into the past like falling meteors, but it is of those which seek the future by luminously furrowing the horizon of posterity like ascending stars. and if the future is to be a substitution of right in place of might, of arbitration in place of war, of congresses in place of armies, of harmony, coöperation, and solidarity among the american peoples, in place of hostile rivalries, we may, on seeing seated here today at the right of our president, the secretary of state of the united states, affirm to him, as henry clay did on the reception of lafayette, with a different intention but just as truthfully, that he is seated in the midst of posterity. speech of senator alfredo ellis the federal senators, representatives of the brazilian nation, representing the people of twenty states of the union and of the federal district, here congregated to receive you, through me, salute you, and through you, salute president roosevelt and the whole people of the united states of america. you are truly welcome amongst us, and you are welcome amongst us because we know your history; we know the history of your country; we know the history of your great men, from washington to roosevelt. you are truly and sincerely welcome amongst us, because you are the fortunate messenger, the happy harbinger of a coming civilization that is looming already in the not-far-distant future, bringing in your hands the snowy and brilliant credentials of brotherhood and peace. though you come here, mr. root, amid the cannon's roar, or the din of popular acclamations, the echo in its grand unanimity that these words awaken in the hearts of the brazilian people throughout all the land, from north to south, from east to west, should convince you that we, the brazilian people, trust that the great work that is now being done through the delegates of the nineteen american republics assembled here for the third conference of the pan american congress, will bear fruit--that it will bear fruit just the same as that of which the basis was laid a long time ago in philadelphia, on july , , written by thomas jefferson and signed by the delegates of nine out of the thirteen colonies that had risen in arms against the mother-country. on that eventful and never-to-be-forgotten day, pennsylvania's delegate--the great, the wise, the noble benjamin franklin--with his heart full of sad misgivings, full of sad forebodings about the final issue of the war, raising himself from the chair on which he had been sitting, observed on its back, embroidered on the tapestry, the figure of a beaming sun with its golden rays. "i do not know," he said, "if this is the image of a rising or a setting sun; please god almighty that it may be that of a rising sun, enlightening the birth of a free and prosperous people!" and it was--and it was. his wish--his dear wish--was fulfilled; his prophecy was realized. the country you represent, mr. root, is now the wonder of the world for its greatness, for its power, for its prosperity. what we desire--what the brazilian people desire--what we hope, is that in your case, the same prophecy may be made and the same prophecy may be realized in relation to the results we expect from the pan american conference, strengthening with indissoluble bonds of harmonious concord and a very lasting peace, american brotherhood; banishing from the lands of the new world all ambition of conquest and the bloody strife of fratricidal wars. to the american people, our brothers, our friends, and our companions, the brazilian nation, treading the same paths and controlled by the same great desire to attain its destinies in the history of the world, sends through you its most affectionate, its most fraternal, its most hearty salutation. addresses in the chamber of deputies speech of doctor paula guimarÃes august , the chamber of deputies feels itself honored by the presence of mr. elihu root, secretary of state of the united states of america. the distinguished member of the government of our great sister republic, whose coming to this country is a mark of regard and esteem which is very flattering to us and which will never be forgotten, has already had opportunity to ascertain how deep and sincere are the sentiments of sympathy which the people of brazil feel for the north american republic, in the extraordinary demonstrations of joy and gratitude which have everywhere attended him, and which are an eloquent proof of the sincerity and cordiality of our traditional friendship and disinterested admiration. the entrance of brazil into the family of republics of the american continent has resulted in closer ties of confraternity among the nations of the new world. as a result of the policy of approximation, happily adopted by the government of brazil, we have the meeting in this capital of the pan american congress, where the distinguished delegates of the sister republics have been given a warm and hearty welcome. from the white house, where president roosevelt firmly maintains the traditions of great american names, there has come to us on a mission of peace an eminent and highly esteemed statesman, bringing us political ideas of a new mould and the frank diplomacy of modern democracies. in words of the highest significance, which are unsurpassed for precision and frankness, the far-seeing statesman has revealed to us the ideal of justice and peace to which humanity in the near future is to attain, because the rule of force "is losing ground," and "sentiment, feeling and affection are gathering more and more sway over the affairs of men." the words of the distinguished american are familiar to the whole world, but here they are firmly engraved on our loyal hearts. differences disappear before the great historic fact at which it is our good fortune to be present at this moment, the beginning of a new era which is bound to bring great benefits to our country. the students, full of hope and enthusiasm, the orderly working people--all classes of society, in short, unite with public officials in unanimity of approval. gentlemen, it is to confirm these sentiments which every brazilian feels, to proclaim the national aspirations of harmony, conciliation, and union, that i arise to thank, in behalf of the chamber of deputies, the representatives of the popular will, mr. elihu root, for his presence among us, and to greet in his person the great and glorious republic of the united states of north america, greater for the example it gives us of liberty, energy, and order than for its extraordinary material strength. glory to the stars and stripes! reply of mr. root i beg you to believe in the depth of sensibility with which i have received the honor you do me, and the honor you do my country. the similarity of our institutions is such that i come into the presence of this august body with full appreciation of its dignity and its significance. i feel that i am in the presence of the great lawmaking body to which is intrusted, by its representation of the separate states of brazil, the preservation of local self-government throughout this vast empire; so that the people of each one of your twenty states, and each one of the many states to be erected hereafter, as your population increases, may govern itself in its local affairs without the oppression which inevitably results from the absolute rule of a central power, ignorant of the necessities and of the feelings of each locality; and so that also, consistently with that local self-government, the nationality of brazil shall be preserved and the principle of national power, the dignity and power of the nation that protects all local self-governments in their liberty, shall never be decreased. i feel also that i am in the presence of the body from which must come, not only in the present but in the great future of brazil, that conservative force which is so essential to regulate the action of a democracy. by your constitution, by the necessities of your existence, it will be your function to prevent rash and ill-considered action, to see that all the expedients of government, all the theories that are suggested, are submitted to the test of practical experience and sound reason. and so, with the deepest interest in the continued success of the brazilian experiment in self-government, i am most deeply impressed with the honor you have done me. the encomiums which have been passed here upon my country are such that to know of them must in itself be an incentive to deserve them. i hope that every word which has been spoken here about that dear republic from which i come, may go to the knowledge of every citizen of the united states of america, and may lead him to feel that it is his duty to see that this good opinion of our sister republic is justified. senator ruy barbosa has justly interpreted the meaning of my visit. i come not merely as the messenger of friendship; i come as that, but not merely as that. when democratic institutions first found their place in the protests of the new world against a colonial government that bound us all hand and foot; when the plain people undertook to govern themselves without any heaven-sent superior force to control them, how gloomy were the prognostications, how unfriendly were the wishes, how uncomplimentary were the expressions which, upon the other side of the atlantic, greeted the new experiment--that we should have rule by the mob, that disorder and anarchy would ensue, that plain men were incapable and always would be incapable, of maintaining an orderly and peaceful government. lo, how the scene has changed! the conception of man's capacity to govern himself, gaining year by year credit, belief, demonstration, in the new fields of virgin lands, north and south, has been carried back across the atlantic until the old idea of a necessary sovereign is shaken to the base. no longer is it man's conception of government that it must be by a superior force, pressing down what is bad; but that the pressure shall be from beneath, with all the good impulses and capacities of human nature pressing upward what is good. i come here not only to hold out the right hand of friendship to you from my country, but also to assert in the most positive, the most salient way the solidarity of republican institutions in the new world, the similarity of results, the mutual confidence that is felt by my country in yours, and by yours in mine; to assert before all the world that the great experiment of free self-government is a success north and south, the whole new world over. from the realization of this fact--this certain and indisputable fact--that republican institutions are successful, will come that confidence which underlies wealth, the security of property that is the basis of our civilization, the certainty that the fruits of enterprise will be secure, which is the incentive to activity, the independence of the people from the hard stress of poverty--the independence that comes from ample means of support, and is a condition of growth and enjoyment in life. more than wealth, more than production, more than trade, more than any material prosperity, there will come with them learning, universal education, literature, arts, the charms and graces of life. i would think but little of my country if it had merely material wealth. i would think but little of my country if the conception of its people was that we were to live like the robber baron of the middle ages, who merely gathered into his castle for his own luxury the wealth that he had taken from the surrounding people. a land of free institutions, in which wealth and prosperity are made the basis upon which to build up the arts, graces, and virtues of life, and in which there is a noble and generous sympathy with every one laboring in the same cause--that, indeed, is a country of which one may be proud; that is a country which is the natural result of free institutions. so i come to you to say: let us know each other better; let us aid each other in the great work of advancing civilization; let the united states of north america and the united states of brazil join hands, not in formal written treaties of alliance, but in the universal sympathy and confidence and esteem of their peoples; join hands to help humanity forward along the paths which we have been so happy as to tread. let us help each other to grow in wisdom and in spirit, as we have grown in wealth and prosperity. mr. chairman, my poor words are all too ineffective to express the depth of sentiment and height of hope that i experience here. i believe this is not an idle dream; i believe it is not merely the kindly expression or enthusiasm of the moment, but that after this day there will remain among both our peoples a sentiment which will be of incalculable benefit to the great mass of mankind, which shall help these two great nations to preserve and promote the rule of ordered liberty, of peace and justice, and of that spirit, which underlies all our christian civilization, the spirit of humanity, higher than the spirit of nationality, more precious than material wealth, indispensable to the true fulfillment of the mission of liberty. sÃo paulo speech of theodomiro de camargo at a mass-meeting of students of the law school, in front of the palacio chaves, august , the law school of são paulo is the tabernacle of our proudest ideals, of our most grateful traditions. thence departed the first champions of liberty for the holy crusade of the slaves' liberation; there expanded and strengthened the republican ideas that caused the fall of the monarchy; thence have come almost all our rulers and leading men. it is in the name of that school, sir, that i salute you and give you welcome, not only as the eminent statesman but also and specially as the loyal and dedicated friend of brazil. i can assure you that common to all brazilians are the sentiments of true sympathy and great admiration for the noble country which has in you so worthy a representative. this sympathy and this admiration, common to all brazilians, are well deserved by the wonderful people which liberated cuba with the precious blood of her sons; are well deserved by the generous nation which contributed so much in raising in the orient the banner of peace, putting an end to one of the most sanguinary struggles registered in universal history. the deep joy with which you have been received since you set foot on brazilian soil is sufficient to assert what i say. we rejoice to receive your visit because it is a proof that our feelings are reciprocated, and also because it will be a stronger link to bind forever the two great republics that are destined to lead their american sisters through the wide path of progress and civilization. president mckinley wisely said: "the wisdom and energy of all the nations are not too great for the world's work"; so our earnest vows are that your voyage coöperates for the true fraternity of the american republics, that they may work together in the pursuit of the highest and noblest endeavor of humanity, which is universal peace. speech of mr. galaor nazareth de arujo, of the normal school "be welcome, distinguished visitor!" this phrase, so often addressed to you during your voyage in brazil, may now be said again to express the sincerity with which the people of são paulo receive the visit of one of the greatest statesmen of modern america. amongst the institutions of education of this city there is the normal school, which has always tried to follow the methods and systems in use in your great country. in the name of this institution and representing my colleagues, i come before you, sir, to repeat, with all my heart, the words you have heard so many times in brazil: "welcome, mr. root!" speech of mr. gama, jr., of the commercial school a representative of a peaceful people is always welcome to brazil. you know already our traditional policy. from the beginning of our existence as a nation we have accustomed ourselves to see in your glorious country the nation which, first of all, substituted for military imperialism the beneficent and civilizing policy of free commercial expansion, joining producers and consumers without any link of dependence. we followed with ardent sympathy your liberal and eminently humane action in the chinese empire, at the moment when that monarchy seemed doomed to dismemberment. and you, sir, were the first to make understood the need of the maintenance of the administrative and territorial _status quo_ of that empire, to which, as well as to other nationalities of the far east, you are today the securest guaranty of national integrity. you come to us, therefore, with the credentials of a peaceful people, and of a people that respects the autonomy of other nations, no matter how weak they may be. in this quality we open to you our arms, and we heartily meet your wishes in the assurance that we contribute to the development of the ideas of peace and steadiness, without which the evolution of a people can only be accomplished imperfectly and at the cost of many centuries of hard effort. the united states of brazil acknowledged the advantages of a perfect communion of views in commercial matters with their great sister of north america. they were aware that essentially opposite points of view regarding commercial interchange separate them from some of the nations of the old world. so long as on the other side of the atlantic an almost invincible barrier of customs duties impedes the entry of our products into markets naturally hostile to south american productions, our country has only two alternatives: either to continue the very irksome commercial relations with those markets, or to look for others with evident loss of a part of the harmony that ought to exist between nations affiliated by origin and for so many years united by the most intimate links of sympathy and intellectual solidarity. consequently, we adopted the legitimate defense of protectionism, while remaining faithful to those friendly feelings, and very naturally we turned to the continental nation that better understood the advantages of a free exchange of products; we looked unsuspiciously to the friendly people who conceived the idea of making in america, united and strong, a large neutral area devoted to peace amidst the possible divergencies that may perchance in time separate in aggressive antagonism a rejuvenated and martial orient and the nations of the west. we understood at once the difficult task to be accomplished, in order, by your side and with your aid, to secure the neutralization of america, so desirable and so necessary for the final reconciliation of nations still militarized, and for the establishment of a secure standpoint for the general fraternization of mankind. all the enthusiastic appreciation of the twenty-one democracies that follow and love your deed, and all the facilities and coöperation that they can offer for its accomplishment, you will find, sir, should you visit them as you now do one of their number, in the corresponding twenty-one brazilian capitals. the commercial school of são paulo, from which very likely will come later commercial agents of brazil, sincerely espouses your policy of peace and solidarity on the american continent; and in the person of its eminent chancellor salutes the noble north american nation. reply of mr. root i thank you, students of são paulo, for your greeting and for your generous sympathy. i am here upon a mission of friendship and of appreciation. i am here in order that my country may know more of the people of brazil, and in order that the people of brazil may learn more of my country, believing that the cause of almost all controversy between nations, the most fertile source of weakness and of war, is national misunderstanding and the prejudice that comes from misunderstanding. i shall go back to my country and tell my people that i have found in this famous city of learning, são paulo, a great body of young men who are gathering inspiration in the cause of learning and of human rights from the atmosphere of liberty and independence. i shall tell them that here, where the independence of brazil was born, the spirit of that independence still lives in the youth of brazil. i shall tell them that here in the birthplace of presidents more young brazilians are treading the first steps in the pathway of patriotism and greatness, pressing on to take the place, to take up and continue the great work of the men born in são paulo, who have contributed so mightily to the greatness of brazil. let me say one word, young gentlemen, as to the lessons that you may draw from your country's glorious past. noble and inspiring as are the victories brazil has won in war; remarkable, eloquent, unsurpassed as are the great things done in the past by the paulistas, greater and nobler victories of peace await the people of brazil and são paulo. you have, as my country had, a vast continent with savage nature to subdue. you have, as my country had, with almost immeasurable forests fit for human habitation, to welcome to your free land the millions of europe seeking to escape from hard conditions of grinding poverty. you have before you that noblest product of our time, that chief result of our institutions, the open path to progress and success for every youth of brazil. because this is a free land, because you are a republic, because you are a self-governing people, there is no limit to what each one of you may accomplish by the exercise of your own knowledge, determination, and ability. it is the free spirit that keeps open the door of that limitless expanse, and that will conquer the wilderness and make brazil a refuge for the poor of other lands, and a country rich and teeming with people, prosperous, learned, and happy in the years and centuries to come. speech of mr. root on presenting a football trophy, são paulo, august , the pleasant and honorable duty of presenting to you this prize of success in the fine and rapid and skillful game we have just witnessed has been delegated to me by the kindness and consideration of the president and government of the state of são paulo. it is a fitting act with which to signalize my first visit to this historic and famous city, this ancient center of activity and manly vigor, this state famous for centuries for its great and noble deeds, and known now throughout the world for its successful industry and commerce, known also as the home of great men and great patriots in the history of brazil. may the generous emulation of this courteous and gentlemanly game which you have been playing, be a symbol of activity in the commercial, industrial, and social life of the country; above all, may it be a symbol of your lives as patriots, as citizens of brazil. let the best man ever win. let activity and skill and pluck ever have their just rewards. do for your country always as you have done for your rival teams in this game of football. do always your best, and do it always with good temper and kindly feeling, whatever be the game. i congratulate you, sir, and your associates, upon being citizens of a country and of a state--both you of rio de janeiro and you paulistas,--where the rewards of enterprise and activity are secure, and where there is open to every youth the pathway of success by deserving success. may this prize be an incentive to you and your comrades to exercise every manly effort, both for yourselves and for your country. santos speech of doctor rezende at the commercial association of santos, august , on behalf of the board of directors of the commercial association of santos, i bid you welcome. the men gathered in this hall to greet you are cosmopolitan in character--americans, europeans, and brazilians--men who have united their best efforts in the great movement of distributing coffee throughout the whole world. coffee is our staple product, and for many years to come is bound to be the backbone of our financial system. the value of this great product is, however, much greater than is shown by the simple figures of statistics. in order to understand its true value, we must add to it the other articles which are produced with it, and which are unknown to the commercial world. coffee also means corn, beans, rice, cattle, etc., which are abundantly raised by our coffee planters; coffee means also all of our infant industries, and those prosperous towns which dot the romantic shores of the tieté, paranahyba, and the mogy-guasú. for us, sir, coffee means plenty, prosperity, and perhaps greatness. it is therefore easy to see how deeply we are interested in the growth of american commerce and civilization. the american people need for their trade nearly eleven million bags of coffee per annum, or almost all of an average crop of the state of são paulo. it is not necessary to lay special stress on this main fact, production and consumption; one is the complement of the other, and the development of both our activities and interests are so identified that we cannot talk of coffee without thinking of its greatest consumer, the american people. seventeen years ago, in , james g. blaine, one of your most distinguished statesmen, called together the first pan american congress in washington. it is a long time for us business men to wait. we feel, however, that the ideals of that great statesman have not yet been realized. the great distance which separates us is perhaps somewhat responsible for the want of closer relations between our peoples; and when your visit to our shores was first announced, we brazilians all felt that your presence in brazil meant a new departure in american-brazilian relations. we are looking forward with eagerness for the results of the sessions of the pan american congress in rio; and this interest has been greatly augmented by the high honor you confer upon us in selecting this opportunity to visit our people and our country, thus strengthening the ties of friendship between americans and brazilians; and though we belong to a class accustomed to consider only facts and cold figures, we are deeply touched by this high distinction, and, representing the santos board of trade and the coffee planters of são paulo--the greatest coffee producers of the world--i offer most hearty greetings to you, and through you to the great american people, the chief consumers of coffee in the world. reply of mr. root it is a great pleasure to represent here in this great commercial city the best and largest customer you have. the united states of america bought in the last fiscal year, the statistics of which have been made public, from the united states of brazil about $ , , worth of goods, and we sold to brazil about $ , , worth of goods. i should like to see the trade more even; i should like to see the prosperity of brazil so increase that the purchasing power of brazil will grow; and i should like to see the activity of that purchasing power turned towards the markets of the north american republic. i am well aware that the course of trade cannot be controlled by sentiment or by governments. it follows its own immutable laws and is drawn solely in the direction of profit. but there are many ways in which the course of trade can be facilitated, can be stimulated, can be induced and increased. mutual knowledge leads to trade. all the advertisement in the world which pays is but the means of carrying information, knowledge, and suggestion to the mind that reads the advertisement. mutual knowledge as between the people of north america and the people of brazil--knowledge as between the individual people--will increase the trade. our people will buy more coffee and more sugar and more rubber from the people they know, from the various trading concerns that they know about, than they will from strangers. mutual knowledge cannot exist without mutual respect. i believe so much in the goodness of humanity that i think no two people can know each other without respecting each other. there is the friendliest feeling in the united states of america for the people of brazil, and we believe that there is great friendliness in this country for the people of the united states. we wish to be good friends and ever better friends; to enlarge our mutual trade to the advantage of both; and it is to express that feeling to you from my people with all the kindliness and friendship possible, that i am here in brazil. it has been a great privilege to see something of your great coffee production--from the coffee plant on its red platform of the peculiar soil of são paulo to the bags of coffee being carried to the steamer in which it is to be transported to the markets of the world. it is pleasing to me to see that the great commercial port of santos has by the improvement of its harbor facilities become more and more great, and has done away with the unhealthiness that once existed. i congratulate you upon the fact that you have made your port and your city so healthy that yellow fever no longer exists. this is probably the last word i shall utter in public before i leave the coast of brazil, and as i pass from among you, i shall endeavor to make my last word an expression of grateful appreciation for all the courtesy, the kindliness, and the friendliness which has surrounded me every hour, from the moment i first landed at pará three weeks ago today. my reception and that of all my family--the attentions that have been paid to us, the kindness that has been exhibited--far exceed anything that i anticipated or had hoped for; and i beg you to believe that we shall never forget it. we shall make it known to our people when we return home. i believe that it will increase the friendship they feel for the people of brazil; and it is with the greatest satisfaction that i shall feel entitled upon my return to say to the people of the united states that i have found in the republic of brazil a country to which the laborers of the world may come to make new homes and to rear their families in prosperity and in happiness; that i may say to my people that i have found in the republic of brazil a country where capital is secure, where the rights of man are held sacred, and the rewards of enterprise may be reaped without hindrance. i shall go from you with the hope that in my weak way i may do what it is possible for one man to do in return for all the friendship that you have shown me throughout brazil--may give my evidence to aid in turning towards your vast and undeveloped resources that immigration and that capital which have been the means of building up and developing the vast riches of my own country. i hope that the same brilliant and prosperous success that has blessed my own land may for many generations visit the people of brazil. i hope that for many a year to come the two peoples, so similar in their laws, their institutions, their purposes, and the great task of development that lies before them, may continue to grow in friendship and in mutual help. and so, gentlemen, i make to you, and through you to the people of brazil, my grateful and appreciative farewell. parÁ speech of his excellency augusto montenegro governor of the state of parÁ in the city of pará (belem), at a breakfast given by him to mr. root july , i will say but a few words in offering the health of mr. root, the very illustrious secretary of state of the united states of north america. i regret exceedingly that mr. root should have only a few hours available to remain among us; but i know that his time is limited and that he cannot remain among us without inconvenience; however, i hope that these few hours which his excellency has devoted to pará will have been sufficient for him to carry away a good impression of this region. i also fervently hope that mr. root's visit may mark the beginning of a new era in the diplomacy of the two americas, and that, if possible, it may contribute still further to a strengthening of the friendly ties which already bind the two republics together. i hope that mr. root will gather the very best impressions of the whole country from his other visits. i am certain that he will be received everywhere with that cordiality, hospitality, and affection which we proudly proclaim as being among the chief characteristics of the brazilians. i drink to the health of mr. root and of the great and noble president of the united states of north america. reply of mr. root i thank you most sincerely for your kind expressions and for your gracious hospitality. it is with the greatest pleasure that i have come to the great republic of brazil, that i might by my presence testify to the high consideration entertained by the republic of the north for her sister republic; that i might testify to the strong desire of the united states of america for the continuance of the growth of friendship between her and the united states of brazil. both of us--both of our countries,--have of recent years been growing so great and rich that we can afford now to visit our friends, and also to entertain our friends. let us therefore know each other better. i am sure that the more intimately we know each other the better friends we shall be. i know that because i know the feelings of my countrymen, and i know it because i experience your whole-hearted hospitality. it has been a delight for me to see your beautiful, bright, and cheerful city, which, with its people happy and giving evidence of well-being and prosperity, with its comfortable homes, with its noble monuments, with its great public buildings and institutions of beneficence, with its beautiful flowers and noble trees, justifies all that i had dreamed of in this august city of the great empire which reaches from the amazon to the uruguay. i thank you for your reference to the president of the united states. his great, strong, human heart beats in unison with everything that is noble in the heart of any nation and with every aspiration of true manhood. every effort tending to help a people on in civilization and in prosperity finds a reflex and response in his desire for their happiness. he is a true and genuine friend of all americans, north and south. in his name i thank you for the welcome you have given me, and in his name i propose a toast to the president of the united states of brazil. pernambuco summary of speech of his excellency sigismundo gonÇalvez governor of the state of pernambuco at a breakfast given by him to mr. root, in the city of pernambuco (recife), july , his excellency sigismundo gonçalvez, governor of pernambuco, said that he had never felt so strong a desire to speak english in order to express the satisfaction he felt at receiving the distinguished visitor, and after wishing the secretary a very pleasant and prosperous voyage, proposed the health of president roosevelt.[ ] reply of mr. root i regret in my turn that i cannot respond to you in the language of the great race which has made the great country of brazil. i thank you both for myself and in behalf of my country for your generous hospitality and the friendship you have exhibited. it is the sincere desire of the president and of all the people of the united states to maintain with the people of brazil a firm, sincere, and helpful friendship. much as we differ, in many respects we are alike. like yours, our fathers fought for their country against savage indians. like yours, our fathers fought to maintain their race in their country against other european races. it is a delight for me on these historic shores to come to this famous place, made glorious by such centuries of heroic, free, and noble patriotism. it is especially delightful for me to be welcomed here, where the cause of human freedom received the powerful and ever-memorable support of a native of pernambuco, whose name is dear to me, joaquim nabuco--a name inherited from a distinguished ancestry by my good friend, your illustrious townsman, the present ambassador of brazil to the united states. it is the chief function of an ambassador from one country to another to interpret to the people to whom he goes the people from whom he comes; and joaquim nabuco has presented to the people of the united states a conception of brazilians, and especially of the men of pernambuco, admirable and worthy of all esteem. he is our friend, and because he is our friend we wish to be your friends. i ask you to join me now in drinking to the health of the president of the republic of brazil. bahia speech of his excellency senhor doctor josÉ marcelino de souza governor of bahia at a banquet given by him to mr. root, at bahia, july , it is not without reason that the entire world is elated at the grand spectacle exhibited in the new world congregating its free and independent peoples in order to lay the foundations of a lasting peace. in fact, the old world looks on with sincere admiration at the complete demolition of the ancient precepts of international law. ever since the right of the stronger has ceased to supersede the sound principles of justice; ever since the divine philosophy of the jews taught men brotherly love for one another, the ancient international law underwent profound transformations. notwithstanding this, however, for a long time armies and costly navies continued to weigh down our public treasuries and the cannon continued to decide questions arising among nations. now, all europe has its eyes turned towards america, which has noteworthily constituted itself the apostle of peace. for a long time the american peoples have been settling their difficulties by means of arbitration. it is this policy that is seen to be manifesting itself since the downfall of the ancient institute of international law which, instead of causing the people on the other side of the atlantic fear, ought to fill them with joy, because it tightens the international economic and commercial relations of this planet. these are the aims and objects of pan americanism. it does not inculcate war. its gospel is concord. it has seen what a little while ago was nothing more than the dream of poets, the ideal of philosophers, develop into a reality. gentlemen, america must grow up, but intrenching itself with peace, and growing not by the augmentation of the sinews of war but by systematizing and utilizing the resources of her economic force. this is the ideal of american nations. therefore, although the other continents have long feared this propaganda, it is to be hoped that she will carry out her program of love and of fraternization, because thus america will have established international and economic relations with the entire world upon indestructible foundations. the honorable elihu root, the herald of the prosperous and powerful north american republic, who brings to brazil the assurance of his friendship and the most hearty support of the pan american congress whose third conference has just been opened at rio, is the most important missionary of that gospel. the presence of his excellency in that noteworthy assemblage is the assurance of reconciliation, of the growth of the free people of america. bahia, an important part of the brazilian federation, which receives this testimonial of friendship from the great republic of the north, through its secretary of state, cannot help but feel the greatest joy at foreseeing the great results of that conference and of this auspicious visit, which assumes the proportions of an embassy, of an appeal to the republics of the new continent for the inauguration of inseparable bonds of mutual solidarity, for the concerted effort to compel the disappearance of the sad note of war. in the shadow of the solemn inauguration of pan americanism, three nations of central america found themselves in the battlefield in a deplorable spectacle of hatred and bloodshed. happily, as is announced by telegraph, thanks to the good offices of the united states and of mexico, peace has been established among the nations, to the honor of the christian civilization of our continent. this policy of concord, therefore, accomplishes good. i repeat, america must prosper. it is necessary that the monroe doctrine triumph, not to the exclusion of the civilization of the old world, but to the benefit of all humanity. nature has cut the continent from north to south without regard to its continuity; from north to south is the same political régime; and protecting it with two great nations, nature has not wished to isolate us from the rest of the world, but on the contrary to endow us with sources of wealth and to multiply the means of easy communication with centers of civilization. gentlemen, in the name of bahia, i greet the great ideal of humanity that is treading a victorious path! i greet the republic of north america, the efficient collaborator in this profoundly humane policy, the principal promoter of the pan american conference, in the person of its illustrious secretary of state, elihu root! reply of mr. root i beg to acknowledge with sincere appreciation your kindly and most flattering expressions regarding myself. i receive with joy the expression of sentiments regarding my country, which i hope may be shared by every citizen of the great republic of brazil. it is with much sentiment that i find myself at the gateway of the south, through which the civilization of europe entered from the iberian peninsula the vast regions of south america. i, whose fathers came through the northern gateway, on massachusetts bay, thousands of miles away,--where the winters bring ice and snow and where a rugged soil greeted the first adventurers,--find here another people working out for themselves the same problems of self-government, seeking the same goal of individual liberty, of peace, of prosperity, that we have been seeking in the far north for so many years. we are alike in that we have no concern in the primary objects of european diplomacy; we are free from the traditions, from the controversies, which the close neighborhood of centuries on the continent of europe has created--free, thank heaven, from necessity for the maintenance of great armies and great navies to guard our frontiers, leaving us to give our minds to the problem of building up governments by the people which shall give prosperity and peace and individual opportunity to every citizen. in this great work, it is my firm belief that we can greatly assist each other, if it be only by sympathy and friendship, by intercourse, exchange of opinions and experience, each giving to the other the benefits of its success, and helping the other to find out the causes of its failures. we can aid each other by the peaceful exchanges of trade. our trade--yes, our trade is valuable, and may it increase; may it increase to the wealth and prosperity of both nations. but there is something more than trade; there is the aspiration to make life worth living, that uplifts humanity. to accomplish success in this is the goal we seek to attain. there is the happiness of life; and what is trade if it does not bring happiness to life? in this the dissimilarity of our peoples may enable us to aid each other. we of the north are somewhat more sturdy in our efforts, and there are those who claim we work too hard. we are too strenuous in our lives. i wish that my people could gather some of the charm and grace of living in bahia. we may give to you some added strength and strenuousness; you may give to us some of the beauty of life. i wish i could make you feel--i wish still more that i could make my countrymen feel--what delight i experience in visiting your city, and in observing the combination of the bright, cheerful colors which adorn your homes and daily life, with the beautiful tones that time has given to the century-old walls and battlements that look down upon your noble bay. the combination has seemed to me, as i have looked upon it today, to be most remarkable; and these varying scenes of beauty have seemed to be suggestive of what nations can do for each other, some giving the beauty and the tender tones; some giving the sturdy and strenuous effort. may the intercourse between the people of the north and the people of brazil hereafter not be confined to an occasional visitor. may the advance of transportation bring new and swift steamship lines to be established between the coasts of north and south america. may we hope by frequently visiting each other to make our peoples strong in intercourse and friendship. may we be of mutual advantage and help to each other along the pathway of common prosperity, and may my people ever be mindful of the honor which you have done to them, through the gracious and bountiful hospitality with which you have made me happy! speech of senator ruy barbosa after mr. root's admirable speech, after such an orator as mr. root, and so inspired as he has been, nobody should have the courage to speak. nevertheless, i do not know how to resist the wishes of our amiable host, our eminent secretary for foreign affairs, and of those who surround me here. this is quite an unexpected surprise for me; but it comes in so imperious a way that i cannot but submit, hoping you will be indulgent. we have felt in mr. root's words the vibration of the american soul in all its intensity, in all its eloquence, in all its power, in all its trustiness. so they could not have a better answer than the applause of so brilliant an audience as has just greeted his remarkable speech. however, since the task of rendering the echo of mr. root's words in our hearts devolves upon me, i can only perform it truthfully by thanking him "again and still again," for his beneficent visit to brazil. we suppose, mr. root, that it does not come only from you. we are sure that you would not take this far-reaching step unless you counted, without a shadow of doubt, upon the sanction of american opinion. and knowing as we do that the united states are, from every standpoint, the most complete and dazzling success among modern nations, admiring them as the honor and pride of our continent, we rejoice, we exult, to open our homes, our bosoms, the arms of our modest and honest hospitality, to the giant of the republics, to the mother of american democracies, in the person of her own government, one of whose strongest and noblest functions centers in the person of her secretary of state. our life as an independent nation is not yet a long one. we are, as such, only about eighty years old, albeit this may not be a very brief period in these days of ours, when time should not be measured by the number of years, inasmuch as not a great deal more than a century has been enough for the united states to become one of the greatest powers in the world. short as it is, however, our national existence has not been devoid of noble dates, of fruitful and memorable events. amidst them, mr. root, this one will stand forever as a blessed landmark, or rather as the gushing-out of a new political stream, whose waves of peace, of freedom, of morality, shall spread by and by all over the immensity of our continent. this is our wish, i will not say our dream, but our hope. you must have felt it, and will continue to feel it, at the throbbing of our national arteries, in recife, in bahia, now in this capital, and tomorrow in são paulo. do not see in my words the looming of a momentous sensation. no! they do not tell my own impressions as an individual. they convey truthfully the voice of the people through the lips of a man who does not serve other interests. they only anticipate, i believe, what you shall hear from our legislative representation, in the highest demonstration of public feeling possible under a popular government; may the historic scene of lafayette, the liberal french soldier, the fellow-helper in american independence, being received in the american house of representatives, find a worthy imitation in the reception of the great american minister, the daring promoter of union in the american continent, by the two houses of our national congress. so let us raise our cup to the northern colossus, the model of liberal republics, the united states of america, in their living and vigorous personification, in their image visible and cherished among us, mr. elihu root. footnotes: [ ] _deuxième conférence de la paix_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] this speech was not reported and therefore cannot be reproduced. uruguay montevideo speech of his excellency josÉ romeu minister for foreign affairs at a banquet given by him to mr. root, august , when, after plowing through the waters of the caribbean sea and running along the eastern coast of brazil the north american cruiser _charleston_ entered the magnificent bay of rio de janeiro, i had the opportunity of sending to the illustrious representative of the united states, who today is our distinguished guest, a telegraphic greeting on the occasion of his arrival in south america and expressing the desire that his arrival might be the beginning of an era of fraternity and intercourse advantageous to all the nations of the american continent. the words of the telegram, the significant reply of the secretary, and the very eloquent words he delivered before the pan american congress at rio de janeiro, are not a mere act of international courtesy; they are, in my judgment, the expression of the popular sentiment. they constitute the aspiration of all america. they express, at the least, the fervent desires of the uruguayan people and of its government, who see in the visit of the illustrious secretary of state the foreshadowing of progress, of culture, and fraternity, which will bring the peoples closer together, contributing to their prosperity and to their greatness, through which they may figure with honor in the concert of civilized nations. these sentiments, as is well known, have been increasing with the events that have made a vigorous people of the great northern republic, capable of preponderating in the destinies of humanity on account of the enterprising genius of all its sons, on account of the irresistible force of its energies and of its abundant riches; and, very especially, on account of its redeeming influence of republican virtues, a characteristic mark of the puritan and the other elements which organized the federal government on the immovable base of liberty, justice, and democracy. the pages of history show that the ideals of its own constitution, like every great and generous ideal, passing over the distance from the potomac to the banks of the river plata, penetrated immediately to the farthest corner of the american continent. there soon afterwards arose a new world of free countries where the undertakings of solís or pizarro and cortés will initiate a civilization destined to prosper in the life-giving blast of liberty and in the vigorous impulse which democracy infused into the old organizations of the colonial régime. the example of the united states and its moral assistance animated the patriots. put to the proof in the memorable struggle for emancipation, its fortitude and its heroism overturned all obstacles until the desired moment of the consolidation, by its own effort, of the independence of the american continent. indeed, the influence of the united states in the diplomatic negotiations which preceded the recognition of the new nationalities, and the chivalrous declaration which president monroe launched upon the world, contributed efficaciously to assure the stability of the growing republic. its development and its greatness were, from that instant, intrusted to the patriotism of its sons, to the fraternity of the american peoples, and to the fruitful labor of the coming generations. in spite of such social upheavals, which bring with them the ready-made collisions of arms, the antagonism of interests, and the struggle of ideas--inherent factors of every movement of emancipation--the nations of the new continent should not, nor will they, ever forget that from spanish ground columbus's three-masted vessel--a homeric expedition--set forth, founders of numerous peoples and flourishing colonies, leaving in our land mementos, languages, customs, sentiments and traditions, which the evolutions of the human spirit do not easily obliterate. from noble france and its glorious revulsion against the remnants of feudalism arose the declaration of the rights of man and equitable ideas, which are faithfully portrayed in our democratic institutions. italy, germany, and spain send to america a valuable contingent of their emigration. the currents of commerce and progress were at one time, and they are at the present time, largely fomented by the shipping and the capital of great britain. from the foreign office of that nation, among all the powers of old europe, came the first disposition toward the recognition of american independence. all these circumstances are bonds which tie us to the european countries, but which do not hinder, nor can they hinder, our relations with the great northern republic, as with all those of latin origin, always being cordially maintained, strengthened, and increased toward the ends of highly noble and patriotic progress, developing a world policy of wise foresight, tending to consolidate the destinies of the american countries. difficulties, soon to disappear, due to distance and lack of rapid and direct communications, have impeded the active interchange between the united states and this country, barring which no reason exists why their social and commercial relations may not be extended with reciprocal advantages. in giving welcome to mr. root on his arrival in uruguayan territory, i consider as one of my most pleasing personal gratifications the fact of having initiated the idea of inviting our distinguished guest to visit the river plata countries. if, as i do not doubt, the visit of the distinguished member of the government of the united states shall make the peoples of the north and the south know one another better; if the era of pan american fraternity takes the flight to which we should aspire; if these demonstrations of courtesy are to tend, therefore, toward the progress of the nations of the continent and the mutual respect and consideration of their respective governments, the satisfaction of having promoted some of these benefits and the honor of a happy initiative, deferentially received by the illustrious secretary of state, to whom the oriental people today offer the testimony of their esteem and sympathy, belong, at least in part, to the uruguayan foreign office. i drink, ladies and gentlemen, to pan american fraternity, to the greatness of the united states of north america, to the health of his excellency president roosevelt, to the happiness of mr. elihu root and of his distinguished family. reply of mr. root i have already thanked you for that welcome message which greeted my first advent in the harbor of rio de janeiro. i have now to add my thanks, both for the gracious invitation which brings me here and for the surpassing kindness and hospitality with which i and my family have been welcomed to montevideo. it is most gratifying to hear from the lips of one of the masters of south american diplomacy, one who knows the reality of international politics, so just an estimate of the attitude of my own country toward her south american sisters. the great declaration of monroe, made in the infancy of latin american liberty, was an assertion to all the world of the competency of latin americans to govern themselves. that assertion my country has always maintained; and my presence here is, in part, for the purpose of giving evidence of her belief that the truth of the assertion has been demonstrated; that, in the progressive development which attends the course of nations, the peoples of south america have proved that their national tendencies and capacities are, and will be, on and ever on in the path of ordered liberty. i am here to learn more, and also to demonstrate our belief in the substantial similarity of interests and sympathies of the american self-governing republics. you have justly indicated that there is nothing in the growing friendship between our countries which imperils the interests of those countries in the old world from which we have drawn our languages, our traditions, and the bases of our customs and our laws. i think it may be safely said that those nations who planted their feeble colonies on these shores, from which we have spread so widely, have profited far more from the independence of the american republics than they would have profited if their unwise system of colonial government had been continued. in the establishment of these free and independent nations in this continent they have obtained a profitable outlet for their trade, employment for their commerce, food for their people, and refuge for their poor and their surplus population. we have done more than that. we have tried here their experiments in government for them. the reflex action of the american experiments in government has been felt in every country in europe without exception, and has been far more effective in its influence than any good quality of the old colonial system could have been. and now our prosperity but adds to their prosperity. intercourse in trade, exchange of thought in learning, in literature, in art--all add to their power and their prosperity, their intellectual activity, and their commercial strength. we still draw from their stores of wealth commercially, spiritually, intellectually, and physically, and we are beginning to return, in rich measure, with interest, what we have got from them. we have learned that national aggrandizement and national prosperity are to be gained rather by national friendship than by national violence. the friendship for your country that we from the north have is a friendship that imperils no interest of europe. it is a friendship that springs from a desire to promote the common welfare of mankind by advancing the rule of order, of justice, of humanity, and of the christianity which makes for the prosperity and happiness of all mankind. it is not as a messenger of strife that i come to you; but i am here as the advocate of universal friendship and peace. address of his excellency josÉ batlle y ordÓÑez president of uruguay at the banquet given by him at the government house, august , we celebrate an event new to south america--the presence in the heart of our republics of a member of the government of the united states of the north. that grand nation has wished thus to manifest the interest her sisters of the south inspire in her and her purpose of strongly drawing together the links that bind her to them. born on the same continent and in the same epoch, ruled by the same institutions, animated by the same spirit of liberty and progress, and destined alike to cause republican ideas to prevail on earth, it is natural that the nations of all america should approach nearer and nearer to each other, and unite more and more amongst themselves; and it is natural, also, that the most powerful and the most advanced amongst them should be the one to take the initiative in this union. your grand republic, mr. secretary of state, is consistent in confiding to you this mission of fraternity and solidarity with the ideas and intentions manifested by her at the dawn of the liberty of our continent. the same sentiment that inspired the monroe doctrine brings you to our shores as the herald of the concord and community of america. we welcome you most cordially. you find us earnestly laboring to make justice prevail, enamored of progress, confident in the future. far removed from the european continent, whence emerges the wave of humanity that peoples the american territories and becomes the origin of nations so glorious as yours, the growth and organization of the peoples in these regions have been slow; and public and social order has been frequently upset in our distant and scarcely populated prairies. but in the midst of these disturbances that have likewise afflicted, in their epochs of formation, almost all the present best constituted nations, sound tendencies and true principles of order and liberty prevail, nationalities are constituted in a definite manner, and republican institutions are consecrated. your great nation, mr. secretary of state, is not new to this work. she has had important participation in it. i do not refer to the monroe doctrine that made the elder sister the zealous defender of the younger ones. i speak of the radiant example of your republican virtue, your industrial initiative, your economic development, your scientific advances, your ardent and virile activity that has reënforced our faith in right, in liberty, in justice, in the republic, and has animated us--as a noble and victorious example does animate--in our dark days of disturbance and disaster. yes, the epoch of internal convulsions is drawing to its close in this part of america, and the peoples, finding themselves organized and at peace, are dedicating themselves to all those tasks that exalt the human mind and originate, in modern times, the greatness of nations. you tread upon a land that has recently been watered abundantly with blood--upon one in which, nevertheless, the love of liberty, within the limits of order, the love of well-being, and the love of progress under legal governments is intense; upon one in which we live earnestly dedicated, in all branches of activity, to the labor that dignifies and fortifies, certain that for us has commenced an honorable era of internal peace. you have said it, mr. secretary of state: out of the tumult of wars strong and stable governments have arisen; law prevails over the will of man; right and liberty are respected. but this progress of public reason must be complemented. it is not sufficient that internal peace should be assured; it is necessary to secure external peace also. it is necessary that the american nations should draw near to each other; should know, should love each other; it is requisite to drive away, to suppress the danger of distrust, of rivalry, and of international conflicts; that the same sentiment that repudiated internal struggles should rise within as against the struggles of people against people, and that these should also be considered as the unfruitful shedding of the blood of brethren; that the calamitous armed peace may never appear in our land, and that the enormous sums used to sustain it on the european and asiatic continents shall be employed amongst us in the development of industries, commerce, arts, and sciences. the work may be realized by determination and constancy. the republican institutions that everywhere prevail on our continent are not propitious to the caesars who make their glory consist in the sinister brilliancy of battles and in the increase of their territorial domains. these same institutions give voice and vote in the direction of public affairs to the multitudes, whose primordial interest is ever peace, the sparing of their own blood, so unfruitfully shed in the great catastrophes of war. america will be, then, the continent of peace, of a just peace, founded on respect for the rights of all nations, a respect which--as you, mr. secretary of state, have said in tones that have resounded all over the surface of the earth, deeply moving all true hearts--must be as great for the weakest nations as for the most powerful empires. this pan american public opinion will be created and will be made effective, a public opinion charged to systematize the international conduct of the nations, to suppress injustice, and to establish among them relations ever more and more profoundly cordial. your country and your government fulfill the part, not of the false friend that incites to anarchy and weakens her friends that she may prevail over them and dominate them, but that of the faithful and true friend who exerts herself to unite them; and, that they may become good and strong, concurs with all her moral power in the realization of this work of the pan american congresses, destined to become a modern amphictyon to whose decisions all the great american questions will be submitted, already giving prestige thereto by such words as you have spoken to the congress of rio de janeiro, which present to the american world new and grand perspectives of peace and progress. mr. secretary of state, ladies and gentlemen, in the presence of deeds of this magnitude, inspired and filled with enthusiasm by them, let us pour out a libation to the united states of the north, to its vigorous president, to you and to your distinguished family, the herald of continental friendship, and to the american fatherland, from the bering straits to cape horn. reply of mr. root i thank you for the kind reference to myself, and i thank you for the high terms in which you have spoken of my country, from which i am so far away. do not think, i beg you, sir, if i accept what you have said regarding the country i love, that we, in the north, consider ourselves so perfect as your description of us. we have virtues, we have good qualities, and we are proud of them; but we ourselves know in our own hearts how many faults we have. we know the mistakes we have made, the failures we have made, the tasks that are still before us to perform. yet from the experiences of our efforts and our successes, and from the experiences of our faults and our failures, we, the oldest of the organized republics of america, say to you of uruguay, and to all our sisters, "be of good cheer and confident hope." you have said, mr. president, in your eloquent remarks this evening, that the progress of uruguay has been slow. slow as measured by our lives, perhaps, but not slow as measured by the lives of nations. the march of civilization is slow; it moves little during single human lives. through the centuries and the ages it proceeds with deliberate and certain step. look to england, whence came the principles embodied in your constitution, and ours, where first were developed the principles of free representative government. remember through how many generations england fought and bled in her wars of the white and the red--her blancos and colorados--the white rose of york and the red rose of lancaster, before she could win her way to the security of english law. look to france, whence came the great declarations of the rights of man and remember--i in my own time can remember--the tuileries standing in bright and peaceful beauty, and then in a pile of blackened ruins bearing the inscription, "liberty, equality, and fraternity," doing injustice to liberty, to equality, and to fraternity. these nations have passed through their furnaces. every nation has had its own hard experience in its progressive development, but a nation is certain to progress if its tendency is right. it is so with uruguay. you are passing through the phases of steady development. the restless and untiring soul of josé artigas, who made the independence of uruguay possible, did its work in its time, but its time is past; it is not the day of artigas now. the genius of the two great men, for the love of whom your political parties crystallized upon one side and upon the other, had its day, but that day has passed away. step by step uruguay is taking its course, as the elder nations of the earth have been taking theirs, steadily onward and upward, seeking more perfect justice and ordered liberty. one of the most deeply seated feelings in the human heart is love of approbation. may we not have such relations to each other that the desire for each other's approbation shall sustain us in the right course and warn us away from the wrong, and help us in our development to preserve high ideals, the ideals of justice and humanity necessary to free self-government? it is with that hope that i am here, your guest. it is with that desire that my people send the message of friendship to yours. in the name of my president, theodore roosevelt, i offer you, mr. president, the most sincere assurance of friendship and confidence. speech of doctor zorrilla de san martÍn at a breakfast by the reception committee, in the atheneum at montevideo august , before we rise from the table i have the pleasant task of saying to you a few words to reflect and perpetuate the sentiment which has caused us to desire to share with you the bread of uruguay and to drink in your company the wine which gladdens the heart of man, according to the expression of the holy book. yes, mr. secretary, we are glad and happy to have you among us, and we wish that this repast, at which, as you see, a representative group of the ladies of montevidean society surrounds and bestows graceful attention upon your most worthy spouse and your daughter, may be a symbol of the intense affection which can be shown to a welcome guest, that of opening to you the door of our home, that of introducing you into the affections of our household. yes, we are glad, sir, not only because we have the honor of knowing you to be a gentleman and an illustrious personage who is a glory among the glories of our america, but because--i must be very frank with you now,--because we are convinced that this visit of yours will redound to the honor as well as the benefit of that which is dearest to us, of that which we love above all else on earth, our good mother-country, uruguay, this good sovereign mother of ours who is the mistress of our life and whom we cannot help believing, under pain of ceasing to be her sons, to be the greatest, the most beautiful and the most amiable of mothers, just as you think of yours, sir; just as you feel regarding your excellent american land. we, sir, being perhaps carried away by an ingenuous filial illusion, are persuaded that to know our uruguay is to love her; and for this reason we have desired that you should know her; for this reason we cherish the hope that, when you have returned to your country and recall the sum of reminiscences of your memorable voyage, pleasant and lucid recollections will burst forth of this people which has been the first to shake your hand upon your setting foot on the soil of a republic of sub-tropical america, and which offers you its bread and drinks with you the wine of friendship in a sincere transport of enduring sympathy. we thought, mr. secretary, that we saw you respectfully kiss the brow of our mother when, in a moment which should be considered historical, you defined at the pan american congress of rio de janeiro the object and character of your visit to the spanish-american republics, to these favorite daughters who are advancing slowly but surely up the steep mountain at whose summit the ideal of self-government, freedom, and order, and the reign of internal justice and peace awaits them; these are the foundation and real guaranty of the reign of international justice and peace, to which we aspire. yes, mr. secretary, you spoke the truth in your memorable speech at rio de janeiro, and your words seem like corner stones. sovereign states are not merely coexisting on the face of the earth, but are members of one great palpitating organism, collective persons who, obeying the same natural law which groups together physical persons into civil and political society, also instinctively group themselves together in order to form the body, the life, and the thought of the international world. just as social life, far from disparaging the essential attributes of the sacred human person, constitutes the ambient medium necessary to the life, the development, and the attainment of the inalienable destiny of man, so this great commonwealth of nations, whose permanent establishment in america is the earnest desire of the congress at rio de janeiro, should have as its inviolable basis and essential purpose the life, the honor, the prosperity, and the glory of the sovereign states which constitute it. you have proclaimed democracy, sir, as the most powerful bond which unites the republics of america. but democracy is nothing else than the equality of men before the law, and is consequently above all the triumphant vindication of the right of the weak in their relations with the strong. therefore, sir, in pronouncing this name of our common mother, you did so only in order to proclaim, as the american ideal in the relations of states, the same noble principle which governs the relations of free men, and which is the essence of our being; you proclaimed, then, a species of international american democracy in the bosom of which all persons should be persons with full self-consciousness, with an individual destiny independent of the destiny of others, with the moral and material means to accomplish this destiny, with freedom, with dignity, and with all the attributes which characterize and ennoble the person and distinguish it from inferior beings. to elevate the moral level of this great international democracy which you have proclaimed, and of which our america should be the prototype, there is but one means, namely, to elevate the level of all and every one of the units which compose it, and to stimulate in all and every one of them a consciousness of and pride in their own destiny, an undying love for the abstract idea of country, and a deep conviction that in the sphere of peoples, just as in that of the orbs, there is no star, no matter how powerful, which can perturb the gravitation of the other stars; for over the entire body of the worlds stands the immutable law which governs them, and over this law is the sovereign will of the supreme legislator of orbs and of souls. this was the echo in my mind, mr. secretary, of what you said at rio de janeiro and are confirming among us. your words were great and good because they were yours, without any doubt; but they were so, above all, because they were in accord with the ideal of justice in pursuit of which humanity is slowly marching--with that solemn diapason hung between heaven and earth which furnishes the pitch from time to time to men and peoples and worlds, in order that they may not depart from the universal harmony. your words have reverberated like a friendly voice in the depths of the soul of this people, which has acclaimed you without reserve because it has understood you, sir. and for this reason, because i have thought that i interpreted all the generous intensity of your attitude and of your speeches, i have not told you at this time, as would have appeared natural, how much we in uruguay love and admire your wonderful american country, whose stars shine perhaps without precedent in the sky of human history, but rather how much we respect and with what a passion we love our good uruguayan mother-country, whose sun is also a star; how glad we are to see it honored by your visit, and how we cherish the hope that you will bear away a remembrance of us as a sincerely friendly people--a people very conscious of its own destinies, of its rights, and of its duties; in a word, a people very much in accord with that grand harmony which exists among sovereign states which respect and love one another, and which you have proclaimed in the name of your country as the supreme ideal of our free america. ladies and gentlemen, let us fill our glasses with the most generous wine, with the wine which most gladdens and cheers the heart of man--with the wine of hope--and let us drink to the health of our illustrious guest and messenger who represents here the intelligence and the thought of the heart, and to the health of his wife and daughter, who are the amiable symbol thereof; to the greater brilliancy of the stars of his country, our glorious friend; to the realization, on the american continent and throughout the world, of his exalted ideas of peace, fraternity, and justice. reply of mr. root i am deeply sensible of the honor you confer upon me and upon my family by this bounteous, hospitable, and graceful festival. it is a special honor that the banquet to which we are invited should be presided over by a gentleman who has such high esteem in the public life of your own country; that the flattering, the too flattering words which have been addressed to my poor self--words of just and kindly esteem regarding my great and noble country, should be spoken by a poet who breathes in his verses the spirit of uruguay wherever his own world-known literature is found. it is a cause of happiness to receive this distinguished consideration here in this temple devoted to science, to literature, to the arts, to those pursuits which dignify, ennoble, and delight mankind, which give the charm and grace to life, which make possible the continuance of mankind in the paths of civilization. here in this atheneum, in this atmosphere of scientific and literary discussion and thought, already exists that world-wide republic which knows no divisions of territorial boundary, of races, or of creed. upon the platform you have erected here, the men of north and the men of south america can stand in fraternal embrace. i have been preaching for the past few weeks in many places and before many audiences the gospel of international fraternization. i know there are many incredulous; there are many who think practical considerations alone rule the efforts of men--profit in trade, the almighty dollar, the balance of bookkeeping, or the checks in the counting house. there are many who think that this is all there is to life, and that he is an idle dreamer and an insincere orator who talks of the constancy of international friendship, who talks of love of country rising above the love of material things, who talks of sentiment as controlling the affairs of men. that may be true so far as their own short and narrow lives are concerned; but it is not an idle dream that the world through the course of ages is growing up from material to spiritual, to moral, and to intellectual life. it is not an idle dream that moral influences are gradually, steadily in the course of centuries taking the place of brute force in the control of the affairs of men. sentiment rules the world today--the feelings of the great masses of mankind; the attractions and repulsions that move the millions rule the world today; and as generation succeeds generation progress is ever from the material to the moral. we cannot see it in a day; we cannot see it in a single lifetime, as we cannot see the movements of the tide. we see the waves, but the tide moves on imperceptibly. the progress, the steady and irresistible progress of civilization is ever onwards. mr. chairman, and you, señor zorrilla de san martín, in your eloquent, your more than eloquent, your poetic words, do honor to the idea of peace and justice and friendship and the rule of moral qualities in the relations of nations. when you do honor to the representative of that idea you are doing your work in your day and generation to advance the great cause that proceeds through the ages to the better and higher life of mankind. we are nothing; our lives are but as moments; our personal work is inappreciable in this world; but slowly, imperceptibly, we, each individually, add a little to or detract a little from human rights, human liberty, human justice. i do not know how sufficiently to thank you, to thank the people of montevideo, for all that you and they have done for me and my family during our brief--our all too brief--visit here. i believe that your kindness, your generous hospitality, will find response in the breasts of my countrymen; i believe that it will be an example to the people of south america and of north america; i believe that it will be evidence to the whole world that the ideas of friendship--of international friendship and courtesy--rule here in uruguay; that uruguay is a part of the great brotherhood of man, not selfish, but heart open to the best and brightest influences of humanity, doing her part in her time to advance the cause of civilization. i know that when tomorrow morning we sail away from montevideo we shall all carry with us the most delightful visions of a fair and bright land, of a white city and a beautiful bay; memories of hospitality and friendship, and memories of the most beautiful women. we can never repay you, for your hospitality has been of the kind that asks for no payment; it has been true hospitality. we can only thank you, and thank you we do now and thank you we shall continue to do as long as we live. argentina buenos ayres address of honorable emilio mitre in reference to the visit of mr. root, in the chamber of deputies july , this speech, delivered before mr. root reached buenos ayres, had an intimate relation to his reception. within a few weeks, mr. president, buenos ayres will receive the visit of an eminent personality of the united states, mr. elihu root, who is discharging in that country the duties of secretary of state. the executive of the nation, having official knowledge of the visit of mr. root, has already taken measures to entertain him and to make his sojourn in the argentine republic agreeable; but it has appeared to me, mr. president, that the chamber of deputies should itself spontaneously take an initiative in this manifestation, in view of the personality of the man and the country he represents. the united states are for us, as is well known, the cradle of our democratic institutions; we are bound to them by those ties of friendship and of interest that are known to all and which it would be superfluous to enumerate; but apart from this, there exists between that country and ours historic bonds that secure our profound sympathies. it is beneficial from time to time to ascend the currents of history in order to gather the lessons of the past which may serve us as a guide in our constant march into the future. when we study in its annals the action of the government of the united states in the epoch of argentine independence, we encounter demonstrations of a solicitude, of an affection, of a solidarity, of a participation in the struggles of those heroic times, so marked that the argentine spirit necessarily feels itself impressed with the sentiment of intense gratitude and the necessity of repaying in some way those manifestations now somewhat forgotten. it is of importance, mr. president, that our people should know well the other peoples with whom they exchange products, manufactures, and ideas, especially when, in respect to the latter, those that they receive surpass in quantity those they give. and if there is any country that the argentine people need to know well, any people, in its history, in its methods, in its sentiments, and in its intentions, it is the united states of america, the elder sister, the forerunner, and the model. in the epoch of our independence, mr. president, the public life of the united states was constantly interested in the vicissitudes of the struggle that these peoples waged for their independence on both slopes of the andes and in the regions of venezuela. if you read the messages of the presidents of the united states you find in them, year after year, words that prove the interest of that country in the destiny of these countries. at a date as early as , a message of president madison contained phrases full of sympathy for the great communities which were struggling for their liberty in this part of the world; and the attention of congress was called to the necessity of being prepared to enter into relations of government to government with them, as soon as their independence should be sanctioned. from the time in which monroe, the author of the famous doctrine, assumed the presidency of the republic, in all the messages at the opening of congress, there is a distinct reference to the struggle of these nations for their independence, and in particular to the conflict that developed in the rio de la plata and the victorious progress of the arms of buenos ayres on this and on the other side of the mountains and on the plateau of bolivia. in all these documents reference is made to independence as a probable fact, which must necessarily at that time have exerted an influence in favor of the cause of the patriots; and often the declaration was repeated that, the colonies being emancipated, the united states did not seek and would not accept from them any commercial advantage that was not also offered to all other nations. these manifestations which emanated from the government and reflected the movement of public opinion, found eloquent exponents in congress also. in the records of the american congress of , one year after the declaration of independence by the congress of tucuman, a famous debate is recorded, begun by henry clay, the celebrated orator, who pleaded the cause of argentine independence in the most enthusiastic terms. in this debate a representative from new york also took a prominent part; this representative bore the same name as the envoy whom we are to receive from the united states of america, mr. root. spain had complained of the expeditions that were fitted out in ports of the united states to foment american revolution. the government was tolerant with these infractions of neutrality; popular sympathy made the condemnation of such conspirators impossible. spain, with whom the united states had relations of great importance, and with whom they were negotiating the cession of florida, had protested to the government against these expeditions of its rebellious subjects. the president, forced to do so, had sent to congress a message requesting the enactment of a law of neutrality. clay and root opposed it; and the latter said that it was worth while to go to war with spain if a demonstration in favor of the liberty and independence of those countries could be made. later, during the administration of john quincy adams, these manifestations of the american government in favor of argentine independence are met with on every page of the records of congress. in , the first discussion took place in the american congress--a concrete discussion on the necessity of recognizing argentine independence. henry clay was, as always, the leader of this discussion, following up the movements which, with extraordinary zeal, he had made at reunions, in the press, and in congress. he delivered a speech that it is impossible for one to read without feeling his spirit moved on observing the solicitude, the interest, with which at that early date this apostle of democracy expressed himself in regard to the struggle of these peoples to gain their independence. all, without exception, pronounced themselves in favor of the independence of these peoples, which they recognized in principle. but a parliamentary question of privilege was raised, as to the prerogative of the executive, it being alleged that the initiative, proposed by clay, of naming a minister to these countries, encroached upon the functions of the executive when the latter believed it wise to send simply agents. on this question opinion was divided, but not a single vote was cast that did not express the warmest sympathy with the cause of the patriots. while such was the attitude of the american congress, in the press and in popular meetings manifestations of adhesion to the cause of the south american independence appeared at every moment. but above all, the place where traces of this determined action of the government of the united states in favor of argentine independence are to be found is in the records of the state department at washington, in which reference is made to the activity of its representative in london, at that time the famous statesman, richard rush. rush was the minister of the united states in london from the end of , when he left the post of secretary of state. he began negotiations immediately with lord castlereagh, prime minister of england, to induce the british foreign office to enter upon a policy of frank adhesion to the emancipation of these countries from the dominion of spain. there we see, mr. president, how united the action of the united states was in this movement, inspired by the most sincere democratic desires, by a true love of liberty. the prime minister of england received mr. rush's proposals coldly. england had been appealed to by spain to mediate between her and the holy alliance, in order to obtain the submission of the rebellious provinces; and england had indicated the advisability of acceding to this reintegration of spanish dominion, on the basis of the return of these countries to a state of dependence, with the condition of a general amnesty. in the conference between lord castlereagh and minister rush, the latter positively declared that the united states could never contribute to such retrogression, and that the aims of their government favored the recognition of the complete independence of america. this was in . it would occupy much time, mr. president, but would not be without interest, to review in detail all the negotiations entered into by the north american representative in london, from the time of lord castlereagh to that of canning, who succeeded him. in february, , rush notified castlereagh that the washington government considered that the new south american states had established the position obtained by the victory of their arms, and that president monroe had given an _exequatur_ to a consul from buenos ayres, and was resolved at all hazards to recognize argentine independence. lord castlereagh declared himself openly at variance with the views of the government of the united states, and said that great britain had done all that was possible to terminate the strife between spain and her colonies, but always on the basis of the restoration of the dominion of the former. in , then, the united states were the only nation that insisted upon asserting the independence of our country. thanks to their attitude, all the attempts begun by the holy alliance to suppress the movement for emancipation failed. the death of lord castlereagh did not change the situation. even the acts of canning, if examined, and if the negotiations of the then american minister are analyzed, leave an impression of opposition, because that great british minister, who, according to history, clinched as it were the independence of this country with his celebrated declaration, was not always of the same way of thinking; and it was necessary for the minister of the united states to inculcate in him the policy of his country in order that he should decide to adopt a policy openly favorable to south american independence. such is the finding of the most accurate of argentine historians. on march , , president monroe sent to the congress of the united states his celebrated message proposing the recognition of the argentine independence. in that message the president renewed his assurances of sympathy for the cause of buenos ayres, and confirmed the entire disinterestedness with which his government espoused the cause of the political integrity of the youthful nation. the house of representatives voted the recognition of argentine independence unanimously, except for one vote--that of representative garnett, who declared that he did not object to the recognition, but that he considered it unnecessary, and he cited in support of his view an opinion of rivadavia. the united states was, then, the first country after portugal (which through motives of special interest had recognized our independence), to make a similar recognition; and england, which followed the united states, did not do so until three years later, january , . even after the recognition of argentine independence by the united states, conferences continued to be held in europe to establish the régime of the dominion of the mother country over the already independent colonies. then new conferences took place with canning, in which the minister of the united states confirmed anew the policy of his country in the matter of the final recognition of the independence of this republic. during that period, a document appeared that emanated from john quincy adams, addressed to rush, in which he declined to enter into the plan for convoking a congress intended to treat of the questions of south america, and stated that the united states would never attend such a congress unless the south american republics were first invited. to accentuate the attitude of his government, mr. adams adds that if the congress were to take place, with intent hostile to the new republics, the united states would solemnly protest against it and its calamitous consequences. the systematic and persistent action of the united states ended by determining in canning a policy favorable to south american independence, and opposed to the intervention of any foreign power in the destinies of the new republics. great britain and the united states once in accord, after negotiations in which jefferson and madison united their counsel to that of president monroe, these two patriots expressing themselves in terms of moving eloquence in favor of the cause of emancipation, the question was settled forever. some months afterward, december , , president monroe consummated his action by sending to congress the message that contains the enunciation of his famous doctrine. "america for the americans", mr. president, was a formula that, as i understand it, meant the final consecration of the independence of the american nations; it was the voice of the most powerful of them all, proclaiming to the world that conquest in the domain of this america was at an end; it was notification to the conquering powers of europe that they should not extend themselves to these continents because this extensive territory was all occupied by free nations, outside of whose sovereignty not an inch was vacant. the independence of these republics having been settled on the field of battle by the sole force of the republics, the declaration of the american president was the culminating act of that grand epic. for the united states it is a record of honor; for europe it is an ultimatum. the monroe doctrine exists today with all the force of a law of nations, and no country of europe has dared to dispute it. it is fitting, mr. president, to appreciate exactly the meaning of this great act, of the splendid attitude, more fertile for the peace of the earth and for its progress than all the conventions that european nations have arranged from time to time in order to determine their quarrels. the american president, in formulating this doctrine, decreed peace between europe and america, which seemed destined, the former to assault always for conquest, the latter to fight always to defend its frontiers. in short, the monroe doctrine has been the veto on war between europe and america; in its shadow these youthful nations have grown until today they are sufficiently strong to proclaim the same doctrine as the emblem on their shield. and the most glorious characteristic of this doctrine is that it is a dictate of civilization, in the nature of a magnificent hymn of peace, which can be chanted at the same time by the european and the american nations, because it avoided that permanent contention which would have subvened if the system of conquest that europe has developed in regard to certain nations had been implanted here in the territory of south america. well, mr. president, he who is coming to visit us is a conspicuous citizen of that nation, and brings, as it is said--and i believe the foreign office already is informed in regard thereto--a message of peace and fraternity of utmost interest to our progress. we ought to take advantage of this opportunity to give this envoy a reception worthy of his people and worthy of himself. i have privately communicated to the minister for foreign affairs the idea of this project, and i have had the pleasure to hear from his lips the most complete adherence to my declaration that in addition to a bill authorizing the expenses, there was the intention of preparing for mr. root a manifestation emanating spontaneously from the argentine congress. the minister believes this demonstration to be the necessary complement of the demonstration the national government is preparing for this envoy from the great republic. the historic facts i have recalled are a brief synthesis of an epoch sufficient to warrant the argentine people in associating themselves with the government and lending to the event their warm interest. i am doubly pleased to have recalled this noble history on the fourth of july, the anniversary of the independence of the great republic of the north. i believe that for these reasons, gentlemen, you will lend your support to this idea and fulfill the purpose for which it is presented. banquet at the government house speech of his excellency dr. j. figueroa alcorta president of argentina at a banquet given by him, august , the american republics are at this moment tightening their traditional bonds at a congress of fraternity whose importance has been indicated by the presence of our illustrious guest, who passes across the continent as the herald of the civilization of a great people. the world's conscience being awakened by the progress of public thought, the members of the family of nations are trying to draw closer together for the development of their activities, without fetters or obstacles, under the olive branch of peace and the guaranty of reciprocal respect for their rights. international conferences are a happy manifestation of that tendency, because, in the contact of representatives of the various states, hindrances and prejudices are dissipated, and there is shown to exist in the collective mind a common aspiration for the teachings of liberty and justice. america gives a recurring example of such congresses of peace and law. as each one takes place it is evident that the attributes of sovereignty of the nations which constitute it are displayed more clearly; that free government is taking deeper root, that democratic solidarity is more apparent, and that force is giving way more freely to reason as the fundamental principle of society. the congress of rio de janeiro has that lofty significance. its material, immediate consequences will be more or less important, but its moral result will be forever of transcendent benefit--a new departure and a step in advance in the development of liberal ideas in this part of the american continent. mr. secretary of state, your country has taken gigantic strides in the march of progress until it occupies a position in the vanguard. it has set a proud and shining example to its sister nations. as in the dawn of their emancipation it recognized in them the conqueror's right to stand among the independent states of the earth, so likewise it later stimulated the high aspiration to establish a political system representing the popular will, now inscribed in indelible characters in the preambles of american legislation. the argentine republic, after rude trials, has completed its constitutional régime, gathering experience and learning from the great republic of the north. the general lines of our organization followed those of the philadelphia convention, with the modifications imposed by circumstances, by the irresistible force of tradition, and by the idiosyncrasies peculiar to our race. the forefathers who drafted the argentine constitution were inspired in their work by those who, to the admiration of the world, created the constitution of the united states. many of our political doctrines are derived from the writings of hamilton, madison, and jay; the spirit of marshall and taney are seen in the hearings of our tribunals; and even the children in our schools, where they learn to personify the republican virtues, the love and sacrifice for country, respect for the rights of man, and the prerogatives of the citizen, speak the name of george washington with that of the foremost argentines. our home institutions being closely united and the shadows on the international horizon having disappeared, the argentine republic can occupy itself in fraternizing with other nations; and, like the united states, she aspires to strengthen the ties of friendship sanctioned by history and by the ideal philanthropy common to free institutions. your visit will have, in this aspect, great results. we have invited you to visit our territory in order to link the two countries more intimately; and your presence here indicates that this noble object will be realized, inspired as it is by the convenience of mutual interests and the sharing of noble aims. you are a messenger of the ideals of brotherhood, and as such you are welcome to the argentine republic. i salute you, in the name of the government and the people who have received you, as the genuine representative of your country, with that sincere desire for friendship which is loyally rooted in the national sentiment of argentina. gentlemen: to the united states of america; to its illustrious president, theodore roosevelt; to the secretary of state of north america, honorable elihu root! reply of mr. root i thank you, sir, for your kind welcome and for your words of appreciation. i thank you for myself; i thank you for that true and noble gentleman who holds in the united states of america the same exalted office which you hold here. i thank you in behalf of the millions of citizens in the united states. when your kind and courteous invitation reached me, i was in doubt whether the long absence from official duties would be justified; but i considered that your expression of friendship imposed upon me something more than an opportunity for personal gratification; it imposed upon me a duty. it afforded an opportunity to say something to the government and the people of argentina which would justly represent the sentiments and the feelings of the people of the united states toward you all. we do not know as much as we ought in the united states; we do not know as much as i would like to feel we know; but we have a traditional right to be interested in argentina. i thought today, when we were all involved in the common misfortune, at the time of my landing, that, after all, the united states and argentina were not simply fair-weather friends. we inherit the right to be interested in argentina, and to be proud of argentina. from the time when richard rush was fighting, from the day when james monroe threw down the gauntlet of a weak republic, as we were then, in defense of your independence and rights--from that day to this the interests and the friendship of the people of the united states for the argentine republic have never changed. we rejoice in your prosperity; we are proud of your achievements; we feel that you are justifying our faith in free government, and self-government; that you are maintaining our great thesis which demands the possession, the enjoyment, and the control of the earth by the people who inhabit it. we have followed the splendid persistency with which you have fought against the obstacles that stood in your path, with the sympathy that has come from similar struggles at home. like you, we have had to develop the resources of a vast unpeopled land; like you, we have had to fight for a foothold against the savage indians; like you, we have had conflicts of races for the possession of territory; like you, we have had to suffer war; like you, we have conquered nature; and like you, we have been holding out our hands to the people of all the world, inviting them to come and add to our development and share our riches. we live under the same constitution in substance; we are maintaining and attempting to perfect ourselves in the application of the same principles of liberty and justice. so how can the people of the united states help feeling a friendship and sympathy for the people of argentina? i deemed it a duty to come, in response to your kind invitation to say this, to say that there is not a cloud in the sky of good understanding; there are no political questions at issue between argentina and the united states; there is no thought of grievance by one against the other; there are no old grudges or scores to settle. we can rejoice in each other's prosperity; we can aid in each other's development; we can be proud of each other's successes without hindrance or drawback. and for the development of this sentiment in both countries, nothing is needed but more knowledge--that we shall know each other better; that not only the most educated and thoughtful readers of our two countries shall become familiar with the history of the other, but that the entire body of the people shall know what are the relations and what are the feelings of the other country. i should be glad if the people of argentina--not merely you, mr. president; not merely my friend, the minister of foreign affairs; not merely the gentlemen connected with the government, but the people of argentina--might know that the people of the united states are their friends, as i know the people of argentina are friends of the united states. i have come to south america with no more specific object than i have stated. our traditional policy in the united states of america is to make no alliances. it was inculcated by washington; it has been adhered to by his successors ever since. but, mr. president, the alliance that comes from unwritten, unsealed instruments, as that from the convention, signed and ratified with all formalities, is of vital consequence. we make no political alliances, but we make an alliance with all our sisters in sentiment and feeling, in the pursuit of liberty and justice, in mutual helpfulness; and in that spirit i beg to return to you and to your government and the people of this splendid and wonderful country my sincere thanks for the welcome you have given me and my country in my person. reception by american and english residents speech of mr. francis b. purdie at st. george's hall, august , americans resident in buenos ayres and in the argentine republic are sensible of the honor you have done them by accepting their invitation for this evening, and they appreciate most highly the courtesy of the argentine government, whose distinguished guest you are, in allowing them this coveted privilege. as americans we welcome you to buenos ayres, and it is our earnest hope that your visit here will bind more closely the ties of friendship which unite the great republics of the north and of the south, and that the knowledge you will gain of this great country and of its magnificent resources will lead to more familiar intercourse and to that good understanding which should exist between nations governed by like principles, living under constitutions framed in a like spirit, and having similar national aims. this gathering is the result of a public meeting called immediately after it was learned that you had accepted the invitation of the argentine government to visit this city. it was a meeting typically american, which had no dividing line on the question that our secretary of state was a man whom we would all delight to honor. the executive committee of the north american society of the river plata was intrusted with the arrangements. we believe you should know something of that society. organized only last november, it embraces in its membership practically every american in buenos ayres. for its age, i am not afraid to say that it is the most flourishing social organization that has ever been established in this country. what is the object of the society? not, i conceive, such as will arouse antagonism or jealousy in the mind of any man. as set forth in the preamble to its constitution, it is: "to keep alive the love of country and foster the spirit of patriotism,... and for such other purposes as will advance the interests of our country, encourage and maintain friendly relations with the country of our residence, and assist in promoting closer commercial union between the united states and the countries of the river plata." it is an organization framed in the spirit of our beloved lincoln, "with malice toward none." the society has no political aim or purpose. it plots for nothing but the well-being of all, and wishes for nothing less than the prosperity of the home land and the land of our residence. its members are imbued with that spirit which is the characteristic american attitude toward all nations and peoples, the spirit of "live and let live." apart from all that your visit may mean in international comity, it means much to us here; for you, mr. secretary, are the very living embodiment of the spirit to which i have referred, that broad americanism which does not seek to advantage itself by intruding on the rights of others. every speech made by you since leaving home has been an inspiration to us, and has strengthened us in our determination to live up to the principles upon which our society is founded. but it is not alone the americans in buenos ayres who have come here tonight to greet you, and who have wished to do you honor. your kinsmen from across the sea are here in their hundreds, for when it became known that such a reception as this was contemplated, the requests for the privilege of joining with us were so great in number that the sincerity of the english-speaking people could not be questioned, and the american society welcomed the opportunity to invite as its guests as many of the representative british and other english-speaking residents of buenos ayres as this hall can hold; and there is represented here every important public interest and private enterprise in this republic, and i have the honor, in their name as well as in the name of your countrymen, to assure you that you are in the house of your friends. i have told you, mr. root, what your countrymen feel about your coming here; i have referred to the cordial sympathy shown by the english-speaking residents; and it is with feelings of genuine pleasure that i now make reference to the attitude of the argentine government and the argentine people. this reference will not be my personal view alone; it is the expression of the feelings of representative americans in this city which has been voiced at every meeting we have held within the past few weeks. the argentine people are, and wish to remain, the friends of the united states. our committees have had the privilege of holding interviews with high officials of the government, with various committees of the leading citizens; and we have been convinced of the genuine nature of the reception prepared for you. this is too proud a nation to pretend that which it does not feel, and the history of buenos ayres will convince any student that this city has never been afraid to speak out, to applaud or condemn as its judgment dictated. the government officials have been sincerely cordial, and they have not been content merely to express their wish to give us every friendly help; they have, apart from their own magnificent preparations, given the americans here material assistance. the world owes much of its progress to opposing views, and the healthiest nations have the strongest political parties taking differing views upon questions of national policy, and these parties reach the public by means of the newspapers. the argentine republic is not an exception, but i doubt if there has ever been a theme upon which the press of this country has been so united as that honor should be shown to you. i speak for americans when i say that in the argentine republic we have found a home where absolute freedom is ours,--freedom in every walk of life; freedom for conscience; freedom to live, move, and have our being as god and our own wills may lead us. there are argentines here tonight who are not one whit behind us in their enthusiasm for you and for all that you represent, and there is a group here of argentines who have graduated from american colleges, who wish to say to you that next to their own country they revere the united states of america. you now know, mr. root, what friends you have before you, and we all bid you welcome, thrice welcome, to buenos ayres. reply of mr. root mr. chairman, my countrymen, my countrywomen, my friends from the land whence my fathers came, i need not say that i am glad to meet you. no one far away from his own land needs to be told that the looks, faces, the sound of voice, of one's own countrymen are a joy to the wanderer in strange lands. yet i do not find this such a strange land. i find here so many things to remind me of home, so many things that are like our own country, that it seems a little like coming home. such is the similarity in conditions, in spirit, in purpose; such is the impress of the same institutions and the same principles, that i cannot feel altogether a stranger; and when i meet you here at home almost i feel the warmth of my own fireside. i am glad to meet you because i think that perhaps to many of you who have been long in this distant land i may bring pleasant memories of cities and farms and homes, left behind many a year ago. but i hope that the new home you have found, the new duties you have taken up, have made you happy, prosperous, useful, full of the ambitions, activities, and satisfactions of life. there have been great changes in the united states of america--of north america, perhaps i must call it,--since most of you left your old homes. when you, mr. president, left us, we were a debtor nation; we were borrowing money from europe to develop our own resources, to build up our own country. most of the money was coming from our english friends. that capital built up our railways to make possible the wonderful development that has made the united states what it is. we had no capital, no time, no energy, to devote to anything but the task before us, to conquer our west and to develop our empty lands. in that distant day, when henry clay and john quincy adams espoused the cause of the infant republics of south america, we could have no relations with them but those of political sympathy, because we were too concentrated in the work that lay before us at home. twenty years ago, when that far-seeing and sanguine statesman, mr. blaine, inaugurated his south american policy and brought about the first american conference at washington, and the establishment of the bureau of american republics, we were still a debtor nation, with no surplus capital, and engrossed in doing our work at home. it was still impossible for us to have any relations with south america, except those of political sympathy. but since mr. blaine, times have changed. we have paid our debts; we have become a creditor rather than a debtor nation. we have for the first time within the last ten years begun to accumulate surplus capital, and it has accumulated with a wonderful rapidity,--a surplus capital to enable us to go out and establish new relations with the rest of the world. we now are beginning to be in a position where we can take the same relations towards other countries that england took towards us. we have paid our debts to england; the use of her capital in developing the united states has resulted in great advantage to both of us; and with the payment of the debt there has been left a warm and, i believe, enduring friendship between england and the united states. i should like to see the same kind of friendship between the united states and south america. i should like to see the great surplus capital which we are accumulating in the united states of north america turn southwards, to see it used to develop the vast resources of this country, with mutual advantage to both, so that when the time comes in the future, as it will come, when the people of argentina, with their resources developed, with their population increased, have accumulated all the capital they need and paid their debts, we shall have had our share both in their development and in their prosperity, and an enduring friendship may exist between us. now it has seemed to me, sir, that possibly the opportunity afforded by the kind and courteous invitation of the argentine government to visit this country might enable me to do something to this end, just at this juncture when a change in the attitude of the united states toward the rest of the world is taking place, when the change from the debtor to the creditor nation, is made; from the borrower of money to develop resources, to a country with surplus capital to send out to the world;--it seemed to me possible that i might by this visit help to establish the relations which i should like to see existing. i should like to be able to qualify myself to say in the most public way that this is a land to which the poor of all the world, who have enterprise without money, can come and find homes and prosperity, so that by the thousands, by the millions, they may come from the old world and build up argentina as they have built up the united states. i feel able to say that this is a shore to which the emigrants from the old world may come with a certainty of finding homes, occupations, and opportunities for prosperity; that it is a country to which the capital of the united states may come with the certainty that it will be secure, will be protected, and will find profitable employment. i look forward to the time when the wonderful development that is going on here now--not confined alone to this country, but progressing here with an amazing rapidity,--will be as great a wonder to the world as the advance which has taken the united states of north america, expanding from the feeble fringe of colonists along the atlantic shore to a great nation of eighty millions, stretching from ocean to ocean. argentina will take some of our markets from us, but what are they? they will be markets she is entitled to; and with her prosperity, and with the right understanding and relations between the two countries, our commercial relations with her will more than take the place of the markets she takes away from us. we have nothing to fear in the growing prosperity of argentina. we have no cause but for rejoicing in her prosperity; no cause but to aid her in every way in our power in her onward progress; and that i believe to be the sincere desire of the whole of the people of the united states. mr. president, a heavy responsibility rests upon the citizen of our country who lives in a foreign land. we can misbehave at home and it makes little difference; but every american citizen in a foreign land, every american citizen in the argentine republic, is the representative of his country there. he needs no commission; no power can prevent his holding a commission to represent before all the people of argentina the character of his own countrymen. you represent our beloved land to the people of argentina. what you are they will believe us to be. as they study your character and conduct their estimate of us rises, and it is with the greatest pleasure that i find here among this people whom i respect so highly, whose good opinion for my country i so greatly desire, a body of americans, a body of my countrymen, so worthy, so estimable, so high in reputation, so well fitted to maintain the standard of the united states of america, high, pure, unsullied, worthy of all honor. banquet at the opera house speech of dr. luis m. drago president of the reception committee august , the large gathering here assembled, representative of all that buenos ayres has of the most notable in science, letters, industry, and commerce, has conferred on me the signal honor of designating me to offer this banquet to the eminent minister of one of the greatest nations of the earth, a nation linked to us from the very beginning by many and very real sentiments of moral and political solidarity. this country has not forgotten that in the trying times of the colonial emancipation, our fathers could rely on the sympathy and the warm and disinterested adhesion of the american people, our predecessors and our guides in the paths of liberty. the thrilling utterances of henry clay defending our cause when everything appeared to threaten our revolution, have never been surpassed in their noble eloquence; and it was due to the generosity and foresight of their great statesmen that the united states were the first to receive us with open arms as their equals in the community of sovereign nations. the spiritual affinity thus happily established has gone on strengthening itself almost imperceptibly ever since by the reproduction of institutions and legal customs. our charter was inspired by the american constitution and acts through the operation of similar laws. the great examples of the union are also our examples; and being sincere lovers of liberty we rejoice in the triumphs (which in a certain sense we consider our own) of the greatest of democratic nations. george washington is, for us, one of the great figures of history, the tutelar personality, the supreme model, a prototype of abnegation, honor, and wisdom; and there is an important region in the province of buenos ayres bearing the name of lincoln, as a homage to the austere patriotism of that statesman and martyr. the names of jefferson, madison, and quincy adams are household words with us; and in our parliamentary debates and popular assemblies mention is frequently made of the statesmen, the orators, and the judges of the great sister republic. there thus exist, honorable sir, a long-established friendship, an intercommunion of thought and purpose which draw peoples together more closely, intimately, and indissolubly than can be accomplished by the formulae--often barren--of the foreign offices. and the moment is certainly propitious for drawing closer the bonds of international amity which your excellency's visit puts in relief, and which have found such eloquent expression in the pan american congress of rio de janeiro. enlightened patriotism has understood at last that on this continent, with its immense riches and vast unexplored regions, power and wealth are not to be looked for in conquest and displacements, but in collaboration and solidarity, which will people the wilderness and give the soil to the plow. it has understood, moreover, that america, by reason of the nationalities of which it is composed, of the nature of the representative institutions which they have adopted, by the very character of their people, separated as they have been from the conflicts and complications of european governments, and even by the gravitation of peculiar circumstances and events, has been constituted a separate political factor, a new and vast theater for the development of the human race, which will serve as a counterpoise to the great civilizations of the other hemisphere, and so maintain the equilibrium of the world. it is consequently our sacred duty to preserve the integrity of america, material and moral, against the menaces and artifices, very real and effective, that unfortunately surround it. it is not long since one of the most eminent of living jurisconsults of great britain denounced the possibility of the danger. "the enemies of light and freedom," he said, "are neither dead nor sleeping; they are vigilant, active, militant, and astute." and it was in obedience to that sentiment of common defense that in a critical moment the argentine republic proclaimed the impropriety of the forcible collection of public debts by european nations, not as an abstract principle of academic value or as a legal rule of universal application outside of this continent (which it is not incumbent on us to maintain), but as a principle of american diplomacy which, whilst being founded on equity and justice, has for its exclusive object to spare the peoples of this continent the calamities of conquest, disguised under the mask of financial interventions, in the same way as the traditional policy of the united states, without accentuating superiority or seeking preponderance, condemned the oppression of the nations of this part of the world and the control of their destinies by the great powers of europe. the dreams and utopias of today are the facts and commonplaces of tomorrow and the principle proclaimed must sooner or later prevail. the gratitude we owe to the nations of europe is indeed very great, and much we still have to learn from them. we are the admirers of their secular institutions; more than once we have been moved by their great ideals, and under no circumstances whatsoever should we like to sever or to weaken the links of a long-established friendship. but we want, at the same time, and it is only just and fair, that the genius and tendency of our democratic communities be respected. they are advancing slowly, it is true; struggling at times and occasionally making a pause, but none the less strong and progressive for all that, and already showing the unequivocal signs of success in what may be called the most considerable trial mankind has ever made of the republican system of government. in the meantime, to reach their ultimate greatness and have an influence in the destinies of the world, these nations only require to come together and have a better knowledge of each other, to break up the old colonial isolation, and realize the contraction of america, as what is called the contraction of the world has always been effected by the annihilation of distance through railways, telegraphs, and the thousand and one means of communication and interchange at the disposal of modern civilization. the increase of commerce and the public fortune will be brought about in this way; but such results as concern only material prosperity will appear unimportant when compared with the blessings of a higher order which are sure to follow, when, realizing the inner meaning of things, and stimulated by spiritual communion, these peoples meet each other as rivals only in the sciences and arts, in literature and government, and most of all in the practice of virtues, which are the best ornament of the state and the foundation stone of all enduring grandeur of the human race. gentlemen: to the united states, the noblest and the greatest of democratic nations! to mr. roosevelt, the president of transcendental initiative and strenuous life! to his illustrious minister, our guest, the highest and most eloquent representative of american solidarity, for whom i have not words sufficiently expressive to convey all the pleasure we feel in receiving him, and how we honor ourselves by having him in our midst. reply of mr. root i thank you for the kind and friendly words you have uttered. i thank you, and all of you for your cordiality and bounteous hospitality. as i am soon to leave this city, where i and my family have been welcomed so warmly and have been made so happy, let me take this opportunity to return to you and to the government and to the people of buenos ayres our most sincere and heartfelt thanks for all your kindness and goodness to us. we do appreciate it most deeply, and we shall never forget it, shall never forget you--your friendly faces, your kind greetings, your beautiful homes, your noble spirit, and all that makes up the great and splendid city of buenos ayres. it is with special pleasure, mr. chairman, that i have listened to that part of your speech which relates to the political philosophy of our times, and especially to the political philosophy most interesting to america. upon the two subjects of special international interest to which you have alluded, i am glad to be able to declare myself in hearty and unreserved sympathy with you. the united states of america has never deemed it to be suitable that she should use her army and navy for the collection of ordinary contract debts of foreign governments to her citizens. for more than a century the state department, the department of foreign relations of the united states of america, has refused to take such action, and that has become the settled policy of our country. we deem it to be inconsistent with that respect for the sovereignty of weaker powers which is essential to their protection against the aggression of the strong. we deem the use of force for the collection of ordinary contract debts to be an invitation to abuses, in their necessary results far worse, far more baleful to humanity than that the debts contracted by any nation should go unpaid. we consider that the use of the army and navy of a great power to compel a weaker power to answer to a contract with a private individual, is both an invitation to speculation upon the necessities of weak and struggling countries and an infringement upon the sovereignty of those countries, and we are now, as we always have been, opposed to it; and we believe that, perhaps not today nor tomorrow, but through the slow and certain process of the future, the world will come to the same opinion. it is with special gratification that i have heard from your lips so just an estimate of the character of that traditional policy of the united states which bears the name of president monroe. when you say that it was "without accentuating superiority or seeking preponderance," that monroe's declaration condemned the oppression of the nations of this part of the world and the control of their destinies by the great powers of europe, you speak the exact historical truth. you do but simple justice to the purposes and the sentiments of monroe and his compatriots and to the country of monroe at every hour from that time to this. i congratulate you upon the wonderful opportunity that lies before you. happier than those of us who were obliged in earlier days to conquer the wilderness, you men of argentina have at your hands great, new forces for your use. changes have come of recent years in the world which affect the working out of your problem. one is that through the comparative infrequency of war, of pestilence, of famine, through the increased sanitation of the world, the decrease of infant mortality by reason of better sanitation, the population of the world is increasing. those causes which reduced population are being removed and the pressure of population is sending out wave after wave of men for the peopling of the vacant lands of the earth. another change is, that through the wonderful activity of invention and discovery and organizing capacity during our lifetime, the power of mankind to produce wealth has been immensely increased. one man today, with machinery, with steam, with electricity, with all the myriads of appliances that invention and discovery have created, can produce more wealth, more of the things that mankind desires, than twenty men could have produced years ago; and the result is that vast accumulations of capital are massing in the world, ready to be poured out for the building up of the vacant places of the earth. for the utilization of these two great forces, men and money, you in argentina have the opportunity of incalculable potential wealth, and you have the formative power in the spirit and the brain of your people. i went today to one of your great flour mills and to one of your great refrigerating plants. i viewed the myriad industries that surround the harbor, the forests of masts, the thronged steamers. i was interested and amazed. it far exceeded my imagination and suggested an analogy to an incident in my past life. it was my fortune in the year when the war broke out between prussia and france, to be travelling in germany. immediately upon the announcement of the war, maps of the seat of war were printed and posted in every shop window. the maps were maps of germany, with a little stretch of france. within a fortnight the armies had marched off the map. it seems to be so with argentina. i have read books about argentina. i have read magazine and newspaper articles; but within the last five years you have marched off the map. the books and magazines are all out of date. what you have done since they were written is much more than had been done before. they are no guide to the country. nevertheless, with all your vast material activity, it seems to me that the most wonderful and interesting thing to be found here is the laboratory of life, where you are mixing the elements of the future race. argentine, english, german, italian, french, and spanish, and american are all being welded together to make the new type. it was the greatest satisfaction to me to go into the school and see that first and greatest agency, the children of all races in the first and most impressionable period of life, being brought together and acting and reacting on each other, and all tending toward the new type, which will embody the characteristics of all; and to know that the system of schools in which this is being done was, by the wisdom of your great president sarmiento, brought from my own country through his friendship with the great leader of education in the united states of america--horace mann. mr. chairman, i should have been glad to see all these wonderful things as an inconspicuous observer. it is quite foreign to my habits and to my nature to move through applauding throngs, accompanied by guards of honor; yet perhaps it is well that the idea which i represent should be applauded by crowds and accompanied by guards of honor. the pomp and circumstance of war attract the fancy of the multitude; the armored knight moves across the page of romance and of poetry and kindles the imagination of youth; the shouts of the crowd, the smiles of beauty, the admiration of youth, the gratitude of nations, the plaudits of mankind, follow the hero about whom the glamor of military glory dims the eye to the destruction and death and human misery that follow the path of war. perhaps it is well that sometimes there should go to the herdsman on his lonely ranch, to the husbandman in his field, to the clerk in the counting-house and the shop, to the student at his books, to the boy in the street, the idea that there is honor to be paid to those qualities of mankind which rest upon justice, upon mercy, upon consideration for the rights of others, upon humanity, upon the patient and kindly spirit, upon all those exercises of the human heart which lead to happy homes, to prosperity, to learning, to art, to religion, to the things that dignify life and ennoble it and give it its charm and grace. we honor washington as the leader of his country's forces in the war of independence; but that supreme patience which enabled him to keep the warring elements of his people at peace is a higher claim to the reverence of mankind than his superb military strategy. san martín was great in his military achievements; his napoleonic march across the andes is entitled to be preserved in the history of military affairs so long as history is written; but the almost superhuman self-abnegation with which he laid aside power and greatness that peace might give its strength to his people, was greater than his military achievements. the triumphant march of the conquering hero is admirable and to be greeted with huzzas, but the conquering march of an idea which makes for humanity is more admirable and more to be applauded. this is not theory; it is practical. it has to do with our affairs today; for we are now in an age of the world when not governors, not presidents, not congresses, but the people determine the issues of peace or war, of controversy or of quiet. i am an advocate of arbitration; i am an advocate of mediation; of all the measures that tend toward bringing reasonable and cool judgment to take the place of war; but let us never forget that arbitration and mediation--all measures of that description--are but the treatment of the symptoms and not the treatment of the cause of disease; and that the real cure for war is to get into the hearts of the people and lead them to a just sense of their rights and other people's rights, lead them to love peace and to hate war, lead them to hold up the hands of their governments in the friendly commerce of diplomacy, rather than to urge them on to strife; and let there go to the herdsman and the husbandman and the merchant and the student and the boy in the street every influence which can tend toward that sweet reasonableness, that kindly sentiment, that breadth of feeling for humanity, that consideration for the rights of others, which lie at the basis of the peace of the world. chile santiago speech of his excellency jermÁn riesco president of the republic at the government house, september , i greet you and welcome you in the name of the people and of the government of chile, who receive your visit with the liveliest satisfaction. your attendance at the congress of fraternity which the american republics have just held; your visit to the neighboring countries, which we have followed with the greatest interest; and your presence amongst us, upon the invitation which we had the honor of extending to you, are eloquent testimony of the high-minded intentions, which will necessarily produce much good for the progress and the development of america. in these moments we feel a most profound gratitude toward your country, toward your worthy president, and toward yourself for the friendship and sympathy with which you have joined in the sorrow of chile because of the disaster which has wounded valparaiso and other cities of the republic. i wish that your stay in this country may be agreeable to you and your distinguished family. reply of mr. root i thank you, mr. president, for your kind welcome and for your generous expressions, and i thank you for the courteous invitation which led to this visit on my part. after the great calamity which has befallen your country, i should have feared to intrude upon the mourning which is in so many chilean homes, but i did not feel that i could pass by without calling upon you--upon the representative of the chilean people--to express in person the deep sympathy and sorrow which i, and all my people, whom i represent, feel for your country and for the stricken and bereaved ones; and the earnest hope we have for the prompt and cheerful recovery of spirit and of confidence and of prosperity after the great misfortune. we know that the spirit and the strength of the people of chile are adequate for the recovery, even from so great a disaster. no one in the world, mr. president, can feel more deeply the misfortune that you have suffered than the people of the united states, because you know that in our country we have recently experienced just such a calamity. i am sure that nowhere in the world will you find so keen a sense of sympathy as is there and as i now express. it may sometimes happen that in adversity stronger friendships arise than in prosperity; and i hope that although i come to bring to you an expression of the friendship of the united states of america for the republic of chile now while the cloud rests upon you, the effect of the exchange of kind words and kinder feelings in this time may be greater, more permanent, and more lasting than they could have been when all were prosperous and happy. banquet of the president speech of his excellency antonio huneeus minister for foreign affairs at the moneda, september , i extend to you the welcome of the people and of the government. heartily do i say to you, in the name of all chileans: be welcome. we were preparing to entertain you in magnificent style, but it was the will of providence to visit us with a bitter trial, so we are now receiving you in a modest manner. come and see, sir, what we have suffered. morally, we have suffered much; for several thousands of our brothers perished in the catastrophe of august . materially speaking, we lose the greater part of our principal port and of several cities of minor importance, together with the profits which cease in consequence. behold now, sir, what remains to us and how we are rising. our productive forces are alive and sound; agriculture, mining, and manufacturing have scarcely suffered, and our saltpeter treasures continue to exist. public order remained undisturbed; generally speaking, the reign of the law was maintained; the authorities fulfilled their duty; and the navy, glorious guardian of half our territory, which is the ocean, was saved intact. therefore, all we sons of chile are of cheerful heart. the virility of a country is worth more than the splendor of its monuments. it does not humiliate us, therefore, to have you see houses and towns destroyed, for it was not a civil war or a foreign enemy which razed them to the ground, but a higher hand. it is rather a source of pride to us to have you witness the integrity and unity of the chileans. the fortitude of our race and our good sense will cause us to rise again in a short time to a greater prosperity. you plainly see that chile is still entire, and that our misfortune was more painful than injurious. we did not, therefore, think for a moment that you might postpone your visit. on the contrary, we telegraphed to you a few hours after the earthquake: "our home is demolished; but come, sir, for we are safe, calm, and diligent." besides, the plain dignity of your character, which we knew, and the objects of your visit encouraged us to speak to you. you have come, most excellent sir, to offer your over-production to our consumers, and to ask a larger place for the americans in the chilean heart. you are going to obtain all that. but, besides this, mr. root, please bear to the sons of the united states, and especially to our brothers in misfortune at san francisco, california, a sacred homage--the intense gratitude of the society and government of chile for the generous aid to our sufferers by which the americans are proving to us that along with greatness of power they have greatness of heart. we knew of all this greatness. with a territory covering half a continent and nourished by every kind of riches, with a firm and impulsive character, with broad and far-reaching views along every channel which human activity can pursue, and endowed with a clear instinct of what is possible, the americans have become useful and wealthy. they understood two essential things, namely, that government is not merely a pleasant and covetable ideal, but a fundamental necessity, and that the greatest value does not consist in traditions or fortune, but in personal merit. they therefore abolished every unjustified distinction of superiority and organized as a democracy. the result of the combination of such rare and happy moral and material elements has been the springing up of a nation as powerful as the most powerful, and in freedom equaled by none. and how well the united states know that there is no greatness without liberty! since the consciousness of right has become deeper, principles of respect and faith have become implanted in the commonwealth of nations, whatever be the extent of their territory, their population, or their armed forces. the inveterate abuses of force are disappearing. the principle which, being embodied into a law of equality among all the nations, always prevails at present in international relations is that of liberty for the weaker side. the american union--the free country--years ago established its foreign policy on the plan of equality. its commercial flag waves throughout the world without arrogance or spirit of intervention. your natural wisdom tells you, mr. root, that you do not need any other than mercantile expansion, and still more that none other would be suited to you. you have of late repeatedly given practical and unmistakable testimonials that this is your policy. you have stated so yourself at rio de janeiro, and your presence among us is a further proof that your purposes are friendly and frank. let us enter into commercial relations with the united states with friendship and confidence. we shall proceed as far as is mutually beneficial to us, and this will be shown us by the natural laws of mercantile transactions. the government desires that american goods shall come to chile in abundance to facilitate living, and it earnestly desires at the same time that chilean products may be multiplied and that they may endeavor to offset these importations. since the sixteenth of august we have been pushing more resolutely than before the work of our restoration. we have all the moral factors, namely, order, will, and an apt and energetic people. we also have incalculable and extremely varied natural resources. there is only one material factor in which we may be short, namely, capital, which is a powerful force if well employed. chile will be glad to see american capital come and establish itself in our commercial and industrial circulation. it will blend well with chilean honor and will prosper under the protection of our laws, which are liberal with the foreigner, and under the shelter of our government, which is unshakable. we are certain that chilean interests will meet the same respect from the government of the union that we cherish for american interests. the infinite variety of articles of supply and consumption will certainly enable the interchange of goods between chile and america to increase without narrowing the horizons of our commerce with friendly markets, which today bring us capital, raw materials, workmen, and manufactures. the american union has happily solved its internal and foreign problems, has established its political and economic power on a firm basis, and is, finally, in full enjoyment of its natural greatness and freely exercising all its energies at the present time. we have attentively observed that it desires to promote the progress of the world and to see the other nations of christendom, especially the american republics, associated in this great work on terms of equality, friendship, and mutual benefit. we respond, therefore, to its affectionate call by declaring that we are imbued with sincere faith in the friendship of the government and the people of the united states; we utter fervent wishes that our mutual confidence may become strengthened and be free of misgivings; and we prophesy that the _rapprochement_ which the eminent secretary of state now visiting us has initiated will be of beneficent influence on our international cordiality and bring prosperous results for our development. most excellent mr. root, his excellency the president of the republic requests you to say to the illustrious president roosevelt and to your fellow-citizens that the chilean people fraternize cordially with the american people; that our markets are free to them; that we admire your government officials; that your most excellent minister, mr. hicks, enjoys our highest esteem and good feeling; and that we have received you and your most worthy family with open hearts. reply of mr. root i beg you to believe in the sincere and high appreciation which i have for all the kindness you have shown me and my family since our arrival in chile. i believe that the delicacy, the sense of propriety and fitness, that have characterized our reception, both official and personal, have produced in our minds, under the sad circumstances of the great misfortune that hangs over the chilean people like a cloud, a deeper impression than the most splendid and sumptuous display. i believe that to be able to mourn with you in your loss, to sympathize with you in your misfortune, draws us closer to you than to be with you in the greatest prosperity and happiness upon which the brightest sun has ever shone. i thank you for your kindly expressions regarding my president, regarding myself, and regarding my country. in the "united states of america," as our constitution called us many years ago--the "united states of north america," as perhaps we should call ourselves south of the equator--we have been for a long time, and are still trying to reconcile individual liberty with public order, local self-government with a strong central and national control; trying to develop the capacity of the individuals of our people to control themselves, and also the capacity of the people collectively for self-government; trying to adopt sound financial methods, to promote justice--a justice compatible with mercy--and to make progress in all that makes a people happier, more prosperous, better educated, better able to perform their duties as citizens and to do their part in the world to help humanity out of the hard conditions of poverty and ignorance and along the pathway of civilization. we have done what we could. we have committed errors and we acknowledge them and are deeply conscious of them; but we are justly proud of our country for the progress it has made; and we look on every country that is engaged in that same struggle for liberty and justice with profound sympathy and warm friendship. i am here to say to the chilean people that although there have been misunderstandings in the past, they were misunderstandings such as arise between two vigorous, proud peoples that know each other too little. let us know each other better and we shall have put an end to misunderstandings. the present moment is especially propitious for saying this, because we are upon the threshold of great events in this western world of ours. in my own country the progress of development has reached a point of transition. in the fifty years, from to , we received on our shores nearly twenty million immigrants from the old world. we borrowed from the old world thousands of millions of dollars; and with the strong arm of the immigrants and with the capital from the old world, we have threaded the country with railroads, we have constructed great public works, we have created the phenomenal prosperity that you all know; and now we have paid our debts to europe; we have returned the capital with which our country was built up; and in the last half dozen years we have been accumulating an excess of capital that is beginning to seek an outlet in foreign enterprises. at the same time, there is seen in south america the dawn of a new life which moves its people, as they have never been moved before, with the spirit of industrial and commercial progress. at a banquet that was given last winter to a great and distinguished man, lord grey, governor-general of canada, he said: "the nineteenth century was the century of the united states; the twentieth century will be the century of canada." i should feel surer as a prophet if i were to say: "the twentieth century will be the century of south america." i believe, with him, in the great development of canada; but just as the nineteenth century was the century of phenomenal development in north america, i believe that no student can help seeing that the twentieth century will be the century of phenomenal development in south america. and so our countries will be face to face in a new attitude. we cannot longer remain strangers to each other; our relations must be those of intimacy, and this is the time to say that our relations will be those of friendship. on the other hand, before long the construction of the canal across the isthmus of panama, which will fulfill the dreams of the early navigators, which will accomplish the work projected for centuries, will at last be completed, while the men who are today active in the business of both countries are still on the field of action. this, therefore, is the moment to safeguard harmony in the relations between the two nations. i do not believe that any one can say what changes the opening of the panama canal will bring in the affairs of the world; but we do know that great changes in the commercial routes of the world have changed the course of history, and no one can doubt that the creation of a waterway that will put the pacific coast of south america in close touch with the atlantic coast of north america must be a factor of incalculable importance in determining the affairs of the western hemisphere and promoting our relations of intimacy and friendship. now, at this moment, at the beginning of this great commercial and industrial awakening--i say at the beginning, notwithstanding all that you have already done, because i believe you have only begun to realize the great work you have before you--at this moment there falls on you this terrible misfortune, one of those warnings that at times god sends to his people to show them how weak they are in his hands--a misfortune because of which the entire world mourns with you. but i believe--i know--that the air of these mountains and of these shores, which in another time gave its spirit to the proud and indomitable arucanian race, has given to the people of chile the vigor with which to rise up from the ashes of valparaiso and with which to make out of the misfortune of today the incentive for great deeds tomorrow. and in this era of friendship, when peaceful immigration has replaced armed invasions, when the free exchange of capital and the international ownership of industrial and commercial enterprises, of manufactures, of mines, have replaced rapine and plunder--in this era of commercial conquest and industrial acquisition, of more frequent intercourse among men, of more intimate knowledge and better understanding, there has come to you in this your great misfortune the friendship and the sympathy of the world. in truth, our friends who sleep the last sleep there in valparaiso have brought to their country a possession of greater value than was ever won by the soldier on the battlefield. as i said to you yesterday, mr. president, i feared that under the present sad circumstances i might be intruding upon you; should i not rather feel that the words of friendship of which i am the bearer are in perfect harmony with the sentiment that your affliction has created in all countries, the universal recognition of the brotherhood of man? peru banquet at the government palace, lima speech of his excellency josÉ pardo y barreda president of the republic september , with the most sincere good will, i cordially welcome you in the name of my country and of its government, and i believe i faithfully interpret the sentiments that rule in peru in telling you of its sincere good will toward the united states, their illustrious president, and toward your own distinguished person. these feelings which unite the two countries began in the dawn of independence, because the founders of the great republic showed our forefathers the way to become free; and they strengthened us from the first days of our independent life by the safeguard which the admirable foresight of another great statesman of your country placed around american soil. since then the closest friendship has united the two nations. peru has received from the united states proofs of a very special deference, and has appreciated the efforts made by your government to establish political relations between the american peoples upon the basis of right and justice. in this most noble aspiration, worthy of the greatness of your country, peru, on her part, unreservedly acquiesces. the lofty ideas which you have expressed since your arrival in south america, the frank expressions of cordiality, the concepts of stimulus and aid to induce us, the americans of the south, to work in the same way as those of the north, with earnestness and unflinching hope in the future, have found in every breast the most pleasing echo, and they direct toward your person the most lively sympathy. closely associated fellow-worker with the illustrious statesman who rules the destinies of your country, to you belongs, in a great measure, the acclamation with which america and the entire world would greet the great nation that has constituted the most perfect democratic society, that has made the most surprising progress in industrial and economic order, and that has placed the prestige of its greatness at the service of peace all over the world. gentlemen, i invite you to drink to the united states; to its president, mr. roosevelt; and to its secretary of state, mr. root. reply of mr. root i thank you sincerely, both in my own behalf and in behalf of my country, for your kind welcome and for the words, full of friendship and of kindly judgment, you have uttered regarding my country and regarding her servants, the president and myself. the distinguished gentleman who represents peru in the capital of the united states of america, and who shares with you, sir, the inheritance of a name great and honored, not only in peru but wherever the friends of constitutional freedom are found--in his note of invitation to me, upon which i am now a visitor to your city, used a form of expression that has dwelt in my memory, because it was so true. he spoke of the old, sincere, and cordial friendship of our two countries--that is indeed true of the friendship of the united states of america and the republic of peru. it is an old friendship, a sincere friendship, and a cordial friendship. i have come here not to make new friends, but to greet old ones; not to announce a new departure in policy, but to follow old and honored lines; and i should have thought that in coming to south america in answer to the invitations of the different countries, all down the east and up the west coast, to have passed by peru would indeed be to have played "hamlet" with hamlet left out. it is still a more natural and still a stronger impulse to visit peru at this time, as a part of a mission of friendship and good will, when the relations between the two countries are about to be drawn even closer. the completion of the canal across the isthmus of panama will make us near neighbors as we have never been before, so that we may take our staterooms at the wharf at callao or at new york, and visit each other without change of quarters during the journey. and no one can tell what the effect of the canal will be. we do know that nothing of the kind was ever done before in human history without producing a most powerful effect upon mankind. the course of civilization, the rise and fall of nations, the development of mankind, have followed the establishment of new trade routes. no one can now tell just what the specific effect of the cutting of the canal across the isthmus may be; but it will be great and momentous in the affairs of the world. of this we may be certain, that for the nations situated immediately to the south and immediately to the north of the canal, there will be great changes in their relations with the rest of the world; and it is most gratifying to know that this great work which the united states of america is now undertaking--the cost of which she never expects to get back--a work which she is doing not merely for her own benefit, but because she is moved by the belief that great things are worth doing, is going to bring great benefits to the entire world, and to her old and her good friend, the republic of peru. i thank you, mr. president, for your kind reception, and i beg you to permit me to ask the gentlemen here to join me in proposing in behalf of president roosevelt the health and long life and prosperity of the president of peru. banquet of the minister for foreign affairs speech of his excellency javier prado y ugarteche minister for foreign affairs at the union club, september , with the liveliest feelings of consideration and sympathy i have the honor to offer this manifestation to his excellency mr. elihu root, secretary of state of the united states of america. yielding to the generous impulses of your american heart, and of your brain of a thinker and of a statesman, you have felt a desire, mr. root, to visit these countries, to address to them words of friendship and of interest in their welfare, in the name of the honorable government which you represent, and to shed over this continent the rays of the noble ideal of american fraternity. your visit will undoubtedly produce fruitful results on behalf of liberty and of justice, of peace and of progress, of order and of improvement, which you have proclaimed as being the highest principles inspiring the policy of the united states in the special mission for which their peculiar virtues and energy have marked them out in the destiny of humanity. when those austere founders of american independence laid the foundations of the great republic of the north, and gave it its constitution, they were not inspired by narrow-minded ideas or by selfish and transitory interest, but by a profound conviction of the rights of man and a deep feeling of liberty and of justice, which, in its irresistible consequences, would bring about the social and political transformation which came to pass in the world at the end of the eighteenth century, and was destined to constitute the gospel of liberty and of democracy in our modern régime. this same people, although still in its youth, did not hesitate, shortly after, all alone, to guarantee the independence of all the american countries, placing before the great powers of the world the pillars of hercules of the monroe doctrine, forming an impassable gateway to a free and unconquerable america. today this same people excites the admiration of the whole world by its grandeur. its government brings to its level the harmony of humanity; reëstablishes, on the one hand, peace between the empires of europe and of asia, and, on the other, between the republics of central america; patronizes the congress of the hague, and in it obtains the recognition of the personality of the american nations, thus giving proof of the interest it takes, with equal concern, in the future of the peoples civilized for a century, as well as in that of the countries just commencing their existence. the american constitution, the monroe doctrine, together with the policy of president roosevelt, and of his secretary of state, mr. root, voice in this manner, through the pages of history, the same language of liberty, of justice, humanity, and americanism. how deep is the lesson to be learned from these facts! the ancient ideas founded right upon force, the régime of the social bodies was that of privilege, and individual efforts were tied by bonds imposed in the name of the authorities. the modern ideas, such as the united states proclaim, found all right upon justice, and the social régime upon liberty and equality. the human being is not an instrument for the display of arbitrary power, but is the whole object of social life, the mission of which is the development of its energies, its moral conscience, the improvement and welfare of individuals and of nations. according to the ancient ideas, the greatness of the nations was measured by their military power and by the limits of their conquests of force. according to modern ideas, as represented by the united states, the greatness of nations is measured by the conquests obtained by individual and collective efforts, thereby creating the fruitful and happy reign of truth, of justice, of labor, and of peace. war was formerly a glory; nowadays it is a calamity. later on it will be condemned as the sad ancestral remains of barbarism and savagery. the evolution of ideas is that which now rules the world; and if people do not always comprehend this fact it is because the selfish and personal prejudices, passions, and interests disturb and impair their judgment. in modern progress, the régime of privilege and of force can no longer create rights nor lend security for the future or the aggrandizement of nations; and nowadays those individuals do not render a service to their native land who, while they sacrifice permanent interests, think they can calculate the meridian of their country by the artificial reflections of a moment, transitory and perishable. the régime of force or of armed peace consumes the vital forces and the resources of nations; and then from the abyss of inequality, of affliction, and danger produced, bursts forth once more the social and political problem demanding, with threats, the reform of the evil, and laying down the maxim that only the ideal of justice, of liberty, and of human solidarity can possibly stand forth, firm and unshaken, amidst the ruins in which the wild ideas of greatness held by the military powers of the world will remain buried forever. it is not by means of a régime of force, but by that of liberty, peace, and labor, that the united states of america has been enabled to form a marvelous abode of vitality and human progress; and its government, with a perfect insight into the greatness of that country and of its destiny, today addresses the present and the future of our world, and with special interest explains to america the only paths that will lead the nations to the attainment of tranquillity and well-being. once that existence is obtained, you have said, mr. root, that it is necessary to live and advance worthily and honorably,--and that this object cannot be attained by a régime of domestic oppression and of privilege, nor by the external one of isolation or of war, but by that of liberty, order, justice, economical progress, moral improvement, intellectual advance, respect for the rights of others, and a feeling of human solidarity. you have clearly stated: no nation can live unto itself alone and continue to live. each nation's growth is a part of the development of the race.... a people whose minds are not open to the lessons of the world's progress, whose spirits are not stirred by the aspirations and achievements of humanity, struggling the world over for liberty and justice, must be left behind by civilization in its steady and beneficent advance. in the life of nations there must always prevail an ideal and a harmony of right, of liberty, of peace, and fraternity, although this can only be obtained by persevering efforts, by sacrifices, and by a long and distressing march. it is necessary to "labor more for the future than for the present" and unite together all the nations engaged in the same great task, inspired by a like ideal and professing similar principles. peru has read your words, mr. root, with profound attention. she is proud to say that in the modest sphere she occupies in the concert of nations, she accepts your ideas as her own, and declares that they also constitute her profession of faith as regards her international policy. with your superior judgment you have exactly comprehended the difficulties, critical moments, and convulsions which the countries of this continent have undergone in order to establish a republican government, together with a régime of liberty and democracy. they are still in the first period of their development and have yet many problems to solve. to develop the immense resources and wealth with which nature has so wonderfully endowed these countries; to render their territory accessible to labor and civilization by opening up means of communication, granting all facilities and giving security for the life, health, and welfare of their inhabitants; to obtain the population which their immense territories require: to educate and instruct the people, making them understand their liberty, their duties, and their rights; to develop their faculties and energies, their labor forces, their industrial and commercial capacity and power; to elevate their moral dignity; to consolidate and strengthen the national unity; to insure definitely the government of the people, in justice, in order, and in peace; to attract capital and foreign immigration; to develop and give impulse to commercial relations with other countries; to maintain a frank and true international harmony and solidarity; to respect all mutual and reciprocal rights and settle all disagreements by friendly, just, and honorable means--to perform, in short, the work of human civilization; these are undoubtedly the points which ought to occupy, first of all, the thoughts of the administration of these countries, in order to secure their tranquillity, their welfare, and their aggrandizement, just as the united states have secured theirs by the genius of their people and the power of their ideals. if the nations of america, instead of living apart from each other and separated by distrust, threats, and quarrels--which unsettle them, rendering their energy and development fruitless, just as they have kept up a state of anarchy, for a long time, in their internal existence--would unite themselves together by the natural ties which the community of their origin, of their civilization, of their necessities, and their destinies clearly indicate, we should then witness the realization of the ideal you have conceived of a great, prosperous, and happy america; the union of sister republics, free, orderly, laborious, lovers of justice, knowledge, sciences, and arts, coöperating, each one and all of them worthily and effectively, for the realization of the great work of human civilization and culture. the standard and observance of justice should bring about the definite disappearance of the disagreements which may have caused separation among the south american countries, just as family quarrels are effaced on the exhibition of a just and generous sentiment of sincere brotherhood and harmony which vibrates throughout this continent as an intense aspiration of the american soul, and as a noble ideal of concord and of justice. it is never too late to recognize what is right and to proceed with rectitude. my memory suggests an important event some few years back in the history of the relations between peru and the united states, described most correctly by the representative of your government as one of those most worthy of note in the annals of diplomacy. i refer to the serious question which arose in between our respective countries relative to the lobos guano islands, when the united states held that they did not belong to the territory and sovereignty of peru, and that as they had been occupied by american citizens your country would uphold these parties in the work of exploitation; but as soon as the government of the united states, after a lengthened and lively controversy, became convinced of the right which peru had on her side, it at once spontaneously put an end to the question by a memorable note of its secretary of state, recognizing the absolute sovereignty of peru over those islands and declaring that "he makes this avowal with the greater readiness, in consequence of the unintentional injustice done to peru, under a transient want of information as to the facts of the case."[ ] when powerful nations, laying aside the instruments of oppression and violence which they have in their hands, rise to such a height of moral elevation, universal respect and sympathy will form the unfading halo of their grandeur. and thus it happened with the united states of america; and peru has now the honor once more to express its thanks for the generous friendship and constant interest with which the united states have always paid attention to everything affecting the welfare and progress of our country. peru, which is the depositary of the secrets of wondrous and unknown civilizations; which possesses great historical traditions; which was long ago the metropolis of this continent, and then a spanish colony; which has an enormous extent of territory, with the most varied and wonderful climates and wealth; after grievous domestic and foreign vicissitudes, has firmly taken in hand the great work of its reorganization; has acquired the knowledge of its public and private duties; has given vigor to its character and to its spirit of enterprise; has founded industries and labor centers; has fostered agriculture, mining, and commerce; is using every effort to foster public instruction, increasing the number of schools throughout the country and giving civic education to its children; constructing railroads and public works of national and future interest; opening the minds and intelligence of its people to the currents of culture and modern progress, and endeavoring to establish a solid and well-directed public administration; her fiscal revenues, her trade, and the general capitalization of fortunes have reached in a few years an extraordinary development which demonstrates the potentiality of the country. enjoying public peace, she is using every effort to maintain a policy of frank understanding and friendship with all nations, and sustains the principle of arbitration for the solution of all her international controversies, thus giving evident proof of the rectitude of her sentiments, and that the only settlements which she defends and to which she aspires are the honorable settlements dictated by right. these ideas are likewise yours, mr. root. and i invite you, gentlemen, to unite with us in expressing the hope that the principles proclaimed by our enlightened guest, to whom we today offer the homage of our respect and sympathy, may everlastingly rule in america. reply of mr. root i should be insensible, indeed, were i not to feel deeply grateful for your courtesy, your hospitality, and your kindness; nor can i fail to be gratified by the words of praise which you, mr. minister, have spoken of my beloved country, and by the hearty and unreserved approval with which you have met my inadequate expression of the sentiments the people of my country feel toward their sister republics of south america. the words which you have quoted, sir, do represent the feelings of the people of the united states. we are very far from living up to the standards which we set for ourselves, and we know our own omissions, our failings, and our errors; we know them, we deplore them, and we are constantly and laboriously seeking to remedy them; but we do have underneath as the firm foundation of constitutional freedom, the sentiments which were expressed in the quotations which you have made. no government in the united states could maintain itself for a moment if it violated those principles; no act of unjust aggression by the united states against any smaller and weaker power would be forgiven by the people to whom the government is responsible. mr. minister, my journey in south america is drawing to a close. after many weeks of association with the distinguished men who control the affairs of the south american republics, after much observation of the widely different countries i have visited, it is with the greatest satisfaction that i find, in reviewing the new records of my mind, that the impressions with which i came to south america have been confirmed--the impression that there is a new day dawning, a new day of industry, of enterprise, of prosperity, of wider liberty, of more perfect justice among the people of the southern continent. i find that the difference between the south america of today and the south america as the records show it to have been a generation ago, is as wide as the difference marked by centuries in the history of europe. why is it? you are the same people--not so much better than your fathers. the same fields offered to the hand of the husbandman their bounteous harvests then as now; the same incalculable wealth slept in your mountains then as now; the same streams carried down from your mountain sides the immeasurable power ready to the hand of man for the production of wealth then as now; the same ocean washed your shores ready to bear the commerce of the world then as now. whence comes the change? the change is not in material things, but in spiritual things. the change has come because in the slow but majestic progress of national development, the peoples of south america have been passing through a period of progress necessary to their development, necessary to the building of their characters, up from a stage of strife and discord, of individual selfishness, of unrestrained ambition, of irresponsible power, and out upon the broad platform of love for country, of national spirit, of devotion to the ideal of justice, of ordered liberty, of respect for the rights of others; because the individual characters of the peoples of the south american republics have been developed to that self-control, to that respect for justice toward their fellowmen, to that regard for the rights and feelings of others which inhere in true justice. the development of individual character has made the collective character competent for self-government and the maintenance of that justice, that ordered liberty, which gives security to property, security to the fruits of enterprise, security to personal liberty, to the pursuit of happiness, to the home, to all that makes life worth living; and under the fostering care of that character, individual and national, the hidden wealth of the mountains is being poured out to enrich mankind; under the fostering care of that character, individual and national, new life is coming to the fields, to the mines, to the factories, to commerce, to all the material interests of south america. mr. minister, this is but a part of a great world movement on a wider field. it is no idle dream that the world grows better day by day. we cannot mark its progress by days or by years or by generations; but marking the changes by the centuries mankind advances steadily from brute force, from the rule of selfishness and greed toward respect for human rights, toward desire for human happiness, toward the rule of law and the rule of love among men. my own country has become great materially because it has felt the influence of that majestic progress of civilization. south america is becoming great materially because it, too, is feeling the influence that is making humanity more human. we can do but little in our day. we live our short lives and pass away and are forgotten. all the wealth, prosperity, and luxury with which we can surround ourselves is of but little benefit and little satisfaction; but if we--if you and i--in our offices and each one of us in his influence upon the public affairs of his day, can contribute ever so little, but something, toward the tendency of our countries, the tendency of our race, away from greed and force and selfishness and wrong, toward the rule of order and love--if we can do something to contribute to that tendency which countless millions are working out, we shall not have lived in vain. you were kind enough to refer to an incident in the diplomatic history of the united states and peru, when my own country recognized its error in regard to the lobos islands and returned them freely and cheerfully to their rightful owner. i would rather have the record of such acts of justice for my country's fair name than the story of any battle fought and won by her military heroes. we cannot fail to ask ourselves sometimes the question, what will be the end of our civilization? will some future generation say of us, in the words of the persian poet, "the lion and the lizard keep the courts where jamshýd gloried and drank deep"? will the palaces we build be the problem of the antiquarians in some future century? will all that we do come to naught? if not--if our civilization is not to meet the fate of all that have gone before--it will be because we have builded upon a firm foundation, a foundation of the great body of the plain, the common people, and upon a character formed on the principles of justice, of liberty, and of brotherly love. our one hope for the perpetuity of our civilization is that quality in which it differs from all civilizations that have gone before--its substantial basis. i find that here in peru you are building upon that firm rock. i find that here individual character is being developed so that the people of peru are collectively developing the necessary and essential national character. i find that the riches of your wonderful land are in the hands of a people who are worthy to enjoy them. i shall take away with me from peru not only the kindest feelings of friendship and of gratitude but the highest and most confident hope of a great and glorious future for the people to whom i wish so well. mr. minister, will you permit me the honor of asking all to join me in drinking to the health of his excellency the president of peru? reception at the municipal council speech of doctor federico elguera mayor of lima september , the citizens of lima welcome you and are glad to have you amongst them. you arrive at the capital of peru, after visiting the leading cities in south america and receiving the greetings so justly due the great american nation and your own personal merits. you are an ambassador of peace, a messenger of good will, and the herald of doctrines which sustain america's autonomy and strengthen the faith in our future welfare. the wake left by the vessel which has brought you hither serves as a symbol, indicating union, fraternity, and friendship between the northern and southern states of this continent. you have been able to form a general opinion as to the present state of the political, economical, and social development of latin america. you also know now what her resources are and to what conditions the growth and progress of this southern continent are due. after visiting prosperous countries, whose peaceful labor on behalf of civilization has not been disturbed by the sorrows of war, you reach a land where once flourished the greatest empire which ever arose in america. you have arrived at the ancient metropolis of spanish america; you are now at the heart of a nation which attracted the world's attention in former days on account of its greatness and the treasures it possessed--a nation which fought the final battles for independence; and, more important than all, a country which, having been shaken and convulsed by dissension, has risen once more to a life of well-being through a supreme effort of will and a firm belief in its future. the peru you are visiting is not only the country of olden times, which tradition has made known for its fabulous wealth, but it is a modern country, versed in the principles of order, industry, and labor. nations which live exclusively on the wealth given them by nature make no effort to become greater, nor do they consider their future welfare, but perish, crushed by those whose envy and greed they excite. on the other hand, those countries whose prosperity is based on the principles of justice, trade, and peace attain success and incite others to follow, contributing thus to the great work of universal civilization. unfortunately, this peace, based on those principles, must be sustained abroad, following the example of the old world, by the acquisition of elements of warfare only useful for the destruction and ruin of men and progress, wasting the national vitality and prosperity, earned by dint of the labors of the citizens and the products of the resources that nature has given. to change this system for another which will insure to our nations the tranquil possession of what lawfully belongs to them, allowing them to devote their efforts fearlessly to their own advancement, is the noble work to which the endeavors of the great nation which has risen up in the new world should be directed, just as the sun rises in the celestial dome to give light, heat, and life; to maintain the equilibrium and prevent the collision of lesser stars. such ideals of civilization and fraternity have always guided the conduct of peru, whose influence and predominance in other times enabled her to watch over justice, to render assistance to the weak, to fight oppression, and to defend the rights of america. for this reason we heartily sympathize with the doctrines you proclaim; for this reason we extend to you, with sincere regard, the hand of friendship; for this reason we feel satisfaction and pride when we behold the marvelous progress of your country. when nations succeed in reaching the degree of prosperity at which yours has arrived they do not excite envy, but emulation; they do not inspire fear, but confidence. ere long the vigorous arm of your people will tear away the strip of land which still keeps us apart; and in the union of the two oceans surrounding our hemisphere may we hope that the spirits of washington and bolívar will watch the maintenance of peace and justice and follow the destinies of the republics they created. mr. root, may the days you are about to spend amongst us be happy and agreeable, and may their memory ever accompany you, as ours will ever retain the grateful impression of your visit. reply of mr. root i beg you to believe that i appreciate most highly your kind welcome and the friendly terms with which you have greeted me. i did not feel as though i were coming among strangers when i entered peru; i do not feel that i am treading on unknown soil when i set foot upon the streets of your famous and historic city. i think no city in the world, certainly no city in the western hemisphere, is better known in the united states of america then the city of lima. almost every schoolboy in the united states has read in the books of our own historians the story of the founding of this city. we all know the wonderful and romantic history of your four centuries of life; we all know the charms, the graces, and the lovable qualities of your people. we know that you are the metropolis of a people who carry the art of agriculture to the highest degree of efficiency, a people frugal, industrious, and of domestic virtue. we have seen with gratification that you are becoming also the metropolis of a people capable of winning from your mountains the inexhaustible wealth they contain, the metropolis of a great mining people; and within the past few years we have rejoiced to see that you are also on the road to become the metropolis of a great manufacturing people. we have read, too, the story of your struggles--first for independence, then for liberty, then for justice and order and peace; and with the memory of our own struggles for liberty and justice, with the experience of our own trials and difficulties, rejoicing in our own success and prosperity, mr. mayor, the feeling of sympathy and rejoicing in your success in overcoming the obstacles that have stood in your way, in your growth in capacity for self-government, in the continuing strength of all the principles of justice and of order and of peace, is universal in my country and among my people. so i come to you not to make friends, but as a friend among friends. i thank you with all my heart, both for myself and for my people, for the kindness of your welcome and for what i know to be the sincerity of your friendship. reception by the senate speech of senator barrios at an extraordinary session, september , the senate of peru, honored by your official visit, greets you as the representative of a great democratic people, whose juridical methods, founded on liberty and equality, are a model for all the american parliaments. i regard your visit to our young republic as one of most important and lasting effect in the history of the continent. when these peoples have reached the power and development which the united states of america enjoys; when the citizens and the public authorities keep within the bounds imposed by the legitimate demands of liberty and justice and the requirements of order and progress; when all this is obtained by means of social well-being, of economic strength, and the political predominance which passes beyond the native land--then the legitimate and noble influence exercised on the life of other peoples is based, not on narrow schemes of national egotism, but on the broad and humane qualities of civilization. this your government has understood in sending a full representation to these republics, in harmony with the american idea of union and progress, which the illustrious statesman who today presides over the glorious destinies of the american people--to the admiration and respect of all--expounds and accomplishes by his thoughtful work. in the dawn of the twentieth century may be seen in this part of the world communities of peoples who, with analogous institutions, must fulfill in history a single and great destiny. this part which the future reserves for us cannot be other than an effective and true realization of democracy at home and of justice in international affairs. such is the direction in which peru is developing her energies, after her past and now remote vicissitudes. such is the ideal that animates her in pursuing her efforts for reconstruction, because a people without an aim in the struggle are unworthy of victory. "it is no more than a scratch on the ground", using the words of your illustrious president. as the principal co-worker for the exalted international policy of the present government of the united states, receive, mr. root, the assurances of the highest consideration and sympathy of the peruvian senate. reply of mr. root i feel most keenly the great honor conferred upon me by this distinguished legislative body. i thank you for your courtesy personally; still more i thank you for the exhibition of friendship and sympathy for my country,--an exhibition which corresponds most perfectly to the spirit and purpose actuating my visit to peru. i do not think, sir, that any one long concerned in government can fail to come at last to a feeling of deep solicitude for the welfare of the people whom he serves. he must come to feel toward them somewhat as the lawyer does toward his clients, as the physician feels toward his patients, as the clergyman feels toward his parishioners--the advocate, the friend of the people whose interests are committed to his official action; and, as a member of the government of a friendly republic, i feel toward you that sympathy which comes from a common purpose, from engagement in the same task, from being actuated by the same motive. the work of the legislator is difficult and delicate. governments cannot make wealth; governments cannot produce enterprise, industry, or prosperity; but wise government can give that security for property, for the fruits of enterprise, for personal liberty, for justice, which opens the door to enterprise, which stimulates industry and commercial activity, which brings capital and immigration to the shores of the country that is but scantily populated; and which makes it worth while for the greatest exertions of the human mind to be applied to the development of the resources of the country. how difficult is the task! as the engineer controlling a great and complicated machine does not himself furnish the motive power or do the work, yet by a wrong turn of the lever may send the machine to ruin; so the legislative body cannot itself do the work that the people must do, yet by ill-advised, inconsiderate, and unwise legislation, it may produce incalculable misery and ruin. the wisdom that is necessary, the unselfishness that is necessary, the subordination of personal and selfish interests that is necessary, has always seemed to me to consecrate a legislative body seeking to do its duty by its country and make it worthy not only of respect but of reverence. mr. president and senators, in your deliberations and your actions, so fraught with results of happiness or disaster for the people of your beloved country, we of the north, the people of a republic long bound to peru by ties of real and sincere friendship, follow you with sympathy; with earnest, sincere desire that you may be guided by wisdom; that you may work in simplicity and sincerity of heart for the good of your people; and that your labors may be crowned by those blessings which god gives to those who serve his children faithfully and well. installation of mr. root as a member of the faculty of political and administrative sciences of the university of san marcos, lima september , speech of doctor luis f. villarÁn rector of the university the university of san marcos of lima heartily shares in the national rejoicing consequent on your visit to us, and greets you as the representative of the great republic which holds so many claims to the high esteem and consideration of the spanish-american states of this continent. your country, indeed, furnished valuable coöperation to the spanish colonies in the establishment of their independence. with the example of your own emancipation, forming one of the greatest events of history, the longing for liberty deepened in their breasts. it gave them courage in the struggle by frank declarations of friendship and sympathy; bestowed prestige on their cause by recognizing them as free states at a time when their emancipation was not entirely accomplished; and finally added strength to their victory by declaring before the whole world that the independence and integrity of these republics would be maintained at all costs. you, the americans of the north, were the founders and defenders of the international and political liberty of these states. washington, whose greatness has alone been given worthy expression in the inspired words of byron--washington, "the first, the last, the best of men", and the glorious group of illustrious citizens who aided him in his work, were the apostles of democracy and of the republic. the american constitution is an admirable structure, built on the immovable foundations of justice and the national will, which will never be overthrown by social or political upheavals. half a century ago, laboulaye, the illustrious professor of the college of france, said: washington has founded a wise and well-organized republic and has bequeathed to history, not the fatal spectacle of crime triumphant, but a beneficent example of patriotism and virtue. in less than fifty years, thanks to the powerful influence of liberty, an empire has been raised which before the end of the century will be the greatest state of the civilized world, and which, if it remain true to the ideals of its founders, if ambition does not check the era of its fortune, will furnish the world the spectacle of a republic of one hundred million men, richer, happier, and more glorious than the monarchies of the old world. this is the work of washington! this prophecy has been fulfilled; that half-century has passed by, and the great republic goes on its career of greatness, and no eye can discern the ultimate reach of its magnificence. today, with the kind name of sister, it sends to us, through you, its worthy messenger, fresh words of encouragement, and invites us in a gracious manner to exert ourselves to greater efforts in the work of peace, of labor, and of the aggrandizement of the american continent. you tell us that-- nowhere in the world has this progress been more marked than in latin america. out of the wrack of indian fighting and race conflicts and civil wars, strong and stable governments have arisen. peaceful succession in accord with the people's will has replaced the forcible seizure of power permitted by the people's indifference. loyalty to country, its peace, its dignity, its honor, has arisen above partizanship for individual leaders. you add: we wish to increase our prosperity, to expand our trade, to grow in wealth, in wisdom, and in spirit, but our conception of the true way to accomplish this is not to pull down others and profit by their ruin, but to help all friends to a common prosperity and a common growth, that we may all become greater and stronger together. the university of lima, an important factor in our national life, accepts on its part, and in harmony with public thought, your noble invitation. this university, the distinguished creation of the great spanish monarchs, proud of its noble lineage of five centuries, jealous of its glories, believes it to be its duty and considers it a special honor to offer you, the illustrious messenger, the deep thinker, and the highest co-worker in the government of theodore roosevelt, the peacemaker of the world, a post of honor. the faculty of political and administrative sciences, founded thirty years ago by the distinguished president manuel pardo, and organized by the eminent public writer pradier fodéré--this faculty, which professes, without limitations, the doctrines of international and political law as proclaimed in your country, is the one which with just right offers you this university emblem, which i am pleased to place in the hands of your excellency [addressing the president of peru, and handing him the medal of the university] that you may kindly deliver it to our illustrious guest. speech of doctor ramÓn ribeyro dean of the faculty of political and administrative sciences september , the presence among us of the eminent statesman, the secretary of state of the united states, is indeed of great significance and surpassing importance in the course of our political life, as a singular and unmistakable token of friendship offered by that powerful republic, and as a generous effort to create between the nations of america a stable régime of true understanding and concord. this work of peace, which is linked with an unvarying respect for the rights of all without regard to the extent of their power, with the close union of their interests, and with a political unity of purpose which springs from the historical origin of the republics of america and the analogy of their institutions, is outlined in a masterly manner in the address which our illustrious guest recently delivered before the congress of american delegates convened at rio de janeiro. the general idea he has expressed therein of the principles of democratic régime, of its severe trials and accidental mistakes, of the virtues which sustain popular government, and of the public education that must prepare and secure it, reveals to us the secret of the prosperity and welfare of the freest and most flourishing republic that has ever existed, and how it has reached the preponderant rank it now occupies among nations. the noble purpose of our powerful sister of the north, who with a persevering and ever steadfast persistency presses on, is the endeavor to combine continental interests lacking sufficient cohesion, and to promote their common development, thus seeking to reach "the complete rule of justice and peace among nations in lieu of force and war." these words of mr. root contain, in their severe simplicity, a complete statement of his mission of friendship and advice. he seeks to stimulate the common aim of harmonizing the several interests on a permanent basis upon which is to be established the uniform rule of our common existence, the rule of justice never subservient to private and selfish convenience; a barrier against the arbitrary and brutal decisions of force, nearly always dissembled under plausible forms and motives of international tradition. there exists a fundamental sentiment which opposes the cumulus of violence and usurpation, which in a great degree constitutes historic international law and corrects the deductions made from purely speculative theories,--a sentiment we accept without demur, and which is asserted like the axioms that serve as the basis and foundation of all reasoning and as a rule inspiring human actions. this concept is that of a law of coexistence, an intuition of the universal conscience, which all human society upholds by reason of the sole fact of its existence. but the completely empiric and egotistical manner in which nations have understood and applied the right of sovereign independence in their outward dealings, has, up to the present time, been the almost insuperable obstacle to the universal establishment of a rule of justice which governs, in a permanent and uniform manner, the concourse of interests; each state following one of its own modeling, in accordance with the power it holds and the ambitions it is thereby enabled to pursue. this tendency, whether open or covert, hardly restrained by the formalities of modern civilization, which seldom succeeds in masking the painful reality, has created the singular spectacle witnessed at the present time,--that is, the undefined aggravation of a military situation which absorbs the greater part of the resources of nations, wrung from the labor of humanity. the constant fear of armed aggression has brought about political alliances of a purely transitory character, which assure nothing and, in truth, mean nothing but the mutual imputation of violence and outrage, unhappily but too well demonstrated as justifiable motives for apprehension, by reason of the ominous antecedents of an international régime founded on the supremacy of power. this precarious guaranty, the fruit of an unsteady and purely political combination which may undergo the most unexpected alterations, cannot assure a stable situation, because it is not in itself the constitution of a common, strong, and commanding law; but, on the contrary, is the distrust of the efficacy of the latter and a certain traditional disdain for a humane and peaceful solution of international affairs. when the anxiety of danger or an unforeseen obstacle does not prevent recourse to arms, war breaks out if the motive is simply the securing of an advantage sustained by a military power which the country chosen as the object of aggression cannot forcibly check. true it is that at the present time wars are less frequent and more humane in the manner they are conducted than heretofore; but their causes are ever the same, and the intervals between them are only due to the increasing number of military powers, and to the fear of consequent complications of political interests which it is hazardous to provoke. treaties of peace since the seventeenth century, which recorded the birth of the modern law of nations, have on some occasions passed through real transformation in obedience to the law of evolution of human societies, which favor equilibrium, not as established by frail or artificial alliances, nor by combinations of the powerful, but by its ethnical factors and the amplitude of the national life based primarily on the progress of its institutions, in the ever-increasing intervention of the people in their own affairs and the reality and soundness of its political and civil liberty. the definite establishment of an international juridical organ, sufficiently authorized and efficacious in its action, is yet a future event. law in this respect has not as yet gone beyond the limits of a sphere that is at most one of pure speculation,--a worthy ideal, it is true, but one which in actuality has only succeeded in modifying the forms of violence by recording in the customary code of nations a few rules to lessen the brutality of the action, without eliminating the arbitrariness inherent in the sovereignty of arms. in the work of common security and prosperity that involves the future of this continent, and once carried into effect, will signalize the most effective advance in the law of nations, a prominent part belongs to the great republic that has staked her power and fortune on peace. in this work we have endeavored to coöperate in good faith and without reserve, and in it, also, the ardent sympathy and the boundless confidence of the peruvian people will follow. and since the unmerited honor has fallen to my lot to address myself on this memorable occasion to the distinguished personage, to the high dignitary of the nation which represents the greatest intensity of national life on account of the unrestricted development of the human faculties and the most certain and practical evolution of law among nations, i believe that i interpret the unanimous sentiment of my colleagues and of my country, in furnishing him the complete evidence of our cordial adherence and of our faith in the work intrusted to his talents and to his high character. reply of mr. root i am deeply sensible of the great honor which you confer upon me, an honor coming from this primate of the universities of the new world; an honor which receives me into the company of men learned, devoted to science, the disciples of truth, men eminent in the republic of letters. i am the more appreciative of this emblem because i am myself the son of a college professor, born within the precincts of a learned institution, and all my life closely associated with higher education in the united states of america. but i realize, sir, that my personality plays no considerable part in the ceremony of today. happy is he who comes, by whatever chance, to stand as the representative of a great cause; as the representative of ideas which conciliate the feelings and arouse the enthusiasm of men; for the cause sheds light upon his person, however small, and the honor of his purpose reflects honor on him. with the greatest satisfaction i have heard from the lips of the learned rector and professor of this university so just and high an estimate of the contributions made by my country to the cause of ordered liberty and justice in the world. i feel that what has been said here today is of far greater weight than any ordinary compliment, because it comes from men who speak under the grave responsibility of their high station as instructors of their countrymen, and after deliberate study, resulting in definite and certain conclusions. it is a matter of most interesting reflection that after the nations of the old world, from which we took our being, had sought for many years to gain wealth and strength and profit by the enforcement of a narrow and mistaken colonial policy, the revolt of the colonies of the new world brought to the mother nations infinitely greater blessings even than they were seeking. the reflex action of the working of the spirit of freedom on these shores of the new hemisphere upon the welfare of the countless millions of the old world, has been of a value incalculable and inconceivable to the minds against whose mistaken policy we revolted. i have always thought, sir, that the chief contribution of the united states of america to political science, was the device of incorporating in written constitutions an expression of the great principles which underlie human freedom and human justice, and putting it in the power of the judicial branch of the government to pass judgment upon the conformity of political action to those principles. when in the fullness of time the hour had come for the new experiment in government among men, and it was the fate of the young and feeble colonies upon the coast of the north atlantic to make the experiment, the old world was full of the most dismal forebodings as to the result. the world was told that the experiment of democratic government meant the rule of the mob; that it might work well today, but that tomorrow the mob which had had but half a breakfast and could expect no dinner, would take control; and that the tyranny of the mob was worse than the tyranny of any individual. the provisions of our constitutions guard against the tyranny of the mob, for at the time when men can deal in harmony with the principles of justice, when no selfish motive exists, when no excited passions exist, the constitution declares the great principles of justice--that no man shall be deprived of his property without due process of the law; that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation; that a person accused of crime shall be entitled to be informed of the charge against him, and given opportunity to defend himself. these provisions are essential to the preservation of liberty; and in the hands of judicial power rests the prerogative of declaring that whenever a congress, or a president, or a general, or whatever officer of whatever rank or dignity infringes, by a hair's breadth, upon any one of these great impersonal declarations of human rights, his acts cease to have official effect. the substitution of the divine quality of judgment, of the judicial quality in man, that quality which is bound by all that honor, by all that respect for human rights, by all that self-respect can accomplish, to lay aside all fear or favor and decide justly--the substitution of that quality for the fevered passions of the hour, for political favor and political hope, for political ambition, for personal selfishness and personal greed,--that is the contribution, the great contribution, of the american constitution to the political science of the world. if we pass to the field most ably and interestingly discussed in the paper to which we have just listened, to the field of international justice, we find the same principle less fully developed. i had almost said we find the need for the application of the same principle. all international law and international justice depend upon national law and national justice. no assemblage of nations can be expected to establish and maintain any higher standard in their dealings with one another than that which each maintains within its own borders. just as the standard of justice and civilization in a community depends upon the individual character of the elements of the community, so the standard of justice among nations depends upon the standard established in each individual nation. now, in the field of international arbitration we find a less fully developed sense of impersonal justice than we find in our municipal jurisprudence. many years ago the marquis of salisbury, in a very able note, pointed out the extreme difficulty which lies in the way of international arbitration, arising from the difficulty of securing arbitrators who will act impartially, the trouble being that the world has not yet passed, in general, out of that stage of development in which men, even if they be arbitrators, act diplomatically instead of acting judicially. arbitrations are too apt, therefore, to lead to diplomatic compromises rather than to judicial decisions. the remedy is not in abandoning the principle of arbitration, but it is by pressing on in every country and among all countries the quickened conscience, the higher standard, the judicial idea, the sense of the responsibility for impartial judgment in international affairs, as distinguished from the opportunity for negotiation in international affairs. we are too apt, both those who are despondent about the progress of civilization and those who are cynical about the unselfishness of mankind, to be impatient in our judgment, and to forget how long the life of a nation is, and how slow the processes of civilization are; how long it takes to change character and to educate whole peoples up to different standards of moral law. the principle of arbitration requires not merely declarations by governments, by congresses; it requires that education of the people of all civilized countries up to the same standard which now exists regarding the sacredness of judicial functions exercised in our courts. it does not follow from this that the declaration of the principle of arbitration is not of value; it does not follow that governments and congresses are not advancing the cause of international justice; a principle recognized and declared always gains fresh strength and force; but for the accomplishment of the results which all of us desire in the substitution of arbitration for war, we must not be content with the declaration of principles; we must carry on an active campaign of universal national and international education, elevating the idea of the sacredness of the exercise of the judicial function in arbitration as well as in litigation between individuals. still deeper than that goes the duty that rests upon us. arbitration is but the method of preventing war after nations have been drawn up in opposition to each other with serious differences and excited feelings. the true, the permanent, and the final method of preventing war, is to educate the people who make war or peace, the people who control parliaments and congresses, to a love for justice and regard for the rights of others. so we come to the duty that rests here--not in the whims or the preference or the policy of a monarch, but here, in this university, in every institution of learning throughout the civilized world, with every teacher--the responsibility of determining the great issues of peace and war through the responsibility of teaching the people of our countries the love of justice, teaching them to seek the victories of peace rather than the glories of war; to regard more highly an act of justice and of generosity than even an act of courage or an act of heroism. in this great work of educating the people of the american republics to peace, there are no political divisions. as there is, and has been since the dawn of civilization, but one republic of science, but one republic of letters, let there be but one republic of the politics of peace, one great university of the professors and instructors of justice, of respect for human rights, of consideration for others, and of the peace of the world. footnotes: [ ] mr. everett to señor osma, november , . panama the national assembly speech of his excellency ricardo arias secretary of government and foreign relations in the national assembly, at panama, september , you have just visited the wealthiest capitals of south america, real emporiums of its richness; there you have been received with great magnificence. our outward manifestations of joy on the occasion of your visit may, therefore, appear to you very humble; but you can rest assured that none of them will surpass us in the intensity of sympathetic feeling toward your person and toward the noble american people that you so worthily represent. we panamanians always remember with gratitude the interest we inspired in you from the very first days of our national existence, and we bear in mind very specially your timely speech delivered before the union league club of chicago,[ ] when our destiny was pending on the scales of a decision of your senate; and therefore we avail ourselves of this joyful opportunity to receive you with the cordiality due to an old and good friend. it has been, and it is yet, the vehement desire of your country to bring into closer ties, as far as possible, its political and commercial relations with the latin american countries. the similarity of traditions and institutions, the vicinity and continuity of their territories, and the vast field of commercial expansion which they offer, fully justify that natural, legitimate desire, which is also mutually beneficial; but there being between yours and the latter countries essential differences of language, race, disposition, and education, there is bound to exist in them the suspicion which is naturally engendered by the unknown, and thus it is that the first steps taken toward the accomplishment of your desire should have been the removal of that suspicion by means of friendly intercourse and mutual acquaintance. with the tact brought forth by your vast intelligence and learning, you fully understood that those do not love each other well who are not intimately acquainted; and it is owing to this fact that you decided to come in person to visit and to know the latin americans by your own observation and study. no doubt you carry with you a joyful impression of the progress and nobleness of disposition of our southern brothers, together with the assurance that your mission will achieve a new and splendid triumph for that american diplomacy whereof you are the skilled director, and the principal object of which is the accomplishment of the desire of which i have already spoken. being desirous to coöperate in the aims you have in view and with the hope of dispelling certain existing misunderstandings concerning the motives and intentions which originated our present pleasant relations, in a statement which i recently addressed to your government through its minister plenipotentiary here, i recounted the historical events which engendered our national existence and those special relations which link us to your country, in order that when the seal of diplomatic silence is removed, and that statement becomes public property, the world may know, through the unimpeachable testimony of history, that only ideals of the highest altruism served as a guide to the foundation of our republic and to the celebration of the treaty concerning the construction of the interoceanic canal for our benefit and _pro mundi beneficio_. panama offers you a splendid field to promote the wise international policy which animates your mind. we being of similar conditions to our latin american brothers, being linked to your country by the closest ties that can exist between two independent nations, you having the means of exerting decisive influence upon our future life and we being situated in the constant path of universal transit, shall be an evident, shining example of the benefit which your country can confer upon the countries of our race. the fruits of your influence are already felt and seen. peace, which we consider a blessing, is a permanent fact. under its shelter, and under the assurances given us by your illustrious president in his famous letter of october , , addressed to the secretary of war, panama has entered with firm step upon the path of material, intellectual, and moral development. those who knew us a little over two years ago, disheartened and ruined by bad government and civil war, and see today the change that has taken place in such a short time, carry to the north and south the gratifying news of our regeneration and thereby contribute to dispel unfounded suspicions regarding yourselves. these good results are the forerunners of greater benefits in the future, and of the effect of the coöperation of the agents of your government in the progress of the country in general, of their friendly and timely advice, and of their decided moral support whenever there has been need thereof. i will profit by this opportunity to convey to you the gratitude of the government and people of panama for the special consideration which has been extended to them by the government of your country. this has been evidenced principally by the diplomatic staff sent to us, from the very able honorable william i. buchanan, your first minister plenipotentiary, to the popular honorable charles e. magoon, who can hardly be replaced, and whose separation from the post he occupies with general satisfaction has caused great regret in the country; and later you sent us, doing us an unmerited honor, in the first place, by special order of your very noble president, your secretary of war, honorable william h. taft, who established the relations between our two countries on the happy basis of mutual cordiality and justice, on which they are now established; and now, mr. secretary, you do us the great honor of coming yourself on a visit, placing us on a level with the powerful brazil, argentina, chile, peru, and uruguay; and, furthermore, which appears to be the extreme limit of what is possible, you allow us to look forward to the coming visit of your great president, the most distinguished of existing rulers--a special honor which has not been vouchsafed even to the most powerful nations of the world. panama, overwhelmed with so many marks of appreciation, will preserve them as an everlasting remembrance of gratitude toward your noble country; and in return, though it be but partial, we will follow your advice, we will coöperate without reserve and with enthusiasm in the great work of the interoceanic canal, which is bound to be the most magnificent monument of the grandeur of your people; and we will likewise support you in the mission of american brotherhood which you have undertaken, founding a nation which shall distinguish itself by its love of work, of honor, of order, and of justice. reply of mr. root i thank you for your kind welcome to me and for the friendship to my country expressed in that welcome, and i thank you for the honor conferred upon me by this reception in the legislative body which is charged with the government of this republic. you have truly said, sir, that i am deeply interested in the affairs of the people of panama. at the time of the events which led to your independence, i studied your history carefully and thoroughly from original documents, in order to determine in my own mind what the course of my country ought to be. from that study have resulted a keen sense of the manifold injuries and injustices under which the people of panama have suffered in years past, a strong sympathy with you in your efforts and aspirations toward a better condition, a fervent hope for your prosperity and welfare. it is with the greatest pleasure that i have heard the expressions of friendship for my country, because of my feeling toward you and because of the special relations which exist between the two countries. we are engaged together in the prosecution of a great, a momentous enterprise--an enterprise which has been the dream not only of the early navigators who first colonized your coasts, but of the most progressive of mankind for four centuries. its successful accomplishment will make panama the very center of the world's trade; you will stand upon the greatest highway of commerce; more than the ancient glories of the isthmus will be restored; and there lies before you in the future of this successful enterprise wealth, prosperity, the opportunity for education, for cultivation, and for intercourse with all the world such as has never before been brought to any people. the success of the enterprise will unite the far-separated atlantic and pacific coasts in my country; it will give to us the credit of great deeds done, and make the atlantic and pacific for us as but one ocean; and the success of this enterprise will give to the world a new highway of commerce and the possibility of a distinct and enormous advance in that communication between nations which is the surest guaranty of peace and civilization. the achievement of this work is to be accomplished by us jointly. you furnish the country, the place, the soil, the atmosphere, the surrounding population among which the people who do the work are to live and where the work is to be maintained. we furnish the capital and the trained constructive ability which has grown up in the course of centuries of development of the northern continent. the work is difficult and delicate; the two peoples, the anglo-american and the spanish-american, are widely different in their traditions, their laws, their customs, their methods of thinking and speaking and doing business. it often happens that we misunderstand each other; it often happens that we fail to appreciate your good qualities and that you fail to appreciate ours; and that with perfectly good intentions, with the best of purposes and kindliest of feelings, we clash, we fail to understand each other, we get at cross purposes, and misconception and discord are liable to arise. let us remember this in all our intercourse; let us be patient with each other; let us believe in the sincerity of our mutual good purposes and kindly feelings, and be patient and forbearing each with the other, so that we may go on together in the accomplishment of this great enterprise; together bring it to a successful conclusion; together share in the glory of the great work done and in the prosperity that will come from the result. mr. president and gentlemen, let me assure you that in the share which the united states is taking and is to take in this work, there is and can be but one feeling and one desire toward the people of panama. it is a feeling of friendship sincere and lasting; it is a feeling of strong desire that wisdom may control the deliberations of this assembly; that judgment and prudence and love of country may rule in all your councils and may control all your actions; it is a desire and a firm purpose that so far as in us lies, there shall be preserved for you the precious boon of free self-government. we do not wish to govern you or interfere in your government, because we are larger and stronger; we believe that the principle of liberty and the rights of men are more important than the size of armies or the number of battleships. your independence which we recognized first among the nations of the earth, it is our desire to have maintained inviolate. believe this, be patient with us, as we will be patient with you; and i hope, i believe, that at some future day we shall all be sailing through the canal together, congratulating each other upon our share in that great and beneficent work. footnotes: [ ] "the ethics of the panama question"; address before the union league club of chicago, february , --see _addresses on international subjects_, pp. - , published by the harvard university press. colombia cartagena address of the minister for foreign affairs, his excellency vÁsquez-cobo at a breakfast given to mr. root, september , upon receiving your excellency within the confines of our heroic and glorious cartagena, i present to you a cordial greeting of welcome, in the name of colombia, of his excellency the president of the republic, and in my own. you return to your own country to enjoy merited honors and laurels after a long tour, giving a hearty embrace of friendship to our sisters, the republics of the south; and in breaking your journey upon our burning shores we receive you as the herald of peace, of justice, and of concord with which the great republic of the north greets the american continent. i trust to god that these walls, the austere witnesses of our glory, will serve as a monument whereby this visit may be noted in history. the honorable minister barrett, the worthy and estimable representative of your excellency's government, has just completed a journey through a large part of our vast territory; he, better than any one, will be able to tell your excellency what he has seen in our beautiful and fertile valleys and mountains, in our flourishing cities and fields, and among our five millions of lusty, high-minded, peace-loving, and hard-working inhabitants, who today think only of peace and useful and honest toil. this is the nation that greets you today and with loyalty and frankness clasps the hand of her sister of the north. mr. secretary, upon thanking you for the honor of this visit, i fervently pray that a happy outcome may crown your efforts in the great work of american fraternity, and i drink to the prosperity and greatness of the united states, to its president, and especially to your excellency. reply of mr. root believe, i beg you, in the sincerity of my appreciation and my thanks for the courtesy with which you have received me, and for the honor which you have shown me. when the suggestion was made that upon my return from a voyage encircling the continent of south america, i should stop at cartagena for an interview with you, sir, before returning to my own country, i accepted with alacrity and with pleasure, because it was most grateful to me to testify by my presence upon your shores to my high respect for your great country, the country of bolívar; to my sincere desire that all questions which exist between the united states of colombia and the united states of america may be settled peacefully, in the spirit of friendship, of mutual esteem, and with honor to both countries. especially, also, i was glad to come to colombia as an evidence of my esteem and regard for that noble and great man whom it is the privilege of colombia to call her president today--general reyes. i have had the privilege of personal acquaintance with him, and i look upon his conduct of affairs in the chief magistracy of your republic with the twofold interest of one who loves his fellowmen and desires the prosperity and happiness of the people of colombia, and of a personal regard and friendship for the president himself. i have been much gratified during my visit to so many of the republics of south america to find universally the spirit of a new industrial and commercial awakening, to find a new era of enterprise and prosperity dawning in the southern continent. mr. minister and gentlemen, it will be the cause of sincere happiness to me if through the present friendly relations, based upon personal knowledge acquired here, i may do something toward helping the republic of colombia forward along the pathway of the new development of south america. with your vast agricultural and mineral wealth, with the incalculable richness of your domain, the wealth and prosperity of colombia are sure to come some time. let us hope that they will come while we are yet living, in order that you may transfer to your children not the possibility but the realization of the increased greatness of your country. let us hope that some advance of this new era of progress may come from the pleasant friendships formed today. while i return my thanks to you for your courtesy, let me assure you that there is nothing that could give greater pleasure to the president and to the people of the united states of america than to feel that they may have some part in promoting the prosperity and the happiness of this sister republic. i ask you to join me in drinking to the peace, the prosperity, the order, the justice, the liberty of the republic of colombia, and long life and a prosperous career in office to its president--general reyes. the visit to mexico following secretary root's visit to south america, with its auspicious results, the president of mexico, porfirio díaz, extended an official invitation to visit the republic immediately to the south of us, in the belief that such a visit would have equally happy results in strengthening and increasing the "steadfast friendship" existing between the two neighboring nations. mr. root, together with his wife and daughter, started for mexico by special train, arriving in san antonio on september , . on the evening of the day of his arrival in san antonio, a banquet was tendered to mr. root and the mexican committee which had come to san antonio to welcome him and escort him into their country. on sunday the th, the root party, together with the mexican committee, proceeded across the boundary into mexico, and were met at the station of nuevo laredo by a mexican delegation. thence they continued to mexico city, where the honors extended to mr. root were in keeping with the traditional hospitality of the ancient capital of the montezumas. during his stay the degree of honorary member of the mexican academy of legislation and jurisprudence was conferred upon him. a mexican publication of pages, entitled _el señor root en mexico_, contains in parallel spanish and english columns a detailed account of the visit, which extended from september to october . it is to be regretted that this volume is defective in that many of the speeches made during the visit are not fully reported. it is possible, however, to gather from those which have been preserved, a keen sense of the cordial reception accorded him by the officials and representative citizens of the republic, and the earnest and eloquent terms in which he reciprocated the expressions of regard for his country and of appreciation of his own services to his country and the world. the most progressive epoch in mexico's history was the thirty years of díaz's supremacy; and it was in the heyday of that period that mr. root made his visit to mexico and paid to president díaz the tributes which appear in the following pages. during these thirty years, he was always a firm friend of the united states, and no diplomatic misunderstandings arose which were not peaceably adjusted in a spirit of neighborly friendship. díaz shares with president roosevelt the honor of submitting the first international controversy to the hague tribunal of arbitration for determination, in what is known as "the pious fund of the californias." the visit to mexico san antonio speech of mr. root at a banquet of the international club in honor of mr. root and the mexican envoys, september , upon his arrival in san antonio, texas, on his way to mexico, mr. root was met by a reception committee designated by president díaz, which had come to san antonio to welcome him and to escort him to the national capital. while in san antonio, mr. root and the mexican reception committee were the guests of the international club of that city; and on the evening of the day of their arrival, a banquet was tendered them by that club. at this banquet mr. root made what may be called the first address of his mexican visit. the opening remarks of this speech were not reported in full in the volume entitled _el señor root en mexico_, or elsewhere; nor were the speeches of the members of the mexican reception committee. mr. root began by a reference to the ideals adopted by men and by nations, declaring his opinion that a nation has a right to exist only in so far as it shows its ability to care for the welfare of other nations and the relations of every man with his fellowmen. he spoke of the rising tide of american business which is powerfully spreading towards the south by reason of the financial conditions in the east of the united states, every day becoming more stringent through the volume and accumulation of resources. after this introduction, he spoke at some length about the panama canal, the construction of which already was in its opening stage. on this subject he said: the panama canal is now an unquestionable certainty. relations between the united states and the different nations which are grouped around the caribbean sea, are becoming every day closer. it is impossible to anticipate at present the tonnage which will pass through that waterway, nor can we predict the number of vessels which will be required for its transportation; but we do already know, that never in the world has a new and universal trade route been opened, without bringing about a change in the history of the entire world. and it is for this reason i feel that upon us has fallen the mission of assisting all those nations which will find themselves involved in the new influence. at present we are doing everything within our power to assist cuba in establishing self-government. we have endeavored to stretch out our hand to unhappy santo domingo, ruined by its civil wars, so that it may rise and also govern itself. we have plunged into a discussion which really has no further object than that of settling the disputes and the differences which have arisen between the united states and the republic of colombia. and all this we do, not only through the new interest which the prosperity of all those countries develops in ourselves, but principally through a profound comprehension of the truth contained in the principle above enunciated, that a nation only lives as far as it demonstrates its right to existence by its usefulness to humanity. and one of the most conclusive guarantees of the success of this effort is found in the solid and loyal friendship which exists between the united states and mexico, with which nation, day after day, and year after year, we are working within the limits of a peaceful and humanitarian national policy, which at the same time is wise and intelligent. our two republics, now so prosperous, harmoniously work to promote a similar prosperity amongst their sister republics to the south; and i sincerely hope that this happy state of affairs may be prolonged for a long time to come, and that success may finally crown our united efforts. in this manner the two republics will fully prove their right to live, and will show the world that their citizens are able and competent to govern themselves without the assistance of either kings or aristocracies, seeing that they can fill the highest mission of man, which consists in the maintenance of law, order, justice, liberty, and peace.... i also desire to say how greatly i appreciate the distinguished courtesy shown to myself and to the government of the united states, by the long journey which has been undertaken by the committee charged with the representation of president díaz and the mexican government, crossing the frontier of their country into the state of texas, in order to give me welcome on the occasion of the visit i am about to make. indeed, it causes me the greatest satisfaction to be able to declare, without any reserve whatever, that this action is entirely in accordance with the conduct observed by mexico in all international matters which have arisen between the two countries, since i have taken any part in the government of our own. with an immense boundary line which is only marked by the changeable and capricious currents of the río grande; with the constant traffic across our common frontier; with thousands of americans residing in that country; with the countless number of enterprises in which americans are interested on the other side of the río grande, and with the resources of the two countries, there are always a number of questions to be solved by the representatives of one and the other, and there can be no doubt that they will always be solved with the same good-will and courtesy of which such evident proof has been given by general rincón gallardo, by mr. limantour and by their travelling companions in coming here tonight.[ ] reception by the mexican delegation at nuevo laredo speech of welcome by general pedro rincÓn gallardo september , especially appointed for this purpose by the president, in behalf of the government of the republic, we have the honor to tender to your excellency the most cordial welcome on your happy arrival in mexico, whose people, of whom we must consider ourselves the faithful echo, pledge the continued good relations with the people of the united states. the reception is an homage to your well-known merits, and the people are anxious to receive your excellency as their illustrious guest and highly esteemed friend. the people of mexico, during your excellency's brief sojourn amongst us, will show how true is their esteem for you and how proud they will feel on the occasion of this visit of your excellency, accompanied by mrs. and miss root; an event the memory of which will remain forever engraved on our hearts. mr. root's reply i beg you to believe that i am highly appreciative of the cordial and hospitable greeting with which i have been received by you on the threshold of your beautiful and wonderful country. i hope that the visit which now begins will not merely give me personally the opportunity i have long desired, to see this great country and its marvels, to meet its public men, and especially to see its illustrious president. i hope that it will also serve, as it is intended to serve, as evidence of the desire of the government and people of the united states to strengthen and increase the steadfast friendship which they have long felt for the people and government of mexico. city of mexico speech of porfirio dÍaz president of the republic at a banquet at the national palace, october , in the name of the mexican people and of their government i tender you this banquet, acknowledging thereby those sentiments of sympathy which are felt and which distinguish one and another, the people of the united states, the great citizen who presides over its high destinies, and the illustrious statesman who honors us with his interesting and very welcome visit. bonds of sympathy and fellow-feeling, mr. secretary, which are not new, but which germinated in the breasts of our fathers at the inception of the independence of our country, our fathers who contemplated with patriotic enthusiasm the daring exploits in war and imitated the political examples set by your heroic liberators; sentiments which we, of subsequent generations, have also cultivated; because, in studying the causes which produce the prodigious national prosperity with which your country has astounded the world, we become accustomed to admire, to magnify perhaps, the indomitable will, energy, labor, and civic and patriotic solidarity which constitute the energetic and abundantly productive type of your countrymen. the mexican people, mr. secretary, are honored as well as pleased to have you in their midst--honored, because you are the fountain of honor as a noted statesman of our century, and highly pleased because your clear and rapid conception promises us that, seeing with your own eyes the kind and well-merited feelings with which we harbor your countrymen who seek in our land the generous treatment proportionate to their intelligence, perseverance, and indefatigable labor, you may affirm that in mexico we profess ideas which, carried out in cordial reciprocity, must make happy and loyal friends the two nations which are united by contiguity. in conclusion, gentlemen, i extend my thanks to the distinguished ladies who have had the kindness to honor and embellish our tables with their presence; and permit me to invite you to drink with them and with me, hoping that the national harmonizing of individual rights and just liberties, which is called the united states of america, may be perpetuated in its increasing moral and material progress, which has given prestige throughout the world to government by popular representation. i drink also to the personal happiness of that great friend of universal peace, president of the grand republic, the honorable theodore roosevelt, and to the hope that our illustrious guest and his lovable family may find in mexico a reception as pleasing as their interesting visit is to the mexican people. mr. root's reply i thank you most sincerely for the kind and gracious words which you have used regarding my poor self, regarding my president, from whom i bring to you and to the mexican people a message of deep and warm friendship and good wishes, and regarding my country, which i believe is fitly represented by this brief visit of friendship, made with the purpose, not of creating, for they are already created, but of increasing and advancing the ideas of amity and mutual helpfulness between two great republics. i cannot keep my mind from reverting to a former visit by an american secretary of state to the republic of mexico. thirty-eight years ago, mr. seward, a really great american secretary of state, visited your country. how vast the difference between what he found and what i find! then was a country torn by a civil war, sunk in poverty, in distress. now i find a country great in its prosperity, in its wealth, in its activity and enterprise, in the moral strength of its just and equal laws, and unalterable purpose to advance its people steadily along the pathway of progress. mr. president, the people of the united states feel that the world owes this great change chiefly to you. they are grateful to you for it, for they rejoice in the prosperity and happiness of mexico. we believe, sir, that we are richer and happier because you are richer and happier, and we rejoice that you are no longer a poor and struggling nation needing assistance, but that you are strong and vigorous, so that we can go with you side by side in demonstrating to the world that republics are able to govern themselves wisely; side by side in helping to carry to our less fortunate sisters the blessing of peace. mr. president, i have said that we need not create, but wish to strengthen, the ties of friendship. it is my hope that through more perfect understanding, through personal intercourse, through the more complete unity of action to be acquired by the individual intercourse of the men of mexico and the men of the united states, not only may our friendship be increased, but our power for usefulness--for that usefulness which demonstrates the right of nations to be perpetuated--may be enlarged. for the generous hospitality, for the spirit of friendship with which you and the people of mexico have welcomed me as a representative of the united states, i thank you and them, and i hope that there may be found in this visit and in this welcome not merely the pleasure of a holiday, but a step along the pathway of two great nations in their service to humanity. reception at the municipal palace speech of governor guillermo de landa y escandÓn october , last year, in accordance with the wishes of your president, you undertook to visit and become acquainted with latin america, and for that purpose you made an extended voyage which was fruitful in happy results. at the beginning of the sixteenth century adventurous spanish and portuguese navigators sailed from the atlantic into the pacific, effecting important discoveries of which the object was to rescue from darkness populous regions which, since then, have become part of the civilized world. you have sailed over nearly the same route four centuries later, proclaiming a message of peace and concord in all those regions whose inhabitants greeted you with acclamations from the northern ports of brazil around to those of colombia and panama. you are now crowning your mission by visiting the mexican republic, and you arrive at this capital animated by the same aspirations which actuated you when you set foot on the cruiser _charleston_ in the port of new york on july , . your aims are so noble and great that they cannot but be sincere. the course you have set before yourself would not be possible for one whose head did not harbor the loftiest ideals, and whose heart did not quicken to the finest sentiments. your president is a great man; rectitude and loyalty are the dominant features of his character. a soldier, and a brave one, he knows what war is, and therefore he abhors it with all the force of his large heart; the war which engages his thoughts is war upon war itself. it would not befit me at this moment, much as i should wish to do so, to extol the character of the supreme magistrate of my country. but i may say that, though a soldier like your own president, he detests war in the same degree, and that the ideals and aims of both these great men are alike directed toward an object sublime and desired of all men--peace. the nations which both statesmen govern follow their lead in this respect with energetic unanimity; and it is safe to augur the happiest results from a concert so auspicious. you, sir, second the purposes of both of those leaders with a zeal which nothing can cool; your mind has been formed at the bar--in the school of justice; and, like our two presidents, you abominate injustice and insincerity. you also know what war is, and you share the aversion of the two great american statesmen who are the standard bearers of peace in the new world. welcome, excellency, to this ancient capital of the empire of montezuma. she opens her gates to you and to your family, and offers you the sincerest hospitality, hoping you may preserve of her recollections as lasting as will be her memory of the visit of one whose happy mission it has been to carry everywhere the spirit of peace, good-will, and fraternity. mr. root's reply governor landa, your welcome now is as it has been from the first instant of my visit, both graceful and grateful. i have been most delighted by the many interesting things i have seen here. above all things, i feel impelled to say that the most interesting thing in mexico, so far as my knowledge goes, is your president. it has seemed to me that of all the men now living, porfirio díaz, of mexico, is best worth seeing. whether one considers the adventurous, daring, chivalric incidents of his early career; whether one considers the vast work of government which his wisdom and courage and commanding character have accomplished; whether one considers his singularly attractive personality, no one lives today whom i would rather see than president díaz. if i were a poet, i would write poetry; if i were a musician, i would compose triumphal marches; if i were a mexican, i should feel that the steadfast loyalty of a lifetime could not be too much in return for the blessings that he had brought to my country. as i am neither poet, musician, nor mexican, but only an american who loves justice and liberty and hopes to see their reign among mankind progress and strengthen and become perpetual, i look to porfirio díaz, the president of mexico, as one of the great men to be held up for the hero worship of mankind. reception by the chamber of deputies speech of licentiate manuel calero president of the chamber october , honorable secretary of state, welcome; the national representation, the chamber that constitutionally symbolizes that people which in this section of the western hemisphere, is ever striving, ever struggling to attain a higher civilization, to win for itself a respected name among nations, feels pleasure in welcoming you to its midst. you are at the present moment the symbolical representation of a great and friendly people and the personification of its brotherly feelings toward us. you, honored sir, are our guest; and were the traditional chivalry of our people not sufficient justification for our cordiality toward you, the high character of your office, the luster encircling your name, and the mission of peace which brings you to this land, would all move us to open our arms to you, to show you what we are and what we would be, so that, on returning to your country, you may tell the millions of your fellow-citizens who will hang upon your words with rapt attention, that mexico is not that mythical land, which legends shroud in the mists of the adventurous romance of the old latin countries, restless, mistrustful, dreamy; nay rather, you will tell them, that it is a sturdy young nation, starting out, aye, already started, on the highroad of civilization and industrialism; that it pursues lofty ideals and strives to attain them, that its heart beats at the thought of universal solidarity, that it sees in the foreigner a friend, that it answers your brotherly message with a frank and kindly greeting, free from resentment for the past, and trusting in the omens of the future. your name is not unknown to us. we have followed the trail of your labors and triumphs for the last decade. we know, too, the people from whom you have come; and setting aside all false modesty, can truly say we know them better than they know us. the last thirty years of free intercourse between this country and yours have seen an overflow of men and money from north to south; we have dashed the mist from our eyes and have endeavored to wring from you, more fortunate and wiser than ourselves, the secrets of your greatness and the causes of your astounding prosperity. that you once wronged us, that, when burning political, economic, and humane problems beset you, the course of justice was momentarily hampered, we have not forgotten; we have not. but as the years have rolled on you have won back, inch by inch, your place in our affections; the intercourse every day has become closer and closer between your people and ours, stepping over the bounds set by race and tongue, infusing new life into this feeling of mutual good will and friendship, which tends to establish harmony of ideals and close similarity of destiny. so it is happening and so should it be. offsprings of the same continent, your institutions point out the path for the development of ours, your mental and moral advance fires the vigor of our spirit, your tireless activity excites us to action; in a word, your progress uplifts our noblest ambitions. we are both marching on to the victories of civilization, although your lot, in the course of history, shall have been that of forerunners. one of your scholars has said that the american nation has rendered five eminent services to the world's civilization. true are his words. for the american nation has, in the first place, sustained by word and by deed, the principle that the medium of bringing differences between nations to an end, is arbitration; it has accepted and practised religious toleration as has no other nation; it has known how to raise the dignity of man, by giving to the political vote the development which a true democracy calls for; it has thrown open its doors to all such as seek progress and liberty in your country, and it has taken them in to form part of one and the same great soul; and lastly, it has known, as no other nation has, how to scatter abroad material benefits, the very basis of the moral and mental perfection of the individual. to these factors and to others derived from the conditions of its privileged soil, is due the great importance of the american people as a powerful force in the progress of humanity. i shall not attempt to analyze in their essence these five glorious victories of civilization. my mind is dazed by the victory of democracy through the true action of the suffrage. this is the germ, the primary origin of your greatness as a people, which makes you the beacon for the eager gaze of all those who, down-trodden by power or by poverty, seek under the shelter of your wise laws, the guarantee of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, to quote the sacred formula of your declaration of independence; this it is which explains why neither the difference of race and language, nor the morbid influence produced in the mind by secular despotism, nor the infinite diversity of religion, is an obstacle to the hundreds of thousands of helpless beings whom year by year the old world is casting on your shores, to be transformed into citizens and become identified with the new fatherland, as if the national spirit had breathed into the souls of these new arrivals love for your glorious traditions and your lofty ideals of liberty, justice, and progress. the american fatherland is not hemmed in by battlements; it is the redeemer of all miseries, it is the refuge of all those who, in their flight from tyranny, like your illustrious carl schurz, exclaim: _ubi libertas, ibi patria!_ we, less blessed by fortune, but no whit less rich in ideals and lofty aspirations, find pleasure in studying your people. we shall endeavor to reap benefits from the lessons of your success, and we shall try to avert the great evils which are born of a prosperity such as yours, and which would undermine the walls of your civilization, did there not arise from out of your midst men of great virtue and indomitable strength of will, armed for the fray against guilt, combating evil, true apostles of right. theodore roosevelt is such a man, the most conspicuous of our times, the ardent devotee of justice, who claims for good citizens, for the rich and the poor, the proud and the humble, perfect equality and liberty unrestrained, without which lawful energies may not expand; and demands alike for all equal justice, equal treatment, "a square deal"--to use his own concise and vigorous phrase. this it is which explains the whole-hearted prestige won by your chief executive within the limits of your own country, and which has passed the bounds of your territory and been merged in the international prestige accorded to him by all cultured nations. and, in no small measure, did you with your knowledge, your ceaseless labor and your delicate tact contribute to this happy end. thus the world has seen how the voice of theodore roosevelt, outreaching the roar of the cannons of mukden, put an end to the war which in shame to human culture heralded the dawn of the twentieth century; it has seen how, in deference to his initiative, the cultured nations of the world hastened to meet at the hague conference, and how, as a reward for his constant efforts, united with those of the glorious chief executive of this republic, who now receives you with every mark of honor, the disorders in the neighboring republics to the south were pacified, and these are now making ready for a work of peace and harmony,--the beginning of that longed-for era of prosperity. the international importance achieved by your government and your country had its beginning when president monroe gave to the world his famous doctrine, so debated, so misunderstood, and perhaps so dangerous, if--as has sometimes been thought--it might be used as a means of illegitimate preponderance at the expense of the sovereignty of other nations. the monroe doctrine embodies, nevertheless, and we should not hesitate to say so, the first principle of international law of a great part of this continent, if not the whole. this it means for us mexicans, ever since the president of the republic announced it to congress in his memorable message of april, , received with general acclamation by the national representatives, and later by the whole country. the integrity of the nations of this continent is of vital interest to all, collectively, and not alone to the country immediately affected. any attack on this integrity should constitute an offense in the eyes of the other nations of america. accordingly, one of our great thinkers and statesmen has wisely said: "america for americans means each country for its own people, to the exclusion of all foreign interference, whether this comes from other countries of this continent or whether it comes from any other nation whatsoever. and we in our trying struggles of the past have given ample proof to the whole world of our homage to independence and our hatred of all foreign intervention"--to use president díaz's own words. from among the various formulas adopted by the interpreters of the monroe doctrine, we latin american nations should gather and keep as a precious pledge, that which theodore roosevelt embodied in his famous speech delivered on the occasion of the opening of the buffalo exposition. addressing the republics of the new world, the illustrious statesman, then vice-president of the united states of america, said: i believe with all my heart in the monroe doctrine. this doctrine is not to be invoked for the aggrandizement of any one of us here on this continent at the expense of any one else on this continent. it should be regarded simply as a great international pan american policy, vital to the interests of all of us. the united states has and ought to have, and must ever have, only the desire to see her sister commonwealths in the western hemisphere continue to flourish, and the determination that no old world power shall acquire new territory here on this western continent. we of the two americas must be left to work out our own salvation along our own lines; and if we are wise we will make it understood as a cardinal feature of our joint foreign policy that, on the one hand, we will not submit to territorial aggrandizement on this continent by any old world power, and that, on the other hand, among ourselves each nation must scrupulously regard the rights and interests of the others, so that, instead of any one of us committing the criminal folly of trying to rise at the expense of our neighbors, we shall all strive upward in honest and manly brotherhood, shoulder to shoulder. and you, honored sir, have not been less explicit. your words, pronounced on a memorable occasion during your recent visit to south america, before all the free peoples of this continent gathered together at the third pan american conference, should be disclosed, should reach the ears of my fellow-citizens, for these very words of yours, as president roosevelt solemnly declared in his last message to the congress of the united states, have revealed to all who doubted the spirit of complete equality which inspired the monroe doctrine, what is the attitude of the united states towards the other american republics, and what its purposes. you declared then: we wish for no victories but those of peace; for no territory except our own; for no sovereignty except the sovereignty over ourselves. we deem the independence and equal rights of the smallest and weakest member of the family of nations entitled to as much respect as those of the greatest empire; and we deem the observance of that respect the chief guaranty of the weak against the oppression of the strong. we neither claim nor desire any rights or privileges or powers that we do not freely concede to every american republic. we wish to increase our prosperity, to expand our trade, to grow in wealth, in wisdom, and in spirit; but our conception of the true way to accomplish this is not to pull down others and profit by their ruin, but to help all friends to a common prosperity and a common growth, that we may all become greater and stronger together. you spoke words of truth, and know, honored sir, that those are also our aspirations, those our aims; and thither we wend our way, with the constant steadiness which the mexican people showed in its struggles for liberty and the attainment of the great principles already embodied in our constitution and laws. deign to believe it, and when you return to the fatherland, pray do not ever forget that, if we have showered on you the hospitality such as is only offered to a friend, it is because your ideals are ours, because we citizens of this land, no less than those of yours, accept as the supreme dogma of our political religion the immortal words of president lincoln, that "government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth." mr. root's reply i am doubly sensible of the high honor which you have conferred upon me by this audience today. i am sensible also of the great mark of friendship to my country involved in the reception of one of her officers in this distinguished manner by the lawmaking--the popular lawmaking--body of this great republic. i sincerely hope, not merely that i personally may never do aught to show myself unworthy of your consideration, but that my country may forever, in its attitude and conduct toward the people of mexico, justify your kindness. you will gather from my words, which your president has been good enough to quote in the admirable and graceful address he has just made, that i am one of those who believe that the old days when nations sought to enrich themselves by taking away the wealth of others by force, ought to pass and are passing. i believe, and i am happy to know that the great mass of my countrymen believe, that it is not only more christian, not only more honorable, but also more useful and beneficial for all nations, and especially all neighboring nations, to unite in helping each other create more wealth, so that all may be rich and prosperous, rather than to seek to take it away from each other. i find here in this sanctuary of laws, in this body charged with making the laws, the most interesting, the most important, and the most sacred thing in the republic of mexico. i am not unmindful of the difficulties which confront you, gentlemen of the chamber of deputies, in the task that you perform for your country. the discussion of public questions, the reconciliation of differing opinions, the adjustment of different local interests all over this vast country, the reaching of just conclusions, the compromises necessary so often between different interests, present to the members of a legislative body of a republic difficulties little understood by the people at large and requiring for their solution the highest order of ability, self-denial, and love of country. i beg you to take my testimony, coming from another land long engaged in grappling with the same kind of difficulties; i beg you to take my testimony that the troubles of your body in legislating for your country, and those which you are to encounter in the future, are not peculiar to your country, to your race, to your institutions, to your customs. they inhere in the task before every legislative body representing the vastly differing interests, opinions, sentiments, and desires of a people. mr. president and gentlemen of the chamber of deputies, it is my sincere desire and the desire of my countrymen, that in the performance of this task for the republic of mexico you may be guided in wisdom and in peace. may you possess that self-restraint which is so necessary to the preservation and security for property, for enterprise, and for life, guarding you always from unwise extremes, leading you always to test every question of legislation by sound principles taught by history. may you always, and every one of you, be so inspired by love of country, that you may be able to sink all personal ambitions and interests, to do only that which is for the benefit of your country; so that through your actions and inspired by your example the spirit of nationality which i see growing among the people of mexico, may continue to increase until it is the living and controlling spirit of all the people from the gulf to the pacific. may you have in your deliberations and your action something of the self-sacrificing spirit of the humble priest hidalgo, which, without ambition on his part, with no other motive but the love of his country, has written his name among the great benefactors of humanity. may you have something of the patriotism and genius of benito juárez, which enabled him with his strong hand to take mexico out of the conditions of warring factions when individual ambition rose above the love of country. may you have something of that constancy and high courage which has made for the soldier and the statesman who now sits in the chair of the chief magistrate of mexico, a place in history above scores and hundreds of emperors and kings with high-sounding title and no record in life but the desire for personal advancement. and so, members of the chamber of deputies--may i say, my friends--brothers in the work of seeking by law to advance the peace and prosperity of mankind--may you be able to bring in the rule of justice, of ordered liberty, of peace, of happy homes, of opportunity for children to rise, of opportunity for old age to pass its days in peace. my brother workers in the cause of popular government, of human rights and human happiness, i thank you for the opportunity to say, "god bless you in your labors", which will always have my sympathy and the sympathy of my people. luncheon by the american colony speech of general c. h. m. y agramonte at the mexican country club, october , as chairman of a committee of the american colony, the pleasant duty devolves upon me to welcome, in behalf of the colony, an illustrious countryman, and a prominent member of the official family of the president of the united states, the secretary of state. the opportunity has been afforded us through one of those many acts of exquisite courtesy for which the government of mexico is noted in its intercourse with those of us from north of the río grande, and to which unfailing courtesy we can all bear witness. for the kindly spirit that actuated the mexican government in breaking in upon the official program for the entertainment of its guest--our countryman--and placing him in our hands for this occasion, we are extremely grateful. for the graceful act of the mexican country club in permitting us the use of this magnificent building in which to entertain our guest there is no lack of appreciation. as americans, knowing our own people and our own country as we do, and keenly alive to everything that may obtain for its weal or its woe, our very absence from it making our hearts grow fonder of it, the joy we feel in welcoming one who has held the bright banner of our country full high advanced, is greater than any words of mine can express. we love our country; we love it as the blessed consummation of human hopes. the world has been full of sorrow. the tearful eyes of humanity have never been dry; but in this western world, on this new continent, stretching from ocean to ocean, in the maturity of the ages has come forth a nation whose institutions and example shall aid in lifting the nations of the world into the sunlight of god's glorious liberty. we have no king, no royal family upon which can be centered the loyal emotions of a great people. to us the only representative of the whole people is the glorious banner "thick sprinkled" with stars and striped with vivid red and white. you, sir, have held aloft that banner. you have added to the glory of our country. on the sacred field of gettysburg, ground consecrated by torrents of american blood, abraham lincoln, president of the united states, gave to us a classic which will live while our country exists. you, sir, in your exposition of the attitude of the united states toward other countries, have enunciated a classic that also will live and be a bond of friendship between us and all the nations of this hemisphere. gentlemen, i will read to you that classic: we wish for no victories but those of peace; for no territory except our own; for no sovereignty except the sovereignty over ourselves. we deem the independence and equal rights of the smallest and weakest member of the family of nations entitled to as much respect as those of the greatest empire; and we deem the observance of that respect the chief guaranty of the weak against the oppression of the strong. we neither claim nor desire any rights or privileges or powers that we do not freely concede to every american republic. with such dignified sentiments resounding in our ears, have we not reason to be proud of our guest? and now, sir, in the name of the american colony of mexico, i bid you welcome. yes, thrice welcome! may every choice blessing attend upon you and those you hold dear. mr. root's reply it is a long way from the bowery, but i feel quite at home! it is delightful to feel that my country is represented in this land of beauty by so many handsome and cheerful-looking men; it is delightful to see the evidences of prosperity in every american here, and it is delightful to see that that subtle, indefinable quickening of spirit that comes from separation has given to each of you, exiles in a foreign land, a new significance in every star and stripe and every reference to the old flag and the old home. your welcome is very grateful to me; your kind expressions i most heartily reciprocate. i do not wish to return evil for good by preaching, but it occurs to me that you have--i will not say that you have left your country for your country's good--you have not abandoned your opportunities to serve her; you have rather reached the position where you have new opportunities for service as american citizens. one serious fault which formerly existed to a very great extent among americans, and which has been growing less, was a certain provincial and narrow way of looking at foreigners. there was a good deal of truth underlying the observations and characterizations of mr. dickens which made our people so angry sixty or seventy years ago. one of our american humorists refers to the people of a western mining camp as looking upon a newcomer with the idea that he had the defective moral quality of being a foreigner. now the residuum of that old feeling stands in the way of american trade and american intercourse generally with other nations. no one can do more to hasten the disappearance of that attitude than you who have experienced the friendship and kindliness of the people of this foreign country; you who have learned by your personal experience how many and how noble are the characteristics of this foreign people; you who have been able to see how much we americans may well learn from them; you can, each one of you, be a teacher of your countrymen in your continued intercourse with your homes and your home associates in the gospel of courtesy and kindliness toward all mankind. there is one other thought that comes naturally to my mind. you not only have not abandoned your duties toward your country by coming to this foreign land, but you have acquired new duties toward the community and the nation which has given you welcome and shelter and prosperity. there is underlying all the materialism and the hard practical sense of the american people regulating its own government for its own interests--there is underlying that a certain idealism which carries a conception of a missionary calling to spread through the length and breadth of the world the blessing of justice and liberty and of the institutions which we believe make for human happiness and human progress. that mission is to be fulfilled, not by making speeches and the giving of advice, the writing of books, or even the publication of newspapers; it can best be fulfilled by personal influence and intercourse of men one with another. no american who is in a foreign land can help representing his country; its honor and its good name rest upon each one of us the moment we cross the border. you not only represent your country, but you have a duty to perform toward the country in which you live, giving to her and to her people through your efforts and all your association the best contribution that your training as american citizens, that the traditions of centuries of american life enable you to give, toward the maintenance of law and order, toward the promotion of all ideas that you have been taught in your youth to consider sacred, toward holding up the hands of authority, toward the inculcation of the sentiment of loyalty, toward the perpetuity of the government which gives you security for your lives and your property in your new home. i have one prominent thought in meeting you today; it is, while you continue to be good, loyal american citizens, you should be good and loyal mexican residents. i can no better voice the sentiment of all of my countrymen here i know, and i can no better represent the feelings of our friends who remain at home, than by asking you to rise and join me in drinking to the long continuance of life, strength, and usefulness for the man who, more than any other, or all others, has given you the opportunities that you now enjoy, president porfirio díaz. mexican academy of legislation and jurisprudence speech of licentiate luis mÉndez president of the academy at the installation of mr. root as an honorary member, october , honored sir: because of the office i am temporarily holding, i am given the unexpected honor of placing in your hands the diploma that entitles you to honorary membership in the mexican academy of legislation and jurisprudence. you have come to the country of snowy mountains and flowering valleys which perfume our tropical breezes, preceded by the meritorious fame of having preserved always, unblemished during the course of your fruitful life, the reputation and profession of a lawyer, of having penetrated the secrets of the juridical science and of consecrating today all your energies and abilities to the service of your country. by a happy coincidence, you will find engraved in this parchment as our motto: "professional honor, science, and country"--the same great ends that have consecrated your life. never was the diploma bearing this motto conferred upon a more meritorious or greater man. in science, you have not been the selfish investigator nor in the service of your country have you confined yourself to directing from your place in the cabinet the important matters of the foreign relations of a world-power. knowing that the time has passed for studies merely speculative, and that at the present day every scientific truth cannot be such unless it is applicable, you have most happily found time to scatter the treasures of your studies, either when carrying them as the apostle of peace and concord to other countries, or through your invaluable publications. the academy could hardly be indifferent to this phase of your labors, as we owe to it the great satisfaction of knowing you intellectually and personally; and we pay you our profound respect. therefore, selecting from among your works the last you have published, entitled _the citizen's part in government_,[ ] it was agreed that we should offer you a translation of the same, in the hope that it may please you as it comes from the able and learned pen of an academician for whom you have shown particular friendship prior to this time, and who feels for you the just admiration expressed in the eloquent words of welcome that we have all seconded. we find in this illuminating work of yours the double revelation of the genius that pursues the development of a great idea, and of the generous heart that instills it with an ardor that will make it successful. i will not take the liberty, mr. secretary, of commenting on the selection made by the academy; but i can assure you that the collection of your lectures at yale university, appear to me worthy, for the clear observation and teaching they contain, to be designated as the text-book to be read in all schools by youths preparing to exercise the rights of citizenship. therefore, i beg you, kindly to accept the special copy of this translation presented by the academy. among those who devote themselves to the study of science in general, mr. secretary, and more particularly among those who cultivate one special branch, is formed a sort of fraternity of feelings and affections--the fruit of the communion of ideas--and also of respect caused in every really broad man, for the talents and learning of others. this fraternal feeling has always existed among the jurists of all nations, and in every language there is a word to describe it: _compañero_, in our castilian tongue; _confrère_, in french; and in yours, the most virile and the most expressive, you use the word _brother_. as a brother, therefore, this academy has the honor to receive you in its midst. foreign though it is by virtue of its by-laws to all matters of militant politics, the academy hopes and desires that, forgetting for a moment the high official functions with which you are vested and recalling the happy times when you were simply a lawyer, you may come to us to aid with your vast knowledge and generosity of character, in the success of this ideal: "justice among men and justice among nations." we hope, sir, that when once more in the calm of your honored home, far from the madding crowd and the cares of business, in the company of the two beings most dear to you, who as a blessing may come to your side to fill your affections and to venerate your white head; when in that tranquillity of the soul you may recall the incidents of your busy life, we hope that the recollection of the brief days you are passing among us may be pleasing, and that in the depths of your heart you may be able to say: "i went to mexico in search of friends, and i found brothers...." members of the academy, and committees of scientific societies, and all you who have kindly contributed with your presence to enhance the solemnity of this function in honor of an illustrious lawyer: this is a time when he who gives gains more than those who receive. let us all greet the reception of the new academician! speech of licentiate joaquÍn d. casasus the mexican academy of legislation and jurisprudence has intrusted me with the most gratifying task of expressing in its name its good wishes for your safe arrival in our midst, and of voicing the joy it experiences at being afforded the opportunity of publicly testifying to the high respect and esteem in which it holds the great statesman, the eminent jurisconsult, and the illustrious orator who in his position as secretary of state of the united states of america is now amongst us, the distinguished guest of the mexican nation. had i taken into account solely my own merits, notably deficient, especially when measured by the side of those possessed by the other members composing our academy, i should have refused such a high distinction. i thought, however, i could discern in its resolution the marked purpose that its homage should reach your ears through the echoes of a friend's voice, and so be all the more welcome to you. with this reason, therefore, in mind, i did not hesitate to accept it. nay, more; this has made me think once and again that the abundant proofs of your good-will--for which i shall ever remain indebted to you--the very base and foundation of our friendship, were those which you earnestly desired to convey to mexico in the person of him who was then its representative in washington. the mexican people, from the very moment in which you set foot on their soil, and our government from the time it tendered you the invitation that your visit to latin america should have in mexico its fitting end and crowning point, have proved to you, in abundant measure, by manifestations of every kind, that their earnest desire is that the ties which have for so many years bound us to your country, united by common interests and strengthened by common ideals, should every day grow closer and closer. they have also applauded the constant zeal shown by your government in fostering relations more and more cordial with the republics of america, so that, inspired by the same spirit and guided by the same policy, they should make this western continent of ours the arena of the peaceful struggle of human effort. nor do we deny you the enthusiastic and universal praise of which your labor as secretary of state of the united states of america is deserving, since the program of your international policy, later incorporated by president roosevelt into his last message to congress, found a sympathizing echo in every mexican heart; that program which you made known to the world when, having the pan american conference for your tribune and the whole of america grouped around you for your audience, we were all welcomed on the hospitable soil of the noble and heroic brazilian people. nevertheless, the mexican academy of legislation and jurisprudence, while recognizing your merits as a statesman, has desired to confine itself to honoring the lawyer who has brought fame and glory to the american bar, the jurisconsult who has won the unstinted admiration of all the nations ruled by democratic institutions, and the orator whose eloquence takes us back to the times of the latins, be his voice resounding in the courts of justice, or heard in the academies and universities, or pealing forth clear and inspired in the popular tribune. you, honored sir, we regard as the perfect type of the lawyer who has known how to perform the sacred task commended to him by modern society. the lawyer is a priest whose duty it is, in the bitter battles of life waged by human conflicting interests, to fulfill a mission of peace and harmony. he is indeed, the champion of homes when persecuted by human cruelty; he who strengthens the bonds of love which maintain the family union untainted, when the depravity of customs threatens its downfall. in stretching out a helping hand to the toiler he is ever a master; in carrying out an equitable distribution of fortunes made, an adviser; in proclaiming the respect due to the law, an example and an authority in maintaining its prestige in the social community. his knowledge should be an arsenal from which to arm the weak and a shield with which to protect the powerful; his voice should be beseeching in its pleading for pardon from society for those who by their crimes undermine its foundations, but inexorable in its demand when in the name of society he calls for punishment. to the poor who strive to defend the bread earned for their children, he is a stay; to the rich who worry over productive investment for their fortunes, a guide; and if, in the errors committed by both sides and which ever tend to separate them, he should be equity; then to put an end to the struggles into which they will irreparably be drawn, he must ever be justice itself. and you have been all this in your exemplary life of lawyer; this is what has won for you the love of the poor, the confidence of the rich, and the respect of the whole of society; which has placed you in the fore rank of the distinguished men of the american bar, from which only the pressing need of serving the greater political interests of your country could draw you. your important labors as a statesman and jurisconsult do not call forth our admiration any the less. the jurisconsult of our days is not only he who in the roman forum _ex solio tanquam ex tripode_ solved the conflicts which arose from the applying of the law; because now the part taken by the people in governmental affairs and the ever-increasing necessities of democratic life have widened his sphere of influence, and he has become to society what the lawyer has been to the individual and the family. the jurisconsult is a mentor of nations; in the midst of our eagerness to achieve greater prosperity and in our constant wrestle as citizens to form part of the public administration, he it is who points out the path of our social and political life, and has to dictate the laws which should conform to our customs as well as those which should be necessary to determine its evolution. he it is who, standing in the prow, with gaze fixed on the distant horizon, steers the ship through the paths which guide nations to the haven of greater prosperity. and you belong to the assembly of jurisconsults who are the glory and pride of the american continent. still fresh in men's minds are the honors you reaped in yale university with the course of lectures you delivered on the part to be taken by citizens in the government. your lessons have taught what are the rights to be exercised by citizens in nations ruled by democratic institutions and what their duties in order that governments should be the true representatives of the people's will. but again, the academy deems it but just to accord all honor to the great orator whose voice all america has been heeding with universal approval for more than a year; heeding, because that voice has ever been the expression of the lofty ideals which america has been pursuing from the earliest days of her freedom and independence. nor is your eloquence the fruit of meditation and study; it savors not, like that of demosthenes, of the midnight oil. it is fresh and spontaneous, such as ought to be at the command of men ever ready to speak to the people of their rights and duties in democracies. it abounds always in that cold reasoning and that inflexible logic which alone can persuade and convince. but your eloquence contains, besides, all the warmth, all the majesty, and all the sparkle of the latin eloquence. plutarch relates, in his life of cicero, that when the great orator thrilled the inhabitants of rhodes with his speeches, apollonius molon, after listening to him one day, showed no sign of admiration, but that when cicero had finished he said: "cicero, i, no less than the others, praise and admire thee; but i weep for the fate of greece, for thou hast taken to rome the best that was left to greece--wisdom and eloquence." we in latin america, less selfish than apollonius molon, do not weep; rather do we cheer and reward the orator from whose lips we have heard resound the accents of the latin eloquence. the mexican academy of legislation and jurisprudence, on presenting you today with the diploma which confers upon you the degree of honorary member, has desired to make known to the whole country your undoubted merits as lawyer, jurisconsult, and orator, and on this solemn occasion to bestow upon you its highest possible distinction. welcome to our midst. may your visit to mexico be fruitful in good results to both countries; may it be, above all, one more tie to bind the sincere and unshaken friendship which unites them both; and, since it is the end of your triumphal journey to latin america, may it add, in your great career as a statesman, fresh fame to your labor and glory to your illustrious name. mr. root's reply i am highly appreciative of the very great honor which you have now conferred upon me. it is all the more grateful to me that in the ceremony which makes me an associate of this distinguished body, so prominent a part should be taken by a gentleman who, as the representative of mexico in the capital of the united states, has not only taught me to admire his rare intellectual ability, but has won from me, by the grace and purity of his character, the warmth of friendship which adds especial pleasure to every new association with him into which i can enter. i feel, sir, that the compliment which you have paid to this little work of mine, produced without any idea that it should receive so distinguished an honor or find its way so far from home, i must ascribe rather to friendship than to any intrinsic merit of the work; but i thank you, and i am most appreciative of the honor that you do me in causing it to be translated into spanish and making it the subject of your resolution. circumstances have not permitted, and do not permit, that i should present to the academy any thesis or discussion adequate to be associated with the admirable and well-considered papers which have been read by mr. casasus and yourself. i wish, however, in addition to expressing my thanks, to indicate in a few words the special significance which this academy and my new association with it seem to me to have. we are passing, undoubtedly, into a new era of international communication. we have turned our backs upon the old days of armed invasion, and the people of every civilized country are constantly engaged in the peaceable invasion of every other civilized country. the sciences, the literature, the customs, the lessons of experience, the skill, the spirit of every country, exercise an influence upon every other. in this peaceful interchange of the products of the intellect, in this constant passing to and fro of the people of different countries of the civilized world, we find in each land a system of law peculiar to the country itself, and answering to what i believe to be a just description of all laws which regulate the relations of individuals to each other, in being a formulation of the custom of the civil community. these systems of law differ from each other as the conditions, the customs of each people differ from those of every other people. but there has arisen in recent years quite a new and distinct influence, producing legal enactment and furnishing occasion for legal development. that is the entrance into the minds of men of the comparatively new idea of individual freedom and individual equality. the idea that all men are born equal, that every man is entitled to his life, his liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; the great declarations of principle designed to give effect to the fundamental ideas of liberty and equality, are not the outcome of the conditions or customs of any particular people, but they are common to all mankind. before the jurists and lawyers of the world there lies the task of adapting each special system of municipal law to the enforcement of the general principles which have come into the life of mankind within so recent a time, and which are cosmopolitan and world-wide and belong in no country especially. these principles have to be fitted to your laws in mexico and our laws in the united states and to the french laws in france and the german laws in germany; and the task before the jurists and lawyers of the world is to formulate, to elaborate, to secure the enactment and the enforcement of such practical provisions as will weld together in each land the old system of municipal law, which regulates the relations of individuals with each other in accordance with the time-honored traditions and customs of the race and country, and these new principles of universal human freedom. now, that task is something that cannot be accomplished except by scientific processes, by the study of comparative jurisprudence, by the application of minds of the highest order in the most painstaking and practical way. in the adaptation of these new ideas common to all free people, the best minds of every people should assist every other people and receive assistance from every other people. the study of comparative jurisprudence, apparently dry, purely scientific, is as important to the well-being of the citizen in the streets of mexico or washington, as those scientific observations and calculations which seem to be purely abstract have proved to be to the mariner on the ocean or the engineer of the great works of construction which are of such practical value; and we ought to promote by the existence of societies of this character in every civilized land and the free intercourse and intercommunication of such societies, the existence of such a spirit of comradeship between them that they can freely give and take the results of their labors, of their experience, and of their skill. this is of immense practical importance in the administration of government and the progress of ordered liberty in the world; for, after all, the declaration of political principles is of no value unless laws are framed adequate to bring principles down to the practical use of every citizen, and the framing of such laws in every land is the work of the jurists of the land. it is because i may be associated with you in doing what little a lawyer can do toward helping to the accomplishment of this great, beneficent, and necessary work for civilization, that i find the greatest pleasure in accepting your election as a member of this academy, and find cause for gratification beyond that of mere personal vanity or personal feeling. permit me to express the warmest good wishes for the continued activity, prosperity, and usefulness of this distinguished body which has so greatly honored me by this election. banquet of the american ambassador speech of ambassador thompson october , probably not before has there been such a gathering of distinguished men as are tonight seated at this table at the foot of the famous castle of chapultepec. the honored secretary of state of the american nation is here, the guest of the great mexican republic, with such honors showered upon him as should not and will not soon be forgotten by a friendly and appreciative people, nor by the immediate recipient of mexico's greeting. personally, i feel, i am sure, no less satisfaction than mr. root on this occasion, a dinner given by me in honor of chiefs of the mexican nation and other distinguished mexicans, for the purpose of demonstrating, as best i can, my regard for them, not only because of the very great honor mexico is doing my country and my chief, but in part for many kindly and friendly acts of the past. that the chiefs of staff of the mexican president, and many other high officials of nation and state, have responded to an invitation with their presence on this occasion, thus further honoring my country, mr. root, and myself, calls for an expression of good-will that i offer as a toast to mexico and its illustrious president, general díaz. response of vice-president corral in the name of my colleagues in the mexican cabinet and other national functionaries, invited to this banquet, i thank you for this very gracious distinction. i consider myself very fortunate to address such a distinguished gathering in these memorable moments, when the mexican public offers its hospitality to the honorable secretary of state of the united states, mr. elihu root, one of the most eminent men in the world, both for his wisdom and his political works, as a defender of the rights of nations, and as the courageous knight of american democracy and universal peace. it is very satisfactory for mexico to demonstrate her sympathy to a guest of such high merit; and i assure you, mr. ambassador, that his visit to this country will create new and stronger bonds of durable friendship between the two sister republics of north america, and will be a new element of the highest value, in the mission of concord you have accomplished with such great ability, and which is a profound cause of satisfaction to us. i thank you once more for your good wishes for mexico and the president of our republic; and, in my turn, i have the honor to invite all present to raise their cups to the powerful nation, the united states, and to its great president, theodore roosevelt. reply of mr. root i appreciate the high honor conferred upon me by the presence of the vice-president, the members of the cabinet, and so many representatives of foreign nations, so many of whom are old acquaintances of mine. it is very pleasing to me to find myself among you, as the guest of the official representative of the united states in mexico. i beg you to join me in a sentiment which is not personal--the economic coöperation of mexico and the united states. this is a sentiment which will be concurred in by all those present, as it will redound to the benefit of all civilized countries who are engaged in commercial pursuits. i hope that the development of progress may follow its course to the end that the two countries adjoining each other for thousands of miles, may, by means of mutual commerce, interchange of capital, labor, and the fruits of intelligence and experience, attain the results reached by the states of the american union, regardless of the distance between us, because of our mutual coöperation. the signs of the times, as i understand them, show a possibility of an increase in the relations between the two countries, situated so closely on this continent. the whole world has reached a state of progress which renders possible better economic, political, and social relations. a repetition of the war of between mexico and the united states would be impossible today;--it would be impossible because the progress of each country, the experience, the prudence of their governments, the knowledge of the business of mexico would prevent it; general public sentiment in the united states would also be opposed to it. the european invasion of mexico, in the year , would be impossible today; no one of the three nations would have any thought of attempting it today. an attempt to establish an empire here neither would nor could be thought of as possible. the whole world has advanced to a degree when international relations and interchange of courtesies between nations have facilitated the establishment of peaceful correspondence, which would not have been possible before, because of the want of a stability in their relations. the desire to advance a degree towards the assurance of intimate relations and greater friendship has caused us to accept with pleasure the kindly and gracious invitation of president díaz to visit mexico--a visit which shall remain a source of pleasure during all of my life, and during which i have received proofs of friendship and kindness and generous hospitality beyond anything i expected, and for which i beg you, citizens of mexico, to kindly accept my sincerest gratitude. response of seÑor licenciado don josÉ ives limantour minister of finance you have come to this country with the assurance, often reiterated and always received with applause, of close and sincere brotherly feeling between our two countries, the permanence of which is guaranteed by our common ideals and our mutual respect. your mission challenges our warmest sympathy. voices more authoritative than mine have informed you of this fact, and the attitude of the mexican people is its corroboration. you have been the apostle of a grand idea, the most vital, perhaps, of any affecting the international politics of this continent and assuredly the only one capable of harmonizing the interests and the hearts of all the inhabitants of the new world. this idea consists in laying down, as the invariable basis for the relations of the countries of america with one another, the sacred principles of justice, and the territorial integrity of each one of them. such being the pledge which we have from your lips, and feeling confident that the immense majority of your countrymen endorse the declaration to that effect made by you during your memorable journey of last year, and during the journey that is now in progress, we welcome you as one welcomes a loyal and disinterested friend, without the mental reservation that one sometimes feels in clasping the hand of the great, and moved by the hope of thus contributing, in the best manner possible, to us, towards the realization of an aim that is commended by a high and enlightened patriotism. mexico's course for the future is clearly marked out, at any rate as far as human foresight can safely reach. her geographical situation and the conditions governing the international politics of america assure her, as long as the views which you have proclaimed with a conviction so sincere, predominate in your country, the tranquillity in her international relations which she needs in order to devote herself to intellectual culture and to the development of her abundant and varied natural resources, while at the same time offering hospitality to all well-meaning persons who bring here their contingent of industry and civilization. with a program such as this, it has been easy--and will be still more easy in the future--to regulate our conduct towards you, the citizens of the great nation beyond the río grande. you will always be welcome, as it is right and proper that useful and agreeable neighbors who give proofs of their desire to be on good terms and to coöperate in all of the works of progress, should be; and i believe that you are quite convinced that both out of interest and good-will, the mexican people will offer you every facility that may enable you to take an active part in the social and economic development of this republic. it is far from my thoughts, at the present moment, to extol the virtues and the good qualities of my countrymen. i may be permitted, however, as a minister of finance, to say a few words in regard to one or two economic facts that have an important bearing on business relations. mexico, at the present time, as you well know, is not a country exclusively engaged in mining and farming, but also carries on an extensive commerce and possesses fairly prosperous manufacturing industries. there are many lines of activity demanding industry, intelligence, and capital, and there is an ample field for the utilization of all elements of that nature coming to us from abroad. but a point which all persons interested in mexico's business affairs will do well to realize is the honesty and prudent habits which characterize mercantile transactions in this country. "booms" and "bluffs" are exotic plants which can with difficulty be acclimatized here, and speculative combinations rarely enter into the calculations of the merchant. a single example will suffice to illustrate the characteristics to which i am referring. in that period of stress from to when the country, after suffering the loss of several harvests in succession and the ravages of a severe epidemic, was further tried by sudden depreciation of silver, which in the course of a few months cut the gold value of our currency in half, every one thought that the economic constitution of the nation would not be able to withstand shocks so repeated and formidable; and yet we continued to meet our debts with religious punctuality and it was noted with surprise that not a single failure of importance occurred in any part of the republic. we may be charged with undue timidity, with slender experience, in certain methods that are common elsewhere in the initiation of business undertaking. but these deficiencies and others which no doubt are ours will not debar us, let us hope, from being permitted to join the grand onward march of humanity, and particularly of that portion of the human family inhabiting the new world, towards higher conditions of physical and moral welfare. gentlemen, let us raise our glasses to the health and happiness of our distinguished guest and his most estimable family. let us drink to the hope that his countrymen, taking to heart the gospel which he has proclaimed throughout the length and width of america, may become the firmest guarantors of lasting peace between the two nations, consolidated by warmth of mutual regard and the continued growth of common interests. banquet of the minister for foreign affairs speech of licentiate ignacio mariscal october , your presence amongst us as our illustrious guest is an event which will leave a mark in the history of mexico, for yours is not only the visit of a most distinguished american, but also of the best representative, without the usual credentials, of a great government and a great people. the fact that your visit aims at no diplomatic business, except the tightening of the bonds of friendship between our two countries, has made it the more important and congenial to all mexicans. some years ago we had here other prominent and representative americans, such as general grant and the honorable william h. seward, who came as friendly visitors wanting to know mexico personally and be known by us. their flying visits did a great deal of good in promoting official and popular relations, for they tended to a real sisterhood between the two republics of north america. yours, sir, will complete that most important international work, since your high personality is eminently qualified, especially under the present circumstances, to increase the admiration and respect of all my thinking fellow-citizens for the country of washington, lincoln, and grant. we know, sir, as the whole world knows, the considerable part you have taken in the peace-promoting, civilizing foreign policy of president roosevelt, and we fully appreciate your frequent, unequivocal demonstrations of amicable feeling toward our government and our people. for that reason you have been cordially welcomed by us as a friend coming among true friends. may your brief sojourn in this country leave you a souvenir as pleasant as the one it has already engraved in our memory and our hearts. seeking to show you our sincere esteem and regard, i propose a toast to your honor, not as a ceremonious courtesy, but as a really heartfelt sentiment: "brindemos, señores, por nuestro ilustre huésped, el honorable señor elihu root." mr. root's reply it is my happy fortune to reap where others have sown and enter into the fruits of others' labors. when mr. seward and general grant visited mexico, your people, sir, were little known to the people of the united states. the shadow of a war still recent in the memory of men hung over the relations that existed between the two countries, the shadow of a war which, thank heaven, would now be impossible. the commanding personality of general grant made his warm friendship for mexico the beginning of a new era of feeling and appreciation on the part of the people of the united states; and now i come in response to the kind and hospitable invitation of your distinguished president, not to mark out the pathway to friendship, but as the representative of an existing feeling of friendship on the part of my countrymen. i have been deeply appreciative of all the delicate courtesy, the warmth of friendship and hospitality which have welcomed me and my family here. but i was not surprised. it is but in conformity with all the relations which have existed between the department of foreign affairs of mexico and the department of foreign affairs of the united states, since you, sir, have held your present eminent position. i wish not merely to express grateful appreciation for the kindness i have received here, but to express the same sentiment for all that you have done and all you have been in the relations between the two countries. the unvarying courtesy, the genuine and sincere desire for the reasonable and friendly disposal of all questions that have arisen between the two countries, which have characterized the office of foreign affairs of mexico have been a great factor in bringing about the happy relations that now exist. and we may say, with gratification, that there are no questions between mexico and the united states which can give the slightest apprehension or cause the slightest concern as to their easy and satisfactory adjustment. of course, between two countries with so long a common boundary, whose citizens are passing to and fro, whose citizens are investing money, each in the country of the other, questions are continually arising; but the all-important element for the decision of every question, the good understanding, kindly feeling, and the habit of conducting relations upon the basis of reason and friendship, practically disposes in advance of all questions which can arise. i suppose it is impossible to read the history of any country without feeling that the mistakes in its history have been the result of a shortsighted, narrow view on the part of its statesmen, its rulers, its legislators, under the influence at a particular time of particular local conditions. we can all of us look back in the history of our own country and of other countries and see how we now, with a broader view and free from the prejudices of the hour, would settle questions and solve difficulties in a far more satisfactory way. i suppose that the true object which should be held before every statesman is so to deal with the questions of the present that the spirit in which they are solved will commend itself to the generations of the future. i think, sir, that the government of mexico has attained that high standard of statesmanship to an extraordinary degree. it certainly has done so in its relations with the government of the united states; and as a result of the reasonable and kindly way in which we have been treating each other for these past years we behold not merely the fact that of your $ , , of foreign trade, two-thirds of your exports are purchased by the united states and two-thirds of your imports are purchased from the united states; not merely that of your vast exports to the united states, notwithstanding our high protective policy, nine-tenths are free from all duty; not merely that $ , , of capital of the united states has been invested in your thriving and progressive enterprises, so that, while for three centuries and a half the people of mexico were hiding their wealth under the ground to keep it from being taken away from them, now for a quarter of a century you have been taking out from under the ground a wealth far surpassing any dreams of avarice in the days of old. but more than all that, there has grown up and is continually developing between the people of the two countries a knowledge of each other, an appreciation of each other, a kindly feeling toward each other, which make for the perpetuity of good government in both countries and for the development of all the finer and better qualities of citizenship in both countries; which will help both of us to advance along the pathway of progress; which will make every school in mexico in which the future government and rulers of this vast land are being trained a better school, and make every school in the united states a better school; which will make every officer conscious of being one of a community of nations, conscious of having in his charge the good name of the country which is known to the people of the whole continent, a better officer than he would be if he were responsible only to his narrow community. as the result of these kindly relations we see two happy, progressive, prosperous nations; and, sir, it is my sincere hope that following the footsteps of the great americans you have named, through your kindness and hospitality i may be able to add my little contribution toward this great work of national benefit and of international advancement in the cause of liberty, justice, and humanity. farewell supper given by mr. root speech of mr. root october , on the evening of the day of the banquet of the minister for foreign affairs, on the lower terrace of the castle where a series of apartments had been assigned to his party, mr. root gave a farewell supper to the members of the government, the diplomatic corps, the entertainment committee, and numerous other mexican notables. this is the last opportunity i shall have in the city of mexico to express to you my gratitude and keen appreciation for all your very great kindness to us during our visit to mexico. i came here with my mind filled by the idea of two countries, the united states of america and the united mexican states, rather an abstract and cold conception. gradually there has emerged from the sea of faces that i looked upon on entering mexico, one by one, a group of lovely women and of fine and noble gentlemen, and beside the conception of two countries becoming more and more friendly to each other, there has come a realization that i have gained new friends--a most grateful and most delightful thing. i shall never forget you, my friends; i shall never forget your courtesy and your kindness, and i know i can say the same for mrs. root, and i beg to offer a toast to the personnel of the administration of president díaz, a personnel which is more delightful and will be met with more pleasure than it was possible for me to conceive before coming here, and as i leave you i shall feel that with my limited spanish, which consists of not more than a half a dozen words, i have, however, the most valuable words in the language in being able to say: "hasta luego." response of seÑor corral señor ramón corral, vice-president of the republic, made the following response to this farewell address: since you have set foot on our soil we have had occasion to observe the high and well-merited opinion which you entertain of our president, general porfirio díaz, and of his splendid and statesmanlike achievements, and if to this be added your own well-known merits, your lofty character, and the sagacious, yet kindly notice you have taken of all that you have seen, no wonder that you have won, not our admiration, not our respect, not our good-will, for all these were yours already, but something more intimate, something that dwells deeper in the recesses of the heart--our affection. henceforth, sir, in addition to your high claims as an illustrious statesman and wise administrator, you have from us the endearing title of friend, a friend who appreciates us with fairness, who will rejoice at our future triumphs in the arena of progress, who will lament our misfortunes, who will applaud our victories and will encourage us in our discomfitures. for some time past, especially since you undertook the noble task of proclaiming justice and righteousness as the basis for the relations of the republics of america with one another, we have followed with the liveliest interest your glorious career, of which the goal is the promotion of ideals of human fraternity. we have admired you, we have applauded you as one applauds the eloquence of wise and good men. but henceforth a current of profound sympathy will flow between you and us, and our admiration and applause will reach you, quickened by the vibrations of our enthusiasm. soon you will return to your own country, that splendid country where everything is great from the cataclysms of nature to the manifestations of freedom. our most fervent desire is that you may take away an impression of mexico and of her people as agreeable and affectionate as that which you leave behind, and that, in justice toward us, you will tell those among your countrymen who do not yet know us, that ours is a civilized nation, working out its greater welfare, educating itself intellectually, living and desiring to remain in peace with itself and in peace with all who respect its rights,--in a word, living up to its mission as a free and honorable community. tell your president that in mexico we appreciate and applaud his great and noble efforts in behalf of his country and in behalf of the peace of other nations, and that when his name is pronounced by us, it is pronounced with expressions of respect and homage for his good qualities. receive, sir, these words, which are the expression of sentiments that are sincere, as a new demonstration to yourself and to your distinguished family of our feelings of esteem and our desire for your happiness. puebla speech of general mucio p. martÍnez governor of puebla at a banquet at the municipal palace, october , a poetic tradition of our aborigines has been kept, and still lives--transmitted from generation to generation of the races that people our wooded mountains and smiling plains; this tradition teaches us that to illustrious guests, above all to those who come like you as messengers of peace on earth and good-will to men, should be offered as an emblem of sincere and respectful affection, the richest of fruits, the handsomest of flowers, and the most delicious of dishes. a reception such as the one now being given to your excellency and those nearest and dearest to your heart, must be, no doubt, inferior in magnificence to the welcome tendered to such illustrious guests in other countries; but believe me, none has ever surpassed our sincerity, because mexico, as it is the first to admire brilliant careers in politics, in science, in art, in industry, and in commerce, takes pleasure in offering you its most cordial attentions with no other desire than to make your stay in this republic as pleasing as possible and to show you that this country is an ardent admirer of yours and takes pleasure in calling itself a sister of the united states not only because of geographical contiguity, but also because of the liberty and freedom of its institutions. i therefore pray that your excellency accept this humble repast as a token of the most affectionate hospitality tendered you by me in the name of the people of puebla, and i beg you to convey to the illustrious president of the american union the brotherly regard we all have for him. reply of mr. root i am greatly pleased by this delicate hospitality which is like the traditional hospitality of the mexican nation. i shall personally convey to president roosevelt the message of cordial welcome and good-will shown by this city, and it will undoubtedly contribute to further the good work undertaken by president roosevelt to uphold justice and protect the rights of humanity. i shall also bring to president roosevelt's attention the assurances of this country to protect the happiness and prosperity of the people. i cannot help remembering that when foreigners came to puebla in hostile manner they were shown that puebla knows how to defend its rights. it is also pleasing to me to see the ability of the mexican people to govern themselves: nations like mexico and the united states which have given proof of this ability may well boast that they belong to those which form the vanguard of modern civilization. orizaba speech of seÑor d. teodoro a. dehesa governor of the state of vera cruz at a luncheon at the cocolopan factory, october , in your honor, and as a testimony to your personal worth and sterling character, as a representative of the great american people, i take particular pleasure in tendering to you this lunch. the occasion gives rise to the thought that your washington and our hidalgo were the instruments chosen for planting the sacred tree of national independence now so deeply rooted in our respective countries, and which has brought forth the fruit of liberty to nourish the people of the united states and mexico. here in orizaba you have seen, mr. secretary, some evidences of the material advances made by our country, which to a man of your broad views and lofty ideals i must believe are pleasing. these are blessings that we owe to peace. those two great statesmen and lovers of peace--roosevelt and díaz--are one in desire and endeavor to preserve peace, not only to secure its benefits for their own people, but to extend its beneficent sway over the whole american continent. such a purpose commands the respect and admiration of the world. i invite all present to join me in drinking to our illustrious and most welcome guest, whom we all so much admire for his many distinguished qualities--extending to him and to his charming family our best wishes for health and happiness. reply of mr. root this cordial welcome has not been a surprise to me, as i already knew of the qualities of the governor of vera cruz. by this time, i have become accustomed to the hospitable character of the mexicans; but notwithstanding this, it has been very pleasing and gratifying to me to receive these demonstrations from the people of vera cruz whose frankness of disposition is well known. i appreciate your words very highly, mr. governor, and i thank you for them as i do the residents of orizaba. it is but right for you mexicans to remember washington, as it is for us americans to remember hidalgo and the other heroes of mexican history together with our own. i firmly believe that mexico has passed beyond the state in which civil dissensions devastated this fortunate country, and that in the future there will be no door open to internal strife, thanks to the wise administration and foresight of the great statesman porfirio díaz. how true it is that the beautiful and the useful can be combined: here in orizaba i find the proof of this truth, as in the midst of the natural beauty of the scenery offered by the exuberant vegetation and the lovely peak crowned with snow--the proud sentinel of the state of vera cruz--stand as signs of progress the important factories we have just visited. mr. governor, i feel grateful for the frank reception of which i have been the object, and i hope that mexico will continue to progress and develop as well as the united states, and that both nations will render mutual assistance to each other and avail themselves of the prosperous or unprosperous occurrences adopting the one or the other as lessons of experience for humanity in order to demonstrate to natives and foreigners the excellences of the republican form of government. guadalajara speech of governor ahumada october , although our president, general porfirio díaz, with the high international representation awarded him by our institutions, and by the personal adherence of all federal and state authorities, as well as by the love of the mexican people in general, has already given a cordial welcome in the name of all of us, allow me, in the name of the state which i govern, to express to you the kind feelings of sympathy which exist in all hearts beating within this important section of our country. jalisco, mr. secretary, has always been a land that loves all that is great and useful for the country, and as during the time when we fought for independence and liberty it did not spare its sons, in the same way we want to join our voice to the voice of the people that from the _bravo_ to the _usumacinta_ praise and bless you, to take our share in the work for peace which you initiated during the third pan american conference in rio de janeiro, which you continued by your visit to the main republics of south america, and which you are carrying to an end now by tokens of friendship you are giving to mexico and the people of the state of jalisco. the people of this state believe that the best way to take part in this labor is to tell you through me: "welcome be the noble emissary who, like the dove of the ark, brings the symbolic olive branch which announces that clouds have been dissipated and the sun of friendship is rising between the peoples of the new continent." we should have been pleased to have you among us a longer time, to give you better tokens of our esteem and to show you the high appreciation we feel for the people of the united states and her great ruler, president roosevelt. but inasmuch as this is impossible, owing to your important and urgent labors at home, allow me, mr. secretary, to state that if our demonstrations of friendship are short, they are made in the land of traditional frankness and true friendship. let us drink, ladies and gentlemen, to the health of his excellency, mr. root, his distinguished wife, and his "simpatica" daughter, and wishing for all of them all kinds of happiness, let us prove that we have shaken their hands in the spirit that sons of jalisco always shake hands--our heart is our hand. mr. root's reply i thank you very heartily for your kind words, for your flattering description of myself, and for the spirit of friendship for my country which you exhibit. i am highly appreciative of all the hospitality, the warm welcome, and the graceful and most agreeable entertainment which you and your people of guadalajara and of the state of jalisco have given to my family and to myself. i think it is perhaps fitting that i should make the last extended visit of all i have been making in mexico, to the city of guadalajara. the most striking feature of mexican life to a stranger is that rare combination of history and progress which one finds. the two eras of history, the spanish, and before that the indian civilization, which has to so great an extent passed away, and beside that the modern development, the spirit of modern enterprise, the active progress of mining and agriculture and manufactures, the stimulus of sound finance, and the general determination of the people to take rank with the great productive nations of the earth,--nowhere have i found that combination more marked and distinct than i find it here in guadalajara. as i said to you a short time ago, your excellency, the things that impressed me most on entering this city were, first, that it was clean; secondly, that there were many fine-looking people; thirdly, that it was cheerful; and, fourthly, that it had many beautiful buildings. i can add to that a fifth, that it is bright with the rainbow of hope for the fruits of its many enterprises. this may be the last time i rise to speak to any audience in mexico before my departure for my own country, and there are two things that i wish to say; one is, that nothing could have been more generous, more tactful, and more grateful to us than the hospitality and friendship which my family and i have received during the entire time since we crossed the border at laredo. we are grateful for it, we are deeply appreciative of it. the other thing that i wish to say is that i have all the time since i came to mexico been thinking about the question of the permanence of your new prosperity. i go back to my home encouraged and cheered by having found, as i believe, evidence, substantial evidence, that the new prosperity of mexico is not evanescent and temporary, but is permanent. i do not believe that mexico will ever again return to the disorder of the condition which characterized the first sixty years of her independence. i believe that during this long period of peace and order which has been secured for your people by your great, wise, strong president díaz, there has grown up a new spirit among mexicans and a new appreciation of individual duty to civilization in the maintenance of peace and order. so i go back, not only charmed with the beauty of your country, not only delighted with the opportunity to see the wonderful historic monuments you possess, not only delighted with the hospitality of your homes and charmed with the character of your people, but i go back with the feeling that the mexican people have joined forever the ranks of the great, orderly, self-controlled, self-governing republics of the world. footnotes: [ ] this address was answered in appropriate terms by general rincón gallardo as the representative of president díaz, and among other things he congratulated himself on the fact that the mexican committee had been granted the pleasing privilege of continuing to san antonio in order to give there a welcome to the distinguished visitors. lieutenant-colonel samuel garcía cuellar also made an address. neither of these addresses were preserved. [ ] yale lectures on the responsibilities of citizenship, . see also: _addresses on government and citizenship_, by elihu root; pp. - . harvard university press, . addresses in the united states on latin american relations the central american peace conference in december, , a central american peace conference was held at washington, between delegates representing the five central american republics--costa rica, guatemala, honduras, nicaragua, and salvador. mexico and the united states were invited to participate in a friendly capacity and accepted the invitation. the conference grew out of the initiative taken during the previous summer by the presidents of the united states and mexico, in an endeavor to secure an adjustment of then pending disputes between several of these republics, in some form that would secure permanent peace among them and foster their development. the conference was called together by the following note of the secretary of state, addressed to the delegates: department of state, washington, november , . excellencies: the plenipotentiaries of the five central american republics of costa rica, guatemala, honduras, nicaragua, and salvador, appointed by their respective governments in pursuance of the protocol signed in washington on september , , having arrived in the city of washington for the purposes of the conference contemplated in the said protocol, i have the honor to request that the said plenipotentiaries, together with the representatives of the united mexican states and of the united states of america, appointed pursuant to the second article of said protocol, convene in the building of the bureau of american republics in the city of washington, on the fourteenth day of november, instant, at half past two in the afternoon. i avail myself of this opportunity to offer to your excellencies the assurances of my highest consideration. elihu root. the formal sessions of the conference began december , and closed december . during this period nine treaties and conventions were concluded between the five republics, as follows: . a general treaty of peace and amity. . a convention additional to the general treaty of peace and amity. . a convention for the establishment of a central american court of justice. . a protocol additional to the convention for the establishment of a central american court of justice. . an extradition convention. . a convention for the establishment of an international central american bureau. . a convention for the establishment of a central american pedagogical institute. . a convention concerning future central american conferences. . a convention concerning railway communications. the most important were the general treaty of peace and amity, and the convention for the establishment of a central american court of justice. the texts of these various conventions are found in malloy's _treaties and conventions of the united states_, volume ii, pp. - . the mexican government was represented by his excellency señor don enrique c. creel, ambassador at washington, and the united states by honorable william i. buchanan. at the opening session of the conference mr. root made the following address: address opening the central american peace conference, december , usage devolves upon me as the head of the foreign office of the country in which you are assembled to call this meeting together; to call it to order and to preside during the formation of your organization. i wish to express to you, at the outset, the high appreciation of the government of the united states of the compliment you pay to us in selecting the city of washington as the field of your labors in behalf of the rule of peace and order and brotherhood among the peoples of central america. it is most gratifying to the people of the united states that you should feel that you will find here an atmosphere favorable to the development of the ideas of peace and unity, of progress and mutual helpfulness, in place of war and revolution and the retardation of the principles of liberty and justice. so far as a sincere and friendly desire for success in your labors may furnish a favorable atmosphere, you certainly will have it here. the people of the united states are sincere believers in the principles that you are seeking to apply to the conduct of your international affairs in central america. they sincerely desire the triumph and the control of the principles of liberty and order everywhere in the world. they especially desire that the blessings which follow the control of those principles may be enjoyed by all the people of our sister republics on the western hemisphere, and we further believe that it will be, from the most selfish point of view, for our interests to have peaceful, prosperous, and progressive republics in central america. the people of the united mexican states and of the united states of america are now enjoying great benefits from the mutual interchange of commerce and friendly intercourse between the two countries of mexico and the united states. prosperity, the increase of wealth, the success of enterprise--all the results that come from the intelligent use of wealth--are being enjoyed by the people of both countries, through the friendly intercourse that utilizes for the people of each country the prosperity of the other. we in the united states should be most happy if the states of central america might move with greater rapidity along the pathway of such prosperity, of such progress; to the end that we may share, through commerce and friendly intercourse, in your new prosperity, and aid you by our prosperity. we cannot fail, gentlemen, to be admonished by the many failures which have been made by the people of central america to establish agreement among themselves which would be lasting, that the task you have before you is no easy one. the trial has often been made and the agreements which have been elaborated, signed, ratified, seem to have been written in water. yet i cannot resist the impression that we have at last come to the threshold of a happier day for central america. time is necessary to political development. i have great confidence in the judgment that in the long course of time, through successive steps of failure, through the accompanying education of your people, through the encouraging examples which now, more than ever before, surround you, success will be attained in securing unity and progress in other countries of the new hemisphere. through the combination of all these, you are at a point in your history where it is possible for you to take a forward step that will remain. it would ill become me to attempt to propose or suggest the steps which you should take; but i will venture to observe that the all-important thing for you to accomplish is that while you enter into agreements which will, i am sure, be framed in consonance with the most peaceful aspirations and the most rigid sense of justice, you shall devise also some practical methods under which it will be possible to secure the performance of those agreements. the mere declaration of general principles, the mere agreement upon lines of policy and of conduct, are of little value unless there be practical and definite methods provided by which the responsibility for failing to keep the agreement may be fixed upon some definite person, and the public sentiment of central america brought to bear to prevent the violation. the declaration that a man is entitled to his liberty would be of little value with us in this country, were it not for the writ of habeas corpus that makes it the duty of a specific judge, when applied to, to inquire into the cause of a man's detention, and set him at liberty if he is unjustly detained. the provision which declares that a man should not be deprived of his property without due process of law would be of little value were it not for the practical provision which imposes on specific officers the duty of nullifying every attempt to take away a man's property without due process of law. to find practical definite methods by which you shall make it somebody's duty to see that the great principles you declare are not violated, by which if an attempt be made to violate them the responsibility may be fixed upon the guilty individual--those, in my judgment, are the problems to which you should specifically and most earnestly address yourselves. i have confidence in your success because i have confidence in your sincerity of purpose, and because i believe that your people have developed to the point where they are ready to receive and to utilize such results as you may work out. why should you not live in peace and harmony? you are one people in fact; your citizenship is interchangeable--your race, your religion, your customs, your laws, your lineage, your consanguinity and relations, your social connections, your sympathies, your aspirations, and your hopes for the future are the same. it can be nothing but the ambition of individuals who care more for their selfish purposes than for the good of their country, that can prevent the people of the central american states from living together in peace and unity. it is my most earnest hope, it is the hope of the american government and people, that from this conference may come the specific and practical measures which will enable the people of central america to march on with equal step abreast of the most progressive nations of modern civilization; to fulfill their great destinies in that brotherhood which nature has intended them to preserve; to exile forever from that land of beauty and of wealth incalculable the fraternal strife which has hitherto held you back in the development of your civilization. address closing the central american peace conference, december , i beg you, gentlemen, to accept my hearty and sincere congratulations. the people of central america, withdrawn to a great distance from the scene of your labors, may not know, but i wish that my voice might reach each one of them to tell them that during the month that has passed their loyal representatives have been doing for them in sincerity and in the discharge of patriotic duty a service which stands upon the highest level of the achievements of the most advanced modern civilization. you have each one of you been faithful to the protection of the interests of your several countries; you have each one of you exhibited patience, kindly consideration, regard for the rights and feelings of others, and a willingness to meet with open mind the opinions and wishes of your fellow-countrymen; you have pursued the true method by which law, order, peace, and justice are substituted for the unrestrained dominion of the strong over the weak, and you have reached conclusions which i believe are wise and are well adapted to advance the progress of each and all of the central american republics toward that much-to-be-desired consummation in the future of one great, strong, and happy central american republic. may the poor husbandman who cultivates the fields of your five republics, may the miner who is wearing out his weary life in the hard labors of your mines, may the mothers who are caring for the infant children who are to make the peoples of central america in the future, may the millions whose prosperity and happiness you have sought to advance here, may the unborn generations of the future in your beloved countries, have reason to look back to this day with blessings upon the self-devotion and the self-restraint with which you have endeavored to serve their interests and to secure their prosperity and peace. with this hope the entire body of my countrymen will join, and with the expression of this hope i declare the peace conference of the republics of central america, convened in the city of washington in this year nineteen hundred and seven, to be now adjourned. the pan american cause response to the toast of the ambassador of brazil at a dinner in honor of rear-admiral huet de bacellar and the captains of the brazilian ships on a visit to the jamestown exposition, washington, d.c., may , the brazilian ambassador, his excellency mr. nabuco this is the second time that i have the honor and the good fortune of meeting in this room the representatives of the american nations in washington, including the secretary of state of the united states. these are the great pan american festivals of the brazilian embassy. but what a great stride our common cause has made since we met here last year! all of that progress is principally due to mr. root's devotion to the cause that he made his own and which i have no doubt he will make also a national one. i drink to the progress of the pan american cause in the person of its great leader, the secretary of state. mr. root i thank you, mr. ambassador, for the too flattering expression with which you have characterized the efforts that, by the accident of position, i have been enabled to make in the interpretation of that spirit which in the fullness of time has ripened, developed and become ready for universal expression and influence. it is a great pleasure for me to look again into the tropical forests of brazil; to come under the magic influence of your part of the solar spectrum; and to be introduced again to the delightful influences of your language through the words of the representative of king carlos of portugal. i think any one who is trying to do something is at times--perhaps most of the time--inclined to become despondent, because any single man can do so little. but if the little that one man can do happens to be in the line of national or world tendencies, he may count himself happy in helping forward the great work. how many thousands of men, born out of time, give their lives to causes which are not ripe for action! i think that we, my friends, are doing our little; happy in contributing to a cause that has fully ripened. i confess that in passing from the courts to diplomacy; from the argument of causes, the conclusion of which would be enforced by the power of the marshal or the sheriff, having behind him the irresistible power of the nation--passing from such arguments to the discussion that proceeds between the foreign offices of independent powers, i found myself groping about to find some sanction for the rules of right conduct which we endeavor to assert and maintain. it has long been a widely accepted theory that the only sanction for the right conduct of nations, for those rules of conduct which nations seek to enforce upon each other, is the exercise of force; that behind their diplomatic argument rests, as the ultimate argument, the possibility of war. but i think there has been developing in the later years of progress in civilization that other sanction, of the constraining effect of the public opinion of mankind, which rests upon the desire for the approval of one's fellowmen. the progress of which you have spoken, mr. ambassador, in american international relations, is a progress along the pathway that leads from the rule of force as the ultimate sanction of argument to the rule of public opinion, which enforces its decrees by an appeal to the desire for approbation among men. that progress is towards the independence, the freedom, the dignity, the happiness of every small and weak nation. it tends to realize the theory of international law, the real national equality. the process is one of attrition. isolation among nations leaves no appeal for the enforcement of rules of right conduct, but the appeal to force. communication, intercourse, friendship, the desire for good opinion, the exercise of all the qualities that adorn, that elevate, that refine human nature, bring to the defense of the smaller nation the appeal to the other sanction, the sanction of public opinion. what we are doing now, because the time has come for it to be done, is to help in our day and generation in the creation of a public opinion in america which shall approve all that is good in national character and national conduct and punish all that is wrong with that most terrible penalty, the disapproval of all america. as that process approaches its perfection, the work of our friends, of the armies and navies of america, will have been accomplished. it is not a work of selfishness; it is a work for universal civilization. it is a work by which we will repay to france and portugal and to sweden--to all our mother lands across the atlantic--all the gifts of civilization, of literature, of art, of the results of their long struggles upward from barbarism to light, with which they have endowed us. for in the vast fields of incalculable wealth that the american continents offer to the enterprise and the cultivation of the world, the older nations of europe will find their wealth, and opportunity for the exercise of their powers in peace and with equality. it was a great pleasure to me--it was a cause of pride to me--to hear so distinguished an english scholar as the ambassador from france speak the beautiful language of france so perfectly tonight. it is a great pleasure for me to find that throughout the united states the young men are in constantly increasing numbers learning to speak not only french, but spanish and portuguese. it was a great pleasure to find throughout south america last summer so many, not merely of the most distinguished and highly cultivated men, speaking english, but so large a number of the people in the cities that i visited. it all makes for that attrition, that practical intercourse, which is the process of civilization; and in destroying the isolation, the separation of american states from each other, in building up an american public opinion, we are preparing ourselves the more perfectly to unite with our friends of europe in a world public opinion, which shall establish the reign of justice and liberty and humanity throughout the world by slow, practical, untiring processes of intercourse and friendship in place of the rules of brutal force. the pan american union there has been, especially in recent years, a very strong feeling that the points which the american republics have in common greatly exceed their differences and that stated conferences of the american republics would not only tend to accentuate the points in common but would enable them to take common action in matters of common interest, remove unwarranted suspicions which often exist between and among peoples which do not come into contact, and tend to lessen the very differences. in , the honorable james g. blaine, then secretary of state of the united states, stated that in the opinion of the president of the united states "the time is ripe for a proposal that shall enlist the good-will and active coöperation of all the states of the western hemisphere, both north and south, in the interest of humanity and for the common weal of nations."[ ] mr. blaine proposed on behalf of the president, that a congress meet in the city of washington. the congress or conference actually took place in that city in - , during the secretaryship of state of mr. blaine. this is commonly called the international american conference. all of the american countries, with the exception of santo domingo, were represented, and they agreed upon "the establishment of an american international bureau for the collection, tabulation, and publication, in the english, spanish, and portuguese languages, of information as to the productions and commerce, and as to the customs laws and regulations of their respective countries; such bureau to be maintained in one of the countries for the common benefit and at the common expense, and to furnish to all the other countries such commercial statistics and other useful information as may be contributed to it by any of the american republics."[ ] this was the origin of the international bureau of the american republics, out of which has grown the pan american union, "a voluntary organization of the twenty-one american republics, including the united states, maintained by their annual contributions, controlled by a governing board composed of the diplomatic representatives in washington of the other twenty governments and the secretary of state of the united states, who is chairman _ex officio_, and devoted to the development and conservation of peace, friendship, and commerce between them all."[ ] modestly housed at first, the success of the union required larger quarters for the performance of its work. advantage was taken of this need to erect the building which was to be the visible and worthy symbol of pan americanism. mr. andrew carnegie, a delegate on behalf of the united states to the first pan american conference in washington, contributed $ , towards the construction of this building, the united states contributed the land, and the other american republics their respective quotas. the circumstances under which the funds for the erection of this building were obtained appear in the records of the governing board of the pan american union, from which the following resolutions and correspondence have been obtained: _resolution of the third international conference at rio de janeiro, adopted august , _ the undersigned, delegates of the republics represented in the third international american conference, duly authorized by their governments, have approved the following resolution: the third international american conference _resolves_: . to express its gratification that the project to establish a permanent centre of information and of interchange of ideas among the republics of this continent, as well as the erection of a building suitable for the library in memory of columbus has been realized. . to express the hope that, before the meeting of the next international american conference the international bureau of american republics will be housed in such a way as to permit it to properly fulfil the important functions assigned to it by this conference. made and signed in the city of rio de janeiro, on the thirteenth day of the month of august, nineteen hundred and six, in english, portuguese and spanish, and deposited in the department of foreign relations of the government of the united states of brazil, in order that certified copies thereof be made, and forwarded through diplomatic channels to each one of the signatory states. for ecuador.--emilio arévalo, olmedo alfaro. for paraguay.--manoel gondra, arsenio lópez decoud, gualberto cardús y huerta. for bolivia.--alberto gutiérrez, carlos v. romero. for colombia.--rafael urìbe urìbe, guillermo valencia. for honduras.--fausto dávila. for panama.--josé domingo de obaldía. for cuba.--gonzalo de quesada, rafael montoro, antonio gonzález lanuza. for the dominican republic.--emilio c. joubert. for peru.--eugenio larabure y unánue, antonio miró quesada, mariano cornejo. for el salvador.--francisco a. reyes. for costa rica.--ascensión esquivel. for the united states of mexico.--francisco león de la barra, ricardo molina-hübbe, ricardo garcía granados. for guatemala.--antonio batres jáuregui. for uruguay.--luis melian lafinur, antonio maría rodríguez, gonzalo ramírez. for the argentine republic.--j. v. gonzález, josé a. terry, eduardo l. bidau. for nicaragua.--luis f. corea. for the united states of brazil.--joaquim aurelio nabuco de araujo, joaquim francisco de assis brasil, gastão de cunha, alfredo de moraes gomes ferreira, joão pandiá calogeras, amaro cavalcanti, joaquim xavier da silveira, josé p. da graça aranha, antonio da fontoura xavier. for the united states of america.--william i. buchanan, l. s. rowe, a. j. montague, tulio larrinaga, paul s. reinsch, van leer polk. for chile.--anselmo hevia riquelme, joaquín walker martínez, luis antonio vergara, adolfo guerrero. _resolution of the governing board and letter of the secretary of state, mr. elihu root, to mr. andrew carnegie, approved at the meeting of december , _ whereas, the chairman of the governing board of the international bureau of the american republics has laid before this, the said board, the following letter sent by him as chairman to mr. andrew carnegie and has asked for the approval thereof by the board--that is to say: department of state, washington, december , . mr dear mr. carnegie: your active and effective coöperation in promoting better communication between the countries of america as a member of the commission authorized by the second pan american conference held in mexico, your patriotic citizenship in the greatest of american republics, your earnest and weighty advocacy of peace and good will among the nations of the earth, and your action in providing a suitable building for the international tribunal at the hague embolden me to ask your aid in promoting the beneficent work of the union of american republics, which was established by the conference of washington in , continued by the conference of mexico in , and has now been made permanent by the conference of rio de janeiro in . there is a general feeling that the rio conference, the south american journey of the secretary of state, and the expressions of courtesy and kindly feeling which accompanied them have given a powerful impulse to the growth of a better acquaintance between the people of all the american countries, a better mutual understanding between them, the establishment of a common public opinion, and the reasonable and kindly treatment of international questions in the place of isolation, suspicion, irritation, strife, and war. there is also a general opinion that while the action of the bureau of american republics, designed to carry on this work from conference to conference, has been excellent so far as it has gone, the scope of the bureau's work ought to be enlarged and its activity and efficiency greatly increased. to accomplish this, a building adequate to the magnitude and dignity of the great work to be done is indispensable. with this view the nations constituting the union have expressed their willingness to contribute, and some of them have contributed, and the congress of the united states has, at its last session, appropriated, to the extent of $ , , funds available for the purchase of a suitable site in the city of washington. with this view also the conference at rio de janeiro, on the th of august, , adopted resolutions looking to the establishment of a 'permanent center of information and of interchange of ideas among the republics of this continent as well as a building suitable for the library in memory of columbus,' and expressed the hope that 'before the meeting of the next international american conference the international bureau of american republics shall be housed in such a way as to permit it to properly fulfill the important functions assigned to it by this conference.' those functions are, in brief, to give effect to the work of the conference; to carry out its resolutions; to prepare the work of future conferences; to disseminate through each american country a knowledge of the affairs, the sentiments and the progress of every other american country; to promote better communication and more constant intercourse; to increase the interaction among all the republics of each upon the others in commerce, in education, in the arts and sciences, and in political and social life, and to maintain in the city of washington a headquarters, a meeting place, a center of influence for the same peaceful and enlightened thought and conscience of all america. i feel sure of your hearty sympathy in the furtherance of this undertaking, so full of possibilities for the peace and the prosperity of america and of mankind, and i appeal to you in the same spirit that has actuated your great benefactions to humanity in the past to provide for the erection, upon the site thus to be supplied by governmental action, of a suitable building for the work of the union, the direction and control of which has been imposed by our respective governments upon the governing board, of which i have the honor to be chairman. with great respect and esteem, i am, my dear mr. carnegie, very sincerely yours, elihu root, _secretary of state and ex officio chairman of the governing board of the bureau of american republics._ now, therefore, be it resolved that the action of the secretary of state, as chairman of this board, in sending the aforesaid letter be, and it hereby is, approved. _mr. carnegie to mr. root._ new york, january , . hon. elihu root. _secretary of state and ex officio chairman of the governing board of the bureau of south american republics, washington, d. c._ dear sir: i am greatly pleased that you and your colleagues of the south american republics have done me the honor to suggest that i might furnish a suitable home in washington for the bureau of american republics. the approval of your application by the governing board of the international bureau and president roosevelt's hearty expressions of satisfaction are most gratifying. you very kindly mention my membership of the first pan american conference and advocacy of the pan american railway, the gaps of which are being slowly filled. the importance of this enterprise impresses itself more and more upon me, and i hope to see it accomplished. i am happy, therefore, in stating that it will be one of the pleasures of my life to furnish to the union of all the republics of this hemisphere the necessary funds ($ , ) from time to time as may be needed for the construction of an international home in washington. the coöperation of our own republic is seen in the appropriation of funds by congress for the purchase of the site, and in the agreement between the republics for the maintenance of the bureau we have additional evidence of coöperation, so that the forthcoming american temple of peace will be the joint work of all of the republics. every generation should see them drawing closer together. it is a cheering thought that all these are for the first time to be represented at the forthcoming hague conference. henceforth they are members of that body, whose aim is the settlement of international disputes by that "high court of nations" or other similar tribunal. i beg to express to each and all of them my heartfelt thanks for being permitted to make such a new year's gift as this. i have never felt more keenly than i do this new year's morning how much more blessed it is to give than to receive, and i consider myself highly honored by being considered worthy to provide the forthcoming union home, where the accredited representatives of all the republics are to meet and, i trust, to bind together their respective nations in the bonds of unbroken peace. very truly, yours, andrew carnegie. _resolutions approved by the governing board of the international bureau of the american republics, january , ._ _resolved_, that the letter of mr. andrew carnegie to the chairman of the board, dated january , , be received and filed and spread upon the minutes of the board. _resolved_, that the governing board of the bureau of american republics express to mr. andrew carnegie its acceptance and grateful appreciation of his generous and public-spirited engagement to supply the funds for the proposed new building for the union of american republics. the board shares with mr. carnegie the hope that the institution whose work will thus be promoted may further the cause of peace and justice among nations and the sincere and helpful friendship of all the american republics for each other. _resolved_, that the chairman of the board communicate a copy of the foregoing resolutions to mr. carnegie. the governing board of the international bureau of the american republics further resolves: . that the letter of the honorable the secretary of state, mr. elihu root, to mr. andrew carnegie; the answer of this distinguished philanthropist, and the resolution of the governing board accepting this splendid gift be kept on file with the important documents of the bureau; and . that the text of these letters and the resolutions thereon be artistically engrossed under the title of "carnegie's gift to the international bureau of the american republics," and, properly framed, to form a part of the exhibit of the bureau at the jamestown tercentennial exposition. on may , , mr. root, then secretary of state, whose forethought and personal efforts had made its construction possible, delivered the address at the laying of the corner stone, and later, on april , , when he was no longer secretary of state but senator of the united states and friend of the americas, he delivered the principal address at the dedication of the building. these two addresses follow: address at the laying of the corner stone of the building for the pan american union washington, d.c., may , we are here to lay the corner stone of the building which is to be the home of the international union of american republics.[ ] the wise liberality of the congress of the united states has provided the means for the purchase of this tract of land--five acres in extent--near the white house and the great executive departments, bounded on every side by public streets and facing to the east and south upon public parks which it will always be the care of the national government to render continually more beautiful, in execution of its design to make the national capital an object of national pride and a source of that pleasure which comes to rich and poor alike from the education of taste. the public spirit and enthusiasm for the good of humanity, which have inspired an american citizen, mr. andrew carnegie, in his administration of a great fortune, have led him to devote the adequate and ample sum of three-quarters of a million dollars to the construction of the building.[ ] into the appropriate adornment and fitting of the edifice will go the contributions of every american republic, already pledged and, in a great measure, already paid into the fund of the union. the international union for which the building is erected is a voluntary association, the members of which are all the american nations from cape horn to the great lakes. it had its origin in the first pan american conference held at washington in , and it has been developed and improved in efficiency under the resolutions of the succeeding conferences in mexico and brazil. its primary object is to break down the barriers of mutual ignorance between the nations of america by collecting and making accessible, furnishing and spreading, information about every country among the people of every other country in the union, to facilitate and stimulate intercourse, trade, acquaintance, good understanding, fellowship, and sympathy. for this purpose it has established in washington a bureau or office under the direction of a governing board composed of the official representatives in washington of all the republics, and having a director and secretary, with a force of assistants and translators and clerks. the bureau has established a rapidly increasing library of history, travel, description, statistics, and literature of the american nations. it publishes a _monthly bulletin_ of current public events and existing conditions in all the united countries, which is circulated in every country. it carries on an enormous correspondence with every part of both continents, answering the questions of seekers for information about the laws, customs, conditions, opportunities, and personnel of the different countries; and it has become a medium of introduction and guidance for international intercourse. the governing board is also a permanent committee charged with the duty of seeing that the resolutions of each pan american conference are carried out and that suitable preparation is made for the next succeeding conference. the increasing work of the bureau has greatly outgrown the facilities of its cramped quarters on pennsylvania avenue, and now at the close of its second decade and under the influence of the great movement of awakened sympathy between the american republics, the union stands upon the threshold of more ample opportunity for the prosecution of its beneficent activity. many noble and beautiful public buildings record the achievements and illustrate the impulses of modern civilization. temples of religion, of patriotism, of learning, of art, of justice, abound; but this structure will stand alone, the first of its kind--a temple dedicated to international friendship. it will be devoted to the diffusion of that international knowledge which dispels national prejudice and liberalizes national judgment. here will be fostered the growth of that sympathy born of similarity in good impulses and noble purposes, which draws men of different races and countries together into a community of nations, and counteracts the tendency of selfish instincts to array nations against each other as enemies. from this source shall spring mutual helpfulness between all the american republics, so that the best knowledge and experience and courage and hope of every republic shall lend moral power to sustain and strengthen every other in its struggle to work out its problems and to advance the standard of liberty and peace with justice within itself, and so that no people in all these continents, however oppressed and discouraged, however impoverished and torn by disorder, shall fail to feel that they are not alone in the world, or shall fail to see that for them a better day may dawn, as for others the sun has already arisen. it is too much to expect that there will not be controversies between american nations to whose desire for harmony we now bear witness; but to every controversy will apply the truth that there are no international controversies so serious that they cannot be settled peaceably if both parties really desire peaceable settlement, while there are few causes of dispute so trifling that they cannot be made the occasion of war if either party really desires war. the matters in dispute between nations are nothing; the spirit which deals with them is everything. the graceful courtesy of the twenty republics who have agreed upon the capital of the united states for the home of this international union, the deep appreciation of that courtesy shown by the american government and this representative american citizen, and the work to be done within the walls that are to rise on this site, cannot fail to be powerful influences towards the creation of a spirit that will solve all disputed questions of the future and preserve the peace of the western world. may the structure now begun stand for many generations to come as the visible evidence of mutual respect, esteem, appreciation, and kindly feeling between the peoples of all the republics; may pleasant memories of hospitality and friendship gather about it, and may all the americas come to feel that for them this place is home, for it is theirs, the product of a common effort and the instrument of a common purpose. address at the dedication of the building of the pan american union, washington, d. c. april , i am sure that this beautiful building must produce a lively sense of grateful appreciation in all who care for the growth of friendship among americans; to mr. carnegie, not merely for his generous gift but for the large sympathy and far vision that prompted it; and to the associate architects, mr. albert kelsey and mr. paul cret, who, not content with making this structure express their sense of artistic form and proportion, have entered with the devotion and self-absorption of true art into the spirit of the design for which their bricks and marble are to stand. they have brought into happy companionship architectural suggestions of the north and of the south; and have wrought into construction and ornament in a hundred ways the art, the symbolism, the traditions, and the history of all the american republics; and they have made the building a true expression of pan americanism, of open mind and open heart for all that is true and noble and worthy of respect from whatever race or religion or language or custom in the western continents. nor should we forget the fine enthusiasm and understanding with which mr. borglum and mr. conti and mrs. farnham and mrs. whitney have brought sculpture to aid the architects' expression; nor the honest and faithful work of mr. norcross, the builder; nor the kind help of mr. william smith, of the botanical garden, who has filled the patio with tropical plants rare and strange to northern eyes, but familiar friends to the latin american; nor the energy and unwearying labors of mr. barrett, the director of the bureau. the active interest of president taft and secretary knox is evidence that the policy of pan american friendship, re-inaugurated by the sympathetic genius of secretary blaine, is continuous and permanent in the united states; and the harmony in which the members of the governing board have worked to this end is a good omen for the future. this building is to be, in its most manifest utilitarian service, a convenient instrument for association and growth of mutual knowledge among the people of the different republics. the library maintained here, the books and journals accessible here, the useful and interesting publications of the bureau, the enormous correspondence carried on with seekers for knowledge about american countries, the opportunities now afforded for further growth in all these activities, justify the pains and the expense. the building is more important, however, as the symbol, the ever-present reminder, the perpetual assertion, of unity, of common interest and purpose and hope among all the republics. this building is a confession of faith, a covenant of fraternal duty, a declaration of allegiance to an ideal. the members of the hague conference of described the conference in the preamble of its great arbitration convention as: animated by the sincere desire to work for the maintenance of general peace. resolved to promote by all the efforts in their power the friendly settlement of international disputes. recognizing the solidarity uniting the members of the society of civilized nations. desirous of extending the empire of law and of strengthening the appreciation of international justice. that is the meaning of this building for the republics of america. that sentiment which all the best in modern civilization is trying to live up to, we have written here in marble for the people of the american continents. the process of civilization is by association. in isolation, men, communities, nations, tend back towards savagery. repellent differences and dislikes separate them from mankind. in association, similarities and attractions are felt and differences are forgotten. there is so much more good than evil in men that liking comes by knowing. we have here the product of mutual knowledge, coöperation, harmony, friendship. here is an evidence of what these can accomplish. here is an earnest of what may be done in the future. from these windows the governing board of the international union will look down upon the noble river that flows by the home of washington. they will sit beneath the shadow of the simple and majestic monument which illustrates our conception of his character, the character that, beyond all others in human history, rises above jealousy and envy and ignoble strife. all the nations acknowledge his preëminent influence. he belongs to them all. no man lives in freedom anywhere on earth who is not his debtor and his follower. we dedicate this place to the service of the political faith in which he lived and wrought. long may this structure stand, while within its walls and under the influence of the benign purpose from which it sprang, the habit and the power of self-control, of mutual consideration and kindly judgment, more and more exclude the narrowness and selfishness and prejudice of ignorance and the hasty impulses of super-sensitive _amour propre_. may men hereafter come to see that here is set a milestone in the path of american civilization towards the reign of that universal public opinion which shall condemn all who through contentious spirit or greed or selfish ambition or lust for power disturb the public peace, as enemies of the general good of the american republics. one voice that should have spoken here today is silent, but many of us cannot forget or cease to mourn and to honor our dear and noble friend, joaquim nabuco. ambassador from brazil, dean of the american diplomatic corps, respected, admired, trusted, loved, and followed by all of us, he was a commanding figure in the international movement of which the erection of this building is a part. the breadth of his political philosophy, the nobility of his idealism, the prophetic vision of his poetic imagination, were joined to wisdom, to the practical sagacity of statesmanship, to a sympathetic knowledge of men, and to a heart as sensitive and tender as a woman's. he followed the design and construction of this building with the deepest interest. his beneficent influence impressed itself upon all of our actions. no benison can be pronounced upon this great institution so rich in promise for its future as the wish that his ennobling memory may endure and his civilizing spirit may control, in the councils of the international union of american republics. footnotes: [ ] _foreign relations of the united states_, , p. . [ ] _the pan american union_, pp. , . [ ] ibid., p. . [ ] the name was changed to the pan american union in . [ ] later increased to $ , . our sister republic--argentina address at the banquet of the chamber of commerce of the state of new york to the officers of the foreign and united states squadrons which escorted the spanish caravels to new york, april , it is my pleasant privilege to respond to a toast to an offspring of old spain, a direct lineal descendant, an inheritor of her blood, her faith and her language. it is only a young republic, only an american republic. no historic centuries invest her with romance or with interest; but she is great in glorious promise of the future, and great in manifest power to fulfill the promise. far away to the southward, beyond the great empire of the amazon, beyond the equatorial heats, there stretches a vast land, from the latitude of cuba on the north to the latitude of hudson bay on the south, and from the andes to the eastern sea. in this land mighty rivers flow through vast forests, and immeasurable plains stretch from ocean to mountains, with a soil of inexhaustible fertility, under every variety of healthful and invigorating climate. all this we know; but we must not forget, and we cannot forget tonight, that this great land, capable of supporting in plenty all the teeming millions of europe, is possessed by the people of a free constitutional republic, of all the sisterhood of nations, in form, in feature and in character, the most like to ourselves. for forty years the argentine republic has lived and governed itself under a constitution in all material respects the exact counterpart of the constitution of the united states. its constitution was avowedly modelled after ours. for forty years, in fourteen separate states like our own, the people of argentina have preserved the sacred right of local self-government. for forty years they have maintained at the same time the sovereignty of their nation; and by the constancy of their past they have given a high and ever-increasing credit to their promise that for the future, under southern cross as under northern star, government by the people, of the people, and for the people, shall endure. under this constitutional system they have framed for themselves wise and liberal laws. they have constructed extensive works of internal improvement; and waterways, and railroads, and telegraph lines, all invite to the development of their vast natural wealth. they have established universal religious toleration. they have protected the rights of private property and of personal liberty. they have created and maintained a great system of public education. in more than three thousand public common schools over a quarter of a million children are today learning how to be good citizens. grading up from these common schools through lyceums in every state and two great universities, the pathway of higher education is open to all the people of the republic. under such a constitution and such laws, argentina has made greater material progress and greater advance in the art of self-government, during our generation, than any people upon the western hemisphere, unless it be, perhaps, our own. we remember, too, that the people of argentina, like our own fathers, won their liberty by struggle and by sacrifice. they made their fight for independence at a time when europe was exhausted by the napoleonic wars. they attracted but little attention and less aid from the old world. no byron enshrined their heroism in deathless verse; no rousseau with the philosophy of humanity awoke for them generous and effective enthusiasm in the breasts of a lafayette or a rochambeau, a von steuben or a kosciusko. alone and unaided they fought their fight. dependent upon themselves, on the ninth of july, seventy-seven years ago, they made their own declaration of independence, commemorated in the name of that thing of beauty and of power which today floats upon the bosom of the hudson, a peer among the embattled navies of the world. they made good that declaration against all odds, through hardship, through suffering, through seas of blood, with desperate valor and lofty heroism, worthy the plaudits of the world. and then they conquered themselves; learned the hard lesson of subordinating personal ambition to law, to order, to the public weal. and today more people than followed washington with their hopes and prayers enjoy the blessings of liberty and peace, and the security of established and equal laws, won for them by the patriots who gave their lives for their country on the plains of argentina. these people have not only done all this for themselves, but they also have opened their arms to all the people of the earth, and have welcomed to their shores the poor, the humble, the downcast of all lands. so that scores of thousands of french, of italians, of germans, of english, of spaniards, coming not as their fathers came, in mailed forms to conquer savage foes--but under peaceful flags--a million and a half of men from all civilized lands of europe, have come to share the peace, the plenty and the freedom of the young republic; and to contribute to her prosperity and wealth. every guest at our board tonight may feel his pulses beat in unison with the sentiment of health and prosperity to the new land where his own kindred have found new homes and hopes. if there be truth in the philosophy of history--if the crossing of stocks, the blending of races, makes the strong new race, with capacity and power to press forward and upward the standard of civilization, the future is to find the people of argentina in the forefront of human progress. and so, from the hudson to the la plata, from the plains to the pampas, from the rockies to the andes, from the old american republic to the young american republic, from sister to sister, with the same convictions and hopes and aspirations, we send sincere and hearty greeting, congratulation and god-speed. our sister republic--brazil address of welcome to dr. lauro mÜller, secretary of state for foreign affairs of brazil, at a banquet of the chamber of commerce of the state of new york, june , the republic of brazil designated its minister for foreign affairs, dr. lauro müller, to return officially mr. root's visit to that republic, and the following address was delivered by mr. root at the dinner given by the chamber of commerce of the state of new york to his excellency, lauro müller, secretary of state for foreign affairs of the republic of brazil. when in the various pathways that one treads in a long life one has made friends, has garnered the wealth of friendship, that is more the happiness of age than wealth of money or possession, i know of nothing more delightful than to help bring together distant and separated friends and complete that circuit of magnetic intercourse which, after all, above all sordid motives, above all selfish interests, above all things material, makes up the true value of life. i cannot express the satisfaction that i feel in having you, my friends, the chamber of commerce, unite in taking the hand, and coming into personal contact with, my old friend and host of the southern republic. i feel that you are all paying my debt of gratitude, paying it as friends should pay it for friends. dr. müller, you have come to see a people widely known throughout the world for their great material achievements, a people whose influence has been very great in the development of civilization and in the advancement of those standards of living and of action which we believe make our times better than the times that have gone before; and you see here about you at these tables, and in the portraits upon these walls, the men who, for nearly a century and a half have played a great, aye, the greatest part in the amazing material developments and in the spiritual life of this republic. those who are living today under the inspiration and the spirit of the great citizens who have gone before are gathered to do you honor and do your country honor. what has been done in the united states of america, has been done, not by the power of money; it has been done, not under the influence of selfish motives; it has been done under the influence of noble ideals, of great minds, and of great hearts directing and guiding and leading the mighty affairs of a great people. and here are representatives, not all, but many, of the foremost representatives of that american spirit which has accomplished everything which you have seen in your journey here. my friends of the chamber of commerce, some years ago when it fell to my lot to visit south america, for the purpose of carrying to the minds of our southern sisters a true message of the real feeling of our people towards them, for the purpose of getting a hearing among the peoples of south america, which could not be gained through the newspapers, which could not be gained in any other way than by direct personal contact and by the influence of one personality meeting another, for the purpose of doing away with the false and distorted ideas that our great country was possessed by ambition and the lust of conquest and the desire for dominion over other lands, i met in brazil the most noble and generous hospitality. no nation of men could have exhibited in a higher degree all those qualities which make men love each other than the people of brazil exhibited to me on my visit there. the noble traditions of their race, all the great-heartedness of the grandees of the iberian peninsula, all those sentiments which have made them _par excellence_ the gentlemen of civilization were exhibited in the welcome they gave to you, to our people, through me as their representative. in that land of surpassing beauty, in that scene upon the bay of rio, with its shining waters and its blue mountains, in that city which has all the romance of fair ionian cities, i found a depth and warmth of friendship, a depth of patriotism and love for their own country, a response to the message of humanity, and a warm acceptance of the tender of friendship which made the people of brazil ever to me a group of dearly loved and always to be remembered friends. and among the first of them all was our guest of this evening. his personal hospitality i shall never forget. he knew not the words inconvenience or trouble. one would have thought he had no other duties to perform but to make the stranger who came from the distant republic of the north at home and happy, and he did it as the men of his country know how to do it. even then he held a great place in the government of his country; and it is a matter of the utmost satisfaction to me that his people have continued their confidence in him and have led him along step by step to higher and higher office, so that today he stands in the forefront of the statesmen who are making brazil one of the great world powers of our modern civilization. it is not, my friends, a mere gathering of courtesy tonight. we are not merely performing a duty of hospitality to the representative of a foreign state, when we exhibit our sincere friendship and our kindly feelings toward dr. müller and his country; we are doing for ourselves something of inestimable value, and we are doing something of inestimable value for the people of our country. of late the electors of america, the unofficial people of america, are demanding, asserting and laying hold upon more and more direct relation to the powers of government; but a democracy when it undertakes to govern directly, needs to remember that there are no rights without a duty, there is no duty without a right; and if a democracy is to govern itself well it must realize its responsibilities. we have been so isolated, we have been so free from wars and rumors of wars, so little inconvenienced by interference on the part of other nations in our vast domain, so busy with our internal affairs, that the people of the united states know but little, think but little, and care but little regarding foreign affairs. if the people of the united states are themselves to direct their foreign affairs they must come to a realizing sense of their responsibilities in foreign affairs; and first among those responsibilities is the duty of courtesy, the duty of kindly consideration, the duty to subordinate selfish interests to the broader interests of the nations of the world; the duty to treat every other nation with that judicial sense of others' rights which differentiates all diplomacy from the controversies of courts or the clashing of business interests. our people, if their voice is to be heard in foreign affairs, must learn that we cannot continue a policy of peace with insult; we must learn civility, we must learn that when we speak, when an american sovereign speaks of the affairs of other nations, he speaks under responsibility, and he must observe those rules of courtesy and of friendly relations by which alone can the peace of the world be maintained. today we hear much of peace and persuasion for peace. let me tell you that the great peace agencies of the world today are the governments of the world. hitherto, in dr. müller's visit, he has been in the main entertained by the american government and the people connected with the american government; but the responsibility for international friendship and international peace today rests not with governments that are always for peace, but with the people. it is the people from whom the danger of war comes today; it is the people, so far as they are unwilling to exercise self-restraint and all the qualities which go to make for agreeable and kindly and friendly relations with other people. so, to my mind your meeting here to extend the right hand of fellowship to dr. müller, to express to him the feeling of kindliness towards his country, in its representation of the people of the united states and as one of the multitude of incidents exercising an influence over the people, is of greater value and greater importance than anything that the official government of the united states can do. we have had for now ninety years a special political relation to the southern republics. since the time when monroe announced the doctrine which carries the necessary implication that every foot of soil upon the two american continents is under a government competent to govern, no longer open to colonization as the waste places of the earth are open,--from that time to this, special and peculiar political relations have existed between the united states and the other countries of the western continent. thank heaven the need for it, the need for the protection that came from that great assertion, is growing less and less. there are some parts of the continent as to which the necessities of the monroe doctrine, as it regards our safety, do not grow less; but as to those great republics in south america which have passed out of the condition of militarism, out of the condition of revolution, into the condition of industrialism, into the paths of successful commerce, and are becoming great and powerful nations, the monroe doctrine has done its work. and the thing above all things that i hope and trust and believe the people of south america will become permanently convinced of is, that there is neither to the monroe doctrine nor any other doctrine or purpose of the american government any corollary of dominion or aggression, or of aught but equal friendship. there is a national spirit and a national purpose and a national ideal quite apart from individual purpose or individual ideals. i am one of those who believe that for the existence of a truly great nation there must be an ideal of altruism. i believe that no people can be truly great which has no national and collective purpose that is not selfish. i believe that our country has a mission in the world; has great deeds to accomplish for the world; has a great future of beneficence for civilization; and that our sense of this, dim and vague doubtless among us in the main, buoys us up and makes us better patriots and makes our country the great nation that we love and honor. and directly to your hands in the accomplishment of the great national purpose, making all our prosperity, all our power, all our capital and our labor instruments for the bettering of mankind, for the progress of civilization and for the coming of the effective and universal rule of the religion which we profess, right at your hands, as the first and plainest duty, is the cementing of the bonds of friendship between our republic and our sister republics of the continent. we have much to learn from brazil--i hope she may learn much from us; and the interchange of benefits between us will but make stronger a friendship which carries with it the recognition of benefits. i sincerely hope, dr. müller, upon your return to brazil, you may feel it in your heart to tell your people that here, while we are pursuing our business careers, earnest in competition, eager to improve our conditions, anxious for trade, desirous of the greatness and glory of our country, we seek those ends only through universal friendship, through carrying, so far as we can, the benefits of peace and prosperity to all our sister republics, in order that you and we may grow stronger and greater together, and that brazil, with its enormous resources, with its patriotic people, with its brilliant minds, with its bright future, may go hand in hand with the republic of the north to ever happier and happier conditions for all our people. how to develop south american commerce address before the trans-mississippi commercial congress, kansas city, missouri, november , sir henry wotton is credited with the statement that "an ambassador is an honest man sent abroad to lie for the commonwealth", a definition half in jest but not without a touch of seriousness. the feeling is making itself manifest which will soon become universal, that an ambassador is an honest man sent abroad to represent the people of his own country to the people of the country to which he is accredited. mr. root, not sent to south america, but going on his own initiative, was an ambassador in this modern sense of the word to the latin american states in ; and upon his return he enlarged the meaning of the function of an ambassador by representing to his countrymen the peoples whom he had visited in south america. the three addresses delivered before the trans-mississippi commercial congress, the national convention for the extension of foreign commerce of the united states, and the pan american commercial conference are conceived in this spirit and were delivered in the performance of a continuous mission. a little less than three centuries of colonial and national life have brought the people inhabiting the united states, by a process of evolution, natural and, with the existing forces inevitable, to a point of distinct and radical change in their economic relations to the rest of mankind. during the period now past, the energy of our people, directed by the formative power created in our early population by heredity, by environment, by the struggle for existence, by individual independence, and by free institutions, has been devoted to the internal development of our own country. the surplus wealth produced by our labors has been applied immediately to reproduction in our own land. we have been cutting down forests and breaking virgin soil and fencing prairies and opening mines of coal and iron and copper and silver and gold, and building roads and canals and railroads and telegraph lines and cars and locomotives and mills and furnaces and schoolhouses and colleges and libraries and hospitals and asylums and public buildings and storehouses and shops and homes. we have been drawing on the resources of the world in capital and in labor to aid us in our work. we have gathered strength from every rich and powerful nation and expended it upon these home undertakings; into them we have poured hundreds of millions of money attracted from the investors of europe. we have been always a debtor nation, borrowing from the rest of the world, drawing all possible energy towards us and concentrating it with our own energy upon our own enterprises. the engrossing pursuit of our own opportunities has excluded from our consideration and interest the enterprises and the possibilities of the outside world. invention, discovery, the progress of science, capacity for organization, the enormous increase in the productive power of mankind, have accelerated our progress and have brought us to a result of development in every branch of internal industrial activity marvelous and unprecedented in the history of the world. since the first election of president mckinley, the people of the united states have for the first time accumulated a surplus of capital beyond the requirements of internal development. that surplus is increasing with extraordinary rapidity. we have paid our debts to europe and have become a creditor instead of a debtor nation; we have faced about; we have left the ranks of the borrowing nations and have entered the ranks of the investing nations. our surplus energy is beginning to look beyond our own borders, throughout the world, to find opportunity for the profitable use of our surplus capital, foreign markets for our manufactures, foreign mines to be developed, foreign bridges and railroads and public works to be built, foreign rivers to be turned into electric power and light. as in their several ways england and france and germany have stood, so we in our own way are beginning to stand and must continue to stand towards the industrial enterprise of the world. that we are not beginning our new rôle feebly is indicated by $ , , , of exports in the year as against $ , , , of imports, and by $ , , , exports in the year as against $ , , , of imports. our first steps in the new field indeed are somewhat clumsy and unskilled. in our own vast country, with oceans on either side, we have had too little contact with foreign peoples readily to understand their customs or learn their languages; yet no one can doubt that we shall learn and shall understand and shall do our business abroad, as we have done it at home, with force and efficiency. coincident with this change in the united states, the progress of political development has been carrying the neighboring continent of south america out of the stage of militarism into the stage of industrialism. throughout the greater part of that vast continent, revolutions have ceased to be looked upon with favor or submitted to with indifference; the revolutionary general and the dictator are no longer the objects of admiration and imitation; civic virtues command the highest respect; the people point with satisfaction and pride to the stability of their governments, to the safety of property and the certainty of justice; nearly everywhere the people are eager for foreign capital to develop their natural resources and for foreign immigration to occupy their vacant lands. immediately before us, at exactly the right time, just as we are ready for it, great opportunities for peaceful commercial and industrial expansion to the south are presented. other investing nations are already in the field--england, france, germany, italy, spain; but the field is so vast, the new demands are so great, the progress so rapid, that what other nations have done up to this time is but a slight advance in the race for the grand total. the opportunities are so large that figures fail to convey them. the area of this newly awakened continent is , , square miles--more than two and one half times as large as the united states without alaska, and more than double the united states including alaska. a large part of this area lies within the temperate zone, with an equable and invigorating climate, free from extremes of either heat or cold. farther north in the tropics are enormous expanses of high table-lands, stretching from the atlantic to the foothills of the andes, and lifted far above the tropical heats; the fertile valleys of the western cordilleras are cooled by perpetual snows even under the equator; vast forests grow untouched from a soil of incredible richness. the plains of argentina, the great uplands of brazil, the mountain valleys of chile, peru, ecuador, bolivia, and colombia are suited to the habitation of any race, however far to the north its origin may have been; hundreds of millions of men can find healthful homes and abundant sustenance in this great territory. the population in was only , , , less than six to the square mile. the density of population was less than one-eighth of that in the state of missouri, less than one-sixtieth of that in the state of massachusetts, less than one-seventieth of that in england, less than one per cent of that in belgium. with this sparse population the production of wealth is already enormous. the latest trade statistics show exports from south america to foreign countries of $ , , , and imports of $ , , . of the five hundred millions of goods that south america buys, we sell them but $ , , , or . per cent. of the seven hundred and forty-five millions that south america sells, we buy $ , , , or . per cent--nearly two and a half times as much as we sell. their production is increasing by leaps and bounds. in eleven years the exports of chile have increased forty-five per cent, from $ , , in to $ , , in . in eight years the exports of peru have increased one hundred per cent, from $ , , in to $ , , in . in ten years the exports of brazil have increased sixty-six per cent, from $ , , in to $ , , in . in ten years the exports of argentina have increased one hundred and sixty-eight per cent, from $ , , in to $ , , in . this is only the beginning; the coffee and rubber of brazil, the wheat and beef and hides of argentina and uruguay, the copper and nitrates of chile, the copper and tin of bolivia, the silver and gold and cotton and sugar of peru, are but samples of what the soil and mines of that wonderful continent are capable of yielding. ninety-seven per cent of the territory of south america is occupied by ten independent republics living under constitutions substantially copied or adapted from our own. under the new conditions of tranquillity and security which prevail in most of them, their eager invitation to immigrants from the old world will not long pass unheeded. the pressure of population abroad will inevitably turn its streams of life and labor towards those fertile fields and valleys. the streams have already begun to flow; more than two hundred thousand immigrants entered the argentine republic last year; they are coming this year at the rate of over three hundred thousand. many thousands of germans have already settled in southern brazil. they are most welcome in brazil; they are good and useful citizens there, as they are here; i hope that many more will come to brazil and every other south american country, and add their vigorous industry and good citizenship to the upbuilding of their adopted home. with the increase of population in such a field, under free institutions, with the fruits of labor and the rewards of enterprise secure, the production of wealth and the increase of purchasing power will afford a market for the commerce of the world worthy to rank even with the markets of the orient, as the goal of business enterprise. the material resources of south america are in some important respects complementary to our own; that continent is weakest where north america is strongest as a field for manufactures; it has comparatively little coal and iron. in many respects the people of the two continents are complementary to each other; the south american is polite, refined, cultivated, fond of literature and of expression and of the graces and charms of life, while the north american is strenuous, intense, utilitarian. where we accumulate, they spend. while we have less of the cheerful philosophy which finds sources of happiness in the existing conditions of life, they have less of the inventive faculty which strives continually to increase the productive power of man and lower the cost of manufacture. the chief merits of the peoples of the two continents are different; their chief defects are different. mutual intercourse and knowledge cannot fail greatly to benefit both. each can learn from the other; each can teach much to the other, and each can contribute greatly to the development and prosperity of the other. a large part of their products find no domestic competition here; a large part of our products will find no domestic competition there. the typical conditions exist for that kind of trade which is profitable, honorable, and beneficial to both parties. the relations between the united states and south america have been chiefly political rather than commercial or personal. in the early days of the south american struggle for independence, the eloquence of henry clay awakened in the american people a generous sympathy for the patriots of the south as for brethren struggling in the common cause of liberty. the clear-eyed, judicious diplomacy of richard rush, the american minister at the court of st. james, effected a complete understanding with great britain for concurrent action in opposition to the designs of the holy alliance, already contemplating the partition of the southern continent among the great powers of continental europe. the famous declaration of monroe arrayed the organized and rapidly increasing power of the united states as an obstacle to european interference and made it forever plain that the cost of european aggression would be greater than any advantage which could be won even by successful aggression. that great declaration was not the chance expression of the opinion or the feeling of the moment; it crystallized the sentiment for human liberty and human rights which has saved american idealism from the demoralization of narrow selfishness, and has given to american democracy its true world power in the virile potency of a great example. it responded to the instinct of self-preservation in an intensely practical people. it was the result of conference with jefferson and madison and john quincy adams and john c. calhoun and william wirt--a combination of political wisdom, experience, and skill not easily surpassed. the particular circumstances which led to the declaration no longer exist; no holy alliance now threatens to partition south america; no european colonization of the west coast threatens to exclude us from the pacific. but those conditions were merely the occasion for the declaration of a principle of action. other occasions for the application of the principle have arisen since; it needs no prophetic vision to see that other occasions for its application may arise hereafter. the principle declared by monroe is as wise an expression of sound political judgment today, as truthful a representation of the sentiments and instincts of the american people today, as living in its force as an effective rule of conduct whenever occasion shall arise, as it was on december , . these great political services to south american independence, however, did not and could not in the nature of things create any relation between the people of south america and the people of the united states except a relation of political sympathy. twenty-five years ago, mr. blaine, sanguine, resourceful, and gifted with that imagination which enlarges the historian's understanding of the past into the statesman's comprehension of the future, undertook to inaugurate a new era of american relations which should supplement political sympathy by personal acquaintance, by the intercourse of expanding trade, and by mutual helpfulness. as secretary of state under president arthur, he invited the american nations to a conference to be held on november , , for the purpose of considering and discussing the subject of preventing war between the nations of america. that invitation, abandoned by mr. frelinghuysen, was renewed under mr. cleveland, and on october , , mr. blaine, again secretary of state under president harrison, had the singular good fortune to execute his former design and to open the sessions of the first american conference at washington. in an address of wisdom and lofty spirit, which should ever give honor to his memory, he described the assembly as-- ... an honorable, peaceful conference of seventeen independent american powers, in which all shall meet together on terms of absolute equality; a conference in which there can be no attempt to coerce a single delegate against his own conception of the interests of his nation; a conference which will permit no secret understanding on any subject, but will frankly publish to the world all its conclusions; a conference which will tolerate no spirit of conquest, but will aim to cultivate an american sympathy as broad as both continents; a conference which will form no selfish alliance against the older nations from which we are proud to claim inheritance--a conference, in fine, which will seek nothing, propose nothing, endure nothing that is not, in the general sense of all the delegates, timely, wise, and peaceful. the policy which mr. blaine inaugurated has been continued; the congress of the united states has approved it; subsequent presidents have followed it. the first conference at washington has been succeeded by a second conference in mexico, and now by a third conference in rio de janeiro; and it is to be followed in years to come by further successive assemblies in which the representatives of all american states shall acquire better knowledge and more perfect understanding, and be drawn together by the recognition of common interests and the kindly consideration and discussion of measures for mutual benefit. nevertheless, mr. blaine was in advance of his time. in and the united states had not reached a point where it could turn its energies away from its own internal development and direct them outward towards the development of foreign enterprises and foreign trade, nor had the south american countries reached the stage of stability in government and security for property necessary to their industrial development. now, however, the time has come; both north and south america have grown up to blaine's policy. the production, the trade, the capital, the enterprise of the united states have before them the opportunity to follow, and they are free to follow, the pathway marked out by the far-sighted statesmanship of blaine for the growth of america, north and south, in the peaceful prosperity of a mighty commerce. to utilize this opportunity certain practical things must be done. for the most part these things must be done by a multitude of individual efforts; they cannot be done by government. government may help to furnish facilities for the doing of them, but the facilities will be useless unless used by individuals. this cannot be done by resolutions of this or any other commercial body; resolutions are useless unless they stir individual business men to action in their own business affairs. the things needed have been fully and specifically set forth in many reports of efficient consuls and of highly competent agents of the department of commerce and labor, and they have been described in countless newspapers and magazine articles; but all these things are worthless unless they are followed by individual action. i will indicate some of the matters to which every producer and merchant who desires south american trade should pay attention. . he should learn what the south americans want and conform his product to their wants. if they think they need heavy castings, he should give them heavy castings and not expect them to buy light ones because he thinks they are better. if they want coarse cottons, he should give them coarse cottons and not expect them to buy fine cottons. it may not pay today, but it will pay tomorrow. the tendency to standardize articles of manufacture may reduce the cost and promote convenience, but if the consumers on the river plata demand a different standard from the consumers on the mississippi, you must have two standards or lose one market. . both for the purpose of learning what the south american people want and of securing their attention to your goods, you must have agents who speak the spanish or portuguese language. for this there are two reasons: one is that people can seldom really get at each other's minds through an interpreter, and the other is that nine times out of ten it is only through knowing the spanish or portuguese language that a north american comes to appreciate the admirable and attractive personal qualities of the south american, and is thus able to establish that kindly and agreeable personal relation which is so potent in leading to business relations. . the american producer should arrange to conform his credit system to that prevailing in the country where he wishes to sell goods. there is no more money lost upon commercial credits in south america than there is in north america; but business men there have their own ways of doing business; they have to adapt the credits they receive to the credits they give. it is often inconvenient and disagreeable, and it is sometimes impossible, for them to conform to our ways, and the requirement that they should do so is a serious obstacle to trade. to understand credits it is, of course, necessary to know something about the character, trustworthiness, and commercial standing of the purchaser, and the american producer or merchant who would sell goods in south america must have some means of knowledge upon this subject. this leads naturally to the next observation i have to make. . the establishment of banks should be brought about. the americans already engaged in south american trade could well afford to subscribe the capital and establish an american bank in each of the principal cities of south america. this is a fact, first, because nothing but very bad management could prevent such a bank from making money; capital is much needed in those cities, and six, eight, and ten per cent can be obtained for money upon just as safe security as can be had in kansas city, st. louis, or new york. it is a fact also because the american bank would furnish a source of information as to the standing of the south american purchasers to whom credit may be extended, and because american banks would relieve american business in south america from the disadvantage which now exists of making all its financial transactions through europe instead of directly with the united states. it is unfortunately true that among hundreds of thousands of possible customers the united states now stands in a position of assumed financial and business inferiority to the countries through whose banking houses all its business must be done. . the american merchant should himself acquire, if he has not already done so, and should impress upon all his agents that respect for the south american to which he is justly entitled and which is the essential requisite to respect from the south american. we are different in many ways as to character and methods. in dealing with all foreign people, it is important to avoid the narrow and uninstructed prejudice which assumes that difference from ourselves denotes inferiority. there is nothing that we resent so quickly as an assumption of superiority or evidence of condescension in foreigners; there is nothing that the south americans resent so quickly. the south americans are our superiors in some respects; we are their superiors in other respects. we should show to them what is best in us and see what is best in them. every agent of an american producer or merchant should be instructed that courtesy, politeness, kindly consideration, are essential requisites for success in the south american trade. . the investment of american capital in south america under the direction of american experts should be promoted, not merely upon simple investment grounds, but as a means of creating and enlarging trade. for simple investment purposes the opportunities are innumerable. good business judgment and good business management will be necessary there, of course, as they are necessary here; but, given these, i believe that there is a vast number of enterprises awaiting capital in the more advanced countries of south america, capable of yielding great profits, and in which the property and the profits will be as safe as in the united states or canada. a good many such enterprises are already begun. i have found a graduate of the massachusetts institute of technology, a graduate of the columbia school of mines, and a graduate of colonel roosevelt's rough riders smelting copper close under the snow line of the andes; i have ridden in an american car upon an american electric road, built by a new york engineer, in the heart of the coffee region of brazil; and i have seen the waters of that river along which pizarro established his line of communication in the conquest of peru, harnessed to american machinery to make light and power for the city of lima. every such point is the nucleus of american trade--the source of orders for american goods. . it is absolutely essential that the means of communication between the two countries should be improved and increased. this underlies all other considerations and it applies to the mail, the passenger, and the freight services. between all the principal south american ports and england, germany, france, spain, italy, lines of swift and commodious steamers ply regularly. there are five subsidized first-class mail and passenger lines between buenos ayres and europe; there is no such line between buenos ayres and the united states. within the past two years the german, the english, and the italian lines have been replacing their old steamers with new and swifter vessels of modern construction, accommodation, and capacity. in the year ending june , , there entered the port of rio de janeiro steamers and sailing vessels flying the flag of austria-hungary, ; of norway, ; of italy, ; of argentina, ; of france, ; of germany, ; of great britain, ; of the united states,--no steamers and seven sailing vessels, two of which were in distress! an english firm runs a small steamer monthly between new york and rio de janeiro; the panama railroad company runs steamers between new york and the isthmus of panama; the brazilians are starting for themselves a line between rio and new york; there are two or three foreign concerns running slow cargo boats, and there are some foreign tramp steamers. that is the sum total of american communication with south america beyond the caribbean sea. not one american steamship runs to any south american port beyond the caribbean. during the past summer, i entered the ports of pará, pernambuco, bahia, rio de janeiro, santos, montevideo, buenos ayres, bahia blanca, punta arenas, lota, valparaiso, coquimbo, tocopilla, callao, and cartagena--all of the great ports and a large proportion of the secondary ports of the southern continent. i saw only one ship, besides the cruiser that carried me, flying the american flag. the mails between south america and europe are swift, regular, and certain; between south america and the united states they are slow, irregular, and uncertain. six weeks is not an uncommon time for a letter to take between buenos ayres or valparaiso and new york. the merchant who wishes to order american goods cannot know when his order will be received nor when it will be filled. the freight charges between the south american cities and american cities are generally and substantially higher than between the same cities and europe; at many points the deliveries of freight are uncertain and its condition upon arrival doubtful. the passenger accommodations are such as to make a journey to the united states a trial to be endured and a journey to europe a pleasure to be enjoyed. the best way to travel between the united states and both the southwest coast and the east coast of south america is to go by way of europe, crossing the atlantic twice. it is impossible that trade should prosper or intercourse increase or mutual knowledge grow to any great degree under such circumstances. the communication is worse now than it was twenty-five years ago. so long as it is left in the hands of our foreign competitors in business, we cannot reasonably look for any improvement. it is only reasonable to expect that european steamship lines shall be so managed as to promote european trade in south america, rather than to promote the trade of the united states in south america. this woeful deficiency in the means to carry on and enlarge our south american trade is but a part of the general decline and feebleness of the american merchant marine, which has reduced us from carrying over ninety per cent of our export trade in our own ships to the carriage of nine per cent of that trade in our own ships and dependence upon foreign shipowners for the carriage of ninety-one per cent. the true remedy and the only remedy is the establishment of american lines of steamships between the united states and the great ports of south america, adequate to render fully as good service as is now afforded by the european lines between those ports and europe. the substantial underlying fact was well stated in the resolution of this trans-mississippi congress three years ago: that every ship is a missionary of trade; that steamship lines work for their own countries just as railroad lines work for their terminal points, and that it is as absurd for the united states to depend upon foreign ships to distribute its products as it would be for a department store to depend upon the wagons of a competing house to deliver its goods. how can this defect be remedied? the answer to this question must be found by ascertaining the cause of the decline of our merchant marine. why is it that americans have substantially retired from the foreign transport service? we are a nation of maritime traditions and facility; we are a nation of constructive capacity, competent to build ships; we are eminent, if not preëminent, in the construction of machinery; we have abundant capital seeking investment; we have courage and enterprise shrinking from no competition in any field which we choose to enter. why, then, have we retired from this field in which we were once conspicuously successful? i think the answer is twofold. . the higher wages and the greater cost of maintenance of american officers and crews make it impossible to compete on equal terms with foreign ships. the scale of living and the scale of pay of american sailors are fixed by the standard of wages and of living in the united states, and those are maintained at a high level by the protective tariff. the moment the american passes beyond the limits of his country and engages in ocean transportation, he comes into competition with the lower foreign scale of wages and of living. mr. joseph l. bristow, in his report upon trade conditions affecting the panama railroad, dated june , , gives in detail the cost of operating an american steamship with a tonnage of approximately thirty-five hundred tons as compared with the cost of operating a specified german steamship of the same tonnage, and the differences aggregate $ , per annum greater cost for the american steamship than for the german; that is $ . per ton. he gives also in detail the cost of maintaining another american steamship with a tonnage of approximately twenty-five hundred tons as compared with the cost of operating a specified british steamship of the same tonnage, and the differences aggregate $ , . per annum greater cost for the american steamship than for the british; that is $ . per ton. it is manifest that if the german steamship were content with a profit of less than $ , per annum, and the british with a profit of less than $ , per annum, the american ships would have to go out of business. . the principal maritime nations of the world, anxious to develop their trade, to promote their shipbuilding industry, to have at hand transports and auxiliary cruisers in case of war, are fostering their steamship lines by the payment of subsidies. england is paying to her steamship lines between six and seven million dollars a year; it is estimated that since she has paid to them between two hundred and fifty and three hundred millions. the enormous development of her commerce, her preponderant share of the carrying trade of the world, and her shipyards crowded with construction orders from every part of the earth indicate the success of her policy. france is paying about eight million dollars a year; italy and japan, between three and four million each; germany, upon the initiative of bismarck, is building up her trade with wonderful rapidity by heavy subventions to her steamship lines and by giving special differential rates of carriage over her railroads for merchandise shipped by those lines. spain, norway, austria-hungary, canada, all subsidize their own lines. it is estimated that about $ , , a year are paid by our commercial competitors to their steamship lines. against these advantages of his competitor the american shipowner has to contend; and it is manifest that the subsidized ship can afford to carry freight at cost for a period long enough to drive him out of business. we are living in a world not of natural competition, but of subsidized competition. state aid to steamship lines is as much a part of the commercial system of our day as state employment of consuls to promote business. it will be observed that both of these disadvantages under which the american shipowner labors are artificial; they are created by governmental action--one by our own government in raising the standard of wages and living, by the protective tariff; the other by foreign governments in paying subsidies to their ships for the promotion of their own trade. for the american shipowner it is not a contest of intelligence, skill, industry, and thrift against similar qualities in his competitor; it is a contest against his competitors and his competitors' governments and his own government also. plainly, these disadvantages created by governmental action can be neutralized only by governmental action, and should be neutralized by such action. what action ought our government to take for the accomplishment of this just purpose? three kinds of action have been advocated. . a law providing for free ships--that is, permitting americans to buy ships in other countries and bring them under the american flag. plainly, this would not at all meet the difficulties which i have described. the only thing it would accomplish would be to overcome the excess in cost of building a ship in an american shipyard over the cost of building it in a foreign shipyard; but since all the materials which enter into an american ship are entirely relieved of duty, the difference in cost of construction is so slight as to be practically a negligible quantity, and to afford no substantial obstacle to the revival of american shipping. the expedient of free ships, therefore, would be merely to sacrifice our american shipbuilding industry, which ought to be revived and enlarged with american shipping, and to sacrifice it without receiving any substantial benefit. it is to be observed that germany, france, and italy all have attempted to build up their own shipping by adopting the policy of free ships, have failed in the experiment, have abandoned it, and have adopted in its place the policy of subsidy. . it has been proposed to establish a discriminating tariff duty in favor of goods imported in american ships--that is to say, to impose higher duties upon goods imported in foreign ships than are imposed on goods imported in american ships. we tried that once many years ago and abandoned it. in its place we have entered into treaties of commerce and navigation with the principal countries of the world, expressly agreeing that no such discrimination shall be made between their vessels and ours. to sweep away all those treaties and enter upon a war of commercial retaliation and reprisal for the sake of accomplishing indirectly what can be done directly should not be seriously considered. . there remains the third and obvious method: to neutralize the artificial disadvantages imposed upon american shipping through the action of our own government and foreign governments by an equivalent advantage in the form of a subsidy or subvention. in my opinion this is what should be done; it is the sensible and fair thing to do. it is what must be done if we would have a revival of our shipping and the desired development of our foreign trade. we cannot repeal the protective tariff; no political party dreams of repealing it; we do not wish to lower the standard of american living or american wages. we should give back to the shipowner what we take away from him for the purpose of maintaining that standard; and unless we do give it back we shall continue to go without ships. how can the expenditure of public money for the improvement of rivers and harbors to promote trade be justified upon any grounds which do not also sustain this proposal? would any one reverse the policy that granted aid to the pacific railroads, the pioneers of our enormous internal commerce, the agencies that built up the great traffic which has enabled half a dozen other roads to be built in later years without assistance? such subventions would not be gifts. they would be at once compensation for injuries inflicted upon american shipping by american laws and the consideration for benefits received by the whole american people--not the shippers or the shipbuilders or the sailors alone, but by every manufacturer, every miner, every farmer, every merchant whose prosperity depends upon a market for his products. the provision for such just compensation should be carefully shaped and directed so that it will go to individual advantage only so far as the individual is enabled by it to earn a reasonable profit by building up the business of the country. a bill is now pending in congress which contains such provisions; it has passed the senate and is now before the house committee on merchant marine and fisheries; it is known as senate bill no. , fifty-ninth congress, first session. it provides specifically that the postmaster-general may pay to american steamships, of specified rates of speed, carrying mails upon a regular service, compensation not to exceed the following amounts: for a line from an atlantic port to brazil, monthly, $ , a year; for a line from an atlantic port to uruguay and argentina, monthly, $ , a year; for a line from a gulf port to brazil, monthly, $ , a year; for a line from each of two gulf ports and from new orleans to central america and the isthmus of panama, weekly, $ , a year; for a line from a gulf port to mexico, weekly, $ , a year; for a line from a pacific coast port to mexico, central america, and the isthmus of panama, fortnightly, $ , a year. for these six regular lines a total of $ , . the payments provided are no more than enough to give the american ships a fair living chance in the competition. there are other wise and reasonable provisions in the bill relating to trade with the orient, to tramp steamers, and to a naval reserve, but i am now concerned with the provisions for trade to the south. the hope of such a trade lies chiefly in the passage of that bill. postmaster-general cortelyou, in his report for , said: congress has authorized the postmaster-general, by the act of , to contract with the owners of american steamships for ocean mail service and has realized the impracticability of commanding suitable steamships in the interest of the postal service alone by requiring that such steamers shall be of a size, class, and equipment which will promote commerce and become available as auxiliary cruisers of the navy in case of need. the compensation allowed to such steamers is found to be wholly inadequate to secure the proposals contemplated; hence, advertisements from time to time have failed to develop any bids for much-needed service. this is especially true in regard to several of the countries of south america, with which we have cordial relations and which, for manifest reasons, should have direct mail connections with us. i refer to brazil and countries south of it. complaints of serious delay to mails for these countries have become frequent and emphatic, leading to the suggestion on the part of certain officials of the government that for the present and until more satisfactory direct communication can be established, important mails should be dispatched to south america by way of european ports and on european steamers, which would not only involve the united states in the payment of double transit rates to a foreign country for the dispatch of its mails to countries of our own hemisphere, but might seriously embarrass the government in the exchange of important official and diplomatic correspondence. the fact that the government claims exclusive control of the transmission of letter mail throughout its own territory would seem to imply that it should secure and maintain the exclusive jurisdiction when necessary, of its mails on the high seas. the unprecedented expansion of trade and foreign commerce justifies prompt consideration of an adequate foreign mail service. it is difficult to believe, but it is true, that out of this faulty ocean mail service the government of the united states is making a large profit. the actual cost to the government last year of the ocean mail service to foreign countries other than canada and mexico was $ , , . , while the proceeds realized by the government from postage between the united states and foreign countries other than canada and mexico was $ , , . , leaving the profit to the united states of $ , , . ; that is to say, under existing law the government of the united states, having assumed the monopoly of carrying the mails for the people of the country, is making a profit of $ , , per annum by rendering cheap and inefficient service. every dollar of that three millions is made at the expense of the commerce of the united states. what can be plainer than that the government ought to expend at least the profits that it gets from the ocean mail service in making the ocean mail service efficient. one quarter of those profits would establish all these lines which i have described between the united states and south and central america, and give us, besides a good mail service, enlarged markets for the producers and merchants of the united states who pay the postage from which the profits come.[ ] in his last message to congress, president roosevelt said: to the spread of our trade in peace and the defense of our flag in war a great and prosperous merchant marine is indispensable. we should have ships of our own and seamen of our own to convey our goods to neutral markets, and in case of need to reënforce our battle line. it cannot but be a source of regret and uneasiness to us that the lines of communication with our sister republics of south america should be chiefly under foreign control. it is not a good thing that american merchants and manufacturers should have to send their goods and letters to south america via europe if they wish security and dispatch. even on the pacific, where our ships have held their own better than on the atlantic, our merchant flag is now threatened through the liberal aid bestowed by other governments on their own steam lines. i ask your earnest consideration of the report with which the merchant marine commission has followed its long and careful inquiry. the bill now pending in the house is a bill framed upon the report of that merchant marine commission. the question whether it shall become a law depends upon your representatives in the house. you have the judgment of the postmaster-general, you have the judgment of the senate, you have the judgment of the president; if you agree with these judgments and wish the bill which embodies them to become a law, say so to your representatives. say it to them individually and directly, for it is your right to advise them and it will be their pleasure to hear from you what legislation the interests of their constituents demand. the great body of congressmen are always sincerely desirous to meet the just wishes of their constituents and to do what is for the public interest; but in this great country they are continually assailed by innumerable expressions of private opinion and by innumerable demands for the expenditure of public money; they come to discriminate very clearly between private opinion and public opinion, and between real public opinion and the manufactured appearance of public opinion; they know that when there is a real demand for any kind of legislation it will make itself known to them through a multitude of individual voices. resolutions of commercial bodies frequently indicate nothing except that the proposer of the resolution has a positive opinion and that no one else has interest enough in the subject to oppose it. such resolutions by themselves, therefore, have comparatively little effect; they are effective only when the support of individual expressions shows that they really represent a genuine and general opinion. it is for you and the business men all over the country whom you represent to show to the representatives in congress that the producing and commercial interests of the country really desire a practical measure to enlarge the markets and increase the foreign trade of the united states, by enabling american shipping to overcome the disadvantages imposed upon it by foreign governments for the benefit of their trade, and by our government for the benefit of our home industry. footnotes: [ ] there would be some modification of these figures if the cost of getting the mails to and from the exchange offices were charged against the account; but this is not separable from the general domestic cost and would not materially change the result. south american commerce address at the national convention for the extension of the foreign commerce of the united states, washington, d. c., january , i thank you for your cordial greeting, and i thank you, mr. chairman, for the very kind terms which you have used regarding myself. i have come here with pleasure, not to make a prepared address, or to attempt oratory, but to talk a few minutes about subjects of common interest to us all. i wish first to express the satisfaction that i feel in the existence of this convention. the process of discussion, consideration, mutual information, and comparison of opinion among the people who are not in office, is the process that puts under the forms of representative government the reality of freedom and of a self-governing people. the discussion which takes place in such meetings as this, and which is stimulated by such meetings as this, in the club, in all the local associations and places where men meet throughout the country, is at once far removed from the secret and selfish devices of the lobbyist and from the stolid indifference which characterizes a people willing to be governed without themselves having a voice in government. i congratulate you that you have come here to the nation's capital to discuss and consider subjects which are properly of national concern; that you have not come to ask the national government to do anything which you ought to do yourselves at home in your separate states, but to consider the exercise of the great commerce power of the nation, the power which from the beginning of our government has been fittingly placed in the hands of the national administration. to my view we are advancing, and the whole world is advancing, in the opportunities and in the spirit and method which create opportunities for that kind of commerce which is profitable and beneficial to both parties the world over. our relations continually grow more reasonable, more sensible and kindly with europe and all the powers of europe, with our vigorous and growing neighbor to the north, with our rapidly advancing and developing neighbors to the south, and with the nations that face us on the other side of the pacific. little occasions for controversy, little causes for irritation, little incidents of conflicting interests continually arise, as they do among friends and neighbors in the same town, but the general trend of international relations is a trend towards mutual respect, mutual consideration, and substantial good understanding. of course our relations to europe, and our relations to the orient, and our relations to canada have long been much discussed and are worthy of discussion; but it seems to me that the subject which at this particular time opens before us with more of an appearance, and just appearance, of new opportunity than any other, is the subject of our relations to the latin american nations to the south. i am not going to detain you by any extended discussion of that subject. i made a long--perhaps too long--speech about it before the trans-mississippi commercial congress at kansas city a few weeks ago, and that has been printed in various forms and some of you, perhaps, have seen it or will see it. the substance is that just at the time when the united states has reached a point of development in its wonderful resources and accumulation of capital so that it is possible for us to turn our attention from the development of our own internal affairs to reach out into other lands for investment, for the fruits of profitable enterprise, for the expansion and extension of trade--just at that time the great and fertile and immeasurably rich countries of south america are emerging from the conditions of internal warfare, of continual revolution, of disturbed and unsafe property conditions, and are acquiring stability in government, safety for property, capacity to protect enterprise. so that we may look with certainty to an enormous increase of population and of wealth throughout the continent of south america, and we may look with certainty for an enormous increase in purchasing power as a consequence of that increase in population and wealth. these two things coming together spread before us an opportunity for our trade and our enterprise surpassed by none anywhere in the world or at any time in our history. it was with this view that last summer i spent three months, in response to the kind invitations of various governments of south america, in visiting their capitals, in meeting their leading men, in becoming familiar with their conditions, and in trying to represent to them what i believe to be the real relation of respect and kindliness on the part of the people of the united states. i wish you all could have seen with what genuine reciprocal friendship they accepted the message that i brought to them. we have long been allied to them by political sentiment. now lies before us the opportunity--with their stable governments and protection for enterprise and property, and our increased capital--now lies before us the opportunity to be allied to them also by the bonds of personal intercourse and profitable trade. this situation is accentuated by the fact that we are turning our attention to the south and engaging there in the great enterprise of constructing the panama canal. no one can tell what effect that will have upon the commerce of the world, but we do know that there never has been in history a case of a great change in the trade routes of the world which has not powerfully affected the rise and fall of nations, the development of commerce, and the development of civilization. we, by the expenditure of a part of our recently acquired capital, are about to open a new trade route that will bring our atlantic and gulf ports into immediate, close intercourse with all the pacific coasts of south and central america, and which will bring our pacific ports into immediate and close relation with all the countries about the caribbean sea and the eastern coast of south america. the combination of political sentiment which has long allied us with the latin american countries, the opportunity which comes from their change of conditions and our increase of capital, and the effects that must necessarily follow the opening of the great trade route of the panama canal, all point to the development of american enterprise and american trade to the south. now, in considering that view of the future there are certain practical considerations that necessarily arise. how are we to adapt ourselves to this new condition? how are we to utilize this opportunity? one subject naturally presents itself, and that is the increase of means of communication through which our intercourse and our trade may be carried on. and that may be in two ways: one by the promotion of the railroad, long ago projected, and in constant course of development--the road that we speak of as the pan american road. when we speak of the pan american railroad we are speaking of something of the future, and which exists today only in a great number of links, each of which has its separate name. they are being built, and being built with great rapidity. in mexico, in guatemala, in bolivia, in peru, in the argentine, in other countries pieces of road are being built--many of them by american capital and american enterprise; some of them by capital coming from other countries--promoted by the strong desire of the people of these latin american countries to break out from their isolation and to be brought into closer contact with the rest of the world. those pieces are being built until now, when the work actually under contract is completed, there will be less than , miles remaining to be built to make a complete railroad which will unite the city of washington with the city of buenos ayres in the argentine. one of the objects of the rio conference last summer was to promote and further the interest of all american countries in the building of this road, and i am glad to believe that the action taken by that conference has had that effect. the line now running to the south is almost through mexico--has almost reached the guatemala line; and lines are being built in guatemala to connect with that; and within the life of men now sitting in this room it will be possible for passengers and merchandise to travel by rail practically the entire length of both the north and south american continents. the other method of communication is by steamships. we are lamentably deficient in that. a great many fine, swift, commodious lines of steamships run between the south american ports and europe and very few and comparatively poor ships run between those ports and the ports of the united states. no american line runs south of the caribbean sea. our mails are slow and uncertain. it is a matter of hardship for a passenger to go directly between the great south american ports and the great north american ports, while the mails run swiftly and certainly to and from europe, and it is a pleasure for a passenger to go between one of those ports and the european ports. the postmaster-general reports that the best way for him to get the despatches from my department to our ministers in south america with certainty and swiftness is to send them to europe and have them sent from there to south america. that condition of things ought not to continue if we can prevent it. one great reason why it exists is, that american shipping is driven off the seas by two great obstacles interposed in its way by legislation. one is the legislation of foreign countries which has subsidized foreign shipping; the other is the legislation of our own country which by the protective tariff has raised the standard of living of all americans--a most beneficent result--has raised the standard of living of all americans so that american ships paying and feeding their officers and men according to the american standard cannot compete on even terms with foreign ships, the cost of whose officers and men is under the foreign standard. if our government will equalize these artificial disadvantages under which our vessels labor and will do for them enough to make up to them the disadvantage caused by raising the standard of living of the men they employ and to make up to them the disadvantage, coming from the fact that their foreign competitors are subsidized by foreign governments for the purpose of promoting foreign trade against american trade, we will have an american merchant marine and american ships to carry passengers and freight and mails between south and north american ports. a bill to provide that is pending in congress now. it has passed the senate. it is in the committee of the house. i hope that all of you who agree with me in believing that our government ought to be fair to the american merchant marine will say so out loud; say so to your neighbors; say so in such a way that american public opinion will realize that that kind of fair treatment is not a matter of the lobbyist, but is a matter of broad, american public policy. there is one other subject--very important as a part of this general outlook and forecast of american policy looking towards the south. that is our special relation towards the countries, the smaller countries about the caribbean, and particularly the west indian countries, the islands that lie directly on the route between our ports and the panama canal. some of them have had a pretty hard time. the conditions of their lives have been such that it has been difficult for them to maintain stable and orderly governments. they have been cursed, some of them, by frequent revolution. poor cuba, with her wonderful climate and richness of soil, has suffered. we have done the best we could to help her, and we mean to go on doing the best we can to help her. i think the key of our attitude towards these countries can be put in three sentences: first. we do not want to take them for ourselves. second. we do not want any foreign nations to take them for themselves. third. we want to help them. now, we can help them; help them govern themselves, help them to acquire capacity for self-government, help them along the road that brazil and the argentine and chile and peru and a number of other south american countries have travelled--up out of the discord and turmoil of continual revolution into a general public sense of justice and determination to maintain order. there is a good deal of talk in the newspapers about the annexation of cuba. never! so long as the people of cuba do not themselves give up the effort to govern themselves. our efforts should be towards helping them to be self-governing. that is what we are trying to do now and what we mean to try to do. so with santo domingo. poor santo domingo! with her phenomenal richness of soil, her people ought to be among the richest and happiest on earth; but the island has been the scene of almost continued revolution and bloodshed. her politics are purely personal, and have been a continual struggle of this and that and the other man to secure ascendancy and power. she has come to us for help. she is burdened with an enormous amount of debt, much of it fraudulent, much of it created by revolutionary governments in the bush or by regular governments in distress, needing a little money to save themselves from being overthrown, in desperate circumstances, ready to make any sort of bargain, to pay any sort of interest, to promise anything to get immediate relief. many debts have been created in that way and are hanging over her, foreign debts as to which she has pledged the resources of this custom-house to the creditors of this country, and of that custom-house to the creditors of that country, and of another custom-house to the creditors of the third country. she is unable to pay interest; unable to make any settlement because she could not give anything to carry out any settlement. with this enormous debt hanging over her like a pall, and with this record of continual revolution and strife depriving her of credit, depriving her of courage and of hope, she came to us to help her. and we are trying to arrange so that she may have the little--very little--moral support of the united states which is necessary to settle her debts, to insure the honest collection of her revenue and its application to carry out the settlement, and that she may be able to stand and walk alone. now, we are trying to make an arrangement of that kind by a treaty; trying to perform the office of friendship and discharge the duty of good neighborhood towards santo domingo. i hope you wall take a little interest in this unfortunate neighbor and try to create a little interest in her on the part of our people; for our treatment of santo domingo, like our treatment of cuba, is but a part of a great policy which shall in the years to come determine the relations of this vast country, with its wealth and enterprise, to the millions of men and women and the countless millions of trade and treasure of the great world to the south. our treatment of santo domingo, like our treatment of cuba, is but a part of the working out of the policy of peace and righteousness as the basis for wealth and prosperity, in place of the policy of force, of plunder, of conquest, as the means of acquiring wealth. the question is frequently asked, should not a series of reciprocity treaties be adopted for the purpose of promoting our relations with these southern countries? that is not so important in regard to the south american countries as it might seem at first, because so greatly do the productions of north and south america vary that most of the products of south america already come into the united states free, as they are not competing with our products. between eighty and ninety per cent of all our imports from south america are now admitted to the united states free of duty. the great country of brazil--over ninety per cent of all our imports from there come in free of duty. so that the field to be covered by reciprocity treaties with those countries is comparatively narrow, and that question is not a question of first importance in regard to our relations with them. there are, however, some countries in regard to whose products i should like very much to see an opportunity to make reciprocity treaties. but this opens up a broader subject. i do not think that the subject of reciprocity can now be adequately considered or discussed without going into that broader subject, and that is the whole form of our tariff laws. in my judgment the united states must come to a maximum and minimum tariff. a single straight-out tariff was all very well in the world of single straight-out tariffs; but we have passed on, during the course of years, into a world for the most part of maximum and minimum tariffs, and with our single-rate tariff we are left with very little opportunity to reciprocate good treatment from other countries in their tariffs and very little opportunity to defend ourselves against bad treatment. of course this is the side that i look at; this is my point of view. i may be wrong, but this is the way it looks to me--that any country in the world can put up its tariff against our products as compared with similar products from another country without suffering for it so far as our present laws are concerned. we go on taking that country's products at just the same rates as we did before. any country in the world knows that if it puts down our products in its tariff it will get no benefit from it because we will have to charge it the same rates that we charge the country that treats us the worst. the maximum and minimum tariff would be free from one serious difficulty that arises in the negotiation of reciprocity treaties. that difficulty is this: when you make a reciprocity treaty with country a, agreeing to receive certain products from that country at less than our tariff schedules, you are immediately confronted by country b, which is equally friendly with us, treats us as well or perhaps better, and to which we cannot with good grace refuse the same. then comes country c with the same demand, and d and e. the result is that with that fair and equal treatment which we wish to accord to all countries there is a tendency, by means of successive reciprocity treaties, to change the whole form of the tariff, and to change it without that full and general discussion, without that deliberate consideration of the effect upon all american interests, which there ought to be in dealing with this complicated and interwoven business of tariff rates. now, a maximum and minimum tariff would enable us to deal equally with all countries, as we are friendly, and ought to be, with all countries. it would be free from invidious discrimination; it would enable us to protect ourselves against those that use us badly, to reward those that use us well; and it would proceed upon a general and intelligent consideration of all interests. there is but one other subject that i want to speak to you about, one to which the convention that met here last year contributed very much, and that is representation abroad under the american consular system. the american consular service, i had the honor to say here last year, has been an exceptionally uneven one. there have been many very good men in it, and there have been many men in it who were simply passing the remainder of their days in dignified retirement. that came along naturally enough when we did not have much foreign trade and we were not pushing much for foreign trade; but the strain on that machinery has of late years become rather great. we are pushing out in all the world for trade, and our people want information. some of them need it--all want it--and they need to be well represented among the people of the other countries where they want to do business. and wherever there is a weak spot there is trouble and dissatisfaction. so that with changing times a change in method has become necessary. congress passed a law at the last session, the material parts of which had been hanging in congress for over thirteen years, introduced years ago by men with foresight a little in advance of the practical requirements of the time. their ideas did not receive endorsement and practical effect until the last session. the congress in that law classified the consulates in different grades. they provided an inspection service, so that now we have inspectors who have been selected from among the most able and efficient consuls and whose business it is to see what consuls are doing and whether they are doing anything, so that now the state department will not be the last place where information is received about the misdeeds of a consul. they made provision that all fees should be turned into the treasury and the sole compensation of consuls should be their salary, thus closing the door to temptation. they did in that act a number of very good things for the consular service. there was a clause in the bill originally which provided that all appointments to the higher positions in the service should be by promotion from the lower positions, and that all appointments to the lower positions should be upon examination. that was stricken out because it was considered that congress had no constitutional right to limit the president in that way. there is a good deal to be said for that view; but it is equally true of appointments to the army and to the navy, yet there have stood upon the statute books of the united states for many years provisions for the filling of higher grades in the army and navy by promotion, and for the appointment to the lower grades only upon a satisfactory examination. and those provisions, while doubtless the president could break over them with the consent of the senate, nevertheless have constituted a kind of agreement between the president and the senate, having the appointing power, and congress which creates the offices and appropriates the money to pay them, as to how the offices are to be filled. i would like to see that kind of an agreement applied to the consular service, so that the method of selection could be settled, and permanently settled, as it has been in the army and the navy. immediately after the passage of the consular reorganization act with that clause omitted, the president made an order, known as the order of june , , in which he provided that all the upper grades should be filled by promotion and that the lower grades should be filled only upon examination, and prescribed the method of the examination, and also provided that as between candidates of equal merit the appointments should be made so as to equalize them throughout the united states, as they ought to be equalized so far as it is practicable, and also that the appointments should be made without regard to the political affiliations of the candidates. under that order we will have the opportunity, in filling all of the important consulates, to get the best possible evidence as to whether a man is fit for the important place by scanning the work of the young men in the lower places--better than a dozen examinations and better than ten thousand letters of recommendation. under that plan we will put in the young men who come along for the lower grades of places and bar out the lazy fellows that want to fall back on a living they are not energetic enough to get for themselves. and when we have seen how the young fellows work in the lower places we will pick out the men here and there who are born consuls and put them into the higher places. now, that is the law for this administration. it is good until march , . what will become of it then no one can tell. i should be very glad if the public opinion of the country would say to congress: agree to that in such a way that it will be permanent for all time. gentlemen, i thank you for your attention and again renew my expression of satisfaction at the intelligent public service you have rendered by leaving your homes and your occupations to come here and do the work of self-governing american citizens. individual effort in trade expansion address at the pan american commercial conference washington, d.c., february , governments may hold doors open all over the world, but if there is no one to go through them it is an empty form, and people get tired of holding doors open as an empty form. the claims of a government to consideration soon come to be regarded as pretentious unless there are really substantial interests behind the claims. no government, and least of all our government, least of all a democratic republic, can make commerce to go through open doors, to avail itself of fair and equal treatment, and to give substance and reality to the theoretical increase of amity and friendship between nations. the people of the country must do it themselves, and they must do it by individual enterprise; they must do it by turning their attention toward the opportunities that are afforded by friendly governments, by availing themselves of those opportunities, and by carrying on their business through availing themselves of them. but while it is a matter of individual enterprise, while that must be the basis of all development and progress, all advance, all extension, nevertheless, there must be something besides the individual enterprise. the great principle of organization which is revolutionizing the business and the social enterprise of the world, applies here as it applies elsewhere. no single business can make very much advance except as all other business of the country makes advance. no one can go into a new field very far in advance of others; and the way for each man to make his business successful in a new field is to do his share as a member of the community, as a citizen of his country, as one of the great business organizations of his country, to advance the trade, the commerce, the influence of his country as a whole, in the field into which he wishes to enter. a recognition of the dependence of each man's business for its prosperity and progress upon the prosperity and progress of the business of all is necessary in order that there be real progress. now, there are governments which undertake actively to lead in this direction, and they are governments which are making enormous progress. germany, a country regarding which mr. white has just spoken in such apt and appropriate terms, leads, and to a considerable extent in various directions, it requires the combination of her manufacturers, her producers, and her commercial concerns. japan practically does also. there is solidarity brought about by the wonderful organization of that combination; so that it is one for all, and all for one, under government leadership. we cannot do it here. our country cannot take that kind of lead. our people do not conceive of that as a function of government, and as far as the activities of our government are concerned, they are largely engaged in breaking up organizations which do increase the industrial efficiency of our country. i do not want to be understood as criticising that. it is all right to break them up when they are taking too great a portion of the field for themselves. it is all right and important to break them up when they are monopolizing the means of subsistence that should be spread throughout the great body of the people. but we must recognize the fact that when our government does enforce the law--a just law, wise law--against our great commercial and our great industrial organizations, it reduces the industrial efficiency of the country. there is only one way to counteract that effect, not violating any law, but securing through organization the united action, and concentrated action of great numbers of americans who have a common purpose, substituting that kind of organization for the organizations which it is the duty of our government to break up, because they are contrary to our laws. i am much gratified by this meeting and by the association of so many practical men, business men, who, by uniting, are really creating a new force in this direction, upon which i am sure we ought to move. let me say one thing about the practical direction of your efforts. the so-called ship subsidy bill has been reduced now to nothing but the proposition that the government should be authorized to pay out of the profits of the ocean mail service adequate compensation to procure the carriage of the mails by american steamers to south america; that is what it has come down to. it passed the senate, as mr. white has said, only by the casting of the vote of the vice-president, and i do not know what will be done with it in the house. i am afraid in these last days that it may be lost in the shuffle. there are two reasons why that perfectly simple and reasonable proposition failed to carry a great majority of the senate, and fails--if it does fail--to be certain of passing the house. one is because there is a difference between the people who want to have the thing accomplished about the way in which it should be accomplished. that is one of the most common things in the world. a certain set of men who want to have a revival of our merchant marine, say the way to do it is to pay subsidies, the way to do it is to equalize the differences between the cost of maintaining and running an american ship and the cost of maintaining and running a foreign ship, and to equal the subsidies paid by practically all the other great commercial nations to their steamship lines. another set of men who equally desire to restore our merchant marine, say that is not the right way; the right way is to throw open the doors and enable our people to buy their ships abroad. still others say the true way is to authorize our ships to employ crews and officers of the low-priced men of the world, relieve them from the obligations imposed upon them in respect of the employment of americans, people of the united states, who will require the high standard of living that has been produced in the united states by the operation of our protective system, relieve them from the obligations which are imposed upon them by our laws in regard to the requirements of the crew, the air space, the food, and the treatment that a crew is to receive, so that it will be cheaper to run an american ship. now, between these different sets of people, having different ideas of the way to accomplish a thing, nothing is done; and that situation which exists so frequently regarding so many measures will exist forever, unless there is put behind the proposition a force that gives it a momentum to carry it over such obstacles. put force enough behind it so that the gentlemen in the senate and house of representatives understand that they are going to be held responsible by the american people, going to be held responsible for not doing the thing, for not finding out some way to do it, and they will come to this sensible conclusion very shortly, and that is: "we will settle the controversy about the way it should be done by trying one thing first, and if that does not work, we will try the other." another difficulty about this measure is that there is a difference in appreciation of its importance in different parts of the country. down here on the seaboard i think most people do appreciate it. you appreciate it; all the people who are concerned, or wish to be concerned, in south american trade, or the trade of the orient, appreciate it; but you go back into the interior of the country, into the great agricultural states of the northwest, and the farther middle west, states along in the valley of the mississippi and the missouri, and the people there are thinking about other things, and they have a natural dislike for subsidies, and when told that a measure means giving somebody else something for nothing, they express and impress upon their representatives a great dislike for it. the way for us to get something done is not for us who are in favor of it to talk to each other about it. we can do that indefinitely without getting much farther. the way is to take steps to bring to the minds of the people of the valley of the missouri and the northwest, and those great agricultural states the importance to them, as well as to us, of having our merchant marine restored. i noticed the other day that the people of san francisco were justifying their confidence in themselves by procuring all their business correspondents in the state of new york to write letters to me in favor of having the great "exposition and celebration of the opening of the canal in san francisco"; and these letters came in by the thousand from my constituents. they became so tiresome that i came very near voting against the project as a measure of revenge; but it showed the san francisco people understood where to go in order to preach their doctrine. they did not talk to each other on the pacific coast about it. they came to new york and got their business correspondents interested in it, and got them to talk to their representatives about it. that is what you want to do in kansas and nebraska and iowa and the dakotas--you want, through all the relations that you have, and by every means in your power, to represent to the people of those great interior states, who have but little direct relation with the ocean commerce of the world, the real conditions under which we exist, and the importance to the whole country of doing something; and if they do come to appreciate the importance to the country of doing what you are talking about, then they will be for it, for they are sincere, patriotic americans. there is but one thing more i want to say regarding the relations which underlie the success of such an enterprise as you are now engaged in. of course, you have had a great amount of advice, and a great many speakers have told you a great many things you know, and i am going to put myself in line with the distinguished gentlemen who have preceded me by doing the same thing. at the basis of all intercourse, commercial as well as social, necessarily lies a genuine good understanding. that cannot be simulated; the pretense of it is in general, in the long run, futile. people trade with those with whom they have sympathy; they tend to trade with their friends. the basis of all permanent commercial intercourse is benefit to both parties--not that cut-throat relation which may exist between enemies, where one is trying to do the other--and a relation founded upon mutual respect, good understanding, sympathy, and friendship; and the way to reach the condition which is thus essential is by personal intercourse and acquaintance between the men of anglo-saxon or german or norse, or whatever race they may be, peopling the united states, and the men of the latin american race peopling the countries of the south. this is something, my friends, in which our people are very deficient. so long have we been separated from the other nations of the earth that one of our faults is a failure to appreciate the qualities of the people who are unlike us. i have often had occasion to quote something that bret harte said about the people of a frontier western camp, to whom came a stranger who was regarded by them as having "the defective moral quality of being a foreigner." difference from us does not involve inferiority to us. it may involve our inferiority to somebody else. the sooner our business men open their minds to the idea that the peoples of other countries, different races and speaking different languages and with different customs and laws, are quite our equals, worthy of our respect, worthy of our esteem, regard, and affection, the sooner we shall reach a basis on which we can advance our commerce all over the world. a little more modesty is a good thing for us occasionally; a little appreciation of the good qualities of others--and let me tell you that nowhere on earth are there more noble, admirable and lovable qualities to be found among men than you will find among the people of latin america. gentlemen, i hope for you the effectiveness of a great and permanent organization, and that you may advance the time when through more perfect knowledge, through broader sympathies and a better understanding, ties of commerce may bind together all our countries, advance our wealth and prosperity and well-being with equal step as they advance the wealth and prosperity and well-being of all those with whom we deal, and increase the tie of that perfect understanding of other peoples which is the condition of unbroken and permanent peace. welcome to the latin american publicists taking part in the second pan american scientific congress washington, december , mr. root's interest in and knowledge of the american republics is not of yesterday, nor does it date from his secretaryship of state. it antedated and has survived official position. in it inspired his address of welcome to the officers of the foreign and united states squadrons which escorted the spanish caravels to new york. it colors with a touch of personal feeling his address on the codification of international law, delivered before the joint sessions of the american society and the american institute of international law, and is beautifully expressed in the following brief passage from his remarks at the dinner of the carnegie endowment for international peace to the delegates of the second pan american scientific congress. gentlemen of the pan american scientific congress, and our guests: i cannot refrain, in opening the postprandial exercises of this evening, from expressing the great satisfaction which i feel in taking part in the transformation of the serious and sometimes dry exercises of our meetings into this social function. it is especially agreeable to me because i cherish such rich and precious memories of hospitality received from our south american guests. i have said many times to my own countrymen, without ever provoking resentment on their part, that i wish they could all learn a lesson in courtesy and the generosity of friendship from our brothers in south america. i should have felt that my own participation in this congress was imperfect and lacked an important element, if i could not have met you, my old friends of south america, in this gathering, which excludes the serious and the scientific, and seeks to cultivate and satisfy only the generous sentiments of friendship. although his address on the codification of international law is contained in mr. root's _addresses on international subjects_, it reinforces the views expressed by him, as secretary of state, in the address before the third international american conference, and its concluding paragraphs are here reprinted, as a fitting close to the volume of addresses dealing with the relations of the united states to our sister republics of the south. the presence here of dr. maurtua, whom it is a great pleasure for me to hail as a colleague in the faculty of political and administrative science of the university of san marcos, at lima, and of the distinguished ambassador from brazil, my old friend from rio de janeiro, lead me to say something which follows naturally from my reflections regarding the interests of the smaller nations. it is now nearly ten years ago when your people, gentlemen, and the other peoples of south america, were good enough to give serious and respectful consideration to a message that it was my fortune to take from this great and powerful republic of north america to the other american nations. i wish to say to you, gentlemen, and to all my latin american friends here in this congress, that everything that i said in behalf of the government of the united states at rio de janeiro in is true now as it was true then. there has been no departure from the standard of feeling and of policy which was declared then in behalf of the american people. on the contrary, there is throughout the people of this country a fuller realization of the duty and the morality and the high policy of that standard. of course, in every country there are individuals who depart from the general opinion and general conviction, both in their views and in their conduct; but the great, the overwhelming body of the american people love liberty, not in the restricted sense of desiring it for themselves alone, but in the broader sense of desiring it for all mankind. the great body of the people of these united states love justice, not merely as they demand it for themselves, but in being willing to render it to others. we believe in the independence and the dignity of nations, and while we are great, we estimate our greatness as one of the least of our possessions, and we hold the smallest state, be it upon an island of the caribbean or anywhere in central or south america, as our equal in dignity, in the right to respect and in the right to the treatment of an equal. we believe that nobility of spirit, that high ideals, that capacity for sacrifice are nobler than material wealth. we know that these can be found in the little state as well as in the big one. in our respect for you who are small, and for you who are great, there can be no element of condescension or patronage, for that would do violence to our own conception of the dignity of independent sovereignty. we desire no benefits which are not the benefits rendered by honorable equals to each other. we seek no control that we are unwilling to concede to others, and so long as the spirit of american freedom shall continue, it will range us side by side with you, great and small, in the maintenance of the rights of nations, the rights which exist as against us and as against all the rest of the world. with that spirit we hail your presence here to coöperate with those of us who are interested in the international law; we hail the formation of the new american institute of international law and the personal friendships that are being formed day by day between the men of the north and the men of the south, all to the end that we may unite in such clear and definite declaration of the principles of right conduct among nations, and in such steadfast and honorable support of those principles as shall command the respect of mankind and insure their enforcement. index index adams, john quincy, american president, xiii, , , , , , . ahumada, mexican governor, speech of, f. alaska, . alliances, traditional policy of the united states concerning, . altruism, ideal of, . amazon, river, . america, services of, to the world's civilization, f. american colony, the, at mexico city, - . american institute of international law, the, , . andes, the, , , , . apollonius molon, greek orator, anecdote of, . arbitration, international, ; practical difficulties in, f. argentina, - , - , , , , , . arias, ricardo, speech of, - . armenians, the, . arthur, chester alan, american president, . artigas, josé, dictator of uruguay ( - ), . atheneum, the, at montevideo, uruguay, - . austria, , , . bahia, brazil, - , . bahia blanca, . banks, importance of, in securing south american trade, . barbosa, ruy, brazilian senator, ; speeches of, - , ff. barrett, john, director of the pan american union, , . barrios, senator, speech of, f. batlle y ordóñez, josé, president of uruguay, speech of, - . bayard, thomas francis, secretary of state, . belgium, . bismarck, otto von, german statesman, . blaine, james gillespie, american statesman, , , , , , f. _blancos_, uruguayan faction, , . blending of races, effect of, . bolívar, simón, venezuelan general, , . bolivia, , , , . borglum, gutzon, sculptor, . brazil, - , , , - , , , , , , , . bristow, joseph little, united states senator, . buchanan, william insco, american diplomat, , . buenos ayres, xiii, - , , , . buffalo exposition, the, f. bureau of american republics, establishment of the, . byron, lord, ; characterization of washington by, . calero, manuel, speech of, - . calhoun, john caldwell, american statesman, , . callao, , . camargo, theodomiro de, speech of, f. canada, f., , , . canning, george, english statesman, , . capital, opportunities for, in south america, f.; investment of american capital in mexico, . caribbean sea, the, , , , , , , . carlos, king of portugal, . carnegie, andrew, contributes towards the construction of the building of the pan american union, , , ; letter of, f.; letter of mr. root to, f.; resolutions concerning, . carnegie endowment for international peace, the, . cartagena, colombia, ff., . casasus, joaquín d., speech of, - . castlereagh, viscount, british premier, , . central america, , , , , , . central american peace conference, the, xiv, - . chamber of commerce, the, of new york, - . chamber of deputies, the, in mexico, - . _charleston_, the, , . chile, - , , , . china, . cicero, anecdote of, . civilization, the process of, . clay, henry, american statesman, xiii, , , , , , , , . cleveland, grover, american president, . coffee, importance of, to brazil, . colombia, - , , , . _colorados_, uruguayan faction, , . columbia school of mines, the, . columbus, christopher, . commerce and labor, department of, . communication, importance of means of, - . consular service, the, ff. conti, sculptor, . coquimbo, . cornejo, mariano, peruvian envoy, speech of, f. corral, ramón, mexican vice-president, speeches of, f., f. cortelyou, george bruce, postmaster-general, . cortés, hernán, spanish soldier, . costa rica, . credit system, the, in south america, . creel, enrique c., mexican diplomat, . cret, paul phillippe, architect, . cuba, , , , , . cuellar, samuel garcía, mexican officer, . dakotas, the, . darcy, dr. james, speech of, f. declaration of independence, the, . declaration of the rights of man, the, , . dehesa, teodoro a., mexican governor, speech of, . demosthenes, . díaz, porfirio, mexican president, , , f., , , , , , , , , ; speech of, ff. dickens, charles, observations of, on america, . drago, luis m., speech of, xiii, - . drago doctrine, the, f. ecuador, . elguera, federico, speech of, ff. _el señor root en mexico_, . england, , , , , , . europe, , , , , , , , , , , , , , . evarts, william maxwell, secretary of state, . everett, edward, american statesman, ; note of, f. _federalist, the_, , . figueroa, alcorta, j., president of argentina, speech of, - . florida, . fodéré, pradier, peruvian publicist, . forsyth, john, secretary of state, . france, , , , , , , , , . franklin, benjamin, american philosopher and statesman, . free ships, policy of, . frelinghuysen, frederick theodore, secretary of state, . gama, brazilian commercial teacher, speech of, ff. garnett, american congressman, . garrison, william lloyd, american abolitionist, . germans, in brazil, f. germany, , , , , , , . gettysburg, battle of, . gonçalvez, sigismundo, governor of pernambuco, . government, functions of, . grant, ulysses simpson, american general and president, , . great britain, , , . greece, . grey, lord, . guadalajara, mexico, ff. guatemala, , , . guimarães, paula, brazilian deputy, speech of, f. hague conference, second, in , , , . hague tribunal of arbitration, the, . hamilton, alexander, american statesman, , . harrison, benjamin, american president, . harte, francis bret, american author, . hay, john, secretary of state, and author, . hicks, john, american diplomat, . hidalgo y costilla, miguel, mexican priest and revolutionist, , , . holy alliance, the, , . honduras, . huneeus, antonio, chilean minister, address of, - . hungary, . iberian peninsula, the, , . ibsen, henrik, norwegian dramatic poet, . indians, , ; passing of their civilization in mexico, . international bureau of the american republics, the, . iowa, . isolation, disadvantages of, . italy, , , , . jalisco, mexican state, . japan, , . jay, john, american statesman, . jefferson, thomas, american president, xiii, , , , , , , . jews, the, , . juárez, benito, mexican president, . kansas, . kansas city, , . kelsey, albert, architect, . knox, philander chase, secretary of state, . laboulaye, Édouard de, french historian, . lafayette, marquis de, french general and statesman, , , . lancaster, house of, . landa y escandón, guillermo de, speech of, ff. laredo, . lima, - , . limantour, josé, mexican minister, ; speech of, ff. lincoln, abraham, american president, , , , . lobos islands, controversy concerning, f., . london, , f. lota, . mckinley, william, american president, , . madison, james, american president, , , , , , , . magoon, charles e., provisional governor of cuba, f. mann, horace, american educator, . marcelino de souza, josé, governor of bahia, speech of, ff. marcy, william learned, american statesman, . marshall, john, american jurist, xiii, , . martínez, mucio p., governor of puebla, speech of, f. massachusetts, . massachusetts bay, . massachusetts institute of technology, the, . material benefits, importance of, . maurtua, peruvian savant, . mediterranean, the, . méndez, luis, speech of, - . merchant marine commission, the, . mexican academy of legislation and jurisprudence, the, - . mexican country club, the, - . mexico, , - , , , , , . missouri, . mitre, emilio, speech of, - . mob, rule of the, . mogy-guasú, the, river in brazil, . monroe, james, american president, xiii, , , , , , , , f., , , , , . monroe doctrine, the, xiii, , , , , , f., , f., . montague, andrew jackson, american delegate, speech of, . montenegro, augusto, governor of pará, speech of, f. montevideo, - , . müller, lauro, brazilian minister, - . mukden, battle of, . nabuco, joaquim, the elder, . nabuco, joaquim, brazilian ambassador, , , , , ; speech of, - . national convention for the extension of the foreign commerce of the united states, address of mr. root at the, - . nazareth de arujo, galaor, speech of, . nebraska, . new orleans, . new york, city, , , , , . new york, state, . nicaragua, . norcross, orlando whitney, american builder and contractor, . north american society of the river plata, the, f. norway, , . nuevo laredo, mexico, f. orient, the, , , . orizaba, mexico, f. oyapoc, river in south america, . pacific railroads, the, . palacio monroe, xiii, . panama, - , . panama, isthmus of, , . panama canal, the, , , , , , . panama railroad, the, . panama railroad company, the, . pan american commercial conference, address of mr. root at, - . pan american conference, first, at washington, xii, , , f., . pan american conference, second, at mexico, xi, , , . pan american conference, third, at rio de janeiro, xii, xiii, - , , f., , . pan american railroad, the, f. pan american scientific congress, second, address of mr. root at, ff. pan american union, the, , - . pará, brazil, , f., . paranahyba, the, river in brazil, . pardo, manuel, peruvian statesman, . pardo y barreda, josé, president of peru, speech of, f. paulistas, , . peaceable invasion, . pernambuco, brazil, f., , . peru, , , - , , , , , . philadelphia, . pious fund, the, . piracy, . pizarro, francisco, spanish soldier, , . plutarch, . political science, chief contribution of the united states to, . portsmouth, new hampshire, . portugal, . prado y ugarteche, javier, speech of, - . prussia, . public opinion, rule of, f. puebla, mexico, f. punta arenas, . purdie, francis b., speech of, - . puritan element, the, in america, . randolph, edmund, american statesman, . recife, _see_ pernambuco. religious toleration, . reyes, rafael, colombian president, , . rezende, doctor, speech of, f. rhodes, . ribeyro, ramón, speech of, . riesco, jermán, president of chile, speech of, . rincón gallardo, pedro, mexican officer, ; speech of, f. rio branco, baron do, brazilian minister, ; speeches of, , . rio de janeiro, xii, xiii, - , , , , , , , , , , , , . rio de la plata, , , . rio grande, the, , . rivadavia, bernardino, argentine statesman, . rochambeau, comte de, french general, . romeu, josé, uruguayan minister, speech of, - . roosevelt, theodore, american president, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , f., , , , , , , . roses, wars of the, . rousseau, jean jacques, swiss-french philosopher, . rush, richard, american diplomat, xiii, f., , . russia, . st. louis, missouri, , . salisbury, marquis of, . salvador, . san antonio, texas, , ff. san francisco, , . san marcos, university of, - , . san martín, josé de, argentine general, . san martín, zorrilla de, speech of, - . santiago, chile, - . santo domingo, unhappy condition of, , ff. santos, brazil, - , . são paulo, brazil, - , . sarmiento, domingo faustino, argentine president, f. scandinavia, . schurz, carl, american statesman, . sentiment, power of, . seward, william henry, american statesman, , , , , . smith, william, botanist, . solís, juan díaz de, spanish navigator, . south america, mr. root's visit to, in , xi-xiv, - ; mr. root's addresses in the united states on topics relating to south america, - . spain, , , , , , , , . steamships, cost of operating, . subsidies, maritime, - , , ff. sweden, . taft, william howard, american president, , . taney, roger brooke, american jurist, . tariff, protective, ; maximum and minimum, ff.; discriminating tariff duties, f. texas, . thompson, david e., american diplomat, - . tieté, the, river in brazil, . tocopilla, . trade expansion, individual effort in, - . trade routes, importance of, , , . trans-mississippi commercial congress, address of mr. root before, - . tucuman, congress of, . tuileries, burning of the, . turkey, . uruguay, - , , . uruguay, river, . valparaiso, , , . vásquez-cobo, colombian minister, address of, f. venezuela, . vera cruz, mexican state, f. villarán, luis f., speech of, ff. washington, city, . washington, george, american president, xiii, , , , , , , , , , , , f., . webster, daniel, american statesman, , . west indian countries, difficulties of, - . white, andrew dickson, american diplomat, , . wirt, william, american statesman, . wotton, sir henry, statement of, . yale university, , . york, house of, . printed at the harvard university press, cambridge, mass., u.s.a. +-------------------------------------------------+ | transcriber's note: | | | | typographical errors corrected in the text: | | | | page iv sigismunco changed to sigismundo | | page vi oovernor changed to governor | | page vii expantion changed to expansion | | page it changed to in | | page where-ever changed to wherever | | page zorilla changed to zorrilla | | page valpariso changed to valparaiso | | page establishmen changed to establishment | | page rivadivia changed to rivadavia | +-------------------------------------------------+ [transcriber's note: obvious printer's errors have been corrected, all other inconsistencies are as in the original. the author's spelling has been maintained. unusual superscripts are shown as ^{xx}, e.g.: w^{ch} for which. description of the characters not found in the unicode tables: [=a] a with macron. [=e] e with macron. [=i] i with macron. [=o] o with macron. [=u] u with macron. [)i] i with breve. [-p] p with stroke. [~m] m with tilde. [~p] p with tilde. [~q] q with tilde. [=z] ezh. [°u] u with ring.] the discovery of america _with some account of ancient america and the spanish conquest_ by john fiske _in two volumes_ vol. i. then i unbar the doors; my paths lead out the exodus of nations; i disperse men to all shores that front the hoary main. i too have arts and sorceries; illusion dwells forever with the wave. i make some coast alluring, some lone isle to distant men, who must go there or die. emerson [illustration: editor's arm.] boston and new york houghton, mifflin and company the riverside press, cambridge copyright, , by john fiske. _all rights reserved._ sixteenth thousand. _the riverside press, cambridge, mass., u. s. a._ electrotyped and printed by h. o. houghton & company. to edward augustus freeman, a scholar who inherits the gift of midas, and turns into gold whatever subject he touches, i dedicate this book, with gratitude for all that he has taught me preface. the present work is the outcome of two lines of study pursued, with more or less interruption from other studies, for about thirty years. it will be observed that the book has two themes, as different in character as the themes for voice and piano in schubert's "frühlingsglaube," and yet so closely related that the one is needful for an adequate comprehension of the other. in order to view in their true perspective the series of events comprised in the discovery of america, one needs to form a mental picture of that strange world of savagery and barbarism to which civilized europeans were for the first time introduced in the course of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, in their voyages along the african coast, into the indian and pacific oceans, and across the atlantic. nothing that europeans discovered during that stirring period was so remarkable as these antique phases of human society, the mere existence of which had scarcely been suspected, and the real character of which it has been left for the present generation to begin to understand. nowhere was this ancient society so full of instructive lessons as in aboriginal america, which had pursued its own course of development, cut off and isolated from the old world, for probably more than fifty thousand years. the imperishable interest of those episodes in the discovery of america known as the conquests of mexico and peru consists chiefly in the glimpses they afford us of this primitive world. it was not an uninhabited continent that the spaniards found, and in order to comprehend the course of events it is necessary to know something about those social features that formed a large part of the burden of the letters of columbus and vespucius, and excited even more intense and general interest in europe than the purely geographical questions suggested by the voyages of those great sailors. the descriptions of ancient america, therefore, which form a kind of background to the present work, need no apology. it was the study of prehistoric europe and of early aryan institutions that led me by a natural sequence to the study of aboriginal america. in , after sketching the plan of a book on our aryan forefathers, i was turned aside for five years by writing "cosmic philosophy." during that interval i also wrote "myths and myth-makers" as a side-work to the projected book on the aryans, and as soon as the excursion into the field of general philosophy was ended, in , the work on that book was resumed. fortunately it was not then carried to completion, for it would have been sadly antiquated by this time. the revolution in theory concerning the aryans has been as remarkable as the revolution in chemical theory which some years ago introduced the new chemistry. it is becoming eminently probable that the centre of diffusion of aryan speech was much nearer to lithuania than to any part of central asia, and it has for some time been quite clear that the state of society revealed in homer and the vedas is not at all like primitive society, but very far from it. by i had become convinced that there was no use in going on without widening the field of study. the conclusions of the aryan school needed to be supplemented, and often seriously modified, by the study of the barbaric world, and it soon became manifest that for the study of barbarism there is no other field that for fruitfulness can be compared with aboriginal america. this is because the progress of society was much slower in the western hemisphere than in the eastern, and in the days of columbus and cortes it had nowhere "caught up" to the points reached by the egyptians of the old empire or by the builders of mycenæ and tiryns. in aboriginal america we therefore find states of society preserved in stages of development similar to those of our ancestral societies in the old world long ages before homer and the vedas. many of the social phenomena of ancient europe are also found in aboriginal america, but always in a more primitive condition. the clan, phratry, and tribe among the iroquois help us in many respects to get back to the original conceptions of the gens, curia, and tribe among the romans. we can better understand the growth of kingship of the agamemnon type when we have studied the less developed type in montezuma. the house-communities of the southern slavs are full of interest for the student of the early phases of social evolution, but the mandan round-house and the zuñi pueblo carry us much deeper into the past. aboriginal american institutions thus afford one of the richest fields in the world for the application of the comparative method, and the red indian, viewed in this light, becomes one of the most interesting of men; for in studying him intelligently, one gets down into the stone age of human thought. no time should be lost in gathering whatever can be learned of his ideas and institutions, before their character has been wholly lost under the influence of white men. under that influence many indians have been quite transformed, while others have been as yet but little affected. some extremely ancient types of society, still preserved on this continent in something like purity, are among the most instructive monuments of the past that can now be found in the world. such a type is that of the moquis of northeastern arizona. i have heard a rumour, which it is to be hoped is ill-founded, that there are persons who wish the united states government to interfere with this peaceful and self-respecting people, break up their pueblo life, scatter them in farmsteads, and otherwise compel them, against their own wishes, to change their habits and customs. if such a cruel and stupid thing were ever to be done, we might justly be said to have equalled or surpassed the folly of those spaniards who used to make bonfires of mexican hieroglyphics. it is hoped that the present book, in which of course it is impossible to do more than sketch the outlines and indicate the bearings of so vast a subject, will serve to awaken readers to the interest and importance of american archæology for the general study of the evolution of human society. so much for the first and subsidiary theme. as for my principal theme, the discovery of america, i was first drawn to it through its close relations with a subject which for some time chiefly occupied my mind, the history of the contact between the aryan and semitic worlds, and more particularly between christians and mussulmans about the shores of the mediterranean. it is also interesting as part of the history of science, and furthermore as connected with the beginnings of one of the most momentous events in the career of mankind, the colonization of the barbaric world by europeans. moreover, the discovery of america has its full share of the romantic fascination that belongs to most of the work of the renaissance period. i have sought to exhibit these different aspects of the subject. the present book is in all its parts written from the original sources of information. the work of modern scholars has of course been freely used, but never without full acknowledgment in text or notes, and seldom without independent verification from the original sources. acknowledgments are chiefly due to humboldt, morgan, bandelier, major, varnhagen, markham, helps, and harrisse. to the last-named scholar i owe an especial debt of gratitude, in common with all who have studied this subject since his arduous researches were begun. some of the most valuable parts of his work have consisted in the discovery, reproduction, and collation of documents; and to some extent his pages are practically equivalent to the original sources inspected by him in the course of years of search through european archives, public and private. in the present book i must have expressed dissent from his conclusions at least as often as agreement with them, but whether one agrees with him or not, one always finds him helpful and stimulating. though he has in some sort made himself a frenchman in the course of his labours, it is pleasant to recall the fact that m. harrisse is by birth our fellow-countryman; and there are surely few americans of our time whom students of history have more reason for holding in honour. i have not seen mr. winsor's "christopher columbus" in time to make any use of it. within the last few days, while my final chapter is going to press, i have received the sheets of it, a few days in advance of publication. i do not find in it any references to sources of information which i have not already fully considered, so that our differences of opinion on sundry points may serve to show what diverse conclusions may be drawn from the same data. the most conspicuous difference is that which concerns the personal character of columbus. mr. winsor writes in a spirit of energetic (not to say violent) reaction against the absurdities of roselly de lorgues and others who have tried to make a saint of columbus; and under the influence of this reaction he offers us a picture of the great navigator that serves to raise a pertinent question. no one can deny that las casas was a keen judge of men, or that his standard of right and wrong was quite as lofty as any one has reached in our own time. he had a much more intimate knowledge of columbus than any modern historian can ever hope to acquire, and he always speaks of him with warm admiration and respect. but how could las casas ever have respected the feeble, mean-spirited driveller whose portrait mr. winsor asks us to accept as that of the discoverer of america? if, however, instead of his biographical estimate of columbus, we consider mr. winsor's contributions toward a correct statement of the difficult geographical questions connected with the subject, we recognize at once the work of an acknowledged master in his chosen field. it is work, too, of the first order of importance. it would be hard to mention a subject on which so many reams of direful nonsense have been written as on the discovery of america; and the prolific source of so much folly has generally been what mr. freeman fitly calls "bondage to the modern map." in order to understand what the great mariners of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were trying to do, and what people supposed them to have done, one must begin by resolutely banishing the modern map from one's mind. the ancient map must take its place, but this must not be the ridiculous "orbis veteribus notus," to be found in the ordinary classical atlas, _which simply copies the outlines of countries with modern accuracy from the modern map, and then scatters ancient names over them!_ such maps are worse than useless. in dealing with the discovery of america one must steadily keep before one's mind the quaint notions of ancient geographers, especially ptolemy and mela, as portrayed upon such maps as are reproduced in the present volume. it was just these distorted and hazy notions that swayed the minds and guided the movements of the great discoverers, and went on reproducing themselves upon newly-made maps for a century or more after the time of columbus. without constant reference to these old maps one cannot begin to understand the circumstances of the discovery of america. in no way can one get at the heart of the matter more completely than by threading the labyrinth of causes and effects through which the western hemisphere came slowly and gradually to be known by the name america. the reader will not fail to observe the pains which i have taken to elucidate this subject, not from any peculiar regard for americus vespucius, but because the quintessence of the whole geographical problem of the discovery of the new world is in one way or another involved in the discussion. i can think of no finer instance of the queer complications that can come to surround and mystify an increase of knowledge too great and rapid to be comprehended by a single generation of men. in the solution of the problem as to the first vespucius voyage i follow the lead of varnhagen, but always independently and with the documentary evidence fully in sight. for some years i vainly tried to pursue humboldt's clues to some intelligible conclusion, and felt inhospitably inclined toward varnhagen's views as altogether too plausible; he seemed to settle too many difficulties at once. but after becoming convinced of the spuriousness of the bandini letter (see below, vol. ii. p. ); and observing how the air at once was cleared in some directions, it seemed that further work in textual criticism would be well bestowed. i made a careful study of the diction of the letter from vespucius to soderini in its two principal texts:-- . the latin version of , the original of which is in the library of harvard university, appended to waldseemüller's "cosmographiæ introductio"; . the italian text reproduced severally by bandini, canovai, and varnhagen, from the excessively rare original, of which only five copies are now known to be in existence. it is this text that varnhagen regards as the original from which the latin version of was made, through an intermediate french version now lost. in this opinion varnhagen does not stand alone, as mr. winsor seems to think ("christopher columbus," p. , line from bottom), for harrisse and avezac have expressed themselves plainly to the same effect (see below, vol. ii. p. ). a minute study of this text, with all its quaint interpolations of spanish and portuguese idioms and seafaring phrases into the italian ground-work of its diction, long ago convinced me that it never was a _translation_ from anything in heaven or earth or the waters under the earth. nobody would ever have translated a document _into_ such an extremely peculiar and individual jargon. it is most assuredly an original text, and its author was either vespucius or the old nick. it was by starting from this text as primitive that varnhagen started correctly in his interpretation of the statements in the letter, and it was for that reason that he was able to dispose of so many difficulties at one blow. when he showed that the landfall of vespucius on his first voyage was near cape honduras and had nothing whatever to do with the pearl coast, he began to follow the right trail, and so the facts which had puzzled everybody began at once to fall into the right places. this is all made clear in the seventh chapter of the present work, where the general argument of varnhagen is in many points strongly reinforced. the evidence here set forth in connection with the cantino map is especially significant. it is interesting on many accounts to see the first voyage of vespucius thus elucidated, though it had no connection with the application of his name by waldseemüller to an entirely different region from any that was visited upon that voyage. the real significance of the third voyage of vespucius, in connection with the naming of america, is now set forth, i believe, for the first time in the light thrown upon the subject by the opinions of ptolemy and mela. neither humboldt nor major nor harrisse nor varnhagen seems to have had a firm grasp of what was in waldseemüller's mind when he wrote the passage photographed below in vol. ii. p. of this work. it is only when we keep the greek and roman theories in the foreground and unflinchingly bar out that intrusive modern atlas, that we realize what the freiburg geographer meant and why ferdinand columbus was not in the least shocked or surprised. * * * * * i have at various times given lectures on the discovery of america and questions connected therewith, more especially at university college, london, in , at the philosophical institution in edinburgh, in , at the lowell institute in boston, in , and in the course of my work as professor in the washington university at st. louis; but the present work is in no sense whatever a reproduction of such lectures. acknowledgments are due to mr. winsor for his cordial permission to make use of a number of reproductions of old maps and facsimiles already used by him in the "narrative and critical history of america;" they are mentioned in the lists of illustrations. i have also to thank dr. brinton for allowing me to reproduce a page of old mexican music, and the hakluyt society for permission to use the zeno and catalan maps and the view of kakortok church. dr. fewkes has very kindly favoured me with a sight of proof-sheets of some recent monographs by bandelier. and for courteous assistance at various libraries i have most particularly to thank mr. kiernan of harvard university, mr. appleton griffin of the boston public library, and mr. uhler of the peabody institute in baltimore. * * * * * there is one thing which i feel obliged, though with extreme hesitation and reluctance, to say to my readers in this place, because the time has come when something ought to be said, and there seems to be no other place available for saying it. for many years letters--often in a high degree interesting and pleasant to receive--have been coming to me from persons with whom i am not acquainted, and i have always done my best to answer them. it is a long time since such letters came to form the larger part of a voluminous mass of correspondence. the physical fact has assumed dimensions with which it is no longer possible to cope. if i were to answer all the letters which arrive by every mail, i should never be able to do another day's work. it is becoming impossible even to _read_ them all; and there is scarcely time for giving due attention to one in ten. kind friends and readers will thus understand that if their queries seem to be neglected, it is by no means from any want of good will, but simply from the lamentable fact that the day contains only four-and-twenty hours. cambridge, _october , ._ contents. chapter i. ancient america. page the american aborigines question as to their origin , antiquity of man in america shell-mounds, or middens , the glacial period , discoveries in the trenton gravel discoveries in ohio, indiana, and minnesota mr. cresson's discovery at claymont, delaware the calaveras skull pleistocene men and mammals , elevation and subsidence , waves of migration the cave men of europe in the glacial period the eskimos are probably a remnant of the cave men - there was probably no connection or intercourse by water between ancient america and the old world there is one great american red race different senses in which the word "race" is used - no necessary connection between differences in culture and differences in race mr. lewis morgan's classification of grades of culture - distinction between savagery and barbarism origin of pottery lower, middle, and upper status of savagery lower status of barbarism; it ended differently in the two hemispheres; in ancient america there was no pastoral stage of development importance of indian corn tillage with irrigation use of adobe-brick and stone in building middle status of barbarism , stone and copper tools working of metals; smelting of iron upper status of barbarism the alphabet and the beginnings of civilization so-called "civilizations" of mexico and peru , loose use of the words "savagery" and "civilization" value and importance of the term "barbarism" , the status of barbarism is most completely exemplified in ancient america , survival of bygone epochs of culture; work of the bureau of ethnology , tribal society and multiplicity of languages in aboriginal america , tribes in the upper status of savagery; athabaskans, apaches, shoshones, etc. tribes in the lower status of barbarism; the dakota group or family the minnitarees and mandans the pawnee and arickaree group the maskoki group the algonquin group the huron-iroquois group the five nations - distinction between horticulture and field agriculture perpetual intertribal warfare, with torture and cannibalism - myths and folk-lore ancient law , the patriarchal family not primitive "mother-right" primitive marriage the system of reckoning kinship through females only original reason for the system the primeval human horde , earliest family-group; the clan "exogamy" phratry and tribe effect of pastoral life upon property and upon the family - the exogamous clan in ancient america intimate connection of aboriginal architecture with social life the long houses of the iroquois , summary divorce hospitality structure of the clan , origin and structure of the phratry , structure of the tribe cross-relationships between clans and tribes; the iroquois confederacy - structure of the confederacy , the "long house" symmetrical development of institutions in ancient america , circular houses of the mandans - the indians of the pueblos, in the middle status of barbarism , horticulture with irrigation, and architecture with adobe , possible origin of adobe architecture , mr. cushing's sojourn at zuñi typical structure of the pueblo - pueblo society wonderful ancient pueblos in the chaco valley - the moqui pueblos the cliff-dwellings pueblo of zuñi , pueblo of tlascala - the ancient city of mexico was a great composite pueblo the spanish discoverers could not be expected to understand the state of society which they found there , contrast between feudalism and gentilism change from gentile society to political society in greece and rome , first suspicions as to the erroneousness of the spanish accounts detection and explanation of the errors, by lewis morgan adolf bandelier's researches the aztec confederacy , aztec clans clan officers rights and duties of the clan aztec phratries the _tlatocan_, or tribal council the _cihuacoatl_, or "snake-woman" the _tlacatecuhtli_, or "chief-of-men" evolution of kingship in greece and rome mediæval kingship montezuma was a "priest-commander" mode of succession to the office , manner of collecting tribute mexican roads aztec and iroquois confederacies contrasted aztec priesthood; human sacrifices , aztec slaves , the aztec family , aztec property mr. morgan's rules of criticism he sometimes disregarded his own rules amusing illustrations from his remarks on "montezuma's dinner" - the reaction against uncritical and exaggerated statements was often carried too far by mr. morgan , great importance of the middle period of barbarism the mexicans compared with the mayas - maya hieroglyphic writing ruined cities of central america - they are probably not older than the twelfth century recent discovery of the chronicle of chicxulub maya culture very closely related to mexican the "mound-builders" - the notion that they were like the aztecs or, perhaps, like the zuñis these notions are not well sustained the mounds were probably built by different peoples in the lower status of barbarism, by cherokees, shawnees, and other tribes , it is not likely that there was a "race of mound builders" society in america at the time of the discovery had reached stages similar to stages reached by eastern mediterranean peoples fifty or sixty centuries earlier , chapter ii. pre-columbian voyages. stories of voyages to america before columbus; the chinese the irish. blowing and drifting; cousin, of dieppe these stories are of small value but the case of the northmen is quite different the viking exodus from norway , founding of a colony in iceland, a. d. icelandic literature discovery of greenland, a. d. , eric the red, and his colony in greenland, a. d. - voyage of bjarni herjulfsson conversion of the northmen to christianity leif ericsson's voyage, a. d. ; helluland and markland leif's winter in vinland , voyages of thorvald and thorstein thorfinn karlsefni, and his unsuccessful attempt to found a colony in vinland, a. d. - - freydis, and her evil deeds in vinland, - , voyage into baffin's bay, description of a viking ship discovered at sandefiord, in norway - to what extent the climate of greenland may have changed within the last thousand years , with the northmen once in greenland, the discovery of the american continent was inevitable ear-marks of truth in the icelandic narratives , northern limit of the vine length of the winter day indian corn , winter weather in vinland vinland was probably situated somewhere between cape breton and point judith further ear-marks of truth; savages and barbarians of the lower status were unknown to mediæval europeans , the natives of vinland as described in the icelandic narratives - meaning of the epithet "skrælings" , personal appearance of the skrælings the skrælings of vinland were indians,--very likely algonquins the "balista" or "demon's head" , the story of the "uniped" character of the icelandic records; misleading associations with the word "saga" the comparison between leif ericsson and agamemnon, made by a committee of the massachusetts historical society, was peculiarly unfortunate and inappropriate , the story of the trojan war, in the shape in which we find it in greek poetry, is pure folk-lore the saga of eric the red is not folk-lore mythical and historical sagas the western or hauks-bók version of eric the red's saga the northern or flateyar-bók version presumption against sources not contemporary hauk erlendsson and his manuscripts the story is not likely to have been preserved to hauk's time by oral tradition only allusions to vinland in other icelandic documents - eyrbyggja saga the abbot nikulas, etc. ari fródhi and his works his significant allusion to vinland other references differences between hauks-bók and flateyar-bók versions adam of bremen importance of his testimony his misconception of the situation of vinland summary of the argument - absurd speculations of zealous antiquarians - the dighton inscription was made by algonquins, and has nothing to do with the northmen , governor arnold's stone windmill there is no reason for supposing that the northmen founded a colony in vinland no archæological remains of them have been found south of davis strait if the northmen had founded a successful colony, they would have introduced domestic cattle into the north american fauna and such animals could not have vanished and left no trace of their existence , further fortunes of the greenland colony bishop eric's voyage in search of vinland, the ship from markland, the greenland colony attacked by eskimos, queen margaret's monopoly, and its baneful effects story of the venetian brothers, nicolò and antonio zeno nicolò zeno wrecked upon one of the færoe islands he enters the service of henry sinclair, earl of the orkneys and caithness nicolò's voyage to greenland, cir. voyage of earl sinclair and antonio zeno , publication of the remains of the documents by the younger nicolò zeno, the zeno map , queer transformations of names - the name _færoislander_ became _frislanda_ the narrative nowhere makes a claim to the "discovery of america" the "zichmni" of the narrative means henry sinclair bardsen's "description of greenland" the monastery of st. olaus and its hot spring volcanoes of the north atlantic ridge fate of gunnbjörn's skerries, volcanic phenomena in greenland , estotiland drogio inhabitants of drogio and the countries beyond the fisherman's return to frislanda was the account of drogio woven into the narrative by the younger nicolò? or does it represent actual experiences in north america? the case of david ingram, the case of cabeza de vaca, - there may have been unrecorded instances of visits to north america the pre-columbian voyages made no real contributions to geographical knowledge and were in no true sense a discovery of america real contact between the eastern and western hemisphere was first established by columbus chapter iii. europe and cathay. why the voyages of the northmen were not followed up ignorance of their geographical significance lack of instruments for ocean navigation condition of europe in the year , it was not such as to favour colonial enterprise the outlook of europe was toward asia routes of trade between europe and asia claudius ptolemy and his knowledge of the earth early mention of china the monk cosmas indicopleustes shape of the earth, according to cosmas , his knowledge of asia the nestorians effects of the saracen conquests constantinople in the twelfth century the crusades - barbarizing character of turkish conquest general effects of the crusades the fourth crusade rivalry between venice and genoa centres and routes of mediæval trade , effects of the mongol conquests cathay, origin of the name carpini and rubruquis first knowledge of an eastern ocean beyond cathay the data were thus prepared for columbus; but as yet nobody reasoned from these data to a practical conclusion the polo brothers kublai khan's message to the pope marco polo and his travels in asia , first recorded voyage of europeans around the indo-chinese peninsula return of the polos to venice marco polo's book, written in prison at genoa, ; its great contributions to geographical knowledge , prester john griffins and arimaspians the catalan map, , other visits to china - overthrow of the mongol dynasty, and shutting up of china first rumours of the molucca islands and japan the accustomed routes of oriental trade were cut off in the fifteenth century by the ottoman turks necessity for finding an "outside route to the indies" chapter iv. the search for the indies. _eastward or portuguese route._ question as to whether asia could be reached by sailing around africa views of eratosthenes opposing theory of ptolemy story of the phoenician voyage in the time of necho - voyage of hanno , voyages of sataspes and eudoxus wild exaggerations views of pomponius mela , ancient theory of the five zones , the inhabited world, or oecumene, and the antipodes curious notions about taprobane (ceylon) question as to the possibility of crossing the torrid zone notions about sailing "up and down hill" , superstitious fancies , clumsiness of ships in the fifteenth century dangers from famine and scurvy the mariner's compass; an interesting letter from brunetto latini to guido cavalcanti - calculating latitudes and longitudes prince henry the navigator - his idea of an ocean route to the indies, and what it might bring the sacred promontory the madeira and canary islands - gil eannes passes cape bojador beginning of the modern slave-trade, papal grant of heathen countries to the portuguese crown , advance to sierra leone advance to the hottentot coast , note upon the extent of european acquaintance with savagery and the lower forms of barbarism previous to the fifteenth century - effect of the portuguese discoveries upon the theories of ptolemy and mela , news of prester john; covilham's journey bartholomew dias passes the cape of good hope and enters the indian ocean some effects of this discovery bartholomew columbus took part in it connection between these voyages and the work of christopher columbus chapter v. the search for the indies. _westward or spanish route._ sources of information concerning the life of columbus; las casas and ferdinand columbus the biblioteca colombina at seville , bernaldez and peter martyr letters of columbus defects in ferdinand's information , researches of henry harrisse date of the birth of columbus; archives of savona statement of bernaldez columbus's letter of september, the balance of probability is in favour of the family of domenico colombo, and its changes of residence , columbus tells us that he was born in the city of genoa his early years - christopher and his brother bartholomew at lisbon , philippa moñiz de perestrelo personal appearance of columbus his marriage, and life upon the island of porto santo , the king of portugal asks advice of the great astronomer toscanelli toscanelli's first letter to columbus - his second letter to columbus , who first suggested the feasibleness of a westward route to the indies? was it columbus? perhaps it was toscanelli , note on the date of toscanelli's first letter to columbus - the idea, being naturally suggested by the globular form of the earth, was as old as aristotle , opinions of ancient writers opinions of christian writers the "imago mundi" of petrus alliacus , ancient estimates of the size of the globe and the length of the oecumene toscanelli's calculation of the size of the earth, and of the position of japan (cipango) , columbus's opinions of the size of the globe, the length of the oecumene, and the width of the atlantic ocean from portugal to japan - there was a fortunate mixture of truth and error in these opinions of columbus the whole point and purport of columbus's scheme lay in its promise of a route to the indies shorter than that which the portuguese were seeking by way of guinea columbus's speculations on climate; his voyages to guinea and into the arctic ocean he may have reached jan mayen island, and stopped at iceland , the scandinavian hypothesis that columbus "must have" heard and understood the story of the vinland voyages , it has not a particle of evidence in its favour it is not probable that columbus knew of adam of bremen's allusion to vinland, or that he would have understood it if he had read it it is doubtful if he would have stumbled upon the story in iceland if he had heard it, he would probably have classed it with such tales as that of st. brandan's isle he could not possibly have obtained from such a source his opinion of the width of the ocean , if he had known and understood the vinland story, he had the strongest motives for proclaiming it and no motive whatever for concealing it - no trace of a thought of vinland appears in any of his voyages why did not norway or iceland utter a protest in ? the idea of vinland was not associated with the idea of america until the seventeenth century recapitulation of the genesis of columbus's scheme martin behaim's improved astrolabe , negotiations of columbus with john ii. of portugal , the king is persuaded into a shabby trick columbus leaves portugal and enters into the service of ferdinand and isabella, - the junto at salamanca, birth of ferdinand columbus, august , bartholomew columbus returns from the cape of good hope, december, , christopher visits bartholomew at lisbon, cir. september, , and sends him to england bartholomew, after mishaps, reaches england cir. february, , and goes thence to france before - the duke of medina-celi proposes to furnish the ships for columbus, but the queen withholds her consent , columbus makes up his mind to get his family together and go to france, october, , a change of fortune; he stops at la rábida, and meets the prior juan perez, who writes to the queen columbus is summoned back to court the junto before granada, december, , surrender of granada, january , columbus negotiates with the queen, who considers his terms exorbitant - interposition of luis de santangel agreement between columbus and the sovereigns cost of the voyage dismay at palos the three famous caravels delay at the canary islands martin behaim and his globe , columbus starts for japan, september , terrors of the voyage:-- . deflection of the needle . the sargasso sea , . the trade wind impatience of the crews change of course from w. to w. s. w , discovery of land, october , guanahani: which of the bahama islands was it? groping for cipango and the route to quinsay , columbus reaches cuba, and sends envoys to find a certain asiatic prince , he turns eastward and pinzon deserts him columbus arrives at hayti and thinks it must be japan his flag-ship is wrecked, and he decides to go back to spain building of the blockhouse, la navidad terrible storm in mid-ocean on the return voyage cold reception at the azores columbus is driven ashore in portugal, where the king is advised to have him assassinated but to offend spain so grossly would be imprudent arrival of columbus and pinzon at palos; death of pinzon columbus is received by the sovereigns at barcelona , general excitement at the news that a way to the indies had been found this voyage was an event without any parallel in history chapter vi. the finding of strange coasts. the discovery of america was a gradual process , the letters of columbus to santangel and to sanchez versification of the story by giuliano dati earliest references to the discovery the earliest reference in english the portuguese claim to the indies bulls of pope alexander vi. - the treaty of tordesillas juan rodriguez fonseca, and his relations with columbus - friar boyle notable persons who embarked on the second voyage departure from cadiz cruise among the cannibal (caribbee) islands fate of the colony at la navidad building the town of isabella exploration of cibao , westward cruise; cape alpha and omega - discovery of jamaica coasting the south side of cuba the "people of mangon" speculations concerning the golden chersonese - a solemn expression of opinion vicissitudes of theory , arrival of bartholomew columbus in hispaniola , mutiny in hispaniola; desertion of boyle and margarite , the government of columbus was not tyrannical troubles with the indians , mission of juan aguado discovery of gold mines, and speculations about ophir founding of san domingo, the return voyage to spain edicts of and , vexatious conduct of fonseca; columbus loses his temper departure from san lucar on the third voyage the belt of calms - trinidad and the orinoco , speculations as to the earth's shape; the mountain of paradise relation of the "eden continent" to "cochin china" discovery of the pearl coast columbus arrives at san domingo roldan's rebellion and fonseca's machinations , gama's voyage to hindustan, fonseca's creature, bobadilla, sent to investigate the troubles in hispaniola he imprisons columbus and sends him in chains to spain release of columbus; his interview with the sovereigns how far were the sovereigns responsible for bobadilla? ovando, another creature of fonseca, appointed governor of hispaniola , purpose of columbus's fourth voyage, to find a passage from the caribbee waters into the indian ocean , the voyage across the atlantic columbus not allowed to stop at san domingo his arrival at cape honduras cape gracias a dios, and the coast of veragua fruitless search for the strait of malacca futile attempt to make a settlement in veragua columbus is shipwrecked on the coast of jamaica; shameful conduct of ovando columbus's last return to spain his death at valladolid, may , "nuevo mundo;" arms of ferdinand columbus , when columbus died, the fact that a new world had been discovered by him had not yet begun to dawn upon his mind, or upon the mind of any voyager or any writer , illustrations. page portrait of the author _frontispiece_ view and ground-plan of seneca-iroquois long house _reduced from morgan's houses and house-life of the american aborigines_ view, cross-section, and ground-plan of mandan round house, _ditto_ ground-plan of pueblo hungo pavie, _ditto_ restoration of pueblo hungo pavie, _ditto_ restoration of pueblo bonito, _ditto_ ground-plan of pueblo peñasca blanca, _ditto_ ground-plan of so-called "house of the nuns" at uxmal, _ditto_ map of the east bygd, or eastern settlement of the northmen in greenland, _reduced from rafn's antiquitates americanæ_ , ruins of the church at kakortok, _from major's voyages of the zeni, published by the hakluyt society_ zeno map, cir. , _ditto_ , map of the world according to claudius ptolemy, cir. a. d. , _an abridged sketch after a map in bunbury's history of ancient geography_ _facing_ two sheets of the catalan map, , _from yule's cathay, published by the hakluyt society_ , map of the world according to pomponius mela, cir. a. d. , _from winsor's narrative and critical history of america_ map illustrating portuguese voyages on the coast of africa, _from a sketch by the author_ toscanelli's map, , _redrawn and improved from a sketch in winsor's america_ _facing_ annotations by columbus, _reduced from a photograph in harrisse's notes on columbus_ sketch of martin behaim's globe, , preserved in the city hall at nuremberg, _reduced to mercator's projection and sketched by the author_ , sketch of martin behaim's atlantic ocean, with outline of the american continent superimposed, _from winsor's america_ map of the discoveries made by columbus in his first and second voyages, _sketched by the author_ map of the discoveries made by columbus in his third and fourth voyages, _ditto_ arms of ferdinand columbus, _from the title-page of harrisse's fernand colomb_ the discovery of america. chapter i. ancient america. [sidenote: the american aborigines.] when the civilized people of europe first became acquainted with the continents of north and south america, they found them inhabited by a race of men quite unlike any of the races with which they were familiar in the old world. between the various tribes of this aboriginal american race, except in the sub-arctic region, there is now seen to be a general physical likeness, such as to constitute an american type of mankind as clearly recognizable as those types which we call mongolian and malay, though far less pronounced than such types as the australian or the negro. the most obvious characteristics possessed in common by the american aborigines are the copper-coloured or rather the cinnamon-coloured complexion, along with the high cheek-bones and small deep-set eyes, the straight black hair and absence or scantiness of beard. with regard to stature, length of limbs, massiveness of frame, and shape of skull, considerable divergencies may be noticed among the various american tribes, as indeed is also the case among the members of the white race in europe, and of other races. with regard to culture the differences have been considerable, although, with two or three apparent but not real exceptions, there was nothing in pre-columbian america that could properly be called civilization; the general condition of the people ranged all the way from savagery to barbarism of a high type. [sidenote: question as to their origin.] [sidenote: antiquity of man in america.] soon after america was proved not to be part of asia, a puzzling question arose. whence came these "indians," and in what manner did they find their way to the western hemisphere. since the beginning of the present century discoveries in geology have entirely altered our mental attitude toward this question. it was formerly argued upon the two assumptions that the geographical relations of land and water had been always pretty much the same as we now find them, and that all the racial differences among men have arisen since the date of the "noachian deluge," which was generally placed somewhere between two and three thousand years before the christian era. hence inasmuch as european tradition knows nothing of any such race as the indians, it was supposed that at some time within the historic period they must have moved eastward from asia into america; and thus "there was felt to be a sort of speculative necessity for discovering points of resemblance between american languages, myths, and social observances and those of the oriental world. now the aborigines of this continent were made out to be kamtchatkans, and now chinamen, and again they were shown, with quaint erudition, to be remnants of the ten tribes of israel. perhaps none of these theories have been exactly disproved, but they have all been superseded and laid on the shelf."[ ] the tendency of modern discovery is indeed toward agreement with the time-honoured tradition which makes the old world, and perhaps asia, the earliest dwelling-place of mankind. competition has been far more active in the fauna of the eastern hemisphere than in that of the western, natural selection has accordingly resulted in the evolution of higher forms, and it is there that we find both extinct and surviving species of man's nearest collateral relatives, those tailless half-human apes, the gorilla, chimpanzee, orang, and gibbon. it is altogether probable that the people whom the spaniards found in america came by migration from the old world. but it is by no means probable that their migration occurred within so short a period as five or six thousand years. a series of observations and discoveries kept up for the last half-century seem to show that north america has been continuously inhabited by human beings since the earliest pleistocene times, if not earlier. [footnote : see my _excursions of an evolutionist_, p. . a good succinct account of these various theories, monuments of wasted ingenuity, is given in short's _north americans of antiquity_, chap. iii. the most elaborate statement of the theory of an israelite colonization of america is to be found in the ponderous tomes of lord kingsborough, _mexican antiquities_, london, - , vols. elephant-folio. such a theory was entertained by the author of that curious piece of literary imposture, _the book of mormon_. in this book we are told that, when the tongues were confounded at babel, the lord selected a certain jared, with his family and friends, and instructed them to build eight ships, in which, after a voyage of days, they were brought to america, where they "did build many mighty cities," and "prosper exceedingly." but after some centuries they perished because of their iniquities. in the reign of zedekiah, when calamity was impending over judah, two brothers, nephi and laman, under divine guidance led a colony to america. there, says the veracious chronicler, their descendants became great nations, and worked in _iron_, and had stuffs of _silk_, besides keeping plenty of _oxen_ and _sheep_. (_ether_, ix. , ; x. , .) christ appeared and wrought many wonderful works; people spake with tongues, and the dead were raised. ( _nephi_, xxvi. , .) but about the close of the fourth century of our era, a terrible war between lamanites and nephites ended in the destruction of the latter. some two million warriors, with their wives and children, having been slaughtered, the prophet mormon escaped, with his son moroni, to the "hill cumorah," hard by the "waters of ripliancum," or lake ontario. (_ether_, xv. , , .) there they hid the sacred tablets, which remained concealed until they were miraculously discovered and translated by joseph smith in . there is, of course, no element of tradition in this story. it is all pure fiction, and of a very clumsy sort, such as might easily be devised by an ignorant man accustomed to the language of the bible; and of course it was suggested by the old notion of the israelitish origin of the red men. the references are to _the book of mormon_, salt lake city: deseret news co., .] [sidenote: shell-mounds.] the first group of these observations and discoveries relate to "middens" or shell-heaps. on the banks of the damariscotta river in maine are some of the most remarkable shell-heaps in the world. with an average thickness of six or seven feet, they rise in places to a height of twenty-five feet. they consist almost entirely of huge oyster-shells often ten inches in length and sometimes much longer. the shells belong to a salt-water species. in some places "there is an appearance of stratification covered by an alternation of shells and earth, as if the deposition of shells had been from time to time interrupted, and a vegetable mould had covered the surface." in these heaps have been found fragments of pottery and of the bones of such edible animals as the moose and deer. "at the very foundation of one of the highest heaps," in a situation which must for long ages have been undisturbed, mr. edward morse "found the remains of an ancient fire-place, where he exhumed charcoal, bones, and pottery."[ ] the significant circumstance is that "at the present time oysters are only found in very small numbers, too small to make it an object to gather them," and so far as memory and tradition can reach, such seems to have been the case. the great size of the heap, coupled with the notable change in the distribution of this mollusk since the heap was abandoned, implies a very considerable lapse of time since the vestiges of human occupation were first left here. similar conclusions have been drawn from the banks or mounds of shells on the st. john's river in florida,[ ] on the alabama river, at grand lake on the lower mississippi, and at san pablo in the bay of san francisco. thus at various points from maine to california, and in connection with one particular kind of memorial, we find records of the presence of man at a period undoubtedly prehistoric, but not necessarily many thousands of years old. [footnote : _second annual report of the peabody museum of american archæology_, etc., p. .] [footnote : visited in - by professor jeffries wyman, and described in his _fresh-water shell mounds of the st. john's river_, cambridge, .] [sidenote: the glacial period.] the second group of discoveries carries us back much farther, even into the earlier stages of that widespread glaciation which was the most remarkable feature of the pleistocene period. at the periods of greatest cold "the continent of north america was deeply swathed in ice as far south as the latitude of philadelphia, while glaciers descended into north carolina."[ ] the valleys of the rocky mountains also supported enormous glaciers, and a similar state of things existed at the same time in europe. these periods of intense cold were alternated with long interglacial periods during which the climate was warmer than it is to-day. concerning the antiquity of the pleistocene age, which was characterized by such extraordinary vicissitudes of heat and cold, there has been, as in all questions relating to geological time, much conflict of opinion. twenty years ago geologists often argued as if there were an unlimited fund of past time upon which to draw; but since sir william thomson and other physicists emphasized the point that in an antiquity very far from infinite this earth must have been a molten mass, there has been a reaction. in many instances further study has shown that less time was needed in order to effect a given change than had formerly been supposed; and so there has grown up a tendency to shorten the time assigned to geological periods. here, as in so many other cases, the truth is doubtless to be sought within the extremes. if we adopt the magnificent argument of dr. croll, which seems to me still to hold its ground against all adverse criticism,[ ] and regard the glacial epoch as coincident with the last period of high eccentricity of the earth's orbit, we obtain a result that is moderate and probable. that astronomical period began about , years ago and came to an end about , years ago. during this period the eccentricity was seldom less than . , and at one time rose to . . at the present time the eccentricity is . , and nearly , years will pass before it attains such a point as it reached during the glacial epoch. for the last , years the departure of the earth's orbit from a circular form has been exceptionally small. [footnote : _excursions of an evolutionist_, p. .] [footnote : croll, _climate and time in their geological relations_, new york, ; _discussions on climate and cosmology_, new york, ; archibald geikie, _text book of geology_, pp. - , - , london, ; james geikie, _the great ice age_, pp. - , new york, ; _prehistoric europe_, pp. - , london, ; wallace, _island life_, pp. - , new york, . some objections to croll's theory may be found in wright's _ice age in north america_, pp. - , - , new york, . i have given a brief account of the theory in my _excursions of an evolutionist_, pp. - .] now the traces of the existence of men in north america during the glacial epoch have in recent years been discovered in abundance, as for example, the palæolithic quartzite implements found in the drift near the city of st. paul, which date from toward the close of the glacial epoch[ ]; the fragment of a human jaw found in the red clay deposited in minnesota during an earlier part of that epoch;[ ] the noble collection of palæoliths found by dr. c. c. abbott in the trenton gravels in new jersey; and the more recent discoveries of dr. metz and mr. h. t. cresson. [footnote : see miss f. e. babbitt, "vestiges of glacial man in minnesota," in _proceedings of the american association_, vol. xxxii., .] [footnote : see n. h. winchell, _annual report of the state geologist of minnesota_, , p. .] [sidenote: discoveries in the trenton gravel.] [sidenote: discoveries in ohio, indiana, and minnesota;] the year marks an era in american archæology as memorable as the year in the investigation of the antiquity of man in europe. with reference to these problems dr. abbott occupies a position similar to that of boucher de perthes in the old world, and the trenton valley is coming to be classic ground, like the valley of the somme. in april, , dr. abbott published his description of three rude implements which he had found some sixteen feet below the surface of the ground "in the gravels of a bluff overlooking the delaware river." the implements were in place in an undisturbed deposit, and could not have found their way thither in any recent time; dr. abbott assigned them to the age of the glacial drift. this was the beginning of a long series of investigations, in which dr. abbott's work was assisted and supplemented by messrs. whitney, carr, putnam, shaler, lewis, wright, haynes, dawkins, and other eminent geologists and archæologists. by dr. abbott had obtained not less than implements from various recorded depths in the gravel, while many others were found at depths not recorded or in the talus of the banks.[ ] three human skulls and other bones, along with the tusk of a mastodon, have been discovered in the same gravel. careful studies have been made of the conditions under which the gravel-banks were deposited and their probable age; and it is generally agreed that they date from the later portion of the glacial period, or about the time of the final recession of the ice-sheet from this region. at that time, in its climate and general aspect, new york harbour must have been much like a greenland fiord of the present day. in professor wright of oberlin, after a careful study of the trenton deposits and their relations to the terrace and gravel deposits to the westward, predicted that similar palæolithic implements would be found in ohio. two years afterward, the prediction was verified by dr. metz, who found a true palæolith of black flint at madisonville, in the little miami valley, eight feet below the surface. since then further discoveries have been made in the same neighbourhood by dr. metz, and in jackson county, indiana, by mr. h. t. cresson; and the existence of man in that part of america toward the close of the glacial period may be regarded as definitely established. the discoveries of miss babbitt and professor winchell, in minnesota, carry the conclusion still farther, and add to the probability of the existence of a human population all the way from the atlantic coast to the upper mississippi valley at that remote antiquity. [footnote : wright's _ice age in north america_, p. .] [sidenote: and in delaware.] a still more remarkable discovery was made by mr. cresson in july, , at claymont, in the north of delaware. in a deep cut of the baltimore and ohio railroad, in a stratum of philadelphia red gravel and brick clay, mr. cresson obtained an unquestionable palæolith, and a few months afterward his diligent search was rewarded with another.[ ] this formation dates from far back in the glacial period. if we accept dr. croll's method of reckoning, we can hardly assign to it an antiquity less than , years. [footnote : the chipped implements discovered by messrs. abbott, metz, and cresson, and by miss babbitt, are all on exhibition at the peabody museum in cambridge, whither it is necessary to go if one would get a comprehensive view of the relics of interglacial man in north america. the collection of implements made by dr. abbott includes much more than the palæoliths already referred to. it is one of the most important collections in the world, and is worth a long journey to see. containing more than , implements, all found within a very limited area in new jersey, "as now arranged, the collection exhibits at one and the same time the sequence of peoples and phases of development in the valley of the delaware, from palæolithic man, through the intermediate period, to the recent indians, and the relative numerical proportion of the many forms of their implements, each in its time.... it is doubtful whether any similar collection exists from which a student can gather so much information at sight as in this, where the natural pebbles from the gravel begin the series, and the beautifully chipped points of chert, jasper, and quartz terminate it in one direction, and the polished celts and grooved stone axes in the other." there are three principal groups,--first, the interglacial palæoliths, secondly, the argillite points and flakes, and thirdly, the arrow-heads, knives, mortars and pestles, axes and hoes, ornamental stones, etc., of indians of the recent period. dr. abbott's _primitive industry_, published in , is a useful manual for studying this collection; and an account of his discoveries in the glacial gravels is given in _reports of the peabody museum_, vol. ii. pp. - , - ; see also vol. iii. p. . a succinct and judicious account of the whole subject is given by h. w. haynes, "the prehistoric archæology of north america," in winsor's _narrative and critical history_, vol. i. pp. - .] [sidenote: the calaveras skull.] but according to professor josiah whitney there is reason for supposing that man existed in california at a still more remote period. he holds that the famous skull discovered in , in the gold-bearing gravels of calaveras county, belongs to the pliocene age.[ ] if this be so, it seems to suggest an antiquity not less than twice as great as that just mentioned. the question as to the antiquity of the calaveras skull is still hotly disputed among the foremost palæontologists, but as one reads the arguments one cannot help feeling that theoretical difficulties have put the objectors into a somewhat inhospitable attitude toward the evidence so ably presented by professor whitney. it has been too hastily assumed that, from the point of view of evolution, the existence of pliocene man is improbable. upon general considerations, however, we have strong reason for believing that human beings must have inhabited some portions of the earth throughout the whole duration of the pliocene period, and it need not surprise us if their remains are presently discovered in more places than one.[ ] [footnote : j. d. whitney, "the auriferous gravels of the sierra nevada", _memoirs of the museum of comparative zoölogy at harvard college_, cambridge, , vol. vi.] [footnote : in an essay published in on "europe before the arrival of man" (_excursions of an evolutionist_, pp. - ), i argued that if we are to find traces of the "missing link," or primordial stock of primates from which man has been derived, we must undoubtedly look for it in the miocene (p. ). i am pleased at finding the same opinion lately expressed by one of the highest living authorities. the case is thus stated by alfred russel wallace: "the evidence we now possess of the exact nature of the resemblance of man to the various species of anthropoid apes, shows us that he has little special affinity for any one rather than another species, while he differs from them all in several important characters in which they agree with each other. the conclusion to be drawn from these facts is, that his points of affinity connect him with the whole group, while his special peculiarities equally separate him from the whole group, and that he must, therefore, have diverged from the common ancestral form before the existing types of anthropoid apes had diverged from each other. now this divergence almost certainly took place as early as the miocene period, because in the upper miocene deposits of western europe remains of two species of ape have been found allied to the gibbons, one of them, dryopithecus, nearly as large as a man, and believed by m. lartet to have approached man in its dentition more than the existing apes. we seem hardly, therefore, to have reached in the upper miocene the epoch of the common ancestor of man and the anthropoids." (_darwinism_, p. , london, .) mr. wallace goes on to answer the objection of professor boyd dawkins, "that man did not probably exist in pliocene times, because almost all the known mammalia of that epoch are distinct species from those now living on the earth, and that the same changes of the environment which led to the modification of other mammalian species would also have led to a change in man." this argument, at first sight apparently formidable, quite overlooks the fact that in the evolution of man there came a point after which variations in his intelligence were seized upon more and more exclusively by natural selection, to the comparative neglect of physical variations. after that point man changed but little in physical characteristics, except in size and complexity of brain. this is the theorem first propounded by mr. wallace in the _anthropological review_, may, ; restated in his _contributions to natural selection_, chap. ix., in ; and further extended and developed by me in connection with the theory of man's origin first suggested in my lectures at harvard in , and worked out in _cosmic philosophy_, part ii., chapters xvi., xxi., xxii.] [sidenote: pleistocene men and mammals.] whatever may be the final outcome of the calaveras controversy, there can be no doubt as to the existence of man in north america far back in early pleistocene times. the men of the river-drift, who long dwelt in western europe during the milder intervals of the glacial period, but seem to have become extinct toward the end of it, are well known to palæontologists through their bones and their rude tools. contemporaneously with these europeans of the river-drift there certainly lived some kind of men, of a similar low grade of culture, in the mississippi valley and on both the atlantic and pacific slopes of north america. along with these ancient americans lived some terrestrial mammals that still survive, such as the elk, reindeer, prairie wolf, bison, musk-ox, and beaver; and many that have long been extinct, such as the mylodon, megatherium, megalonyx, mastodon, siberian elephant, mammoth, at least six or seven species of ancestral horse, a huge bear similar to the cave bear of ancient europe, a lion similar to the european cave lion, and a tiger as large as the modern tiger of bengal. [sidenote: elevation and subsidence.] now while the general relative positions of those stupendous abysses that hold the oceans do not appear to have undergone any considerable change since an extremely remote geological period, their shallow marginal portions have been repeatedly raised so as to add extensive territories to the edges of continents, and in some cases to convert archipelagoes into continents, and to join continents previously separated. such elevation is followed in turn by an era of subsidence, and almost everywhere either the one process or the other is slowly going on. if you look at a model in relief of the continents and ocean-floors, such as may be seen at the museum of comparative zoölogy in cambridge, showing the results of a vast number of soundings in all parts of the world, you cannot fail to be struck with the shallowness of bering sea; it looks like a part of the continent rather than of the ocean, and indeed it is just that,--an area of submerged continent. so in the northern atlantic there is a lofty ridge running from france to greenland. the british islands, the orkney, shetland, and færoe groups, and iceland are the parts of this ridge high enough to remain out of water. the remainder of it is shallow sea. again and again it has been raised, together with the floor of the german ocean, so as to become dry land. both before and since the time when those stone tools were dropped into the red gravel from which mr. cresson took them the other day, the northwestern part of europe has been solid continent for more than a hundred miles to the west of the french and irish coasts, the thames and humber have been tributaries to the rhine, which emptied into the arctic ocean, and across the atlantic ridge one might have walked to the new world dry-shod.[ ] in similar wise the northwestern corner of america has repeatedly been joined to siberia through the elevation of bering sea. [footnote : see, for example, the map of europe in early post-glacial times, in james geikie's _prehistoric europe_.] there have therefore been abundant opportunities for men to get into america from the old world without crossing salt water. probably this was the case with the ancient inhabitants of the delaware and little miami valleys; it is not at all likely that men who used their kind of tools knew much about going on the sea in boats. [sidenote: waves of migration.] whether the indians are descended from this ancient population or not, is a question with which we have as yet no satisfactory method of dealing. it is not unlikely that these glacial men may have perished from off the face of the earth, having been crushed and supplanted by stronger races. there may have been several successive waves of migration, of which the indians were the latest.[ ] there is time enough for a great many things to happen in a thousand centuries. it will doubtless be long before all the evidence can be brought in and ransacked, but of one thing we may feel pretty sure; the past is more full of changes than we are apt to realize. our first theories are usually too simple, and have to be enlarged and twisted into all manner of shapes in order to cover the actual complication of facts.[ ] [footnote : "there are three human crania in the museum, which were found in the gravel at trenton, one several feet below the surface, the others near the surface. these skulls, which are of remarkable uniformity, are of small size and of oval shape, differing from all other skulls in the museum. in fact they are of a distinct type, and hence of the greatest importance. so far as they go they indicate that palæolithic man was exterminated, or has become lost by admixture with others during the many thousand years which have passed since he inhabited the delaware valley." f. w. putnam, "the peabody museum," _proceedings of the american antiquarian society_, , new series, vol. vi. p. .] [footnote : an excellent example of this is the expansion and modification undergone during the past twenty years by our theories of the aryan settlement of europe. see benfey's preface to fick's _woerterbuch der indogermanischen grundsprache_, ; geiger, _zur entwickelungsgeschichte der menschheit_, ; cuno, _forschungen im gebiete der alten voelkerkunde_, ; schmidt, _die verwandtschaftsverhältnisse der indogermanischen sprachen_, ; poesche, _die arier_, ; lindenschmit, _handbuch der deutschen alterthumskunde_, ; penka, _origines ariacæ_, , and _die herkunft der arier_, ; spiegel, _die arische periode und ihre zustande_, ; rendal, _cradle of the aryans_, ; schrader, _sprachvergleichung und urgeschichte_, , and second edition translated into english, with the title _prehistoric antiquities of the aryan peoples_, . schrader's is an epoch-making book. an attempt to defend the older and simpler views is made by max müller, _biographies of words and the home of the aryas_, ; see also van den gheyn, _l'origine européenne des aryas_, . the whole case is well summed up by isaac taylor, _origin of the aryans_, .] [sidenote: the cave men of europe in the glacial period.] [sidenote: the eskimos are probably a remnant of the cave men.] in this connection the history of the eskimos introduces us to some interesting problems. mention has been made of the river-drift men who lived in europe during the milder intervals of the glacial period. at such times they made their way into germany and britain, along with leopards, hyænas, and african elephants. but as the cold intervals came on and the edge of the polar ice-sheet crept southward and mountain glaciers filled up the valleys, these men and beasts retreated into africa; and their place was taken by a sub-arctic race of men known as the cave men, along with the reindeer and arctic fox and musk-sheep. more than once with the secular alternations of temperature did the river-drift men thus advance and retreat and advance again, and as they advanced the cave men retreated, both races yielding to an enemy stronger than either,--to wit, the hostile climate. at length all traces of the river-drift men vanish, but what of the cave men? they have left no representatives among the present populations of europe, but the musk-sheep, which always went and came with the cave men, is to-day found only in sub-arctic america among the eskimos, and the fossilized bones of the musk-sheep lie in a regular trail across the eastern hemisphere, from the pyrenees through germany and russia and all the vast length of siberia. the stone arrow-heads, the sewing-needles, the necklaces and amulets of cut teeth, and the daggers made from antler, used by the eskimos, resemble so minutely the implements of the cave men, that if recent eskimo remains were to be put into the pleistocene caves of france and england they would be indistinguishable in appearance from the remains of the cave men which are now found there.[ ] there is another striking point of resemblance. the eskimos have a talent for artistic sketching of men and beasts, and scenes in which men and beasts figure, which is absolutely unrivalled among rude peoples. one need but look at the sketches by common eskimo fishermen which illustrate dr. henry rink's fascinating book on danish greenland, to realize that this rude eskimo art has a character as pronounced and unmistakable in its way as the much higher art of the japanese. now among the european remains of the cave men are many sketches of mammoths, cave bears, and other animals now extinct, and hunting scenes so artfully and vividly portrayed as to bring distinctly before us many details of daily life in an antiquity so vast that in comparison with it the interval between the pyramids of egypt and the eiffel tower shrinks into a point. such a talent is unique among savage peoples. it exists only among the living eskimos and the ancient cave men; and when considered in connection with so many other points of agreement, and with the indisputable fact that the cave men were a sub-arctic race, it affords a strong presumption in favour of the opinion of that great palæontologist, professor boyd dawkins, that the eskimos of north america are to-day the sole survivors of the race that made their homes in the pleistocene caves of western europe.[ ] [footnote : see dawkins, _early man in britain_, pp. - .] [footnote : according to dr. rink the eskimos formerly inhabited the central portions of north america, and have retreated or been driven northward; he would make the eskimos of siberia an offshoot from those of america, though he freely admits that there are grounds for entertaining the opposite view. dr. abbott is inclined to attribute an eskimo origin to some of the palæoliths of the trenton gravel. on the other hand, mr. clements markham derives the american eskimos from those of siberia. it seems to me that these views may be comprehended and reconciled in a wider one. i would suggest that during the glacial period the ancestral eskimos may have gradually become adapted to arctic conditions of life; that in the mild interglacial intervals they migrated northward along with the musk-sheep; and that upon the return of the cold they migrated southward again, keeping always near the edge of the ice-sheet. such a southward migration would naturally enough bring them in one continent down to the pyrenees, in the other down to the alleghanies; and naturally enough the modern inquirer has his attention first directed to the indications of their final retreat, _both_ northward in america and northeastward from europe through siberia. this is like what happened with so many plants and animals. compare darwin's remarks on "dispersal in the glacial period," _origin of species_, chap. xii. the best books on the eskimos are those of dr. rink, _tales and traditions of the eskimo_, edinburgh, ; _danish greenland_, london, ; _the eskimo tribes, their distribution and characteristics, especially in regard to language_, copenhagen, . see also franz boas, "the central eskimo," _sixth report of the bureau of ethnology_, washington, , pp. - ; w. h. dall. _alaska and its resources_, ; markham, "origin and migrations of the greenland esquimaux," _journal of the royal geographical society_, ; cranz, _historie von groenland_, leipsic, ; petitot, _traditions indiennes du canada nord-ouest_, paris, ; pilling's _bibliography of the eskimo language_, washington, ; wells and kelly, _english-eskimo and eskimo-english vocabularies, with ethnographical memoranda concerning the arctic eskimos in alaska and siberia_, washington, ; carstensen's _two summers in greenland_, london, .] if we have always been accustomed to think of races of men only as they are placed on modern maps, it at first seems strange to think of england and france as ever having been inhabited by eskimos. facts equally strange may be cited in abundance from zoölogy and botany. the camel is found to-day only in arabia and bactria; yet in all probability the camel originated in america,[ ] and is an intruder into what we are accustomed to call his native deserts, just as the people of the united states are european intruders upon the soil of america. so the giant trees of mariposa grove are now found only in california, but there was once a time when they were as common in europe[ ] as maple-trees to-day in a new england village. [footnote : wallace, _geographical distribution of animals_, vol. ii. p. .] [footnote : asa gray, "sequoia and its history," in his _darwiniana_, pp. - .] [sidenote: there was probably no connection or intercourse by water between ancient america and the old world.] familiarity with innumerable facts of this sort, concerning the complicated migrations and distribution of plants and animals, has entirely altered our way of looking at the question as to the origin of the american indians. as already observed, we can hardly be said to possess sufficient data for determining whether they are descended from the pleistocene inhabitants of america, or have come in some later wave of migration from the old world. nor can we as yet determine whether they were earlier or later comers than the eskimos. but since we have got rid of that feeling of speculative necessity above referred to, for bringing the red men from asia within the historic period, it has become more and more clear that they have dwelt upon american soil for a very long time. the aboriginal american, as we know him, with his language and legends, his physical and mental peculiarities, his social observances and customs, is most emphatically a native and not an imported article. he belongs to the american continent as strictly as its opossums and armadillos, its maize and its golden-rod, or any members of its aboriginal fauna and flora belong to it. in all probability he came from the old world at some ancient period, whether pre-glacial or post-glacial, when it was possible to come by land; and here in all probability, until the arrival of white men from europe, he remained undisturbed by later comers, unless the eskimos may have been such. there is not a particle of evidence to suggest any connection or intercourse between aboriginal america and asia within any such period as the last twenty thousand years, except in so far as there may perhaps now and then have been slight surges of eskimo tribes back and forth across bering strait. [sidenote: there is one great american "red" race.] the indians must surely be regarded as an entirely different stock from the eskimos. on the other hand, the most competent american ethnologists are now pretty thoroughly agreed that all the aborigines south of the eskimo region, all the way from hudson's bay to cape horn, belong to one and the same race. it was formerly supposed that the higher culture of the aztecs, mayas, and peruvians must indicate that they were of different race from the more barbarous algonquins and dakotas; and a speculative necessity was felt for proving that, whatever may have been the case with the other american peoples, this higher culture at any rate must have been introduced within the historic period from the old world.[ ] this feeling was caused partly by the fact that, owing to crude and loosely-framed conceptions of the real points of difference between civilization and barbarism, this central american culture was absurdly exaggerated. as the further study of the uncivilized parts of the world has led to more accurate and precise conceptions, this kind of speculative necessity has ceased to be felt. there is an increasing disposition among scholars to agree that the warrior of anahuac and the shepherd of the andes were just simply indians, and that their culture was no less indigenous than that of the cherokees or mohawks. [footnote : illustrations may be found in plenty in the learned works of brasseur de bourbourg:--_histoire des nations civilisées du mexique et de l'amérique centrale_, vols., paris, - ; _popol vuh_, paris, ; _quatre lettres sur le mexique_, paris, ; _le manuscrit troano_, paris, , etc.] [sidenote: different senses in which the word "race" is used.] to prevent any possible misconception of my meaning, a further word of explanation may be needed at this point. the word "race" is used in such widely different senses that there is apt to be more or less vagueness about it. the difference is mainly in what logicians call extension; sometimes the word covers very little ground, sometimes a great deal. we say that the people of england, of the united states, and of new south wales belong to one and the same race; and we say that an englishman, a frenchman, and a greek belong to three different races. there is a sense in which both these statements are true. but there is also a sense in which we may say that the englishman, the frenchman, and the greek belong to one and the same race; and that is when we are contrasting them as white men with black men or yellow men. now we may correctly say that a shawnee, an ojibwa, and a kickapoo belong to one and the same algonquin race; that a mohawk and a tuscarora belong to one and the same iroquois race; but that an algonquin differs from an iroquois somewhat as an englishman differs from a frenchman. no doubt we may fairly say that the mexicans encountered by cortes differed in race from the iroquois encountered by champlain, as much as an englishman differs from an albanian or a montenegrin. but when we are contrasting aboriginal americans with white men or yellow men, it is right to say that mexicans and iroquois belong to the same great red race. in some parts of the world two strongly contrasted races have become mingled together, or have existed side by side for centuries without intermingling. in europe the big blonde aryan-speaking race has mixed with the small brunette iberian race, producing the endless varieties in stature and complexion which may be seen in any drawing-room in london or new york. in africa south of sahara, on the other hand, we find, interspersed among negro tribes but kept perfectly distinct, that primitive dwarfish race with yellow skin and tufted hair to which belong the hottentots and bushmen, the wambatti lately discovered by mr. stanley, and other tribes.[ ] now in america south of hudson's bay the case seems to have been quite otherwise, and more as it would have been in europe if there had been only aryans, or in africa if there had been only blacks.[ ] [footnote : see werner, "the african pygmies," _popular science monthly_, september, ,--a thoughtful and interesting article.] [footnote : this sort of illustration requires continual limitation and qualification. the case in ancient america was not _quite_ as it would have been in europe if there had been only aryans there. the semi-civilized people of the cordilleras were relatively brachycephalous as compared with the more barbarous indians north and east of new mexico. it is correct to call this a distinction of race if we mean thereby a distinction developed upon american soil, a differentiation within the limits of the red race, and not an intrusion from without. in this sense the caribs also may be regarded as a distinct sub-race; and, in the same sense, we may call the kafirs a distinct sub-race of african blacks. see, as to the latter, tylor, _anthropology_, p. .] [sidenote: no necessary connection between differences in culture and differences in race.] the belief that the people of the cordilleras must be of radically different race from other indians was based upon the vague notion that grades of culture have some necessary connection with likenesses and differences of race. there is no such necessary connection.[ ] between the highly civilized japanese and their barbarous mandshu cousins the difference in culture is much greater than the difference between mohawks and mexicans; and the same may be said of the people of israel and judah in contrast with the arabs of the desert, or of the imperial romans in comparison with their teutonic kinsmen as described by tacitus. [footnote : as sir john lubbock well says, "different races in similar stages of development often present more features of resemblance to one another than the same race does to itself in different stages of its history." (_origin of civilization_, p. .) if every student of history and ethnology would begin by learning this lesson, the world would be spared a vast amount of unprofitable theorizing.] * * * * * [sidenote: grades of culture.] at this point, in order to prepare ourselves the more clearly to understand sundry facts with which we shall hereafter be obliged to deal, especially the wonderful experiences of the spanish conquerors, it will be well to pause for a moment and do something toward defining the different grades of culture through which men have passed in attaining to the grade which can properly be called civilization. unless we begin with clear ideas upon this head we cannot go far toward understanding the ancient america that was first visited and described for us by spaniards. the various grades of culture need to be classified, and that most original and suggestive scholar, the late lewis morgan of rochester, made a brilliant attempt in this direction, to which the reader's attention is now invited. [sidenote: distinction between savagery and barbarism.] [sidenote: origin of pottery.] below _civilization_ mr. morgan[ ] distinguishes two principal grades or stages of culture, namely _savagery_ and _barbarism_. there is much looseness and confusion in the popular use of these terms, and this is liable to become a fruitful source of misapprehension in the case of any statement involving either of them. when popular usage discriminates between them it discriminates in the right direction; there is a vague but not uncertain feeling that savagery is a lower stage than barbarism. but ordinarily the discrimination is not made and the two terms are carelessly employed as if interchangeable. scientific writers long since recognized a general difference between savagery and barbarism, but mr. morgan was the first to suggest a really useful criterion for distinguishing between them. his criterion is the making of pottery; and his reason for selecting it is that the making of pottery is something that presupposes village life and more or less progress in the simpler arts. the earlier methods of boiling food were either putting it into holes in the ground lined with skins and then using heated stones, or else putting it into baskets coated with clay to be supported over a fire. the clay served the double purpose of preventing liquids from escaping and protecting the basket against the flame. it was probably observed that the clay was hardened by the fire, and thus in course of time it was found that the clay would answer the purpose without the basket.[ ] whoever first made this ingenious discovery led the way from savagery to barbarism. throughout the present work we shall apply the name "savages" only to uncivilized people who do not make pottery. [footnote : see his great work on _ancient society_, new york, .] [footnote : see the evidence in tylor, _researches into the early history of mankind_, pp. - ; cf. lubbock, _prehistoric times_, p. ; and see cushing's masterly "study of pueblo pottery," etc., _reports of bureau of ethnology_, iv., - .] [sidenote: lower status of savagery.] but within each of these two stages mr. morgan distinguishes three subordinate stages, or ethnic periods, which may be called either lower, middle, and upper status, or older, middle, and later periods. the lower status of savagery was that wholly prehistoric stage when men lived in their original restricted habitat and subsisted on fruit and nuts. to this period must be assigned the beginning of articulate speech. all existing races of men had passed beyond it at an unknown antiquity. [sidenote: middle status of savagery.] men began to pass beyond it when they discovered how to catch fish and how to use fire. they could then begin (following coasts and rivers) to spread over the earth. the middle status of savagery, thus introduced, ends with the invention of that compound weapon, the bow and arrow. the natives of australia, who do not know this weapon, are still in the middle status of savagery.[ ] [footnote : lumholtz, _among cannibals_, london, , gives a vivid picture of aboriginal life in australia.] [sidenote: upper status of savagery.] the invention of the bow and arrow, which marks the upper status of savagery, was not only a great advance in military art, but it also vastly increased men's supply of food by increasing their power of killing wild game. the lowest tribes in america, such as those upon the columbia river, the athabaskans of hudson's bay, the fuegians and some other south american tribes, are in the upper status of savagery. [sidenote: lower status of barbarism: it ended differently in the two hemispheres.] the transition from this status to the lower status of barbarism was marked, as before observed, by the invention of pottery. the end of the lower status of barbarism was marked in the old world by the domestication of animals other than the dog, which was probably domesticated at a much earlier period as an aid to the hunter. the domestication of horses and asses, oxen and sheep, goats and pigs, marks of course an immense advance. along with it goes considerable development of agriculture, thus enabling a small territory to support many people. it takes a wide range of country to support hunters. in the new world, except in peru, the only domesticated animal was the dog. horses, oxen, and the other animals mentioned did not exist in america, during the historic period, until they were brought over from europe by the spaniards. in ancient american society there was no such thing as a pastoral stage of development,[ ] and the absence of domesticable animals from the western hemisphere may well be reckoned as very important among the causes which retarded the progress of mankind in this part of the world. [footnote : the case of peru, which forms an apparent but not real exception to this general statement, will be considered below in chap. ix.] [sidenote: importance of indian corn.] on the other hand the ancient americans had a cereal plant peculiar to the new world, which made comparatively small demands upon the intelligence and industry of the cultivator. maize or "indian corn" has played a most important part in the history of the new world, as regards both the red men and the white men. it could be planted without clearing or ploughing the soil. it was only necessary to girdle the trees with a stone hatchet, so as to destroy their leaves and let in the sunshine. a few scratches and digs were made in the ground with a stone digger, and the seed once dropped in took care of itself. the ears could hang for weeks after ripening, and could be picked off without meddling with the stalk; there was no need of threshing and winnowing. none of the old world cereals can be cultivated without much more industry and intelligence. at the same time, when indian corn is sown in tilled land it yields with little labour more than twice as much food per acre as any other kind of grain. this was of incalculable advantage to the english settlers of new england, who would have found it much harder to gain a secure foothold upon the soil if they had had to begin by preparing it for wheat and rye without the aid of the beautiful and beneficent american plant.[ ] the indians of the atlantic coast of north america for the most part lived in stockaded villages, and cultivated their corn along with beans, pumpkins, squashes, and tobacco; but their cultivation was of the rudest sort,[ ] and population was too sparse for much progress toward civilization. but indian corn, when sown in carefully tilled and irrigated land, had much to do with the denser population, the increasing organization of labour, and the higher development in the arts, which characterized the confederacies of mexico and central america and all the pueblo indians of the southwest. the potato played a somewhat similar part in peru. hence it seems proper to take the regular employment of tillage with irrigation as marking the end of the lower period of barbarism in the new world. to this mr. morgan adds the use of adobe-brick and stone in architecture, which also distinguished the mexicans and their neighbours from the ruder tribes of north and south america. all these ruder tribes, except the few already mentioned as in the upper period of savagery, were somewhere within the lower period of barbarism. thus the algonquins and iroquois, the creeks, the dakotas, etc., when first seen by white men, were within this period; but some had made much further progress within it than others. for example, the algonquin tribe of ojibwas had little more than emerged from savagery, while the creeks and cherokees had made considerable advance toward the middle status of barbarism. [footnote : see shaler, "physiography of north america," in winsor's _narr. and crit. hist._ vol. iv. p. xiii.] [footnote : "no manure was used," says mr. parkman, speaking of the hurons, "but at intervals of from ten to twenty years, when the soil was exhausted and firewood distant, the village was abandoned and a new one built." _jesuits in north america_, p. xxx.] [sidenote: middle status of barbarism.] let us now observe some characteristics of this extremely interesting middle period. it began, we see, in the eastern hemisphere with the domestication of other animals than the dog, and in the western hemisphere with cultivation by irrigation and the use of adobe-brick and stone for building. it also possessed another feature which distinguished it from earlier periods, in the materials of which its tools were made. in the periods of savagery hatchets and spear-heads were made of rudely chipped stones. in the lower period of barbarism the chipping became more and more skilful until it gave place to polishing. in the middle period tools were greatly multiplied, improved polishing gave sharp and accurate points and edges, and at last metals began to be used as materials preferable to stone. in america the metal used was copper, and in some spots where it was very accessible there were instances of its use by tribes not in other respects above the lower status of barbarism,--as for example, the "mound-builders." in the old world the metal used was the alloy of copper and tin familiarly known as bronze, and in its working it called for a higher degree of intelligence than copper. [sidenote: working of metals.] toward the close of the middle period of barbarism the working of metals became the most important element of progress, and the period may be regarded as ending with the invention of the process of smelting iron ore. according to this principle of division, the inhabitants of the lake villages of ancient switzerland, who kept horses and oxen, pigs and sheep, raised wheat and ground it into flour, and spun and wove linen garments, but knew nothing of iron, were in the middle status of barbarism. the same was true of the ancient britons before they learned the use of iron from their neighbours in gaul. in the new world the representatives of the middle status of barbarism were such peoples as the zuñis, the aztecs, the mayas, and the peruvians. [sidenote: upper status of barbarism.] [sidenote: beginning of civilization.] the upper status of barbarism, in so far as it implies a knowledge of smelting iron, was never reached in aboriginal america. in the old world it is the stage which had been reached by the greeks of the homeric poems[ ] and the germans in the time of cæsar. the end of this period and the beginning of true civilization is marked by the invention of a phonetic alphabet and the production of written records. this brings within the pale of civilization such people as the ancient phoenicians, the hebrews after the exodus, the ruling classes at nineveh and babylon, the aryans of persia and india, and the japanese. but clearly it will not do to insist too narrowly upon the phonetic character of the alphabet. where people acquainted with iron have enshrined in hieroglyphics so much matter of historic record and literary interest as the chinese and the ancient egyptians, they too must be classed as civilized; and this mr. morgan by implication admits. [footnote : in the interesting architectural remains unearthed by dr. schliemann at mycenæ and tiryns, there have been found at the former place a few iron keys and knives, at the latter one iron lance-head; but the form and workmanship of these objects mark them as not older than the beginning of the fifth century b. c., or the time of the persian wars. with these exceptions the weapons and tools found in these cities, as also in troy, were of bronze and stone. bronze was in common use, but obsidian knives and arrow-heads of fine workmanship abound in the ruins. according to professor sayce, these ruins must date from to b. c. the greeks of that time would accordingly be placed in the middle status of barbarism. (see schliemann's _mycenæ_, pp. , ; _tiryns_, p. .) in the state of society described in the homeric poems the smelting of iron was well known, but the process seems to have been costly, so that bronze weapons were still commonly used. (tylor, _anthropology_, p. .) the romans of the regal period were ignorant of iron. (lanciani, _ancient rome in the light of recent discoveries_, boston, , pp. - .) the upper period of barbarism was shortened for greece and rome through the circumstance that they learned the working of iron from egypt and the use of the alphabet from phoenicia. such copying, of course, affects the symmetry of such schemes as mr. morgan's, and allowances have to be made for it. it is curious that both greeks and romans seem to have preserved some tradition of the bronze age:-- [greek: tois d' ên chalkea men teuchea, chalkeoi de te oikoi, chalkô d' eirgazonto; melas d' ouk eske sidêros.] hesiod, _opp. di._ . arma antiqua manus ungues dentesque fuerunt et lapides et item silvarum fragmina rami, et flamma atque ignes, postquam sunt cognita primum. posterius ferri vis est, ærisque reperta. et prior æris erat, quam ferri cognitus usus, etc. lucretius, v. . perhaps, as munro suggests, lucretius was thinking of hesiod; but it does not seem improbable that in both cases there may have been a genuine tradition that their ancestors used bronze tools and weapons before iron, since the change was comparatively recent, and sundry religious observances tended to perpetuate the memory of it.] [sidenote: "civilizations" of mexico and peru.] this brilliant classification of the stages of early culture will be found very helpful if we only keep in mind the fact that in all wide generalizations of this sort the case is liable to be somewhat unduly simplified. the story of human progress is really not quite so easy to decipher as such descriptions would make it appear, and when we have laid down rules of this sort we need not be surprised if we now and then come upon facts that will not exactly fit into them. in such an event it is best not to try to squeeze or distort the unruly facts, but to look and see if our rules will not bear some little qualification. the faculty for generalizing is a good servant but a bad master. if we observe this caution we shall find mr. morgan's work to be of great value. it will be observed that, with one exception, his restrictions leave the area of civilization as wide as that which we are accustomed to assign to it in our ordinary speaking and thinking. that exception is the case of mexico, central america, and peru. we have so long been accustomed to gorgeous accounts of the civilization of these countries at the time of their discovery by the spaniards that it may at first shock our preconceived notions to see them set down as in the "middle status of barbarism," one stage higher than mohawks, and one stage lower than the warriors of the iliad. this does indeed mark a change since dr. draper expressed the opinion that the mexicans and peruvians were morally and intellectually superior to the europeans of the sixteenth century.[ ] the reaction from the state of opinion in which such an extravagant remark was even possible has been attended with some controversy; but on the whole mr. morgan's main position has been steadily and rapidly gaining ground, and it is becoming more and more clear that if we are to use language correctly when we speak of the civilizations of mexico and peru we really mean civilizations of an extremely archaic type, considerably more archaic than that of egypt in the time of the pharaohs. a "civilization" like that of the aztecs, without domestic animals or iron tools, with trade still in the primitive stage of barter, with human sacrifices, and with cannibalism, has certainly some of the most vivid features of barbarism. along with these primitive features, however, there seem to have been--after making all due allowances--some features of luxury and splendour such as we are wont to associate with civilization. the aztecs, moreover, though doubtless a full ethnical period behind the ancient egyptians in general advancement, had worked out a system of hieroglyphic writing, and had begun to put it to some literary use. it would seem that a people may in certain special points reach a level of attainment higher than the level which they occupy in other points. the cave men of the glacial period were ignorant of pottery, and thus had not risen above the upper status of savagery; but their artistic talent, upon which we have remarked, was not such as we are wont to associate with savagery. other instances will occur to us in the proper place. [footnote : see his _intellectual development of europe_, new york, , pp. , .] [sidenote: loose use of the words "savagery" and "civilization".] the difficulty which people usually find in realizing the true position of the ancient mexican culture arises partly from the misconceptions which have until recently distorted the facts, and partly from the loose employment of terms above noticed. it is quite correct to speak of the australian blackfellows as "savages," but nothing is more common than to hear the same epithet employed to characterize shawnees and mohawks; and to call those indians "savages" is quite misleading. so on the other hand the term "civilization" is often so loosely used as to cover a large territory belonging to "barbarism." one does not look for scientific precision in newspapers, but they are apt to reflect popular habits of thought quite faithfully, and for that reason it is proper here to quote from one. in a newspaper account of mr. cushing's recent discoveries of buried towns, works of irrigation, etc., in arizona, we are first told that these are the remains of a "splendid prehistoric civilization," and the next moment we are told, in entire unconsciousness of the contradiction, that the people who constructed these works had only stone tools. now to call a people "civilized" who have only stone tools is utterly misleading. nothing but confusion of ideas and darkening of counsel can come from such a misuse of words. such a people may be in a high degree interesting and entitled to credit for what they have achieved, but the grade of culture which they have reached is not "civilization." [sidenote: value and importance of the term "barbarism."] with "savagery" thus encroaching upon its area of meaning on the one side, and "civilization" encroaching on the other, the word "barbarism," as popularly apprehended, is left in a vague and unsatisfactory plight. if we speak of montezuma's people as barbarians one stage further advanced than mohawks, we are liable to be charged with calling them "savages." yet the term "barbarism" is a very useful one; indispensable, indeed, in the history of human progress. there is no other word which can serve in its stead as a designation of the enormous interval which begins with the invention of pottery and ends with the invention of the alphabet. the popular usage of the word is likely to become more definite as it comes to be more generally realized how prodigious that interval has been. when we think what a considerable portion of man's past existence has been comprised within it, and what a marvellous transformation in human knowledge and human faculty has been gradually wrought between its beginning and its end, the period of barbarism becomes invested with most thrilling interest, and its name ceases to appear otherwise than respectable. it is mr. morgan's chief title to fame that he has so thoroughly explored this period and described its features with such masterly skill. [sidenote: the status of barbarism is most completely exemplified in ancient america.] [sidenote: survivals of bygone epochs of culture.] it is worth while to observe that mr. morgan's view of the successive stages of culture is one which could not well have been marked out in all its parts except by a student of american archæology. aboriginal america is the richest field in the world for the study of barbarism. its people present every gradation in social life during three ethnical periods--the upper period of savagery and the lower and middle periods of barbarism--so that the process of development may be most systematically and instructively studied. until we have become familiar with ancient american society, and so long as our view is confined to the phases of progress in the old world, the demarcation between civilized and uncivilized life seems too abrupt and sudden; we do not get a correct measure of it. the oldest european tradition reaches back only through the upper period of barbarism.[ ] the middle and lower periods have lapsed into utter oblivion, and it is only modern archæological research that is beginning to recover the traces of them. but among the red men of america the social life of ages more remote than that of the lake villages of switzerland is in many particulars preserved for us to-day, and when we study it we begin to realize as never before the continuity of human development, its enormous duration, and the almost infinite accumulation of slow efforts by which progress has been achieved. ancient america is further instructive in presenting the middle status of barbarism in a different form from that which it assumed in the eastern hemisphere. its most conspicuous outward manifestations, instead of tents and herds, were strange and imposing edifices of stone, so that it was quite natural that observers interpreting it from a basis of european experience should mistake it for civilization. certain aspects of that middle period may be studied to-day in new mexico and arizona, as phases of the older periods may still be found among the wilder tribes, even after all the contact they have had with white men. these survivals from antiquity will not permanently outlive that contact, and it is important that no time should be lost in gathering and putting on record all that can be learned of the speech and arts, the customs and beliefs, everything that goes to constitute the philology and anthropology of the red men. for the intelligent and vigorous work of this sort now conducted by the bureau of ethnology of the smithsonian institution, under the direction of major powell, no praise can be too strong and no encouragement too hearty. [footnote : now and then, perhaps, but very rarely, it just touches the close of the middle period, as, e. g., in the lines from hesiod and lucretius above quoted.] * * * * * [sidenote: tribal society and multiplicity of languages in aboriginal america.] a brief enumeration of the principal groups of indians will be helpful in enabling us to comprehend the social condition of ancient america. the groups are in great part defined by differences of language, which are perhaps a better criterion of racial affinity in the new world than in the old, because there seems to have been little or nothing of that peculiar kind of conquest with incorporation resulting in complete change of speech which we sometimes find in the old world; as, for example, when we see the celto-iberian population of spain and the belgic, celtic, and aquitanian populations of gaul forgetting their native tongues, and adopting that of a confederacy of tribes in latium. except in the case of peru there is no indication that anything of this sort went on, or that there was anything even superficially analogous to "empire," in ancient america. what strikes one most forcibly at first is the vast number of american languages. adelung, in his "mithridates," put the number at , , and ludewig, in his "literature of the american languages," put it roundly at , . squier, on the other hand, was content with .[ ] the discrepancy arises from the fact that where one scholar sees two or three distinct languages another sees two or three dialects of one language and counts them as one; it is like the difficulty which naturalists find in agreeing as to what are species and what are only varieties. the great number of languages and dialects spoken by a sparse population is one mark of the universal prevalence of a rude and primitive form of tribal society.[ ] [footnote : winsor, "bibliographical notes on american linguistics," in his _narr. and crit. hist._, vol. i. pp. - , gives an admirable survey of the subject. see also pilling's bibliographical bulletins of iroquoian, siouan, and muskhogean languages, published by the bureau of ethnology.] [footnote : _excursions of an evolutionist_, pp. - .] [sidenote: tribes in the upper status of savagery.] the lowest tribes in north america were those that are still to be found in california, in the valley of the columbia river, and on the shores of puget sound. the athabaskans of hudson's bay were on about the same level of savagery. they made no pottery, knew nothing of horticulture, depended for subsistence entirely upon bread-roots, fish, and game, and thus had no village life. they were mere prowlers in the upper status of savagery.[ ] the apaches of arizona, preëminent even among red men for atrocious cruelty, are an offshoot from the athabaskan stock. very little better are the shoshones and bannocks that still wander among the lonely bare mountains and over the weird sage-brush plains of idaho. the region west of the rocky mountains and north of new mexico is thus the region of savagery. [footnote : for a good account of indians in the upper status of savagery until modified by contact with civilization, see myron eells, "the twana, chemakum, and klallam indians of washington territory," _smithsonian report_, , pp. - .] [sidenote: the dakota family of tribes.] between the rocky mountains and the atlantic coast the aborigines, at the time of the discovery, might have been divided into six or seven groups, of which three were situated mainly to the east of the mississippi river, the others mainly to the west of it. all were in the lower period of barbarism. of the western groups, by far the most numerous were the dakotas, comprising the sioux, poncas, omahas, iowas, kaws, otoes, and missouris. from the headwaters of the mississippi their territory extended westward on both sides of the missouri for a thousand miles. one of their tribes, the winnebagos, had crossed the mississippi and pressed into the region between that river and lake michigan. [sidenote: the minnitarees and mandans.] a second group, very small in numbers but extremely interesting to the student of ethnology, comprises the minnitarees and mandans on the upper missouri.[ ] the remnants of these tribes now live together in the same village, and in personal appearance, as well as in intelligence, they are described as superior to any other red men north of new mexico. from their first discovery, by the brothers la vérendrye in , down to mr. catlin's visit nearly a century later, there was no change in their condition,[ ] but shortly afterward, in , the greater part of them were swept away by small-pox. the excellence of their horticulture, the framework of their houses, and their peculiar religious ceremonies early attracted attention. upon mr. catlin they made such an impression that he fancied there must be an infusion of white blood in them; and after the fashion of those days he sought to account for it by a reference to the legend of madoc, a welsh prince who was dimly imagined to have sailed to america about . he thought that madoc's party might have sailed to the mississippi and founded a colony which ascended that river and the ohio, built the famous mounds of the ohio valley, and finally migrated to the upper missouri.[ ] to this speculation was appended the inevitable list of words which happen to sound somewhat alike in mandan and in welsh. in the realm of free fancy everything is easy. that there was a madoc who went somewhere in is quite possible, but as shrewd old john smith said about it, "where this place was no history can show."[ ] but one part of mr. catlin's speculation may have hit somewhat nearer the truth. it is possible that the minnitarees or the mandans, or both, may be a remnant of some of those mound-builders in the mississippi valley concerning whom something will presently be said. [footnote : an excellent description of them, profusely illustrated with coloured pictures, may be found in catlin's _north american indians_, vol. i. pp. - , th ed., london, ; the author was an accurate and trustworthy observer. some writers have placed these tribes in the dakota group because of the large number of dakota words in their language; but these are probably borrowed words, like the numerous french words in english.] [footnote : see francis parkman's paper, "the discovery of the rocky mountains," _atlantic monthly_, june, . i hope the appearance of this article, two years ago, indicates that we have not much longer to wait for the next of that magnificent series of volumes on the history of the french in north america.] [footnote : _north american indians_, vol. ii., appendix a.] [footnote : smith's _generall historie of virginia, new england and the summer isles_, p. , london, .] [sidenote: pawnees, etc.] the third group in this western region consists of the pawnees and arickarees,[ ] of the platte valley in nebraska, with a few kindred tribes farther to the south. [footnote : for the history and ethnology of these interesting tribes, see three learned papers by j. b. dunbar, in _magazine of american history_, vol. iv. pp. - ; vol. v. pp. - ; vol. viii. pp. - ; also grinnell's _pawnee hero stories and folk-tales_, new york, .] [sidenote: maskoki family.] of the three groups eastward of the mississippi we may first mention the maskoki, or muskhogees, consisting of the choctaws, chickasaws, seminoles, and others, with the creek confederacy.[ ] these tribes were intelligent and powerful, with a culture well advanced toward the end of the lower period of barbarism. [footnote : these tribes of the gulf region were formerly grouped, along with others not akin to them, as "mobilians." the cherokees were supposed to belong to the maskoki family, but they have lately been declared an intrusive offshoot from the iroquois stock. the remnants of another alien tribe, the once famous natchez, were adopted into the creek confederacy. for a full account of these tribes, see gatschet, _a migration legend of the creek indians_, vol. i., philadelphia, .] [sidenote: algonquin family of tribes.] the algonquin family, bordering at its southern limits upon the maskoki, had a vast range northeasterly along the atlantic coast until it reached the confines of labrador, and northwesterly through the region of the great lakes and as far as the churchill river[ ] to the west of hudson's bay. in other words, the algonquins were bounded on the south by the maskoki,[ ] on the west by the dakotas, on the northwest by the athabaskans, on the northeast by eskimos, and on the east by the ocean. between lake superior and the red river of the north the crees had their hunting grounds, and closely related to them were the pottawatomies, ojibwas, and ottawas. one offshoot, including the blackfeet, cheyennes, and arrapahos, roamed as far west as the rocky mountains. the great triangle between the upper mississippi and the ohio was occupied by the menomonees and kickapoos, the sacs and foxes, the miamis and illinois, and the shawnees. along the coast region the principal algonquin tribes were the powhatans of virginia, the lenape or delawares, the munsees or minisinks of the mountains about the susquehanna, the mohegans on the hudson, the adirondacks between that river and the st. lawrence, the narragansetts and their congeners in new england, and finally the micmacs and wabenaki far down east, as the last name implies. there is a tradition, supported to some extent by linguistic evidence,[ ] that the mohegans, with their cousins the pequots, were more closely related to the shawnees than to the delaware or coast group. while all the algonquin tribes were in the lower period of barbarism, there was a noticeable gradation among them, the crees and ojibwas of the far north standing lowest in culture, and the shawnees, at their southernmost limits, standing highest. [footnote : howse, _grammar of the cree language_, london, , p. vii.] [footnote : except in so far as the cherokees and tuscaroras, presently to be mentioned, were interposed.] [footnote : brinton, _the lenape and their legends_, p. .] [sidenote: huron-iroquois family of tribes.] we have observed the dakota tribes pressing eastward against their neighbours and sending out an offshoot, the winnebagos, across the mississippi river. it has been supposed that the huron-iroquois group of tribes was a more remote offshoot from the dakotas. this is very doubtful; but in the thirteenth or fourteenth century the general trend of the huron-iroquois movement seems to have been eastward, either in successive swarms, or in a single swarm, which became divided and scattered by segmentation, as was common with all indian tribes. they seem early to have proved their superiority over the algonquins in bravery and intelligence. their line of invasion seems to have run eastward to niagara, and thereabouts to have bifurcated, one line following the valley of the st. lawrence, and the other that of the susquehanna. the hurons established themselves in the peninsula between the lake that bears their name and lake ontario. south of them and along the northern shore of lake erie were settled their kindred, afterward called the "neutral nation."[ ] on the southern shore the eries planted themselves, while the susquehannocks pushed on in a direction sufficiently described by their name. farthest of all penetrated the tuscaroras, even into the pine forests of north carolina, where they maintained themselves in isolation from their kindred until . these invasions resulted in some displacement of algonquin tribes, and began to sap the strength of the confederacy or alliance in which the delawares had held a foremost place. [footnote : because they refused to take part in the strife between the hurons and the five nations. their indian name was attiwandarons. they were unsurpassed for ferocity. see parkman, _jesuits in north america_, p. xliv.] [sidenote: the five nations.] but by far the most famous and important of the huron-iroquois were those that followed the northern shore of lake ontario into the valley of the st. lawrence. in that direction their progress was checked by the algonquin tribe of adirondacks, but they succeeded in retaining a foothold in the country for a long time; for in jacques cartier found on the site which he named montreal an iroquois village which had vanished before champlain's arrival seventy years later. those iroquois who were thrust back in the struggle for the st. lawrence valley, early in the fifteenth century, made their way across lake ontario and established themselves at the mouth of the oswego river. they were then in three small tribes,--the mohawks, onondagas, and senecas,--but as they grew in numbers and spread eastward to the hudson and westward to the genesee, the intermediate tribes of oneidas and cayugas were formed by segmentation.[ ] about the five tribes--afterwards known as the five nations--were joined in a confederacy in pursuance of the wise counsel which hayowentha, or hiawatha,[ ] according to the legend, whispered into the ears of the onondaga sachem, daganoweda. this union of their resources combined, with their native bravery and cunning, and their occupation of the most commanding military position in eastern north america, to render them invincible among red men. they exterminated their old enemies the adirondacks, and pushed the mohegans over the mountains from the hudson river to the connecticut. when they first encountered white men in their name had become a terror in new england, insomuch that as soon as a single mohawk was caught sight of by the indians in that country, they would raise the cry from hill to hill, "a mohawk! a mohawk!" and forthwith would flee like sheep before wolves, never dreaming of resistance.[ ] [footnote : morgan, _ancient society_, p. .] [footnote : whether there was ever such a person as hiawatha is, to say the least, doubtful. as a traditional culture-hero his attributes are those of ioskeha, michabo, quetzalcoatl, viracocha, and all that class of sky-gods to which i shall again have occasion to refer. see brinton's _myths of the new world_, p. . when the indian speaks of hiawatha whispering advice to daganoweda, his meaning is probably the same as that of the ancient greek when he attributed the wisdom of some mortal hero to whispered advice from zeus or his messenger hermes. longfellow's famous poem is based upon schoolcraft's book entitled _the hiawatha legends_, which is really a misnomer, for the book consists chiefly of ojibwa stories about manabozho, son of the west wind. there was really no such legend of hiawatha as that which the poet has immortalized. see hale, _the iroquois book of rites_, pp. , - .] [footnote : cadwallader colden, _history of the five nations_, new york, .] after the five nations had been supplied with firearms by the dutch their power increased with portentous rapidity.[ ] at first they sought to persuade their neighbours of kindred blood and speech, the eries and others, to join their confederacy; and failing in this they went to war and exterminated them.[ ] then they overthrew one algonquin tribe after another until in their career was checked by the french. by that time they had reduced to a tributary condition most of the algonquin tribes, even to the mississippi river. some writers have spoken of the empire of the iroquois, and it has been surmised that, if they had not been interfered with by white men, they might have played a part analogous to that of the romans in the old world; but there is no real similarity between the two cases. the romans acquired their mighty strength by incorporating vanquished peoples into their own body politic.[ ] no american aborigines ever had a glimmering of the process of state-building after the roman fashion. no incorporation resulted from the victories of the iroquois. where their burnings and massacres stopped short of extermination, they simply took tribute, which was as far as state-craft had got in the lower period of barbarism. general walker has summed up their military career in a single sentence: "they were the scourge of god upon the aborigines of the continent."[ ] [footnote : morgan, _league of the iroquois_, p. .] [footnote : all except the distant tuscaroras, who in migrated from north carolina to new york, and joining the iroquois league made it the six nations. all the rest of the outlying huron-iroquois stock was wiped out of existence before the end of the seventeenth century, except the remnant of hurons since known as wyandots.] [footnote : see my _beginnings of new england_, chap. i.] [footnote : f. a. walker, "the indian question," _north american review_, april, , p. .] [sidenote: horticulture must be distinguished from field agriculture.] [sidenote: perpetual warfare.] the six groups here enumerated--dakota, mandan, pawnee, maskoki, algonquin, iroquois--made up the great body of the aborigines of north america who at the time of the discovery lived in the lower status of barbarism. all made pottery of various degrees of rudeness. their tools and weapons were of the neolithic type,--stone either polished or accurately and artistically chipped. for the most part they lived in stockaded villages, and cultivated maize, beans, pumpkins, squashes, sunflowers, and tobacco. they depended for subsistence partly upon such vegetable products, partly upon hunting and fishing, the women generally attending to the horticulture, the men to the chase. _horticulture_ is an appropriate designation for this stage in which the ground is merely scratched with stone spades and hoes. it is incipient agriculture, but should be carefully distinguished from the _field agriculture_ in which extensive pieces of land are subdued by the plough. the assistance of domestic animals is needed before such work can be carried far, and it does not appear that there was an approach to field agriculture in any part of pre-columbian america except peru, where men were harnessed to the plough, and perhaps occasionally llamas were used in the same way.[ ] where subsistence depended upon rude horticulture eked out by game and fish, it required a large territory to support a sparse population. the great diversity of languages contributed to maintain the isolation of tribes and prevent extensive confederation. intertribal warfare was perpetual, save now and then for truces of brief duration. warfare was attended by wholesale massacre. as many prisoners as could be managed were taken home by their captors; in some cases they were adopted into the tribe of the latter as a means of increasing its fighting strength, otherwise they were put to death with lingering torments.[ ] there was nothing which afforded the red men such exquisite delight as the spectacle of live human flesh lacerated with stone knives or hissing under the touch of firebrands, and for elaborate ingenuity in devising tortures they have never been equalled.[ ] cannibalism was quite commonly practised.[ ] the scalps of slain enemies were always taken, and until they had attained such trophies the young men were not likely to find favour in the eyes of women. the indian's notions of morality were those that belong to that state of society in which the tribe is the largest well-established political aggregate. murder without the tribe was meritorious unless it entailed risk of war at an obvious disadvantage; murder within the tribe was either revenged by blood-feud or compounded by a present given to the victim's kinsmen. such rudimentary _wergild_ was often reckoned in wampum, or strings of beads made of a kind of mussel shell, and put to divers uses, as personal ornament, mnemonic record, and finally money. religious thought was in the fetishistic or animistic stage,[ ] while many tribes had risen to a vague conception of tutelar deities embodied in human or animal forms. myth-tales abounded, and the folk-lore of the red men is found to be extremely interesting and instructive.[ ] their religion consisted mainly in a devout belief in witchcraft. no well-defined priestly class had been evolved; the so-called "medicine men" were mere conjurers, though possessed of considerable influence. [footnote : see humboldt, _ansichten der natur_, d ed., stuttgart, , vol. i. p. .] [footnote : "women and children joined in these fiendish atrocities, and when at length the victim yielded up his life, his heart, if he were brave, was ripped from his body, cut in pieces, broiled, and given to the young men, under the belief that it would increase their courage; they drank his blood, thinking it would make them more wary; and finally his body was divided limb from limb, roasted or thrown into the seething pot, and hands and feet, arms and legs, head and trunk, were all stewed into a horrid mess and eaten amidst yells, songs, and dances." jeffries wyman, in _seventh report of peabody museum_, p. . for details of the most appalling character, see butterfield's _history of the girtys_, pp. - ; stone's _life of joseph brant_, vol. ii. pp. , ; dodge's _plains of the great west_, p. , and _our wild indians_, pp. - ; parkman's _jesuits in north america_, pp. - ; and many other places in parkman's writings.] [footnote : one often hears it said that the cruelty of the indians was not greater than that of mediæval europeans, as exemplified in judicial torture and in the horrors of the inquisition. but in such a judgment there is lack of due discrimination. in the practice of torture by civil and ecclesiastical tribunals in the middle ages, there was a definite moral purpose which, however lamentably mistaken or perverted, gave it a very different character from torture wantonly inflicted for amusement. the atrocities formerly attendant upon the sack of towns, as e. g. beziers, magdeburg, etc., might more properly be regarded as an illustration of the survival of a spirit fit only for the lowest barbarism: and the spanish conquerors of the new world themselves often exhibited cruelty such as even indians seldom surpass. see below, vol. ii. p. . in spite of such cases, however, it must be held that for artistic skill in inflicting the greatest possible intensity of excruciating pain upon every nerve in the body, the spaniard was a bungler and a novice as compared with the indian. see dodge's _our wild indians_, pp. - . colonel dodge was in familiar contact with indians for more than thirty years, and writes with fairness and discrimination. in truth the question as to comparative cruelty is not so much one of race as of occupation, except in so far as race is moulded by long occupation. the "old adam," i. e. the inheritance from our brute ancestors, is very strong in the human race. callousness to the suffering of others than self is part of this brute-inheritance, and under the influence of certain habits and occupations this germ of callousness may be developed to almost any height of devilish cruelty. in the lower stages of culture the lack of political aggregation on a large scale is attended with incessant warfare in the shape in which it comes home to everybody's door. this state of things keeps alive the passion of revenge and stimulates cruelty to the highest degree. as long as such a state of things endures, as it did in europe to a limited extent throughout the middle ages, there is sure to be a dreadful amount of cruelty. the change in the conditions of modern warfare has been a very important factor in the rapidly increasing mildness and humanity of modern times. see my _beginnings of new england_, pp. - . something more will be said hereafter with reference to the special causes concerned in the cruelty and brutality of the spaniards in america. meanwhile it may be observed in the present connection, that the spanish taskmasters who mutilated and burned their slaves were not representative types of their own race to anything like the same extent as the indians who tortured brébeuf or crawford. if the fiendish pedrarias was a spaniard, so too was the saintly las casas. the latter type would be as impossible among barbarians as an aristotle or a beethoven. indeed, though there are writers who would like to prove the contrary, it may be doubted whether that type has ever attained to perfection except under the influence of christianity.] [footnote : see the evidence collected by jeffries wyman, in _seventh report of peabody museum_, pp. - ; cf. wake, _evolution of morality_, vol. i. p. . many illustrations are given by mr. parkman. in this connection it may be observed that the name "mohawk" means "cannibal." it is an algonquin word, applied to this iroquois tribe by their enemies in the connecticut valley and about the lower hudson. the name by which the mohawks called themselves was "caniengas," or "people-at-the-flint." see hale, _the iroquois book of rites_, p. .] [footnote : for accounts and explanations of animism see tylor's _primitive culture_, london, , vols.; caspari, _urgeschichte der menschheit_, leipsic, , vols.; spencer's _principles of sociology_, part i.; and my _myths and mythmakers_, chap. vii.] [footnote : no time should be lost in gathering and recording every scrap of this folk-lore that can be found. the american folk-lore society, founded chiefly through the exertions of my friend mr. w. w. newell, and organized january , , is already doing excellent work and promises to become a valuable aid, within its field, to the work of the bureau of ethnology. of the _journal of american folk-lore_, published for the society by messrs. houghton, mifflin & co., nine numbers have appeared, and the reader will find them full of valuable information. one may also profitably consult knortz's _märchen und sagen der nordamerikanischen indianer_, jena, ; brinton's _myths of the new world_, n. y., , and his _american hero-myths_, phila., ; leland's _algonquin legends of new england_, boston, ; mrs. emerson's _indian myths_, boston, . some brief reflections and criticisms of much value, in relation to aboriginal american folk-lore, may be found in curtin's _myths and folk-lore of ireland_, pp. - .] but none of the characteristics of barbarous society above specified will carry us so far toward realizing the gulf which divides it from civilized society as the imperfect development of its domestic relations. the importance of this subject is such as to call for a few words of special elucidation. * * * * * [sidenote: ancient law.] thirty years ago, when sir henry maine published that magnificent treatise on ancient law, which, when considered in all its potency of suggestiveness, has perhaps done more than any other single book of our century toward placing the study of history upon a scientific basis, he began by showing that in primitive society the individual is nothing and the state nothing, while the family-group is everything, and that the progress of civilization politically has consisted on the one hand in the aggregation and building up of family-groups through intermediate tribal organizations into states, and on the other hand in the disentanglement of individuals from the family thraldom. in other words, we began by having no political communities larger than clans, and no bond of political union except blood relationship, and in this state of things the individual, as to his rights and obligations, was submerged in the clan. we at length come to have great nations like the english or the french, in which blood-relationship as a bond of political union is no longer indispensable or even much thought of, and in which the individual citizen is the possessor of legal rights and subject to legal obligations. no one in our time can forget how beautifully sir henry maine, with his profound knowledge of early aryan law and custom, from ireland to hindustan, delineated the slow growth of individual ownership of property and individual responsibility for delict and crime out of an earlier stage in which ownership and responsibility belonged only to family-groups or clans. [sidenote: the patriarchal family not primitive.] [sidenote: "mother-right."] [sidenote: primitive marriage.] [sidenote: the system of reckoning kinship through females only.] in all these brilliant studies sir henry maine started with the patriarchal family as we find it at the dawn of history among all peoples of aryan and semitic speech,--the patriarchal family of the ancient roman and the ancient jew, the family in which kinship is reckoned through males, and in which all authority centres in the eldest male, and descends to his eldest son. maine treated this patriarchal family as primitive; but his great book had hardly appeared when other scholars, more familiar than he with races in savagery or in the lower status of barbarism, showed that his view was too restricted. we do not get back to primitive society by studying greeks, romans, and jews, peoples who had nearly emerged from the later period of barbarism when we first know them.[ ] their patriarchal family was perfected in shape during the later period of barbarism, and it was preceded by a much ruder and less definite form of family-group in which kinship was reckoned only through the mother, and the headship never descended from father to son. as so often happens, this discovery was made almost simultaneously by two investigators, each working in ignorance of what the other was doing. in , the same year in which "ancient law" was published, professor bachofen, of basel, published his famous book, "das mutterrecht," of which his co-discoverer and rival, after taking exception to some of his statements, thus cordially writes: "it remains, however, after all qualifications and deductions, that bachofen, before any one else, discovered the fact that a system of kinship through mothers only, had anciently everywhere prevailed before the tie of blood between father and child had found a place in systems of relationships. and the honour of that discovery, the importance of which, as affording a new starting-point for all history, cannot be overestimated, must without stint or qualification be assigned to him."[ ] such are the generous words of the late john ferguson mclennan, who had no knowledge of bachofen's work when his own treatise on "primitive marriage" was published in . since he was so modest in urging his own claims, it is due to the scotch lawyer's memory to say that, while he was inferior in point of erudition to the swiss professor, his book is characterized by greater sagacity, goes more directly to the mark, and is less encumbered by visionary speculations of doubtful value.[ ] mr. mclennan proved, from evidence collected chiefly from australians and south sea islanders, and sundry non-aryan tribes of hindustan and thibet, that systems of kinship in which the father is ignored exist to-day, and he furthermore discovered unmistakable and very significant traces of the former existence of such a state of things among the mongols, the greeks and phoenicians, and the ancient hebrews. by those who were inclined to regard sir henry maine's views as final, it was argued that mr. mclennan's facts were of a sporadic and exceptional character. but when the evidence from this vast archaic world of america began to be gathered in and interpreted by mr. morgan, this argument fell to the ground, and as to the point chiefly in contention, mr. mclennan was proved to be right. throughout aboriginal america, with one or two exceptions, kinship was reckoned through females only, and in the exceptional instances the vestiges of that system were so prominent as to make it clear that the change had been but recently effected. during the past fifteen years, evidence has accumulated from various parts of the world, until it is beginning to appear as if it were the patriarchal system that is exceptional, having been reached only by the highest races.[ ] sir henry maine's work has lost none of its value, only, like all human work, it is not final; it needs to be supplemented by the further study of savagery as best exemplified in australia and some parts of polynesia, and of barbarism as best exemplified in america. the subject is, moreover, one of great and complicated difficulty, and leads incidentally to many questions for solving which the data at our command are still inadequate. it is enough for us now to observe in general that while there are plenty of instances of change from the system of reckoning kinship only through females, to the system of reckoning through males, there do not appear to have been any instances of change in the reverse direction; and that in ancient america the earlier system was prevalent. [footnote : until lately our acquaintance with human history was derived almost exclusively from literary memorials, among which the bible, the homeric poems, and the vedas, carried us back about as far as literature could take us. it was natural, therefore, to suppose that the society of the times of abraham or agamemnon was "primitive," and the wisest scholars reasoned upon such an assumption. with vision thus restricted to civilized man and his ideas and works, people felt free to speculate about uncivilized races (generally grouped together indiscriminately as "savages") according to any _à priori_ whim that might happen to captivate their fancy. but the discoveries of the last half-century have opened such stupendous vistas of the past that the age of abraham seems but as yesterday. the state of society described in the book of genesis had five entire ethnical periods, and the greater part of a sixth, behind it; and its institutions were, comparatively speaking, modern.] [footnote : mclennan's _studies in ancient history, comprising a reprint of primitive marriage_, etc. london, , p. .] [footnote : there is much that is unsound in it, however, as is often inevitably the case with books that strike boldly into a new field of inquiry.] [footnote : a general view of the subject may be obtained from the following works: bachofen, _das mutterrecht_, stuttgart, , and _die sage von tanaquil_, heidelberg, ; mclennan's _studies in ancient history_, london, , and _the patriarchal theory_, london, ; morgan's _systems of consanguinity_ (smithsonian contributions to knowledge, vol. xvii.), washington, , and _ancient society_, new york, ; robertson smith, _kinship and marriage in early arabia_, cambridge, eng., ; lubbock, _origin of civilization_, th ed., london, ; giraud-teulon, _la mère chez certains peuples de l'antiquité_, paris, , and _les origines de la famille_, geneva, ; starcke (of copenhagen), _the primitive family_, london, . some criticisms upon mclennan and morgan may be found in maine's later works, _early history of institutions_, london, , and _early law and custom_, london, . by far the ablest critical survey of the whole field is that in spencer's _principles of sociology_, vol. i. pp. - .] [sidenote: original reason for the system.] [sidenote: the primeval human horde.] [sidenote: earliest family-group: the clan.] [sidenote: "exogamy."] if now we ask the reason for such a system of reckoning kinship and inheritance, so strange according to all our modern notions, the true answer doubtless is that which was given by prudent ([greek: pepnymenos]) telemachus to the goddess athene when she asked him to tell her truly if he was the son of odysseus:--"my mother says i am his son, for my part, i don't know; one never knows of one's self who one's father is."[ ] already, no doubt, in homer's time there was a gleam of satire about this answer, such as it would show on a modern page; but in more primitive times it was a very serious affair. from what we know of the ideas and practices of uncivilized tribes all over the world, it is evident that the sacredness of the family based upon indissoluble marriage is a thing of comparatively modern growth. if the sexual relations of the australians, as observed to-day,[ ] are an improvement upon an antecedent state of things, that antecedent state must have been sheer promiscuity. there is ample warrant for supposing, with mr. mclennan, that at the beginning of the lower status of savagery, long since everywhere extinct, the family had not made itself distinctly visible, but men lived in a horde very much like gregarious brutes.[ ] i have shown that the essential difference between this primeval human horde and a mere herd of brutes consisted in the fact that the gradual but very great prolongation of infancy had produced two effects: the lengthening of the care of children tended to differentiate the horde into family-groups, and the lengthening of the period of youthful mental plasticity made it more possible for a new generation to improve upon the ideas and customs of its predecessors.[ ] in these two concomitant processes--the development of the family and the increase of mental plasticity, or ability to adopt new methods and strike out into new paths of thought--lies the whole explanation of the moral and intellectual superiority of men over dumb animals. but in each case the change was very gradual.[ ] the true savage is only a little less unteachable than the beasts of the field. the savage family is at first barely discernible amid the primitive social chaos in which it had its origin. along with polyandry and polygyny in various degrees and forms, instances of exclusive pairing, of at least a temporary character, are to be found among the lowest existing savages, and there are reasons for supposing that such may have been the case even in primeval times. but it was impossible for strict monogamy to flourish in the ruder stages of social development; and the kind of family-group that was first clearly and permanently differentiated from the primeval horde was not at all like what civilized people would recognize as a family. it was the _gens_ or _clan_, as we find it exemplified in all stages from the middle period of savagery to the middle period of barbarism. the _gens_ or _clan_ was simply--to define it by a third synonym--the _kin_; it was originally a group of males and females who were traditionally aware of their common descent reckoned in the female line. at this stage of development there was quite generally though not universally prevalent the custom of "exogamy," by which a man was forbidden to marry a woman of his own clan. among such australian tribes as have been studied, this primitive restriction upon promiscuity seems to be about the only one. [footnote : [greek: all' age moi tode eipe kai atrekeôs katalexon, ei dê ex autoio tosos pais eis odysêos. ainôs gar kephalên te kai ommata kala eoikas keinô, epei thama toion emisgometh' allêloisin, prin ge ton es troiên anabêmenai, entha per alloi argeiôn hoi aristoi eban koilês epi nêusin ek tou d' out' odysêa egôn idon out' eme keinos. tên d' au têlemachos pepnymenos antion êuda toigar egô toi, xeine, mal' atrekeôs agoreusô. mêtêr men t' eme phêsi tou emmenai, autar egôge ouk oid'; ou gar pô tis heon gonon autos anegnô.] _odyssey_, i. .] [footnote : lumholtz, _among cannibals_, p. ; lubbock, _origin of civilization_, p. ; morgan, _ancient society_, part iii., chap. iii. "after battle it frequently happens among the native tribes of australia that the wives of the conquered, of their own free-will, go over to the victors; reminding us of the lioness which, quietly watching the fight between two lions, goes off with the conqueror." spencer, _principles of sociology_, vol. i. p. .] [footnote : the notion of the descent of the human race from a single "pair," or of different races from different "pairs," is a curious instance of transferring modern institutions into times primeval. of course the idea is absurd. when the elder agassiz so emphatically declared that "pines have originated in forests, heaths in heaths, grasses in prairies, bees in hives, herrings in shoals, buffaloes in herds, men in nations" (_essay on classification_, london, , p. ), he made, indeed, a mistake of the same sort, so far as concerns the origin of man, for the nation is a still more modern institution than the family; but in the other items of his statement he was right, and as regards the human race he was thinking in the right direction when he placed _multitude_ instead of _duality_ at the beginning. if instead of that extremely complex and highly organized multitude called "nation" (in the plural), he had started with the extremely simple and almost unorganized multitude called "horde" (in the singular), the statement for man would have been correct. such views were hardly within the reach of science thirty years ago.] [footnote : _outlines of cosmic philosophy_, part ii., chaps. xvi., xxi., xxii.; _excursions of an evolutionist_, pp. - ; _darwinism, and other essays_, pp. - ; _the destiny of man_, §§ iii.-ix.] [footnote : the slowness of the development has apparently been such as befits the transcendent value of the result. though the question is confessedly beyond the reach of science, may we not hold that civilized man, the creature of an infinite past, is the child of eternity, maturing for an inheritance of immortal life?] [sidenote: phratry and tribe.] throughout all the earlier stages of culture, and even into the civilized period, we find society organized with the clan for its ultimate unit, although in course of time its character becomes greatly altered by the substitution of kinship in the paternal, for that in the maternal line. by long-continued growth and repeated segmentation the primitive clan was developed into a more complex structure, in which a group of clans constituted a _phratry_ or brotherhood, and a group of phratries constituted a _tribe_. this threefold grouping is found so commonly in all parts of the world as to afford good ground for the belief that it has been universal. it was long ago familiar to historians in the case of greece and rome, and of our teutonic forefathers,[ ] but it also existed generally in ancient america, and many obscure points connected with the history of the greek and roman groups have been elucidated through the study of iroquois and algonquin institutions. along with the likenesses, however, there are numerous unlikenesses, due to the change of kinship, among the european groups, from the female line to the male. [footnote : the teutonic _hundred_ and roman _curia_ answered to the greek _phratry_.] [sidenote: effect of pastoral life upon property and upon the family.] this change, as it occurred among aryan and semitic peoples, marked one of the most momentous revolutions in the history of mankind. it probably occurred early in the upper period of barbarism, or late in the middle period, after the long-continued domestication of animals had resulted in the acquisition of private property (_pecus, peculium, pecunia_) in large amounts by individuals. in primitive society there was very little personal property except in weapons, clothing (such as it was), and trinkets. real estate was unknown. land was simply _occupied_ by the tribe. there was general communism and social equality. in the old world the earliest instance of extensive "adverse possession" on the part of individuals, as against other individuals in the clan-community, was the possession of flocks and herds. distinctions in wealth and rank were thus inaugurated; slavery began to be profitable and personal retainers and adherents useful in new ways. as in earlier stages the community in marital relations had been part of the general community in possessions, so now the exclusive possession of a wife or wives was part of the system of private property that was coming into vogue. the man of many cattle, the man who could attach subordinates to him through motives of self-interest as well as personal deference, the man who could defend his property against robbers, could also have his separate household and maintain its sanctity. in this way, it is believed, indissoluble marriage, in its two forms of monogamy and polygamy, originated. that it had already existed sporadically is not denied, but it now acquired such stability and permanence that the older and looser forms of alliance, hitherto prevalent, fell into disfavour. a natural result of the growth of private wealth and the permanence of the marital relation was the change in reckoning kinship from the maternal to the paternal line. this change was probably favoured by the prevalence of polygamy among those who were coming to be distinguished as "upper classes," since a large family of children by different mothers could be held together only by reckoning the kinship through the father. thus, we may suppose, originated the patriarchal family. even in its rudest form it was an immense improvement upon what had gone before, and to the stronger and higher social organization thus acquired we must largely ascribe the rise of the aryan and semitic peoples to the foremost rank of civilization.[ ] [footnote : fenton's _early hebrew life_, london, , is an interesting study of the upper period of barbarism; see also spencer, _princip. of sociol._, i. - .] it is not intended to imply that there is no other way in which the change to the male line may have been brought about among other peoples. the explanation just given applies very well to the aryan and semitic peoples, but it is inapplicable to the state of things which seems to have existed in mexico at the time of the discovery.[ ] the subject is a difficult one, and sometimes confronts us with questions much easier to ask than to answer. the change has been observed among tribes in a lower stage than that just described.[ ] on the other hand, as old customs die hard, no doubt inheritance has in many places continued in the maternal line long after paternity is fully known. symmetrical regularity in the development of human institutions has by no means been the rule, and there is often much difficulty in explaining particular cases, even when the direction of the general drift can be discerned. [footnote : see below, p. .] [footnote : as among the hervey islanders; gill, _myths and songs of the south pacific_, p. . sir john lubbock would account for the curious and widely spread custom of the _couvade_ as a feature of this change. _origin of civilization_, pp. - , ; cf. tylor, _early hist. of mankind_, pp. , .] [sidenote: the exogamous clan in ancient america.] in aboriginal america, as already observed, kinship through females only was the rule, and exogamy was strictly enforced,--the wife must be taken from a different clan. indissoluble marriage, whether monogamous or polygamous, seems to have been unknown. the marriage relation was terminable at the will of either party.[ ] the abiding unit upon which the social structure was founded was not the family but the exogamous clan. [footnote : "there is no embarrassment growing out of problems respecting the woman's future support, the division of property, or the adjustment of claims for the possession of the children. the independent self-support of every adult healthy indian, male or female, and the gentile relationship, which is more wide-reaching and authoritative than that of marriage, have already disposed of these questions, which are usually so perplexing for the white man. so far as personal maintenance is concerned, a woman is, as a rule, just as well off without a husband as with one. what is hers, in the shape of property, remains her own whether she is married or not. in fact, marriage among these indians seems to be but the natural mating of the sexes, to cease at the option of either of the interested parties." clay maccauley, "the seminole indians of florida", in _fifth annual report of the bureau of ethnology_, washington, , p. . for a graphic account of the state of things among the cheyennes and arrapahos, see dodge, _our wild indians_, pp. - .] * * * * * [sidenote: intimate connection of aboriginal architecture with social life.] i have been at some pains to elucidate this point because the house-life of the american aborigines found visible, and in some instances very durable, expression in a remarkable style of house-architecture. the manner in which the indians built their houses grew directly out of the requirements of their life. it was an unmistakably characteristic architecture, and while it exhibits manifold unlikenesses in detail, due to differences in intelligence as well as to the presence or absence of sundry materials, there is one underlying principle always manifest. that underlying principle is adaptation to a certain mode of communal living such as all american aborigines that have been carefully studied are known to have practised. through many gradations, from the sty of the california savage up to the noble sculptured ruins of uxmal and chichen-itza, the principle is always present. taken in connection with evidence from other sources, it enables us to exhibit a gradation of stages of culture in aboriginal north america, with the savages of the sacramento and columbia valleys at the bottom, and the mayas of yucatan at the top; and while in going from one end to the other a very long interval was traversed, we feel that the progress of the aborigines in crossing that interval was made along similar lines.[ ] [footnote : see morgan's _houses and house-life of the american aborigines_, washington, , an epoch-making book of rare and absorbing interest.] [illustration: seneca-iroquois long house.] [illustration: ground-plan of long house.] [sidenote: the long houses of the iroquois.] the principle was first studied and explained by mr. morgan in the case of the famous "long houses" of the iroquois. "the long house ... was from fifty to eighty and sometimes one hundred feet long. it consisted of a strong frame of upright poles set in the ground, which was strengthened with horizontal poles attached with withes, and surmounted with a triangular, and in some cases with a round roof. it was covered over, both sides and roof, with long strips of elm bark tied to the frame with strings or splints. an external frame of poles for the sides and of rafters for the roof were then adjusted to hold the bark shingles between them, the two frames being tied together. the interior of the house was comparted[ ] at intervals of six or eight feet, leaving each chamber entirely open like a stall upon the passageway which passed through the centre of the house from end to end. at each end was a doorway covered with suspended skins. between each four apartments, two on a side, was a fire-pit in the centre of the hall, used in common by their occupants. thus a house with five fires would contain twenty apartments and accommodate twenty families, unless some apartments were reserved for storage. they were warm, roomy, and tidily-kept habitations. raised bunks were constructed around the walls of each apartment for beds. from the roof-poles were suspended their strings of corn in the ear, braided by the husks, also strings of dried squashes and pumpkins. spaces were contrived here and there to store away their accumulations of provisions. each house, as a rule, was occupied by related families, the mothers and their children belonging to the same gens, while their husbands and the fathers of these children belonged to other gentes; consequently the gens or clan of the mother largely predominated in the household. whatever was taken in the hunt or raised by cultivation by any member of the household ... was for the common benefit. provisions were made a common stock within the household."[ ] [footnote : this verb of mr. morgan's at first struck me as odd, but though rarely used, it is supported by good authority; see _century dictionary_, s. v.] [footnote : the iroquois ceased to build such houses before the beginning of the present century. i quote mr. morgan's description at length, because his book is out of print and hard to obtain. it ought to be republished, and in octavo, like his _ancient society_, of which it is a continuation.] "over every such household a matron presided, whose duty it was to supervise its domestic economy. after the single daily meal had been cooked at the different fires within the house, it was her province to divide the food from the kettle to the several families according to their respective needs. what remained was placed in the custody of another person until she again required it."[ ] [footnote : lucien carr, "on the social and political position of woman among the huron-iroquois tribes," _reports of peabody museum_, vol. iii. p. .] [sidenote: summary divorce.] not only the food was common property, but many chattels, including the children, belonged to the gens or clan. when a young woman got married she brought her husband home with her. though thenceforth an inmate of this household he remained an alien to her clan. "if he proved lazy and failed to do his share of the providing, woe be to him. no matter how many children, or whatever goods he might have in the house, he might at any time be ordered to pick up his blanket and budge; and after such orders it would not be healthful for him to disobey; the house would be too hot for him; and unless saved by the intercession of some aunt or grandmother [of his wife] he must retreat to his own clan, or, as was often done, go and start a new matrimonial alliance in some other.... the female portion ruled the house."[ ] [footnote : this was not incompatible with the subjection of women to extreme drudgery and ill-treatment. for an instructive comparison with the case among the tribes of the far west, see dodge, _our wild indians_, chap. xvi.] [sidenote: hospitality.] though there was but one freshly-cooked meal, taken about the middle of the day, any member of the household when hungry could be helped from the common stock. hospitality was universal. if a person from one of the other communal households, or a stranger from another tribe (in time of peace), were to visit the house, the women would immediately offer him food, and it was a breach of etiquette to decline to eat it. this custom was strictly observed all over the continent and in the west india islands, and was often remarked upon by the early discoverers, in whose minds it was apt to implant idyllic notions that were afterward rudely disturbed. the prevalence of hospitality among uncivilized races has long been noted by travellers, and is probably in most cases, as it certainly was in ancient america, closely connected with communism in living. [sidenote: structure of the clan.] the clan, which practised this communism, had its definite organization, officers, rights, and duties. its official head was the "sachem," whose functions were of a civil nature. the sachem was elected by the clan and must be a member of it, so that a son could not be chosen to succeed his father, but a sachem could be succeeded by his uterine brother or by his sister's son, and in this way customary lines of succession could and often did tend to become established. the clan also elected its "chiefs," whose functions were military; the number of chiefs was proportionate to that of the people composing the clan, usually one chief to every fifty or sixty persons. the clan could depose its sachem or any of its chiefs. personal property, such as weapons, or trophies, or rights of user in the garden-plots, was inheritable in the female line, and thus stayed within the clan. the members were reciprocally bound to help, defend, and avenge one another. the clan had the right of adopting strangers to strengthen itself. it had the right of naming its members, and these names were always obviously significant, like little turtle, yellow wolf, etc.; of names like our richard or william, with the meaning lost, or obvious only to scholars, no trace is to be found in aboriginal america. the clan itself, too, always had a name, which was usually that of some animal,--as wolf, eagle, or salmon, and a rude drawing or pictograph of the creature served as a "totem" or primitive heraldic device. a mythological meaning was attached to this emblem. the clan had its own common religious rites and common burial place. there was a clan-council, of which women might be members; there were instances, indeed, of its being composed entirely of women, whose position was one of much more dignity and influence than has commonly been supposed. instances of squaw sachems were not so very rare.[ ] [footnote : among the wyandots there is in each clan a council composed of four squaws, and this council elects the male sachem who is its head. therefore the tribal council, which is the aggregate of the clan-councils, consists one fifth of men and four fifths of women. see powell, "wyandot government: a short study of tribal society," in _first annual report of the bureau of ethnology_, washington, , pp. - ; and also mr. carr's interesting essay above cited.] [sidenote: origin and structure of the phratry.] the number of clans in a tribe naturally bore some proportion to the populousness of the tribe, varying from three, in the case of the delawares, to twenty or more, as in the case of the ojibwas and creeks. there were usually eight or ten, and these were usually grouped into two or three phratries. the phratry seems to have originated in the segmentation of the overgrown clan, for in some cases exogamy was originally practised as between the phratries and afterward the custom died out while it was retained as between their constituent clans.[ ] the system of naming often indicates this origin of the phratry, though seldom quite so forcibly as in the case of the mohegan tribe, which was thus composed:[ ]-- i. wolf phratry. _clans:_ . wolf, . bear, . dog, . opossum. ii. turtle phratry. _clans:_ . little turtle, . mud turtle, . great turtle, . yellow eel. iii. turkey phratry. _clans:_ . turkey, . crane, . chicken. here the senior clan in the phratry tends to keep the original clan-name, while the junior clans have been guided by a sense of kinship in choosing their new names. this origin of the phratry is further indicated by the fact that the phratry does not always occur; sometimes the clans are organized directly into the tribe. the phratry was not so much a governmental as a religious and social organization. its most important function seems to have been supplementing or reinforcing the action of the single clan in exacting compensation for murder; and this point is full of interest because it helps us to understand how among our teutonic forefathers the "hundred" (the equivalent of the phratry) became charged with the duty of prosecuting criminals. the greek phratry had a precisely analogous function.[ ] [footnote : h. h. bancroft, _native races of the pacific states_, vol. i. p. .] [footnote : morgan, _houses and house-life_, p. .] [footnote : see freeman, _comparative politics_, p. ; stubbs, _const. hist._, vol. i. pp. - ; grote, _history of greece_, vol. iii. pp. , . it is interesting to compare grote's description with morgan's (_anc. soc._, pp. , ) and note both the closeness of the general parallelism and the character of the specific variations.] [sidenote: structure of the tribe.] the indian tribe was a group of people distinguished by the exclusive possession of a dialect in common. it possessed a tribal name and occupied a more or less clearly defined territory; there were also tribal religious rites. its supreme government was vested in the council of its clan-chiefs and sachems; and as these were thus officers of the tribe as well as of the clan, the tribe exercised the right of investing them with office, amid appropriate solemnities, after their election by their respective clans. the tribal-council had also the right to depose chiefs and sachems. in some instances, not always, there was a head chief or military commander for the tribes, elected by the tribal council. such, was the origin of the office which, in most societies of the old world, gradually multiplied its functions and accumulated power until it developed into true kingship. nowhere in ancient north america did it quite reach such a stage. [sidenote: cross-relationships between clans and tribes: the iroquois confederacy.] among the greater part of the aborigines no higher form of social structure was attained than the tribe. there were, however, several instances of permanent confederation, of which the two most interesting and most highly developed were the league of the iroquois, mentioned above, and the mexican confederacy, presently to be considered. the principles upon which the iroquois league was founded have been thoroughly and minutely explained by mr. morgan.[ ] it originated in a union of five tribes composed of clans in common, and speaking five dialects of a common language. these tribes had themselves arisen through the segmentation of a single overgrown tribe, so that portions of the original clans survived in them all. the wolf, bear, and turtle clan were common to all the five tribes; three other clans were common to three of the five. "all the members of the same gens [clan], whether mohawks, oneidas, onondagas, cayugas, or senecas, were brothers and sisters to each other in virtue of their descent from the same common [female] ancestor, and they recognized each other as such with the fullest cordiality. when they met, the first inquiry was the name of each other's gens, and next the immediate pedigree of each other's sachems; after which they were able to find, under their peculiar system of consanguinity, the relationship in which they stood to each other.... this cross-relationship between persons of the same gens in the different tribes is still preserved and recognized among them in all its original force. it explains the tenacity with which the fragments of the old confederacy still cling together."[ ] acknowledged consanguinity is to the barbarian a sound reason, and the only one conceivable, for permanent political union; and the very existence of such a confederacy as that of the five nations was rendered possible only through the permanence of the clans or communal households which were its ultimate units. we have here a clue to the policy of these indians toward the kindred tribes who refused to join their league. these tribes, too, so far as is known, would seem to have contained the same clans. after a separation of at least four hundred years the wyandots have still five of their eight clans in common with the iroquois. when the eries and other tribes would not join the league of their kindred, the refusal smacked of treason to the kin, and we can quite understand the deadly fury with which the latter turned upon them and butchered every man, woman, and child except such as they saw fit to adopt into their own clans. [footnote : in his _league of the iroquois_, rochester, , a book now out of print and excessively rare. a brief summary is given in his _ancient society_, chap. v., and in his _houses and house-life_, pp. - . mr. morgan was adopted into the seneca tribe, and his life work was begun by a profound and exhaustive study of this interesting people.] [footnote : _houses and house-life_, p. . at the period of its greatest power, about , the people of the confederacy were about , in number. in , according to official statistics (see table appended to dodge's _plains of the great west_, pp. - ), there were in the state of new york oneidas, onondagas, cayugas, , senecas, and tuscaroras,--in all , . besides these there were , oneidas on a reservation in wisconsin, and senecas in the indian territory. the mohawks are not mentioned in the list. during the revolutionary war, and just afterward, the mohawks migrated into upper canada (ontario), for an account of which the reader may consult the second volume of stone's _life of brant_. portions of the other tribes also went to canada. in new york the oneidas and tuscaroras were converted to christianity by samuel kirkland and withheld from alliance with the british during the revolution; the others still retain their ancient religion. they are for the most part farmers and are now increasing in numbers. their treatment by the state of new york has been honourably distinguished for justice and humanity.] [sidenote: structure of the confederacy.] each of the five tribes retained its local self-government. the supreme government of the confederacy was vested in a general council of fifty sachems, "equal in rank and authority." the fifty sachemships were created in perpetuity in certain clans of the several tribes; whenever a vacancy occurred, it was filled by the clan electing one of its own members; a sachem once thus elected could be deposed by the clan-council for good cause; "but the right to invest these sachems with office was reserved to the general council." these fifty sachems of the confederacy were likewise sachems in their respective tribes, "and with the chiefs of these tribes formed the council of each, which was supreme over all matters pertaining to the tribe exclusively." the general council could not convene itself, but could be convened by any one of the five tribal councils. the regular meeting was once a year in the autumn, in the valley of onondaga, but in stirring times extra sessions were frequent. the proceedings were opened by an address from one of the sachems, "in the course of which he thanked the great spirit [i. e. ioskeha, the sky-god] for sparing their lives and permitting them to meet together;" after this they were ready for business. it was proper for any orator from among the people to address the council with arguments, and the debates were sometimes very long and elaborate. when it came to voting, the fifty sachems voted by tribes, each tribe counting as a unit, and unanimity was as imperative as in an english jury, so that one tribe could block the proceedings. the confederacy had no head-sachem, or civil chief-magistrate; but a military commander was indispensable, and, curiously enough, without being taught by the experience of a tarquin, the iroquois made this a dual office, like the roman consulship. there were two permanent chieftainships, one in the wolf, the other in the turtle clan, and both in the seneca tribe, because the western border was the most exposed to attack.[ ] the chiefs were elected by the clan, and inducted into office by the general council; their tenure was during life or good behaviour. this office never encroached upon the others in its powers, but an able warrior in this position could wield great influence. [footnote : somewhat on the same principle that in mediæval europe led an earl or count, commanding an exposed border district or _march_ to rise in power and importance and become a "margrave" [_mark_ + _graf_ = march-count] or "marquis." compare the increase of sovereignty accorded to the earls of chester and bishops of durham as rulers of the two principal march counties of england.] [sidenote: the "long house."] such was the famous confederacy of the iroquois. they called it the long house, and by this name as commonly as any other it is known in history. the name by which they called themselves was hodenosaunee, or "people of the long house." the name was picturesquely descriptive of the long and narrow strip of villages with its western outlook toward the niagara, and its eastern toward the hudson, three hundred miles distant. but it was appropriate also for another and a deeper reason than this. we have seen that in its social and political structure, from top to bottom and from end to end, the confederacy was based upon and held together by the gentes, clans, communal households, or "long houses," which were its component units. they may be compared to the hypothetical indestructible atoms of modern physics, whereof all material objects are composed. the whole institutional fabric was the outgrowth of the group of ideas and habits that belong to a state of society ignorant of and incapable of imagining any other form of organization than the clan held together by the tie of a common maternal ancestry. the house architecture was as much a constituent part of the fabric as the council of sachems. there is a transparency about the system that is very different from the obscurity we continually find in europe and asia, where different strata of ideas and institutions have been superimposed one upon another and crumpled and distorted with as little apparent significance or purpose as the porches and gables of a so-called "queen anne" house.[ ] conquest in the old world has resulted in the commingling and manifold fusion of peoples in very different stages of development. in the new world there has been very little of that sort of thing. conquest in ancient america was pretty much all of the iroquois type, entailing in its milder form the imposition of tribute, in its more desperate form the extermination of a tribe with the adoption of its remnants into the similarly-constituted tribe of the conquerors. there was therefore but little modification of the social structure while the people, gradually acquiring new arts, were passing through savagery and into a more or less advanced stage of barbarism. the symmetry of the structure and the relation of one institution to another is thus distinctly apparent. [footnote : for instance, the whole discussion in gomme's _village community_, london, , an excellent book, abounds with instances of this crumpling.] the communal household and the political structure built upon it, as above described in the case of the iroquois, seem to have existed all over ancient north america, with agreement in fundamental characteristics and variation in details and degree of development. there are many corners as yet imperfectly explored, but hitherto, in so far as research has been rewarded with information, it all points in the same general direction. among the tribes above enumerated as either in savagery or in the lower status of barbarism, so far as they have been studied, there seems to be a general agreement, as to the looseness of the marriage tie the clan with descent in the female line, the phratry, the tribe, the officers and councils, the social equality, the community in goods (with exceptions already noted), and the wigwam or house adapted to communal living. [illustration: view, cross-section, and ground-plan of mandan round house.] [sidenote: circular houses of the mandans.] the extreme of variation consistent with adherence to the common principle was to be found in the shape and material of the houses. those of the savage tribes were but sorry huts. the long house was used by the powhatans and other algonquin tribes. the other most highly developed type may be illustrated by the circular frame-houses of the mandans.[ ] these houses were from forty to sixty feet in diameter. a dozen or more posts, each about eight inches in diameter, were set in the ground, "at equal distances in the circumference of a circle, and rising about six feet above the level of the floor." the tops of the posts were connected by horizontal stringers; and outside each post a slanting wooden brace sunk in the ground about four feet distant served as a firm support to the structure. the spaces between these braces were filled by tall wooden slabs, set with the same slant and resting against the stringers. thus the framework of the outer wall was completed. to support the roof four posts were set in the ground about ten feet apart in the form of a square, near the centre of the building. they were from twelve to fifteen feet in height, and were connected at the top by four stringers forming a square. the rafters rested upon these stringers and upon the top of the circular wall below. the rafters were covered with willow matting, and upon this was spread a layer of prairie grass. then both wall and roof, from the ground up to the summit, were covered with earth, solid and hard, to a thickness of at least two feet. the rafters projected above the square framework at the summit, so as to leave a circular opening in the centre about four feet in diameter. this hole let in a little light, and let out some of the smoke from the fire which blazed underneath in a fire-pit lined with stone slabs set on edge. the only other aperture for light was the doorway, which was a kind of vestibule or passage some ten feet in length. curtains of buffalo robes did duty instead of doors. the family compartments were triangles with base at the outer wall, and apex opening upon the central hearth; and the partitions were hanging mats or skins, which were tastefully fringed and ornamented with quill-work and pictographs.[ ] in the lower mandan village, visited by catlin, there were about fifty such houses, each able to accommodate from thirty to forty persons. the village, situated upon a bold bluff at a bend of the missouri river, and surrounded by a palisade of stout timbers more than ten feet in height, was very strong for defensive purposes. indeed, it was virtually impregnable to indian methods of attack, for the earth-covered houses could not be set on fire by blazing arrows, and just within the palisade ran a trench in which the defenders could securely skulk, while through the narrow chinks between the timbers they could shoot arrows fast enough to keep their assailants at a distance. this purpose was further secured by rude bastions, and considering the structure as a whole one cannot help admiring the ingenuity which it exhibits. it shows a marked superiority over the conceptions of military defence attained by the iroquois or any other indians north of new mexico. besides the communal houses the village contained its "medicine lodge," or council house, and an open area for games and ceremonies. in the spaces between the houses were the scaffolds for drying maize, buffalo meat, etc., ascended by well-made portable ladders. outside the village, at a short distance on the prairie, was a group of such scaffolds upon which the dead were left to moulder, somewhat after the fashion of the parsees.[ ] [footnote : morgan, _houses and house-life_, pp. - ; catlin's _north amer. indians_, i. _ff._] [footnote : catlin, i. .] [footnote : catlin, i. .] * * * * * [sidenote: the indians of the pueblos,--in the middle status of barbarism.] we are now prepared to understand some essential points in the life of the groups of indians occupying the region of the cordilleras, both north and south of the isthmus of darien, all the way from zuñi to quito. the principal groups are the moquis and zuñis of arizona and new mexico, the nahuas or nahuatlac tribes of mexico, the mayas, quichés, and kindred peoples of central america; and beyond the isthmus, the chibchas of new granada, and sundry peoples comprised within the domain of the incas. with regard to the ethnic relationships of these various groups, opinion is still in a state of confusion; but it is not necessary for our present purpose that we should pause to discuss the numerous questions thus arising. our business is to get a clear notion in outline of the character of the culture to which these peoples had attained at the time of the discovery. here we observe, on the part of all, a very considerable divergence from the average indian level which we have thus far been describing. this divergence increases as we go from zuñi toward cuzco, reaching its extreme, on the whole, among the peruvians, though in some respects the nearest approach to civilization was made by the mayas. all these peoples were at least one full ethnical period nearer to true civilization than the iroquois,--and a vast amount of change and improvement is involved in the conception of an entire ethnical period. according to mr. morgan, one more such period would have brought the average level of these cordilleran peoples to as high a plane as that of the greeks described in the odyssey. let us now observe the principal points involved in the change, bearing in mind that it implies a considerable lapse of time. while the date , at which the city of mexico was founded, is the earliest date in the history of that country which can be regarded as securely established, it was preceded by a long series of generations of migration and warfare, the confused and fragmentary record of which historians have tried--hitherto with scant success--to unravel. to develop such a culture as that of the aztecs out of an antecedent culture similar to that of the iroquois must of course have taken a long time. [sidenote: horticulture with irrigation, and architecture with adobe.] it will be remembered that the most conspicuous distinctive marks of the grade of culture attained by the cordilleran peoples were two,--the cultivation of maize in large quantities by irrigation, and the use of adobe-brick or stone in building. probably there was at first, to some extent, a causal connection between the former and the latter. the region of the moqui-zuñi culture is a region in which arid plains become richly fertile when water from neighbouring cliffs or peaks is directed down upon them. it is mainly an affair of sluices, not of pump or well, which seem to have been alike beyond the ken of aboriginal americans of whatever grade. the change of occupation involved in raising large crops of corn by the aid of sluices would facilitate an increase in density of population, and would encourage a preference for agricultural over predatory life. such changes would be likely to favour the development of defensive military art. the mohawk's surest defence lay in the terror which his prowess created hundreds of miles away. one can easily see how the forefathers of our moquis and zuñis may have come to prefer the security gained by living more closely together and building impregnable fortresses. [sidenote: possible origin of adobe architecture.] the earthen wall of the mandan, supported on a framework of posts and slabs, seems to me curiously and strikingly suggestive of the incipient pottery made by surrounding a basket with a coating of clay.[ ] when it was discovered how to make the earthen bowl or dish without the basket, a new era in progress was begun. so when it was discovered that an earthen wall could be fashioned to answer the requirements of house-builders without the need of a permanent wooden framework, another great step was taken. again the consequences were great enough to make it mark the beginning of a new ethnical period. if we suppose the central portion of our continent, the mississippi and missouri valleys, to have been occupied at some time by tribes familiar with the mandan style of building; and if we further suppose a gradual extension or migration of this population, or some part of it, westward into the mountain region; that would be a movement into a region in which timber was scarce, while adobe clay was abundant. under such circumstances the useful qualities of that peculiar clay could not fail to be soon discovered. the simple exposure to sunshine would quickly convert a mandan house built with it into an adobe house; the coating of earth would become a coating of brick. it would not then take long to ascertain that with such adobe-brick could be built walls at once light and strong, erect and tall, such as could not be built with common clay. in some such way as this i think the discovery must have been made by the ancestors of the zuñis, and others who have built pueblos. after the pueblo style of architecture, with its erect walls and terraced stories, had become developed, it was an easy step, when the occasion suggested it, to substitute for the adobe-brick coarse rubble-stones embedded in adobe. the final stage was reached in mexico and yucatan, when soft coralline limestone was shaped into blocks with a flint chisel and laid in courses with adobe-mortar. [footnote : see above, p. .] [sidenote: mr. cushing at zuñi.] the pueblos of new mexico and arizona are among the most interesting structures in the world. several are still inhabited by the descendants of the people who were living in them at the time of the spanish discovery, and their primitive customs and habits of thought have been preserved to the present day with but little change. the long sojourn of mr. cushing, of the bureau of ethnology, in the zuñi pueblo, has already thrown a flood of light upon many points in american archæology.[ ] as in the case of american aborigines generally, the social life of these people is closely connected with their architecture, and the pueblos which are still inhabited seem to furnish us with the key to the interpretation of those that we find deserted or in ruins, whether in arizona or in guatemala. [footnote : see his articles in the _century magazine_, dec., , feb., , may, ; and his papers on "zuñi fetiches," _reports of the bureau of ethnology_, ii. - ; "a study of pueblo pottery as illustrative of zuñi culture growth," id. iv. - ; see also mrs. stevenson's paper, "religious life of a zuñi child," id. v. - ; sylvester baxter, "an aboriginal pilgrimage," _century magazine_, aug., .] [illustration: pueblo hungo pavie. chaco cañon n. m.] [sidenote: typical structure of the pueblo.] in the architecture of the pueblos one typical form is reproduced with sundry variations in detail. the typical form is that of a solid block of buildings making three sides of an extensive rectangular enclosure or courtyard. on the inside, facing upon the courtyard, the structure is but one story in height; on the outside, looking out upon the surrounding country, it rises to three, or perhaps even five or six stories. from inside to outside the flat roofs rise in a series of terraces, so that the floor of the second row is continuous with the roof of the first, the floor of the third row is continuous with the roof of the second, and so on. the fourth side of the rectangle is formed by a solid block of one-story apartments, usually with one or two narrow gateways overlooked by higher structures within the enclosure. except these gateways there is no entrance from without; the only windows are frowning loop-holes, and access to the several apartments is gained through skylights reached by portable ladders. such a structure is what our own forefathers would have naturally called a "burgh," or fortress; it is in one sense a house, yet in another sense a town;[ ] its divisions are not so much houses as compartments; it is a joint-tenement affair, like the iroquois long houses, but in a higher stage of development. [footnote : cf. [greek: oikos], "house," with latin _vicus_, "street" or "village," sanskrit _vesa_, "dwelling-place," english _wick_, "mansion" or "village."] [illustration: restoration of pueblo hungo pavie.] [sidenote: pueblo society.] so far as they have been studied, the pueblo indians are found to be organized in clans, with descent in the female line, as in the case of the ruder indians above described. in the event of marriage the young husband goes to live with his wife, and she may turn him out of doors if he deserves it.[ ] the ideas of property seem still limited to that of possessory right, with the ultimate title in the clan, except that portable articles subject to individual ownership have become more numerous. in government the council of sachems reappears with a principal sachem, or cacique, called by the spaniards "gobernador." there is an organized priesthood, with distinct orders, and a ceremonial more elaborate than those of the ruder indians. in every pueblo there is to be found at least one "estufa," or council-house, for governmental or religious transactions. usually there are two or three or more such estufas. in mythology, in what we may call pictography or rudimentary hieroglyphics, as well as in ordinary handicrafts, there is a marked advance beyond the indians of the lower status of barbarism, after making due allowances for such things as the people of the pueblos have learned from white men.[ ] [footnote : "with the woman rests the security of the marriage ties; and it must be said, in her high honour, that she rarely abuses the privilege; that is, never sends her husband 'to the home of his fathers,' unless he richly deserves it." but should not mr. cushing have said "home of his mothers," or perhaps, of "his sisters and his cousins and his aunts?" for a moment afterward he tells us, "to her belong all the children; and descent, including inheritance, is on her side." _century magazine_, may, , p. .] [footnote : for example, since the arrival of the spaniards some or perhaps all of the pueblos have introduced chimneys into their apartments; but when they were first visited by coronado, he found the people wearing cotton garments, and franciscan friars in remarked upon the superior quality of their shoes. in spinning and weaving, as well as in the grinding of meal, a notable advance had been made.] [illustration: restoration of pueblo bonito.] [illustration: pueblo peñasca blanca.] [sidenote: wonderful ancient pueblos in the chaco valley.] [sidenote: the moqui pueblos.] [sidenote: the cliff pueblos.] from the pueblos still existing, whether inhabited or in ruins, we may eventually get some sort of clue to the populations of ancient towns visited by the spanish discoverers.[ ] the pueblo of zuñi seems to have had at one time a population of , , but it has dwindled to less than , . of the ruined pueblos, built of stone with adobe mortar, in the valley of the rio chaco, the pueblo hungo pavie contained apartments in the first story, in the second, and in the third, with an average size of feet by ; and would have accommodated about , indians. in the same valley pueblo bonito, with four stories, contained not less than apartments, with room enough for a population of , ; within a third of a mile from this huge structure stood pueblo chettro kettle, with apartments. the most common variation from the rectangular shape was that in which a terraced semicircle was substituted for the three terraced sides, as in pueblo bonito, or the whole rectangular design was converted into an ellipse, as in pueblo peñasca blanca. there are indications that these fortresses were not in all cases built at one time, but that, at least in some cases, they grew by gradual accretions.[ ] the smallness of the distances between those in the chaco valley suggests that their inhabitants must have been united in a confederation; and one can easily see that an actual juxtaposition or partial coalescence of such communities would have made a city of very imposing appearance. the pueblos are always found situated near a river, and their gardens, lying outside, are easily accessible to sluices from neighbouring cliffs or mesas. but in some cases, as the wolpi pueblo of the moquis, the whole stronghold is built upon the summit of the cliff; there is a coalescence of communal structures, each enclosing a courtyard, in which there is a spring for the water-supply; and the irrigated gardens are built in terrace-form just below on the bluff, and protected by solid walls. from this curious pueblo another transition takes us to the extraordinary cliff-houses found in the chelly, mancos, and mcelmo cañons, and elsewhere,--veritable human eyries perched in crevices or clefts of the perpendicular rock, accessible only by dint of a toilsome and perilous climb; places of refuge, perhaps for fragments of tribes overwhelmed by more barbarous invaders, yet showing in their dwelling-rooms and estufas marks of careful building and tasteful adornment.[ ] [footnote : at least a better one than mr. prescott had when he naively reckoned five persons to a household, _conquest of mexico_, ii. .] [footnote : morgan, _houses and house-life_, chap. vii.] [footnote : for careful descriptions of the ruined pueblos and cliff-houses, see nadaillac's _prehistoric america_, chap. v., and short's _north americans of antiquity_, chap. vii. the latter sees in them the melancholy vestiges of a people gradually "succumbing to their unpropitious surroundings--a land which is fast becoming a howling wilderness, with its scourging sands and roaming savage bedouin--the apaches."] [sidenote: pueblo of zuñi.] the pueblo of zuñi is a more extensive and complex structure than the ruined pueblos on the chaco river. it is not so much an enormous communal house as a small town formed of a number of such houses crowded together, with access from one to another along their roof-terraces. some of the structures are of adobe brick, others of stone embedded in adobe mortar and covered with plaster. there are two open plazas or squares in the town, and several streets, some of which are covered ways passing beneath the upper stories of houses. the effect, though not splendid, must be very picturesque, and would doubtless astonish and bewilder visitors unprepared for such a sight. when coronado's men discovered zuñi in , although that style of building was no longer a novelty to them, they compared the place to granada. [sidenote: pueblo of tlascala.] now it is worthy of note that cortes made the same comparison in the case of tlascala, one of the famous towns at which he stopped on his march from vera cruz to the city of mexico. in his letter to the emperor charles v., he compared tlascala to granada, "affirming that it was larger, stronger, and more populous than the moorish capital at the time of the conquest, and quite as well built."[ ] upon this mr. prescott observes, "we shall be slow to believe that its edifices could have rivalled those monuments of oriental magnificence, whose light aerial forms still survive after the lapse of ages, the admiration of every traveller of sensibility and taste. the truth is that cortes, like columbus, saw objects through the warm medium of his own fond imagination, giving them a higher tone of colouring and larger dimensions than were strictly warranted by the fact." or, as mr. bandelier puts it, when it comes to general statements about numbers and dimensions, "the descriptions of the conquerors cannot be taken as facts, only as the expression of feelings, honestly entertained but uncritical." from details given in various spanish descriptions, including those of cortes himself, it is evident that there could not have been much difference in size between tlascala and its neighbour cholula. the population of the latter town has often been given as from , to , ; but, from elaborate archæological investigations made on the spot in , mr. bandelier concludes that it cannot have greatly exceeded , , and this number really agrees with the estimates of two very important spanish authorities, las casas and torquemada, when correctly understood.[ ] we may therefore suppose that the population of tlascala was about , . now the population of the city of granada, at the time of its conquest by ferdinand and isabella, is said by the greatest of spanish historians[ ] to have been about , . it would thus appear that cortes sometimes let his feelings run away with him; and, all things considered, small blame to him if he did! in studying the story of the spanish conquest of america, liberal allowance must often be made for inaccuracies of statement that were usually pardonable and sometimes inevitable. [footnote : "la qual ciudad ... es muy mayor que granada, y muy mas fuerte, y de tan buenos edificios, y de mucha mas gente, que granada tenia al tiempo que se gaño." cortes, _relacion segunda al emperador_, ap. lorenzana, p. , cited in prescott's _conquest of mexico_, vol. i. p. ( th ed., london, ).] [footnote : see bandelier's _archæological tour in mexico_, boston, , pp. - . torquemada's words, cited by bandelier, are "quando entraron los españoles, dicen que tenia mas de quarenta mil vecinos esta ciudad." _monarquía indiana_, lib. iii. cap. xix. p. . a prolific source of error is the ambiguity in the word _vecinos_, which may mean either "inhabitants" or "householders." where torquemada meant , inhabitants, uncritical writers fond of the marvellous have understood him to mean , houses, and multiplying this figure by , the average number of persons _in a modern family_, have obtained the figure , . but , houses peopled after the old mexican fashion, with at least persons in a house (to put it as low as possible), would make a city of , , inhabitants! las casas, in his _destruycion de las indias_, vii., puts the population of cholula at about , . i observe that llorente (in his _oeuvres de las casas_, tom. i. p. ) translates the statement correctly. i shall recur to this point below, vol. ii. p. .] [footnote : mariana, _historia de españa_, valencia, , tom. viii. p. .] but when cortes described tlascala as "quite as well built" as granada, it is not at all likely that he was thinking about that exquisite moorish architecture which in the mind of mr. prescott or any cultivated modern writer is the first thing to be suggested by the name. the spaniards of those days did not admire the artistic work of "infidels;" they covered up beautiful arabesques with a wash of dirty plaster, and otherwise behaved very much like the puritans who smashed the "idolatrous" statues in english cathedrals. when cortes looked at tlascala, and coronado looked at zuñi, and both soldiers were reminded of granada, they were probably looking at those places with a professional eye as fortresses hard to capture; and from this point of view there was doubtless some justice in the comparison. [sidenote: the ancient city of mexico was a great composite pueblo.] in the description of tlascala by the spaniards who first saw it, with its dark and narrow streets, its houses of adobe, or "the better sort" of stone laid in adobe mortar, and its flat and terraced roofs, one is irresistibly reminded of such a pueblo as zuñi. tlascala was a town of a type probably common in mexico. in some respects, as will hereafter appear, the city of mexico showed striking variations from the common type. yet there too were to be seen the huge houses, with terraced roofs, built around a square courtyard; in one of them spaniards, with more than , tlascalan allies, were accommodated; in another, called "montezuma's palace," one of the conquerors, who came several times intending to see the whole of it, got so tired with wandering through the interminable succession of rooms that at length he gave it up and never saw them all.[ ] this might have happened in such a building as pueblo bonito; and a suspicion is raised that montezuma's city was really a vast composite pueblo, and that its so-called palaces were communal buildings in principle like the pueblos of the chaco valley. [footnote : "et io entrai piu di quattro volte in una casa del gran signor non por altro effetto che per vederla, et ogni volta vi camminauo tanto che mi stancauo, et mai la fini di vedere tutta." _relatione fatta per un gentil' huomo del signor fernando cortese_, apud ramusio, _navigationi et viaggi_, venice, , tom. iii. fol. .] [sidenote: natural mistake of the spanish discoverers.] [sidenote: contrast between feudalism and gentilism.] [sidenote: change from gentile society to political society.] of course the spanish discoverers could not be expected to understand the meaning of what they saw. it dazed and bewildered them. they knew little or nothing of any other kind of society than feudal monarchy, and if they made such mistakes as to call the head war-chief a "king" (i. e. feudal king) or "emperor," and the clan-chiefs "lords" or "noblemen," if they supposed that these huge fortresses were like feudal castles and palaces in europe, they were quite excusable. such misconceptions were common enough before barbarous societies had been much studied; and many a dusky warrior, without a tithe of the pomp and splendour about him that surrounded montezuma, has figured in the pages of history as a mighty potentate girt with many of the trappings of feudalism.[ ] initial misconceptions that were natural enough, indeed unavoidable, found expression in an absurdly inappropriate nomenclature; and then the use of wrong names and titles bore fruit in what one cannot properly call a theory but rather an incoherent medley of notions about barbaric society. nothing could be further from _feudalism_, in which the relation of landlord and tenant is a fundamental element, than the society of the american aborigines, in which that relation was utterly unknown and inconceivable. this more primitive form of society is not improperly called _gentilism_, inasmuch as it is based upon the gens or clan, with communism in living, and with the conception of individual ownership of property undeveloped. it was gentilism that everywhere prevailed throughout the myriads of unrecorded centuries during which the foremost races of mankind struggled up through savagery and barbarism into civilization, while weaker and duller races lagged behind at various stages on the way. the change from "gentile" society to political society as we know it was in some respects the most important change that has occurred in human affairs since men became human. it might be roughly defined as the change from personal to territorial organization. it was accomplished when the stationary clan became converted into the township, and the stationary tribe into the small state;[ ] when the conception of individual property in land was fully acquired; when the tie of physical kinship ceased to be indispensable as a bond for holding a society together; when the _clansman_ became a _citizen_. this momentous change was accomplished among the greeks during a period beginning shortly before the first olympiad (b. c. ), and ending with the reforms of kleisthenes at athens (b. c. ); among the romans it was accomplished by the series of legislative changes beginning with those ascribed to servius tullius (about b. c. ), and perfected by the time of the first punic war (b. c. - ). in each case about three centuries was required to work the change.[ ] if now the reader, familiar with european history, will reflect upon the period of more than a thousand years which intervened between the date last named and the time when feudalism became thoroughly established, if he will recall to mind the vast and powerful complication of causes which operated to transform civil society from the aspect which it wore in the days of regulus and the second ptolemy to that which it had assumed in the times of henry the fowler or fulk of anjou, he will begin to realize how much "feudalism" implies, and what a wealth of experience it involves, above and beyond the change from "gentile" to "civil" society. it does not appear that any people in ancient america ever approached very near to this earlier change. none had fairly begun to emerge from gentilism; none had advanced so far as the greeks of the first olympiad or the romans under the rule of the tarquins. [footnote : when pocahontas visited london in she was received at court as befitted a "king's daughter," and the old virginia historian, william stith (born in ), says it was a "constant tradition" in his day that james i. "became jealous, and was highly offended at mr. rolfe for marrying a princess." the notion was that "if virginia descended to pocahontas, as it might do at powhatan's death, at her own death the kingdom would be vested in mr. rolfe's posterity." esten cooke's _virginia_, p. . powhatan (i. e. wahunsunakok, chief of the powhatan tribe) was often called "emperor" by the english settlers. to their intense bewilderment he told one of them that his office would descend to his [maternal] brothers, even though he had sons living. it was thought that this could not be true.] [footnote : the small states into which tribes were at first transformed have in many cases survived to the present time as portions of great states or nations. the shires or counties of england, which have been reproduced in the united states, originated in this way, as i have briefly explained in my little book on _civil government in the united states_, p. . when you look on the map of england, and see the town of _icklingham_ in the county of _suffolk_, it means that this place was once the "home" of the "icklings" or "children of ickel," a clan which formed part of the tribe of angles known as "south folk." so the names of gaulish tribes survived as names of french provinces, e. g. _auvergne_ from the _arverni_, _poitou_ from the _pictavi_, _anjou_ from the _andecavi_, _béarn_ from the _bigerrones_, etc.] [footnote : "it was no easy task to accomplish such a fundamental change, however simple and obvious it may now seem.... anterior to experience, a township, as the unit of a political system, was abstruse enough to tax the greeks and romans to the depths of their capacities before the conception was formed and set in practical operation." morgan, _ancient society_, p. .] [sidenote: suspicions as to the erroneousness of the spanish accounts.] [sidenote: detection and explanation of the errors, by lewis morgan.] the first eminent writer to express a serious doubt as to the correctness of the earlier views of mexican civilization was that sagacious scotchman, william robertson.[ ] the illustrious statesman and philologist, albert gallatin, founder of the american ethnological society, published in the first volume of its "transactions" an essay which recognized the danger of trusting the spanish narratives without very careful and critical scrutiny.[ ] it is to be observed that mr. gallatin approached the subject with somewhat more knowledge of aboriginal life in america than had been possessed by previous writers. a similar scepticism was expressed by lewis cass, who also knew a great deal about indians.[ ] next came mr. morgan,[ ] the man of path-breaking ideas, whose minute and profound acquaintance with indian life was joined with a power of penetrating the hidden implications of facts so keen and so sure as to amount to genius. mr. morgan saw the nature of the delusion under which the spaniards laboured; he saw that what they mistook for feudal castles owned by great lords, and inhabited by dependent retainers, were really huge communal houses, owned and inhabited by clans, or rather by segments of overgrown clans. he saw this so vividly that it betrayed him now and then into a somewhat impatient and dogmatic manner of statement; but that was a slight fault, for what he saw was not the outcome of dreamy speculation but of scientific insight. his researches, which reduced "montezuma's empire" to a confederacy of tribes dwelling in pueblos, governed by a council of chiefs, and collecting tribute from neighbouring pueblos, have been fully sustained by subsequent investigation. [footnote : robertson's _history of america_, th ed. vol. iii. pp. , .] [footnote : "notes on the semi-civilized nations of mexico, yucatan, and central america," _american ethnological society's transactions_, vol. i., new york, . there is a brief account of mr. gallatin's pioneer work in american philology and ethnology in stevens's _albert gallatin_, pp. - .] [footnote : cass, "aboriginal structures," _north amer. review_, oct., .] [footnote : mr. r. a. wilson's _new history of the conquest of mexico_, philadelphia, , denounced the spanish conquerors as wholesale liars, but as his book was ignorant, uncritical, and full of wild fancies, it produced little effect. it was demolished, with neatness and despatch, in two articles in the _atlantic monthly_, april and may, , by the eminent historian john foster kirk, whose _history of charles the bold_ is in many respects a worthy companion to the works of prescott and motley. mr. kirk had been mr. prescott's secretary.] [sidenote: adolf bandelier's researches.] the state of society which cortes saw has, indeed, passed away, and its monuments and hieroglyphic records have been in great part destroyed. nevertheless some monuments and some hieroglyphic records remain, and the people are still there. tlascalans and aztecs, descendants in the eleventh or twelfth generation from the men whose bitter feuds gave such a golden opportunity to cortes, still dwell upon the soil of mexico, and speak the language in which montezuma made his last harangue to the furious people. there is, moreover, a great mass of literature in spanish, besides more or less in nahuatl, written during the century following the conquest, and the devoted missionaries and painstaking administrators, who wrote books about the country in which they were working, were not engaged in a wholesale conspiracy for deceiving mankind. from a really critical study of this literature, combined with archæological investigation, much may be expected; and a noble beginning has already been made. a more extensive acquaintance with mexican literature would at times have materially modified mr. morgan's conclusions, though without altering their general drift. at this point the work has been taken up by mr. adolf bandelier, of highland, illinois, to whose rare sagacity and untiring industry as a field archæologist is joined such a thorough knowledge of mexican literature as few men before him have possessed. armed with such resources, mr. bandelier is doing for the ancient history of america work as significant as that which mommsen has done for rome, or baur for the beginnings of christianity. when a sufficient mass of facts and incidents have once been put upon record, it is hard for ignorant misconception to bury the truth in a pit so deep but that the delving genius of critical scholarship will sooner or later drag it forth into the light of day.[ ] [footnote : a summary of mr. bandelier's principal results, with copious citation and discussion of original spanish and nahuatl sources, is contained in his three papers, "on the art of war and mode of warfare of the ancient mexicans,"--"on the distribution and tenure of land, and the customs with respect to inheritance, among the ancient mexicans,"--"on the social organization and mode of government of the ancient mexicans," _peabody museum reports_, vol. ii., - , pp. - , - , - .] [sidenote: the aztec confederacy.] at this point in our exposition a very concise summary of mr. bandelier's results will suffice to enable the reader to understand their import. what has been called the "empire of montezuma" was in reality a confederacy of three tribes, the aztecs, tezcucans, and tlacopans,[ ] dwelling in three large composite pueblos situated very near together in one of the strongest defensive positions ever occupied by indians. this aztec confederacy extended its "sway" over a considerable portion of the mexican peninsula, but that "sway" could not correctly be described as "empire," for it was in no sense a military occupation of the country. the confederacy did not have garrisons in subject pueblos or civil officials to administer their affairs for them. it simply sent some of its chiefs about from one pueblo to another to collect tribute. this tax consisted in great part of maize and other food, and each tributary pueblo reserved a certain portion of its tribal territory to be cultivated for the benefit of the domineering confederacy. if a pueblo proved delinquent or recalcitrant, aztec warriors swooped down upon it in stealthy midnight assault, butchered its inhabitants and emptied its granaries, and when the paroxysm of rage had spent itself, went exulting homeward, carrying away women for concubines, men to be sacrificed, and such miscellaneous booty as could be conveyed without wagons or beasts to draw them.[ ] if the sudden assault, with scaling ladders, happened to fail, the assailants were likely to be baffled, for there was no artillery, and so little food could be carried that a siege meant starvation for the besiegers. [footnote : in the iroquois confederacy the mohawks enjoyed a certain precedence or seniority, the onondagas had the central council-fire, and the senecas, who had the two head war-chiefs, were much the most numerous. in the mexican confederacy the various points of superiority seem to have been more concentrated in the aztecs; but spoils and tribute were divided into five portions, of which mexico and tezcuco each took two, and tlacopan one.] [footnote : the wretched prisoners were ordinarily compelled to carry the booty.] the tributary pueblos were also liable to be summoned to furnish a contingent of warriors to the war-parties of the confederacy, under the same penalties for delinquency as in the case of refusal of tribute. in such cases it was quite common for the confederacy to issue a peremptory summons, followed by a declaration of war. when a pueblo was captured, the only way in which the vanquished people could stop the massacre was by holding out signals of submission; a parley then sometimes adjusted the affair, and the payment of a year's tribute in advance induced the conquerors to depart, but captives once taken could seldom if ever be ransomed. if the parties could not agree upon terms, the slaughter was renewed, and sometimes went on until the departing victors left nought behind them but ruined houses belching from loop-hole and doorway lurid clouds of smoke and flame upon narrow silent streets heaped up with mangled corpses. the sway of the aztec confederacy over the mexican peninsula was thus essentially similar to the sway of the iroquois confederacy over a great part of the tribes between the connecticut river and the mississippi. it was simply the levying of tribute,--a system of plunder enforced by terror. the so-called empire was "only a partnership formed for the purpose of carrying on the business of warfare, and that intended, not for the extension of territorial ownership, but only for an increase of the means of subsistence."[ ] there was none of that coalescence and incorporation of peoples which occurs after the change from gentilism to civil society has been effected. among the mexicans, as elsewhere throughout north america, the tribe remained intact as the highest completed political integer. [footnote : bandelier, _op. cit._ p. .] [sidenote: aztec clans.] the aztec tribe was organized in clans and phratries, and the number of clans would indicate that the tribe was a very large one.[ ] there were twenty clans, called in the nahuatl language "calpullis." we may fairly suppose that the average size of a clan was larger than the average tribe of algonquins or iroquois; but owing to the compact "city" life, this increase of numbers did not result in segmentation and scattering, as among indians in the lower status. each aztec clan seems to have occupied a number of adjacent communal houses, forming a kind of precinct, with its special house or houses for official purposes, corresponding to the _estufas_ in the new mexican pueblos. the houses were the common property of the clan, and so was the land which its members cultivated; and such houses and land could not be sold or bartered away by the clan, or in anywise alienated. the idea of "real estate" had not been developed; the clan simply exercised a right of occupancy, and--as among some ruder indians--its individual members exercised certain limited rights of user in particular garden-plots. [footnote : the notion of an immense population groaning under the lash of taskmasters, and building huge palaces for idle despots must be dismissed. the statements which refer to such a vast population are apt to be accompanied by incompatible statements. mr. morgan is right in throwing the burden of proof upon those who maintain that a people without domestic animals or field agriculture could have been so numerous (_anc. soc._, p. ). on the other hand, i believe mr. morgan makes a grave mistake in the opposite direction, in underestimating the numbers that could be supported upon indian corn even under a system of horticulture without the use of the plough. some pertinent remarks on the extraordinary reproductive power of maize in mexico may be found in humboldt, _essai politique sur la nouvelle espagne_, paris, , tom. iii. pp. - ; the great naturalist is of course speaking of the yield of maize in ploughed lands, but, after making due allowances, the yield under the ancient system must have been well-nigh unexampled in barbaric agriculture.] [sidenote: clan officers.] the clan was governed by a clan council, consisting of chiefs (_tecuhtli_) elected by the clan, and inducted into office after a cruel religious ordeal, in which the candidate was bruised, tortured, and half starved. an executive department was more clearly differentiated from the council than among the indians of the lower status. the clan (_calpulli_) had an official head, or sachem, called the _calpullec_; and also a military commander called the _ahcacautin_, or "elder brother." the _ahcacautin_ was also a kind of peace officer, or constable, for the precinct occupied by the clan, and carried about with him a staff of office; a tuft of white feathers attached to this staff betokened that his errand was one of death. the clan elected its _calpullec_ and _ahcacautin_, and could depose them for cause.[ ] [footnote : compare this description with that of the institutions of indians in the lower status, above, p. .] [sidenote: rights and duties of the clan.] the members of the clan were reciprocally bound to aid, defend, and avenge one another; but wergild was no longer accepted, and the penalty for murder was death. the clan exercised the right of naming its members. such names were invariably significant (as _nezahualcoyotl_, "hungry coyote," _axayacatl_, "face-in-the-water," etc.), and more or less "medicine," or superstitious association, was attached to the name. the clans also had their significant names and totems. each clan had its peculiar religious rites, its priests or medicine-men who were members of the clan council, and its temple or medicine-house. instead of burying their dead the mexican tribes practised cremation; there was, therefore, no common cemetery, but the funeral ceremonies were conducted by the clan. [sidenote: aztec phratries.] the clans of the aztecs, like those of many other mexican tribes, were organized into four phratries; and this divided the city of mexico, as the spaniards at once remarked, into four quarters. the phratry had acquired more functions than it possessed in the lower status. besides certain religious and social duties, and besides its connection with the punishment of criminals, the mexican phratry was an organization for military purposes.[ ] the four phratries were four divisions of the tribal host, each with its captain. in each of the quarters was an arsenal, or "dart-house," where weapons were stored, and from which they were handed out to war-parties about to start on an expedition. [footnote : in this respect it seems to have had some resemblance to the roman _centuria_ and teutonic _hundred_. so in prehistoric greece we may perhaps infer from nestor's advice to agamemnon that a similar organization existed:-- [greek: krin' andras kata phyla, kata phrêtras, agamemnon, hôs phrêtrê phrêtrêphin arêgê, phyla de phylois.] _iliad_, ii. . but the phratry seems never to have reached so high a development among the greeks as among the romans and the early english.] [sidenote: the tribal council.] the supreme government of the aztecs was vested in the tribal council composed of twenty members, one for each clan. the member, representing a clan, was not its _calpullec_, or "sachem;" he was one of the _tecuhtli_, or clan-chiefs, and was significantly called the "speaker" (_tlatoani_). the tribal council, thus composed of twenty speakers, was called the _tlatocan_, or "place of speech."[ ] at least as often as once in ten days the council assembled at the _tecpan_, or official house of the tribe, but it could be convened whenever occasion required, and in cases of emergency was continually in session. its powers and duties were similar to those of an ancient english shiremote, in so far as they were partly directive and partly judicial. a large part of its business was settling disputes between the clans. it superintended the ceremonies of investiture with which the chiefs and other officers of the clans were sworn into office. at intervals of eighty days there was an "extra session" of the _tlatocan_, attended also by the twenty "elder brothers," the four phratry-captains, the two executive chiefs of the tribe, and the leading priests, and at such times a reconsideration of an unpopular decision might be urged; but the authority of the _tlatocan_ was supreme, and from its final decision there could be no appeal.[ ] [footnote : compare _parliament_ from _parler_. these twenty were the "grandees," "counsellors," and "captains" mentioned by bernal diaz as always in montezuma's company; "y siempre á la contina estaban en su compañía veinte grandes señores y consejeros y capitanes," etc. _historia verdadera_, ii. . see bandelier, _op. cit._ p. .] [footnote : mr. bandelier's note on this point gives an especially apt illustration of the confusion of ideas and inconsistencies of statement amid which the early spanish writers struggled to understand and describe this strange society: _op. cit._ p. .] [sidenote: the "snake-woman."] the executive chiefs of the tribe were two in number, as was commonly the case in ancient america. the tribal sachem, or civil executive, bore the grotesque title of _cihuacoatl_, or "snake-woman."[ ] his relation to the tribe was in general like that of the _calpullec_ to the clan. he executed the decrees of the tribal council, of which he was _ex officio_ a member, and was responsible for the housing of tribute and its proper distribution among the clans. he was also chief judge, and he was lieutenant to the head war-chief in command of the tribal host.[ ] he was elected for life by the tribal council, which could depose him for misconduct. [footnote : in aztec mythology cihuacoatl was wife of the supreme night deity, tezcatlipoca. squier, _serpent symbol in america_, pp. - , - . on the connection between serpent worship and human sacrifices, see fergusson's _tree and serpent worship_, pp. - , - . much evidence as to american serpent worship is collected in j. g. müller's _geschichte der amerikanischen urreligionen_, basel, . the hieroglyphic emblem of the aztec tribal sachem was a female head surmounted by a snake.] [footnote : other tribes besides the aztec had the "snake-woman." in the city of mexico the spaniards mistook him for a "second-king," or "royal lieutenant." in other towns they regarded him, somewhat more correctly, as "governor," and called him _gobernador_,--a title still applied to the tribal sachem of the pueblo indians, as e. g. in zuñi heretofore mentioned; see above p. .] [sidenote: the "chief-of men."] [sidenote: evolution of kingship in greece and rome.] the office of head war-chief was an instance of primitive royalty in a very interesting stage of development. the title of this officer was _tlacatecuhtli_, or "chief-of-men."[ ] he was primarily head war-chief of the aztec tribe, but about became supreme military commander of the three confederate tribes, so that his office was one of peculiar dignity and importance. when the spaniards arrived upon the scene montezuma was _tlacatecuhtli_, and they naturally called him "king." to understand precisely how far such an epithet could correctly be applied to him, and how far it was misleading, we must recall the manner in which early kingship arose in europe. the roman _rex_ was an officer elected for life; the typical greek _basileus_ was a somewhat more fully developed king, inasmuch as his office was becoming practically hereditary; otherwise _rex_ was about equivalent to _basileus_. alike in rome and in greece the king had at least three great functions, and possibly four.[ ] he was, primarily, chief commander, secondly, chief priest, thirdly, chief judge; whether he had reached the fourth stage and added the functions of chief civil executive, is matter of dispute. kingship in rome and in most greek cities was overthrown at so early a date that some questions of this sort are difficult to settle. but in all probability the office grew up through the successive acquisition of ritual, judicial, and civil functions by the military commander. the paramount necessity of consulting the tutelar deities before fighting resulted in making the general a priest competent to perform sacrifices and interpret omens;[ ] he thus naturally became the most important among priests; an increased sanctity invested his person and office; and by and by he acquired control over the dispensation of justice, and finally over the whole civil administration. one step more was needed to develop the _basileus_ into a despot, like the king of persia, and that was to let him get into his hands the law-making power, involving complete control over taxation. when the greeks and romans became dissatisfied with the increasing powers of their kings, they destroyed the office. the romans did not materially diminish its functions, but put them into commission, by entrusting them to two consuls of equal authority elected annually. the greeks, on the other hand, divided the royal functions among different officers, as e. g. at athens among the nine archons.[ ] [footnote : this title seems precisely equivalent to [greek: anax andrôn], commonly applied to agamemnon, and sometimes to other chieftains, in the iliad.] [footnote : ramsay's _roman antiquities_, p. ; hermann's _political antiquities of greece_, p. ; morgan, _anc. soc._, p. .] [footnote : such would naturally result from the desirableness of securing unity of command. if demosthenes had been in sole command of the athenian armament in the harbour of syracuse, and had been a _basileus_, with priestly authority, who can doubt that some such theory of the eclipse as that suggested by philochorus would have been adopted, and thus one of the world's great tragedies averted? see grote, _hist. greece_, vol. vii. chap. lx. m. fustel de coulanges, in his admirable book _la cité antique_, pp. - , makes the priestly function of the king primitive, and the military function secondary; which is entirely inconsistent with what we know of barbarous races.] [footnote : it is worthy of note that the archon who retained the priestly function was called _basileus_, showing perhaps that at that time this had come to be most prominent among the royal functions, or more likely that it was the one with which reformers had some religious scruples about interfering. the romans, too, retained part of the king's priestly function in an officer called _rex sacrorum_, whose duty was at times to offer a sacrifice in the forum, and then run away as fast as legs could carry him,--[greek: hên thysas ho basileus, kata tachos apeisi pheugôn ex agoras] (!) plutarch, _quæst. rom._ .] [sidenote: mediæval kingship.] the typical kingship in mediæval europe, after the full development of the feudal system, was very different indeed from the kingship in early greece and rome. in the middle ages all priestly functions had passed into the hands of the church.[ ] a king like charles vii. of france, or edward iii. of england, was military commander, civil magistrate, chief judge, and _supreme landlord_; the people were his tenants. that was the kind of king with which the spanish discoverers of mexico were familiar. [footnote : something of the priestly quality of "sanctity," however, surrounded the king's person; and the ceremony of anointing the king at his coronation was a survival of the ancient rite which invested the head war-chief with priestly attributes.] [sidenote: montezuma was a "priest-commander."] now the mexican _tlacatecuhtli_, or "chief-of-men," was much more like agamemnon in point of kingship than like edward iii. he was not supreme landlord, for landlordship did not exist in mexico. he was not chief judge or civil magistrate; those functions belonged to the "snake-woman." mr. bandelier regards the "chief-of-men" as simply a military commander; but for reasons which i shall state hereafter,[ ] it seems quite clear that he exercised certain very important priestly functions, although beside him there was a kind of high-priest or medicine-chief. if i am right in holding that montezuma was a "priest-commander," then incipient royalty in mexico had advanced at least one stage beyond the head war-chief of the iroquois, and remained one stage behind the _basileus_ of the homeric greeks. [footnote : they can be most conveniently stated in connection with the story of the conquest of mexico; see below, vol. ii. p. . when mr. bandelier completes his long-promised paper on the ancient mexican religion, perhaps it will appear that he has taken these facts into the account.] [sidenote: mode of succession to the office.] the _tlacatecuhtli_, or "chief-of-men," was elected by an assembly consisting of the tribal council, the "elder brothers" of the several clans, and certain leading priests. though the office was thus elective, the choice seems to have been practically limited to a particular clan, and in the eleven chiefs who were chosen from to a certain principle or custom of succession seems to be plainly indicated.[ ] there was a further limit to the order of succession. allusion has been made to the four phratry-captains commanding the quarters of the city. their cheerful titles were "man of the house of darts," "cutter of men," "bloodshedder," and "chief of the eagle and cactus." these captains were military chiefs of the phratries, and also magistrates charged with the duty of maintaining order and enforcing the decrees of the council in their respective quarters. the "chief of the eagle and cactus" was chief executioner,--jack ketch. he was not eligible for the office of "chief-of-men;" the three other phratry-captains were eligible. then there was a member of the priesthood entitled "man of the dark house." this person, with the three eligible captains, made a quartette, and one of this privileged four _must_ succeed to the office of "chief-of-men." [footnote : i cannot follow mr. bandelier in discrediting clavigero's statement that the office of _tlacatecuhtli_ "should always remain in the house of acamapitzin," inasmuch as the eleven who were actually elected were all closely akin to one another. in point of fact it _did_ remain "in the house of acamapitzin."] the eligibility of the "man of the dark house" may be cited here as positive proof that sometimes the "chief-of-men" could be a "priest-commander." that in all cases he acquired priestly functions after election, even when he did not possess them before, is indicated by the fact that at the ceremony of his induction into office he ascended to the summit of the pyramid sacred to the war-god huitzilopochtli, where he was anointed by the high-priest with a black ointment, and sprinkled with sanctified water; having thus become consecrated he took a censer of live coals and a bag of copal, and as his first official act offered incense to the war-god.[ ] [footnote : h. h. bancroft, _native races of the pacific states_, vol. ii. p. . hence the accounts of the reverent demeanour of the people toward montezuma, though perhaps overcoloured, are not so absurd as mr. morgan deemed them. mr. morgan was sometimes too anxious to reduce montezuma to the level of an iroquois war-chief.] [sidenote: manner of collecting tribute.] as the "chief-of-men" was elected, so too he could be deposed for misbehaviour. he was _ex officio_ a member of the tribal council, and he had his official residence in the _tecpan_, or tribal house, where the meetings of the council were held, and where the hospitalities of the tribe were extended to strangers. as an administrative officer, the "chief-of-men" had little to do within the limits of the tribe; that, as already observed, was the business of the "snake-woman." but outside of the confederacy the "chief-of-men" exercised administrative functions. he superintended the collection of tribute. each of the three confederate tribes appointed, through its tribal council, agents to visit the subjected pueblos and gather in the tribute. these agents were expressively termed _calpixqui_, "crop-gatherers." as these men were obliged to spend considerable time in the vanquished pueblos in the double character of tax-collectors and spies, we can imagine how hateful their position was. their security from injury depended upon the reputation of their tribes for ruthless ferocity.[ ] the tiger-like confederacy was only too ready to take offence; in the lack of a decent pretext it often went to war without one, simply in order to get human victims for sacrifice. [footnote : as i have elsewhere observed in a similar case:--"each summer there came two mohawk elders, secure in the dread that iroquois prowess had everywhere inspired; and up and down the connecticut valley they seized the tribute of weapons and wampum, and proclaimed the last harsh edict issued from the savage council at onondaga." _beginnings of new england_, p. .] once appointed, the tax-gatherers were directed by the "chief-of-men." the tribute was chiefly maize, but might be anything the conquerors chose to demand,--weapons, fine pottery or featherwork, gold ornaments, or female slaves. sometimes the tributary pueblo, instead of sacrificing all its prisoners of war upon its own altars, sent some of them up to mexico as part of its tribute. the ravening maw of the horrible deities was thus appeased, not by the pueblo that paid the blackmail, but by the power that extorted it, and thus the latter obtained a larger share of divine favour. generally the unhappy prisoners were forced to carry the corn and other articles. they were convoyed by couriers who saw that everything was properly delivered at the _tecpan_, and also brought information by word of mouth and by picture-writing from the _calpixqui_ to the "chief-of-men." when the newly-arrived spaniards saw these couriers coming and going they fancied that they were "ambassadors." this system of tribute-taking made it necessary to build roads, and this in turn facilitated, not only military operations, but trade, which had already made some progress albeit of a simple sort. these "roads" might perhaps more properly be called indian trails,[ ] but they served their purpose. [footnote : see salmeron's letter of august , , to the council of the indies, cited in bandelier, _op. cit._ p. . the letter recommends that to increase the security of the spanish hold upon the country the roads should be made practicable for beasts and wagons. they were narrow paths running straight ahead up hill and down dale, sometimes crossing narrow ravines upon heavy stone culverts.] [sidenote: aztec and iroquois confederacies contrasted.] the general similarity of the aztec confederacy to that of the iroquois, in point of social structure, is thus clearly manifest. along with this general similarity we have observed some points of higher development, such as one might expect to find in traversing the entire length of an ethnical period. instead of stockaded villages, with houses of bark or of clay supported upon a wooden framework, we have pueblos of adobe-brick or stone, in various stages of evolution, the most advanced of which present the appearance of castellated cities. along with the systematic irrigation and increased dependence upon horticulture, we find evidences of greater density of population; and we see in the victorious confederacy a more highly developed organization for adding to its stock of food and other desirable possessions by the systematic plunder of neighbouring weaker communities. naturally such increase in numbers and organization entails some increase in the number of officers and some differentiation of their functions, as illustrated in the representation of the clans (_calpulli_) in the tribal council (_tlatocan_), by speakers (_tlatoani_) chosen for the purpose, and not by the official heads (_calpullec_) of the clan. likewise in the military commander-in-chief (_tlacatecuhtli_) we observe a marked increase in dignity, and--as i have already suggested and hope to maintain--we find that his office has been clothed with sacerdotal powers, and has thus taken a decided step toward kingship of the ancient type, as depicted in the homeric poems. [sidenote: aztec priesthood: human sacrifices.] no feature of the advance is more noteworthy than the development of the medicine-men into an organized priesthood.[ ] the presence of this priesthood and its ritual was proclaimed to the eyes of the traveller in ancient mexico by the numerous tall truncated pyramids (_teocallis_), on the flat summits of which men, women, and children were sacrificed to the gods. this custom of human sacrifice seems to have been a characteristic of the middle period of barbarism, and to have survived, with diminishing frequency, into the upper period. there are abundant traces of its existence throughout the early aryan world, from britain to hindustan, as well as among the ancient hebrews and their kindred.[ ] but among all these peoples, at the earliest times at which we can study them with trustworthy records, we find the custom of human sacrifice in an advanced stage of decline, and generally no longer accompanied by the custom of cannibalism in which it probably originated.[ ] among the mexicans, however, when they were first visited by the spaniards, cannibalism flourished as nowhere else in the world except perhaps in fiji, and human sacrifices were conducted on such a scale as could not have been witnessed in europe without going back more than forty centuries. [footnote : the priesthood was not hereditary, nor did it form a caste. there was no hereditary nobility in ancient mexico, nor were there any hereditary vocations, as "artisans," "merchants," etc. see bandelier, _op. cit._ p. .] [footnote : see the copious references in tylor's _primitive culture_, ii. - ; mackay, _religious development of the greeks and hebrews_, ii. - ; oort and hooykaas, _the bible for young people_, i. , - ; ii. , ; iii. , , , , ; iv. , . ghillany, _die menschenopfer der alten hebräer_, nuremberg, , treats the subject with much learning.] [footnote : spencer, _princip. sociol._, i. ; tylor, _op. cit._ ii. .] the custom of sacrificing captives to the gods was a marked advance upon the practice in the lower period of barbarism, when the prisoner, unless saved by adoption into the tribe of his captors, was put to death with lingering torments. there were occasions on which the aztecs tortured their prisoners before sending them to the altar,[ ] but in general the prisoner was well-treated and highly fed,--fatted, in short, for the final banquet in which the worshippers participated with their savage deity.[ ] in a more advanced stage of development than that which the aztecs had reached, in the stage when agriculture became extensive enough to create a steady demand for servile labour, the practice of enslaving prisoners became general; and as slaves became more and more valuable, men gradually succeeded in compounding with their deities for easier terms,--a ram, or a kid, or a bullock, instead of the human victim.[ ] [footnote : mr. prescott, to avoid shocking the reader with details, refers him to the twenty-first canto of dante's inferno, _conquest of mexico_, vol. i. p. .] [footnote : see below, vol. ii. p. .] [footnote : the victim, by the offer of which the wrath of the god was appeased or his favour solicited, must always be some valued possession of the sacrificer. hence, e. g., among the hebrews "wild animals, as not being property, were generally considered unfit for sacrifice." (mackay, _op. cit._ ii. .) among the aztecs (prescott, _loc. cit._) on certain occasions of peculiar solemnity the clan offered some of its own members, usually children. in the lack of prisoners such offerings would more often be necessary, hence one powerful incentive to war. the use of prisoners to buy the god's favour was to some extent a substitute for the use of the clan's own members, and at a later stage the use of domestic animals was a further substitution. the legend of abraham and isaac (_genesis_, xxii. - ) preserves the tradition of this latter substitution among the ancient hebrews. compare the boeotian legend of the temple of dionysos aigobolos:--[greek: thyontes gar tô theô proêchthêsan pote hypo methês es hybrin, hôste kai tou dionysou ton hierea apokteinousin; apokteinantas de autika epelabe nosos loimôdês; kai sphisin aphiketo hama ek delphôn, tô dionysô thyein paida hôraion; etesi de ou pollois hysteron ton theon phasin aiga hiereion hypallaxai sphisin anti tou paidos.] pausanias, ix. . a further stage of progress was the substitution of a mere inanimate symbol for a living victim, whether human or brute, as shown in the old roman custom of appeasing "father tiber" once a year by the ceremony of drowning a lot of dolls in that river. of this significant rite mommsen aptly observes, "die ideen göttlicher gnade und versöhnbarkeit sind hier ununterscheidbar gemischt mit der frommen schlauigkeit, welche es versucht den gefährlichen herrn durch scheinhafte befriedigung zu berücken und abzufinden." _römische geschichte_, e aufl., , bd. i. p. . after reading such a remark it may seem odd to find the writer, in a footnote, refusing to accept the true explanation of the custom; but that was a quarter of a century ago, when much less was known about ancient society than now.] [sidenote: aztec slaves.] the ancient mexicans had not arrived at this stage, which in the old world characterized the upper period of barbarism. slavery had, however, made a beginning among the aztecs. the nucleus of the small slave-population of mexico consisted of _outcasts_, persons expelled from the clan for some misdemeanour. the simplest case was that in which a member of a clan failed for two years to cultivate his garden-plot.[ ] the delinquent member was deprived, not only of his right of user, but of all his rights as a clansman, and the only way to escape starvation was to work upon some other lot, either in his own or in some other clan, and be paid in such pittance from its produce as the occupant might choose to give him. this was slavery in embryo. the occupant did not own this outcast labourer, any more than he owned his lot; he only possessed a limited right of user in both labourer and lot. to a certain extent it was "adverse" or exclusive possession. if the slave ran away or was obstinately lazy, he could be made to wear a wooden collar and sold without his consent; if it proved too troublesome to keep him, the collared slave could be handed over to the priests for sacrifice.[ ] in this class of outcasts and their masters we have an interesting illustration of a rudimentary phase of slavery and of private property. [footnote : bandelier, _op. cit._ p. .] [footnote : there was, however, in this extreme case, a right of sanctuary. if the doomed slave could flee and hide himself in the _tecpan_ before the master or one of his sons could catch him, he became free and recovered his clan-rights; and no third person was allowed to interfere in aid of the pursuer. torquemada, _monarquía indiana_, ii. - .] [sidenote: the aztec family.] at this point it is worthy of note that in the development of the family the aztecs had advanced considerably beyond the point attained by shawnees and mohawks, and a little way toward the point attained in the patriarchal family of the ancient romans and hebrews. in the aztec clan (which was exogamous[ ]) the change to descent in the male line seems to have been accomplished before the time of the discovery. apparently it had been recently accomplished. names for designating family relationships remained in that primitive stage in which no distinction is made between father and uncle, grandchildren and cousins. the family was still too feebly established to count for much in the structure of society, which still rested firmly upon the clan.[ ] nevertheless the marriage bonds were drawn much tighter than among indians of the lower status, and penalties for incontinence were more severe. the wife became her husband's property and was entitled to the protection of his clan. all matrimonial arrangements were controlled by the clan, and no member of it, male or female, was allowed to remain unmarried, except for certain religious reasons. the penalty for contumacy was expulsion from the clan, and the same penalty was inflicted for such sexual irregularities as public opinion, still in what we should call quite a primitive stage, condemned. men and women thus expelled went to swell the numbers of that small class of outcasts already noted. with men the result, as we have seen, was a kind of slavery; with women it was prostitution; and it is curious to see that the same penalty, entailing such a result, was visited alike upon unseemly frailty and upon refusal to marry. in either case the sin consisted in rebellion against the clan's standards of proper or permissible behaviour. [footnote : bancroft, _native races of the pacific states_, vol. ii. p. .] [footnote : bandelier, _op. cit._ pp. , , .] [sidenote: aztec property.] the inheritance in the male line, the beginnings of individual property in slaves, the tightening of the marriage bond, accompanied by the condemnation of sundry irregularities heretofore tolerated, are phenomena which we might expect to find associated together. they are germs of the upper status of barbarism, as well as of the earliest status of civilization more remotely to follow. the common cause, of which they are the manifestations, is an increasing sense of the value and importance of personal property. in the old world this sense grew up during a pastoral stage of society such as the new world never knew, and by the ages of abraham and agamemnon[ ] it had produced results such as had not been reached in mexico at the time of the discovery. still the tendency in the latter country was in a similar direction. though there was no notion of real estate, and the house was still clan-property, yet the number and value of articles of personal ownership had no doubt greatly increased during the long interval which must have elapsed since the ancestral mexicans entered upon the middle status. the mere existence of large and busy market-places with regular and frequent fairs, even though trade had scarcely begun to emerge from the stage of barter, is sufficient proof of this. such fairs and markets do not belong to the mohawk chapter in human progress. they imply a considerable number and diversity of artificial products, valued as articles of personal property. a legitimate inference from them is the existence of a certain degree of luxury, though doubtless luxury of a barbaric type. [footnote : i here use these world-famous names without any implication as to their historical character, or their precise date, which are in themselves interesting subjects for discussion. i use them as best symbolizing the state of society which existed about the northern and eastern shores of the eastern mediterranean, several centuries before the olympiads.] [sidenote: mr. morgan's rules.] it is at this point, i think, that a judicious critic will begin to part company with mr. morgan. as regards the outward aspect of the society which the spaniards found in mexico, that eminent scholar more than once used arguments that were inconsistent with principles of criticism laid down by himself. at the beginning of his chapter on the aztec confederacy mr. morgan proposed the following rules:-- "the histories of spanish america may be trusted in whatever relates to the acts of the spaniards, and to the acts and personal characteristics of the indians; in whatever relates to their weapons, implements and utensils, fabrics, food and raiment, and things of a similar character. "but in whatever relates to indian society and government, their social relations and plan of life, they are nearly worthless, because they learned nothing and knew nothing of either. we are at full liberty to reject them in these respects and commence anew; using any facts they may contain which harmonize with what is known of indian society."[ ] [footnote : morgan, _ancient society_, p. , note.] perhaps it would have been better if the second of these rules had been somewhat differently worded; for even with regard to the strange society and government, the spanish writers have recorded an immense number of valuable facts, without which mr. bandelier's work would have been impossible. it is not so much the _facts_ as the _interpretations_ of the spanish historians that are "nearly worthless," and even their misinterpretations are interesting and instructive when once we rightly understand them. sometimes they really help us toward the truth. [sidenote: mr. morgan sometimes disregarded his own rules: "montezuma's dinner."] the broad distinction, however, as stated in mr. morgan's pair of rules, is well taken. in regard to such a strange form of society the spanish discoverers of mexico could not help making mistakes, but in regard to utensils and dress their senses were not likely to deceive them, and their statements, according to mr. morgan, may be trusted. very good. but as soon as mr. morgan had occasion to write about the social life of the aztecs, he forgot his own rules and paid as little respect to the senses of eye-witnesses as to their judgment. this was amusingly illustrated in his famous essay on "montezuma's dinner."[ ] when bernal diaz describes montezuma as sitting on a low chair at a table covered with a white cloth, mr. morgan declares that it could not have been so,--there were no chairs or tables! on second thought he will admit that there may have been a wooden block hollowed out for a stool, but in the matter of a table he is relentless. so when cortes, in his despatch to the emperor, speaks of the "wine-cellar" and of the presence of "secretaries" at dinner, mr. morgan observes, "since cursive writing was unknown among the aztecs, the presence of these secretaries is an amusing feature in the account. the wine-cellar also is remarkable for two reasons: firstly, because the level of the streets and courts was but four feet above the level of the water, which made cellars impossible; and, secondly, because the aztecs had no knowledge of wine. an acid beer (_pulque_), made by fermenting the juice of the maguey, was a common beverage of the aztecs; but it is hardly supposable that even this was used at dinner."[ ] [footnote : _north amer. review_, april, . the substance of it was reproduced in his _houses and house-life_, chap. x.] [footnote : _houses and house-life_, p. .] to this i would reply that the fibre of that same useful plant from which the aztecs made their "beer" supplied them also with paper, upon which they were in the habit of writing, not indeed in cursive characters, but in hieroglyphics. this kind of writing, as well as any other, accounts for the presence of secretaries, which seems to me, by the way, a very probable and characteristic feature in the narrative. from the moment the mysterious strangers landed, every movement of theirs had been recorded in hieroglyphics, and there is no reason why notes of what they said and did should not have been taken at dinner. as for the place where the _pulque_ was kept, it was a venial slip of the pen to call it a "wine-cellar," even if it was not below the ground. the language of cortes does not imply that he visited the "cellar;" he saw a crowd of indians drinking the beverage, and supposing the great house he was in to be montezuma's, he expressed his sense of that person's hospitality by saying that "his wine-cellar was open to all." and really, is it not rather a captious criticism which in one breath chides cortes for calling the beverage "wine," and in the next breath goes on to call it "beer"? the _pulque_ was neither the one nor the other; for want of any other name a german might have called it beer, a spaniard would be more likely to call it wine. and why is it "hardly supposable" that _pulque_ was used at dinner? why should mr. morgan, who never dined with montezuma, know so much more about _such things_ than cortes and bernal diaz, who did?[ ] [footnote : mr. andrew lang asks some similar questions in his _myth, ritual, and religion_, vol. ii. p. , but in a tone of impatient contempt which, as applied to a man of mr. morgan's calibre, is hardly becoming.] [sidenote: the reaction against uncritical and exaggerated statements.] the spanish statements of facts are, of course, not to be accepted uncritically. when we are told of cut slabs of porphyry inlaid in the walls of a room, we have a right to inquire how so hard a stone could be cut with flint or copper chisels,[ ] and are ready to entertain the suggestion that some other stone might easily have been mistaken for porphyry. such a critical inquiry is eminently profitable, and none the less so when it brings us to the conclusion that the aztecs did succeed in cutting porphyry. again, when we read about indian armies of , men, pertinent questions arise as to the commissariat, and we are led to reflect that there is nothing about which old soldiers spin such unconscionable yarns as about the size of the armies they have thrashed. in a fairy tale, of course, such suggestions are impertinent; things can go on anyhow. in real life it is different. the trouble with most historians of the conquest of mexico has been that they have made it like a fairy tale, and the trouble with mr. morgan was that, in a wholesome and much-needed spirit of reaction, he was too much inclined to dismiss the whole story as such. he forgot the first of his pair of rules, and applied the second to everything alike. he felt "at full liberty to reject" the testimony of the discoverers as to what they saw and tasted, and to "commence anew," reasoning from "what is known of indian society." and here mr. morgan's mind was so full of the kind of indian society which he knew more minutely and profoundly than any other man, that he was apt to forget that there could be any other kind. he overlooked his own distinction between the lower and middle periods of barbarism in his attempt to ignore or minimize the points of difference between aztecs and iroquois.[ ] in this way he did injustice to his own brilliant and useful classification of stages of culture, and in particular to the middle period of barbarism, the significance of which he was the first to detect, but failed to realize fully because his attention had been so intensely concentrated upon the lower period. [footnote : for an excellent account of ancient mexican knives and chisels, see dr. valentini's paper on "semi-lunar and crescent-shaped tools," in _proceedings of amer. antiq. soc._, new series, vol. iii. pp. - . compare the very interesting spanish observations on copper hatchets and flint chisels in clavigero, _historia antigua_, tom. i. p. ; mendieta, _historia ecclesiastica indiana_, tom. iv. cap. xii.] [footnote : it often happens that the followers of a great man are more likely to run to extremes than their master, as, for example, when we see the queen of pueblos rashly described as "a collection of mud huts, such as cortes found and dignified with the name of a city." _smithsonian report_, , part i. p. . this is quite inadmissible.] [sidenote: importance of the middle period of barbarism.] in truth, the middle period of barbarism was one of the most important periods in the career of the human race, and full of fascination to the student, as the unfading interest in ancient mexico and the huge mass of literature devoted to it show. it spanned the interval between such society as that of hiawatha and such as that of the odyssey. one more such interval (and, i suspect, a briefer one, because the use of iron and the development of inheritable wealth would accelerate progress) led to the age that could _write_ the odyssey, one of the most beautiful productions of the human mind. if mr. morgan had always borne in mind that, on his own classification, montezuma must have been at least as near to agamemnon as to powhatan, his attitude toward the spanish historians would have been less hostile. a moqui pueblo stands near the lower end of the middle period of barbarism; ancient troy stood next the upper end. mr. morgan found apt illustrations in the former; perhaps if he had lived long enough to profit by the work of schliemann and bandelier, he might have found equally apt ones in the latter. mr. bandelier's researches certainly show that the ancient city of mexico, in point of social development, stood somewhere between the two. how that city looked may best be described when we come to tell what its first spanish visitors saw. let it suffice here to say that, upon a reasonable estimate of their testimony, pleasure-gardens, menageries and aviaries, fountains and baths, tessellated marble floors, finely wrought pottery, exquisite featherwork, brilliant mats and tapestries, silver goblets, dainty spices burning in golden censers, varieties of highly seasoned dishes, dramatic performances, jugglers and acrobats, ballad singers and dancing girls,--such things were to be seen in this city of snake-worshipping cannibals. it simulated civilization as a tree-fern simulates a tree. * * * * * [illustration: ground-plan of so-called "house of the nuns" at uxmal.] [sidenote: mexicans and mayas.] in its general outlines the account here given of aztec society and government at the time of the discovery will probably hold true of all the semi-civilized communities of the mexican peninsula and central america. the pueblos of mexico were doubtless of various grades of size, strength, and comfort, ranging from such structures as zuñi up to the city of mexico. the cities of chiapas, yucatan, and guatemala, whose ruins, in those tropical forests, are so impressive, probably belong to the same class. the maya-quiché tribes, who dwelt and still dwell in this region, were different in stock-language from their neighbours of mexico; but there are strong reasons for believing that the two great groups, mexicans and mayas, arose from the expansion and segmentation of one common stock, and there is no doubt as to the very close similarity between the two in government, religion, and social advancement. in some points the mayas were superior. they possessed a considerable literature, written in highly developed hieroglyphic characters upon maguey paper and upon deerskin parchment, so that from this point of view they stood upon the threshold of civilization as strictly defined.[ ] but, like the mexicans, they were ignorant of iron, their society was organized upon the principle of gentilism, they were cannibals and sacrificed men and women to idols, some of which were identical with those of mexico. the mayas had no conception of property in land; their buildings were great communal houses, like pueblos; in some cases these so-called palaces, at first supposed to be scanty remnants of vast cities, were themselves the entire "cities;" in other cases there were doubtless large composite pueblos fit to be called cities. [footnote : this writing was at once recognized by learned spaniards, like las casas, as entirely different from anything found elsewhere in america. he found in yucatan "letreros de ciertos caracteres que en otra ninguna parte," las casas, _historia apologética_, cap. cxxiii. for an account of the hieroglyphics, see the learned essays of dr. cyrus thomas, _a study of the manuscript troano_, washington, ; "notes on certain maya and mexican mss.," _third report of the bureau of ethnology_, pp. - ; "aids to the study of the maya codices," _sixth report_, pp. - . (the paper last mentioned ends with the weighty words, "the more i study these characters the stronger becomes the conviction that they have grown out of a pictographic system similar to that common among the indians of north america." exactly so; and this is typical of every aspect and every detail of ancient american culture. it is becoming daily more evident that the old notion of an influence from asia has not a leg to stand on.) see also a suggestive paper by the astronomer, e. s. holden, "studies in central american picture-writing," _first report of the bureau of ethnology_, pp. - ; brinton, _ancient phonetic alphabet of yucatan_, new york, ; _essays of an americanist_, philadelphia, , pp. - ; léon de rosny, _les écritures figuratives_, paris, ; _l'interprétation des anciens textes mayas_, paris, ; _essai sur le déchiffrement de l'écriture hiératique de l'amérique centrale_, paris, ; förstemann, _erläuterungen der maya handschrift_, dresden, . the decipherment is as yet but partially accomplished. the mexican system of writing is clearly developed from the ordinary indian pictographs; it could not have arisen from the maya system, but the latter might well have been a further development of the mexican system; the maya system had probably developed some characters with a phonetic value, i. e. was groping toward the alphabetical stage; but how far this groping had gone must remain very doubtful until the decipherment has proceeded further. dr. isaac taylor is too hasty in saying that "the mayas employed twenty-seven characters which must be admitted to be alphabetic" (taylor, _the alphabet_, vol. i. p. ); this statement is followed by the conclusion that the maya system of writing was "superior in simplicity and convenience to that employed ... by the great assyrian nation at the epoch of its greatest power and glory." dr. taylor has been misled by diego de landa, whose work (_relation des choses de l'yucatan_, ed. brasseur, paris, ) has in it some pitfalls for the unwary.] [sidenote: ruined cities of central america.] these noble ruins have excited great and increasing interest since the publication of mr. stephens's charming book just fifty years ago.[ ] an air of profound mystery surrounded them, and many wild theories were propounded to account for their existence. they were at first accredited with a fabulous antiquity, and in at least one instance this notion was responsible for what must be called misrepresentation, if not humbug.[ ] having been placed by popular fancy at such a remote age, they were naturally supposed to have been built, not by the mayas,--who still inhabit yucatan and do not absolutely dazzle us with their exalted civilization,--but by some wonderful people long since vanished. now as to this point the sculptured slabs of uxmal and chichen-itza tell their own story. they are covered with hieroglyphic inscriptions, and these hieroglyphs are the same as those in which the dresden codex and other maya manuscripts still preserved are written; though their decipherment is not yet complete, there is no sort of doubt as to their being written in the maya characters. careful inspection, moreover, shows that the buildings in which these inscriptions occur are not so very ancient. mr. stephens, who was one of their earliest as well as sanest explorers, believed them to be the work of the mayas at a comparatively recent period.[ ] the notion of their antiquity was perhaps suggested by the belief that certain colossal mahogany trees growing between and over the ruins at palenque must be nearly , years old. but when m. de charnay visited palenque in he had the eastern side of the "palace" cleared of its dense vegetation in order to get a good photograph; and when he revisited the spot in he found a sturdy growth of young mahogany the age of which he knew did not exceed twenty-two years. instead of making a ring once a year, as in our sluggish and temperate zone, these trees had made rings at the rate of about one in a month; their trunks were already more than two feet in diameter; judging from this rate of growth the biggest giant on the place need not have been more than years old, if as much.[ ] [footnote : stephens, _incidents of travel in central america, chiapas, and yucatan_, vols., new york, .] [footnote : it occurred in the drawings of the artist fréderic de waldeck, who visited palenque before stephens, but whose researches were published later. "his drawings," says mr. winsor, "are exquisite; but he was not free from a tendency to improve and restore, where the conditions gave a hint, and so as we have them in the final publication they have not been accepted as wholly trustworthy." _narr. and crit. hist._, i. . m. de charnay puts it more strongly. upon his drawing of a certain panel at palenque, m. de waldeck "has seen fit to place three or four elephants. what end did he propose to himself in giving this fictitious representation? presumably to give a prehistoric origin to these ruins, since it is an ascertained fact that elephants in a fossil state only have been found on the american continent. it is needless to add that neither catherwood, who drew these inscriptions most minutely, nor myself who brought impressions of them away, nor living man, ever saw these elephants and their fine trunks. but such is the mischief engendered by preconceived opinions. with some writers it would seem that to give a recent date to these monuments would deprive them of all interest. it would have been fortunate had explorers been imbued with fewer prejudices and gifted with a little more common sense, for then we should have known the truth with regard to these ruins long since." charnay, _the ancient cities of the new world_, london, , p. . the gallant explorer's indignation is certainly quite pardonable.] [footnote : some of his remarks are worth quoting in detail, especially in view of the time when they were written: "i repeat my opinion that we are not warranted in going back to any ancient nation of the old world for the builders of these cities; that they are not the work of people who have passed away and whose history is lost, but that there are strong reasons to believe them the creations of the same races who inhabited the country at the time of the spanish conquest, or some not very distant progenitors. and i would remark that we began our exploration without any theory to support.... some are beyond doubt older than others; some are known to have been inhabited at the time of the spanish conquest, and others, perhaps, were really in ruins before; ... but in regard to uxmal, at least, we believe that it was an existing and inhabited city at the time of the arrival of the spaniards." stephens, _central america_, etc., vol. ii. p. .] [footnote : charnay, _the ancient cities of the new world_, p. .] [sidenote: they are probably not older than the twelfth century.] these edifices are not so durably constructed as those which in europe have stood for more than a thousand years. they do not indicate a high civilization on the part of their builders. they do not, as mr. andrew lang says, "throw mycenæ into the shade, and rival the remains of cambodia."[ ] in pictures they may seem to do so, but m. de charnay, after close and repeated examination of these buildings, assures us that as structures they "cannot be compared with those at cambodia, which belong to nearly the same period, the twelfth century, and which, notwithstanding their greater and more resisting proportions, are found in the same dilapidated condition."[ ] it seems to me that if mr. lang had spoken of the yucatan ruins as rivalling the remains of mycenæ, instead of "throwing them into the shade," he would have come nearer the mark. the builders of uxmal, like those of mycenæ, did not understand the principle of the arch, but were feeling their way toward it.[ ] and here again we are brought back, as seems to happen whatever road we follow, to the middle status of barbarism. the yucatan architecture shows the marks of its origin in the adobe and rubble-stone work of the new mexico pueblos. the inside of the wall "is a rude mixture of friable mortar and small irregular stones," and under the pelting tropical rains the dislocation of the outer facing is presently effected. the large blocks, cut with flint chisels, are of a soft stone that is soon damaged by weather; and the cornices and lintels are beams of a very hard wood, yet not so hard but that insects bore into it. from such considerations it is justly inferred that the highest probable antiquity for most of the ruins in yucatan or central america is the twelfth or thirteenth century of our era.[ ] some, perhaps, may be no older than the ancient city of mexico, built a. d. . [footnote : lang, _myth, ritual, and religion_, vol. ii. p. .] [footnote : charnay, _op. cit._ p. . "i may remark that [the] virgin forests [here] have no very old trees, being destroyed by insects, moisture, lianas, etc.; and old monteros tell me that mahogany and cedar trees, which are most durable, do not live above years," id. p. .] [footnote : the reader will find it suggestive to compare portions of schliemann's _mycenæ_ and m. de charnay's book, just cited, with morgan's _houses and house-life_, chap. xi.] [footnote : charnay, _op. cit._ p. . copan and palenque may be two or three centuries older, and had probably fallen into ruins before the arrival of the spaniards.] [sidenote: chronicle of chicxulub.] but we are no longer restricted to purely archæological evidence. one of the most impressive of all these ruined cities is chichen-itza, which is regarded as older than uxmal, but not so old as izamal. now in recent times sundry old maya documents have been discovered in yucatan, and among them is a brief history of the spanish conquest of that country, written in the roman character by a native chief, nakuk pech, about . it has been edited, with an english translation, by that zealous and indefatigable scholar, to whom american philology owes such a debt of gratitude,--dr. daniel brinton. this chronicle tells us several things that we did not know before, and, among others, it refers most explicitly to chichen-itza and izamal as inhabited towns during the time that the spaniards were coming, from to . if there could have been any lingering doubt as to the correctness of the views of stephens, morgan, and charnay, this contemporaneous documentary testimony dispels it once for all.[ ] [footnote : brinton, _the maya chronicles_, philadelphia, , "chronicle of chicxulub," pp. - . this book is of great importance, and for the ancient history of guatemala brinton's _annals of the cakchiquels_, philadelphia, , is of like value and interest. half a century ago mr. stephens wrote in truly prophetic vein, "the convents are rich in manuscripts and documents written by the early fathers, caciques, and indians, who very soon acquired the knowledge of spanish and the art of writing. these have never been examined with the slightest reference to this subject; _and i cannot help thinking that some precious memorial is now mouldering in the library of a neighbouring convent, which would determine the history of some one of these ruined cities_." vol. ii. p. . the italicizing, of course, is mine.] [sidenote: maya culture very closely related to mexican.] the mexicans and mayas believed themselves to be akin to each other, they had several deities and a large stock of traditional lore in common, and there was an essential similarity in their modes of life; so that, since we are now assured that such cities as izamal and chichen-itza were contemporary with the city of mexico, we shall probably not go very far astray if we assume that the elaborately carved and bedizened ruins of the former may give us some hint as to how things might have looked in the latter. indeed this complicated and grotesque carving on walls, door-posts, and lintels was one of the first things to attract the attention of the spaniards in mexico. they regarded it with mingled indignation and awe, for serpents, coiled or uncoiled, with gaping mouths, were most conspicuous among the objects represented. the visitors soon learned that all this had a symbolic and religious meaning, and with some show of reason they concluded that this strange people worshipped the devil. * * * * * we have now passed in review the various peoples of north america, from the arctic circle to the neighbourhood of the isthmus of darien, and can form some sort of a mental picture of the continent at the time of its discovery by europeans in the fifteenth century. much more might have been said without going beyond the requirements of an outline sketch, but quite as much has been said as is consistent with the general plan of this book. i have not undertaken at present to go beyond the isthmus of darien, because this preliminary chapter is already disproportionately long, and after this protracted discussion the reader's attention may be somewhat relieved by an entire change of scene. enough has been set forth to explain the narrative that follows, and to justify us henceforth in taking certain things for granted. the outline description of mexico will be completed when we come to the story of its conquest by spaniards, and then we shall be ready to describe some principal features of peruvian society and to understand how the spaniards conquered that country. * * * * * [sidenote: the "mound-builders."] [sidenote: the notion that they were like the aztecs;] [sidenote: or like the zuñis.] there is, however, one conspicuous feature of north american antiquity which has not yet received our attention, and which calls for a few words before we close this chapter. i refer to the mounds that are scattered over so large a part of the soil of the united states, and more particularly to those between the mississippi river and the alleghany mountains, which have been the subject of so much theorizing, and in late years of so much careful study.[ ] vague and wild were the speculations once rife about the "mound-builders" and their wonderful civilization. they were supposed to have been a race quite different from the red men, with a culture perhaps superior to our own, and more or less eloquence was wasted over the vanished "empire" of the mound-builders. there is no reason, however, for supposing that there ever was an empire of any sort in ancient north america, and no relic of the past has ever been seen at any spot on our planet which indicates the former existence of a vanished civilization even remotely approaching our own. the sooner the student of history gets his head cleared of all such rubbish, the better. as for the mounds, which are scattered in such profusion over the country west of the alleghanies, there are some which have been built by indians since the arrival of white men in america, and which contain knives and trinkets of european manufacture. there are many others which are much older, and in which the genuine remains sometimes indicate a culture like that of shawnees or senecas, and sometimes suggest something perhaps a little higher. with the progress of research the vast and vague notion of a distinct race of "mound-builders" became narrowed and defined. it began to seem probable that the builders of the more remarkable mounds were tribes of indians who had advanced beyond the average level in horticulture, and consequently in density of population, and perhaps in political and priestly organization. such a conclusion seemed to be supported by the size of some of the "ancient garden-beds," often covering more than a hundred acres, filled with the low parallel ridges in which corn was planted. the mound people were thus supposed to be semi-civilized red men, like the aztecs, and some of their elevated earthworks were explained as places for human sacrifice, like the pyramids of mexico and central america. it was thought that the "civilization" of the cordilleran peoples might formerly have extended northward and eastward into the mississippi valley, and might after a while have been pushed back by powerful hordes of more barbarous invaders. a further modification and reduction of this theory likened the mound-builders to the pueblo indians of new mexico. such was the opinion of mr. morgan, who offered a very ingenious explanation of the extensive earthworks at high bank, in ross county, ohio, as the fortified site of a pueblo.[ ] although there is no reason for supposing that the mound-builders practised irrigation (which would not be required in the mississippi valley) or used adobe-brick, yet mr. morgan was inclined to admit them into his middle status of barbarism because of the copper hatchets and chisels found in some of the mounds, and because of the apparent superiority in horticulture and the increased reliance upon it. he suggested that a people somewhat like the zuñis might have migrated eastward and modified their building habits to suit the altered conditions of the mississippi valley, where they dwelt for several centuries, until at last, for some unknown reason, they retired to the rocky mountain region. it seems to me that an opinion just the reverse of mr. morgan's would be more easily defensible,--namely, that the ancestors of the pueblo indians were a people of building habits somewhat similar to the mandans, and that their habits became modified in adaptation to a country which demanded careful irrigation and supplied adobe-clay in abundance. if ever they built any of the mounds in the mississippi valley, i should be disposed to place their mound-building period before their pueblo period. [footnote : for original researches in the mounds one cannot do better than consult the following papers in the _reports of the bureau of ethnology_:-- . by w. h. holmes, "art in shell of the ancient americans," ii. - ; "the ancient pottery of the mississippi valley," iv. - ; "prehistoric textile fabrics of the united states," iii. - ; followed by an illustrated catalogue of objects collected chiefly from mounds, iii. - ;-- . h. w. henshaw, "animal carvings from the mounds of the mississippi valley," ii. - ;-- . cyrus thomas, "burial mounds of the northern section of the united states," v. - ; also three of the bureau's "bulletins" by dr. thomas, "the problem of the ohio mounds," "the circular, square, and octagonal earthworks of ohio," and "work in mound exploration of the bureau of ethnology;" also two articles by dr. thomas in the _magazine of american history_:--"the houses of the mound-builders," xi. - ; "indian tribes in prehistoric times," xx. - . see also horatio hale, "indian migrations," in _american antiquarian_, v. - , - ; m. f. force, _to what race did the mound-builders belong?_ cincinnati, ; lucien carr, _mounds of the mississippi valley historically considered_, ; nadaillac's _prehistoric america_, ed. w. h. dall, chaps. iii., iv. the earliest work of fundamental importance on the subject was squier's _ancient monuments of the mississippi valley_, philadelphia, , being the first volume of the smithsonian contributions to knowledge.--for statements of the theory which presumes either a race connection or a similarity in culture between the mound-builders and the pueblo indians, see dawson, _fossil men_, p. ; foster, _prehistoric races of the united states_, chicago, , chaps. iii., v.-x.; sir daniel wilson, _prehistoric man_, chap. x. the annual _smithsonian reports_ for thirty years past illustrate the growth of knowledge and progressive changes of opinion on the subject. the bibliographical account in winsor's _narr. and crit. hist._, i. - , is full of minute information.] [footnote : _houses and house-life_, chap. ix.] [sidenote: the mounds were probably built by different peoples in the lower status of barbarism;] [sidenote: by cherokees;] [sidenote: and by shawnees, and other tribes.] recent researches, however, make it more and more improbable that the mound-builders were nearly akin to such people as the zuñis or similar to them in grade of culture. of late years the exploration of the mounds has been carried on with increasing diligence. more than , mounds have been opened, and at least , ancient relics have been gathered from them: such as quartzite arrow-heads and spades, greenstone axes and hammers, mortars and pestles, tools for spinning and weaving, and cloth, made of spun thread and woven with warp and woof, somewhat like a coarse sail-cloth. the water-jugs, kettles, pipes, and sepulchral urns have been elaborately studied. the net results of all this investigation, up to the present time, have been concisely summed up by dr. cyrus thomas.[ ] the mounds were not all built by one people, but by different tribes as clearly distinguishable from one another as algonquins are distinguishable from iroquois. these mound-building tribes were not superior in culture to the iroquois and many of the algonquins as first seen by white men. they are not to be classified with zuñis, still less with mexicans or mayas, in point of culture, but with shawnees and cherokees. nay more,--some of them _were_ shawnees and cherokees. the missionary johann heckewelder long ago published the lenape tradition of the tallegwi or allighewi people, who have left their name upon the alleghany river and mountains.[ ] the tallegwi have been identified with the cherokees, who are now reckoned among the most intelligent and progressive of indian peoples.[ ] the cherokees were formerly classed in the muskoki group, along with the creeks and choctaws, but a closer study of their language seems to show that they were a somewhat remote offshoot of the huron-iroquois stock. for a long time they occupied the country between the ohio river and the great lakes, and probably built the mounds that are still to be seen there. somewhere about the thirteenth or fourteenth century they were gradually pushed southward into the muskoki region by repeated attacks from the lenape and hurons. the cherokees were probably also the builders of the mounds of eastern tennessee and western north carolina. they retained their mound-building habits some time after the white men came upon the scene. on the other hand the mounds and box-shaped stone graves of kentucky, tennessee, and northern georgia were probably the work of shawnees, and the stone graves in the delaware valley are to be ascribed to the lenape. there are many reasons for believing that the mounds of northern mississippi were constructed by chickasaws, and the burial tumuli and "effigy mounds" of wisconsin by winnebagos. the minnitarees and mandans were also very likely at one time a mound-building people. [footnote : _work in mound exploration of the bureau of ethnology_, washington, . for a sight of the thousands of objects gathered from the mounds, one should visit the peabody museum at cambridge and the smithsonian institution at washington.] [footnote : heckewelder, _history of the indian nations of pennsylvania_, etc., philadelphia, ; cf. squier, _historical and mythological traditions of the algonquins_, a paper read before the new york historical society in june, ; also brinton, _the lenape and their legends_, philadelphia, .] [footnote : for a detailed account of their later history, see c. c. royce, "the cherokee nation," _reports of bureau of ethnology_, v. - .] if this view, which is steadily gaining ground, be correct, our imaginary race of "mound-builders" is broken up and vanishes, and henceforth we may content ourselves with speaking of the authors of the ancient earthworks as "indians." there were times in the career of sundry indian tribes when circumstances induced them to erect mounds as sites for communal houses or council houses, medicine-lodges or burial-places; somewhat as there was a period in the history of our own forefathers in england when circumstances led them to build moated castles, with drawbridge and portcullis; and there is no more occasion for assuming a mysterious race of "mound-builders" in america than for assuming a mysterious race of "castle-builders" in england. * * * * * [sidenote: society in america at the time of the discovery had reached stages similar to stages reached by eastern mediterranean peoples fifty or sixty centuries earlier.] thus, at whatever point we touch the subject of ancient america, we find scientific opinion tending more and more steadily toward the conclusion that its people and their culture were indigenous. one of the most important lessons impressed upon us by a long study of comparative mythology is that human minds in different parts of the world, but under the influence of similar circumstances, develop similar ideas and clothe them in similar forms of expression. it is just the same with political institutions, with the development of the arts, with social customs, with culture generally. to repeat the remark already quoted from sir john lubbock,--and it is well worth repeating,--"different races in similar stages of development often present more features of resemblance to one another than the same race does to itself in different stages of its history." when the zealous abbé brasseur found things in the history of mexico that reminded him of ancient egypt, he hastened to the conclusion that mexican culture was somehow "derived" from that of egypt. it was natural enough for him to do so, but such methods of explanation are now completely antiquated. mexican culture was no more egyptian culture than a prickly-pear is a lotus. it was an outgrowth of peculiar american conditions acting upon the aboriginal american mind, and such of its features as remind us of ancient egypt or prehistoric greece show simply that it was approaching, though it had not reached, the standard attained in those old world countries. from this point of view the resemblances become invested with surpassing interest. ancient america, as we have seen, was a much more archaic world than the world of europe and asia, and presented in the time of columbus forms of society that on the shores of the mediterranean had been outgrown before the city of rome was built. hence the intense and peculiar fascination of american archæology, and its profound importance to the student of general history. chapter ii. pre-columbian voyages. there is something solemn and impressive in the spectacle of human life thus going on for countless ages in the eastern and western halves of our planet, each all unknown to the other and uninfluenced by it. the contact between the two worlds practically begins in . [sidenote: the chinese.] [sidenote: the irish.] [sidenote: cousin, of dieppe.] by this statement it is not meant to deny that occasional visitors may have come and did come before that famous date from the old world to the new. on the contrary i am inclined to suspect that there may have been more such occasional visits than we have been wont to suppose. for the most part, however, the subject is shrouded in the mists of obscure narrative and fantastic conjecture. when it is argued that in the fifth century of the christian era certain buddhist missionary priests came from china by way of kamtchatka and the aleutian islands, and kept on till they got to a country which they called fusang, and which was really mexico, one cannot reply that such a thing was necessarily and absolutely impossible; but when other critics assure us that, after all, fusang was really japan, perhaps one feels a slight sense of relief.[ ] so of the dim whispers of voyages to america undertaken by the irish, in the days when the cloisters of sweet innisfallen were a centre of piety and culture for northwestern europe,[ ] we may say that this sort of thing has not much to do with history, or history with it. irish anchorites certainly went to iceland in the seventh century,[ ] and in the course of this book we shall have frequent occasion to observe that first and last there has been on all seas a good deal of blowing and drifting done. it is credibly reported that japanese junks have been driven ashore on the coasts of oregon and california;[ ] and there is a story that in a certain jean cousin, of dieppe, while sailing down the west coast of africa, was caught in a storm and blown across to brazil.[ ] this was certainly quite possible, for it was not so very unlike what happened in to pedro alvarez de cabral, as we shall hereafter see;[ ] nevertheless, the evidence adduced in support of the story will hardly bear a critical examination.[ ] [footnote : this notion of the chinese visiting mexico was set forth by the celebrated deguignes in , in the _mémoires de l'académie des inscriptions_, tom. xxviii. pp. - . its absurdity was shown by klaproth, "recherches sur le pays de fou sang," _nouvelles annales des voyages_, paris, , e série, tom. xxi. pp. - ; see also klaproth's introduction to _annales des empereurs du japon_, paris, , pp. iv.-ix.; humboldt, _examen critique de l'histoire de la géographie du nouveau continent_, paris, , tom. ii. pp. - . the fancy was revived by c. g. leland ("hans breitmann"), in his _fusang_, london, , and was again demolished by the missionary, s. w. williams, in the _journal of the american oriental society_, vol. xi., new haven, .] [footnote : on the noble work of the irish church and its missionaries in the sixth and seventh centuries, see montalembert, _les moines d'occident_, tom. ii. pp. - ; tom. iii. pp. - ; burton's _history of scotland_, vol. i. pp. - ; and the instructive map in miss sophie bryant's _celtic ireland_, london, , p. . the notice of the subject in milman's _latin christianity_, vol. ii. pp. - , is entirely inadequate.] [footnote : the passion for solitude led some of the disciples of st. columba to make their way from iona to the hebrides, and thence to the orkneys, shetlands, færoes, and iceland, where a colony of them remained until the arrival of the northmen in . see dicuil, _liber de mensura orbis terræ_ (a. d. ), paris, ; innes, _scotland in the middle ages_, p. ; lanigan, _ecclesiastical history of ireland_, chap. iii.; maurer, _beiträge zur rechtsgeschichte des germanischen nordens_, i. . for the legend of st. brandan, see gaffarel, _les voyages de st. brandan_, paris, .] [footnote : c. w. brooks, of san francisco, cited in higginson, _larger history of the united states_, p. .] [footnote : desmarquets, _mémoires chronologiques pour servir à l'histoire de dieppe_, paris, , tom. i. pp. - ; estancelin, _recherches sur les voyages et découvertes des navigateurs normands_, etc., paris, , pp. - .] [footnote : see below, vol. ii. p. .] [footnote : as harrisse says, concerning the alleged voyages of cousin and others, "quant aux voyages du dieppois jean cousin en , de joão ramalho en , et de joão vaz cortereal en ou , le lecteur nous pardonnera de les passer sous silence." _christophe colomb_, paris, , tom. i. p. .] [sidenote: those stories are of little value;] it is not my purpose to weary the reader with a general discussion of these and some other legends or rumours of pre-columbian visitors to america. we may admit, at once, that "there is no good reason why any one of them may not have done" what is claimed, but at the same time the proof that any one of them _did_ do it is very far from satisfactory.[ ] moreover the questions raised are often of small importance, and belong not so much to the serious workshop of history as to its limbo prepared for learned trifles, whither we will hereby relegate them.[ ] [footnote : winsor, _narr. and crit. hist._, i. .] [footnote : sufficiently full references may be found in watson's _bibliography of the pre-columbian discoveries of america_, appended to anderson's _america not discovered by columbus_, d ed., chicago, , pp. - ; and see the learned chapters by w. h. tillinghast on "the geographical knowledge of the ancients considered in relation to the discovery of america," and by justin winsor on "pre-columbian explorations," in _narr. and crit. hist._, vol. i.] [sidenote: but the case of the northmen is entirely different.] [sidenote: the viking exodus from norway.] [sidenote: founding of iceland, a. d. .] but when we come to the voyages of the northmen in the tenth and eleventh centuries, it is quite a different affair. not only is this a subject of much historic interest, but in dealing with it we stand for a great part of the time upon firm historic ground. the narratives which tell us of vinland and of leif ericsson are closely intertwined with the authentic history of norway and iceland. in the ninth century of our era there was a process of political consolidation going on in norway, somewhat as in england under egbert and his successors. after a war of twelve years, king harold fairhair overthrew the combined forces of the jarls, or small independent princes, in the decisive naval battle of hafursfiord in the year . this resulted in making harold the feudal landlord of norway. allodial tenures were abolished, and the jarls were required to become his vassals. this consolidation of the kingdom was probably beneficial in its main consequences, but to many a proud spirit and crafty brain it made life in norway unendurable. these bold jarls and their viking[ ] followers, to whom, as to the ancient greeks, the sea was not a barrier, but a highway,[ ] had no mind to stay at home and submit to unwonted thraldom. so they manned their dragon-prowed keels, invoked the blessing of wodan, god of storms, upon their enterprise, and sailed away. some went to reinforce their kinsmen who were making it so hot for alfred in england[ ] and for charles the bald in gaul; some had already visited ireland and were establishing themselves at dublin and limerick; others now followed and found homes for themselves in the hebrides and all over scotland north of glorious loch linnhe and the murray frith; some made their way through the blue mediterranean to "micklegard," the great city of the byzantine emperor, and in his service wielded their stout axes against magyar and saracen;[ ] some found their amphibious natures better satisfied upon the islands of the atlantic ridge,--the orkneys, shetlands, and færoes, and especially noble iceland. there an aristocratic republic soon grew up, owning slight and indefinite allegiance to the kings of norway.[ ] the settlement of iceland was such a wholesale colonization of communities of picked men as had not been seen since ancient greek times, and was not to be seen again until winthrop sailed into massachusetts bay. it was not long before the population of iceland exceeded , souls. their sheep and cattle flourished, hay crops were heavy, a lively trade--with fish, oil, butter, skins, and wool, in exchange for meal and malt--was kept up with norway, denmark, and the british islands, political freedom was unimpaired,[ ] justice was (for the middle ages) fairly well administered, naval superiority kept all foes at a distance; and under such conditions the growth of the new community in wealth[ ] and culture was surprisingly rapid. in the twelfth century, before literature had begun to blossom in the modern speech of france or spain or italy, there was a flourishing literature in prose and verse in iceland. especial attention was paid to history, and the "landnáma-bók," or statistical and genealogical account of the early settlers, was the most complete and careful work of the kind which had ever been undertaken by any people down to quite recent times. few persons in our day adequately realize the extent of the early icelandic literature or its richness. the poems, legends, and histories earlier than the date when dante walked and mused in the streets of florence survive for us now in some hundreds of works, for the most part of rare and absorbing interest. the "heimskringla," or chronicle of snorro sturleson, written about , is one of the greatest history books in the world.[ ] [footnote : the proper division of this old norse word is not into _v[=i]-king_, but into _v[)i]k-ing_. the first syllable means a "bay" or "fiord," the second is a patronymic termination, so that "vikings" are "sons of the fiord,"--an eminently appropriate and descriptive name.] [footnote : curtius (_griechische etymologie_, p. ) connects [greek: pontos] with [greek: patos]; compare the homeric expressions [greek: hygra keleutha, ichthyoenta keleutha], etc.] [footnote : the descendants of these northmen formed a very large proportion of the population of the east anglian counties, and consequently of the men who founded new england. the east anglian counties have been conspicuous for resistance to tyranny and for freedom of thought. see my _beginnings of new england_, p. .] [footnote : they were the varangian guard at constantinople, described by sir walter scott in _count robert of paris_. about this same time their kinsmen, the russ, moving eastward from sweden, were subjecting slavic tribes as far as novgorod and kief, and laying the foundations of the power that has since, through many and strange vicissitudes, developed into russia. see thomsen, _the relations between ancient russia and scandinavia_, oxford, .] [footnote : fealty to norway was not formally declared until .] [footnote : the settlement of iceland is celebrated by robert lowe in verses which show that, whatever his opinion may have been in later years as to the use of a classical education, his own early studies must always have been a source of comfort to him:-- [greek: chaire kai en nephelaisi kai en niphadessi bareiais kai pyri kai seismois nêse saleuomenê enthade gar basilêos hyperbion hybrin alyxas dêmos hyperboreôn, kosmou ep' eschatiê, autarkê bioton theiôn t' erethismata mousôn kai thesmous hagnês heuren eleutherias.] these verses are thus rendered by sir edmund head (_viga glums saga_, p. v.):-- "hail, isle! with mist and snowstorms girt around, where fire and earthquake rend the shattered ground,-- here once o'er furthest ocean's icy path the northmen fled a tyrant monarch's wrath: here, cheered by song and story, dwelt they free, and held unscathed their laws and liberty." laing (_heimskringla_, vol. i. p. ) couples iceland and new england as the two modern colonies most distinctly "founded on principle and peopled at first from higher motives than want or gain."] [footnote : just what was then considered wealth, for an individual, may best be understood by a concrete instance. the historian snorro sturleson, born in , was called a rich man. "in one year, in which fodder was scarce, he lost head of oxen without being seriously affected by it." the fortune which he got with his first wife herdisa, in , was equivalent nominally to $ , , or, according to the standard of to-day, about $ , . laing, _heimskringla_, vol. i. pp. , .] [footnote : laing's excellent english translation of it was published in london in . the preliminary dissertation, in five chapters, is of great value. a new edition, revised by prof. rasmus anderson, was published in london in . another charming book is sir george dasent's _story of burnt njal_, edinburgh, , vols., translated from the _njals saga_. both the saga itself and the translator's learned introduction give an admirable description of life in iceland at the end of the tenth century, the time when the voyages to america were made. it is a very instructive chapter in history. the icelanders of the present day retain the old norse language, while on the continent it has been modified into swedish and norwegian-danish. they are a well-educated people, and, in proportion to their numbers, publish many books.] [sidenote: discovery of greenland, .] [sidenote: eric's colony in greenland, .] now from various icelandic chronicles[ ] we learn that in , only two years after the island commonwealth was founded, one of the settlers named gunnbjörn was driven by foul weather to some point on the coast of greenland, where he and his crew contrived to pass the winter, their ship being locked in ice; when the spring set them free, they returned to iceland. in the year eric the red, a settler upon Öxney (ox-island) near the mouth of breidafiord, was outlawed for killing a man in a brawl. eric then determined to search for the western land which gunnbjörn had discovered. he set out with a few followers, and in the next three years these bold sailors explored the coasts of greenland pretty thoroughly for a considerable distance on each side of cape farewell. at length they found a suitable place for a home, at the head of igaliko fiord, not far from the site of the modern julianeshaab.[ ] it was fit work for vikings to penetrate so deep a fiord and find out such a spot, hidden as it is by miles upon miles of craggy and ice-covered headlands. they proved their sagacity by pitching upon one of the pleasantest spots on the gaunt greenland coast; and there upon a smooth grassy plain may still be seen the ruins of seventeen houses built of rough blocks of sandstone, their chinks caulked up with clay and gravel. in contrast with most of its bleak surroundings the place might well be called greenland, and so eric named it, for, said he, it is well to have a pleasant name if we would induce people to come hither. the name thus given by eric to this chosen spot has been extended in modern usage to the whole of the vast continental region north of davis strait, for the greater part of which it is a flagrant misnomer.[ ] in eric ventured back to iceland, and was so successful in enlisting settlers for greenland that on his return voyage he started with five and twenty ships. the loss from foul weather and icebergs was cruel. eleven vessels were lost; the remaining fourteen, carrying probably from four to five hundred souls, arrived safely at the head of igaliko fiord, and began building their houses at the place called brattahlid. their settlement presently extended over the head of tunnudliorbik fiord, the next deep inlet to the northwest; they called it ericsfiord. after a while it extended westward as far as immartinek, and eastward as far as the site of friedrichsthal; and another distinct settlement of less extent was also made about four hundred miles to the northwest, near the present site of godthaab. the older settlement, which began at igaliko fiord, was known as the east bygd;[ ] the younger settlement, near godthaab, was called the west bygd. [footnote : a full collection of these chronicles is given in rafn's _antiquitates americanæ_, copenhagen, , in the original icelandic, with danish and latin translations. this book is of great value for its full and careful reproduction of original texts; although the rash speculations and the want of critical discernment shown in the editor's efforts to determine the precise situation of vinland have done much to discredit the whole subject in the eyes of many scholars. that is, however, very apt to be the case with first attempts, like rafn's, and the obvious defects of his work should not be allowed to blind us to its merits. in the footnotes to the present chapter i shall cite it simply as "rafn;" as the exact phraseology is often important, i shall usually cite the original icelandic, and (for the benefit of readers unfamiliar with that language) shall also give the latin version, which has been well made, and quite happily reflects the fresh and pithy vigour of the original. an english translation of all the essential parts may be found in de costa, _pre-columbian discovery of america by the northmen_, d ed., albany, ; see also slafter, _voyages of the northmen to america_, boston, (prince society). an icelandic version, interpolated in peringskiold's edition of the _heimskringla_, , is translated in laing, vol. iii. pp. - . the first modern writer to call attention to the icelandic voyages to greenland and vinland was arngrim jónsson, in his _crymogoea_, hamburg, , and more explicitly in his _specimen islandiæ historicum_, amsterdam, . the voyages are also mentioned by campanius, in his _kort beskrifning om provincien nya swerige uti america_, stockholm, . the first, however, to bring the subject prominently before european readers was that judicious scholar thormodus torfæus, in his two books _historia vinlandiæ antiquæ_, and _historia gronlandiæ antiquæ_, copenhagen, and . later writers have until very recently added but little that is important to the work of torfæus. in the voluminous literature of the subject the discussions chiefly worthy of mention are forster's _geschichte der entdeckungen und schiffahrten im norden_, frankfort, , pp. - ; and humboldt, _examen critique_, etc., paris, , tom. i. pp. - ; see, also, major, _select letters of columbus_, london, (hakluyt soc.) pp. xii.-xxi. the fifth chapter of samuel laing's preliminary dissertation to the _heimskringla_, which is devoted to this subject, is full of good sense; for the most part the shrewd orkneyman gets at the core of the thing, though now and then a little closer knowledge of america would have been useful to him. the latest critical discussion of the sources, marking a very decided advance since rafn's time, is the paper by gustav storm, professor of history in the university of christiania, "studier over vinlandsreiserne," in _aarbøger for nordisk oldkyndighed og historie_, copenhagen, , pp. - . since this chapter was written i have seen an english translation of the valuable paper just mentioned, "studies on the vineland voyages," in _mémoires de la société royale des antiquaires du nord_, copenhagen, , pp. - . i have therefore in most cases altered my footnote references below, making the page-numbers refer to the english version (in which, by the way, some parts of the norwegian original are, for no very obvious reason, omitted). by an odd coincidence there comes to me at the same time a book fresh from the press, whose rare beauty of mechanical workmanship is fully equalled by its intrinsic merit, _the finding of wineland the good--the history of the icelandic discovery of america_, edited and translated from the earliest records by arthur middleton reeves, london, . this beautiful quarto contains phototype plates of the original icelandic vellums in the _hauks-bók_, the ms. am. , and the _flateyar-bók_, together with the texts carefully edited, an admirable english translation, and several chapters of critical discussion decidedly better than anything that has gone before it. on reading it carefully through, it seems to me the best book we have on the subject in english, or perhaps in any language. since the above was written, the news has come of the sudden and dreadful death of mr. reeves, in the railroad disaster at hagerstown, indiana, february , . mr. reeves was an american scholar of most brilliant promise, only in his thirty-fifth year.] [footnote : rink, _danish greenland_, p. .] [footnote : we thus see the treacherousness of one of the arguments cited by the illustrious arago to prove that the greenland coast must be colder now than in the tenth century. the icelanders, he thinks, called it "a green land" because of its verdure, and therefore it must have been warmer than at present. but the land which eric called green was evidently nothing more than the region about julianeshaab, which still has plenty of verdure; and so the argument falls to the ground. see arago, _sur l'état thermométrique du globe terrestre_, in his _oeuvres_, tom. v. p. . there are reasons, however, for believing that greenland was warmer in the tenth century than at present. see below, p. .] [footnote : the map is reduced from rafn's _antiquitates americanæ_, tab. xv. the ruins dotted here and there upon it have been known ever since the last rediscovery of greenland in , but until after they were generally supposed to be the ruins of the west bygd. after the fifteenth century, when the old colony had perished, and its existence had become a mere literary tradition, there grew up a notion that the names east bygd and west bygd indicated that the two settlements must have been respectively eastward and westward of cape farewell; and after much time was wasted in looking for vestiges of human habitations on the barren and ice-bound eastern coast. at length, in - , the exploring expedition sent out by the danish government, under the very able and intelligent captain graah, demonstrated that both settlements were west of cape farewell, and that the ruins here indicated upon the map are the ruins of the east bygd. it now became apparent that a certain description of greenland by ivar bardsen--written in greenland in the fourteenth century, and generally accessible to european scholars since the end of the sixteenth, but not held in much esteem before captain graah's expedition--was quite accurate and extremely valuable. from bardsen's description, about which we shall have more to say hereafter, we can point out upon the map the ancient sites with much confidence. of those mentioned in the present work, the bishop's church, or "cathedral" (a view of which is given below, p. ), was at kakortok. the village of gardar, which gave its name to the bishopric, was at kaksiarsuk, at the northeastern extremity of igaliko fiord. opposite kaksiarsuk, on the western fork of the fiord, the reader will observe a ruined church; that marks the site of brattahlid. the fiord of igaliko was called by the northmen einarsfiord; and that of tunnudliorbik was their ericsfiord. the monastery of st. olaus, visited by nicolò zeno (see below, p. ), is supposed by mr. major to have been situated near the iisblink at the bottom of tessermiut fiord, between the east shore of the fiord and the small lake indicated on the map.] [illustration: the east bygd, or eastern settlement of the northmen in greenland.] this colonization of greenland by the northmen in the tenth century is as well established as any event that occurred in the middle ages. for four hundred years the fortunes of the greenland colony formed a part, albeit a very humble part, of european history. geographically speaking, greenland is reckoned as a part of america, of the western hemisphere, and not of the eastern. the northmen who settled in greenland had, therefore, in this sense found their way to america. nevertheless one rightly feels that in the history of geographical discovery an arrival of europeans in greenland is equivalent merely to reaching the vestibule or ante-chamber of the western hemisphere. it is an affair begun and ended outside of the great world of the red men. but the story does not end here. into the world of the red men the voyagers from iceland did assuredly come, as indeed, after once getting a foothold upon greenland, they could hardly fail to do. let us pursue the remainder of the story as we find it in our icelandic sources of information, and afterwards it will be proper to inquire into the credibility of these sources. [sidenote: voyage of bjarni herjulfson, .] one of the men who accompanied eric to greenland was named herjulf, whose son bjarni, after roving the seas for some years, came home to iceland in to drink the yuletide ale with his father. finding him gone, he weighed anchor and started after him to greenland, but encountered foggy weather, and sailed on for many days by guess-work without seeing sun or stars. when at length he sighted land it was a shore without mountains, showing only small heights covered with dense woods. it was evidently not the land of fiords and glaciers for which bjarni was looking. so without stopping to make explorations he turned his prow to the north and kept on. the sky was now fair, and after scudding nine or ten days with a brisk breeze astern, bjarni saw the icy crags of greenland looming up before him, and after some further searching found his way to his father's new home.[ ] on the route he more than once sighted land on the larboard. [footnote : in herjulfsfiord, at the entrance to which the modern friedrichsthal is situated. across the fiord from friedrichsthal a ruined church stands upon the cape formerly known as herjulfsness. see map.] [sidenote: conversion of the northmen to christianity.] this adventure of bjarni's seems not to have excited general curiosity or to have awakened speculation. indeed, in the dense geographical ignorance of those times there is no reason why it should have done so. about bjarni was in norway, and one or two people expressed some surprise that he did not take more pains to learn something about the country he had seen; but nothing came of such talk till it reached the ears of leif, the famous son of eric the red. this wise and stately man[ ] spent a year or two in norway about . roman missionary priests were then preaching up and down the land, and had converted the king, olaf tryggvesson, great-grandson of harold fairhair. leif became a christian and was baptised, and when he returned to greenland he took priests with him who converted many people, though old eric, it is said, preferred to go in the way of his fathers, and deemed boisterous valhalla, with its cups of wassail, a place of better cheer than the new jerusalem, with its streets of gold. [footnote : "leifr var mikill madhr ok sterkr, manna sköruligastr at sjá, vitr madhr ok gódhr hófsmadhr um alla hluti," i. e. "leif was a large man and strong, of noble aspect, prudent and moderate in all things." rafn, p. .] [sidenote: leif ericsson's voyage, .] [sidenote: helluland.] [sidenote: markland.] [sidenote: vinland.] leif's zeal for the conversion of his friends in greenland did not so far occupy his mind as to prevent him from undertaking a voyage of discovery. his curiosity had been stimulated by what he had heard about bjarni's experiences, and he made up his mind to go and see what the coasts to the south of greenland were like. he sailed from brattahlid--probably in the summer or early autumn of the year [ ]--with a crew of five and thirty men. some distance to the southward they came upon a barren country covered with big flat stones, so that they called it helluland, or "slate-land." there is little room for doubt that this was the coast opposite greenland, either west or east of the strait of belle isle; in other words, it was either labrador or the northern coast of newfoundland. thence, keeping generally to the southward, our explorers came after some days to a thickly wooded coast, where they landed and inspected the country. what chiefly impressed them was the extent of the forest, so that they called the place markland, or "wood-land." some critics have supposed that this spot was somewhere upon the eastern or southern coast of newfoundland, but the more general opinion places it somewhere upon the coast of cape breton island or nova scotia. from this markland our voyagers stood out to sea, and running briskly before a stiff northeaster it was more than two days before they came in sight of land. then, after following the coast for a while, they went ashore at a place where a river, issuing from a lake, fell into the sea. they brought their ship up into the lake and cast anchor. the water abounded in excellent fish, and the country seemed so pleasant that leif decided to pass the winter there, and accordingly his men put up some comfortable wooden huts or booths. one day one of the party, a "south country" man, whose name was tyrker,[ ] came in from a ramble in the neighbourhood making grimaces and talking to himself in his own language (probably german), which his comrades did not understand. on being interrogated as to the cause of his excitement, he replied that he had discovered vines loaded with grapes, and was much pleased at the sight inasmuch as he had been brought up in a vine country. wild grapes, indeed, abounded in this autumn season, and leif accordingly called the country vinland. the winter seems to have passed off very comfortably. even the weather seemed mild to these visitors from high latitudes, and they did not fail to comment on the unusual length of the winter day. their language on this point has been so construed as to make the length of the shortest winter day exactly nine hours, which would place their vinland in about the latitude of boston. but their expressions do not admit of any such precise construction; and when we remember that they had no accurate instruments for measuring time, and that a difference of about fourteen minutes between sunrise and sunset on the shortest winter day would make all the difference between boston and halifax, we see how idle it is to look for the requisite precision in narratives of this sort, and to treat them as one would treat the reports of a modern scientific exploring expedition. [footnote : the year seems to have been that in which christianity was definitely established by law in iceland, viz., a. d. . the chronicle _thattr eireks raudha_ is careful about verifying its dates by checking one against another. see rafn, p. . the most masterly work on the conversion of the scandinavian people is maurer's _die bekehrung des norwegischen stammes zum christenthume_, munich, ; for an account of the missionary work in iceland and greenland, see vol. i. pp. - , - .] [footnote : the name means "turk," and has served as a touchstone for the dullness of commentators. to the northmen a "southman" would naturally be a german, and why should a german be called a turk? or how should these northmen happen to have had a turk in their company? mr. laing suggests that he may have been a magyar. yes; or he may have visited the eastern empire and taken part in a fight _against_ turks, and so have got a soubriquet, just as thorhall gamlason, after returning from vinland to iceland, was ever afterward known as "the vinlander." that did not mean that he was an american redskin. see below, p. . from tyrker's grimaces one commentator sagely infers that he had been eating grapes and got drunk; and another (even mr. laing!) thinks it necessary to remind us that all the grape-juice in vinland would not fuddle a man unless it had been fermented,--and then goes on to ascribe the absurdity to our innocent chronicle, instead of the stupid annotator. see _heimskringla_, vol. i. p. .] [sidenote: voyages of thorvald and thorstein, - .] in the spring of leif returned to greenland with a cargo of timber.[ ] the voyage made much talk. leif's brother thorvald caught the inspiration,[ ] and, borrowing leif's ship, sailed in , and succeeded in finding vinland and leif's huts, where his men spent two winters. in the intervening summer they went on an exploring expedition along the coast, fell in with some savages in canoes, and got into a fight in which thorvald was killed by an arrow. in the spring of the ship returned to brattahlid. next year the third brother, thorstein ericsson, set out in the same ship, with his wife gudrid and a crew of thirty-five men; but they were sore bestead with foul weather, got nowhere, and accomplished nothing. thorstein died on the voyage, and his widow returned to greenland. [footnote : on the homeward voyage he rescued some shipwrecked sailors near the coast of greenland, and was thenceforward called leif the lucky (et postea cognominatus est leivus fortunatus). the pleasant reports from the newly found country gave it the name of "vinland the good." in the course of the winter following leif's return his father died.] [footnote : "jam crebri de leivi in vinlandiam profectione sermones serebantur, thorvaldus vero, frater ejus, nimis pauca terræ loca explorata fuisse judicavit." rafn, p. .] [sidenote: thorfinn karlsefni, and his unsuccessful attempt to found a colony in vinland, - .] in the course of the next summer, , there came to brattahlid from iceland a notable personage, a man of craft and resource, wealthy withal and well born, with the blood of many kinglets or jarls flowing in his veins. this man, thorfinn karlsefni, straightway fell in love with the young and beautiful widow gudrid, and in the course of the winter there was a merry wedding at brattahlid. persuaded by his adventurous bride, whose spirit had been roused by the reports from vinland and by her former unsuccessful attempt to find it, thorfinn now undertook to visit that country in force sufficient for founding a colony there. accordingly in the spring of he started with three or four ships,[ ] carrying one hundred and sixty men, several women, and quite a cargo of cattle. in the course of that year his son snorro was born in vinland,[ ] and our chronicle tells us that this child was three years old before the disappointed company turned their backs upon that land of promise and were fain to make their way homeward to the fiords of greenland. it was the hostility of the natives that compelled thorfinn to abandon his enterprise. at first they traded with him, bartering valuable furs for little strips of scarlet cloth which they sought most eagerly; and they were as terribly frightened by his cattle as the aztecs were in later days by the spanish horses.[ ] the chance bellowing of a bull sent them squalling to the woods, and they did not show themselves again for three weeks. after a while quarrels arose, the natives attacked in great numbers, many northmen were killed, and in the survivors returned to greenland with a cargo of timber and peltries. on the way thither the ships seem to have separated, and one of them, commanded by bjarni grimolfsson, found itself bored by worms (the _teredo_) and sank, with its commander and half the crew.[ ] [footnote : three is the number usually given, but at least four of their ships would be needed for so large a company; and besides thorfinn himself, three other captains are mentioned,--snorro thorbrandsson, bjarni grimolfsson, and thorhall gamlason. the narrative gives a picturesque account of this thorhall, who was a pagan and fond of deriding his comrades for their belief in the new-fangled christian notions. he seems to have left his comrades and returned to europe before they had abandoned their enterprise. a further reference to him will be made below, p. .] [footnote : to this boy snorro many eminent men have traced their ancestry,--bishops, university professors, governors of iceland, and ministers of state in norway and denmark. the learned antiquarian finn magnusson and the celebrated sculptor thorwaldsen regarded themselves as thus descended from thorfinn karlsefni.] [footnote : compare the alarm of the wampanoag indians in at the sight of martin pring's mastiff. winsor, _narr. and crit. hist._, iii. .] [footnote : the fate of bjarni was pathetic and noble. it was decided that as many as possible should save themselves in the stern boat. "then bjarni ordered that the men should go in the boat by lot, and not according to rank. as it would not hold all, they accepted the saying, and when the lots were drawn, the men went out of the ship into the boat. the lot was that bjarni should go down from the ship to the boat with one half of the men. then those to whom the lot fell went down from the ship to the boat. when they had come into the boat, a young icelander, who was the companion of bjarni, said: 'now thus do you intend to leave me, bjarni?' bjarni replied, 'that now seems necessary.' he replied with these words: 'thou art not true to the promise made when i left my father's house in iceland.' bjarni replied: 'in this thing i do not see any other way'; continuing, 'what course can you suggest?' he said: 'i see this, that we change places and thou come up here and i go down there.' bjarni replied: 'let it be so, since i see that you are so anxious to live, and are frightened by the prospect of death.' then they changed places, and he descended into the boat with the men, and bjarni went up into the ship. it is related that bjarni and the sailors with him in the ship perished in the worm sea. those who went in the boat went on their course until they came to land, where they told all these things." de costa's version from _saga thorfinns karlsefnis_, rafn, pp. - .] [sidenote: freydis, and her evil deeds in vinland, - .] among karlsefni's companions on this memorable expedition was one thorvard, with his wife freydis, a natural daughter of eric the red. about the time of their return to greenland in the summer of , a ship arrived from norway, commanded by two brothers, helgi and finnbogi. during the winter a new expedition was planned, and in the summer of two ships set sail for vinland, one with freydis, thorvard, and a crew of men, the other with helgi and finnbogi, and a crew of men. there were also a number of women. the purpose was not to found a colony but to cut timber. the brothers arrived first at leif's huts and had begun carrying in their provisions and tools, when freydis, arriving soon afterward, ordered them off the premises. they had no right, she said, to occupy her brother's houses. so they went out and built other huts for their party a little farther from the shore. before their business was accomplished "winter set in, and the brothers proposed to have some games for amusement to pass the time. so it was done for a time, till discord came among them, and the games were given up, and none went from one house to the other; and things went on so during a great part of the winter." at length came the catastrophe. freydis one night complained to her husband that the brothers had given her evil words and struck her, and insisted that he should forthwith avenge the affront. presently thorvard, unable to bear her taunts, was aroused to a deed of blood. with his followers he made a night attack upon the huts of helgi and finnbogi, seized and bound all the occupants, and killed the men one after another in cold blood. five women were left whom thorvard would have spared; as none of his men would raise a hand against them, freydis herself took an axe and brained them one and all. in the spring of the party sailed for brattahlid in the ship of the murdered brothers, which was the larger and better of the two. freydis pretended that they had exchanged ships and left the other party in vinland. with gifts to her men, and dire threats for any who should dare tell what had been done, she hoped to keep them silent. words were let drop, however, which came to leif's ears, and led him to arrest three of the men and put them to the torture until they told the whole story. "'i have not the heart,' said leif, 'to treat my wicked sister as she deserves; but this i will foretell them [freydis and thorvard] that their posterity will never thrive.' so it went that nobody thought anything of them save evil from that time." [sidenote: the whole story is eminently probable.] with this grewsome tale ends all account of norse attempts at exploring or colonizing vinland, though references to vinland by no means end here.[ ] taking the narrative as a whole, it seems to me a sober, straightforward, and eminently probable story. we may not be able to say with confidence exactly where such places as markland and vinland were, but it is clear that the coasts visited on these southerly and southwesterly voyages from brattahlid must have been parts of the coast of north america, unless the whole story is to be dismissed as a figment of somebody's imagination. but for a figment of the imagination, and of european imagination withal, it has far too many points of verisimilitude, as i shall presently show. [footnote : the stories of gudleif gudlaugsson and ari marsson, with the fanciful speculations about "hvitramannaland" and "irland it mikla," do not seem worthy of notice in this connection. they may be found in de costa, _op. cit._ pp. - ; and see reeves, _the finding of wineland the good_, chap. v.] [sidenote: voyage into baffin's bay, .] in the first place, it is an extremely probable story from the time that eric once gets settled in brattahlid. the founding of the greenland colony is the only strange or improbable part of the narrative, but that is corroborated in so many other ways that we know it to be true; as already observed, no fact in mediæval history is better established. when i speak of the settlement of greenland as strange, i do not mean that there is anything strange in the northmen's accomplishing the voyage thither from iceland. that island is nearer to greenland than to norway, and we know, moreover, that norse sailors achieved more difficult things than penetrating the fiords of southern greenland. upon the island of kingitorsook in baffin's bay ( ° ' n., ° ' w.) near upernavik, in a region supposed to have been unvisited by man before the modern age of arctic exploration, there were found in some small artificial mounds with an inscription upon stone:--"erling sighvatson and bjarni thordharson and eindrid oddson raised these marks and cleared ground on saturday before ascension week, ." that is to say, they took symbolic possession of the land.[ ] [footnote : laing, _heimskringla_, i. .] [sidenote: a viking ship discovered at sandefiord, in norway.] in order to appreciate how such daring voyages were practicable, we must bear in mind that the viking "ships" were probably stronger and more seaworthy, and certainly much swifter, than the spanish vessels of the time of columbus. one was unearthed a few years ago at sandefiord in norway, and may be seen at the museum in christiania. its pagan owner had been buried in it, and his bones were found amidships, along with the bones of a dog and a peacock, a few iron fish-hooks and other articles. bones of horses and dogs, probably sacrificed at the funeral according to the ancient norse custom, lay scattered about. this craft has been so well described by colonel higginson,[ ] that i may as well quote the passage in full:-- [footnote : see his _larger history of the united states_, pp. - .] [sidenote: description of the ship.] she "was seventy-seven feet eleven inches at the greatest length, and sixteen feet eleven inches at the greatest width, and from the top of the keel to the gunwale amidships she was five feet nine inches deep. she had twenty ribs, and would draw less than four feet of water. she was clinker-built; that is, had plates slightly overlapped, like the shingles on the side of a house. the planks and timbers of the frame were fastened together with withes made of roots, but the oaken boards of the side were united by iron rivets firmly clinched. the bow and stern were similar in shape, and must have risen high out of water, but were so broken that it was impossible to tell how they originally ended. the keel was deep and made of thick oak beams, and there was no trace of any metallic sheathing; but an iron anchor was found almost rusted to pieces. there was no deck and the seats for rowers had been taken out. the oars were twenty feet long, and the oar-holes, sixteen on each side, had slits sloping towards the stern to allow the blades of the oars to be put through from inside. the most peculiar thing about the ship was the rudder, which was on the starboard or right side, this side being originally called 'steerboard' from this circumstance. the rudder was like a large oar, with long blade and short handle, and was attached, not to the side of the boat, but to the end of a conical piece of wood which projected almost a foot from the side of the vessel, and almost two feet from the stern. this piece of wood was bored down its length, and no doubt a rope passing through it secured the rudder to the ship's side. it was steered by a tiller attached to the handle, and perhaps also by a rope fastened to the blade. as a whole, this disinterred vessel proved to be anything but the rude and primitive craft which might have been expected; it was neatly built and well preserved, constructed on what a sailor would call beautiful lines, and eminently fitted for sea service. many such vessels may be found depicted on the celebrated bayeux tapestry; and the peculiar position of the rudder explains the treaty mentioned in the heimskringla, giving to norway all lands lying west of scotland between which and the mainland a vessel could pass with her rudder shipped.... this was not one of the very largest ships, for some of them had thirty oars on each side, and vessels carrying from twenty to twenty-five were not uncommon. the largest of these were called dragons, and other sizes were known as serpents or cranes. the ship itself was often so built as to represent the name it bore: the dragon, for instance, was a long low vessel, with the gilded head of a dragon at the bow, and the gilded tail at the stern; the moving oars at the side might represent the legs of the imaginary creature, the row of shining red and white shields that were hung over the gunwale looked like the monster's scales, and the sails striped with red and blue might suggest his wings. the ship preserved at christiania is described as having had but a single mast, set into a block of wood so large that it is said no such block could now be cut in norway. probably the sail was much like those still carried by large open boats in that country,--a single square on a mast forty feet long.[ ] these masts have no standing rigging, and are taken down when not in use; and this was probably the practice of the vikings." [footnote : perhaps it may have been a square-headed lug, like those of the deal galley-punts; see leslie's _old sea wings, ways, and words, in the days of oak and hemp_, london, , p. .] [sidenote: the climate of greenland.] in such vessels, well stocked with food and weapons, the northmen were accustomed to spend many weeks together on the sea, now and then touching land. in such vessels they made their way to algiers and constantinople, to the white sea, to baffin's bay. it is not, therefore, their voyage to greenland that seems strange, but it is their success in founding a colony which could last for more than four centuries in that inhospitable climate. the question is sometimes asked whether the climate of greenland may not have undergone some change within the last thousand years.[ ] if there has been any change, it must have been very slight; such as, perhaps, a small variation in the flow of ocean currents might occasion. i am inclined to believe that there may have been such a change, from the testimony of ivar bardsen, steward of the gardar bishopric in the latter half of the fourteenth century, or about halfway between the time of eric the red and our own time. according to bardsen there had long been a downward drifting of ice from the north and a consequent accumulation of bergs and floes upon the eastern coast of greenland, insomuch that the customary route formerly followed by ships coming from iceland was no longer safe, and a more southerly route had been generally adopted.[ ] this slow southward extension of the polar ice-sheet upon the east of greenland seems still to be going on at the present day.[ ] it is therefore not at all improbable, but on the contrary quite probable, that a thousand years ago the mean annual temperature of the tip end of greenland, at cape farewell, was a few degrees higher than now.[ ] but a slight difference of this sort might have an important bearing upon the fortunes of a colony planted there. for example, it would directly affect the extent of the hay crop. grass grows very well now in the neighbourhood of julianeshaab. in summer it is still a "green land," with good pasturage for cattle, but there is difficulty in getting hay enough to last through the nine months of winter. in "there were in greenland to head of horned cattle, about goats, and sheep;" but in the ancient colony, with a population not exceeding , persons, "herds of cattle were kept which even yielded produce for exportation to europe."[ ] so strong a contrast seems to indicate a much more plentiful grass crop than to-day, although some hay might perhaps have been imported from iceland in exchange for greenland exports, which were chiefly whale oil, eider-down, and skins of seals, foxes, and white bears. [footnote : some people must have queer notions about the lapse of past time. i have more than once had this question put to me in such a way as to show that what the querist really had in mind was some vague impression of the time when oaks and chestnuts, vines and magnolias, grew luxuriantly over a great part of greenland! but that was in the miocene period, probably not less than a million years ago, and has no obvious bearing upon the deeds of eric the red.] [footnote : bardsen, _descriptio groenlandiæ_, appended to major's _voyages of the venetian brothers_, etc., pp. , ; and see below, p. .] [footnote : zahrtmann, _journal of royal geographical society_, london, , vol. v. p. . on this general subject see j. d. whitney, "the climate changes of later geological times," in _memoirs of the museum of comparative zoölogy at harvard college_, cambridge, , vol. vii. according to professor whitney there has also been a deterioration in the climate of iceland.] [footnote : one must not too hastily infer that the mean temperature of points on the american coast south of davis strait would be affected in the same way. the relation between the phenomena is not quite so simple. for example, a warm early spring on the coast of greenland increases the discharge of icebergs from its fiords to wander down the atlantic ocean; and this increase of floating ice tends to chill and dampen the summers at least as far south as long island, if not farther.] [footnote : rink's _danish greenland_, pp. , , .] [sidenote: with the northmen once in greenland, the discovery of the american continent was almost inevitable.] [sidenote: voyages for timber.] when once the northmen had found their way to cape farewell, it would have been marvellous if such active sailors could long have avoided stumbling upon the continent of north america. without compass or astrolabe these daring men were accustomed to traverse long stretches of open sea, trusting to the stars; and it needed only a stiff northeasterly breeze, with persistent clouds and fog, to land a westward bound "dragon" anywhere from cape race to cape cod. this is what appears to have happened to bjarni herjulfsson in , and something quite like it happened to henry hudson in .[ ] curiosity is a motive quite sufficient to explain leif's making the easy summer voyage to find out what sort of country bjarni had seen. he found it thickly wooded, and as there was a dearth of good timber both in greenland and in iceland, it would naturally occur to leif's friends that voyages for timber, to be used at home and also to be exported to iceland, might turn out to be profitable.[ ] as laing says, "to go in quest of the wooded countries to the southwest, from whence driftwood came to their shores, was a reasonable, intelligible motive for making a voyage in search of the lands from whence it came, and where this valuable material could be got for nothing."[ ] [footnote : see read's _historical inquiry concerning henry hudson_, albany, , p. .] [footnote : "nú tekst umrædha at nýju um vínlandsferdh, thviat sú ferdh thikir bædhi gódh til fjár ok virdhíngar," i. e. "now they began to talk again about a voyage to vinland, for the voyage thither was both gainful and honourable." rafn, p. .] [footnote : _heimskringla_, i, .] [sidenote: ear-marks of truth in the narrative.] if now we look at the details of the story we shall find many ear-marks of truth in it. we must not look for absolute accuracy in a narrative which--as we have it--is not the work of leif or thorfinn or any of their comrades, but of compilers or copyists, honest and careful as it seems to me, but liable to misplace details and to call by wrong names things which they had never seen. starting with these modest expectations we shall find the points of verisimilitude numerous. to begin with the least significant, somewhere on our northeastern coast the voyagers found many foxes.[ ] these animals, to be sure, are found in a great many countries, but the point for us is that in a southerly and southwesterly course from cape farewell these sailors are said to have found them. if our narrators had been drawing upon their imaginations or dealing with semi-mythical materials, they would as likely as not have lugged into the story elephants from africa or hippogriffs from dreamland; mediæval writers were blissfully ignorant of all canons of probability in such matters.[ ] but our narrators simply mention an animal which has for ages abounded on our northeastern coasts. one such instance is enough to suggest that they were following reports or documents which emanated ultimately from eye-witnesses and told the plain truth. a dozen such instances, if not neutralized by counter-instances, are enough to make this view extremely probable; and then one or two instances which could not have originated in the imagination of a european writer will suffice to prove it. [footnote : "fjöldi var thar melrakka," i. e. "ibi vulpium magnus numerus erat," rafn, p. .] [footnote : it is extremely difficult for an impostor to concoct a narrative without making blunders that can easily be detected by a critical scholar. for example, the book of mormon, in the passage cited (see above, p. ), in supremely blissful ignorance introduces oxen, sheep, and silk-worms, as well as the knowledge of smelting iron, into pre-columbian america.] let us observe, then, that on coming to markland they "slew a bear;"[ ] the river and lake (or bay) in vinland abounded with salmon bigger than leif's people had ever seen;[ ] on the coast they caught halibut;[ ] they came to an island where there were so many eider ducks breeding that they could hardly avoid treading on their eggs;[ ] and, as already observed, it was because of the abundance of wild grapes that leif named the southernmost country he visited vinland. [footnote : "thar í drápu their einn björn," i. e. "in qua ursum interfecerunt," id. p. .] [footnote : "hvorki skorti thar lax í ánni nè í vatninu, ok stærra lax enn their hefdhi fyrr sèdh," i. e. "ibi neque in fluvio neque in lacu deerat salmonum copia, et quidem majoris corporis quam antea vidissent," id. p. .] [footnote : "helgir fiskar," i. e. "sacri pisces," id. p. . the danish phrase is "helleflyndre," i. e. "holy flounder." the english _halibut_ is _hali_ = _holy_ + _but_ = _flounder_. this word _but_ is classed as middle english, but may still be heard in the north of england. the fish may have been so called "from being eaten particularly on holy days" (_century dict._ s.v.); or possibly from a pagan superstition that water abounding in flat fishes is especially safe for mariners (pliny, _hist. nat._ ix. ); or possibly from some lost folk-tale about st. peter (maurer, _isländische volkssagen der gegenwart_, leipsic, , p. ).] [footnote : "svâ var mörg ædhr í eynni, at varla mátti gánga fyri eggjum," i. e. "tantus in insula anatum mollissimarum numerus erat, ut præ ovis transiri fere non posset," id. p. . eider ducks breed on our northeastern coasts as far south as portland, and are sometimes in winter seen as far south as delaware. they also abound in greenland and iceland, and, as wilson observes, "their nests are crowded so close together that a person can scarcely walk without treading on them.... the icelanders have for ages known the value of eider down, and have done an extensive business in it." see wilson's _american ornithology_, vol. iii. p. .] [sidenote: northern limit of the vine.] from the profusion of grapes--such that the ship's stern boat is said on one occasion to have been filled with them[ ]--we get a clue, though less decisive than could be wished, to the location of vinland. the extreme northern limit of the vine in canada is °, the parallel which cuts across the tops of prince edward and cape breton islands on the map.[ ] near this northern limit, however, wild grapes are by no means plenty; so that the coast upon which leif wintered must apparently have been south of cape breton. dr. storm, who holds that vinland was on the southern coast of nova scotia, has collected some interesting testimony as to the growth of wild grapes in that region, but on the whole the abundance of this fruit seems rather to point to the shores of massachusetts bay.[ ] [footnote : {"svâ er sagt at eptirbátr theirra var fylldr af vinberjurn."} { so it-is-said that afterboat their was filled of vine-berries.} rafn, p. .] [footnote : storm, "studies on the vinland voyages," _mémoires de la société royale des antiquaires du nord_, copenhagen, , p. . the limit of the vine at this latitude is some distance inland; near the shore the limit is a little farther south, and in newfoundland it does not grow at all. id. p. .] [footnote : the attempt of dr. kohl (_maine hist. soc._, new series, vol. i.) to connect the voyage of thorfinn with the coast of maine seems to be successfully refuted by de costa, _northmen in maine_, etc., albany, .] [sidenote: length of the winter day.] we may now observe that, while it is idle to attempt to determine accurately the length of the winter day, as given in our chronicles, nevertheless since that length attracted the attention of the voyagers, as something remarkable, it may fairly be supposed to indicate a latitude lower than they were accustomed to reach in their trading voyages in europe. such a latitude as that of dublin, which lies opposite labrador, would have presented no novelty to them, for voyages of icelanders to their kinsmen in dublin, and in rouen as well, were common enough. halifax lies about opposite bordeaux, and boston a little south of opposite cape finisterre, in spain, so that either of these latitudes would satisfy the conditions of the case; either would show a longer winter day than rouen, which was about the southern limit of ordinary trading voyages from iceland. at all events, the length of day indicates for vinland a latitude south of cape breton. [sidenote: indian corn.] the next point to be observed is the mention of "self-sown wheat-fields."[ ] this is not only an important ear-mark of truth in the narrative, but it helps us somewhat further in determining the position of vinland. the "self-sown" cereal, which these icelanders called "wheat," was in all probability what the english settlers six hundred years afterward called "corn," in each case applying to a new and nameless thing the most serviceable name at hand. in england "corn" means either wheat, barley, rye, and oats collectively, or more specifically wheat; in scotland it generally means oats; in america it means maize, the "indian corn," the cereal peculiar to the western hemisphere. the beautiful waving plant, with its exquisitely tasselled ears, which was one of the first things to attract champlain's attention, could not have escaped the notice of such keen observers as we are beginning to find leif and thorfinn to have been. a cereal like this, requiring so little cultivation that without much latitude of speech it might be described as growing wild, would be interesting to europeans visiting the american coast; but it would hardly occur to european fancy to invent such a thing. the mention of it is therefore a very significant ear-mark of the truth of the narrative. as regards the position of vinland, the presence of maize seems to indicate a somewhat lower latitude than nova scotia. maize requires intensely hot summers, and even under the most careful european cultivation does not flourish north of the alps. in the sixteenth century its northern-most limit on the american coast seems to have been at the mouth of the kennebec ( °), though farther inland it was found by cartier at hochelaga, on the site of montreal ( ° '). a presumption is thus raised in favour of the opinion that vinland was not farther north than massachusetts bay.[ ] [footnote : {"sjálfsána hveitiakra" } { } rafn, p. . { self-sown wheat-acres }] [footnote : dr. storm makes perhaps too much of this presumption. he treats it as decisive against his own opinion that vinland was the southern coast of nova scotia, and accordingly he tries to prove that the self-sown corn was not maize, but "wild rice" (_zizania aquatica_). _mémoires_, etc., p. . but his argument is weakened by excess of ingenuity.] [sidenote: winter weather in vinland.] this presumption is supported by what is said about the climate of vinland, though it must be borne in mind that general statements about climate are apt to be very loose and misleading. we are told that it seemed to leif's people that cattle would be able to pass the winter out of doors there, for there was no frost and the grass was not much withered.[ ] on the other hand, thorfinn's people found the winter severe, and suffered from cold and hunger.[ ] taken in connection with each other, these two statements would apply very well to-day to our variable winters on the coast southward from cape ann. the winter of - in cambridge, for example, might very naturally have been described by visitors from higher latitudes as a winter without frost and with grass scarcely withered. indeed, we might have described it so ourselves. on narragansett and buzzard's bays such soft winter weather is still more common; north of cape ann it is much less common. the severe winter (_magna hiems_) is of course familiar enough anywhere along the northeastern coast of america. [footnote : "thar var svâ gódhr landskostr at thví er theim sýndist, at thar mundi eingi fènadhr fódhr thurfa á vetrum; thar kvomu eingi frost á vetrum, ok lítt rènudhu thar grös," i. e. "tanta autem erat terræ bonitas, ut inde intelligere esset, pecora hieme pabulo non indigere posse, nullis incidentibus algoribus hiemalibus, et graminibus parum flaccescentibus." rafn, p. .] [footnote : "thar voru their um vetrinn; ok gjördhist vetr mikill, en ekki fyri unnit ok gjördhist íllt til matarins, ok tókust af veidhirnar," i. e. "hic hiemarunt; cum vero magna incideret hiems, nullumque provisum esset alimentum, cibus coepit deficere capturaque cessabat," id. p. .] [sidenote: probable situation of vinland.] on the whole, we may say with some confidence that the place described by our chroniclers as vinland was situated somewhere between point judith and cape breton; possibly we may narrow our limits and say that it was somewhere between cape cod and cape ann. but the latter conclusion is much less secure than the former. in such a case as this, the more we narrow our limits the greater our liability to error.[ ] while by such narrowing, moreover, the question may acquire more interest as a bone of contention among local antiquarians, its value for the general historian is not increased. [footnote : a favourite method of determining the exact spots visited by the northmen has been to compare their statements regarding the shape and trend of the coasts, their bays, headlands, etc., with various well-known points on the new england coast. it is a tempting method, but unfortunately treacherous, because the same general description will often apply well enough to several different places. it is like summer boarders in the country struggling to tell one another where they have been to drive,--past a school-house, down a steep hill, through some woods, and by a saw-mill, etc.] [sidenote: "savages" unknown to mediæval europeans.] [sidenote: the natives of vinland.] but we have not yet done with the points of verisimilitude in our story. we have now to cite two or three details that are far more striking than any as yet mentioned,--details that could never have been conjured up by the fancy of any mediæval european. we must bear in mind that "savages," whether true savages or people in the lower status of barbarism, were practically unknown to europeans before the fifteenth century. there were no such people in europe or in any part of asia or africa visited by europeans before the great voyages of the portuguese. mediæval europeans knew nothing whatever about people who would show surprise at the sight of an iron tool[ ] or frantic terror at the voice of a bull, or who would eagerly trade off valuable property for worthless trinkets. their imagination might be up to inventing hobgoblins and people with heads under their shoulders,[ ] but it was not up to inventing such simple touches of nature as these. bearing this in mind, let us observe that thorfinn found the natives of vinland eager to give valuable furs[ ] in exchange for little strips of scarlet cloth to bind about their heads. when the northmen found the cloth growing scarce they cut it into extremely narrow strips, but the desire of the natives was so great that they would still give a whole skin for the smallest strip. they wanted also to buy weapons, but thorfinn forbade his men to sell them. one of the natives picked up an iron hatchet and cut wood with it; one after another tried and admired it; at length one tried it on a stone and broke its edge, and then they scornfully threw it down.[ ] one day while they were trading, thorfinn's bull ran out before them and bellowed, whereupon the whole company was instantly scattered in headlong flight. after this, when threatened with an attack by the natives, thorfinn drew up his men for a fight and put the bull in front, very much as pyrrhus used elephants--at first with success--to frighten the romans and their horses.[ ] [footnote : it is not meant that stone implements did not continue to be used in some parts of europe far into the middle ages. but this was not because iron was not perfectly well known, but because in many backward regions it was difficult to obtain or to work, so that stone continued in use. as my friend, mr. t. s. perry, reminds me, helbig says that stone-pointed spears were used by some of the english at the battle of hastings, and stone battle-axes by some of the scots under william wallace at the end of the thirteenth century. _die italiker in der poebene_, leipsic, , p. . helbig's statement as to hastings is confirmed by freeman, _norman conquest of england_, vol. iii. p. .] [footnote : my use of the word "inventing" is, in this connection, a slip of the pen. of course the tales of "men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders," the sciopedæ, etc., as told by sir john mandeville, were not invented by the mediæval imagination, but copied from ancient authors. they may be found in pliny, _hist. nat._, lib. vii., and were mentioned before his time by ktesias, as well as by hecatæus, according to stephanus of byzantium. cf. aristophanes, _aves_, ; julius solinus, _polyhistor_, ed. salmasius, cap. . just as these sheets are going to press there comes to me mr. perry's acute and learned _history of greek literature_, new york, , in which this subject is mentioned in connection with the mendacious and medical ktesias:--these stories have probably acquired a literary currency "by exercise of the habit, not unknown even to students of science, of indiscriminate copying from one's predecessors, so that in reading mandeville we have the ghosts of the lies of ktesias, almost sanctified by the authority of pliny, who quoted them and thereby made them a part of mediæval folk-lore--and from folk-lore, probably, they took their remote start" (p. ).] [footnote : "en that var grávara ok safvali ok allskonar skinnavara" (rafn, p. ),--i. e. gray fur and sable and all sorts of skinwares; in another account, "skinnavöru ok algrá skinn," which in the danish version is "skindvarer og ægte graaskind" (id. p. ),--i. e. skinwares and genuine gray furs. cartier in canada and the puritans in massachusetts were not long in finding that the natives had good furs to sell.] [footnote : rafn, p. .] [footnote : much curious information respecting the use of elephants in war may be found in the learned work of the chevalier armandi, _histoire militaire des éléphants_, paris, . as regards thorfinn's bull, mr. laing makes the kind of blunder that our british cousins are sometimes known to make when they get the rocky mountains within sight of bunker hill monument. "a continental people in that part of america," says mr. laing, "could not be strangers to the much more formidable bison." _heimskringla_, p. . bisons on the atlantic coast, mr. laing?! and then his comparison quite misses the point; a bison, if the natives had been familiar with him, would not have been at all formidable as compared to the bull which they had never before seen. a horse is much less formidable than a cougar, but aztec warriors who did not mind a cougar were paralyzed with terror at the sight of men on horseback. it is the unknown that frightens in such cases. thorfinn's natives were probably familiar with such large animals as moose and deer, but a deer isn't a bull.] [sidenote: meaning of the epithet "skrælings."] these incidents are of surpassing interest, for they were attendant upon the first meeting (in all probability) that ever took place between civilized europeans and any people below the upper status of barbarism.[ ] who were these natives encountered by thorfinn? the northmen called them "skrælings," a name which one is at first sight strongly tempted to derive from the icelandic verb _skrækja_, identical with the english _screech_. a crowd of excited indians might most appropriately be termed screechers.[ ] this derivation, however, is not correct. the word _skræling_ survives in modern norwegian, and means a feeble or puny or _insignificant_ person. dr. storm's suggestion is in all probability correct, that the name "skrælings," as applied to the natives of america, had no ethnological significance, but simply meant "inferior people;" it gave concise expression to the white man's opinion that they were "a bad lot." in icelandic literature the name is usually applied to the eskimos, and hence it has been rashly inferred that thorfinn found eskimos in vinland. such was rafn's opinion, and since his time the commentators have gone off upon a wrong trail and much ingenuity has been wasted.[ ] it would be well to remember, however, that the europeans of the eleventh century were not ethnologists; in meeting these inferior peoples for the first time they were more likely to be impressed with the broad fact of their inferiority than to be nice in making distinctions. when we call both australians and fuegians "savages," we do not assert identity or relationship between them; and so when the northmen called eskimos and indians by the same disparaging epithet, they doubtless simply meant to call them savages. [footnote : the phoenicians, however (who in this connection may be classed with europeans), must have met with some such people in the course of their voyages upon the coasts of africa. i shall treat of this more fully below, p. .] [footnote : as for indians, says cieza de leon, they are all noisy (alharaquientos). _segunda parte de la crónica del peru_, cap. xxiii.] [footnote : for example, dr. de costa refers to dr. abbott's discoveries as indicating "that the indian was preceded by a people like the eskimos, whose stone implements are found in the trenton gravel." _pre-columbian discovery_, p. . quite so; but that was in the glacial period (!!), and when the edge of the ice-sheet slowly retreated northward, the eskimo, who is emphatically an arctic creature, doubtless retreated with it, just as he retreated from europe. see above, p. . there is not the slightest reason for supposing that there were any eskimos south of labrador so lately as nine hundred years ago.] [sidenote: personal appearance of the skrælings.] our chronicle describes the skrælings of vinland as swarthy in hue, ferocious in aspect, with ugly hair, big eyes, and broad cheeks.[ ] this will do very well for indians, except as to the eyes. we are accustomed to think of indian eyes as small; but in this connection it is worthy of note that a very keen observer, marc lescarbot, in his minute and elaborate description of the physical appearance of the micmacs of acadia, speaks with some emphasis of their large eyes.[ ] dr. storm quite reasonably suggests that the norse expression may refer to the size not of the eye-ball, but of the eye-socket, which in the indian face is apt to be large; and very likely this is what the frenchman also had in mind. [footnote : "their voru svartir menn ok illiligir, ok havdhu íllt hár á höfdhi. their voru mjök eygdhir ok breidhir í kinnum," i. e. "hi homines erant nigri, truculenti specie, foedam in capite comam habentes, oculis magnis et genis latis." rafn, p. . the icelandic _svartr_ is more precisely rendered by the identical english _swarthy_ than by the latin _niger_.] [footnote : "mais quãt à noz sauvages, pour ce qui regarde les ïeux ilz ne les ont ni bleuz, ni verds, mais noirs pour la pluspart, ainsi que les cheveux; & neantmoins ne sont petits, cõme ceux des anciens scythes, mais d'une grandeur bien agréable." lescarbot, _histoire de la nouvelle france_, paris, , tom. ii. p. .] [sidenote: the skrælings of vinland were indians,--very likely algonquins.] these skrælings were clad in skins, and their weapons were bows and arrows, slings, and stone hatchets. in the latter we may now, i think, be allowed to recognize the familiar tomahawk; and when we read that, in a sharp fight with the natives, thorbrand, son of the commander snorro, was slain, and the woman freydis afterward found his corpse in the woods, with a flat stone sticking in the head, and his naked sword lying on the ground beside him, we seem to see how it all happened.[ ] we seem to see the stealthy indian suddenly dealing the death-blow, and then obliged for his own safety to dart away among the trees without recovering his tomahawk or seizing the sword. the skrælings came up the river or lake in a swarm of canoes, all yelling at the top of their voices (_et illi omnes valde acutum ululabant_), and, leaping ashore, began a formidable attack with slings and arrows. the narrative calls these canoes "skin-boats" (_hudhkeipar_), whence it has been inferred that the writer had in mind the _kayaks_ and _umiaks_ of the eskimos.[ ] i suspect that the writer did have such boats in mind, and accordingly used a word not strictly accurate. very likely his authorities failed to specify a distinction between bark-boats and skin-boats, and simply used the handiest word for designating canoes as contrasted with their own keeled boats.[ ] [footnote : "hún fann fyrir sèr mann daudhan, thar var thorbrandr snorrason, ok stódh hellusteinn í höfdhi honum; sverdhit lá bert í hjá honum," i. e. "illa incidit in mortuum hominem, thorbrandum snorrii filium, cujus capiti lapis planus impactus stetit; nudus juxta eum gladius jacuit." rafn, p. .] [footnote : these eskimo skin-boats are described in rink's _danish greenland_, pp. , .] [footnote : cf. storm, _op. cit._ pp. , .] one other point which must be noticed here in connection with the skrælings is a singular manoeuvre which they are said to have practised in the course of the fight. they raised upon the end of a pole a big ball, not unlike a sheep's paunch, and of a bluish colour; this ball they swung from the pole over the heads of the white men, and it fell to the ground with a horrid noise.[ ] now, according to mr. schoolcraft, this was a mode of fighting formerly common among the algonquins, in new england and elsewhere. this big ball was what mr. schoolcraft calls the "balista," or what the indians themselves call the "demon's head." it was a large round boulder, sewed up in a new skin and attached to a pole. as the skin dried it enwrapped the stone tightly; and then it was daubed with grotesque devices in various colours. "it was borne by several warriors who acted as balisteers. plunged upon a boat or canoe, it was capable of sinking it. brought down upon a group of men on a sudden, it produced consternation and death."[ ] this is a most remarkable feature in the narrative, for it shows us the icelandic writer (here manifestly controlled by some authoritative source of information) describing a very strange mode of fighting, which we know to have been characteristic of the algonquins. karlsefni's men do not seem to have relished this outlandish style of fighting; they retreated along the river bank until they came to a favourable situation among some rocks, where they made a stand and beat off their swarming assailants. the latter, as soon as they found themselves losing many warriors without gaining their point, suddenly turned and fled to their canoes, and paddled away with astonishing celerity. throughout the account it seems to me perfectly clear that we are dealing with indians. [footnote : "that sá their karlsefni at skrælíngar færdhu upp á stöng knött stundar mykinn thví nær til at jafna sem saudharvömb, ok helzt blán at lit, ok fleygdhu af stönginni upp á landit yfir lidh theirra karlsefnis, ok lèt illilega vidhr, thar sem nidhr kom. vidh thetta sló ótta myklum á karlsefni ok allt lidh hans, svâ at thá fýsti engis annars enn flýja, ok halda undan upp medh ánni, thvíat theim thótti lidh skrælínga drífa at sèr allum megin, ok lètta eigi, fyrr enn their koma til hamra nokkurra, ok veittu thar vidhrtöku hardha," i. e. "viderunt karlsefniani quod skrælingi longurio sustulerunt globum ingentem, ventri ovillo haud absimilem, colore fere cæruleo; hune ex longurio in terram super manum karlsefnianorum contorserunt, qui ut decidit, dirum sonuit. hac re terrore perculsus est karlsefnius suique omnes, ut nihil aliud cuperent quam fugere et gradum referre sursum secundum fluvium: credebant enim se ab skrælingis undique circumveniri. hinc non gradum stitere, priusquam ad rupes quasdam pervenissent, ubi acriter resistebant." rafn, p. .] [footnote : schoolcraft, _archives of aboriginal knowledge_, philadelphia, , vols. to, vol. i. p. ; a figure of this weapon is given in the same volume, plate xv. fig. , from a careful description by chingwauk, an algonquin chief.] [sidenote: the uniped.] the coexistence of so many unmistakable marks of truth in our narratives may fairly be said to amount to a demonstration that they must be derived, through some eminently trustworthy channel, from the statements of intelligent eye-witnesses who took part in the events related. here and there, no doubt, we come upon some improbable incident or a touch of superstition, such as we need not go back to the eleventh century to find very common among seamen's narratives; but the remarkable thing in the present case is that there are so few such features. one fabulous creature is mentioned. thorfinn and his men saw from their vessel a glittering speck upon the shore at an opening in the woods. they hailed it, whereupon the creature proceeded to perform the quite human act of shooting an arrow, which killed the man at the helm. the narrator calls it a "uniped," or some sort of one-footed goblin,[ ] but that is hardly reasonable, for after the shooting it went on to perform the further quite human and eminently indian-like act of running away.[ ] evidently this discreet "uniped" was impressed with the desirableness of living to fight another day. in a narrative otherwise characterized by sobriety, such an instance of fancy, even supposing it to have come down from the original sources, counts for as much or as little as henry hudson's description of a mermaid.[ ] [footnote : rafn, p. ; de costa, p. ; storm, p. .] [footnote : here the narrator seems determined to give us a genuine smack of the marvellous, for when the fleeing uniped comes to a place where his retreat seems cut off by an arm of the sea, he runs (glides, or hops?) across the water without sinking. in vigfusson's version, however, the marvellous is eliminated, and the creature simply runs over the stubble and disappears. the incident is evidently an instance where the narrative has been "embellished" by introducing a feature from ancient classical writers. the "monocoli," or one-legged people, are mentioned by pliny, _hist. nat._, vii. : "item hominum genus qui monocoli vocarentur, singulis cruribus, miræ pernicitatis ad saltum." cf. aulus gellius, _noctes atticæ_, viii. .] [footnote : between spitzbergen and nova zembla, june , . for the description, with its droll details, see _purchas his pilgrimes_, iii. .] * * * * * [sidenote: misleading associations with the word "saga."] [sidenote: unfortunate comparison between leif ericsson and agamemnon.] [sidenote: the story of the trojan war, as we have it, is pure folk-lore.] it is now time for a few words upon the character of the records upon which our story is based. and first, let us remark upon a possible source of misapprehension due to the associations with which a certain norse word has been clothed. the old norse narrative-writings are called "sagas," a word which we are in the habit of using in english as equivalent to legendary or semi-mythical narratives. to cite a "saga" as authority for a statement seems, therefore, to some people as inadmissible as to cite a fairy-tale; and i cannot help suspecting that to some such misleading association of ideas is due the particular form of the opinion expressed some time ago by a committee of the massachusetts historical society,--"that there is the same sort of reason for believing in the existence of leif ericsson that there is for believing in the existence of agamemnon. they are both traditions accepted by later writers, and there is no more reason for regarding as true the details related about the discoveries of the former than there is for accepting as historic truth the narrative contained in the homeric poems." the report goes on to observe that "it is antecedently probable that the northmen discovered america in the early part of the eleventh century; and this discovery is confirmed by the same sort of historical tradition, not strong enough to be called evidence, upon which our belief in many of the accepted facts of history rests."[ ] the second of these statements is characterized by critical moderation, and expresses the inevitable and wholesome reaction against the rash enthusiasm of professor rafn half a century ago, and the vagaries of many an uninstructed or uncritical writer since his time. but the first statement is singularly unfortunate. it would be difficult to find a comparison more inappropriate than that between agamemnon and leif, between the iliad and the saga of eric the red. the story of the trojan war and its heroes, as we have it in homer and the athenian dramatists, is pure folk-lore as regards form, and chiefly folk-lore as regards contents. it is in a high degree probable that this mass of folk-lore surrounds a kernel of plain fact, that in times long before the first olympiad an actual "king of men" at mycenæ conducted an expedition against the great city by the simois, that the agamemnon of the poet stands in some such relation toward this chieftain as that in which the charlemagne of mediæval romance stands toward the mighty emperor of the west.[ ] nevertheless the story, as we have it, is simply folk-lore. if the iliad and odyssey contain faint reminiscences of actual events, these events are so inextricably wrapped up with mythical phraseology that by no cunning of the scholar can they be construed into history. the motives and capabilities of the actors and the conditions under which they accomplish their destinies are such as exist only in fairy-tales. their world is as remote from that in which we live as the world of sindbad and camaralzaman; and this is not essentially altered by the fact that homer introduces us to definite localities and familiar customs as often as the irish legends of finn m'cumhail.[ ] [footnote : _proceedings mass. hist. soc._, december, .] [footnote : i used this argument twenty years ago in qualification of the over-zealous solarizing views of sir g. w. cox and others. see my _myths and mythmakers_, pp. - ; and cf. freeman on "the mythical and romantic elements in early english history," in his _historical essays_, i. - .] [footnote : curtin, _myths and folk-lore of ireland_, pp. , , ; kennedy, _legendary fictions of the irish celts_, pp. - .] [sidenote: the saga of eric the red is not folk-lore.] it would be hard to find anything more unlike such writings than the class of icelandic sagas to which that of eric the red belongs. here we have quiet and sober narrative, not in the least like a fairy-tale, but often much like a ship's log. whatever such narrative may be, it is not folk-lore. in act and motive, in its conditions and laws, its world is the every-day world in which we live. if now and then a "uniped" happens to stray into it, the incongruity is as conspicuous as in the case of hudson's mermaid, or a ghost in a modern country inn; whereas in the homeric fabric the supernatural is warp and woof. to assert a likeness between two kinds of literature so utterly different is to go very far astray. [sidenote: mythical and historical sagas.] as already observed, i suspect that misleading associations with the word "saga" may have exerted an unconscious influence in producing this particular kind of blunder,--for it is nothing less than a blunder. resemblance is tacitly assumed between the iliad and an icelandic saga. well, between the iliad and _some_ icelandic sagas there is a real and strong resemblance. in truth these sagas are divisible into two well marked and sharply contrasted classes. in the one class belong the eddic lays, and the _mythical sagas_, such as the volsunga, the stories of ragnar, frithiof, and others; and along with these, though totally different in source, we may for our present purpose group the _romantic sagas_, such as parceval, remund, karlamagnus, and others brought from southern europe. these are alike in being composed of legendary and mythical materials; they belong essentially to the literature of folk-lore. in the other class come the _historical sagas_, such as those of njal and egil, the sturlunga, and many others, with the numerous biographies and annals.[ ] these writings give us history, and often very good history indeed. "saga" meant simply any kind of literature in narrative form; the good people of iceland did not happen to have such a handy word as "history," which they could keep entire when they meant it in sober earnest and chop down into "story" when they meant it otherwise. it is very much as if we were to apply the same word to the arthur legends and to william of malmesbury's judicious and accurate chronicles, and call them alike "stories." [footnote : nowhere can you find a more masterly critical account of icelandic literature than in vigfusson's "prolegomena" to his edition of _sturlunga saga_, oxford, , vol. i. pp. ix.-ccxiv. there is a good but very brief account in horn's _history of the literature of the scandinavian north_, transl. by r. b. anderson, chicago, , pp. - .] [sidenote: the western or hauks-bók version of eric the red's saga.] the narrative upon which our account of the vinland voyages is chiefly based belongs to the class of historical sagas. it is the saga of eric the red, and it exists in two different versions, of which one seems to have been made in the north, the other in the west, of iceland. the western version is the earlier and in some respects the better. it is found in two vellums, that of the great collection known as _hauks-bók_ (am. ), and that which is simply known as am. from its catalogue number in arni magnusson's collection. of these the former, which is the best preserved, was written in a beautiful hand by hauk erlendsson, between and , the year of his death. this western version is the one which has generally been printed under the title, "saga of thorfinn karlsefni." it is the one to which i have most frequently referred in the present chapter.[ ] [footnote : it is printed in rafn, pp. - , and in _grönlands historiske mindesmærker_, i. - . the most essential part of it may now be found, under its own name, in vigfusson's _icelandic prose reader_, pp. - .] [sidenote: the northern or flateyar-bók version.] the northern version is that which was made about the year by the priest jón thórdharson, and contained in the famous compilation known as the _flateyar-bók_, or "flat island book."[ ] this priest was editing the saga of king olaf tryggvesson, which is contained in that compilation, and inasmuch as leif ericsson's presence at king olaf's court was connected both with the introduction of christianity into greenland and with the discovery of vinland, jón paused, after the manner of mediæval chroniclers, and inserted then and there what he knew about eric and leif and thorfinn. in doing this, he used parts of the original saga of eric the red (as we find it reproduced in the western version), and added thereunto a considerable amount of material concerning the vinland voyages derived from other sources. jón's version thus made has generally been printed under the title, "saga of eric the red."[ ] [footnote : it belonged to a man who lived on flat island, in one of the iceland fiords.] [footnote : it is printed in rafn, pp. - , under the title "thættir af eireki rauda ok grænlendíngum." for a critical account of these versions, see storm, _op. cit._ pp. - ; i do not, in all respects, follow him in his depreciation of the flateyar-bók version.] [sidenote: presumption against sources not contemporary.] now the older version, written at the beginning of the fourteenth century, gives an account of things which happened three centuries before it was written. a cautious scholar will, as a rule, be slow to consider any historical narrative as quite satisfactory authority, even when it contains no improbable statements, unless it is nearly contemporary with the events which it records. such was the rule laid down by the late sir george cornewall lewis, and it is a very good rule; the proper application of it has disencumbered history of much rubbish. at the same time, like all rules, it should be used with judicious caution and not allowed to run away with us. as applied by lewis to roman history it would have swept away in one great cataclysm not only kings and decemvirs, but brennus and his gauls to boot, and left us with nothing to swear by until the invasion of pyrrhus.[ ] subsequent research has shown that this was going altogether too far. the mere fact of distance in time between a document and the events which it records is only negative testimony against its value, for it may be a faithful transcript of some earlier document or documents since lost. it is so difficult to prove a negative that the mere lapse of time simply raises a presumption the weight of which should be estimated by a careful survey of all the probabilities in the case. among the many icelandic vellums that are known to have perished[ ] there may well have been earlier copies of eric the red's saga. [footnote : lewis's _inquiry into the credibility of the early roman history_, vols., london, .] [footnote : and notably in that terrible fire of october, , which consumed the university library at copenhagen, and broke the heart of the noble collector of manuscripts, arni magnusson. the great eruption of hecla in overwhelmed two famous homesteads in the immediate neighbourhood. from the local history of these homesteads and their inmates, vigfusson thinks it not unlikely that some records may still be there "awaiting the spade and pickaxe of a new schliemann." _sturlunga saga_, p. cliv.] [sidenote: hauk erlendsson and his manuscripts.] hauk erlendsson reckoned himself a direct descendant, in the eighth generation, from snorro, son of thorfinn and gudrid, born in vinland. he was an important personage in iceland, a man of erudition, author of a brief book of contemporary annals and a treatise on arithmetic in which he introduced the arabic numerals into iceland. in those days the lover of books, if he would add them to his library, might now and then obtain an original manuscript, but usually he had to copy them or have them copied by hand. the hauks-bók, with its skins, one of the most extensive icelandic vellums now in existence, is really hauk's private library, or what there is left of it, and it shows that he was a man who knew how to make a good choice of books. he did a good deal of his copying himself, and also employed two clerks in the same kind of work.[ ] [footnote : an excellent facsimile of hauk's handwriting is given in rafn, tab. iii., lower part; tab. iv. and the upper part of tab. iii. are in the hands of his two amanuenses. see vigfusson, _op. cit._ p. clxi.] [sidenote: the story is not likely to have been preserved to hauk's time by oral tradition only.] now i do not suppose it will occur to any rational being to suggest that hauk may have written down his version of eric the red's saga from an oral tradition nearly three centuries old. the narrative could not have been so long preserved in its integrity, with so little extravagance of statement and so many marks of truthfulness in details foreign to ordinary icelandic experience, if it had been entrusted to oral tradition alone. one might as well try to imagine drake's "world encompassed" handed down by oral tradition from the days of queen elizabeth to the days of queen victoria. such transmission is possible enough with heroic poems and folk-tales, which deal with a few dramatic situations and a stock of mythical conceptions familiar at every fireside; but in a simple matter-of-fact record of sailors' observations and experiences on a strange coast, oral tradition would not be long in distorting and jumbling the details into a result quite undecipherable. the story of the zeno brothers, presently to be cited, shows what strange perversions occur, even in written tradition, when the copyist, instead of faithfully copying records of unfamiliar events, tries to edit and amend them. one cannot reasonably doubt that hauk's vellum of eric the red's saga, with its many ear-marks of truth above mentioned, was copied by him--and quite carefully and faithfully withal--from some older vellum not now forthcoming. [sidenote: allusions to vinland in other documents.] as we have no clue, however, beyond the internal evidence, to the age or character of the sources from which hauk copied, there is nothing left for us to do but to look into other icelandic documents, to see if anywhere they betray a knowledge of vinland and the voyages thither. incidental references to vinland, in narratives concerned with other matters, are of great significance in this connection; for they imply on the part of the narrator a presumption that his readers understand such references, and that it is not necessary to interrupt his story in order to explain them. such incidental references imply the existence, during the interval between the vinland voyages and hauk's manuscript, of many intermediate links of sound testimony that have since dropped out of sight; and therefore they go far toward removing whatever presumption may be alleged against hauk's manuscript because of its distance from the events. [sidenote: eyrbyggja saga.] now the eyrbyggja saga, written between and , is largely devoted to the settlement of iceland, and is full of valuable notices of the heathen institutions and customs of the tenth century. the eyrbyggja, having occasion to speak of thorbrand snorrason, observes incidentally that he went from greenland to vinland with karlsefni and was killed in a battle with the skrælings.[ ] we have already mentioned the death of this thorbrand, and how freydis found his body in the woods. [footnote : vigfusson, _eyrbyggja saga_, pp. , . another of karlsefni's comrades, thorhall gamlason, is mentioned in _grettis saga_, copenhagen, , pp. , ; he went back to iceland, settled on a farm there, and was known for the rest of his life as "the vinlander." see above, pp. , .] [sidenote: the abbot nikulas, etc.] three icelandic tracts on geography, between the twelfth and fourteenth centuries, mention helluland and vinland, and in two of these accounts markland is interposed between helluland and vinland.[ ] one of these tracts mentions the voyages of leif and thorfinn. it forms part of an essay called "guide to the holy land," by nikulas sæmundsson, abbot of thvera, in the north of iceland, who died . this nikulas was curious in matters of geography, and had travelled extensively. [footnote : werlauf, _symbolæ ad geogr. medii Ævi_, copenhagen, .] [sidenote: ari fródhi.] with the celebrated ari thorgilsson, usually known as fródhi, "the learned," we come to testimony nearly contemporaneous in time and extremely valuable in character. this erudite priest, born in , was the founder of historical writing in iceland. he was the principal author of the "landnáma-bók," already mentioned as a work of thorough and painstaking research unequalled in mediæval literature. his other principal works were the "konunga-bók," or chronicle of the kings of norway, and the "islendinga-bók," or description of iceland.[ ] ari's books, written not in monkish latin, but in a good vigorous vernacular, were a mine of information from which all subsequent icelandic historians were accustomed to draw such treasures as they needed. to his diligence and acumen they were all, from snorro sturlason down, very much indebted. he may be said to have given the tone to history-writing in iceland, and it was a high tone. [footnote : for a critical estimate of ari's literary activity and the extent of his work, the reader is referred to möbius, _are's isländerbuch_, leipsic, ; maurer, "Über ari thorgilsson und sein isländerbuch," in _germania_, xv.; olsen, _ari thorgilsson hinn fródhi_, reykjavik, , pp. - .] [sidenote: ari's significant allusion to vinland.] unfortunately ari's islendinga-bók has perished. one cannot help suspecting that it may have contained the contemporary materials from which eric the red's saga in the hauks-bók was ultimately drawn. for ari made an abridgment or epitome of his great book, and this epitome, commonly known as "libellus islandorum," still survives. in it ari makes brief mention of greenland, and refers to his paternal uncle, thorkell gellison, as authority for his statements. this thorkell gellison, of helgafell, a man of high consideration who flourished about the middle of the eleventh century, had visited greenland and talked with one of the men who accompanied eric when he went to settle in brattahlid in . from this source ari gives us the interesting information that eric's party found in greenland "traces of human habitations, fragments of boats, and stone implements; so from this one might conclude that people of the kind who inhabited vinland and were known by the (norse) greenlanders as skrælings must have roamed about there."[ ] observe the force of this allusion. the settlers in greenland did not at first (nor for a long time) meet with barbarous or savage natives there, but only with the vestiges of their former presence. but when ari wrote the above passage, the memory of vinland and its fierce skrælings was still fresh, and ari very properly inferred from the archæological remains in greenland that a people similar (in point of barbarism) to the skrælings must have been there. unless ari and his readers had a distinct recollection of the accounts of vinland, such a reference would have been only an attempt to explain the less obscure by the more obscure. it is to be regretted that we have in this book no more allusions to vinland; but if ari could only leave us one such allusion, he surely could not have made that one more pointed. [footnote : their "fundo thar manna vister bæthi austr ok vestr á landi ok kæiplabrot ok steinsmíthi, that es af thví má scilja, at thar hafdhi thessconar thjóth farith es vínland hefer bygt, ok grænlendínger calla skrelínga," i. e. "invenerunt ibi, tam in orientali quam occidentali terræ parte, humanæ habitationis vestigia, navicularum fragmenta et opera fabrilia ex lapide, ex quo intelligi potest, ibi versatum esse nationem quæ vinlandiam incoluit quamque grænlandi skrælingos appellant." rafn, p. .] [sidenote: other references.] but this is not quite the only reference that ari makes to vinland. there are three others that must in all probability be assigned to him. two occur in the landnáma-bók, the first in a passage where mention is made of ari marsson's voyage to a place in the western ocean near vinland;[ ] the only point in this allusion which need here concern us is that vinland is tacitly assumed to be a known geographical situation to which others may be referred. the second reference occurs in one of those elaborate and minutely specific genealogies in the landnáma-bók: "their son was thordhr hest-höfdhi, father of karlsefni, who found vinland the good, snorri's father," etc.[ ] the third reference occurs in the kristni saga, a kind of supplement to the landnáma-bók, giving an account of the introduction of christianity into iceland; here it is related how leif ericsson came to be called "leif the lucky," . from having rescued a shipwrecked crew off the coast of greenland, . from having discovered "vinland the good."[ ] from these brief allusions, and from the general relation in which ari fródhi stood to later writers, i suspect that if the greater islendinga-bók had survived to our time we should have found in it more about vinland and its discoverers. at any rate, as to the existence of a definite and continuous tradition all the way from ari down to hauk erlendsson, there can be no question whatever.[ ] [footnote : _landnáma-bók_, part ii. chap. xxii.] [footnote : id. part iii. chap. x.] [footnote : _kristni saga_, apud _biskupa sögur_, copenhagen, , vol. i. p. .] [footnote : indeed, the parallel existence of the flateyar-bók version of eric the red's saga, alongside of the hauks-bók version, is pretty good proof of the existence of a written account older than hauk's time. the discrepancies between the two versions are such as to show that jón thordharson did not copy from hauk, but followed some other version not now forthcoming. jón mentions six voyages in connection with vinland: . bjarni herjulfsson; . leif; . thorvald; . thorstein and gudrid; . thorfinn karlsefni; . freydis. hauk, on the other hand, mentions only the two principal voyages, those of leif and thorfinn; ignoring bjarni, he accredits his adventures to leif on his return voyage from norway in , and he makes thorvald a comrade of thorfinn, and mixes his adventures with the events of thorfinn's voyage. dr. storm considers hauk's account intrinsically the more probable, and thinks that in the flateyar-bók we have a later amplification of the tradition. but while i agree with dr. storm as to the general superiority of the hauk version, i am not convinced by his arguments on this point. it seems to me likely that the flateyar-bók here preserves more faithfully the details of an older tradition too summarily epitomized in the hauks-bók. as the point in no way affects the general conclusions of the present chapter, it is hardly worth arguing here. the main thing for us is that the divergencies between the two versions, when coupled with their agreement in the most important features, indicate that both writers were working upon the basis of an antecedent written tradition, like the authors of the first and third synoptic gospels. only here, of course, there are in the divergencies no symptoms of what the tübingen school would call "_tendenz_," impairing and obscuring to an indeterminate extent the general trustworthiness of the narratives. on the whole, it is pretty clear that hauks-bók and flateyar-bók were independent of each other, and collated, each in its own way, earlier documents that have probably since perished.] [sidenote: adam of bremen.] the testimony of adam of bremen brings us yet one generation nearer to the vinland voyages, and is very significant. adam was much interested in the missionary work in the north of europe, and in , the same year that hildebrand was elected to the papacy, he published his famous "historia ecclesiastica" in which he gave an account of the conversion of the northern nations from the time of leo iii. to that of hildebrand's predecessor. in prosecuting his studies, adam made a visit to the court of swend estridhsen, king of denmark, nephew of cnut the great, king of denmark and england. swend's reign began in , so that adam's visit must have occurred between that date and . the voyage of leif and thorfinn would at that time have been within the memory of living men, and would be likely to be known in denmark, because the intercourse between the several parts of the scandinavian world was incessant; there was continual coming and going. adam learned what he could of scandinavian geography, and when he published his history, he did just what a modern writer would do under similar circumstances; he appended to his book some notes on the geography of those remote countries, then so little known to his readers in central and southern europe. after giving some account of denmark, sweden, and norway, he describes the colony in iceland, and then the further colony in greenland, and concludes by saying that out in that ocean there is another country, or island, which has been visited by many persons, and is called vinland because of wild grapes that grow there, out of which a very good wine can be made. either rumour had exaggerated the virtues of fox-grape juice, or the northmen were not such good judges of wine as of ale. adam goes on to say that corn, likewise, grows in vinland without cultivation; and as such a statement to european readers must needs have a smack of falsehood, he adds that it is based not upon fable and guess-work, but upon "trustworthy reports (_certa relatione_) of the danes." [sidenote: adam's misconception of the situation.] scanty as it is, this single item of strictly contemporary testimony is very important, because quite incidentally it gives to the later accounts such confirmation as to show that they rest upon a solid basis of continuous tradition and not upon mere unintelligent hearsay.[ ] the unvarying character of the tradition, in its essential details, indicates that it must have been committed to writing at a very early period, probably not later than the time of ari's uncle thorkell, who was contemporary with adam of bremen. if, however, we read the whole passage in which adam's mention of vinland occurs, it is clear from the context that his own information was not derived from an inspection of icelandic documents. he got it, as he tells us, by talking with king swend; and all that he got, or all that he thought worth telling, was this curious fact about vines and self-sown corn growing so near to greenland; for adam quite misconceived the situation of vinland, and imagined it far up in the frozen north. after his mention of vinland, the continental character of which he evidently did not suspect, he goes on immediately to say, "after this island nothing inhabitable is to be found in that ocean, all being covered with unendurable ice and boundless darkness." that most accomplished king, harold hardrada, says adam, tried not long since to ascertain how far the northern ocean extended, and plunged along through this darkness until he actually reached the end of the world, and came near tumbling off![ ] thus the worthy adam, while telling the truth about fox-grapes and maize as well as he knew how, spoiled the effect of his story by putting vinland in the arctic regions. the juxtaposition of icebergs and vines was a little too close even for the mediæval mind so hospitable to strange yarns. adam's readers generally disbelieved the "trustworthy reports of the danes," and when they thought of vinland at all, doubtless thought of it as somewhere near the north pole.[ ] we shall do well to bear this in mind when we come to consider the possibility of columbus having obtained from adam of bremen any hint in the least likely to be of use in his own enterprise.[ ] [footnote : it is further interesting as the only undoubted reference to vinland in a mediæval book written beyond the limits of the scandinavian world. there is also, however, a passage in ordericus vitalis (_historia ecclesiastica_, iv. ), in which _finland_ and the orkneys, along with greenland and iceland, are loosely described as forming part of the dominions of the kings of norway. this finland does not appear to refer to the country of the finns, east of the baltic, and it has been supposed that it may have been meant for vinland. the book of ordericus was written about .] [footnote : the passage from adam of bremen deserves to be quoted in full: "præterea unam adhuc insulam [regionam] recitavit [i. e. svendus rex] a multis in eo repertam oceano, quæ dicitur vinland, eo quod ibi vites sponte nascantur, vinum bonum gerentes [ferentes]; nam et fruges ibi non seminatas abundare, non fabulosa opinione, sed certa comperimus relatione danorum. post quam insulam terra nulla invenitur habitabilis in illo oceano, sed omnia quæ ultra sunt glacie intolerabili ac caligine immensa plena sunt; cujus rei marcianus ita meminit: ultra thyle, inquiens, navigare unius diei mare concretum est. tentavit hoc nuper experientissimus nordmannorum princeps haroldus, qui latitudinem septentrionalis oceani perscrutatus navibus, tandem caligantibus ante ora deficientis mundi finibus, immane abyssi baratrum, retroactis vestigiis, vix salvus evasit." _descriptio insularum aquilonis_, cap. , apud _hist. ecclesiastica_, iv. ed. lindenbrog, leyden, . no such voyage is known to have been undertaken by harold of norway, nor is it likely. adam was probably thinking of an arctic voyage undertaken by one thorir under the auspices of king harold; one of the company brought back a polar bear and gave it to king swend, who was much pleased with it. see rafn, . "regionam" and "ferentes" in the above extract are variant readings found in some editions.] [footnote : "det har imidlertid ikke forhindret de senere forfattere, der benyttede adam, fra at blive mistænksomme, og saalænge adams beretning stod alene, har man i regelen vægret sig for at tro den. endog den norske forfatter, der skrev 'historia norvegiæ' og som foruden adam vel ogsaa bar kjendt de hjemlige sagn om vinland, maa have anseet beretningen for fabelagtig og derfor forbigaaet den; han kjendte altfor godt grønland som et nordligt isfyldt polarland til at ville tro paa, at i nærheden fandtes et vinland." storm, in _aarbøger for nordisk oldkyndighed_, etc., copenhagen, , p. .] [footnote : see below, p. .] * * * * * [sidenote: summary of the argument.] to sum up the argument:--we have in eric the red's saga, as copied by hauk erlendsson, a document for the existence of which we are required to account. that document contains unmistakable knowledge of some things which mediæval europeans could by no human possibility have learned, except through a visit to some part of the coast of north america further south than labrador or newfoundland. it tells an eminently probable story in a simple, straightforward way, agreeing in its details with what we know of the north american coast between point judith and cape breton. its general accuracy in the statement and grouping of so many remote details is proof that its statements were controlled by an exceedingly strong and steady tradition,--altogether too strong and steady, in my opinion, to have been maintained simply by word of mouth. these icelanders were people so much given to writing that their historic records during the middle ages were, as the late sir richard burton truly observed, more complete than those of any other country in europe.[ ] it is probable that the facts mentioned in hauk's document rested upon some kind of a written basis as early as the eleventh century; and it seems quite clear that the constant tradition, by which all the allusions to vinland and the skrælings are controlled, had become established by that time. the data are more scanty than we could wish, but they all point in the same direction as surely as straws blown by a steady wind, and their cumulative force is so great as to fall but little short of demonstration. for these reasons it seems to me that the saga of eric the red should be accepted as history; and there is another reason which might not have counted for much at the beginning of this discussion, but at the end seems quite solid and worthy of respect. the narrative begins with the colonization of greenland and goes on with the visits to vinland. it is unquestionably sound history for the first part; why should it be anything else for the second part? what shall be said of a style of criticism which, in dealing with one and the same document, arbitrarily cuts it in two in the middle and calls the first half history and the last half legend? which accepts its statements as serious so long as they keep to the north of the sixtieth parallel, and dismisses them as idle as soon as they pass to the south of it? quite contrary to common sense, i should say. [footnote : burton, _ultima thule_, london, , i. .] * * * * * [sidenote: absurd speculations of zealous antiquarians.] [sidenote: there is no reason for supposing that the northmen founded a colony in vinland.] [sidenote: no archæological remains of the northmen have been found south of davis strait.] the only discredit which has been thrown upon the story of the vinland voyages, in the eyes either of scholars or of the general public, has arisen from the eager credulity with which ingenious antiquarians have now and then tried to prove more than facts will warrant. it is peculiarly a case in which the judicious historian has had frequent occasion to exclaim, save me from my friends! the only fit criticism upon the wonderful argument from the dighton inscription is a reference to the equally wonderful discovery made by mr. pickwick at cobham;[ ] and when it was attempted, some sixty years ago, to prove that governor arnold's old stone windmill at newport[ ] was a tower built by the northmen, no wonder if the exposure of this rather laughable notion should have led many people to suppose that the story of leif and thorfinn had thereby been deprived of some part of its support. but the story never rested upon any such evidence, and does not call for evidence of such sort. there is nothing in the story to indicate that the northmen ever founded a colony in vinland, or built durable buildings there. the distinction implicitly drawn by adam of bremen, who narrates the colonization of iceland and greenland, and then goes on to speak of vinland, not as colonized, but simply as discovered, is a distinction amply borne out by our chronicles. nowhere is there the slightest hint of a colony or settlement established in vinland. on the contrary, our plain, business-like narrative tells us that thorfinn karlsefni tried to found a colony and failed; and it tells us why he failed. the indians were too many for him. the northmen of the eleventh century, without firearms, were in much less favourable condition for withstanding the indians than the englishmen of the seventeenth; and at the former period there existed no cause for emigration from norway and iceland at all comparable to the economic, political, and religious circumstances which, in a later age, sent thousands of englishmen to virginia and new england. the founding of colonies in america in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was no pastime; it was a tale of drudgery, starvation, and bloodshed, that curdles one's blood to read; more attempts failed than succeeded. assuredly thorfinn gave proof of the good sense ascribed to him when he turned his back upon vinland. but if he or any other northman had ever succeeded in establishing a colony there, can anybody explain why it should not have stamped the fact of its existence either upon the soil, or upon history, or both, as unmistakably as the colony of greenland? archæological remains of the northmen abound in greenland, all the way from immartinek to near cape farewell; the existence of one such relic on the north american continent has never yet been proved. not a single vestige of the northmen's presence here, at all worthy of credence, has ever been found. the writers who have, from time to time, mistaken other things for such vestiges, have been led astray because they have failed to distinguish between the different conditions of proof in greenland and in vinland. as mr. laing forcibly put the case, nearly half a century ago, "greenland was a colony with communications, trade, civil and ecclesiastical establishments, and a considerable population," for more than four centuries. "vinland was only visited by flying parties of woodcutters, remaining at the utmost two or three winters, but never settling there permanently.... to expect here, as in greenland, material proofs to corroborate the documentary proofs, is weakening the latter by linking them to a sort of evidence which, from the very nature of the case,--the temporary visits of a ship's crew,--cannot exist in vinland, and, as in the case of greenland, come in to support them."[ ] [footnote : see _pickwick papers_, chap. xi. i am indebted to mr. tillinghast, of harvard university library, for calling my attention to a letter from rev. john lathrop, of boston, to hon. john davis, august , , containing george washington's opinion of the dighton inscription. when president washington visited cambridge in the fall of , he was shown about the college buildings by the president and fellows of the university. while in the museum he was observed to "fix his eye" upon a full-size copy of the dighton inscription made by the librarian, james winthrop. dr. lathrop, who happened to be standing near washington, "ventured to give the opinion which several learned men had entertained with respect to the origin of the inscription." inasmuch as some of the characters were thought to resemble "oriental" characters, and inasmuch as the ancient phoenicians had sailed outside of the pillars of hercules, it was "conjectured" that some phoenician vessels had sailed into narragansett bay and up the taunton river. "while detained by winds, or other causes now unknown, the people, it has been conjectured, made the inscription, now to be seen on the face of the rock, and which we may suppose to be a record of their fortunes or of their fate." "after i had given the above account, the president smiled and said he believed the learned gentlemen whom i had mentioned were mistaken; and added that in the younger part of his life his business called him to be very much in the wilderness of virginia, which gave him an opportunity to become acquainted with many of the customs and practices of the indians. the indians, he said, had a way of writing and recording their transactions, either in war or hunting. when they wished to make any such record, or leave an account of their exploits to any who might come after them, they scraped off the outer bark of a tree, and with a vegetable ink, or a little paint which they carried with them, on the smooth surface they wrote in a way that was generally understood by the people of their respective tribes. as he had so often examined the rude way of writing practised by the indians of virginia, and observed many of the characters on the inscription then before him so nearly resembled the characters used by the indians, he had no doubt the inscription was made long ago by some natives of america." _proceedings of massachusetts historical society_, vol. x. p. . this pleasant anecdote shows in a new light washington's accuracy of observation and unfailing common-sense. such inscriptions have been found by the thousand, scattered over all parts of the united states; for a learned study of them see garrick mallery, "pictographs of the north american indians," _reports of bureau of ethnology_, iv. - . "the voluminous discussion upon the dighton rock inscription," says colonel mallery, "renders it impossible wholly to neglect it.... it is merely a type of algonquin rock-carving, not so interesting as many others.... it is of purely indian origin, and is executed in the peculiar symbolic character of the kekeewin," p. . the characters observed by washington in the virginia forests would very probably have been of the same type. judge davis, to whom dr. lathrop's letter was addressed, published in a paper maintaining the indian origin of the dighton inscription. a popular error, once started on its career, is as hard to kill as a cat. otherwise it would be surprising to find, in so meritorious a book as oscar peschel's _geschichte des zeitalters der entdeckungen_, stuttgart, , p. , an unsuspecting reliance upon rafn's ridiculous interpretation of this algonquin pictograph. in an american writer as well equipped as peschel, this particular kind of blunder would of course be impossible; and one is reminded of humboldt's remark, "il est des recherches qui ne peuvent s'exécuter que près des sources mêmes." _examen critique_, etc., tom. ii. p. . in old times, i may add, such vagaries were usually saddled upon the phoenicians, until since rafn's time the northmen have taken their place as the pack-horses for all sorts of antiquarian "conjecture."] [footnote : see palfrey's _history of new england_, vol. i. pp. - ; mason's _reminiscences of newport_, pp. - . laing (_heimskringla_, pp. - ) thinks the yankees must have intended to fool professor rafn and the royal society of antiquaries at copenhagen; "those sly rogues of americans," says he, "dearly love a quiet hoax;" and he can almost hear them chuckling over their joke in their club-room at newport. i am afraid these yankees were less rogues and more fools than mr. laing makes out.] [footnote : laing, _heimskringla_, vol. i. p. .] [sidenote: if the northmen had founded a successful colony, they would have introduced domestic cattle into the north american fauna;] [sidenote: and such animals could not have vanished and left no trace of their existence.] the most convincing proof that the northmen never founded a colony in america, south of davis strait, is furnished by the total absence of horses, cattle, and other domestic animals from the soil of north america until they were brought hither by the spanish, french, and english settlers in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. if the northmen had ever settled in vinland, they would have brought cattle with them, and if their colony had been successful, it would have introduced such cattle permanently into the fauna of the country. indeed, our narrative tells us that karlsefni's people "had with them all kinds of cattle, having the intention to settle in the land if they could."[ ] naturally the two things are coupled in the narrator's mind. so the portuguese carried livestock in their earliest expeditions to the atlantic islands;[ ] columbus brought horses and cows, with vines and all kinds of grain, on his second voyage to the west indies;[ ] when the french, under baron léry, made a disastrous attempt to found a colony on or about cape breton in , they left behind them, upon sable island, a goodly stock of cows and pigs, which throve and multiplied long after their owners had gone;[ ] the pilgrims at plymouth had cattle, goats, and swine as early as .[ ] in fact, it would be difficult to imagine a community of europeans subsisting anywhere for any length of time without domestic animals. we have seen that the northmen took pains to raise cattle in greenland, and were quick to comment upon the climate of vinland as favourable for pasturage. to suppose that these men ever founded a colony in north america, but did not bring domestic animals thither, would be absurd. but it would be scarcely less absurd to suppose that such animals, having been once fairly introduced into the fauna of north america, would afterward have vanished without leaving a vestige of their presence. as for the few cattle for which thorfinn could find room in his three or four dragon-ships, we may easily believe that his people ate them up before leaving the country, especially since we are told they were threatened with famine. but that domestic cattle, after being supported on american soil during the length of time involved in the establishment of a successful colony (say, for fifty or a hundred years), should have disappeared without leaving abundant traces of themselves, is simply incredible. horses and kine are not dependent upon man for their existence; when left to themselves, in almost any part of the world, they run wild and flourish in what naturalists call a "feral" state. thus we find feral horned cattle in the falkland and in the ladrone islands, as well as in the ancient chillingham park, in northumberland; we find feral pigs in jamaica; feral european dogs in la plata; feral horses in turkestan, and also in mexico, descended from spanish horses.[ ] if the northmen had ever founded a colony in vinland, how did it happen that the english and french in the seventeenth century, and from that day to this, have never set eyes upon a wild horse, or wild cattle, pigs, or hounds, or any such indication whatever of the former presence of civilized europeans? i do not recollect ever seeing this argument used before, but it seems to me conclusive. it raises against the hypothesis of a norse colonization in vinland a presumption extremely difficult if not impossible to overcome.[ ] [footnote : "their höfdhu medh sèr allskonar fènadh, thvíat their ætlödhu at byggja landit, ef their mætti that," i. e., "illi omne pecudum genus secum habuerunt, nam terram, si liceret, coloniis frequentare cogitarunt." rafn, p. .] [footnote : major, _prince henry the navigator_, p. .] [footnote : irving's _life of columbus_, new york, , vol. i. p. .] [footnote : _histoire chronologique de la nouvelle france_, pp. , ; this work, written in by the recollet friar sixte le tac, has at length been published (paris, ) with notes and other original documents by eugène réveillaud. see, also, læt, _novus orbis_, .] [footnote : john smith, _generall historie_, .] [footnote : darwin, _animals and plants under domestication_, london, , vol. i pp. , , .] [footnote : the views of professor horsford as to the geographical situation of vinland and its supposed colonization by northmen are set forth in his four monographs, _discovery of america by northmen--address at the unveiling of the statue of leif eriksen_, etc., boston, ; _the problem of the northmen_, cambridge, ; _the discovery of the ancient city of norumbega_, boston, ; _the defences of norumbega_, boston, . among professor horsford's conclusions the two principal are: . that the "river flowing through a lake into the sea" (rafn, p. ) is charles river, and that leif's booths were erected near the site of the present cambridge hospital; . that "norumbega"--a word loosely applied by some early explorers to some region or regions somewhere between the new jersey coast and the bay of fundy--was the indian utterance of "norbega" or "norway;" and that certain stone walls and dams at and near watertown are vestiges of an ancient "city of norumbega," which was founded and peopled by northmen and carried on a more or less extensive trade with europe for more than three centuries. with regard to the first of these conclusions, it is perhaps as likely that leif's booths were within the present limits of cambridge as in any of the numerous places which different writers have confidently assigned for them, all the way from point judith to cape breton. a judicious scholar will object not so much to the conclusion as to the character of the arguments by which it is reached. too much weight is attached to hypothetical etymologies. with regard to the norse colony alleged to have flourished for three centuries, it is pertinent to ask, what became of its cattle and horses? why do we find no vestiges of the burial-places of these europeans? or of iron tools and weapons of mediæval workmanship? why is there no documentary mention, in scandinavia or elsewhere in europe, of this transatlantic trade? etc., etc. until such points as these are disposed of, any further consideration of the hypothesis may properly be postponed.] [illustration: ruins of the church at kakortok.] [sidenote: further fortunes of the greenland colony.] [sidenote: bishop eric's voyage in search of vinland, .] [sidenote: the ship from markland, .] as for the colony in greenland, while its population seems never to have exceeded , or , souls, it maintained its existence and its intercourse with europe uninterruptedly from its settlement in , by eric the red, for more than four hundred years. early in the fourteenth century the west bygd, or western settlement, near godthaab, seems to have contained ninety farmsteads and four churches; while the east bygd, or eastern settlement, near julianeshaab, contained one hundred and ninety farmsteads, with one cathedral and eleven smaller churches, two villages, and three or four monasteries.[ ] between tunnudliorbik and igaliko fiords, and about thirty miles from the ruined stone houses of brattahlid, there now stands, imposing in its decay, the simple but massive structure of kakortok church, once the "cathedral" church of the gardar bishopric, where the credo was intoned and censers swung, while not less than ten generations lived and died. about the beginning of the twelfth century there was a movement at rome for establishing new dioceses in "the islands of the ocean;" in a bishop's see was erected in the north of iceland, and one at about the same time in the færoes. in , eric gnupsson,[ ] having been appointed by pope paschal ii. "bishop of greenland and vinland _in partibus infidelium_," went from iceland to organize his new diocese in greenland. it is mentioned in at least six different vellums that in bishop eric "went in search of vinland."[ ] it is nowhere mentioned that he found it, and dr. storm thinks it probable that he perished in the enterprise, for, within the next year or next but one, the greenlanders asked for a new bishop, and eric's successor, bishop arnold, was consecrated in .[ ] after eric there was a regular succession of bishops appointed by the papal court, down at least to , and seventeen of these bishops are mentioned by name. we do not learn that any of them ever repeated eric's experiment of searching for vinland. so far as existing icelandic vellums know, there was no voyage to vinland after . very likely, however, there may have been occasional voyages for timber from greenland to the coast of the american continent, which did not attract attention or call for comment in iceland. this is rendered somewhat probable from an entry in the "elder skálholt annals," a vellum written about . this informs us that in "there came a ship from greenland, less in size than small icelandic trading-vessels. it was without an anchor. there were seventeen men on board, and they had sailed to markland, but had afterwards been driven hither by storms at sea."[ ] this is the latest mention of any voyage to or from the countries beyond greenland. [footnote : laing, _heimskringla_, i. . a description of the ruins may be found in two papers in _meddelelser om gronland_, copenhagen, and .] [footnote : sometimes called eric uppsi; he is mentioned in the landnáma-bók as a native of iceland.] [footnote : storm, _islandske annaler_, christiania, ; reeves, _the finding of wineland the good_, london, , pp. - .] [footnote : storm, in _aarbøger for nordisk oldkyndighed_, , p. .] [footnote : reeves, _op. cit._ p. . in another vellum it is mentioned that in "a ship came from greenland, which had sailed to markland, and there were eighteen men on board." as mr. reeves well observes: "the nature of the information indicates that the knowledge of the discovery had not altogether faded from the memories of the icelanders settled in greenland. it seems further to lend a measure of plausibility to a theory that people from the greenland colony may from time to time have visited the coast to the southwest of their home for supplies of wood, or for some kindred purpose. the visitors in this case had evidently intended to return directly from markland to greenland, and had they not been driven out of their course to iceland, the probability is that this voyage would never have found mention in icelandic chronicles, and all knowledge of it must have vanished as completely as did the colony to which the markland visitors belonged."] [sidenote: the greenland colony attacked by eskimos.] if the reader is inclined to wonder why a colony could be maintained in southern greenland more easily than on the coasts of nova scotia or massachusetts, or even why the northmen did not at once abandon their fiords at brattahlid and come in a flock to these pleasanter places, he must call to mind two important circumstances. first, the settlers in southern greenland did not meet with barbarous natives, but only with vestiges of their former presence. it was not until the twelfth century that, in roaming the icy deserts of the far north in quest of seals and bearskins, the norse hunters encountered tribes of eskimo using stone knives and whalebone arrow-heads;[ ] and it was not until the fourteenth century that we hear of their getting into a war with these people. in the west bygd was attacked and destroyed by eskimos; in they invaded the east bygd and wrought sad havoc; and it is generally believed that some time after they completed the destruction of the colony. [footnote : storm, _monumenta historica norvegiæ_, p. .] [sidenote: queen margaret's monopoly, and its baneful effects.] secondly, the relative proximity of greenland to the mother country, iceland, made it much easier to sustain a colony there than in the more distant vinland. in colonizing, as in campaigning, distance from one's base is sometimes the supreme circumstance. this is illustrated by the fact that the very existence of the greenland colony itself depended upon perpetual and untrammelled exchange of commodities with iceland; and when once the source of supply was cut off, the colony soon languished. in and the crowns of norway and denmark descended upon queen margaret, and soon she made her precious contribution to the innumerable swarm of instances that show with how little wisdom the world is ruled. she made the trade to greenland, iceland, and the færoe isles "a royal monopoly which could only be carried on in ships belonging to, or licensed by, the sovereign.... under the monopoly of trade the icelanders could have no vessels, and no object for sailing to greenland; and the vessels fitted out by government, or its lessees, would only be ready to leave denmark or bergen for iceland at the season they ought to have been ready to leave iceland to go to greenland. the colony gradually fell into oblivion."[ ] when this prohibitory management was abandoned after by christian iii., it was altogether too late. starved by the miserable policy of governmental interference with freedom of trade, the little greenland colony soon became too weak to sustain itself against the natives whose hostility had, for half a century, been growing more and more dangerous. precisely when or how it perished we do not know. the latest notice we have of the colony is of a marriage ceremony performed (probably in the kakortok church), in , by endrede andreasson, the last bishop.[ ] when, after three centuries, the great missionary, hans egede, visited greenland, in , he found the ruins of farmsteads and villages, the population of which had vanished. [footnote : laing, _heimskringla_, i. . it has been supposed that the black death, by which all europe was ravaged in the middle part of the fourteenth century, may have crossed to greenland, and fatally weakened the colony there; but vigfusson says that the black death never touched iceland (_sturlunga saga_, vol. i. p. cxxix.), so that it is not so likely to have reached greenland.] [footnote : laing, _op. cit._ i. .] * * * * * [sidenote: the story of the venetian brothers.] our account of pre-columbian voyages to america would be very incomplete without some mention of the latest voyage said to have been made by european vessels to the ancient settlement of the east bygd. i refer to the famous narrative of the zeno brothers, which has furnished so many subjects of contention for geographers that a hundred years ago john pinkerton called it "one of the most puzzling in the whole circle of literature."[ ] nevertheless a great deal has been done, chiefly through the acute researches of mr. richard henry major and baron nordenskjöld, toward clearing up this mystery, so that certain points in the zeno narrative may now be regarded as established;[ ] and from these essential points we may form an opinion as to the character of sundry questionable details. [footnote : yet this learned historian was quite correct in his own interpretation of zeno's story, for in the same place he says, "if real, his frisland is the ferro islands, and his zichmni is sinclair." pinkerton's _history of scotland_, london, , vol. i. p. .] [footnote : major, _the voyages of the venetian brothers, nicolò and antonio zeno, to the northern seas in the xivth century_, london, (hakluyt society); cf. nordenskjöld, _om bröderna zenos resor och de äldsta kartor öfner norden_, stockholm, .] [sidenote: the zeno family.] [sidenote: nicolò zeno wrecked upon one of the færoe islands, .] [sidenote: nicolò's voyage to greenland, cir. .] [sidenote: voyage of earl sinclair and antonio zeno.] the zeno family was one of the oldest and most distinguished in venice. among its members in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries we find a doge, several senators and members of the council of ten, and military commanders of high repute. of these, pietro dracone zeno, about , was captain-general of the christian league for withstanding the turks; and his son carlo achieved such success in the war against genoa that he was called the lion of st. mark, and his services to venice were compared with those of camillus to rome. now this carlo had two brothers,--nicolò, known as "the chevalier," and antonio. after the close of the genoese war the chevalier nicolò was seized with a desire to see the world,[ ] and more particularly england and flanders. so about he fitted up a ship at his own expense, and, passing out from the strait of gibraltar, sailed northward upon the atlantic. after some days of fair weather, he was caught in a storm and blown along for many days more, until at length the ship was cast ashore on one of the færoe islands and wrecked, though most of the crew and goods were rescued. according to the barbarous custom of the middle ages, some of the natives of the island (scandinavians) came swarming about the unfortunate strangers to kill and rob them, but a great chieftain, with a force of knights and men-at-arms, arrived upon the spot in time to prevent such an outrage. this chief was henry sinclair of roslyn, who in had been invested by king hacon vi., of norway, with the earldom of the orkneys and caithness. on learning zeno's rank and importance, sinclair treated him with much courtesy, and presently a friendship sprang up between the two. sinclair was then engaged with a fleet of thirteen vessels in conquering and annexing to his earldom the færoe islands, and on several occasions profited by the military and nautical skill of the venetian captain. nicolò seems to have enjoyed this stirring life, for he presently sent to his brother antonio in venice an account of it, which induced the latter to come and join him in the færoe islands. antonio arrived in the course of , and remained in the service of sinclair fourteen years, returning to venice in time to die there in . after antonio's arrival, his brother nicolò was appointed to the chief command of sinclair's little fleet, and assisted him in taking possession of the shetland islands, which were properly comprised within his earldom. in the course of these adventures, nicolò seems to have had his interest aroused in reports about greenland. it was not more than four or five years since queen margaret had undertaken to make a royal monopoly of the greenland trade in furs and whale oil, and this would be a natural topic of conversation in the færoes. in july, , or , nicolò zeno sailed to greenland with three ships, and visited the east bygd. after spending some time there, not being accustomed to such a climate, he caught cold, and died soon after his return to the færoes, probably in . his brother antonio succeeded to his office and such emoluments as pertained to it; and after a while, at earl sinclair's instigation, he undertook a voyage of discovery in the atlantic ocean, in order to verify some fishermen's reports of the existence of land a thousand miles or more to the west. one of these fishermen was to serve as guide to the expedition, but unfortunately he died three days before the ships were ready to sail. nevertheless, the expedition started, with sinclair himself on board, and encountered vicissitudes of weather and fortune. in fog and storm they lost all reckoning of position, and found themselves at length on the western coast of a country which, in the italian narrative, is called "icaria," but which has been supposed, with some probability, to have been kerry, in ireland. here, as they went ashore for fresh water, they were attacked by the natives and several of their number were slain. from this point they sailed out into the broad atlantic again, and reached a place supposed to be greenland, but which is so vaguely described that the identification is very difficult.[ ] our narrative here ends somewhat confusedly. we are told that sinclair remained in this place, "and explored the whole of the country with great diligence, as well as the coasts on both sides of greenland." antonio zeno, on the other hand, returned with part of the fleet to the færoe islands, where he arrived after sailing eastward for about a month, during five and twenty days of which he saw no land. after relating these things and paying a word of affectionate tribute to the virtues of earl sinclair, "a prince as worthy of immortal memory as any that ever lived for his great bravery and remarkable goodness," antonio closes his letter abruptly: "but of this i will say no more in this letter, and hope to be with you very shortly, and to satisfy your curiosity on other subjects by word of mouth."[ ] [footnote : "or m. nicolò il caualiere ... entrò in grandissimo desiderio di ueder il mondo, e peregrinare, e farsi capace di varij costumi e di lingue de gli huomini, acciò che con le occasioni poi potesse meglio far seruigio alla sua patria ed à se acquistar fama e onore." the narrative gives as the date of the voyage, but mr. major has shown that it must have been a mistake for (_op. cit._ xlii.-xlviii.).] [footnote : it appears on the zeno map as "trin p[-p]montor," about the site of cape farewell; but how could six days' sail w. from kerry, followed by four days' sail n. e., reach any such point? and how does this short outward sail consist with the return voyage, twenty days e. and eight days s. e., to the færoes? the place is also said to have had "a fertile soil" and "good rivers," a description in nowise answering to greenland.] [footnote : "però non ni dirò altro in questa lettera, sperando tosto di essere con uoi, e di sodisfarui di molte altre cose con la uiua uoce." major, p. .] [sidenote: publication of the remains of the documents by the younger nicolò zeno.] the person thus addressed by antonio was his brother, the illustrious carlo zeno. soon after reaching home, after this long and eventful absence, antonio died. besides his letters he had written a more detailed account of the affairs in the northern seas. these papers remained for more than a century in the palace of the family at venice, until one of the children, in his mischievous play, got hold of them and tore them up. this child was antonio's great-great-great-grandson, nicolò, born in . when this young nicolò had come to middle age, and was a member of the council of ten, he happened to come across some remnants of these documents, and then all at once he remembered with grief how he had, in his boyhood, pulled them to pieces.[ ] in the light of the rapid progress in geographical discovery since , this story of distant voyages had now for nicolò an interest such as it could not have had for his immediate ancestors. searching the palace he found a few grimy old letters and a map or sailing chart, rotten with age, which had been made or at any rate brought home by his ancestor antonio. nicolò drew a fresh copy of this map, and pieced together the letters as best he could, with more or less explanatory text of his own, and the result was the little book which he published in .[ ] [footnote : "all these letters were written by messire antonio to messire carlo, his brother; and i am grieved that the book and many other writings on these subjects have, i don't know how, come sadly to ruin; for, being but a child when they fell into my hands, i, not knowing what they were, tore them in pieces, as children will do, and sent them all to ruin: a circumstance which i cannot now recall without the greatest sorrow. nevertheless, in order that such an important memorial should not be lost, i have put the whole in order, as well as i could, in the above narrative." major, p. .] [footnote : nicolò zeno, _dello scoprimento dell' isole frislanda, eslanda, engronelanda, estotilanda, & icaria, fatto per due fratelli zeni, m. nicolò it caualiere, & m. antonio. libro vno, col disegno di dette isole._ venice, . mr. major's book contains the entire text, with an english translation.] [illustration: zeno map, cir. --western half.] [illustration: zeno map, cir. --eastern half.] [sidenote: queer transformations of names.] [sidenote: "frislanda."] unfortunately young nicolò, with the laudable purpose of making it all as clear as he could, thought it necessary not simply to reproduce the old weather-beaten map, but to amend it by putting on here and there such places and names as his diligent perusal of the manuscript led him to deem wanting to its completeness.[ ] under the most favourable circumstances that is a very difficult sort of thing to do, but in this case the circumstances were far from favourable. of course nicolò got these names and places into absurd positions, thus perplexing the map and damaging its reputation. with regard to names, there was obscurity enough, to begin with. in the first place, they were icelandic names falling upon the italian ears of old nicolò and antonio, and spelled by them according to their own notions; in the second place, these outlandish names, blurred and defaced withal in the weather-stained manuscript, were a puzzle to the eye of young nicolò, who could but decipher them according to _his_ notions. the havoc that can be wrought upon winged words, subjected to such processes, is sometimes marvellous.[ ] perhaps the slightest sufferer, in this case, was the name of the group of islands upon one of which the shipwrecked nicolò was rescued by sinclair. the name _færoislander_ sounded to italian ears as _frislanda_, and was uniformly so written.[ ] then the pronunciation of _shetland_ was helped by prefixing a vowel sound, as is common in italian, and so it came to be _estland_ and _esland_. this led young nicolò's eye in two or three places to confound it with _islanda_, or _iceland_, and probably in one place with _irlanda_, or _ireland_. where old nicolò meant to say that the island upon which he was living with earl sinclair was somewhat larger than shetland, young nicolò understood him as saying that it was somewhat larger than ireland; and so upon the amended map "frislanda" appears as one great island surrounded by tiny islands.[ ] after the publication of this map, in , sundry details were copied from it by the new maps of that day, so that even far down into the seventeenth century it was common to depict a big "frislanda" somewhere in mid-ocean. when at length it was proved that no such island exists, the reputation of the zeno narrative was seriously damaged. the nadir of reaction against it was reached when it was declared to be a tissue of lies invented by the younger nicolò,[ ] apparently for the purpose of setting up a venetian claim to the discovery of america. [footnote : the map is taken from winsor's _narr. and crit. hist._, i. , where it is reduced from nordenskjöld's _studien ok forskningar_. a better because larger copy may be found in major's _voyages of the venetian brothers_. the original map measures x - / inches. in the legend at the top the date is given as m ccc lxxx. but evidently one x has been omitted, for it should be , and is correctly so given by marco barbaro, in his _genealogie dei nobili veneti_; of antonio zeno he says, "scrisse con il fratello nicolò kav. li viaggi dell' isole sotto il polo artico, e di quei scoprimente del , e che per ordine di zieno, re di frislanda, si portò nel continente d'estotilanda nell' america settentrionale e che si fermò anni in frislanda, cioè con suo fratello nicolò e solo." (this valuable work has never been published. the original ms., in barbaro's own handwriting, is preserved in the biblioteca di san marco at venice. there is a seventeenth century copy of it among the egerton mss. in the british museum.)--nicolò did not leave italy until after december , (muratori, _rerum italicarum scriptores_, tom. xxii. p. ). the map can hardly have been made before antonio's voyage, about . the places on the map are wildly out of position, as was common enough in old maps. greenland is attached to norway according to the general belief in the middle ages. in his confusion between the names "estland" and "islanda," young nicolò has tried to reproduce the shetland group, or something like it, and attach it to iceland. "icaria," probably kerry, in ireland, has been made into an island and carried far out into the atlantic. the queerest of young nicolò's mistakes was in placing the monastery of st. olaus ("st. thomas"). he should have placed it on the southwest coast of greenland, near his "af [-p]montor;" but he has got it on the extreme northeast, just about where greenland is joined to europe.] [footnote : "combien de coquilles typographiques ou de lectures défectueuses ont créé de noms boiteux, qu'il est ensuite bien difficile, quelquefois impossible de redresser! l'histoire et la géographie en sont pleines." avezac, _martin waltzemüller_, p. . it is interesting to see how thoroughly words can be disguised by an unfamiliar phonetic spelling. i have seen people hopelessly puzzled by the following bill, supposed to have been made out by an illiterate stable-keeper somewhere in england:-- osafada s d takinonimome d ------ s d some years ago professor huxley told me of a letter from france which came to the london post-office thus addressed:-- sromfrédévi, piqué du lait, londres, angleterre. this letter, after exciting at first helpless bewilderment and then busy speculation, was at length delivered to the right person, _sir humphry davy_, in his rooms at the royal institution on albemarle street, just off from _piccadilly_!] [footnote : columbus, on his journey to iceland in , also heard the name _færoislander_ as _frislanda_, and so wrote it in the letter preserved for us in his biography by his son ferdinand, hereafter to be especially noticed. see major's remarks on this, _op. cit._ p. xix.] [footnote : perhaps in the old worn-out map the archipelago may have been blurred so as to be mistaken for one island. this would aid in misleading young nicolò.] [footnote : see the elaborate paper by admiral zahrtmann, in _nordisk tidsskrift for oldkyndighed_, copenhagen, , vol. i., and the english translation of it in _journal of royal geographical society_, london, , vol. v. all that human ingenuity is ever likely to devise against the honesty of zeno's narrative is presented in this erudite essay, which has been so completely demolished under mr. major's heavy strokes that there is not enough of it left to pick up. as to this part of the question, we may now safely cry, "finis, laus deo!"] [sidenote: the narrative nowhere makes a claim to the "discovery of america."] the narrative, however, not only sets up no such claim, but nowhere betrays a consciousness that its incidents entitle it to make such a claim. it had evidently not occurred to young nicolò to institute any comparison between his ancestors' voyages to greenland and the voyages of columbus to the western hemisphere, of which _we now know_ greenland to be a part. the knowledge of the north american coast, and of the bearing of one fact upon another fact in relation to it, was still, in , in an extremely vague and rudimentary condition. in the mind of the zeno brothers, as the map shows, greenland was a european peninsula; such was the idea common among mediæval northmen, as is nowhere better illustrated than in this map. neither in his references to greenland, nor to estotiland and drogio, presently to be considered, does young nicolò appear in the light of a man urging or suggesting a "claim." he appears simply as a modest and conscientious editor, interested in the deeds of his ancestors and impressed with the fact that he has got hold of important documents, but intent only upon giving his material as correctly as possible, and refraining from all sort of comment except such as now and then seems needful to explain the text as he himself understands it. [sidenote: earl sinclair.] [sidenote: bardsen's "description of greenland."] the identification of "frislanda" with the færoe islands was put beyond doubt by the discovery that the "zichmni" of the narrative means henry sinclair; and, in order to make this discovery, it was only necessary to know something about the history of the orkneys; hence old pinkerton, as above remarked, got it right. the name "zichmni" is, no doubt, a fearful and wonderful bejugglement; but henry sinclair is a personage well known to history in that corner of the world, and the deeds of "zichmni," as recounted in the narrative, are neither more nor less than the deeds of sinclair. doubtless antonio spelled the name in some queer way of his own, and then young nicolò, unable to read his ancestor's pot-hooks where--as in the case of proper names--there was no clue to guide him, contrived to make it still queerer. here we have strong proof of the genuineness of the narrative. if nicolò had been concocting a story in which earl sinclair was made to figure, he would have obtained his knowledge from literary sources, and thus would have got his names right; the earl might have appeared as enrico de santo claro, but not as "zichmni." it is not at all likely, however, that any literary knowledge of sinclair and his doings was obtainable in italy in the sixteenth century. the zeno narrative, moreover, in its references to greenland in connection with the chevalier nicolò's visit to the east bygd, shows a topographical knowledge that was otherwise quite inaccessible to the younger nicolò. late in the fourteenth century ivar bardsen, steward to the gardar bishopric, wrote a description of greenland, with sailing directions for reaching it, which modern research has proved to have been accurate in every particular. bardsen's details and those of the zeno narrative mutually corroborate each other. but bardsen's book did not make its way down into europe until the very end of the sixteenth century,[ ] and then amid the dense ignorance prevalent concerning greenland its details were not understood until actual exploration within the last seventy years has at length revealed their meaning. the genuineness of the zeno narrative is thus conclusively proved by its knowledge of arctic geography, such as could have been obtained only by a visit to the far north at a time before the greenland colony had finally lost touch with its mother country. [footnote : it was translated into dutch by the famous arctic explorer, william barentz, whose voyages are so graphically described in motley's _united netherlands_, vol. iii. pp. - . an english translation was made for henry hudson. a very old danish version may be found in rafn's _antiquitates americanæ_, pp. - ; danish, latin, and english versions in major's _voyages of the venetian brothers_, etc., pp. - ; and an english version in de costa's _sailing directions of henry hudson_, albany, , pp. - .] [sidenote: the monastery of st. olaus and its hot spring.] the visit of the chevalier nicolò, therefore, about , has a peculiar interest as the last distinct glimpse afforded us of the colony founded by eric the red before its melancholy disappearance from history. already the west bygd had ceased to exist. five and forty years before that time it had been laid waste and its people massacred by eskimos, and trusty ivar bardsen, tardily sent with a small force to the rescue, found nothing left alive but a few cattle and sheep running wild.[ ] nicolò zeno, arriving in the east bygd, found there a monastery dedicated to st. olaus, a name which in the narrative has become st. thomas. to this monastery came friars from norway and other countries, but for the most part from iceland.[ ] it stood "hard by a hill which vomited fire like vesuvius and etna." there was also in the neighbourhood a spring of hot water which the ingenious friars conducted in pipes into their monastery and church, thereby keeping themselves comfortable in the coldest weather. this water, as it came into the kitchen, was hot enough to boil meats and vegetables. the monks even made use of it in warming covered gardens or hot-beds in which they raised sundry fruits and herbs that in milder climates grow out of doors.[ ] "hither in summertime come many vessels from ... the cape above norway, and from trondheim, and bring the friars all sorts of comforts, taking in exchange fish ... and skins of different kinds of animals.... there are continually in the harbour a number of vessels detained by the sea being frozen, and waiting for the next season to melt the ice."[ ] [footnote : so he tells us himself: "quo cum venissent, nullum hominem, neque christianum neque paganum, invenerunt, tantummodo fera pecora et oves deprehenderunt, ex quibus quantum naves ferre poterant in has deportato domum redierunt." _descriptio groenlandiæ_, apud major, p. . the glacial men had done their work of slaughter and vanished.] [footnote : "ma la maggior parte sono delle islande." mr. major is clearly wrong in translating it "from the shetland isles." the younger nicolò was puzzled by the similarity of the names islanda and eslanda, and sometimes confounded iceland with the shetland group. but in this place iceland is evidently meant.] [footnote : this application of the hot water to purposes of gardening reminds us of the similar covered gardens or hot-beds constructed by albertus magnus in the dominican monastery at cologne in the thirteenth century. see humboldt's _kosmos_, ii. .] [footnote : major, _op. cit._ p. . the narrative goes on to give a description of the skin-boats of the eskimo fishermen.] [sidenote: volcanoes of the north atlantic ridge.] [sidenote: fate of gunnbjörn's skerries, .] [sidenote: volcanic phenomena in greenland.] this mention of the volcano and the hot spring is very interesting. in the miocene period the atlantic ridge was one of the principal seats of volcanic activity upon the globe; the line of volcanoes extended all the way from greenland down into central france. but for several hundred thousand years this activity has been diminishing. in france, in the western parts of great britain and the hebrides, the craters have long since become extinct. in the far north, however, volcanic action has been slower in dying out. iceland, with no less than twenty active volcanoes, is still the most considerable centre of such operations in europe. the huge volcano on jan mayen island, between greenland and spitzbergen, is still in action. among the submerged peaks in the northern seas explosions still now and then occur, as in , when a small island was thrown up near cape reykianes, on the southern coast of iceland, and sank again after a year.[ ] midway between iceland and greenland there appears to have stood, in the middle ages, a small volcanic island discovered by that gunnbjörn who first went to greenland. it was known as gunnbjörn's skerries, and was described by ivar bardsen.[ ] this island is no longer above the surface, and its fate is recorded upon ruysch's map of the world in the edition of ptolemy: "insula hæc anno domini fuit totaliter combusta,"--this island was entirely burnt (i. e. blown up in an eruption) in ; and in later maps mr. major has found the corrupted name "gombar scheer" applied to the dangerous reefs and shoals left behind by this explosion.[ ] where volcanic action is declining geysers and boiling springs are apt to abound, as in iceland; where it has become extinct at a period geologically recent, as in auvergne and the rhine country, its latest vestiges are left in the hundreds of thermal and mineral springs whither fashionable invalids congregate to drink or to bathe.[ ] now in greenland, at the present day, hot springs are found, of which the most noted are those on the island of ounartok, at the entrance to the fiord of that name. these springs seem to be the same that were described five hundred years ago by ivar bardsen. as to volcanoes, it has been generally assumed that those of greenland are all extinct; but in a country as yet so imperfectly studied this only means that eruptions have not been recorded.[ ] on the whole, it seems to me that the mention, in our venetian narrative, of a boiling spring and an active volcano in greenland is an instance of the peculiar sort--too strange to have been invented, but altogether probable in itself--that adds to the credit of the narrative. [footnote : daubeny, _description of active and extinct volcanoes_, london, , pp. ; cf. judd, _volcanoes_, london, , p. .] [footnote : "ab snefelsneso islandiæ, quâ brevissimus in gronlandiam trajectus est, duorum dierum et duarum noctium spatio navigandum est recto cursu versus occidentem; ibique gunnbjoernis scopulos invenies, inter gronlandiam et islandiam medio situ interjacentes. hic cursus antiquitûs frequentabatur, nunc vero glacies ex recessu oceani euroaquilonari delata scopulos ante memoratos tam prope attigit, ut nemo sine vitæ discrimine antiquum cursum tenere possit, quemadmodum infra dicetur." _descriptio groenlandiæ_, apud major, _op. cit._ p. .] [footnote : _op. cit._ p. lxxvi. see below, vol. ii. p. , note b.] [footnote : judd, _op. cit._ pp. - .] [footnote : my friend, professor shaler, tells me that "a volcano during eruption might shed its ice mantle and afterward don it again in such a manner as to hide its true character even on a near view;" and, on the other hand, "a voyager not familiar with volcanoes might easily mistake the cloud-bonnet of a peak for the smoke of a volcano." this, however, will not account for zeno's "hill that vomited fire," for he goes on to describe the use which the monks made of the pumice and calcareous tufa for building purposes.] thus far, in dealing with the places actually visited by nicolò or antonio, or by both brothers, we have found the story consistent and intelligible. but in what relates to countries beyond greenland, countries which were not visited by either of the brothers, but about which antonio heard reports, it is quite a different thing. we are introduced to a jumble very unlike the clear, business-like account of vinland voyages in the hauks-bók. yet in this medley there are some statements curiously suggestive of things in north america. it will be remembered that antonio's voyage with sinclair (somewhere about ) was undertaken in order to verify certain reports of the existence of land more than a thousand miles west of the færoe islands. [sidenote: estotiland.] about six and twenty years ago, said antonio in a letter to carlo, four small fishing craft, venturing very far out upon the atlantic, had been blown upon a strange coast, where their crews were well received by the people. the land proved to be an island rather smaller than iceland (or shetland?), with a high mountain whence flowed four rivers. the inhabitants were intelligent people, possessed of all the arts, but did not understand the language of these norse fishermen.[ ] there happened, however, to be one european among them, who had himself been cast ashore in that country and had learned its language; he could speak latin, and found some one among the shipwrecked men who could understand him. there was a populous city with walls, and the king had latin books in his library which nobody could read.[ ] all kinds of metals abounded, and especially gold.[ ] the woods were of immense extent. the people traded with greenland, importing thence pitch(?), brimstone, and furs. they sowed grain and made "beer." they made small boats, but were ignorant of the loadstone and the compass. for this reason, they held the newcomers in high estimation.[ ] the name of the country was estotiland. [footnote : they were, therefore, not northmen.] [footnote : pruning this sentence of its magniloquence, might it perhaps mean that there was a large palisaded village, and that the chief had some books in roman characters, a relic of some castaway, which he kept as a fetish?] [footnote : with all possible latitude of interpretation, this could not be made to apply to any part of america north of mexico.] [footnote : the magnetic needle had been used by the mariners of western and northern europe since the end of the thirteenth century.] there is nothing so far in this vague description to show that estotiland was an american country, except its western direction and perhaps its trading with greenland. the points of unlikeness are at least as numerous as the points of likeness. but in what follows there is a much stronger suggestion of north america. [sidenote: drogio.] for some reason not specified an expedition was undertaken by people from estotiland to a country to the southward named drogio, and these norse mariners, or some of them, because they understood the compass, were put in charge of it.[ ] but the people of drogio were cannibals, and the people from estotiland on their arrival were taken prisoners and devoured,--all save the few northmen, who were saved because of their marvellous skill in catching fish with nets. the barbarians seemed to have set much store by these white men, and perhaps to have regarded them as objects of "medicine." one of the fishermen in particular became so famous that a neighbouring tribe made war upon the tribe which kept him, and winning the victory took him over into its own custody. this sort of thing happened several times. various tribes fought to secure the person and services of this fisherman, so that he was passed about among more than twenty chiefs, and "wandering up and down the country without any fixed abode, ... he became acquainted with all those parts." [footnote : "fanno nauigli e nauigano, ma non hanno la calamìta ne intendeno col bossolo la tramontana. per ilche questi pescatori furono in gran pregio, si che il re li spedì con dodici nauigli uerso ostro nel paese che essi chiamano drogio." major, _op. cit._ p. .] [sidenote: inhabitants of drogio and the countries beyond.] and now comes quite an interesting passage. the fisherman "says that it is a very great country, and, as it were, a new world; the people are very rude and uncultivated, for they all go naked, and suffer cruelly from the cold, nor have they the sense to clothe themselves with the skins of the animals which they take in hunting [a gross exaggeration]. they have no kind of metal. they live by hunting, and carry lances of wood, sharpened at the point. they have bows, the strings of which are made of beasts' skins. they are very fierce, and have deadly fights amongst each other, and eat one another's flesh. they have chieftains and certain laws among themselves, but differing in the different tribes. the farther you go southwestwards, however, the more refinement you meet with, because the climate is more temperate, and accordingly there they have cities and temples dedicated to their idols, in which they sacrifice men and afterwards eat them. in those parts they have some knowledge and use of gold and silver. now this fisherman, having dwelt so many years in these parts, made up his mind, if possible, to return home to his own country; but his companions, despairing of ever seeing it again, gave him god's speed, and remained themselves where they were. accordingly, he bade them farewell, and made his escape through the woods in the direction of drogio, where he was welcomed and very kindly received by the chief of the place, who knew him, and was a great enemy of the neighbouring chieftain; and so passing from one chief to another, being the same with whom he had been before, after a long time and with much toil, he at length reached drogio, where he spent three years. here, by good luck, he heard from the natives that some boats had arrived off the coast; and full of hope of being able to carry out his intention, he went down to the seaside, and to his great delight found that they had come from estotiland. he forthwith requested that they would take him with them, which they did very willingly, and as he knew the language of the country, which none of them could speak, they employed him as their interpreter."[ ] [footnote : major, _op. cit._ pp. - .] [sidenote: the fisherman's return to "frislanda."] whither the fisherman was first carried in these boats or vessels, antonio's letter does not inform us. we are only told that he engaged in some prosperous voyages, and at length returned to the færoes after these six and twenty years of strange adventures. it was apparently the fisherman's description of estotiland as a very rich country (_paese ricchissimo_) that led sinclair to fit out an expedition to visit it, with antonio as his chief captain. as we have already seen, the fisherman died just before the ships were ready to start, and to whatever land they succeeded in reaching after they sailed without him, the narrative leaves us with the impression that it was not the mysterious estotiland. to attempt to identify that country from the description of it, which reads like a parcel of ill-digested sailors' yarns, would be idle. the most common conjecture has identified it with newfoundland, from its relations to other points mentioned in the zeno narrative, as indicated, with fair probability, on the zeno map. to identify it with newfoundland is to brand the description as a "fish story," but from such a conclusion there seems anyway to be no escape. [sidenote: was the account of drogio woven into the narrative by the younger nicolò?] with drogio, however, it is otherwise. the description of drogio and the vast country stretching beyond it, which was like a "new world," is the merest sketch, but it seems to contain enough characteristic details to stamp it as a description of north america, and of no other country accessible by an atlantic voyage. it is a sketch which apparently must have had its ultimate source in somebody's personal experience of aboriginal north america. here we are reminded that when the younger nicolò published this narrative, in , some dim knowledge of the north american tribes was beginning to make its way into the minds of people in europe. the work of soto and cartier, to say nothing of other explorers, had already been done. may we suppose that nicolò had thus obtained some idea of north america, and wove it into his reproduction of his ancestors' letters, for the sake of completeness and point, in somewhat the same uncritical mood as that in which the most worthy ancient historians did not scruple to invent speeches to put into the mouths of their heroes? it may have been so, and in such case the description of drogio loses its point for us as a feature in the pre-columbian voyages to america. in such case we may dismiss it at once, and pretty much all the latter part of the zeno narrative, relating to what antonio heard and did, becomes valueless; though the earlier part, relating to the elder nicolò, still remains valid and trustworthy. [sidenote: or does it represent actual experiences in north america?] but suppose we take the other alternative. as in the earlier part of the story we feel sure that young nicolò must have reproduced the ancestral documents faithfully, because it shows knowledge that he could not have got in any other way; let us now suppose that in the latter part also he added nothing of himself, but was simply a faithful editor. it will then follow that the fisherman's account of drogio, reduced to writing by antonio zeno about , must probably represent personal experiences in north america; for no such happy combination of details characteristic only of north america is likely at that date to have been invented by any european. our simplest course will be to suppose that the fisherman really had the experiences which are narrated, that he was bandied about from tribe to tribe in north america, all the way, perhaps, from nova scotia to mexico, and yet returned to the færoe islands to tell the tale! could such a thing be possible? was anything of the sort ever done before or since? [sidenote: the case of david ingram, .] yes: something of the sort appears to have been done about ten years after the zeno narrative was published. in october, , that great sailor, sir john hawkins, by reason of scarcity of food, was compelled to set about a hundred men ashore near the rio de minas, on the mexican coast, and leave them to their fate. the continent was a network of rude paths or trails, as it had doubtless been for ages, and as central africa is to-day. most of these englishmen probably perished in the wilderness. some who took southwestern trails found their way to the city of mexico, where, as "vile lutheran dogges," they were treated with anything but kindness. others took northeasterly trails, and one of these men, david ingram, made his way from texas to maine, and beyond to the st. john's river, where he was picked up by a friendly french ship and carried to france, and so got home to england. the journey across north america took him about eleven months, but one of his comrades, job hortop, had no end of adventures, and was more than twenty years in getting back to england. ingram told such blessed yarns about houses of crystal and silver, and other wonderful things, that many disbelieved his whole story, but he was subjected to a searching examination before sir francis walsingham, and as to the main fact of his journey through the wilderness there seems to be no doubt.[ ] [footnote : ingram's narrative was first published in hakluyt's folio of , pp. - , but in his larger work, _principal navigations_, etc., london, , it is omitted. as purchas quaintly says, "as for david ingram's perambulation to the north parts, master hakluyt in his first edition published the same; but it seemeth some incredibilities of his reports caused him to leaue him out in the next impression, the reward of lying being not to be beleeued in truths." _purchas his pilgrimes_, london, , vol. iv. p. . the examination before walsingham had reference to the projected voyage of sir humphrey gilbert, which was made in . ingram's relation, "w^{ch} he reported vnto s^{r} frauncys walsingh[~m], knight, and diuers others of good judgment and creditt, in august and septembar, a^{o} dñi, ," is in the british museum, sloane ms. no. , fol. - ; it was copied and privately printed in plowden weston's _documents connected with the history of south carolina_, london, . there is a ms. copy in the sparks collection in the harvard university library. see the late mr. charles deane's note in his edition of hakluyt's _discourse concerning westerne planting_, cambridge, , p. (_collections of maine hist. soc._, d series, vol. ii.); see, also, winsor, _narr. and crit. hist._, iii. .] [sidenote: the case of cabeza de vaca, - .] far more important, historically, and in many ways more instructive than the wanderings of david ingram, was the journey of cabeza de vaca and his ingenious comrades, in - , from the mississippi river to their friends in mexico. this remarkable journey will receive further consideration in another place.[ ] in the course of it cabeza de vaca was for eight years held captive by sundry indian tribes, and at last his escape involved ten months of arduous travel. on one occasion he and his friends treated some sick indians, among other things breathing upon them and making the sign of the cross. as the indians happened to get well, these spaniards at once became objects of reverence, and different tribes vied with one another for access to them, in order to benefit by their supernatural gifts. in those early days, before the red men had become used to seeing europeans, a white captive was not so likely to be put to death as to be cherished as a helper of vast and undetermined value.[ ] the indians set so much store by cabeza de vaca that he found it hard to tear himself away; but at length he used his influence over them in such wise as to facilitate his moving in a direction by which he ultimately succeeded in escaping to his friends. there seems to be a real analogy between his strange experiences and those of the fisherman in drogio, who became an object of reverence because he could do things that the natives could not do, yet the value of which they were able to appreciate. [footnote : see below, vol. ii. p. .] [footnote : in the first reception of the spaniards in peru, we shall see a similar idea at work, vol. ii. pp. , .] now if the younger nicolò had been in the mood for adorning his ancestors' narrative by inserting a few picturesque incidents out of his own hearsay knowledge of north america, it does not seem likely that he would have known enough to hit so deftly upon one of the peculiarities of the barbaric mind. here, again, we seem to have come upon one of those incidents, inherently probable, but too strange to have been invented, that tend to confirm the story. without hazarding anything like a positive opinion, it seems to me likely enough that this voyage of scandinavian fishermen to the coast of north america in the fourteenth century may have happened. [sidenote: there may have been unrecorded instances of visits to north america.] it was this and other unrecorded but possible instances that i had in mind at the beginning of this chapter, in saying that occasional visits of europeans to america in pre-columbian times may have occurred oftener than we are wont to suppose. observe that our scanty records--naturally somewhat perplexed and dim, as treating of remote and unknown places--refer us to that northern atlantic region where the ocean is comparatively narrow, and to that northern people who, from the time of their first appearance in history, have been as much at home upon sea as upon land. for a thousand years past these hyperborean waters have been furrowed in many directions by stout scandinavian keels, and if, in aiming at greenland, the gallant mariners may now and then have hit upon labrador or newfoundland, and have made flying visits to coasts still farther southward, there is nothing in it all which need surprise us.[ ] [footnote : the latest pre-columbian voyage mentioned as having occurred in the northern seas was that of the polish pilot john szkolny, who, in the service of king christian i. of denmark, is said to have sailed to greenland in , and to have touched upon the coast of labrador. see gomara, _historia de las indias_, saragossa, , cap. xxxvii.; wytfliet, _descriptionis ptolemaicæ augmentum_, douay, , p. ; pontanus, _rerum danicarum historia_, amsterdam, , p. . the wise humboldt mentions the report without expressing an opinion, _examen critique_, tom. ii. p. .] * * * * * [sidenote: the pre-columbian voyages made no real contributions to geographical knowledge;] [sidenote: and were in no true sense a discovery of america.] nothing can be clearer, however, from a survey of the whole subject, than that these pre-columbian voyages were quite barren of results of historic importance. in point of colonization they produced the two ill-fated settlements on the greenland coast, and nothing more. otherwise they made no real addition to the stock of geographical knowledge, they wrought no effect whatever upon the european mind outside of scandinavia, and even in iceland itself the mention of coasts beyond greenland awakened no definite ideas, and, except for a brief season, excited no interest. the zeno narrative indicates that the vinland voyages had practically lapsed from memory before the end of the fourteenth century.[ ] scholars familiar with saga literature of course knew the story; it was just at this time that jón thórdharson wrote out the version of it which is preserved in the flateyar-bók. but by the general public it must have been forgotten, or else the fisherman's tale of estotiland and drogio would surely have awakened reminiscences of markland and vinland, and some traces of this would have appeared in antonio's narrative or upon his map. the principal naval officer of the færoes, and personal friend of the sovereign, after dwelling several years among these northmen, whose intercourse with their brethren in iceland was frequent, apparently knew nothing of leif or thorfinn, or the mere names of the coasts which they had visited. nothing had been accomplished by those voyages which could properly be called a contribution to geographical knowledge. to speak of them as constituting, in any legitimate sense of the phrase, a discovery of america is simply absurd. except for greenland, which was supposed to be a part of the european world, america remained as much undiscovered after the eleventh century as before. in the midsummer of it needed to be discovered as much as if leif ericsson or the whole race of northmen had never existed. [footnote : practically, but not entirely, for we have seen markland mentioned in the "elder skálholt annals," about . see above, p. .] as these pre-columbian voyages produced no effect in the eastern hemisphere, except to leave in icelandic literature a scanty but interesting record, so in the western hemisphere they seem to have produced no effect beyond cutting down a few trees and killing a few indians. in the outlying world of greenland it is not improbable that the blood of the eskimos may have received some slight scandinavian infusion. but upon the aboriginal world of the red men, from davis strait to cape horn, it is not likely that any impression of any sort was ever made. it is in the highest degree probable that leif ericsson and his friends made a few voyages to _what we now know to have been_ the coast of america; but it is an abuse of language to say that they "discovered" america. in no sense was any real contact established between the eastern and the western halves of our planet until the great voyage of columbus in . chapter iii. europe and cathay. [sidenote: why the voyages of the northmen were not followed up.] the question has sometimes been asked, why did the knowledge of the voyages to vinland so long remain confined to the scandinavian people or a portion of them, and then lapse into oblivion, insomuch that it did not become a matter of notoriety in europe until after the publication of the celebrated book of thormodus torfæus in ? why did not the news of the voyages of leif and thorfinn spread rapidly over europe, like the news of the voyage of columbus? and why was it not presently followed, like the latter, by a rush of conquerors and colonizers across the atlantic? such questions arise from a failure to see historical events in their true perspective, and to make the proper allowances for the manifold differences in knowledge and in social and economic conditions which characterize different periods of history. in the present case, the answer is to be found, first, in the geographical ignorance which prevented the northmen from realizing in the smallest degree what such voyages really signified or were going to signify to posterity; and, secondly, in the political and commercial condition of europe at the close of the tenth century. [sidenote: ignorance of geography.] in the first place the route which the norse voyagers pursued, from iceland to greenland and thence to vinland, was not such as to give them, in their ignorance of the shape of the earth, and with their imperfect knowledge of latitude and longitude, any adequate gauge wherewith to measure their achievement. the modern reader, who has in his mind a general picture of the shape of the northern atlantic ocean with its coasts, must carefully expel that picture before he can begin to realize how things must have seemed to the northmen. none of the icelandic references to markland and vinland betray a consciousness that these countries belong to a geographical world outside of europe. there was not enough organized geographical knowledge for that. they were simply conceived as remote places beyond greenland, inhabited by inferior but dangerous people. the accidental finding of such places served neither to solve any great commercial problem nor to gratify and provoke scientific curiosity. it was, therefore, not at all strange that it bore no fruit. [sidenote: lack of instruments for ocean navigation.] secondly, even if it had been realized, and could have been duly proclaimed throughout europe, that across the broad atlantic a new world lay open for colonization, europe could not have taken advantage of the fact. now and then a ship might make its way, or be blown, across the waste of waters without compass or astrolabe; but until these instruments were at hand anything like systematic ocean navigation was out of the question; and from a colonization which could only begin by creeping up into the arctic seas and taking greenland on the way, not much was to be expected, after all. [sidenote: europe in the year .] but even if the compass and other facilities for oceanic navigation had been at hand, the state of europe in the days of eric the red was not such as to afford surplus energy for distant enterprise of this sort. let us for a moment recall what was going on in europe in the year of grace , just enough to get a suggestive picture of the time. in england the danish invader, fork-bearded swend, father of the great cnut, was wresting the kingship from the feeble grasp of ethelred the redeless. in gaul the little duchy of france, between the somme and the loire, had lately become the kingdom of france, and its sovereign, hugh capet, had succeeded to feudal rights of lordship over the great dukes and counts whose territories surrounded him on every side; and now hugh's son, robert the debonair, better hymn-writer than warrior, was waging a doubtful struggle with these unruly vassals. it was not yet in any wise apparent what the kingdoms of england and france were going to be. in germany the youthful otto iii., the "wonder of the world," had just made his weird visit to the tomb of his mighty predecessor at aachen, before starting on that last journey to rome which was so soon to cost him his life. otto's teacher, gerbert, most erudite of popes,--too learned not to have had dealings with the devil,--was beginning to raise the papacy out of the abyss of infamy into which the preceding age had seen it sink, and so to prepare the way for the far-reaching reforms of hildebrand. the boundaries of christendom were as yet narrow and insecure. with the overthrow of olaf tryggvesson in this year , and the temporary partition of norway between swedes and danes, the work of christianizing the north seemed, for the moment, to languish. upon the eastern frontier the wild hungarians had scarcely ceased to be a terror to europe, and in this year stephen, their first christian king, began to reign. at the same time the power of heretical bulgaria, which had threatened to overwhelm the eastern empire, was broken down by the sturdy blows of the macedonian emperor basil. in this year the christians of spain met woful defeat at the hands of almansor, and there seemed no reason why the mussulman rule over the greater part of that peninsula should not endure forever. thus, from end to end, europe was a scene of direst confusion, and though, as we now look back upon it, the time seems by no means devoid of promise, there was no such cheering outlook then. nowhere were the outlines of kingdoms or the ownership of crowns definitely settled. private war was both incessant and universal; the truce of god had not yet been proclaimed.[ ] as for the common people, their hardships were well-nigh incredible. amid all this anarchy and misery, at the close of the thousandth year from the birth of christ, the belief was quite common throughout europe that the day of judgment was at hand for a world grown old in wickedness and ripe for its doom. [footnote : the "truce of god" (_treuga dei_) was introduced by the clergy in guienne about ; it was adopted in spain before , and in england by . see datt, _de pace imperii publica_, lib. i. cap. ii. a cessation of all violent quarrels was enjoined, under ecclesiastical penalties, during church festivals, and from every wednesday evening until the following monday morning. this left only about eighty days in the year available for shooting and stabbing one's neighbours. the truce seems to have accomplished much good, though it was very imperfectly observed.] [sidenote: the condition of things was not such as to favour colonial enterprise.] it hardly need be argued that a period like this, in which all the vital energy in europe was consumed in the adjustment of affairs at home, was not fitted for colonial enterprises. before a people can send forth colonies it must have solved the problem of political life so far as to ensure stability of trade. it is the mercantile spirit that has supported modern colonization, aided by the spirit of intellectual curiosity and the thirst for romantic adventure. in the eleventh century there was no intellectual curiosity outside the monastery walls, nor had such a feeling become enlisted in the service of commerce. of trade there was indeed, even in western europe, a considerable amount, but the commercial marine was in its infancy, and on land the trader suffered sorely at the hands of the robber baron. in those days the fashionable method of compounding with your creditors was, not to offer them fifty cents on the dollar, but to inveigle them into your castle and broil them over a slow fire. [sidenote: the outlook of europe was toward asia.] in so far as the attention of people in europe was called to any quarter of the globe outside of the seething turbulence in which they dwelt, it was directed toward asia. until after , europe stood with her back toward the atlantic. what there might be out beyond that "sea of darkness" (_mare tenebrosum_), as it used commonly to be called, was a question of little interest and seems to have excited no speculation. in the view of mediæval europe the inhabited world was cut off on the west by this mysterious ocean, and on the south by the burning sands of sahara; but eastward it stretched out no one knew how far, and in that direction dwelt tribes and nations which europe, from time immemorial, had reason to fear. as early as the time of herodotus, the secular antagonism between europe and asia had become a topic of reflection among the greeks, and was wrought with dramatic effect by that great writer into the structure of his history, culminating in the grand and stirring scenes of the persian war. a century and a half later the conquests of alexander the great added a still more impressive climax to the story. the struggle was afterward long maintained between roman and parthian, but from the fifth century after christ onward through the middle ages, it seemed as if the oriental world would never rest until it had inflicted the extremities of retaliation upon europe. whether it was the heathen of the steppes who were in question, from attila in the fifth century to batu khan in the thirteenth, or the followers of the prophet, who tore away from christendom the southern shores of the mediterranean, and held spain in their iron grasp, while from age to age they exhausted their strength in vain against the eastern empire, the threatening danger was always coming with the morning sun; whatever might be the shock that took the attention of europe away from herself, it directed it upon asia. this is a fact of cardinal importance for us, inasmuch as it was directly through the interest, more and more absorbing, which europe felt in asia that the discovery of the western hemisphere was at last effected. [sidenote: routes of trade between europe and asia.] [sidenote: claudius ptolemy.] [sidenote: early mention of china.] it was not only in war, but in commerce, that the fortunes of europe were dependent upon her relations with asia. since prehistoric times there has always been some commercial intercourse between the eastern shores of the mediterranean and the peninsula of hindustan. tyre and sidon carried on such trade by way of the red sea.[ ] after alexander had led his army to samarcand and to the river hyphasis, the acquaintance of the greeks with asia was very considerably increased, and important routes of trade were established. one was practically the old phoenician route, with its western terminus moved from tyre to alexandria. another was by way of the caspian sea, up the river oxus, and thence with camels to the banks of the indus.[ ] an intermediate route was through syria and by way of the euphrates and the persian gulf; the route which at one time made the greatness of palmyra. after the extension of roman sway to the nile, the euphrates, and the euxine, these same routes continued to be used. the european commodities carried to india were light woollen cloths, linens, coral, black lead, various kinds of glass vessels, and wine. in exchange for these the traders brought back to europe divers aromatic spices, black pepper, ivory, cotton fabrics, diamonds, sapphires, and pearls, silk thread and silk stuffs.[ ] detailed accounts of these commercial transactions, and of the wealth of personal experiences that must have been connected with them, are excessively scant. of the europeans who, during all the centuries between alexander and justinian, made their way to hindustan or beyond, we know very few by name. the amount of geographical information that was gathered during the first half of this period is shown in the map representing claudius ptolemy's knowledge of the earth, about the middle of the second century after christ. except for the scandinavian world, and some very important additions made to the knowledge of asia by marco polo, this map fairly represents the maximum of acquaintance with the earth's surface possessed by europeans previous to the great voyages of the fifteenth century. it shows a dim knowledge of the mouths of the ganges, of the island of ceylon, and of what we sometimes call farther india. a very dim knowledge, indeed; for the huge peninsula of hindustan is shrunk into insignificance, while taprobane, or ceylon, unduly magnified, usurps the place belonging to the deccan. at the same time we see that some hearsay knowledge of china had made its way into the roman world before the days of ptolemy. the two names by which china was first known to europeans were "seres" or "serica," and "sinæ" or "thin." these two differing names are the records of two different methods of approach to different parts of a vast country, very much as the northmen called their part of eastern north america "vinland," while the spaniards called their part "florida." the name "seres" was given to northwestern china by traders who approached it through the highlands of central asia from samarcand, while "sinæ" was the name given to southeastern china by traders who approached it by way of the indian ocean, and heard of it in india, but never reached it. apparently no european ships ever reached china before the portuguese, in .[ ] the name "sinæ" or "thin" seems to mean the country of the "tchin" dynasty, which ruled over the whole of china in the second century before christ, and over a portion of it for a much longer time. the name "seres," on the other hand, was always associated with the trade in silks, and was known to the romans in the time of the emperor claudius,[ ] and somewhat earlier. the romans in virgil's time set a high value upon silk, and every scrap of it they had came from china. they knew nothing about the silk-worm, and supposed that the fibres or threads of this beautiful stuff grew upon trees. of actual intercourse between the roman and chinese empires there was no more than is implied in this current of trade, passing through many hands. but that each knew, in a vague way, of the existence of the other, there is no doubt.[ ] [footnote : diodorus siculus, i. .] [footnote : strabo, xi. , § .] [footnote : robertson, _historical disquisition concerning the knowledge which the ancients had of india_, dublin, , p. . i never have occasion to consult dr. robertson without being impressed anew with his scientific habit of thought and the solidity of his scholarship; and in none of his works are these qualities better illustrated than in this noble essay.] [footnote : the polos sailed back from china to the persian gulf in - ; see below, p. .] [footnote : the name "seres" appears on the map of pomponius mela (cir. a. d. ), while "sinæ" does not. see below, p. . jam tartessiaco quos solverat æquore titan in noctem diffusus equos, jungebat eoïs littoribus, primique novo phaethonte retecti seres lanigeris repetebant vellera lucis. silius italicus, lib. vi. _ad init._] [footnote : for this whole subject see colonel sir henry yule's _cathay and the way thither_, london, , vols.,--a work of profound learning and more delightful than a novel.] [sidenote: cosmas indicopleustes.] [sidenote: shape of the earth, according to cosmas.] in the course of the reign of justinian, we get references at first hand to india, and coupled withal to a general theory of cosmography. this curious information we have in the book of the monk cosmas indicopleustes, written somewhere between a. d. and . a pleasant book it is, after its kind. in his younger days cosmas had been a merchant, and in divers voyages had become familiar with the coasts of ethiopia and the persian gulf, and had visited india and ceylon. after becoming a monk at alexandria, cosmas wrote his book of christian geography,[ ] maintaining, in opposition to ptolemy, that the earth is not a sphere, but a rectangular plane forming the floor of the universe; the heavens rise on all four sides about this rectangle, like the four walls of a room, and, at an indefinite height above the floor, these blue walls support a vaulted roof or firmament, in which god dwells with the angels. in the centre of the floor are the inhabited lands of the earth, surrounded on all sides by a great ocean, beyond which, somewhere out in a corner, is the paradise from which adam and eve were expelled. in its general shape, therefore, the universe somewhat resembles the tabernacle in the wilderness, or a modern "saratoga trunk." on the northern part of the floor, under the firmament, is a lofty conical mountain, around which the sun, moon, and planets perform their daily revolutions. in the summer the sun takes a turn around the apex of the cone, and is, therefore, hidden only for a short night; but in the winter he travels around the base, which takes longer, and, accordingly, the nights are long. such is the doctrine drawn from holy scripture, says cosmas, and as for the vain blasphemers who pretend that the earth is a round ball, the lord hath stultified them for their sins until they impudently prate of antipodes, where trees grow downward and rain falls upward. as for such nonsense, the worthy cosmas cannot abide it. [footnote : its title is [greek: christianôn biblos, hermêneia eis tên oktateuchon], i. e. against ptolemy's geography in eight books. the name cosmas indicopleustes seems merely to mean "the cosmographer who has sailed to india." he begins his book in a tone of extreme and somewhat unsavory humility: [greek: anoigô ta mogilala kai bradyglôssa cheilê ho hamartôlos kai talas egô]--"i, the sinner and wretch, open my stammering, stuttering lips," etc.--the book has been the occasion of some injudicious excitement within the last half century. cosmas gave a description of some comparatively recent inscriptions on the peninsula of sinai, and because he could not find anybody able to read them, he inferred that they must be records of the israelites on their passage through the desert. (compare the dighton rock, above, p. .) whether in the sixth century of grace or in the nineteenth, your unregenerate and unchastened antiquary snaps at conclusions as a drowsy dog does at flies. some years ago an english clergyman, charles forster, started up the nonsense again, and argued that these inscriptions might afford a clue to man's primeval speech! cf. bunsen, _christianity and mankind_, vol. iii. p. ; müller and donaldson, _history of greek literature_, vol. iii. p. ; bury, _history of the later roman empire from arcadius to irene_, vol. ii. p. .] i cite these views of cosmas because there can be no doubt that they represent beliefs current among the general public until after the time of columbus,[ ] in spite of the deference paid to ptolemy's views by the learned. along with these cosmographical speculations, cosmas shows a wider geographical knowledge of asia than any earlier writer. he gives a good deal of interesting information about india and ceylon, and has a fairly correct idea of the position of china, which he calls tzinista or chinistan. this land of silk is the remotest of all the indies, and beyond it "there is neither navigation nor inhabited country.... and the indian philosophers, called brachmans, tell you that if you were to stretch a straight cord from tzinista through persia to the roman territory, you would just divide the world in halves. and mayhap they are right."[ ] [footnote : such views have their advocates even now. there still lives, i believe, in england, a certain john hampden, who with dauntless breast maintains that the earth is a circular plane with centre at the north pole and a circumference of nearly , miles where poor misguided astronomers suppose the south pole to be. the sun moves across the sky at a distance of about miles. from the boundless abyss beyond the southern circumference, with its barrier of icy mountains, came the waters which drowned the antediluvian world; for, as this author quite reasonably observes, "on a globular earth such a deluge would have been physically impossible." hampden's title is somewhat like that of cosmas,--_the new manual of biblical cosmography_, london, ; and he began in to publish a periodical called _the truth-seeker's oracle and scriptural science review_. similar views have been set forth by one samuel rowbotham, under the pseudonym of "parallax," _zetetic astronomy. earth not a globe. an experimental inquiry into the true figure of the earth, proving it a plane without orbital or axial motion_, etc., london, ; and by a william carpenter, _one hundred proofs that the earth is not a globe_, baltimore, . there is a very considerable quantity of such literature afloat, the product of a kind of mental aberration that thrives upon paradox. when i was superintendent of the catalogue of harvard university library, i made the class "eccentric literature" under which to group such books,--the lucubrations of circle-squarers, angle-trisectors, inventors of perpetual motion, devisers of recipes for living forever without dying, crazy interpreters of daniel and the apocalypse, upsetters of the undulatory theory of light, the bacon-shakespeare lunatics, etc.; a dismal procession of long-eared bipeds, with very raucous bray. the late professor de morgan devoted a bulky and instructive volume to an account of such people and their crotchets. see his _budget of paradoxes_, london, .] [footnote : cosmas, ii. . further mention of china was made early in the seventh century by theophylactus samocatta, vii. . see yule's _cathay_, vol. i. pp. xlix., clxviii.] [sidenote: the nestorians.] in the fourth and following centuries, nestorian missionaries were very active in asia, and not only made multitudes of converts and established metropolitan sees in such places as kashgar and herat, but even found their way into china. their work forms an interesting though melancholy chapter in history, but it does not seem to have done much toward making asia better known to europe. as declared heretics, the nestorians were themselves almost entirely cut off from intercourse with european christians. [sidenote: effects of the saracen conquests.] [sidenote: constantinople in the twelfth century.] the immediate effect of the sudden rise of the vast saracen empire, in the seventh and eighth centuries, was to interpose a barrier to the extension of intercourse between europe and the far east. trade between the eastern and western extremities of asia went on more briskly than ever, but it was for a long time exclusively in mussulman hands. the mediæval arabs were bold sailors, and not only visited sumatra and java, but made their way to canton. upon the southern and middle routes the arab cities of cairo and bagdad became thriving centres of trade; but as spain and the whole of northern africa were now arab countries, most of the trade between east and west was conducted within mussulman boundaries. saracen cruisers prowled in the mediterranean and sorely harassed the christian coasts. during the eighth, ninth, and tenth centuries, europe was more shut in upon herself than ever before or since. in many respects these were especially the dark ages of europe,--the period of least comfort and least enlightenment since the days of pre-roman barbarism. but from this general statement constantinople should be in great measure excepted. the current of mediæval trade through the noble highway of the dardanelles and the bosphorus was subject to fluctuations, but it was always great. the city of the byzantine emperors was before all things a commercial city, like venice in later days. until the time of the crusades constantinople was the centre of the levant trade. the great northern route from asia remained available for commercial intercourse in this direction. persian and armenian merchants sent their goods to batoum, whence they were shipped to constantinople; and silk was brought from northwestern china by caravan to the oxus, and forwarded thence by the caspian sea, the rivers cyrus and phasis, and the euxine sea.[ ] when it was visited by benjamin of tudela in the twelfth century, constantinople was undoubtedly the richest and most magnificent city, and the seat of the highest civilization, to be found anywhere upon the globe. [footnote : robertson, _historical disquisition_, p. ; pears, _the fall of constantinople_, p. ,--a book of great merit.] [sidenote: the crusades.] [sidenote: barbarizing character of turkish conquest.] [sidenote: general effects of the crusades.] in the days of its strength the eastern empire was the staunch bulwark of christendom against the dangerous assaults of persian, saracen, and turk; alike in prosperity and in calamity, it proved to be the teacher and civilizer of the western world. the events which, at the close of the eleventh century, brought thousands upon thousands of adventurous, keen-witted people from western europe into this home of wealth and refinement, were the occasion of the most remarkable intellectual awakening that the world had ever witnessed up to that time. the crusades, in their beginning, were a symptom of the growing energy of western europe under the ecclesiastical reformation effected by the mighty hildebrand. they were the military response of europe to the most threatening, and, as time has proved, the most deadly of all the blows that have ever been aimed at her from asia. down to this time the mahometanism with which christendom had so long been in conflict was a mahometanism of civilized peoples. the arabs and moors were industrious merchants, agriculturists, and craftsmen; in their society one might meet with learned scholars, refined poets, and profound philosophers. but at the end of the tenth century, islam happened to make converts of the turks, a nomad race in the upper status of barbarism, with flocks and herds and patriarchal families. inspired with the sudden zeal for conquest which has always characterized new converts to islam, the turks began to pour down from the plains of central asia like a deluge upon the eastern empire. in they overwhelmed armenia, and presently advanced into asia minor. their mode of conquest was peculiarly baleful, for at first they deliberately annihilated the works of civilization in order to prepare the country for their nomadic life; they pulled down cities to put up tents. though they long ago ceased to be nomads, they have to this day never learned to comprehend civilized life, and they have been simply a blight upon every part of the earth's surface which they have touched. at the beginning of the eleventh century, asia minor was one of the most prosperous and highly civilized parts of the world;[ ] and the tale of its devastation by the terrible alp arslan and the robber chiefs that came after him is one of the most mournful chapters in history. at the end of that century, when the turks were holding nicæa and actually had their outposts on the marmora, it was high time for christendom to rise _en masse_ in self-defence. the idea was worthy of the greatest of popes. imperfectly and spasmodically as it was carried out, it undoubtedly did more than anything that had ever gone before toward strengthening the wholesome sentiment of a common christendom among the peoples of western europe. the crusades increased the power of the church, which was equivalent to putting a curb upon the propensities of the robber baron and making labour and traffic more secure. in another way they aided this good work by carrying off the robber baron in large numbers to egypt and syria, and killing him there. in this way they did much toward ridding european society of its most turbulent elements; while at the same time they gave fresh development to the spirit of romantic adventure, and connected it with something better than vagrant freebooting.[ ] by renewing the long-suspended intercourse between the minds of western europe and the greek culture of constantinople, they served as a mighty stimulus to intellectual curiosity, and had a large share in bringing about that great thirteenth century renaissance which is forever associated with the names of giotto and dante and roger bacon. [footnote : "it is difficult for the modern traveller who ventures into the heart of asia minor, and finds nothing but rude kurds and turkish peasants living among mountains and wild pastures, not connected even by ordinary roads, to imagine the splendour and rich cultivation of this vast country, with its brilliant cities and its teeming population." mahaffy, _the greek world under roman sway_, london, , p. .] [footnote : the general effects of the crusades are discussed, with much learning and sagacity, by choiseul-daillecourt, _de l'influence des croisades sur l'état des peuples de l'europe_, paris, .] [sidenote: the fourth crusade.] there can be no doubt that in these ways the crusades were for our forefathers in europe the most bracing and stimulating events that occurred in the whole millennium between the complicated disorders of the fifth century and the outburst of maritime discovery in the fifteenth. how far they justified themselves from the military point of view, it is not so easy to say. on the one hand, they had much to do with retarding the progress of the enemy for two hundred years; they overwhelmed the seljukian turks so effectually that their successors, the ottomans, did not become formidable until about , after the last crusading wave had spent its force. on the other hand, the fourth crusade, with better opportunities than any of the others for striking a crushing blow at the moslem, played false to christendom, and in captured and despoiled constantinople in order to gratify venice's hatred of her commercial rival and superior. it was a sorry piece of business, and one cannot look with unmixed pleasure at the four superb horses that now adorn the front of the church of st. mark as a trophy of this unhallowed exploit.[ ] one cannot help feeling that but for this colossal treachery, the great city of constantine, to which our own civilization owes more than can ever be adequately told, might, perhaps, have retained enough strength to withstand the barbarian in , and thus have averted one of the most lamentable catastrophes in the history of mankind. [footnote : they were taken from chios in the fourth century by the emperor theodosius, and placed in the hippodrome at constantinople, whence they were taken by the venetians in . the opinion that "the results of the fourth crusade upon european civilization were altogether disastrous" is ably set forth by mr. pears, _the fall of constantinople_, london, , and would be difficult to refute. voltaire might well say in this case, "ainsi le seul fruit des chrétiens dans leurs barbares croisades fut d'exterminer d'autres chrétiens. ces croisés, qui ruinaient l'empire auraient pu, bien plus aisément que tous leurs prédécesseurs, chasser les turcs de l'asie." _essai sur les moeurs_, tom. ii. p. . voltaire's general view of the crusades is, however, very superficial.] [sidenote: rivalry between venice and genoa.] the general effect of the crusades upon oriental commerce was to increase the amount of traffic through egypt and syria. of this lucrative trade venice got the lion's share, and while she helped support the short-lived latin dynasty upon the throne at constantinople, she monopolized a great part of the business of the black sea also. but in venice's rival, genoa, allied herself with the greek emperor, michael palæologus, at nicæa, placed him upon the byzantine throne, and again cut off venice from the trade that came through the bosphorus. from this time forth the mutual hatred between venice and genoa "waxed fiercer than ever; no merchant fleet of either state could go to sea without convoy, and wherever their ships met they fought. it was something like the state of things between spain and england in the days of drake."[ ] in the one case as in the other, it was a strife for the mastery of the sea and its commerce. genoa obtained full control of the euxine, took possession of the crimea, and thus acquired a monopoly of the trade from central asia along the northern route. with the fall of acre in , and the consequent expulsion of christians from syria, venice lost her hold upon the middle route. but with the pope's leave[ ] she succeeded in making a series of advantageous commercial treaties with the new mameluke sovereigns of egypt, and the dealings between the red sea and the adriatic soon came to be prodigious. the venetians gained control of part of the peloponnesus, with many islands of the Ægean and eastern mediterranean. during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries their city was the most splendid and luxurious in all christendom. [footnote : yule's _marco polo_, vol. i. p. lxxi.] [footnote : a papal dispensation was necessary before a commercial treaty could be made with mahometans. see leibnitz, _codex jur. gent. diplomat._, i. .] [sidenote: centres and routes of mediæval trade.] such a development of wealth in venice and genoa implies a large producing and consuming area behind them, able to take and pay for the costly products of india and china. before the end of the thirteenth century the volume of european trade had swelled to great proportions. how full of historic and literary interest are the very names of the centres and leading routes of this trade as it was established in those days, with its outlook upon the mediterranean and the distant east! far up in the north we see wisby, on the little isle of gothland in the baltic, giving its name to new rules of international law; and the merchants of the famous hansa towns extending their operations as far as novgorod in one direction, and in another to the steelyard in london, where the pound of these honest "easterlings" was adopted as the "sterling" unit of sound money. fats and tallows, furs and wax from russia, iron and copper from sweden, strong hides and unrivalled wools from england, salt cod and herring (much needed on meagre church fast-days) from the north and baltic seas, appropriately followed by generous casks of beer from hamburg, were sent southward in exchange for fine cloths and tapestries, the products of the loom in ghent and bruges, in ulm and augsburg, with delicious vintages of the rhine, supple chain armour from milan, austrian yew-wood for english long-bows, ivory and spices, pearls and silks from italy and the orient. along the routes from venice and florence to antwerp and rotterdam we see the progress in wealth and refinement, in artistic and literary productiveness. we see the early schools of music and painting in italy meet with prompt response in flanders; in the many-gabled streets of nuremberg we hear the voice of the meistersinger, and under the low oaken roof of a canterbury inn we listen to joyous if sometimes naughty tales erst told in pleasant groves outside of fever-stricken florence. [sidenote: effects of the mongol conquests.] [sidenote: cathay.] [sidenote: carpini and rubruquis.] [sidenote: first knowledge of an eastern ocean beyond cathay.] with this increase of wealth and culture in central europe there came a considerable extension of knowledge and a powerful stimulus to curiosity concerning the remote parts of asia. the conquering career of jenghis khan ( - ) had shaken the world to its foundations. in the middle of that century, to adopt colonel yule's lively expression, "throughout asia and eastern europe, scarcely a dog might bark without mongol leave, from the borders of poland and the coast of cilicia to the amur and the yellow sea." about these portentous mongols, who had thus in a twinkling overwhelmed china and russia, and destroyed the caliphate of bagdad, there was a refreshing touch of open-minded heathenism. they were barbarians willing to learn. from end to end of asia the barriers were thrown down. it was a time when alan chiefs from the volga served as police in tunking, and chinese physicians could be consulted at tabriz. for about a hundred years china was more accessible than at any period before or since,--more even than to-day; and that country now for the first time became really known to a few europeans. in the northern provinces of china, shortly before the mongol deluge, there had reigned a dynasty known as the _khitai_, and hence china was (and still is) commonly spoken of in central asia as the country of the khitai. when this name reached european ears it became _cathay_, the name by which china was best known in europe during the next four centuries.[ ] in , friar john of plano carpini, a friend and disciple of st. francis, was sent by pope innocent iv. on a missionary errand to the great khan, and visited him in his camp at karakorum in the very depths of mongolia. in the king of france, st. louis, sent another franciscan monk, willem de rubruquis, to karakorum, on a mission of which the purpose is now not clearly understood. both these franciscans were men of shrewd and cultivated minds, especially rubruquis, whose narrative, "in its rich detail, its vivid pictures, its acuteness of observation and strong good sense ... has few superiors in the whole library of travel."[ ] neither rubruquis nor friar john visited china, but they fell in with chinese folk at karakorum, and obtained information concerning the geography of eastern asia far more definite than had ever before been possessed by europeans. they both describe cathay as bordering upon an eastern ocean, and this piece of information constituted the first important leap of geographical knowledge to the eastward since the days of ptolemy, who supposed that beyond the "seres and sinæ" lay an unknown land of vast extent, "full of reedy and impenetrable swamps."[ ] the information gathered by rubruquis and friar john indicated that there was an end to the continent of asia; that, not as a matter of vague speculation, but of positive knowledge, asia was bounded on the east, just as europe was bounded on the west, by an ocean. [footnote : yule's _cathay_, vol. i. p. cxvi.; _marco polo_, vol. i. p. xlii.] [footnote : yule's _marco polo_, vol. i. p. cxxx.; cf. humboldt, _examen critique_, tom. i. p. . the complete original texts of the reports of both monks, with learned notes, may be found in the _recueil de voyages et de mémoires, publié par la société de géographie_, paris, , tom. iv., viz.: _johannis de plano carpini historia mongolorum quos nos tartaros appellamus_, ed. m. d'avezac; _itinerarium willelmi de rubruk_, ed. f. michel et t. wright.] [footnote : yule's _cathay_, vol. i. p. xxxix.; ptolemy, i. . cf. bunbury's _history of ancient geography_, london, , vol. ii. p. .] [sidenote: the data were thus prepared for columbus;] [sidenote: but as yet nobody reasoned from these data to a practical conclusion.] here we arrive at a notable landmark in the history of the discovery of america. here from the camp of bustling heathen at karakorum there is brought to europe the first announcement of a geographical fact from which the poetic mind of christopher columbus will hereafter reap a wonderful harvest. this is one among many instances of the way in which, throughout all departments of human thought and action, the glorious thirteenth century was beginning to give shape to the problems of which the happy solution has since made the modern world so different from the ancient.[ ] since there is an ocean east of cathay and an ocean west of spain, how natural the inference--and albeit quite wrong, how amazingly fruitful--that these oceans are one and the same, so that by sailing westward from spain one might go straight to cathay! the data for such an inference were now all at hand, but it does not appear that any one as yet reasoned from the data to the conclusion, although we find roger bacon, in , citing the opinions of aristotle and other ancient writers to the effect that the distance by sea from the western shores of spain to the eastern shores of asia cannot be so very great.[ ] in those days it took a long time for such ideas to get from the heads of philosophers into the heads of men of action; and in the thirteenth century, when cathay was more accessible by land than at any time before or since, there was no practical necessity felt for a water route thither. europe still turned her back upon the atlantic and gazed more intently than ever upon asia. stronger and more general grew the interest in cathay. [footnote : see my _beginnings of new england_, chap. i. how richly suggestive to an american is the contemporaneity of rubruquis and earl simon of leicester!] [footnote : roger bacon, _opus majus_, ed. jebb, london, , p. .] [sidenote: the polo brothers.] [sidenote: kublai khan's message to the pope.] in the middle of the thirteenth century, some members of the polo family, one of the aristocratic families of venice, had a commercial house at constantinople. thence, in , the brothers nicolò and maffeo polo started on a trading journey to the crimea, whence one opportunity after another for making money and gratifying their curiosity with new sights led them northward and eastward to the volga, thence into bokhara, and so on until they reached the court of the great khan, in one of the northwestern provinces of cathay. the reigning sovereign was the famous kublai khan, grandson of the all-conquering jenghis. kublai was an able and benevolent despot, earnest in the wish to improve the condition of his mongol kinsmen. he had never before met european gentlemen, and was charmed with the cultivated and polished venetians. he seemed quite ready to enlist the roman church in aid of his civilizing schemes, and entrusted the polos with a message to the pope, asking him for a hundred missionary teachers. the brothers reached venice in , and found that pope clement iv. was dead and there was an interregnum. after two years gregory x. was elected and received the khan's message, but could furnish only a couple of dominican friars, and these men were seized with the dread not uncommonly felt for "tartareans," and at the last moment refused to go. nicolò and his brother then set out in the autumn of to return to china, taking with them nicolò's son marco, a lad of seventeen years. from acre they went by way of bagdad to hormuz, at the mouth of the persian gulf, apparently with the intention of proceeding thence by sea, but for some reason changed their course, and travelled through kerman, khorassan, and balkh, to kashgar, and thence by way of yarkand and khotan, and across the desert of gobi into northwestern china, where they arrived in the summer of , and found the khan at kaipingfu, not far from the northern end of the great wall. [sidenote: marco polo and his travels in asia.] [sidenote: first recorded voyage of europeans around the indo-chinese peninsula, - .] [sidenote: return of the polos to venice.] it has been said that the failure of kublai's mission to the pope led him to apply to the grand lama, at thibet, who responded more efficiently and successfully than gregory x., so that buddhism seized the chance which catholicism failed to grasp. the venetians, however, lost nothing in the good khan's esteem. young marco began to make himself proficient in speaking and writing several asiatic languages, and was presently taken into the khan's service. his name is mentioned in the chinese annals of as a newly-appointed commissioner of the privy council.[ ] he remained in kublai's service until , while his father and uncle were gathering wealth in various ways. marco made many official journeys up and down the khan's vast dominions, not only in civilized china, but in regions of the heart of asia seldom visited by europeans to this day,--"a vast ethnological garden," says colonel yule, "of tribes of various race and in every stage of uncivilization." in a royal bride for the khan of persia was to be sent all the way from peking to tabriz, and as war that year made some parts of the overland route very unsafe, it was decided to send her by sea. the three polos had for some time been looking for an opportunity to return to venice, but kublai was unwilling to have them go. now, however, as every venetian of that day was deemed to be from his very cradle a seasoned seadog, and as the kindly old mongol sovereign had an inveterate land-lubber's misgivings about ocean voyages, he consented to part with his dear friends, so that he might entrust the precious princess to their care. they sailed from the port of zaiton (chinchow) early in , and after long delays on the coasts of sumatra and hindustan, in order to avoid unfavourable monsoons, they reached the persian gulf in . they found that the royal bridegroom, somewhat advanced in years, had died before they started from china; so the young princess became the bride of his son. after tarrying awhile in tabriz, the polos returned, by way of trebizond and the bosphorus, to venice, arriving in . when they got there, says ramusio, after their absence of four and twenty years, "the same fate befel them as befel ulysses, who, when he returned to his native ithaca, was recognized by nobody." their kinsfolk had long since given them up for dead; and when the three wayworn travellers arrived at the door of their own palace, the middle-aged men now wrinkled graybeards, the stripling now a portly man, all three attired in rather shabby clothes of tartar cut, and "with a certain indescribable smack of the tartar about them, both in air and accent," some words of explanation were needed to prove their identity. after a few days they invited a party of old friends to dinner, and bringing forth three shabby coats, ripped open the seams and welts, and began pulling out and tumbling upon the table such treasures of diamonds and emeralds, rubies and sapphires, as could never have been imagined, "which had all been stitched up in those dresses in so artful a fashion that nobody could have suspected the fact." in such wise had they brought home from cathay their ample earnings; and when it became known about venice that the three long-lost citizens had come back, "straightway the whole city, gentle and simple, flocked to the house to embrace them, and to make much of them, with every conceivable demonstration of affection and respect."[ ] [footnote : pauthier's _marco polo_, p. ; yule's _marco polo_, p. li.] [footnote : ramusio, _apud_ yule's _marco polo_, vol. i. p. xxxvii.] [sidenote: marco polo's book written in prison at genoa, .] three years afterward, in , marco commanded a galley in the great naval battle with the genoese near curzola. the venetians were totally defeated, and marco was one of the , prisoners taken to genoa, where he was kept in durance for about a year. one of his companions in captivity was a certain rusticiano, of pisa, who was glad to listen to his descriptions of asia, and to act as his amanuensis. french was then, at the close of the crusades, a language as generally understood throughout europe as later, in the age of louis xiv.; and marco's narrative was duly taken down by the worthy rusticiano in rather lame and shaky french. in the summer of marco was set free and returned to venice, where he seems to have led a quiet life until his death in . [sidenote: its great contributions to geographical knowledge.] "the book of ser marco polo concerning the kingdoms and marvels of the east" is one of the most famous and important books of the middle ages. it contributed more new facts toward a knowledge of the earth's surface than any book that had ever been written before. its author was "the first traveller to trace a route across the whole longitude of asia;" the first to describe china in its vastness, with its immense cities, its manufactures and wealth, and to tell, whether from personal experience or direct hearsay, of thibet and burmah, of siam and cochin china, of the indian archipelago, with its islands of spices, of java and sumatra, and of the savages of andaman. he knew of japan and the woful defeat of the mongols there, when they tried to invade the island kingdom in . he gave a description of hindustan far more complete and characteristic than had ever before been published. from arab sailors, accustomed to the indian ocean, he learned something about zanzibar and madagascar and the semi-christian kingdom of abyssinia. to the northward from persia he described the country of the golden horde, whose khans were then holding russia in subjection; and he had gathered some accurate information concerning siberia as far as the country of the samoyeds, with their dog-sledges and polar bears.[ ] [footnote : yule's _marco polo_, vol. i. p. cxxxi.] [sidenote: prester john.] [sidenote: the "arimaspians."] here was altogether too much geographical knowledge for european ignorance in those days to digest. while marco's book attracted much attention, its influence upon the progress of geography was slighter than it would have been if addressed to a more enlightened public. many of its sober statements of fact were received with incredulity. many of the places described were indistinguishable, in european imagination, from the general multitude of fictitious countries mentioned in fairy-tales or in romances of chivalry. perhaps no part of marco's story was so likely to interest his readers as his references to prester john. in the course of the twelfth century the notion had somehow gained possession of the european mind that somewhere out in the dim vastness of the orient there dwelt a mighty christian potentate, known as john the presbyter or "prester."[ ] at different times he was identified with various known asiatic sovereigns. marco polo identified him with one togrul wang, who was overcome and slain by the mighty jenghis; but he would not stay dead, any more than the grewsome warlock in russian nursery lore. the notion of prester john and his wealthy kingdom could no more be expelled from the european mind in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries than the kindred notion of el dorado in the sixteenth. the position of this kingdom was shifted about here and there, as far as from chinese tartary to abyssinia and back again, but somewhere or other in people's vague mental picture of the east it was sure to occur. other remote regions in asia were peopled with elves and griffins and "one-eyed arimaspians,"[ ] and we may be sure that to marco's readers these beings were quite as real as the polished citizens of cambaluc (peking) or the cannibals of the andaman islands. from such a chaos of ideas sound geographical knowledge must needs be a slow evolution, and marco polo's acquisitions were altogether too far in advance of his age to be readily assimilated. [footnote : "but for to speake of riches and of stones, and men and horse, i trow the large wones of prestir john, ne all his tresorie, might not unneth have boght the tenth partie." chaucer, _the flower and the leaf_, . the fabulous kingdom of prester john is ably treated in yule's _cathay_, vol. i. pp. - ; _marco polo_, vol. i. p. - . colonel yule suspects that its prototype may have been the semi-christian kingdom of abyssinia. this is very likely. as for its range, shifted hither and thither as it was, all the way from the upper nile to the thian-shan mountains, we can easily understand this if we remember how an ignorant mind conceives all points distant from its own position as near to one another; i. e. if you are about to start from new york for arizona, your housemaid will perhaps ask you to deliver a message to her brother in manitoba. nowhere more than in the history of geography do we need to keep before us, at every step, the limitations of the untutored mind and its feebleness in grasping the space-relations of remote regions.] [footnote : these arimaspians afford an interesting example of the uncritical statements of travellers at an early time, as well as of their tenacious vitality. the first mention of these mythical people seems to have been made by greek travellers in scythia as early as the seventh century before christ; and they furnished aristeas of proconnesus, somewhat later, with the theme of his poem "arimaspeia," which has perished, all except six verses quoted by longinus. see mure's _literature of antient greece_, vol. iv. p. . thence the notion of the arimaspians seems to have passed to herodotus (iii. ; iv. ) and to Æschylus:-- [greek: oxystomous gar zênos akrageis kynas grypas phylaxai, ton te mounôpa straton arimaspon hippobamon', hoi chrysorrhyton oikousin amphi nama ploutônos porou; toutois sy mê pelaze.] _prometheus_, . thence it passed on to pausanias, i. ; pomponius mela, ii. ; pliny, _hist. nat._, vii. ; lucan, _pharsalia_, iii. ; and so on to milton:-- "as when a gryphon through the wilderness, with winged course o'er hill or moory dale, pursues the arimaspian who by stealth had from his wakeful custody purloined the guarded gold." _paradise lost_, ii. .] [illustration: two sheets of the catalan map, .] [sidenote: other visits to china.] [sidenote: overthrow of the mongol dynasty, and shutting up of china.] nevertheless, in the catalan map, made in , and now to be seen in the national library at paris, there is a thorough-going and not unsuccessful attempt to embody the results of polo's travels. in the interval of three quarters of a century since the publication of marco's narrative, several adventurous travellers had found their way to cathay. there was friar odoric, of pordenone, who, during the years - visited hindustan, sumatra, java, cochin china, the chinese empire, and thibet.[ ] it was from this worthy monk that the arrant old impostor, "sir john mandeville," stole his descriptions of india and cathay, seasoning them with yarns from pliny and ktesias, and grotesque conceits of his own.[ ] several other missionary friars visited china between and , and about ten years after the latter date the florentine merchant, francesco pegolotti, wrote a very useful handbook for commercial travellers on the overland route to that country.[ ] between and giovanni marignolli spent some years at peking, as papal legate from benedict xi. to the great khan, and also travelled in ceylon and hindustan.[ ] that seems to have been the last of these journeys to the far east. in , the people of china rose against the mongol dynasty and overthrew it. the first emperor of the native ming dynasty was placed upon the throne, and the chinese retorted upon their late conquerors by overrunning vast mongolia and making it chinese tartary. the barriers thrown down by the liberal policy of the mongol sovereigns were now put up again, and no more foreigners were allowed to set foot upon the sacred soil of the flowery kingdom. [footnote : odoric mentions juggernaut processions and the burning of widows; in sumatra he observed cannibalism and community of wives; he found the kingdom of prester john in chinese tartary; "but as regards him," says wise odoric, "not one hundredth part is true of what is told of him as if it were undeniable." yule's _cathay_, vol. i. pp. , , .] [footnote : colonel yule gives a list of fourteen important passages taken bodily from odoric by mandeville. _op. cit._ i. . it is very doubtful if that famous book, "sir john mandeville's travels," was written by a mandeville, or by a knight, or even by an englishman. it seems to have been originally written in french by jean de bourgogne, a physician who lived for some years at liège, and died there somewhere about . he may possibly have been an englishman named john burgoyne, who was obliged some years before that date to flee his country for homicide or for some political offence. he had travelled as far as egypt and palestine, but no farther. his book is almost entirely cribbed from others, among which may be mentioned the works of jacques de vitry, plano carpini, hayton the armenian, boldensele's itinerary, albert of aix's chronicle of the first crusade, brunetto latini's _trésor_, petrus comestor's _historia scholastica_, the _speculum_ of vincent de beauvais, etc., etc. it is one of the most wholesale and successful instances of plagiarism and imposture on record. see _the buke of john mandevill, from the unique copy (egerton ms. ) in the british museum. edited by g. f. warner._ westminster, . (roxburghe club.)] [footnote : one piece of pegolotti's advice is still useful for travellers in the nineteenth century who visit benighted heathen countries afflicted with robber tariffs: "and don't forget that if you treat the custom-house officers with respect, and make them something of a present in goods or money, they will behave with great civility and always be ready to appraise your wares below their real value." _op. cit._ ii. .] [footnote : the works of all the writers mentioned in this paragraph, or copious extracts from them, may be found in yule's _cathay_, which comprises also the book of the celebrated ibn batuta, of tangier, whose travels, between and , covered pretty much the whole of asia except siberia, besides a journey across sahara to the river niger. his book does not seem to have attracted attention in europe until early in the present century.] [sidenote: first rumours of the molucca islands and japan.] thus, for just a century,--from carpini and rubruquis to marignolli,--while china was open to strangers as never before or since, a few europeans had availed themselves of the opportunity in such wise as to mark the beginning of a new era in the history of geographical knowledge. though the discoveries of marco polo were as yet but imperfectly appreciated, one point, and that the most significant of all, was thoroughly established. it was shown that the continent of asia did not extend indefinitely eastward, nor was it bounded and barricaded on that side, as ptolemy had imagined, by vast impenetrable swamps. on the contrary, its eastern shores were perfectly accessible through an open sea, and half a dozen europeans in chinese ships had now actually made the voyage between the coast of china and the persian gulf. moreover, some hearsay knowledge--enough to provoke curiosity and greed--had been gained of the existence of numerous islands in that far-off eastern ocean, rich in the spices which from time immemorial had formed such an important element in mediterranean commerce. news, also, had been brought to europe of the wonderful island kingdom of japan (cipango or zipangu) lying out in that ocean some hundreds of miles beyond the coast of cathay. these were rich countries, abounding in objects of lucrative traffic. under the liberal mongol rule the oriental trade had increased enough for europe to feel in many ways its beneficial effects. now this trade began to be suddenly and severely checked, and while access to the interior of asia was cut off, european merchants might begin to reflect upon the value of what they were losing, and to consider if there were any feasible method of recovering it. [sidenote: the accustomed routes of oriental trade cut off by the ottoman turks.] [sidenote: necessity for finding an "outside route to the indies."] it was not merely the shutting up of china by the first ming emperor, in , that checked the intercourse between europe and asia. a still more baleful obstacle to all such intercourse had lately come upon the scene. in asia minor the beastly turk, whose career had been for two centuries arrested by the crusades, now reared his head again. the seljukian had been only scotched, not killed; and now he sprang to life as the ottoman, with sharper fangs than before. in the turks established themselves in the balkan peninsula, with adrianople as their capital, and began tightening their coils about the doomed city of constantine. each point that they gained meant the strangling of just so much oriental trade; for, as we have seen, the alliance of constantinople with genoa since had secured to the latter city, and to western europe, the advantages of the overland routes from asia, whether through the volga country or across armenia. when at length, in , the turks took constantinople, the splendid commercial career of genoa was cut with the shears of atropos. at the same time, as their power was rapidly extending over syria and down toward egypt, threatening the overthrow of the liberal mameluke dynasty there, the commercial prosperity of venice also was seriously imperilled. moreover, as turkish corsairs began to swarm in the eastern waters of the mediterranean, the voyage became more and more unsafe for christian vessels. it was thus, while the volume of trade with asia was, in the natural course of things, swelling year by year, that its accustomed routes were being ruthlessly cut off. it was fast becoming necessary to consider whether there might not be other practicable routes to "the indies" than those which had from time immemorial been followed. could there be such a thing as an "outside route" to that land of promise? a more startling question has seldom been propounded; for it involved a radical departure from the grooves in which the human mind had been running ever since the days of solomon. two generations of men lived and died while this question was taking shape, and all that time cathay and india and the islands of spices were objects of increasing desire, clothed by eager fancy with all manner of charms and riches. the more effectually the eastern mediterranean was closed, the stronger grew the impulse to venture upon unknown paths in order to realize the vague but glorious hopes that began to cluster about these remote countries. such an era of romantic enterprise as was thus ushered in, the world has never seen before or since. it was equally remarkable as an era of discipline in scientific thinking. in the maritime ventures of unparalleled boldness now to be described, the human mind was groping toward the era of enormous extensions of knowledge in space and time represented by the names of newton and darwin. it was learning the right way of putting its trust in the unseen. chapter iv. the search for the indies. _eastward or portuguese route._ [sidenote: question as to whether asia could be reached by sailing around africa.] as it dawned upon men's minds that to find some oceanic route from europe to the remote shores of asia was eminently desirable, the first attempt would naturally be to see what could be done by sailing down the western coast of africa, and ascertaining whether that continent could be circumnavigated. it was also quite in the natural order of things that this first attempt should be made by the portuguese. in the general history of the middle ages the spanish peninsula had been to some extent cut off from the main currents of thought and feeling which actuated the rest of europe. its people had never joined the other christian nations in the crusades, for the good reason that they always had quite enough to occupy them in their own domestic struggle with the moors. from the throes of this prolonged warfare portugal emerged somewhat sooner than the spanish kingdoms, and thus had somewhat earlier a surplus of energy released for work of another sort. it was not strange that the portuguese should be the first people since the old northmen to engage in distant maritime adventure upon a grand scale. nor was it strange that portuguese seamanship should at first have thriven upon naval warfare with mussulmans. it was in attempting to suppress the intolerable nuisance of moorish piracy that portuguese ships became accustomed to sail a little way down the west coast of africa; and such voyages, begun for military purposes, were kept up in the interests of commerce, and presently served as a mighty stimulus to geographical curiosity. we have now to consider at some length how grave was the problem that came up for immediate solution. * * * * * [sidenote: views of eratosthenes, b. c. - .] [sidenote: opposing theory of ptolemy, cir. a. d. .] with regard to the circumnavigability of africa two opposite opinions were maintained by the ancient greek and latin writers whose authority the men of the middle ages were wont to quote as decisive of every vexed question. the old homeric notion of an ocean encompassing the terrestrial world, although mentioned with doubt by herodotus,[ ] continued to survive after the globular form of the earth had come to be generally maintained by ancient geographers. the greatest of these geographers, eratosthenes, correctly assumed that the indian ocean was continuous with the atlantic,[ ] and that africa could be circumnavigated, just as he incorrectly assumed that the caspian sea was a huge gulf communicating with a northern ocean, by which it would be possible to sail around the continent of asia as he imagined it.[ ] a similar opinion as to africa was held by posidonius and by strabo.[ ] it was called in question, however, by polybius,[ ] and was flatly denied by the great astronomer hipparchus, who thought that certain observations on the tides, reported by seleucus of babylon, proved that there could be no connection between the atlantic and indian oceans.[ ] claudius ptolemy, writing in the second century after christ, followed the opinion of hipparchus, and carried to an extreme the reaction against eratosthenes. by ptolemy's time the caspian had been proved to be an inland sea, and it was evident that asia extended much farther to the north and east than had once been supposed. this seems to have discredited in his mind the whole conception of outside oceans, and he not only gave an indefinite northward and eastward extension to asia and an indefinite southern extension to africa, but brought these two continents together far to the southeast, thus making the indian ocean a land-locked sea.[ ] [footnote : [greek: ton de Ôkeanon logô men legousi ap' hêliou anatoleôn arxamenon gên peri pasan rheein, ergô de ouk apodeiknysi.] herodotus, iv. .] [footnote : [greek: kai gar kat' auton eratosthenê tên ektos thalattan hapasan syrroun einai, hôste kai tên hesperion kai tên erythran thalattan mian einai.] strabo, i. , § .] [footnote : bunbury, _history of ancient geography_, vol. i. p. .] [footnote : strabo, ii. , § ; xvii. , § .] [footnote : [greek: kathaper de kai tês asias kai tês libyes, katho synaptousin allêlais peri tên aithiopian, oudeis echei legein atrekôs heôs tôn kath' hêmas kairôn, poteron êpeiros esti kata to syneches ta pros tên mesêmbrian, ê thalattê periechetai.] polybius, iii. .] [footnote : bunbury, _op. cit._ vol. ii. p. .] [footnote : see the map of ptolemy's world, above, p. .] [sidenote: story of the phoenician voyage, in the time of necho.] these views of hipparchus and ptolemy took no heed of the story told to herodotus of the circumnavigation of africa by a phoenician squadron at some time during the reign of necho in egypt ( - b. c.).[ ] the phoenician ships were said to have sailed from the red sea and to have returned through the mediterranean in the third year after starting. in each of the two autumn seasons they stopped and sowed grain and waited for it to ripen, which in southern africa would require ten or twelve weeks.[ ] on their return to egypt they declared ("i for my part do not believe them," says herodotus, "but perhaps others may") that in thus sailing from east to west around africa they had the sun upon their right hand. about this alleged voyage there has been a good deal of controversy.[ ] no other expedition in any wise comparable to it for length and difficulty can be cited from ancient history, and a critical scholar is inclined to look with suspicion upon all such accounts of unique and isolated events. as we have not the details of the story, it is impossible to give it a satisfactory critical examination. the circumstance most likely to convince us of its truth is precisely that which dear old herodotus deemed incredible. the position of the sun, to the north of the mariners, is something that could hardly have been imagined by people familiar only with the northern hemisphere. it is therefore almost certain that necho's expedition sailed beyond the equator.[ ] but that is as far as inference can properly carry us; for our experience of the uncritical temper of ancient narrators is enough to suggest that such an achievement might easily be magnified by rumour into the story told, more than a century after the event, to herodotus. the data are too slight to justify us in any dogmatic opinion. one thing, however, is clear. even if the circumnavigation was effected,--which, on the whole, seems improbable,--it remained quite barren of results. it produced no abiding impression upon men's minds[ ] and added nothing to geographical knowledge. the veil of mystery was not lifted from southern africa. the story was doubted by strabo and posidonius, and passed unheeded, as we have seen, by hipparchus and ptolemy. [footnote : ptolemy expressly declares that the equatorial regions had never been visited by people from the northern hemisphere: [greek: tines de eisin hai oikêseis ouk an echoimen pepeismenôs eipein. atriptoi gar eisi mechri tou deuro tois apo tês kath' hêmas oikoumenês, kai eikasian mallon an tis ê historian hêgêsaito ta legomena peri autôn.] _syntaxis_, ii. .] [footnote : rawlinson's _herodotus_, vol. iii. p. , note .] [footnote : the story is discredited by mannert, _geographie der griechen und römer_, bd. i. pp. - ; gossellin, _recherches sur la géographie des anciens_, tom. i. p. ; lewis, _astronomy of the ancients_, pp. - ; vincent, _commerce and navigation of the ancients in the indian ocean_, vol. i. pp. - , vol. ii. pp. - ; leake, _disputed questions of ancient geography_, pp. - . it is defended by heeren, _ideen über die politik, den verkehr_, etc., e aufl., göttingen, , bd. i. abth. ii. pp. - ; rennell, _geography of herodotus_, pp. - ; grote, _history of greece_, vol. iii. pp. - . the case is ably presented in bunbury's _history of ancient geography_, vol. i. pp. - , where it is concluded that the story "cannot be disproved or pronounced to be absolutely impossible; but the difficulties and improbabilities attending it are so great that they cannot reasonably be set aside without better evidence than the mere statement of herodotus, upon the authority of unknown informants." mr. bunbury (vol. i. p. ) says that he has reasons for believing that mr. grote afterwards changed his opinion and came to agree with sir george lewis.] [footnote : in reading the learned works of sir george cornewall lewis, one is often reminded of what sainte-beuve somewhere says of the great scholar letronne, when he had spent the hour of his lecture in demolishing some pretty or popular belief: "il se frotta les mains et s'en alla bien content." when it came to ancient history, sir george was undeniably fond of "the everlasting no." in the present case his skepticism seems on the whole well-judged, but some of his arguments savour of undue haste toward a negative conclusion. he thus strangely forgets that what we call autumn is springtime in the southern hemisphere (_astronomy of the ancients_, p. ). his argument that the time alleged was insufficient for the voyage is fully met by major rennell, who has shown that the time was amply sufficient, and that the direction of winds and ocean currents would make the voyage around southern africa from east to west much easier than from west to east.] [footnote : "no trace of it could be found in the alexandrian library, either by eratosthenes in the third, or by marinus of tyre in the second, century before christ, although both of them were diligent examiners of ancient records." major, _prince henry the navigator_, p. .] [sidenote: voyage of hanno.] of phoenician and other voyages along the atlantic coast of africa we have much more detailed and trustworthy information. as early as the twelfth century before christ traders from tyre had founded cadiz (gades),[ ] and at a later date the same hardy people seem to have made the beginnings of lisbon (olisipo). from such advanced stations tyrian and carthaginian ships sometimes found their way northward as far as cornwall, and in the opposite direction fishing voyages were made along the african coast. the most remarkable undertaking in this quarter was the famous voyage of the carthaginian commander hanno, whose own brief but interesting account of it has been preserved.[ ] this expedition consisted of sixty penteconters (fifty-oared ships), and its chief purpose was colonization. upon the mauritanian coast seven small trading stations were founded, one of which--kerne, at the mouth of the rio d' ouro[ ]--existed for a long time. from this point hanno made two voyages of exploration, the second of which carried him as far as sierra leone and the neighbouring sherboro island, where he found "wild men and women covered with hair," called by the interpreters "gorillas."[ ] at that point the ships turned back, apparently for want of provisions. [footnote : rawlinson's _history of phoenicia_, pp. , ; pseudo-aristotle, _mirab. auscult._, ; velleius paterculus, i. , § .] [footnote : hanno, _periplus_, in müller, _geographi græci minores_, tom. i. pp. - . of two or three commanders named hanno it is uncertain which was the one who led this expedition, and thus its date has been variously assigned from to b. c.] [footnote : for the determination of these localities see bunbury, _op. cit._ vol. i. pp. - . there is an interesting spanish description of hanno's expedition in mariana, _historia de españa_, madrid, , tom. i. pp. - .] [footnote : the sailors pursued them, but did not capture any of the males, who scrambled up the cliffs out of their reach. they captured three females, who bit and scratched so fiercely that it was useless to try to take them away. so they killed them and took their skins home to carthage. _periplus_, xviii. according to pliny (_hist. nat._, vi. ) these skins were hung up as a votive offering in the temple of juno (i. e. astarte or ashtoreth: see apuleius, _metamorph._, xi. ; gesenius, _monumenta phoenic._, p. ), where they might have been seen at any time before the romans destroyed the city.] [sidenote: voyages of sataspes and eudoxus.] no other expedition in ancient times is known to have proceeded so far south as sierra leone. two other voyages upon this atlantic coast are mentioned, but without definite details. the one was that of sataspes (about b. c.), narrated by herodotus, who merely tells us that a coast was reached where undersized men, clad in palm-leaf garments, fled to the hills at sight of the strange visitors.[ ] the other was that of eudoxus (about b. c.), related by posidonius, the friend and teacher of cicero. the story is that this eudoxus, in a voyage upon the east coast of africa, having a philological turn of mind, wrote down the words of some of the natives whom he met here and there along the shore. he also picked up a ship's prow in the form of a horse's head, and upon his return to alexandria some merchants professed to recognize it as belonging to a ship of cadiz. eudoxus thereupon concluded that africa was circumnavigable, and presently sailed through the mediterranean and out upon the atlantic. somewhere upon the coast of mauritania he found natives who used some words of similar sound to those which he had written down when visiting the eastern coast, whence he concluded that they were people of the same race. at this point he turned back, and the sequel of the story was unknown to posidonius.[ ] [footnote : herodotus, iv. .] [footnote : the story is preserved by strabo, ii. , §§ , , who rejects it with a vehemence for which no adequate reason is assigned.] [sidenote: wild exaggerations.] it is worthy of note that both pliny and pomponius mela, quoting cornelius nepos as their authority, speak of eudoxus as having circumnavigated africa from the red sea to cadiz; and pliny, moreover, tells us that hanno sailed around that continent as far as arabia,[ ]--a statement which is clearly false. these examples show how stories grow when carelessly and uncritically repeated, and they strongly tend to confirm the doubt with which one is inclined to regard the tale of necho's sailors above mentioned. in truth, the island of gorillas, discovered by hanno, was doubtless the most southerly point on that coast reached by navigators in ancient times. of the islands in the western ocean the carthaginians certainly knew the canaries (where they have left undoubted inscriptions), probably also the madeiras, and possibly the cape verde group.[ ] [footnote : pliny, _hist. nat._, ii. ; mela, _de situ orbis_, iii. .] [footnote : after the civil war of sertorius (b. c. - ), the romans became acquainted with the canaries, which, because of their luxuriant vegetation and soft climate, were identified with the elysium described by homer, and were commonly known as the fortunate islands. "contra fortunatæ insulæ abundant sua sponte genitis, et subinde aliis super aliis innascentibus nihil sollicitos alunt, beatius quam aliæ urbes excultæ." mela, iii. . [greek: alla s' es Êlysion pedion kai peirata gaiês athanatoi pempsousin, hothi xanthos rhadamanthys, têper rhêïstê biotê pelei anthrôpoisin; ou niphetos, out' ar cheimôn polys oute pot' ombros, all' aiei zephyroio ligy pneiontas aêtas Ôkeanos aniêsin anapsychein anthrôpous.] _odyssey_, iv. . since horace's time (_epod._ vi. - ) the canary islands have been a favourite theme for poets. it was here that tasso placed the loves of rinaldo and armida, in the delicious garden where vezzosi augelli infra le verde fronde temprano a prova lascivette note. mormora l' aura, e fa le foglie e l' onde garrir, che variamente ella percote. _gerusalemme liberata_, xvi. .] [illustration: pomponius mela's world, cir. a. d. .] [sidenote: views of pomponius mela, cir. a. d. .] the extent of the knowledge which the ancients thus had of western africa is well illustrated in the map representing the geographical theories of pomponius mela, whose book was written about a. d. . of the eastern coast and the interior mela knew less than ptolemy a century later, but of the atlantic coast he knew more than ptolemy. the fact that the former geographer was a native of spain and the latter a native of egypt no doubt had something to do with this. mela had profited by the carthaginian discoveries. his general conception of the earth was substantially that of eratosthenes. it was what has been styled the "oceanic" theory, in contrast with the "continental" theory of ptolemy. in the unvisited regions on all sides of the known world eratosthenes imagined vast oceans, ptolemy imagined vast deserts or impenetrable swamps. the former doctrine was of course much more favourable to maritime enterprise than the latter. the works of ptolemy exercised over the mediæval mind an almost despotic sway, which, in spite of their many merits, was in some respects a hindrance to progress; so that, inasmuch as the splendid work of strabo, the most eminent follower of eratosthenes, was unknown to mediæval europe until about , it was fortunate that the latin treatise of mela was generally read and highly esteemed. people in those days were such uncritical readers that very likely the antagonism between ptolemy and mela may have failed to excite comment,[ ] especially in view of the lack of suitable maps such as emphasize that antagonism to our modern minds. but in the fifteenth century, when men were getting their first inklings of critical scholarship, and when the practical question of an ocean voyage to asia was pressing for solution, such a point could no longer fail to attract attention; and it happened fortunately that the wet theory, no less than the dry theory, had a popular advocate among those classical authors to whose authority so much deference was paid. [footnote : just as our grandfathers used to read the bible without noticing such points as the divergences between the books of kings and chronicles, the contradictions between the genealogies of jesus in matthew and luke, the radically different theories of christ's personality and career in the fourth gospel as compared with the three synoptics, etc.] [sidenote: ancient theory of the five zones.] [sidenote: the inhabited world and the antipodes.] if the portuguese mariners of the generation before columbus had acquiesced in ptolemy's views as final, they surely would not have devoted their energies to the task of circumnavigating africa. but there were yet other theoretical or fanciful obstacles in the way. when you look at a modern map of the world, the "five zones" may seem like a mere graphic device for marking conveniently the relations of different regions to the solar source of heat; but before the great portuguese voyages and the epoch-making third voyage of vespucius, to be described hereafter, a discouraging doctrine was entertained with regard to these zones. ancient travellers in scythia and voyagers to "thule"--which in ptolemy's scheme perhaps meant the shetland isles[ ]--had learned something of arctic phenomena. the long winter nights,[ ] the snow and ice, and the bitter winds, made a deep impression upon visitors from the mediterranean;[ ] and when such facts were contrasted with the scorching blasts that came from sahara, the resulting theory was undeniably plausible. in the extreme north the ocean must be frozen and the country uninhabitable by reason of the cold; contrariwise, in the far south the ocean must be boiling hot and the country inhabitable only by gnomes and salamanders. applying these ideas to the conception of the earth as a sphere, pomponius mela tells us that the surface of the sphere is divided into five zones, of which only two are fit to support human life. about each pole stretches a dead and frozen zone; the southern and northern hemispheres have each a temperate zone, with the same changes of seasons, but not occurring at the same (but opposite) times; the north temperate zone is the seat of the oecumene ([greek: oikoumenê]), or inhabited world; the south temperate zone is also inhabited by the antichthones or antipodes, but about these people we know nothing, because between us and them there intervenes the burning zone, which it is impossible to cross.[ ] [footnote : bunbury, _op. cit._ vol. ii. pp. , . the name is used in different geographical senses by various ancient writers, as is well shown in lewis's _astronomy of the ancients_, pp. - .] [footnote : the romans, at least by the first century a. d., knew also of the shortness of northern nights in summer. arma quidem ultra littora invernæ promovimus, et modo captas orcadas, ac minima contentos nocte britannos. juvenal, ii. . see also pliny, _hist. nat._, iv. ; martianus capella, vi. ; achilles tatius, xxxv.] [footnote : the reader will remember virgil's magnificent description of a scythian winter (_georg._, iii. ):-- illic clausa tenent stabulis armenta; neque ullæ aut herbæ campo apparent, aut arbore frondes: sed jacet aggeribus niveis informis, et alto terra gelu late, septemque assurgit in ulnas; semper hiems, semper spirantes frigora cauri. tum sol pallentes haud unquam discutit umbras; nec cum invectus equis altum petit æthera, nec cum præcipitem oceani rubro lavit æquore currum. concrescunt subitæ currenti in flumine crustæ; undaque jam tergo ferratos sustinet orbes, puppibus illa prius patulis, nunc hospita plaustris, Æraque dissiliunt vulgo, vestesque rigescunt indutæ, cæduntque securibus humida vina et totæ solidam in glaciem vertêre lacunæ, stiriaque impexis induruit horrida barbis. interea toto non secius aëre ningit; intereunt pecudes; stant circumfusa pruinis corpora magna boum; confertoque agmine cervi torpent mole nova, et summis vix cornibus exstant. ................................................. ipsi in defossis specubus, secura sub alta otia agunt terra, congestaque robora, totasque advolvere focis ulmos, ignique dedere. hic noctem ludo ducunt, et pocula læti fermento atque acidis imitantur vitea sorbis. talis hyperboreo septem subjecta trioni gens effræna virûm rhipæo tunditur euro, et pecudum fulvis velantur corpora sætis. the roman conception of the situation of these "hyperboreans" and of the rhipæan mountains may be seen in the map of mela's world.] [footnote : "huic medio terra sublimis cingitur undique mari: eodemque in duo latera, quæ hemisphæria nominantur, ab oriente divisa ad occasum, zonis quinque distinguitur. mediam æstus infestat, frigus ultimas: reliquæ habitabiles paria agunt anni tempora, verum non pariter. antichthones alteram, nos alteram incolimus. illius situ ab ardorem intercedentis plagæ incognito, hujus dicendus est," etc. _de situ orbis_, i. . a similar theory is set forth by ovid (_metamorph._, i. ), and by virgil (_georg._, i. ):-- quinque tenent coelum zonæ; quarum una corusco semper sole rubens, et torrida semper ab igni; quam circum extremæ dextra lævaque trahuntur, cærulea glacie concretæ atque imbribus atris. has inter mediamque, duæ mortalibus ægris munere concessæ divûm; et via secta per ambas, obliquus qua se signorum verteret ordo.] [sidenote: curious notions about ceylon.] this notion of an antipodal world in the southern hemisphere will have especial interest for us when we come to deal with the voyages of vespucius. the idea seems to have originated in a guess of hipparchus that taprobane--the island of ceylon, about which the most absurd reports were brought to europe--might be the beginning of another world. this is very probable, says mela, with delightful _naïveté_, because taprobane is inhabited, and still we do not know of anybody who has ever made the tour of it.[ ] mela's contemporary, the elder pliny, declares that taprobane "has long been regarded" as part of another world, the name of which is antichthon, or opposite-earth;[ ] at the same time pliny vouchsafes three closely-printed pages of information about this mysterious country. throughout the middle ages the conception of some sort of an antipodal inhabited world was vaguely entertained by writers here and there, but many of the clergy condemned it as implying the existence of people cut off from the knowledge of the gospel and not included in the plan of salvation. [footnote : "taprobane aut grandis admodum insula aut prima pars orbis alterius hipparcho dicitur; sed quia habitata, nec quisquam circummeasse traditur, prope verum est." _de situ orbis_, iii. .] [footnote : "taprobanen alterum orbem terrarum esse, diu existimatum est, antichthonum appellatione." _hist. nat._, vi. .] [sidenote: the fiery zone.] as to the possibility of crossing the torrid zone, opinion was not unanimous. greek explorers from alexandria (cir. b. c. ) seem to have gone far up the nile toward the equator, and the astronomer geminus quotes their testimony in proof of his opinion that the torrid zone is inhabitable.[ ] panætius, the friend of the younger scipio africanus, had already expressed a similar opinion. but the flaming theory prevailed. macrobius, writing about six hundred years later, maintained that the southernmost limit of the habitable earth was miles south of syene, which lies just under the tropic of cancer.[ ] beyond this point no man could go without danger from the fiery atmosphere. beyond some such latitude on the ocean no ship could venture without risk of being engulfed in some steaming whirlpool.[ ] such was the common belief before the great voyages of the portuguese. [footnote : geminus, _isagoge_, cap. .] [footnote : macrobius, _somnium scipionis_, ii. . strabo (ii. , §§ , ) sets the southern boundary of the inhabited world miles south of syene, and the northern boundary at the north of ireland.] [footnote : another notion, less easily explicable and less commonly entertained, but interesting for its literary associations, was the notion of a mountain of loadstone in the indian ocean, which prevented access to the torrid zone by drawing the nails from ships and thus wrecking them. this imaginary mountain, with some variations in the description, is made to carry a serious geographical argument by the astrologer pietro d' abano, in his book _conciliator differentiarum_, written about . (see major, _prince henry the navigator_, p. .) it plays an important part in one of the finest tales in the _arabian nights_,--the story of the "third royal mendicant."] [sidenote: going downhill.] besides this dread of the burning zone, another fanciful obstacle beset the mariner who proposed to undertake a long voyage upon the outer ocean. it had been observed that a ship which disappears in the offing seems to be going downhill; and many people feared that if they should happen thus to descend too far away from the land they could never get back again. men accustomed to inland sea travel did not feel this dread within the regions of which they had experience, but it assailed them whenever they thought of braving the mighty waters outside.[ ] thus the master mariner, in the middle ages, might contemplate the possible chance of being drawn by force of gravity into the fiery gulf, should he rashly approach too near; and in such misgivings he would be confirmed by virgil, who was as much read then as he is to-day and esteemed an authority, withal, on scientific questions; for according to virgil the inhabited world descends toward the equator and has its apex in the extreme north.[ ] [footnote : ferdinand columbus tells us that this objection was urged against the portuguese captains and afterwards against his father: "e altri di ciò quasi così disputavano, come già i portoghesi intorno al navigare in guinea; dicendo che, se si allargasse alcuno a far cammino diritto al occidente, come l' ammiraglio diceva, non potrebbe poi tornare in ispagna per la rotondità della sfera; tenendo per certissime, che qualunque uscisse del emisperio conosciuto da tolomeo, anderebbe in giù, e poi gli sarebbe impossibile dar la volta; e affermando che ciò sarebbe quasi uno ascendere all' insù di un monte. il che non potrebbono fare i navigli con grandissimo vento." _vita deli' ammiraglio_, venice, , cap. xii. the same thing is told, in almost the same words, by las casas, since both writers followed the same original documents: "añidian mas, que quien navegase por vía derecha la vuelta del poniente, como el cristóbal colon proferia, no podria despues volver, suponiendo que el mundo era redondo y yendo hácia el occidente iban cuesta abajo, y saliendo del hemisferio que ptolomeo escribiò, á la vuelta érales necesario subir cuesta arriba, lo que los navíos era imposible hacer." the gentle but keen sarcasm that follows is very characteristic of las casas: "esta era gentil y profunda razon, y señal de haber bien el negocio entendido!" _historia de las indias_, tom. i. p. .] [footnote : mundus, ut ad scythiam rhipæasque arduus arces consurgit, premitur libyæ devexus in austros. hic vertex nobis semper sublimis; at illum sub pedibus styx atra videt manesque profundi. _georg._, i. . for an account of the deference paid to virgil in the middle ages, as well as the grotesque fancies about him, see tunison's _master virgil_, d ed., cincinnati, .] [sidenote: superstitious fancies.] to such notions as these, which were supposed to have some sort of scientific basis, we must add the wild superstitious fancies that clustered about all remote and unvisited corners of the world. in maps made in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, in such places as we should label "unexplored region," there were commonly depicted uncouth shapes of "gorgons and hydras and chimæras dire," furnishing eloquent testimony to the feelings with which the unknown was regarded. the barren wastes of the sea of darkness awakened a shuddering dread like that with which children shrink from the gloom of a cellar. when we remember all these things, and consider how the intelligent purpose which urged the commanders onward was scarcely within the comprehension of their ignorant and refractory crews, we can begin to form some idea of the difficulties that confronted the brave mariners who first sought an ocean route to the far-off shores of cathay. [sidenote: clumsiness of the caravels.] [sidenote: famine and scurvy.] less formidable than these obstacles based on fallacious reasoning or superstitious whim were those that were furnished by the clumsiness of the ships and the crudeness of the appliances for navigation. as already observed, the spanish and portuguese caravels of the fifteenth century were less swift and manageable craft than the norwegian "dragons" of the tenth. mere yachts in size we should call them, but far from yachtlike in shape or nimbleness. with their length seldom more than thrice their width of beam, with narrow tower-like poops, with broad-shouldered bows and bowsprit weighed down with spritsail yards, and with no canvas higher than a topsail, these clumsy caravels could make but little progress against head-winds, and the amount of tacking and beating to and fro was sometimes enough to quadruple the length of the voyage. for want of metallic sheathing below the waterline the ship was liable to be sunk by the terrible worm which, in hakluyt's phrase, "many times pearceth and eateth through the strongest oake." for want of vegetable food in the larder, or anything save the driest of bread and beef stiffened with brine, the sailors were sure to be attacked by scurvy, and in a very long voyage the crew was deemed fortunate that did not lose half its number from that foul disease. often in traversing unknown seas the sturdy men who survived all other perils were brought face to face with starvation when they had ventured too far without turning back.[ ] we need not wonder that the first steps in oceanic discovery were slow and painful. [footnote : or simply because a wrong course happened to be taken, through ignorance of atmospheric conditions, as in the second homeward and third outward voyages of columbus. see below, pp. , .] [sidenote: the mariner's compass.] first among the instruments without which systematic ocean navigation would have been impossible, the magnetic compass had been introduced into southern europe and was used by biscayan and catalan sailors before the end of the twelfth century.[ ] parties of crusaders had learned the virtues of the suspended needle from the arabs, who are said to have got their knowledge indirectly from china in the course of their eastern voyages.[ ] it seems to have been at amalfi that the needle was first enclosed in a box and connected with a graduated compass-card. apparently it had not come into general use in the middle of the thirteenth century, for in the famous brunetto latini, afterwards tutor of dante, made a visit to roger bacon, of which he gives a description in a letter to his friend the poet guido cavalcanti: "the parliament being summoned to assemble at oxford, i did not fail to see friar bacon as soon as i arrived, and (among other things) he showed me a black ugly stone called a magnet, which has the surprising property of drawing iron to it; and upon which, if a needle be rubbed, and afterwards fastened to a straw so that it shall swim upon water, the needle will instantly turn toward the pole-star: therefore, be the night ever so dark, so that neither moon nor star be visible, yet shall the mariner be able, by the help of this needle, to steer his vessel aright. this discovery, which appears useful in so great a degree to all who travel by sea, must remain concealed until other times; because no master mariner dares to use it lest he should fall under the imputation of being a magician; nor would the sailors venture themselves out to sea under his command, if he took with him an instrument which carries so great an appearance of being constructed under the influence of some infernal spirit.[ ] a time may arrive when these prejudices, which are of such great hindrance to researches into the secrets of nature, will be overcome; and it will be then that mankind shall reap the benefit of the labours of such learned men as friar bacon, and do justice to that industry and intelligence for which he and they now meet with no other return than obloquy and reproach."[ ] [footnote : navarrete, _discurso historico sobre los progresos del arte de navegar en españa_, p. ; see also raymond lully's treatise, _libro felix, ó maravillas del mundo_ (a. d. ).] [footnote : see humboldt's _kosmos_, bd. i. p. ; klaproth, _lettre à m. de humboldt sur l'invention de la boussole_, pp. , , , , , . but some of klaproth's conclusions have been doubted: "pour la boussole, rien ne prouve que les chinois l'aient employée pour la navigation, tandis que nous la trouvons dès le xi^{e} siècle chez les arabes qui s'en servent non seulement dans leurs traversées maritimes, mais dans les voyages de caravanes au milieu des déserts," etc. sédillot, _histoire des arabes_, tom. ii. p. .] [footnote : is it not a curious instance of human perversity that while customary usage from time immemorial has characterized as "acts of god" such horrible events as famines, pestilences, and earthquakes, on the other hand when some purely beneficent invention has appeared, such as the mariner's compass or the printing press, it has commonly been accredited to the devil? the case of dr. faustus is the most familiar example.] [footnote : this version is cited from major's _prince henry the navigator_, p. .] [sidenote: latitude and longitude.] that time was after all not so long in arriving, for by the end of the thirteenth century the compass had come to be quite generally used,[ ] and the direction of a ship's course could be watched continuously in foul and fair weather alike. for taking the sun's altitude rude astrolabes and jack-staffs were in use, very crazy affairs as compared with the modern quadrant, but sufficiently accurate to enable a well-trained observer, in calculating his latitude, to get somewhere within two or three degrees of the truth. in calculating longitude the error was apt to be much greater, for in the absence of chronometers there were no accurate means for marking differences in time. it was necessary to depend upon the dead-reckoning, and the custom was first to sail due north or south to the parallel of the place of destination and then to turn at right angles and sail due east or west. errors of eight or even ten degrees were not uncommon. thus at the end of a long outward voyage the ship might find itself a hundred miles or more to the north or south, and six or seven hundred miles to the east or west, of the point at which it had been aimed. under all these difficulties, the approximations made to correct sailing by the most skilful mariners were sometimes wonderful. doubtless this very poverty of resources served to sharpen their watchful sagacity.[ ] to sail the seas was in those days a task requiring high mental equipment; it was no work for your commonplace skipper. human faculty was taxed to its utmost, and human courage has never been more grandly displayed than by the glorious sailors of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. [footnote : hüllmann, _städtewesen des mittelalters_, bd. i. pp. - .] [footnote : compare the remarks of mr. clark russell on the mariners of the seventeenth century, in his _william dampier_, p. .] * * * * * [sidenote: prince henry the navigator, - .] [sidenote: his idea of an ocean route to the indies, and what it might bring.] we are now prepared to appreciate the character of the work that was done in the course of the first attempts to find an oceanic route from europe to asia. then, as in other great epochs of history, men of genius arose to meet the occasion. in was born prince henry of portugal, since known as henry the navigator.[ ] he was fourth son of king john i., the valiant and prudent king under whom began the golden age of portugal, which lasted until the conquest of that country in by philip ii. of spain. henry's mother was philippa, daughter of john of gaunt. he was therefore cousin to our own henry v. of england, whom he quite equalled in genius, while the laurels that he won were more glorious than those of agincourt. in , being then in his twenty-first year, prince henry played a distinguished part in the expedition which captured ceuta from the moors. while in morocco he gathered such information as he could concerning the interior of the continent; he learned something about the oases of sahara, the distant river gambia, and the caravan trade between tunis and timbuctoo, whereby gold was carried from the guinea coast to mussulman ports on the mediterranean. if this coast could be reached by sea, its gold might be brought to lisbon as well. to divert such treasure from the infidel and secure it for a christian nation was an enterprise fitted to kindle a prince's enthusiasm. while henry felt the full force of these considerations, his thoughts took a wider range. the views of pomponius mela had always been held in high esteem by scholars of the spanish peninsula,[ ] and down past that gold coast prince henry saw the ocean route to the indies, the road whereby a vast empire might be won for portugal and millions of wandering heathen souls might be gathered into the fold of christ. to doubt the sincerity of the latter motive, or to belittle its influence, would be to do injustice to prince henry,--such cynical injustice as our hard-headed age is only too apt to mete out to that romantic time and the fresh enthusiasm which inspired its heroic performances. prince henry was earnest, conscientious, large-minded, and in the best sense devout; and there can be no question that in his mind, as in that of columbus, and (with somewhat more alloy) in the minds of cortes and others, the desire of converting the heathen and strengthening the church served as a most powerful incentive to the actions which in the course of little more than a century quite changed the face of the world. [footnote : my chief authorities for the achievements of prince henry and his successors are the portuguese historians, barros and azurara. the best edition of the former is a modern one, barros y couto, _decadas da asia, nova edicão con indice geral_, lisbon, - , vols. mo. i also refer sometimes to the lisbon, , edition of the _decada primeira_, in folio. the priceless contemporary work of azurara, written in under prince henry's direction, was not printed until the present century; azurara, _chronica do descobrimento e conquista de guiné_, paris, , a superb edition in royal quarto, edited by the viscount da carreira, with introduction and notes by the viscount de santarem.] [footnote : partly, perhaps, because mela was himself a spaniard, and partly because his opinions had been shared and supported by st. isidore, of seville (a. d. - ), whose learned works exercised immense authority throughout the middle ages. it is in one of st. isidore's books (_etymologiarum_, xiii. , apud migne, _patrologia_, tom. lxxxii. col. ) that we first find the word "mediterranean" used as a proper name for that great land-locked sea.] [sidenote: the sacred promontory.] filled with such lofty and generous thoughts, prince henry, on his return from morocco, in , chose for himself a secluded place of abode where he could devote himself to his purposes undisturbed by the court life at lisbon or by political solicitations of whatever sort. in the morocco campaign he had won such military renown that he was now invited by pope martin v. to take chief command of the papal army; and presently he received similar flattering offers from his own cousin, henry v. of england, from john ii. of castile, and from the emperor sigismund, who, for shamefully violating his imperial word and permitting the burning of john huss, was now sorely pressed by the enraged and rebellious bohemians. such invitations had no charm for henry. refusing them one and all, he retired to the promontory of sagres, in the southernmost province of portugal, the ancient kingdom of algarve, of which his father now appointed him governor. that lonely and barren rock, protruding into the ocean, had long ago impressed the imagination of greek and roman writers; they called it the sacred promontory, and supposed it to be the westernmost limit of the habitable earth.[ ] there the young prince proceeded to build an astronomical observatory, the first that his country had ever seen, and to gather about him a school of men competent to teach and men eager to learn the mysteries of map-making and the art of navigation. there he spent the greater part of his life; thence he sent forth his captains to plough the southern seas; and as year after year the weather-beaten ships returned from their venturesome pilgrimage, the first glimpse of home that greeted them was likely to be the beacon-light in the tower where the master sat poring over problems of archimedes or watching the stars. for henry, whose motto was "talent de bien faire," or (in the old french usage) "desire[ ] to do well," was wont to throw himself whole-hearted into whatever he undertook, and the study of astronomy and mathematics he pursued so zealously as to reach a foremost place among the experts of his time. with such tastes and such ambition, he was singularly fortunate in wielding ample pecuniary resources; if such a combination could be more often realized, the welfare of mankind would be notably enhanced. prince henry was grand master of the order of christ, an organization half military, half religious, and out of its abundant revenues he made the appropriations needful for the worthy purpose of advancing the interests of science, converting the heathen, and winning a commercial empire for portugal. at first he had to encounter the usual opposition to lavish expenditure for a distant object without hope of immediate returns; but after a while his dogged perseverance began to be rewarded with such successes as to silence all adverse comment. [footnote : [greek: homoiôs de kai peri tês exô stêlôn legetai; dysmikôtaton men gar sêmeion tês oikoumenês, to tôn ibêrôn akrôtêrion, ho kalousin ieron.] strabo, ii. , § ; cf. dionysius periegetes, v. . in reality it lies not quite so far west as the country around lisbon.] [footnote : see littré, _dictionnaire_, s. v. "talent;" du cange, _glossarium_, "talentum, animi decretum, voluntas, desiderium, cupiditas," etc.; cf. raynouard, _glossaire provençale_, tom. v. p. . french was then fashionable at court, in lisbon as well as in london.] [sidenote: the madeira and canary islands.] the first work in hand was the rediscovery of coasts and islands that had ceased to be visited even before the breaking up of the roman empire. for more than a thousand years the madeiras and canaries had been well-nigh forgotten, and upon the coast of the african continent no ship ventured beyond cape non, the headland so named because it said "no!" to the wistful mariner.[ ] there had been some re-awakening of maritime activity in the course of the fourteenth century, chiefly due, no doubt, to the use of the compass. between and certain portuguese ships, with genoese pilots, had visited not only the madeiras and canaries, but even the azores, a thousand miles out in the atlantic; and these groups of islands are duly laid down upon the so-called medici map of , preserved in the laurentian library at florence.[ ] the voyage to the azores was probably the greatest feat of ocean navigation that had been performed down to that time, but it was not followed by colonization. again, somewhere about madeira seems to have been visited by robert machin, an englishman, whose adventures make a most romantic story; and in the norman knight, jean de béthencourt, had begun to found a colony in the canaries, for which, in return for aid and supplies, he did homage to the king of castile.[ ] as for the african coast, cape non had also been passed at some time during the fourteenth century, for cape bojador is laid down on the catalan map of ; but beyond that point no one had dared take the risks of the unknown sea. [footnote : the portuguese proverb was "quem passar o cabo de não ou voltará ou _não_," i. e. "whoever passes cape _non_ will return or _not_." see las casas, _hist. de las indias_, tom. i. p. ; mariana, _hist. de españa_, tom. i. p. ; barros, tom. i. p. .] [footnote : an engraved copy of this map may be found in major's _prince henry the navigator_, london, , facing p. . i need hardly say that in all that relates to the portuguese voyages i am under great obligation to mr. major's profoundly learned and critical researches. he has fairly conquered this subject and made it his own, and whoever touches it after him, however lightly, must always owe him a tribute of acknowledgment.] [footnote : see bontier and le verrier, _the canarian, or, book of the conquest and conversion of the canaries_, translated and edited by r. h. major, london, (hakluyt soc). in , béthencourt's nephew, left in charge of these islands, sold them to prince henry, but castile persisted in claiming them, and at length in her claim was recognized by treaty with portugal. of all the african islands, therefore, the canaries alone came to belong, and still belong, to spain.] [sidenote: gil eannes passes cape bojador.] the first achievement under prince henry's guidance was the final rediscovery and colonization of porto santo and madeira in - by gonsalvez zarco, tristam vaz, and bartholomew perestrelo.[ ] this work occupied the prince's attention for some years, and then came up the problem of cape bojador. the difficulty was twofold; the waves about that headland were apt to be boisterous, and wild sailor's fancies were apt to enkindle a mutinous spirit in the crews. it was not until - that gil eannes, a commander of unusually clear head and steady nerves, made three attempts and fairly passed the dreaded spot. in the first attempt he failed, as his predecessors had done, to double the cape; in the second attempt he doubled it; in the third he sailed nearly two hundred miles beyond. [footnote : perestrelo had with him a female rabbit which littered on the voyage, and being landed, with her young, at porto santo, forthwith illustrated the fearful rate of multiplication of which organisms are capable in the absence of enemies or other adverse circumstances to check it. (darwin, _origin of species_, chap. iii.) these rabbits swarmed all over the island and devoured every green and succulent thing, insomuch that they came near converting it into a desert. prince henry's enemies, who were vexed at the expenditure of money in such colonizing enterprises, were thus furnished with a wonderful argument. they maintained that god had evidently created those islands for beasts alone, not for men! "en este tiempo habia en todo portugal grandísimas murmuraciones del infante, viéndolo tan cudicioso y poner tanta diligencia en el descubrir de la tierra y costa de África, diciendo que destruia el reino en los gastos que hacia, y consumia los vecinos dél en poner en tanto peligro y daño la gente portoguesa, donde muchos morian, enviándolos en demanda de tierras que nunca los reyes de españa pasados se atrevieron á emprender, donde habia de hacer muchas viudas y huérfanos con esta su porfia. tomaban por argumento, que dios no habia criado aquellas tierras sino para bestias, pues en tan poco tiempo en aquella isla tantos conejos habia multiplicado, que no dejaban cosa que para sustentacion de los hombres fuese menester." las casas, _hist. de las indias_, tom. i. p. . see also azurara, _chronica do descobrimento e conquista de guiné_, cap. lxxxiii.] [illustration: portuguese voyages on the coast of africa.] [sidenote: beginning of the modern slave-trade, .] [sidenote: papal grant of heathen countries to the portuguese crown.] [sidenote: advance to sierra leone.] this achievement of gil eannes (_anglicè_, plain giles jones) marks an era. it was the beginning of great things. when we think of the hesitation with which this step was taken, and the vociferous applause that greeted the successful captain, it is strange to reflect that babes were already born in who were to live to hear of the prodigious voyages of columbus and gama, vespucius and magellan. after seven years a further step was taken in advance; in antonio gonçalves brought gold and negro slaves from the rio d' ouro, or rio del oro, four hundred miles beyond cape bojador. of this beginning of the modern slave-trade i shall treat in a future chapter.[ ] let it suffice here to observe that prince henry did not discourage but sanctioned it. the first aspect which this baleful traffic assumed in his mind was that of a means for converting the heathen, by bringing black men and women to portugal to be taught the true faith and the ways of civilized people, that they might in due season be sent back to their native land to instruct their heathen brethren. the kings of portugal should have a christian empire in africa, and in course of time the good work might be extended to the indies. accordingly a special message was sent to pope eugenius iv., informing him of the discovery of the country of these barbarous people beyond the limits of the mussulman world, and asking for a grant in perpetuity to portugal of all heathen lands that might be discovered in further voyages beyond cape bojador, even so far as to include the indies.[ ] the request found favour in the eyes of eugenius, and the grant was solemnly confirmed by succeeding popes. to these proceedings we shall again have occasion to refer. we have here to observe that the discovery of gold and the profits of the slave-trade--though it was as yet conducted upon a very small scale--served to increase the interest of the portuguese people in prince henry's work and to diminish the obstacles in his way. a succession of gallant captains, whose names make a glorious roll of honour, carried on the work of exploration, reaching the farthest point that had been attained by the ancients. in dinis fernandez passed cape verde, and two years later lançarote found the mouth of the gambia. in luigi cadamosto--a venetian captain in the service of portugal--went as far as the rio grande; in diego gomez discovered the cape verde islands; and in piedro de cintra reached sierra leone.[ ] at the same time, in various expeditions between and , the azores (i. e. "hawk" islands) were rediscovered and colonized, and voyages out into the sea of darkness began to lose something of their manifold terrors. [footnote : see below, vol. ii. pp. - .] [footnote : "en el año de , viendo el infante que se habia pasado el cabo del boxador y que la tierra iba muy adelante, y que todos los navíos que inviaba traian muchos esclavos moros, con que pagaba los gastos que hacia y que cada dia crecia más el provecho y se prosperaba su amada negociacion, determinó de inviar á suplicar al papa martino v., ... que hiciese gracia á la corona real de portogal de los reinos y señoríos que habia y hobiese desde el cabo del boxador adelante, hácia el oriente y la india inclusive; y ansí se las concedió, ... con todas las tierras, puertos, islas, tratos, rescates, pesquerías y cosas á esto pertenecientes, poniendo censuras y penas á todos los reyes cristianos, príncipes, y señores y comunidades que á esto le perturbasen; despues, dicen, que los sumos pontífices, sucesores de martino, como eugenio iv. y nicolas v. y calixto iv. lo confirmaron." las casas, _hist. de las indias_, tom. i. p. . the name of martin v. is a slip of the memory on the part of las casas. that pope had died of apoplexy eleven years before. it was eugenius iv. who made this memorable grant to the crown of portugal. the error is repeated in irving's _columbus_, vol. i. p. .] [footnote : the first published account of the voyages of cadamosto and cintra was in the _paesi nouamente retrouati_, vicenza, , a small quarto which can now sometimes be bought for from twelve to fifteen hundred dollars. see also grynæus, _novus orbis_, basel, .] [sidenote: advance to the hottentot coast.] prince henry did not live to see africa circumnavigated. at the time of his death, in , his ships had not gone farther than the spot where hanno found his gorillas two thousand years before. but the work of this excellent prince did not end with his death. his adventurous spirit lived on in the school of accomplished navigators he had trained. many voyages were made after , of which we need mention only those that marked new stages of discovery. in two knights of the royal household, joão de santarem and pedro de escobar, sailed down the gold coast and crossed the equator; three years later the line was again crossed by fernando po, discoverer of the island that bears his name. in diego cam went on as far as the mouth of the congo, and entered into very friendly relations with the negroes there. in a second voyage in this enterprising captain pushed on a thousand miles farther, and set up a cross in ° south latitude on the coast of the hottentot country. brisk trading went on along the gold coast, and missionaries were sent to the congo.[ ] [footnote : it was in the course of these voyages upon the african coast that civilized europeans first became familiar with people below the upper status of barbarism. savagery and barbarism of the lower types were practically unknown in the middle ages, and almost, though probably not quite unknown, to the civilized peoples of the mediterranean in ancient times. the history of the two words is interesting. the greek word [greek: barbaros], whence eng. _barbarian_ (=sanskrit _barbara_, latin _balbus_), means "a stammerer," or one who talks gibberish, i. e. in a language we do not understand. aristophanes (_aves_, ) very prettily applies the epithet to the inarticulate singing of birds. the names _welsh_, _walloon_, _wallachian_, and _belooch_, given to these peoples by their neighbours, have precisely the same meaning (kuhn's _zeitschrift_, ii. ); and in like manner the russians call the germans _nyemetch_, or people who cannot talk (schafarik, _slawische alterthumer_, i. ; pott, _etym. forsch._, ii. ). the greeks called all men but themselves barbarians, including such civilized people as the persians. the romans applied the name to all tribes and nations outside the limits of the empire, and the italians of the later middle ages bestowed it upon all nations outside of italy. upon its lax use in recent times i have already commented (above, pp. - ). the tendency to apply the epithet to savages is modern. the word _savage_, on the other hand, which came to us as the old french _sauvage_ or _salvage_ (ital. _selvaggio_, _salvatico_), is the latin _silvaticus_, _sylvaticus_, _salvaticus_, that which pertains to a forest and is sylvan or wild. in its earliest usage it had reference to plants and beasts rather than to men. wild apples, pears, or laurels are characterized by the epithet _sylvaticus_ in varro, _de re rustica_, i. ; and either this adjective, or its equivalent _silvestris_, was used of wild animals as contrasted with domesticated beasts, as wild sheep and wild fowl, in columella, vii. ; viii. , or wolves, in propertius, iii. , or mice, in pliny, xxx. . (occasionally it is used of men, as in pliny, viii. .) the meaning was the same in mediæval latin (du cange, _glossarium_, niort, , tom. vii. p. ) and in old french, as "la douce voiz du loussignol sauvage" (michel, _chansons de chatelain de coucy_, xix.). in the romance of _robert le diable_, in the verses sire, se vos fustes sauvages viers moi, je n'i pris mie garde, etc., the reference is plainly to degenerate civilized men frequenting the forests, such as bandits or outlaws, not to what we call savages. mediæval writers certainly had some idea of savages, but it was not based upon any actual acquaintance with such people, but upon imperfectly apprehended statements of ancient writers. at the famous ball at the hotel de saint pol in paris, in , king charles vi. and five noblemen were dressed in close-fitting suits of linen, thickly covered from head to foot with tow or flax, the colour of hair, so as to look like "savages." in this attire nobody recognized them, and the duke of orleans, in his eagerness to make out who they were, brought a torch too near, so that the flax took fire, and four of the noblemen were burned to death. see froissart's _chronicles_, tr. johnes, london, , vol. xi. pp. - . the point of the story is that savages were supposed to be men covered with hair, like beasts, and froissart, in relating it, evidently knew no better. whence came this notion of hairy men? probably from hanno's gorillas (see above, p. ), through pliny, whose huge farrago of facts and fancies was a sort of household peter parley in mediæval monasteries. pliny speaks repeatedly of men covered with hair from head to foot, and scatters them about according to his fancy, in carmania and other distant places (_hist. nat._, vi. , , vii. ). greek and roman writers seem to have had some slight knowledge of savagery and the lower status of barbarism as prevailing in remote places ("ptolomée dit que es extremités de la terre habitable sont gens sauvages," oresme, _les Éthiques d'aristote_, paris, ), but their remarks are usually vague. seldom do we get such a clean-cut statement as that of tacitus about the finns, that they have neither horses nor houses, sleep on the ground, are clothed in skins, live by the chase, and for want of iron use bone-tipped arrows (_germania_, cap. ). more often we have unconscionable yarns about men without noses, or with only one eye, tailed men, solid-hoofed men, amazons, and parthenogenesis. the troglodytes, or cave-dwellers, on the nubian coast of the red sea seem to have been in the middle status of barbarism (diodorus, iii. ; agatharchides, - ), and the ichthyophagi, or fish-eaters, whom nearchus found on the shores of gedrosia (arrian, _indica_, cap. ), were probably in a lower stage, perhaps true savages. it is exceedingly curious that mela puts a race of pygmies at the headwaters of the nile (see map above, p. ). is this only an echo from _iliad_, iii. , or can any ancient traveller have penetrated far enough inland toward the equator to have heard reports of the dwarfish race lately visited by stanley (_in darkest africa_, vol. ii. pp. - , )? strabo had no real knowledge of savagery in africa (cf. bunbury, _hist. ancient geog._, ii. ). sataspes may have seen barbarians of low type, possibly on one of the canary isles (see description of canarians in major's _prince henry_, p. ). ptolemy had heard of an island of cannibals in the indian ocean, perhaps one of the andaman group, visited a. d. by marco polo. the people of these islands rank among the lowest savages on the earth, and marco was disgusted and horrified; their beastly faces, with huge prognathous jaws and projecting canine teeth, he tried to describe by calling them a dog-headed people. sir henry yule suggests that the mention of cynocephali, or dog-heads, in ancient writers may have had an analogous origin (_marco polo_, vol. ii. p. ). this visit of the venetian traveller to andaman was one of very few real glimpses of savagery vouchsafed to europeans before the fifteenth century; and a general review of the subject brings out in a strong light the truthfulness and authenticity of the description of american indians in eric the red's saga, as shown above, pp. - .] [sidenote: effect of these discoveries upon the theories of ptolemy and mela.] these voyages into the southern hemisphere dealt a damaging blow to the theory of an impassable fiery zone; but as to the circumnavigability of the african continent, the long stretch of coast beyond the equator seemed more in harmony with ptolemy's views than with those of mela. the eastward trend of the guinea coast was at first in favour of the latter geographer, but when santarem and escobar found it turning southward to the equator the facts began to refute him. according to mela they should have found it possible at once to sail eastward to the gulf of aden. what if it should turn out after all that there was no connection between the atlantic and indian oceans? every added league of voyaging toward the tropic of capricorn must have been fraught with added discouragement, for it went to prove that, even if ptolemy's theory was wrong, at any rate the ocean route to asia was indefinitely longer than had been supposed. but was it possible to imagine any other route that should be more direct? to a trained mariner of original and imaginative mind, sojourning in portugal and keenly watching the progress of african discovery, the years just following the voyage of santarem and escobar would be a period eminently fit for suggesting such a question. let us not forget this date of while we follow prince henry's work to its first grand climax. [sidenote: news of prester john.] about the time that diego cam was visiting the tribes on the congo, the negro king of benin, a country by the mouth of the niger, sent an embassy to john ii. of portugal (prince henry's nephew), with a request that missionary priests might be sent to benin. it has been thought that the woolly-haired chieftain was really courting an alliance with the portuguese, or perhaps he thought their "medicine men" might have the knack of confounding his foes. the negro envoy told king john that a thousand miles or so east of benin there was an august sovereign who ruled over many subject peoples, and at whose court there was an order of chivalry whose badge or emblem was a brazen cross. such, at least, was the king's interpretation of the negro's words, and forthwith he jumped to the conclusion that this african potentate must be prester john, whose name was redolent of all the marvels of the mysterious east. to find prester john would be a long step toward golden cathay and the isles of spice. so the king of portugal rose to the occasion, and attacked the problem on both flanks at once. he sent pedro de covilham by way of egypt to aden, and he sent bartholomew dias, with three fifty-ton caravels, to make one more attempt to find an end to the atlantic coast of africa. [sidenote: covilham's journey.] covilham's journey was full of interesting experiences. he sailed from aden to hindustan, and on his return visited abyssinia, where the semi-christian king took such a liking to him that he would never let him go. so covilham spent the rest of his life, more than thirty years, in abyssinia, whence he was able now and then to send to portugal items of information concerning eastern africa that were afterwards quite serviceable in voyages upon the indian ocean.[ ] [footnote : see major's _india in the fifteenth century_, pp. lxxxv.-xc.] [sidenote: bartholomew dias passes the cape of good hope and enters the indian ocean.] the daring captain, bartholomew dias, started in august, , and after passing nearly four hundred miles beyond the tropic of capricorn, was driven due south before heavy winds for thirteen days without seeing land. at the end of this stress of weather he turned his prows eastward, expecting soon to reach the coast. but as he had passed the southernmost point of africa and no land appeared before him, after a while he steered northward and landed near the mouth of gauritz river, more than two hundred miles east of the cape of good hope. thence he pushed on about four hundred miles farther eastward as far as the great fish river (about ° ' s., ° ' e.), where the coast begins to have a steady trend to the northeast. dias was now fairly in the indian ocean, and could look out with wistful triumph upon that waste of waters, but his worn-out crews refused to go any farther and he was compelled reluctantly to turn back. on the way homeward the ships passed in full sight of the famous headland which dias called the stormy cape; but after arriving at lisbon, in december, , when the report of this noble voyage was laid before king john ii., his majesty said, nay, let it rather be called the cape of good hope, since there was now much reason to believe that they had found the long-sought ocean route to the indies.[ ] though this opinion turned out to be correct, it is well for us to remember that the proof was not yet complete. no one could yet say with certainty that the african coast, if followed a few miles east of great fish river, would not again trend southward and run all the way to the pole. the completed proof was not obtained until vasco da gama crossed the indian ocean ten years later. [footnote : the greatest of portuguese poets represents the genius of the cape as appearing to the storm-tossed mariners in cloud-like shape, like the jinni that the fisherman of the arabian tale released from a casket. he expresses indignation at their audacity in discovering his secret, hitherto hidden from mankind:-- eu sou aquelle occulto e grande cabo, a quem chamais vós outros tormentorio, que nunca á ptolomeo, pomponio, estrabo, plinio, e quantos passaram, fui notorio: aqui toda a africana costa acabo neste meu nunca vista promontorio, que para o polo antarctico se estende, a quem vossa ousadia tanto offende. camoens, _os lusiadas_, v. .] [sidenote: some effects of the discovery.] [sidenote: bartholomew columbus.] this voyage of bartholomew dias was longer and in many respects more remarkable than any that is known to have been made before that time. from lisbon back to lisbon, reckoning the sinuosities of the coast, but making no allowance for tacking, the distance run by those tiny craft was not less than thirteen thousand miles. this voyage completed the overthrow of the fiery-zone doctrine, so far as africa was concerned; it penetrated far into the southern temperate zone where mela had placed his antipodal world; it dealt a staggering blow to the continental theory of ptolemy; and its success made men's minds readier for yet more daring enterprises. among the shipmates of dias on this ever memorable voyage was a well-trained and enthusiastic italian mariner, none other than bartholomew, the younger brother of christopher columbus. there was true dramatic propriety in the presence of that man at just this time; for not only did all these later african voyages stand in a direct causal relation to the discovery of america, but as an immediate consequence of the doubling of the cape of good hope we shall presently find bartholomew columbus in the very next year on his way to england, to enlist the aid of king henry vii. in behalf of a scheme of unprecedented boldness for which his elder brother had for some years been seeking to obtain the needful funds. not long after that disappointing voyage of santarem and escobar in , this original and imaginative sailor, christopher columbus, had conceived (or adopted and made his own) a new method of solving the problem of an ocean route to cathay. we have now to sketch the early career of this epoch-making man, and to see how he came to be brought into close relations with the work of the portuguese explorers. chapter v. the search for the indies. _westward or spanish route._ [sidenote: sources of information concerning the life of columbus: las casas and ferdinand columbus.] [sidenote: the biblioteca colombina at seville.] our information concerning the life of columbus before is far from being as satisfactory as one could wish. unquestionably he is to be deemed fortunate in having had for his biographers two such men as his friend las casas, one of the noblest characters and most faithful historians of that or any age, and his own son ferdinand columbus, a most accomplished scholar and bibliographer. the later years of ferdinand's life were devoted, with loving care, to the preparation of a biography of his father; and his book--which unfortunately survives only in the italian translation of alfonso ulloa,[ ] published in venice in --is of priceless value. as washington irving long ago wrote, it is "an invaluable document, entitled to great faith, and is the cornerstone of the history of the american continent."[ ] after ferdinand's death, in , his papers seem to have passed into the hands of las casas, who, from to , in the seclusion of the college of san gregorio at valladolid, was engaged in writing his great "history of the indies."[ ] ferdinand's superb library, one of the finest in europe, was bequeathed to the cathedral at seville.[ ] it contained some twenty thousand volumes in print and manuscript, four fifths of which, through shameful neglect or vandalism, have perished or been scattered. four thousand volumes, however, are still preserved, and this library (known as the "biblioteca colombina") is full of interest for the historian. book-buying was to ferdinand columbus one of the most important occupations in life. his books were not only carefully numbered, but on the last leaf of each one he wrote a memorandum of the time and place of its purchase and the sum of money paid for it.[ ] this habit of ferdinand's has furnished us with clues to the solution of some interesting questions. besides this, he was much given to making marginal notes and comments, which are sometimes of immense value, and, more than all, there are still to be seen in this library a few books that belonged to christopher columbus himself, with very important notes in his own handwriting and in that of his brother bartholomew. las casas was familiar with this grand collection in the days of its completeness, he was well acquainted with all the members of the columbus family, and he had evidently read the manuscript sources of ferdinand's book; for a comparison with ulloa's version shows that considerable portions of the original spanish text--or of the documents upon which it rested--are preserved in the work of las casas.[ ] the citation and adoption of ferdinand's statements by the latter writer, who was able independently to verify them, is therefore in most cases equivalent to corroboration, and the two writers together form an authority of the weightiest kind, and not lightly to be questioned or set aside. [footnote : _historie del s. d. fernando colombo; nelle quali s' ha particolare, & vera relatione della vita, & de' fatti dell' ammiraglio d. christoforo colombo, suo padre: et dello scoprimento, ch' egli fece dell' indie occidentali, dette monde-nuovo, hora possedute dal sereniss. re catolico: nuouamente di lingua spagnuola tradotte nell' italiana dal s. alfonso vlloa. con. privilegio._ in venetia, m d lxxi. _appresso francesco de' franceschi sanese._ the principal reprints are those of milan, ; venice, and ; london, . i always cite it as _vita dell' ammiraglio_.] [footnote : irving's _life of columbus_, new york, , vol. iii. p. . my references, unless otherwise specified, are to this, the "geoffrey crayon," edition.] [footnote : las casas, _historia de las indias, ahora por primera vez dada á luz por el marqués de la fuensanta del valle y d. josé sancho rayon_, madrid, , vols. vo.] [footnote : "fu questo d. ernando di non minor valore del padre, ma di molte più lettere et scienze dotato che quelle non fu; et il quale lasciò alla chiesa maggiore di siviglia, dove hoggi si vede honorevolmente sepolto, una, non sola numerosissima, ma richissima libraria, et piena di molti libri in ogni facoltà et scienza rarissimi: laquale da coloro che l' han veduta, vien stimata delle più rare cose di tutta europa." moleto's prefatory letter to _vita dell' ammiraglio_, april , .] [footnote : for example, "_manuel de la sancta fe católica_, sevilla, , in- . costó en toledo maravedis, año , de octubre, no. ." "_tragicomedia de calisto y melibea_, sevilla, , in- . muchas figuras. costó en roma cuatrines, por junio de . no. ," etc. see harrisse, _fernand colomb_, paris, , p. .] [footnote : "l' autorita di las casas è d' una suprema e vitale importanza tanto nella storia di cristoforo colombo, come nell' esame delle _historie_ di fernando suo figlio.... e dal confronto tra questi due scrittori emergerà una omogeneità si perfetta, che si potrebbe coi termini del frate domenicano ritrovare o rifare per due terzi il testo originale spagnuolo delle _historie_ di fernando colombo." peragallo, _l' autenticità delle historie di fernando colombo_, genoa, , p. .] [sidenote: bernaldez and peter martyr.] [sidenote: letters of columbus.] besides these books of most fundamental importance, we have valuable accounts of some parts of the life of columbus by his friend andres bernaldez, the curate of los palacios near seville.[ ] peter martyr, of anghiera, by lago maggiore, was an intimate friend of columbus, and gives a good account of his voyages, besides mentioning him in sundry epistles.[ ] columbus himself, moreover, was such a voluminous writer that his contemporaries laughed about it. "god grant," says zuñiga in a letter to the marquis de pescara, "god grant that gutierrez may never come short for paper, for he writes more than ptolemy, more than columbus, the man who discovered the indies."[ ] these writings are in great part lost, though doubtless a good many things will yet be brought to light in spain by persistent rummaging. we have, however, from sixty to seventy letters and reports by columbus, of which twenty-three at least are in his own handwriting; and all these have been published.[ ] [footnote : _historia de los reyes católicos d. fernando y d^a isabel. crónica inédita del siglo xv, escrita por el bachiller andrés bernaldez, cura que fué de los palacios_, granada, , vols. small to. it is a book of very high authority.] [footnote : _de orbe novo decades_, alcalá, ; _opus epistolarum_, compluti (alcalá), ; harrisse, _bibliotheca americana vetustissima_, nos. , .] [footnote : "a gutierrez vuestro solicitador, ruego à dios que nunca le falte papel, porque escribe mas que tolomeo y que colon, el que halló las indias." rivadeneyra, _curiosidades bibliográficas_, p. , apud harrisse, _christophe colomb_, tom. i. p. .] [footnote : harrisse, _loc. cit._, in , gives the number at sixty-four.] [sidenote: defects in ferdinand's information.] nevertheless, while these contemporary materials give us abundant information concerning the great discoverer, from the year until his death, it is quite otherwise with his earlier years, especially before his arrival in spain in . his own allusions to these earlier years are sometimes hard to interpret;[ ] and as for his son ferdinand, that writer confesses, with characteristic and winning frankness, that his information is imperfect, inasmuch as filial respect had deterred him from closely interrogating his father on such points, or, to tell the plain truth, being still very young when his father died, he had not then come to recognize their importance.[ ] this does not seem strange when we reflect that ferdinand must have seen very little of his father until in , at the age of fourteen, he accompanied him on that last difficult and disastrous voyage, in which the sick and harassed old man could have had but little time or strength for aught but the work in hand. it is not strange that when, a quarter of a century later, the son set about his literary task, he should now and then have got a date wrong, or have narrated some incidents in a confused manner, or have admitted some gossiping stories, the falsehood of which can now plainly be detected. such blemishes, which occur chiefly in the earlier part of ferdinand's book, do not essentially detract from its high authority.[ ] the limits which bounded the son's accurate knowledge seem also to have bounded that of such friends as bernaldez, who did not become acquainted with columbus until after his arrival in spain. [footnote : sometimes from a slip of memory or carelessness of phrasing, on columbus's part, sometimes from our lacking the clue, sometimes from an error in numerals, common enough at all times.] [footnote : "ora, l' ammiraglio avendo cognizione delle dette scienze, cominciò ad attendere al mare, e a fare alcuni viaggi in levante e in ponente; de' quali, e di molte altre cose di quei primi dì io non ho piena notizia; perciocchè egli venne a morte a tempo che io non aveva tanto ardire, o pratica, per la riverenza filiale, che io ardissi di richiederlo di cotali cose; o, per parlare più veramente, allora mi ritrovava io, come giovane, molto lontano da cotal pensiero." _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. iv.] [footnote : twenty years ago m. harrisse published in spanish and french a critical essay maintaining that the _vita dell' ammiraglio_ was not written by ferdinand columbus, but probably by the famous scholar perez de oliva, professor in the university of salamanca, who died in (_d. fernando colon, historiador de su padre_, seville, ; _fernand colomb: sa vie, ses oeuvres_, paris, ). the spanish manuscript of the book had quite a career. as already observed, it is clear that las casas used it, probably between and . from ferdinand's nephew, luis columbus, it seems to have passed in into the hands of baliano di fornari, a prominent citizen of genoa, who sent it to venice with the intention of having it edited and published with latin and italian versions. all that ever appeared, however, was the italian version made by ulloa and published in . harrisse supposes that the spanish manuscript, written by oliva, was taken to genoa by some adventurer and palmed off upon baliano di fornari as the work of ferdinand columbus. but inasmuch as harrisse also supposes that oliva probably wrote the book (about ) at seville, under ferdinand's eyes and with documents furnished by him, it becomes a question, in such case, how far was oliva anything more than an amanuensis to ferdinand? and there seems really to be precious little wool after so much loud crying. if the manuscript was actually written "sous les yeux de fernand et avec documents fournis par lui," most of the arguments alleged to prove that it could not have emanated from the son of columbus fall to the ground. it becomes simply a question whether ulloa may have here and there tampered with the text, or made additions of his own. to some extent he seems to have done so, but wherever the italian version is corroborated by the spanish extracts in las casas, we are on solid ground, for las casas died five years before the italian version was published. m. harrisse does not seem as yet to have convinced many scholars. his arguments have been justly, if somewhat severely, characterized by my old friend, the lamented henry stevens (_historical collections_, london, , vol. i. no. ), and have been elaborately refuted by m. d'avezac, _le livre de ferdinand colomb: revue critique des allegations proposées contre son authenticité_, paris, ; and by prospero peragallo, _l' autenticità delle historie di fernando colombo_, genoa, . see also fabié, _vida de fray bartolomé de las casas_, madrid, , tom. i. pp. - .] [sidenote: researches of henry harrisse.] in recent years elaborate researches have been made, by henry harrisse and others, in the archives of genoa, savona, seville, and other places with which columbus was connected, in the hope of supplementing this imperfect information concerning his earlier years.[ ] a number of data have thus been obtained, which, while clearing up the subject most remarkably in some directions, have been made to mystify and embroil it in others. there is scarcely a date or a fact relating to columbus before but has been made the subject of hot dispute; and some pretty wholesale reconstructions of his biography have been attempted.[ ] the general impression, however, which the discussions of the past twenty years have left upon my mind, is that the more violent hypotheses are not likely to be sustained, and that the newly-ascertained facts do not call for any very radical interference with the traditional lines upon which the life of columbus has heretofore been written.[ ] at any rate there seems to be no likelihood of such interference as to modify our views of the causal sequence of events that led to the westward search for the indies; and it is this relation of cause and effect that chiefly concerns us in a history of the discovery of america. [footnote : see harrisse, _christophe colomb_, paris, , vols., a work of immense research, absolutely indispensable to every student of the subject, though here and there somewhat over-ingenious and hypercritical, and in general unduly biased by the author's private crotchet about the work of ferdinand.] [footnote : one of the most radical of these reconstructions may be found in the essay by m. d'avezac, "canevas chronologique de la vie de christophe colomb," in _bulletin de la société de géographie_, paris, , e série, tom. iv. pp. - .] [footnote : washington irving's _life of columbus_, says harrisse, "is a history written with judgment and impartiality, which leaves far behind it all descriptions of the discovery of the new world published before or since." _christophe colomb_, tom. i. p. . irving was the first to make use of the superb work of navarrete, _coleccion de los viages y descubrimientos que hicieron por mar los españoles desde fines del siglo xv._, madrid, - , vols. to. next followed alexander von humboldt, with his _examen critique de l'histoire de la géographie de nouveau continent_, paris, - , vols. vo. this monument of gigantic erudition (which, unfortunately, was never completed) will always remain indispensable to the historian.] * * * * * [sidenote: date of the birth of columbus: archives of savona.] [sidenote: statement of bernaldez.] [sidenote: columbus's letter of september, .] [sidenote: the balance of probability is in favour of .] the date of the birth of columbus is easy to determine approximately, but hard to determine with precision. in the voluminous discussion upon this subject the extreme limits assigned have been and , but neither of these extremes is admissible, and our choice really lies somewhere between and . among the town archives of savona is a deed of sale executed august , , by the father of christopher columbus, and ratified by christopher and his next brother giovanni.[ ] both brothers must then have attained their majority, which in the republic of genoa was fixed at the age of twenty-five. christopher, therefore, can hardly have been less than seven and twenty, so that the latest probable date for his birth is , and this is the date accepted by muñoz, major, harrisse, and avezac. there is no documentary proof, however, to prevent our taking an earlier date; and the curate of los palacios--strong authority on such a point--says expressly that at the time of his death, in , columbus was "in a good old age, seventy years a little more or less."[ ] upon this statement navarrete and humboldt have accepted as the probable date of birth.[ ] the most plausible objection to this is a statement made by columbus himself in a letter to ferdinand and isabella, written in . in this letter, as first given in the biography by his son, columbus says that he was of "very tender age" when he began to sail the seas, an occupation which he has kept up until the present moment; and in the next sentence but one he adds that "now for forty years i have been in this business and have gone to every place where there is any navigation up to the present time."[ ] the expression "very tender age" agrees with ferdinand's statement that his father was fourteen years old when he first took to the sea.[ ] since + - = , it is argued that columbus was probably born about ; some sticklers for extreme precision say . but now there were eight years spent by columbus in spain, from to , without any voyages at all; they were years, as he forcibly says, "dragged out in disputations."[ ] did he mean to include those eight years in his forty spent upon the sea? navarrete thinks he did not. when he wrote under excitement, as in this letter, his language was apt to be loose, and it is fair to construe it according to the general probabilities of the case. this addition of eight years brings his statement substantially into harmony with that of bernaldez, which it really will not do to set aside lightly. moreover, in the original text of the letter, since published by navarrete, columbus appears to say, "now for _more than_ forty years," so that the agreement with bernaldez becomes practically complete.[ ] the good curate spoke from direct personal acquaintance, and his phrases "seventy years" and "a good old age" are borne out by the royal decree of february , , permitting columbus to ride on a mule, instead of a horse, by reason of his old age (_ancianidad_) and infirmities.[ ] such a phrase applies much better to a man of sixty-nine than to a man of fifty-nine. on the whole, i think that washington irving showed good sense in accepting the statement of the curate of los palacios as decisive, dating as it does the birth of columbus at , "a little more or less." [footnote : harrisse, _op. cit._ tom. i. p. .] [footnote : "in _senectute bona_, de edad de setenta años poco mas o menos." bernaldez, _reyes católicos_, tom. i. p. .] [footnote : m. d'avezac (_canevas chronologique_, etc.) objects to this date that we have positive documentary evidence of the birth of christopher's youngest brother giacomo (afterwards spanished into diego) in , which makes an interval of years; so that if the mother were (say) in she must have borne a child at the age of . that would be unusual, but not unprecedented. but m. harrisse (tom. ii. p. ), from a more thorough sifting of this documentary evidence, seems to have proved that while giacomo cannot have been born later than he may have been born as early as ; so that whatever is left of m. d'avezac's objection falls to the ground.] [footnote : "serenissimi principi, di età molto tenera io entrai in mare navigando, et vi ho continovato fin' hoggi: ... et hoggimai passano quaranta anni che io uso per tutte quelle parti che fin hoggi si navigano." _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. iv.] [footnote : _op. cit._ cap. iv. _ad fin_.] [footnote : "traido en disputas," navarrete, _coleccion_, tom. ii. p. .] [footnote : "muy altos reyes, de muy pequeña edad entré en la mar navegando, é lo he continuado fasta hoy.... yá pasan de cuarenta años que yo voy en este uso: todo lo que hoy se navega, todo lo he andado." navarrete, _coleccion_, tom. ii. p. . observe the lame phrase "pasan de cuarenta;" what business has that "de" in such a place without "mas" before it? "pasan mas de cuarenta," i. e. "more than forty;" writing in haste and excitement, columbus left out a little word; or shall we blame the proof-reader? avezac himself translates it "il y a plus de quarante ans," and so does eugène müller, in his french version of ferdinand's book, _histoire de la vie de christophe colomb_, paris, , p. .] [footnote : that was the golden age of sumptuary laws. because alfonso xi. of castile ( - ), when he tried to impress horses for the army, found it hard to get as many as he wanted, he took it into his head that his subjects were raising too many mules and not enough horses. so he tried to remedy the evil by a wholesale decree prohibiting all castilians from riding upon mules! in practice this precious decree, like other villainous prohibitory laws that try to prevent honest people from doing what they have a perfect right to do, proved so vexatious and ineffective withal that it had to be perpetually fussed with and tinkered. one year you could ride a mule and the next year you couldn't. in , as we shall see, columbus immortalized one of these patient beasts by riding it a few miles from granada. but in ferdinand and isabella decreed that nobody except women, children, and clergymen could ride on mules,--"dont la marche est beaucoup plus douce que celle des chevaux" (humboldt, _examen critique_, tom. iii. p. ). this edict remained in force in , so that the discoverer of the new world, the inaugurator of the greatest historic event since the birth of christ, could not choose an easygoing animal for the comfort of his weary old weather-shaken bones without the bother of getting a special edict to fit his case. _eheu, quam parva sapientia regitur mundus!_] [sidenote: the family of domenico colombo, and its changes of residence.] with regard to the place where the great discoverer was born there ought to be no dispute, since we have his own most explicit and unmistakable word for it, as i shall presently show. nevertheless there has been no end of dispute. he has been claimed by as many places as homer,[ ] but the only real question is whether he was born in the city of genoa or in some neighbouring village within the boundaries of the genoese republic. it is easy to understand how doubt has arisen on this point, if we trace the changes of residence of his family. the grandfather of columbus seems to have been giovanni colombo, of terrarossa, an inland hamlet some twenty miles east by north from genoa. giovanni's son, domenico colombo, was probably born at terrarossa, and moved thence with his father, somewhere between and , to quinto al mare, four miles east of genoa on the coast. all the family seem to have been weavers. before , but how many years before is not known, domenico married susanna fontanarossa, who belonged to a family of weavers, probably of quezzi, four miles northeast of genoa. between and domenico, with his wife and three children, moved into the city of genoa, where he became the owner of a house and was duly qualified as a citizen. in domenico moved to savona, thirty miles west on the corniche road, where he set up a weaving establishment and also kept a tavern. he had then five children, cristoforo, giovanni, bartolommeo, giacomo, and a daughter. domenico lived in savona till . at that time his wife and his son giovanni were dead, giacomo was an apprentice, learning the weaver's trade, christopher and bartholomew had long been domiciled in portugal, the daughter had married a cheese merchant in genoa, and to that city domenico returned in the autumn of , and lived there until his death, at a great age, in or . he was always in pecuniary difficulties, and died poor and in debt, though his sons seem to have sent him from portugal and spain such money as they could spare.[ ] [footnote : "nous avons démontré l'inanité des théories qui le font naître à pradello, à cuccaro, à cogoleto, à savona, à nervi, à albissola, à bogliasco, à cosseria, à finale, à oneglia, voire même en angleterre ou dans l'isle de corse." harrisse, tom. i. p. . in cogoleto, about sixteen miles west of genoa on the corniche road, the visitor is shown a house where columbus is said first to have seen the light. upon its front is a quaint inscription in which the discoverer is compared to the dove (_colomba_) which, when sent by noah from the ark, discovered dry land amid the waters:-- con generoso ardir dall' arca all' onde ubbidiente il vol colomba prende, corre, s' aggira, terren scopre, e fronde d' olivo in segno, al gran noè ne rende. l' imita in ciò colombo, ne' s' asconde, e da sua patria il mar solcando fende; terreno al fin scoprendo diede fondo, offerendo all' ispano un nuovo mondo. this house is or has been mentioned in baedeker's _northern italy_ as the probable birthplace, along with peschel's absurd date . it is pretty certain that columbus was _not_ born in that house or in cogoleto. see harrisse, tom. i. pp. - .] [footnote : harrisse, tom. i. pp. - .] [sidenote: christopher tells us that he was born in the city of genoa.] the reader will observe that christopher and his two next brothers were born before the family went to live in the city of genoa. it has hence been plausibly inferred that they were born either in quinto or in terrarossa; more likely the latter, since both christopher and bartholomew, as well as their father, were called, and sometimes signed themselves, columbus of terrarossa.[ ] in this opinion the most indefatigable modern investigator, harrisse, agrees with las casas.[ ] nevertheless, in a solemn legal instrument executed february , , establishing a _mayorazgo_, or right of succession to his estates and emoluments in the indies, columbus expressly declares that he was born in the city of genoa: "i enjoin it upon my son, the said don diego, or whoever may inherit the said _mayorazgo_, always to keep and maintain in the city of genoa one person of our lineage, because from thence i came and in it i was born."[ ] i do not see how such a definite and positive statement, occurring in such a document, can be doubted or explained away. it seems clear that the son was born while the parents were dwelling either at terrarossa or at quinto, but what is to hinder our supposing that the event might have happened when the mother was in the city on some errand or visit? the fact that christopher and his brother were often styled "of terrarossa" does not prove that they were born in that hamlet. a family moving thence to quinto and to genoa would stand in much need of some such distinctive epithet, because the name colombo was extremely common in that part of italy; insomuch that the modern historian, who prowls among the archives of those towns, must have a care lest he get hold of the wrong person, and thus open a fresh and prolific source of confusion. this has happened more than once. [footnote : harrisse, tom. i. p. ; _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. xi.] [footnote : "fué este varon escogido de nacion genovés, de algun lugar de la provincia de génova; cual fuese, donde nació ó qué nombre tuvo el tal lugar, no consta la verdad dello más de que se solia llamar ántes que llegase al estado que llegó, cristobal colombo de terra-rubia y lo mismo su hermano bartolomé colon." las casas, _historia de las indias_, tom. i. p. ; cf. harrisse, tom. i. pp. - .] [footnote : "mando al dicho d. diego, mi hijo, ó á la persona que heredare el dicho mayorazgo, que tenga y sostenga siempre en la _ciudad de génova_ una persona de nuestro linage ... pues que della salí _y en ella naci_" [italics mine]. navarrete, _coleccion_, tom. ii. p. .] [sidenote: christopher's early years.] [sidenote: christopher and bartholomew at lisbon.] on the whole, then, it seems most probable that the discoverer of america was born in the city of genoa in , or not much later. of his childhood we know next to nothing. las casas tells us that he studied at the university of pavia and acquired a good knowledge of latin.[ ] this has been doubted, as incompatible with the statement of columbus that he began a seafaring life at the age of fourteen. it is clear, however, that the earlier years of columbus, before his departure for portugal, were not all spent in seafaring. somewhere, if not at pavia, he not only learned latin, but found time to study geography, with a little astronomy and mathematics, and to become an expert draughtsman. he seems to have gone to and fro upon the mediterranean in merchant voyages, now and then taking a hand in sharp scrimmages with mussulman pirates.[ ] in the intervals of this adventurous life he was probably to be found in genoa, earning his bread by making maps and charts, for which there was a great and growing demand. about , having become noted for his skill in such work, he followed his younger brother bartholomew to lisbon,[ ] whither prince henry's undertakings had attracted able navigators and learned geographers until that city had come to be the chief centre of nautical science in europe. las casas assures us that bartholomew was quite equal to christopher as a sailor, and surpassed him in the art of making maps and globes, as well as in the beauty of his handwriting.[ ] in portugal, as before in italy, the work of the brothers columbus was an alternation of map-making on land and adventure on the sea. we have christopher's own word for it that he sailed with more than one of those portuguese expeditions down the african coast;[ ] and i think it not altogether unlikely that he may have been with santarem and escobar in their famous voyage of . [footnote : las casas, _historia_, tom. i. p. .] [footnote : the reader must beware, however, of some of the stories of adventure attaching to this part of his life, even where they are confirmed by las casas. they evidently rest upon hearsay, and the incidents are so confused that it is almost impossible to extract the kernel of truth.] [footnote : the date rests upon a letter of columbus to king ferdinand of aragon in may, . he says that god must have directed him into the service of spain by a kind of miracle, since he had already been in portugal, whose king was more interested than any other sovereign in making discoveries, and yet god closed his eyes, his ears, and all his senses to such a degree that _in fourteen years_ columbus could not prevail upon him to lend aid to his scheme. "dije milagrosamente porque fui á aportar á portugal, adonde el rey de allí entendia en el descubrir mas que otro: él le atajó la vista, oido y todos los sentidos, que en catorce años no le pude hacer entender lo que yo dije." las casas, _op. cit._ tom. iii. p. ; navarrete, tom. iii. p. . now it is known that columbus finally left portugal late in , or very early in , so that fourteen years would carry us back to before for the first arrival of columbus in that country. m. harrisse (_op. cit._ tom. i. p. ) is unnecessarily troubled by the fact that the same person was not king of portugal during the whole of that period. alfonso v. (brother of henry the navigator) died in , and was succeeded by his son john ii.; but during a considerable part of the time between and the royal authority was exercised by the latter. both kings were more interested in making discoveries than any other european sovereigns. which king did columbus mean? obviously his words were used loosely; he was too much preoccupied to be careful about trifles; he probably had john in his mind, and did not bother himself about alfonso; king ferdinand, to whom he was writing, did not need to have such points minutely specified, and could understand an elliptical statement; and the fact stated by columbus was simply that during a residence of fourteen years in portugal he had not been able to enlist even that enterprising government in behalf of his novel scheme. in the town archives of savona we find christopher columbus witnessing a document march , , endorsing a kind of promissory note for his father august , , and joining with his mother and his next brother giovanni, august , , in relinquishing all claims to the house in genoa sold by his father domenico by deed of that date. it will be remembered that domenico had moved from genoa to savona in . from these documents (which are all printed in his _christophe colomb_, tom. ii. pp. , , - ) m. harrisse concludes that christopher cannot have gone to portugal until after august , . probably not, so far as to be domiciled there; but inasmuch as he had long been a sailor, why should he not have been in portugal, or upon the african coast in a portuguese ship, in and , and nevertheless have been with his parents in savona in and part of ? his own statement "fourteen years" is not to be set aside on such slight grounds as this. furthermore, from the fact that bartholomew's name is not signed to the deed of august , , m. harrisse infers that he was then a minor; i. e. under five and twenty. but it seems to me more likely that bartholomew was already domiciled at lisbon, since we are expressly told by two good contemporary authorities--both of them genoese writers withal--that he moved to lisbon and began making maps there at an earlier date than christopher. see antonio gallo, _de navigatione columbi per inaccessum antea oceanum commentariolus_, apud muratori, tom. xxiii. col. - ; giustiniani, _psalterium_, milan, (annotation to psalm xix.); harrisse, _bibliotheca americana vetustissima_, no. . to these statements m. harrisse objects that he finds (in belloro, _notizie_, p. ) mention of a document dated savona, june , , in which domenico colombo gives a power of attorney to his son bartholomew to act for him in some matter. the document itself, however, is not forthcoming, and the notice cited by m. harrisse really affords no ground for the assumption that bartholomew was in domiciled at savona or at genoa.] [footnote : las casas, _op. cit._ tom. i. p. ; tom. ii. p. . he possessed many maps and documents by both the brothers.] [footnote : "spesse volte navigando da lisbona a guinea," etc. _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. iv. the original authority is columbus's marginal note in his copy of the _imago mundi_ of alliacus, now preserved in the colombina at seville: "nota quod sepius navigando ex ulixbona ad austrum in guineam, notavi cum diligentia viam, etc." compare the allusions to guinea in his letters, navarrete, _coleccion_, tom. i. pp. , , .] [sidenote: philippa moñiz de perestrelo.] [sidenote: personal appearance of columbus.] he had not been long in portugal before he found a wife. we have already met the able italian navigator, bartholomew perestrelo, who was sent by prince henry to the island of porto santo with zarco and vaz, about . in recognition of eminent services prince henry afterwards, in , appointed him governor of porto santo. perestrelo died in , leaving a widow (his second wife, isabella moñiz) and a charming daughter philippa,[ ] whom columbus is said to have first met at a religious service in the chapel of the convent of all saints at lisbon. from the accounts of his personal appearance, given by las casas and others who knew him, we can well understand how columbus should have won the heart of this lady, so far above him at that time in social position. he was a man of noble and commanding presence, tall and powerfully built, with fair ruddy complexion and keen blue-gray eyes that easily kindled; while his waving white hair must have been quite picturesque. his manner was at once courteous and cordial and his conversation charming, so that strangers were quickly won, and in friends who knew him well he inspired strong affection and respect.[ ] there was an indefinable air of authority about him, as befitted a man of great heart and lofty thoughts.[ ] out of those kindling eyes looked a grand and poetic soul, touched with that divine spark of religious enthusiasm which makes true genius. [footnote : there are some vexed questions concerning this lady and the connections between the moñiz and perestrelo families, for which see harrisse, tom. i. pp. - .] [footnote : las casas, _historia_, tom. i. p. . he describes bartholomew as not unlike his brother, but not so tall, less affable in manner, and more stern in disposition, _id._ tom. ii. p. .] [footnote : "christoval colon ... persona de gran corazon y altos pensamientos." mariana, _historia de españa_, tom. viii. p. .] [sidenote: his marriage, and life upon the island of porto santo.] the acquaintance between columbus and philippa moñiz de perestrelo was not long in ripening into affection, for they were married in . as there was a small estate at porto santo, columbus went home thither with his bride to live for a while in quiet and seclusion. such repose we may believe to have been favourable to meditation, and on that little island, three hundred miles out on the mysterious ocean, we are told that the great scheme of sailing westward to the indies first took shape in the mind of columbus.[ ] his father-in-law perestrelo had left a quantity of sailing charts and nautical notes, and these columbus diligently studied, while ships on their way to and from guinea every now and then stopped at the island, and one can easily imagine the eager discussions that must have been held over the great commercial problem of the age,--how far south that african coast extended and whether there was any likelihood of ever finding an end to it. [footnote : upon that island his eldest son diego was born. this whole story of the life upon porto santo and its relation to the genesis of columbus's scheme is told very explicitly by las casas, who says that it was told to him by diego columbus at barcelona in , when they were waiting upon charles v., just elected emperor and about to start for aachen to be crowned. and yet there are modern critics who are disposed to deny the whole story. (see harrisse, tom. i. p. .) the grounds for doubt are, however, extremely trivial when confronted with las casas, _historia_, tom. i. p. .] [sidenote: alfonso v. asks advice of the great astronomer toscanelli.] how long columbus lived upon porto santo is not known, but he seems to have gone from time to time back to lisbon, and at length to have made his home--or in the case of such a rover we might better say his headquarters--in that city. we come now to a document of supreme importance for our narrative. paolo del pozzo dei toscanelli, born at florence in , was one of the most famous astronomers and cosmographers of his time, a man to whom it was natural that questions involving the size and shape of the earth should be referred. to him alfonso v. of portugal made application, through a gentleman of the royal household, fernando martinez, who happened to be an old friend of toscanelli. what alfonso wanted to know was whether there could be a shorter oceanic route to the indies than that which his captains were seeking by following the african coast; if so, he begged that toscanelli would explain the nature and direction of such a route. the florentine astronomer replied with the letter presently to be quoted in full, dated june , ; and along with the letter he sent to the king a sailing chart, exhibiting his conception of the atlantic ocean, with europe on the east and cathay on the west. the date of this letter is eloquent. it was early in that santarem and escobar brought back to lisbon the news that beyond the gold coast the african shore turned southwards and stretched away in that direction beyond the equator. as i have already observed, this was the moment when the question as to the possibility of a shorter route was likely to arise;[ ] and this is precisely the question we find the king of portugal putting to toscanelli some time before the middle of . now about this same time, or not long afterwards, we find columbus himself appealing to toscanelli. an aged florentine merchant, lorenzo giraldi, then settled in lisbon, was going back to his native city for a visit, and to him columbus entrusted a letter for the eminent astronomer. he received the following answer: [sidenote: toscanelli's first letter to columbus.] "paul, the physicist, to christopher columbus greeting.[ ] i perceive your great and noble desire to go to the place where the spices grow; wherefore in reply to a letter of yours, i send you a copy of another letter, which i wrote a few days ago [or some time ago] to a friend of mine, a gentleman of the household of the most gracious king of portugal before the wars of castile,[ ] in reply to another, which by command of his highness he wrote me concerning that matter: and i send you another sailing chart, similar to the one i sent him, by which your demands will be satisfied. the copy of that letter of mine is as follows:-- [sidenote: toscanelli's copy of his former letter to martinez--enclosed in his first letter to columbus.] "'paul, the physicist, to fernando martinez, canon, at lisbon, greeting.[ ] i was glad to hear of your intimacy and favour with your most noble and illustrious king. i have formerly spoken with you about a shorter route to the places of spices by ocean navigation than that which you are pursuing by guinea. the most gracious king now desires from me some statement, or rather an exhibition to the eye, so that even slightly educated persons can grasp and comprehend that route. although i am well aware that this can be proved from the spherical shape of the earth, nevertheless, in order to make the point clearer and to facilitate the enterprise, i have decided to exhibit that route by means of a sailing chart. i therefore send to his majesty a chart made by my own hands,[ ] upon which are laid down your coasts, and the islands from which you must begin to shape your course steadily westward, and the places at which you are bound to arrive, and how far from the pole or from the equator you ought to keep away, and through how much space or through how many miles you are to arrive at places most fertile in all sorts of spices and gems; and do not wonder at my calling _west_ the parts where the spices are, whereas they are commonly called _east_, because to persons sailing persistently westward those parts will be found by courses on the under side of the earth. for if [you go] by land and by routes on this upper side, they will always be found in the east. the straight lines drawn lengthwise upon the map indicate distance from east to west, while the transverse lines show distances from south to north. i have drawn upon the map various places upon which you may come, for the better information of the navigators in case of their arriving, whether through accident of wind or what not, at some different place from what they had expected; but partly in order that they may show the inhabitants that they have some knowledge of their country, which is sure to be a pleasant thing. it is said that none but merchants dwell in the islands.[ ] for so great there is the number of navigators with their merchandise that in all the rest of the world there are not so many as in one very splendid port called zaiton.[ ] for they say that a hundred great ships of pepper unload in that port every year, besides other ships bringing other spices. that country is very populous and very rich, with a multitude of provinces and kingdoms and cities without number, under one sovereign who is called the great khan, which name signifies king of kings, whose residence is for the most part in the province of cathay. his predecessors two hundred years ago desired an alliance with christendom; they sent to the pope and asked for a number of persons learned in the faith, that they might be enlightened; but those who were sent, having encountered obstacles on the way, returned.[ ] even in the time of eugenius[ ] there came one to eugenius and made a declaration concerning their great goodwill toward christians, and i had a long talk with him about many things, about the great size of their royal palaces and the remarkable length and breadth of their rivers, and the multitude of cities on the banks of the rivers, such that on one river there are about two hundred cities, with marble bridges very long and wide and everywhere adorned with columns. this country is worth seeking by the latins, not only because great treasures may be obtained from it,--gold, silver, and all sorts of jewels and spices,--but on account of its learned men, philosophers, and skilled astrologers, and [in order that we may see] with what arts and devices so powerful and splendid a province is governed, and also [how] they conduct their wars. this for some sort of answer to his request, so far as haste and my occupations have allowed, ready in future to make further response to his royal majesty as much as he may wish. given at florence th june, .' [footnote : see above, p. .] [footnote : i translate this prologue from the italian text of the _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. viii. the original latin has nowhere been found. a spanish version of the whole may be found in las casas, _historia_, tom. i. pp. - . las casas, by a mere slip of the pen, calls "paul, the physicist," _marco paulo_, and fifty years later mariana calls him _marco polo, physician_: "por aviso que le dió un cierto marco polo médico florentin," etc. _historia de españa_, tom. viii. p. . thus step by step doth error grow.] [footnote : he means that his friend martinez has been a member of king alfonso's household ever since the time before the civil wars that began with the attempted deposition of henry iv. in and can hardly be said to have come to an end before the death of that prince in december, . see humboldt, _examen critique_, tom. i. p. .] [footnote : i translate this enclosed letter from the original latin text, as found, a few years ago, in the handwriting of columbus upon the fly-leaves of his copy of the _historia rerum ubique gestarum_ of Æneas sylvius piccolomini (pope pius ii.), published at venice in , in folio, and now preserved in the colombina at seville. this latin text is given by harrisse, in his _fernand colomb_, pp. - , and also (with more strict regard to the abbreviations of the original) in his _bibliotheca americana vetustissima--additions_, paris, , pp. xvi.-xviii. very likely columbus had occasion to let the original ms. go out of his hands, and so preserved a copy of it upon the fly-leaves of one of his books. these same fly-leaves contain extracts from josephus and saint augustine. the reader will rightly infer from my translation that the astronomer's latin was somewhat rugged and lacking in literary grace. apparently he was anxious to jot down quickly what he had to say, and get back to his work.] [footnote : a sketch of this most memorable of maps is given opposite. columbus carried it with him upon his first voyage, and shaped his course in accordance with it. las casas afterwards had it in his possession (_hist. de las indias_, tom. i. pp. , ). it has since been lost, that is to say, it may still be in existence, but nobody knows where. but it has been so well described that the work of restoring its general outlines is not difficult and has several times been done. the sketch here given is taken from winsor (_narr. and crit. hist._, ii. ), who takes it from _das ausland_, , p. . another restoration may be found in st. martin's _atlas_, pl. ix. this map was the source of the western part of martin behaim's globe, as given below, p. .] [footnote : all the description that follows is taken by toscanelli from the book of marco polo.] [footnote : on modern maps usually called chang-chow, about miles s. w. from fou-chow.] [footnote : i have given an account of this mission, above, p. .] [footnote : eugenius iv., pope from to .] [sidenote: conclusion of toscanelli's first letter to columbus.] "from[ ] the city of lisbon due west there are spaces marked on the map, each of which contains miles, as far as the very great and splendid city of quinsay.[ ] for it is a hundred miles in circumference and has ten bridges, and its name means city of heaven, and many wonderful things are told about it and about the multitude of its arts and revenues. this space is almost a third part of the whole sphere. that city is in the province of mangi, or near the province of cathay in which land is the royal residence. but from the island of antilia, which you know, to the very splendid island of cipango[ ] there are ten spaces. for that island abounds in gold, pearls, and precious stones, and they cover the temples and palaces with solid gold. so through the unknown parts of the route the stretches of sea to be traversed are not great. many things might perhaps have been stated more clearly, but one who duly considers what i have said will be able to work out the rest for himself. farewell, most esteemed one." [footnote : this paragraph is evidently the conclusion of the letter to columbus, and not a part of the letter to martinez, which has just ended with the date. in _vita dell' ammiraglio_ the two letters are mixed together.] [footnote : on modern maps hang-chow. after that city was for some time the capital of china, and marco polo's name _quinsay_ represents the chinese word _king-sse_ or "capital," now generally applied to peking. marco polo calls it the finest and noblest city in the world. it appears that he does not overstate the circumference of its walls at chinese miles or _li_, equivalent to about english miles. it has greatly diminished since polo's time, while other cities have grown. toscanelli was perhaps afraid to repeat polo's figure as to the number of stone bridges; polo says there were , of them, high enough for ships to pass under! we thus see how his venetian fellow-citizens came to nickname him "messer marco milione." as colonel yule says, "i believe we must not bring marco to book for the literal accuracy of his statements as to the bridges; but all travellers have noticed the number and elegance of the bridges of cut stone in this part of china." _marco polo_, vol. ii, p. .] [footnote : for cipango, or japan, see yule's _marco polo_, vol. ii. pp. - . the venerable astronomer's style of composition is amusing. he sets out to demonstrate to columbus that the part of the voyage to be accomplished through new and unfamiliar stretches of the atlantic is not great; but he is so full of the glories of cathay and cipango that he keeps reverting to that subject, to the manifest detriment of his exposition. his argument, however, is perfectly clear.] some time after the receipt of this letter columbus wrote again to toscanelli, apparently sending him either some charts of his own, or some notes, or something bearing upon the subject in hand. no such letter is preserved, but toscanelli replied as follows:-- [sidenote: toscanelli's second letter to columbus.] "paul, the physicist, to christopher columbus greeting.[ ] i have received your letters, with the things which you sent me, for which i thank you very much. i regard as noble and grand your project of sailing from east to west according to the indications furnished by the map which i sent you, and which would appear still more plainly upon a sphere. i am much pleased to see that i have been well understood, and that the voyage has become not only possible but certain,[ ] fraught with honour as it must be, and inestimable gain, and most lofty fame among all christian people. you cannot take in all that it means except by actual experience, or without such copious and accurate information as i have had from eminent and learned men who have come from those places to the roman court, and from merchants who have traded a long time in those parts, persons whose word is to be believed (_persone di grande autorità_). when that voyage shall be accomplished, it will be a voyage to powerful kingdoms, and to cities and provinces most wealthy and noble, abounding in all sorts of things most desired by us; i mean, with all kinds of spices and jewels in great abundance. it will also be advantageous for those kings and princes who are eager to have dealings and make alliances with the christians of our countries, and to learn from the erudite men of these parts,[ ] as well in religion as in all other branches of knowledge. for these reasons, and many others that might be mentioned, i do not wonder that you, who are of great courage, and the whole portuguese nation, which has always had men distinguished in all such enterprises, are now inflamed with desire[ ] to execute the said voyage." [footnote : the original of this letter is not forthcoming. i translate from _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. viii.] [footnote : yet poor old toscanelli did not live to see it accomplished; he died in , before columbus left portugal.] [footnote : that is, of europe, and especially of italy. toscanelli again refers to kublai khan's message to the pope which--more or less mixed up with the vague notions about prester john--had evidently left a deep impression upon the european mind. in translating the above sentence i have somewhat retrenched its excessive verbiage without affecting the meaning.] [footnote : in including the "whole portuguese nation" as feeling this desire, the good astronomer's enthusiasm again runs away with him.] [sidenote: who first suggested the feasibleness of a westward route? was it columbus?] these letters are intensely interesting, especially the one to martinez, which reveals the fact that as early as the notion that a westward route to the indies would be shorter than the southward route had somehow been suggested to alfonso v.; and had, moreover, sufficiently arrested his attention to lead him to make inquiries of the most eminent astronomer within reach. who could have suggested this notion to the king of portugal? was it columbus, the trained mariner and map-maker, who might lately have been pondering the theories of ptolemy and mela as affected by the voyage of santarem and escobar, and whose connection with the moñiz and perestrelo families would now doubtless facilitate his access to the court? on some accounts this may seem probable, especially if we bear in mind columbus's own statement implying that his appeals to the crown dated almost from the beginning of his fourteen years in portugal. [sidenote: perhaps it was toscanelli.] all the circumstances, however, seem to be equally consistent with the hypothesis that the first suggestion of the westward route may have come from toscanelli himself, through the medium of the canon martinez, who had for so many years been a member of king alfonso's household. the words at the beginning of the letter lend some probability to this view: "i have formerly spoken with you about a shorter route to the places of spices by ocean navigation than that which you are pursuing by guinea." it was accordingly earlier than --how much earlier does not appear--that such discussions between toscanelli and martinez must probably have come to the ears of king alfonso; and now, very likely owing to the voyage of santarem and escobar, that monarch began to think it worth while to seek for further information, "an exhibition to the eye," so that mariners not learned in astronomy like toscanelli might "grasp and comprehend" the shorter route suggested. it is altogether probable that the florentine astronomer, who was seventy-seven years old when he wrote this letter, had already for a long time entertained the idea of a westward route; and a man in whom the subject aroused so much enthusiasm could hardly have been reticent about it. it is not likely that martinez was the only person to whom he descanted[ ] upon the glory and riches to be found by sailing "straight to cathay," and there were many channels through which columbus might have got some inkling of his views, even before going to portugal. [footnote : luigi pulci, in his famous romantic poem published in , has a couple of striking stanzas in which astarotte says to rinaldo that the time is at hand when hercules shall blush to see how far beyond his pillars the ships shall soon go forth to find another hemisphere, for although the earth is as round as a wheel, yet the water at any given point is a plane, and inasmuch as all things tend to a common centre so that by a divine mystery the earth is suspended in equilibrium among the stars, just so there is an antipodal world with cities and castles unknown to men of olden time, and the sun in hastening westwards descends to shine upon those peoples who are awaiting him below the horizon:-- sappi che questa opinione è vana perchè più oltre navicar si puote, però che l' acqua in ogni parte è piana, benchè la terra abbi forma di ruote; era più grossa allor la gente umana, tal che potrebbe arrossirne le gote ercule ancor, d' aver posti que' segni, perchè più oltre passeranno i legni. e puossi andar giù nell' altro emisperio, però che al centro ogni cosa reprime: sicchè la terra per divin misterio sospesa sta fra le stelle sublime, e laggiù son città, castella, e imperio; ma nol cognobbon quelle gente prime. vedi che il sol di camminar s' affretta, dove io dico che laggiù s' aspetta. pulci, _morgante maggiore_, xxv. , . this prophecy of western discovery combines with the astronomical knowledge here shown, to remind us that the florentine pulci was a fellow-townsman and most likely an acquaintance of toscanelli.] [sidenote: the idea was suggested by the globular form of the earth;] [sidenote: and was as old as aristotle.] [sidenote: opinions of ancient writers.] however this may have been, the letter clearly proves that at that most interesting period, in or about , columbus was already meditating upon the westward route.[ ] whether he owed the idea to toscanelli, or not, is a question of no great importance so far as concerns his own originality; for the idea was already in the air. the originality of columbus did not consist in his conceiving the possibility of reaching the shores of cathay by sailing west, but in his conceiving it in such distinct and practical shape as to be ready to make the adventure in his own person. as a matter of theory the possibility of such a voyage could not fail to be suggested by the globular form of the earth; and ever since the days of aristotle that had been generally admitted by men learned in physical science. aristotle proved, from the different altitudes of the pole-star in different places, that the earth must necessarily be a globe. moreover, says aristotle, "some stars are seen in egypt or at cyprus, but are not seen in the countries to the north of these; and the stars that in the north are visible while they make a complete circuit, there undergo a setting. so that from this it is manifest, not only that the form of the earth is round, but also that it is part of not a very large sphere; for otherwise the difference would not be so obvious to persons making so small a change of place. wherefore we may judge that _those persons who connect the region in the neighbourhood of the pillars of hercules with that towards india, and who assert that in this way the sea is_ one, do not assert things very improbable."[ ] it thus appears that more than eighteen centuries before columbus took counsel of toscanelli, "those persons" to whom aristotle alludes were discussing, as a matter of theory, this same subject. eratosthenes held that it would be easy enough to sail from spain to india on the same parallel were it not for the vast extent of the atlantic ocean.[ ] on the other hand, seneca maintained that the distance was probably not so very great, and that with favouring winds a ship might make the voyage in a few days.[ ] in one of his tragedies seneca has a striking passage[ ] which has been repeatedly quoted as referring to the discovery of america, and is certainly one of the most notable instances of prophecy on record. there will come a time, he says, in the later years, when ocean shall loosen the bonds by which we have been confined, when an immense land shall lie revealed, and tethys shall disclose new worlds, and thule will no longer be the most remote of countries. in strabo there is a passage, less commonly noticed, which hits the truth--as we know it to-day--even more closely. having argued that the total length of the inhabited world is only about a third part of the circumference of the earth in the temperate zone, he suggests it as possible, or even probable, that within this space there may be another inhabited world, or even more than one; but such places would be inhabited by different races of men, with whom the geographer, whose task it is to describe the _known_ world, has no concern.[ ] nothing could better illustrate the philosophical character of strabo's mind. in such speculations, so far as his means of verification went, he was situated somewhat as we are to-day with regard to the probable inhabitants of venus or mars. [footnote : it was formerly assumed, without hesitation, that the letter from toscanelli to columbus was written and sent in . the reader will observe, however, that while the enclosed letter to martinez is dated june , , the letter to columbus, in which it was enclosed, has no date. but according to the text as given in _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. viii., this would make no difference, for the letter to columbus was sent only a few days later than the original letter to martinez: "i send you a copy of another letter, which i wrote a few days ago (_alquanti giorni fa_) to a friend of mine, a gentleman of the household of the king of portugal before the wars of castile, in reply to another," etc. this friend, martinez, had evidently been a gentleman of the household of alfonso v. since before the civil wars of castile, which in had been going on intermittently for nine years under the feeble henry iv., who did not die until december , . toscanelli apparently means to say "a friend of mine who has for ten years or more been a gentleman of the royal household," etc.; only instead of mentioning the number of years, he alludes less precisely (as most people, and perhaps especially old people, are apt to do) to the most notable, mentionable, and glaring fact in the history of the peninsula for that decade,--namely, the civil wars of castile. as if an american writer in had said, "a friend of mine, who has been secretary to a. b. since before the war," instead of saying "for four years or more." this is the only reasonable interpretation of the phrase as it stands above, and it was long ago suggested by humboldt (_examen critique_, tom. i. p. ). italian and spanish writers of that day, however, were lavish with their commas and sprinkled them in pretty much at haphazard. in this case ferdinand's translator, ulloa, sprinkled in one comma too many, and it fell just in front of the clause "before the wars of castile;" so that toscanelli's sentence was made to read as follows: "i send you a copy of another letter, which i wrote a few days ago to a friend of mine, a gentleman of the household of the king of portugal, before the wars of castile, in reply to another," etc. now this unhappy comma, coming after the word "portugal," has caused ream after ream of good paper to be inked up in discussion, for it has led some critics to understand the sentence as follows: "i send you a copy of another letter, which i wrote a few days ago, before the wars of castile, to a friend of mine," etc. this reading brought things to a pretty pass. evidently a letter dated june , , could not have been written before the civil wars of castile, which began in . it was therefore assumed that the phrase must refer to the "war of succession" between castile and portugal (in some ways an outgrowth from the civil wars of castile) which began in may, , and ended in september, . m. d'avezac thinks that the letter to columbus must have been written after the latter date, or more than five years later than the enclosed letter. m. harrisse is somewhat less exacting, and is willing to admit that it may have been written at any time after this war had fairly begun,--say in the summer of , not more than a year or so later than the enclosed letter. still he is disposed on some accounts to put the date as late as . the phrase _alquanti giorni fa_ will not allow either of these interpretations. it means "a few days ago," and cannot possibly mean a year ago, still less five years ago. the spanish retranslator from ulloa renders it exactly _algunos dias há_ (navarrete, _coleccion_, tom. ii. p. ), and humboldt (_loc. cit._) has it _il y a quelques jours_. if we could be sure that the expression is a correct rendering of the lost latin original, we might feel sure that the letter to columbus must have been written as early as the beginning of august, . but now the great work of las casas, after lying in manuscript for years, has at length been published in . las casas gives a spanish version of the toscanelli letters (_historia de las indias_, tom. i. pp. - ), which is unquestionably older than ulloa's italian version, though perhaps not necessarily more accurate. the phrase in las casas is not _algunos dias há_, but _há dias_, i. e. not "a few days ago," but "some time ago." just which expression toscanelli used cannot be determined unless somebody is fortunate enough to discover the lost latin original. the phrase in las casas admits much more latitude of meaning than the other. i should suppose that _há dias_ might refer to an event a year or two old, which would admit of the interpretation considered admissible by m. harrisse. i should hardly suppose that it could refer to an event five or six years old; if toscanelli had been referring in or to a letter written in , his phrase would probably have appeared in spanish as _algunos años há_, i. e. "a few years ago," not as _há dias_. m. d'avezac's hypothesis seems to me not only inconsistent with the phrase _há dias_, but otherwise improbable. the frightful anarchy in castile, which began in with the attempt to depose henry iv. and alter the succession, was in great measure a series of ravaging campaigns and raids, now more general, now more local, and can hardly be said to have come to an end before henry's death in . the war which began with the invasion of castile by alfonso v. of portugal, in may, , was simply a later phase of the same series of conflicts, growing out of disputed claims to the crown and rivalries among great barons, in many respects similar to the contemporary anarchy in england called the wars of the roses. it is not likely that toscanelli, writing at any time between and , and speaking of the "wars of castile" in the plural, could have had in his mind as a date previous to those wars; to his mind it would have rightly appeared as a date in the midst of them. in any case, therefore, his reference must be to a time before , and humboldt's interpretation is in all probability correct. the letter from toscanelli to columbus was probably written within a year or two after june , . on account of the vast importance of the toscanelli letters, and because the early texts are found in books which the reader is not likely to have at hand, i have given them entire in the appendix at the end of this work.] [footnote : [greek: hôste ta hyper tês kephalês astra megalên echein tên metabolên, kai mê tauta phainesthai pros arkton te kai mesêmbrian metabainousin; enioi gar en aigyptô men asteres horôntai, kai peri kypron; en tois pros arkton de chôrious ouch horôntai kai ta dia pantos en tois pros arkton phainomena tôn astrôn, en ekeinois tois topois poieitai dysin. hôst' ou monon ek toutôn dêlon peripheres on to schêma tês gês, alla kai sphairas ou megalês. ou gar an houtô tachy epidêlon epoiei methistemenois houtô brachy. dio tous hypolambanontas synaptein ton peri tas hêrakleious stêlas topon tô peri tên indikên, kai touton ton tropon einai tên thalattan mian, mê lian hypolambanein apista dokein.] aristotle, _de coelo_, ii. . he goes on to say that "those persons" allege the existence of elephants alike in mauretania and in india in proof of their theory.] [footnote : [greek: hôst' ei mê to megethos tou atlantikou pelagous ekôlye, kan plein hêmas ek tês ibêrias eis tên indikên dia tou autou parallêlou.] strabo, i. , § .] [footnote : "quantum enim est, quod ab ultimis litoribus hispaniæ usque ad indos jacet? paucissimorum dierum spatium, si navem suus ventus implevit." seneca, _nat. quæst._, i. præf. § .] [footnote : venient annis sæcula seris, quibus oceanus vincula rerum laxet, et ingens pateat tellus, tethysque novos detegat orbes, nec sit terris ultima thule. seneca, _medea_, . in the copy of seneca's tragedies, published at venice in , bought at valladolid by ferdinand columbus in march, , for reals (plus reals for binding), and now to be seen at the biblioteca colombina, there is a marginal note attached to these verses: "hæc prophetia expleta [=e] per patr[=e] meuz[=z] cristofor[=u] col[=o] almir[=a]t[=e] anno ."] [footnote : [greek: kaloumen gar oikoumenên hên oikoumen kai gnôrizomen; endeketai de kai en tê autê eukratô zônê kai dyo oikoumenas einai ê kai pleious.] strabo, i. , § ; [greek: kai gar ei houtôs echei, ouch hypo toutôn ge oikeitai tôn par' hêmin; all' ekeinên allên oikoumenên theteon. hoper esti pithanon. hêmin de ta en autê tauta lekteon.] id. ii. , § . this has always seemed to me one of the most remarkable anticipations of modern truth in all ancient literature. mr. bunbury thinks it may have suggested the famous verses of seneca just quoted. _history of ancient geography_, vol. ii. p. .] [sidenote: opinions of christian writers.] [sidenote: roger bacon.] [sidenote: the "imago mundi" of petrus alliacus.] early in the christian era we are told by an eminent greek astronomer that the doctrine of the earth's sphericity was accepted by all competent persons except the epicureans.[ ] among the fathers of the church there was some difference of opinion; while in general they denied the existence of human beings beyond the limits of their oecumene, or inhabited world, this denial did not necessarily involve disbelief in the globular figure of the earth.[ ] the views of the great mass of people, and of the more ignorant of the clergy, down to the time of columbus, were probably well represented in the book of cosmas indicopleustes already cited.[ ] nevertheless among the more enlightened clergy the views of the ancient astronomers were never quite forgotten, and in the great revival of intellectual life in the thirteenth century the doctrine of the earth's sphericity was again brought prominently into the foreground. we find dante basing upon it the cosmical theory elaborated in his immortal poem.[ ] in roger bacon--stimulated, no doubt, by the reports of the ocean east of cathay--collected passages from ancient writers to prove that the distance from spain to the eastern shores of asia could not be very great. bacon's argument and citations were copied in an extremely curious book, the "imago mundi," published in by the cardinal pierre d'ailly, bishop of cambrai, better known by the latinized form of his name as petrus alliacus. this treatise, which throughout the fifteenth century enjoyed a great reputation, was a favourite book with columbus, and his copy of it, covered with marginal annotations in his own handwriting, is still preserved among the priceless treasures of the biblioteca colombina.[ ] he found in it strong confirmation of his views, and it is not impossible that the reading of it may have first put such ideas into his head. such a point, however, can hardly be determined. as i have already observed, these ideas were in the air. what columbus did was not to originate them, but to incarnate them in facts and breathe into them the breath of life. it was one thing to suggest, as a theoretical possibility, that cathay might be reached by sailing westward; and it was quite another thing to prove that the enterprise was feasible with the ships and instruments then at command. [footnote : [greek: hoi de hêmeteroi] [i. e. the stoics] [greek: kai apo mathêmatôn pantes, kai hoi pleious tôn apo tou sôkratikou didaskaleiou sphairikon einai to schêma tês gês diebebaiôsanto.] cleomedes, i. ; cf. lucretius, _de rerum nat._, i. - ; stobæus, _eclog._ i. ; plutarch, _de facie in orbe luna_, cap. vii.] [footnote : see augustine, _de civitate dei_, xvi. ; lactantius, _inst. div._, iii. ; jerome, _comm. in ezechiel_, i. ; whewell's _history of the inductive sciences_, vol i. p. .] [footnote : see above, p. .] [footnote : for an account of the cosmography of the divine comedy, illustrated with interesting diagrams, see artaud de montor, _histoire de dante alighieri_, paris, .] [footnote : it was first printed without indication of place or date, but probably the place was paris and the date somewhere from to . manuscript copies were very common, and columbus probably knew the book long before that time. there is a good account of it in humboldt's _examen critique_, tom. i. pp. - , - . humboldt thinks that such knowledge as columbus had of the opinions of ancient writers was chiefly if not wholly obtained from alliacus. it is doubtful if columbus had any direct acquaintance with the works of roger bacon, but he knew the _liber cosmographicus_ of albertus magnus and the _speculum naturale_ of vincent de beauvais (both about ), and drew encouragement from them. he also knew the book of mandeville, first printed in french at lyons in , and a latin translation of marco polo, published in , a copy of which, with marginal ms. notes, is now in the colombina.] [illustration: annotations by columbus.] [sidenote: ancient estimates of the size of the globe and the length of the oecumene.] the principal consideration, of course, was the distance to be traversed; and here columbus was helped by an error which he shared with many geographers of his day. he somewhat underestimated the size of the earth, and at the same time greatly overestimated the length of asia. the first astronomer to calculate, by scientific methods, the circumference of our planet at the equator was eratosthenes (b. c. - ), and he came--all things considered--fairly near the truth; he made it , geographical miles (of ten stadia), or about one seventh too great. the true figure is , geographical miles, equivalent to , english statute miles.[ ] curiously enough, posidonius, in revising this calculation a century later, reduced the figure to , miles, or about one seventh too small. the circumference in the latitude of gibraltar he estimated at , miles; the length of the oecumene, or inhabited world, he called , ; the distance across the atlantic from the spanish strand to the eastern shores of asia was the other , . the error of posidonius was partially rectified by ptolemy, who made the equatorial circumference , geographical miles, and the length of a degree . miles.[ ] this estimate, in which the error was less than one sixteenth, prevailed until modern times. ptolemy also supposed the inhabited world to extend over about half the circumference of the temperate zone, but the other half he imagined as consisting largely of bad lands, quagmires, and land-locked seas, instead of a vast and open ocean.[ ] [footnote : see herschel's _outlines of astronomy_, p. . for an account of the method employed by eratosthenes, see delambre, _histoire de l'astronomie ancienne_, tom. i. pp. - ; lewis, _astronomy of the ancients_, p. .] [footnote : see bunbury's _history of ancient geography_, vol. ii. pp. - , - ; müller and donaldson, _history of greek literature_, vol. iii. p. .] [footnote : strabo, in arguing against this theory of bad lands, etc., as obstacles to ocean navigation--a theory which seems to be at least as old as hipparchus--has a passage which finely expresses the loneliness of the sea:--[greek: hoite gar periplein epicheirêsantes, eita anastrepsantes, ouch hypo êpeirou tinos antipiptousês kai kôlyousês, ton epekeina ploun anakrousthênai phasin, alla hypo aporias kai erêmias, ouden hêtton tês thalattês echousês ton poron] (lib. i. cap. i. § ). when one thinks of this [greek: aporia] and [greek: erêmia], one fancies oneself far out on the atlantic, alone in an open boat on a cloudy night, bewildered and hopeless.] [sidenote: toscanelli's calculation of the size of the earth,] [sidenote: and of the position of cipango.] ptolemy's opinion as to the length of the inhabited world was considerably modified in the minds of those writers who toward the end of the middle ages had been strongly impressed by the book of marco polo. among these persons was toscanelli. this excellent astronomer calculated the earth's equatorial circumference at almost exactly the true figure; his error was less than english miles in excess. the circumference in the latitude of lisbon he made × × = , miles.[ ] two thirds of this figure, or , miles, he allowed for the length of the oecumene, from lisbon eastward to quinsay (i. e. hang-chow), leaving , for the westward voyage from lisbon to quinsay. thus toscanelli elongated asia by nearly the whole width of the pacific ocean. his quinsay would come about ° w., a few hundred miles west of the mouth of the columbia river. zaiton (i. e. chang-chow), the easternmost city in toscanelli's china, would come not far from the tip end of lower california. thus the eastern coast of cipango, about a thousand miles east from zaiton, would fall in the gulf of mexico somewhere near the ninety-third meridian, and that island, being over a thousand miles in length north and south, would fill up the space between the parallel of new orleans and that of the city of guatemala. the westward voyage from the canaries to cipango, according to toscanelli, would be rather more than , miles, but at a third of the distance out he placed the imaginary island of "antilia," with which he seems to have supposed portuguese sailors to be familiar.[ ] "so through the unknown parts of the route," said the venerable astronomer, "the stretches of sea to be traversed are not great,"--not much more than , english miles, not so long as the voyage from lisbon to the guinea coast. [sidenote: columbus's opinion of the size of the globe, the length of the oecumene, and the width of the atlantic ocean.] [sidenote: the fourth book of esdras.] while columbus attached great importance to these calculations and carried toscanelli's map with him upon his first voyage, he improved somewhat upon the estimates of distance, and thus made his case still more hopeful. columbus was not enough of an astronomer to adopt toscanelli's improved measurement of the size of the earth. he accepted ptolemy's figure of , geographical miles for the equatorial girth,[ ] which would make the circumference in the latitude of the canaries about , ; and columbus, on the strength of sundry passages from ancient authors which he found in alliacus (cribbed from roger bacon), concluded that six sevenths of this circumference must be occupied by the oecumene, including cipango, so that in order to reach that wonderful island he would only have to sail over one seventh, or not much more than , miles from the canaries.[ ] an authority upon which he placed great reliance in this connection was the fourth book of esdras, which although not a canonical part of the bible was approved by holy men, and which expressly asserted that six parts of the earth (i. e. of the length of the oecumene, or north temperate zone) are inhabited and only the seventh part covered with water. from the general habit of columbus's mind it may be inferred that it was chiefly upon this scriptural authority that he based his confident expectation of finding land soon after accomplishing seven hundred leagues from the canaries. was it not as good as written in the bible that land was to be found there? [footnote : see above, p. . toscanelli's mile was nearly equivalent to the english statute mile. see the very important note in winsor, _narr. and crit. hist._, vol. i. p. .] [footnote : the reader will also notice upon toscanelli's map the islands of brazil and st. brandan. for an account of all these fabulous islands see winsor, _narr. and crit. hist._, vol. i. pp. - . the name of "antilia" survives in the name "antilles," applied since about to the west india islands. all the islands west of toscanelli's ninetieth meridian belong in the pacific. he drew them from his understanding of the descriptions of marco polo, friar odoric, and other travellers. these were the islands supposed, rightly, though vaguely, to abound in spices.] [footnote : columbus was confirmed in this opinion by the book of the arabian astronomer alfragan, written about a. d. , a latin translation of which appeared in . there is a concise summary of it in delambre, _histoire de l'astronomie du moyen Âge_, pp. - . columbus proceeded throughout on the assumption that the length of a degree at the equator is . geographical miles, instead of the correct figure . this would oblige him to reduce all toscanelli's figures by about six per cent., to begin with. upon this point we have the highest authority, that of columbus himself, in an autograph marginal note in his copy of the _imago mundi_, where he expresses himself most explicitly: "nota quod sepius navigando ex ulixbona ad austrum in guineam, notavi cum diligentia viam, ut solitum naucleris et malineriis, et preteria accepi altitudinem solis cum quadrante et aliis instrumentis plures vices, et inveni concordare cum alfragano, videlicet respondere quemlibet gradum milliariis - / . quare ad hanc mensuram fidem adhibendam. tunc igitur possumus dicere quod circuitus terræ sub aræ equinoctiali est , milliariorum. similiter que id invenit magister josephus phisicus et astrologus et alii plures missi specialiter ad hoc per serenissimum regem portugaliæ," etc.; _anglicè_, "observe that in sailing often from lisbon southward to guinea, i carefully marked the course, according to the custom of skippers and mariners, and moreover i took the sun's altitude several times with a quadrant and other instruments, and in agreement with alfragan i found that each degree [i. e. of longitude, measured on a great circle] answers to - / miles. so that one may rely upon this measure. we may therefore say that the equatorial circumference of the earth is , miles. a similar result was obtained by master joseph, the physicist [or, perhaps, physician] and astronomer, and several others sent for this special purpose by the most gracious king of portugal."--master joseph was physician to john ii. of portugal, and was associated with martin behaim in the invention of an improved astrolabe which greatly facilitated ocean navigation.--the exact agreement with ptolemy's figures shows that by a mile columbus meant a geographical mile, equivalent to ten greek stadia.] [footnote : one seventh of , is , geographical miles, equivalent to , english miles. the actual length of columbus's first voyage, from last sight of land in the canaries to first sight of land in the bahamas, was according to his own dead reckoning about , geographical miles. see his journal in navarrete, _coleccion_, tom. i. pp. - . i give here in parallel columns the passage from bacon and the one from alliacus upon which columbus placed so much reliance. in the middle ages there was a generous tolerance of much that we have since learned to stigmatize as plagiarism. from roger bacon, _opus from petrus alliacus, _de majus_ (a. d. ), london, imagine mundi_ (a. d. ), , ed. jebb, p. :--"sed paris, cir. , cap. viii. fol. aristoteles vult in fine secundi b:--"summus aristoteles coeli et mundi quod plus [terræ] dicit quod mare parvum est inter habitetur quam quarta pars. et finem hispaniæ a parte occidentis averroes hoc confirmat. dicit et inter principium indiæ aristoteles quod mare parvum a parte orientis, et vult quod est inter finem hispaniæ a parte plus habitetur quam quarta occidentis et inter principium pars, et averroes hoc confirmat. indiæ a parte orientis. et seneca, insuper seneca libro libro quinto naturalium, quinto naturalium, dicit quod dicit quod mare hoc est navigabile mare est navigabile in paucis in paucissimis diebus si diebus si ventus sit conveniens. ventus sit conveniens. et plinius et plinius docet in naturalibus, docet in naturalibus quod libro secundo, quod navigatum navigatum est a sinu arabico est a sinu arabico usque ad usque ad gades: unde refert gades herculis non multum quendam fugisse a rego suo magno tempore, præ timore et intravit sinum maris rubri ... qui circiter spatium navigationis annualis distat a mari indico: ... ex quo patet principium indiæ in oriente multum a nobis distare et ab hispania, postquam tantum distat a principio arabiæ versus indiam. a fine hispaniæ unde concludunt sub terra tam parvum mare est aliqui, quod mare non est quod non potest cooperire tres tantum quod possit cooperire quartas terræ. et hoc per tres quartas terræ. accedit ad auctoritatem alterius considerationis hoc auctoritas esdræ libro suo probatur. nam esdras quarto, dicentis quod sex partes dicit quarto libro, quod sex partes terræ sunt habitatæ et terrae sunt habitatæ et septima septima est cooperta aquis. et est cooperta aquis, ne aliquis impediat hanc auctoritatem, dicens quod liber ille est apocryphus et ignotæ auctoritatis, dicendum est quod cujus libri auctoritatem sancti sancti habuerunt illum librum habuerunt in reverentia." in usu et confirmant veritates sacras per illum librum." columbus must either have carried the book of alliacus with him on his voyages, or else have read his favourite passages until he knew them by heart, as may be seen from the following passage of a letter, written from hispaniola in to ferdinand and isabella (navarrete, tom i. p. ):--"el aristotel dice que este mundo es pequeño y es el agua muy poca, y que facilmente se puede pasar de españa à las indias, y esto confirma el avenryz [averroes], y le alega el cardenal pedro de aliaco, autorizando este decir y aquel de seneca, el qual conforma con estos.... À esto trac una autoridad de esdras del tercero libro suyo, adonde dice que de siete partes del mundo las seis son descubiertas y la una es cubierta de agua, la cual autoridad es aprobada por santos, los cuales dan autoridad al ^o é ^o libro de esdras, ansí come es s. agustin é s. ambrosio en su _exámeron_," etc.--"singular period," exclaims humboldt, "when a mixture of testimonies from aristotle and averroes, esdras and seneca, on the small extent of the ocean compared with the magnitude of continental land, afforded to monarchs guarantees for the safety and expediency of costly enterprises!" _cosmos_, tr. sabine, vol. ii. p. . the passages cited in this note may be found in humboldt, _examen critique_, tom. i. pp. - . another interesting passage from _imago mundi_, cap. xv., is quoted on p. of the same work.] [sidenote: fortunate mixture of truth and error.] [sidenote: the whole point and purport of columbus's scheme.] thus did columbus arrive at his decisive conclusion, estimating the distance across the sea of darkness to japan at something less than the figure which actually expresses the distance to the west indies. many a hopeful enterprise has been ruined by errors in figuring, but this wrong calculation was certainly a great help to columbus. when we consider how difficult he found it to obtain men and ships for a voyage supposed to be not more than , miles in this new and untried direction, we must admit that his chances would have been poor indeed if he had proposed to sail westward on the sea of darkness for nearly , miles, the real distance from the canaries to japan. it was a case where the littleness of the knowledge was not a dangerous but a helpful thing. if instead of the somewhat faulty astronomy of ptolemy and the very hazy notions prevalent about "the indies," the correct astronomy of toscanelli had prevailed and had been joined to an accurate knowledge of eastern asia, columbus would surely never have conceived his great scheme, and the discovery of america would probably have waited to be made by accident.[ ] the whole point of his scheme lay in its promise of a shorter route to the indies than that which the portuguese were seeking by way of guinea. unless it was probable that it could furnish such a shorter route, there was no reason for such an extraordinary enterprise. [footnote : see below, vol. ii. p. .] * * * * * [sidenote: columbus's speculations on climate.] [sidenote: his voyage to guinea.] [sidenote: his voyage into the arctic ocean, .] the years between and were not favourable for new maritime ventures on the part of the portuguese government. the war with castile absorbed the energies of alfonso v. as well as his money, and he was badly beaten into the bargain. about this time columbus was writing a treatise on "the five habitable zones," intended to refute the old notions about regions so fiery or so frozen as to be inaccessible to man. as this book is lost we know little or nothing of its views and speculations, but it appears that in writing it columbus utilized sundry observations made by himself in long voyages into the torrid and arctic zones. he spent some time at the fortress of san jorge de la mina, on the gold coast, and made a study of that equinoctial climate.[ ] this could not have been earlier than , the year in which the fortress was built. five years before this he seems to have gone far in the opposite direction. in a fragment of a letter or diary, preserved by his son and by las casas, he says:--"in the month of february, , i sailed a hundred leagues beyond the island of thule, [to?] an island of which the south part is in latitude °, not °, as some say; and it [i. e. thule] does not lie within ptolemy's western boundary, but much farther west. and to this island, which is as big as england, the english go with their wares, especially from bristol. when i was there the sea was not frozen. in some places the tide rose and fell twenty-six fathoms. it is true that the thule mentioned by ptolemy lies where he says it does, and this by the moderns is called frislanda."[ ] [footnote : _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. iv.; las casas, _historia_, tom. i. p. .] [footnote : "io navigai l' anno m cccc lxxvii nel mese di febraio oltra tile isola cento leghe, la cui parte australe è lontana dall' equinottiale settantatrè gradi, e non sessantatrè, come alcuni vogliono; nè giace dentro della linea, che include l' occidente di tolomeo, ma è molto più occidentale. et a questa isola, che è tanto grande, come l'inghilterra, vanno gl' inglesi con le loro mercatantie, specialmente quelli di bristol. et al tempo che io vi andai, non era congelato il mare, quantunque vi fossero si grosse maree, che in alcuni luoghi ascendeva ventisei braccia, e discendeva altretanti in altezza. È bene il vero, che tile, quella, di cui tolomeo fa mentione, giace dove egli dice; & questa da' moderni è chiamata frislanda." _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. iv. in the original edition of , there are no quotation-marks; and in some modern editions, where these are supplied, the quotation is wrongly made to end just before the last sentence, so as to make it appear like a gloss of ferdinand's. this is, however, impossible. ferdinand died in , and the zeno narrative of frislanda was not published till , so that the only source from which that name could have come into his book was his father's document. the genuineness of the passage is proved by its recurrence, almost word for word, in las casas, _historia_, tom. i. p. .] [sidenote: he may have reached jan mayen island,] [sidenote: and stopped at iceland.] taken as it stands this passage is so bewildering that we can hardly suppose it to have come in just this shape from the pen of columbus. it looks as if it had been abridged from some diary of his by some person unfamiliar with the arctic seas; and i have ventured to insert in brackets a little preposition which may perhaps help to straighten out the meaning. by thule columbus doubtless means iceland, which lies between latitudes ° and °, and it looks as if he meant to say that he ran beyond it as far as the little island, just a hundred leagues from iceland and in latitude °, since discovered by jan mayen in . the rest of the paragraph is more intelligible. it is true that iceland lies thirty degrees farther west than ptolemy placed thule; and that for a century before the discovery of the newfoundland fisheries the english did much fishing in the waters about iceland, and carried wares thither, especially from bristol.[ ] there can be no doubt that by frislanda columbus means the færoe islands,[ ] which do lie in the latitude though not in the longitude mentioned by ptolemy. as for the voyage into the jan mayen waters in february, it would be dangerous but by no means impossible.[ ] in another letter columbus mentions visiting england, apparently in connection with this voyage,[ ] and it is highly probable that he went in an english ship from bristol. [footnote : see thorold rogers, _the economic interpretation of history_, london, , pp. , .] [footnote : see above, p. .] [footnote : see the graphic description of a voyage in these waters in march, , in nansen's _the first crossing of greenland_, london, , vol. i. pp. - .] [footnote : "e vidi tutto il levante, e tutto il ponente, che si dice per andare verso il settentrione, cioè l'inghilterra, e ho camminato per la guinea." _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. iv.] [sidenote: the hypothesis that columbus "must have" heard and understood the story of the vinland voyages.] the object of columbus in making these long voyages to the equator and into the polar circle was, as he tells us, to gather observations upon climate. from the circumstance of his having made a stop at some point in iceland, it was conjectured by finn magnusson that columbus might have learned something about vinland which served to guide him to his own enterprise or to encourage him in it. starting from this suggestion, it has been argued[ ] that columbus must have read the geographical appendix to adam of bremen's "ecclesiastical history;" that he must have understood, as we now do, the reference therein made to vinland; that he made his voyage to iceland in order to obtain further information; that he there not only heard about vinland and other localities mentioned in the sagas, but also mentally placed them about where they were placed in by professor rafn; that, among other things, he thus obtained a correct knowledge of the width of the atlantic ocean in latitude ° n.; and that during fifteen subsequent years of weary endeavour to obtain ships and men for his westward voyage, he sedulously refrained from using the most convincing argument at his command,--namely that land of continental dimensions had actually been found (though by a very different route) in the direction which he indicated. [footnote : see anderson's _america not discovered by columbus_, chicago, ; d ed. enlarged, chicago, .] [sidenote: that hypothesis has no evidence in its favour.] i have already given an explanation of the process by which columbus arrived at the firm belief that by sailing not more than about , geographical miles due west from the canaries he should reach the coast of japan. every step of that explanation is sustained by documentary evidence, and as his belief is thus completely accounted for, the hypothesis that he may have based it upon information obtained in iceland is, to say the least, superfluous. we do not need it in order to explain his actions, and accordingly his actions do not afford a presumption in favour of it. there is otherwise no reason, of course, for refusing to admit that he might have obtained information in iceland, were there any evidence that he did. but not a scrap of such evidence has ever been produced. every step in the scandinavian hypothesis is a pure assumption. [sidenote: it is not probable that columbus knew of adam of bremen's allusion to vinland,] [sidenote: or that he would have understood it if he had read it.] first it is assumed that columbus _must_ have read the appendix to adam of bremen's history. but really, while it is not impossible that he should have read that document, it is, on the whole, improbable. the appendix was first printed in lindenbrog's edition, published at leyden, in . the eminent norwegian historian, gustav storm, finds that in the sixteenth century just six mss. of adam's works can now be traced. of these, two were preserved in denmark, two in hamburg, one had _perhaps_ already wandered southward to leyden, and one as far as vienna. dr. storm, therefore, feels sure that columbus never saw adam's mention of vinland, and pithily adds that "had columbus known it, it would not have been able to show him the way to the west indies, but perhaps to the north pole."[ ] from the account of this mention and its context, which i have already given,[ ] it is in the highest degree improbable that if columbus had read the passage he could have understood it as bearing upon his own problem. there is, therefore, no ground for the assumption that columbus went to iceland in order to make inquiries about vinland. [footnote : "det er derfor sikkert, at columbus ikke, som nogle har formodet, kan have kjendt adam af bremens beretning on vinland; vi kan gjerne tilføie, at havde columbus kjendt den, vilde den ikke have kunnet vise ham vei til vesten (indien), men kanske til nordpolen." _aarbøger for nordisk oldkyndighed_, , ii. , p. .] [footnote : see above, p. .] [sidenote: it is doubtful if columbus would have stumbled upon the story in iceland.] it may be argued that even if he did not go for such a purpose, nevertheless when once there he could hardly have failed incidentally to get the information. this, however, is not at all clear. observe that our sole authority for the journey to iceland is the passage above quoted at second-hand from columbus himself; and there is nothing in it to show whether he staid a few hours or several weeks ashore, or met with any one likely to be possessed of the knowledge in question. the absence of any reference to vinland in the zeno narrative is an indication that the memory of it had faded away before , and it was not distinctly and generally revived until the time of torfæus in .[ ] [footnote : in the swedish writer, ole rudbeck, could not understand adam of bremen's allusion to vinland. the passage is instructive. rudbeck declares that in speaking of a wine-growing country near to the arctic ocean, adam must have been misled by some poetical or figurative phrase; he was deceived either by his trust in the danes, or by his own credulity, for he manifestly refers to _finland_, for which the form _vinland_ does not once occur in sturleson, etc.:--"ne tamen poetis solis hoc loquendi genus in suis regionum laudationibus familiare fuisse quis existimet, sacras adeat literas quæ palæstinæ fæcunditatem appellatione _fluentorum lactis & mellis_ designant. tale aliquid, sine omne dubio, adamo bremensi quondam persuaserat insulam esse in ultimo septentrione sitam, mari glaciali vicinam, vini feracem, & ea propter fide tamen danorum, _vinlandiam_ dictam prout ipse ... fateri non dubitat. sed deceptum eum hae sive danorum fide, sive credulitate sua planum facit affine isti vocabulum _finlandiæ_ provinciæ ad regnum nostrum pertinentis, pro quo apud snorronem & in hist. regum non semel occurrit _vinlandiæ_ nomen, cujus promontorium ad ultimum septentrionem & usque ad mare glaciale sese extendit." rudbeck, _atland eller manheim_, upsala, cir. , p. .] [sidenote: if he had heard it, he would probably have classed it with such tales as that of st. brandan's isle.] but to hear about vinland was one thing, to be guided by it to japan was quite another affair. it was not the mention of timber and peltries and skrælings that would fire the imagination of columbus; his dreams were of stately cities with busy wharves where ships were laden with silks and jewels, and of oriental magnates decked out with "barbaric pearl and gold," dwelling in pavilions of marble and jasper amid flowery gardens in "a summer fanned with spice." the mention of vinland was no more likely to excite columbus's attention than that of st. brandan's isle or other places supposed to lie in the western ocean. he was after higher game. [sidenote: he could not have obtained from such a source his opinion of the width of the ocean.] to suppose that columbus, even had he got hold of the saga of eric the red and conned it from beginning to end, with a learned interpreter at his elbow, could have gained from it a knowledge of the width of the atlantic ocean, is simply preposterous. it would be impossible to extract any such knowledge from that document to-day without the aid of our modern maps. the most diligent critical study of all the icelandic sources of information, with all the resources of modern scholarship, enables us with some confidence to place vinland somewhere between cape breton and point judith, that is to say, somewhere between two points distant from each other more than four degrees in latitude and more than eleven degrees in longitude! when we have got thus far, knowing as we do that the coast in question belongs to the same continental system as the west indies, we can look at our map and pick up our pair of compasses and measure the width of the ocean at the twenty-eighth parallel. but it is not the mediæval document, but our modern map that guides us to this knowledge. and yet it is innocently assumed that columbus, without any knowledge or suspicion of the existence of america, and from such vague data concerning voyages made five hundred years before his time, by men who had no means of reckoning latitude and longitude, could have obtained his figure of , miles for the voyage from the canaries to japan![ ] the fallacy here is that which underlies the whole scandinavian hypothesis and many other fanciful geographical speculations. it is the fallacy of projecting our present knowledge into the past. [footnote : the source of such a confusion of ideas is probably the ridiculous map in rafn's _antiquitates americanæ_, upon which north america is represented in all the accuracy of outline attainable by modern maps, and then the icelandic names are put on where rafn thought they ought to go, i. e. markland upon nova scotia, vinland upon new england, etc. any person using such a map is liable to forget that it cannot possibly represent the crude notions of locality to which the reports of the norse voyages must have given rise in an ignorant age. (the reader will find the map reproduced in winsor, _narr. and crit. hist._, i. .) rafn's fault was, however, no greater than that committed by the modern makers of so-called "ancient atlases"--still current and in use in schools--when, for example, they take a correct modern map of europe, with parts of africa and asia, and upon countries so dimly known to the ancients as scandinavia and hindustan, but now drawn with perfect accuracy, they simply print the ancient names!! nothing but confusion can come from using such wretched maps. the only safe way to study the history of geography is to reproduce the ancient maps themselves, as i have done in the present work. many of the maps given below in the second volume will illustrate the slow and painful growth of the knowledge of the north american coast during the two centuries after columbus.] [sidenote: if he had known and understood the vinland story, he had the strongest motives for proclaiming it and no motive for concealing it.] we have next to inquire, if columbus had heard of vinland and comprehended its relation to his own theory about land at the west, why in the world should he have concealed this valuable knowledge? the notion seems to be that he must have kept it secret through an unworthy desire to claim a priority in discovery to which he knew that he was not entitled.[ ] this is projecting our present knowledge into the past with a vengeance. columbus never professed to have discovered america; he died in the belief that what he had done was to reach the eastern shores of asia by a shorter route than the portuguese. if he had reason to suppose that the northmen had once come down from the arctic seas to some unknown part of the asiatic coast, he had no motive for concealing such a fact, but the strongest of motives for proclaiming it, inasmuch as it would have given him the kind of inductive argument which he sorely needed. the chief obstacle for columbus was that for want of tangible evidence he was obliged to appeal to men's reason with scientific arguments. when you show things to young children they are not content with looking; they crave a more intimate acquaintance than the eyes alone can give, and so they reach out and handle the things. so when ideas are presented to grown-up men, they are apt to be unwilling to trust to the eye of reason until it has been supplemented by the eye of sense; and indeed in most affairs of life such caution is wholesome. the difference between columbus and many of the "practical" men whom he sought to convince was that he could see with his mind's eye solid land beyond the sea of darkness while they could not. to them the ocean, like the sky, had nothing beyond, unless it might be the supernatural world.[ ] for while the argument from the earth's rotundity was intelligible enough, there were few to whom, as to toscanelli, it was a living truth. even of those who admitted, in theory, that cathay lay to the west of europe, most deemed the distance untraversable. inductive proof of the existence of accessible land to the west was thus what columbus chiefly needed, and what he sought every opportunity to find and produce; but it was not easy to find anything more substantial than sailors' vague mention of driftwood of foreign aspect or other outlandish jetsam washed up on the portuguese strand.[ ] what a godsend it would have been for columbus if he could have had the vinland business to hurl at the heads of his adversaries! if he could have said, "five hundred years ago some icelanders coasted westward in the polar regions, and then coasted southward until they reached a country beyond the ocean and about opposite to france or portugal; therefore that country must be asia, and i can reach it by striking boldly across the ocean, which will obviously be shorter than going down by guinea,"--if he could have said this, he would have had precisely the unanswerable argument for lack of which his case was waiting and suffering. in persuading men to furnish hard cash, for his commercial enterprise, as colonel higginson so neatly says, "an ounce of vinland would have been worth a pound of cosmography."[ ] we may be sure that the silence of columbus about the norse voyages proves that he knew nothing about them or quite failed to see their bearings upon his own undertaking. it seems to me absolutely decisive. [footnote : "the fault that we find with columbus is, that he was not honest and frank enough to tell where and how he had obtained his previous information about the lands which he pretended to discover." anderson, _america not discovered by columbus_, p. .] [footnote : see below, p. , note.] [footnote : for example, the pilot martin vicenti told columbus that , miles west of cape st. vincent he had picked up from the sea a piece of carved wood evidently not carved with iron tools. pedro correa, who had married columbus's wife's sister, had seen upon porto santo a similar piece of carving that had drifted from the west. huge reeds sometimes floated ashore upon those islands, and had not ptolemy mentioned enormous reeds as growing in eastern asia? pine-trees of strange species were driven by west winds upon the coast of fayal, and two corpses of men of an unknown race had been washed ashore upon the neighbouring island of flores. certain sailors, on a voyage from the azores to ireland, had caught glimpses of land on the west, and believed it to be the coast of "tartary;" etc., etc. see _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. ix. since he cited these sailors, why did he not cite the northmen also, if he knew what they had done?] [footnote : _larger history of the united states_, p. .] [sidenote: no trace of a thought of vinland appears in the voyages of columbus.] furthermore, this silence is in harmony with the fact that in none of his four voyages across the atlantic did columbus betray any consciousness that there was anything for him to gain by steering toward the northwest. if he could correctly have conceived the position of vinland he surely would not have conceived it as south of the fortieth parallel. on his first voyage he steered due west in latitude ° because toscanelli placed japan opposite the canaries. when at length some doubts began to arise and he altered his course, as we shall hereafter see, the change was toward the southwest. his first two voyages did not reveal to him the golden cities for which he was looking, and when on his third and fourth voyages he tried a different course it was farther toward the equator, not farther away from it, that he turned his prows. not the slightest trace of a thought of vinland appears in anything that he did. [sidenote: why did not norway or iceland utter a protest in ?] finally it may be asked, if the memory of vinland was such a living thing in iceland in that a visitor would be likely to be told about it, why was it not sufficiently alive in to call forth a protest from the north? when the pope, as we shall presently see, was proclaiming to the world that the spanish crown was entitled to all heathen lands and islands already discovered or to be discovered in the ocean west of the azores, why did not some zealous scandinavian at once jump up and cry out, "look here, old columbus, _we_ discovered that western route, you know! stop thief!" why was it necessary to wait more than a hundred years longer before the affair of vinland was mentioned in this connection? [sidenote: the idea of vinland was not associated with the idea of america until the seventeenth century.] simply because it was not until the seventeenth century that the knowledge of north american geography had reached such a stage of completeness as to suggest to anybody the true significance of the old voyages from greenland. that significance could not have been understood by leif and thorfinn themselves, or by the compilers of hauks-bók and flateyar-bók, or by any human being, until about the time of henry hudson. not earlier than that time should we expect to find it mentioned, and it is just then, in , that we do find it mentioned by arngrim jonsson, who calls vinland "an island of _america_, in the region of greenland, perhaps the modern estotilandia."[ ] this is the earliest glimmering of an association of the idea of vinland with that of america. [footnote : "terram veró landa rolfoni quæsitam existimarem esse vinlandiam olim islandis sic dictam; de qua alibi insulam nempe americæ e regione gronlandiæ, quæ fortè hodie estotilandia," etc. _crymogoea_, hamburg, , p. . abraham ortelius in speaks of the northmen coming to america, but bases his opinion upon the zeno narrative (published in ) and upon the sound of the name _norumbega_, and apparently knows nothing of vinland:--"iosephus acosta in his book _de natura noui orbis_ indeuors by many reasons to proue, that this part of _america_ was originally inhabited by certaine indians, forced thither by tempestuous weather ouer the south sea which now they call mare del zur. but to me it seemes more probable, out of the historie of the two zeni, gentlemen of venice, ... that this new world many ages past was entred upon by some islanders of _europe_, as namely of _groenland_, island, and frisland; being much neerer thereunto than the indians, nor disioyned thence ... by an ocean so huge, and to the indians so vnnauigable. also, what else may we coniecture to be signified by this _norumbega_ [the name of a north region of _america_] but that from _norway_, signifying a north land, some colonie in times past hath hither beene transplanted?" _theatre of the whole world_, london, , p. . these passages are quoted and discussed by reeves, _the finding of wineland the good_, pp. , . the supposed connection of _norumbega_ with _norway_ is very doubtful. possibly stephanius, in his map of (torfæus, _gronlandia antiqua_, ), may have had reference to labrador or the north of newfoundland.] [sidenote: résumé of the genesis of columbus's scheme.] [sidenote: martin behaim's improved astrolabe.] [sidenote: negotiations of columbus with john ii. of portugal.] [sidenote: a shabby trick.] [sidenote: columbus leaves portugal,] [sidenote: and enters the service of the spanish sovereigns, .] [sidenote: the junto at salamanca.] the genesis of the grand scheme of columbus has now been set forth, i believe, with sufficient fulness. the cardinal facts are , that the need for some such scheme was suggested in , by the discovery that the guinea coast extended south of the equator; , that by advice had been sought from toscanelli by the king of portugal, and not very long after by columbus; , that upon toscanelli's letters and map, amended by the ptolemaic estimate of the earth's size and by the authority of passages quoted in the book of alliacus (one of which was a verse from the apocrypha), columbus based his firm conviction of the feasibleness of the western route. how or by whom the suggestion of that route was first made--whether by columbus himself or by toscanelli or by fernando martinez or, as antonio gallo declares, by bartholomew columbus,[ ] or by some person in portugal whose name we know not--it would be difficult to decide. neither can we fix the date when columbus first sought aid for his scheme from the portuguese government. there seems to be no good reason why he should not have been talking about it before ; but the affair did not come to any kind of a climax until after his return from guinea, some time after and certainly not later than . it was on some accounts a favourable time. the war with castile was out of the way, and martin behaim had just invented an improved astrolabe which made it ever so much easier to find and keep one's latitude at sea. it was in that portuguese discoveries took a fresh start after a ten years' lull, and diego cam, with the learned behaim and his bran-new astrolabe on board, was about to sail a thousand miles farther south than white men had ever gone before. about this time the scheme of columbus was formally referred by king john ii. to the junto of learned cosmographers from whom the crown had been wont to seek advice. the project was condemned as "visionary,"[ ] as indeed it was,--the outcome of vision that saw farther than those men could see. but the king, who had some of his uncle prince henry's love for bold enterprises, was more hospitably inclined toward the ideas of columbus, and he summoned a council of the most learned men in the kingdom to discuss the question.[ ] in this council the new scheme found some defenders, while others correctly urged that columbus must be wrong in supposing asia to extend so far to the east, and it must be a much longer voyage than he supposed to cipango and cathay,[ ] others argued that the late war had impoverished the country, and that the enterprises on the african coast were all that the treasury could afford. here the demands of columbus were of themselves an obstacle to his success. he never at any time held himself cheap,[ ] and the rewards and honours for which he insisted on stipulating were greater than the king of portugal felt inclined to bestow upon a plain genoese mariner. it was felt that if the enterprise should prove a failure, as very likely it would, the less heartily the government should have committed itself to it beforehand, the less it would expose itself to ridicule. king john was not in general disposed toward unfair and dishonest dealings, but on this occasion, after much parley, he was persuaded to sanction a proceeding quite unworthy of him. having obtained columbus's sailing plans, he sent out a ship secretly, to carry some goods to the cape verde islands, and then to try the experiment of the westward voyage. if there should turn out to be anything profitable in the scheme, this would be safer and more frugal than to meet the exorbitant demands of this ambitious foreigner. so it was done; but the pilots, having no grand idea to urge them forward, lost heart before the stupendous expanse of waters that confronted them, and beat an ignominious retreat to lisbon; whereupon columbus, having been informed of the trick,[ ] departed in high dudgeon, to lay his proposals before the crown of castile. he seems to have gone rather suddenly, leaving his wife, who died shortly after, and one or two children who must also have died, for he tells us that he never saw them again. but his son diego, aged perhaps four or five years, he took with him as far as the town of huelva, near the little port of palos in andalusia, where he left him with one of his wife's sisters, who had married a man of that town named muliar.[ ] this arrival in spain was probably late in the autumn of , and columbus seems to have entered into the service of ferdinand and isabella january , . what he was doing in the interval of rather more than a year is not known. there is a very doubtful tradition that he tried to interest the republic of genoa in his enterprise,[ ] and a still more doubtful rumour that he afterwards made proposals to the venetian senate.[ ] if these things ever happened, there was time enough for them in this year, and they can hardly be assigned to any later period. in we find columbus at cordova, where the sovereigns were holding court. he was unable to effect anything until he had gained the ear of isabella's finance minister alonso de quintanilla, who had a mind hospitable to large ideas. the two sovereigns had scarcely time to attend to such things, for there was a third king in spain, the moor at granada, whom there now seemed a fair prospect of driving to africa, and thus ending the struggle that had lasted with few intermissions for nearly eight centuries. the final war with granada had been going on since the end of , and considering how it weighed upon the minds of ferdinand and isabella it is rather remarkable that cosmography got any hearing at all. the affair was referred to the queen's confessor fernando de talavera, whose first impression was that if what columbus said was true, it was very strange that other geographers should have failed to know all about it long ago. ideas of evolution had not yet begun to exist in those days, and it was thought that what the ancients did not know was not worth knowing. toward the end of the spanish sovereigns were at salamanca, and talavera referred the question to a junto of learned men, including professors of the famous university.[ ] there was no lack of taunt and ridicule, and a whole arsenal of texts from scripture and the fathers were discharged at columbus, but it is noticeable that quite a number were inclined to think that his scheme might be worth trying, and that some of his most firmly convinced supporters were priests. no decision had been reached when the sovereigns started on the malaga campaign in the spring of . [footnote : gallo, _de navigatione columbi_, apud muratori, _rerum italicarum scriptores_, tom. xxiii. col. .] [footnote : lafuente, _historia de españa_, tom. ix, p. .] [footnote : vasconcellos, _vida del rey don juan ii._, lib. iv.; la clède, _histoire de portugal_, lib. xiii.] [footnote : the portuguese have never been able to forgive columbus for discovering a new world for spain, and their chagrin sometimes vents itself in amusing ways. after all, says cordeiro, columbus was no such great man as some people think, for he did not discover what he promised to discover; and, moreover, the portuguese geographers were right in condemning his scheme, because it really is not so far by sea from lisbon around africa to hindustan as from lisbon by any practicable route westward to japan! see luciano cordeiro, _de la part prise par les portugais dans la découverte d'amérique_, lisbon, , pp. , , , . well, i don't know that there is any answer to be made to this argument. logic is logic, says the wise autocrat:-- "end of the wonderful one-hoss shay, logic is logic, that's all i say." cordeiro's book is elaborately criticised in the learned work of prospero peragallo, _cristoforo colombo in portogallo: studi critici_, genoa, .] [footnote : "perciocchè essendo l' ammiraglio di generosi ed alti pensieri, volle capitolare con suo grande onore e vantaggio, per lasciar la memoria sua, e la grandezza della sua casa, conforme alla grandezza delle sue opere e de' suoi meriti." _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. xi. the jealous portuguese historian speaks in a somewhat different tone from the affectionate son:--"veó requerer á el rey dom joão que le desse algums navios pera ir á descobrir a ilha de gypango [_sic_] per esta mar occidental.... el rey, porque via ser este christovão colom homem falador e glorioso em mostrar suas habilidades, e mas fantastico et de imaginacão com sua ilha de cypango, que certo no que dezia: davalhe pouco credito." barros, _decada primeira da asia_, lisbon, , liv. iii. cap. xi. fol. .] [footnote : it has been urged in the king's defence that "such a proceeding was not an instance of bad faith or perfidy (!) but rather of the policy customary at that time, which consisted in distrusting everything that was foreign, and in promoting by whatever means the national glory." yes, indeed, whether the means were fair or foul. of course it was a common enough policy, but it was lying and cheating all the same. "não foi sem duvida por mà fè ou perfidia que tacitamente se mandon armar hum navio à cujo capitão se confiou o plano que colombo havia proposto, e cuja execuçao se lhe encarregou; mas sim por seguir a politica naquelle tempo usada, que toda consistia em olhar com desconfiança para tudo o que era estrangeiro, e en promover por todos os modos a gloria nacional. o capitão nomeado para a empreza, como não tivesse nem o espirito, nem a convicção de colombo, depois de huma curta viagem nos mares do oeste, fez-se na volta da terra: e arribou à lisboa descontente e desanimado." campe, _historia do descobrimento da america_, paris, , tom. i. p. . the frightened sailors protested that you might as well expect to find land in the sky as in that waste of waters! see las casas, _hist. de las indias_, tom. i. p. . las casas calls the king's conduct by its right name, _dobladura_, "trickery."] [footnote : it has generally been supposed, on the authority of _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. xi., that his wife had lately died; but an autograph letter of columbus, in the possession of his lineal descendant and representative the present duke of veraguas, proves that this is a mistake. in this letter columbus says expressly that when he left portugal he left wife and children, and never saw them again. (navarrete, _coleccion_, tom. ii. doc. cxxxvii. p. .) as las casas, who knew diego so well, also supposed his mother to have died before his father left portugal, it is most likely that she died soon afterwards. ferdinand columbus says that diego was left in charge of some friars at the convent of la rábida near palos (_loc. cit._); las casas is not quite so sure; he thinks diego was left with some friend of his father at palos, or perhaps (_por ventura_) at la rábida. (_historia_, tom. i. p. .) these mistakes were easy to make, for both la rábida and huelva were close by palos, and we know that diego's aunt muliar was living at huelva. (las casas, _op. cit._ tom. i. p. ; harrisse, tom. i. pp. , , ; tom. ii. p. .) it is pretty clear that columbus never visited la rábida before the autumn of (see below, p. ). my own notion is that columbus may have left his wife with an infant and perhaps one older child, relieving her of the care of diego by taking him to his aunt, and intending as soon as practicable to reunite the family. he clearly did not know at the outset whether he should stay in spain or not.] [footnote : it rests upon an improbable statement of ramusio, who places the event as early as . the first genoese writer to allude to it is casoni, _annali della republica di genova_, genoa, , pp. - . such testimony is of small value.] [footnote : first mentioned in by marin, _storia del commercio de veneziani_, venice, - , tom. vii. p. .] [footnote : the description usually given of this conference rests upon the authority of remesal, _historia de la prouincia de chyapa_, madrid, , lib. ii. cap. vii. p. . las casas merely says that the question was referred to certain persons at the court, _hist. de las indias_, tom. i. p. . it is probably not true that the project of columbus was officially condemned by the university of salamanca as a corporate body. see camara, _religion y ciencia_, valladolid, , p. .] [sidenote: birth of ferdinand columbus, aug. , .] [sidenote: bartholomew columbus returns from the cape of good hope, dec, .] [sidenote: christopher visits bartholomew at lisbon, cir. sept., ;] [sidenote: and sends him to england.] [sidenote: bartholomew, after mishaps, reaches england cir. feb., ;] [sidenote: and goes thence to france before .] after the surrender of malaga in august, , columbus visited the court in that city. for a year or more after that time silken chains seem to have bound him to cordova. he had formed a connection with a lady of noble family, beatriz enriquez de arana, who gave birth to his son ferdinand on the th of august, .[ ] shortly after this event, columbus made a visit to lisbon, in all probability for the purpose of meeting his brother bartholomew, who had returned in the last week of december, , in the dias expedition, with the proud news of the discovery of the cape of good hope,[ ] which was rightly believed to be the extremity of africa; and we can well understand how christopher, on seeing the success of prince henry's method of reaching the indies so nearly vindicated, must have become more impatient than ever to prove the superiority of his own method. it was probably not long after bartholomew's return that christopher determined to go and see him, for he applied to king john ii. for a kind of safe-conduct, which was duly granted march , . this document[ ] guarantees christopher against arrest or arraignment or detention on any charge civil or criminal whatever, during his stay in portugal, and commands all magistrates in that kingdom to respect it. from this it would seem probable that in the eagerness of his geographical speculations he had neglected his business affairs and left debts behind him in portugal for which he was liable to be arrested. the king's readiness to grant the desired privilege seems to indicate that he may have cherished a hope of regaining the services of this accomplished chart-maker and mariner. christopher did not avail himself of the privilege until late in the summer,[ ] and it is only fair to suppose that he waited for the birth of his child and some assurance of its mother's safety. on meeting bartholomew he evidently set him to work forthwith in making overtures to the courts of england and france. it was natural enough that bartholomew should first set out for bristol, where old shipmates and acquaintances were sure to be found. it appears that on the way he was captured by pirates, and thus some delay was occasioned before he arrived in london and showed the king a map, probably similar to toscanelli's and embellished with quaint latin verses. an entry on this map informs us that it was made by bartholomew columbus in london, february , , which i think should be read or even , so we may suppose it to have been about that time or perhaps later that he approached the throne.[ ] henry vii. was intelligent enough to see the bearings of bartholomew's arguments, and at the same time, as a good man of business, he was likely to be cautious about investing money in remote or doubtful enterprises. what arguments were used we do not know, but the spring of had arrived before any decisive answer had been given. meanwhile bartholomew had made his way to france, and found a powerful protector in a certain madame de bourbon,[ ] while he made maps for people at the court and waited to see if there were any chances of getting help from charles viii. [footnote : some historians, unwilling to admit any blemishes in the character of columbus, have supposed that this union was sanctioned by marriage, but this is not probable. he seems to have been tenderly attached to beatriz, who survived him many years. see harrisse, tom. ii. pp. - .] [footnote : the authority for bartholomew columbus having sailed to the cape of good hope with dias is a manuscript note of his own in christopher's copy of the _imago mundi_: "nota quod hoc anno de [it should be ] in mense decembri appulit in ulixbona bartholomeus didacus capitaneus trium carabelarum quem miserat serenissimus rex portugalie in guineam ad tentandum terrain. et renunciavit ipse serenissimo regi prout navigaverat ultra jam navigata leuchas , videlicet ad austrum et ad aquilonem usque montem per ipsum nominatum _cabo de boa esperança_ quem in agesimba estimamus. qui quidem in eo loco invenit se distare per astrolabium ultra lineam equinoctialem gradus . quem viagium pictavit et scripsit de leucha in leucham in una carta navigationis ut oculi visum ostenderet ipso serenissimo regi. in quibus omnibus interfui." m. varnhagen has examined this note and thinks it is in the handwriting of christopher columbus (_bulletin de géographie_, janvier, , tom. xv. p. ); and m. d'avezac (_canevas chronologique_, p. ), accepting this opinion, thinks that the words _in quibus omnibus interfui_, "in all of which i took part," only mean that christopher was present in lisbon when the expedition returned, and heard the whole story! with all possible respect for such great scholars as mm. d'avezac and varnhagen, i submit that the opinion of las casas, who first called attention to this note, must be much better than theirs on such a point as the handwriting of the two brothers. when las casas found the note he wondered whether it was meant for bartholomew or christopher, i. e. wondered which of the two was meant to be described as having "taken part;" but at all events, says las casas, the handwriting is bartholomew's:--"estas son palabras escritas de la mano de bartolomé colon, no sé si las escribió de sí ó de su letra por su hermano cristóbal colon." under these circumstances it seems idle to suppose that las casas could have been mistaken about the handwriting; he evidently put his mind on that point, and in the next breath he goes on to say, "la letra yo conozco ser de bartolomé colon, porque tuve muchas suyas," i. e. "i know it is bartholomew's writing, for i have had many letters of his;" and again "estas palabras ... de la misma letra y mano de bartolomé colon, la cual muy bien conocí y agora tengo hartas cartas y letras suyas, tratando deste viaje," i. e. "these words ... from the very writing and hand of bartholomew columbus, which i knew very well, and i have to-day many charts and letters of his, treating of this voyage." (_hist. de las indias_, tom. i. pp. , .) this last sentence makes las casas an independent witness to bartholomew's presence in the expedition, a matter about which he was not likely to be mistaken. what puzzled him was the question, not whether bartholomew went, but whether christopher could have gone also, "pudo ser tambien que se hallase cristóbal colon." now christopher certainly did not go on that voyage. the expedition started in august, , and returned to lisbon in december, , after an absence of sixteen months and seventeen days, "anendo dezaseis meses et dezasete dias que erão partidos delle." (barros, _decada primeira da asia_, lisbon, , tom. i. fol. , .) the account-book of the treasury of castile shows that sums of money were paid to christopher at seville, may , july , august , and october , ; so that he could not have gone with dias (see harrisse, tom. ii. p. ). neither could christopher have been in lisbon in december, , when the little fleet returned, for his safe-conduct from king john is dated march , . it was not until the autumn of that columbus made this visit to portugal, and m. d'avezac has got the return of the fleet a year too late. bartholomew's note followed a custom which made begin at christmas, . in reading a later chapter of las casas for another purpose (tom. i. p. ), i come again upon this point. he rightly concludes that christopher could not have gone with dias, and again declares most positively that the handwriting of the note was bartholomew's and not christopher's. this footnote affords a good illustration of the kind of difficulties that surround such a subject as the life of columbus, and the ease with which an excess of ingenuity may discover mare's nests.] [footnote : it may be found in navarrete, _coleccion de viages_, tom. ii. pp. , .] [footnote : the account-book of the treasury shows that on june he was still in spain. see harrisse, tom. i. p. .] [footnote : the entry, as given by las casas, is "pro authore, seu pictore, || gennua cui patria est, nomen cui bartolomeus || columbus de terra rubea, opus edidit istud || londonije: anno domini millesimo quatercentessimo octiesque uno || atque insuper anno octavo: decimaque die mensis februarii. || laudes christo cantentur abunde." _historia_, tom. i. p. . now since bartholomew columbus was a fairly educated man, writing this note in england on a map made for the eyes of the king of england, i suppose he used the old english style which made the year begin at the vernal equinox instead of christmas, so that his february, , means the next month but one after december, , i. e. what in our new style becomes february, . bartholomew returned to lisbon from africa in the last week of december, , and it is not likely that his plans could have been matured and himself settled down in london in less than seven weeks. the logical relation of the events, too, shows plainly that christopher's visit to lisbon was for the purpose of consulting his brother and getting first-hand information about the greatest voyage the world had ever seen. in the early weeks of christopher sends his request for a safe-conduct, gets it march , waits till his child is born, august , and then presently goes. bartholomew may have sailed by the first of october for england, where (according to this reading of his date) we actually find him four months later. what happened to him in this interval? here we come to the story of the pirates. m. harrisse, who never loses an opportunity for throwing discredit upon the _vita dell' ammiraglio_, has failed to make the correction of date which i have here suggested. he puts bartholomew in london in february, , and is thus unable to assign any reason for christopher's visit to lisbon. he also finds that in the forty-six days between christmas, , and february, , , there is hardly room enough for any delay due to so grave a cause as capture by pirates. (_christophe colomb_, vol. ii. p. .) he therefore concludes that the statement in the _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. xi., is unworthy of credit, and it is upon an accumulation of small difficulties like this that he bases his opinion that ferdinand columbus cannot have written that book. but las casas also gives the story of the pirates, and adds the information that they were "easterlings," though he cannot say of what nation, i. e. whether dutch, german, or perhaps danes. he says that bartholomew was stripped of his money and fell sick, and after his recovery was obliged to earn money by map-making before he could get to england. (_historia_, tom. i. p. .) could all this have happened within the four months which i have allowed between october, , and february, ? voyages before the invention of steamboats were of very uncertain duration. john adams in was fifty-four days in getting from london to amsterdam (see my _critical period of american history_, p. ). but with favourable weather a portuguese caravel in ought to have run from lisbon to bristol in fourteen days or less, so that in four months there would be time enough for quite a chapter of accidents. las casas, however, says it was _a long time_ before bartholomew was able to reach england:--"esto fué causa que enfermase y viniese á mucha pobreza, y estuviese mucho tempo sin poder llegar á inglaterra, hasta tanto que quiso dies sanarle; y reformado algo, por su industria y trabajos de sus manos, haciendo cartas de marear, llegó á inglaterra, y, pasados un dia y otros, hobo de alcanzar que le oyese enrique vii." it is impossible, i think, to read this passage without feeling that at least a year must have been consumed; and i do not think we are entitled to disregard the words of las casas in such a matter. but how shall we get the time? is it possible that las casas made a slight mistake in deciphering the date on bartholomew's map? either that mariner did not give the map to henry vii., or the king gave it back, or more likely it was made in duplicate. at any rate las casas had it, along with his many other columbus documents, and for aught we know it may still be tumbling about somewhere in the spanish archives. it was so badly written (_de muy mala é corrupta letra_), apparently in abbreviations (_sin ortografía_), that las casas says he found extreme difficulty in making it out. now let us observe that date, which is given in fantastic style, apparently because the inscription is in a rude doggerel, and the writer seems to have wished to keep his "verses" tolerably even. (they don't scan much better than walt whitman's.) as it stands, the date reads _anno domini millesimo quatercentessimo octiesque uno atque insuper anno octavo_, i. e. "in the year of our lord the thousandth, four hundredth, and eight-times-one, and thereafter the eighth year." what business has this cardinal number _octiesque uno_ in a row of ordinals? if it were translatable, which it is not, it would give us , + + + = , an absurd date. the most obvious way to make the passage readable is to insert the ordinal _octogesimo primo_ instead of the incongruous _octiesque uno_; then it will read "in the year of our lord the one-thousand-four-hundred-and-eighty-first, and thereafter the eighth year," that is to say . now translate old style into new style, and february, , becomes february, , which i believe to be the correct date. this allows sixteen months for bartholomew's mishaps; it justifies the statement in which las casas confirms ferdinand columbus; and it harmonizes with the statement of lord bacon: "for christopherus columbus, refused by the king of portugal (who would not embrace at once both east and west), employed his brother bartholomew columbus unto king henry to negotiate for his discovery. and it so fortuned that he was taken by pirates at sea; by which accidental impediment he was long ere he came to the king; so long that before he had obtained a capitulation with the king for his brother the enterprise was achieved, and so the west indies by providence were then reserved for the crown of castilia." _historie of the raygne of k. henry the seventh_, bacon's _works_, boston, , vol. xi. p. . lord bacon may have taken the statement from ferdinand's biography; but it probably agreed with english traditions, and ought not to be slighted in this connection.] [footnote : one of the sisters of charles viii. see harrisse, tom. ii. p. .] [sidenote: the duke of medina-celi proposes to furnish the ships for columbus,] [sidenote: but isabella withholds her consent.] [sidenote: columbus makes up his mind to get his family together and go to france, oct., .] as for christopher columbus, we find him back in spain again, in may, , attending court at cordova. in the following autumn there was much suffering in spain from floods and famine,[ ] and the sovereigns were too busy with the moorish war to give ear to columbus. it was no time for new undertakings, and the weary suitor began to think seriously of going in person to the french court. first, however, he thought it worth while to make an attempt to get private capital enlisted in his enterprise, and in the spain of that day such private capital meant a largess from some wealthy grandee. accordingly about christmas of , after the beza campaign in which columbus is said to have fought with distinguished valour,[ ] he seems to have applied to the most powerful nobleman in spain, the duke of medina-sidonia, but without success. but at the hands of luis de la cerda, duke of medina-celi, he met with more encouragement than he had as yet found in any quarter. that nobleman entertained columbus most hospitably at his castle at puerto de santa maria for nearly two years, until the autumn of . he became convinced that the scheme of columbus was feasible, and decided to fit up two or three caravels at his own expense, if necessary, but first he thought it proper to ask the queen's consent, and to offer her another chance to take part in the enterprise.[ ] isabella was probably unwilling to have the duke come in for a large share of the profits in case the venture should prove successful. she refused the royal license, saying that she had not quite made up her mind whether to take up the affair or not, but if she should decide to do so she would be glad to have the duke take part in it.[ ] meanwhile she referred the question to alonso de quintanilla, comptroller of the treasury of castile. this was in the spring of , when the whole country was in a buzz of excitement with the preparations for the siege of granada. the baffled columbus visited the sovereigns in camp, but could not get them to attend to him, and early in the autumn, thoroughly disgusted and sick at heart, he made up his mind to shake the dust of castile from his feet and see what could be done in france. in october or november he went to huelva, apparently to get his son diego, who had been left there, in charge of his aunt. it was probably his intention to take all the family he had--beatriz and her infant son ferdinand, of whom he was extremely fond, as well as diego--and find a new home in either france or england, besides ascertaining what had become of his brother bartholomew, from whom he had not heard a word since the latter left portugal for england.[ ] [footnote : bernaldez, _reyes católicos_, cap. xci.] [footnote : zuñiga, _anales de sevilla_, lib. xii. p. .] [footnote : see the letter of march , , from the duke of medina-celi to the grand cardinal of spain (from the archives of simancas) in navarrete _coleccion de viages_, tom. ii. p. .] [footnote : this promise was never fulfilled. when columbus returned in triumph, arriving march , , at lisbon, and march at palos, the duke of medina-celi wrote the letter just cited, recalling the queen's promise and asking to be allowed to send to the indies once each year an expedition on his own account; for, he says, if he had not kept columbus with him in and he would have gone to france, and castile would have lost the prize. there was some force in this, but isabella does not appear to have heeded the request.] [footnote : this theory of the situation is fully sustained by las casas, tom. i. p. .] [sidenote: he stops at la rábida, and meets the prior juan perez.] [sidenote: perez writes to the queen,] [sidenote: and columbus is summoned back to court.] but now at length events took a favourable turn. fate had grown tired of fighting against such indomitable perseverance. for some years now the stately figure of columbus had been a familiar sight in the streets of seville and cordova, and as he passed along, with his white hair streaming in the breeze, and countenance aglow with intensity of purpose or haggard with disappointment at some fresh rebuff, the ragged urchins of the pavement tapped their foreheads and smiled with mingled wonder and amusement at this madman. seventeen years had elapsed since the letter from toscanelli to martinez, and all that was mortal of the florentine astronomer had long since been laid in the grave. for columbus himself old age was not far away, yet he seemed no nearer the fulfilment of his grand purpose than when he had first set it forth to the king of portugal. we can well imagine that when he started from huelva, with his little son diego, now some eleven or twelve years old, again to begin renewing his suit in a strange country, his thoughts must have been sombre enough. for some reason or other--tradition says to ask for some bread and water for his boy--he stopped at the franciscan monastery of la rábida, about half a league from palos. the prior, juan perez, who had never seen columbus before, became greatly interested in him and listened with earnest attention to his story. this worthy monk, who before had been isabella's father-confessor, had a mind hospitable to new ideas. he sent for garcia fernandez, a physician of palos, who was somewhat versed in cosmography, and for martin alonso pinzon, a well-to-do ship-owner and trained mariner of that town, and in the quiet of the monastery a conference was held in which columbus carried conviction to the minds of these new friends. pinzon declared himself ready to embark in the enterprise in person. the venerable prior forthwith sent a letter to the queen, and received a very prompt reply summoning him to attend her in the camp before granada. the result of the interview was that within a few days perez returned to the convent with a purse of , maravedis (equivalent to about , dollars of the present day), out of which columbus bought a new suit of clothes and a mule; and about the first of december he set out for the camp in company with juan perez, leaving the boy diego in charge of the priest martin sanchez and a certain rodriguez cabejudo, upon whose sworn testimony, together with that of the physician garcia fernandez, some years afterward, several of these facts are related.[ ] [footnote : my account of these proceedings at la rábida differs in some particulars from any heretofore given, and i think gets the events into an order of sequence that is at once more logical and more in harmony with the sources of information than any other. the error of ferdinand columbus--a very easy one to commit, and not in the least damaging to his general character as biographer--lay in confusing his father's two real visits (in and ) to huelva with two visits (one imaginary in and one real in ) to la rábida, which was close by, between huelva and palos. the visits were all the more likely to get mixed up in recollection because in each case their object was little diego and in each case he was left in charge of somebody in that neighbourhood. the confusion has been helped by another for which ferdinand is not responsible, viz.: the friar juan perez has been confounded with another friar antonio de marchena, who columbus says was the only person who from the time of his first arrival in spain had always befriended him and never mocked at him. these worthy friars twain have been made into one (e. g. "the prior of the convent, juan perez de marchena," irving's _columbus_, vol. i. p. ), and it has often been supposed that marchena's acquaintance began with columbus at la rábida in , and that diego was left at the convent at that time. but some modern sources of information have served at first to bemuddle, and then when more carefully sifted, to clear up the story. in diego columbus brought suit against the spanish crown to vindicate his claim to certain territories discovered by his father, and there was a long investigation in which many witnesses were summoned and past events were busily raked over the coals. among these witnesses were rodriguez cabejudo and the physician garcia fernandez, who gave from personal recollection a very lucid account of the affairs at la rábida. these proceedings are printed in navarrete, _coleccion de viages_, tom. iii. pp. - . more recently the publication of the great book of las casas has furnished some very significant clues, and the elaborate researches of m. harrisse have furnished others. (see las casas, lib. i. cap. xxix., xxxi.; harrisse, tom. i. pp. - ; tom. ii. pp. - ; cf. peragallo, _l' autenticità_, etc., pp. - .)--it now seems clear that marchena, whom columbus knew from his first arrival in spain, was not associated with la rábida. at that time columbus left diego, a mere infant, with his wife's sister at huelva. seven years later, intending to leave spain forever, he went to huelva and took diego, then a small boy. on his way from huelva to the seville road, and thence to cordova (where he would have been joined by beatriz and ferdinand), he happened to pass by la rábida, where up to that time he was evidently unknown, and to attract the attention of the prior juan perez, and the wheel of fortune suddenly and unexpectedly turned. as columbus's next start was not for france, but for granada, his boy was left in charge of two trustworthy persons. on may , , the little diego was appointed page to don john, heir-apparent to the thrones of castile and aragon, with a stipend of , maravedis. on february , , after the death of that young prince, diego became page to queen isabella.] [sidenote: the junto before granada, dec, .] at once upon the arrival of columbus in the camp before granada, his case was argued then and there before an assembly of learned men and was received more hospitably than formerly, at salamanca. several eminent prelates had come to think favourably of his project or to deem it at least worth a trial. among these were the royal confessors, deza and talavera, the latter having changed his mind, and especially mendoza, archbishop of toledo, who now threw his vast influence decisively in favour of columbus.[ ] the treasurers of the two kingdoms, moreover, quintanilla for castile and luis de santangel for aragon, were among his most enthusiastic supporters; and the result of the conference was the queen's promise to take up the matter in earnest as soon as the moor should have surrendered granada. [footnote : in popular allusions to columbus it is quite common to assume or imply that he encountered nothing but opposition from the clergy. for example the account in draper's _conflict between science and religion_, p. , can hardly be otherwise understood by the reader. but observe that marchena who never mocked at columbus, juan perez who gave the favourable turn to his affairs, the great prelates deza and mendoza, and the two treasurers santangel and quintanilla, were every one of them priests! without cordial support from the clergy no such enterprise as that of columbus could have been undertaken, in spain at least. it is quite right that we should be free-thinkers; and it is also desirable that we should have some respect for facts.] [sidenote: surrender of granada, jan. , .] [sidenote: columbus negotiates with the queen.] [sidenote: his terms are considered exorbitant.] columbus had not long to wait for that great event, which came on the d of january, , and was hailed with rejoicings throughout europe as in some sort a compensation for the loss of constantinople. it must have been with a manifold sense of triumph that columbus saw the banner of spain unfurled to the breeze from the highest tower of the alhambra. but at this critical moment in his fortunes the same obstacle was encountered that long before had broken off his negotiations with the king of portugal. with pride and self-confidence not an inch abated by all these years of trial, he demanded such honours and substantial rewards as seemed extravagant to the queen, and talavera advised her not to grant them. columbus insisted upon being appointed admiral of the ocean and viceroy of such heathen countries as he might discover, besides having for his own use and behoof one eighth part of such revenues and profits as might accrue from the expedition. in principle this sort of remuneration did not differ from that which the crown of portugal had been wont to award to its eminent discoverers;[ ] but in amount it was liable to prove indefinitely great, enough perhaps to raise to princely power and rank this foreign adventurer. could he not be satisfied with something less? but columbus was as inexorable as the sibyl with her books, and would hear of no abatement in his price. for this "great constancy and loftiness of soul,"[ ] las casas warmly commends his friend columbus. a querulous critic might call it unreasonable obstinacy. but in truth the good man seems to have entertained another grand scheme of his own, to which he wished to make his maritime venture contribute. it was natural that his feelings toward turks should have been no more amiable than those of hannibal toward the romans. it was the turks who had ruined the commerce of his native genoa, in his youth he had more than once crossed swords with their corsairs, and now he looked forward to the time when he might play the part of a second godfrey de bouillon and deliver jerusalem from the miscreant followers of mahound.[ ] vast resources would be needed for such work, and from cipango with its gold-roofed temples, and the nameless and numberless isles of spices that crowded the cathayan seas, he hoped to obtain them. long brooding over his cherished projects, in which chimeras were thus mixed with anticipations of scientific truth, had imparted to his character a tinge of religious fanaticism. he had come to regard himself as a man with a mission to fulfil, as god's chosen instrument for enlarging the bounds of christendom and achieving triumphs of untold magnificence for its banners. in this mood he was apt to address kings with an air of equality that ill comported with his humble origin and slender means; and on the present occasion, if talavera felt his old doubts and suspicions reviving, and was more than half inclined to set columbus down as a mere vendor of crotchets, one can hardly wonder. [footnote : our scandinavian friends are fond of pointing to this demand of columbus as an indication that he secretly expected to "discover america," and not merely to find the way to asia. but how about ferdinand and isabella, who finally granted what was demanded, and their ministers who drew up the agreement, to say nothing of the clerks who engrossed it? what did they all understand by "discovering islands and continents in the ocean"? were they all in this precious vinland secret? if so, it was pretty well kept. but in truth there was nothing singular in these stipulations. portugal paid for discovery in just this way by granting governorships over islands like the azores, or long stretches of continent like guinea, along with a share of the revenues yielded by such places. see for example the cases of gonzalo cabral, fernando gomez, and others in major, _prince henry the navigator_, pp. , , and elsewhere. in their search for the indies the portuguese were continually finding new lands, and it was likely to be the same with the western route, which was supposed (see catalan, toscanelli, and behaim maps) to lead among spice islands innumerable, and to asiatic kingdoms whose heathen people had no rights of sovereignty that christian monarchs felt bound to respect.] [footnote : las casas, _op. cit._ tom i. p. .] [footnote : see his letter of february, , to pope alexander vi. in navarrete, tom. ii. p. ; and cf. helps, _spanish conquest in america_, vol. i. p. ; roselly de lorgues, _christophe colomb_, p. .] [sidenote: interposition of luis de santangel.] the negotiations were broken off, and the indomitable enthusiast once more prepared to go to france. he had actually started on his mule one fine winter day, when luis de santangel rushed into the queen's room and spoke to her with all the passionate and somewhat reproachful energy of one who felt that a golden opportunity was slipping away forever. his arguments were warmly seconded by quintanilla, who had followed him into the room, as well as by the queen's bosom friend beatriz de bobadilla, marchioness of moya, who happened to be sitting on the sofa and was a devoted admirer of columbus. an impulse seized isabella. a courier was sent on a fleet horse, and overtook columbus as he was jogging quietly over the bridge of pinos, about six miles out from granada. the matter was reconsidered and an arrangement was soon made. it was agreed:-- [sidenote: agreement between columbus and the sovereigns.] " . that columbus should have, for himself, during his life, and for his heirs and successors forever, the office of admiral in all the islands and continents which he might discover or acquire in the ocean, with similar honours and prerogatives to those enjoyed by the high admiral of castile in his district. " . that he should be viceroy and governor-general over all the said lands and continents; with the privilege of nominating three candidates for the government of each island or province, one of whom should be selected by the sovereigns. " . that he should be entitled to reserve for himself one tenth of all pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, spices, and all other articles and merchandises, in whatever manner found, bought, bartered, or gained within his admiralty, the costs being first deducted. " . that he, or his lieutenant, should be the sole judge in all causes and disputes arising out of traffic between those countries and spain, provided the high admiral of castile had similar jurisdiction in his district. " . that he might then, and at all after times, contribute an eighth part of the expense in fitting out vessels to sail on this enterprise, and receive an eighth part of the profits."[ ] [footnote : i cite this version from irving's _columbus_, vol. i. p. , making a slight amendment in the rendering; the original text is in navarrete, tom. ii. p. . a few days later the title of "don" was granted to columbus and made hereditary in his family along with the offices of viceroy and governor-general.] columbus was not long in finding friends to advance or promise on his account an eighth part of the sum immediately required. a considerable amount was assessed upon the town of palos in punishment for certain misdeeds or delinquencies on the part of its people or some of them. castile assumed the rest of the burden, though santangel may have advanced a million maravedis out of the treasury of aragon, or out of the funds of the _hermandad_,[ ] or perhaps more likely on his own account.[ ] in any case it was a loan to the treasury of castile simply. it was always distinctly understood that ferdinand as king of aragon had no share in the enterprise, and that the spanish indies were an appurtenance to the crown of castile. the agreement was signed april , , and with tears of joy columbus vowed to devote every maravedi that should come to him to the rescue of the holy sepulchre. [footnote : a police organization formed in for suppressing highway robbery.] [footnote : it is not easy to give an accurate account of the cost of this most epoch-making voyage in all history. conflicting statements by different authorities combine with the fluctuating values of different kinds of money to puzzle and mislead us. according to m. harrisse , , maravedis would be equivalent to , francs, or about , gold dollars of united states money at present values. las casas (tom. i. p. ) says that the eighth part, raised by columbus, was , maravedis ( , dollars). account-books preserved in the archives of simancas show that the sums paid from the treasury of castile amounted to , , maravedis ( , dollars). assuming the statement of las casas to be correct, the amounts contributed would perhaps have been as follows:-- queen isabella, from castile treasury $ , " loan from santangel , columbus , other sources, including contribution levied upon the town of palos , -------- total $ , this total seems to me altogether too large for probability, and so does the last item, which is simply put at the figure necessary to make the total eight times , . i am inclined to suspect that las casas (with whom arithmetic was not always a strong point) may have got his figures wrong. the amount of santangel's loan also depends upon the statement of las casas, and we do not know whether he took it from a document or from hearsay. nor do we know whether it should be added to, or included in, the first item. more likely, i think, the latter. the only item that we know with documentary certainty is the first, so that our statement becomes modified as follows:-- queen isabella, from castile treasury $ , " loan from santangel ? columbus ? { rent of two fully town of palos { equipped caravels { for two months, etc. ---------------------- total ? (cf. harrisse, tom. i. pp. - .) unsatisfactory, but certain as far as it goes. alas, how often historical statements are thus reduced to meagreness, after the hypothetical or ill-supported part has been sifted out! the story that the pinzon brothers advanced to columbus his portion is told by las casas, but he very shrewdly doubts it. the famous story that isabella pledged her crown jewels (_vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. xiv.) has also been doubted, but perhaps on insufficient grounds, by m. harrisse. it is confirmed by las casas (tom. i. p. ). according to one account she pledged them to santangel in security for his loan,--which seems not altogether improbable. see pizarro y orellana, _varones ilustres del nuevo mundo_, madrid, , p. .] [sidenote: dismay at palos.] [sidenote: the three famous caravels; the santa maria.] [sidenote: the pinta.] [sidenote: the niña.] when he reached palos in may, with royal orders for ships and men, there had like to have been a riot. terrible dismay was felt at the prospect of launching out for such a voyage upon the sea of darkness. groans and curses greeted the announcement of the forced contribution. but martin pinzon and his brothers were active in supporting the crown officials, and the work went on. to induce men to enlist, debts were forgiven and civil actions suspended. criminals were released from jail on condition of serving. three caravels were impressed into the service of the crown for a time unlimited; and the rent and maintenance of two of these vessels for two months was to be paid by the town. the largest caravel, called the santa maria or capitana, belonged to juan de la cosa, a biscayan mariner whose name was soon to become famous.[ ] he now commanded her, with another consummate sailor, sancho ruiz, for his pilot. this single-decked craft, about ninety feet in length by twenty feet breadth of beam, was the admiral's flag-ship. the second caravel, called the pinta, a much swifter vessel, was commanded by martin pinzon. she belonged to two citizens of palos, gomez rascon and cristobal quintero, who were now in her crew, sulky and ready for mischief. the third and smallest caravel, the niña ("baby"), had for her commander vicente yañez pinzon, the youngest of the brothers, now about thirty years of age. neither the pinta nor the niña were decked amidships. on board the three caravels were just ninety persons.[ ] and so they set sail from palos on friday, august , , half an hour before sunrise, and by sunset had run due south five and forty geographical miles, when they shifted their course a couple of points to starboard and stood for the canaries. [footnote : navarrete, _biblioteca maritima_, tom. ii. pp. , .] [footnote : the accounts of the armament are well summed up and discussed in harrisse, tom. i. pp. - . eighty-seven names, out of the ninety, have been recovered, and the list is given below, appendix c.] [sidenote: they go to the canaries and are delayed there.] no thought of vinland is betrayed in these proceedings. columbus was aiming at the northern end of cipango (japan). upon toscanelli's map, which he carried with him, the great island of cipango extends from ° to about ° north latitude. he evidently aimed at the northern end of cipango as being directly on the route to zaiton (chang-chow) and other chinese cities mentioned by marco polo. accordingly he began by running down to the canaries, in order that he might sail thence due west on the th parallel without shifting his course by a single point until he should see the coast of japan looming up before him.[ ] on this preliminary run signs of mischief began already to show themselves. the pinta's rudder was broken and unshipped, and columbus suspected her two angry and chafing owners of having done it on purpose, in order that they and their vessel might be left behind. the canaries at this juncture merited the name of fortunate islands; fortunately they, alone among african islands, were spanish, so that columbus could stop there and make repairs. while this was going on the sailors were scared out of their wits by an eruption of teneriffe, which they deemed an omen of evil, and it was also reported that some portuguese caravels were hovering in those waters, with intent to capture columbus and carry him off to lisbon. [footnote : "para de allí tomar mi derrota, y navegar tanto que yo llegase á las indias," he says in his journal, navarrete, _coleccion de viages_, tom. i.p. .] [illustration: martin behaim's globe, ,] [illustration: reduced to mercator's projection.][ ] [footnote : martin behaim was born at nuremberg in , and is said to have been a pupil of the celebrated astronomer, regiomontanus, author of the first almanac published in europe, and of ephemerides, of priceless value to navigators. he visited portugal about , invented a new kind of astrolabe, and sailed with it in as cosmographer in diego cam's voyage to the congo. on his return to lisbon he was knighted, and presently went to live on the island of fayal, of which his wife's father was governor. he was a friend of columbus. toward he visited nuremberg, to look after some family affairs, and while there "he gratified some of his townspeople by embodying in a globe the geographical views which prevailed in the maritime countries; and the globe was finished before columbus had yet accomplished his voyage. the next year ( ) behaim returned to portugal; and after having been sent to the low countries on a diplomatic mission, he was captured by english cruisers and carried to england. escaping finally, and reaching the continent, he passes from our view in , and is scarcely heard of again." (winsor, _narr. and crit. hist._, ii. .) he died in may, . a ridiculous story that he anticipated columbus in the discovery of america originated in the misunderstanding of an interpolated passage in the latin text of schedel's _registrum_, nuremberg, , p. (the so-called _nuremberg chronicle_). see winsor, _op. cit._ ii. ; major's _prince henry_, p. ; humboldt, _examen critique_, tom. i.p. ; murr, _diplomatische geschichte des ritters behaim_, nuremberg, ; cladera, _investigaciones históricas_, madrid, ; harrisse, _bibliotheca americana vetustissima_, pp. - .--the globe made by behaim may now be seen in the city hall at nuremberg. it "is made of _papier-maché_, covered with gypsum, and over this a parchment surface received the drawing; it is twenty inches in diameter." (winsor, _op. cit._ ii. .) the portion west of the th meridian is evidently copied from toscanelli's map. i give below (p. ) a sketch (from winsor, after ruge's _geschichte des zeitalters der entdeckungen_, p. ) of behaim's ocean, with the outline of the american continent superimposed in the proper place.] [sidenote: columbus starts for japan, sept. , .] at length, on the th of september, they set sail from gomera, but were becalmed and had made only thirty miles by the night of the th. the breeze then freshened, and when next day the shores of ferro, the last of the canaries, sank from sight on the eastern horizon, many of the sailors loudly lamented their unseemly fate, and cried and sobbed like children. columbus well understood the difficulty of dealing with these men. he provided against one chief source of discontent by keeping two different reckonings, a true one for himself and a false one for his officers and crews. he was shrewd enough not to overdo it and awaken distrust. thus after a twenty-four hours' run of miles on september , he reported it as miles; next day the run was miles and he announced it as , and so on. but for this prudent if somewhat questionable device, it is not unlikely that the first week of october would have witnessed a mutiny in which columbus would have been either thrown overboard or forced to turn back. [sidenote: deflection of the needle.] the weather was delicious, and but for the bug-a-boos that worried those poor sailors it would have been a most pleasant voyage. chief among the imaginary terrors were three which deserve especial mention. at nightfall on september the ships had crossed the magnetic line of no variation, and columbus was astonished to see that the compass-needle, instead of pointing a little to the right of the pole-star, began to sway toward the left, and next day this deviation increased. it was impossible to hide such a fact from the sharp eyes of the pilots, and all were seized with alarm at the suspicion that this witch instrument was beginning to play them some foul trick in punishment of their temerity; but columbus was ready with an ingenious astronomical explanation, and their faith in the profundity of his knowledge prevailed over their terrors. [sidenote: the sargasso sea.] the second alarm came on september , when they struck into vast meadows of floating seaweeds and grasses, abounding in tunny fish and crabs. they had now come more than miles from ferro and were entering the wonderful sargasso sea, that region of the atlantic six times as large as france, where vast tangles of vegetation grow upon the surface of water that is more than , fathoms deep, and furnish sustenance for an untold wealth of fishy life.[ ] to the eye of the mariner the sargasso sea presents somewhat the appearance of an endless green prairie, but modern ships plough through it with ease and so did the caravels of columbus at first. after two or three days, however, the wind being light, their progress was somewhat impeded. it was not strange that the crews were frightened at such a sight. it seemed uncanny and weird, and revived ancient fancies about mysterious impassable seas and overbold mariners whose ships had been stuck fast in them. the more practical spirits were afraid of running aground upon submerged shoals, but all were somewhat reassured on this point when it was found that their longest plummet-lines failed to find bottom. [footnote : the situation of this sargasso region in mid-ocean seems to be determined by its character as a quiet neutral ground between the great ocean-currents that flow past it on every side. sargasso plants are found elsewhere upon the surface of the waves, but nowhere else do they congregate as here. there are reasons for supposing that in ancient times this region extended nearer to the african coast. skylax (_periplus_, cap. ) says that beyond kerne, at the mouth of rio d' ouro the sea cannot be navigated on account of the mud and seaweed. sataspes, on his return to persia, b. c. , told king xerxes that his voyage failed because his ship stopped or was stuck fast. (herodotus, iv. .) festus avienus mentions vast quantities of seaweed in the ocean west of the pillars of hercules:-- exsuperat autem gurgitem fucus frequens atque impeditur æstus ex uligine.... sic nulla late flabra propellunt ratem, sic segnis humor æquoris pigri stupet. adjicit et illud, plurimum inter gurgites exstare fucum, et sæpe virgulti vice retinere puppim, etc. avienus, _ora maritima_, , . see also aristotle, _meteorol._, ii. , ; pseudo-aristotle, _de mirab. auscult._, p. ; theophrastus, _historia plantarum_, iv. jornandes, _de rebus geticis_, apud muratori, tom. i.p. ; according to strabo (iii. , § ) tunny fish were caught in abundance in the ocean west of spain, and were highly valued for the table on account of their fatness which was due to submarine vegetables on which they fed. possibly the reports of these sargasso meadows may have had some share in suggesting to plato his notion of a huge submerged island atlantis (_timæus_, ; _kritias_, ; cf. the notion of a viscous sea in plutarch, _de facie in orbe luna_, ), plato's fancy has furnished a theme for much wild speculation. see, for example, bailly, _lettres sur l'atlantide de platon_, paris, . the belief that there can ever have been such an island in that part of the atlantic is disposed of by the fact that the ocean there is nowhere less than two miles in depth. see the beautiful map of the atlantic sea-bottom in alexander agassiz's _three cruises of the blake_, boston, , vol. i.p. , and compare chap. vi. of that noble work, on "the permanence of continents and of oceanic basins;" see also wallace's _island life_, chap. vi. it was formerly supposed that the sargasso plants grow on the sea-bottom, and becoming detached rise to the surface (peter martyr, _de rebus oceanicis_, dec. iii. lib. v. p. ; humboldt, _personal narrative_, book i. chap, i.); but it is now known that they are simply rooted in the surface water itself. "l'accumulation de ces plantes marines est l'exemple le plus frappant de plantes congénères réunies sur le même point. ni les forêts colossales de l'himalaya, ni les graminées qui s'étendent à perte de vue dans les savanes américaines ou les steppes sibériens ne rivalisent avec ces prairies océaniques. jamais sur un espace aussi étendu, ne se rencontrent de telles masses de plantes semblables. quand on a vu la mer des sargasses, on n'oublie point un pareil spectacle." paul gaffarel, "la mer des sargasses," _bulletin de géographie_, paris, , e série, tom. iv. p. .] [sidenote: the trade wind.] on september the journal reports "no more grass." they were in clear water again, and more than , geographical miles from the canaries. a third source of alarm had already begun to disturb the sailors. they were discovering much more than they had bargained for. they were in the belt of the trade winds, and as the gentle but unfailing breeze wafted them steadily westward, doubts began to arise as to whether it would ever be possible to return. fortunately soon after this question began to be discussed, the wind, jealous of its character for capriciousness even there, veered into the southwest. [sidenote: impatience of the crews.] by september the admiral's chief difficulty had come to be the impatience of his crews at not finding land. on that day there was a mirage, or some such illusion, which columbus and all hands supposed to be a coast in front of them, and hymns of praise were sung, but at dawn next day they were cruelly undeceived. flights of strange birds and other signs of land kept raising hopes which were presently dashed again, and the men passed through alternately hot and cold fits of exultation and dejection. such mockery seemed to show that they were entering a realm of enchantment. somebody, perhaps one of the released jail-birds, hinted that if a stealthy thrust should happen some night to push the admiral overboard, it could be plausibly said that he had slipped and fallen while star-gazing. his situation grew daily more perilous, and the fact that he was an italian commanding spaniards did not help him. perhaps what saved him was their vague belief in his superior knowledge; they may have felt that they should need him in going back. [illustration: martin behaim's atlantic ocean (with outline of american continent superimposed).] [sidenote: change of course from w. to w. s. w.] [sidenote: land ahead! oct. (n. s. ), .] by october there were ominous symptoms of mutiny, and the anxiety of columbus was evinced in the extent of his bold understatement of that day's run,-- miles instead of the true figure . for some days his pilots had been begging him to change his course; perhaps they had passed between islands. anything for a change! on the th at sunrise, they had come , geographical miles from the canaries, which was farther than the admiral's estimate of the distance to cipango; but according to his false statement of the runs, it appeared that they had come scarcely , miles. this leads one to suspect that in stating the length of the voyage, as he had so often done, at leagues, he may have purposely made it out somewhat shorter than he really believed it to be. but now after coming more than , miles he began to fear that he might be sailing past cipango on the north, and so he shifted his course two points to larboard, or west-southwest. if a secret knowledge of vinland had been his guiding-star he surely would not have turned his helm that way; but a glance at the toscanelli map shows what was in his mind. numerous flights of small birds confirmed his belief that land at the southwest was not far off. the change of direction was probably fortunate. if he had persisted in keeping on the parallel, miles would have brought him to the coast of florida, a little south of cape malabar. after the change he had but miles of water before him, and the temper of the sailors was growing more dangerous with every mile,[ ]--until october , when the signs of land became unmistakable, and the wildest excitement prevailed. a reward of , maravedis had been promised to the person who should first discover land, and ninety pair of eyes were strained that night with looking. about ten o'clock the admiral, standing on the tower-like poop of his vessel, saw a distant light moving as if somebody were running along the shore with a torch. this interpretation was doubted, but a few hours later a sailor on the pinta saw land distinctly, and soon it was visible to all, a long low coast about five miles distant. this was at two in the morning of friday, october ,[ ]--just ten weeks since they had sailed from palos, just thirty-three days since they had lost sight of the coast of ferro. the sails were now taken in, and the ships lay to, awaiting the dawn. [footnote : the often-repeated story that a day or two before the end of the voyage columbus capitulated with his crew, promising to turn back if land were not seen within three days, rests upon the single and relatively inferior authority of oviedo. it is not mentioned by las casas or bernaldez or peter martyr or ferdinand columbus, and it is discredited by the tone of the admiral's journal, which shows as unconquerable determination on the last day of the voyage as on any previous day. cf. irving, vol. i. p. .] [footnote : applying the gregorian calendar, or "new style," it becomes the st. the four hundredth anniversary will properly fall on october , .] * * * * * [sidenote: the crews go ashore.] at daybreak the boats were lowered and columbus, with a large part of his company, went ashore. upon every side were trees of unknown kinds, and the landscape seemed exceedingly beautiful. confident that they must have attained the object for which they had set sail, the crews were wild with exultation. their heads were dazed with fancies of princely fortunes close at hand. the officers embraced columbus or kissed his hands, while the sailors threw themselves at his feet, craving pardon and favour. [sidenote: the astonished natives.] [sidenote: guanahani: where was it?] these proceedings were watched with unutterable amazement and awe by a multitude of men, women, and children of cinnamon hue, different from any kind of people the spaniards had ever seen. all were stark naked and most of them were more or less greased and painted. they thought that the ships were sea-monsters and the white men supernatural creatures descended from the sky.[ ] at first they fled in terror as these formidable beings came ashore, but presently, as they found themselves unmolested, curiosity began to overcome fear, and they slowly approached the spaniards, stopping at every few paces to prostrate themselves in adoration. after a time, as the spaniards received them with encouraging nods and smiles, they waxed bold enough to come close to the visitors and pass their hands over them, doubtless to make sure that all this marvel was a reality and not a mere vision. experiences in africa had revealed the eagerness of barbarians to trade off their possessions for trinkets, and now the spaniards began exchanging glass beads and hawks' bells for cotton yarn, tame parrots, and small gold ornaments. some sort of conversation in dumb show went on, and columbus naturally interpreted everything in such wise as to fit his theories. whether the natives understood him or not when he asked them where they got their gold, at any rate they pointed to the south, and thus confirmed columbus in his suspicion that he had come to some island a little to the north of the opulent cipango. he soon found that it was a small island, and he understood the name of it to be guanahani. he took formal possession of it for castile, just as the discoverers of the cape verde islands and the guinea coasts had taken possession of those places for portugal; and he gave it a christian name, san salvador. that name has since the seventeenth century been given to cat island, but perhaps in pursuance of a false theory of map-makers; it is not proved that cat island is the guanahani of columbus. all that can positively be asserted of guanahani is that it was one of the bahamas: there has been endless discussion as to which one, and the question is not easy to settle. perhaps the theory of captain gustavus fox, of the united states navy, is on the whole best supported. captain fox maintains that the true guanahani was the little island now known as samana or atwood's cay.[ ] the problem well illustrates the difficulty in identifying any route from even a good description of landmarks, without the help of persistent proper names, especially after the lapse of time has somewhat altered the landmarks. from this point of view it is a very interesting problem and has its lessons for us; otherwise it is of no importance. [footnote : this is a common notion among barbarians. "the polynesians imagine that the sky descends at the horizon and encloses the earth. hence they call foreigners _papalangi_, or 'heaven-bursters,' as having broken in from another world outside." max müller, _chips from a german workshop_, vol. ii. p. .] [footnote : "an attempt to solve the problem of the first landing place of columbus in the new world," in _united states coast and geodetic survey--report for --appendix _, washington, .] [sidenote: groping for cipango and the route to quinsay.] a cruise of ten days among the bahamas, with visits to four of the islands, satisfied columbus that he was in the ocean just east of cathay, for marco polo had described it as studded with thousands of spice-bearing islands, and the catalan map shows that some of these were supposed to be inhabited by naked savages. to be sure, he could not find any spices or valuable drugs, but the air was full of fragrance and the trees and herbs were strange in aspect and might mean anything; so for a while he was ready to take the spices on trust. upon inquiries about gold the natives always pointed to the south, apparently meaning cipango; and in that direction columbus steered on the th of october, intending to stay in that wealthy island long enough to obtain all needful information concerning its arts and commerce. thence a sail of less than ten days would bring him to the chinese coast, along which he might comfortably cruise northwesterly as far as quinsay and deliver to the great khan a friendly letter with which ferdinand and isabella had provided him. alas, poor columbus--unconscious prince of discoverers--groping here in cuban waters for the way to a city on the other side of the globe and to a sovereign whose race had more than a century since been driven from the throne and expelled from the very soil of cathay! could anything be more pathetic, or better illustrate the profound irony with which our universe seems to be governed? [sidenote: columbus reaches cuba, and sends envoys to find a certain asiatic prince.] on reaching cuba the admiral was charmed with the marvellous beauty of the landscape,--a point in which he seems to have been unusually sensitive. he found pearl oysters along the shore, and although no splendid cities as yet appeared, he did not doubt that he had reached cipango. but his attempts at talking with the amazed natives only served to darken counsel. he understood them to say that cuba was part of the asiatic continent, and that there was a king in the neighbourhood who was at war with the great khan! so he sent two messengers to seek this refractory potentate,--one of them a converted jew acquainted with arabic, a language sometimes heard far eastward in asia, as columbus must have known. these envoys found pleasant villages, with large houses, surrounded with fields of such unknown vegetables as maize, potatoes, and tobacco; they saw men and women smoking cigars,[ ] and little dreamed that in that fragrant and soothing herb there was a richer source of revenue than the spices of the east. they passed acres of growing cotton and saw in the houses piles of yarn waiting to be woven into rude cloth or twisted into nets for hammocks. but they found neither cities nor kings, neither gold nor spices, and after a tedious quest returned, somewhat disappointed, to the coast. [footnote : the first recorded mention of tobacco is in columbus's diary for november , :--"hallaron los dos cristianos por el camino mucha gente que atravesaba á sus pueblos, mugeres y hombres con un tizon en la mano, yerbas para tomar sus sahumerios que acostumbraban," i. e. "the two christians met on the road a great many people going to their villages, men and women with brands in their hands, made of herbs for taking their customary smoke." navarrete, tom. i. p. .] [sidenote: columbus turns eastward; pinzon deserts him.] columbus seems now to have become perplexed, and to have vacillated somewhat in his purposes. if this was the continent of asia it was nearer than he had supposed, and how far mistaken he had been in his calculations no one could tell. but where was cipango? he gathered from the natives that there was a great island to the southeast, abounding in gold, and so he turned his prows in that direction. on the th of november he was deserted by martin pinzon, whose ship could always outsail the others. it seems to have been pinzon's design to get home in advance with such a story as would enable him to claim for himself an undue share of credit for the discovery of the indies. this was the earliest instance of a kind of treachery such as too often marred the story of spanish exploration and conquest in the new world. [sidenote: columbus arrives at hayti and thinks it must be japan.] [sidenote: wreck of the santa maria, dec. , .] for a fortnight after pinzon's desertion columbus crept slowly eastward along the coast of cuba, now and then landing to examine the country and its products; and it seemed to him that besides pearls and mastic and aloes he found in the rivers indications of gold. when he reached the cape at the end of the island he named it alpha and omega, as being the extremity of asia,--omega from the portuguese point of view, alpha from his own. on the th of december he landed upon the northwestern coast of the island of hayti, which he called española, hispaniola, or "spanish land."[ ] here, as the natives seemed to tell him of a region to the southward and quite inland which abounded in gold, and which they called cibao, the admiral at once caught upon the apparent similarity of sounds and fancied that cibao must be cipango, and that at length he had arrived upon that island of marvels. it was much nearer the asiatic mainland (i. e. cuba) than he had supposed, but then, it was beginning to appear that in any case somebody's geography must be wrong. columbus was enchanted with the scenery. "the land is elevated," he says, "with many mountains and peaks ... most beautiful, of a thousand varied forms, accessible, and full of trees of endless varieties, so tall that they seem to touch the sky; and i have been told that they never lose their foliage. the nightingale [i. e. some kind of thrush] and other small birds of a thousand kinds were singing in the month of november [december] when i was there."[ ] before he had done much toward exploring this paradise, a sudden and grave mishap quite altered his plans. on christmas morning, between midnight and dawn, owing to careless disobedience of orders on the part of the helmsman, the flag-ship struck upon a sand-bank near the present site of port au paix. all attempts to get her afloat were unavailing, and the waves soon beat her to pieces. [footnote : not "little spain," as the form of the word, so much like a diminutive, might seem to indicate. it is simply the feminine of _español_, "spanish," sc. _tierra_ or _isla_. columbus believed that the island was larger than spain. see his letter to gabriel sanchez, in harrisse, tom. i. p. .] [footnote : columbus to santangel, february , (navarrete, tom. i. p. ).] [sidenote: columbus decides to go back to spain.] this catastrophe brought home, with startling force, to the mind of columbus, the fact that the news of his discovery of land was not yet known in europe. as for the pinta and her insubordinate commander, none could say whether they would ever be seen again or whether their speedy arrival in spain might not portend more harm than good to columbus. his armament was now reduced to the little undecked niña alone, such a craft as we should deem about fit for a summer excursion on long island sound. what if his party should all perish, or be stranded helpless on these strange coasts, before any news of their success should reach the ears of friends in europe! then the name of columbus would serve as a by-word for foolhardiness, and his mysterious fate would simply deter other expeditions from following in the same course. obviously the first necessity of the situation was to return to spain immediately and report what had already been done. then it would be easy enough to get ships and men for a second voyage. [sidenote: building of the blockhouse, la navidad.] [sidenote: meeting with pinzon.] this decision led to the founding of an embryo colony upon hispaniola. there was not room enough for all the party to go in the nina, and quite a number begged to be left behind, because they found life upon the island lazy and the natives, especially the women, seemed well-disposed toward them. so a blockhouse was built out of the wrecked ship's timbers and armed with her guns, and in commemoration of that eventful christmas it was called fort nativity (_la navidad_). here forty men were left behind, with provisions enough for a whole year, and on january , , the rest of the party went on board the niña and set sail for spain. two days later in following the northern coast of hispaniola they encountered the pinta, whose commander had been delayed by trading with the natives and by finding some gold. pinzon tried to explain his sudden disappearance by alleging that stress of weather had parted him from his comrades, but his excuses were felt to be lame and improbable. however it may have been with his excuses, there was no doubt as to the lameness of his foremast; it had been too badly sprung to carry much sail, so that the pinta could not again run away from her consort. [sidenote: terrible storm in mid-ocean, feb., .] on this return voyage the admiral, finding the trade winds dead against him, took a northeasterly course until he had passed the thirty-seventh parallel and then headed straight toward spain. on the th of february a storm was brewing, and during the next four days it raged with such terrific violence that it is a wonder how those two frail caravels ever came out of it. they were separated this time not to meet again upon the sea. expecting in all likelihood to be engulfed in the waves with his tiny craft, columbus sealed and directed to ferdinand and isabella two brief reports of his discovery, written upon parchment. each of these he wrapped in a cloth and inclosed in the middle of a large cake of wax, which was then securely shut up in a barrel. one of the barrels was flung into the sea, the other remained standing on the little quarter-deck to await the fate of the caravel. the anxiety was not lessened by the sight of land on the th, for it was impossible to approach it so as to go ashore, and there was much danger of being dashed to pieces. [sidenote: cold reception at the azores.] at length on the th, the storm having abated, the ship's boat went ashore and found that it was the island of st. mary, one of the azores. it is worthy of note that such skilful sailors as the nina's captain, vicente yañez pinzon, and the pilot ruiz were so confused in their reckoning as to suppose themselves near the madeiras, whereas columbus had correctly maintained that they were approaching the azores,--a good instance of his consummate judgment in nautical questions.[ ] from the portuguese governor of the island this spanish company met with a very ungracious reception. a party of sailors whom columbus sent ashore to a small chapel of the virgin, to give thanks for their deliverance from shipwreck, were seized and held as prisoners for five days. it afterwards appeared that this was done in pursuance of general instructions from the king of portugal to the governors of his various islands. if columbus had gone ashore he would probably have been arrested himself. as it was, he took such a high tone and threatened to such good purpose that the governor of st. mary was fain to give up his prisoners for fear of bringing on another war between portugal and castile. [footnote : las casas, tom. i. pp. , .] [sidenote: columbus is driven ashore in portugal, where the king is advised to have him assassinated;] [sidenote: but to offend spain so grossly would be dangerous.] having at length got away from this unfriendly island, as the niña was making her way toward cape st. vincent and within miles of it, she was seized by another fierce tempest and driven upon the coast of portugal, where columbus and his crew were glad of a chance to run into the river tagus for shelter. the news of his voyage and his discoveries aroused intense excitement in lisbon. astonishment was mingled with chagrin at the thought that the opportunity for all this glory and profit had first been offered to portugal and foolishly lost. the king even now tried to persuade himself that columbus had somehow or other been trespassing upon the vast and vague undiscovered dominions granted to the crown of portugal by pope eugenius iv. some of the king's counsellors are said to have urged him to have columbus assassinated; it would be easy enough to provoke such a high-spirited man into a quarrel and then run him through the body.[ ] to clearer heads, however, the imprudence of such a course was manifest. it was already impossible to keep the news of the discovery from reaching spain, and portugal could not afford to go to war with her stronger neighbour. in fact even had john ii. been base enough to resort to assassination, which seems quite incompatible with the general character of lope de vega's "perfect prince," columbus was now too important a personage to be safely interfered with. so he was invited to court and made much of. on the th of march he set sail again and arrived in the harbour of palos at noon of the th. his little caravel was promptly recognized by the people, and as her story flew from mouth to mouth all the business of the town was at an end for that day.[ ] [footnote : this story rests upon the explicit statement of a contemporary portuguese historian of high authority, garcia de resende, _chronica del rey dom joão ii._, lisbon, , cap. clxiv. (written about ); see also vasconcellos, _vida del rey don juan ii._, madrid, , lib. vi.] [footnote : "when they learnt that she returned in triumph from the discovery of a world, the whole community broke forth into transports of joy." irving's _columbus_, vol. i. p. . this is projecting our present knowledge into the past. we now know that columbus had discovered a new world. he did not so much as suspect that he had done anything of the sort; neither did the people of palos.] [sidenote: columbus and pinzon at palos; death of pinzon.] towards evening, while the bells were ringing and the streets brilliant with torches, another vessel entered the harbour and dropped anchor. she was none other than the pinta! the storm had driven her to bayonne, whence martin pinzon instantly despatched a message to ferdinand and isabella, making great claims for himself and asking permission to wait upon them with a full account of the discovery. as soon as practicable he made his way to palos, but when on arriving he saw the niña already anchored in the harbour his guilty heart failed him. he took advantage of the general hub-bub to slink ashore as quickly and quietly as possible, and did not dare to show himself until after the admiral had left for seville. the news from columbus reached the sovereigns before they had time to reply to the message of pinzon; so when their answer came to him it was cold and stern and forbade him to appear in their presence. pinzon was worn out with the hardships of the homeward voyage, and this crushing reproof was more than he could bear. his sudden death, a few days afterward, was generally attributed to chagrin.[ ] [sidenote: columbus is received by the sovereigns at barcelona, april, .] [sidenote: general excitement at the news that a way to the indies had been found.] from seville the admiral was summoned to attend court at barcelona, where he was received with triumphal honours. he was directed to seat himself in the presence of the sovereigns, a courtesy usually reserved for royal personages.[ ] intense interest was felt in his specimens of stuffed birds and small mammals, his live parrots, his collection of herbs which he supposed to have medicinal virtues, his few pearls and trinkets of gold, and especially his six painted and bedizened barbarians, the survivors of ten with whom he had started from hispaniola. since in the vague terminology of that time the remote and scarcely known parts of asia were called the indies, and since the islands and coasts just discovered were indies, of course these red men must be indians. so columbus had already named them in his first letter written from the niña, off the azores, sent by special messenger from palos, and now in april, , printed at barcelona, containing the particulars of his discovery,--a letter appropriately addressed to the worthy santangel but for whose timely intervention he might have ridden many a weary league on that mule of his to no good purpose.[ ] it was generally assumed without question that the admiral's theory of his discovery must be correct, that the coast of cuba must be the eastern extremity of china, that the coast of hispaniola must be the northern extremity of cipango, and that a direct route--much shorter than that which portugal had so long been seeking--had now been found to those lands of illimitable wealth described by marco polo.[ ] to be sure columbus had not as yet seen the evidences of this oriental splendour, and had been puzzled at not finding them, but he felt confident that he had come very near them and would come full upon them in a second voyage. there was nobody who knew enough to refute these opinions,[ ] and really why should not this great geographer, who had accomplished so much already which people had scouted as impossible,--why should he not know what he was about? it was easy enough now to get men and money for the second voyage. when the admiral sailed from cadiz on september , , it was with seventeen ships carrying , men. their dreams were of the marble palaces of quinsay, of isles of spices, and the treasures of prester john. the sovereigns wept for joy as they thought that such untold riches were vouchsafed them by the special decree of heaven, as a reward for having overcome the moor at granada and banished the jews from spain.[ ] columbus shared these views and regarded himself as a special instrument for executing the divine decrees. he renewed his vow to rescue the holy sepulchre, promising within the next seven years to equip at his own expense a crusading army of , foot and , horse; within five years thereafter he would follow this with a second army of like dimensions. [footnote : charlevoix, _histoire de l'isle espagnole, ou de st. domingue_, paris, , liv. ii.; muñoz, _historia de las indias ó nuevo mundo_, madrid, , lib. iv. § .] [footnote : he was also allowed to quarter the royal arms with his own, "which consisted of a group of golden islands amid azure billows. to these were afterwards added five anchors, with the celebrated motto, well known as being carved on his sepulchre." prescott's _ferdinand and isabella_, pt. i. chap. vii. this statement about the motto is erroneous. see below, p. . considering the splendour of the reception given to columbus, and the great interest felt in his achievement, mr. prescott is surprised at finding no mention of this occasion in the local annals of barcelona, or in the royal archives of aragon. he conjectures, with some probability, that the cause of the omission may have been what an american would call "sectional" jealousy. this cathay and cipango business was an affair of castile's, and, as such, quite beneath the notice of patriotic aragonese archivists! that is the way history has too often been treated. with most people it is only a kind of ancestor worship.] [footnote : the unique copy of this first edition of this spanish letter is a small folio of two leaves, or four pages. it was announced for sale in quaritch's catalogue, april , , no. , p. , for £ , . evidently most book-lovers will have to content themselves with the facsimile published in london, , price two guineas. a unique copy of a spanish reprint in small quarto, made in , is preserved in the ambrosian library at milan. in messrs. ellis & elvey, of london, published a facsimile _alleged_ to have been made from an edition of about the same date as the ambrosian quarto; but there are good reasons for believing that these highly respectable publishers have been imposed upon. it is a time just now when fictitious literary discoveries of this sort may command a high price, and the dealer in early americana must keep his eyes open. see quaritch's note, _op. cit._ p. ; and justin winsor's letter in _the nation_, april , , vol. lii. p. .] [footnote : "the lands, therefore, which columbus had visited were called the west indies; and as he seemed to have entered upon a vast region of unexplored countries, existing in a state of nature, the whole received the comprehensive appellation of the new world." irving's _columbus_, vol. i. p. . these are very grave errors, again involving the projection of our modern knowledge into the past. the lands which columbus had visited were called simply the indies; it was not until long after his death, and after the crossing of the pacific ocean, that they were distinguished from the east indies. the _new world_ was not at first a "comprehensive appellation" for the countries discovered by columbus; it was at first applied to one particular region never visited by him, viz. to that portion of the southeastern coast of south america first explored by vespucius. see vol. ii. pp. , .] [footnote : peter martyr, however, seems to have entertained some vague doubts, inasmuch as this assumed nearness of the china coast on the west implied a greater eastward extension of the asiatic continent than seemed to him probable:--"insulas reperit plures; has esse, de quibus fit apud cosmographos mentio extra oceanum orientalem, adjacentes indiæ arbitrantur. nec inficior ego penitus, _quamvis sphæræ magnitudo aliter sentire videatur_; neque enim desunt qui parvo tractu a finibus hispaniæ distare littus indicum putent." _opus epist._, no. . the italicizing is mine.] [footnote : this abominable piece of wickedness, driving , of spain's best citizens from their homes and their native land, was accomplished in pursuance of an edict signed march , . there is a brief account of it in prescott's _ferdinand and isabella_, pt. i. chap. vi.] [sidenote: this voyage was an event without any parallel in history.] thus nobody had the faintest suspicion of what had been done. in the famous letter to santangel there is of course not a word about a new world. the grandeur of the achievement was quite beyond the ken of the generation that witnessed it. for we have since come to learn that in the contact between the eastern and the western halves of our planet was first really begun, and the two streams of human life which had flowed on for countless ages apart were thenceforth to mingle together. the first voyage of columbus is thus a unique event in the history of mankind. nothing like it was ever done before, and nothing like it can ever be done again. no worlds are left for a future columbus to conquer. the era of which this great italian mariner was the most illustrious representative has closed forever. chapter vi. the finding of strange coasts. [sidenote: the discovery of america was a gradual process.] but that era did not close with columbus, nor did he live long enough to complete the discovery of america. our practice of affixing specific dates to great events is on many accounts indispensable, but it is sometimes misleading. such an event as the discovery of a pair of vast continents does not take place within a single year. when we speak of america as discovered in , we do not mean that the moment columbus landed on two or three islands of the west indies, a full outline map of the western hemisphere from labrador and alaska to cape horn suddenly sprang into existence--like pallas from the forehead of zeus--in the minds of european men. yet people are perpetually using arguments which have neither force nor meaning save upon the tacit assumption that somehow or other some such sort of thing must have happened. this grotesque fallacy lies at the bottom of the tradition which has caused so many foolish things to be said about that gallant mariner, americus vespucius. in geographical discussions the tendency to overlook the fact that columbus and his immediate successors did not sail with the latest edition of black's general atlas in their cabins is almost inveterate; it keeps revealing itself in all sorts of queer statements, and probably there is no cure for it except in familiarity with the long series of perplexed and struggling maps made in the sixteenth century. properly regarded, the discovery of america was not a single event, but a very gradual process. it was not like a case of special creation, for it was a case of evolution, and the voyage of was simply the most decisive and epoch-marking incident in that evolution. columbus himself, after all his four eventful voyages across the sea of darkness, died in the belief that he had simply discovered the best and straightest route to the eastern shores of asia. yet from his first experiences in cuba down to his latest voyage upon the coasts of honduras and veragua, he was more or less puzzled at finding things so different from what he had anticipated. if he had really known anything with accuracy about the eastern coast of asia, he would doubtless soon have detected his fundamental error, but no european in his day had any such knowledge. in his four voyages columbus was finding what he supposed to be parts of asia, what we now know to have been parts of america, but what were really to him and his contemporaries neither more nor less than strange coasts. we have now to consider briefly his further experiences upon these strange coasts. * * * * * the second voyage of columbus was begun in a very different mood and under very different auspices from either his former or his two subsequent voyages. on his first departure from palos, in , all save a few devoted friends regarded him as a madman rushing upon his doom; and outside the spanish peninsula the expedition seems to have attracted no notice. but on the second start, in , all hands supposed that they were going straight to golden cathay and to boundless riches. it was not now with groans but with pæans that they flocked on board the ships; and the occasion was observed, with more or less interest, by some people in other countries of europe,--as in italy, and for the moment in france and england. [sidenote: the letter to sanchez.] at the same time with his letter to santangel, the admiral had despatched another account, substantially the same,[ ] to gabriel sanchez,[ ] another officer of the royal treasury. several copies of a latin translation of this letter were published at rome, at paris, and elsewhere, in the course of the year .[ ] the story which it contained was at once paraphrased in italian verse by giuliano dati, one of the most popular poets of the age, and perhaps in the autumn of the amazing news that the indies had been found by sailing west[ ] was sung by street urchins in florence. we are also informed, in an ill-vouched but not improbable clause in ramusio, that not far from that same time the news was heard with admiration in london, where it was pronounced "a thing more divine than human to sail by the west unto the east, where spices grow, by a way that was never known before;"[ ] and it seems altogether likely that it was this news that prompted the expedition of john cabot hereafter to be mentioned.[ ] [footnote : "un duplicata de cette relation," harrisse, _christophe colomb_, tom i. p. .] [footnote : often called raphael sanchez.] [footnote : the following epigram was added to the first latin edition of the latter by corbaria, bishop of monte-peloso:-- _ad invictissimum regem hispaniarum_: iam nulla hispanis tellus addenda triumphis, atque parum tantis viribus orbis erat. nunc longe eois regio deprensa sub undis, auctura est titulos betice magne tuos. unde repertori inerita referenda columbo gratia, sed summo est maior habenda deo, qui vincenda parat noua regna tibique sibique teque simul fortem prestat et esse pium. these lines are thus paraphrased by m. harrisse:-- _to the invincible king of the spains_: less wide the world than the renown of spain, to swell her triumphs no new lands remain. rejoice, iberia! see thy fame increased! another world columbus from the east and the mid-ocean summons to thy sway! give thanks to him--but loftier homage pay to god supreme, who gives its realms to thee! greatest of monarchs, first of servants be! _bibliotheca americana vetustissima_, p. . the following is a literal version:--"already there is no land to be added to the triumphs of spain, and the earth was too small for such great deeds. now a far country under the eastern waves has been discovered, and will be an addition to thy titles, o great bætica! wherefore thanks are due to the illustrious discover columbus; but greater thanks to the supreme god, who is making ready new realms to be conquered for thee and for himself, and vouchsafes to thee to be at once strong and pious." it will be observed that nothing is said about "another world." an elaborate account of these earliest and excessively rare editions is given by m. harrisse, _loc. cit._] [footnote : or, as mr. major carelessly puts it, "the astounding news of the discovery of a new world." (_select letters of columbus_, p. vi.) mr. major knows very well that no such "news" was possible for many a year after ; his remark is, of course, a mere slip of the pen, but if we are ever going to straighten out the tangle of misconceptions with which this subject is commonly surrounded, we must be careful in our choice of words.--as a fair specimen, of the chap-book style of dati's stanzas, we may cite the fourteenth:-- hor vo tornar almio primo tractato dellisole trovate incognite a te in [~q]sto anno presente [~q]sto e stato nel millequatrocento nov[=a]tatre, uno che x[~p]ofan col[=o]bo chiamato, che e stato in corte der prefecto re ha molte volte questa stimolato, el re ch'cerchi acrescere il suo stato. m. harrisse gives the following version:-- back to my theme, o listener, turn with me and hear of islands all unknown to thee! islands whereof the grand discovery chanced in this year of fourteen ninety-three. one christopher colombo, whose resort was ever in the king fernando's court, bent himself still to rouse and stimulate the king to swell the borders of his state. _bibliotheca americana vetustissima_, p. . the entire poem of sixty-eight stanzas is given in major, _op. cit._ pp. lxxiii.-xc. it was published at florence, oct. , , and was called "the story of the discovery [not of a new world, but] of the new indian islands of canary!" (_storia della inventione delle nuove isole dicanaria indiane._)] [footnote : _raccolta di navigazioni_, etc., venice, , tom. i. fol. .] [footnote : see below, vol. ii. pp. - .] [sidenote: earliest references to the discovery.] [sidenote: earliest reference in english.] the references to the discovery are very scanty, however, until after the year , and extremely vague withal. for example, bernardino de carvajal, the spanish ambassador at the papal court, delivered an oration in rome on june , , in which he said: "and christ placed under their [ferdinand and isabella's] rule the fortunate [canary] islands, the fertility of which has been ascertained to be wonderful. and he has lately disclosed some other unknown ones towards the indies which may be considered among the most precious things on earth; and it is believed that they will be gained over to christ by the emissaries of the king."[ ] outside of the romance countries we find one german version of the first letter of columbus, published at strasburg, in ,[ ] and a brief allusion to the discovery in sebastian brandt's famous allegorical poem, "das narrenschiff," the first edition of which appeared in .[ ] the earliest distinct reference to columbus in the english language is to be found in a translation of this poem, "the shyppe of fooles," by henry watson, published in london by wynkyn de worde in . the purpose of brandt's allegory was to satirize the follies committed by all sorts and conditions of men. in the chapter, "of hym that wyll wryte and enquere of all regyons," it is said: "there was one that knewe that in y^{e} ysles of spayne was enhabitantes. wherefore he asked men of kynge ferdynandus & wente & founde them, the whiche lyved as beestes."[ ] until after the middle of the sixteenth century no english chronicler mentions either columbus or the cabots, nor is there anywhere an indication that the significance of the discoveries in the western ocean was at all understood.[ ] [footnote : harrisse, _bibliotheca americana vetustissima_, p. .] [footnote : id. p. .] [footnote : auch hat man sydt in portigall und in hyspanyen uberall golt-inseln funden, und nacket l[°u]t von den man vor wust sagen n[°u]t. harrisse, _bibl. amer. vet._; _additions_, p. . or, in more modern german:-- wie man auch jüngst von portugal und hispanien aus schier überall goldinseln fand und nakte leute, von denen man erst weiss seit heute. _das narrenschiff_, ed. simrock, berlin, , p. . in the latin version of , now in the national library at paris, it goes somewhat differently:-- antea que fuerat priscis incognita tellus: exposita est oculis & manifesta patet. hesperie occidue rex ferdinandus: in alto aequore nunc gentes repperit innumeras. harrisse, _op. cit._; _additions_, p. . it will be observed that these foreign references are so ungallant, and so incorrect, as to give all the credit to ferdinand, while poor isabella is not mentioned!] [footnote : harrisse, _op. cit._; _additions_, p. .] [footnote : harrisse, _jean et sebastien cabot_, paris, , p. .] [sidenote: portuguese claim to the indies.] north of the alps and pyrenees the interest in what was going on at the spanish court in was probably confined to very few people. as for venice and genoa we have no adequate means of knowing how they felt about the matter,--a fact which in itself is significant. the interest was centred in spain and portugal. there it was intense and awakened fierce heart-burnings. though john ii. had not given his consent to the proposal for murdering columbus, he appears to have seriously entertained the thought of sending a small fleet across the atlantic as soon as possible, to take possession of some point in cathay or cipango and then dispute the claims of the spaniards.[ ] such a summary proceeding might perhaps be defended on the ground that the grant from pope eugenius v. to the crown of portugal expressly included "the indies." in the treaty of , moreover, spain had promised not to interfere with the discoveries and possessions of the portuguese. [footnote : vasconcellos, _vida del rey don juan ii._, madrid, , lib. vi.] [sidenote: bulls of pope alexander vi.] but whatever king john may have intended, ferdinand and isabella were too quick for him. no sooner had columbus arrived at barcelona than an embassy was despatched to rome, asking for a grant of the indies just discovered by that navigator in the service of castile. the notorious rodrigo borgia, who had lately been placed in the apostolic chair as alexander vi., was a native of valencia in the kingdom of aragon, and would not be likely to refuse such a request through any excess of regard for portugal. as between the two rival powers the pontiff's arrangement was made in a spirit of even-handed justice. on the d of may, , he issued a bull conferring upon the spanish sovereigns all lands already discovered or thereafter to be discovered in the western ocean, with jurisdiction and privileges in all respects similar to those formerly bestowed upon the crown of portugal. this grant was made by the pope "out of our pure liberality, certain knowledge, and plenitude of apostolic power," and by virtue of "the authority of omnipotent god granted to us in st. peter, and of the vicarship of jesus christ which we administer upon the earth."[ ] it was a substantial reward for the monarchs who had completed the overthrow of mahometan rule in spain, and it afforded them opportunities for further good work in converting the heathen inhabitants of the islands and mainland of asia.[ ] [footnote : "de nostra mera liberalitate, et ex certa scientia, ac de apostolicæ potestatis plenitudine." ... "auctoritate omnipotentis dei nobis in beato petro concessa, ac vicariatus jesu christi qua fungimur in terris." the same language is used in the second bull. mr. prescott (_ferdinand and isabella_, part i. chap, vii.) translates _certa scientia_ "infallible knowledge," but in order to avoid any complications with modern theories concerning papal infallibility, i prefer to use a less technical word.] [footnote : a year or two later the sovereigns were further rewarded with the decorative title of "most catholic." see zurita, _historia del rey hernando_, saragossa, , lib. ii. cap. xl.; peter martyr, _epist._ clvii.] [sidenote: treaty of tordesillas.] on the following day alexander issued a second bull in order to prevent any occasion for quarrel between spain and portugal.[ ] he decreed that all lands discovered or to be discovered to the west of a meridian one hundred leagues west of the azores and cape verde islands should belong to the spaniards. inasmuch as between the westernmost of the azores and the easternmost of the cape verde group the difference in longitude is not far from ten degrees, this description must be allowed to be somewhat vague, especially in a document emanating from "certain knowledge;"[ ] and it left open a source of future disputes which one would suppose the "plenitude of apostolic power" might have been worthily employed in closing. the meridian ° w., however, would have satisfied the conditions, and the equitable intent of the arrangement is manifest. the portuguese were left free to pursue their course of discovery and conquest along the routes which they had always preferred. king john, however, was not satisfied. he entertained vague hopes of finding spice islands, or something worth having, in the western waters; and he wished to have the line of demarcation carried farther to the west. after a year of diplomatic wrangling a treaty was signed at tordesillas, june , , in which spain consented to the moving of the line to a distance of leagues west from the cape verde islands.[ ] it would thus on a modern map fall somewhere between the st and th meridians west of greenwich. this amendment had important and curious consequences. it presently gave the brazilian coast to the portuguese, and thereupon played a leading part in the singular and complicated series of events that ended in giving the name of americus vespucius to that region, whence it was afterwards gradually extended to the whole western hemisphere.[ ] [footnote : the complete text of this bull, with richard eden's translation, is given at the end of this work; see below, appendix b. the official text is in _magnum bullarium romanum_, ed. cherubini, lyons, , tom. i. p. . the original document received by ferdinand and isabella is preserved in the archives of the indies at seville; it is printed entire in navarrete, _coleccion de viages_, tom. ii. no. . another copy, less complete, may be found in raynaldus, _annales ecclesiastici_, lucca, , tom. xi. p. , no. - ; and another in leibnitz, _codex diplomaticus_, tom. i. pt. i. p. . it is often called the bull "inter cetera," from its opening words. the origin of the pope's claim to apostolic authority for giving away kingdoms is closely connected with the fictitious "donation of constantine," an edict probably fabricated in rome about the middle of the eighth century. the title of the old latin text is _edictum domini constantini imp._, apud pseudo-isidorus, _decretalia_. constantine's transfer of the seat of empire from the tiber to the bosphorus tended greatly to increase the dignity and power of the papacy, and i presume that the fabrication of this edict, four centuries afterward, was the expression of a sincere belief that the first christian emperor _meant_ to leave the temporal supremacy over italy in the hands of the roman see. the edict purported to be such a donation from constantine to pope sylvester i., but the extent and character of the donation was stated with such vagueness as to allow a wide latitude of interpretation. its genuineness was repeatedly called in question, but belief in it seems to have grown in strength until after the thirteenth century. leo ix., who was a strong believer in its genuineness, granted in to the normans their conquests in sicily and calabria, to be held as a fief of the roman see. (muratori, _annali d' italia_, tom. vi. pt. ii. p. .) it was next used to sustain the papal claim to suzerainty over the island of corsica. a century later john of salisbury maintained the right of the pope to dispose "of all _islands_ on which christ, the sun of righteousness, hath shined," and in conformity with this opinion pope adrian iv. (nicholas breakspeare, an englishman) authorized in king henry ii. of england to invade and conquer ireland. (see adrian iv., _epist._ , apud migne, _patrologia_, tom. clxxxviii.) dr. lanigan, in treating of this matter, is more an irishman than a papist, and derides "this nonsense of the pope's being the head-owner of all christian islands." (_ecclesiastical history of ireland_, vol. iv. p. .)--gregory vii., in working up to the doctrine that all christian kingdoms should be held as fiefs under st. peter (baronius, _annales_, tom. xvii. p. ; cf. villemain, _histoire de grégoire vii._, paris, , tom. ii. pp. - ), does not seem to have appealed to the donation. perhaps he was shrewd enough to foresee the kind of objection afterwards raised by the albigensians, who pithily declared that if the suzerainty of the popes was derived from the donation, then they were successors of constantine and not of st. peter. (moneta cremonensis, _adversus catharos et waldenses_, ed. ricchini, rome, , v. .) but innocent iv. summarily disposed of this argument at the council of lyons in , when he deposed the emperor frederick ii. and king sancho ii. of portugal,--saying that christ himself had bestowed temporal as well as spiritual headship upon st. peter and his successors, so that constantine only gave up to the church what belonged to it already. the opposite or ghibelline theory was eloquently set forth by dante, in his treatise _de monarchia_; he held that inasmuch as the empire existed before the church, it could not be derived from it. dante elsewhere expressed his abhorrence of the donation:-- ahi constantin, di quanto mal fu matre, non la tua conversion, ma quella dote che da te prese il primo ricco patre! _inferno_, xix. . similar sentiments were expressed by many of the most popular poets from the twelfth century to the sixteenth. walther von der vogelweide was sure that if the first christian emperor could have foreseen the evils destined to flow from his donation, he would have withheld it:-- solte ich den pfaffen raten an den triuwen min, so spræche ir haut den armen zuo: se, daz ist din, ir zunge sünge, unde lieze mengem man daz sin, gedæhten daz ouch si dur got wæren almuosenære. do gab ir erste teil der kuenik konstantin, het er gewest, daz da von uebel kuenftik wære, so het er wol underkomen des riches swære, wan daz si do waren kiusche, und uebermuete lære. hagen, _minnesinger-sammlung_, leipsic, , bd. i. p. . ariosto, in a passage rollicking with satire, makes his itinerant paladin find the "stinking" donation in the course of his journey upon the moon:-- di varii fiori ad un gran monte passa, ch' ebber già buono odore, or puzzan forte, questo era il dono, se però dir lece, che constantino al buon silvestro fece. _orlando furioso_, xxxiv. . the donation was finally proved to be a forgery by laurentius valla in , in his _de falso credita et ementita constantini donatione declamatio_ (afterward spread far and wide by ulrich von hutten), and independently by the noble reginald pecock, bishop of chichester, in his _repressor_, written about .--during the preceding century the theory of gregory vii. and innocent iv. had been carried to its uttermost extreme by the franciscan monk alvaro pelayo, in his _de planctu ecclesiæ_, written at avignon during the "babylonish captivity," about (printed at venice in ), and by agostino trionfi, in his _summa de potestate ecclesiastica_, augsburg, , an excessively rare book, of which there is a copy in the british museum. these writers maintained that the popes were suzerains of the whole earth and had absolute power to dispose not only of all christian kingdoms, but also of all heathen lands and powers. it was upon this theory that eugenius iv. seems to have acted with reference to portugal and alexander vi. with reference to spain. of course there was never a time when such claims for the papacy were not denied by a large party within the church. the spanish sovereigns in appealing to alexander vi. took care to hint that some of their advisers regarded them as already entitled to enjoy the fruits of their discoveries, even before obtaining the papal permission, but they did not choose to act upon that opinion (herrera, decad. i. lib. ii. cap. ). the kings of portugal were less reserved in their submission. in _valasci ferdinandi ad innocentium octauum de obedientia oratio_, a small quarto printed at rome about , john ii. did homage to the pope for the countries just discovered by bartholomew dias. his successor emanuel did the same after the voyages of gama and vespucius. in a small quarto, _obedientia potentissimi emanuelis lusitaniæ regis &c. per clarissimum juris consultum dieghum pacett[=u] oratorem ad iuli[=u] pont. max._, rome, , all the newly found lands are laid at the feet of julius ii. in a passage that ends with words worth noting: "accipe tandem orbem ipsum terrarum, deus enim noster es," i. e. "accept in fine the earth itself, for thou art our god." similar homage was rendered to leo x. in , on account of albuquerque's conquests in asia.--we may suspect that if the papacy had retained, at the end of the fifteenth century, anything like the overshadowing power which it possessed at the end of the twelfth, the kings of portugal would not have been quite so unstinted in their homage. as it came to be less of a reality and more of a flourish of words, it cost less to offer it. among some modern catholics i have observed a disposition to imagine that in the famous bull of partition alexander vi. acted not as supreme pontiff but merely as an arbiter, in the modern sense, between the crowns of spain and portugal; but such an interpretation is hardly compatible with alexander's own words. an arbiter, as such, does not make awards by virtue of "the authority of omnipotent god granted to us in st. peter, and of the vicarship of jesus christ which we administer upon the earth." since writing this note my attention has been called to dr. ignaz von döllinger's _fables respecting the popes of the middle ages_, london, ; and i find in it a chapter on the donation of constantine, in which the subject is treated with a wealth of learning. some of my brief references are there discussed at considerable length. to the references to dante there is added a still more striking passage, where constantine is admitted into heaven _in spite of_ his donation (_paradiso_, xx. ).] [footnote : the language of the bull is even more vague than my version in the text. his holiness describes the lands to be given to the spaniards as lying "to the west and south" (versus occidentem et meridiem) of his dividing meridian. land to the south of a meridian would be in a queer position! probably it was meant to say that the spaniards, once west of the papal meridian, might go south as well as north. for the king of portugal had suggested that they ought to confine themselves to northern waters.] [footnote : for the original spanish text of the treaty of tordesillas, see navarrete, tom. ii. pp. - .] [footnote : see below, vol. ii. pp. - .] * * * * * [sidenote: juan rodriguez de fonseca.] already in april, , without waiting for the papal sanction, ferdinand and isabella bent all their energies to the work of fitting out an expedition for taking possession of "the indies." first, a department of indian affairs was created, and at its head was placed juan rodriguez de fonseca, archdeacon of seville: in spain a man in high office was apt to be a clergyman. this fonseca was all-powerful in indian affairs for the next thirty years. he won and retained the confidence of the sovereigns by virtue of his executive ability. he was a man of coarse fibre, ambitious and domineering, cold-hearted and perfidious, with a cynical contempt--such as low-minded people are apt to call "smart"--for the higher human feelings. he was one of those ugly customers who crush, without a twinge of compunction, whatever comes in their way. the slightest opposition made him furious, and his vindictiveness was insatiable. this dexterous and pushing fonseca held one after another the bishoprics of badajoz, cordova, palencia, and conde, the archbishopric of rosano in italy, together with the bishopric of burgos, and he was also principal chaplain to isabella and afterwards to ferdinand. as sir arthur helps observes, "the student of early american history will have a bad opinion of many spanish bishops, if he does not discover that it is bishop fonseca who reappears under various designations."[ ] sir arthur fitly calls him "the ungodly bishop." [footnote : _history of the spanish conquest_, vol. i. p. .] [sidenote: friar boyle.] the headquarters of fonseca and of the indian department were established at seville, and a special indian custom-house was set up at cadiz. there was to be another custom-house upon the island of hispaniola (supposed to be japan), and a minute registry was to be kept of all ships and their crews and cargoes, going out or coming in. nobody was to be allowed to go to the indies for any purpose whatever without a license formally obtained. careful regulations were made for hampering trade and making everything as vexatious as possible for traders, according to the ordinary wisdom of governments in such matters. all expenses were to be borne and all profits received by the crown of castile, saving the rights formerly guaranteed to columbus. the cost of the present expedition was partly defrayed with stolen money, the plunder wrung from the worthy and industrious jews who had been driven from their homes by the infernal edict of the year before. extensive "requisitions" were also made; in other words, when the sovereigns wanted a ship or a barrel of gunpowder they seized it, and impressed it into the good work of converting the heathen. to superintend this missionary work, a franciscan monk[ ] was selected who had lately distinguished himself as a diplomatist in the dispute with france over the border province of rousillon. this person was a native of catalonia, and his name was bernardo boyle, which strongly suggests an irish origin. alexander vi. appointed him his apostolic vicar for the indies,[ ] and he seems to have been the first clergyman to perform mass on the western shores of the atlantic. to assist the vicar, the six indians brought over by columbus were baptized at barcelona, with the king and queen for their godfather and godmother. it was hoped that they would prove useful as missionaries, and when one of them presently died he was said to be the first indian ever admitted to heaven.[ ] [footnote : irving calls him a benedictine, but he is addressed as "fratri ordinis minorum" in the bull clothing him with apostolic authority in the indies, june , . see raynaldus, _annales ecclesiastici_, tom. xi. p. . i cannot imagine what m. harrisse means by calling him "religieux de saint-vincent de paule" (_christophe colomb_, tom. ii. p. ). vincent de paul was not born till .] [footnote : not for "the new world," as irving carelessly has it in his _columbus_, vol. i. p. . no such phrase had been thought of in , or until long afterward.] [footnote : herrera, _hist. de las indias_, decad. i. lib. ii. cap. .] the three summer months were occupied in fitting out the little fleet. there were fourteen caravels, and three larger store-ships known as carracks. horses, mules, and other cattle were put on board,[ ] as well as vines and sugar-canes, and the seeds of several european cereals, for it was intended to establish a permanent colony upon hispaniola. in the course of this work some slight matters of disagreement came up between columbus and fonseca, and the question having been referred to the sovereigns, fonseca was mildly snubbed and told that he must in all respects be guided by the admiral's wishes. from that time forth this ungodly prelate nourished a deadly hatred toward columbus, and never lost an opportunity for whispering evil things about him. the worst of the grievous afflictions that afterward beset the great discoverer must be ascribed to the secret machinations of this wretch. [footnote : _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. xliv.] [sidenote: notable persons who embarked on the second voyage.] at last the armament was ready. people were so eager to embark that it was felt necessary to restrain them. it was not intended to have more than , , but about , in all contrived to go, so that some of the caravels must have been overcrowded. the character of the company was very different from that of the year before. those who went in the first voyage were chiefly common sailors. now there were many aristocratic young men, hot-blooded and feather-headed hidalgos whom the surrender of granada had left without an occupation. most distinguished among these was alonso de ojeda, a dare-devil of unrivalled muscular strength, full of energy and fanfaronade, and not without generous qualities, but with very little soundness of judgment or character. other notable personages in this expedition were columbus's youngest brother giacomo (henceforth called diego), who had come from genoa at the first news of the admiral's triumphant return; the monk antonio de marchena,[ ] whom historians have so long confounded with the prior juan perez; an aragonese gentleman named pedro margarite, a favourite of the king and destined to work sad mischief; juan ponce de leon, who afterwards gave its name to florida; francisco de las casas, father of the great apostle and historian of the indies; and, last but not least, the pilot juan de la cosa, now charged with the work of chart-making, in which he was an acknowledged master.[ ] [footnote : he went as astronomer, from which we may perhaps suppose that scientific considerations had made him one of the earliest and most steadfast upholders of columbus's views.] [footnote : see harrisse, _christophe colomb_, tom. ii. pp. , ; las casas, _hist. de las indias_, tom. i. p. ; fabié, _vida de las casas_, madrid, , tom. i. p. ; oviedo, _hist. de las indias_, tom. i. p. ; navarrete, _coleccion de viages_, tom. ii. pp. - .] [sidenote: cruise among the cannibal islands.] the pomp and bustle of the departure from cadiz, september , , at which the admiral's two sons, diego and ferdinand, were present, must have been one of the earliest recollections of the younger boy, then just five years of age.[ ] again columbus stopped at the canary islands, this time to take on board goats and sheep, pigs and fowls, for he had been struck by the absence of all such animals on the coasts which he had visited.[ ] seeds of melons, oranges, and lemons were also taken. on the th of october the ships weighed anchor, heading a trifle to the south of west, and after a pleasant and uneventful voyage they sighted land on the d of november.[ ] it turned out to be a small mountainous island, and as it was discovered on sunday they called it dominica. in a fortnight's cruise in these caribbean waters they discovered and named several islands, such as marigalante, guadaloupe, antigua, and others, and at length reached porto rico. the inhabitants of these islands were ferocious cannibals, very different from the natives encountered on the former voyage. there were skirmishes in which a few spaniards were killed with poisoned arrows. on guadaloupe the natives lived in square houses made of saplings intertwined with reeds, and on the rude porticoes attached to these houses some of the wooden pieces were carved so as to look like serpents. in some of these houses human limbs were hanging from the roof, cured with smoke, like ham; and fresh pieces of human flesh were found stewing in earthen kettles, along with the flesh of parrots. now at length, said peter martyr, was proved the truth of the stories of polyphemus and the læstrygonians, and the reader must look out lest his hair stand on end.[ ] these western læstrygonians were known as caribbees, caribales, or canibales, and have thus furnished an epithet which we have since learned to apply to man-eaters the world over. [footnote : "e con questo preparamento il mercoledé ai del mese di settembre dell' anno un' ora avanti il levar del sole, essendovi io e mio fratel presenti, l' ammiraglio levò le ancore," etc. _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. xliv.] [footnote : eight sows were bought for maravedis apiece, and "destas ocho puercas se han multiplicado todos los puercos que, hasta hoy, ha habido y hay en todas estas indias," etc. las casas, _historia_, tom. ii. p. .] [footnote : the relation of this second voyage by dr. chanca may be found in navarrete, tom. i. pp. - ; an interesting relation in italian by simone verde, a florentine merchant then living in valladolid, is published in harrisse, _christophe colomb_, tom. ii. pp. - . the narrative of the curate of los palacios is of especial value for this voyage.] [footnote : martyr, _epist._ cxlvii. _ad pomponium lætum_; cf. _odyssey_, x. ; thucyd. vi. .--irving (vol. i. p. ) finds it hard to believe these stories, but the prevalence of cannibalism, not only in these islands, but throughout a very large part of aboriginal america, has been superabundantly proved.] [sidenote: fate of the colony at la navidad.] it was late at night on the th of november that columbus arrived in the harbour of la navidad and fired a salute to arouse the attention of the party that had been left there the year before. there was no reply and the silence seemed fraught with evil omen. on going ashore next morning and exploring the neighbourhood, the spaniards came upon sights of dismal significance. the fortress was pulled to pieces and partly burnt, the chests of provisions were broken open and emptied, tools and fragments of european clothing were found in the houses of the natives, and finally eleven corpses, identifiable as those of white men, were found buried near the fort. not one of the forty men who had been left behind in that place ever turned up to tell the tale. the little colony of la navidad had been wiped out of existence. from the indians, however, columbus gathered bits of information that made a sufficiently probable story. it was a typical instance of the beginnings of colonization in wild countries. in such instances human nature has shown considerable uniformity. insubordination and deadly feuds among themselves had combined with reckless outrages upon the natives to imperil the existence of this little party of rough sailors. the cause to which horace ascribes so many direful wars, both before and since the days of fairest helen, seems to have been the principal cause on this occasion. at length a fierce chieftain named caonabo, from the region of xaragua, had attacked the spaniards in overwhelming force, knocked their blockhouse about their heads, and butchered all that were left of them. [sidenote: building of isabella.] [sidenote: exploration of cibao.] this was a gloomy welcome to the land of promise. there was nothing to be done but to build new fortifications and found a town. the site chosen for this new settlement, which was named isabella, was at a good harbour about thirty miles east of monte christi. it was chosen because columbus understood from the natives that it was not far from there to the gold-bearing mountains of cibao, a name which still seemed to signify cipango. quite a neat little town was presently built, with church, marketplace, public granary, and dwelling-houses, the whole encompassed with a stone wall. an exploring party led by ojeda into the mountains of cibao found gold dust and pieces of gold ore in the beds of the brooks, and returned elated with this discovery. twelve of the ships were now sent back to spain for further supplies and reinforcements, and specimens of the gold were sent as an earnest of what was likely to be found. at length, in march, , columbus set forth, with armed men, to explore the cibao country. the march was full of interest. it is upon this occasion that we first find mention of the frantic terror manifested by indians at the sight of horses. at first they supposed the horse and his rider to be a kind of centaur, and when the rider dismounted this separation of one creature into two overwhelmed them with supernatural terror. even when they had begun to get over this notion they were in dread of being eaten by the horses.[ ] these natives lived in houses grouped into villages, and had carved wooden idols and rude estufas for their tutelar divinities. it was ascertained that different tribes tried to steal each other's idols and even fought for the possession of valuable objects of "medicine."[ ] columbus observed and reported the customs of these people with some minuteness. there was nothing that agreed with marco polo's descriptions of cipango, but so far as concerned the discovery of gold mines, the indications were such as to leave little doubt of the success of this reconnaissance. the admiral now arranged his forces so as to hold the inland regions just visited and gave the general command to margarite, who was to continue the work of exploration. he left his brother, diego columbus, in charge of the colony, and taking three caravels set sail from isabella on the th of april, on a cruise of discovery in these asiatic waters. [footnote : for an instance of hostile indians fleeing before a single armed horseman, see _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. lii.; las casas, _hist._ tom. ii. p. .] [footnote : compare the fisherman's story of drogio, above, pp. , .] [illustration: discoveries made by columbus in his first and second voyages.] [sidenote: cape alpha and omega.] a brief westward sail brought the little squadron into the windward passage and in sight of cape mayzi, which columbus on his first voyage had named cape alpha and omega as being the easternmost point on the chinese coast. he believed that if he were to sail to the right of this cape he should have the continent on his port side for a thousand miles and more, as far as quinsay and cambaluc (peking). if he had sailed in this direction and had succeeded in keeping to the east of florida, he would have kept a continent on his port side, and a thousand miles would have taken him a long way toward that vinland which our scandinavian friends would fondly have us believe was his secret guiding-star, and the geographical position of which they suppose him to have known with such astounding accuracy. but on this as on other occasions, if the admiral had ever received any information about vinland, it must be owned that he treated it very cavalierly, for he chose the course to the left of cape mayzi. his decision is intelligible if we bear in mind that he had not yet circumnavigated hayti and was not yet cured of his belief that its northern shore was the shore of the great cipango. at the same time he had seen enough on his first voyage to convince him that the relative positions of cipango and the mainland of cathay were not correctly laid down upon the toscanelli map. he had already inspected two or three hundred miles of the coast to the right of cape mayzi without finding traces of civilization; and whenever inquiries were made about gold or powerful kingdoms the natives invariably pointed to the south or southwest. columbus, therefore, decided to try his luck in this direction. he passed to the left of cape mayzi and followed the southern coast of cuba. [sidenote: discovery of jamaica.] by the d of may the natives were pointing so persistently to the south and off to sea that he changed his course in that direction and soon came upon the northern coast of the island which we still know by its native name jamaica. here he found indians more intelligent and more warlike than any he had as yet seen. he was especially struck with the elegance of their canoes, some of them nearly a hundred feet in length, carved and hollowed from the trunks of tall trees. we may already observe that different tribes of indians comported themselves very differently at the first sight of white men. while the natives of some of the islands prostrated themselves in adoration of these sky-creatures, or behaved with a timorous politeness which the spaniards mistook for gentleness of disposition, in other places the red men showed fight at once, acting upon the brute impulse to drive away strangers. in both cases, of course, dread of the unknown was the prompting impulse, though so differently manifested. as the spaniards went ashore upon jamaica, the indians greeted them with a shower of javelins and for a few moments stood up against the deadly fire of the cross-bows, but when they turned to flee, a single bloodhound, let loose upon them, scattered them in wildest panic.[ ] [footnote : bernaldez, _reyes católicos_, cap. cxxv. domesticated dogs were found generally in aboriginal america, but they were very paltry curs compared to these fierce hounds, one of which could handle an unarmed man as easily as a terrier handles a rat.] [sidenote: coasting the south side of cuba.] finding no evidences of civilization upon this beautiful island, columbus turned northward and struck the cuban coast again at the point which still bears the name he gave it, cape cruz. between the general contour of this end of cuba and that of the eastern extremity of cathay upon the toscanelli map there is a curious resemblance, save that the direction is in the one case more east and west and in the other more north and south. columbus passed no cities like zaiton, nor cities of any sort, but when he struck into the smiling archipelago which he called the queen's gardens, now known as cayos de las doce leguas, he felt sure that he was among marco polo's seven thousand spice islands. on the d of june, at some point on the cuban coast, probably near trinidad, the crops of several doves were opened and spices found in them. none of the natives here had ever heard of an end to cuba, and they believed it was endless.[ ] the next country to the west of themselves was named mangon, and it was inhabited by people with tails which they carefully hid by wearing loose robes of cloth. this information seemed decisive to columbus. evidently this mangon was mangi, the province in which was the city of zaiton, the province just south of cathay. and as for the tailed men, the book of mandeville had a story of some naked savages in eastern asia who spoke of their more civilized neighbours as wearing clothes in order to cover up some bodily peculiarity or defect. could there be any doubt that the spanish caravels had come at length to the coast of opulent mangi?[ ] [footnote : as a greek would have said, [greek: êpeiros], a continent.] [footnote : bernaldez, _reyes católicos_, cap. cxxvii, mr. irving, in citing these same incidents from bernaldez, could not quite rid himself of the feeling that there was something strange or peculiar in the admiral's method of interpreting such information: "animated by one of the pleasing illusions of his ardent imagination, columbus pursued his voyage, with a prosperous breeze, along the supposed continent of asia." (_life of columbus_, vol. i. p. .) this lends a false colour to the picture, which the general reader is pretty sure to make still falser. to suppose the southern coast of cuba to be the southern coast of toscanelli's mangi required no illusion of an "ardent imagination." it was simply a plain common-sense conclusion reached by sober reasoning from such data as were then accessible (i. e. the toscanelli map, amended by information such as was understood to be given by the natives); it was more probable than any other theory of the situation likely to be devised from those data; and it seems fanciful to us to-day only because knowledge acquired since the time of columbus has shown us how far from correct it was. modern historians abound in unconscious turns of expression--as in this quotation from irving--which project modern knowledge back into the past, and thus destroy the historical perspective. i shall mention several other instances from irving, and the reader must not suppose that this is any indication of captiousness on my part toward a writer for whom my only feeling is that of sincerest love and veneration.] [sidenote: the "people of mangon."] [sidenote: the golden chersonese.] under the influence of this belief, when a few days later they landed in search of fresh water, and a certain archer, on the lookout for game, caught distant glimpses of a flock of tall white cranes feeding in an everglade, he fled to his comrades with the story that he had seen a party of men clad in long white tunics, and all agreed that these must be the people of mangon.[ ] columbus sent a small company ashore to find them. it is needless to add that the search was fruitless, but footprints of alligators, interpreted as footprints of griffins guarding hoarded gold,[ ] frightened the men back to their ships. from the natives, with whom the spaniards could converse only by signs, they seemed to learn that they were going toward the realm of prester john;[ ] and in such wise did they creep along the coast to the point, some fifty miles west of broa bay, where it begins to trend decidedly to the southwest. before they had reached point mangles, a hundred miles farther on, inasmuch as they found this southwesterly trend persistent, the proof that they were upon the coast of the asiatic continent began to seem complete. columbus thought that they had passed the point (lat. °, long. ° on toscanelli's map) where the coast of asia began to trend steadily toward the southwest.[ ] by pursuing this coast he felt sure that he would eventually reach the peninsula (malacca) which ptolemy, who knew of it only by vague hearsay, called the golden chersonese.[ ] an immense idea now flitted through the mind of columbus. if he could reach and double that peninsula he could then find his way to the mouth of the ganges river; thence he might cross the indian ocean, pass the cape of good hope (for dias had surely shown that the way was open), and return that way to spain after circumnavigating the globe! but fate had reserved this achievement for another man of great heart and lofty thoughts, a quarter of a century later, who should indeed accomplish what columbus dreamed, but only after crossing another sea of darkness, the most stupendous body of water on our globe, the mere existence of which until after columbus had died no european ever suspected.[ ] if columbus had now sailed about a hundred miles farther, he would have found the end of cuba, and might perhaps have skirted the northern shore of yucatan and come upon the barbaric splendours of uxmal and campeche. the excitement which such news would have caused in spain might perhaps have changed all the rest of his life and saved him from the worst of his troubles. but the crews were now unwilling to go farther, and the admiral realized that it would be impossible to undertake such a voyage as he had in mind with no more than their present outfit. so it was decided to return to hispaniola. [footnote : these tropical birds are called _soldados_, or "soldiers," because their stately attitudes remind one of sentinels on duty. the whole town of angostura, in venezuela, was one day frightened out of its wits by the sudden appearance of a flock of these cranes on the summit of a neighbouring hill. they were mistaken for a war-party of indians. humboldt, _voyage aux régions équinoxiales du nouveau continent_, tom. ii. p. .] [footnote : see above, p. , note.] [footnote : for these events, see bernaldez, _reyes católicos_, cap. cxxiii.; f. columbus, _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. lvi.; muñoz, _historia del nuevo mundo_, lib. v. § ; humboldt, _examen critique_, tom. iv. pp. - ; irving's _columbus_, vol. i. pp. - .] [footnote : that is to say, he thought he had passed the coast of mangi (southern china) and reached the beginning of the coast of champa (cochin china; see yule's _marco polo_, vol. ii. p. ). the name champa, coming to european writers through an italian source, was written ciampa and ciamba. see its position on the behaim and toscanelli maps, and also on ruysch's map, , below, vol. ii. p. . peter martyr says that columbus was sure that he had reached the coast of gangetic (i. e. what we call farther) india: "indiæ gangetidis continentem eam (cubæ) plagam esse contendit colonus." _epist._ xciii. _ad bernardinum_. of course columbus understood that this region, while agreeing well enough with toscanelli's latitude, was far from agreeing with his longitude. but from the moment when he turned eastward on his first voyage he seems to have made up his mind that toscanelli's longitudes needed serious amendment. indeed he had always used different measurements from toscanelli.] [footnote : for an account of ptolemy's almost purely hypothetical and curiously distorted notions about southeastern asia, see bunbury's _history of ancient geography_, vol. ii. pp. - .] [footnote : see below, vol. ii. pp. - .] upon consultation with la cosa and others, it was unanimously agreed that they were upon the coast of the continent of asia. the evidence seemed conclusive. from cape mayzi (alpha and omega) they had observed, upon their own reckoning, leagues, or about , geographical miles, of continuous coast running steadily in nearly the same direction.[ ] clearly it was too long for the coast of an island; and then there was the name mangon = mangi. the only puzzling circumstance was that they did not find any of marco polo's cities. they kept getting scraps of information which seemed to refer to gorgeous kingdoms, but these were always in the dim distance. still there was no doubt that they had discovered the coast of a continent, and of course such a continent could be nothing else but asia! [footnote : the length of cuba from cape mayzi to cape san antonio is about english miles. but in following the sinuosities of the coast, and including tacks, the estimate of these pilots was probably not far from correct.] [sidenote: a solemn expression of opinion.] such unanimity of opinion might seem to leave nothing to be desired. but columbus had already met with cavillers. before he started on this cruise from isabella, some impatient hidalgos, disgusted at finding much to do and little to get, had begun to hint that the admiral was a humbug, and that his "indies" were no such great affair after all. in order to silence these ill-natured critics, he sent his notary, accompanied by four witnesses, to every person in those three caravels, to get a sworn statement. if anybody had a grain of doubt about this coast being the coast of asia, so that you could go ashore there and walk on dry land all the way to spain if so disposed, let him declare his doubts once for all, so that they might now be duly considered. no one expressed any doubts. all declared, under oath, their firm belief. it was then agreed that if any of the number should thereafter deny or contradict this sworn statement, he should have his tongue slit;[ ] and if an officer, he should be further punished with a fine of , maravedis, or if a sailor, with a hundred lashes. these proceedings were embodied in a formal document, dated june , , which is still to be seen in the archives of the indies at seville.[ ] [footnote : "É cortada la lengua;" "y le cortarian la lengua." irving understands it to mean cutting off the tongue. but in those days of symbolism slitting the tip of that unruly member was a recognized punishment for serious lying.] [footnote : it is printed in full in navarrete, torn. ii. pp. - .] having disposed of this solemn matter, the three caravels turned eastward, touching at the isle of pines and coasting back along the south side of cuba. the headland where the admiral first became convinced of the significance of the curvature of the coast, he named cape of good hope,[ ] believing it to be much nearer the goal which all were seeking than the other cape of that name, discovered by dias seven years before. [footnote : it is given upon la cosa's map; see below, vol. ii., frontispiece.] [sidenote: vicissitudes of theory.] it will be remembered that the admiral, upon his first voyage, had carried home with him two theories,--first, that in the cuban coast he had already discovered that of the continent of asia, secondly that hispaniola was cipango. the first theory seemed to be confirmed by further experience; the second was now to receive a serious shock. leaving cape cruz the caravels stood over to jamaica, leisurely explored the southern side of that island, and as soon as adverse winds would let them, kept on eastward till land appeared on the port bow. nobody recognized it until an indian chief who had learned some spanish hailed them from the shore and told them it was hispaniola. they then followed that southern coast its whole length, discovering the tiny islands, beata, saona, and mona. here columbus, overcome by long-sustained fatigue and excitement, suddenly fell into a death-like lethargy, and in this sad condition was carried all the way to isabella, and to his own house, where he was put to bed. hispaniola had thus been circumnavigated, and either it was not cipango or else that wonderland must be a much smaller affair than toscanelli and martin behaim had depicted it.[ ] there was something truly mysterious about these strange coasts! [footnote : hispaniola continued, however, for many years to be commonly identified with cipango. see note d on ruysch's map, , below, vol. ii. p. .] [sidenote: arrival of bartholomew columbus.] when columbus, after many days, recovered consciousness, he found his brother bartholomew standing by his bedside. it was six years since they had last parted company at lisbon, whence the younger brother started for england, while the elder returned to spain. the news of christopher's return from his first voyage found bartholomew in paris, whence he started as soon as he could for seville, but did not arrive there until just after the second expedition had started. presently the sovereigns sent him with three ships to hispaniola, to carry supplies to the colony; and there he arrived while the admiral was exploring the coast of cuba. the meeting of the two brothers was a great relief to both. the affection between them was very strong, and each was a support for the other. the admiral at once proceeded to appoint bartholomew to the office of adelantado, which in this instance was equivalent to making him governor of hispaniola under himself, the viceroy of the indies. in making this appointment columbus seems to have exceeded the authority granted him by the second article of his agreement of april, , with the sovereigns;[ ] but they mended the matter in by themselves investing bartholomew with the office and dignity of adelantado.[ ] [footnote : see above, p. .] [footnote : las casas, _hist. de las indias_, tom. ii. p. .] [sidenote: mutiny in hispaniola; desertion of boyle and margarite.] columbus was in need of all the aid he could summon, for, during his absence, the island had become a pandemonium. his brother diego, a man of refined and studious habits, who afterwards became a priest, was too mild in disposition to govern the hot-heads who had come to hispaniola to get rich without labour. they would not submit to the rule of this foreigner. instead of doing honest work they roamed about the island, abusing the indians and slaying one another in silly quarrels. chief among the offenders was king ferdinand's favourite, the commander margarite; and he was aided and abetted by friar boyle. some time after bartholomew's arrival, these two men of aragon gathered about them a party of malcontents and, seizing the ships which had brought that mariner, sailed away to spain. making their way to court, they sought pardon for thus deserting the colony, saying that duty to their sovereigns demanded that they should bring home a report of what was going on in the indies. they decried the value of columbus's discoveries, and reminded the king that hispaniola was taking money out of the treasury much faster than it was putting it in; an argument well calculated to influence ferdinand that summer, for he was getting ready to go to war with france over the naples affair. then the two recreants poured forth a stream of accusations against the brothers columbus, the general purport of which was that they were gross tyrants not fit to be trusted with the command of spaniards. [sidenote: the government of columbus was not tyrannical.] no marked effect seems to have been produced by these first complaints, but when margarite and boyle were once within reach of fonseca, we need not wonder that mischief was soon brewing. it was unfortunate for columbus that his work of exploration was hampered by the necessity of founding a colony and governing a parcel of unruly men let loose in the wilderness, far away from the powerful restraints of civilized society. such work required undivided attention and extraordinary talent for command. it does not appear that columbus was lacking in such talent. on the contrary both he and his brother bartholomew seem to have possessed it in a high degree. but the situation was desperately bad when the spirit of mutiny was fomented by deadly enemies at court. i do not find adequate justification for the charges of tyranny brought against columbus. the veracity and fairness of the history of las casas are beyond question; in his divinely beautiful spirit one sees now and then a trace of tenderness even for fonseca, whose conduct toward him was always as mean and malignant as toward columbus. one gets from las casas the impression that the admiral's high temper was usually kept under firm control, and that he showed far less severity than most men would have done under similar provocation. bartholomew was made of sterner stuff, but his whole career presents no instance of wanton cruelty; toward both white men and indians his conduct was distinguished by clemency and moderation. under the government of these brothers a few scoundrels were hanged in hispaniola. many more ought to have been. [sidenote: troubles with the indians.] of the attempt of columbus to collect tribute from the native population, and its consequences in developing the system of _repartimientos_ out of which grew indian slavery, i shall treat in a future chapter.[ ] that attempt, which was ill-advised and ill-managed, was part of a plan for checking wanton depredations and regulating the relations between the spaniards and the indians. the colonists behaved so badly toward the red men that the chieftain caonabo, who had destroyed la navidad the year before, now formed a scheme[ ] for a general alliance among the native tribes, hoping with sufficient numbers to overwhelm and exterminate the strangers, in spite of their solid-hoofed monsters and death-dealing thunderbolts. this scheme was revealed to columbus, soon after his return from the coast of cuba, by the chieftain guacanagari, who was an enemy to caonabo and courted the friendship of the spaniards. alonso de ojeda, by a daring stratagem, captured caonabo and brought him to columbus, who treated him kindly but kept him a prisoner until it should be convenient to send him to spain. but this chieftain's scheme was nevertheless put in operation through the influence of his principal wife anacaona. an indian war broke out; roaming bands of spaniards were ambushed and massacred; and there was fighting in the field, where the natives--assailed by firearms and cross-bows, horses and bloodhounds--were wofully defeated. [footnote : see below, vol. ii. pp. , .] [footnote : the first of a series of such schemes in american history, including those of sassacus, philip, pontiac, and to some extent tecumseh.] [sidenote: mission of aguado.] [sidenote: discovery of gold mines.] [sidenote: speculations about ophir.] thus in the difficult task of controlling mutinous white men and defending the colony against infuriated red men columbus spent the first twelvemonth after his return from cuba. in october, , there arrived in the harbour of isabella four caravels laden with welcome supplies. in one of these ships came juan aguado, sent by the sovereigns to gather information respecting the troubles of the colony. this appointment was doubtless made in a friendly spirit, for columbus had formerly recommended aguado to favour. but the arrival of such a person created a hope, which quickly grew into a belief, that the sovereigns were preparing to deprive columbus of the government of the island; and, as irving neatly says, "it was a time of jubilee for offenders; every culprit started up into an accuser." all the ills of the colony, many of them inevitable in such an enterprise, many of them due to the shiftlessness and folly, the cruelty and lust of idle swash-bucklers, were now laid at the door of columbus. aguado was presently won over by the malcontents, so that by the time he was ready to return to spain, early in , columbus felt it desirable to go along with him and make his own explanations to the sovereigns. fortunately for his purposes, just before he started, some rich gold mines were discovered on the south side of the island, in the neighbourhood of the hayna and ozema rivers. moreover there were sundry pits in these mines, which looked like excavations and seemed to indicate that in former times there had been digging done.[ ] this discovery confirmed the admiral in a new theory, which he was beginning to form. if it should turn out that hispaniola was not cipango, as the last voyage seemed to suggest, perhaps it might prove to be ophir![ ] probably these ancient excavations were made by king solomon's men when they came here to get gold for the temple at jerusalem! if so, one might expect to find silver, ivory, red sandal-wood, apes, and peacocks at no great distance. just where ophir was situated no one could exactly tell,[ ] but the things that were carried thence to jerusalem certainly came from "the indies." columbus conceived it as probably lying northeastward of the golden chersonese (malacca) and as identical with the island of hispaniola. [footnote : the indians then living upon the island did not dig, but scraped up the small pieces of gold that were more or less abundant in the beds of shallow streams.] [footnote : peter martyr, _de rebus oceanicis_, dec. i. lib. iv.] [footnote : the original ophir may be inferred, from _genesis_ x. , to have been situated where, as milton says, "northeast winds blow sabæan odours from the spicy shore of araby the blest," but the name seems to have become applied indiscriminately to the remote countries reached by ships that sailed past that coast; chiefly no doubt, to hindustan. see lassen, _indische alterthumskunde_, bd. i. p. .] [sidenote: founding of san domingo, .] [sidenote: the return voyage.] the discovery of these mines led to the transfer of the headquarters of the colony to the mouth of the ozema river, where, in the summer of , bartholomew columbus made a settlement which became the city of san domingo.[ ] meanwhile aguado and the admiral sailed for spain early in march, in two caravels overloaded with more than two hundred homesick passengers. in choosing his course columbus did not show so much sagacity as on his first return voyage. instead of working northward till clear of the belt of trade-winds, he kept straight to the east, and so spent a month in beating and tacking before getting out of the caribbean sea. scarcity of food was imminent, and it became necessary to stop at guadaloupe and make a quantity of cassava bread.[ ] it was well that this was done, for as the ships worked slowly across the atlantic, struggling against perpetual head-winds, the provisions were at length exhausted, and by the first week in june the famine was such that columbus had some difficulty in preventing the crews from eating their indian captives, of whom there were thirty or more on board.[ ] [footnote : bartholomew's town was built on the left side of the river, and was called new isabella. in it was destroyed by a hurricane, and rebuilt on the right bank in its present situation. it was then named san domingo after the patron saint of domenico, the father of columbus.] [footnote : while the spaniards were on this island they encountered a party of tall and powerful women armed with bows and arrows; so that columbus supposed it must be the asiatic island of amazons mentioned by marco polo. see yule's _marco polo_, vol. ii. pp. - .] [footnote : among them was caonabo, who died on the voyage.] [sidenote: edicts of and .] at length, on the th of june, the haggard and starving company arrived at cadiz, and columbus, while awaiting orders from the sovereigns, stayed at the house of his good friend bernaldez, the curate of los palacios.[ ] after a month he attended court at burgos, and was kindly received. no allusion was made to the complaints against him, and the sovereigns promised to furnish ships for a third voyage of discovery. for the moment, however, other things interfered with this enterprise. one was the marriage of the son and daughter of ferdinand and isabella to the daughter and son of the emperor maximilian. the war with france was at the same time fast draining the treasury. indeed, for more than twenty years, castile had been at war nearly all the time, first with portugal, next with granada, then with france; and the crown never found it easy to provide money for maritime enterprises. accordingly, at the earnest solicitation of vicente yañez pinzon and other enterprising mariners, the sovereigns had issued a proclamation, april , , granting to all native spaniards the privilege of making, at their own risk and expense, voyages of discovery or traffic to the newly found coasts. as the crown was to take a pretty heavy tariff out of the profits of these expeditions, while all losses were to be borne by the adventurers, a fairly certain source of revenue, be it great or small, seemed likely to be opened.[ ] columbus protested against this edict, inasmuch as he deemed himself entitled to a patent or monopoly in the work of conducting expeditions to cathay. the sovereigns evaded the difficulty by an edict of june , , declaring that it was never their intention "in any way to affect the rights of the said don christopher columbus." this declaration was, doubtless, intended simply to pacify the admiral. it did not prevent the authorization of voyages conducted by other persons a couple of years later; and, as i shall show in the next chapter, there are strong reasons for believing that on may , , three weeks before this edict, an expedition sailed from cadiz under the especial auspices of king ferdinand, with vicente yañez pinzon for its chief commander and americus vespucius for one of its pilots. [footnote : the curate thus heard the story of the second voyage from columbus himself while it was fresh in his mind. columbus also left with him written memoranda, so that for the events of this expedition the _historia de los reyes católicos_ is of the highest authority.] [footnote : "all vessels were to sail exclusively from the port of cadiz, and under the inspection of officers appointed by the crown. those who embarked for hispaniola without pay, and at their own expense, were to have lands assigned to them, and to be provisioned for one year, with a right to retain such lands and all houses they might erect upon them. of all gold which they might collect, they were to retain one third for themselves, and pay two thirds to the crown. of all other articles of merchandise, the produce of the island, they were to pay merely one tenth to the crown. their purchases were to be made in the presence of officers appointed by the sovereigns, and the royal duties paid into the hands of the king's receiver. each ship sailing on private enterprise was to take one or two persons named by the royal officers at cadiz. one tenth of the tonnage of the ship was to be at the service of the crown, free of charge. one tenth of whatever such ships should procure in the newly-discovered countries was to be paid to the crown on their return. these regulations included private ships trading to hispaniola with provisions. for every vessel thus fitted out on private adventure, columbus, in consideration of his privilege of an eighth of tonnage, was to have the right to freight one on his own account." irving's _columbus_, vol. ii. p. .] [sidenote: columbus loses his temper.] it was not until late in the spring of that the ships were ready for columbus. everything that fonseca could do to vex and delay him was done. one of the bishop's minions, a converted moor or jew named ximeno breviesca, behaved with such outrageous insolence that on the day of sailing the admiral's indignation, so long restrained, at last broke out, and he drove away the fellow with kicks and cuffs.[ ] this imprudent act gave fonseca the opportunity to maintain that what the admiral's accusers said about his tyrannical disposition must be true. [footnote : "parece que uno debiera de, en estos reveses, y, por ventura, en palábras contra él y contra la negociacion destas indias, mas que otro señalarse, y segun entendí, no debiera ser cristiano viejo, y creo que se llamaba ximeno, contra el cual debió el almirante gravemente sentirse y enojarse, y aguardó el dia que se hizo á la vela, y, ó en la nao que entró, por ventura, el dicho oficial, ó en tierra quando queria desembarcarse, arrebatólo el almirante, y dále muchas coces ó remesones, por manera que lo trató mal; y á mi parecer, por esta causa principalmente, sobre otras quejas que fueron de acá, y cosas que murmuraron dél y contra él los que bien con él no estaban y le acumularon; los reyes indignados proveyeron de quitarle la gobernacion." las casas, _historia de las indias_, tom. ii. p. .] * * * * * [sidenote: the third voyage.] the expedition started on may , , from the little port of san lucar de barrameda. there were six ships, carrying about men besides the sailors. on june , at the isle of ferro, the admiral divided his fleet, sending three ships directly to hispaniola, while with the other three he kept on to the cape verde islands, whence he steered southwest on the th of july. a week later, after a run of about miles, his astrolabe seemed to show that he was within five degrees of the equator.[ ] there were three reasons for going so far to the south:-- , the natives of the islands already visited always pointed in that direction when gold was mentioned; , a learned jeweller, who had travelled in the east, had assured columbus that gold and gems, as well as spices and rare drugs, were to be found for the most part among black people near the equator; , if he should not find any rich islands on the way, a sufficiently long voyage would bring him to the coast of champa (cochin china) at a lower point than he had reached on the preceding voyage, and nearer to the golden chersonese (malacca), by doubling which he could enter the indian ocean. it will be remembered that he supposed the southwesterly curve in the cuban coast, the farthest point reached in his second voyage, to be the beginning of the coast of cochin china according to marco polo. [footnote : the figure given by columbus is equivalent only to geographical miles (navarrete, _coleccion_, tom. i. p. ), but as las casas (_hist._ tom. ii. p. ) already noticed, there must be some mistake here, for on a s. w. course from the cape verde islands it would require a distance of geographical miles to cut the fifth parallel. from the weather that followed, it is clear that columbus stated his latitude pretty correctly; he had come into the belt of calms. therefore his error must be in the distance run.] [sidenote: the belt of calms.] once more through ignorance of the atmospheric conditions of the regions within the tropics columbus encountered needless perils and hardships. if he had steered from ferro straight across the ocean a trifle south of west-southwest, he might have made a quick and comfortable voyage, with the trade-wind filling his sails, to the spot where he actually struck land.[ ] as it was, however, he naturally followed the custom then so common, of first running to the parallel upon which he intended to sail. this long southerly run brought him into the belt of calms or neutral zone between the northern and southern trade-winds, a little north of the equator.[ ] no words can describe what followed so well as those of irving: "the wind suddenly fell, and a dead sultry calm commenced, which lasted for eight days. the air was like a furnace; the tar melted, the seams of the ship yawned; the salt meat became putrid; the wheat was parched as if with fire; the hoops shrank from the wine and water casks, some of which leaked and others burst, while the heat in the holds of the vessels was so suffocating that no one could remain below a sufficient time to prevent the damage that was taking place. the mariners lost all strength and spirits, and sank under the oppressive heat. it seemed as if the old fable of the torrid zone was about to be realized; and that they were approaching a fiery region where it would be impossible to exist."[ ] [footnote : humboldt in did just this thing, starting from teneriffe and reaching trinidad in nineteen days. see bruhn's _life of humboldt_, vol. i. p. .] [footnote : "the strength of the trade-winds depends entirely upon the difference in temperature between the equator and the pole; the greater the difference, the stronger the wind. now, at the present time, the south pole is much colder than the north pole, and the southern trades are consequently much stronger than the northern, so that the neutral zone in which they meet lies some five degrees north of the equator." _excursions of an evolutionist_, p. .] [footnote : irving's _columbus_, vol. ii. p. . one is reminded of a scene in the _rime of the ancient mariner_:-- "all in a hot and copper sky the bloody sun, at noon, right up above the mast did stand, no bigger than the moon. "day after day, day after day, we stuck,--nor breath nor motion; as idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean."] fortunately, they were in a region where the ocean is comparatively narrow. the longitude reached by columbus on july , when the wind died away, must have been about ° or ° w., and a run of only miles west from that point would have brought him to cayenne. his course between the th and st of july must have intersected the thermal equator, or line of greatest mean annual heat on the globe,--an irregular curve which is here deflected as much as five degrees north of the equinoctial line. but although there was not a breath of wind, the powerful equatorial current was quietly driving the ships, much faster than the admiral could have suspected, to the northwest and toward land. by the end of that stifling week they were in latitude ° n., and caught the trade-wind on the starboard quarter. thence after a brisk run of ten days, in sorry plight, with ugly leaks and scarcely a cask of fresh water left, they arrived within sight of land. three mountain peaks loomed up in the offing before them, and as they drew nearer it appeared that those peaks belonged to one great mountain; wherefore the pious admiral named the island trinidad. [sidenote: trinidad and the orinoco.] here some surprises were in store for columbus. instead of finding black and woolly-haired natives, he found men of cinnamon hue, like those in hispaniola, only--strange to say--lighter in colour. then in coasting trinidad he caught a glimpse of land at the delta of the orinoco, and called it isla santa, or holy island.[ ] but, on passing into the gulf of paria, through the strait which he named serpent's mouth, his ships were in sore danger of being swamped by the raging surge that poured from three or four of the lesser mouths of that stupendous river. presently, finding that the water in the gulf was fresh to the taste, he gradually reasoned his way to the correct conclusion, that the billows which had so nearly overwhelmed him must have come out from a river greater than any he had ever known or dreamed of, and that so vast a stream of running water could be produced only upon land of continental dimensions.[ ] this coast to the south of him was, therefore, the coast of a continent, with indefinite extension toward the south, a land not laid down upon toscanelli's or any other map, and of which no one had until that time known anything.[ ] [footnote : he "gave it the name of isla santa," says irving (vol. ii. p. ), "little imagining that he now, for the first time, beheld that continent, that terra firma, which had been the object of his earnest search." the reader of this passage should bear in mind that the continent of south america, which nobody had ever heard of, was _not_ the object of columbus's search. the terra firma which was the object of his search was the mainland of asia, and that he never beheld, though he felt positively sure that he had already set foot upon it in and .] [footnote : a modern traveller thus describes this river: "right and left of us lay, at some distance off, the low banks of the apuré, at this point quite a broad stream. but before us the waters spread out like a wide dark flood, limited on the horizon only by a low black streak, and here and there showing a few distant hills. this was the orinoco, rolling with irrepressible power and majesty sea-wards, and often upheaving its billows like the ocean when lashed to fury by the wind.... the orinoco sends a current of fresh water far into the ocean, its waters--generally green, but in the shallows milk-white--contrasting sharply with the indigo blue of the surrounding sea." bates, _central america, the west indies, and south america_, d ed., london, , pp. , . the island of trinidad forms an obstacle to the escape of this huge volume of fresh water, and hence the furious commotion at the two outlets, the serpent's mouth and dragon's mouth, especially in july and august, when the orinoco is swollen with tropical rains.] [footnote : in columbus's own words, in his letter to the sovereigns describing this third voyage, "y digo que ... viene este rio y procede de tierra infinita, pues al austro, de la cual fasta agora no se ha habido noticia." navarrete, _coleccion_, tom. i. p. .] [illustration: discoveries made by columbus in his third and fourth voyages.] [sidenote: speculations as to the earth's shape.] [sidenote: the mountain of paradise.] in spite of the correctness of this surmise, columbus was still as far from a true interpretation of the whole situation as when he supposed hispaniola to be ophir. he entered upon a series of speculations which forcibly remind us how empirical was the notion of the earth's rotundity before the inauguration of physical astronomy by galileo, kepler, and newton. we now know that our planet has the only shape possible for such a rotating mass that once was fluid or nebulous, the shape of a spheroid slightly protuberant at the equator and flattened at the poles; but this knowledge is the outcome of mechanical principles utterly unknown and unsuspected in the days of columbus. he understood that the earth is a round body, but saw no necessity for its being strictly spherical or spheroidal. he now suggested that it was probably shaped like a pear, rather a blunt and corpulent pear, nearly spherical in its lower part, but with a short, stubby apex in the equatorial region somewhere beyond the point which he had just reached. he fancied he had been sailing up a gentle slope from the burning glassy sea where his ships had been becalmed to this strange and beautiful coast where he found the climate enchanting. if he were to follow up the mighty river just now revealed, it might lead him to the summit of this apex of the world, the place where the terrestrial paradise, the garden which the lord planted eastward in eden, was in all probability situated![ ] [footnote : thus would be explained the astounding force with which the water was poured down. it was common in the middle ages to imagine the terrestrial paradise at the top of a mountain. see dante, _purgatorio_, canto xxviii. columbus quotes many authorities in favour of his opinion. the whole letter is worth reading. see navarrete, tom. i. pp. - .] [sidenote: relation of the "eden continent" to "cochin china."] as columbus still held to the opinion that by keeping to the west from that point he should soon reach the coast of cochin china, his conception of the position of eden is thus pretty clearly indicated. he imagined it as situated about on the equator, upon a continental mass till then unknown, but evidently closely connected with the continent of asia if not a part of it. if he had lived long enough to hear of quito and its immense elevation, i should suppose that might very well have suited his idea of the position of eden. the coast of this continent, upon which he had now arrived, was either continuous with the coast of cochin china (cuba) and malacca, or would be found to be divided from it by a strait through which one might pass directly into the indian ocean. [sidenote: the pearl coast.] [sidenote: arrival at san domingo.] it took some little time for this theory to come to maturity in the mind of columbus. not expecting to find any mainland in that quarter, he began by calling different points of the coast different islands. coming out through the passage which he named dragon's mouth, he caught distant glimpses of tobago and grenada to starboard, and turning westward followed the pearl coast as far as the islands of margarita and cubagua. the fine pearls which he found there in abundance confirmed him in the good opinion he had formed of that country. by this time, the th of august, he had so far put facts together as to become convinced of the continental character of that coast, and would have been glad to pursue it westward. but now his strength gave out. during most of the voyage he had suffered acute torments with gout, his temperature had been very feverish, and his eyes were at length so exhausted with perpetual watching that he could no longer make observations. so he left the coast a little beyond cubagua, and steered straight for hispaniola, aiming at san domingo, but hitting the island of beata because he did not make allowance for the westerly flow of the currents. he arrived at san domingo on the th of august, and found his brother bartholomew, whom he intended to send at once on a further cruise along the pearl coast, while he himself should be resting and recovering strength. [sidenote: roldan's rebellion.] [sidenote: fonseca's machinations.] but alas! there was to be no cruising now for the younger brother nor rest for the elder. it was a sad story that bartholomew had to tell. war with the indians had broken out afresh, and while the adelantado was engaged in this business a scoundrel named roldan had taken advantage of his absence to stir up civil strife. roldan's rebellion was a result of the ill-advised mission of aguado. the malcontents in the colony interpreted the admiral's long stay in spain as an indication that he had lost favour with the sovereigns and was not coming back to the island. gathering together a strong body of rebels, roldan retired to xaragua and formed an alliance with the brother of the late chieftain caonabo. by the time the admiral arrived the combination of mutiny with barbaric warfare had brought about a frightful state of things. a party of soldiers, sent by him to suppress roldan, straightway deserted and joined that rebel. it thus became necessary to come to terms with roldan, and this revelation of the weakness of the government only made matters worse. two wretched years were passed in attempts to restore order in hispaniola, while the work of discovery and exploration was postponed. meanwhile the items of information that found their way to spain were skilfully employed by fonseca in poisoning the minds of the sovereigns, until at last they decided to send out a judge to the island, armed with plenary authority to make investigations and settle disputes. the glory which columbus had won by the first news of the discovery of the indies had now to some extent faded away. the enterprise yielded as yet no revenue and entailed great expense; and whenever some reprobate found his way back to spain, the malicious fonseca prompted him to go to the treasury with a claim for pay alleged to have been wrongfully withheld by the admiral. ferdinand columbus tells how some fifty such scamps were gathered one day in the courtyard of the alhambra, cursing his father and catching hold of the king's robe, crying, "pay us! pay us!" and as he and his brother diego, who were pages in the queen's service, happened to pass by, they were greeted with hoots:--"there go the sons of the admiral of mosquito-land, the man who has discovered a land of vanity and deceit, the grave of spanish gentlemen!"[ ] [footnote : "ecco i figliuoli dell' ammiraglio de' mosciolini, di colui che ha trovate terre di vanitá e d' inganno, per sepoltura e miseria de' gentiluomini castigliani." _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. lxxxiv.] [sidenote: gama's voyage to hindustan, .] an added sting was given to such taunts by a great event that happened about this time. in the summer of , vasco da gama started from lisbon for the cape of good hope, and in the summer of he returned, after having doubled the cape and crossed the indian ocean to calicut on the malabar coast of hindustan. his voyage was the next portuguese step sequent upon that of bartholomew dias. there was nothing questionable or dubious about gama's triumph. he had seen splendid cities, talked with a powerful rajah, and met with arab vessels, their crews madly jealous at the unprecedented sight of christian ships in those waters; and he brought back with him to lisbon nutmegs and cloves, pepper and ginger, rubies and emeralds, damask robes with satin linings, bronze chairs with cushions, trumpets of carved ivory, a sunshade of crimson satin, a sword in a silver scabbard, and no end of such gear.[ ] an old civilization had been found and a route of commerce discovered, and a factory was to be set up at once on that indian coast. what a contrast to the miserable performance of columbus, who had started with the flower of spain's chivalry for rich cipango, and had only led them to a land where they must either starve or do work fit for peasants, while he spent his time in cruising among wild islands! the king of portugal could now snap his fingers at ferdinand and isabella, and if a doubt should have sometimes crossed the minds of those chagrined sovereigns, as to whether this plausible genoese mariner might not, after all, be a humbug or a crazy enthusiast, we can hardly wonder at it. [footnote : major, _prince henry the navigator_, pp. - .] [sidenote: fonseca's creature, bobadilla.] [sidenote: columbus in chains.] the person sent to investigate the affairs of hispaniola was francisco de bobadilla, a knight commander of the order of calatrava. he carried several documents, one of them directing him to make inquiries and punish offenders, another containing his appointment as governor, a third commanding columbus and his brothers to surrender to him all fortresses and other public property.[ ] the two latter papers were to be used only in case of such grave misconduct proved against columbus as to justify his removal from the government. these papers were made out in the spring of , but bobadilla was not sent out until july, . when he arrived at san domingo on the d of august, the insurrection had been suppressed; the admiral and bartholomew were bringing things into order in distant parts of the island, while diego was left in command at san domingo. seven ringleaders had just been hanged, and five more were in prison under sentence of death. if bobadilla had not come upon the scene this wholesome lesson might have worked some improvement in affairs.[ ] he destroyed its moral in a twinkling. the first day after landing, he read aloud, at the church door, the paper directing him to make inquiries and punish offenders; and forthwith demanded of diego columbus that the condemned prisoners should be delivered up to him. diego declined to take so important a step until he could get orders from the admiral. next day bobadilla read his second and third papers, proclaimed himself governor, called on diego to surrender the fortress and public buildings, and renewed his demand for the prisoners. as diego still hesitated to act before news of these proceedings could be sent to his brother, bobadilla broke into the fortress, took the prisoners out, and presently set them free. all the rebellious spirits in the colony were thus drawn to the side of bobadilla, whose royal commission, under such circumstances, gave him irresistible power. he threw diego into prison and loaded him with fetters. he seized the admiral's house, and confiscated all his personal property, even including his business papers and private letters. when the admiral arrived in san domingo, bobadilla, without even waiting to see him, sent an officer to put him in irons and take him to prison. when bartholomew arrived, he received the same treatment. the three brothers were confined in different places, nobody was allowed to visit them, and they were not informed of the offences with which they were charged. while they lay in prison, bobadilla busied himself with inventing an excuse for this violent behaviour. finally he hit upon one at which satan from the depths of his bottomless pit must have grimly smiled. he said that he had arrested and imprisoned the brothers only because he had reason to believe they were inciting the indians to aid them in resisting the commands of ferdinand and isabella!! in short, from the day of his landing bobadilla made common cause with the insurgent rabble, and when they had furnished him with a ream or so of charges against the admiral and his brothers, it seemed safe to send these gentlemen to spain. they were put on board ship, with their fetters upon them, and the officer in charge was instructed by bobadilla to deliver them into the hands of bishop fonseca, who was thus to have the privilege of glutting to the full his revengeful spite. [footnote : the documents are given in navarrete, _coleccion de viages_, tom. ii. pp. - ; and, with accompanying narrative, in las casas, _hist. de las indias_, tom. ii. pp. - .] [footnote : no better justification for the government of the brothers columbus can be found than to contrast it with the infinitely worse state of affairs that ensued under the administrations of bobadilla and ovando. see below, vol. ii. pp. - .] [sidenote: return to spain.] [sidenote: release of columbus.] the master of the ship, shocked at the sight of fetters upon such a man as the admiral, would have taken them off, but columbus would not let it be done. no, indeed! they should never come off except by order of the sovereigns, and then he would keep them for the rest of his life, to show how his labours had been rewarded.[ ] the event--which always justifies true manliness--proved the sagacity of this proud demeanour. fonseca was baulked of his gratification. the clumsy bobadilla had overdone the business. the sight of the admiral's stately and venerable figure in chains, as he passed through the streets of cadiz, on a december day of that year , awakened a popular outburst of sympathy for him and indignation at his persecutors. while on the ship he had written or dictated a beautiful and touching letter[ ] to a lady of whom the queen was fond, the former nurse of the infante, whose untimely death, three years since, his mother was still mourning. this letter reached the court at granada, and was read to the queen before she had heard of bobadilla's performances from any other quarter. a courier was sent in all haste to cadiz, with orders that the brothers should at once be released, and with a letter to the admiral, inviting him to court and enclosing an order for money to cover his expenses. the scene in the alhambra, when columbus arrived, is one of the most touching in history. isabella received him with tears in her eyes, and then this much-enduring old man, whose proud and masterful spirit had so long been proof against all wrongs and insults, broke down. he threw himself at the feet of the sovereigns in an agony of tears and sobs.[ ] [footnote : las casas, _hist. de las indias_, tom. ii. p. ; f. columbus, _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. lxxxv. ferdinand adds that he had often seen these fetters hanging in his father's room.] [footnote : it is given in full in las casas, _op. cit._ tom. ii. pp. - .] [footnote : herrera, _historia_, dec. i. lib. iv. cap. .] [sidenote: how far were the sovereigns responsible for bobadilla?] how far the sovereigns should be held responsible for the behaviour of their agent is not altogether easy to determine. the appointment of such a creature as bobadilla was a sad blunder, but one such as is liable to be made under any government. fonseca was very powerful at court, and bobadilla never would have dared to proceed as he did if he had not known that the bishop would support him. indeed, from the indecent haste with which he went about his work, without even the pretence of a judicial inquiry, it is probable that he started with private instructions from that quarter. but, while fonseca had some of the wisdom along with the venom of the serpent, bobadilla was simply a jackass, and behaved so that in common decency the sovereigns were obliged to disown him. they took no formal or public notice of his written charges against the admiral, and they assured the latter that he should be reimbursed for his losses and restored to his viceroyalty and other dignities. [sidenote: ovando, another creature of fonseca, appointed governor of hispaniola.] this last promise, however, was not fulfilled; partly, perhaps, because fonseca's influence was still strong enough to prevent it, partly because the sovereigns may have come to the sound and reasonable conclusion that for the present there was no use in committing the government of that disorderly rabble in hispaniola to a foreigner. what was wanted was a spanish priest, and a military priest withal, of the sort that spain then had in plenty. obedience to priests came natural to spaniards. the man now selected was nicolas de ovando, a knight commander of the order of alcántara, of whom we shall have more to say hereafter.[ ] suffice it now to observe that he proved himself a famous disciplinarian, and that he was a great favourite with fonseca, to whom he seems to have owed his appointment. he went out in february, , with a fleet of thirty ships carrying , persons, for the pendulum of public opinion had taken another swing, and faith in the indies was renewed. some great discoveries, to be related in the next chapter, had been made since ; and, moreover, the gold mines of hispaniola were beginning to yield rich treasures. [footnote : see below, vol. ii. pp. - .] [sidenote: purpose of columbus's fourth voyage.] but, while the sovereigns were not disposed to restore columbus to his viceroyalty, they were quite ready to send him on another voyage of discovery which was directly suggested by the recent portuguese voyage of gama. since nothing was yet known about the discovery of a new world, the achievement of gama seemed to have eclipsed that of columbus. spain must make a response to portugal. as already observed, the admiral supposed the coast of his "eden continent" (south america) either to be continuous with the coast of cochin china (cuba) and malacca, or else to be divided from that coast by a strait. the latter opinion was the more probable, since marco polo and a few other europeans had sailed from china into the indian ocean without encountering any great continent that had to be circumnavigated. the recent expedition of vespucius and ojeda ( - ) had followed the northern coast of south america for a long distance to the west of cubagua, as far as the gulf of maracaibo. columbus now decided to return to the coast of cochin china (cuba) and follow the coast southwestward until he should find the passage between his eden continent and the golden chersonese (malacca) into the indian ocean. he would thus be able to reach by this western route the same shores of hindustan which gama had lately reached by sailing eastward. so confident did he feel of the success of this enterprise, that he wrote a letter to pope alexander vi., renewing his vow to furnish troops for the rescue of the holy sepulchre.[ ] it was no doubt the symptom of a reaction against his misfortunes that he grew more and more mystical in these days, consoling himself with the belief that he was a chosen instrument in the hands of providence for enlarging the bounds of christendom. in this mood he made some studies on the prophecies, after the fantastic fashion of his time,[ ] and a habit grew upon him of attributing his discoveries to miraculous inspiration rather than to the good use to which his poetical and scientific mind had put the data furnished by marco polo and the ancient geographers. [footnote : navarrete, _coleccion_, tom. ii. pp. - .] [footnote : the ms. volume of notes on the prophecies is in the colombina. there is a description of it in navarrete, tom. ii. pp. - .] [sidenote: crossing the atlantic.] [sidenote: columbus not allowed to stop at san domingo.] the armament for the admiral's fourth and last voyage consisted of four small caravels, of from fifty to seventy tons burthen, with crews numbering, all told, men. his brother bartholomew, and his younger son ferdinand, then a boy of fourteen, accompanied him. they sailed from cadiz on the th of may, , and finally left the canaries behind on the th of the same month. the course chosen was the same as on the second voyage, and the unfailing trade-winds brought the ships on the th of june to an island called mantinino, probably martinique, not more than ten leagues distant from dominica. the admiral had been instructed not to touch at hispaniola upon his way out, probably for fear of further commotions there until ovando should have succeeded in bringing order out of the confusion ten times worse confounded into which bobadilla's misgovernment had thrown that island. columbus might stop there on his return, but not on his outward voyage. his intention had, therefore, been, on reaching the cannibal islands, to steer for jamaica, thence make the short run to "cochin china," and then turn southwards. but as one of his caravels threatened soon to become unmanageable, he thought himself justified in touching at san domingo long enough to hire a sound vessel in place of her. ovando had assumed the government there in april, and a squadron of or ships, containing roldan and bobadilla, with huge quantities of gold wrung from the enslaved indians, was ready to start for spain about the end of june. in one of these ships were , pieces of gold destined for columbus, probably a part of the reimbursement that had been promised him. on the th of june the admiral arrived in the harbour and stated the nature of his errand. at the same time, as his practised eye had detected the symptoms of an approaching hurricane, he requested permission to stay in the harbour until it should be over, and he furthermore sent to the commander of the fleet a friendly warning not to venture out to sea at present. his requests and his warnings were alike treated with contumely. he was ordered to leave the harbour, and did so in great indignation. as his first care was for the approaching tempest, he did not go far but found safe anchorage in a sheltered and secluded cove, where his vessels rode the storm with difficulty but without serious damage. meanwhile the governor's great fleet had rashly put out to sea, and was struck with fatal fury by wind and wave. twenty or more ships went to the bottom, with bobadilla, roldan, and most of the admiral's principal enemies, besides all the ill-gotten treasure; five or six shattered caravels, unable to proceed, found their way back to san domingo; of all the fleet, only one ship arrived safe and sound in spain, and that, says ferdinand, was the one that had on board his father's gold. truly it was such an instance of poetical justice as one does not often witness in this world. "we will not inquire now," says las casas, who witnessed the affair, "into this remarkable divine judgment, for at the last day of the world it will be made quite clear to us."[ ] if such judgments were more often visited upon the right persons, perhaps the ways of providence would not have so generally come to be regarded as inscrutable. [footnote : "aqueste tan gran juicio de dios no curemos de escudriñallo, pues en el dia final deste mundo nos será bien claro." _hist. do las indias_, tom. iii. p. ; cf. _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. lxxxvii. as las casas was then in san domingo, having come out in ovando's fleet, and as ferdinand columbus was with his father, the testimony is very direct.] [sidenote: arrival at cape honduras.] the hurricane was followed by a dead calm, during which the admiral's ships were carried by the currents into the group of tiny islands called the queen's gardens, on the south side of cuba. with the first favourable breeze he took a southwesterly course, in order to strike that cochin-chinese coast farther down toward the malay peninsula. this brought him directly to the island of guanaja and to cape honduras, which he thus reached without approaching the yucatan channel.[ ] [footnote : in the next chapter i shall give some reasons for supposing that the admiral had learned the existence of the yucatan channel from the pilot ledesma, coupled with information which made it unlikely that a passage into the indian ocean would be found that way. see below, vol. ii. p. .] [sidenote: cape gracias a dios.] upon the honduras coast the admiral found evidences of semi-civilization with which he was much elated,--such as copper knives and hatchets, pottery of skilled and artistic workmanship, and cotton garments finely woven and beautifully dyed. here the spaniards first tasted the _chicha_, or maize beer, and marvelled at the heavy clubs, armed with sharp blades of obsidian, with which the soldiers of cortes were by and by to become unpleasantly acquainted. the people here wore cotton clothes, and, according to ferdinand, the women covered themselves as carefully as the moorish women of granada.[ ] on inquiring as to the sources of gold and other wealth, the admiral was now referred to the west, evidently to yucatan and guatemala, or, as he supposed, to the neighbourhood of the ganges. evidently the way to reach these countries was to keep the land on the starboard and search for the passage between the eden continent and the malay peninsula.[ ] this course at first led columbus eastward for a greater number of leagues than he could have relished. wind and current were dead against him, too; and when, after forty days of wretched weather, he succeeded in doubling the cape which marks on that coast the end of honduras and the beginning of nicaragua, and found it turning square to the south, it was doubtless joy at this auspicious change of direction, as well as the sudden relief from head-winds, that prompted him to name that bold prominence cape gracias a dios, or thanks to god. [footnote : _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. lxxxviii.] [footnote : irving (vol. ii. pp. , ) seems to think it strange that columbus did not at once turn westward and circumnavigate yucatan. but if--as irving supposed--columbus had not seen the yucatan channel, and regarded the honduras coast as continuous with that of cuba, he could only expect by turning westward to be carried back to cape alpha and omega, where he had already been twice before! in the next chapter, however, i shall show that columbus may have shaped his course in accordance with the advice of the pilot ledesma.] [sidenote: the coast of veragua.] [sidenote: fruitless search for the strait of malacca.] [sidenote: futile attempt to make a settlement.] [sidenote: columbus shipwrecked.] as the ships proceeded southward in the direction of veragua, evidences of the kind of semi-civilization which we recognize as characteristic of that part of aboriginal america grew more and more numerous. great houses were seen, built of "stone and lime," or perhaps of rubble stone with adobe mortar. walls were adorned with carvings and pictographs. mummies were found in a good state of preservation. there were signs of abundant gold; the natives wore plates of it hung by cotton cords about their necks, and were ready to exchange pieces worth a hundred ducats for tawdry european trinkets. from these people columbus heard what we should call the first "news of the pacific ocean," though it had no such meaning to his mind. from what he heard he understood that he was on the east side of a peninsula, and that there was another sea on the other side, by gaining which he might in ten days reach the mouth of the ganges.[ ] by proceeding on his present course he would soon come to a "narrow place" between the two seas. there was a curious equivocation here. no doubt the indians were honest and correct in what they tried to tell columbus. but by the "narrow place" they meant narrow land, not narrow water; not a strait which connected but an isthmus which divided the two seas, not the strait of malacca, but the isthmus of darien![ ] columbus, of course, understood them to mean the strait for which he was looking, and in his excitement at approaching the long-expected goal he pressed on without waiting to verify the reports of gold mines in the neighbourhood, a thing that could be done at any time.[ ] by the th of december, however, having reached a point on the isthmus, a few leagues east of puerto bello, without finding the strait, he yielded to the remonstrances of the crews, and retraced his course to veragua. if the strait could not be found, the next best tidings to carry home to spain would be the certain information of the discovery of gold mines, and it was decided to make a settlement here which might serve as a base for future operations. three months of misery followed. many of the party were massacred by the indians, the stock of food was nearly exhausted, and the ships were pierced by worms until it was feared there would be no means left for going home. accordingly, it was decided to abandon the enterprise and return to hispaniola.[ ] in order to allow for the strong westerly currents in the caribbean sea, the admiral first sailed eastward almost to the gulf of darien, and then turned to the north. the allowance was not enough, however. the ships were again carried into the queen's gardens, where they were caught in a storm and nearly beaten to pieces. at length, on st. john's eve, june , , the crazy wrecks--now full of water and unable to sail another league--were beached on the coast of jamaica and converted into a sort of rude fortress; and while two trusty men were sent over to san domingo in a canoe, to obtain relief, columbus and his party remained shipwrecked in jamaica. they waited there a whole year before it proved possible to get any relief from ovando. he was a slippery knave, who knew how to deal out promises without taking the first step toward fulfilment. [footnote : navarrete, _coleccion de viages_, tom. i. p. .] [footnote : _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. lxxxix.; humboldt, _examen critique_, tom. i. p. .] [footnote : "nothing could evince more clearly his generous ambition than hurrying in this brief manner along a coast where wealth was to be gathered at every step, for the purpose of seeking a strait which, however it might produce vast benefit to mankind, could yield little else to himself than the glory of the discovery." irving's _columbus_, vol. ii. p. . in this voyage, however, the express purpose from the start was to find the strait of malacca as a passage to the very same regions which had been visited by gama, and columbus expected thus to get wealth enough to equip an army of crusaders. irving's statement does not correctly describe the admiral's purpose, and as savouring of misplaced eulogy, is sure to provoke a reaction on the part of captious critics.] [footnote : a graphic account of these scenes, in which he took part, is given by ferdinand columbus, _vita dell' ammiraglio_, cap. xciii.-cvi.] [sidenote: a year of misery.] [sidenote: last return to spain.] it was a terrible year that columbus spent upon the wild coast of jamaica. to all the horrors inseparable from such a situation there was added the horror of mutiny. the year did not end until there had been a pitched battle, in which the doughty bartholomew was, as usual, victorious. the ringleader was captured, and of the other mutineers such as were not slain in the fight were humbled and pardoned. at length ovando's conduct began to arouse indignation in san domingo, and was openly condemned from the pulpit; so that, late in june, , he sent over to jamaica a couple of ships which brought away the admiral and his starving party. ovando greeted the brothers columbus with his customary hypocritical courtesy, which they well understood. during the past year the island of hispaniola had been the scene of atrocities such as have scarcely been surpassed in history. i shall give a brief account of them in a future chapter. columbus was not cheered by what he saw and heard, and lost no time in starting for spain. on the th of november, , after a tempestuous voyage and narrow escape from shipwreck, he landed at san lucar de barrameda and made his way to seville. queen isabella was then on her death-bed, and breathed her last just nineteen days later. [sidenote: death of columbus.] the death of the queen deprived columbus of the only protector who could stand between him and fonseca. the reimbursement for the wrongs which he had suffered at that man's hands was never made. the last eighteen months of the admiral's life were spent in sickness and poverty. accumulated hardship and disappointment had broken him down, and he died on ascension day, may , , at valladolid. so little heed was taken of his passing away that the local annals of that city, "which give almost every insignificant event from to , day by day, do not mention it."[ ] his remains were buried in the franciscan monastery at valladolid, whence they were removed in to the monastery of las cuevas, at seville, where the body of his son diego, second admiral and viceroy of the indies, was buried in . ten years after this date, the bones of father and son were removed to hispaniola, to the cathedral of san domingo; whence they have since been transferred to havana. the result of so many removals has been to raise doubts as to whether the ashes now reposing at havana are really those of columbus and his son; and over this question there has been much critical discussion, of a sort that we may cheerfully leave to those who like to spend their time over such trivialities. [footnote : harrisse, _notes on columbus_, new york, , p. .] [sidenote: "nuevo mundo."] there is a tradition that ferdinand and isabella, at some date unspecified, had granted to columbus, as a legend for his coat-of-arms, the noble motto:-- Á castilla y á leon nuevo mundo dió colon, _i. e._ "to castile-and-leon columbus gave a new world;" and we are further told that, when the admiral's bones were removed to seville, this motto was, by order of king ferdinand, inscribed upon his tomb.[ ] this tradition crumbles under the touch of historical criticism. the admiral's coat-of-arms, as finally emblazoned under his own inspection at seville in , quarters the royal castle-and-lion of the kingdom of castile with his own devices of five anchors, and a group of golden islands with a bit of terra firma, upon a blue sea. but there is no legend of any sort, nor is anything of the kind mentioned by las casas or bernaldez or peter martyr. the first allusion to such a motto is by oviedo, in , who gives it a somewhat different turn:-- por castilla y por leon nuevo mundo halló colon, _i. e._ "for castile-and-leon columbus found a new world." but the other form is no doubt the better, for ferdinand columbus, at some time not later than , had adopted it, and it may be read to-day upon his tomb in the cathedral at seville. the time-honoured tradition has evidently transferred to the father the legend adopted, if not originally devised, by his son. [footnote : _vita del ammiraglio_, cap. cvii. this is unquestionably a gloss of the translator ulloa. cf. harrisse, _christophe colomb_, tom. ii. pp. - .] [illustration: arms.] but why is this mere question of heraldry a matter of importance for the historian? simply because it furnishes one of the most striking among many illustrations of the fact that at no time during the life of columbus, nor for some years after his death, did anybody use the phrase "new world" with conscious reference to _his_ discoveries. at the time of his death their true significance had not yet begun to dawn upon the mind of any voyager or any writer. it was supposed that he had found a new route to the indies by sailing west, and that in the course of this achievement he had discovered some new islands and a bit or bits of terra firma of more or less doubtful commercial value. to group these items of discovery into an organic whole, and to ascertain that they belonged to a whole quite distinct from the old world, required the work of many other discoverers, companions and successors to columbus. in the following chapter i shall endeavour to show how the conception of the new world was thus originated and at length became developed into the form with which we are now familiar. [illustration: sketch of toscanelli's map, sent to portugal in , and used by columbus in his first voyage across the atlantic.] [illustration: claudius ptolemy's world, cir. a. d. .] [illustration: john fiske.] university, dianne bean, joseph buersmeyer, and alev akman the hispanic nations of the new world, a chronicle of our southern neighbors by william r. shepherd new haven: yale university press toronto: glasgow, brook & co. london: humphrey milford oxford university press contents i. the heritage from spain and portugal ii. "our old king or none" iii. "independence or death" iv. ploughing the sea v. the age of the dictators vi. peril from abroad vii. greater states and lesser viii. "on the margin of international life" ix. the republics of south america x. mexico in revolution xi. the republics of the caribbean xii. pan-americanism and the great war bibliographical note the hispanic nations of the new world chapter i. the heritage from spain and portugal at the time of the american revolution most of the new world still belonged to spain and portugal, whose captains and conquerors had been the first to come to its shores. spain had the lion's share, but portugal held brazil, in itself a vast land of unsuspected resources. no empire mankind had ever yet known rivaled in size the illimitable domains of spain and portugal in the new world; and none displayed such remarkable contrasts in land and people. boundless plains and forests, swamps and deserts, mighty mountain chains, torrential streams and majestic rivers, marked the surface of the country. this vast territory stretched from the temperate prairies west of the mississippi down to the steaming lowlands of central america, then up through tablelands in the southern continent to high plateaus, miles above sea level, where the sun blazed and the cold, dry air was hard to breathe, and then higher still to the lofty peaks of the andes, clad in eternal snow or pouring fire and smoke from their summits in the clouds, and thence to the lower temperate valleys, grassy pampas, and undulating hills of the far south. scattered over these vast colonial domains in the western world were somewhere between , , and , , people subject to spain, and perhaps , , , to portugal; the great majority of them were indians and negroes, the latter predominating in the lands bordering on the caribbean sea and along the shores of brazil. possibly one-fourth of the inhabitants came of european stock, including not only spaniards and their descendants but also the folk who spoke english in the floridas and french in louisiana. during the centuries which had elapsed since the entry of the spaniards and portuguese into these regions an extraordinary fusion of races had taken place. white, red, and black had mingled to such an extent that the bulk of the settled population became half-caste. only in the more temperate regions of the far north and south, where the aborigines were comparatively few or had disappeared altogether, did the whites remain racially distinct. socially the indian and the negro counted for little. they constituted the laboring class on whom all the burdens fell and for whom advantages in the body politic were scant. legally the indian under spanish rule stood on a footing of equality with his white fellows, and many a gifted native came to be reckoned a force in the community, though his social position remained a subordinate one. most of the negroes were slaves and were more kindly treated by the spaniards than by the portuguese. though divided among themselves, the europeans were everywhere politically dominant. the spaniard was always an individualist. besides, he often brought from the old world petty provincial traditions which were intensified in the new. the inhabitants of towns, many of which had been founded quite independently of one another, knew little about their remote neighbors and often were quite willing to convert their ignorance into prejudice: the dweller in the uplands and the resident on the coast were wont to view each other with disfavor. the one was thought heavy and stupid, the other frivolous and lazy. native spaniards regarded the creoles, or american born, as persons who had degenerated more or less by their contact with the aborigines and the wilderness. for their part, the creoles looked upon the spaniards as upstarts and intruders, whose sole claim to consideration lay in the privileges dispensed them by the home government. in testimony of this attitude they coined for their oversea kindred numerous nicknames which were more expressive than complimentary. while the creoles held most of the wealth and of the lower offices, the spaniards enjoyed the perquisites and emoluments of the higher posts. though objects of disdain to both these masters, the indians generally preferred the spaniard to the creole. the spaniard represented a distant authority interested in the welfare of its humbler subjects and came less into actual daily contact with the natives. while it would hardly be correct to say that the spaniard was viewed as a protector and the creole as an oppressor, yet the aborigines unconsciously made some such hazy distinction if indeed they did not view all europeans with suspicion and dislike. in brazil the relation of classes was much the same, except that here the native element was much less conspicuous as a social factor. these distinctions were all the more accentuated by the absence both of other european peoples and of a definite middle class of any race. everywhere in the areas tenanted originally by spaniards and portuguese the european of alien stock was unwelcome, even though he obtained a grudging permission from the home governments to remain a colonist. in brazil, owing to the close commercial connections between great britain and portugal, foreigners were not so rigidly excluded as in spanish america. the spaniard was unwilling that lands so rich in natural treasures should be thrown open to exploitation by others, even if the newcomer professed the catholic faith. the heretic was denied admission as a matter of course. had the foreigner been allowed to enter, the risk of such exploitation doubtless would have been increased, but a middle class might have arisen to weld the the discordant factions into a society which had common desires and aspirations. with the development of commerce and industry, with the growth of activities which bring men into touch with each other in everyday affairs, something like a solidarity of sentiment might have been awakened. in its absence the only bond among the dominant whites was their sense of superiority to the colored masses beneath them. manual labor and trade had never attracted the spaniards and the portuguese. the army, the church, and the law were the three callings that offered the greatest opportunity for distinction. agriculture, grazing, and mining they did not disdain, provided that superintendence and not actual work was the main requisite. the economic organization which the spaniards and portuguese established in america was naturally a more or less faithful reproduction of that to which they had been accustomed at home. agriculture and grazing became the chief occupations. domestic animals and many kinds of plants brought from europe throve wonderfully in their new home. huge estates were the rule; small farms, the exception. on the ranches and plantations vast droves of cattle, sheep, and horses were raised, as well as immense crops. mining, once so much in vogue, had become an occupation of secondary importance. on their estates the planter, the ranchman, and the mine owner lived like feudal overlords, waited upon by indian and negro peasants who also tilled the fields, tended the droves, and dug the earth for precious metals and stones. originally the natives had been forced to work under conditions approximating actual servitude, but gradually the harsher features of this system had given way to a mode of service closely resembling peonage. paid a pitifully small wage, provided with a hut of reeds or sundried mud and a tiny patch of soil on which to grow a few hills of the corn and beans that were his usual nourishment, the ordinary indian or half-caste laborer was scarcely more than a beast of burden, a creature in whom civic virtues of a high order were not likely to develop. if he betook himself to the town his possible usefulness lessened in proportion as he fell into drunken or dissolute habits, or lapsed into a state of lazy and vacuous dreaminess, enlivened only by chatter or the rolling of a cigarette. on the other hand, when employed in a capacity where native talent might be tested, he often revealed a power of action which, if properly guided, could be turned to excellent account. as a cowboy, for example, he became a capital horseman, brave, alert, skillful, and daring. commerce with portugal and spain was long confined to yearly fairs and occasional trading fleets that plied between fixed points. but when liberal decrees threw open numerous ports in the mother countries to traffic and the several colonies were given also the privilege of exchanging their products among themselves, the volume of exports and imports increased and gave an impetus to activity which brought a notable release from the torpor and vegetation characterizing earlier days. yet, even so, communication was difficult and irregular. by sea the distances were great and the vessels slow. overland the natural obstacles to transportation were so numerous and the methods of conveyance so cumbersome and expensive that the people of one province were practically strangers to their neighbors. matters of the mind and of the soul were under the guardianship of the church. more than merely a spiritual mentor, it controlled education and determined in large measure the course of intellectual life. possessed of vast wealth in lands and revenues, its monasteries and priories, its hospitals and asylums, its residences of ecclesiastics, were the finest buildings in every community, adorned with the masterpieces of sculptors and painters. a village might boast of only a few squalid huts, yet there in the "plaza," or central square, loomed up a massively imposing edifice of worship, its towers pointing heavenward, the sign and symbol of triumphant power. the church, in fact, was the greatest civilizing agency that spain and portugal had at their disposal. it inculcated a reverence for the monarch and his ministers and fostered a deep-rooted sentiment of conservatism which made disloyalty and innovation almost sacrilegious. in the spanish colonies in particular the church not only protected the natives against the rapacity of many a white master but taught them the rudiments of the christian faith, as well as useful arts and trades. in remote places, secluded so far as possible from contact with europeans, missionary pioneers gathered together groups of neophytes whom they rendered docile and industrious, it is true, but whom they often deprived of initiative and selfreliance and kept illiterate and superstitious. education was reserved commonly for members of the ruling class. as imparted in the universities and schools, it savored strongly of medievalism. though some attention was devoted to the natural sciences, experimental methods were not encouraged and found no place in lectures and textbooks. books, periodicals, and other publications came under ecclesiastical inspection, and a vigilant censorship determined what was fit for the public to read. supreme over all the colonial domains was the government of their majesties, the monarchs of spain and portugal. a ministry and a council managed the affairs of the inhabitants of america and guarded their destinies in accordance with the theories of enlightened despotism then prevailing in europe. the spanish dominions were divided into viceroyalties and subdivided into captaincies general, presidencies, and intendancies. associated with the high officials who ruled them were audiencias, or boards, which were at once judicial and administrative. below these individuals and bodies were a host of lesser functionaries who, like their superiors, held their posts by appointment. in brazil the governor general bore the title of viceroy and carried on the administration assisted by provincial captains, supreme courts, and local officers. this control was by no means so autocratic as it might seem. portugal had too many interests elsewhere, and was too feeble besides, to keep tight rein over a territory so vast and a population so much inclined as the brazilian to form itself into provincial units, jealous of the central authority. spain, on its part, had always practised the good old roman rule of "divide and govern." its policy was to hold the balance among officials, civil and ecclesiastical, and inhabitants, white and colored. it knew how strongly individualistic the spaniard was and realized the full force of the adage, "i obey, but i do not fulfill!" legislatures and other agencies of government directly representative of the people did not exist in spanish or portuguese america. the spanish cabildo, or town council, however, afforded an opportunity for the expression of the popular will and often proved intractable. its membership was appointive, elective, hereditary, and even purchasable, but the form did not affect the substance. the spanish americans had an instinct for politics. "here all men govern," declared one of the viceroys; "the people have more part in political discussions than in any other provinces in the world; a council of war sits in every house." chapter ii. "our old king or none" the movement which led eventually to the emancipation of the colonies differed from the local uprisings which occurred in various parts of south america during the eighteenth century. either the arbitrary conduct of individual governors or excessive taxation had caused the earlier revolts. to the final revolution foreign nations and foreign ideas gave the necessary impulse. a few members of the intellectual class had read in secret the writings of french and english philosophers. others had traveled abroad and came home to whisper to their countrymen what they had seen and heard in lands more progressive than spain and portugal. the commercial relations, both licit and illicit, which great britain had maintained with several of the colonies had served to diffuse among them some notions of what went on in the busy world outside. by gaining its independence, the united states had set a practical example of what might be done elsewhere in america. translated into french, the declaration of independence was read and commented upon by enthusiasts who dreamed of the possibility of applying its principles in their own lands. more powerful still were the ideas liberated by the french revolution and napoleon. borne across the ocean, the doctrines of "liberty, fraternity, equality" stirred the ardent-minded to thoughts of action, though the spanish and portuguese americans who schemed and plotted were the merest handful. the seed they planted was slow to germinate among peoples who had been taught to regard things foreign as outlandish and heretical. many years therefore elapsed before the ideas of the few became the convictions of the masses, for the conservatism and loyalty of the common people were unbelieveably steadfast. not spanish and portuguese america, but santo domingo, an island which had been under french rule since and which was tenanted chiefly by ignorant and brutalized negro slaves, was the scene of the first effectual assertion of independence in the lands originally colonized by spain. rising in revolt against their masters, the negroes had won complete control under their remarkable commander, toussaint l'ouverture, when napoleon bonaparte, then first consul, decided to restore the old regime. but the huge expedition which was sent to reduce the island ended in absolute failure. after a ruthless racial warfare, characterized by ferocity on both sides, the french retired. in the negro leaders proclaimed the independence of the island as the "republic of haiti," under a president who, appreciative of the example just set by napoleon, informed his followers that he too had assumed the august title of "emperor"! his immediate successor in african royalty was the notorious henri christophe, who gathered about him a nobility garish in color and taste--including their sable lordships, the "duke of marmalade" and the "count of lemonade"; and who built the palace of "sans souci" and the countryseats of "queen's delight" and "king's beautiful view," about which cluster tales of barbaric pleasure that rival the grim legends clinging to the parapets and enshrouding the dungeons of his mountain fortress of "la ferriere." none of these black or mulatto potentates, however, could expel french authority from the eastern part of santo domingo. that task was taken in hand by the inhabitants themselves, and in they succeeded in restoring the control of spain. meanwhile events which had been occurring in south america prepared the way for the movement that was ultimately to banish the flags of both spain and portugal from the continents of the new world. as the one country had fallen more or less tinder the influence of france, so the other had become practically dependent upon great britain. interested in the expansion of its commerce and viewing the outlying possessions of peoples who submitted to french guidance as legitimate objects for seizure, great britain in wrested trinidad from the feeble grip of spain and thus acquired a strategic position very near south america itself. haiti, trinidad, and jamaica, in fact, all became centers of revolutionary agitation and havens of refuge for. spanish american radicals in the troublous years to follow. foremost among the early conspirators was the venezuelan, francisco de miranda, known to his fellow americans of spanish stock as the "precursor." napoleon once remarked of him: "he is a don quixote, with this difference--he is not crazy.... the man has sacred fire in his soul." an officer in the armies of spain and of revolutionary france and later a resident of london, miranda devoted thirty years of his adventurous life to the cause of independence for his countrymen. with officials of the british government he labored long and zealously, eliciting from them vague promises of armed support and some financial aid. it was in london, also, that he organized a group of sympathizers into the secret society called the "grand lodge of america." with it, or with its branches in france and spain, many of the leaders of the subsequent revolution came to be identified. in , availing himself of the negligence of the united states and having the connivance of the british authorities in trinidad, miranda headed two expeditions to the coast of venezuela. he had hoped that his appearance would be the signal for a general uprising; instead, he was treated with indifference. his countrymen seemed to regard him as a tool of great britain, and no one felt disposed to accept the blessings of liberty under that guise. humiliated, but not despairing, miranda returned to london to await a happier day. two british expeditions which attempted to conquer the region about the rio de la plata in and were also frustrated by this same stubborn loyalty. when the spanish viceroy fled, the inhabitants themselves rallied to the defense of the country and drove out the invaders. thereupon the people of buenos aires, assembled in cabildo abierto, or town meeting, deposed the viceroy and chose their victorious leader in his stead until a successor could be regularly appointed. then, in , fell the blow which was to shatter the bonds uniting spain to its continental dominions in america. the discord and corruption which prevailed in that unfortunate country afforded napoleon an opportunity to oust its feeble king and his incompetent son, ferdinand, and to place joseph bonaparte on the throne. but the master of europe underestimated the fighting ability of spaniards. instead of humbly complying with his mandate, they rose in arms against the usurper and created a central junta, or revolutionary committee, to govern in the name of ferdinand vii, as their rightful ruler. the news of this french aggression aroused in the colonies a spirit of resistance as vehement as that in the mother country. both spaniards and creoles repudiated the "intruder king." believing, as did their comrades oversea, that ferdinand was a helpless victim in the hands of napoleon, they recognized the revolutionary government and sent great sums of money to spain to aid in the struggle against the french. envoys from joseph bonaparte seeking an acknowledgment of his rule were angrily rejected and were forced to leave. the situation on both sides of the ocean was now an extraordinary one. just as the junta in spain had no legal right to govern, so the officials in the colonies, holding their posts by appointment from a deposed king, had no legal authority, and the people would not allow them to accept new commissions from a usurper. the church, too, detesting napoleon as the heir of a revolution that had undermined the catholic faith and regarding him as a godless despot who had made the pope a captive, refused to recognize the french pretender. until ferdinand vii could be restored to his throne, therefore, the colonists had to choose whether they would carry on the administration under the guidance of the self-constituted authorities in spain, or should themselves create similar organizations in each of the colonies to take charge of affairs. the former course was favored by the official element and its supporters among the conservative classes, the latter by the liberals, who felt that they had as much right as the people of the mother country to choose the form of government best suited to their interests. each party viewed the other with distrust. opposition to the more democratic procedure, it was felt, could mean nothing less than secret submission to the pretensions of joseph bonaparte; whereas the establishment in america of any organizations like those in spain surely indicated a spirit of disloyalty toward ferdinand vii himself. under circumstances like these, when the junta and its successor, the council of regency, refused to make substantial concessions to the colonies, both parties were inevitably drifting toward independence. in the phrase of manuel belgrano, one of the great leaders in the viceroyalty of la plata, "our old king or none" became the watchword that gradually shaped the thoughts of spanish americans. when, therefore, in , the news came that the french army had overrun spain, democratic ideas so long cherished in secret and propagated so industriously by miranda and his followers at last found expression in a series of uprisings in the four viceroyalties of la plata, peru, new granada, and new spain. but in each of these viceroyalties the revolution ran a different course. sometimes it was the capital city that led off; sometimes a provincial town; sometimes a group of individuals in the country districts. among the actual participants in the various movements very little harmony was to be found. here a particular leader claimed obedience; there a board of self-chosen magistrates held sway; elsewhere a town or province refused to acknowledge the central authority. to add to these complications, in , a revolutionary cortes, or legislative body, assembled at cadiz, adopted for spain and its dominions a constitution providing for direct representation of the colonies in oversea administration. since arrangements of this sort contented many of the spanish americans who had protested against existing abuses, they were quite unwilling to press their grievances further. given all these evidences of division in activity and counsel, one does not find it difficult to foresee the outcome. on may , , popular agitation at buenos aires forced the spanish viceroy of la plata to resign. the central authority was thereupon vested in an elected junta that was to govern in the name of ferdinand vii. opposition broke out immediately. the northern and eastern parts of the viceroyalty showed themselves quite unwilling to obey these upstarts. meantime, urged on by radicals who revived the jacobin doctrines of revolutionary france, the junta strove to suppress in rigorous fashion any symptoms of disaffection; but it could do nothing to stem the tide of separation in the rest of the viceroyalty--in charcas (bolivia), paraguay, and the banda oriental, or east bank, of the uruguay. at buenos aires acute difference of opinion--about the extent to which the movement should be carried and about the permanent form of government to be adopted as well as the method of establishing it--produced a series of political commotions little short of anarchy. triumvirates followed the junta into power; supreme directors alternated with triumvirates; and constituent assemblies came and went. under one authority or another the name of the viceroyalty was changed to "united provinces of la plata river"; a seal, a flag, and a coat of arms were chosen; and numerous features of the spanish regime were abolished, including titles of nobility, the inquisition, the slave trade, and restrictions on the press. but so chaotic were the conditions within and so disastrous the campaigns without, that eventually commissioners were sent to europe, bearing instructions to seek a king for the distracted country. when charcas fell under the control of the viceroy of peru, paraguay set up a regime for itself. at asuncion, the capital, a revolutionary outbreak in replaced the spanish intendant by a triumvirate, of which the most prominent member was dr. jose gaspar rodriguez de francia. a lawyer by profession, familiar with the history of rome, an admirer of france and napoleon, a misanthrope and a recluse, possessing a blind faith in himself and actuated by a sense of implacable hatred for all who might venture to thwart his will, this extraordinary personage speedily made himself master of the country. a population composed chiefly of indians, docile in temperament and submissive for many years to the paternal rule of jesuit missionaries, could not fail to become pliant instruments in his hands. at his direction, therefore, paraguay declared itself independent of both spain and la plata. this done, an obedient congress elected francia consul of the republic and later invested him with the title of dictator. in the banda oriental two distinct movements appeared. montevideo, the capital, long a center of royalist sympathies and for some years hostile to the revolutionary government in buenos aires, was reunited with la plata in . elsewhere the people of the province followed the fortunes of jose gervasio artigas, an able and valiant cavalry officer, who roamed through it at will, bidding defiance to any authority not his own. most of the former viceroyalty of la plata had thus, to all intents and purposes, thrown off the yoke of spain. chile was the only other province that for a while gave promise of similar action. here again it was the capital city that took the lead. on receipt of the news of the occurrences at buenos aires in may, , the people of santiago forced the captain general to resign and, on the th of september, replaced him by a junta of their own choosing. but neither this body, nor its successors, nor even the congress that assembled the following year, could establish a permanent and effective government. nowhere in spanish america, perhaps, did the lower classes count for so little, and the upper class for so much, as in chile. though the great landholders were disposed to favor a reasonable amount of local autonomy for the country, they refused to heed the demands of the radicals for complete independence and the establishment of a republic. accordingly, in proportion as their opponents resorted to measures of compulsion, the gentry gradually withdrew their support and offered little resistance when troops dispatched by the viceroy of peru restored the spanish regime in . the irreconcilable among the patriots fled over the andes to the western part of la plata, where they found hospitable refuge. but of all the spanish dominions in south america none witnessed so desperate a struggle for emancipation as the viceroyalty of new granada. learning of the catastrophe that had befallen the mother country, the leading citizens of caracas, acting in conjunction with the cabildo, deposed the captain general on april , , and created a junta in his stead. the example was quickly followed by most of the smaller divisions of the province. then when miranda returned from england to head the revolutionary movement, a congress, on july , , declared venezuela independent of spain. carried away, also, by the enthusiasm of the moment, and forgetful of the utter unpreparedness of the country, the congress promulgated a federal constitution modeled on that of the united states, which set forth all the approved doctrines of the rights of man. neither miranda nor his youthful coadjutor, simon bolivar, soon to become famous in the annals of spanish american history, approved of this plunge into democracy. ardent as their patriotism was, they knew that the country needed centralized control and not experiments in confederation or theoretical liberty. they speedily found out, also, that they could not count on the support of the people at large. then, almost as if nature herself disapproved of the whole proceeding, a frightful earthquake in the following year shook many a venezuelan town into ruins. everywhere the royalists took heart. dissensions broke out between miranda and his subordinates. betrayed into the hands of his enemies, the old warrior himself was sent away to die in a spanish dungeon. and so the "earthquake" republic collapsed. but the rigorous measures adopted by the royalists to sustain their triumph enabled bolivar to renew the struggle in . he entered upon a campaign which was signalized by acts of barbarity on both sides. his declaration of "war to the death" was answered in kind. wholesale slaughter of prisoners, indiscriminate pillage, and wanton destruction of property spread terror and desolation throughout the country. acclaimed "liberator of venezuela" and made dictator by the people of caracas, bolivar strove in vain to overcome the half-savage llaneros, or cowboys of the plains, who despised the innovating aristocrats of the capital. though he won a few victories, he did not make the cause of independence popular, and, realizing his failure, he retired into new granada. in this region an astounding series of revolutions and counter-revolutions had taken place. unmindful of pleas for cooperation, the creole leaders in town and district, from onward, seized control of affairs in a fashion that betokened a speedy disintegration of the country. though the viceroy was deposed and a general congress was summoned to meet at the capital, bogota, efforts at centralization encountered opposition in every quarter. only the royalists managed to preserve a semblance of unity. separate republics sprang into being and in declared their independence of spain. presidents and congresses were pitted against one another. towns fought among themselves. even parishes demanded local autonomy. for a while the services of bolivar were invoked to force rebellious areas into obedience to the principle of confederation, but with scant result. unable to agree with his fellow officers and displaying traits of moral weakness which at this time as on previous occasions showed that he had not yet risen to a full sense of responsibility, the liberator renounced the task and fled to jamaica. the scene now shifts northward to the viceroyalty of new spain. unlike the struggles already described, the uprisings that began in in central mexico were substantially revolts of indians and half-castes against white domination. on the th of september, a crowd of natives rose under the leadership of miguel hidalgo, a parish priest of the village of dolores. bearing on their banners the slogan, "long live ferdinand vii and down with bad government," the undisciplined crowd, soon to number tens of thousands, aroused such terror by their behavior that the whites were compelled to unite in self-defense. it mattered not whether hidalgo hoped to establish a republic or simply to secure for his followers relief from oppression: in either case the whites could expect only indian domination. before the trained forces of the whites a horde of natives, so ignorant of modern warfare that some of them tried to stop cannon balls by clapping their straw hats over the mouths of the guns, could not stand their ground. hidalgo was captured and shot, but he was succeeded by jose maria morelos, also a priest. reviving the old aztec name for central mexico, he summoned a "congress of anahuac," which in asserted that dependence on the throne of spain was "forever broken and dissolved." abler and more humane than hidalgo, he set up a revolutionary government that the authorities of mexico failed for a while to suppress. in , therefore, spain still held the bulk of its dominions. trinidad, to be sure, had been lost to great britain, and both louisiana and west florida to the united states. royalist control, furthermore, had ceased in parts of the viceroyalties of la plata and new granada. to regain trinidad and louisiana was hopeless: but a wise policy conciliation or an overwhelming display of armed force might yet restore spanish rule where it had been merely suspended. very different was the course of events in brazil. strangely enough, the first impulse toward independence was given by the portuguese royal family. terrified by the prospective invasion of the country by a french army, late in the prince regent, the royal family, and a host of portuguese nobles and commoners took passage on british vessels and sailed to rio de janeiro. brazil thereupon became the seat of royal government and immediately assumed an importance which it could never have attained as a mere dependency. acting under the advice of the british minister, the prince regent threw open the ports of the colony to the ships of all nations friendly to portugal, gave his sanction to a variety of reforms beneficial to commerce and industry, and even permitted a printing press to be set up, though only for official purposes. from all these benevolent activities brazil derived great advantages. on the other hand, the prince regent's aversion to popular education or anything that might savor of democracy and the greed of his followers for place and distinction alienated his colonial subjects. they could not fail to contrast autocracy in brazil with the liberal ideas that had made headway elsewhere in spanish america. as a consequence a spirit of unrest arose which boded ill for the maintenance of portuguese rule. chapter iii "independence or death" the restoration of ferdinand vii to his throne in encouraged the liberals of spain, no less than the loyalists of spanish america, to hope that the "old king" would now grant a new dispensation. freedom of commerce and a fair measure of popular representation in government, it was believed, would compensate both the mother country for the suffering which it had undergone during the peninsular war and the colonies for the trials to which loyalty had been subjected. but ferdinand vii was a typical bourbon. nothing less than an absolute reestablishment of the earlier regime would satisfy him. on both sides of the atlantic, therefore, the liberals were forced into opposition to the crown, although they were so far apart that they could not cooperate with each other. independence was to be the fortune of the spanish americans, and a continuance of despotism, for a while, the lot of the spaniards. as the region of the viceroyalty of la plata had been the first to cast off the authority of the home government, so it was the first to complete its separation from spain. despite the fact that disorder was rampant everywhere and that most of the local districts could not or would not send deputies, a congress that assembled at tucuman voted on july , , to declare the "united provinces in south america" independent. comprehensive though the expression was, it applied only to the central part of the former viceroyalty, and even there it was little more than an aspiration. mistrust of the authorities at buenos aires, insistence upon provincial autonomy, failure to agree upon a particular kind of republican government, and a lingering inclination to monarchy made progress toward national unity impossible. in , to be sure, a constitution was adopted, providing for a centralized government, but in the country at large it encountered too much resistance from those who favored a federal government to become effective. in the banda oriental, over most of which artigas and his horsemen held sway, chaotic conditions invited aggression from the direction of brazil. this east bank of the uruguay had long been disputed territory between spain and portugal; and now its definite acquisition by the latter seemed an easy undertaking. instead, however, the task turned out to be a truly formidable one. montevideo, feebly defended by the forces of the government at buenos aires, soon capitulated, but four years elapsed before the rest of the country could be subdued. artigas fled to paraguay, where he fell into the clutches of francia, never to escape. in the banda oriental was annexed to brazil as the cisplatine province. over paraguay that grim and somber potentate, known as "the supreme one"--el supremo--presided with iron hand. in francia set up a despotism unique in the annals of south america. fearful lest contact with the outer world might weaken his tenacious grip upon his subjects, whom he terrorized into obedience, he barred approach to the country and suffered no one to leave it. he organized and drilled an army obedient to his will.. when he went forth by day, attended by an escort of cavalry, the doors and windows of houses had to be kept closed and no one was allowed on the streets. night he spent till a late hour in reading and study, changing his bedroom frequently to avoid assassination. religious functions that might disturb the public peace he forbade. compelling the bishop of asuncion to resign on account of senile debility, francia himself assumed the episcopal office. even intermarriage among the old colonial families he prohibited, so as to reduce all to a common social level. he attained his object. paraguay became a quiet state, whatever might be said of its neighbors! elsewhere in southern spanish america a brilliant feat of arms brought to the fore its most distinguished soldier. this was jose de san martin of la plata. like miranda, he had been an officer in the spanish army and had returned to his native land an ardent apostle of independence. quick to realize the fact that, so long as chile remained under royalist control, the possibility of an attack from that quarter was a constant menace to the safety of the newly constituted republic, he conceived the bold plan of organizing near the western frontier an army--composed partly of chilean refugees and partly of his own countrymen--with which he proposed to cross the andes and meet the enemy on his own ground. among these fugitives was the able and valiant bernardo o'higgins, son of an irish officer who had been viceroy of peru. cooperating with o'higgins, san martin fixed his headquarters at mendoza and began to gather and train the four thousand men whom he judged needful for the enterprise. by january, , the "army of the andes" was ready. to cross the mountains meant to transport men, horses, artillery, and stores to an altitude of thirteen thousand feet, where the uspallata pass afforded an outlet to chilean soil. this pass was nearly a mile higher than the great st. bernard in the alps, the crossing of which gave napoleon bonaparte such renown. on the th of february the hosts of san martin hurled themselves upon the royalists entrenched on the slopes of chacabuco and routed them utterly. the battle proved decisive not of the fortunes of chile alone but of those of all spanish south america. as a viceroy of peru later confessed, "it marked the moment when the cause of spain in the indies began to recede." named supreme director by the people of santiago, o'higgins fought vigorously though ineffectually to drive out the royalists who, reinforced from peru, held the region south of the capital. that he failed did not deter him from having a vote taken under military auspices, on the strength of which, on february , , he declared chile an independent nation, the date of the proclamation being changed to the st of january, so as to make the inauguration of the new era coincident with the entry of the new year. san martin, meanwhile, had been collecting reinforcements with which to strike the final blow. on the th of april, the battle of maipo gave him the victory he desired. except for a few isolated points to the southward, the power of spain had fallen. until the fall of napoleon in it had been the native loyalists who had supported the cause of the mother country in the spanish dominions. henceforth, free from the menace of the european dictator, spain could look to her affairs in america, and during the next three years dispatched twenty-five thousand men to bring the colonies to obedience. these soldiers began their task in the northern part of south america, and there they ended it--in failure. to this failure the defection of native royalists contributed, for they were alienated not so much by the presence of the spanish troops as by the often merciless severity that marked their conduct. the atrocities may have been provoked by the behavior of their opponents; but, be this as it may, the patriots gained recruits after each victory. a spanish army of more than ten thousand, under the command of pablo morillo, arrived in venezuela in april, . he found the province relatively tranquil and even disposed to welcome the full restoration of royal government. leaving a garrison sufficient for the purpose of military occupation, morillo sailed for cartagena, the key to new granada. besieged by land and sea, the inhabitants of the town maintained for upwards of three months a resistance which, in its heroism, privation, and sacrifice, recalled the memorable defense of saragossa in the mother country against the french seven years before. with cartagena taken, regulars and loyalists united to stamp out the rebellion elsewhere. at bogoth, in particular, the new spanish viceroy installed by morillo waged a savage war on all suspected of aiding the patriot cause. he did not spare even women, and one of his victims was a young heroine, policarpa salavarrieta by name. though for her execution three thousand soldiers were detailed, the girl was unterrified by her doom and was earnestly beseeching the loyalists among them to turn their arms against the enemies of their country when a volley stretched her lifeless on the ground. meanwhile bolivar had been fitting out, in haiti and in the dutch island of curacao, an expedition to take up anew the work of freeing venezuela. hardly had the liberator landed in may, , when dissensions with his fellow officers frustrated any prospect of success. indeed they obliged him to seek refuge once more in haiti. eventually, however, most of the patriot leaders became convinced that, if they were to entertain a hope of success, they must entrust their fortunes to bolivar as supreme commander. their chances of success were increased furthermore by the support of the llaneros who had been won over to the cause of independence. under their redoubtable chieftain, jose antonio paez, these fierce and ruthless horsemen performed many a feat of valor in the campaigns which followed. once again on venezuelan soil, bolivar determined to transfer his operations to the eastern part of the country, which seemed to offer better strategic advantages than the region about caracas. but even here the jealousy of his officers, the insubordination of the free lances, the stubborn resistance of the loyalists--upheld by the wealthy and conservative classes and the able generalship of morillo, who had returned from new granada--made the situation of the liberator all through and extremely precarious. happily for his fading fortunes, his hands were strengthened from abroad. the united states had recognized the belligerency of several of the revolutionary governments in south america and had sent diplomatic agents to them. great britain had blocked every attempt of ferdinand vii to obtain help from the holy alliance in reconquering his dominions. and ferdinand had contributed to his own undoing by failing to heed the urgent requests of morillo for reinforcements to fill his dwindling ranks. more decisive still were the services of some five thousand british, irish, french, and german volunteers, who were often the mainstay of bolivar and his lieutenants during the later phases of the struggle, both in venezuela and elsewhere. for some time the liberator had been evolving a plan of attack upon the royalists in new granada, similar to the offensive campaign which san martin had conducted in chile. more than that, he had conceived the idea, once independence had been attained, of uniting the western part of the viceroyalty with venezuela into a single republic. the latter plan he laid down before a congress which assembled at angostura in february, , and which promptly chose him president of the republic and vested him with the powers of dictator. in june, at the head of men, he started on his perilous journey over the andes. up through the passes and across bleak plateaus the little army struggled till it reached the banks of the rivulet of boyaca, in the very heart of new granada. here, on the th of august, bolivar inflicted on the royalist forces a tremendous defeat that gave the deathblow to the domination of spain in northern south america. on his triumphal return to angostura, the congress signalized the victory by declaring the whole of the viceroyalty an independent state under the name of the "republic of colombia" and chose the liberator as its provisional president. two years later, a fundamental law it had adopted was ratified with certain changes by another congress assembled at rosario de cucuta, and bolivar was made permanent president. southward of colombia lay the viceroyalty of peru, the oldest, richest, and most conservative of the larger spanish dominions on the continent. intact, except for the loss of chile, it had found territorial compensation by stretching its power over the provinces of quito and charcas, the one wrenched off from the former new granada, the other torn away from what had been la plata. predominantly royalist in sentiment, it was like a huge wedge thrust in between the two independent areas. by thus cutting off the patriots of the north from their comrades in the south, it threatened both with destruction of their liberty. again fortune intervened from abroad, this time directly from spain itself. ferdinand vii, who had gathered an army of twenty thousand men at cadiz, was ready to deliver a crushing blow at the colonies when in january, , a mutiny among the troops and revolution throughout the country entirely frustrated the plan. but although that reactionary monarch was compelled to accept the constitution of , the spanish liberals were unwilling to concede to their fellows in america anything more substantial than representation in the cortes. independence they would not tolerate. on the other hand, the example of the mother country in arms against its king in the name of liberty could not fail to give heart to the cause of liberation in the provinces oversea and to hasten its achievement. the first important efforts to profit by this situation were made by the patriots in chile. both san martin and o'higgins had perceived that the only effective way to eliminate the peruvian wedge was to gain control of its approaches by sea. the chileans had already won some success in this direction when the fiery and imperious scotch sailor, thomas cochrane, earl of dundonald, appeared on the scene and offered to organize a navy. at length a squadron was put under his command. with upwards of four thousand troops in charge of san martin the expedition set sail for peru late in august, . while cochrane busied himself in destroying the spanish blockade, his comrade in arms marched up to the very gates of lima, the capital, and everywhere aroused enthusiasm for emancipation. when negotiations, which had been begun by the viceroy and continued by a special commissioner from spain, failed to swerve the patriot leader from his demand for a recognition of independence, the royalists decided to evacuate the town and to withdraw into the mountainous region of the interior. san martin, thereupon, entered the capital at the head of his army of liberation and summoned the inhabitants to a town meeting at which they might determine for themselves what action should be taken. the result was easily foreseen. on july , , peru was declared independent, and a few days later san martin was invested with supreme command under the title of "protector." but the triumph of the new protector did not last long. for some reason he failed to understand that the withdrawal of the royalists from the neighborhood of the coast was merely a strategic retreat that made the occupation of the capital a more or less empty performance. this blunder and a variety of other mishaps proved destined to blight his military career. unfortunate in the choice of his subordinates and unable to retain their confidence; accused of irresolution and even of cowardice; abandoned by cochrane, who sailed off to chile and left the army stranded; incapable of restraining his soldiers from indulgence in the pleasures of lima; now severe, now lax in an administration that alienated the sympathies of the influential class, san martin was indeed an unhappy figure. it soon became clear that he must abandon all hope of ever conquering the citadel of spanish power in south america unless he could prevail upon bolivar to help him. a junction of the forces of the two great leaders was perfectly feasible, after the last important foothold of the spaniards on the coast of venezuela had been broken by the battle of carabobo, on july , . whether such a union would be made, however, depended upon two things: the ultimate disposition of the province of quito, lying between colombia and peru, and the attitude which bolivar and san martin themselves should assume toward each other. a revolution of the previous year at the seaport town of guayaquil in that province had installed an independent government which besought the liberator to sustain its existence. prompt to avail himself of so auspicious an opportunity of uniting this former division of the viceroyalty of new granada to his republic of colombia, bolivar appointed antonio jose de sucre, his ablest lieutenant and probably the most efficient of all spanish american soldiers of the time, to assume charge of the campaign. on his arrival at guayaquil, this officer found the inhabitants at odds among themselves. some, hearkening to the pleas of an agent of san martin, favored union with peru; others, yielding to the arguments of a representative of bolivar, urged annexation to colombia; still others regarded absolute independence as most desirable. under these circumstances sucre for a while made little headway against the royalists concentrated in the mountainous parts of the country despite the partial support he received from troops which were sent by the southern commander. at length, on may , , scaling the flanks of the volcano of pichincha, near the capital town of quito itself, he delivered the blow for freedom. here bolivar, who had fought his way overland amid tremendous difficulties, joined him and started for guayaquil, where he and san martin were to hold their memorable interview. no characters in spanish american history have called forth so much controversy about their respective merits and demerits as these two heroes of independence--bolivar and san martin. even now it seems quite impossible to obtain from the admirers of either an opinion that does full justice to both; and foreigners who venture to pass judgment are almost certain to provoke criticism from one set of partisans or the other. both bolivar and san martin were sons of country gentlemen, aristocratic by lineage and devoted to the cause of independence. bolivar was alert, dauntless, brilliant, impetuous, vehemently patriotic, and yet often capricious, domineering, vain, ostentatious, and disdainful of moral considerations--a masterful man, fertile in intellect, fluent in speech and with pen, an inspiring leader and one born to command in state and army. quite as earnest, equally courageous, and upholding in private life a higher standard of morals, san martin was relatively calm, cautious, almost taciturn in manner, and slower in thought and action. he was primarily a soldier, fitted to organize and conduct expeditions, rather than, a man endowed with that supreme confidence in himself which brings enthusiasm, affection, and loyalty in its train. when san martin arrived at guayaquil, late in july, , his hope of annexing the province of quito to peru was rudely shattered by the news that bolivar had already declared it a part of colombia. though it was outwardly cordial and even effusive, the meeting of the two men held out no prospect of accord. in an interchange of views which lasted but a few hours, mutual suspicion, jealousy, and resentment prevented their reaching an effective understanding. the protector, it would seem, thought the liberator actuated by a boundless ambition that would not endure resistance. bolivar fancied san martin a crafty schemer plotting for his own advancement. they failed to agree on the three fundamental points essential to their further cooperation. bolivar declined to give up the province of quito. he refused also to send an army into peru unless he could command it in person, and then he declined to undertake the expedition on the ground that as president of colombia he ought not to leave the territory of the republic. divining this pretext, san martin offered to serve under his orders--a feint that bolivar parried by protesting that he would not hear of any such self-denial on the part of a brother officer. above all, the two men differed about the political form to be adopted for the new independent states. both of them realized that anything like genuine democracies was quite impossible of attainment for many years to come, and that strong administrations would be needful to tide the spanish americans over from the political inexperience of colonial days and the disorders of revolution to intelligent self-government, which could come only after a practical acquaintance with public concerns on a large scale. san martin believed that a limited monarchy was the best form of government under the circumstances. bolivar held fast to the idea of a centralized or unitary republic, in which actual power should be exercised by a life president and an hereditary senate until the people, represented in a lower house, should have gained a sufficient amount of political experience. when san martin returned to lima he found affairs in a worse state than ever. the tyrannical conduct of the officer he had left in charge had provoked an uprising that made his position insupportable. conscious that his mission had come to an end and certain that, unless he gave way, a collision with bolivar was inevitable, san martin resolved to sacrifice himself lest harm befall the common cause in which both had done such yeoman service. accordingly he resigned his power into the hands of a constituent congress and left the country. but when he found that no happier fortune awaited him in chile and in his own native land, san martin decided to abandon spanish america forever and go into selfimposed exile. broken in health and spirit, he took up his residence in france, a recipient of bounty from a spaniard who had once been his comrade in arms. meanwhile in the mexican part of the viceroyalty of new spain the cry of independence raised by morelos and his bands of indian followers had been stifled by the capture and execution of the leader. but the cause of independence was not dead even if its achievement was to be entrusted to other hands. eager to emulate the example of their brethren in south america, small parties of spaniards and creoles fought to overturn the despotic rule of ferdinand vii, only to encounter defeat from the royalists. then came the revolution of in the mother country. forthwith demands were heard for a recognition of the liberal regime. fearful of being displaced from power, the viceroy with the support of the clergy and aristocracy ordered agustin de iturbide, a creole officer who had been an active royalist, to quell an insurrection in the southern part of the country. the choice of this soldier was unfortunate. personally ambitious and cherishing in secret the thought of independence, iturbide, faithless to his trust, entered into negotiations with the insurgents which culminated february , , in what was called the "plan of iguala." it contained three main provisions, or "guarantees," as they were termed: the maintenance of the catholic religion to the exclusion of all others; the establishment of a constitutional monarchy separate from spain and ruled by ferdinand himself, or, if he declined the honor, by some other european prince; and the union of mexicans and spaniards without distinction of caste or privilege. a temporary government also, in the form of a junta presided over by the viceroy, was to be created; and provision was made for the organization of an "army of the three guarantees." despite opposition from the royalists, the plan won increasing favor. powerless to thwart it and inclined besides to a policy of conciliation, the new viceroy, juan o'donoju, agreed to ratify it on condition--in obedience to a suggestion from iturbide--that the parties concerned should be at liberty, if they desired, to choose any one as emperor, whether he were of a reigning family or not. thereupon, on the th of september, the provisional government installed at the city of mexico announced the consummation of an "enterprise rendered eternally memorable, which a genius beyond all admiration and eulogy, love and glory of his country, began at iguala, prosecuted and carried into effect, overcoming obstacles almost insuparable"--and declared the independence of a "mexican empire." the act was followed by the appointment of a regency to govern until the accession of ferdinand vii, or some other personage, to the imperial throne. of this body iturbide assumed the presidency, which carried with it the powers of commander in chief and a salary of , pesos, paid from the day on which the plan of iguala was signed. o'donoju contented himself with membership on the board and a salary of one-twelfth that amount, until his speedy demise removed from the scene the last of the spanish viceroys in north america. one step more was needed. learning that the cortes in spain had rejected the entire scheme, iturbide allowed his soldiers to acclaim him emperor, and an unwilling congress saw itself obliged to ratify the choice. on july , , the destinies of the country were committed to the charge of agustin the first. as in the area of mexico proper, so in the central american part of the viceroyalty of new spain, the spanish revolution of had unexpected results. here in the five little provinces composing the captaincy general of guatemala there was much unrest, but nothing of a serious nature occurred until after news had been brought of the plan of iguala and its immediate outcome. thereupon a popular assembly met at the capital town of guatemala, and on september , , declared the country an independent state. this radical act accomplished, the patriot leaders were unable to proceed further. demands for the establishment of a federation, for a recognition of local autonomy, for annexation to mexico, were all heard, and none, except the last, was answered. while the "imperialists" and "republicans" were arguing it out, a message from emperor agustin announced that he would not allow the new state to remain independent. on submission of the matter to a vote of the cabildos, most of them approved reunion with the northern neighbor. salvador alone among the provinces held out until troops from mexico overcame its resistance. on the continents of america, spain had now lost nearly all its its possessions. in the united states had already acquired east florida on its own account, led off in recognizing the independence of the several republics. only in peru and charcas the royalists still battled on behalf of the mother country. in the west indies, santo domingo followed the lead of its sister colonies on the mainland by asserting in its independence; but its brief independent life was snuffed out by the negroes of haiti, once more a republic, who spread their control over the entire island. cuba also felt the impulse of the times. but, apart from the agitation of secret societies like the "rays and suns of bolivar," which was soon checked, the colony remained tranquil. in portuguese america the knowledge of what had occurred throughout the spanish dominions could not fail to awaken a desire for independence. the prince regent was well aware of the discontent of the brazilians, but he thought to allay it by substantial concessions. in he proceeded to elevate the colony to substantial equality with the mother country by joining them under the title of "united kingdom of portugal, brazil, and the algarves." the next year the prince regent himself became king under the name of john iv. the flame of discontent, nevertheless, continued to smolder. republican outbreaks, though quelled without much difficulty, recurred. even the reforms which had been instituted by john himself while regent, and which had assured freer communication with the world at large, only emphasized more and more the absurdity of permitting a feeble little land like portugal to retain its hold upon a region so extensive and valuable as brazil. the events of in portugal hastened the movement toward independence. fired by the success of their spanish comrades, the portuguese liberals forthwith rose in revolt, demanded the establishment of a limited monarchy, and insisted that the king return to his people. in similar fashion, also, they drew up a constitution which provided for the representation of brazil by deputies in a future cortes. beyond this they would concede no special privileges to the colony. indeed their idea seems to have been that, with the king once more in lisbon, their own liberties would be secure and those of brazil would be reduced to what were befitting a mere dependency. yielding to the inevitable, the king decided to return to portugal, leaving the young crown prince to act as regent in the colony. a critical moment for the little country and its big dominion oversea had indubitably arrived. john understood the trend of the times, for on the eve of his departure he said to his son: "pedro, if brazil is to separate itself from portugal, as seems likely, you take the crown yourself before any one else gets it!" pedro was liberal in sentiment, popular among the brazilians, and well-disposed toward the aspirations of the country for a larger measure of freedom, and yet not blind to the interests of the dynasty of braganza. he readily listened to the urgent pleas of the leaders of the separatist party against obeying the repressive mandaes of the cortes. laws which abolished the central government of the colony and made the various provinces individually subject to portugal he declined to notice. with equal promptness he refused to heed an order bidding him return to portugal immediately. to a delegation of prominent brazilians he said emphatically: "for the good of all and the general welfare of the nation, i shall stay." more than that, in may, , he accepted from the municipality of rio de janeiro the title of "perpetual and constitutional defender of brazil," and in a series of proclamations urged the people of the country to begin the great work of emancipation by forcibly resisting, if needful, any attempt at coercion. pedro now believed the moment had come to take the final step. while on a journey through the province of sao paulo, he was overtaken on the th of september, near a little stream called the ypiranga, by messengers with dispatches from portugal. finding that the cortes had annulled his acts and declared his ministers guilty of treason, pedro forthwith proclaimed brazil an independent state. the "cry of ypiranga" was echoed with tremendous enthusiasm throughout the country. when pedro appeared in the theater at rio de janeiro, a few days later, wearing on his arm a ribbon on which were inscribed the words "independence or death," he was given a tumultuous ovation. on the first day of december the youthful monarch assumed the title of emperor, and brazil thereupon took its place among the nations of america. chapter iv. ploughing the sea when the la plata congress at tucuman took the decisive action that severed the bond with spain, it uttered a prophecy for all spanish america. to quote its language: "vast and fertile regions, climates benign and varied, abundant means of subsistence, treasures of gold and silver... and fine productions of every sort will attract to our continent innumerable thousands of immigrants, to whom we shall open a safe place of refuge and extend a beneficent protection." more hopeful still were the words of a spokesman for another independent country: "united, neither the empire of the assyrians, the medes or the persians, the macedonian or the roman empire, can ever be compared with this colossal republic." very different was the vision of bolivar. while a refugee in jamaica he wrote: "we are a little human species; we possess a world apart... new in almost all the arts and sciences, and yet old, after a fashion, in the uses of civil society.... neither indians nor europeans, we are a species that lies midway .... is it conceivable that a people recently freed of its chains can launch itself into the sphere of liberty without shattering its wings, like icarus, and plunging into the abyss? such a prodigy is inconceivable, never beheld." toward the close of his career he declared: "the majority are mestizos, mulattoes, indians, and negroes. an ignorant people is a blunt instrument for its own destruction. to it liberty means license, patriotism means disloyalty, and justice means vengeance." "independence," he exclaimed, "is the only good we have achieved, at the cost of everything else." whether the abounding confidence of the prophecy or the anxious doubt of the vision would come true, only the future could tell. in , at all events, optimism was the watchword and the total exclusion of spain from south america the goal of bolivar and his lieutenants, as they started southward to complete the work of emancipation which had been begun by san martin. the patriots of peru, indeed, had fallen into straits so desperate that an appeal to the liberator offered the only hope of salvation. while the royalists under their able and vigilant leader, jose canterac, continued to strengthen their grasp upon the interior of the country and to uphold the power of the viceroy, the president chosen by the congress had been driven by the enemy from lima. a number of the legislators in wrath thereupon declared the president deposed. not to be outdone, that functionary on his part declared the congress dissolved. the malcontents immediately proceeded to elect a new chief magistrate, thus bringing two presidents into the field and inaugurating a spectacle destined to become all too common in the subsequent annals of spanish america. when bolivar arrived at callao, the seaport of lima, in september, , he acted with prompt vigor. he expelled one president, converted the other into a passive instrument of his will, declined to promulgate a constitution that the congress had prepared, and, after obtaining from that body an appointment to supreme command, dissolved the congress without further ado. unfortunately none of these radical measures had any perceptible effect upon the military situation. though bolivar gathered together an army made up of colombians, peruvians, and remnants of san martin's force, many months elapsed before he could venture upon a serious campaign. then events in spain played into his hands. the reaction that had followed the restoration of ferdinand vii to absolute power crossed the ocean and split the royalists into opposing factions. quick to seize the chance thus afforded, bolivar marched over the andes to the plain of junin. there, on august , , he repelled an onslaught by canterac and drove that leader back in headlong flight. believing, however, that the position he held was too perilous to risk an offensive, he entrusted the military command to sucre and returned to headquarters. the royalists had now come to realize that only a supreme effort could save them. they must overwhelm sucre before reinforcements could reach him, and to this end an army of upwards of ten thousand was assembled. on the th of december it encountered sucre and his six thousand soldiers in the valley of ayacucho, or "corner of death," where the patriot general had entrenched his army with admirable skill. the result was a total defeat for the royalists--the waterloo of spain in south america. the battle thus won by ragged and hungry soldiers--whose countersign the night before had been "bread and cheese"--threw off the yoke of the mother country forever. the viceroy fell wounded into their hands and canterac surrendered. on receipt of the glorious news, the people of lima greeted bolivar with wild enthusiasm. a congress prolonged his dictatorship amid adulations that bordered on the grotesque. eastward of peru in the vast mountainous region of charcas, on the very heights of south america, the royalists still found a refuge. in january, , a patriot general at the town of la paz undertook on his own responsibility to declare the entire province independent, alike of spain, peru, and the united provinces of la plata. this action was too precipitous, not to say presumptuous, to suit bolivar and sucre. the better to control the situation, the former went up to la paz and the latter to chuquisaca, the capital, where a congress was to assemble for the purpose of imparting a more orderly turn to affairs. under the direction of the "marshal of ayacucho," as sucre was now called, the congress issued on the th of august a formal declaration of independence. in honor of the liberator it christened the new republic "bolivar"--later latinized into "bolivia"--and conferred upon him the presidency so long as he might choose to remain. in november, , a new congress which had been summoned to draft a constitution accepted, with slight modifications, an instrument that the liberator himself had prepared. that body also renamed the capital "sucre" and chose the hero of ayacucho as president of the republic. now, the liberator thought, was the opportune moment to impose upon his territorial namesake a constitution embodying his ideas of a stable government which would give spanish americans eventually the political experience they needed. providing for an autocracy represented by a life president, it ran the gamut of aristocracy and democracy, all the way from "censors" for life, who were to watch over the due enforcement of the laws, down to senators and "tribunes" chosen by electors, who in turn were to be named by a select citizenry. whenever actually present in the territory of the republic, the liberator was to enjoy supreme command, in case he wished to exercise it. in simon bolivar stood at the zenith of his glory and power. no adherents of the spanish regime were left in south america to menace the freedom of its independent states. in january a resistance kept up for nine years by a handful of royalists lodged on the remote island of chiloe, off the southern coast of chile, had been broken, and the garrison at the fortress of callao had laid down its arms after a valiant struggle. among spanish americans no one was comparable to the marvelous man who had founded three great republics stretching from the caribbean sea to the tropic of capricorn. hailed as the "liberator" and the "terror of despots," he was also acclaimed by the people as the "redeemer, the first-born son of the new world!" national destinies were committed to his charge, and equestrian statues were erected in his honor. in the popular imagination he was ranked with napoleon as a peerless conqueror, and with washington as the father of his country. that megalomania should have seized the mind of the liberator under circumstances like these is not strange. ever a zealous advocate of large states, bolivar was an equally ardent partisan of confederation. as president of three republics--of colombia actually, and of its satellites, peru and bolivia, through his lieutenants--he could afford now to carry out the plan that he had long since cherished of assembling at the town of panama, on colombian soil, an "august congress" representative of the independent countries of america. here, on the isthmus created by nature to join the continents, the nations created by men should foregather and proclaim fraternal accord. presenting to the autocratic governments of europe a solid front of resistance to their pretensions as well as a visible symbol of unity in sentiment, such a congress by meeting periodically would also promote friendship among the republics of the western hemisphere and supply a convenient means of settling their disputes. at this time the united states was regarded by its sister republics with all the affection which gratitude for services rendered to the cause of emancipation could evoke. was it not itself a republic, its people a democracy, its development astounding, and its future radiant with hope? the pronouncement of president monroe, in , protesting against interference on the part of european powers with the liberties of independent america, afforded the clearest possible proof that the great northern republic was a natural protector, guide, and friend whose advice and cooperation ought to be invoked. the united states was accordingly asked to take part in the assembly--not to concert military measures, but simply to join its fellows to the southward in a solemn proclamation of the monroe doctrine by america at large and to discuss means of suppressing the slave trade. the congress that met at panama, in june, , afforded scant encouragement to bolivar's roseate hope of interamerican solidarity. whether because of the difficulties of travel, or because of internal dissensions, or because of the suspicion that the megalomania of the liberator had awakened in spanish america, only the four continental countries nearest the isthmus--mexico, central america, colombia, and peru--were represented. the delegates, nevertheless, signed a compact of "perpetual union, league, and confederation," provided for mutual assistance to be rendered by the several nations in time of war, and arranged to have the areopagus of the americas transferred to mexico. none of the acts of this congress was ratified by the republics concerned, except the agreement for union, which was adopted by colombia. disheartening to bolivar as this spectacle was, it proved merely the first of a series of calamities which were to overshadow the later years of the liberator. his grandiose political structure began to crumble, for it was built on the shifting sands of a fickle popularity. the more he urged a general acceptance of the principles of his autocratic constitution, the surer were his followers that he coveted royal honors. in december he imposed his instrument upon peru. then he learned that a meeting in venezuela, presided over by paez, had declared itself in favor of separation from colombia. hardly had he left peru to check this movement when an uprising at lima deposed his representative and led to the summons of a congress which, in june, , restored the former constitution and chose a new president. in quito, also, the government of the unstable dictator was overthrown. alarmed by symptoms of disaffection which also appeared in the western part of the republic, bolivar hurried to bogota. there in the hope of removing the growing antagonism, he offered his "irrevocable" resignation, as he had done on more than one occasion before. though the malcontents declined to accept his withdrawal from office, they insisted upon his calling a constitutional convention. meeting at ocana, in april, , that body proceeded to abolish the life tenure of the presidency, to limit the powers of the executive, and to increase those of the legislature. bolivar managed to quell the opposition in dictatorial fashion; but his prestige had by this time fallen so low that an attempt was made to assassinate him. the severity with which he punished the conspirators served only to diminish still more the popular confidence which he had once enjoyed. even in bolivia his star of destiny had set. an outbreak of colombian troops at the capital forced the faithful sucre to resign and leave the country. the constitution was then modified to meet the demand for a less autocratic government, and a new chief magistrate was installed. desperately the liberator strove to ward off the impending collapse. though he recovered possession of the division of quito, a year of warfare failed to win back peru, and he was compelled to renounce all pretense of governing it. feeble in body and distracted in mind, he condemned bitterly the machinations of his enemies. "there is no good faith in colombia," he exclaimed, "neither among men nor among nations. treaties are paper; constitutions, books; elections, combats; liberty, anarchy, and life itself a torment." but the hardest blow was yet to fall. late in december, , an assembly at caracas declared venezuela a separate state. the great republic was rent in twain, and even what was left soon split apart. in may, , came the final crash. the congress at bogota drafted a constitution, providing for a separate republic to bear the old spanish name of "new granada," accepted definitely the resignation of bolivar, and granted him a pension. venezuela, his native land, set up a congress of its own and demanded that he be exiled. the division of quito declared itself independent, under the name of the "republic of the equator" (ecuador). everywhere the artificial handiwork of the liberator lay in ruins. "america is ungovernable. those who have served in the revolution have ploughed the sea," was his despairing cry. stricken to death, the fallen hero retired to an estate near santa marta. here, like his famous rival, san martin, in france, he found hospitality at the hands of a spaniard. on december , , the liberator gave up his troubled soul. while bolivar's great republic was falling apart, the united provinces of la plata had lost practically all semblance of cohesion. so broad were their notions of liberty that the several provinces maintained a substantial independence of one another, while within each province the caudillos, or partisan chieftains, fought among themselves. buenos aires alone managed to preserve a measure of stability. this comparative peace was due to the financial and commercial measures devised by bernardino rivadavia, one of the most capable statesmen of the time, and to the energetic manner in which disorder was suppressed by juan manuel de rosas, commander of the gaucho, or cowboy, militia. thanks also to the former leader, the provinces were induced in to join in framing a constitution of a unitary character, which vested in the administration at buenos aires the power of appointing the local governors and of controlling foreign affairs. the name of the country was at the same time changed to that of the "argentine confederation"(c)-a latin rendering of "la plata." no sooner had rivadavia assumed the presidency under the new order of things than dissension at home and warfare abroad threatened to destroy all that he had accomplished. ignoring the terms of the constitution, the provinces had already begun to reject the supremacy of buenos aires, when the outbreak of a struggle with brazil forced the contending parties for a while to unite in the face of the common enemy. as before, the object of international dispute was the region of the banda oriental. the rule of brazil had not been oppressive, but the people of its cisplatine province, attached by language and sympathy to their western neighbors, longed nevertheless to be free of foreign control. in april, , a band of thirty-three refugees arrived from buenos aires and started a revolution which spread throughout the country. organizing a provisional government, the insurgents proclaimed independence of brazil and incorporation with the united provinces of la plata. as soon as the authorities at buenos aires had approved this action, war was inevitable. though the brazilians were decisively beaten at the battle of ituzaingo, on february , , the struggle lasted until august , , when mediation by great britain led to the conclusion of a treaty at rio de janeiro, by which both brazil and the argentine confederation recognized the absolute independence of the disputed province as the republic of uruguay. instead of quieting the discord that prevailed among the argentinos, these victories only fomented trouble. the federalists had ousted rivadavia and discarded the constitution, but the federal idea for which they stood had several meanings. to an inhabitant of buenos aires federalism meant domination by the capital, not only over the province of the same name but over the other provinces; whereas, to the people of the provinces, and even to many of federalist faith in the province of buenos aires itself, the term stood for the idea of a loose confederation in which each provincial governor or chieftain should be practically supreme in his own district, so long as he could maintain himself. the unitaries were opponents of both, except in so far as their insistence upon a centralized form of government for the nation would necessarily lead to the location of that government at buenos aires. this peculiar dual contest between the town and the province of buenos aires, and of the other provinces against either or both, persisted for the next sixty years. in , however, a prolonged lull set in, when rosas, the gaucho leader, having won in company with other caudillos a decisive triumph over the unitaries, entered the capital and took supreme command. in chile the course of events had assumed quite a different aspect. here, in , a species of constitution had been adopted by popular vote in a manner that appeared to show remarkable unanimity, for the books in which the "ayes" and "noes" were to be recorded contained no entries in the negative! what the records really prove is that o'higgins, the supreme director, enjoyed the confidence of the ruling class. in exercise of the autocratic power entrusted to him, he now proceeded to introduce a variety of administrative reforms of signal advantage to the moral and material welfare of the country. but as the danger of conquest from any quarter lessened, the demand for a more democratic organization grew louder, until in it became so persistent that o'higgins called a convention to draft a new fundamental law. but its provisions suited neither himself nor his opponents. thereupon, realizing that his views of the political capacity of the people resembled those of bolivar and were no longer applicable, and that his reforms had aroused too much hostility, the supreme director resigned his post and retired to peru. thus another hero of emancipation had met the ingratitude for which republics are notorious. political convulsions in the country followed the abdication of o'higgins. not only had the spirit of the strife between unitaries and federalists been communicated to chile from the neighboring republic to the eastward, but two other parties or factions, divided on still different lines, had arisen. these were the conservative and the liberal, or bigwigs (pelucones) and greenhorns (pipiolos), as the adherents of the one derisively dubbed the partisans of the other. although in the ups and downs of the struggle two constitutions were adopted, neither sufficed to quiet the agitation. not until , when the liberals sustained an utter defeat on the field of battle, did the country enter upon a period of quiet progress along conservative lines. from that time onward it presented a surprising contrast to its fellow republics, which were beset with afflictions. far to the northward, the empire of mexico set up by iturbide in was doomed to a speedy fall. "emperor by divine providence," that ambitious adventurer inscribed on his coins, but his countrymen knew that the bayonets of his soldiers were the actual mainstay of his pretentious title. neither his earlier career nor the size of his following was sufficiently impressive to assure him popular support if the military prop gave way. his lavish expenditures, furthermore, and his arbitrary replacement of the congress by a docile body which would authorize forced loans at his command, steadily undermined his position. apart from the faults of iturbide himself, the popular sentiment of a country bordering immediately upon the united states could not fail to be colored by the ideas and institutions of its great neighbor. so, too, the example of what had been accomplished, in form at least, by their kinsmen elsewhere in america was bound to wield a potent influence on the minds of the mexicans. as a result, their desire for a republic grew stronger from day to day. iturbide, in fact, had not enjoyed his exalted rank five months when antonio lopez de santa anna, a young officer destined later to become a conspicuous figure in mexican history, started a revolt to replace the "empire" by a republic. though he failed in his object, two of iturbide's generals joined the insurgents in demanding a restoration of the congress--an act which, as the hapless "emperor" perceived, would amount to his dethronement. realizing his impotence, iturbide summoned the congress and announced his abdication. but instead of recognizing this procedure, that body declared his accession itself null and void; it agreed, however, to grant him a pension if he would leave the country and reside in italy. with this disposition of his person iturbide complied; but he soon wearied of exile and persuaded himself that he would not lack supporters if he tried to regain his former control in mexico. this venture he decided to make in complete ignorance of a decree ordering his summary execution if he dared to set foot again on mexican soil. he had hardly landed in july, , when he was seized and shot. since a constituent assembly had declared itself in favor of establishing a federal form of republic patterned after that of the united states, the promulgation of a constitution followed on october , , and guadalupe victoria, one of the leaders in the revolt against iturbide, was chosen president of the united mexican states. though considerable unrest prevailed toward the close of his term, the new president managed to retain his office for the allotted four years. in most respects, however, the new order of things opened auspiciously. in november, , the surrender of the fortress of san juan de ulua, in the harbor of vera cruz, banished the last remnant of spanish power, and two years later the suppression of plots for the restoration of ferdinand vii, coupled with the expulsion of a large number of spaniards, helped to restore calm. there were those even who dared to hope that the federal system would operate as smoothly in mexico as it had done in the united states. but the political organization of a country so different from its northern neighbor in population, traditions, and practices, could not rest merely on a basis of imitation, even more or less modified. the artificiality of the fabric became apparent enough as soon as ambitious individuals and groups of malcontents concerted measures to mold it into a likeness of reality. two main political factions soon appeared. for the form they assumed british and american influences were responsible. adopting a kind of masonic organization, the conservatives and centralists called themselves escoceses (scottish-rite men), whereas the radicals and federalists took the name of yorkinos (york-rite men). whatever their respective slogans and professions of political faith, they were little more than personal followers of rival generals or politicians who yearned to occupy the presidential chair. upon the downfall of iturbide, the malcontents in central america bestirred themselves to throw off the mexican yoke. on july , , a congress declared the region an independent republic under the name of the "united provinces of central america." in november of the next year, following the precedent established in mexico, and obedient also to local demand, the new republic issued a constitution, in accordance with which the five little divisions of guatemala, honduras, salvador, nicaragua, and costa rica were to become states of a federal union, each having the privilege of choosing its own local authorities. immediately federalists and centralists, radicals and conservatives, all wished, it would seem, to impose their particular viewpoint upon their fellows. the situation was not unlike that in the argentine confederation. the efforts of guatemala--the province in which power had been concentrated under the colonial regime--to assert supremacy over its fellow states, and their refusal to respect either the federal bond or one another's rights made civil war inevitable. the struggle which broke out among guatemala, salvador, and honduras, lasted until , when francisco morazan, at the head of the "allied army, upholder of the law," entered the capital of the republic and assumed dictatorial power. of all the hispanic nations, however, brazil was easily the most stable. here the leaders, while clinging to independence, strove to avoid dangerous innovations in government. rather than create a political system for which the country was not prepared, they established a constitutional monarchy. but brazil itself was too vast and its interior too difficult of access to allow it to become all at once a unit, either in organization or in spirit. the idea of national solidarity had as yet made scant progress. the old rivalry which existed between the provinces of the north, dominated by bahia or pernambuco, and those of the south, controlled by rio de janeiro or sao paulo, still made itself felt. what the empire amounted to, therefore, was an agglomeration of provinces, held together by the personal prestige of a young monarch. since the mother country still held parts of northern brazil, the emperor entrusted the energetic cochrane, who had performed such valiant service for chile and peru, with the task of expelling the foreign soldiery. when this had been accomplished and a republican outbreak in the same region had been suppressed, the more difficult task of satisfying all parties by a constitution had to be undertaken. there were partisans of monarchy and advocates of republicanism, men of conservative and of liberal sympathies; disagreements, also, between the brazilians and the native portuguese residents were frequent. so far as possible pedro desired to meet popular desires, and yet without imposing too many limitations on the monarchy itself. but in the assembly called to draft the constitution the liberal members made a determined effort to introduce republican forms. pedro thereupon dissolved that body and in promulgated a constitution of his own. the popularity of the emperor thereafter soon began to wane, partly because of the scandalous character of his private life, and partly because he declined to observe constitutional restrictions and chose his ministers at will. his insistent war in portugal to uphold the claims of his daughter to the throne betrayed, or seemed to betray, dynastic ambitions. his inability to hold uruguay as a brazilian province, and his continued retention of foreign soldiers who had been employed in the struggle with the argentine confederation, for the apparent purpose of quelling possible insurrections in the future, bred much discontent. so also did the restraints he laid upon the press, which had been infected by the liberal movements in neighboring republics. when he failed to subdue these outbreaks, his rule became all the more discredited. thereupon, menaced by a dangerous uprising at rio de janeiro in , he abdicated the throne in favor of his son, pedro, then five years of age, and set sail for portugal. under the influence of great britain the small european mother country had in recognized the independence of its big transatlantic dominion; but it was not until that the cortes of spain authorized the crown to enter upon negotiations looking to the same action in regard to the eleven republics which had sprung out of its colonial domain. even then many years elapsed before the mother country acknowledged the independence of them all. chapter v. the age of the dictators independence without liberty and statehood without respect for law are phrases which sum up the situation in spanish america after the failure of bolivar's "great design." the outcome was a collection of crude republics, racked by internal dissension and torn by mutual jealousy--patrias bobas, or "foolish fatherlands," as one of their own writers has termed them. now that the bond of unity once supplied by spain had been broken, the entire region which had been its continental domain in america dissolved awhile into its elements. the spanish language, the traditions and customs of the dominant class, and a "republican" form of government, were practically the sole ties which remained. laws, to be sure, had been enacted, providing for the immediate or gradual abolition of negro slavery and for an improvement in the status of the indian and half-caste; but the bulk of the inhabitants, as in colonial times, remained outside of the body politic and social. though the so-called "constitutions" might confer upon the colored inhabitants all the privileges and immunities of citizens if they could read and write, and even a chance to hold office if they could show possession of a sufficient income or of a professional title of some sort, their usual inability to do either made their privileges illusory. their only share in public concerns lay in performing military service at the behest of their superiors. even where the language of the constitutions did not exclude the colored inhabitants directly or indirectly, practical authority was exercised by dictators who played the autocrat, or by "liberators" who aimed at the enjoyment of that function themselves. not all the dictators, however, were selfish tyrants, nor all the liberators mere pretenders. disturbed conditions bred by twenty years of warfare, antique methods of industry, a backward commerce, inadequate means of communication, and a population ignorant, superstitious, and scant, made a strong ruler more or less indispensable. whatever his official designation, the dictator was the logical successor of the spanish viceroy or captain general, but without the sense of responsibility or the legal restraint of either. these circumstances account for that curious political phase in the development of the spanish american nations--the presidential despotism. on the other hand, the men who denounced oppression, unscrupulousness, and venality, and who in rhetorical pronunciamentos urged the "people" to overthrow the dictators, were often actuated by motives of patriotism, even though they based their declarations on assumptions and assertions, rather than on principles and facts. not infrequently a liberator of this sort became "provisional president" until he himself, or some person of his choice, could be elected "constitutional president"--two other institutions more or less peculiar to spanish america. in an atmosphere of political theorizing mingled with ambition for personal advancement, both leaders and followers were professed devotees of constitutions. no people, it was thought, could maintain a real republic and be a true democracy if they did not possess a written constitution. the longer this was, the more precise its definition of powers and liberties, the more authentic the republic and the more genuine the democracy was thought to be. in some countries the notion was carried still farther by an insistence upon frequent changes in the fundamental law or in the actual form of government, not so much to meet imperative needs as to satisfy a zest for experimentation or to suit the whims of mercurial temperaments. the congresses, constituent assemblies, and the like, which drew these instruments, were supposed to be faithful reproductions of similar bodies abroad and to represent the popular will. in fact, however, they were substantially colonial cabildos, enlarged into the semblance of a legislature, intent upon local or personal concerns, and lacking any national consciousness. in any case the members were apt to be creatures of a republican despot or else delegates of politicians or petty factions. assuming that the leaders had a fairly clear conception of what they wanted, even if the mass of their adherents did not, it is possible to aline the factions or parties somewhat as follows: on the one hand, the unitary, the military, the clerical, the conservative, and the moderate; on the other, the federalist, the civilian, the lay, the liberal, and the radical. interspersed among them were the advocates of a presidential or congressional system like that of the united states, the upholders of a parliamentary regime like that of european nations, and the supporters of methods of government of a more experimental kind. broadly speaking, the line of cleavage was made by opinions, concerning the form of government and by convictions regarding the relations of church and state. these opinions were mainly a product of revolutionary experience; these convictions, on the other hand, were a bequest from colonial times. the unitaries wished to have a system of government modeled upon that of france. they wanted the various provinces made into administrative districts over which the national authority should exercise full sway. their direct opponents, the federalists, resembled to some extent the antifederalists rather than the party bearing the former title in the earlier history of the united states; but even here an exact analogy fails. they did not seek to have the provinces enjoy local self-government or to have perpetuated the traditions of a sort of municipal home rule handed down from the colonial cabildos, so much as to secure the recognition of a number of isolated villages or small towns as sovereign states--which meant turning them over as fiefs to their local chieftains. federalism, therefore, was the spanish american expression for a feudalism upheld by military lordlets and their retainers. among the measures of reform introduced by one republic or another during the revolutionary period, abolition of the inquisition had been one of the foremost; otherwise comparatively little was done to curb the influence of the church. indeed the earlier constitutions regularly contained articles declaring roman catholicism the sole legal faith as well as the religion of the state, and safeguarding in other respects its prestige in the community. here was an institution, wealthy, proud, and influential, which declined to yield its ancient prerogatives and privileges and to that end relied upon the support of clericals and conservatives who disliked innovations of a democratic sort and viewed askance the entry of immigrants professing an alien faith. opposed to the church stood governments verging on bankruptcy, desirous of exercising supreme control, and dominated by individuals eager to put theories of democracy into practice and to throw open the doors of the republic freely to newcomers from other lands. in the opinion of these radicals the church ought to be deprived both of its property and of its monopoly of education. the one should be turned over to the nation, to which it properly belonged, and should be converted into public utilities; the other should be made absolutely secular, in order to destroy clerical influence over the youthful mind. in this program radicals and liberals concurred with varying degrees of intensity, while the moderates strove to hold the balance between them and their opponents. out of this complex situation civil commotions were bound to arise. occasionally these were real wars, but as a rule only skirmishes or sporadic insurrections occurred. they were called "revolutions," not because some great principle was actually at stake but because the term had been popular ever since the struggle with spain. as a designation for movements aimed at securing rotation in office, and hence control of the treasury, it was appropriate enough! at all events, whether serious or farcical, the commotions often involved an expenditure in life and money far beyond the value of the interests affected. further, both the prevalent disorder and the centralization of authority impelled the educated and well-to-do classes to take up their residence at the seat of government. not a few of the uprisings were, in fact, protests on the part of the neglected folk in the interior of the country against concentration of population, wealth, intellect, and power in the spanish american capitals. among the towns of this sort was buenos aires. here, in , rosas inaugurated a career of rulership over the argentine confederation, culminating in a despotism that made him the most extraordinary figure of his time. originally a stockfarmer and skilled in all the exercises of the cowboy, he developed an unusual talent for administration. his keen intelligence, supple statecraft, inflexibility of purpose, and vigor of action, united to a shrewd understanding of human follies and passions, gave to his personality a dominance that awed and to his word of command a power that humbled. over his fellow chieftains who held the provinces in terrorized subjection, he won an ascendancy that insured compliance with his will. the instincts of the multitude he flattered by his generous simplicity, while he enlisted the support of the responsible class by maintaining order in the countryside. the desire, also, of buenos aires to be paramount over the other provinces had no small share in strengthening his power. relatively honest in money matters, and a stickler for precision and uniformity, rosas sought to govern a nation in the rough-and-ready fashion of the stock farm. a creature of his environment, no better and no worse than his associates, but only more capable than they, and absolutely convinced that pitiless autocracy was the sole means of creating a nation out of chaotic fragments, this "robespierre of south america" carried on his despotic sway, regardless of the fury of opponents and the menace of foreign intervention. during the first three years of his control, however, except for the rigorous suppression of unitary movements and the muzzling of the press, few signs appeared of the "black night of argentine history" which was soon to close down on the land. realizing that the auspicious moment had not yet arrived for him to exercise the limitless power that he thought needful, he declined an offer of reelection from the provincial legislature, in the hope that, through a policy of conciliation, his successor might fall a prey to the designs of the unitaries. when this happened, he secretly stirred up the provinces into a renewal of the earlier disturbances, until the evidence became overwhelming that rosas alone could bring peace and progress out of turmoil and backwardness. reluctantly the legislature yielded him the power it knew he wanted. this he would not accept until a "popular" vote of some to confirmed the choice. in , accordingly, he became dictator for the first of four successive terms of five years. then ensued, notably in buenos aires itself, a state of affairs at once grotesque and frightful. not content with hunting down and inflicting every possible, outrage upon those suspected of sympathy with the unitaries, rosas forbade them to display the light blue and white colors of their party device and directed that red, the sign of federalism, should be displayed on all occasions. pink he would not tolerate as being too attenuated a shade and altogether too suggestive of political trimming! a band of his followers, made up of ruffians, and called the mazorca, or "ear of corn," because of the resemblance of their close fellowship to its adhering grains, broke into private houses, destroyed everything light blue within reach, and maltreated the unfortunate occupants at will. no man was safe also who did not give his face a leonine aspect by wearing a mustache and sidewhiskers--emblems, the one of "federalism," and the other of "independence." to possess a visage bare of these hirsute adornments or a countenance too efflorescent in that respect was, under a regime of tonsorial politics, to invite personal disaster! nothing apparently was too cringing or servile to show how submissive the people were to the mastery of rosas. private vengeance and defamation of the innocent did their sinister work unchecked. even when his arbitrary treatment of foreigners had compelled france for a while to institute a blockade of buenos aires, the wily dictator utilized the incident to turn patriotic resentment to his own advantage. meanwhile matters in uruguay had come to such a pass that rosas saw an opportunity to extend his control in that direction also. placed between brazil and the argentine confederation and so often a bone of contention, the little country was hardly free from the rule of the former state when it came near falling under the domination of the latter. only a few years of relative tranquillity had elapsed when two parties sprang up in uruguay: the "reds" (colorados) and the "whites" (blancos). of these, the one was supposed to represent the liberal and the other the conservative element. in fact, they were the followings of partisan chieftains, whose struggles for the presidency during many years to come retarded the advancement of a country to which nature had been generous. when fructuoso rivera, the president up to , thought of choosing some one to be elected in constitutional fashion as his successor, he unwisely singled out manuel oribe, one of the famous "thirty-three" who had raised the cry of independence a decade before. but instead of a henchman he found a rival. both of them straightway adopted the colors and bid for the support of one of the local factions; and both appealed to the factions of the argentine confederation for aid, rivera to the unitaries and oribe to the federalists. in , oribe, at the head of an army of blancos and federalists and with the moral support of rosas, laid siege to montevideo. defended by colorados, unitaries, and numerous foreigners, including giuseppe garibaldi, the town held out valiantly for eight years--a feat that earned for it the title of the "new troy." anxious to stop the slaughter and destruction that were injuring their nationals, france, great britain, and brazil offered their mediation; but rosas would have none of it. what the antagonists did he cared little, so long as they enfeebled the country and increased his chances of dominating it. at length, in , the two european powers established a blockade of argentine ports, which was not lifted until the dictator grudgingly agreed to withdraw his troops from the neighboring republic. more than any other single factor, this intervention of france and great britain administered a blow to rosas from which he could not recover. the operations of their fleets and the resistance of montevideo had lowered the prestige of the dictator and had raised the hopes of the unitaries that a last desperate effort might shake off his hated control. in may, , justo jose de urquiza, one of his most trusted lieutenants, declared the independence of his own province and called upon the others to rise against the tyrant. enlisting the support of brazil, uruguay, and paraguay, he assembled a "great army of liberation," composed of about twenty-five thousand men, at whose head he marched to meet the redoubtable rosas. on february , , at a spot near buenos aires, the man of might who, like his contemporary francia in paraguay, had held the argentine confederation in thralldom for so many years, went down to final defeat. embarking on a british warship he sailed for england, there to become a quiet country gentleman in a land where gauchos and dictators were unhonored. in the meantime paraguay, spared from such convulsion as racked its neighbor on the east, dragged on its secluded existence of backwardness and stagnation. indians and half-castes vegetated in ignorance and docility, and the handful of whites quaked in terror, while the inexorable francia tightened the reins of commercial and industrial restriction and erected forts along the frontiers to keep out the pernicious foreigner. at his death, in , men and women wept at his funeral in fear perchance, as one historian remarks, lest he come back to life; and the priest who officiated at the service likened the departed dictator to caesar and augustus! paraguay was destined, however, to fall under a despot far worse than francia when in francisco solano lopez became president. the new ruler was a man of considerable intelligence and education. while a traveler in europe he had seen much of its military organizations, and he had also gained no slight acquaintance with the vices of its capital cities. this acquired knowledge he joined to evil propensities until he became a veritable monster of wickedness. vain, arrogant, reckless, absolutely devoid of scruple, swaggering in victory, dogged in defeat, ferociously cruel at all times, he murdered his brothers and his best friends; he executed, imprisoned, or banished any one whom he thought too influential; he tortured his mother and sisters; and, like the french terrorists, he impaled his officers upon the unpleasant dilemma of winning victories or losing their lives. even members of the american legation suffered torment at his hands, and the minister himself barely escaped death. over his people, lopez wielded a marvelous power, compounded of persuasive eloquence and brute force. if the paraguayans had obeyed their earlier masters blindly, they were dumb before this new despot and deaf to other than his word of command. to them he was the "great father," who talked to them in their own tongue of guarani, who was the personification of the nation, the greatest ruler in the world, the invincible champion who inspired them with a loathing and contempt for their enemies. such were the traits of a man and such the traits of a people who waged for six years a warfare among the most extraordinary in human annals. what prompted lopez to embark on his career of international madness and prosecute it with the rage of a demon is not entirely clear. a vision of himself as the napoleon of southern south america, who might cause brazil, argentina, and uruguay to cringe before his footstool, while he disposed at will of their territory and fortunes, doubtless stirred his imagination. so, too, the thought of his country, wedged in between two huge neighbors and threatened with suffocation between their overlapping folds, may well have suggested the wisdom of conquering overland a highway to the sea. at all events, he assembled an army of upwards of ninety thousand men, the greatest military array that hispanic america had ever seen. though admirably drilled and disciplined, they were poorly armed, mostly with flintlock muskets, and they were also deficient in artillery except that of antiquated pattern. with this mighty force at his back, yet knowing that the neighboring countries could eventually call into the field armies much larger in size equipped with repeating rifles and supplied with modern artillery, the "jupiter of paraguay" nevertheless made ready to launch his thunderbolt. the primary object at which he aimed was uruguay. in this little state the colorados, upheld openly or secretly by brazil and argentina, were conducting a "crusade of liberty" against the blanco government at montevideo, which was favored by paraguay. neither of the two great powers wished to see an alliance formed between uruguay and paraguay, lest when united in this manner the smaller nations might become too strong to tolerate further intervention in their affairs. for her part, brazil had motives for resentment arising out of boundary disputes with paraguay and uruguay, as well as out of the inevitable injury to its nationals inflicted by the commotions in the latter country; whereas argentina cherished grievances against lopez for the audacity with which his troops roamed through her provinces and the impudence with which his vessels, plying on the lower parana, ignored the customs regulations. thus it happened that obscure civil discords in one little republic exploded into a terrific international struggle which shook south america to its foundations. in , scorning the arts of diplomacy which he did not apparently understand, lopez sent down an order for the two big states to leave the matter of uruguayan politics to his impartial adjustment. at both rio de janeiro and buenos aires a roar of laughter went up from the press at this notion of an obscure chieftain of a band of indians in the tropical backwoods daring to poise the equilibrium of much more than half a continent on his insolent hand. but the merriment soon subsided, as brazilians and argentinos came to realize what their peril might be from a huge army of skilled and valiant soldiers, a veritable horde of fighting fanatics, drawn up in a compact little land, centrally located and affording in other respects every kind of strategic advantage. when brazil invaded uruguay and restored the colorados to power, lopez demanded permission from argentina to cross its frontier, for the purpose of assailing his enemy from another quarter. when the permission was denied, lopez declared war on argentina also. it was in every respect a daring step, but lopez knew that argentina was not so well prepared as his own state for a war of endurance. uruguay then entered into an alliance in with its two big "protectors." in accordance with its terms, the allies agreed not to conclude peace until lopez had been overthrown, heavy indemnities had been exacted of paraguay, its fortifications demolished, its army disbanded, and the country forced to accept any boundaries that the victors might see fit to impose. into the details of the campaigns in the frightful conflict that ensued it is not necessary to enter. although, in , the allies had assembled an army of some fifty thousand men, lopez continued taking the offensive until, as the number and determination of his adversaries increased, he was compelled to retreat into his own country. here he and his indian legions levied terrific toll upon the lives of their enemies who pressed onward, up or down the rivers and through tropical swamps and forests. inch by inch he contested their entry upon paraguayan soil. when the able-bodied men gave out, old men, boys, women, and girls fought on with stubborn fury, and died before they would surrender. the wounded escaped if they could, or, cursing their captors, tore off their bandages and bled to death. disease wrought awful havoc in all the armies engaged; yet the struggle continued until flesh and blood could endure no more. flying before his pursuers into the wilds of the north and frantically dragging along with him masses of fugitive men, women, and children, whom he remorselessly shot, or starved to death, or left to perish of exhaustion, lopez turned finally at bay, and, on march , , was felled by the lance of a cavalryman. he had sworn to die for his country and he did, though his country might perish with him. no land in modern times has ever reached a point so near annihilation as paraguay. added to the utter ruin of its industries and the devastation of its fields, dwellings, and towns, hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children had perished. indeed, the horrors that had befallen it might well have led the allies to ask themselves whether it was worth while to destroy a country in order to change its rulers. five years before lopez came into power the population of paraguay had been reckoned at something between , and , , --so unreliable were census returns in those days. in it was estimated at about , , of whom women over fifteen years of age outnumbered the men nearly four to one. loose polygamy was the inevitable consequence, and women became the breadwinners. even today in this country the excess of females over males is very great. all in all, it is not strange that paraguay should be called the "niobe among nations." unlike many nations of spanish america in which a more or less anticlerical regime was in the ascendant, ecuador fell under a sort of theocracy. here appeared one of the strangest characters in a story already full of extraordinary personages--gabriel garcia moreno, who became president of that republic in . in some respects the counterpart of francia of paraguay, in others both a medieval mystic and an enlightened ruler of modern type, he was a man of remarkable intellect, constructive ability, earnest patriotism, and disinterested zeal for orderliness and progress. on his presidential sash were inscribed the words: "my power in the constitution"; but is real power lay in himself and in the system which he implanted. garcia moreno had a varied career. he had been a student of chemistry and other natural sciences. he had spent his youth in exile in europe, where he prepared himself for his subsequent career as a journalist and a university professor. through it all he had been an active participant in public affairs. grim of countenance, austere in bearing, violent of temper, relentless in severity, he was a devoted believer in the roman catholic faith and in this church as the sole effective basis upon which a state could be founded or social and political regeneration could be assured. in order to render effective his concept of what a nation ought to be, garcia moreno introduced and upheld in all rigidity an administration the like of which had been known hardly anywhere since the middle ages. he recalled the jesuits, established schools of the "brothers of the christian doctrine," and made education a matter wholly under ecclesiastical control. he forbade heretical worship, called the country the "republic of the sacred heart," and entered into a concordat with the pope under which the church in ecuador became more subject to the will of the supreme pontiff than western europe had been in the days of innocent iii. liberals in and outside of ecuador tried feebly to shake off this masterful theocracy, for the friendship which garcia moreno displayed toward the diplomatic representatives of the catholic powers of europe, notably those of spain and france, excited the neighboring republics. colombia, indeed, sent an army to liberate the "brother democrats of ecuador from the rule of professor garcia moreno," but the mass of the people stood loyally by their president. for this astounding obedience to an administration apparently so unrelated to modern ideas, the ecclesiastical domination was not solely or even chiefly responsible. in more ways than one garcia moreno, the professor president, was a statesman of vision and deed. he put down brigandage and lawlessness; reformed the finances; erected hospitals; promoted education; and encouraged the study of natural science. even his salary he gave over to public improvements. his successors in the presidential office found it impossible to govern the country without garcia moreno. elected for a third term to carry on his curious policy of conservatism and reaction blended with modern advancement, he fell by the hand of an assassin in . but the system which he had done so much to establish in ecuador survived him for many years. although brazil did not escape the evils of insurrection which retarded the growth of nearly all of its neighbors, none of its numerous commotions shook the stability of the nation to a perilous degree. by all danger of revolution had vanished. the country began to enter upon a career of peace and progress under a regime which combined broadly the federal organization of the united states with the form of a constitutional monarchy. brazil enjoyed one of the few enlightened despotisms in south america. adopting at the outset the parliamentary system, the emperor pedro ii chose his ministers from among the liberals or conservatives, as one party or the other might possess a majority in the lower house of the congress. though the legislative power of the nation was enjoyed almost entirely by the planters and their associates who formed the dominant social class, individual liberty was fully guaranteed, and even freedom of conscience and of the press was allowed. negro slavery, though tolerated, was not expressly recognized. thanks to the political discretion and unusual personal qualities of "dom pedro," his popularity became more and more marked as the years went on. a patron of science and literature, a scholar rather than a ruler, a placid and somewhat eccentric philosopher, careless of the trappings of state, he devoted himself without stint to the public welfare. shrewdly divining that the monarchical system might not survive much longer, he kept his realm pacified by a policy of conciliation. pedro ii even went so far as to call himself the best republican in the empire. he might have said, with justice perhaps, that he was the best republican in the whole of hispanic america. what he really accomplished was the successful exercise of a paternal autocracy of kindness and liberality over his subjects. if more or less permanent dictators and occasional liberators were the order of the day in most of the spanish american republics, intermittent dictators and liberators dashed across the stage in mexico from well beyond the middle of the century. the other countries could show numerous instances in which the occupant of the chief magistracy held office to the close of his constitutional term; but mexico could not show a single one! what mexico furnished, instead, was a kaleidoscopic spectacle of successive presidents or dictators, an unstable array of self-styled "generals" without a presidential succession. there were no fewer than fifty such transient rulers in thirty-two years, with anywhere from one to six a year, with even the same incumbent twice in one year, or, in the case of the repetitious santa anna, nine times in twenty years--in spite of the fact that the constitutional term of office was four years. this was a record that made the most turbulent south american states seem, by comparison, lands of methodical regularity in the choice of their national executive. and as if this instability in the chief magistracy were not enough, the form of government in mexico shifted violently from federal to centralized, and back again to federal. mad struggles raged between partisan chieftains and their bands of escoceses and yorkinos, crying out upon the "president" in power because of his undue influence upon the choice of a successor, backing their respective candidates if they lost, and waiting for a chance to oust them if they won. this tumultuous epoch had scarcely begun when spain in made a final attempt to recover her lost dominion in mexico. local quarrels were straightway dropped for two months until the invaders had surrendered. thereupon the great landholders, who disliked the prevailing yorkino regime for its democratic policies and for favoring the abolition of slavery, rallied to the aid of a "general" who issued a manifesto demanding an observance of the constitution and the laws! after santa anna, who was playing the role of a mexican warwick, had disposed of this aspirant, he switched blithely over to the escoceses, reduced the federal system almost to a nullity, and in marched away to conquer the revolting texans. but, instead, they conquered him and gained their independence, so that his reward was exile. now the escoceses were free to promulgate a new constitution, to abolish the federal arrangement altogether, and to replace it by a strongly centralized government under which the individual states became mere administrative districts. hardly had this radical change been effected when in war broke out with france on account of the injuries which its nationals, among whom were certain pastry cooks, had suffered during the interminable commotions. mexico was forced to pay a heavy indemnity; and santa anna, who had returned to fight the invader, was unfortunate enough to lose a leg in the struggle. this physical deprivation, however, did not interfere with that doughty hero's zest for tilting with other unquiet spirits who yearned to assure national regeneration by continuing to elevate and depose "presidents." another swing of the political pendulum had restored the federal system when again everything was overturned by the disastrous war with the united states. once more santa anna returned, this time, however, to joust in vain with the "yankee despoilers" who were destined to dismember mexico and to annex two-thirds of its territory. again santa anna was banished--to dream of a more favorable opportunity when he might become the savior of a country which had fallen into bankruptcy and impotence. his opportunity came in , when conservatives and clericals indulged the fatuous hope that he would both sustain their privileges and lift mexico out of its sore distress. either their memories were short or else distance had cast a halo about his figure. at all events, he returned from exile and assumed, for the ninth and last time, a presidency which he intended to be something more than a mere dictatorship. scorning the formality of a congress, he had himself entitled "most serene highness," as indicative of his ambition to become a monarch in name as well as in fact. royal or imperial designs had long since brought one military upstart to grief. they were now to cut santa anna's residence in mexico similarly short. eruptions of discontent broke out all over the country. unable to make them subside, santa anna fell back upon an expedient which recalls practices elsewhere in spanish america. he opened registries in which all citizens might record "freely" their approval or disapproval of his continuance in power. though he obtained the huge majority of affirmative votes to be expected in such cases, he found that these pen-and-ink signatures were no more serviceable than his soldiers. accordingly the dictator of many a day, fallen from his former estate of highness, decided to abandon his serenity also, and in fled the country--for its good and his own. chapter vi. peril from abroad apart from the spoliation of mexico by the united states, the independence of the hispanic nations had not been menaced for more than thirty years. now comes a period in which the plight of their big northern neighbor, rent in twain by civil war and powerless to enforce the spirit of the monroe doctrine, caused two of the countries to become subject a while to european control. one of these was the dominican republic. in the spanish-speaking population of the eastern part of the island of santo domingo, writhing under the despotic yoke of haiti, had seized a favorable occasion to regain their freedom. but the magic word "independence" could not give stability to the new state any more than it had done in the case of its western foes. the haitians had lapsed long since into a condition resembling that of their african forefathers. they reveled in the barbarities of voodoo, a sort of snake worship, and they groveled before "presidents" and "emperors" who rose and fell on the tide of decaying civilization. the dominicans unhappily were not much more progressive. revolutions alternated with invasions and counter-invasions and effectually prevented enduring progress. on several occasions the dominicans had sought reannexation to spain or had craved the protection of france as a defense against continual menace from their negro enemies and as a relief from domestic turmoil. but every move in this direction failed because of a natural reluctance on the part of spain and france, which was heightened by a refusal of the united states to permit what it regarded as a violation of the monroe doctrine. in , however, the outbreak of civil war in the united states appeared to present a favorable opportunity to obtain protection from abroad. if the dominican republic could not remain independent anyway, reunion with the old mother country seemed altogether preferable to reconquest by haiti. the president, therefore, entered into negotiations with the spanish governor and captain general of cuba, and then issued a proclamation signed by himself and four of his ministers announcing that by the "free and spontaneous will" of its citizens, who had conferred upon him the power to do so, the nation recognized queen isabella ii as its lawful sovereign! practically no protest was made by the dominicans against this loss of their independence. difficulties which should have been foreseen by spain were quick to reveal themselves. it fell to the expresident, now a colonial governor and captain general, to appoint a host of officials and, not unnaturally, he named his own henchmen. by so doing he not only aroused the animosity of the disappointed but stimulated that of the otherwise disaffected as well, until both the aggrieved factions began to plot rebellion. spain, too, sent over a crowd of officials who could not adjust themselves to local conditions. the failure of the mother country to allow the dominicans representation in the spanish cortes and its readiness to levy taxes stirred up resentment that soon ended in revolution. unable to check this new trouble, and awed by the threatening attitude of the united states, spain decided to withdraw in . the dominicans thus were left with their independence and a chance--which they promptly seized--to renew their commotions. so serious did these disturbances become that in the president of the reconstituted republic sought annexation to the united states but without success. american efforts, on the other hand, were equally futile to restore peace and order in the troubled country until many years later. the intervention of spain in santo domingo and its subsequent withdrawal could not fail to have disastrous consequences in its colony of cuba, the "pearl of the antilles" as it was proudly called. here abundant crops of sugar and tobacco had brought wealth and luxury, but not many immigrants because of the havoc made by epidemics of yellow fever. nearly a third of the insular population was still composed of negro slaves, who could hardly relish the thought that, while the mother country had tolerated the suppression of the hateful institution in santo domingo, she still maintained it in cuba. a bureaucracy, also, prone to corruption owing to the temptations of loose accounting at the custom house, governed in routinary, if not in arbitrary, fashion. under these circumstances dislike for the suspicious and repressive administration of spain grew apace, and secret societies renewed their agitation for its overthrow. the symptoms of unrest were aggravated by the forced retirement of spain from santo domingo. if the dominicans had succeeded so well, it ought not to be difficult for a prolonged rebellion to wear spain out and compel it to abandon cuba also. at this critical moment news was brought of a spanish revolution across the seas. just as the plight of spain in , and again in , had afforded a favorable opportunity for its colonies on the continents of america to win their independence, so now in the tidings that queen isabella had been dethroned by a liberal uprising aroused the cubans to action under their devoted leader, carlos manuel de cespedes. the insurrection had not gained much headway, however, when the provisional government of the mother country instructed a new governor and captain general--whose name, dulce (sweet), had an auspicious sound--to open negotiations with the insurgents and to hold out the hope of reforms. but the royalists, now as formerly, would listen to no compromise. organizing themselves into bodies of volunteers, they drove dulce out. he was succeeded by one caballero de rodas (knight of rhodes) who lived up to his name by trying to ride roughshod over the rebellious cubans. thus began the ten years' war--a war of skirmishes and brief encounters, rarely involving a decisive action, which drenched the soil of cuba with blood and laid waste its fields in a fury of destruction. among the radicals and liberals who tried to retain a fleeting control over mexico after the final departure of santa anna was the first genuine statesman it had ever known in its history as a republic--benito pablo juarez, an indian. at twelve years of age he could not read or write or even speak spanish. his employer, however, noted his intelligence and had him educated. becoming a lawyer, juarez entered the political arena and rose to prominence by dint of natural talent for leadership, an indomitable perseverance, and a sturdy patriotism. a radical by conviction, he felt that the salvation of mexico could never be attained until clericalism and militarism had been banished from its soil forever. under his influence a provisional government had already begun a policy of lessening the privileges of the church, when the conservative elements, with a cry that religion was being attacked, rose up in arms again. this movement repressed, a congress proceeded in to issue a liberal constitution which was destined to last for sixty years. it established the federal system in a definite fashion, abolished special privileges, both ecclesiastical and military, and organized the country on sound bases worthy of a modern nation. mexico seemed about to enter upon a rational development. but the newly elected president, yielding to the importunities of the clergy, abolished the constitution, dissolved the legislature, and set up a dictatorship, in spite of the energetic protests of juarez, who had been chosen chief justice of the supreme court, and who, in accordance with the terms of the temporarily discarded instrument, was authorized to assume the presidency should that office fall vacant. the rule of the usurper was short-lived, however. various improvised "generals" of conservative stripe put themselves at the head of a movement to "save country, religion, and the rights of the army," drove the would-be dictator out, and restored the old regime. juarez now proclaimed himself acting president, as he was legally entitled to do, and set up his government at vera cruz while one "provisional president" followed another. throughout this trying time juarez defended his position vigorously and rejected every offer of compromise. in he promulgated his famous reform laws which nationalized ecclesiastical property, secularized cemeteries, suppressed religious communities, granted freedom of worship, and made marriage a civil contract. for mexico, however, as for other spanish american countries, measures of the sort were far too much in advance of their time to insure a ready acceptance. although juarez obtained a great moral victory when his government was recognized by the united states, he had to struggle two years more before he could gain possession of the capital. triumphant in , he carried his anticlerical program to the point of actually expelling the papal nuncio and other ecclesiastics who refused to obey his decrees. by so doing he leveled the way for the clericals, conservatives, and the militarists to invite foreign intervention on behalf of their desperate cause. but, even if they had not been guilty of behavior so unpatriotic, the anger of the pope over the treatment of his church, the wrath of spain over the conduct of juarez, who had expelled the spanish minister for siding with the ecclesiastics, the desire of great britain to collect debts due to her subjects, and above all the imperialistic ambitions of napoleon iii, who dreamt of converting the intellectual influence of france in hispanic america into a political ascendancy, would probably have led to european occupation in any event, so long at least as the united states was slit asunder and incapable of action. some years before, the mexican government under the clerical and militarist regime had made a contract with a swiss banker who for a payment of $ , had received bonds worth more than fifteen times the value of the loan. when, therefore, the mexican congress undertook to defer payments on a foreign debt that included the proceeds of this outrageous contract, the governments of france, great britain, and spain decided to intervene. according to their agreement the three powers were simply to hold the seaports of mexico and collect the customs duties until their pecuniary demands had been satisfied. learning, however, that napoleon iii had ulterior designs, great britain and spain withdrew their forces and left him to proceed with his scheme of conquest. after capturing puebla in may, , a french army numbering some thirty thousand men entered the capital and installed an assemblage of notables belonging to the clerical and conservative groups. this body thereupon proclaimed the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under an emperor. the title was to be offered to maximilian, archduke of austria. in case he should not accept, the matter was to be referred to the "benevolence of his majesty, the emperor of the french," who might then select some other catholic prince. on his arrival, a year later, the amiable and well-meaning maximilian soon discovered that, instead of being an "emperor," he was actually little more than a precarious chief of a faction sustained by the bayonets of a foreign army. in the northern part of mexico, juarez, porfirio diaz,--later to become the most renowned of presidential autocrats,--and other patriot leaders, though hunted from place to place, held firmly to their resolve never to bow to the yoke of the pretender. nor could maximilian be sure of the loyalty of even his supposed adherents. little by little the unpleasant conviction intruded itself upon him that he must either abdicate or crush all resistance in the hope that eventually time and good will might win over the mexicans. but do what they would, his foreign legions could not catch the wary and stubborn juarez and his guerrilla lieutenants, who persistently wore down the forces of their enemies. then the financial situation became grave. still more menacing was the attitude of the united states now that its civil war was at an end. on may , , maximilian received word that napoleon iii had decided to withdraw the french troops. he then determined to abdicate, but he was restrained by the unhappy empress carlotta, who hastened to europe to plead his cause with napoleon. meantime, as the french troops were withdrawn, juarez occupied the territory. feebly the "emperor" strove to enlist the favor of his adversaries by a number of liberal decrees; but their sole result was his abandonment by many a lukewarm conservative. inexorably the patriot armies closed around him until in may, , he was captured at queretaro, where he had sought refuge. denied the privilege of leaving the country on a promise never to return, he asked escobedo, his captor, to treat him as a prisoner of war. "that's my business," was the grim reply. on the pretext that maximilian had refused to recognize the competence of the military court chosen to try him, juarez gave the order to shoot him. on the th of june the austrian archduke paid for a fleeting glory with his life. thus failed the second attempt at erecting an empire in mexico. for thirty-four years diplomatic relations between that country and austria-hungary were severed. the clerical-military combination had been overthrown, and the mexican people had rearmed their independence. as juarez declared: "peace means respect for the rights of others." even if foreign dreams of empire in mexico had vanished so abruptly, it could hardly be expected that a land torn for many years by convulsions could become suddenly tranquil. with diaz and other aspirants to presidential power, or with chieftains who aimed at setting up little republics of their own in the several states, juarez had to contend for some time before he could establish a fair amount of order. under his successor, who also was a civilian, an era of effective reform began. in amendments to the constitution declared church and state absolutely separate and provided for the abolition of peonage--a provision which was more honored in, the breach than in the observance. chapter vii. greater states and lesser during the half century that had elapsed since , the nations of hispanic america had passed through dark ages. their evolution had always been accompanied by growing pains and had at times been arrested altogether or unduly hastened by harsh injections of radicalism. it was not an orderly development through gradual modifications in the social and economic structure, but rather a fitful progress now assisted and now retarded by the arbitrary deeds of men of action, good and bad, who had seized power. dictators, however, steadily decreased in number and gave place often to presidential autocrats who were continued in office by constant reelection and who were imbued with modern ideas. in these hispanic nations stood on the threshold of a new era. some were destined to advance rapidly beyond it; others, to move slowly onward; and a few to make little or no progress. the most remarkable feature in the new era was the rise of four states--mexico, brazil, argentina, and chile--to a position of eminence among their fellows. extent of territory, development of natural resources, the character of the inhabitants and the increase of their numbers, and the amount of popular intelligence and prosperity, all contributed to this end. each of the four nations belonged to a fairly well-defined historical and geographical group in southern north america, and in eastern and western south america, respectively. in the first group were mexico, the republics of central america, and the island countries of the caribbean; in the second, brazil, argentina, uruguay, and paraguay; and in the third, chile, peru, and bolivia. in a fourth group were ecuador, colombia, and venezuela. when the president of mexico proceeded, in , to violate the constitution by securing his reelection, the people were prepared by their earlier experiences and by the rule of juarez to defend their constitutional rights. a widespread rebellion headed by diaz broke out. in the so-called "plan of tuxtepec" the revolutionists declared themselves in favor of the principle of absolutely no reelection. meantime the chief justice of the supreme court handed down a decision that the action of the congress in sustaining the president was illegal, since in reality no elections had been held because of the abstention of voters and the seizure of the polls by revolutionists or government forces. "above the constitution, nothing; above the constitution, no one," he declared. but as this assumption of a power of judgment on matters of purely political concern was equally a violation of the constitution and concealed, besides, an attempt to make the chief justice president, diaz and his followers drove both of the pretenders out. then in he managed to bring about his own election instead. porfirio diaz was a soldier who had seen active service in nearly every important campaign since the war with the united states. often himself in revolt against presidents, legal and illegal, diaz was vastly more than an ordinary partisan chieftain. schooled by a long experience, he had come to appreciate the fact that what mexico required for its national development was freedom from internal disorders and a fair chance for recuperation. justice, order, and prosperity, he felt, could be assured only by imposing upon the country the heavy weight of an iron hand. foreign capital must be invested in mexico and then protected; immigration must be encouraged, and other material, moral, and intellectual aid of all sorts must be drawn from abroad for the upbuilding of the nation. to effect such a transformation in a land so tormented and impoverished as mexico--a country which, within the span of fifty-five years had lived under two "emperors," and some thirty-six presidents, nine "provisional presidents," ten dictators, twelve "regents," and five "supreme councilors"--required indeed a masterful intelligence and a masterful authority. porfirio diaz possessed and exercised both. he was, in fact, just the man for the times. an able administrator, stern and severe but just, rather reserved in manner and guarded in utterance, shrewd in the selection of associates, and singularly successful in his dealings with foreigners, he entered upon a "presidential reign" of thirty-five years broken by but one intermission of four--which brought mexico out upon the highway to new national life. under the stable and efficient rulership of diaz, "plans," "pronunciamentos," "revolutions," and similar devices of professional trouble makers, had short shrift. whenever an uprising started, it was promptly quelled, either by a well-disciplined army or by the rurales, a mounted police made up to some extent of former bandits to whom the president gave the choice of police service or of sharp punishment for their crimes. order, in fact, was not always maintained, nor was justice always meted out, by recourse to judges and courts. instead, a novel kind of lynch law was invoked. the name it bore was the ley fuga, or "flight law," in accordance with which malefactors or political suspects taken by government agents from one locality to another, on the excuse of securing readier justice, were given by their captors a pretended chance to escape and were then shot while they ran! the only difference between this method and others of the sort employed by spanish american autocrats to enforce obedience lay in its purpose. of diaz one might say what bacon said of king henry vii: "he drew blood as physicians do, to save life rather than to spill it." if need be, here and there, disorder and revolt were stamped out by terrorism; but the mexican people did not yield to authority from terror but rather from a thorough loyalty to the new regime. among the numerous measures of material improvement which diaz undertook during his first term, the construction of railways was the most important. the size of the country, its want of navigable rivers, and its relatively small and widely scattered population, made imperative the establishment of these means of communication. despite the misgivings of many intelligent mexicans that the presence of foreign capital would impair local independence in some way, diaz laid the foundations of future national prosperity by granting concessions to the mexican central and national mexican companies, which soon began construction. under his successor a national bank was created; and when diaz was again elected he readjusted the existing foreign debt and boldly contracted new debts abroad. at the close of his first term, in , a surplus in the treasury was not so great a novelty as the circumstance altogether unique in the political annals of mexico-that diaz turned over the presidency in peaceful fashion to his properly elected successor! he did so reluctantly, to be sure, but he could not afford just yet to ignore his own avowed principle, which had been made a part of the constitution shortly after his accession. although the confidence he reposed in that successor was not entirely justified, the immense personal popularity of diaz saved the prestige of the new chief magistrate. under his administration the constitution was amended in such a way as to deprive the chief justice of the privilege of replacing the president in case of a vacancy, thus eliminating that official from politics. after his resumption of office, diaz had the fundamental law modified anew, so as to permit the reelection of a president for one term only! for this change, inconsistent though it may seem, diaz was not alone responsible. circumstances had changed, and the constitution had to change with them. had the "united provinces of central america," as they came forth from under the rule of spain, seen fit to abstain from following in the unsteady footsteps of mexico up to the time of the accession of diaz to power, had they done nothing more than develop their natural wealth and utilize their admirable geographical situation, they might have become prosperous and kept their corporate name. as it was, their history for upwards of forty years had little to record other than a momentary cohesion and a subsequent lapse into five quarrelsome little republics--the "balkan states" of america. among them costa rica had suffered least from arbitrary management or internal commotion and showed the greatest signs of advancement. in guatemala, however, there had arisen another diaz, though a man quite inferior in many respects to his northern counterpart. when justo rufino barrios became president of that republic in he was believed to have conservative leanings. ere long, however, he astounded his compatriots by showing them that he was a thoroughgoing radical with methods of action to correspond to his convictions. not only did he keep the jesuits out of the country but he abolished monastic orders altogether and converted their buildings to public use. he made marriage a civil contract and he secularized the burying grounds. education he encouraged by engaging the services of foreign instructors, and he brought about a better observance of the law by the promulgation of new codes. he also introduced railways and telegraph lines. since the manufacture of aniline dyes abroad had diminished the demand for cochineal, barrios decided to replace this export by cultivating coffee. to this end, he distributed seeds among the planters and furnished financial aid besides, with a promise to inspect the fields in due season and see what had been accomplished. finding that in many cases the seeds had been thrown away and the money wasted in drink and gambling, he ordered the guilty planters to be given fifty lashes, with the assurance that on a second offense he would shoot them on sight. coffee planting in guatemala was pursued thereafter with much alacrity! posts in the government service barrios distributed quite impartially among conservatives and democrats, deserving or otherwise, for he had them both well under control. at his behest a permanent constitution was promulgated in . while he affected to dislike continual reelection, he saw to it nevertheless that he himself should be the sole candidate who was likely to win. barrios doubtless could have remained president of guatemala for the term of his natural life if he had not raised up the ghost of federation. all the republics of central america accepted his invitation in to send delegates to his capital to discuss the project. but nothing was accomplished because barrios and the president of salvador were soon at loggerheads. nine years later, feeling himself stronger, barrios again proposed federation. but the other republics had by this time learned too much of the methods of the autocrat of guatemala, even while they admired his progressive policy, to relish the thought of a federation dominated by guatemala and its masterful president. though he "persuaded" honduras to accept the plan, the three other republics preferred to unite in self-defense, and in the ensuing struggle the quixotic barrios was killed. a few years later the project was revived and the constitution of a "republic of central america" was agreed upon, when war between guatemala and salvador again frustrated its execution. in brazil two great movements were by this time under way: the total abolition of slavery and the establishment of a republic. despite the tenacious opposition of many of the planters, from about the year the movement for emancipation made great headway. there was a growing determination on the part of the majority of the inhabitants to remove the blot that made the country an object of reproach among the civilized states of the world. provinces and towns, one after another, freed the slaves within their borders. the imperial government, on its part, hastened the process by liberating its own slaves and by imposing upon those still in bondage taxes higher than their market value; it fixed a price for other slaves; it decreed that the older slaves should be set free; and it increased the funds already appropriated to compensate owners of slaves who should be emancipated. in the number of slaves had fallen to about , , worth legally about $ each. a year later came the final blow, when the princess regent assented to a measure which abolished slavery outright and repealed all former acts relating to slavery. so radical a proceeding wrought havoc in the coffee-growing southern provinces in particular, from which the negroes now freed migrated by tens of thousands to the northern provinces. their places, however, were taken by italians and other europeans who came to work the plantations on a cooperative basis. all through the eighties, in fact, immigrants from italy poured into the temperate regions of southern brazil, to the number of nearly two hundred thousand, supplementing the many thousands of germans who had settled, chiefly in the province of rio grande do sul, thirty years before. apart from the industrial problem thus created by the abolition of slavery, there seemed to be no serious political or economic questions before the country. ever since , when a law providing for direct elections was passed, the liberals had been in full control. the old dom pedro, who had endeared himself to his people, was as much liked and respected as ever. but as he had grown feeble and almost blind, the heiress to the throne, who had marked absolutist and clerical tendencies, was disposed to take advantage of his infirmities. for many years, on the other hand, doctrines opposed to the principle of monarchy had been spread in zealous fashion by members of the military class, notable among whom was deodoro da fonseca. and now some of the planters longed to wreak vengeance on a ruler who had dared to thwart their will by emancipating the slaves. besides this persistent discontent, radical republican newspapers continually stirred up fresh agitation. whatever the personal service rendered by the emperor to the welfare of the country, to them he represented a political system which deprived the provinces of much of their local autonomy and the brazilian people at large of self-government. but the chief reason for the momentous change which was about to take place was the fact that the constitutional monarchy had really completed its work as a transitional government. under that regime brazil had reached a condition of stability and had attained a level of progress which might well enable it to govern itself. during all this time the influence of the spanish american nations had been growing apace. even if they had fallen into many a political calamity, they were nevertheless "republics," and to the south american this word had a magic sound. above all, there was the potent suggestion of the success of the united states of north america, whose extension of its federal system over a vast territory suggested what brazil with its provinces might accomplish in the southern continent. hence the vast majority of intelligent brazilians felt that they had become self-reliant enough to establish a republic without fear of lapsing into the unfortunate experiences of the other hispanic countries. in , when provision was made for a speedy abdication of the emperor in favor of his daughter, the republican newspapers declared that a scheme was being concocted to exile the chief military agitators and to interfere with any effort on the part of the army to prevent the accession of the new ruler. thereupon, on the th of november, the radicals at rio de janeiro, aided by the garrison, broke out in open revolt. proclaiming the establishment of a federal republic under the name of the "united states of brazil," they deposed the imperial ministry, set up a provisional government with deodoro da fonseca at its head, arranged for the election of a constitutional convention, and bade dom pedro and his family leave the country within twenty-four hours. on the th of november, before daybreak, the summons was obeyed. not a soul appeared to bid the old emperor farewell as he and his family boarded the steamer that was to bear them to exile in europe. though seemingly an act of heartlessness and ingratitude, the precaution was a wise one in that it averted, possible conflict and bloodshed. for the second time in its history, a fundamental change had been wrought in the political system of the nation without a resort to war! the united states of brazil accordingly took its place peacefully among its fellow republics of the new world. meanwhile argentina, the great neighbor of brazil to the southwest, had been gaining territory and new resources. since the definite adoption of a federal constitution in , this state had attained to a considerable degree of national consciousness under the leadership of able presidents such as bartolome mitre, the soldier and historian, and domingo faustino sarmiento, the publicist and promoter of popular education. one evidence of this new nationalism was a widespread belief in the necessity of territorial expansion. knowing that chile entertained designs upon patagonia, the argentine government forestalled any action by conducting a war of practical extermination against the indian tribes of that region and by adding it to the national domain. the so-called "conquest of the desert" in the far south of the continent opened to civilization a vast habitable area of untold economic possibilities. in the electoral campaign of the presidential candidates were julio argentino roca and the governor of the province of buenos aires. the former, an able officer skilled in both arms and politics, had on his side the advantage of a reputation won in the struggle with the patagonian indians, the approval of the national government, and the support of most of the provinces. feeling certain of defeat at the polls, the partisans of the latter candidate resorted to the timeworn expedient of a revolt. though the uprising lasted but twenty days, the diplomatic corps at the capital proffered its mediation between the contestants, in order to avoid any further bloodshed. the result was that the fractious governor withdrew his candidacy and a radical change was effected in the relations of buenos aires, city and province, to the country at large. the city, together with its environs, was converted into a federal district and became solely and distinctively the national capital. its public buildings, railways, and telegraph service, as well as the provincial debt, were taken over by the general government. the seat of provincial authority was transferred to the village of ensenada, which thereupon was rechristened la plata. a veritable tide of wealth and general prosperity was now rolling over argentina. by its population had risen to upwards of , , . immigration increased to a point far beyond the wildest expectations. in alone about , newcomers arrived and lent their aid in the promotion of industry and commerce. fields hitherto uncultivated or given over to grazing now bore vast crops of wheat, maize, linseed, and sugar. large quantities of capital, chiefly from great britain, also poured into the country. as a result, the price of land rose high, and feverish speculation became the order of the day. banks and other institutions of credit were set up, colonizing schemes were devised, and railways were laid out. to meet the demands of all these enterprises, the government borrowed immense sums from foreign capitalists and issued vast quantities of paper money, with little regard for its ultimate redemption. argentina spent huge sums in prodigal fashion on all sorts of public improvements in an effort to attract still more capital and immigration, and thus entered upon a dangerous era of inflation. of the near neighbors of argentina, uruguay continued along the tortuous path of alternate disturbance and progress, losing many of its inhabitants to the greater states beyond, where they sought relative peace and security; while paraguay, on the other hand, enjoyed freedom from civil strife, though weighed down with a war debt and untold millions in indemnities exacted by argentina and brazil, which it could never hope to pay. in consequence, this indebtedness was a useful club to brandish over powerless paraguay whenever that little country might venture to question the right of either of its big neighbors to break the promise they had made of keeping its territory intact. argentina, however, consented in to refer certain claims to the decision of the president of the united states. when paraguay won the arbitration, it showed its gratitude by naming one of its localities villa hayes. as time went on, however, its population increased and hid many of the scars of war. on the western side of south america there broke out the struggle known as the "war of the pacific" between chile, on the one side, and peru and bolivia as allies on the other. in peru unstable and corrupt governments had contracted foreign loans under conditions that made their repayment almost impossible and had spent the proceeds in so reckless and extravagant a fashion as to bring the country to the verge of bankruptcy. bolivia, similarly governed, was still the scene of the orgies and carnivals which had for some time characterized its unfortunate history. one of its buffoon "presidents," moreover, had entered into boundary agreements with both chile and brazil, under which the nation lost several important areas and some of its territory on the pacific. the boundaries of bolivia, indeed, were run almost everywhere on purely arbitrary lines drawn with scant regard for the physical features of the country and with many a frontier question left wholly unsettled. for some years chilean companies and speculators, aided by foreign capital mainly british in origin, had been working deposits of nitrate of soda in the province of antofagasta, or "the desert of atacama," a region along the coast to the northward belonging to bolivia, and also in the provinces of tacna, arica, and tarapaca, still farther to the northward, belonging to peru. because boundary lines were not altogether clear and because the three countries were all eager to exploit these deposits, controversies over this debatable ground were sure to rise. for the privilege of developing portions of this region, individuals and companies had obtained concessions from the various governments concerned; elsewhere, industrial free lances dug away without reference to such formalities. it is quite likely that chile, whose motto was "by right or by might," was prepared to sustain the claims of its citizens by either alternative. at all events, scenting a prospective conflict, chile had devoted much attention to the development of its naval and military establishment--a state of affairs which did not escape the observation of its suspicious neighbors. the policy of peru was determined partly by personal motives and partly by reasons of state. in the president, lacking sufficient financial and political support to keep himself in office, resolved upon the risky expedient of arousing popular passion against chile, in the hope that he might thereby replenish the national treasury. accordingly he proceeded to pick a quarrel by ordering the deposits in tarapaca to be expropriated with scant respect for the concessions made to the chilean miners. realizing, however, the possible consequences of such an action, he entered into an alliance with bolivia. this country thereupon proceeded to levy an increased duty on the exportation of nitrates from the atacama region. chile, already aware of the hostile combination which had been formed, protested so vigorously that a year later bolivia agreed to withdraw the new regulations and to submit the dispute to arbitration. such were the relations of these three states in , when bolivia, taking advantage of differences of opinion between chile and argentina regarding the patagonian region, reimposed its export duty, canceled the chilean concessions, and confiscated the nitrate deposits. chile then declared war in february, , and within two months occupied the entire coast of bolivia up to the frontiers of peru. on his part the president of bolivia was too much engrossed in the festivities connected with a masquerade to bother about notifying the people that their land had been invaded until several days after the event had occurred! misfortunes far worse than anything which had fallen to the lot of its ally now awaited peru, which first attempted an officious mediation and then declared war on the th of april. since peru and bolivia together had a population double that of chile, and since peru possessed a much larger army and navy than chile, the allies counted confidently on victory. but peru's army of eight thousand--having within four hundred as many officers as men, directed by no fewer than twenty-six generals, and presided over by a civil government altogether inept--was no match for an army less than a third of its size to be sure, but well drilled and commanded, and with a stable, progressive, and efficient government at its back. the peruvian forces, lacking any substantial support from bolivia, crumpled under the terrific attacks of their adversaries. efforts on the part of the united states to mediate in the struggle were blocked by the dogged refusal of chile to abate its demands for annexation. early in its army entered lima in triumph, and the war was over. for a while the victors treated the peruvians and their capital city shamefully. the chilean soldiers stripped the national library of its contents, tore up the lamp-posts in the streets, carried away the benches in the parks, and even shipped off the local menagerie to santiago! what they did not remove or destroy was disposed of by the rabble of lima itself. but in two years so utterly chaotic did the conditions in the hapless country become that chile at length had to set up a government in order to conclude a peace. it was not until october , , that the treaty was signed at lima and ratified later at ancon. peru was forced to cede tarapaca outright and to agree that tacna and arica should be held by chile for ten years. at the expiration of this period the inhabitants of the two provinces were to be allowed to choose by vote the country to which they would prefer to belong, and the nation that won the election was to pay the loser , , pesos. in april, , bolivia, also, entered into an arrangement with chile, according to which a portion of its seacoast should be ceded absolutely and the remainder should be occupied by chile until a more definite understanding on the matter could be reached. chile emerged from the war not only triumphant over its northern rivals but dominant on the west coast of south america. important developments in chilean national policy followed. to maintain its vantage and to guard against reprisals, the victorious state had to keep in military readiness on land and sea. it therefore looked to prussia for a pattern for its army and to great britain for a model for its navy. peru had suffered cruelly from the war. its territorial losses deprived it of an opportunity to satisfy its foreign creditors through a grant of concessions. the public treasury, too, was empty, and many a private fortune had melted away. not until a military hand stronger than its competitors managed to secure a firm grip on affairs did peru begin once more its toilsome journey toward material betterment. bolivia, on its part, had emerged from the struggle practically a landlocked country. though bereft of access to the sea except by permission of its neighbors, it had, however, not endured anything like the calamities of its ally. in it had adopted a permanent constitution and it now entered upon a course of slow and relatively peaceful progress. in the republics to the northward struggles between clericals and radicals caused sharp, abrupt alternations in government. in ecuador the hostility between clericals and radicals was all the more bitter because of the rivalry of the two chief towns, guayaquil the seaport and quito the capital, each of which sheltered a faction. no sooner therefore had garcia moreno fallen than the radicals of guayaquil rose up against the clericals at quito. once in power, they hunted their enemies down until order under a dictator could be restored. the military president who assumed power in was too radical to suit the clericals and too clerical to suit the radicals. accordingly his opponents decided to make the contest three-cornered by fighting the dictator and one another. when the president had been forced out, a conservative took charge until parties of bushwhackers and mutinous soldiers were able to install a military leader, whose retention of power was brief. in another conservative, who had been absent from the country when elected and who was an adept in law and diplomacy, managed to win sufficient support from all three factions to retain office for the constitutional period. in colombia a financial crisis had been approaching ever since the price of coffee, cocoa, and other colombian products had fallen in the european markets. this decrease had caused a serious diminution in the export trade and had forced gold and silver practically out of circulation. at the same time the various "states" were increasing their powers at the expense of the federal government, and the country was rent by factions. in order to give the republic a thoroughly centralized administration which would restore financial confidence and bring back the influence of the church as a social and political factor, a genuine revolution, which was started in , eventually put an end to both radicalism and states' rights. at the outset rafael nunez, the unitary and clerical candidate and a lawyer by profession, was beaten on the field, but at a subsequent election he obtained the requisite number of votes and, in , assumed the presidency. that the loser in war should become the victor in peace showed the futility of bloodshed in such revolutions. not until nunez came into office again did he feel himself strong enough to uproot altogether the radicalism and disunion which had flourished since . ignoring the national legislature, he called a congress of his own, which in framed a constitution that converted the "sovereign states" into "departments," or mere administrative districts, to be ruled as the national government saw fit. further, the presidential term was lengthened from two years to six, and the name of the country was changed, finally, to "republic of colombia." two years later the power of the church was strengthened by a concordat with the pope. venezuela on its part had undergone changes no less marked. a liberal constitution promulgated in had provided for the reorganization of the country on a federal basis. the name chosen for the republic was "united states of venezuela." more than that, it had anticipated mexico and guatemala in being the first of the hispanic nations to witness the establishment of a presidential autocracy of the continuous and enlightened type. antonio guzman blanco was the man who imposed upon venezuela for about nineteen years a regime of obedience to law, and, to some extent, of modern ideas of administration such as the country had never known before. a person of much versatility, he had studied medicine and law before he became a soldier and a politician. later he displayed another kind of versatility by letting henchmen hold the presidential office while he remained the power behind the throne. endowed with a masterful will and a pronounced taste for minute supervision, he had exactly the ability necessary to rule venezuela wisely and well. amid considerable opposition he began, in , the first of his three periods of administration--the septennium, as it was termed. the "sovereign" states he governed through "sovereign" officials of his own selection. he stopped the plundering of farms and the dragging of laborers off to military service. he established in venezuela an excellent monetary system. great sums were expended in the erection of public and private buildings and in the embellishment of caracas. european capital and immigration were encouraged to venture into a country hitherto so torn by chronic disorder as to deprive both labor and property of all guarantees. roads, railways, and telegraph lines were constructed. the ministers of the church were rendered submissive to the civil power. primary education became alike free and compulsory. as the phrase went, guzman blanco "taught venezuela to read." at the end of his term of office he went into voluntary retirement. in guzman blanco put himself at the head of a movement which he called a "revolution of replevin"--which meant, presumably, that he was opposed to presidential "continuism," and in favor of republican institutions! although a constitution promulgated in fixed the chief magistrate's term of office at two years, the success which guzman blanco had attained enabled him to control affairs for five years--the quinquennium, as it was called. thereupon he procured his appointment to a diplomatic post in europe; but the popular demand for his presence was too strong for him to remain away. in he was elected by acclamation. he held office two years more and then, finding that his influence had waned, he left venezuela for good. whatever his faults in other respects, guzman blanco--be it said to his credit--tried to destroy the pest of periodical revolutions in his country. thanks to his vigorous suppression of these uprisings, some years of at least comparative security were made possible. more than any other president the nation had ever had, he was entitled to the distinction of having been a benefactor, if not altogether a regenerator, of his native land. chapter viii. "on the margin of international life" during the period from to two incidents revealed the standing that the republics of hispanic america had now acquired in the world at large. in at washington, and later in their own capital cities, they met with the united states in council. in , and again in , they joined their great northern neighbor and the nations of europe and asia at the hague for deliberation on mutual concerns, and they were admitted to an international fellowship and cooperation far beyond a mere recognition of their independence and a formal interchange of diplomats and consuls. since attempts of the hispanic countries themselves to realize the aims of bolivar in calling the congress at panama had failed, the united states now undertook to call into existence a sort of inter-american congress. instead of being merely a supporter, the great republic of the north had resolved to become the director of the movement for greater solidarity in thought and action. by linking up the concerns of the hispanic nations with its own destinies it would assert not so much its position as guardian of the monroe doctrine as its headship, if not its actual dominance, in the new world, and would so widen the bounds of its political and commercial influence--a tendency known as "imperialism." such was the way, at least, in which the hispanic republics came to view the action of the "colossus of the north" in inviting them to participate in an assemblage meeting more or less periodically and termed officially the "international conference of american states," and popularly the "pan-american conference." whether the mistrust the smaller countries felt at the outset was lessened in any degree by the attendance of their delegates at the sessions of this conference remains open to question. although these representatives, in common with their colleagues from the united states, assented to a variety of conventions and passed a much larger number of resolutions, their acquiescence seemed due to a desire to gratify their powerful associate, rather than to a belief in the possible utility of such measures. the experience of the earlier gatherings had demonstrated that political issues would have to be excluded from consideration. propositions, for example, such as that to extend the basic idea of the monroe doctrine into a sort of self-denying ordinance, under which all the nations of america should agree to abstain thereafter from acquiring any part of one another's territory by conquest, and to adopt, also, the principle of compulsory arbitration, proved impossible of acceptance. accordingly, from that time onward the matters treated by the conference dealt for the most part with innocuous, though often praiseworthy, projects for bringing the united states and its sister republics into closer commercial, industrial, and intellectual relations. the gathering itself, on the other hand, became to a large extent a fiesta, a festive occasion for the display of social amenities. much as the hispanic americans missed their favorite topic of politics, they found consolation in entertaining the distinguished foreign visitors with the genial courtesy and generous hospitality for which they are famous. as one of their periodicals later expressed it, since a discussion of politics was tabooed, it were better to devote the sessions of the conference to talking about music and lyric poetry! at all events, as far as the outcome was concerned, their national legislatures ratified comparatively few of the conventions. among the hispanic nations of america only mexico took part in the first conference at the hague. practically all of them were represented at the second. the appearance of their delegates at these august assemblages of the powers of earth was viewed for a while with mixed feelings. the attitude of the great powers towards them resembled that of parents of the old regime: children at the international table should be "seen and not heard." as a matter of fact, the hispanic americans were both seen and heard--especially the latter! they were able to show the europeans that, even if they did happen to come from relatively weak states, they possessed a skillful intelligence, a breadth of knowledge, a capacity for expression, and a consciousness of national character, which would not allow them simply to play "man friday" to an international crusoe. the president of the second conference, indeed, confessed that they had been a "revelation" to him. hence, as time went on, the progress and possibilities of the republics of hispanic america came to be appreciated more and more by the world at large. gradually people began to realize that the countries south of the united states were not merely an indistinguishable block on the map, to be referred to vaguely as "central and south america" or as "latin america." the reading public at least knew that these countries were quite different from one another, both in achievements and in prospects. yet the fact remains that, despite their active part in these american and european conferences, the hispanic countries of the new world did not receive the recognition which they felt was their due. their national associates in the european gatherings were disinclined to admit that the possession of independence and sovereignty entitled them to equal representation on international council boards. to a greater or less degree, therefore, they continued to stay in the borderland where no one either affirmed or denied their individuality. to quote the phrase of an hispanic american, they stood "on the margin of international life." how far they might pass beyond it into the full privileges of recognition and association on equal terms, would depend upon the readiness with which they could atone for the errors or recover from the misfortunes of the past, and upon their power to attain stability, prosperity, strength, and responsibility. certain of the hispanic republics, however, were not allowed to remain alone on their side of "the margin of international life." though nothing so extreme as the earlier french intervention took place, foreign nations were not at all averse to crossing over the marginal line and teaching them what a failure to comply with international obligations meant. the period from to , therefore, is characterized also by interference on the part of european powers, and by interposition on the part of the united states, in the affairs of countries in and around the caribbean sea. because of the action taken by the united states two more republics--cuba and panama--came into being, thus increasing the number of political offshoots from spain in america to eighteen. another result of this interposition was the creation of what were substantially american protectorates. here the united states did not deprive the countries concerned of their independence and sovereignty, but subjected them to a kind of guardianship or tutelage, so far as it thought needful to insure stability, solvency, health, and welfare in general. foremost in the northern group of hispanic nations, mexico, under the guidance of diaz, marched steadily onward. peace, order, and law; an increasing population; internal wealth and well-being; a flourishing industry and commerce; suitable care for things mental as well as material; the respect and confidence of foreigners--these were blessings which the country had hitherto never beheld. the mexicans, once in anarchy and enmity created by militarists and clericals, came to know one another in friendship, and arrived at something like a national consciousness. in there was held the first conference on educational problems which the republic had ever had. three years later a mining code was drawn up which made ownership inviolable on payment of lawful dues, removed uncertainties of operation, and stimulated the industry in a remarkable fashion. far less beneficial in the long run was a law enacted in . instead of granting a legal title to lands held by prescriptive rights through an occupation of many years, it made such property part of the public domain, which might be acquired, like a mining claim, by any one who could secure a grant of it from the government. though hailed at the time as a piece of constructive legislation, its unfortunate effect was to enable large landowners who wished to increase their possessions to oust poor cultivators of the soil from their humble holdings. on the other hand, under the statesmanlike management of jose yves limantour, the minister of finance, the monetary situation at home and abroad was strengthened beyond measure, and banking interests were promoted accordingly. further, an act abolishing the alcabala, a vexatious internal revenue tax, gave a great stimulus to freedom of commerce throughout the country. in order to insure a continuance of the new regime, the constitution was altered in three important respects. the amendment of restored the original clause of , which permitted indefinite reelection to the presidency; that of established a presidential succession in case of a vacancy, beginning with the minister of foreign affairs; and that of lengthened the term of the chief magistrate from four years to six and created the office of vice president. in central america two republics, guatemala and costa rica, set an excellent example both because they were free from internal commotions and because they refrained from interference in the affairs of their neighbors. the contrast between these two quiet little nations, under their lawyer presidents, and the bellicose but equally small nicaragua, honduras, and salvador, under their chieftains, military and juristic, was quite remarkable. nevertheless another attempt at confederation was made. in the ruler of honduras, declaring that reunion was a "primordial necessity," invited his fellow potentates of nicaragua and salvador to unite in creating the "greater republic of central america" and asked guatemala and costa rica to join. delegates actually appeared from all five republics, attended fiestas, gave expression to pious wishes, and went home! later still, in , the respective presidents signed a "convention of peace and obligatory arbitration" as a means of adjusting perpetual disagreements about politics and boundaries; but nothing was done to carry these ideas into effect. the personage mainly responsible for these failures was jose santos zelaya, one of the most arrant military lordlets and meddlers that central america had produced in a long time. since he had been dictator of nicaragua, a country not only entangled in continuous wrangles among its towns and factions, but bowed under an enormous burden of debt created by excessive emissions of paper money and by the contraction of more or less scandalous foreign loans. quite undisturbed by the financial situation, zelaya promptly silenced local bickerings and devoted his energies to altering the constitution for his presidential benefit and to making trouble for his neighbors. nor did he refrain from displays of arbitrary conduct that were sure to provoke foreign intervention. great britain, for example, on two occasions exacted reparation at the cannon's mouth for ill treatment of its citizens. zelaya waxed wroth at the spectacle of guatemala, once so active in revolutionary arts but now quietly minding its own business. in , therefore, along with parties of hondurans, salvadoreans, and disaffected guatemalans, he began an invasion of that country and continued operations with decreasing success until, the united states and mexico offering their mediation, peace was signed aboard an american cruiser. then, when costa rica invited the other republics to discuss confederation within its calm frontiers, zelaya preferred his own particular occupation to any such procedure. accordingly, displeased with a recent boundary decision, he started along with salvador to fight honduras. once more the united states and mexico tendered their good offices, and again a central american conflict was closed aboard an american warship. about the only real achievement of zelaya was the signing of a treaty by which great britain recognized the complete sovereignty of nicaragua over the mosquito indians, whose buzzing for a larger amount of freedom and more tribute had been disturbing unduly the "repose" of that small nation! to the eastward the new republic of cuba was about to be born. here a promise of adequate representation in the spanish cortes and of a local legislature had failed to satisfy the aspirations of many of its inhabitants. the discontent was aggravated by lax and corrupt methods of administration as well as by financial difficulties. swarms of spanish officials enjoyed large salaries without performing duties of equivalent value. not a few of them had come over to enrich themselves at public expense and under conditions altogether scandalous. on cuba, furthermore, was saddled the debt incurred by the ten years' war, while the island continued to be a lucrative market for spanish goods without obtaining from spain a corresponding advantage for its own products. as the insistence upon a removal of these abuses and upon a grant of genuine self-government became steadily more clamorous, three political groups appeared. the constitutional unionists, or "austrianizers," as they were dubbed because of their avowed loyalty to the royal house of bourbon-hapsburg, were made up of the spanish and conservative elements and represented the large economic interests and the church. the liberals, or "autonomists," desired such reforms in the administration as would assure the exercise of self-government and yet preserve the bond with the mother country. on the other hand, the radicals, or "nationalists"--the party of "cuba free"--would be satisfied with nothing short of absolute independence. all these differences of opinion were sharpened by the activities of a sensational press. from about onward the movement toward independence gathered tremendous strength, especially when the cubans found popular sentiment in the united states so favorable to it. excitement rose still higher when the spanish government proposed to bestow a larger measure of autonomy. when, however, the cortes decided upon less liberal arrangements, the autonomists declared that they had been deceived, and the nationalists denounced the utter unreliability of spanish promises. even if the concessions had been generous, the result probably would have been the same, for by this time the plot to set cuba free had become so widespread, both in the island itself and among the refugees in the united states, that the inevitable struggle could not have been deferred. in the revolution broke out. the whites, headed by maximo gomez, and the negroes and mulattoes by their chieftain, antonio maceo, both of whom had done valiant service in the earlier war, started upon a campaign of deliberate terrorism. this time they were resolved to win at any cost. spurning every offer of conciliation, they burned, ravaged, and laid waste, spread desolation along their pathway, and reduced thousands to abject poverty and want. then the spanish government came to the conclusion that nothing but the most rigorous sort of reprisals would check the excesses of the rebels. in it commissioned valeriano weyler, an officer who personified ferocity, to put down the rebellion. if the insurgents had fancied that the conciliatory spirit hitherto displayed by the spaniards was due to irresolution or weakness, they found that these were not the qualities of their new opponent. weyler, instead of trying to suppress the rebellion by hurrying detachments of troops first to one spot and then to another in pursuit of enemies accustomed to guerrilla tactics, determined to stamp it out province by province. to this end he planted his army firmly in one particular area, prohibited the planting or harvesting of crops there, and ordered the inhabitants to assemble in camps which they were not permitted to leave on any pretext whatever. this was his policy of "reconcentration." deficient food supply, lack of sanitary precautions, and absence of moral safeguards made conditions of life in these camps appalling. death was a welcome relief. reconcentration, combined with executions and deportations, could have but one result--the "pacification" of cuba by converting it into a desert. not in the united states alone but in spain itself the story of these drastic measures kindled popular indignation to such an extent that, in , the government was forced to recall the ferocious weyler and to send over a new governor and captain general, with instructions to abandon the worst features of his predecessor's policy and to establish a complete system of autonomy in both cuba and porto rico. feeling assured, however, that an ally was at hand who would soon make their independence certain, the cuban patriots flatly rejected these overtures. in their expectations they were not mistaken. by its armed intervention, in the following year the united states acquired porto rico for itself and compelled spain to withdraw from cuba. * * see "the path of empire", by carl russell fish (in "the chronicles of america"). the island then became a republic, subject only to such limitations on its freedom of action as its big guardian might see fit to impose. not only was cuba placed under american rule from to , but it had to insert in the constitution of certain clauses that could not fail to be galling to cuban pride. among them two were of special significance. one imposed limitations on the financial powers of the government of the new nation, and the other authorized the united states, at its discretion, to intervene in cuban affairs for the purpose of maintaining public order. the cubans, it would seem, had exchanged a dependence on spain for a restricted independence measured by the will of a country infinitely stronger. cuba began its life as a republic in , under a government for which a form both unitary and federal had been provided. tomas estrada palma, the first president and long the head of the cuban junta in the united states, showed himself disposed from the outset to continue the beneficial reforms in administration which had been introduced under american rule. prudent and conciliatory in temperament, he tried to dispel as best he could the bitter recollections of the war and to repair its ravages. in this policy he was upheld by the conservative class, or moderates. their opponents, the liberals, dominated by men of radical tendencies, were eager to assert the right, to which they thought cuba entitled as an independent sovereign nation, to make possible mistakes and correct them without having the united states forever holding the ferule of the schoolmaster over it. they were well aware, however, that they were not at liberty to have their country pass through the tempestuous experience which had been the lot of so many hispanic republics. they could vent a natural anger and disappointment, nevertheless, on the president and his supporters. rather than continue to be governed by cubans not to their liking, they were willing to bring about a renewal of american rule. in this respect the wishes of the radicals were soon gratified. hardly had estrada palma, in , assumed office for a second time, when parties of malcontents, declaring that he had secured his reelection by fraudulent means, rose up in arms and demanded that he annul the vote and hold a fair election. the president accepted the challenge and waged a futile conflict, and again the united states intervened. upon the resignation of estrada palma, an american governor was again installed, and cuba was told in unmistakable fashion that the next intervention might be permanent. less drastic but quite as effectual a method of assuring order and regularity in administration was the action taken by the united states in another caribbean island. a little country like the dominican republic, in which few presidents managed to retain their offices for terms fixed by changeable constitutions, could not resist the temptation to rid itself of a ruler who had held power for nearly a quarter of a century. after he had been disposed of by assassination in , the government of his successor undertook to repudiate a depreciated paper currency by ordering the customs duties to be paid in specie; and it also tried to prevent the consul of an aggrieved foreign nation from attaching certain revenues as security for the payment of the arrears of an indemnity. thereupon, in , the president of the united states entered into an arrangement with the dominican government whereby, in return for a pledge from the former country to guarantee the territorial integrity of the republic and an agreement to adjust all of its external obligations of a pecuniary sort, american officials were to take charge of the custom house send apportion the receipts from that source in such a manner as to satisfy domestic needs and pay foreign creditors. * * see "the path of empire", by carl russell fish (in "the chronicles of america"). chapter ix. the republics of south america even so huge and conservative a country as brazil could not start out upon the pathway of republican freedom without some unrest; but the political experience gained under a regime of limited monarchy had a steadying effect. besides, the revolution of had been effected by a combination of army officers and civilian enthusiasts who knew that the provinces were ready for a radical change in the form of government, but who were wise enough to make haste slowly. if a motto could mean anything, the adoption of the positivist device, "order and progress," displayed on the national flag seemed a happy augury. the constitution promulgated in set up a federal union broadly similar to that of the united states, except that the powers of the general government were somewhat more restricted. qualifications for the suffrage were directly fixed in the fundamental law itself, but the educational tests imposed excluded the great bulk of the population from the right to vote. in the constitution, also, church and state were declared absolutely separate, and civil marriage was prescribed. well adapted as the constitution was to the particular needs of brazil, the government erected under it had to contend awhile with political disturbances. though conflicts occurred between the president and the congress, between the federal authority and the states, and between the civil administration and naval and military officials, none were so constant, so prolonged, or so disastrous as in the spanish american republics. even when elected by the connivance of government officials, the chief magistrate governed in accordance with republican forms. presidential power, in fact, was restrained both by the huge size of the country and by the spirit of local autonomy upheld by the states. ever since the war with paraguay the financial credit of brazil had been impaired. the chronic deficit in the treasury had been further increased by a serious lowering in the rate of exchange, which was due to an excessive issue of paper money. in order to save the nation from bankruptcy manoel ferraz de campos salles, a distinguished jurist, was commissioned to effect an adjustment with the british creditors. as a result of his negotiations a "funding loan" was obtained, in return for which an equivalent amount in paper money was to be turned over for cancellation at a fixed rate of exchange. under this arrangement depreciation ceased for awhile and the financial outlook became brighter. the election of campos salles to the presidency in , as a reward for his success, was accompanied by the rise of definite political parties. among them the radicals or progressists favored a policy of centralization under military auspices and exhibited certain antiforeign tendencies. the moderates or republicans, on the contrary, with campos salles as their candidate, declared for the existing constitution and advocated a gradual adoption of such reforms as reason and time might suggest. when the latter party won the election, confidence in the stability of brazil returned. as if uruguay had not already suffered enough from internal discords, two more serious conflicts demonstrated once again that this little country, in which political power had been held substantially by one party alone since , could not hope for permanent peace until either the excluded and apparently irreconcilable party had been finally and utterly crushed, or, far better still, until the two factions could manage to agree upon some satisfactory arrangement for rotation in office. the struggle of ended in the assassination of the president and in a division of the republic into two practically separate areas, one ruled by the colorados at montevideo, the other by the blancos. a renewal of civil war in seemed altogether preferable to an indefinite continuance of this dualism in government, even at the risk of friction with argentina, which was charged with not having observed strict neutrality. this second struggle came to a close with the death of the insurgent leader; but it cost the lives of thousands and did irreparable damage to the commerce and industry of the country. uruguay then enjoyed a respite from party upheavals until , when jose batlle, the able, resolute, and radical-minded head of the colorados, announced that he would be a candidate for the presidency. as he had held the office before and had never ceased to wield a strong personal influence over the administration of his successor, the blancos decided that now was the time to attempt once more to oust their opponents from the control which they had monopolized for half a century. accusing the government of an unconstitutional centralization of power in the executive, of preventing free elections, and of crippling the pastoral industries of the country, they started a revolt, which ran a brief course. batlle proved himself equal to the situation and quickly suppressed the insurrection. though he did make a wide use of his authority, the president refrained from indulging in political persecution and allowed the press all the liberty it desired in so far as was consistent with the law. it was under his direction that uruguay entered upon a remarkable series of experiments in the nationalization of business enterprises. further, more or less at the suggestion of battle, a new constitution was ratified by popular vote in . it provided for a division of the executive power between the president and a national council of administration, forbade the election of administrative and military officials to the congress, granted to that body a considerable increase of power, and enlarged the facilities for local self-government. in addition, it established the principle of minority representation and of secrecy of the ballot, permitted the congress to extend the right of suffrage to women, and dissolved the union between church and state. if the terms of the new instrument are faithfully observed, the old struggle between blancos and colorados will have been brought definitely to a close. paraguay lapsed after into the earlier sins of spanish america. upon a comparatively placid presidential regime followed a series of barrack uprisings or attacks by congress on the executive. the constitution became a farce. no longer, to be sure, an abode of arcadian seclusion as in colonial times, or a sort of territorial cobweb from the center of which a spiderlike francia hung motionless or darted upon his hapless prey, or even a battle ground on which fanatical warriors might fight and die at the behest of a savage lopez, paraguay now took on the aspect of an arena in which petty political gamecocks might try out their spurs. happily, the opposing parties spent their energies in high words and vehement gestures rather than in blows and bloodshed. the credit of the country sank lower and lower until its paper money stood at a discount of several hundred per cent compared with gold. european bankers had begun to view the financial future of argentina also with great alarm. in the mad careering of private speculation and public expenditure along the roseate pathway of limitless credit reached a veritable "crisis of progress." a frightful panic ensued. paper money fell to less than a quarter of its former value in gold. many a firm became bankrupt, and many a fortune shriveled. as is usual in such cases, the government had to shoulder the blame. a four-day revolution broke out in buenos aires, and the president became the scapegoat; but the panic went on, nevertheless, until gold stood at nearly five to one. most of the banks suspended payment; the national debt underwent a huge increase; and immigration practically ceased. by , however, the country had more or less resumed its normal condition. a new census showed that the population had risen to four million, about a sixth of whom resided in the capital. the importance which agriculture had attained was attested by the establishment of a separate ministry in the presidential cabinet. industry, too, made such rapid strides at this time that organized labor began to take a hand in politics. the short-lived "revolution" of , for example, was not primarily the work of politicians but of strikers organized into a workingmen's federation. for three months civil guarantees were suspended, and by a so-called "law of residence," enacted some years before and now put into effect, the government was authorized to expel summarily any foreigner guilty of fomenting strikes or of disturbing public order in any other fashion. political agitation soon assumed a new form. since the autonomist-national party had been in control for thirty years or more, it seemed to the civic-nationalists, now known as republicans, to the autonomists proper, and to various other factions, that they ought to do something to break the hold of that powerful organization. accordingly in the president, supported by a coalition of these factions, started what was termed an "upward-downward revolution"--in other words, a series of interventions by which local governors and members of legislatures suspected of autonomist-national leanings were to be replaced by individuals who enjoyed the confidence of the administration. pretexts for such action were not hard to find under the terms of the constitution; but their political interests suffered so much in the effort that the promoters had to abandon it. owing to persistent obstruction on the part of congress, which took the form of a refusal either to sanction his appointments or to approve the budget, the president suspended the sessions of that body in and decreed a continuance of the estimates for the preceding year. the antagonism between the chief executive and the legislature became so violent that, if his opponents had not been split up into factions, civil war might have ensued in argentina. to remedy a situation made worse by the absence--usual in most of the hispanic republics--of a secret ballot and by the refusal of political malcontents to take part in elections, voting was made both obligatory and secret in , and the principle of minority representation was introduced. legislation of this sort was designed to check bribery and intimidation and to enable the radical-minded to do their duty at the polls. its effect was shown five years later, when the secret ballot was used substantially for the first time. the radicals won both the presidency and a majority in the congress. one of the secrets of the prosperity of argentina, as of brazil, in recent years has been its abstention from warlike ventures beyond its borders and its endeavor to adjust boundary conflicts by arbitration. even when its attitude toward its huge neighbor had become embittered in consequence of a boundary decision rendered by the president of the united states in , it abated none of its enthusiasm for the principle of a peaceful settlement of international disputes. four years later, in a treaty with uruguay, the so-called "argentine formula" appeared. to quote its language: "the contracting parties agree to submit to arbitration all questions of any nature which may arise between them, provided they do not affect provisions of the constitution of either state, and cannot be adjusted by direct negotiation." this formula was soon put to the test in a serious dispute with chile. in the treaty of , in partitioning patagonia, the crest of the andes had been assumed to be the true continental watershed between the atlantic and the pacific and hence was made the boundary line between argentina and chile. the entire atlantic coast was to belong to argentina, the pacific coast to chile; the island of tierra del fuego was to be divided between them. at the same time the strait of magellan was declared a neutral waterway, open to the ships of all nations. ere long, however, it was ascertained that the crest of the andes did not actually coincide with the continental divide. thereupon argentina insisted that the boundary line should be made to run along the crest, while chile demanded that it be traced along the watershed. since the mountainous area concerned was of little value, the question at bottom was simply one of power and prestige between rival states. as the dispute waxed warmer, a noisy press and populace clamored for war. the governments of the two nations spent large sums in increasing their armaments; and argentina, in imitation of its western neighbor, made military service compulsory. but, as the conviction gradually spread that a struggle would leave the victor as prostrate as the vanquished, wiser counsels prevailed. in , accordingly, the matter was referred to the king of great britain for decision. though the award was a compromise, chile was the actual gainer in territory. by their treaties of both republics declared their intention to uphold the principle of arbitration and to refrain from interfering in each other's affairs along their respective coasts. they also agreed upon a limitation of armaments--the sole example on record of a realization of the purpose of the first hague conference. to commemorate still further their international accord, in they erected on the summit of the uspallata pass, over which san martin had crossed with his army of liberation in , a bronze statue of christ the redeemer. there, amid the snow-capped peaks of the giant andes, one may read inscribed upon the pedestal: "sooner shall these mountains crumble to dust than argentinos and chileans break the peace which at the feet of christ the redeemer they have sworn to maintain!" nor has the peace been broken. though hostilities with argentina had thus been averted, chile had experienced within its own frontiers the most serious revolution it had known in sixty years. the struggle was not one of partisan chieftains or political groups but a genuine contest to determine which of two theories of government should prevail--the presidential or the parliamentary, a presidential autocracy with the spread of real democracy or a congressional oligarchy based on the existing order. the sincerity and public spirit of both contestants helped to lend dignity to the conflict. jose manuel balmaceda, a man of marked ability, who became president in , had devoted much of his political life to urging an enlargement of the executive power, a greater freedom to municipalities in the management of their local affairs, and a broadening of the suffrage. he had even advocated a separation of church and state. most of these proposals so conservative a land as chile was not prepared to accept. though civil marriage was authorized and ecclesiastical influence was lessened in other respects, the church stood firm. during his administration balmaceda introduced many reforms, both material and educational. he gave a great impetus to the construction of public works, enhanced the national credit by a favorable conversion of the public debt, fostered immigration, and devoted especial attention to the establishment of secondary schools. excellent as the administration of balmaceda had been in other respects, he nevertheless failed to combine the liberal factions into a party willing to support the plans of reform which he had steadily favored. the parliamentary system made cabinets altogether unstable, as political groups in the lower house of the congress alternately cohered and fell apart. this defect, balmaceda thought, should be corrected by making the members of his official family independent of the legislative branch. the council of state, a somewhat anomalous body placed between the president and cabinet on the one side and the congress on the other, was an additional obstruction to a smooth-running administration. for it he would substitute a tribunal charged with the duty of resolving conflicts between the two chief branches of government. balmaceda believed, also, that greater liberty should be given to the press and that existing taxes should be altered as rarely as possible. on its side, the congress felt that the president was trying to establish a dictatorship and to replace the unitary system by a federal union, the probable weakness of which would enable him to retain his power more securely. toward the close of his term in january, , when the liberals declined to support his candidate for the presidency, balmaceda, furious at the opposition which he had encountered, took matters into his own hands. since the congress refused to pass the appropriation bills, he declared that body dissolved and proceeded to levy the taxes by decree. to this arbitrary and altogether unconstitutional performance the congress retorted by declaring the president deposed. civil war broke out forthwith, and a strange spectacle presented itself. the two chief cities, santiago and valparaiso, and most of the army backed balmaceda, whereas the country districts, especially in the north, and practically all the navy upheld the congress. these were, indeed, dark days for chile. during a struggle of about eight months the nation suffered more than it had done in years of warfare with peru and bolivia. though the bulk of the army stood by balmaceda, the congress was able to raise and organize a much stronger fighting force under a prussian drillmaster. the tide of battle turned; santiago and valparaiso capitulated; and the presidential cause was lost. balmaceda, who had taken refuge in the argentina legation, committed suicide. but the balmacedists, who were included in a general amnesty, still maintained themselves as a party to advocate in a peaceful fashion the principles of their fallen leader. chile had its reputation for stability well tested in when the executive changed four times without the slightest political disturbance. according to the constitution, the officer who takes the place of the president in case of the latter's death or disability, though vested with full authority, has the title of vice president only. it so happened that after the death of the president two members of the cabinet in succession held the vice presidency, and they were followed by the chief magistrate, who was duly elected and installed at the close of the year. in , for the first time since their leader had committed suicide, one of the followers of balmaceda was chosen president--by a strange coalition of liberal-democrats, or balmacedists, conservatives, and nationalists, over the candidate of the radicals, liberals, and democrats. the maintenance of the parliamentary system, however, continued to produce frequent alterations in the personnel of the cabinet. in its foreign relations, apart from the adjustment reached with argentina, chile managed to settle the difficulties with bolivia arising out of the war of the pacific. by the terms of treaties concluded in and , the region tentatively transferred by the armistice of was ceded outright to chile in return for a seaport and a narrow right of way to it through the former peruvian province of tarapaca. with peru, chile was not so fortunate. though the tension over the ultimate disposal of the tacna and arica question was somewhat reduced, it was far from being removed. chile absolutely refused to submit the matter to arbitration, on the ground that such a procedure could not properly be applied to a question arising out of a war that had taken place so many years before. chile did not wish to give the region up, lest by so doing it might expose tarapaca to a possible attack from peru. the investment of large amounts of foreign capital in the exploitation of the deposits of nitrate of soda had made that province economically very valuable, and the export tax levied on the product was the chief source of the national revenue. these were all potent reasons why chile wanted to keep its hold on tacna and arica. besides, possession was nine points in the law! on the other hand, the original plan of having the question decided by a vote of the inhabitants of the provinces concerned was not carried into effect, partly because both claimants cherished a conviction that whichever lost the election would deny its validity, and partly because they could not agree upon the precise method of holding it. chile suggested that the international commission which was selected to take charge of the plebiscite, and which was composed of a chilean, a peruvian, and a neutral, should be presided over by the chilean member as representative of the country actually in possession, whereas peru insisted that the neutral should act as chairman. chile proposed also that chileans, peruvians, and foreigners resident in the area six months before the date of the elections should vote, provided that they had the right to do so under the terms of the constitutions of both states. peru, on its part, objected to the length of residence, and wished to limit carefully the number of chilean voters, to exclude foreigners altogether from the election, and to disregard qualifications for the suffrage which required an ability to read and write. both countries, moreover, appeared to have a lurking suspicion that in any event the other would try to secure a majority at the polls by supplying a requisite number of voters drawn from their respective citizenry who were not ordinarily resident in tacna and arica! unable to overcome the deadlock, chile and peru agreed in to postpone the settlement for twenty years longer. at the expiration of this period, when chile would have held the provinces for half a century, the question should be finally adjusted on bases mutually satisfactory. officially amicable relations were then restored. while the political situation in bolivia remained stable, so much could not be said of that in peru and ecuador. if the troubles in the former were more or less military, a persistence of the conflict between clericals and radicals characterized the commotions in the latter, because of certain liberal provisions in the constitution of . peru, on the other hand, in guaranteed its people the enjoyment of religious liberty. next to the tacna and arica question, the dubious boundaries of ecuador constituted the most serious international problem in south america. the so-called oriente region, lying east of the andes and claimed by peru, brazil, and colombia, appeared differently on different maps, according as one claimant nation or another set forth its own case. had all three been satisfied, nothing would have been left of ecuador but the strip between the andes and the pacific coast, including the cities of quito and guayaquil. the ecuadorians, therefore, were bitterly sensitive on the subject. protracted negotiations over the boundaries became alike tedious and listless. but the moment that the respective diplomats had agreed upon some knotty point, the congress of one litigant or another was almost sure to reject the decision and start the controversy all over again. even reference of the matter to the arbitral judgment of european monarchs produced, so far as ecuador and peru were concerned, riotous attacks upon the peruvian legation and consulates, charges and countercharges of invasion of each other's territory, and the suspension of diplomatic relations. though the united states, argentina, and brazil had interposed to ward off an armed conflict between the two republics and, in , had urged that the dispute be submitted to the hague tribunal, nothing would induce ecuador to comply. colombia was even more unfortunate than its southern neighbor, for in addition to political convulsions it suffered financial disaster and an actual deprivation of territory. struggles among factions, official influence at the elections, dictatorships, and fighting between the departments and the national government plunged the country, in , into the worst civil war it had known for many a day. paper money, issued in unlimited amounts and given a forced circulation, made the distress still more acute. then came the hardest blow of all. since panama, as province or state, had tried many times to secede from colombia. in the opportunity it sought became altogether favorable. the parent nation, just beginning to recover from the disasters of civil strife, would probably be unable to prevent a new attempt at withdrawal. the people of panama, of course, knew how eager the united states was to acquire the region of the proposed canal zone, since it had failed to win it by negotiation with colombia. accordingly, if they were to start a "revolution," they had reason to believe that it would not lack support--or at least, connivance--from that quarter. on the d of november the projected "revolution" occurred, on schedule time, and the united states recognized the independence of the "republic of panama" three days later! in return for a guarantee of independence, however, the united states stipulated, in the convention concluded on the th of november, that, besides authority to enforce sanitary regulations in the canal zone, it should also have the right of intervention to maintain order in the republic itself. more than once, indeed, after panama adopted its constitution in , elections threatened to become tumultuous; whereupon the united states saw to it that they passed off quietly. having no wish to flout their huge neighbor to the northward, the hispanic nations at large hastened to acknowledge the independence of the new republic, despite the indignation that prevailed in press and public over what was regarded as an act of despoilment. in view of the resentful attitude of colombia and mindful also of the opinion of many americans that a gross injustice had been committed, the united states eventually offered terms of settlement. it agreed to express regret for the ill feeling between the two countries which had arisen out of the panama incident, provided that such expression were made mutual; and, as a species of indemnity, it agreed to pay for canal rights to be acquired in colombian territory and for the lease of certain islands as naval stations. but neither the terms nor the amount of the compensation proved acceptable. instead, colombia urged that the whole matter be referred to the judgment of the tribunal at the hague. alluding to the use made of the liberties won in the struggle for emancipation from spain by the native land of miranda, bolivar, and sucre, on the part of the country which had been in the vanguard of the fight for freedom from a foreign yoke, a writer of venezuela once declared that it had not elected legally a single president; had not put democratic ideas or institutions into practice; had lived wholly under dictatorships; had neglected public instruction; and had set up a large number of oppressive commercial monopolies, including the navigation of rivers, the coastwise trade, the pearl fisheries, and the sale of tobacco, salt, sugar, liquor, matches, explosives, butter, grease, cement, shoes, meat, and flour. exaggerated as the indictment is and applicable also, though in less degree, to some of the other backward countries of hispanic america, it contains unfortunately a large measure of truth. indeed, so far as venezuela itself is concerned, this critic might have added that every time a "restorer," "regenerator," or "liberator" succumbed there, the old craze for federalism again broke out and menaced the nation with piecemeal destruction. obedient, furthermore, to the whims of a presidential despot, venezuela perpetrated more outrages on foreigners and created more international friction after than any other land in spanish america had ever done. while the formidable guzman blanco was still alive, the various presidents acted cautiously. no sooner had he passed away than disorder broke out afresh. since a new dictator thought he needed a longer term of office and divers other administrative advantages, a constitution incorporating them was framed and published in the due and customary manner. this had hardly gone into operation when, in , a contest arose with great britain about the boundaries between venezuela and british guiana. under pressure from the united states, however, the matter was referred to arbitration, and venezuela came out substantially the loser. in there appeared on the scene a personage compared with whom zelaya was the merest novice in the art of making trouble. this was cipriano castro, the greatest international nuisance of the early twentieth century. a rude, arrogant, fearless, energetic, capricious mountaineer and cattleman, he regarded foreigners no less than his own countryfolk, it would seem, as objects for his particular scorn, displeasure, exploitation, or amusement, as the case might be. he was greatly angered by the way in which foreigners in dispute with local officials avoided a resort to venezuelan courts and--still worse--rejected their decisions and appealed instead to their diplomatic representatives for protection. he declared such a procedure to be an affront to the national dignity. yet foreigners were usually correct in arming that judges appointed by an arbitrary president were little more than figureheads, incapable of dispensing justice, even were they so inclined. jealous not only of his personal prestige but of what he imagined, or pretended to imagine, were the rights of a small nation, castro tried throughout to portray the situation in such a light as to induce the other hispanic republics also to view foreign interference as a dire peril to their own independence and sovereignty; and he further endeavored to involve the united states in a struggle with european powers as a means possibly of testing the efficacy of the monroe doctrine or of laying bare before the world the evil nature of american imperialistic designs. by the year , in which venezuela adopted another constitution, the revolutionary disturbances had materially diminished the revenues from the customs. furthermore castro's regulations exacting military service of all males between fourteen and sixty years of age had filled the prisons to overflowing. many foreigners who had suffered in consequence resorted to measures of self-defense--among them representatives of certain american and british asphalt companies which were working concessions granted by castro's predecessors. though familiar with what commonly happens to those who handle pitch, they had not scrupled to aid some of castro's enemies. castro forthwith imposed on them enormous fines which amounted practically to a confiscation of their rights. while the united states and great britain were expostulating over this behavior of the despot, france broke off diplomatic relations with venezuela because of castro's refusal either to pay or to submit to arbitration certain claims which had originated in previous revolutions. germany, aggrieved in similar fashion, contemplated a seizure of the customs until its demands for redress were satisfied. and then came italy with like causes of complaint. as if these complications were not sufficient, venezuela came to blows with colombia. as the foreign pressure on castro steadily increased, luis maria drago, the argentine minister of foreign affairs, formulated in the doctrine with which his name has been associated. it stated in substance that force should never be employed between nations for the collection of contractual debts. encouraged by this apparent token of support from a sister republic, castro defied his array of foreign adversaries more vigorously than ever, declaring that he might find it needful to invade the united states, by way of new orleans, to teach it the lesson it deserved! but when he attempted, in the following year, to close the ports of venezuela as a means of bringing his native antagonists to terms, great britain, germany, and italy seized his warships, blockaded the coast, and bombarded some of his forts. thereupon the united states interposed with a suggestion that the dispute be laid before the hague tribunal. although castro yielded, he did not fail to have a clause inserted in a new "constitution" requiring foreigners who might wish to enter the republic to show certificates of good character from the governments of their respective countries. these incidents gave much food for thought to castro as well as to his soberer compatriots. the european powers had displayed an apparent willingness to have the united states, if it chose to do so, assume the role of a new world policeman and financial guarantor. were it to assume these duties, backward republics in the caribbean and its vicinity were likely to have their affairs, internal as well as external, supervised by the big nation in order to ward off european intervention. at this moment, indeed, the united states was intervening in panama. the prospect aroused in many hispanic countries the fear of a "yankee peril" greater even than that emanating from europe. instead of being a kindly and disinterested protector of small neighbors, the "colossus of the north" appeared rather to resemble a political and commercial ogre bent upon swallowing them to satisfy "manifest destiny." having succeeded in putting around his head an aureole of local popularity, castro in picked a new set of partially justified quarrels with the united states, great britain, france, italy, colombia, and even with the netherlands, arising out of the depredations of revolutionists; but an armed menace from the united states induced him to desist from his plans. he contented himself accordingly with issuing a decree of amnesty for all political offenders except the leaders. when "reelected," he carried his magnanimity so far as to resign awhile in favor of the vice president, stating that, if his retirement were to bring peace and concord, he would make it permanent. but as he saw to it that his temporary withdrawal should not have this happy result, he came back again to his firmer position a few months later. venting his wrath upon the netherlands because its minister had reported to his government an outbreak of cholera at la guaira, the chief seaport of venezuela, the dictator laid an embargo on dutch commerce, seized its ships, and denounced the dutch for their alleged failure to check filibustering from their islands off the coast. when the minister protested, castro expelled him. thereupon the netherlands instituted a blockade of the venezuelan ports. what might have happened if castro had remained much longer in charge, may be guessed. toward the close of , however, he departed for europe to undergo a course of medical treatment. hardly had he left venezuelan shores when juan vicente gomez, the able, astute, and vigorous vice president, managed to secure his own election to the presidency and an immediate recognition from foreign states. under his direction all of the international tangles of venezuela were straightened out. in the country adopted its eleventh constitution and thereby lengthened the presidential term to seven years, shortened that of members of the lower house of the congress to four, determined definitely the number of states in the union, altered the apportionment of their congressional representation, and enlarged the powers of the federal government--or, rather, those of its executive branch! in gomez resigned office in favor of the vice president, and secured an appointment instead as commander in chief of the army. this procedure was promptly denounced as a trick to evade the constitutional prohibition of two consecutive terms. a year later he was unanimously elected president, though he never formally took the oath of office. whatever may be thought of the political ways and means of this new guzmin blanco to maintain himself as a power behind or on the presidential throne, gomez gave venezuela an administration of a sort very different from that of his immediate predecessor. he suppressed various government monopolies, removed other obstacles to the material advancement of the country, and reduced the national debt. he did much also to improve the sanitary conditions at la guaira, and he promoted education, especially the teaching of foreign languages. gomez nevertheless had to keep a watchful eye on the partisans of castro, who broke out in revolt whenever they had an opportunity. the united states, great britain, france, the netherlands, denmark, cuba, and colombia eyed the movements of the ex-dictator nervously, as european powers long ago were wont to do in the case of a certain man of destiny, and barred him out of both their possessions and venezuela itself. international patience, never job-like, had been too sorely vexed to permit his return. nevertheless, after the manner of the ancient persecutor of the biblical martyr, castro did not refrain from going to and fro in the earth. in fact he still "walketh about" seeking to recover his hold upon venezuela! chapter x. mexico in revolution when, in , like several of its sister republics, mexico celebrated the centennial anniversary of its independence, the era of peace and progress inaugurated by porfirio diaz seemed likely to last indefinitely, for he was entering upon his eighth term as president. brilliant as his career had been, however, and greatly as mexico had prospered under his rigid rule, a sullen discontent had been brewing. the country that had had but one continuous president in twenty-six years was destined to have some fourteen chief magistrates in less than a quarter of that time, and to surpass all its previous records for rapidity in presidential succession, by having one executive who is said to have held office for precisely fifty-six minutes! it has often been asserted that the reason for the downfall of diaz and the lapse of mexico into the unhappy conditions of a half century earlier was that he had grown too old to keep a firm grip on the situation. it has also been declared that his insistence upon reelection and upon the elevation of his own personal candidate to the vice presidency, as a successor in case of his retirement, occasioned his overthrow. the truth of the matter is that these circumstances were only incidental to his downfall; the real causes of revolution lay deeprooted in the history of these twenty-six years. the most significant feature of the revolt was its civilian character. a widespread public opinion had been created; a national consciousness had been awakened which was intolerant of abuses and determined upon their removal at any cost; and this public opinion and national consciousness were products of general education, which had brought to the fore a number of intelligent men eager to participate in public affairs and yet barred out because of their unwillingness to support the existing regime. some one has remarked, and rightly, that diaz in his zeal for the material advancement of mexico, mistook the tangible wealth of the country for its welfare. desirable and even necessary as that material progress was, it produced only a one-sided prosperity. diaz was singularly deaf to the just complaints of the people of the laboring classes, who, as manufacturing and other industrial enterprises developed, were resolved to better their conditions. in the country at large the discontent was still stronger. throughout many of the rural districts general advancement had been retarded because of the holding of huge areas of fertile land by a comparatively few rich families, who did little to improve it and were content with small returns from the labor of throngs of unskilled native cultivators. wretchedly paid and housed, and toiling long hours, the workers lived like the serfs of medieval days or as their own ancestors did in colonial times. ignorant, poverty-stricken, liable at any moment to be dispossessed of the tiny patch of ground on which they raised a few hills of corn or beans, most of them were naturally a simple, peaceful folk who, in spite of their misfortunes, might have gone on indefinitely with their drudgery in a hopeless apathetic fashion, unless their latent savage instincts happened to be aroused by drink and the prospect of plunder. on the other hand, the intelligent among them, knowing that in some of the northern states of the republic wages were higher and treatment fairer, felt a sense of wrong which, like that of the laboring class in the towns, was all the more dangerous because it was not allowed to find expression. diaz thought that what mexico required above everything else was the development of industrial efficiency and financial strength, assured by a maintenance of absolute order. though disposed to do justice in individual cases, he would tolerate no class movements of any kind. labor unions, strikes, and other efforts at lightening the burden of the workers he regarded as seditious and deserving of severe punishment. in order to attract capital from abroad as the best means of exploiting the vast resources of the country, he was willing to go to any length, it would seem, in guaranteeing protection. small wonder, therefore, that the people who shared in none of the immediate advantages from that source should have muttered that mexico was the "mother of foreigners and the stepmother of mexicans." and, since so much of the capital came from the united states, the antiforeign sentiment singled americans out for its particular dislike. if diaz appeared unable to appreciate the significance of the educational and industrial awakening, he was no less oblivious of the political outcome. he knew, of course, that the mexican constitution made impossible demands upon the political capacity of the people. he was himself mainly of indian blood and he believed that he understood the temperament and limitations of most mexicans. knowing how tenaciously they clung to political notions, he believed that it was safer and wiser to forego, at least for a time, real popular government and to concentrate power in the hands of a strong man who could maintain order. accordingly, backed by his political adherents, known as cientificos (doctrinaires), some of whom had acquired a sinister ascendancy over him, and also by the church, the landed proprietors, and the foreign capitalists, diaz centered the entire administration more and more in himself. elections became mere farces. not only the federal officials themselves but the state governors, the members of the state legislatures, and all others in authority during the later years of his rule owed their selection primarily to him and held their positions only if personally loyal to him. confident of his support and certain that protests against misgovernment would be regarded by the president as seditious, many of them abused their power at will. notable among them were the local officials, called jefes politicos, whose control of the police force enabled them to indulge in practices of intimidation and extortion which ultimately became unendurable. though symptoms of popular wrath against the diaz regime, or diazpotism as the mexicans termed it, were apparent as early as , it was not until january, , that the actual revolution came. it was headed by francisco i. madero, a member of a wealthy and distinguished family of landed proprietors in one of the northern states. what the revolutionists demanded in substance was the retirement of the president, vice president, and cabinet; a return to the principle of no reelection to the chief magistracy; a guarantee of fair elections at all times; the choice of capable, honest, and impartial judges, jefes politicos, and other officials; and, in particular, a series of agrarian and industrial reforms which would break up the great estates, create peasant proprietorships, and better the conditions of the working classes. disposed at first to treat the insurrection lightly, diaz soon found that he had underestimated its strength. grants of some of the demands and promises of reform were met with a dogged insistence upon his own resignation. then, as the rebellion spread to the southward, the masterful old man realized that his thirty-one years of rule were at an end. on the th of may, therefore, he gave up his power and sailed for europe. madero was chosen president five months later, but the revolution soon passed beyond his control. he was a sincere idealist, if not something of a visionary, actuated by humane and kindly sentiments, but he lacked resoluteness and the art of managing men. he was too prolific, also, of promises which he must have known he could not keep. yielding to family influence, he let his followers get out of hand. ambitious chieftains and groups of radicals blocked and thwarted him at every turn. when he could find no means of carrying out his program without wholesale confiscation and the disruption of business interests, he was accused of abandoning his duty. one officer after another deserted him and turned rebel. brigandage and insurrection swept over the country and threatened to involve it in ugly complications with the united states and european powers. at length, in february, , came the blow that put an end to all of madero's efforts and aspirations. a military uprising in the city of mexico made him prisoner, forced him to resign, and set up a provisional government under the dictatorship of victoriano huerta, one of his chief lieutenants. two weeks later both madero and the vice president were assassinated while on their way supposedly to a place of safety. huerta was a rough soldier of indian origin, possessed of unusual force of character and strength of will, ruthless, cunning, and in bearing alternately dignified and vulgar. a scientifico in political faith, he was disposed to restore the diaz regime, so far as an application of shrewdness and force could make it possible. but from the outset he found an obstacle confronting him that he could not surmount. though acknowledged by european countries and by many of the hispanic republics, he could not win recognition from the united states, either as provisional president or as a candidate for regular election to the office. whether personally responsible for the murder of madero or not, he was not regarded by the american government as entitled to recognition, on the ground that he was not the choice of the mexican people. in its refusal to recognize an administration set up merely by brute force, the united states was upheld by argentina, brazil, chile, and cuba. the elimination of huerta became the chief feature for a while of its mexican policy. meanwhile the followers of madero and the pronounced radicals had found a new northern leader in the person of venustiano carranza. they called themselves constitutionalists, as indicative of their purpose to reestablish the constitution and to choose a successor to madero in a constitutional manner. what they really desired was those radical changes along social, industrial, and political lines, which madero had championed in theory. they sought to introduce a species of socialistic regime that would provide the mexicans with an opportunity for self-regeneration. while diaz had believed in economic progress supported by the great landed proprietors, the moral influence of the church, and the application of foreign capital, the constitutionalists, personified in carranza, were convinced that these agencies, if left free and undisturbed to work their will, would ruin mexico. though not exactly antiforeign in their attitude, they wished to curb the power of the foreigner; they would accept his aid whenever desirable for the economic development of the country, but they would not submit to his virtual control of public affairs. in any case they would tolerate no interference by the united states. compromise with the huerta regime, therefore, was impossible. huerta, the "strong man" of the diaz type, must go. on this point, at least, the constitutionalists were in thorough agreement with the united states. a variety of international complications ensued. both huertistas and carranzistas perpetrated outrages on foreigners, which evoked sharp protests and threats from the united states and european powers. while careful not to recognize his opponents officially, the american government resorted to all kinds of means to oust the dictator. an embargo was laid on the export of arms and munitions; all efforts to procure financial help from abroad were balked. the power of huerta was waning perceptibly and that of the constitutionalists was increasing when an incident that occurred in april, , at tampico brought matters to a climax. a number of american sailors who had gone ashore to obtain supplies were arrested and temporarily detained. the united states demanded that the american flag be saluted as reparation for the insult. upon the refusal of huerta to comply, the united states sent a naval expedition to occupy vera cruz. both carranza and huerta regarded this move as equivalent to an act of war. argentina, brazil, and chile then offered their mediation. but the conference arranged for this purpose at niagara falls, canada, had before it a task altogether impossible of accomplishment. though carranza was willing to have the constitutionalists represented, if the discussion related solely to the immediate issue between the united states and huerta, he declined to extend the scope of the conference so as to admit the right of the united states to interfere in the internal affairs of mexico. the conference accomplished nothing so far as the immediate issue was concerned. the dictator did not make reparation for the "affronts and indignities" he had committed; but his day was over. the advance of the constitutionalists southward compelled him in july to abandon the capital and leave the country. four months later the american forces were withdrawn from vera cruz. the "a b c" conference, however barren it was of direct results, helped to allay suspicions of the united states in hispanic america and brought appreciably nearer a "concert of the western world." while far from exercising full control throughout mexico, the "first chief" of the constitutionalists was easily the dominant figure in the situation. at home a ranchman, in public affairs a statesman of considerable ability, knowing how to insist and yet how to temporize, carranza carried on a struggle, both in arms and in diplomacy, which singled him out as a remarkable character. shrewdly aware of the advantageous circumstances afforded him by the war in europe, he turned them to account with a degree of skill that blocked every attempt at defeat or compromise. no matter how serious the opposition to him in mexico itself, how menacing the attitude of the united states, or how persuasive the conciliatory disposition of hispanic american nations, he clung stubbornly and tenaciously to his program. even after huerta had been eliminated, carranza's position was not assured, for francisco, or "pancho," villa, a chieftain whose personal qualities resembled those of the fallen dictator, was equally determined to eliminate him. for a brief moment, indeed, peace reigned. under an alleged agreement between them, a convention of constitutionalist officers was to choose a provisional president, who should be ineligible as a candidate for the permanent presidency at the regular elections. when carranza assumed both of these positions, villa declared his act a violation of their understanding and insisted upon his retirement. inasmuch as the convention was dominated by villa, the "first chief" decided to ignore its election of a provisional president. the struggle between the conventionalists headed by villa and the constitutionalists under carranza plunged mexico into worse discord and misery than ever. indeed it became a sort of three-cornered contest. the third party was emiliano zapata, an indian bandit, nominally a supporter of villa but actually favorable to neither of the rivals. operating near the capital, he plundered conventionalists and constitutionalists with equal impartiality, and as a diversion occasionally occupied the city itself. these circumstances gave force to the saying that mexico was a "land where peace breaks out once in a while!" early in carranza proceeded to issue a number of radical decrees that exasperated foreigners almost beyond endurance. rather than resort to extreme measures again, however, the united states invoked the cooperation of the hispanic republics and proposed a conference to devise some solution of the mexican problem. to give the proposed conference a wider representation, it invited not only the "a b c" powers, but bolivia, uruguay, and guatemala to participate. meeting at washington in august, the mediators encountered the same difficulty which had confronted their predecessors at niagara falls. though the other chieftains assented, carranza, now certain of success, declined to heed any proposal of conciliation. characterizing efforts of the kind as an unwarranted interference in the internal affairs of a sister nation, he warned the hispanic republics against setting up so dangerous a precedent. in reply argentina stated that the conference obeyed a "lofty inspiration of pan-american solidarity, and, instead of finding any cause for alarm, the mexican people should see in it a proof of their friendly consideration that her fate evokes in us, and calls forth our good wishes for her pacification and development." however, as the only apparent escape from more watchful waiting or from armed intervention on the part of the united states, in october the seven governments decided to accept the facts as they stood, and accordingly recognized carranza as the de facto ruler of mexico. enraged at this favor shown to his rival, villa determined deliberately to provoke american intervention by a murderous raid on a town in new mexico in march, . when the united states dispatched an expedition to avenge the outrage, carranza protested energetically against its violation of mexican territory and demanded its withdrawal. several clashes, in fact, occurred between american soldiers and carranzistas. neither the expedition itself, however, nor diplomatic efforts to find some method of cooperation which would prevent constant trouble along the frontier served any useful purpose, since villa apparently could not be captured and carranza refused to yield to diplomatic persuasion. carranza then proposed that a joint commission be appointed to settle these vexed questions. even this device proved wholly unsatisfactory. the mexicans would not concede the right of the united states to send an armed expedition into their country at any time, and the americans refused to accept limitations on the kind of troops that they might employ or on the zone of their operations. in january, , the joint commission was dissolved and the american soldiers were withdrawn. again the "first chief" had won! on the th of february a convention assembled at queretaro promulgated a constitution embodying substantially all of the radical program that carranza had anticipated in his decrees. besides providing for an elaborate improvement in the condition of the laboring classes and for such a division of great estates as might satisfy their particular needs, the new constitution imposed drastic restrictions upon foreigners and religious bodies. under its terms, foreigners could not acquire industrial concessions unless they waived their treaty rights and consented to regard themselves for the purpose as mexican citizens. in all such cases preference was to be shown mexicans over foreigners. ecclesiastical corporations were forbidden to own real property. no primary school and no charitable institution could be conducted by any religious mission or denomination, and religious publications must refrain from commenting on public affairs. the presidential term was reduced from six years to four; reelection was prohibited; and the office of vice president was abolished. when, on the st of may, venustiano carranza was chosen president, mexico had its first constitutional executive in four years. after a cruel and obstinately intolerant struggle that had occasioned indescribable suffering from disease and starvation, as well as the usual slaughter and destruction incident to war, the country began to enjoy once more a measure of peace. financial exhaustion, however, had to be overcome before recuperation was possible. industrial progress had become almost paralyzed; vast quantities of depreciated paper money had to be withdrawn from circulation; and an enormous array of claims for the loss of foreign life and property had rolled up. chapter xi. the republics of the caribbean the course of events in certain of the republics in and around the caribbean sea warned the hispanic nations that independence was a relative condition and that it might vary in direct ratio with nearness to the united states. after this powerful northern neighbor showed an unmistakable tendency to extend its influence in various ways. here fiscal and police control was established; there official recognition was withheld from a president who had secured office by unconstitutional methods. nonrecognition promised to be an effective way of maintaining a regime of law and order, as the united states understood those terms. assurances from the united states of the full political equality of all republics, big or little, in the western hemisphere did not always carry conviction to spanish american ears. the smaller countries in and around the caribbean sea, at least, seemed likely to become virtually american protectorates. like their hispanic neighbor on the north, the little republics of central america were also scenes of political disturbance. none of them except panama escaped revolutionary uprisings, though the loss of life and property was insignificant. on the other hand, in these early years of the century the five countries north of panama made substantial progress toward federation. as a south american writer has expressed it, their previous efforts in that direction "amid sumptuous festivals, banquets and other solemn public acts" at which they "intoned in lyric accents daily hymns for the imperishable reunion of the isthmian republics," had been as illusory as they were frequent. despite the mediation of the united states and mexico in , while the latter was still ruled by diaz, the struggle in which nicaragua, honduras, guatemala, and salvador had been engaged was soon renewed between the first two belligerents. since diplomatic interposition no longer availed, american marines were landed in nicaragua, and the bumptious zelaya was induced to have his country meet its neighbors in a conference at washington. under the auspices of the united states and mexico, in december, , representatives of the five republics signed a series of conventions providing for peace and cooperation. an arbitral court of justice, to be erected in costa rica and composed of one judge from each nation, was to decide all matters of dispute which could not be adjusted through ordinary diplomatic means. here, also, an institute for the training of central american teachers was to be established. annual conferences were to discuss, and an office in guatemala was to record, measures designed to secure uniformity in financial, commercial, industrial, sanitary, and educational regulations. honduras, the storm center of weakness, was to be neutralized. none of the states was thereafter to recognize in any of them a government which had been set up in an illegal fashion. a "constitutional act of central american fraternity," moreover, was adopted on behalf of peace, harmony, and progress. toward a realization of the several objects of the conference, the presidents of the five republics were to invite their colleagues of the united states and mexico, whenever needful, to appoint representatives, to "lend their good offices in a purely friendly way." though most of these agencies were promptly put into operation, the results were not altogether satisfactory. some discords, to be sure, were removed by treaties settling boundary questions and providing for reciprocal trade advantages; but it is doubtful whether the arrangements devised at washington would have worked at all if the united states had not kept the little countries under a certain amount of observation. what the central americans apparently preferred was to be left alone, some of them to mind their own business, others to mind their neighbor's affairs. of all the central american countries honduras was, perhaps, the one most afflicted with pecuniary misfortunes. in its foreign debt, along with arrears of interest unpaid for thirty-seven years, was estimated at upwards of $ , , . of this amount a large part consisted of loans obtained from foreign capitalists, at more or less extortionate rates, for the construction of a short railway, of which less than half had been built. that revolutions should be rather chronic in a land where so much money could be squandered and where the temperaments of presidents and ex-presidents were so bellicose, was natural enough. when the united states could not induce the warring rivals to abide by fair elections, it sent a force of marines to overawe them and gave warning that further disturbances would not be allowed. in nicaragua the conditions were similar. here zelaya, restive under the limitations set by the conference at washington, yearned to become the "strong man" of central america, who would teach the yankees to stop their meddling. but his downfall was imminent. in , as the result of his execution of two american soldiers of fortune who had taken part in a recent insurrection, the united states resolved to tolerate zelaya no longer. openly recognizing the insurgents, it forced the dictator out of the country. three years later, when a president-elect started to assume office before the legally appointed time, a force of american marines at the capital convinced him that such a procedure was undesirable. the "corrupt and barbarous" conditions prevailing in zelaya's time, he was informed, could not be tolerated. the united states, in fact, notified all parties in nicaragua that, under the terms of the washington conventions, it had a "moral mandate to exert its influence for the preservation of the general peace of central america." since those agreements had vested no one with authority to enforce them, such an interpretation of their language, aimed apparently at all disturbances, foreign as well as domestic, was rather elastic! at all events, after , when a new constitution was adopted, the country became relatively quiet and somewhat progressive. whenever a political flurry did take place, american marines were employed to preserve the peace. many citizens, therefore, declined to vote, on the ground that the moral and material support thus furnished by the great nation to the northward rendered it futile for them to assume political responsibilities. meanwhile negotiations began which were ultimately to make nicaragua a fiscal protectorate of the united states. american officials were chosen to act as financial advisers and collectors of customs, and favorable arrangements were concluded with american bankers regarding the monetary situation; but it was not until that a treaty covering this situation was ratified. according to its provisions, in return for a stipulated sum to be expended under american direction, nicaragua was to grant to the united states the exclusive privilege of constructing a canal through the territory of the republic and to lease to it the corn islands and a part of fonseca bay, on the pacific coast, for use as naval stations. the prospect of american intervention alarmed the neighboring republics. asserting that the treaty infringed upon their respective boundaries, costa rica, and salvador brought suit against nicaragua before the central american court. with the exception of the nicaraguan representative, the judges upheld the contention of the plaintiffs that the defendant had no right to make any such concessions without previous consultation with costa rica, salvador, and honduras, since all three alike were affected by them. the court observed, however, that it could not declare the treaty void because the united states, one of the parties concerned, was not subject to its jurisdiction. nicaragua declined to accept the decision; and the united states, the country responsible for the existence of the court and presumably interested in helping to enforce its judgment, allowed it to go out of existence in on the expiration of its ten-year term. the economic situation of costa rica brought about a state of affairs wholly unusual in central american politics. the president, alfredo gonzalez, wished to reform the system of taxation so that a fairer share of the public burdens should fall on the great landholders who, like most of their brethren in the hispanic countries, were practically exempt. this project, coupled with the fact that certain american citizens seeking an oil concession had undermined the power of the president by wholesale bribery, induced the minister of war, in , to start a revolt against him. rather than shed the blood of his fellow citizens for mere personal advantages, gonzalez sustained the good reputation of costa rica for freedom from civil commotions by quietly leaving the country and going to the united states to present his case. in consequence, the american government declined to recognize the de facto ruler. police and fiscal supervision by the united states has characterized the recent history of panama. not only has a proposed increase in the customs duties been disallowed, but more than once the unrest attending presidential elections has required the calming presence of american officials. as a means of forestalling outbreaks, particularly in view of the cosmopolitan population resident on the isthmus, the republic enacted a law in which forbade foreigners to mix in local politics and authorized the expulsion of naturalized citizens who attacked the government through the press or otherwise. with the approval of the united states, panama entered into an agreement with american financiers providing for the creation of a national bank, one-fourth of the directors of which should be named by the government of the republic. the second period of american rule in cuba lasted till . control of the government was then formally transferred to jose miguel gomez, the president who had been chosen by the liberals at the elections held in the previous year; but the united states did not cease to watch over its chief caribbean ward. a bitter controversy soon developed in the cuban congress over measures to forbid the further purchase of land by aliens, and to insure that a certain percentage of the public offices should be held by colored citizens. though both projects were defeated, they revealed a strong antiforeign sentiment and much dissatisfaction on the part of the negro population. it was clear also that gomez, intended to oust all conservatives from office, for an obedient congress passed a bill suspending the civil service rules. the partisanship of gomez, and his supporters, together with the constant interference of military veterans in political affairs, provoked numerous outbreaks, which led the united states, in , to warn cuba that it might again be compelled to intervene. eventually, when a negro insurrection in the eastern part of the island menaced the safety of foreigners, american marines were landed. another instance of intervention was the objection by the united states to an employers' liability law that would have given a monopoly of the insurance business to a cuban company to the detriment of american firms. after the election of mario menocal, the conservative candidate, to the presidency in , another occasion for intervention presented itself. an amnesty bill, originally drafted for the purpose of freeing the colored insurgents and other offenders, was amended so as to empower the retiring president to grant pardon before trial to persons whom his successor wished to prosecute for wholesale corruption in financial transactions. before the bill passed, however, notice was sent from washington that, since the american government had the authority to supervise the finances of the republic, gomez would better veto the bill, and this he accordingly did. a sharp struggle arose when it became known that menocal would be a candidate for reelection. the liberal majority in the congress passed a bill requiring that a president who sought to succeed himself should resign two months before the elections. when menocal vetoed this measure, his opponents demanded that the united states supervise the elections. as the result of the elections was doubtful, gomez and his followers resorted in to the usual insurrection; whereupon the american government warned the rebels that it would not recognize their claims if they won by force. active aid from that quarter, as well as the capture of the insurgent leader, caused the movement to collapse after the electoral college had decided in favor of menocal. in the dominican republic disturbances were frequent, notwithstanding the fact that american officials were in charge of the customhouses and by their presence were expected to exert a quieting influence. even the adoption, in , of a new constitution which provided for the prolongation of the presidential term to six years and for the abolition of the office of vice president--two stabilizing devices quite common in hispanic countries where personal ambition is prone to be a source of political trouble--did not help much to restore order. the assassination of the president and the persistence of age-long quarrels with haiti over boundaries made matters worse. thereupon, in , the united states served formal notice on the rebellious parties that it would not only refuse to recognize any government set up by force but would withhold any share in the receipts from the customs. as this procedure did not prevent a revolutionary leader from demanding half a million dollars as a financial sedative for his political nerves and from creating more trouble when the president failed to dispense it, the heavy hand of an american naval force administered another kind of specific, until commissioners from porto rico could arrive to superintend the selection of a new chief magistrate. notwithstanding the protest of the dominican government, the "fairest and freest" elections ever known in the country were held under the direction of those officials--as a "body of friendly observers"! however amicable this arrangement seemed, it did not smother the flames of discord. in , when an american naval commander suggested that a rebellious minister of war leave the capital, he agreed to do so if the "fairest and freest" of chosen presidents would resign. even after both of them had complied with the suggestions, the individuals who assumed their respective offices were soon at loggerheads. accordingly the united states placed the republic under military rule, until a president could be elected who might be able to retain his post without too much "friendly observation" from washington, and a minister of war could be appointed who would refrain from making war on the president! then the organization of a new party to combat the previous inordinate display of personalities in politics created some hope that the republic would accomplish its own redemption. only because of its relation to the wars of emancipation and to the dominican republic, need the negro state of haiti, occupying the western part of the caribbean island, be mentioned in connection with the story of the hispanic nations. suffice it to say that the fact that their color was different and that they spoke a variant of french instead of spanish did not prevent the inhabitants of this state from offering a far worse spectacle of political and financial demoralization than did their neighbors to the eastward. perpetual commotions and repeated interventions by american and european naval forces on behalf of the foreign residents, eventually made it imperative for the united states to take direct charge of the republic. in , by a convention which placed the finances under american control, created a native constabulary under american officers, and imposed a number of other restraints, the united states converted haiti into what is practically a protectorate. chapter xii. pan-americanism and the great war while the hispanic republics were entering upon the second century of their independent life, the idea of a certain community of interests between themselves and the united states began to assume a fairly definite form. though emphasized by american statesmen and publicists in particular, the new point of view was not generally understood or appreciated by the people of either this country or its fellow nations to the southward. it seemed, nevertheless, to promise an effective cooperation in spirit and action between them and came therefore to be called "pan-americanism." this sentiment of inter-american solidarity sprang from several sources. the periodical conferences of the united states and its sister republics gave occasion for an interchange of official courtesies and expressions of good feeling. doubtless, also, the presence of delegates from the hispanic countries at the international gatherings at the hague served to acquaint the world at large with the stability, strength, wealth, and culture of their respective lands. individual americans took an active interest in their fellows of hispanic stock and found their interest reciprocated. motives of business or pleasure and a desire to obtain personal knowledge about one another led to visits and countervisits that became steadily more frequent. societies were created to encourage the friendship and acquaintance thus formed. scientific congresses were held and institutes were founded in which both the united states and hispanic america were represented. books, articles, and newspaper accounts about one another's countries were published in increasing volume. educational institutions devoted a constantly growing attention to inter-american affairs. individuals and commissions were dispatched by the hispanic nations and the united states to study one another's conditions and to confer about matters of mutual concern. secretaries of state, ministers of foreign affairs, and other distinguished personages interchanged visits. above all, the common dangers and responsibilities falling upon the americas at large as a consequence of the european war seemed likely to bring the several nations into a harmony of feeling and relationship to which they had never before attained. pan-americanism, however, was destined to remain largely a generous ideal. the action of the united states in extending its direct influence over the small republics in and around the caribbean aroused the suspicion and alarm of hispanic americans, who still feared imperialistic designs on the part of that country now more than ever the colossus of the north. "the art of oratory among the yankees," declared a south american critic, "is lavish with a fraternal idealism; but strong wills enforce their imperialistic ambitions." impassioned speakers and writers adjured the ghost of hispanic confederation to rise and confront the new northern peril. they even advocated an appeal to great britain, germany, or japan, and they urged closer economic, social, and intellectual relations with the countries of europe. it was while the united states was thus widening the sphere of its influence in the caribbean that the "a b c" powers--argentina, brazil, and chile--reached an understanding which was in a sense a measure of self-defense. for some years cordial relations had existed among these three nations which had grown so remarkably in strength and prestige. it was felt that by united action they might set up in the new world the european principle of a balance of power, assume the leadership in hispanic america, and serve in some degree as a counterpoise to the united states. nevertheless they were disposed to cooperate with their northern neighbor in the peaceable adjustment of conflicts in which other hispanic countries were concerned, provided that the mediation carried on by such a "concert of the western world" did not include actual intervention in the internal affairs of the countries involved. with this attitude of the public mind, it is not strange that the hispanic republics at large should have been inclined to look with scant favor upon proposals made by the united states, in , to render the spirit of pan-americanism more precise in its operation. the proposals in substance were these: that all the nations of america "mutually agree to guarantee the territorial integrity" of one another; to "maintain a republican form of government"; to prohibit the "exportation of arms to any but the legally constituted governments"; and to adopt laws of neutrality which would make it "impossible to filibustering expeditions to threaten or carry on revolutions in neighboring republics." these proposals appear to have received no formal approval beyond what is signified by the diplomatic expression "in principle." considering the disparity in strength, wealth, and prestige between the northern country and its southern fellows, suggestions of the sort could be made practicable only by letting the united states do whatever it might think needful to accomplish the objects which it sought. obviously the hispanic nations, singly or collectively, would hardly venture to take any such action within the borders of the united states itself, if, for example, it failed to maintain what, in their opinion, was "a republican form of government." a full acceptance of the plan accordingly would have amounted to a recognition of american overlordship, and this they were naturally not disposed to admit. the common perils and duties confronting the americas as a result of the great war, however, made close cooperation between the hispanic republics and the united states up to a certain point indispensable. toward that transatlantic struggle the attitude of all the nations of the new world at the outset was substantially the same. though strongly sympathetic on the whole with the "allies" and notably with france, the southern countries nevertheless declared their neutrality. more than that, they tried to convert neutrality into a pan-american policy, instead of regarding it as an official attitude to be adopted by the republics separately. thus when the conflict overseas began to injure the rights of neutrals, argentina and other nations urged that the countries of the new world jointly agree to declare that direct maritime commerce between american lands should be considered as "inter-american coastwise trade," and that the merchant ships engaged in it, whatever the flag under which they sailed, should be looked upon as neutral. though the south american countries failed to enlist the support of their northern neighbor in this bold departure from international precedent, they found some compensation for their disappointment in the closer commercial and financial relations which they established with the united states. because of the dependence of the hispanic nations, and especially those of the southern group, on the intimacy of their economic ties with the belligerents overseas, they suffered from the ravages of the struggle more perhaps than other lands outside of europe. negotiations for prospective loans were dropped. industries were suspended, work on public improvements was checked, and commerce brought almost to a standstill. as the revenues fell off and ready money became scarce, drastic measures had to be devised to meet the financial strain. for the protection of credit, bank holidays were declared, stock exchanges were closed, moratoria were set up in nearly all the countries, taxes and duties were increased, radical reductions in expenditure were undertaken, and in a few cases large quantities of paper money were issued. with the european market thus wholly or partially cut off, the hispanic republics were forced to supply the consequent shortage with manufactured articles and other goods from the united states and to send thither their raw materials in exchange. to their northern neighbor they had to turn also for pecuniary aid. a pan-american financial conference was held at washington in , and an international high commission was appointed to carry its recommendations into effect. gradually most of the hispanic countries came to show a favorable trade balance. then, as the war drew into its fourth year, several of them even began to enjoy great prosperity. that pan-americanism had not meant much more than cooperation for economic ends seemed evident when, on april , , the united states declared war on germany. instead of following spontaneously in the wake of their great northern neighbor, the hispanic republics were divided by conflicting currents of opinion and hesitated as to their proper course of procedure. while a majority of them expressed approval of what the united states had done, and while uruguay for its part asserted that "no american country, which in defense of its own rights should find itself in a state of war with nations of other continents, would be treated as a belligerent," mexico veered almost to the other extreme by proposing that the republics of america agree to lay an embargo on the shipment of munitions to the warring powers. as a matter of fact, only seven out of the nineteen hispanic nations saw fit to imitate the example set by their northern neighbor and to declare war on germany. these were cuba--in view of its "duty toward the united states," panama, guatemala, brazil, honduras, nicaragua, and costa rica. since the dominican republic at the time was under american military control, it was not in a position to choose its course. four countries ecuador, peru, bolivia, and uruguay--broke off diplomatic relations with germany. the other seven republics--mexico, salvador, colombia, venezuela, chile, argentina, and paraguay--continued their formal neutrality. in spite of a disclosure made by the united states of insulting and threatening utterances on the part of the german charge d'affaires in argentina, which led to popular outbreaks at the capital and induced the national congress to declare in favor of a severance of diplomatic relations with that functionary's government, the president of the republic stood firm in his resolution to maintain neutrality. if pan-americanism had ever involved the idea of political cooperation among the nations of the new world, it broke down just when it might have served the greatest of purposes. even the "a b c" combination itself had apparently been shattered. a century and more had now passed since the spanish and portuguese peoples of the new world had achieved their independence. eighteen political children of various sizes and stages of advancement, or backwardness, were born of spain in america, and one acknowledged the maternity of portugal. big brazil has always maintained the happiest relations with the little mother in europe, who still watches with pride the growth of her strapping youngster. between spain and her descendants, however, animosity endured for many years after they had thrown off the parental yoke. yet of late, much has been done on both sides to render the relationship cordial. the graceful act of spain in sending the much-beloved infanta isabel to represent her in argentina and chile at the celebration of the centennial anniversary of their cry for independence, and to wish them godspeed on their onward journey, was typical of the yearning of the mother country for her children overseas, despite the lapse of years and political ties. so, too, her ablest men of intellect have striven nobly and with marked success to revive among them a sense of filial affection and gratitude for all that spain contributed to mold the mind and heart of her kindred in distant lands. on their part, the hispanic americans have come to a clearer consciousness of the fact that on the continents of the new world there are two distinct types of civilization, with all that each connotes of differences in race, psychology, tradition, language, and custom--their own, and that represented by the united states. appreciative though the southern countries are of their northern neighbor, they cling nevertheless to their heritage from spain and portugal in whatever seems conducive to the maintenance of their own ideals of life and thought. bibliographical note for anything like a detailed study of the history of the hispanic nations of america, obviously one must consult works written in spanish and portuguese. there are many important books, also, in french and german; but, with few exceptions, the recommendations for the general reader will be limited to accounts in english. a very useful outline and guide to recent literature on the subject is w. w. pierson, jr., "a syllabus of latin-american history" (chapel hill, north carolina, ). a brief introduction to the history and present aspects of hispanic american civilization is w. r. shepherd, "latin america" (new york, ). the best general accounts of the spanish and portuguese colonial systems will be found in charles de lannoy and herman van der linden, "histoire de l'expansion coloniale des peuples europeans: portugal et espagne" (brussels and paris, ), and kurt simon, "spanien and portugal als see and kolonialmdchte" (hamburg, ). for the spanish colonial regime alone, e. g. bourne, "spain in america" (new york, ) is excellent. the situation in southern south america toward the close of spanish rule is well described in bernard moses, "south america on the eve of emancipation" (new york, ). among contemporary accounts of that period, alexander von humboldt and aime bonpland, "personal narrative of travels to the equinoctial regions of america", vols. (london, ); alexander von humboldt, "political essay on the kingdom of new spain", vols. (london, - ); and f. r. j. de pons, "travels in south america", vols. (london, ), are authoritative, even if not always easy to read. on the wars of independence, see the scholarly treatise by w. s. robertson, "rise of the spanish-american republics as told in the lives of their liberators" (new york, ); bartolome mitre, "the emancipation of south america" (london, )--a condensed translation of the author's "historia de san martin", and wholly favorable to that patriot; and f. l. petre, "simon bolivar" (london, )--impartial at the expense of the imagination. among the numerous contemporary accounts, the following will be found serviceable: w. d. robinson, "memoirs of the mexican revolution" (philadelphia, ); j. r. poinsett, "notes on mexico" (london, ); h. m. brackenridge, "voyage to south america," vols. (london, ); w. b. stevenson, "historical and descriptive narrative of twenty years' residence in south america", vols. (london, ); j. miller, "memoirs of general miller in the service of the republic of peru", vols. (london, ); h. l. v. ducoudray holstein, "memoirs of simon bolivar", vols. (london, ), and john armitage, "history of brazil", vols. (london, ). the best books on the history of the republics as a whole since the attainment of independence, and written from an hispanic american viewpoint, are f. garcia calderon, "latin america, its rise and progress" (new york, ), and m. de oliveira lima, "the evolution of brazil compared with that of spanish and anglo-saxon america" (stanford university, california, ). the countries of central america are dealt with by w. h. koebel, "central america" (new york, ), and of south america by t. c. dawson, "the south american republics", vols. (new york, - ), and c. e. akers, "history of south america" (london, ), though in a manner that often confuses rather than enlightens. among the histories and descriptions of individual countries, arranged in alphabetical order, the following are probably the most useful to the general reader: w. a. hirst, "argentina" (new york, ); paul walle, "bolivia" (new york, ); pierre denis, "brazil" (new york, ); g. f. s. elliot, "chile" (new york, ); p. j. eder, "colombia" (new york, ); j. b. calvo, "the republic of costa rica" (chicago, ); a. g. robinson, "cuba, old and new" (new york, ); otto schoenrich, "santo domingo" (new york, ); c. r. enock, "ecuador" (new york, ); c. r. enock, "mexico" (new york, ); w. h. koebel, "paraguay" (new york, ); c. r. enock, "peru" (new york, ); w. h. koebel, "uruguay" (new york, ), and l. v. dalton, "venezuela" (new york, ). of these, the books by robinson and eder, on cuba and colombia, respectively, are the most readable and reliable. for additional bibliographical references see "south america" and the articles on individual countries in "the encyclopaedia britannica", th edition, and in marrion wilcox and g. e. rines, "encyclopedia of latin america" (new york, ). of contemporary or later works descriptive of the life and times of eminent characters in the history of the hispanic american republics since , a few may be taken as representative. rosas: j. a. king, "twenty-four years in the argentine republic" (london, ), and woodbine parish, "buenos ayres and the provinces of the rio de la plata" (london, ). francia: j. r. rengger, "reign of dr. joseph gaspard roderick [!] de francia in paraguay" (london, ); j. p. and w. p. robertson, "letters on south america", vols. (london, ), and e. l. white, "el supremo", a novel (new york, ). santa anna: waddy thompson, "recollections of mexico" (new york, ), and f. e. ingles, calderon de la barca, "life in mexico" (london, .). juarez: u. r. burke, "life of benito juarez" (london, ). solano lopez: t. j. hutchinson, "parana; with incidents of the paraguayan war and south american recollections" (london, ); george thompson, "the war in paraguay" (london, ); r. f. burton, "letters from the battle-fields of paraguay" (london, ), and c. a. washburn, "the history of paraguay", vols. (boston, ). pedro ii: j. c. fletcher and d. p. kidder, "brazil and the brazilians" (boston, ), and frank bennett, "forty years in brazil"(london, ). garcia moreno: frederick hassaurek, "four years among spanish americans"(new york, ). guzman blanco: c. d. dance, "recollections of four years in venezuela" (london, ). diaz: james creelman, "diaz, master of mexico" (new york, ). balmaceda: m. h. hervey, "dark days in chile" (london, - . carranza: l. gutierrez de lara and edgcumb pinchon, "the mexican people: their struggle for freedom" (new york, ). transcriber's note: extensive research indicates the copyright on this book was not renewed. the five arrows by allan chase random house - new york _chapter one_ the governor's wife pointed across the bay to a speck in the black sky. ground lights in catanzas were focusing their blue shafts on the speck, moving as the plane moved, one light trying to lead the ship. a thin stream of glowing red and orange tracer bullets soared up at the plane from the catanzas side of the bay. a moment passed before the governor's guests on the terrace of la fortaleza could hear the muffled thud-thud of the distant ground batteries. someone, the wife of a visiting government official, exclaimed, "my goodness, i've only seen this in the newsreels before!" now the plane veered, slowly, and the lights from the san juan side joined the catanzas batteries in pinning the plane to the dark clouds. the sleeve target fastened to the tail of the plane could now be seen from the terrace. most of the governor's guests gasped as the first bright jets of tracers missed the silver sleeve and sailed into the black void above it. the ack-ack batteries were speaking with more harshness now; one of them, planted between two brick buildings, added crashing echoes to their own reports as the guns went off. the bombing of pearl harbor was still very much a topic of conversation on the island; the submarine nets in the bay were joked about at the dinner table, but the jokes arose from a profound sense of gratitude for the nets, the planes, the ships which were the island's defenses against the undersea raiders that stalked the sea lanes between the ports of the mainland and san juan. the plane shifted course again, now headed directly toward la fortaleza. through the increasing din of the ground guns, the governor's young military aide, lieutenant braga, could barely hear the ring of the telephone nearest the terrace. he took the call, then returned to the terrace and tapped one of the guests on the shoulder. "it's for you, mr. hall," he said. "it's tom harris at panair." matthew hall stood up quietly and walked into the cavernous reception room. he walked carefully, with the steel-spring tread of a man who seems to expect the floor to blow up under him at any moment. for thirty-three years matthew hall had walked as other men. since he was not conscious of his new walk, he could not say when it had become part of him. his friends had first noticed it in paris, in ' , but had expected it to wear off as soon as the prison pallor disappeared. the pallor had gone; the walk remained. hall's head and shoulders and hands were part of this walk. he moved with his head forward and his shoulders hunched, with his hands slightly cocked, almost like a fighter slowly advancing to mid-ring. the shoulders were broad and thick, so broad that although hall was of more than average height they made him appear shorter and chunky. the face of matthew hall had changed, too, with his walk. there were the obvious changes: the deep channel of a scar on his broad forehead, the smaller one on his right jaw. the nose had changed twice, the first time in when it was broken in san sebastian. it had swelled enormously and then knit badly and nearly two years later a new york surgeon had done an expensive job of rebreaking and resetting the nose. some bones had been taken out and the once classic lines were now slightly flattened. the scars and the dented nose blended strangely well with the jaws that had always been a bit too long and the soft brown poet's eyes which had so often betrayed hall. with his eyes, hall spoke his contempt, his anger, his amusement, his joy. the eyes unerringly spoke his inner feelings; they were always beyond his control. changes more subtle than the scars and the flattened nose had come over hall's face within the past few years. it now had a queer, angry cast. his lips seemed to be set in a new and almost permanent grimace of bitterness. also the right side of his face, the cheek and the mouth, had a way of twitching painfully when hall was bothered and upset. and yet, as governor dickenson had already noted, hall was not a completely embittered man. more often than not, his eyes would light up with a look of amused irony, the look of a man much moved by an immense private joke he would be glad to share with his friends if he but knew how to tell it properly. when hall had risen to leave the terrace, the governor noticed that his cheek was twitching, but once he was alone in the reception room, away from the sight of the tracers and the target plane, hall's face grew calm again. he sat down in the green armchair near the phone, picked up the receiver. "yes, tom," he said, "any luck?" "sure. i busted open a seat for you on the san hermano plane for tomorrow at six." "was it much trouble, tom?" "not much." tom harris laughed. "we had to throw giselle prescott off to make room for you. know her?" "god, no! but thanks a lot." "i'll pick you up in the morning then. good night, matt." hall put the receiver back on the cradle. he sat back in the soft chair, oblivious of the crashing guns, the hum of the plane's engines, the others on the terrace. only one thing was in his mind now--san hermano. it was some time before the young puerto rican lieutenant slipped gingerly into the room. "mr. hall," he said, softly, "everything o.k.?" hall smiled warmly. "my god," he asked, "you don't think the guns drove me in here?" the officer blushed. "fix you a drink?" he asked. hall shook his head, drew two havanas from his jacket. "no, thanks. cigar? it's from the one box i remembered to buy in havana." the boy was a non-smoker. he lit a match for hall, waited until the older man relaxed with the burning cigar. politely, he said, "i know you've been through plenty, mr. hall. i'm a soldier, but if ..." "plenty? me?" the lieutenant nodded. "_the revenger_," he said, hesitantly. "i--i read your book." "oh, that," hall said. "_the revenger_." so _the revenger_ was plenty! "if there's anything i can get you ..." the boy's voice seemed to come from far away and hall realized that he himself was staring into space and that the lieutenant must have sat there for a full minute waiting for an answer. "i'm sorry," he said. "i'm really sorry. i guess i just get this way once in a while." "it's my fault," braga protested. "i should have known how hard it must be for you to talk about--it." "_de nada_," hall laughed. "i made a lecture tour last year and spent five nights a week talking about it for months. it's just that i'm--well, that i just catch myself staring at nothing at the craziest times. maybe i do need that drink. what's in the shaker there--daiquiri? good." he poured two daiquiris from the jar on the sideboard, handed one to the lieutenant. "i know you don't drink, either," he said. "but i'm having this drink to toast victory--and you're a soldier." when they touched glasses, the boy saw that amused look in hall's eyes, the look he had seen earlier at the dinner table when one of the visiting officials had expressed such innocent amazement at the enormity of his first taxi bill in san juan. "i'd better go back out there when i finish this drink," he said. "i'm glad nothing's wrong with you." "you're a right guy, lieutenant. thanks for looking in." hall returned to his chair as the boy walked out to the terrace. so _the revenger_ was plenty! and the kid, how old was he? twenty? not a day more. which made him eighteen when the nazi torpedo planes peeled off over the african skies and then roared in to send their tin fish into the guts of his majesty's own _revenger_. which made him fourteen when the fighting began, fourteen when the german pilot officers clicked their heels and mouthed the new phrase "_arriba españa_" and flew the moors from spanish morocco to the mainland and touched off the shooting stages of world war ii. "_ay, teniente_," he muttered, "you've made me feel old as hell. older." hall leaned back in his chair, tried to blow a series of smoke rings. he thought: but i'm not old. i've just seen things and done things and had things done to me. i'm not old at all. * * * * * after years of anonymity in various city rooms in the states, a brief turn as a byline correspondent in washington, a still briefer career as a broadway playwright, matthew hall had drawn an assignment as third-string man for the world press in paris. that was in , when he was crowding thirty. the job had introduced him to europe, and carried him to geneva, to belgrade, to bucharest, to stockholm. paris was the journalistic capital of the continent; when things happened outside of paris, it was a paris man who was sent to the scene to cover. there he would find that the office had adequate coverage in the permanent man, and if he had any curiosity or craftsman's pride he would try to get the story behind the story. hall had both. they led him to the strange half-world of tipsters, hounded opposition leaders, minor officials of ministries who would talk and produce documents for a fee, candid and cynical free-lance agents, wise old frightened politicians who sensed the coming catastrophe in their bones, correct and stiff nazi advance agents and politely lavish native fascists who mixed queer brews for foreign correspondents. they were the _sources close to a key ministry, the influential elder statesmen, the prominent industrialists whose names cannot be used_ who figured so prominently in the inside-europe dispatches of the era. july, , had found hall in nice spending a long week-end as the guest of a prominent refugee banker from germany. the banker was the "inside" prophet of the month in parisian newspaper circles. his gospel was the slightly shopworn one about german industry being fed up with hitler and willing to settle on goering, danzig and a few worthless colonies in africa as the price for eliminating the "extreme nazis" and returning to the family of europe. "he's a damned nazi himself," hall had declared when the invitation reached his office, but the bureau manager was missing no bets. "i don't care what he is, matt. he's a story. he's news. he's what they want to read about in washington and in london and in paris." hall never wrote his story on the refugee banker (who later turned up as a nazi economist overlord in denmark). on a blistering sunday paris had called him by phone. hell was popping in madrid. the regular madrid man was vacationing in the states. "get to madrid, matt. looks like you'll be busy there for a couple of weeks until it blows over." like many of his american colleagues, hall traveled to madrid during that first week of the war with the idea that in less than a month one side or another would have been installed in power and he himself would be back in paris listening to the latest faker peddling the newest line of disguised nazism from berlin. but hall was an honest man. what he saw interested and then intrigued and then enraged him. "this is no spanish civil war," he wrote to the paris office in a confidential memo sent by courier. "this is the start of the second world war. it's the germans and the italians against the spaniards. maybe i'm crazy, but it looks to me like the british and the french are backing the fascists, while the russians are trying to help the republicans. how about sending someone in to cover the shooting for a week while i write a big story along these lines?" he was answered in due time. "stick to the military conflict between the nationalists and the loyalists. and don't send us any red propaganda." that was in october, when caballero was preparing to quit madrid in panic, and the fifth army was calmly preparing to hold the city, caballero or no caballero. hall had long since lost his magnificent wp objectivity. through the open mails he sent a letter of resignation to paris. antin in the censura held the letter up, sent for hall. the spaniard hemmed and hawed and cleared his throat a dozen times and then he got up from his desk and embraced hall and told him to sit down. hall's spanish was pretty good by then, good enough for antin to speak to him in fluent spanish rather than halting english. "the english i can read with my eyes. the spanish i speak with my heart." was it that hall was resigning because he loved the republic? yes, i guess you could call it that. (you could also call it a good craftsman's stubborn ideas about how to cover a war, but you didn't.) did hall realize that, if he quit, an enemy of the republic might be sent to take his place? no, hall didn't think. come to think of it, though, the office had cavanaugh and raney available and those two jew-haters and mussolini-lovers would be no friends of the republic. you are a friend, a _compañero_, it is right that you know. we have so many problems with the foreign press. mcbain from new york, we know he is a spy, he has links with the falange. if we arrest him, the world hollers red terror. so we watch him, keep all his letters, hold up his cables. thank god he is a drunkard; two sim men keep him drunk most of the time. maybe his office will fire him. you are a friend. you write the truth. even a little truth by a friend whose editor chops up his cables helps the republic. hall tore up his letter of resignation. when the republic captured thousands of italians after guadalajara and bruejega, hall filed long stories based on interviews with the blackshirts. when the republic captured nazi condor officers and men at belchite, hall sent photographs of their documents to paris with his stories. new york kicked, and paris warned hall repeatedly. finally paris transferred him to the franco side. that was at the end of ' , when the republicans had seen their hopes dashed at munich and the only thing that kept them going was the feeling that they could hold out until the nazi frankenstein finally turned on london and paris. "then france will have to rush arms and maybe a few divisions to us and the british fleet will have to patrol the mediterranean and the russian planes, unable to get through now, will be able to come in through france and through the mediterranean." antin figured it out that way, told it to hall the week before some nice clean crusaders for christianity let him have it with a tommy gun in the back in a barcelona café. the falangistas were very glad to have hall behind their lines. their friends pulled some wires in new york and washington and, after two months, hall was fired, but by then his notebook was growing thicker and he elected to stay as a free lance. he was seeing the face of fascism for the first time, he wrote, and seeing it at close range. he would stay, job or no job. he stayed, and the gestapo in san sebastian wrote out an order and a rat-faced little aristocrat with an embroidered gold yoke and arrows on his cape was studying hall's notes and smirking like a villain in a bad movie. there were no charges and no explanations. they just slapped hall into a cell in solitary, and once a day they handed him a bucket for slops and once a day he got a chunk of bread or a thin chick-pea stew. in the beginning he had hollered for the american consul, but the german guard would grin and say, "_no entiendo español, ich sprech kein englisch_," and finally hall just settled down to waiting for the end of the war. every now and then a smooth german major would have him brought out for questioning; that scar on his head and the scar on his chin were grim mementos of those sessions. the spaniards were bad but the germans were worse. the italians were just hysterical. there was the day the italian officer made the mistake of getting too close and hall clipped him with a weak right hook. the blackshirt screamed like a woman and clung to his eye; that was when they tied him to the wall and let him have it with the steel rods on his back. and then, in april, the republic keeled over in its own blood and the fascists decided to be generous to celebrate their victory. the axis was now openly boasting that it had run the spanish show; the worst that hall could do would be to play into their hands by writing about how tough fascism was on any man fool enough to oppose the new order. they were generous, they were fair. they gave him a practically new suit of clothes, they returned his three hundred odd dollars, they even returned his notebook with nearly all of its original notes. hall went to paris. he spent a week soaking in warm baths and eating and avoiding the wp crowd. during the week he cabled a new york book publisher he had met in madrid in ' , when he had joined a group of american intellectuals attending an anti-fascist congress. he offered to turn out a book on his experiences as a correspondent and a prisoner in franco spain. it was a week before he got an answer, but the answer came with a draft of five hundred dollars. the swelling had gone down in his nose by then, but he still had to breathe through his mouth. a doctor who'd looked at it wanted a hundred bucks for operating, but it meant two weeks of doing nothing but getting fixed up, and hall hated to wait. "later," he said, "later, when i finish my book." he poured his notes and his guts into the book, and finished it in a month. when he was done he borrowed some money from a friend in the paramount office and got a clipper seat to new york. his publisher, bird, liked the book and rushed it to press. he also gave hall another five hundred and sent him to his own doctor to have his nose fixed up. it was a good book, perhaps good enough to justify bird's gamble, only it reached the critics three weeks after the nazi panzer divisions were ravaging poland and the smart boys in paris were wearing smarter correspondents' uniforms and filing fulsome stories on the genius of gamelin and weygand. "we'll have to face it, matt," bird said, "no one but you and i give a damn about spain right now. i'm taking back copies left and right from the booksellers. no, the hell with the advances. the war's far from over. you'll do another book for me, and we'll make it all up." through bird, hall got a job as a war correspondent for a chicago paper. they shipped him to london, where he stewed in his own juices for months, and then to cairo to join the fleet. hall was assigned to the _revenger_ and, when the nazis sank her, he spent some three days on a raft with a handful of survivors. one of them died of his wounds on the raft, and another went raving mad and slit his own throat with the top of a ration tin. hall filed a story on the experience when he was brought back to cairo, and bird cabled "that's your new book." it was an easy book to write. he took a room at shepheard's and pounded it out in three weeks. the british censors liked it as "a tribute to british grit" and arranged for a captain attached to a military mission bound for washington by plane to deliver the manuscript personally to bird. the story was still hot when the script reached new york. bird sold the serial rights to a big national weekly that same day for thirty thousand dollars. a lecture agency cabled offering a guarantee of a fantastic sum for a three-month lecture tour. a book club chose _the revenger_, the critics sang its praises, and bird bought himself a house in the country. hall quit his job and made the lecture tour and wound up with a fat bank account and a permanent appreciation of the value of a chance plop in the ocean. for the first time in his life, he found himself with enough money to do exactly what he wanted to do. the army doctors had shown him to the nearest door, but he had offers from magazines and syndicates to return to the war zones, and the radio wanted him as a commentator. it was bird who first learned of hall's new plans. and bird understood. "the spanish war was round one," hall told him. "south america was one of the stakes. the falange had an organization in the latin countries. the heinies used to brag about it to me in san sebastian. i'm going to south america to see it for myself. maybe there's a book in it, maybe there isn't. i can afford to find out." cuba had been the first stop on this odyssey. there hall had had some tough sledding, met some spanish republicans who knew him from madrid, won the aid of a group of young cuban officials and written two angry and documented magazine pieces. from havana, hall had flown to puerto rico. hall had stopped thinking. the reverie into which the lieutenant had plunged him passed into a rapt consideration of the imperfect smoke rings he was blowing toward the ceiling. dickenson joined him. "well?" he asked. "is it san hermano tomorrow?" "i'm afraid so, dick." "i'm sorry to see you leave. we figured you'd stay for at least a month. what's so urgent in san hermano?" "that's what i mean to find out. all i know is what i read in the papers." he handed the governor two copies of the san hermano _imparcial_ he had found on a library table in the reception room while having a cocktail before dinner. they were the papers which had made him call harris at panair. the first issue was three weeks old. it described the visit of an american good-will commission to san hermano, and told how the mission was received by enrique gamburdo, the vice-president, rather than by anibal tabio, the president. in an oblique manner, the story went on to deny the "widespread rumor" that tabio had deliberately insulted the americans by not receiving them personally. "i don't like the way they denied the rumor," hall said. "i know that the paper is _imparcial_ on the fascist side only." the other edition of _imparcial_ was three days old. it was the latest copy available. it carried as its lead story the news that since tabio's illness had taken a drastic turn for the worse, gamburdo had prevailed upon a great spanish doctor, varela ansaldo, to fly from philadelphia to san hermano in an attempt to save the president's life. "and?" the governor asked. "i'm not sure. but it looks to me like a deliberate attempt to lay a smelly egg in tabio's nest. anyway, i did a little checking with harris. i figured i'd be able to meet ansaldo's plane, and i was right. the san hermano clipper overnights in san juan, you know. ansaldo is sleeping at the escambrun tonight. tomorrow we'll board the ship for san hermano together." "i still don't get it, matt. do you know this ansaldo?" "no. but he's evidently been invited to san hermano by gamburdo. and i found out a few things about gamburdo in havana," hall said. "some top-ranking falange chiefs in the americas always spoke highly of him in their letters. especially the letters marked confidential." "there you go again!" "don't. you know i'm not crazy." "but matt, neither is gamburdo crazy. he wouldn't dare do what you're implying." "maybe. but i'm not thinking of gamburdo as much as i am of tabio. i like anibal tabio, like him a lot. i met him for the first time in geneva in ' , when he was foreign minister. then i met him again in ' , when he and vayo and litvinov were hammering away at the fat cats backing franco. he was a real guy, dick. one of the few statesmen alive who not only knew that the earth is round but also that the people on this round earth like to eat and wear decent clothes and send their kids to college. "i remember how in ' , after halifax yawned all through his speech and then led the rest of the delegates in voting against vayo's proposals, tabio sat down with me in a little bar and ordered a light beer and told me very quietly that this was his cue. 'i must go home,' he told me, 'and see that it doesn't happen to my country.' that's how he pulled up his stakes and went back to san hermano and ran for president." "he's good, matt. i know that." "he's damn good. he's the best of the anti-fascist leaders on the continent right now, dick. he deserves all the help he isn't getting from us." the governor put the paper down with a sigh. "i'll tell you a secret, matt," he said. "but it's really secret. you know that there's going to be a pan-american conference on foreign policy in havana in five weeks. well, some of the smarter heads in washington are getting worried. we're sending a delegation to the conference to ask all the nations down here to break with the axis. and some of us are afraid that if tabio is--well, not able to pick the san hermano delegation, his government will remain neutral." hall stood up and began pacing between the couch and the chair. he pulled out a large white handkerchief and mopped the sweat on his face, his neck, his quivering hands. "god damn them all to hell," he said, "they're moving in on us in our own backyard and when you try to say a word in washington they spit in your eye and tell you franco is a neutral and a friend." dickenson drew a deep breath, exhaled slowly and audibly. "what's it all about, matt?" he asked, softly. "where does san hermano come in?" "i don't know a mucking thing yet. all i know is that it stinks to high heaven. listen, dick, i'm not crazy. you know that. in washington they act as if i'm crazy or worse when i try to tell them." hall put his hand to the twitching right side of his face as if to keep it still. his outburst had completely dried his throat. he went to the sideboard, threw some ice cubes into a giant glass, poured soda over the ice. the governor watched him swallow the contents in huge gulps. "better sit down, matt," he said. "you'll blow a valve." "i'm all right," he said. he put the glass down on the floor, ran the handkerchief over his neck. "there's one thing i do know, and it's killing me. i know the falange is in this. it's all i have to know. i remember reading a fascist paper in jail in san sebastian. there was a big map on the back page, a map showing spain as the center of the spanish world. an artist had superimposed the five arrows of the falange over the face of spain. the article under the map said that while one of the arrows pointed to madrid, two pointed to the philippines and the others pointed to latin america. they weren't kidding, dick. when the japs marched into manila they decorated the philippine falange for the fifth-column job the falangistas performed for hirohito. and there are twenty falangist cells in latin america for every one cell they had in manila on december , . "and why not, dick? it's the germans who've always run the falange. today they run spain. and they also run the exterior falange set-up. maybe falangismo as a philosophy is phony as all hell, and maybe its creed of hispanidad, with all its blah about latin america returning to the spanish empire, is just as phony. maybe it doesn't make sense to us gringos. i'll grant that. but it is a nice nazi horse on the dumb spanish aristocrats who do hitler's dirty work in the americas. in german hands it's one of the dynamics of this war. i've seen it in operation, and i know. it's the gimmick that makes rich spaniards fuel and hide submarines in the caribbean--you know that for a fact yourself. it's the new amalgam which makes 'em look to holy mother spain as the core of a new empire, it's ..." "but granting all this, matt, why must you go to san hermano?" hall swallowed some soda. he put the glass back on the floor, grabbed the san hermano _imparcial_ from the governor's hands. slowly, he crushed the paper and held it in front of dickenson's face. "do you know who publishes _el imparcial_?" he asked. "i'll tell you. it's a fascist named fernandez. in san sebastian, during the war, he strutted all over town in a falange officer's uniform browning his nose with all the top-ranking lice, the germans, the italians, the franco crowd. he was there for months, making radio speeches and public appearances and getting cramps in the right arm from holding it up in the stiff-arm salute. i saw him a dozen times, if i saw him once." "josé fernandez? i met him at a conference in rio. he seemed like a pleasant enough chap," the governor said. "they're all pleasant. they can afford to be. you never met ribbentrop and otto abetz, dick. they were the most charming men in europe before the war. but listen, last week in havana i looked at a collection of pictures taken from the files of the chief of the falange delegation for the americas. there was one picture of a banquet held by the falange in san hermano late in . it was a secret affair, only insiders and leaders. and there, on the dais, was licenciado enrique gamburdo, big as life." "gamburdo!" "sure. it was a secret affair, all right. not a word in the papers, and everyone present sworn to secrecy by a bishop who was among the honored guests." hall dried the sweat on his hands again. "but always at these affairs there's a man with a camera. usually he's a gestapo heinie. sometimes he's a gestapo spaniard or even a gestapo latin-american. a picture, just one picture, has to be made. it goes to the german consul or the falange chief of the country and they have to forward it to the ibero-american institute in berlin. the pictures back up the reports, you see, and, besides, when you have a picture of a deacon trucking with a doxie in a bordello it's a good thing to threaten to show the deacon's wife if the deacon decides to return to the paths of righteousness." "but are you sure, matt?" "i'm a good reporter. my job is to remember unimportant things, and to remember them well when they become important. if i'm wrong, i'll find out for myself in san hermano." the governor accepted one of hall's cigars. "god," he said, "i hope you're wrong, matt." later, back in his hotel room, hall stripped to his shorts, ran cold water over his wrists and the back of his neck. he poured some haitian rum into a glass, drenched it with soda from the pink-and-green night table. outside, in the darkness, four boys were playing tag. hall listened to the whispered padding of their bare feet as they flew from cobblestones to trolley tracks. he went to the wrought-iron balcony, stood there watching the undersized kids chasing each other up and down the narrow street. two freighters rode at anchor in the harbor, their gray noses pointing at the pink customs house. a soldier lurched down the street, barely missing the feet of an old _jíbaro_ sleeping in the doorway of a dark store. hall returned to the desk. he wrote a short note to a friend in a government bureau in havana--merely to say that he was leaving for san hermano and that for the time being could be reached in care of pan american airways there--and a similar note to bird. he decided to let his other letters wait until he reached san hermano. the kids who were playing tag disappeared. the only noise which broke the silence of the night now was the soft pounding of the presses in the newspaper plant up the street. hall sealed his letters and started to pack his bags. the four boys reappeared with a whoop. they carried freshly printed magazines this time, and, as they ran down the street, first one then another took up the mournful cry: "_puerto rico ilustrado! il-us-traaa-dooohhh!_" they were no longer to be seen when hall ran out to the balcony to look. he took a cold shower, then lit one of his havanas. the mosquito net which completely covered his bed annoyed him. he put out the light in order not to see the bars of the net frame. silently, he railed against the sugar planters and their kept politicos for leaving the island prey to malaria. he had to remind himself that the net was his protection against malaria before he could crawl under the frame, but even then he climbed into bed with a cigar in his mouth. the cigar was his protection, his secret weapon, against the claustrophobia the _mosquitero_ gave him. there were no cigars in franco's prisons, no cigars and no cool sheets and coiled spring mattresses, no soft breezes floating in from a harbor as ancient as the conquistadores. he lay under the net, naked and uncovered, blowing smoke rings at the cross bars above him. he thought of anibal tabio in geneva, thin as a reed, his slender hand pointing to the pile of german and italian documents del vayo had brought to the league. he thought of tabio and he thought of his three years in spain and, thinking, he got worked up all over again. it was not easy to think of the months of being trapped like an animal in a cage, of being pushed around by smirking men who had the guns, of watching the metal inkstand in the hands of the german major the second before it crashed into his own face. no, it was not easy, and the memory of san sebastian led to the scarlet memory of the afternoon on the malecon in havana less than a month ago when sanchez had pointed out to him two leaders of the falange at a café table and he started out to bash their heads together right then and there. luis and felix had had to grab him and wrestle him to the sidewalk, laughing and playing at being just three jolly boys who'd had a drink too much instead of two spanish republicans keeping a frenzied american from killing two men they detested and would gladly have killed themselves. hall sat up, shaking, covered with sweat. he crawled out of bed, stood barefooted on the tiled floor. an overwhelming feeling of loneliness came over him. he was lonely in his person, lonelier still in his inability to make any of his own people understand the gnawing hates and fears which had taken him first to havana and then to san juan and now--_quién sabe_? and then, realizing with an amused start that he was thinking in spanish, he tore the net off the bed, threw the cigar away, and went to sleep. _chapter two_ dr. varela ansaldo was traveling with his assistant, a young dr. marina, an american nurse named geraldine olmstead, and a dominican passport. this much hall was able to observe at the ground station, before the passengers for san hermano and way points boarded the stratoliner. the dominican passport interested hall. he knew that the passports were for sale at an average price of a thousand dollars. refugees starved and borrowed and sold their souls to scrape together a thousand dollars for one of the precious passports. when you met a spaniard with a new dominican passport, you seldom had to ask questions; you knew you were meeting a man whose life was not worth a nickel in spain. and yet, in the day-old issue of _time_ the clipper had flown in from miami, the biography of ansaldo carried no hint of the doctor's being in disfavor with franco. nor did the biography mention the physician's dominican citizenship. hall read the _time_ biography again. _scrupulously impartial during the spanish civil war, ansaldo took no sides, remaining at his post as a healer under both nationalist and loyalist flags. with the end of war, ansaldo accepted a chair offered by the penn medical institute in philadelphia, assuming new position in october, ._ the story went on to describe some of the new operations ansaldo had since performed. hall unbuckled his seat belt. he had a single seat on the left of the plane, the third seat from the front. ansaldo's nurse had the seat in front of his. she sat across the aisle from marina and ansaldo, who shared a double seat. hall sat opposite a pink-cheeked dutchman of sixty who shared a seat with a very dark brazilian. a state department courier had the seat in front of the nurse. the other passengers included the wife of an american army officer, some panair officials, two standard oil engineers, and some quiet latin american government officials on their way back from washington. most of the passengers, now that the plane had gained altitude, were trying to sleep. the little hollander was wide awake, virtuously and happily wide awake with the morning heartiness of a man who has been going to bed and rising early all of his life. he beamed at hall. "i see you and i are the only ones who had a good night's sleep, mr. hall." then, laughing, he explained that he had recognized hall from the picture on the jacket of his book before he had even heard his name announced by the steward on boarding ship. his accent was slight, but definite. "yesterday," he said, gesturing at hall's seat, "miss prescott--a charming lady, by the way--and today another american writer. ah, well, the damn wheel turns and comes up twice with the same value. oh, i forgot. my name is wilhelm androtten." hall extended his hand across the aisle, gripped the hand androtten offered him. it was a pudgy little hand, soft and white and pink. "yes," androtten sighed. "i have quite a hell of a story of my own to tell about enemy actions. i too have been an actor in the drama. but of course i'm not a writer. ah no, mr. hall," he waved a stiff little index finger back and forth in front of his glowing face, "i'm not going to suggest that you write my story. to me it is important as hell. but to the world? it is not as dramatic as the sinking of the _revenger_. a thousand times no!" the hollander pulled an immense old-fashioned silver cigarette case from the pocket of his brown-linen suit. "have an american cigarette? good. yes, mine is only the story of how the damn japanese army drove a poor coffee planter off his estates and then out of java. and that is all, sir, except that as you may have guessed--i was the planter. now i am, so to speak, a real flying dutchman, flying everywhere to buy coffee from the other planters and then flying everywhere to sell it again. but i try to be jolly as hell and to bear my load like a dutchman should, mr. hall." "that _is_ a story, mr. androtten," hall said. "a real one." the strong light above the clouds rasped his sleep-hungry eyes. he put on his dark glasses, leaned his head back against the padded roll of the reclining chair. "do you really think my story is worth while, mr. hall? i would be honored as hell to tell you the whole story with all the damn facts, if you desire. i ... are you getting off at caracas?" "no. i'm sorry. i go all the way through to san hermano." "good, mr. hall. i go to san hermano myself. do you know the monte azul bean, sir? it's richer than the java. a little monte azul, a little bogota, some choice brazilians--and you have a roast that will delight the rarest palates. yes, san hermano is my destination. san hermano and the damn monte azul bean." hall gave up trying to stifle a series of yawns. "i'm sorry," he said. "i guess i didn't get enough sleep after all." "please sleep," androtten said. "we'll have plenty of time to talk in san hermano." "sure. plenty of time." hall opened the collar of his shirt, sank into a light sleep almost at once. he slept for over an hour, waking when the standard oil engineers in the rear seats laughed at a joke told by the army officer's wife. the steady drone of the engines, the continuing sharpness of the light made remaining awake difficult. hall closed his eyes again but there was no sleep. androtten and the brazilian had found a common tongue, french, and in the joy of this discovery had also discovered a common subject. the brazilian was holding forth on the exotic virtues of one rare coffee, the huge diamond on his finger ring catching and distributing the light as he gestured. androtten was trying to describe the various blends of java. hall thought of ansaldo and marina and the nurse. marina was about thirty, too dapper, too fastidious, his plaid sports jacket fitting too snugly over his rounded hips. on boarding the plane, the nurse had brushed against his arm, which he withdrew with a subconscious gesture of revulsion. hall watched him now, buffing his nails with a chamois board. ansaldo had also awakened, was reading one of the pile of medical magazines he had carried into the plane. the nurse was a blank, so far. all he could see of her was the soft roll of strawberry hair. she had a few faint freckles on her nose and full lips and it was ten to one that she was from the midwest. but a blank. the older doctor, ansaldo, was about fifty, and had a stiff correctness that hall had noticed immediately in the airport. he wore glasses whose horn rims were of an exaggerated thickness. his iron-gray hair, cut short and combed straight back, had an air of almost surgical neatness. he had the long horse face of an el greco cardinal, and behaved even toward his assistant and his nurse with a detached politeness. marina's obvious and fawning devotion to the older man seemed to bounce off ansaldo without effect. hall put him down as an extremely cold fish, but a cold fish who would bear watching for reasons hall himself could not quite define. when the plane stopped in caracas for refueling, ansaldo, carrying a thick medical journal with his finger still marking his place, took a slow walk in the shade, marina following at his heels like a puppy. hall got out and lit a cigar and when he noticed the nurse looking at the exhibit of rugs and dolls set up in a stand at the edge of the airfield he walked to her side. "indian-craft stuff," he said. "if you'd care to, i'll be your interpreter." the girl took off her dark glasses, looked at hall for a moment, and then put them on again. "i can't see too well with these darn things," she laughed. "do you think i could get a small rug without giving up my right arm?" "your right arm is safe with me around, madam. perhaps you never heard of me, madam, but in these parts i'm known as trader hall. matthew hall." "you're hired. my name is jerry olmstead." they sauntered over to the stand. the afternoon sun ignited the fires in her hair. she was taller than most women, and though her white sharkskin suit was well creased from travel, hall could see that she had the kind of full shapely figure which made poolroom loafers whistle and trusted bank employees forget the percentages against embezzlers. feature for feature, jerry olmstead's was not the face that would have launched even a hundred ships. her forehead was too high, and it bulged a bit. her blue eyes were a shade too pale for the frank healthiness of her skin. her nose was straight and well shaped, but almost indelicately large. when she smiled, she displayed two rows of glistening healthy teeth which were anything but even and yet not uneven enough to be termed crooked. hall helped her select a small rug, agreed at once to the price asked by the indian woman at the stand, and then had a long discussion in spanish with the peddler about the state of affairs at the airport before giving her the money. "you see," he said to jerry, "unless you bargain with these indians, you're bound to get robbed." the rug cost jerry something like sixty cents in american money. "you'll be able to pick up some wonderful beaten-silver things in san hermano," hall said. "i'd be glad to show you around when we get there. in the meantime, can i get you a drink?" "i'd love one." the only drinks for sale in the canteen were cold ginger ale and lemonade. they had the ginger ale, and hall learned that this was the girl's first trip out of the united states. "it's all so different!" she said, and hall thought he would grimace but then the girl smiled happily and he watched the skin wrinkle faintly at the bridge of her nose and he smiled with her. "you'll like san hermano," he said. "and i'd like to show it to you when we get there." "did you spend much time there?" "only a few days. i took a freighter back from cairo two years ago and it put in at san hermano." "say, what do you do, anyway?" jerry asked. "don't sound so surprised. i'm a newspaperman." "were you a war correspondent?" hall nodded. "i even wrote a book." jerry looked into her glass. "i know it sounds terrible," she said, "but i haven't read a book in years. was yours about the war?" "let's talk about it in san hermano. do i show you the town?" "it's a date." "that bell is for us," hall said. "we'd better get back to the plane." they left the canteen. ansaldo and marina were still walking in a slow circle. "come on," jerry said. "meet my boss." she approached ansaldo. "dr. ansaldo," she said, "i'd like you to meet mr. matthew hall. he's a newspaperman from the states. and this is dr. marina. "mr. hall is showing me around san hermano when we get there." "how nice," ansaldo said, and from his tone hall knew that he meant nothing of the sort. "but now we must hurry," ansaldo said. "the plane is about to depart." he took jerry's arm and they walked on ahead of marina and hall. "señor hall, if you are going to write about the doctor's forthcoming operation," marina said, "i would gladly help you. the doctor is the greatest surgeon of our times, perhaps, who knows, of all times. he is magnificent. in his hands, the scalpel is an instrument of divinity. it is more, it is divinity itself. i must tell you the story of the doctor's greatest operations, although all of them are great. i will help you. you will write a great article about the great operation." "i am very grateful to you, doctor. i hope that in san hermano you will have enough time to give me your counsel. after you, doctor." hall took a last drag at his cigar as marina climbed the plane ladder. * * * * * there was a mountain--the monte azul which produced the beans of androtten's rhapsodies--and a plateau in the clouds and below the plateau lay the ocean and the city of san hermano. the lights were going on in the city when flight eighteen ended on the airport in the plateau, for the city was five miles farther from the sinking sun of the moment. on the plateau, the airport lights blended with the brown-orange shades of dusk; in the city the lights cut through the classic blackness of night. a smartly dressed colonel and a top-hatted functionary of the foreign office were waiting with two black limousines for the ansaldo party. the man from the foreign office had cleared all the passport and customs formalities. jerry had just enough time to tell hall that she and the doctors were to stay at the bolivar before the cars started down the winding hill to san hermano. hall rode to town with the rest of the passengers in the sleek panair bus. he and androtten were also bound for the bolivar. riding into the valley, the bus descended into the night. it was a night made blacker by the war, as were the nights in san juan and havana and new york. san hermano was the capital of a nation still at peace, but the maws of the war across the seas reached for the oil and coal of the world, and san hermano could not escape this world. three lights in every four on the plaza de la republica were out, for coal and oil furnished the power for the city's electricity. two years earlier, hall had asked anibal tabio why coal and oil had to turn the city's dynamos when the nation abounded in thousands of mountain streams which could be harnessed by men with slide rules and logarithm tables, and the gentle president had answered him in a sentence. "because, my dear hall, san hermano has been in the twentieth century for barely a decade, while your own nation has been in our century for forty years." and tonight, looking at the ancient plaza from the window of his room on the third floor of the bolivar, hall remembered tabio's words with disturbing clarity. from the balcony of his hotel room, hall could see both san hermanos, the old city and the new. everyone spoke of the two cities in these terms--the geographers, the tourist guides, the inveterate _hermanitos_ themselves. the old san hermano had been founded by the conquistadores in the sixteenth century, a walled speck on the shores of an ocean, a fortress and a thatched church, a handful of flimsy huts. in a century, the thatched church became a proud, gloomy cathedral; one of the walls was knocked down, and in its place was the cobbled plaza de fernando e isabel. the plaza was spain in the new world; opening on to its cobbles stood the huge moorish stone palaces designed by architects brought over from seville, the palace of the captains-general who served as colonial governors, the fortified mint, the cathedral, the home of the governor's elder brother, the duke of la runa. enslaved indians and later chained negroes from the african coasts had carried on their backs the square stones spanish masons cut and formed for the edifices of the plaza, first the cathedral, next the governor's palace and the mint. then, in the days of hidalgo, bolivar, and san martin, the ancient plaza of the conquistadores became the plaza de la republica, and for a few glorious hours the new nation was in tune with its century. but the great liberators of the times were to die in embittered exile, far from the scenes of their brightest victories. for one swing of the pendulum the liberated lands teetered on the dizzy heights of freedom, and then the pendulum swung back and stopped swinging for a century. the land remained in the hands of the spanish nobles, and they won their war against the industrial revolution, and all that remained of the hour of triumph was the name the liberators had given the old plaza and a hollow republic controlled by the landowners. in ways more subtle, but no less real than the old ways, the republic became a colony again, except that the nation was no longer ruled by a crown but by new and even more potent symbols: the sign of the pound, the sign of the dollar, the sign of the franc. the new order brought a new san hermano, a new western city built around the rims of the old fortress seaport. it was a strange and often beautiful mélange of french villas and british banks and american skyscrapers and german town houses. the old constitution of the liberators gave way to a series of native dictators who waxed rich as the servants of the foreign owners of the metals and minerals discovered under the nation's soil, of the foreign business men who never saw san hermano but built vast abattoirs near the wharves where skinny _hermanitos_ earned a few pennies a day for slaughtering and then loading endless herds of native cattle in the dark holds of foreign ships. they were ruthless men, the dictators who sat in san hermano as pro-consuls of the foreigners and the landowners, ruthless men who, for their share of the profits of the foreigners, of the endless rivers of pesetas the landowners sent to spain, maintained armies of cutthroats to put down any attempt at rebellion against the new existing order. the last of these dictators to sit in san hermano was general agusto segura. more than a decade had passed since segura had died in bed and a junta of professors and miners wrested the control of the nation from segura's henchmen. there had been little bloodshed when the junta took over; after thirty years, the segura regime, or what was left of it, had just collapsed of its own rottenness. hall thought of segura, and the state he had ruled, and then, again thinking about tabio while he stared into the shadows of the darkened plaza de la republica, hall remembered tabio's quiet remark about his country's having been in the twentieth century for barely a decade. a slim decade, which began with a world in confusion and was now ending with a world in flames. but if the country weathered these flames, it would be because tabio, instead of running for the presidency after the revolution which swept out the remnants of segurista power, had chosen to serve as minister of education for nearly ten years. hall was willing to stake his life on this, ready to bet that the phenomenal free educational system tabio had set up for children and adults would, in the final analysis, be one of the nation's chief bulwarks against fascism. he changed his clothes and went out for a walk through the crooked streets of old san hermano before turning in. many lights were burning in the fourth floor of the presidencia, the floor on which the president had his apartment. military guards were standing listlessly at the entrances to the gilded building. hall walked along the plaza until he came to the calle de virtudes, which led to a little café on the street opposite the rear entrance of the presidencia. it had no windows but giant shutters which were folded against the wall when the café was open for business. the café itself stood on a corner, the sidewalks on both sides of the place covered with tables and chairs. wooden lattice fences, painted a bright orange, screened the tables from the pedestrian's section of the sidewalk. inside, near the bar itself, two boys with guitars were playing and singing the tragi-comic peasant songs of the south. he took a sidewalk table, ordered a meat pie and a bottle of beer, and then went to the small hotel next to the café to buy a sheet of paper, an envelope, and an air-mail stamp. he asked for a telephone book, looked up the names under gomez, copied the address of one juan gomez, and returned to his table. there he bought a newspaper from a boy peddling the latest edition of the evening. the front page carried a story about ansaldo: the distinguished visiting medico was to spend the next day conferring with local doctors who had been treating the president. in one of the back pages, under arrivals, there was a line about the illustrious author and war correspondent dr. m. gall who reached san hermano by clipper; dr. gall was the noted author of _the revenger_, even now being produced in hollywood. the paper was put aside for the meat pie. when he was done with the food, hall pushed his plates away and spread his sheet of lined writing paper on the table before him. he called for some ink, filled his fountain pen, and wrote a letter in spanish to a "dear pedro." it was a rambling, innocuous letter which started out with family gossip about a forthcoming marriage of a cousin, the marriage prospects of the writer's eligible daughter, the letter received from cousin hernando who was happy on his new ranch and whose good wife was expecting another child soon. then the letter went on to say that "i suppose you have read in the havana papers that our president is ailing. today there arrived in our city the distinguished spanish doctor varela ansaldo. he is to treat the president. perhaps i am very stupid, but is he not the surgeon who operated so well on the throat of your dear uncle carlos?" the letter then continued on for another page of family gossip and regards and requests that pedro embrace a whole list of dear cousins and aunts. it was signed, simply, "juanito." hall read the letter twice, sealed it, and addressed the envelope to pedro de aragon, apartado , la habana, cuba. pedro de aragon was a myth. mail at this box was picked up by santiago iglesias, an officer of the spanish republican army whom hall had met again in havana. iglesias did at one time have an uncle named carlos; the uncle had died on the jarama front from a fascist bullet that tore through his throat and killed him instantly. hall had arranged to write to iglesias under names chosen from the phone books of different cities if the need arose. he scribbled the name and address of juan gomez on the back of the envelope, left some money on the table, and walked back to the plaza. there he dropped the letter in a mailbox and continued on his way to the bolivar. there was a new clerk on duty when hall reached the hotel, a wiry man of forty-odd whose yellow silk shirt clashed with both his black mohair jacket and his long, lined face. hall asked for the key to room in spanish. the clerk cleared his throat and answered in english. "there was messages," he said, handing the key to hall with a sheaf of slips. "and also this." from under the counter he drew a sealed letter written on heavy paper and bearing the neat blue imprint of the american embassy at san hermano on the envelope. hall frowned and tore open the envelope. "señorita the ambassador's daughter telephoned twice," the clerk said. "thank you." "it's on this slip, mr. hall." "thanks again." he read the few handwritten lines of the letter. it was an invitation from the ambassador's daughter, margaret skidmore, to attend the ambassador's party at the embassy on the th. that was two nights off. there was a message from jerry olmstead. she had phoned from her room to leave word that she had retired for the evening but would meet him in the dining room at ten for breakfast. hall noticed that the clerk was watching him intently as he read the girl's message, but when he started to read the next slip the clerk interrupted him. "it's from mr. roger fielding," he said. "i took the message myself. he is a very nice person. an englishman." on the slip the clerk had written, "mr. fielding is very sorry you were not in because it is important. he will call you again." "my name is fernando souza," the clerk said, extending his hand. "i am very happy to meet you." hall put the papers down on the desk and shook hands with the clerk. they had a meaningless chat about the rigors of wartime travel and the dimout in peaceful san hermano and hall learned that the englishman fielding was in the tall lonja de comercio building and very decent. "i have been at this desk for many years and in this position one meets many people," the clerk said, and he went on amiably chatting about what one could see on different one-day tours from the city. "it is very sad about the president," hall said, and then the clerk reddened and he forgot to speak english. "the educator must live," fernando souza said. "if the educator goes, the nation goes." "i know," hall said. "i admire don anibal greatly." "_momentico, señor. el teléfono._" after nine, the night clerk had to handle the switchboard at the bolivar. it was fielding again. hall picked up the phone on the marble counter. "yes, mr. fielding," he said, "i'm sorry i missed your first call." "not at all, old man. not at all. damned decent of you to answer my call now, what with the hour and all that." the voice which came through hall's receiver was the raspy, crotchety, bluff voice of a movie britisher, the diction almost too good to be true. "i must say it was a good surprise, a good surprise. the paper tonight, i mean, even if they called you dr. gall. but what can they do if the h is silent in spanish?" "i've been called gall before." "of course you have, of course you have." the man at the other end of the wire cleared his throat with a loud harumph. "what i'm calling about, mr. hall, is--well, damn it all, what with the war and all that i guess we have a right to keep a tired traveler from going to bed the second his plane reaches the end of his road. i think it rather urgent we have a bit of coffee and a bit of a chat tonight. really, old man, i think it is urgent." "at what time?" hall asked. "i'm at home now," fielding said. "i can get to old san hermano in an hour. souza can tell you how to get to my office. nice chap, that souza. straight as a die." "good." "the office is about ten minutes from the bolivar by cab, if souza can get you a cab. suppose i ring you at the bolivar when i reach the office?" "that will be fine. see you soon." hall put the phone down and turned to souza. "he said you are straight as a die," he said. "mr. fielding is a very decent englishman," souza said. he offered no further information about roger fielding, and hall decided against asking any questions. "if you are meeting him at his office, i had better get you a cab," souza said, and then, sensing the hesitation in hall's eyes, he quickly added, "it would be better. walking at night is dangerous, especially in old san hermano, since the lights went out. there are many--accidents." "o.k.," hall said. "look, i'm going upstairs to catch a little sleep. when fielding calls back, get me that cab and send up a pot of coffee. and it's been good meeting you, even if fielding does say you are straight as a die." souza did not get the joke, but he knew that hall was trying to joke and he laughed. hall went to his room, took off his shoes and his suit, and fell across the bed. he dozed off wondering why he had agreed so readily to meet the man with the tailor-made british diction. at ten-fifteen his phone rang. "mr. fielding called ten minutes ago. i have your cab ready now. he is a very reliable driver." "good. how about my coffee?" souza laughed. "the only waiter on duty is a _cabrón_, señor. mr. fielding will have much better coffee for you, anyway." hall chuckled as he washed the sleep out of his eyes with cold water and combed his hair. the waiter is a _cabrón_! there was one for the book. hall made up a song while he dressed, a song about yes we have no coffee today because the son of a gun is a dirty _cabrón_ so we have no coffee today. souza slammed his palm down on the bell twice when the elevator let hall into the lobby. "pepito!" he shouted. the biggest cab driver hall had ever seen outside of the united states bounded into the lobby from the blackness of the san hermano night. he advanced toward the desk in seven-league strides, wiping his right hand on the blouse of his pale-blue slack suit and taking off his white chauffeur's cap with the other hand. he hovered over hall like a mother hen. "pepito," souza said, "this is señor hall." this he said in spanish. in english, he again told hall that the man was a very reliable driver. "_con mucho gusto_, señor 'all. _me llamo_ delgado." sheepishly, the giant offered his hand to hall. "i am much pleased," hall said. "shall we start now?" pepito delgado led hall to a blue lasalle parked in front of the bolivar. "she is my own machine after i make the last payment next month," delgado said. "i am glad you speak spanish. it is the only language i know." he drove hall to the ten-story comercio building in a few minutes. when hall tried to pay him, delgado shook his head happily. "you'll pay me later," he smiled. "i'll wait for you." "but i may be hours," hall protested. delgado called upon the saints in a series of genially blasphemous exhortations. "mother of god," he said, "it is bad luck not to make a round trip with the first american of the season. i'll wait and not charge you more than two pesos for the whole trip." "i do not wish to rob you," hall said. "wait, and we shall make a fair price later." he entered the comercio building, but as the doors of the elevator closed and he started on his way up to the seventh floor hall knew that delgado was only playing the fool and was in fact no man's fool at all, and it bothered him. the right side of his face twitched slightly as he left the car and walked down to the bend in the hall leading to room . _chapter three_ the frosted glass door of room bore the words, "roger fielding y cia." the anteroom was dark, but hall could see the dim form of a man sitting in a lighted inner room. he knocked on the glass without trying the knob. in a moment, the light snapped on in the anteroom, and the man from the inner office opened the hall door. "mr. hall?" he asked. "i'm roger fielding. welcome to san hermano. and please come inside." fielding fitted to the last detail the mental image hall had conjured of the man on the phone. genial, peppery, he not only talked like a hollywood englishman, he was a casting director's dream. let the call go out for a man to play a retired india colonel, a british ambassador, the duke of gretna green, the popular professor of chaldean culture at oxford, the dean of canterbury or the chief of scotland yard, and fielding was the man who could slip into the role without even changing from street clothes to costume. fielding was the man, complete to the faintly grizzled face with the gaunt features, the dazzling plaid jacket, the thick-walled dunhill pipe with the well-caked bowl. he ushered hall into the inner office, whose shades were all drawn to the sills. there was a large mahogany desk at the window; against the wall stood a long table bearing a row of glass coffee makers, a tray of demi-tasse cups, and a series of earthen canisters. on the wall above this table hung a large sepia-tinted photograph of london, taken about . it faced a large print of a cottage and a brook in the shakespeare country. this engraving hung over a row of four filing cabinets with steel locks. the walls were further decorated with framed certificates of fielding's membership in coffee associations of san hermano, rio and new orleans. "sit down, sit down," fielding urged, pulling a comfortable leather chair to the side of his desk for hall, and taking the swivel chair behind the desk for himself. the highly polished desk was bare, except for a calendar pad and a folded red-leather picture frame whose picture faced fielding. "i'm in coffee, you see." hall glanced up at the certificates and the long table. "i see," he said. "how was your trip? not too tiring, i hope? that's the sad thing about planes. faster than ships, but rather confining." "it was not too bad," hall said. "besides, i stole an hour's cat nap at the hotel while waiting for you to get to town." "good for you," fielding said. "i like a man who can steal an hour's sleep when the spirit so moves him. may i make you some coffee to keep you awake, though?" "if it's not too much trouble." the englishman was already at his coffee table. he took the pipe out of his mouth, pointed with the end of the curved stem at one of the canisters. "i guess we'll mix you a little of that monte azul with some of this light roast from the south," he said. "if that doesn't sit well, i have two dozen other roasts you can try." hall asked him how good a blend would result from the mixture of monte azul, bogota, and the various brazilian growths androtten had described to the brazilian on the plane. "ah," fielding smiled, "so you know coffees, too?" "not at all. my education started on the plane." hall described androtten, and told fielding of the dutchman's experiences in java and his theories of the perfect blend. fielding set some coffee and water into one of the vacuum makers, put a match to the alcohol burner. "androtten," he mumbled. "i don't remember meeting him before. however, if it's the monte azul bean he's after, i'll venture he'll be in to see us before the week is over. let me see, androtten ..." he picked up his phone, asked for a local number. "hello," he said into the phone. "sorry to call so late, old man. about a chap named androtten. a hollander. blitzed out of java by the nippos. of course. in coffee. came in tonight on the clipper to buy monte azul for blending. know him? i see. well, thanks, anyway." the englishman put the phone away. "one of my countrymen," he explained. "he's not in monte azul and i'm not in southern crops. we help one another in a case like this. incidentally, he never heard of your androtten." he chatted aimlessly about the coffee business until the coffee in the vacuum maker was ready, then he poured it into a small jug and brought the jug and two demi-tasse cups to the desk. "sugar?" he asked. hall had lost his taste for sugar in san sebastian. "i have it black and pure," he said. "that's the only way to enjoy real coffee, mr. hall." fielding took a key from his pocket and went to the first filing cabinet. "however," he said, "it wasn't to talk about coffee that you were generous enough to come here tonight. not to talk about coffee." he pulled a brown-paper portfolio out of the file and returned with it to the desk. he undid the strings that bound the portfolio, removed a manila folder. "i think you had better pull your chair around and sit next to me here," fielding said. "we have to look over some things in this file." hall moved both the chair and the jug of hot coffee. from his new position, he could see that the leather folding frame on the desk contained two photos of what was evidently one person. one photo showed a young man of twenty-odd standing near a stone wall in what was undoubtedly england; the other photo was the young man as a laughing child in a pony cart. "i lost my boy," fielding mumbled, absently. he tapped the ashes from his pipe out into an ash tray on the window sill, filled it again with new tobacco from a worn ostrich pouch. hall could see a thin, rheumy film cover the englishman's eyes. "the war?" hall asked, softly, but if fielding heard him he gave no indication that he had. fielding held a lighted match over the filled bowl of his pipe, started it burning with deep, sucking draughts. "ah, your book," he said, when the pipe was burning. "you are a man of courage, hall. you showed real guts. the kind of guts our nellie chamberlain didn't have when england needed them most." hall poured fresh coffee into both his and fielding's cups. "thank you," he said. "i tried to do it justice." he told him what the british censor in cairo had said when he saw the manuscript. the grizzled englishman took the pipe out of his mouth, looked at hall with amazement and disgust. "british grit, my foot!" he bellowed. "the _revenger_ was doomed the day nellie chamberlain decided to back franco. i'm talking about your other book, hall, _behind franco's lines_. any fool can get a battleship shot out from under him, but it takes a man ..." suddenly he stopped, because both hall and he were looking at the photos of the young man who was once a laughing boy in a canary-colored pony cart. he opened the folder. a photostat of a multi-paged typewritten report lay on top of the neat pile of papers in the folder. "now then, hall, to get to the point. when i read that you had arrived in san hermano, well, frankly, hall, i thought it was the answer to my prayers. i know i'm a garrulous old man, but that comes from talking into the prevailing winds for so long that i just can't help myself." "i know what you mean," hall said. "only i never thought of it in that way. i thought of it in terms of talking to a blank wall." "be it as it may, hall, i don't think i'll be talking at a blank wall when i speak to you. as i said, there is a point to this meeting, and the point is brief. hall, the falange is in san hermano, and it is up to much trouble." "the falange!" "oh, i know what you are thinking. tabio made it illegal and it had to disband and all that. but tabio's government never threw the whole falange crowd into jail, where they belong, and they are still getting their orders from the spanish embassy." hall passed a hand in front of his smarting eyes. "did you say they're up to trouble?" he asked. "i said just that, hall. did you ever hear of the cross and the sword? sounds like the name of a ha'penny thriller. have you seen one of these since you arrived in san hermano?" he handed hall a gold lapel emblem; it was a sword with a blazing hilt, the letters atn engraved across the cross piece of the hilt. "the atn stands for acción tradicionalista nacional, but no one calls them that any more than they call the nazis by their formal name. you know, national german socialist something or other. it's a bad business, hall, a very bad business. the cross and sword, alias the falange española." "are they very strong?" "they don't parade around the streets in their blue shirts as they did until tabio clamped down in ' , and they don't pack the cathedral in their falange uniforms any more to hold special masses for the rotten soul of that young snot old primo de rivera whelped. the cross and the sword is not like that. but go to the san hermano country club or a meeting of the lonja de comercio or to a fashionable party in the country and every tailored jacket you see will have a cross and a sword pinned to the lapel. "go to a little country village the day after the local school teacher was murdered on some lonely dark road. the _campesinos_ stand around muttering 'the cross and the sword is guilty,' and the next night the home of some local spanish landowner goes up in smoke. then it's only a matter of hours before the cross and sword members in san hermano are raising hell because a fellow cross and sword member had his house burned down. they tell everyone that's what happens when you have a red regime which forces a gentleman to sell his land to the government and then sells the land back to the peasants who have to borrow the money from the government to pay for the land." hall turned the cross and sword emblem over in his fingers. "that's what happened in spain," he said. "it happened in just that way." "of course it did, hall. of course it did. now look here. look at this." from the bottom of the pile of documents in the folder, fielding extracted a map of the nation's coastline. "here," he said, "is the coast. now note these islands. i have numbered some of them in red ink. now take this island, number three. looks like an ink blot, doesn't it, now? not much of a place for anything. just a bunch of volcanic caves and some quite useless land. good for grazing a few head of sheep, but not too good even for that. belongs to a chap named segundo vardenio. been in his family for years, over three hundred years. own the island, own thousands of acres on the shore facing the bloody island. i know the whole family. more spanish than the duke of alba, that family. "well, sir, they were all in the falange. segundo vardenio was one of the big leaders of the falange in the country. used to wear his blue shirt and his boots and give his damned stiff-arm salute all over the place. and what do you think goes on at his island, hall? i'll tell you. oil and submarines, submarines and oil. the vardenio lands on the shore are in sugar. they have a narrow-gauge diesel railway of their own on the estates. understand, hall, a _diesel railway_? the locomotives and the submarines burn the same type of oil." "german subs?" "hun subs and only hun subs, hall. look here. look at this report. i sent it to the chief of naval intelligence at our embassy. on the th of september, , a hun sub anchored off vardenio's island. a small launch belonging to the vardenio family towed the sub into the largest of the sea caves on the island. the sub took on a load of diesel oil, fresh fruit, meat, cigars, razor blades and a sealed portfolio. i don't know what was in that portfolio. three days later, the british freighter _mandalay_, carrying beef and copper from san hermano, was torpedoed and sunk by a nazi submarine at approximately this point." fielding held a ruler between an x mark in the ocean and the island. he continued to read the report aloud, running a bony finger under the words as he read them, pausing now and then to sneer at his detractors in the british embassy or to chuckle at some particular sarcasm written into the report. the facts in the report were set forth in great detail. they dealt with other submarine anchorages, with the role of the cross and the sword on the waterfront, and with the beginnings of an organized ring of sabotage. the report ended with the account of the events which followed the visit of the _ciudad de sevilla_, a spanish liner, to the port of san hermano. "look here, hall," fielding said. "listen to this. on the twentieth of september, ' , the _ciudad de sevilla_ docked in san hermano at four-ten in the afternoon. at approximately five o'clock, the radio operator of the spanish liner, one eduardo jimenez, left the ship and proceeded to a bar on the paseo de flores, the bar known as la perrichola. there he met with two unidentified men, one of whom was later identified as a provincial leader of the cross and the sword. the three men went to a brothel near the waterfront, and at exactly ten o'clock left the brothel and got into a waiting sedan which, by a roundabout route, took them to calle galleano , a quiet villa in the west suburb. "the villa belongs to jorge davila, a lawyer for some of the great landowning families of the south. davila's record as one of the leaders of the now illegal falange and an organizer of the cross and the sword has been covered in my previous report, dated july th of this year." fielding poured some fresh coffee for hall and himself. "tomorrow or the next day i can show you the report in question, hall. but to proceed with this report. "at davila's home, a group of cross and sword leaders were waiting for the three men in the sedan. they had a long meeting, lasting over five hours. then eight men, including the spanish ship's officer, left the house and entered two fast cars of american make. the cars proceeded to the town of alcala, in the sugar lands some seventy miles from san hermano. "in the morning, there was no trace of the eight men in alcala. that night, the sugar fields of the english planter, basil greenleaf, were set on fire by incendiary flames started in over twenty different parts of his acreage at the same time. two of greenleaf's employees who were attempting to fight the blaze in the east field were killed by rifle fire. one of them lived long enough to stagger to the road where he told his story to the greenleaf foreman, a man named esteban anesi. "i must call your attention, sir, to the fact that greenleaf was the only planter in the alcala region who had contracted to sell his crop to great britain, and that the fire took place exactly two weeks before the harvest time. "eduardo jimenez was next seen in san hermano the day after the fire, when he appeared in the municipal police headquarters in what was evidently a state of extreme intoxication. he complained that on leaving his ship on the twentieth, he had gone to a bar for a drink, met up with two pimps, and had then been taken to a brothel where, after two days of drunken revelry, he had been cleaned out of his life's savings and then been carried out to sleep it off in an alley off the calle mercedes. having made his complaint, he passed out. a police doctor examined him, recommended a good night's sleep." fielding held his finger under the word _sleep_. "hah," he roared. "damn clever, the bastards! now then, where was my place? oh, yes, good night's sleep. yes." "in the morning, jimenez awoke, vomited, and started to yell for the jailer. he wanted to know what he was doing in a cell, and when shown his complaint, he expressed innocent amazement. he could not recall a thing. the warden gave him a hearty breakfast and sent him on his way. jimenez joined his ship, which sailed for spain that afternoon with a cargo of beef." the case of eduardo jimenez was the last in the report. fielding put the copy aside and leaned back in his chair. "was this worth your while, hall?" he asked. hall grinned. "you have the necessary proof?" "absolutely. to the last word, old man. to the last word." "may i have a copy of your report?" "of course. i hope you will get better results, though." "may i ask an impertinent question, sir?" "be as impertinent as you wish. i'm sixty-four years old, hall, and if i can't put up with yank impertinence in this late stage, i deserve no sympathy." "well then, and don't answer if you think me too brash, fielding, it's simply ..." "hold on!" fielding held up a restraining hand. "let me write your question out on this slip of paper and after you ask it, i'll show you what i've written." he scribbled a few words on the paper, covered them with his left hand. "are you british intelligence?" hall asked him. fielding handed hall the slip of paper. on it was written: _q. fielding, old man, are you a british agent? a. no, my fine impertinent friend. believe it or not, i am not a british agent._ he was not smiling when he put a lighted match to the slip of paper and watched it burn to ashes in the bronze tray. "as a matter of fact," he said, soberly, "i am not in very good repute at the british embassy. i organized a dinner of the more sensible people in the british colony here in ' and, after i'd made a blistering speech against munich and non-intervention in spain we all signed a row of a cable to nellie chamberlain. they have me down as a sort of an eccentric and a red. perhaps i am eccentric, but i'm no more a red than poor professor tabio or your own mr. roosevelt." "i've been called both things before myself." "i'll bet you have, hall. i'll bet you have. let's have another jug of coffee and look through some more reports. can you stay awake for an hour or so?" "i can stay up all night." "well, maybe you can. but i'm not as young as i used to be. we'll finish the reports in this folder and call it a night. but first--the coffee." the aroma from the jug warmed hall's senses. in the cell at san sebastian he would awake at night dreaming that he was smelling the sweet vapors of a fresh pot of coffee boiling away near his pallet. "god," he said, "i must tell you about what this smell means to me some day." "there's nothing like it," fielding agreed. "now let me see, here's a photostat of a letter from the embassy acknowledging the receipt of the report i just read, and here ... ah...." he started to turn the next letter over, but hall, reading the letter-head, laid a hand on the sheet. "may i?" he asked. fielding handed him the letter. it was on the stationery of the international brigade association in london, dated january, . "the action on the jarama front ... bitter ... your son sergeant harold fielding leading squad of volunteer sappers ... missing in action ... thorough check on records of hospitals and field stations on that front ... no record of sergeant fielding ... we therefore regret ... must be presumed dead...." the father of sergeant fielding held the picture of the boy in front of hall. "this photograph," he said, heavily. "it was taken a year before he went to spain. you didn't, by any chance, happen to know the lad, did you, hall? he was my only child. completing work on his master's in biochemistry at cambridge when the spanish show started. you didn't happen to know him, eh, hall?" hall studied the photograph. "he fought with the british battalion," fielding offered. "i was with them in the fighting for sierra pedigrosa," hall said. "there was pete kerrigan, and a boy named patterson i knew pretty well. and--but that was after the jarama fighting." "the boy is not alive," fielding said. "i checked with the international red cross after the war, and he was not taken prisoner by the fascists. i just wanted to find someone who could tell me--who could tell me how my boy died." hall returned the red-leather frame. "i wish from the bottom of my heart i could help you. but i just can't. i'm afraid i never did meet the boy." roger fielding read the letter from london for perhaps the thousandth time, sighed, and placed it face down on top of the pile to the left of the letters and reports in the folder. "ah, well," he said. "now for the living. now here's a report i made three weeks ago. some day those young stuffed shirts in the embassy will have to read my reports seriously, hall. perhaps this is the report that will do it." the second report bore the heading: "neutrality or belligerence: gamburdo or tabio." hall started. "what's this?" he asked. "let's look it over, old man." fielding cleared his throat and began to read aloud. "it is no secret, or it should be no secret to our vigilant intelligence services, that president anibal tabio is a warm friend of the cause for which the united nations are fighting. it is no secret that tabio, before being stricken with his present tragic illness, was planning to go before the havana conference himself to lead the continental campaign to declare war on the axis powers. "however, the views of vice-president gamburdo, who now has assumed the control of the government, are less well known. gamburdo's views, however, are not among the best kept secrets of this war." fielding chuckled, waved his pipe in the direction of the presidencia, and added the comment, "i should say not! they are far from secret. "gamburdo's ties to the cross and the sword are very discreet. i have reason to believe that gamburdo believes his link with the atn is not known by anyone except a few chosen fascist leaders." fielding looked up at hall. "oho," he laughed. "that must have been hard to swallow. they don't like to call the cross-and-sword bandits 'fascists.' oh, no. not the embassy. they've got them tabbed as 'conservatives' opposed to the extremes of the red tabio regime. the fools! "well, now, to continue. ah--chosen fascist leaders. oh, yes. but twice within the past two weeks, for three hours on the twelfth and for a full day on the fourteenth, gamburdo was at the ranch of his brother salvador in bocas del sur conferring with cross and sword leaders jorge davila, segundo vardenio, carlos antonio montes, and josé ignacio del llano. the second meeting was also attended by ramos, the spanish consul general in san hermano." "ramos," hall commented. "i know something about him. two years ago batista gave him twelve hours to get the hell out of cuba before the diplomatic courtesies were forgotten and a cot reserved for ramos in the concentration camp for axis nationals on the isle of pines." "he did come to san hermano from havana," fielding said. "so i'm not so crazy after all." "you're not crazy at all." "hello!" fielding exclaimed. "if you know that ramos was kicked out, then the embassy crowd must know it too. now i begin to see why commander new has invited me to have dinner at the embassy tomorrow." he took a deep breath, straightened his tie with elaborate mock ceremony. "mr. hall," he said, speaking like an announcer at a royal court, "i have the pleasure of informing you that roger fielding, esquire, is about to be released from the insane asylum to which his majesty's ambassador consigned him in september, ." hall laughed and helped himself to another pipeful of fielding's tobacco. "let's finish this report," he said. "i can't tell you how important it is to me." "here you are, old man." fielding handed the report to hall. "i was reading them aloud to keep you from falling asleep. but i think you're wide awake now." hall smiled warmly at the old man and read the rest of the report. it was very brief. it described how gamburdo had shifted nearly the entire customs staff at san hermano to other ports or to desk jobs on land, and replaced them with new customs men who were in many cases proven members of the falange or the atn or both. this move, the report stated, opened the gates to axis arsonists assigned to cross the seas on spanish liners. "cross and sword members," the report concluded, "are in certain exclusive bars openly boasting that when tabio passes away, gamburdo will declare the nation a neutral in this war. his family has been sending copper, hides, beef, coffee, and sugar only to spanish firms since . it is an open secret in the lonja de comercio that these shipments do not remain in spain but are immediately trans-shipped to germany. none of the spanish firms with which the gamburdo family does business were in existence before july , , the day the spanish war started. they are all known in shipping and export circles as german enterprises. gamburdo's brother has twice been heard to boast, while in his cups, that the nazis are protecting his vast holdings in france. "the cross and sword members in san hermano business circles speak highly of gamburdo and to a man they assert that if tabio dies, gamburdo will impose a foreign policy which in the name of neutrality will bring prosperity to the landowners and exporters. it will also, of course, bring vitally needed war supplies from this country to the axis powers; a fact they don't even bother to deny." hall was puzzled by the report's lack of information on gamburdo's link to the falange during the spanish war. he remembered that picture of gamburdo at the falange dinner held in san hermano in , the picture he had seen in the files of the secret police in havana. "how much do you have on gamburdo?" he asked. "gamburdo?" fielding yawned twice, stretched his arms. "not as much as i would like to have, hall." "oh." hall told him about the picture. "i'm not surprised," fielding said. "but it's really news to me. what do you know that i should know?" "nothing much, i'm afraid. how about this doctor who arrived on my plane, varela ansaldo?" "he's never been in san hermano before." "who sent for him?" "i don't know. _el imparcial_ has been giving gamburdo the credit." "what do you think of that?" "i don't know, hall. i think they might be trying to give gamburdo credit for something he doesn't deserve. _el imparcial_ is very much pro-gamburdo, you know." "don't i know it! i used to see fernandez in his falange uniform in san sebastian." "he's no good." "do you think his paper can be right about ansaldo? i mean about his being brought to san hermano by gamburdo." "possibly i can find out." "what do you think, fielding? what's your hunch?" "i have none, old man. but i can see that you have, and i can see what it is. you think _el imparcial_ might for once be telling the truth." "not the whole truth. i saw _el imparcial_, too. it also said that varela ansaldo was brought to san hermano to _cure_ tabio." fielding cocked his head, looked at hall out of one eye. "and you think ansaldo was brought in to kill professor tabio?" "i don't know. i just don't know." "but you mean to find out?" "_quién sabe?_" "i'll help you. i'll give you all the help i can." "but you think i'm nuts?" the englishman hesitated for a long while. "ah ... frankly, old man--well, damn it all, you could be wrong. but i'd never say you were--_nuts_ i believe is the word you used." "thanks." "well, sir, it's been a busy day." fielding put the letters back in the folder, then shoved the folder into the portfolio and tied the strings. "unless i hear a motion to the contrary, i shall make a move to adjourn. ah, the delegate from north america bows. the ayes have it. session is adjourned." he rose from the desk, put the portfolio back in the filing cabinet, closed the drawer and tested the lock. "suppose we meet again after i have my dinner with commander new at the embassy tomorrow night. he's our new intelligence man. understand he took quite a beating from the hun at dunkirk." "swell. same place?" "i don't know yet, old man. suppose i give you a ring." the englishman suddenly lapsed into a lisping, castillian spanish. "señor hall? eh, señor hall? this is father arupe. bless you, my son. would you care to come to confession tonight?" "then it will be father arupe on the phone?" "yes, señor. if i ask you to confession, it means this office in an hour. if i suggest you attend mass in the morning, drive out to my house. i'll write the address for you." "good." "oh, just another word about tonight's reports. if you could help me bring the facts about the waterfront to your government, i think it would be most beneficial. most beneficial, old man." "i'll do my best." "i know i can count on you. knew it before i ever laid eyes on you, hall. one of my associates can keep us both posted on the waterfront. name's harrington. grand chap, harrington. straight as a die, and intelligent." hall poured a cup full of cold coffee and swallowed it in a gulp. "god, that's good coffee," he said. "how are you going back to the bolivar?" "i've got a car waiting downstairs. the driver insisted upon waiting." "el gran pepe?" "yeah. i guess it is big joe." he described his driver. "and souza says he is very reliable." "oh, he is, old man. he is. you know, since they turned the bloody lights down, it's worth your life to cross the streets at night. awful lot of traffic accidents and all that, you know. nothing like a reliable driver." "how about you, fielding?" "oh, i'll phone for my own reliable driver. or better yet, tell pepe to come back for me, will you, old man?" hall rubbed the right side of his face. "why don't you ride back with me, and then continue on out to your house?" "no. it would be better if you left here alone." "but how about you?" "there's no danger, old man. no danger. besides ..." fielding reached into his jacket pocket, took out a small black automatic. "she's loaded, and i can shoot in the dark, if need be. my betsy is all i need." "this is silly," hall protested. "go on, now, old man. no one is going to break in to the office at this hour of the night. i'm in no danger at all." "if you say so." hall got up. "don't see me to the door. i know my way." the old man put his arm around hall's shoulder. "we english," he said, "we're an undemonstrative tribe. take pride in our cold hearts. but underneath the ice some of us have hearts. i'm glad to know you, hall. and i'm glad we had this little chat. good night, and sleep well. you're all in." "good night, fielding. and thanks. you're swell." hall left the office, rode the elevator to the main floor. outside, the reliable driver was asleep at the wheel, his right hand under the white chauffeur's cap which rested on his lap. hall stood near the open window, smiling sardonically at big pepe. o.k., pal, he thought, we'll find out about you right now. he cleared his throat, suddenly barked, "arriba españa!" big pepe awoke with a startled growl. the hand under the cap swung up toward the window. it was clenched around a large nickeled revolver. "it's me, pepe," hall laughed. "hall." the driver groaned, shoved the pistol into his trouser-pocket. then he also laughed. "get in," he said. "get in and thank your stars you're still alive." hall joined him in the front seat. "arriba españa," pepe muttered, starting the car. "that is no joke in the heart of any delgado from the asturias. that is an abomination." "you're an asturiano?" "look at me, _compañero_. do i have the face of a gallego? do i have the head of a catalan? do i have the eyes of a madrileño or the soul of a _puta_?" "you fought in the war against the fascists?" "mother of god, he's asking me if i fought! always until eternity they will ask, delgado, did you fight? and what will i say?" "watch out!" hall screamed. "you'll hit that pole!" he grabbed for the wheel. big pepe's steel arm stopped him. "_de nada_," the driver laughed. "didn't fernando tell you i am a reliable driver?" the car missed the pole by inches, whirled around a corner on two wheels, and then rolled casually down the avenida de la liberacion. another mad turn, and they were at the bolivar. "the englishman, fielding," hall said. "he wants you to pick him up at the office and take him home." "_bueno._" big pepe put the car in gear. "how much do i owe you?" hall shouted. "_mañana, compañero, mañana._" big pepe had to stick his head out of the window and look back, while the car moved ahead, to answer hall. one more _mañana_, the american thought, and the reliable driver would drive his car through a wall. he watched the car turn the corner on two wheels. souza was still on duty. he handed hall the key to his room. "you look very tired, señor hall," he said. "i hope you sleep well." "thank you. good night, _amigo_." when he got to his room, he phoned down to the desk. "i forgot," he said. "but if that _cabrón_ of a waiter is still on duty, could you send up a bottle of mineral water with the elevator operator?" "of course. the operator is no _cabrón_." "thanks. and by the way, didn't i meet you the last time i was in san hermano?" "no, señor. but if you will pardon me for presuming, i feel in a sense as if we are old friends, in a sense." "old friends?" "yes, señor. you see, i have read your book." "my book?" "_sí, su libro. buenas noches, compañero._" this time there was no confusion in hall's mind. he knew which book fernando souza meant. he went to sleep feeling less lonely than he had in a long time. _chapter four_ the alarm in the pigskin traveling clock bird had given hall as a going-away gift went on at eight. hall shut it off, glanced at the radium dial, and got out of bed. on the roof tops of the houses in old san hermano roosters were crowing. outside, trolley bells clanged a block away from the bolivar. hall took the half-emptied bottle of carbonated water into the bathroom, poured it over his toothbrush, sprinkled the wet brush with powder, and scrubbed his teeth. the charged water filled his mouth with a vigorous foam. he rinsed his mouth with the rest of the soda, bathed, shaved and dressed. there was nothing in his box at the desk. he handed the day clerk the key and walked out to the street. at a little hole-in-the-wall stand on virtudes street he bought a glass of mouth-puckering tamarind juice. a few steps down the narrow street there was a newsstand. hall bought two morning papers, found a café where he had a cup of coffee with hot milk and a toasted roll. he remained at his table in the soft morning sun, reading the papers and smoking a cigar, until nearly ten o'clock. according to both papers, ansaldo and marina were to make a preliminary examination of tabio, and would then spend the rest of the day consulting with san hermano physicians who were attending the president. there was no hint of what was actually wrong with the president, simply a repetition of the old statement that tabio's condition was still grave. jerry was on time for their breakfast appointment. she was wearing a bright yellow suit of very thin cloth. "hello," she said. "still want to be a tourist guide?" "more than ever." he caught himself wishing that this could be just an ordinary date with a girl. "what's wrong?" she asked. "why?" "you're scowling." "sorry. my mind must have wandered. i'd never scowl at you." she smiled at him. "thanks," she said. "i thought for a moment that i'd pulled a boner. the suit isn't too loud, is it?" it was his turn to smile. "god, no," he laughed. "it's perfect. very hungry? good. we're eating right here in the hotel." they took a table near a potted orange tree. "how do you say ham and eggs in spanish?" she asked. "_jamón y huevos._ want some?" "uh huh. but i want to order them myself." "o.k. order some for me, too." hall hissed for the waiter. "what's the idea of razzing the guy?" "relax, that's the way you call a waiter." jerry smiled at the waiter when he reached their table. with a childish directness, she pointed first at hall and then to herself. "_jamón y huevos_," she said. "that is all the spanish the señorita speaks," hall explained. "i think we will have toast and coffee, too." "well, well," the waiter said in accented english. "the lady speaks good, no?" "no," jerry laughed. "well, well," the waiter said, "today is very nice and sunny. very nice." he walked into the kitchen. "i have a perfect itinerary," hall said. "old san hermano first; that's the historic colonial part of the city. then, at noon, we take the funicular railway to the top of the world for lunch. and after that--well, well, well, as the waiter said." they walked about san hermano all morning. hall showed her through the old fortress of the duke of la runa, which the government had restored after segura was overthrown, told her about the early colonial history of the city. they sat on the old sea wall for a few minutes, while hall pointed out the moorish and spanish details of the stone houses along the sea drive above the wharves. the youngest of the houses was a century old; the tile friezes along their bellies had all been imported from spain in sailing ships. jerry watched the sun do magic tricks of blue and purple on the surface of the houses. they wandered through the old market places, deserted that day, but colored by the little stalls along the sidewalks. hall bought a large spray of gardenias for the girl from an itinerant vendor. "where are those beaten-silver things you told me about?" she asked. "later," he said. "there's plenty of time for that." "where do we go now?" jerry asked. "my feet are killing me." "from now on we ride." he found a taxi parked near the cathedral, and they rode to the funicular railway terminal at the base of monte azul. he told her how the railway was built by segura, as they rode. "but it was when the tabio junta threw the seguristas out that the damned cable cars meant anything to the people of the country themselves. you see, jerry, segura gave the concession on top of the mountain to one of his thugs. the new regime opened it up to the little guys. and wait till you see what they did to the grounds." they shared the cable car with an old water colorist, and two other young couples. "my god," jerry exclaimed, when she saw the route the cars followed, "it's like climbing hand over hand up a sheer cliff!" "don't worry. it's perfectly safe. in a way, though, i'm sorry this is such a clear day. on a cloudy day, the tracks just vanish into the soup up there, and you feel that you are being towed into the clouds." the cars climbed for five miles, creaking, whining, grunting, but steadily pushing on toward the peak. from the opened windows, jerry could see the moorish villas at the base of the mountain, then their red-tiled roofs, then the miles of scraggly wild orange trees. the sweet, heavy odors of their blossoms filled the car. "oh, look," she said, "the town is getting smaller. and the sea is growing bluer." "wait until we get off," he smiled. "then you'll really see something." the old artist took out a sketch pad, studied jerry's excited face, and made some quick strokes with a charcoal stick. hall winked at the old man. "_hola, viejo. qué pasa?_" "_la mujer es muy bonita._" "_muchas gracias_, señor. _es verdad._" "what are you saying to him?" jerry asked. "he said you are very beautiful and i said that's the lord's gospel truth. he's sketching you, i think." "can we buy it if it's good?" "i'll speak to him later. up there." the car stopped at the terminal on the man-made plateau about a thousand feet from the actual tip of monte azul. a wooden rail ran along the edge of the plateau for about a quarter of a mile. within the rail was the funicular terminal, a souvenir stand, a tiny post office, and a large open-air restaurant. "let's eat," hall said. "you get hungry as a horse up there." they took a table with an enameled orange top near the rail. large barbecue pits hugged the mountain side of the restaurant, and under a shed roof three cooks presided over a row of steaming pots. from their table, they could see the mile-deep belt of mountain flowers which had been planted in the days of the dictators and expanded by the democrats. there were flowers of every shape and color, but orange was the color which spoke most frequently in the cultivated beds. below the flowers, the mountainside seemed to be daubed with various shades of green and brown. "but usually," hall said, "the mountain is blue. almost as blue as the sea." jerry looked down at the sea. "i've never seen such a deep blue," she said. "i know. this is the bluest water in the world." he hissed for a waiter. "i'm going to order a hell of a meal, young lady. a side of barbecued beef and some corn cakes the like of which you never tasted and--just trust my judgment." "can we get drinks here?" "they have a white wine that beats anything in france." the food was good and the wine was potent. when they were done eating, jerry wanted more wine. "no more wine," hall smiled. "nibble on this cheese, and while you're nibbling i'm going to order a punch i've just composed in honor of this day. let's call it punch _para las mujeres bonitas_." "whatever that means," jerry said, dreamily. "oh, it's wonderful. black rum and passion-flower juice and tamarinda and wild cherry juice and--just wait. i'll be right back." he walked across the plateau to the outdoor bar and had a long discussion with the attendants. jerry was staring into the sea when he returned. "you know?" she sighed. "what?" "nothing. i was just thinking that i've been looking at the sea and not thinking at all." "cigarette?" "uh huh. thanks for taking me up here. it reminds me of something nice, but i can't think of what." "i know," hall said. "the minute you get here for the first time you feel as if you've known this place all your life." the waiter brought a pitcher of scarlet punch and two tall glasses to the table. hall paid the check, and added a package of american cigarettes to his tip. he filled the two glasses, tried a sip from his before handing one glass to the girl. "let's see how this strikes you," he smiled. "it's delicious!" "finish it and then try walking," hall said, dryly. "we'll try walking later." they finished the punch in the pitcher, and then jerry looked at her face in a pocket mirror. "oh, mr. hall," she sighed. "it ate away what was left of my lipstick and i think it gave me a red nose and i suppose i should powder and paint but i won't." "madam," he said, "you are under the influence." "i may be high, sir, but i'm not drunk." hall got up and took her arm. "shame on you, nurse," he said. "there's still a thousand sights to see up here." "lead on," she commanded. "we'll see who's potted." hall pointed to the edge of the restaurant. there was a mountain path at that end, a graveled path leading into a park of streams and cypresses. they followed this path until the forest closed in around them, and they were alone. "my feet," jerry said. "these shoes were not meant for serious mountain climbing." "my lady." hall spread his brown gabardine jacket in the moss bank adjacent to a small stream. she took off her shoes and stretched out on the jacket, her hands clasped under her head. "you know," she said, "if i weren't so full of food i'd take my stockings off and dip my feet in the creek. i just haven't the strength to move." hall lit a cigarette, put it in the girl's mouth. "if you ever dipped one of your dainty gringo toes in this burbling frigidaire," he said, "they'd hear your screams twelve miles out at sea." jerry sat up and hummed the tune of "who's afraid of the big bad wolf." she took off her stockings, started to edge down toward the stream. "here, help me up." she extended a hand to hall, who pulled her to her feet. "i'm going wading." there was no scream when jerry stepped into the water. her breath just stopped. she yanked her foot out of the stream as if it were a blazing inferno, hopped around on the dry foot with tears in her eyes, and then lay down on the jacket. "well, anyway," she said, when she could catch her breath, "i didn't scream." "no. you were brave." he took out a large handkerchief, started to rub the foot which had been in the water. "i never thought i'd wind up here when i left new york," she said. "when do you go to work?" "tomorrow, i guess. the president is a pretty sick patient." "does ansaldo think he can pull him through?" "he didn't say." "did he find out what's the matter with tabio?" "not yet. that's what he's doing today." hall wanted to ask her further questions about ansaldo, but he was afraid to betray his interest too openly. "let's cut it out," he laughed. "this is a party, and we're talking shop." the girl sighed in contentment. "oh, that's nice," she murmured. "i don't care what we talk about, as long as we stay here." "like it here?" "right now, i wish i could stay here forever." she had her hands clasped under her head, was talking to the tips of the cypresses as well as to hall. "why don't you?" "it's like shangri-la," she said. "we should both be two centuries old. how old are you, hall?" "thirty-six." "i'm twenty-eight. honest. not twenty-one. twenty-eight. in two years i'll be over the borderline. then i'll be an old lady. but right now i'm not going to lie about my age." "right now i don't think you could tell a lie. not even a white lie." "no fair, hall. first you get me drunk--only i'm not high any more--then you take me to shangri-la. can i call you matthew? or is it matty or matt the women in your life call you?" "my friends call me matt." "my friends! there's no mrs. matt?" "no. never has been." "i had a husband, once. only i divorced him and became a nurse." "that when you left ohio? or was it indiana?" jerry turned her eyes from the cypresses and looked at hall, who sat at her side, his face over hers. "ohio," she said. "how did you know?" hall bent over and kissed her lightly on the lips. she neither resisted nor returned his kiss. "you sweet dope," he said. "i'm a buckeye myself. cleveland." "i'm from columbus." "pleased to know you, miss columbus. did you know you have green eyes and there are little gold stars in each eye?" "nope." "nope. sweet dope. no one ever told you." "he calls me names!" jerry sat up and put her arms around hall's neck. "he calls me names." she put her slightly opened mouth against his lips and pulled him closer, and together they sank to the ground. they lay locked in the one kiss, the girl's full breasts pressing against hall's chest. "don't," she whispered, "please. ah, don't. ah, matt. darling." he found her lips again. they were trembling, and he could feel the tremors which started in the pit of her stomach and rose to her shoulders. "please, matt," she broke from his grip and turned her face to the ground. "darling," she said, biting then kissing his hand. he put his arm around her and kissed the back of her neck. she shuddered deliciously. "let's get up," she said. "we're alone here," he said. she smiled and kissed his hand. "i'm getting up," she said. "let me sit up, matt." "sure," he said. he sat up with her. she ran her hand lightly over his face, brushing the scars, the flatness of his nose. "gorilla," she said, and she kissed him softly on the mouth. "you tore off one of my buttons, you ape." "hello, miss columbus," he said, speaking with a spanish accent. "it is a very nice day today. very sunny." "yes," she said. "still want to stay here forever?" "uh huh. do i look too messy?" "no. your hair could stand some combing." "will you get me some more of that punch?" when she had combed her hair, they stood up and he took her hand and they walked back along the graveled path. "can we phone to town from here?" she asked. "doctor wanted me to check in at about five." "going to work?" "don't know yet." they had their punch. the light danced in jerry's hair, gave it the same orange tint which dominated the flower beds. "i forgot to tell you," hall said. "you're beautiful." jerry swirled the scarlet drops on the bottom of her glass. "you don't know a thing about me," she said. "what should i know?" "nothing. but can i tell you, anyway? i want to, matt." "i want to know." jerry sighed. "i told you i was married before, didn't i? it didn't take." "i'm sorry." "don't be. i'm not really from columbus. that is, my home town is nearer columbus than to any other city, but it's just a hick village in the sticks." she told her story in very few words. high school, and then three years at the state university, and then marriage to a small-town high-school principal some years older than herself. after five years of small-town married life, jerry came into a small inheritance, left the schoolmaster, and went back to get her degree. "i wanted to study medicine," she said, "but i didn't have enough money, so i took up nursing instead. the idea was to earn enough as a nurse to go back to medical school." "what happened?" "new york happened. i couldn't take hospital regimentation, and some of the doctors were so anxious to sleep with me that they got me some snap jobs. you know, sitting up with rich lushes and hanging onto the girdles of deserted dowagers who wanted to jump out of windows and handing the right scalpel to society surgeons while they carved out a million-dollar gut." "it must have paid well." "too well." "and so you became a glamour girl." "that's a pretty cruel way to put it, matt. i'm not really a dope, you know." "i know." "i guess i just stopped thinking because i was afraid to think." "where does ansaldo fit into the picture?" "i came with him because i admire his skill as a doctor. i can learn things by working with him. he's fantastically good, matt." "how long do you know him?" "not long. he came to new york about six months ago to operate on a drunk who'd been my patient for months. the patient had fallen down a flight of stairs on my day off. ansaldo invited me to be one of the nurses when he operated on the patient's spine. are you interested in operations?" "a little. why?" "it was amazing. i thought i had seen some good surgeons at work. but ansaldo is more than good, matt. he's great. after that first operation, i was his nurse for all of his new york operations. and naturally, i jumped at the chance to come along. i'm a perfectionist, matt. some day, some day soon i hope, i'm going to go back to medical school. i've been saving every spare penny i could. and what i'm learning from ansaldo couldn't be taught in any school." "you amaze me," he said, honestly. it was hard to doubt her. he prodded her for details of ansaldo's skill. she answered him earnestly, and with increased enthusiasm. "but wait," she protested, finally. "i don't see why i should be telling all about myself. i haven't talked like this to any man for years." "i haven't listened like this for just as long," he laughed. "but it's not good, i know," she said, her voice abruptly breaking. there were tears in her eyes, and she turned away. "i've gone and made a fool of myself." "why?" "i know," she said. "you probably have a wife and nine kids in new york. i bet you carry their pictures in your wallet." "do i?" hall handed his wallet to jerry. "look for yourself. take out every picture." there were three photos in all. the first was of bird, his wife and their baby. "my publisher," he explained. there was a sepia photo of hall pointing the lens of a camera at a bomb crater in madrid. "london?" jerry asked. "yeah," he said. "london." the remaining photo showed hall talking to an aged couple on a road packed with refugees. "france?" jerry asked. hall shook his head. "no. belgium." again he lied. the picture had been taken in spain. "don't hurt me, matt," the girl said. she was dry-eyed now, but saddened. "don't hurt me later." "i won't hurt you," he said. he wondered at that moment if he would be able to avoid hurting her. "are you really alone?" "alone?" he did not laugh. "god! i'm the loneliest sonofabitch in the whole world." the girl smiled again. "i have half a mind to believe you," she said. "shall we get started back?" "o.k. it's getting late. have dinner with me?" "i don't know, yet. would you call the hotel and ask if there are any messages for me?" "there's a phone in the souvenir stand." the girl bought a batch of picture sets while hall was on the phone. "do we eat?" she asked when he came out of the booth. "no. they want you in the marti memorial lab at the university at seven." "shucks." "i phoned for a driver to meet us at the bottom in twenty minutes. we still have time for a drive around the nicer parts of new san hermano." they went to the terminal to wait for their car. the ticket agent glanced at jerry and then he reached under his counter and brought up a large envelope. "señor," he said, "the painter left this for the lady." it was the sketch of jerry, wide-eyed and happy as the car climbed monte azul. in the lower right-hand corner was an inscription hall translated for her. "to a charming visitor--a memento of her visit to our free city. horacio." "it was sweet of the old man," jerry said. "tell the guy to thank him for me, will you?" "i already did. but this is fantastic. an original horacio water color is worth a baby fortune. this sketch is valuable, jerry." "didn't you recognize him?" "never saw him before in my life." big pepe was waiting for them with his lasalle when they reached the bottom of monte azul. "how good are you with tourists?" hall asked. "i want to show the señorita new san hermano." "i can drive you with my eyes closed," pepe said. hall laughed. "keep your eyes open. and your four wheels on the pavement," he said. "or i'll kill you with your own gun." "i have no fears of you," pepe said. "get in." hall held onto jerry's hand as he described the sights that rolled by their window. big pepe handled the car like a model tourists' chauffeur. it rolled along smoothly, not too quickly, and when hall tapped him on the shoulder he would stop, the motor running softly while hall made his explanations to jerry. at six, hall and jerry agreed to have one last drink before parting for the night. "let's ask the driver, too," he suggested. "he's a nice guy." "sure. so are you." "pepe, how about joining us for a drink at that bar near the libro del mundo?" pepe turned around and grinned at them. "with many thanks," he said. "i will join you." "if we don't all join our ancestors first. watch the road, you asturian murderer!" "i take it," jerry laughed, "you were telling him to keep his eyes on the wheel." "you're learning the language, _muchachita_." they found an empty table on the sidewalk. hall and jerry had scotch and sodas. big pepe ordered coffee. he was very happy to be with them. he beamed continuously at the girl, and to hall he swore that never had he seen a more magnificent woman. "of course," he purred, "she could stand more meat, but for a gringo, she is most magnificent." "he says you're a sight for sore eyes," hall translated. "then tell him to look at my face." "the woman thanks you," hall said. jerry pointed to the bar. "there's the little dutchman," she said. androtten was standing alone at the bar, a wine glass in his hand. "i'll call him over. he's a lonesome bastard too." the dutchman was delighted to see hall. "this is indeed a damn surprise," he said. "join you at the table? happy as hell to join you, mr. hall. ah, the nurse of the great doctor. tell me, nurse, do you think the doctor could cure my rheumatism?" this, he made clear by his gesture of holding his side in mock agony and groaning, was meant to be a joke. hall translated the joke for pepe. the driver nodded. "i understood most of it," he admitted. "one doesn't drive american tourists for a century and learn nothing." "aha," hall said. "pepe knows a few words of english, it develops." jerry turned to the driver, smiled sweetly at him. "tell me," she said, "did you ever have your eyes scratched out?" pepe grinned, shrugged his huge shoulders. "did the señorita say i have nice eyes?" he asked hall. "no, pepe. she said your eyes can bring you trouble." the asturiano closed his eyes and drew his finger across his throat, making the appropriate sounds. "i understand perfectly," he said. "let's sit down one of these days," androtten said to hall. "i am willing as hell to give you the damn story of what the japanese did to me in java, if you are still damn willing to listen." "oh, i am. anxious as hell, mr. androtten." he explained to big pepe what had happened to the little man. pepe's face instantly reflected his deep sorrow. "i hate to break up this nice party," jerry said, "but i have to go to work." "can we take you back to the bolivar, mr. androtten?" "not just yet. i have a damn appointment here at seven." hall put some money on the table and followed jerry to the car. "i forgot to tell you," he said. "there'll be a government car waiting to pick you up at ten to seven." "the poor man," pepe sighed. "the cruel japanese!" "it's been a wonderful day, matt." "when do we repeat it?" "can't tell. i'll leave a message for you tonight when i get back." hall ate alone after jerry went to the laboratory, and then wandered around the dark streets of the waterfront, thinking how he could organize his work. that was the damned job, always. planning your moves. deciding exactly what it is you're after and then organizing a method of getting it. the letter to santiago. that was a good start. with luck, there would be an answer in a week. but was a week too far away? how sick was tabio, and could he hold out for another week? and anyway, was ansaldo a fascist? the face of varela ansaldo would not leave hall's mind. maybe fielding could find out something, anything. at this moment, fielding was probably eating a little crow with his dinner at the british embassy. but would they tell fielding anything? did they know anything? and who the hell was fielding and how in hell did he get the dope in his reports? _no, my fine impertinent friend, i am not a british agent._ he was the father of sergeant harold fielding who hopped out of the wicker pony cart and picked up one of those thin rifles and died at jarama. santiago's answer. there was the best bet. if the boys in havana had no dope, at least they would tell him who to contact in san hermano, and it was a safe bet that when pedro de aragon (or would it be a love letter from maria de aragon?) wrote, the letter would lead him to someone who would know souza and pepe delgado. they were o.k., but just a little cautious, and this business of squiring ansaldo's nurse would not set too well with them unless ansaldo was not gamburdo's man at all. hall was turning a corner when he first noticed the little man walking in the shadows of the opposite sidewalk. a little man in a black suit and a dirty stiff straw hat. hall slowed his steps, waited for the man in the straw hat to walk closer to the yellowed street light. the man slowed down, too. hall kept walking. he headed for an avenue, found a cab, told the driver to take him to la perrichola. he looked around to see the little man get into the other cab at the stand. "i changed my mind," hall told the driver. "take me to the ritz instead." he walked slowly into the lobby of the ritz. it was one of the more modern hotels in new san hermano. he found a phone booth and called souza. "where's pepe?" he asked. "right outside. do you need him?" "very much. tell him to pick me up near the back entrance of the ritz. i'm too drunk to trust a strange driver." souza laughed. "you americans," he said. "pepe will be there in five minutes." hall went to the bar, had a short brandy. the little man was sitting behind a potted palm near the street doorway, his face buried in a magazine. hall looked at his watch and walked to the elevator. "sixth floor," he said. he walked through the sixth-floor hall, took the back stairs to the fourth floor, and then looked out of the window at the landing. big pepe's lasalle was parked near the servants' door. hall listened for the sound of footsteps on the stairs above him. quietly, he walked to the basement, nodded at a waiter relaxing on a bench near the door, and walked slowly to the lasalle. "_qué pasa?_" "trouble. drive a few blocks down and then come back slowly toward the front of the hotel." "sit with me," pepe said. he tapped the pistol in his pocket. "no." hall got down on the floor of the back part of the car. "and take your white hat off." the car shot down three streets, then pepe turned the corner, rode a block, and started to crawl along the street on which the main entrance of the ritz opened. "souza said you were in trouble," pepe said. "he says you are not a _borracho_." "i was followed. watch for a little man in a black suit and a stiff straw hat. park a block from the entrance to the ritz and keep your motor running." "_claro._" "i think he tried to sell me perfume this afternoon when i was walking with that nurse." "she needs no perfume," pepe said. "she is not my woman," hall said. "did you see that other woman who came with the doctor?" big pepe snorted violently. "i hate _maricones_," he said. "i hate them too, pepe. did you know that franco is also a homosexual?" "they are all _maricones_. hitler, franco. they are all the same." "_putas y maricones_," hall said. "_la nueva españa!_" big pepe cleared his throat and spat out of the window. "arriba españa." hall could feel the low, toneless laugh in the asturian's throat. "i think i see your dog," pepe said. he described him for hall. "he acts as if he lost something." "me." "falangista?" "i don't know. ever seen him before?" "who knows? _mira!_" "i can't look. what's he doing?" "hiring a car." "follow him. but ..." "_mira, chico_, that i can do with my eyes closed. and he won't know me for the offal on the streets." "don't lose him." "i'd sooner lose my _cojones_." he started the car, slowly. "i am magnificent at this," he said. "good." "during the war i did this all the time." "when he stops, watch where he goes but don't stop yourself. keep going after he stops." "don't worry," pepe said. "i am not new at this." "very good." "that girl with the nice hair, _compañero_. why don't you take her into your bed some night? i think she would be very good there." "forget the girl." "that will be very hard." "where are we?" "still following the little dog. we're moving toward the plaza." "pepe. the englishman's son. did you know him?" "he was very young. i only saw him once. he was very brave, _compañero_. the centro asturiano sent flowers to his father when the boy was killed. he died for the republic, you know." pepe slowed the car. "what's the matter?" "he's stopping. we're on the calle de virtudes. he's going into a café. i'll keep going." the car covered another block. pepe turned the corner and stopped. "you can sit up now," he said. hall saw where he was. "which bar did he go to?" he asked. "el siglo. there's another café next door. you can sit behind a hedge at a table there and watch el siglo. i have done it many times. i'll park the car across the street and watch for you." "do you think we can do this alone?" "why not?" "what do we have to do?" "who knows? it is the little dog's next move." "but could you get some friends now?" "yes. how many?" "a few. i'll keep an eye on el siglo." "all right," pepe said. "but we shouldn't lose the little dog." "that is a chance we must take. if we lose him tonight, we will follow him tomorrow. he will be in my footsteps again." "that is true," big pepe said. "i will be back soon." he drove off down the back street. like el siglo, the café where hall found a table near a boxed hedge on the sidewalk faced the entrance to the apartments of the presidencia. the lights were on again in the fourth floor. hall wondered if the doctors were poking poor tabio at that moment. he ordered a pot of coffee and sat back to watch the entrance to el siglo. a newsboy sold him a late paper, but hall gave up trying to read it after a few minutes. he bought a box of wax matches and some cigars, turning his back to el siglo when the tip of his first match flared into flame. less than ten minutes after hall started his vigil, the little man in the straw hat walked out of el siglo and sat down behind the wheel of a renault parked at the curb. he sat alone in the car, his face turned toward the presidencia. hall looked nervously up the street for a sign of big pepe. he jotted the license number of the renault down on the margin of his newspaper. there was still no sign of big pepe. the man in the renault pressed the squeaky rubber horn twice. another man walked quickly out of el siglo and got into the back seat of the renault. hall squirmed in his chair and looked vainly for big pepe. the passenger was wilhelm androtten. hall watched the renault start to move up the plaza. it rode around the entire plaza, and, as it started to pass the cafés again, hall saw that it was following a black limousine which had just left the presidencia after picking up two passengers. the black limousine was doing about thirty, picking its way out carefully in the half darkness of the old city. as it passed directly in front of hall's table, one of the people sitting in the back seat lit a cigarette. in the light of the match, hall could see that it was varela ansaldo. he had to wait another ten minutes for big pepe, who returned with two young men. "we lost him, pepe." "_hijo de puta!_ i told you." "relax. i know who he works for. we can find them on our own terms now. i saw them." "who?" hall looked at the two young men sharing the front seat with pepe. "introduce me to your friends," he said. big pepe grinned. "that is your right," he said. "this is my nephew miguelito, and this is juan antonio martinez. they're school teachers." the last he said with almost boastful pride. the teachers were both slim lads in their early twenties. hall shook their hands and got into the back of the car. "let's drive out to the beach and talk," he said. "no," miguelito said. "it would not be wise. there are too many strangers there." his colleague grunted. "your pistol, miguelito," he said. "take it out of your pocket. it is digging a new hole in my arse." "they talk that way all the time," pepe said, tolerantly. "but they are very educated." "i am sorry if i talk like a worker," juan antonio said to pepe. "my father was only a miner. i apologize, your eminence." "he is joking," pepe said. "miguelito, you are a bachelor of arts. tell me, do workers joke, too?" "quiet, both of you," miguelito said. "_compañero_ hall will think we're all crazy." hall laughed. "i've seen boys like you before," he said. "we were too young to go then," juan antonio said. "but if they try it here, the streets of san hermano will run with blood before we let the fascists win." "juan antonio is a communist," big pepe said. the boy did not deny it. "remember my words," he said, "the flag of the falange will never fly over san hermano." "not if we are still alive," miguelito added. "will you listen to these children?" pepe asked. "as soon as you turn your back they put on the _pantalones_ and make the noises of a man!" "this little dog of a fascist who followed you," miguelito said, "who is his superior?" "i don't know, _compañeros_. it could be hitler...." "it could be franco," big pepe said. "he said that," juan antonio said. "he said hitler, didn't he, miguelito?" "quiet," miguelito said. "this is no joke. you said you saw him with his superior?" hall smiled at the boy. "listen, _chico_," he said, "men with more pistols than you have tried to put words in my mouth before. all they got from my mouth was my spit." "_olé!_" juan antonio punched miguelito's shoulders with glee. * * * * * souza was reading a fat book at his desk when hall returned to the bolivar. he greeted the boys with familiarity. "they are reliable," he said after they left. "i know. i was sober when i called you before. but tonight your reliable boys nearly drank me under the table trying to find out who was with the little dog." "the one who followed you to the ritz?" "the same one. they also told me that you are president of the hotel clerks union." "i am." "got a cigarette? thanks. no, i've got matches." hall looked around to see if he and souza were alone. quietly, he said, "androtten was the man i saw with the little dog." souza's face grew grimmer. "i don't think i am surprised." "who is he?" "i don't know. but i don't trust him." "maybe this will help you." hall handed him the license number of the renault. "it's the number of the car they used." "it will help," souza said. "what time did ansaldo get in?" "he did not get in, yet. why?" "androtten was following his car, i think." "androtten is out, too." "maybe we have something." "you have a message in your box." it was a note from jerry. she was going to work all day and had to attend a party at the american embassy in the evening. but she would call him in the morning. "i am watching her," hall explained. the trace of a smile flitted across the long face of the night clerk. "i know," he said. "pepe told me." "i'll kill him," hall laughed. "i'm going to bed. leave a note in my box about when they get in." he went to his room. when he turned on the light, he saw that a note had been slipped under his door. it was from jerry. "thanks for a lovely day," it said. "i will call you before i leave for the lab." _chapter five_ he was dreaming of the crowds in the bull ring at badajoz, but there were no bulls on the sand. it was the day of the massacre, the day when the portuguese troops herded the _milicianos_ and their families and handed them over to the waiting _franquistas_ on the spanish side of the border. it was the day the _franquistas_ shoved the republican families on to the sand of the bull ring at badajoz and set up the heavy machine guns in the boxes and fired away until every human being on the field lay choking and dying in his own blood. in his dream hall saw grand ladies in mantillas in the boxes that day tossing roses and perfumed kerchiefs to the animals at the machine guns, and in his dream he even knew that the perfume on the kerchiefs came from a certain shop in barcelona. then hall spotted a crowd of german and spanish officers in another box and he leaped at them, his right hand gripping the ugly clasp knife in his pocket. there were nine officers in the box, four of them nazis and one a gaudy italian colonel and the rest were spanish fascists in capes and one of them wore a requete beret, although his cape carried the golden embroidered five arrows of the falange. they began to flee from their box in a panic, but hall managed to get a quick look at one of the spaniards and then flung his knife at the spaniard's retreating back. then the bells began to toll in the churches and carabineros left their machine guns and ran barehanded after hall but the clang of the bells started to blot everything out and the church bells of badajoz blended into the steady drone of a smaller bell in hall's ears and he awoke to the phone bell which had abruptly brought him back to san hermano. "did i wake you up?" it was jerry. "yeah. what time?" "stop groaning. wash your face and i'll call you back in five minutes." later, she asked him if he had been having a bad dream and he said it had been closer to a nightmare in technicolor. "about the war?" she asked, and he said it had been about the war. "darling," she said, "i wish you never have another nightmare as long as you live." "thanks," he said. "do we have breakfast together?" "no. i'm leaving with the doctors in a few minutes. work all day." "dinner tonight?" "that's out, too. i have to go to a party with the doctors at the american embassy." "good. i was invited, too. i'll see you there." there was a long pause at the girl's end of the wire, and hall said, "jerry? are you still listening?" "sure," she said. "what's wrong?" "nothing. you're a darling. i've got to hang up now. i've got to be out of here in ten minutes." "o.k.," he said. "see you tonight." he reached the lobby at half-past eight. there was no message in his box, and he could see that jerry's key was already in the cubicle. "i'll be in the dining room if anyone phones," he told the day clerk. he bought a paper from a boy standing near the entrance of the bolivar and went in to eat. hall was having his second cup of coffee when androtten entered the dining room. the little dutchman smiled happily when he spotted hall. "good morning, good morning," he shouted. "hell of a nice day, no?" "it's nice and sunny," hall said. "eating alone? take a chair." "oh, thank you, mr. hall. damn nice of you." hall wanted to shove the incongruous hells and damns down the pink face of the hollander. "not at all," he said. "i like company." but the beaming dutchman brought goose pimples to his spine this morning. "excuse me," hall said, rising. "i'll be back in a minute." he went to the desk, picked up a pad of cable blanks and an indelible pencil. then, at the table, he sat with pencil poised over the pad and smiled at androtten. "mine is a funny business," he said. "when you get to the capital of a country you can't go right to work, you know. far from it, androtten. first you smooch around the town like a prowler, talking to taxi drivers and bartenders and ..." "pardon my ignorance, mr. hall. but _smooch_? is it a real word or journalists' slang?" "i guess you'd call it slang. i mean you have to mingle with the little people to get an idea of the currents." "and when you get this idea?" "when you get the idea, you can go to work." hall wrote the name and address of the editor of one of the big weeklies in the states on the blank. "vice-president gamburdo is man of hour here today," he wrote. "tomorrow may be man of hour in all latin america. arranging for interview. can you use? matthew hall." "and now you are working?" hall turned the blank around so that androtten could read the text of his cable. "i'll let you in on my secret," he laughed. the dutchman read the text. "interesting," he said. "damn interesting." "i'm afraid it's just routine." "oh, never that." the dutchman sighed. "when such vital personalities as señor gamburdo are routine to you, mr. hall, i imagine that my story has only a small chance of ever being told. but i suppose that is merely as it should be." "hell, no, mr. androtten. i'll tell you what we'll do. as soon as i have my interview with gamburdo, we'll sit down and have our chat and then i'll query the _saturday evening post_ or _collier's_ and whatever they offer we'll split down the middle." "you make me happy as hell, mr. hall. but please, money is no object. please keep all of the money." hall shook his head. "we'll fight that out later," he said. "cigar?" androtten demurred. his heart was not strong enough for cigars that early in the morning, he explained. "in java i was healthier than an ox," he said. "but the damn japanese ..." he let the rest of the sentence remain unspoken. through the open window of the dining room, hall saw pepe's lasalle drive up to the bolivar. he excused himself with an "i'll be seeing you," and walked out to the desk. he handed the cable blank to the day clerk. "send it press rate collect," he said. pepe had a message for hall from souza. ansaldo had returned to the bolivar at : a.m., twenty-three minutes before wilhelm androtten. they had both left calls to be awakened at eight in the morning. "that all souza said?" "that is the complete message." "well, it's something, anyway." the papers said that ansaldo was to spend the morning at the bedside of president tabio. "where to?" "gobernacion building. but not right away. drive somewhere where we can have a coffee together. i'd like to talk to you first." pepe took him to a little workers' restaurant on the edges of the business section of new san hermano. it was evident that he had had little sleep. "tired?" hall asked. the driver whistled, softly. "like a corpse," he admitted. an amused grimace distorted hall's face. "what a corpse!" he said. "why didn't you tell the boys who followed the teachers and me from the café last night to be better than the little dog?" "you saw them?" "i kept tripping over them all the way home." pepe thought it was very funny. "they pledged their lives to protect yours, the bunglers. reliable, but clumsy." "i am not angry," hall said. "i am grateful." "for nothing," pepe protested. "pepe, do you know why i came to san hermano?" the big asturian shrugged his shoulders. "you never told me, or fernando. miguelito and his friend said you have the mouth of a clam." "do you want to know why?" "i never question friends. you are a friend." hall looked up at pepe delgado and wanted to tell him how much he reminded him of the best of the men he had met in spain, the best of the officers and _milicianos_ who never, even in the heat of battle, forgot the feelings and the sacred _dignidad_ of their fellow men. "mother of god!" pepe laughed. "don't look at me as if i were that girl with the red hair." "you are a good _compañero_," hall said. "in a few days, perhaps i can tell you." "i never ask questions of friends," pepe said. "i know. did souza tell you what i told him last night?" "no. only about when ansaldo and androtten came back." "can you reach souza today?" "of course." "then listen. tonight, he must find some excuse for moving me into the room next to ansaldo--if there is such a room. do you think he can do it?" pepe grabbed the check for the coffee, refused to relinquish it to hall. "this is my table," he said with quiet dignity. he also refused to discuss his fee for driving hall around san hermano for days. "_mañana_," he laughed. "but about the room. i think fernando can arrange it. the wife of the owner of the bolivar is a member of the centro asturiano. she is also a first cousin of dr. gonzalez." "i hope he can do it," hall said. "_hola!_" pepe boomed. "_qué tal?_" he exchanged loud pleasantries with a chauffeur who came in and sat down at a table in the corner. "a gallego," he explained to hall. "but otherwise a pretty decent man." "there are many decent gallegos," hall said. pepe whistled through his teeth, shook the limp and dangling fingers of his right hand, and looked behind his back. hall grinned. pepe's gesture was as old as spain. "listen, pepe," he laughed, "we have much to do. and all in a very short time. i am going to see the press secretary in the gobernacion. i am requesting an interview with gamburdo." "gamburdo is a _cabrón_," pepe said. "i know. in my eyes he is an _hijo de la gran puta_. but for the present i want gamburdo and his friends to think that i am an admirer of the _cabrito_. clear?" "i think i understand." "good. tell all of this to souza when you drop me at gobernacion. when can you see him?" "i will try to see him at once." "_bueno._ let's go, then." in the car, hall had a fresh idea. "this young juan antonio, the teacher. is he really a communist?" "yes." "member of the party?" "of course. he writes for _mundo obrero_ regularly." "good. if you see him, ask him to go to the communist headquarters and from there to telephone a friend. from there, understand? tell him to call any friend. no, wait. make it a friend in the office of _mundo obrero_. i want him to denounce me to this friend as an admirer of gamburdo and an enemy of tabio." "but why?" "i have an idea that gamburdo has made some changes since he became acting president," hall answered. "if he has, he's got some cross and sword bastards listening in on all communist phones." "it is possible," pepe said. "i will discuss your idea with juan antonio." "talk him into it, pepe." pepe stopped the car in front of the gobernacion building. he promised to meet hall at the bolivar in two hours. hall entered the polished marble corridors of the gobernacion. there was a popular song about this building. hall thought of the words, written by no known poet, and yet so well known in the nation that it had become the unofficial anthem of the hermanitos in the guerrilla armies which had fought the seguristas. even today, after nearly three decades, san hermano youngsters learned the words from slightly older playmates when they were barely old enough to play by themselves. somehow, the kids of the city sang a slightly less ribald version of the ballad of the _edificio magnífico_ which cost the nation over twenty million pesos and which, the song maintained, supported a village full of don augusto's whores and bastards. "i want to see the press secretary," hall told an attendant in the right department. "so do i," the attendant laughed. "he resigned last week." "didn't anyone take his place?" the attendant was a very old man. he leaned back in his chair and with an eloquent look gave hall to understand that he had completely lost patience with the visitor. "_chico_," he said, "no one could take don pascual's place." "please, _viejo_, i am in a hurry. is anyone trying to take don pascual's place?" "ha!" the old man shifted in his chair. with withering scorn he raised his arm and pointed a handful of gnarled brown fingers at a door marked _prensa_. there were many other men in san hermano who pointed to things with just that gesture. hall recognized the gesture at once. he had seen it for the first time in geneva, when anibal tabio rose to make that gesture toward the pile of captured italian and german military documents with which the spaniards had tried to impress the league. hall smiled with compassion at the figure of the old man imitating the gesture of his idolized president. "go in, go in," the old man said, petulantly. "go in and see that burro of a dolt who is _trying_ to take don pascual's place." "and has this burro a name?" "the burro has a name. it is valenti. now you made me say the unspeakable name! please, _chico_, in the name of my sainted mother and the educator, go away!" the old man's attitude told hall more about what gamburdo had already done to the press bureau than he could have learned in a week of routine digging. he handed the old man a cigar and a box of matches and walked through the door to valenti's office. he found himself in a small anteroom facing a dark-haired girl pecking genteely at the keys of a typewriter with creamy fingers whose long nails were painted a deep blood red. she was immaculately groomed and pretty. "i would like to see señor valenti," he said. "your name, señor?" so you had voice training, too, he thought. "matthew hall," he said. "i am a journalist from new york." "how nice!" the secretary switched to english immediately. there was only the slightest suggestion of an accent to her english, and over the faint spanish intonations she tried to impose the broad a's of something resembling the oxford drawl. "it is quite a relief to speak english during office hours, really." she pronounced it as "re-ahl-y." "yours is a very good english, miss ..." "vardieno," she said. "pick it up in school in san hermano?" miss vardieno made a mouth of disdain. "heavens, no!" she said. "dad sent me to finishing school in the states. stuffy old place, but charming in its own adirondack way. besides, i could always sneak down to town for a week-end when it became too boring." "of course," hall smiled. "nothing like good old new york to work off a bore." "and how! what brings you to this forsaken village?" "pan american airways," he laughed. "there's a flight out of miami every two days they tell me." the girl laughed with him. "o.k.," she said. "i asked for it. i'll find out if mr. valenti can see you now." she pushed her chair back and got up, pausing mid-way long enough to give hall a fleeting look at her breasts with a casualness she had never learned in the adirondacks. but hall had eyes only for the pendant which dangled at the end of a thin platinum chain. when she sat at her desk or stood erect, miss vardieno's cross and sword emblem sank neatly below the neck line of her blue new york dress. "there are so many lovely sights in san hermano," hall sighed as the girl walked into the private office. she was in the private office for quite some time. emerging, she had regained her finishing-school poise. "i am so sorry," she said. "mr. valenti is tied up in a conference that will last for hours. our congress opens in five days, you know, and what with the situation being what it is, mr. hall, it is the feeling of the press director that it will be impossible for any writer to obtain an interview with mr. gamburdo until after the congress convenes." nice going, he thought. "an interview with the vice-president? but how did mr. valenti know that was what i wanted?" "i don't know, mr. hall. i guess he just presumed. every one wants to interview mr. gamburdo these days. if it keeps up i guess he'll make the cover of _time_, don't you think?" she sat down and propped up a flower sagging over the rim of the crystal vase on her desk. "our pretty tropical blooms are too darned delicate, don't you think?" "oh, yes," hall said, thinking not of the broken blossom but of the speed with which the text of his cable had reached gamburdo's new press secretary. miss vardieno brushed an imaginary fleck of dust from her skirt. "well, anyway," she said in her best bored-with-it-all nuance, "he's going to be a vast improvement over tovarich tabio." "i'll be seeing you," hall said. "don't be a stranger now," miss vardieno said. "it's such a relief to speak english during office hours." hall closed the door behind him and started to whistle the ballad about the graft that built the marble halls of gobernacion's _edificio magnífico_. "you're right," he told the old attendant. "valenti can never wear don pascual's _pantalones_." the old man's dry cackle followed hall down the swirling marble stairs. hall walked out to the avenida de la liberacion, looked in all directions for the man who had followed him the night before. the yellow straw hat was nowhere in sight. he turned his steps toward the fashionable shopping district directly south on the avenue. if his shadow were on him, he would flush him by walking down the broad, sunny avenue. the shopping district brought no sign of the "little dog." hall shopped the plate-glass windows, hoping to catch a tell-tale glimpse of anyone who might be on his heels. he went into a department store, bought a tropical dinner suit, and arranged to have it altered and delivered to the bolivar at five. then, after selecting a maroon tie and a shirt, he found a phone booth and called fielding's office. a spanish-speaking secretary answered the phone. fielding was in alcala at an auction, she said. "please have him call father arupe's secretary," hall said. the hot noon-day sun forced hall to abandon his ideas of taking a leisurely stroll to the bolivar. he found a rickety cab and relaxed on the dusty cushions. fielding was the man he needed now, fielding might be able to make androtten show his cards, fielding might have some of the answers about the new press chief and his brand-new secretary. and if souza could find out who owned the renault androtten and the little dog used, maybe fielding could tie the information into some of his own data and come up with something. then when the boys in havana answered that screwy letter perhaps they'd all have something to go by. in three days at the outside there would be word from havana. three days of waiting and accepting souza and pepe and even fielding on faith. at the bolivar, the desk clerk told hall that pepe had called to say that he was having some minor engine trouble and would be delayed for about an hour. hall noted the word "minor" and put it down to a delay in reaching souza or juan antonio. he ordered a jug of iced pineapple juice sent up and went to his room. the long walk down the avenida de la liberacion under the broiling sun had covered hall with sweat. he stripped and went to the bathroom. a slow gust of air hissed out of the faucets when hall turned the taps. he washed his face with cold water at the basin while waiting for the pressure to force up the water to the bath faucets. but no water came. the hissing ceased, the faucets went bone dry. hall phoned the news down to the desk. "i am so sorry, señor," the clerk said. "but all the baths on your line seem to have gone dry. the manager has sent for a plumber." hall stretched out on his bed and tried to relax. the desk clerk phoned him back. "can i send the plumber up?" he asked. "sure." hall put on his pants and a pair of slippers. more than anything else, at this moment, he wanted to wallow in a cold tub. the plumber, who looked enough like pepe delgado to be his twin, had other ideas. "it is very serious, señor," he complained. "there will be no water from these rotted pipes in a century." he banged the pipes with one tool and twisted them with another, cursing them as he worked. "it is very serious," he concluded. "i can do nothing on them today." "mother of god!" hall said, and then he saw the sly smile on the plumber's massive face. "even she couldn't get any water from these pipes," the plumber said. "how am i going to bathe?" "who knows? maybe the manager will give you another room where the bath still works." "maybe. well, thanks for trying." "for nothing, señor." the plumber picked up his tools and left. hall dressed and joined pepe in the car. "what did the plumber say?" pepe asked. "enough. let's have a quick lunch somewhere." "souza is changing your room tonight. he is also changing the rooms of four other guests. they have no water either." "good work. where are we eating?" "when i stop the car you'll find out." "is the plumber your brother?" "my cousin. i also spoke to juan antonio. he made that telephone call." "are you very hungry?" hall asked. "i want to buy you half a steer." "i could eat half a steer, _compañero_. and i know where to get it, too." he drove to an old garden restaurant near the beach. "here they serve the best meat in san hermano. and at low prices, too." pepe did ample justice to a tremendous steak. he washed it down with a quart of beer, chiding hall for confining his luncheon to a simple roast-beef sandwich. "such food is all right for little children, señor hall. but you are a man." "call me mateo." "you should eat like a man, _compañero_ mateo." "i don't feel like eating." "then go to a good doctor. or take that red-headed woman into your bed for a night. you'd eat in the morning, _chico_!" hall laughed. "i'd rather see a doctor," he said. "a doctor?" pepe grew serious. "is anything wrong?" "who knows? this dr. gonzales you mentioned. is he a medico?" "yes. would you like to see him, _compañero_ mateo?" "could we see him after lunch?" "now is the best time. he's surely taking a little siesta, and it is better not to telephone. his daughter is at school all day. come on, i'll drive you over." they got into the car and pepe swung into a street with a trolley track that led them to a middle-class suburb. he stopped in front of a gray frame house similar to any doctor's house in an american town. a fat and ancient persian cat was sleeping in the shadiest part of the porch. pepe meowed at the cat. she opened a lazy eye, yawned, and went back to sleep. "the cat and her master always take their siesta at the same time," pepe explained. "it is a very intelligent cat." he opened the screen door. "is there no bell?" "he disconnects the bell when he naps." pepe led hall into a cool, shaded living room. there was no rug on the highly polished redwood floor. the furniture was made by native craftsmen of bamboo and wicker, although the designs reflected the functional modernism of the bauhaus school. it was the first modern furniture hall had ever seen in south america. pepe noticed hall's interest. "the doctor has many peasant projects," he explained. "he brought some spanish refugees from madrid to the country to teach the peasants how to make good furniture. they have a big co-operative shop in the southern province near the little river. sit down in one of these new chairs. i'll get him." hall relaxed in one of the low-slung chairs while pepe went to the rear part of the house. "he's not on the couch in his office," pepe said. he went to the foot of the stairs leading into the foyer. "_hola!_ it's delgado! _hola!_ don manuel, it's delgado!" his shouts would have roused the dead. he turned around and winked to hall. "_abajo_ anibal tabio!" he shouted. "_viva_ gamburdo! _viva_ segura! _abajo_ tabio!" upstairs there was the sound of a book or a heavy shoe dropping to the floor. "bandit!" someone shouted, and then a tall graying man in his stockinged feet shuffled to the head of the stairs, rubbing his eyes and cursing pepe with a mock cantankerousness. "_bulto_," he shouted. "give a man a chance to put on his shoes. show some respect for my degrees!" pepe made a low, courtly stage bow. "forgive me, your eminence," he pleaded. "i am only a simple petitioner." "_momentico, compañero._" the doctor went to his room for a pair of huaraches. "doctor, i want you to meet _compañero_ mateo hall." "_compañero_ hall!" the doctor started to speak english. "it is so good to finally meet you. don anibal gave me your book on spain for christmas when it was printed. he spoke to me about you very highly. please, sit down. you will find these chairs very comfortable." "pepe has been telling me about your co-operative." "it is not very large. here, try this chair. it is my favorite." pepe reminded the doctor that hall was in need of his professional services. "excuse my bad manners, doctor," he said, "but when you start to talk about your projects ..." "he is right," the doctor smiled. "sometimes i do talk too much. i like to talk, even when people don't really listen to me. even in my sleep i talk. about many things. art. weaving. world politics. the war." "i like to listen," hall said. "where did you learn your english, doctor?" "my english?" the doctor leaned back in his chair, the smile of a man enjoying a highly private joke on his face. "i am afraid, _compañero_, that i learned my english in the same sort of a place where you learned your excellent spanish. that is, in a dungeon built by the kings of spain." "in spain?" "no. i am not a spaniard. my grandfathers were spaniards, but my father and i were born here." he pointed to a framed flag of the republic which hung on the wall over hall's chair. "that flag hung in my cell in el moro for three years, and that flag was in my hands the day segura's death opened the prison gates to all of us." the doctor was not aware that he was now speaking in spanish. "the doctor was in el moro with don anibal," pepe said. "that is true," the doctor admitted. "nearly every patriot on the faculty and so many of the students were there, too. i had just taken my degree in medicine but i was still at the university as an instructor in biology when the arrests began. but don't think it was all tears and terror. don anibal and his late cousin federico formed the so-called university behind bars. we had chairs in latin, english, biology, history, art, literature--everything. the soldiers, who were with us, smuggled in our books and papers. later, when the seguristas were out of power, the students who were in prison were able to take their examinations in the university of san hermano, and the new regents gave them full academic credit for their studies at el moro." "he is a sick man, doctor," pepe said. "examine him first and talk to him later." "pepe is right, _compañero_ hall. i do talk too much." "nonsense. any man who did three years in jail has a lot of talking to catch up on when he gets out." "will the examination take very long?" pepe asked. "i have to go back to town. i can pick you up later." "have you an hour?" the doctor asked hall. "i have all day." pepe got up. "i'll be back in two hours," he laughed. he walked out to the porch. they heard him meow at the cat. then the cat screeched and pepe howled. "a cat is never completely civilized," dr. gonzales said. "poor pepe refuses to believe it. and now grisita has scratched him again." "your wild beast!" pepe roared. "she clawed me!" "come inside, and i'll fix it, pepe." "no, thanks. i've got iodine in my car." hall expected the doctor to be amused. instead, a wave of profound sadness gripped the man. he took out a pocket handkerchief and ran it over his forehead. "what's wrong, doctor?" "not much," gonzales said. "i just can't stand the way they spare me. since my illness it's been hell. for twelve years i was the national minister of public health education. don anibal appointed me when he was minister of education. he created the job for me. now i live on a pension, and outside of the few hours i put in every week as a consultant at the university and my handicraft projects, i do nothing. biologically i am now a vegetable. and my good friends, the people of san hermano ..." "_claro._ you mean they are too kind ..." the doctor nodded. "but they are my friends," he said. "they do not do this to hurt me. and now, what bothers you?" "my back. i think that i may have strained it." "i can examine you better in my office. it's in the next room." "thank you. but first, i'd like to talk to you about some other things. i don't know what's going on, but i do know that something is wrong. i knew don anibal in geneva, and i know that if he were well, your country would break with the axis...." the doctor sighed. "you are not alone," he said. "don anibal is a very sick man. no one seems to know what is wrong, exactly. he is paralyzed from the hips down, and he grows weaker every day. the mind is still strong, but it must rest so much that none of us dare to tax don anibal with worries other than his health. in the meanwhile, gamburdo has taken over." "and gamburdo? is he honest?" "gamburdo is not a man of good will. he is a clever lawyer and a very intelligent man. his family prospered under segura, but the general seduced a gamburdo daughter, and that turned them against the seguristas. gamburdo volunteered his services as a lawyer when tabio and the republican junta was in jail. but this offer was a calculating gamble. he knew that segura's days were numbered; he knew that the leaders of the junta would be the new government of the nation. he joined the party of radical socialism, but when he became its head, he saw to it that, like himself, the party became neither radical nor socialist." "he was for franco, you know," hall said. "i know. he was for franco and the falange and against tabio. but he is very intelligent. he managed to keep these things nicely hidden. when tabio was elected president and created the new government of national unity, gamburdo joined forces with don anibal--but only to destroy this unity from within. "this is the least of his sins. it seems that he has kept all the republican doctors from the presidencia. the only doctors gamburdo has permitted are the reactionaries, the old servants of the seguristas. we tried to talk to don anibal, but you know him and his saintly faith in the goodness of man. i think that, deliberately, he has placed his life in gamburdo's hands as a lesson to all of his old friends in the need for real unity. it is as if he means to prove to us, by getting well, that unity is the most important issue in the nation today." "and dr. ansaldo? is he really good?" "he has a great reputation. but it is a gamble for gamburdo alone. if don anibal recovers, gamburdo and his friends will say that it was a spaniard who saved the president. if he dies--even a great spanish doctor could not save him. either way, gamburdo stands to gain." in the office hall took a chair facing the microscope on the doctor's white enameled metal desk. he watched the doctor hunt through the instrument cases along the wall. on a lower shelf, the doctor found his stethoscope. "would you please remove your shirt?" hall shook his head. "no," he said. he gently took the stethoscope from the doctor's hands, carefully folded it and put it away in a small wooden box he found on the desk. "this is what i really came for, doctor." "my stethoscope?" "exactly." he explained to the doctor that with such instruments one could easily hear through an average indoor wall. "i have a queer feeling," he said, "that with your stethoscope i can perhaps get a hint as to what is actually wrong with don anibal,--or, at least, in san hermano." the doctor gave hall his hand. "i won't ask you any questions," he said. "but may i wish you luck?" "thank you." "now let me fix you a cold drink. i'm not very good in the kitchen, but we'll see what we can both do." pepe returned with news for hall about the change of rooms at the hotel. hall now had the room next to ansaldo's sitting room. he also told him that the spanish republican societies were planning an _homenaje_ for hall. "they formed a committee to arrange it with you, but i told them that you didn't want to see them until next week." "i hope you were pleasant," hall said. "of course i was, mateo. i just thought you didn't want too much noise about you in san hermano for the next few days." "maybe you're right, pepe." "what do you want to do now?" "take a bath. i'm going to a party at the american embassy tonight. but tomorrow i think we'll have a lot of work to do, _compañero_." "i wonder what happened to the little dog?" "maybe i'll know some more about him tonight." "what have you got in the box?" "medicine." pepe snorted. "_mierda!_" he laughed. "what you really need is ..." "i know," hall said, sharply. "that girl with the red hair." "excuse me," pepe said. "i am not a doctor." "you are too modest, _ilustre_." "have a good time tonight. i'll be waiting for you in the morning. or, if you change your mind, leave word with fernando." "good. until tomorrow, then." hall got the key to his new room from the clerk, as well as the packages he had ordered earlier in the day. the new room was larger than the other one. his clothes and bags had already been moved in, and the chambermaid had made a creditable effort to put them away as hall had previously done. hall went to the window, saw that it looked out on the plaza. he adjusted his window shutters for privacy. the wall between his room and ansaldo's sitting room had only a bureau against it. hall moved the chest slightly to one side, made room for a small, solid chair. then he took his bath. he was shaving when he heard ansaldo return to the bolivar. he wrapped a towel around his middle, put the plastic prongs of the stethoscope in his ears, and sat down on the little chair facing the wall. the hearing end of the stethoscope picked up only footsteps. the sounds told their own story. the man in the next room was walking to the window, then opening the shutters, then sitting on the couch. there were other footsteps, lighter and less pronounced. perhaps another person in the room was wearing soft slippers or going barefooted, like hall himself. "are you tired, _ilustre_?" it was marina. "no. why should i be tired?" ansaldo. marina giggled. "did you find out?" ansaldo asked. "not yet, _ilustre_. what was it like to examine tovarich tabio?" ansaldo laughed. "let me take care of the tovarich, please. and don't act too happy at the embassy tonight." "i am not a fool, _ilustre_. didn't the caudillo himself personally decorate me for bravery?" "now you are being a boor. i detest boors." "i am sorry, _ilustre_." "try to find out if they are coming in tonight." "they would not be coming by clipper," marina said. "too dangerous." there was the rustle of paper, followed by the padded footsteps. then someone--hall guessed it was marina--sat down in a creaky armchair. the man with the shoes got up and walked in the direction opposite from hall's room. hall heard a door open, followed a few seconds later by the rush of water into a tub. he remained in his chair, his stethoscope still against the plaster. the phone near hall's bed started to ring. he got up very quietly, tiptoed over to the bed. he hid the stethoscope under his pillow before he answered. "hello, it's me." "yeah, jerry." "speak louder. i can't hear you." "sure." he went on speaking with his hand around the mouthpiece to muffle the sound. "can you hear me now?" "just about. listen, i've got lots to tell you. i was with doctor when he examined the president, and he was magnificent!" "the patient?" "no, you dope. the doctor. what are you doing now?" "nothing. getting dressed." "me too. buy me a drink and i'll tell you all about it." "right now?" jerry laughed. "i know," he said. "you're not wearing a thing at the moment." "just a second. there. now you're right about one thing, anyway." "don't tempt me," he warned. "i might decide to check up for myself." "not now you won't! meet you downstairs in about twenty minutes. o.k.?" hall finished his shave and dressed, toying all the while with the notion of walking down the corridor to jerry's room before she had a chance to leave. pepe would heartily approve, he thought, and, besides, since that hour in the woods on top of monte azul, jerry had not exactly indicated that he would be unwelcome if he made a try. but while he speculated, jerry phoned him again from downstairs. "daydreaming?" she asked, and he answered, "yes, about you." she met him at the elevator in the lobby. "come on," she laughed, "let's go to that place in back of the cathedral. the little dutch drip was around here a second ago. he wants to tell you the story of his life, he told me." "o.k. let's just keep walking." she took his arm as they left the hotel. "miss me?" she asked. "i did." "you're a liar." hall winced. "is that the best you have to say? how about the magnificent doctor?" "he's really good, matt. i'm not kidding. i've worked with some corking medics in my day, but this guy is tops." she told hall about the masterly way in which ansaldo had taken command of the situation, kicking all the san hermano doctors out of the sick room and examining tabio only in the presence of marina, jerry and tabio's son. "what's the matter with him?" "ansaldo has an idea. but he has to make certain." "what does it look like to you?" "it could be many things. what's good to drink here?" "anything. scotch and soda?" "oke. but really, matt, you should have seen doctor in that sick room." she launched into a long and enthusiastic account of the doctor at work. the girl was on the point of repeating herself when hall cut her short. "listen," he said. "let me tell you something about anibal tabio and his generation of young democrats who walked out of jail and started to make history." he told her of the schools and the hospitals which had been built in the country in the last decade, of the minimum-wage laws, of the work of tabio followers like dr. gonzales. he told her how he first met tabio in geneva. "his was supposed to be just a small voice in the league; a little south american dressing to make the whole show look good. but a month after he got there, mussolini started to pop his goo-goo eyes at ethiopia. hoare and laval and halifax were so nice and ready to give the italian steamroller a healthy shove downhill to addis ababa. then one afternoon litvinov got up to fire some heavy shots. but that was expected. then del vayo started, and the fun began. because, when vayo was through, it was tabio's turn. and lady, what anibal tabio did to hot shots like hoare and laval without even raising his voice was just plain murder." jerry put her hand on hall's arm. "i suppose i read about it in the papers at the time. it didn't mean much to me then. i'm afraid it didn't mean much to me until right now, matt." "weren't you interested in what happened in the world?" "not too much, i'm afraid. i was interested in myself. i was making up my mind to go to reno, and then i sat in reno for six weeks cramming on my old school books, and then i was off to nursing school." "didn't ethiopia, and later spain, make any impression upon you?" hall's question was very gently stated. "of course it did, matt. i was sorry for the africans and i was sorry for the spaniards. i wanted mussolini to get licked and i wanted the loyalists to win. but most of all i wanted to get through nursing school and then earn enough money to study medicine." "in other words, if geraldine olmstead got her m.d., all would be right with the world, eh?" she avoided his eyes. "it sounds stupid and mean," she said. "but i guess i deserve it. i'm afraid that was the idea." "when did the idea die?" "about ten seconds ago, when you put it into words," she admitted. "i never thought of it in that way before. but i wasn't the only one, matt." "hell, no! you were in a majority when the war started. the whole country was sitting back and, as it thought, minding its own business. we thought we were wonderfully immune until the bombs began to drop on pearl harbor." "now you're being gallant," she laughed. "there were plenty of people in the country like--like you, matt. have we time for another drink?" hall was staring into space. suddenly he exploded. "_madre de dios!_ now i remember!" "remember what? you look like you've seen a ghost." "i have." hall tapped his head. "in here." jerry laughed. "i wish someone would come along and tell me what this is all about." "there's no time. let's get back to the hotel. i've got to change clothes and there's a guy i want to see before i go to the party." "but what's it all about?" "i'll tell you later." walking back to the hotel, he asked jerry if she had ever found the solution to a problem in a dream. "because just now i did. do you remember when you woke me up this morning that i sounded like a guy in a fog? well, i was. but just a few minutes ago at that table on the sidewalk, the fog lifted." "and now you feel better?" "sure. it's all over." "i think you're lying. i think that whatever it is, it's just beginning." "no. it's over." jerry was right. but what she did not know was that the fog had lifted on dr. varela ansaldo. the doctor was the spanish officer of hall's dream, the one at whose back hall hurled the knife. and at the table, sipping his second drink, hall had recalled in a flash where he had seen varela ansaldo before. it had happened in burgos, in april of , during a review of the th division of the fascist army. ansaldo, wearing the uniform of a franco major, with a big falange yoke and arrows sewn over the left breast pocket, had shared a bench on the reviewing stand with an italian and a german officer. directly behind them, on that day, had flown the flags of imperial spain, the falange, nazi germany and fascist italy. hall remembered the tableau vividly, remembered so clearly perhaps because while watching the review from the sidewalk he had been annoyed by the staff photographer of franco's _arriba_, who must have shot a hundred pictures of the officials in the stands that day and who had also shoved hall aside or stepped on his toes before shooting each picture. "i'll see you at the embassy tonight," he said. "oke. but get that scowl off your face first," she smiled. "you promised to be nice tonight, and right now you look as if you are planning to kill someone with your bare hands." _chapter six_ the american embassy was three blocks beyond the presidencia. hall wanted to walk to the party, but when he reached the street he became self-conscious about his palm-beach tuxedo jacket, and he hailed a strange cab. the embassy was housed in an old spanish palace which a former ambassador had left to the united states government in his will. after the first world war, when the government had taken title to the palace, washington sent an architect and an office efficiency man to san hermano to redesign the structure. the outside remained more or less intact. but inside, many changes had been effected. the spacious street floor, designed as the slave quarters in the seventeenth century and later converted to storerooms and servants' quarters, was now a hive of offices and waiting rooms. the second floor was devoted largely to a tremendous ballroom, a state dining room, and the tapestried private offices of the ambassador himself. the living quarters of the ambassador took up the third floor, while the low-ceilinged fourth floor, originally designed for soldiers, was now given over to servants' rooms. a secretary at the entrance checked hall's name off against a list on a teak table. he took the carpeted stairs to the ballroom. two butlers stood at a screen in the doorway to the big room. the first butler announced his name, but not loud enough to disturb any of the ambassador's two hundred-odd guests. the second butler nodded to hall, and led the way through a maze of dignitaries, diplomats' wives, and young people trying to dance to the music a rumba band was producing from a bandstand in a corner. hall followed him patiently, looking for a sign of jerry's red hair. the butler nodded gravely at a young girl dancing with a thin latin in tails. she left her dancing partner and advanced on hall with an outstretched hand. "mr. matthew hall, miss margaret," the butler whispered. "i'm so glad you came, mr. hall. i'm margaret skidmore." her hand, thin and remarkably strong, was covered with a white net glove that reached to her elbow. "it's nice of you to have me," hall said. margaret skidmore took his arm. "we must get you a drink," she said, "and introduce you to some of the more interesting people here. and oh, yes, to my father. but i warn you, he's not in the first category." she was short; much smaller than jerry, hall thought, but a bird of a different color. as they crossed the room, a wisp of the black hair piled on top of her head dropped over her eye. hall was amused by the way she blew the hair to one side twice before deciding to lift it with her gloved hand. "this is my dad's favorite punch," she said at the buffet table. "i forgot to tell you that the party is to celebrate the third anniversary of his mission." hall ladled out two cups. "here's to the next three years," he toasted. "the next three years are the ones that will count," margaret skidmore said. she was smiling at hall and at some other guests when she said it, but it was not polite banter. "the press secretary of the embassy is sore at you," she said. "he's angry because you tried to get to gamburdo without him." "i'm sorry," hall said. "if you'll introduce me to him, i'll try to make amends." "don't bother," she laughed. "smitty's a stuffed shirt who needs to be taken down a peg or two. but i must say that you look a lot different than i thought you would, mr. hall." "i know. i'm supposed to look like a hero and i have the face of a mugg. or a gorilla." he was still looking for jerry. "you're a surprise, too." "am i so different?" there was coquettish amusement in her hazel eyes. she tilted her fragile doll's nose, forced a haughty cast to her small-girl's face. "is an ambassador's daughter supposed to be a high-and-mighty lady like this?" "no. i like you better the other way." "thanks. it's my only way." hall spotted jerry on the dance floor with varela ansaldo. jerry looked very happy, and ansaldo had lost some of his undertaker's grimness. he tried in vain to catch her eye. "here comes my father." hall found himself shaking hands with a portly, middle-aged american who wore tails as if to the manor born. j. burton skidmore had the most imposing head of wavy gray hair in the entire hemisphere, and he knew it. his face, still ruddy and youngish, was pink and smelled of fine cologne. "_con mucho gusto_," the ambassador said, holding hall's hand and bowing slightly from the waist. "i'm glad to meet you, sir," hall said. "father, mr. hall is an american. he is matthew hall, the writer. you know. matthew hall." the childish, well-bred-daughter smile on margaret skidmore's face could not conceal the acid contempt in her voice. "mr. hall is an american, from new york." "oh, yes, oh, yes, indeed. hall. of course, mr. hall. been in san hermano long, mr. hall?" "no, sir. less than a week." "fine place, mr. hall. fine people. have you met smitty yet? dear, have you seen smitty? i think he and mr.--mr. hall could find much in common, margaret." "tomorrow," margaret skidmore said, and the ambassador helped himself to a cup of punch. "_amigo mateo!_" without turning around, hall said, in spanish, "only one man in all the world has a scratchy voice like that," and then he turned around and embraced felipe duarte. "what brings you to san hermano?" he asked duarte. "i am now a diplomat. first counselor of the mexican embassy in san hermano and guest professor of literature at the university." hall and duarte had last met in spain, where duarte had served as a lieutenant-colonel with the regular spanish people's army. "_coronel_ pancho villa" was the name his men gave him, and the thin, gangling mexican scholar had fought like a terror to live up to this name. of duarte, the general staff officers said that he was as bad a strategist as he was brave a man, which would have made him one of the worst strategists in military history. but during the ebro retreat, duarte had taught the veteran professional officers a few things about the tactics of guerrilla warfare which raised his standing as a soldier. duarte took margaret skidmore's hand and raised it to his lips. "_enchanté_," he sighed, and she knew at once that he was laughing at her. "señor ambassador," duarte said, speaking rapid spanish, "this is one of the most magnificent parties i have ever attended. how do you manage to give such splendid parties with only your chit of a daughter to help you shove food down the ulcerous throats of these sons of whore mothers, dear señor ambassador? it is stupendous. it is colossal." the ambassador smiled, shook duarte's hand, and bowing slightly, he murmured, "_con mucho gusto_." then, still smiling, he turned and walked away. "don't let this guy fool you," hall said to the ambassador's daughter. "he speaks english as well as we do." "better," duarte said. "ah learned mah english in texas, ah'll have yo'all know, suh. and mateo, don't let margaret's innocent smile fool you. she knows almost enough spanish to know what i just told her distinguished papa." "some day i'm going to know enough," margaret laughed. "and when i do, you're going to get your face slapped in front of everyone, i'm afraid. tell me, mateo, does _hijos de la gran puta_ mean what i think it does?" "that sounds like slang to me," hall said. "i learned my spanish on the linguaphone." "you're a fast boy, matt," she said. "call me margaret, if you wish." she straightened hall's tie with a perfumed glove. "i'll give you a little time with felipe, and then i'll steal you back. there are many people here tonight who want to meet you." "hurry back," duarte said. "he bores me stiff when i have him on my hands too long." "you bastard," hall said. "you're a diplomat now. don't you ever stop clowning?" "sure. when i kill fascists i am very serious. you know that, mateo. but here, if i did not clown, i would die of boredom. for example, when skidmore gives a party, the politicos in my embassy, they all find reasons for being out of town. i am not a politico. i am a professor of literature and a killer of fascists, by profession; a diplomat because someone wanted to do lombardo a favor and at the same time remove my face from the domestic scene. _claro?_ so it is clown or die. and if i must die, i prefer to die having a second crack at franco." "_claro, amigo._ but must you wear a suit like this one?" duarte's evening clothes were his cloak of independence. he wore a cheap tuxedo he had bought in new york for twenty dollars and a pair of worn patent-leather shoes that creaked as he walked. on state occasions, he wore the medals he had earned on the battlefields in spain. for private parties, he simply wore an enameled gold mexican flag on his lapel. tonight, he wore only the flag. all this he explained to hall in his gay, rasping spanish. "when the falangist embassy was still on good terms, i wore my republican medals all the time. but just before don anibal took sick, he insulted the caudillo in a speech before the university faculty, and when the franco ambassador called to ask for an apology tabio told him that the truth called for no apologies. so the caudillo got sore and he called his ambassador home. the embassy is still open, but a clerk is in charge, and there isn't a spanish diplomat in san hermano of high enough standing to be invited to any embassy." jerry joined them, and when hall presented her to duarte, the mexican kissed her hand and murmured, "_enchanté_." "miss olmstead is dr. ansaldo's nurse," hall said. "how very interesting," duarte said. "may i have this dance with the nurse of dr. ansaldo?" and before she had a chance to say that her feet were killing her, the dexterous duarte was guiding her through the steps of an intricate rumba he improvised at that moment. hall took another glass of punch. duarte was his friend, but at the moment he wanted to break his neck. he wanted jerry for himself, and he hated the idea of admitting or showing it. he watched them so intently that he failed to see margaret return to the punch bowl. "deserted?" she asked. "our friend felipe would desert his mother for a redhead." "he's quite a guy," hall laughed. "come on," she said. "there's a crowd that's been dying to meet you. the country's biggest publisher and some of the more important business men." "fernandez?" "that's right. he publishes _el imparcial_. confidentially, his paper is getting the cabot prize this year. dad arranged it." fernandez was standing with a group of three hermanitos and a blonde fortyish woman in a tight dress whom hall recognized instantly as an american. "i'm giselle prescott," she said, her smile revealing flecks of lipstick on her yellow teeth. "take care of the amenities, will you, gis?" margaret skidmore said. "dad is flagging me over at the other end." she picked up her skirts, hurried to her father's rescue. giselle prescott introduced hall to josé fernandez, tall, handsome, in his early fifties. fernandez presented him to segundo vardieno, francisco davila, and alfonso quinones. davila was a man of one age and build with fernandez, the other two were shorter and about ten years younger. breathlessly, giselle prescott told hall that vardieno and quinones were among the ten largest landowners in the nation, and davila its leading attorney. they all made modest denials. quinones asked giselle to dance, and she accepted gladly. her myriad blonde ringlets neatly blocked her partner's forward view. "very accomplished writer," hall said. "in the popular magazine field, miss prescott is supreme." "she is very able," davila said. like quinones and vardieno, he wore the emblem of the cross and the sword in his lapel. fernandez wore only the ribbon of the french legion of honor. "my niece told me that you had some difficulties at the press bureau today," vardieno said. "your niece?" then he remembered the golden cross and sword dangling from the thin golden chain. "oh, yes, the young lady who speaks english so well." vardieno explained to fernandez that hall had been unable to arrange for an interview with gamburdo. "don't you think you could help señor hall?" davila asked, and fernandez assured the three men that the matter would be taken care of in the morning. of course, it might not be possible until after the congress convened, but then politics in san hermano being what they were, the illustrious colleague from north america would surely be understanding. "what's the inside on the political picture?" hall asked, and the three men, talking in unison and talking singly gave him one picture. their picture was very detailed. "el tovarich--our red president, you know," had lined up the unruly elements behind a dangerous program of confiscating the estates of their rightful owners and turning them over to communist gunmen. in addition to this land-piracy scheme, tabio also intended to drive the catholic church underground and impose heavy penalty taxes on the parents who sent their children to catholic parochial schools. to aid in this program, tabio was throwing open the gates of the nation to red agitators disguised as jewish and spanish refugees. "so it's as bad as that," hall said. "worse." fernandez looked around him. "come closer," he said. "there's something i must tell you about your own safety." "my safety?" "yes, señor." fernandez had his right hand on hall's shoulder. "late this afternoon i received a confidential information that the communist party in san hermano had privately denounced you to its members." "denounced me? but why?" "yes, señor. and it was a most dangerous denunciation, too. a prominent communist leader telephoned the editor of the official red paper and denounced you for being an enemy of tovarich tabio and a supporter of señor gamburdo." hall smiled. "but that couldn't be so bad," he demurred. "the reds are always denouncing someone. tomorrow the communist party paper will attack me as a fascist, and i guess that will be the end of the whole thing." "no, that is not what will happen," segundo vardieno insisted. "tell him the rest of the information, don josé." again josé fernandez looked around to make sure that he was not being overheard. "señor vardieno is right, my friend. you see," he said, "the red who phoned the _mundo obrero_ ordered the editor _not_ to print a word about you--yet. do you understand what that means?" davila, the lawyer, explained. "what don josé means," he said, "is that a secret denunciation generally precedes an assassination. you see, señor hall, if the reds denounce you in their press, you would be marked before the world as an enemy of the tovarich. then, if anything happened to you--they are not only blameless, but even after killing you they can make great propaganda about how the alleged fascists killed you because you are a noted american patriot who stands for free enterprise." "pretty clever," hall said. "jewish cleverness!" segundo vardieno was shaking with rage. "give a jew a hundred pesos and in a day he has a thousand and you'll never know how he did it. but will he apply his cleverness for the good of the country? no! only for communism." "is tabio a jew?" hall asked. "confidentially," vardieno answered, "el tovarich is a sephardic jew. but we're not making it public because we are gentlemen." "and only because we are gentlemen," fernandez added. "i don't think el tovarich will be among us much longer." "is he really that sick?" "oh, yes," davila said. "you know what happened to him, don't you? no? well, it's almost like the hand of divine retribution." he told hall that tabio had turned over to one of his henchman a vineyard confiscated from an old family, and that in gratitude the henchman had started to distill a special brandy for the tovarich. "and now, the excess alcohol from too much of the stolen grape has taken its toll." "well, what do you know!" hall said. "it is the gospel truth," fernandez said. "i have ways of confirming the story." "some mess, isn't it?" hall said. "it is filled with dangers," vardieno said. "your calmness is admirable, señor hall, but you had better watch out. the reds are out to kill you." hall accepted a cigar from josé fernandez, took his time about lighting it before answering vardieno. "oh, i don't know," he said, casually. "perhaps you might know that earlier in this war, i was on board a british warship which the nazis sunk with aerial torpedoes. i not only survived, but i came through without a scratch. since then i just can't get too excited about a threat." he looked at the three men to see if his braggart's act succeeded. fernandez was obviously the most impressed of the three. "_bueno! muy caballero!_" fernandez said. "but you had better be careful. the reds in san hermano have none of the sporting codes of the nazi airman." "well, now that you mention it," hall said, "i did catch some bastard following me the other day." in a small voice, davila asked, "did you get a good look at him?" "i most certainly did. he was a big, clumsy brute in the white linen suit of a respectable business man and a panama hat. but i'll bet a good box of havana cigars that he was a longshoreman or a miner. i know the type." davila looked at vardieno and fernandez. a slow grin crept over the lawyer's face, and then the other two hermanitos were grinning too. "so they started, eh?" he said. "well, don't let that big one worry you too much. should he, don josé?" the publisher grunted. "no. don't worry about that one." hall could sense that fernandez was picking up his cue from the lawyer. "as a matter of fact," davila said, "i'll wager that you can find the picture of the man in the white suit in don josé's confidential file on the reds. he keeps it in his office in the _imparcial_ building." "i would be honored if you visited me in my office," josé fernandez said to hall. "perhaps i can make it this week," hall said. "sst," davila warned. "miss prescott is coming back. let's change the subject." "of course," vardieno said. "there is no sense in involving her in this." "this is quite a turnout," hall was saying when giselle prescott and quinones rejoined the group. "i think that every nation is represented by its ambassador here." "every nation but spain," quinones said. "el tovarich took care of that by insulting the ambassador and the chief of the spanish state." "it's true," vardieno said. "spain is a good customer for our nation, but el tovarich is so angry at generalissimo franco for destroying communism in the motherland that he is deliberately trying to destroy this trade in order to get even with franco." "he not only insulted spain," quinones said. "in his speech to the university, el tovarich said that only the so-called fascists in san hermano supported franco." "sounds like our pinkos back home," giselle prescott said to hall. fernandez exploded. "i am a good catholic," he snapped. "i am pious. during the civil war i supported franco. i was proud to support him. i not only supported franco, but i was delighted to hail hitler and mussolini as noble allies in the struggle against jewish bolshevism. but am i a fascist? i defy any man to call me a fascist or a falangist to my face!" davila turned to both hall and giselle prescott. "now don't jump to any false conclusions about don josé," he smiled. "after all, you americans are not reds because you welcome the godless russian armies of stalin as your allies in this present war, are you?" "bull's-eye!" giselle prescott laughed. "i'm delighted to hear you both talk like this. back home only the reds and the pinkos were for the so-called spanish loyalists during the war." she opened her tiny purse and found a leather address book. "gimme a pencil or a pen, will you, hall?" "sure. what for?" "i want to put down what señor fernandez and señor davila just said before i forget. i'm doing a piece for a mag and these quotes would just fit in. may i quote you, gentlemen?" "i have nothing to conceal," fernandez said proudly. davila was very gracious. "of course you may use these remarks. but please don't use don josé's name in your article. it might be misunderstood. you see, don josé has many enemies in the jewish and radical press in your country." "on my honor as a girl scout," she said, "i'll use the quotes but not the names." "you've got quite a story there," hall said. he was looking into the mob on the dance floor for a sign of jerry. her red hair was not to be found, but margaret skidmore, dancing with a bemedaled diplomat, caught his eye and gestured that she would join him at the end of that dance. she took him away from the group in a few minutes and led him toward the american bar she had rigged up for the party. "they sure were talking at you for a while," she said. "i could see them giving it to you with both barrels." "that they were. what is the lowdown, anyway? are those boys completely right about tabio?" margaret was amused. "oh, they're a gang of hotheads, i warn you. but nice. i suspect that our friend giselle is going to find don josé particularly nice." "meow!" "i'm not a cat. i just know giselle." "let's talk about san hermano politics. i think you know plenty in that little head of yours." "oh, i do. but tonight's a party. i've got to be daddy's good little hostess." "like it?" "bores me silly," margaret said. "perhaps we can talk some other time?" "tomorrow would be swell. i have to go to my place in juarez early in the morning. why don't you come out for lunch? it's a two-hour ride by train from san hermano. i think you can make a train at eleven." "tomorrow?" hall hesitated. "i wish you'd make it," the girl said with a sudden intensity. "it's a date." "i'll meet you at the station." they joined her father and one of the embassy secretaries at the bar. hall had a cuba libre, and was introduced to a south american painter. he listened to the painter talk to the ambassador about the beauties of arizona, watched j. burton skidmore gravely shake hands with the painter and mutter, "_con mucho gusto_." then the painter asked margaret to dance and, when she left, hall wandered off to look for jerry. he found her at the punch bowl with ansaldo. "may i ask miss olmstead for this dance?" he asked the doctor. "just this one dance," jerry said, "i'll be right back." she put her cheek against his, softly hummed the tune the band was playing. "it's nice to have you in my arms," he said. "it's nice to be in your arms." he held her closer. they danced well together. so well that when jerry said it would be better if they did not dance again that night, hall made up his mind to leave at once. "i can't hang around and watch you dancing with ansaldo all night," he said. "why, massa hall," she said, "ah swain ah do believe you-all are jealous!" "did duarte give you english lessons in one rumba, too?" "you're a goof," she laughed. he took her back to ansaldo, paid his respects to the ambassador, and looked for duarte. the mexican was talking to the tall young wife of the vichy ambassador. "felipe," hall tugged at duarte's sleeve, "i am afraid that i must go now." "i'll go with you, if you're alone. madame, _enchanté_ ..." he winked at hall as he kissed madame la comtesse's hand. "now we must pay our respects to our host." "i already have." "come with me while i do. i never miss it. he has kept me from squandering my money. i bet with myself on him, and i always lose. so felipe pays duarte, and duarte supports felipe." "what the hell are you babbling about now?" "your ambassador. he is an original, mateo. for three years he draws me to his parties as a lodestone draws baser metals. in three years, he has learned exactly three words of spanish: _'con mucho gusto_.' of course he still says them with a gringo accent, but anyone can recognize what he means. "for three years i am waiting for him to learn a new word, any word. _si. no. pan. mantequilla._ right now, i'd settle for just one new word. "in the beginning, when i was green in the business of diplomacy, i was younger and more optimistic. then i would not have settled for a word. i wanted a whole new phrase. nothing complicated, you understand. any simple phrase would have satisfied me. _tiene usted un fósforo?_ or even--_dónde está la sala de caballeros?_ but no. tennyson's brook burbles forever, and unto eternity j. burton skidmore will not learn more than his three words, and damn it, he won't even learn how to speak them correctly." "and you're still betting on him?" hall asked. "what can i do?" duarte said. "we stupid mexican peons have such a deep faith in mankind that we are always betrayed." "here comes the ambassador now." "_oiga!_" duarte stopped skidmore, took his hand, and let loose a stream of mexican obscenities, spoken in dulcet, smiling tones. when he paused for breath, skidmore smiled genially, bowed slightly from the hips, and said, "_con mucho gusto_." hall nearly collapsed with laughter when he and duarte reached the street. "you bastard," he said, "you'll kill me before my time." "let's have a drink before you die." "sure. but let's run over to the bolivar first. i want to see if there's a message. besides, we could stand some fresh air." duarte agreed. "i saw fernandez and vardieno trying to gas you," he said. "you could use some air." "you're not kidding, felipe." "how do you like the falange in san hermano?" "you mean fernandez and his friends?" "of course. that pepito fernandez, there is an _hijo de la chingada_ for you, mateo. once, when he was keeping a woman in paris ..." and duarte was off on a long hilarious story about the publisher and his lady of the hour. he was still telling the story when they reached the darkened plaza de la republica and hall suggested that they cut across the cobbles rather than walk two-thirds of the way around the square. hall stepped off the sidewalk and took three steps before he noticed the large rolls-royce bearing down on them with her throttle wide open and her lights off. "jump!" he shouted, but duarte, who saw it first, had already yanked hall back to the sidewalk. "get behind this pillar, quick!" duarte had a small pistol in his hand. he stood watching the rolls roar across the plaza and disappear into the alley leading to the avenida de la liberacion. "it's almost like old times," hall said. "he tried to kill you, mateo." "better put your gun away. and we'll have that drink first, i think." "i'm going to phone for a car from the mexican embassy from the next phone, _chico_. those bastards weren't playing." "put the gun away. it was a bluff." "you mean you expected it?" "hell, no! i didn't think it would take so soon. but they had no intention of killing me tonight." "the arrows?" "i think so." duarte put the gun in his pocket. "i don't understand. it seems a little too subtle for the falange. are you working for your government now?" "no. they turned me down. they said i was pro-loyalist during the war. right now that makes you a red in washington. i'm traveling on my own." "on your own?" "i'm well-heeled. my last book sold like hell. so now i'm young don quixote." "and your sancho panza?" "i have none. or rather, i have thousands of them. exiles. taxi drivers. union leaders. communists. first secretaries of mexican embassies." "what are you after?" "the falange." "good. i can help you, _chico_." "you'll have to. wait, i'm going into the hotel for a minute. come on along. i'll only be a second." duarte took a seat in the lobby while hall talked to souza. there was still no letter from havana, but souza had some information about the renault androtten had used. "it is a for-hire car owned by the phoenix garage on reyes street." "can you find out who hired it the other night?" "that will not be so easy, _compañero_ hall. the mechanics in the phoenix are not union members. but we are trying to reach someone there. perhaps by tomorrow we will know." "there's something else you can find out. perhaps from the mechanics union. find out how many rolls-royce roadsters there are in san hermano. i know it will be hard, but it's important." "i will try. must you know soon?" "very soon, fernando. a rolls-royce roadster, it was painted black or dark blue, i think, and just tried to run down duarte and me in the plaza." souza made some notes on a slip of paper. "maybe we can find out tonight," he said. "good. i'll be back in an hour. is androtten in his room?" "no. he's been out all evening." duarte knew a quiet little bar a few blocks from the bolivar. "they call it a lover's retreat," he said when they got there. "you can see why." most of the tables were surrounded with lattice walls, and those tables which were occupied were monopolized by couples who looked into one another's eyes and said little. "there's ansaldo's _maricón_," duarte laughed. "in the table at the back. i know the boy who's with him, too. he's a blue blood from the vichy embassy." hall watched marina and the french boy. they had pink drinks made with gin and grenadine and raw eggs. the french boy was giggling. "the bastards," hall said. "sit here and order a cuba libre for me," duarte said. "i'm going to phone for a car." now that the action had begun, hall felt better. the tension had been broken. hands were starting to be shown. now the moves would come more quickly, he thought, and they would be more definite in form. diverse facts would synthesize, and when the letter came from havana, perhaps the whole thing would start to form one pattern. "we can't talk here," duarte said. "let's have a drink and then, when my car comes, we'll go to my house. i rented a place on the beach." "sorry, boy. that's out tonight. have to stick around the hotel." "but we should talk, mateo." "i'll have breakfast with you at your house. do you eat in?" "sometimes. we'll eat in tomorrow morning." "eight o'clock too early?" "no. i'll get you out of bed, felipe. well, here's to mexico!" _chapter seven_ it was not quite six when the phone next to hall's bed rang and a tired souza said, "your driver is on the way up to your room, señor." hall admitted pepe a moment later. "what is it?" he asked. unshaven, heavy-eyed, the big asturiano seemed thoroughly upset. "_nada_," he said. "it is just time." he went to the window, locked the shutters, and held his finger to his lips. with his other hand, he first pointed to ansaldo's room and then to his ear. "oh," hall said, raising his voice. "thank you for waking me. sit down and have a smoke while i dress." he gave pepe a pencil and a sheet of paper. pepe wrote: "the englishman fielding was killed three hours ago." "how?" hall asked. the driver vigorously pointed to the street. "you will miss your train, señor," he said. "i'll hurry." hall dressed quickly, shaved, and went downstairs with pepe. they got into the car and pepe headed in the direction of the railroad terminal. "fielding was run down by an automobile near his house," pepe said. "was it a rolls-royce?" "i don't know. there was only one witness. an old woman. she said that he was walking across the street and the automobile just hit him and kept on going. she said it looked as if he walked into the car." "who is the old woman?" "a farmer's wife. she was on her way to the market with a wagon of meal." "didn't she describe the car?" "i don't think so, mateo. the englishman died instantly. he had a gun in his pocket when they found him. didn't have a chance to use it against his murderers." "where are we going now?" "no place. i just pointed our noses toward the railroad for the benefit of anyone watching us from the hotel." "oh. i have an appointment at the beach at eight o'clock. let's have some coffee until we're ready to go." pepe drove to a café near the transport union building. they found a table in the back of the place. "do you know any of the englishman's friends?" hall asked. "not many." "did you know his friend harrington?" the name left pepe cold. he was certain that he had never met harrington or heard the name mentioned. nor did he know anything about fielding's employees. "his secretary is a middle-aged hermanita. she lives alone with a parrot and minds her own business. i knew a man who was her lover once, but that was fifteen years ago." "do you know much about felipe duarte?" hall asked. "sure. but why?" "i'm to meet him at eight this morning." pepe looked at the clock. "then let's go," he said. "sometimes duarte is like a crazy man, but he is a good friend." "does he know you?" "we have met many times. did you know him in spain?" they went to the car, and hall told pepe about some of duarte's legendary feats in the war against the fascists. he was in the midst of a story about the ebro retreat when they reached duarte's cottage. duarte came to the door wearing a towel around his middle. "so you got up?" he laughed. "and you got pepe up, too! come in and fill your guts." he led them through the small living room, put on a pair of shorts and mismated huaraches. "we'll all eat in the kitchen," he said. "i'll bet you forgot that i'm a wonderful cook, mateo." he served a twelve-egg omelet whose pungent fires brought tears to hall's eyes. "this is really going to kill me," hall said. "the lousy gringo," duarte said to pepe. "he's got a gringo stomach." pepe defended hall loyally. after he had his coffee, he rubbed his bristling beard and asked duarte if he had a razor that could cut through steel wire. duarte took him to the bathroom. "shave and bathe while i talk to mateo," he said. when they were alone, hall asked him if he knew fielding. "sure, i do. he's the one english planter in south america who knows that the world is round." "he's dead." hall told duarte all that he knew about fielding's death, and what little he knew about fielding himself. duarte listened in stunned silence. "and you still think that attempt on you last night was a bluff?" he asked when hall was done. "i'm more convinced than ever that it was a bluff. but whoever drove that car knew that an hour later fielding was going to be killed by a car. and i'll bet that it was not the same car that made a pass at us last night." "then you're hiding something from me, mateo." "the hell i am. i'm going to tell you everything i know. just give me a chance. do you know juan antonio martinez?" "the young teacher?" hall told duarte about juan antonio's phone call to _mundo obrero_ and how it reached the cross and the sword in a matter of minutes. "fernandez and his boy friends told me about the phone call at the embassy last night. they warned me that it meant the reds were going to prepare an attempt on my life. now my cue is to run to them for help because of the rolls-royce in the plaza." "will you go through with it?" "tomorrow. but i don't like the idea. they don't act as if they knew about my record in spain. but it's crazy to think they're going to remain in the dark." "what are you doing today?" "i'm catching the eleven o'clock train to juarez. i have an idea i'll come back with a pretty good line on the cross and sword camarilla." duarte laughed. "i have an idea you'll come back from juarez with something else," he said. "not today, felipe. i'd like to, but not today." "she's a good piece." "forget it. i'm after stronger meat today." "like that nurse with the red hair?" "i'm serious, felipe. and we haven't got much time. listen, did you ever hear of a guy named harrington? fielding said he was his associate, and that he knew a lot about the falange at the waterfront." the name meant nothing to duarte. "but then, i didn't know fielding too well. i've only talked to him once; he wanted to find out if i had known his son." "well, you've got to find harrington, if he exists," hall said. "and one other thing: fielding had dinner with the new british naval intelligence officer for this port the night before last." "commander new?" "that's the guy. you've got to see new this morning. better send a messenger to the british embassy with a sealed note. don't use the phone." "what do i say in the note?" "anything. the idea is that you've got to stop the british embassy from raising a stink about fielding for at least a week. let the falange think the british embassy accepts the police verdict on fielding's death. in the paper this morning the police described it as an unfortunate accident." "some accident!" "act as if you know plenty when you see new. you'd better have him visit you, felipe. tell him that in a week you'll have the true facts." "will i?" "i don't know. well, tell him you think you'll have the full facts. and find out all you can about harrington, if new knows anything. see if you can arrange for me to meet harrington." "i understand." duarte looked at his watch and shouted to pepe to get out of the bathroom. "we've got to get started," he said to hall. "if i'm to stop commander new, i'd better not lose any more time." "good. where will you be tonight at about nine? that's when the return train gets in." "call me right here. what name will you use? pedro?" "pedro is o.k." "if we have to meet tonight, i'll tell pepe where we can do it. i'd better tell him now. have some more coffee while i dress, _chico_. and don't worry." duarte went upstairs. hall endorsed a hundred-dollar money order and ran after duarte. "one other favor, felipe. ride to town with pepe and me, and after i get out at the railroad station, please force that asturian mule to accept this check. he's refused to take a cent from me since i'm in town--and i found out how much gasoline is selling for in san hermano." * * * * * the train to juarez was on the line to the north which had been built in segura's time. the graft which had gone in to the building of the road was now scattered over the far corners of the earth. somewhere in paris, one of the chief contractors still lived on his share of the booty, paying varying fees to the nazis for butter and woolens. in new york, one of segura's army of illegitimate sons was studying medicine on the proceeds of some shares in the line which had belonged to his mother. estates whose rolling lands touched the rails on either side belonged to old seguristas who had bought the lands with the money they had managed to steal from the project. the money was gone, but the steel cars the builders had bought in indiana and pennsylvania remained. it was still a good railroad, and even though it now belonged to the government, the trains not only ran on time but were much cleaner and charged lower fares than before. hall watched the green countryside until the rolling landscape and the rhythm of the wheels made him drowsy. he turned away from the window, opened his newspaper to stay awake. the news was vague. the bulletin from the presidencia stated simply that ansaldo had spent four hours with tabio but had issued no verdict. those were exactly the words, "no verdict," and reading them again hall grew angry. he tried to figure out some foolproof way of cabling to havana, but the censorship hazards were too great. the inside pages had little of interest. bits of international and washington news. a feature story from mexico city on the great religious revival that was sweeping mexico and threatening the marxist forces in the government. this was in _el imparcial_, and hall recognized the byline of the author, a prominent lieutenant of the mexican fascist leader, gomez morin. there was a full page of local society items, dry stuff about weddings, dinners, parties, the goings and comings of the smart set. and the inevitable puff story, this one about the "great and noted lawyer" benito sanchez, about whom no one had ever heard a thing and who would sink back into obscurity until he paid for another personality feature at so much per column, cash on the barrel. hall forced himself through this flowery account of the lawyer's ancestry, wit, humanitarianism, piety, fertility, education, patriotism, skill in court, and kindness to his mother. try as he could, the hack who wrote this story had not been able to completely fill three columns, the accepted length for such compositions. the bottom of the third column had therefore been filled with a stock item in small type: "ships arriving and leaving today and tomorrow." mechanically, hall read the shipping notes. the _drottning-holm_ was in port. the _estrella de santiago_ was returning to havana. tomorrow, the _marques de avillar_ was due from barcelona. tomorrow the _ouro preto_ was sailing back to lisbon. the _city of seattle_ was now six days overdue; u. s. lines, inc., had no explanation. mails for the _ouro preto_ closed at midnight. hall turned the page and stopped. the rustle of the paper struck a hidden chord in his mind. he turned back to the shipping news, read it carefully. the _marques de avillar_ became as great as the _normandie_ and the _queen mary_ rolled into one. he recalled the conversation he had overheard between ansaldo and marina. _find out if they came today.... too dangerous to come by clipper._ but by spanish boat? he went back to the conversation. yes, that was exactly the way they talked. and after the talking came the rustling of a paper. not evidence, of course, and even in wartime you couldn't shoot two bastards like them unless you knew more. but was it worth following up? perhaps margaret skidmore would be able to supply another piece of the jigsaw. she had a sharp tongue, and this meant a sharp head. sharp and tough, and felipe was probably right about her other value, but if it happened at all it would have to happen when this mess was cleared up. the train pulled into juarez on time. hall got off and gaped at the station. it was covered from ground to roof with the blazing "tiger vines" whose orange orchid-shaped flowers were the unofficial flag of the country. margaret was waiting for hall under the station shed. "hi," she shouted, "have a nice trip?" "swell. let me look at you under the sunlight." in a tennis eye shade, green sports dress, and rope-soled _zapatos_ she seemed to be more of a woman than she was in evening clothes. "well?" "you'll do," he laughed. "it's just that evening clothes rarely reveal more than the size of a woman's shopping budget." margaret laughed easily. "you mean that you can't tell whether a girl in an evening gown has knock knees or a wooden leg. i have neither. there's my car. that little jalopy." "how far is your place from the station?" hall asked. "it starts right here." margaret pointed to a green field to the left of the road. "i have four thousand acres between the tracks and the main house, and then there's a lot of scrub forest behind the house that belongs to me." "all yours?" the car was raising great clouds of dust on the dry dirt road. "uh huh. the money came from mother's side of the family. since she died, i more or less keep the old man in embassies. she left him only cigarette money." she was very cold and matter of fact about it. "i see," he said. "don't be so shocked. i always talk the way i feel. the old man's a stuffed shirt and you know it. if he hadn't married money the best he'd get out of life would be a career as a floor-walker in macy's. no, he's too aristocratic for macy's. in wanamaker's philadelphia store. do me a favor. there's a big heavy ledger in the side door pocket. take it out and put it on my lap. no, with the binding facing the radiator. thanks." "what's it for?" she opened the front ventilator in the cowl. the gush of wind which poured in lifted her skirt to the edge of the book. "see?" she said. "keeps my skirt from blowing over my head when i open the vent." hall glanced at her bare legs. "some day you'll catch cold," he smiled. "what have you got planted on your land? looks to me like soy." "it is soy. three thousand acres." "that makes you a farmer." "the hell it does. that makes me an ambassador's daughter. the rockefeller committee planted it, with local help, of course. it's part of a demonstration project. the idea is to teach them how to grow new crops so that after the war detroit can keep the home price on soy down by importing just enough soy to keep it growing in south america. all i did was donate my land." "what happens to the proceeds when you sell the crop?" "oh, i suppose the old man will make a big show of donating the proceeds to the red cross in san hermano." "that the house?" "that's my hideaway. the old man can't come out here. he's violently allergic to soy beans." she started to talk about the soy-bean project and the by-products of its crop. the words flowed without effort. she knew the facts, the theories, the statistics, the chemistry of the soy-bean industry as well as she knew the road to her house. she discussed them as she might yesterday's weather, or a neighbor's dog. i don't give a damn about soy beans, she seemed to be saying, i just know about them because i was roped in to lend my land and i'll be damned if i'll give my land without knowing why. "well, that's enough talk about soy, i guess," she said when she turned off the road to the lane leading to her house. "i don't imagine there's anything else to know about it," hall said. "here we are, matt." "say, it is a nice house." "hollow tile and stucco. i found the plans in an old issue of _house and garden_." "i'll be damned. it looks as spanish as the cathedral." "oh, it should," margaret said. "it's supposed to be an authentic new mexican ranch house. let's go in and get a drink." like the railroad station, the house was also covered with tiger vines. it was built around a flagstone patio. leaded glass doors opened from the patio to the two-story-high beamed living room, the kitchen, and the back corridor. this corridor opened on both the living room and the stairs to the upstairs quarters. inside, the living room was furnished like a quality dude ranch--hickory and raw-hide furniture, mexican _serapes_ and dress sombreros hanging on the walls and over the large stone fireplace, a western plank bar with a battered spittoon at the rail and a lithograph of the anheuser-busch indians scalping general custer. the saloon art classic, of course, hung in a yellow oak frame behind the bar. "holy god," hall said, "when i was a kid this litho used to give me nightmares. it used to hang in the dirty window of holbein's saloon on west third street in cleveland--that's my home town--and every time i passed it i used to see more gore pouring down old custer's throat." margaret took off her eye shade and went behind the bar. "a drink should drive away that terrible memory," she said. "scotch?" "black rum, if you have it." "coming right up. that's a pirate's drink, though. although when you come right down to it, you do look like a freebooter." hall had his foot on the bar. "better smile when you say that, pard," he said. she smiled out of the side of her mouth and laughed. "here's to captain kidd," she said, raising her scotch. "this is good rum." "wait. i can improve it." she reached below the bar for a small wooden platter and a lemon. deftly, she carved off a slice of thick skin, twisted it above an empty glass, dropped the peel into the glass and covered it with rum. "try it this way." "it is good. so you're a bartender, too!" margaret refilled her own glass and sat down on the edge of a wheeled settee. "right now i'm farmer, bartender, chambermaid and cook. if you must know, outside of the dogs in the yard and the horses in the shed, we're the only living things within five miles. all my help is in the next town celebrating some saint's day or something." "you'll manage to survive," hall smiled. "i'm a pretty self-sufficient lady," she said. "or hadn't you noticed?" "i'm not blind." "hungry?" "i could eat. what's cooking?" "sandwiches. cold beef sandwiches and coffee. and if you're nice you can have some _montecado à la_ skidmore." "real ice cream?" "no. but a reasonable facsimile. let's go to the kitchen. you can help me carry the tray and stuff." they ate at the monastery table in the living room. margaret told hall the story of how she had supervised the building of the house and then ordered her furniture from a dozen different stores between houston and san hermano. she spoke of plumbing and artesian wells and wiring systems with the same detailed knowledge she had displayed of soy-bean culture. "do you know san hermano politics as well as you know soy beans and housing?" he asked. "better," she smiled. "i'm closer to it. but we've got plenty of time to talk about san hermano. i thought we'd saddle up two horses and go for a ride in the backwoods. do you ride?" "after a fashion. i spent a summer vacation as a ranch hand in wyoming once." margaret concentrated on hall's feet for a minute. "oh, i can fix you up with boots and breeches. you sit here and i'll go on up, change, and find you riding things. just turn on a radio and relax or fix yourself a drink while i'm changing." she went upstairs to her room. hall lit his pipe, turned on the radio. he found a program of mexican marimba music. "that's swell," margaret shouted through the open transom of her door. he could hear the water splashing into the bath upstairs. he lay back and closed his eyes, the radio keeping him awake. in san hermano, the announcer looked at the studio clock, gave the station's call letters, and read another "no change" bulletin on the health of the president. "matt ..." "ready so soon?" "come on up to my room. it's the third door to the left of the stairs." "sure." "would you shut off the radio, too?" he flipped the radio switch and climbed the stairs to the upper landing. margaret's door was slightly ajar. "that you, matt?" "the old pirate himself." he pushed the door open. margaret was standing near her bed, freshly bathed and completely naked. "i changed my mind," she said, thickly. "margaret ..." "no. don't talk." she had her arms around him, her mouth against his lips. the pine salts of her bath and the sharp perfume in her hair and behind her ears choked in hall's throat. "you're biting my lips," she said. he picked her up and carried her to the bed while she undid the buttons of his shirt with closed eyes and steady fingers. "i knew you were a pirate," she smiled. hall kicked his shoes off, drew the blinds. "are you surprised?" she asked. he locked the door and joined margaret. "don't talk," he said. "you kiss too well to talk in bed." there was the pine scent and the perfume and the savage odor of whisky on hot breath and then there was the faint saline taste of blood on his tongue and the rigid breasts of the girl pressed against his bare skin and she was trying to gasp an insane gibberish of love words and sex words and sounds that were not words at all. he shut off the gibberish with his hard mouth and then he started to lose himself in the devils that were coursing through his blood and the sharp pain of her nails digging fitfully into the back of his shoulders and the taut smoothness of her writhing thighs. for a searing moment the emptiness and the agonies of the past four years rose to the surface like a two-edged razor in his brain, rose slashing wildly to torture and torment, and then, as suddenly, they were lost in the devils and the blood and the white, pine-scented thighs of the girl and hall stopped thinking and gave himself completely to the one, to the only one, to the only thing that could answer the devils and the pain and the moment. then she lay at his side, limp, whispering, "god, oh my god, oh my god," and smiling at him with tear-filled eyes. "hello." "was i good? was i, matt?" and he realized how adept she actually was at it. sex was a soy bean, something you used, developed, exploited. "you're very good at this sort of thing," he said, "and you know it." "i'm not always good," she said. "this is one thing that takes two for perfection. like now." she reached into the drawer of the night table. "cigarette?" "no." "light mine for me, darling. i'm half dead." she smoked her cigarette in happy, satisfied silence, moving closer to hall and putting her free arm under his neck. then, with an abrupt movement, she ground the butt into the ash tray and kissed the scar on hall's chin. "who cut you up?" she asked. "some frenchwoman's husband?" but before he could answer she was lying on his chest with her open mouth pressing heavily against his lips. this time he could ignore the devils until the hot furies that drove the girl finally moved him to respond. but what had earlier been an experience which reached in and shook the guts was now a performance--overture, theme, variations, theme and soaring climax and maybe it was what she wanted and maybe it wasn't but baby that's the best you get this trip. when it was done she seemed happy enough. she smoked another cigarette and then she fell into a light sleep, her head nuzzling under his arm pit like a puppy's. hall lay watching the sun rays as they stretched between the shuttered windows and the smoothness of margaret's glistening back. "what are you thinking about?" she asked when she awoke. "really want to know?" "uh huh." "about a girl from ohio." "your wife?" "no. just a girl i know. i've been wondering if she has freckles on her back." "well, anyway, you're frank." "when are you going back to san hermano?" "tonight. i'll drive you back. i think we should get ready. the help might start straggling back in an hour or so." she kissed him tenderly, then savagely. "no, but this is silly," she said. "we'll get caught." she rolled away and got out of bed. later in the living room, margaret made two rum drinks. she had changed her tennis dress for a dark suit, and her fingers now carried three elaborate rings. "now i'm dressed for town again," she laughed. "without my rings i'd feel naked." one of them was a wedding ring; hall asked no questions about it. "are you still interested in san hermano politics?" margaret asked. "sort of." "what do you want to know?" "everything. fernandez and his friends had one set of ideas. i guess you know what they are. the tabio crowd speaks differently. what's the lowdown?" margaret went to the wide window of the room. "look," she said, "see all that land between the fence and the top of that hill? i've got some of it in soy and the rest is just lying fallow. what do you think it's worth?" "i couldn't say." "neither can anyone else. that all depends on the politics down here." "that's true back home too, isn't it?" "in a way, yes." she poured another drink for herself and sat down on the settee. "i'll let you in on a secret, matt. i'll tell you how i came to buy this place. sit down. it's a long story. and it leads right into the thing you're interested in." "when did you get it?" "two years ago. a young mining engineer in san hermano met me at a party given at the university. he wanted me to put him in touch with an american financing outfit. on a field trip he had undertaken as a student, the young engineer inadvertently stumbled across a treasure in manganese. the deposits lay in an area he alone could reveal, and for a consideration and a share in the profits, he was willing to lead the right parties to the site of his discovery. "i became the right party," margaret said. "the soy is growing over a fortune in manganese." "what happened to the young engineer?" "he's in the states. i got him a scholarship in a good mining school. when he gets out, he'll be able to run the works down here." "you don't miss a trick, do you?" "darling," she laughed, "my grandfather didn't come up from a plow on his muscles alone. but why don't you ask me why i'm not mining my manganese now?" "i suppose that's where the politics comes in," he said. "now you're catching on. you see, matt, anyone who didn't know the score down here might start mining like mad. there's a war on, the germans have grabbed most of russia's manganese fields, and russia had a practical corner on the world's manganese supply. it's almost worth its weight in platinum today." "then why in the hell don't you cash in?" "because i intend to live for a long time after the war, darling. and i'd like something for my old age. not inflation-swelled war dollars, but real hard money. that's where the politics comes in, matt. it costs like hell to start a mine. i'd have to dip into my reserves to get it started, or get partners and let them pay for the works. but they wouldn't do it for nothing. they'd wind up with an unhealthy share of the profits. this is my baby, and under certain circumstances i can run it by myself and make money at it. but those circumstances are determined by the politics here." "by that," hall said, "i take it you mean tabio's politics?" margaret was not smiling now. her eyes had narrowed down to sharp slits, and although she talked as fluently about the mine and tabio as she had earlier discussed soy beans, her voice had taken on a sharp, metallic edge. "i most certainly do," she said. "then you agree with fernandez and the cross and sword crowd?" "now don't tell me," she said, wearily, "that they are all a bunch of dirty fascists." "i'm not telling you a thing. i'm here to get the lowdown, not to hang labels on everyone in san hermano." "thank god for that," she said. "i can give you the lowdown, if you really want it." "that's what i'm here for." "i'm so sick of these smart-aleck pundits who are so quick to hang the fascist label on everything they don't like," margaret said. "i'm not afraid of labels. i'm only interested in the facts. i'm interested in my manganese operation. i'm interested in protecting what i have. and i'll fight against anyone who tries to steal what's rightfully mine." "you've been threatened?" "not directly. that's the hell of it. if not for me, or someone else with as much money to risk as i'm risking, this manganese would be useless to everyone. but i'm not going to sink a fortune into the mine only to have the cream taken away from me." "by tabio?" a slight smile touched margaret's lips. "not exactly," she said. "i'm a little more rational than fernandez and his friends. it's not tabio i'm afraid of, darling. it's the thing he's started. you don't open a few thousand schools all over a backward country and then expect the people to remain the same. it's not only the kids who go to these schools; grown-ups pack the same school houses every night. people don't want things they don't know about. but when they go to school they start learning about a million things they'd like to have--and none of these are free. they begin to want modern houses and radios and refrigerators and pianos--you have no idea what they begin to want, matt! "the schools are only the beginning. once the miners learn how to read and write, the unions come along and flood them with printed propaganda about higher wages. they tell the miners that higher wages mean higher standards of living." "don't they?" hall asked. "not for the mine owners, dear," she said. "higher wages mean lower profits. and when you run a mine, the idea is to keep the profits up. that's where the politics come in, matt. you don't pass laws--as the popular front has--forcing employers to bargain with the unions without making the unions so powerful that they can and do elect whole blocs of union deputies and senators. and then these blocs push through laws on hospitalization and social security and death benefits that cut into a mine owner's profits nearly as much as the wage increases. "in other words, matt, it all boils down to dollars and cents. tabio and his ideas are great vote-catchers--but the costs are enormous. and these costs don't come out of the pockets of the people who vote for the popular front candidates." hall watched her in fascination as she spoke. this was no mystic pilar primo de rivera, he thought, no hyper-thyroid hysteric falling on her knees in the cathedral and then rushing out with blood in her eyes and emptying a mauser full of bullets into the warm bodies of housewives shopping in the madrid slums. margaret's voice had not risen by one note. her hands were calm, she was still relaxed in the settee. if not for the hard sharpness of her voice now, she might still be discussing soy-bean culture or anything else as remote from her true interests. "fernandez and the cross and sword crowd might be hysterical," margaret said, "but they are on the right track. the government has to change quickly, or it will be too late for all of us. the cross and sword crowd aren't really natives, you know. they're spaniards. they got the scare of their lives when tabio's spanish counterparts took over in spain." "but why? they live here. spain is an ocean away." "money has a way of crossing oceans," margaret said. "they all had plenty invested in spain. if franco hadn't come along, vardieno and davila and quinones and a lot of other men you haven't met would have been wiped out." "isn't franco a fascist?" "labels don't mean a thing. i think democracy is the phoniest label in the world, matt. when it means a stable government, like we used to have back home before the new deal, i'm for it. but when it means the first step on the road to collectivism, i'll take any franco who comes along to put an end to it. that goes for the cross and sword crowd, too. or am i all wrong?" hall laughed, softly. "that's a rhetorical question," he said. "let's skip the rhetoric. then things are really bad down here, aren't they?" "they couldn't be much worse. i know it sounds harsh, but i think the best thing tabio could do for his country would be to die. with gamburdo in the presidencia, you'd see a return to something resembling sanity down here. he has a very sound approach." "but wouldn't he be too late? what could he do about the school system, for instance?" "the cross and sword crowd want the schools closed down at once. they want education returned to the church. but gamburdo is a good politician," margaret said. "he'd keep the schools open, but he'll clean out the ministry of education from the very top down to the personnel of the village schools. he'll simply turn it over to the jesuits. they won't have to open their own parochial schools; they'll control tabio's." "have they enough teachers?" "gamburdo told me that if they need teachers they'll import them from spain." "how about the labor laws?" "a law is no better than its enforcement. that's what i learned in law school and it still goes. can you imagine what would happen to the wagner act if hoover were back in the white house?" "you don't need too much of an imagination to figure that one out," hall said. "of course," margaret said, "gamburdo will need more finesse than a hoover." there was the little matter of the arms everyone knew were in the hands of the miners in the north. there was also the still painful memory of the one-day general strike called by the transport workers and the longshoremen when the supreme court delayed its decision on the validity of the tabio labor codes. gamburdo, she explained, would have to plan his acts like a military strategist. "because unless he does, he will need a military strategist to pull him out of the hole." "you don't mean a civil war?" that was exactly what margaret did mean. but gamburdo had a plan for averting such a war, or, if it had to come, to guarantee the victory for the forces of sound government when the issue was drawn. he would begin gradually by restoring to their army commissions the old officers trained in segura's military college. this he would do before attempting to circumvent the labor laws. "then, when the war ends in europe, a lot of good professional military leaders will be out of jobs," she said. "gamburdo plans to give them jobs." "how about the troops? will they be loyal to the new order?" gamburdo had provided for this, too. the army would have the best of everything; it would be made more attractive than life as a miner or a soy-bean cultivator. "but a boy will have to have the o.k. of his priest before he will be taken in. and what a priest learns at confession is nothing to be ignored. the church will keep the unreliable elements out of the army." once he had an army, gamburdo would then be ready to restore sound government in the nation. "he's a clever guy," hall said. "i had a hunch he was the coming strong man on the continent when i applied for an interview." margaret thought that this was very funny. "don't be a child," she laughed. "he won't admit to anything like this for publication." "that doesn't matter. what counts in my business is that i'll be on record as the first american to interview him, and that i'll get the credit for discovering him before his name is a household word." "right now all he'll talk is platitudes. but you might get him to talk off the record. he's gotten around to telling me things. and stop looking at your watch. i'll lock up and we can start back to town at once. you'll be back in plenty of time to sleep with her tonight." "with whom?" "whoever you have that date with. i know i should be nasty about it. but i never demanded fidelity and i always hated men who demanded it of me. that's the way we both are, darling, and as long as it goes off as good as it did upstairs today we can expect to do it often." she left the settee, walked over to hall's chair, and kissed his ear. he slapped her trim buttocks, shouted, "cut it out!" "let's get going," she said. "time's a-wasting." hall thought, as margaret drove him back to san hermano, that pepe delgado would have approved of her skill as a driver just as much as he would disapprove of her politics. the ledger on her lap, she pushed the roadster through hairpin curves and back-country roads with a confidence as cold as her reasoning about her manganese properties. "i'll walk to my hotel from the embassy," he said, when they reached the suburbs of san hermano. "i could stand a little walk." "so you're meeting her in the lobby," margaret laughed. she kissed him fondly when she stopped the car near the embassy. "darling," she said, "don't ask me to the bolivar. but i have to go back to the farm in a few days. i'll let you know ahead of time, and we can have a night together." "call me," hall said. "or i'll be calling you." an hour later he met duarte in the home of one of the secretaries of the cuban embassy. the mexican had borrowed the home for the evening. "we have at least two hours to talk here," duarte told hall. "my friend is at the cinema." duarte opened two bottles of cold beer, set one before hall. he took a long look at hall and burst into laughter. "did she give you any information, mateo?" "you bastard," hall said. felipe duarte doubled over with laughter. "mateo the detective!" he chortled. "o.k.," hall laughed. "so i was raped." "raped is the right word, _chico_." "when did she take you into her bed, felipe?" "long ago. my first week in san hermano. then once more after that. i gave way for an american aviator who came here to sell planes to the government. he was succeeded in a week by two men, a local _señorito_ named madariaga and the first secretary of the french embassy. after that i just stopped noticing." "who is her husband?" "she has no husband." "she was wearing a wedding ring, felipe." "that's a new development. i never heard of her having a ring or a husband." "she's a very clever girl, felipe. and a confirmed fascist." "she's only a rich _puta_, mateo. the hell with her." "she might be useful, felipe. what happened to you today? did you learn anything?" duarte shrugged his shoulders. he had little real information. "i saw commander new. he looked down his nose at me during our whole interview, and then, like an english trader, he started to bargain with me. about the week, i mean. he said that a week was too long. he would only give me three days. then--if i gave him no more information than you got from the _puta_ today, he goes to the police." "that's not so good." "who knows? the counsellor of the british embassy spent the whole day going through fielding's files with the widow. if they found those reports you saw that night, maybe the intelligence officer will give us that full week." "did you find out anything about harrington?" "commander new never heard of him, he says. then i thought i would make a real surprise for you. souza arranged with some smart boys to search ansaldo's room with a fine comb. but they combed not a louse, mateo. they found nothing of interest except that ansaldo's _maricón_ is a morphine addict." hall lit a black cigar from the cuban's private collection. "where the hell is my letter from havana?" he said. "take it easy, _chico_." duarte opened a fresh bottle of beer for his friend. "i'll be all right," hall said. "i won't explode tonight." duarte recalled an earlier occasion in a madrid hospital, when a phone call from the paris office of the ap had made hall lose his head. "to my dying day," he told hall, "i'll never forget those curses that shot out of your guts." "don't remind me," hall said. "i get sick when i think of it again. that was the time they held up my story on guadalajara because they weren't satisfied that i had definite proof that the troops captured by the republic were italian regulars." the mexican laughed. it was a laugh made bitter by the silver plate in his skull. it covered an injury he had suffered in fighting the italian regulars at guadalajara. hall understood. "there are too many bastards in this world," he said. "i wish curses alone could stop them. but we've got work to do. pepe didn't bring me here. he was busy on something else. i'll have to use your driver. have him drive me to some decent restaurant. i wish you'd come along too." "why didn't you tell me you're hungry?" "i forgot. but there's one thing your driver can do for us. do you know where the compañía transatlántica española pier is located? good. just have him drive very slowly past the pier on the way. i want to look it over." _chapter eight_ shortly after eight in the morning, hall sat down at a table in a waterfront café and ordered coffee and rolls. it was a small place with a zinc bar in one corner, patronized largely by longshoremen and petty customs officials. hall chose a table which gave him a good view of the compañía transatlántica española dock diagonally across the street. on the dock there were the unmistakeable signs that the _marques de avillar_ was coming in on time. minor customs officials in their blue uniforms stood around in small, important looking knots, their hands filled with papers and bundles of official forms. the passenger gangplank, with the line's name splashed on its canvas sides in crimson and gold letters, had been hauled on to the pier and lay waiting like a rigid, outstretched hand for the incoming ship. a row of motley cabs were lined up facing the pier, their drivers dozing or reading the morning papers behind their wheels as they waited for the business from the ship. pepe was not only one of these drivers, but through the transport union he had arranged to fill the cab line with trustworthy anti-fascist drivers. hall could see pepe slouched behind the wheel of the lasalle, his white cap pushed way to the back of his massive head. the cab strategy was pepe's inspiration. it did away with the necessity of following any of the cabs which picked up passengers whose moves might be of interest to hall. as a further precaution, souza had arranged through members of his union to get an instant line on any of the _marques de avillar_ passengers who registered at a san hermano hotel that day. a letter written in spanish with purple ink in a fine, delicate woman's hand lay on the metal table between the butter pat and the carafe of water. hall read it again as he stirred his coffee. "beloved mateo," the letter began, and hall chuckled at santiago's current dodge, "why did you leave me so suddenly without even giving me a chance to explain? it is you and you alone whom i love, _cariño_, and any thoughts that you have to the contrary you must banish from your dear head at this instant. oh, _cariño_, since you left without a further word i have had no rest, no peace, no sleep...." he skimmed through the first two pages of such protestations, then carefully reread the casual lines: "you are so wrong; it is true that i did know the doctor before, but he was never my lover. i knew him only because he treated dear carlos, but as a man i hate and detest him. how can i tell you again that you are wrong, that he is an abomination not only in my eyes but also in the eyes of my entire beloved family?" nearly three lachrymose pages of love frustrated followed these lines. "and so before i close my letter, i must beg you to drop everything if you love me and fly back to havana, even if only for a day. oh, my beloved, if you would only come back to havana for one day, i am sure that i can resolve all the doubts that are in your mind, mateo. in the name of all that we have shared, of all that is dear and sacred to us, please fly back to my arms, my love, my kisses--and then you will know!" the letter was signed, "maria." hall folded the letter carefully and put it in his wallet. it told him what he wanted to know about ansaldo. _he treated dear carlos--he is an abomination in the eyes of my beloved family._ santiago's style as a writer of love letters might be a little on the turgid side, but he knew how to make himself clear. and nothing could be clearer than his line on ansaldo. an abomination. a man who marched with the men who put that fascist bullet through the throat of uncle carlos. a bastard. the dock was growing more crowded. over the near horizon, a ship pointed its high white face at san hermano. a long throaty whistle came from its front funnel. then five short blasts, and in a moment the tugs which had been getting up steam in the harbor were heading out toward the growing ship. "the _marques de avillar_," someone at the bar said. a customs man at a near-by table gulped the remainder of his coffee and bolted to the pier. at the bar, a laughing longshoreman pushed a five-centavo coin into the nickeled red juke box, pressed the "_bésame_" button. johnny rodrigues _y su_ whoopee kids. two guitars, a cornet, maracas, sticks and a lugubrious baritone. "_bésame, bésame mucho_ ..." the raucous blaring of a klaxon at the pier ... "_la última vez_" ... again the horn drowned out the words. hall looked up at the cabs, ignoring the whoopee kids' baritone. a slender young man in a green jacket and cream-colored slacks was standing near the foot of the gangplank. pepe had taken off his white hat. hall kept his eyes glued on pepe until the man in the green jacket turned around, revealing himself as dr. marina. one of the white sedans of the ministry of health pulled up at the pier. a doctor and two assistants, the three men wearing the light tan uniform of their service, got out and started to talk to a customs man. he pointed at the white ship being shoved toward the pier by the little tugs. hall drank in the tableau, his eyes following marina's every move, his ears deaf to the next record being played in the juke box. "_otro café, señor?_" "_si, gracias._" but the fresh pot of hot coffee remained untouched. hall was still watching marina, but marina did nothing except shift from foot to foot while he watched the spanish liner draw nearer the pier with every turn of the heroic little engines in the two tugs. hall thought of jerry. he had missed her again last night, but they had a date for dinner at seven. doctor had promised her a night off. the messages at the hotel: josé fernandez had phoned, wanted hall to call him back this morning. o.k., don josé, as soon as i get a good look at the rats marina is awaiting. i want to hear more about the red menace hanging over my head. and souza had an interesting tab on androtten. the little dutchman had stayed out all night. naughty, naughty, wilhelm, gadding about with _putas_ the whole night through and god knows where you are sleeping it off but i guess your little dog is watching to see that no one rolls you for your wad. or wasn't it a debauch that kept you out all night? anyway, i'll bet you made your rounds in a renault you rented from the phoenix garage. the _marques de avillar_ was being eased into its dock. the cab drivers were waving at the passengers lined up at the rail, and marina was hopping up and down, shouting and waving a big yellow handkerchief like a banner. the coffee _por favor_ has grown cold and _por favor_ a pot of hot _por favor_ and that's the idea _muchas gracias_ and you could have docked the _marques_ in my last yawn. hall drank a steaming cup of hot coffee. the gangplank was being wheeled to the ship. there was a knot of ship's officers on the lower deck. they shook hands with the customs men and the medicos who trotted up the gangplank, led them inside to the main salon. men in blue uniforms with official papers under their arms. a press photographer and a bald roly-poly reporter. they'll be out in a minute, and damn it the morning sun is growing too bright for a pair of tired old eyes, and dipping his napkin in the fresh cold water on the table hall shoved the cold compress against his heavy eyes. two cups of coffee later, the first of the passengers from the _marques de avillar_ emerged from the salon and walked down the gangplank. priests--hall counted twenty--followed by scrawny stewards with their bags. a few of the priests were old, but most of them were young men who carried themselves erect, their shoulders squared well back, their walk the off-duty walk of the officer on leave from the front. hall wondered how many of the younger men in clerical collars were really priests and how many of them were used to wearing other uniforms. he remembered the day, less than two months earlier, when the c.t.e. liner _cabo de hornos_ had docked in havana and one of general benitez' men had grown suspicious of two of the spanish priests on board; a brief discussion of theology had been followed by a thorough search of their luggage, and the young travelers woke up the next morning to find themselves learning theology in the concentration camp on the isla de pinas. hall was humming "onward, christian soldiers." he watched two young priests get into pepe's cab and be driven away. the priests, and later four nuns, entered the cabs in pairs. then, following some customs men, one of the ship's officers came out of the salon with a man in a black suit and a panama hat. they carried thick portfolios under their arms, and behind them followed a steward with two heavy hand trunks. there was a blur of green and yellow on the gangplank, and then marina was on the lower deck, exchanging wild embraces with the ship's officer and the man in the panama hat. the three men walked down the gangplank, marina happily bringing up the rear behind the officer. he darted in front of his friends when they reached the pier and signaled one of the cabs. the first cab in line rolled up to the curb and picked them up. the sun shone into hall's face. he washed his eyes with cold water, had another cup of coffee. thick, the air is growing thick and heavy. hell with it. olive oil and garlic, coffee, squids, mussels, saffron, mackerel, heat. "_bésame_" on the juke box again. don't run off just yet. look at the watch. start to get impatient. _hombre de negocios_ waiting for a colleague to work out a deal. a ton of coffee, three box cars of ore, a round ton of sugar. he's way overdue and you're getting impatient, but you don't leave yet. you don't leave and show the little dog wherever he or his partners are hiding that you had breakfast here this morning just to keep an eye on the _marques de avillar_. no, señor, you would not be as careless as the faggot. no, señor, oh no, señor, only the air is getting thicker and somewhere in the kitchen someone is looking at me and laughing i swear it i swear it only i can't help it this is the only face i have. soft laughter. eyes looking in his direction. the now blazing sun. the flags on the mast of the white ship; crimson and gold of fernando e isabel, the triangular pennant of the c.t.e., and the mucking five arrows of the falange floating insolently in the breeze over the heart of a democracy. don't leave too soon. look at your watch again and curse the mucking _hombre de negocios_ who's holding up your big deal. and what was the name of the c.t.e. radio officer from the _ciudad de sevilla_ whom poor old fielding had in his report? jimenez, eduardo jimenez, thank god, my memory for names is like a sponge and what would you say if the ship's officer who got that _abrazo de amor_ from the faggot was c.t.e. radio officer jimenez and damn the sun and damn the olive oil on the hot stove chunks of garlic and squid floating in the hot oil and stinking up the thick murky air and it's cooler with the collar open. eyes looking at him from the kitchen. soft laughter. some joke. hall is cockeyed on _café con leche_ and what's that it's the cup you lug and what's that it's the coffee spilling all over your pants and if those empty-faced bastards in the kitchen don't stop laughing i'll get right up from the floor and put a right cross through their lousy guts. that's just the ticket. clip them with the old right, like the time in san sebastian when the gonzo with the feather in his hat made the mistake of getting within range. watch the old right, keed, watch the old k.o. sockeroo. watch it, watch it, don't forget to duck. watch it! * * * * * the driver of the rickety four-wheeled bus was thumping time with fat brown fingers on the rim of the heavy wheel. he didn't sing, just sat in his bucket seat with the faded flowered cretonne slip cover (bet you a good dinner his wife sewed it for him when he got the job) and thumped time. the kid with the guitar in the front seat was doing the singing. "ay, jalisco, jalisco." he was a nice kid and drunk as a loon, but sweet and happy drunk. nothing ugly about the kid. "ay, jalisco, jalisco." "why is he singing?" hall asked. behind him, someone in the rear seat answered, "he's happy. his favorite baseball team won the san hermano tournament." hall turned with a start, faced an impassive-looking farmer in blue jeans. "you were fast asleep, señor," the farmer said. "ay, jalisco, jalisco." a bad dream. go back to sleep. or better yet, wake up and put the light on. but the light was on. the dim yellow lights inside the bus. "ay, jalisco, jalisco." scots wha hae wi' wallace fled. scots wha ... god, no! a new song. no more jalisco. the farmer came into the town his cheeses ripe his mangoes brown he spied a maiden by her stall she ... god, no! "ay, muchachita, muchachita." the kid was still in the groove. four-string chord, six-string chord. _un beso, un beso! reflecciones de otros tiempos._ more nice chords. the farmer remembers other times, other maidens who pursed their lips and gave him _un beso_ when he begged. what am i to the farmer and what is he to hecuba? "for a _borracho_ he sings well." "yes, with a skinful he is a virtuoso." the sound of his own words startled hall. he turned around to the man who had spoken to him. the farmer smiled. "pardon me, señor," the farmer smiled, "but tonight you are a little of the virtuoso yourself, no?" "no." god, no! "i apologize, señor. you are not well?" "no. i am well." but where in hell am i? _ay, muchachita, muchachita._ cigars in the coat pocket. broken, all of them. smashed to shreds. i fell on them. when i fell they were smashed. cigarettes in the side pocket. black tobacco, thicker than the cigarettes back home, brown-paper package. _bock, la habana._ "have you a match?" that's a good one. felipe's been waiting three years for j. burton skidmore to say it. "_tiene usted un fó'foro?_" very welcome. yes, they are cuban. no, i am not cuban myself. i dropped the _s_ in _fósforo_? i have recently spent some time in cuba. yes, batista is a fine man. where are you going? is this your village? "good-bye, friend." this from outside, the farmer standing on the dirt road, hall's gift cigarette glowing in his mouth. a tiny village. houses, store, the whitewashed village school, a cast-iron statue of san martin and bolivar shaking hands, an open-front café, the small church. "hello, friend." the kid with the guitar waved at hall. "when did you get on the bus?" "i don't remember," hall said. "good. neither do i. what's your favorite song?" "_no pasarán._" "i know it," the kid said. "it is a good song." his fingers flew over the strings, found the right chords. hall joined him in the words of the spanish republic's song of resistance. night, deep-blue night, the yellow mazdas of the farmers' village way behind them now, and the _gua-gua_ rolling down the highway between plowed fields and fields of sugar and nothing in sight but the broad fields. "hey, driver!" that was me. i can talk now. i can stand, too. if i grip the tops of the seats i can walk to the front without taking a pratt fall. "driver, _gua-guero_ ..." "jump, it's not high, señor ..." feet on the ground once more. black blue soft chill night air. there goes the _gua-gua_. red tail light bouncing around the bend in the road. no ship. no sun. no garlic broiling in olive oil. nothing. get off the road. get up. off the road. get to the fence. get up, get up, here comes the blackout again, here it comes, watch it, men, this is it. he remembered the kid with the guitar, the rich voice of the driver. _jump, it's not high._ it was still night. he was lying in a field, about fifteen yards from the highway. the taste of black earth at his lips had awakened him. he turned his mouth away from the plowed earth. there was no sense in trying to get up. he knew that much. all in. he was all in. every bone, every muscle ached. he closed his eyes, sank into a deep dreamless sleep. thirst wakened him. it was a thirst that started in his throat, spread to his dry cottony mouth, sank deep into his drying insides. they were drying out, drying out fast. he had to have water, or they would dry up completely, and then he would be dead. i am now an animal, he thought. i must have animal cunning. i must sense water and then i must get to it. where things grow there must be water. a stream. a well. he got to his knees, started to crawl deeper into the plowed field, putting another few yards between himself and the road. he crawled into a clump of weeds. the dew on their leaves brushed against his face. "it's water," he said, and he licked the dew from the weeds. the thirst remained. fire. build a fire and attract a watchman, a farmer, another bus rolling along the deserted road. no, don't build a fire. cane burns like oil. remember what poor old fielding said? no fire. you'll be roasted alive. find water. it's a sugar field. must be an irrigation ditch around. find the ditch. more ground gained by crawling. then the sleep of exhaustion, no dreams only sleep until the thirst becomes stronger than the exhaustion and then more crawling until ... god! there is a ditch. hear it, smell it. must be water, couldn't be this much mulepiss. now drink your fill and bathe your face and get your head away from the top of the ditch before you fall asleep again and drown in two inches of it. it has a name. it's water. this time hall rolled over on his back when he felt that sleep was overtaking him. there were a million bugs on the mud walls of the ditch. they crawled on hall's hands, on his face, and one column of intrepid bugs slithered into his mouth and got caught in his throat and he was sick. he moved away from the mess, tried to sit up. he could see a mound of rocks near the road. with all his remaining strength, he started to crawl toward the mound. it took him two hours to negotiate the twenty yards between the ditch and the rocks. he lost count of the number of times he collapsed to his face and fell asleep on the journey. all he knew was that when he woke up, he had to get to the rocks. he could sit on the rocks and wait for a truck or a bus to pass by. then he could hail the driver. but when he reached the fence, he saw that the mound was on the other side of the road. fall asleep in the middle of the road and the next truck that rolls along crushes you like a roach. _putas y maricones! maricones y putas!_ blood will run in the streets of the city when i get up, the brown blood, the black blood, the blue blood. _arriba españa_ in a pig's eye. you mean _deutschland erwache_, señor, and come a little closer, you with the yoke and the five arrows on your cap, come a little closer and get your filthy head bashed in. god, when i get up i'll kill them i'll kill them if these chills ever go away i'll kill them i'll kill all the baby killers when these chills go away oh god look at the baby killers marching through burgos with the holy men shaking holy water on their lousy heads. whores and faggots! faggots and whores! i'm getting up! * * * * * he was asleep when the army lorry roared by and then stopped down the road, brakes screeching, rubber biting into macadam. the sergeant's brandy did no good. neither did the fresh water they poured on his face, the brandy they rubbed into his wrists. all this they had to tell him later. he remembered nothing about the lorry. the bus he remembered; the driver, the flowered-cretonne slip cover on the driver's seat, the farmer, joining the kid in _no pasarán_. he remembered jumping from the bus, crawling for water, giving up the ghost when the bugs crawled into his throat. and the rocks. there was that mound of rocks. now there was a narrow bed in a small room. a man's room, obviously a man's room. desk, lounging chair, worn grass rug. for some reason fernando souza was sitting in the lounging chair. another man was standing near the bed, looking down at hall, his fingers pressed to hall's pulse. "is that you, souza?" hall asked, and the night clerk of the bolivar left the chair and joined the doctor. "you will be well now," souza said. "the pulse is coming back," the doctor said, to souza. he let go of hall's wrist. when he went to the desk, hall could see the military trousers beneath his white coat. "can you talk, don mateo?" souza asked. "i think so. where am i? what day is it?" the doctor went to the door. he held a whispered conversation with a soldier who was waiting on the other side of the door. then he took souza's chair. "such cursing," he laughed. "when they brought you in, señor hall, you had no pulse, you had the temperature of cold beer, and your heart had just about three beats left. you were biologically more dead than alive. but i swear, before i gave you the first ampule of adrenalin, the curses were pouring out of your lips like the waves of the ocean. how do you feel now?" "very tired." "are you hungry?" "i don't know." "you'll be able to eat soon. i've been feeding you through a needle for seven hours. how would you like a steak?" "what time is it?" "five o'clock," souza said. "i've been here with you all afternoon, don mateo." "what's this 'don' business?" souza smiled. "i am glad to see that you are making jokes, _compañero_." "where in hell are we?" souza and the doctor took turns in telling the story. the soldiers had picked him up in the road some ninety miles from san hermano. more dead than alive, they put him in the lorry and rushed him to their garrison. there, while the commandant examined his papers, the doctor, captain dorado, moved him into the commandant's room and gave him his first shot of adrenalin. "was it a heart attack?" hall asked. "no," the doctor said. "you were drugged." hall listened to the doctor's technical description of the drug which had felled him. he had heard of it before. it worked like an overdose of insulin. burned up the sugar, then the energy in the body, and then blew the fuses. something like that, anyway. another hour without adrenalin and it would have been curtains. that second pot of coffee and the soft laughter in the kitchen. damn their eyes, that's where it happened. then eight hours of lying in the commandant's bed, cursing, sleeping, getting needles of adrenalin, needles of energy, needles of the stuff that makes pulses beat to the right measure. "are we tiring you?" "no, captain. i'd like something to eat, though." "i ordered some hot broth." "thank you. i'm glad you're here, fernando." "the commandant called me," souza said. "he found your address through pan american airways." "oh." the letter. it had gone to pan am for forwarding. then it was still safe. "i will return in a few minutes," the doctor said. "i want to see about your broth." souza waited until the doctor was out of the room before he spoke. "providence was with you," he said. "the commandant here is a tabio man. he called me at once to find out who you were. another man might have called your embassy first." "have they called the embassy yet?" "not yet, _compañero_." "what happened to the men the _maricón_ met at the pier?" "we have them under sharp eyes. they went first to jorge davila's home. then they went to the country. they are in bocas del sur at the estate of gamburdo's brother, the cattle raiser. the _maricón_ left them there. he is now in san hermano with ansaldo. they were to be with don anibal this afternoon." "and the girl?" "with ansaldo." "when are you going back to the bolivar?" "in an hour." "tell her that i telephoned to say that i would be out of the city tonight. i was to see her for dinner. what about the priests from the boat? are they all really priests?" "who knows? perhaps i shall know more when i return to the city." "how long will i be on my back?" hall asked. "did the doctor say?" "not long. you have recovered from the drug, he says. now you need food and another day's rest." the doctor returned followed by a soldier who carried a small tray. "hot soup," he said. "and after the soup, some rich beef stew. but first, some brandy. three glasses, corporal. we'll drink to the memory of lazarus." he helped hall sit up in bed, propped some pillows behind his back. only when he sat up did hall notice that a large signed photograph of anibal tabio hung over the commandant's desk. "let's rather drink to the health of anibal tabio," hall proposed. souza and the doctor watched with approval as hall ate the soup and the stew, and then sipped maté through a silver straw. "he's going to be well in a matter of hours," the doctor said. "well enough to start cursing again. it is a shame that i do not know english. but your spanish curses were enough for me." "what was i cursing?" hall asked. "what didn't you curse, señor? franco, _putas, maricones_, hitler, gamburdo, the cross and sword ..." "god! who heard me?" the doctor smiled. "be tranquil," he said. "just the commandant and myself, and one of the soldiers. but you don't have to worry about the soldier. he is the son of a miner in the north." "the soldier," souza said, "is reliable. i have already seen him." "you are among friends," the doctor said. "souza has told us about you." "i owe my life to you," hall said. "from what i have learned," the doctor laughed, "you are not an easy man to kill." "when can i get out of bed?" "tomorrow. that is just as well, señor. the garrison tailor is cleaning your suit now. would you like more maté?" "could i have another brandy?" "of course. but then you must sleep." "i'm tired of sleeping." "i am prepared for that." the doctor called for the corporal, ordered him to prepare a hypodermic syringe. "you must get some sleep, señor," he said. in the morning, the doctor pronounced hall well enough to leave the commandant's bed. hall's clothes, the suit cleaned and freshly pressed, the shirt washed and ironed, the shoes polished to a glow, were laid out on a chair near the bed. "we do things thoroughly in the army," the doctor said. "i see." "the commandant would like to join you for breakfast." "in the officers' mess?" "no. here." "please tell him that i would be honored." "good. can you dress yourself?" "i'm all right, thanks to you, captain. i feel as if i'd had a week's rest on some quiet beach." "i'll get the commandant, then. the corporal will show you the way to the washroom. i've laid out my razor and shaving things for you." it was good to stand on steadied legs again, good to walk erect like a man. the razor had a nice edge. it sliced through the stems of the two-day beard without snagging. for some reason, the efficiency of the razor delighted hall beyond measure. he studied the results of the shave in the wall mirror, then looked for signs of his illness. two days were lost, he thought, two days of which he could account for but a few hours. the doctor could fill in most of the second day. the first night was something hall himself could remember. it was like a bad dream one longs to forget, but he could remember the bus, the field, the ditch, the rock pile. he could remember staggering, crawling, getting sick, passing out and crawling and passing out again. but there were at least ten hours that remained a total blank; that portion of the day between the time he blacked out in the café near the spanish line's pier and the moment he became aware of the kid in the bus. an enlisted man was cleaning up the commandant's room when hall returned. "the major will be here in five minutes," he told hall. "and in the meanwhile, he sent you these." he handed hall a flat tin of american cigarettes. hall offered one of the cigarettes to the soldier. he sat down in the leather chair near the desk, looked at the inscription on tabio's photograph. "to my dear diego, my comrade in prison and in freedom--anibal." "the commandant is a close friend of don anibal's," the soldier said. "i think i hear him coming now." the soldier stepped out of the room. a moment later someone rapped gently on the door. "come in," hall shouted. the door opened. in the doorway, a man in uniform, his hat carried correctly under his left arm, paused, made a soft salute. "major diego segador," he said. "we are honored to have you as our guest." he shook hands with hall, sat down in the desk chair facing the portrait of tabio. "i am grateful to you for--everything," hall said. "it was nothing," segador said. "after souza spoke to me about you, i was sorry we could not do more." "what more could you have done?" the major's lips parted over his long teeth in a mirthless smile. "we could have killed the _cabrón_ who drugged you, _compañero_." "you know who did it?" "it could have been anyone in that café. what's the matter with delgado? didn't he know it is owned by a dirty falangist?" color rose to the major's dark cheeks. he was a man of hall's own years, shorter, but with a pair of powerful hands capable of hiding the hands of a man twice his size. the hands were gripping the arms of his chair now, the knuckles white as the major fought to control his rage. hall knew the feeling, sensed the fires that burned in the major's head. he called me _compañero_ a moment ago, he thought, he knows what i'm after. "pepe is all right," hall said. "he should have more brains." the major opened the locked middle drawer of his desk, pulled out a sealed brown envelope. "your papers," he said. "please examine them and see if everything is present." hall tore open the envelope, shook the contents to the desk. passport, wallet, not more than fifty pesos missing, a book of travelers' checks, some sheets of blank paper, a small leather address book, wrist watch, the bock cigarettes. except for the fifty pesos, everything else which belonged in the wallet was there, money, pictures, cards, the letter from havana. "nothing is missing," hall said. he took the letter from its envelope and counted the pages. "i'm sorry i had to read your love letter," segador said. "but it was necessary." "i know," hall said. "but it is not a love letter." the massive face of the major reflected his surprise. "not a love letter?" he asked. "ah, here's the coffee. come in, corporal. set the trays down on the desk." hall waited until the corporal left. "it is not a love letter," he repeated. "i would like very much to interpret it for you. i think it might explain why i was drugged." "before you start," the major said, "there are two things that you should know. the first is that souza has given me a fairly good idea of why you came to our country. the second is that for your own sake, and for ours, i had to notify your embassy that we had picked you up drunk in a village café last night." "drunk?" "i'm sorry, _compañero_. i mean no disrespect, but your embassy is not very much in sympathy with many things a man like yourself is willing to die defending. under the circumstances, you can spare yourself some unnecessary trouble if you say merely that you were drunk. if you stick to this story, you can help yourself and, to be very frank, you can help don anibal." "you are his friend, aren't you?" the major got to his feet. "his friend?" he undid his tie, then took his shirt off. his torso was a mass of old and, for the main part, improperly sewn scars. mementoes of bullets, steel whips, knives. "my republicanism is more than skin deep, my friend." "then i can tell you everything." hall dipped into the tin of american cigarettes. "it started in san juan," he began, "or rather it really started in geneva, when i met don anibal for the first time. but it was in san juan that i read that dr. ansaldo was on his way to san hermano to treat don anibal. and if i may jump to the end of my story first, this love letter seems to confirm what i suspected about ansaldo. do you see what it says here about the doctor who treated carlos?" for an hour, hall told segador of what he had learned and experienced since arriving in the country. the major interrupted with questions frequently, made notes in a small black notebook. "please," he said, when hall finished his account, "i am going to repeat the important parts of the story to you. correct me if i am wrong or if i leave anything out." he recited the story back to hall, then consulted his watch. "the press secretary of your embassy is due to call for you in a few minutes," he said. "please remember your story. you were drunk." "was i with a _puta_?" hall asked. the major grinned. "no," he said, "that i did not think necessary. although if it were, i assure you i would tell your embassy that you were with the mangiest _puta_ in six provinces." "what do we do now?" "it is hard to say. in the meanwhile, i think there is something you need." he took a large automatic out of his desk, slipped a clip of bullets into its grip, and handed the gun and a small box of cartridges to hall. "if we could only prove to don anibal before it is too late that ansaldo ..." "how?" "we must find a way. in the meanwhile, stay alive for the next few days. i have friends. they will watch for your safety. souza, others. they will bring you my messages. and be careful in cafés." _chapter nine_ the american embassy sent a well-dressed young attaché to call for hall in the morning. he arrived in a low-slung yellow sedan, introduced himself as orville smith, snubbed everyone in sight, and relaxed only when he and hall were well out of sight of the camp. "they said that you sure hung one on," he said pleasantly and, hall realized, with even a touch of admiration. "must have been something i ate," hall answered. "glad you turned up intact, old man. might have led to some amusing complications. if the major had called five minutes later, this would have appeared on the front page of _el imparcial_ this morning." he gave hall a galley proof of a news story. _missing american writer believed victim of communists._ missing since yesterday ... last seen leaving hotel ... on wednesday, at american embassy party, hall had discussed red threats to his safety, told publisher of _imparcial_ that giant red assassin had followed him day before ... embassy officials described hall as author of book on experiences on _h.m.s. revenger_ ... the missing american failed to phone or keep appointment made with publisher of _imparcial_ in connection with soviet threats ... feared abducted and killed. "what do you make of it?" hall asked. "politics. they take their politics seriously down here. was it true that you were followed?" "yes. but not by the reds. by the fascists." "are there any fascists down here?" this in a tone of detached amusement. "a few. how well do you know fernandez?" "quite well. he's one of the few gentlemen in san hermano. comes from an old spanish aristocratic family. did you really have an appointment with him?" "it wasn't definite. he told me he had heard of some red plot to bump me off. i just kidded him along." "mr. fernandez is really very well informed," smith said. "he has a crack staff of reporters, and the information that they pick up shouldn't be ignored." "yeah," hall said. "i hear he's good. matter of fact, i heard _imparcial_ is getting the cabot prize this year." it was like a shaft driven into smith's armor. "no!" he exclaimed. "who told you?" "some _puta_," hall said, dryly. "in bed." he watched the blood rushing to orville smith's head. "you'd be surprised at what a gal who sleeps around can pick up." "she was pulling your leg, hall." hall grinned. "please, mr. smith," he said. "gentlemen don't discuss such things." smith grew redder. "not to change the subject," hall said, "but what's cooking in town? in politics, for example. doesn't the congress open today?" "not really. they have the ceremonial opening this afternoon. according to tradition, the president speaks to the entire congress. then they settle down to a week of reviewing last year's business. the first working session really starts in about ten days." "and today i guess gamburdo is speaking instead of tabio." "oh, beyond a doubt. tabio is really on his last legs, old man. i suppose i should feel sorry about the old coot, but then you learn things in my game." "about tabio?" "oh, yes. we had information that in his address to the congress, tabio was planning to call for the nationalization of all the mines in the country." "but why?" "oh," smith said, "because he was being forced into it, i guess. i've met tabio and he's not as bad as his enemies make him out to be. but what are you going to do when you are elected by a popular front majority? the communist senators and deputies are all from the mining provinces up north. they've been hollering for the nationalization of the mines for twenty years. now they're strong enough to put the squeeze on tabio." "but isn't gamburdo in the popular front?" "gamburdo is different," smith said. "he has different ideas, and he can't be pressured by the bolos." "i'm doing a story on gamburdo for a magazine back in the states. you get around. tell me more about gamburdo. i've got him down as the coming man on the continent. am i half cocked, or is he really hot?" orville smith discussed gamburdo, tabio, the political scene. he talked about the politicos, about their ideas, about the gossip which followed them in their careers. carefully prodded by hall, he spoke fluently for nearly two hours. it was a very revealing monologue. it told hall how orville smith had spent his three years in san hermano. week-end parties at the estates of wealthy spanish planters. dinners, cocktails, high masses, weddings, fishing trips with the vardienos and the fernandezes and the gamburdos. info straight from the horse's mouth. tabio the tool and or agent of bolshevism. the better element. how social legislation would push taxes up and cut down returns on american investments. vardieno gives lovely parties on his island. no, not many lately. no oil for the boats, hard enough to get it for his narrow-gauge diesel locomotives. fine lad, young quinones; made the golf team at princeton. the vardieno girl in the press bureau? that would be the one who went to finishing school in the states. she just started in at the bureau for some experience. cross and sword? oh, i know the pinkos back home would call it fascist. it's not, really. conservative, for free enterprise and private ownership. all the better-element folks belong or support it. do i know any labor leaders? no, never met one. did i ever spend a week-end in a small village hotel? no, thank you, the roaches are bigger than sparrows in the sticks. hall thought about the art of diplomacy. you take a kid from the ffv's and at an early age you wrap him in cellophane and send him off to some nice, prophylactic boarding school, well-heeled white gentiles only, thank you, high episcopalians preferred, and only nice clean thoughts, none of them less than a century old, are gently swished against the cellophane until some of them seep through by osmosis. he meets only the sons of the better element and outside of an adolescent clap he picks up on one wild week-end with some of the boys in new york he has no real problem until he's eased out of prep and then he has an idea he wants to go to harvard but the family prevails and he does time at princeton, nearly makes varsity football but a high tackle in a practice scrimmage changes his mind, and then he is ready for his place on the board of the mill but someone--a nice girl of fine breeding, no doubt--puts another idea in his head. so he goes to georgetown, fills out a lot of nasty forms, and then, _voilá!_, the young monsieur arrives in paris as third secretary and dreamily sends that first letter home to the folks: hello folks, here i am in gay paree learning how to be an ambassador. and then in paris, hall thought, listening to orville smith, your young third secretary naturally gravitates to his french equivalents, the young bluebloods who were reared in french cellophane and got the same ideas, only in french, in their own versions of princeton and groton. the better element meets the better element, and he makes factual, intelligent reports. the popular front falling into hands of the bolos. this he learns at a week-end party on flandin's yacht. the croix de feu and the cagoulards are fine, conservative forces. only the pinkos call them fascists, but bertrand de juvenal, the fledgling ambassador's pal, knows otherwise. sit-down strikes, forty-hour week, vacations with pay--he puts them all down in his reports; communist, of course. got the lowdown on the beach at cannes just the other day. daladier is the man to watch. yes, he is in the popular front. but daladier's different. he's like monsieur laval, the french calvin coolidge. fine force for sensible government. there will be no war, munich has settled that. got the lowdown from flandin himself. germany will be defeated. spent a most fascinating week-end with general weygand. marechal pétain is man of the hour. marechal pétain will make france another verdun. vichy wants to be friends with washington. the marechal indignantly denies, in private, that that was a nazi salute you saw in the newsreels, sir, he says he was just waving at the cameramen. but bertrand de juvenal does not deny, and laval does not deny, and daladier weeps in his collapsed house of cards. and then comes the transfer to san hermano at a better rating. smith pointed to the suburbs of san hermano ahead of them. "we made good time," he said. "we'll be in the embassy in ten minutes." "good going. you can drop me at the bolivar, if you don't mind." "not at all, old man. but say, why don't you drop by for a spot of lunch with the old man and the boys at the embassy? we'd love to have you with us and, besides, the old man will probably want to see for himself that you're in one piece." hall looked at his watch. "what time do you have lunch?" "about one." "good. i'd like to join you. but i'll still have time to stop off at the bolivar to change and pick up my mail. i'm expecting a letter from my sweetheart." * * * * * pepe was waiting in his cab in front of the bolivar. he was contrite and subdued. "i nearly killed you with my stupidity, mateo," he said. "i should have known that café was owned by falangistas." "it's nothing, pepe. i had it coming to me. i'm all over it now, anyway. what's new?" "i have the complete list of where the passengers from the _marques de avillar_ are staying. their names, too. except the names of the two men who are at the gamburdo ranch. but they are still there." "did you recognize any of the names?" "my friends are examining the lists now. i'll have them back for you in the evening." "have you seen duarte?" "i told him about you. he wants you to call him at the mexican embassy." "i will, later. i have to go to my room for a minute, and then i want you to take me to the american embassy. i'm having lunch there." he entered the hotel and asked for his mail at the desk. there was a message from jerry, a short gossipy note from his publisher, and another love letter from havana. the note from jerry was very short. "i missed you, you dog," it said. "phone me when you return to town. jerry." the letter from havana, mailed the day after the first letter, was almost a duplicate of the first. again it protested its love, but this time it said, "how many times must i tell you that the man you think is your rival is unworthy of all human decencies? far from being a rival in my eyes, i look upon him as a creature worse than an assassin. you must believe me; i detest the man." hall put the letter in his wallet. he examined his room carefully. it had not been searched, the stethoscope was still in its hiding place, his clothes were just as he had left them. everything was as it had been. hall took out his portable typewriter, copied the _el imparcial_ story which had been killed, and sealed the copy in an envelope. he went downstairs, got into the cab, and slipped the envelope into pepe's pocket. "give the envelope to dr. gonzales," he said. "and tell him to get the information to major segador right away." "i'll drive right out to the doctor as soon as i leave you. shall i wait for you outside of the american embassy after i see the doctor?" "i think you'd better." ambassador skidmore seemed pleased to see hall. "you gave us quite a scare, young fellow," he said, his ruddy face beaming, white hair bobbing as skidmore shook his head from side to side in mock anxiety. "ah, you newspaper boys," he laughed. "always going off on a tear when you are least expected to! and here poor joe fernandez was so sure that the reds had made hamburger out of you, hall." "i'm sorry i spoiled a good story," hall said. "i'd better call fernandez on the phone before he sends out another alarm." "no need to, my boy," the ambassador said. "joe fernandez is joining us at lunch." fernandez showed up with a former senator, a dignified old dandy named rios, who sported a silver-headed cane, a waxed, dyed mustache, and a cross and sword emblem in his lapel. they shared the table in the ambassador's small private dining room with hall, orville smith and the ambassador. the publisher fawned over hall like a long-lost brother. "you are safe," he exclaimed. "thanks be to the virgin mother! what happened? was it very bad?" "i got drunk," hall said. "that's all that happened." "ridiculous, señor hall! you are a man who can take his drink. you were drugged. mark my words, señor, you were drugged. you don't know these reds." orville smith winked broadly at hall. "the main thing is," he said to fernandez, "that hall is safe now. i'm sure he appreciates your concern, don josé." in deference to the ambassador's three-word spanish vocabulary, smith and the others spoke english. rios, who spoke only spanish, sat between skidmore and smith, who acted as their interpreter. "what province did you represent in the senate?" hall asked the former senator. "san martin, in the north." "don joaquin is a great statesman," fernandez interrupted. "but when el tovarich prepared his gangsters for the elections two years ago, he armed the red miners and they held their guns in the ribs of don joaquin's majority." hall listened to smith translate this account of rios' defeat at the polls before he spoke. "and do you plan to run again, señor rios?" he asked. fernandez answered for the dandy. "he will run again," he shouted, "and he will be elected. fire can fight fire. guns can fight guns." "i have _pantalones_," rios said. "i am a man of honor." "don joaquin's constituents demand that he runs again," fernandez said. he turned to the ambassador, became his own translator. the ex-senator nodded happily at every word fernandez addressed to the ambassador, as if by nodding he could bolster the words whose meaning he had to guess. "how do you think things will go in congress today?" hall asked fernandez. "the same as every year, señor hall. ceremonials, the speech, and then--_quién sabe_?" rumors rose from the table. everyone had a choice rumor to air. rios had it on good authority that tabio's illness was merely a pretext; the president was afraid to face the congress lest they force him to justify his wild socialistic measures which had put the national budget in such dire peril. orville smith informed the men at the table that tabio's illness had taken a more serious turn. "in fact, i understand that dr. ansaldo has informed the government that he will refuse to operate on tabio without the written permission of the cabinet." fernandez spoke of ansaldo's skill as a surgeon. "how about gamburdo's speech, joe?" the ambassador said. "you promised to bring me an advance copy." "i told my secretary to bring it to you as soon as it arrived," fernandez answered. "it is very late in arriving today." "have you any idea of what he is going to say, joe?" "he is a very sound man," fernandez said. "i am sure that the speech will be satisfactory." "it won't call for the nationalization of the mines, at any rate," smith added. he made the mistake of translating his remark for joaquin rios. he might just as well have dropped a match into a keg of gunpowder. the wax mustaches under the purpling nose of ex-senator rios began quivering even before he unleashed an avalanche of ringing livid paragraphs on the subject. his eyes blind to the cold stares of josé fernandez, he unlimbered his heaviest verbal artillery, pounded the table until the glasses rattled, pointed accusing fingers at every corner of the room, and otherwise managed rather effectively to end the luncheon. fernandez fairly had to drag him out of the embassy to cool him down. "fine fellows," skidmore said to hall when they were gone. "best of the lot down here." "sure," hall said. "i've known all about fernandez for years." "he's a great guy, hall. publishes one of the best newspapers on the continent. as a matter of cold fact, old man, i wouldn't be at all surprised if he won the--well, he might be in for a rather high honor." "i know. the cabot prize." "who told you?" hall looked at smith, who was growing uncomfortable. "i can't remember," he said. "but it's hard to keep such a secret in san hermano." "well, i'll be damned," the ambassador laughed. "it was nice to see you again, old man. drop in any time when you have a problem." "problems in san hermano? things seem to be pretty much under control, i'd say." "yes," the ambassador admitted. "things are pretty quiet." "will it be as quiet when tabio dies? i heard talk that the gamburdo crowd is pretty close to the fascists." "gamburdo?" skidmore grew both amused and indignant. "what kind of communistic nonsense have you been hearing? i know eduardo gamburdo intimately. i've entertained him at the embassy, and i've week-ended at his estate. he's a fine conservative influence on this government and, damn it all, young man, gamburdo is a thorough gentleman." "yeah," hall said. "thorough." for a few seconds, during the luncheon, he had toyed with the idea of telling the ambassador all that he knew about gamburdo and ansaldo and the role of the falange. now he cursed himself for a fool. skidmore, he saw, was orville smith at sixty, but with the power to make trouble for any visiting american who rubbed against his deep-set prejudices. "well, thanks for everything," he said. "i guess you're pretty busy today." hall rushed out of the embassy, his face twitching crazily as he charged down the marble walk to the curb. he had broken into a heavy sweat which drenched him from head to toe. "get me out of here," he roared at pepe. "get going before i kill someone." "what happened?" pepe asked. "nothing. where are we going?" "nowhere. what's the matter with your face?" "nothing." he put his hand against his right cheek. "nothing. did you see gonzales?" "i gave him the letter. he said you should go to the opening of congress today. he says you might be surprised." "thanks. i had my surprise for the day already." "gonzales was serious. he says you should go. it starts at four o'clock." "all right. i'll go. better take me to gobernacion. i'll need a pass from the press bureau. no, wait, let's go to duarte's place. he takes his siesta at this time. i'll call that vardieno bitch from his place." hall opened his tie. "have we time to stop for a beer?" he asked. "i'm dying for a drink." "no. we might miss duarte. he'll have beer for you." pepe was right. duarte did have beer, and had they stopped on the way, they would have missed him. he was about to leave the house when they arrived. duarte was wearing the green dress uniform of a mexican lieutenant-colonel, to which he had pinned his spanish medals and insignia. "going to war?" hall asked. "no. to the opening of congress." "you've got time." "hall is dying," pepe said. "he needs cold beer." the mexican brought out five bottles of beer. "i've got more in the ice box," he said. "what's the matter?" "he wants to kill someone," pepe said. "me too. what of it?" hall put the mouth of the opened bottle to his lips, tilted his head back. "god," he said, "pepe is right. let me make one phone call, and then i'll spill it. i've got to get it off my chest before i blow the top." he reached the vardieno girl on the phone. she was so sorry. the lists had all gone down to the hall of congress. anyway, all requests for foreign writers had to come through their embassies. that was the press chief's new ruling. "that's fine. that settles it," hall said when he put the phone away. "now i must ask the ambassador to approve me for the press gallery." "sit down, mateo," duarte said. "i can wait a full hour if necessary." he put a bottle of cold beer into hall's hand. "tell us about it." "i'll wait outside," pepe said. "no. stay with us, pepe. i want you to know the facts. do you both remember that i was waiting for a letter from havana? well, i got it. two letters, in fact. they told me what i wanted to know about ansaldo." he drained the second bottle and then told them what had happened to him at the embassy. "don't bother with him," duarte said. "you don't need his permission. i'll give you my diplomatic invitation and my carnet. the uniform is all i need to get through the gates. you'll sit in the diplomatic gallery with me." "great." "you can even act as skidmore's interpreter." "_con mucho gusto!_" * * * * * riding to the hall of congress, duarte drew hall's attention to the loud speakers fastened to the poles in every plaza. "the government has bought over a hundred speakers in the past two weeks," he said. "i know, because most of them were bought in california and i had to o.k. their transit duty-free through mexico. i think our friend gamburdo is up to something today." hall looked at a knot of grim-faced _hermanitos_ standing under one of the speakers. "i think the people suspect it too." "we couldn't get an advance copy of the speech at the embassy, mateo. usually, tabio releases advance copies to the press and the diplomatic corps on the morning of the speech." "i wonder why?" "i can only suspect the worst. after the speech, can you come back to the house with me? i want to hear what happened to you. commander new called me this morning and told me that he had asked the police to investigate fielding's death." "what? on the phone?" "yes." "oh, the damned idiot! now even if the police are not fixed every damned fascist in south america knows that the fielding thing went wrong!" "it's too late for cursing now. let's talk about the whole picture after the speech." the plaza facing the hall of congress was filling up with citizens who had come to hear the speech over the public-address system. scattered through the crowds were men carrying signs reading "_viva_ eduardo gamburdo." duarte pointed them out. "every one a cross-and-sword ruffian," he said. "i used to see the same faces while the falange was legal. they then wore the blue shirt." "i can't see their faces," hall said. "i've seen their faces. three months ago lombardo came to san hermano to address the c.t.a.l. convention. the same gang showed up with their filthy signs, only this time the signs read: '_viva_ christ the king' and 'go back to bolshevik mexico, you dirty jew' and 'down with the commune of the anti-christ' and other lovely things. i know them." "something is happening," duarte said when they were in the building. "everyone is too quiet." they followed a military escort to the mexican box. the mexican ambassador was tense. "i don't like it," he said to hall and duarte. "why is everyone so quiet on the rostrum?" "they look as if they've seen a ghost," hall said. duarte studied the faces of the officials on the flag-decked rostrum. "where's gamburdo?" he said. "has anyone seen him?" "i saw his car parked outside when i came in," the ambassador said. "what's that? do you hear it, mateo?" "sounds like distant thunder, felipe." "it's not thunder. it's the crowd. what have they got to cheer about?" "gamburdo's cheer leaders must have gone to work." "i don't like it," the mexican ambassador said. "i don't like it." a gavel fell on a block. at a signal from the president of the senate, a military band hidden in one of the caucus rooms began to play the national anthem. the music was piped in to the great hall over the public-address system. the gavel called the congress to order. a clerk called the roll, the senate head started the parliamentary ritual. then the band started to play the national anthem again, this time without a signal. a door behind the rostrum opened. in the doorway, flanked by his two young sons, anibal tabio sat in a wheel chair. his closest friend, esteban lavandero, the minister of education, stood behind him. slowly, the chair was wheeled to the rostrum. "members of the congress," the senate chief shouted, "the president of the nation has come to deliver his annual address." _chapter ten_ there were two shouts. on the floor, one of the senators screamed "_viva la republica!_" at the same moment a young voice in the press gallery yelled, "_viva_ don anibal tabio!" and in the great hall every man sprang to his feet. the low distant thunder of the crowds in the plaza had now swelled to a roar whose joyous overtones poured into the hall of congress through the doors, the windows, the steel and marble walls themselves. senators and deputies of the popular front parties were the first in the hall to find their voices. "_viva_ don anibal!" they shouted, applauding wildly, laughing, yelling, embracing one another, wondering if the tears in their eyes could be seen by their colleagues. the anti-tabio congressmen remained on their feet, their hands moving in the motions of applause, their hearts cold and sick. somehow, eduardo gamburdo had found his former place on the rostrum, was now standing and applauding with the other people in the hall. the signals had been crossed. the dead president had come to life. anibal tabio was sitting before the chromium microphone, serene and unmoving, his paralyzed legs neatly covered with a light indian blanket. outside, the crowd had begun to sing the national anthem. the legislators, the reporters, many of the latin american diplomats in the visitors' gallery took up the words. hall glanced at his neighbors. tears flowed down the cheeks of duarte and his chief. a few rows away, skidmore and orville smith, correctly dressed in formal afternoon wear, stood stiffly at attention, their eyes firmly riveted to the strange tableau of tabio and his entourage. someone thrust a huge bouquet of orange and blue mountain flowers at the invalid in the wheel chair. his son diego accepted the flowers, laid them tenderly on an empty chair. diego at fifteen was heavier than his father had ever been, darker, more like an indian peasant than the son of anibal tabio. his brother simon, who now accepted the second bouquet, was an eighteen-year-old replica of don anibal himself. tall, lithe, he had the same fair brown hair, the same thin spiritual face as the father. lavandero, standing behind tabio's chair, had the dark, brooding face of a moor. his shock of black hair started at the peak of a high, broad forehead; his large black mustache failed to dominate his thick, strong lips. he was rubbing a hairy fist in his eyes and talking softly to tabio. the president, at fifty-three, seemed to have aged ten years since hall had last seen him. his hair had turned gray, and everything about him was thinner than ever before in his life. in geneva, hall had always wondered what would have happened to the thin, delicate frame of anibal tabio in a tropical hurricane. now, even from the gallery, hall could see that tabio had grown so thin that the high cheek bones which had always marked his slender face now stuck out like two sharp points, almost burying the deep-set gray eyes. tabio sat quietly in his wheel chair, smiling at friends on the floor, looking first to diego then to simon, gently patting the hand of his older son when the boy put his hand on the father's fragile shoulder. the ovation continued when the singing of the national anthem was completed. tabio turned to lavandero, whispered a few words. the minister of education held his hands, palms out, toward the assemblage. "please," he said. "please." guests and legislators took their seats. in another room, a drummer dropped his cymbal on the floor. it rent the sudden silence of the great hall, and then its echoes were stilled. anibal tabio squeezed the hands of his sons, drew a deep breath, and faced the microphone before him. "my countrymen," he said, "this is the third year in which i have had the honor of addressing you at this solemn hour. a week ago, i would have said that my chances of preaching my own funeral sermon were better than my chances of opening this, the fifteenth free congress of our beloved republic. "but since then ..." he leaned forward, his long chin jutting pugnaciously forward as he gasped for breath, "since then many things have come to my ears. i have heard rumors. strange and disturbing rumors about what was going to happen today. i need not repeat these rumors to you. you have all heard them." hall looked at skidmore's face as smith translated tabio's words. "yes, you have heard them. when they came to my ears," tabio said, "i thought: what is happening? who dares to challenge the mandate of the people? who dares to speak of perverting the will of the people? it was then that i knew, as never before, that a president's place is with the people. if i could sit up in my bed and talk this way to my sons, to my dear friend esteban lavandero, then i could sit up in this chair before you, the chosen representatives of the people. "my good friends, this may be the last time i will ever speak to you ..." shouts of "no!" rang all over the hall. "hear me, friends. hear me and mark well what i say. once this nation honored me with the post of minister of foreign affairs. as your minister, i crossed the ocean. i went to geneva. i went to spain, from where we have derived so much of our culture, our language, so much of our personality as a people. "we are today a free people, not the colonial vassals we were in the days of imperial spain. but spain, too, had become a free nation in . i saw the free spain at the hour of her birth, when the hated bourbon heard the voice of spain's millions at the ballot and fled to the empty pleasures of a decaying society abroad. i also saw the free spain in the hours of her agony. it was at that hour that i beheld for the first time the ugly bloodless face of fascism. "it is a cold, metallic, impersonal face, my countrymen, the face of an agusto segura grown to superhuman power, the maniacal face of a mad killer who suddenly finds all the world's horrible instruments of destruction in his idiot hands. i saw this beast grow strong on the blood of free men, and i wept for a gallant people who, for a few brief moments, had presumed to control their own destinies. "yes," tabio said, his hand pointing across an ocean, "yes, i wept for spain, but through my tears i began to see my own native land, saw my own people enjoying this precious freedom. and at that moment i knew that i must dedicate whatever remained of my life to doing all that was in my power as a man and as a citizen to keep the beast of fascism from gorging on our young republic. "i have fought that fight to this very moment. but more important than anything i have done has been the magnificent unity of our peoples in their determination to struggle against fascism in all of its black forms. it has not been the president who has led the people in this great crusade. no, my countrymen. it has been the people who have created and given their mandate to the president, to the congress." tabio had never learned a single orator's trick. as a statesman, he retained all the speaking habits he had originally formed during his early years as a young professor of history at the university. teaching, he once explained, was the process of thinking aloud. and at this moment, in what he guessed would be his last speech to the nation, anibal tabio returned to the concepts which had gone into his great book on the relationships of people to government in modern democracy. for the better part of thirty minutes, he explored these relationships again. after all these years, the professor was back in class, patiently expounding his ideas to a new set of faces. "well, that is the state and the people. i have not told you anything new. you have heard this all before from me." tabio was laughing softly, and at himself. "but that is what happens when the people elect a pedantic professor as their president. instead of a speech, they get a long, dry lecture." tabio paused, frowned at the people who sat hushed in the hall. "have you forgotten how to laugh?" he asked. a few loyal followers tried to laugh. "good," tabio said. "but i am not finished, my countrymen. i have spoken of the ideal democratic state. many of us like to feel that we have achieved this state. that perfection is ours. this is dangerous thinking. of course, we are not as imperfect as a certain newspaper in san hermano and a certain organization which has usurped the symbol of brotherly love as its emblem"--this time he drew some real laughter--"we are not as imperfect as they would have you believe. "but even if we were the most perfect state in the world, today this would mean very little. our chances of surviving, of progressing until the republic of man became even more attractive than the kingdom of god, our chances of surviving at all would still be obscured. if our nation were some remote island in the skies, whirling on its own axis, remote from all other lands, perhaps then i would have no fears for our future. "we are not this remote planet unto ourselves. we share a world with a hundred nations, a thousand races. i do not regret that we are part of this world. i think we should rejoice in our membership in the world's family of races. but we must not lose sight of the fact that our nation, no less than any other nation, be it free or fascist, is part of this strange family. "we must never forget that the great war which started in unhappy spain in july, , was not a war between good and evil in spain alone. it was a war not of two spanish ideas but of two fundamental world ideas. it was the start of the universal death struggle between the slave-world ideas of fascism and the free-world ideas of political and economic democracy. it was the start of the fascist war against freedom that has now spread all over the world." tabio glanced at his two sons. he accepted a glass of water, smiling at the legislators in the front rows as he drank. "freedom," he said, "is there a man who does not know the meaning of the word?" before he returned to the theme of the world war which had started in spain, he explored the full meaning of freedom in modern times. it was only after he had delivered a profound essay on freedom which shook matthew hall until the american felt a lump rising in his throat that tabio picked up the earlier threads. "in spain, then, the forces of freedom suffered a heavy loss. but what of those small men with narrow little minds who held the reins of so much of the world's power while spain bled? what of these tiny statesmen, these sleek somnambulists who held lace handkerchiefs before their narrow mouths and laughed while fascism marched in spain? what of these wretches who, through the immoral instrument called non-intervention, sought to end freedom in spain in the criminal conviction that the blood of spain alone would satisfy the fascist beast? "history was not long in giving the lie to these gentry. the beast who had whetted his insatiable appetite in spain now started almost immediately to claw at the world. it was in april of that madrid fell. by september the beast belched and turned on the very creatures who had covertly and overtly helped him subdue spain." that tabio had not raised his voice at this point, that he in fact spoke more softly, accentuated all the more the scorn and the anger in his heart. "nations have fallen to the beast," he continued. "nations of meager freedom, like poland. nations of great and traditional freedom, like france. the war has spread over the world like a biblical plague. russia could not escape it. nor could our great sister republic, the united states. "yes, north americans now have felt the pain, the anguish, the power of axis treachery. no nation can escape this war. "my countrymen, we are not an island in the skies. we are a sovereign nation in the same world, on the same earth, in the same waters, sharing the same era as the united states, england, russia and china. it is not for us to choose whether or not we can stay out of this war. that choice the world does not permit us. our only choice is the determination of what our role must be in this war. "there has been strange talk in our land lately. there has been strange and deceitful talk of neutrality. has it not occurred to any of you that those in our midst who howl the loudest for neutrality, who show such a sudden concern for the lives and safety of the humblest indian peasant, that these pious seekers after neutrality have never before worn the white dove on their family escutcheons? who are these peaceful gentlemen who grow pale in the presence of bloodshed? are they not the same persons who as young men were proud to be officers in the armies of segura, who laughed and drank as they ruthlessly shot down defenseless miners in the northern provinces? "who are these sudden pacifists in our republic? are they not the very devout gentlemen who sent money and rum and cigars to the fascists in spain during the spanish phase of this war? are they not the very men who sent cables of homage to hitler and mussolini after the shame of munich? are they not the very men who even now wear the medals of nazi germany, of blackshirt italy, of falangist spain--who wear these medals proudly while they chortle over the blood of dying russians on the eastern front, of dying americans on the bataan peninsula?" tabio stopped. his eyes searched the press gallery, then fixed on josé fernandez. he pointed a graceful hand at the publisher of _el imparcial_. "i ask you," he said, "are they not the very men who write in their papers that adolf hitler, whatever be his alleged faults, is waging a holy crusade on behalf of christian civilization against marxist atheism?" tabio continued looking at fernandez, but lavandero shot a fierce scowl at ambassador skidmore, who seemed bewildered and unhappy as smith translated tabio's questions. the ambassador, too, had seen the object of tabio's shaft. angry, uneasy laughter broke out on the floor. a cry of "long live the united nations!" from one of the popular front deputies was immediately answered with the shout "long live christ the king" from the public gallery. the president, who had heard both shouts, turned to the gallery. "who are these neutrals?" he asked. "are they not the same fascists who hope to fool god by casting their fascist swords in the image of the cross of jesus? are they not the fanatics who, rather than see the axis beast destroyed, would first destroy the freedom and the dignity of their own land? "they lie. there can be no neutrals in this world war. he who calls himself a neutral is either a fool or a fascist. and the fine gentlemen who prate of neutrality are very clever men." the popular front congressmen rose to their feet, applauding and adding to the din with their shouts of agreement. they were joined by a few of the independents. the delegates of the rightist coalition remained in their seats, their arms folded across their chests. but they were not quiet. as the ovation for tabio continued, loud cries came from the ranks of the men who kept their seats. "down with atheism!" shouted one rightist senator. "we have no quarrel with any other nation!" another yelled. "we will not die for godless russia!" "long live democracy!" a popular front deputy answered. "long live the anti-fascist united nations!" esteban lavandero pleaded with the congress for silence. "my countrymen," tabio said, "there can be no neutrality in this war. there is one official neutral in europe. his name is francisco franco. we all know what this hypocritical neutrality really is; how it shields the vile aid that fascist spain is lending to the axis. but this is as it should be. franco is a fascist, and today fascism must triumph all over the world or be crushed forever. "but what of our own nation, what of the twenty nations of hispanic america in this war? what is our stake in this world struggle? "if the axis wins this war, we, like all other nations, must of necessity lose our political freedom. and if we once lose our political democracy, we must begin again the long, bitter struggle to win it once more before we can even begin to dream of creating an era of economic democracy. "if the united nations win, if world fascism is crushed forever, a new world era of economic democracy must begin at once. it will not come easily. the defeat of the axis will not immediately bring in its wake the millennium. it will, however, give the common people of the world the final realization of their great power. in this lies the inherent strength of political democracy. for democracy is not a static thing. it can grow and bring in the era of economic democracy, or it can falter and give way to fascism. "the common people of the world, today fighting and dying behind the banners of the united nations, have served notice on history that they will not rest until fascism has been swept from the face of this earth." tabio was now speaking with both arms raised, his hands reaching out to everyone. "my countrymen, i have said enough. i know that i have spoken the thoughts that are uppermost in the minds of that great majority of our citizens who have given their mandate to you and to me. in a week, you will have to frame the mandate for the delegation which will speak for our republic at the forthcoming conference of the nations of the americas. speak out! speak out honestly, speak out openly. speak as the spokesmen of a democracy. speak as the citizens of the embattled united democracies of the entire world must speak at this hour. speak for the free men of the free world. speak firmly, for you will be speaking not only for the future of our own republic but for the future of all mankind." the cuban ambassador, whose seat was nearest the podium, crossed the plush rail and rushed to tabio's wheel chair. he fell to his knees, embraced the president. in a flash, eduardo gamburdo left his own place and copied the cuban's gesture. the rostrum became crowded with dignitaries bent on paying the same homage to anibal tabio. the envoys of the latin american democracies, the delegates of the free french and the spanish republican juntas, the leaders of the trade unions and the chiefs of the popular front parties milled around the wheel chair as the pro-democrats in the hall added their voices to the cheers of the crowds in the plaza. duarte, his soft raspy words choked and unintelligible, embraced hall. lavandero was pulling the wheel chair back toward the door of the speaker's chamber. the well-wishers of the president followed him into the room. for a moment, the people in the auditorium applauded the blank door through which tabio had vanished. then young simon tabio returned to pick up the flowers on the chair, and his father's supporters cheered louder, punctuating their cheers with cries of "long live don anibal!" the youth streaked into the room behind the platform. "let's get out of here," hall said. "i've got to go to my office," duarte said. "i have to prepare a report on the speech. join me, and then we can talk." "pepe can drive us over." "no one drives today," duarte said when they reached the visitors' doorway. the streets were jammed thick with people. hall had never seen so many people in san hermano before. it was as if every house, every building in the university, every shop, every wharf, every school had been turned inside out and its people poured out into the streets. whole families in their best clothes, trolley drivers in their work uniforms, longshoremen in their dungarees, even peasants from the other side of monte azul in their brown-cotton trousers and their broad-brimmed straw hats milled along the sidewalks, the pavements, the plaza, the trolley tracks. cars, taxis, trucks, wagons, trolleys were parked crazily all over the place. pepe, like a hundred other drivers within a block of the hall of congress, was standing on top of his car, waving the flag of the republic, shouting, "long live the united nations! long live don anibal! long live the republic!" crowds formed around each parked vehicle, joined the cries of the drivers. the roofs of the trolleys were jammed with groups of students and motormen waving flags or the banners of their student societies and their unions. thousands of hermanitos, kids in overalls, housewives, lawyers, shopkeepers wandered through the crowds with framed portraits of anibal tabio which an hour ago had hung from the walls of their homes, their offices, their shops. the pictures of tabio ranged from formal photographs and oil paintings to crude charcoal drawings and pictures torn from the daily press. hall and duarte made their way to pepe's sedan. when he saw them, he put the flag in his left hand and with his right hand he pointed to something on the ground on the opposite side of the car. "look!" pepe shouted. "down here!" a pile of torn cross-and-sword placards lay on the cobbles inside a ring of laughing young hermanitos who were urinating on the signs. some of the boys in this ring showed signs of having been in a fight. "the fascists ran away," pepe laughed. "don anibal's speech split their filthy ears." "i'll see you later," hall told pepe. "wait!" pepe shouted. he leaned over the side of his cab. "boy," he said, "boy, where is that flag for the american _compañero_? that's the one. thank you, boy." he lay down on his belly, stretched a huge paw into the crowd around the remains of the cross-and-sword banners. when he stood up, he had a small american flag in his hand. "wonderful," hall said, taking the flag. "i guess it's also the yankee day to howl." a crowd formed around hall and duarte. they saluted the american flag, saluted the mexican uniform. "long live the united states! long live mexico!" the crowd shouted, and the two men answered, as one, "long live don anibal!" the crowd separated, let them through. they walked a few steps, and then another crowd formed around them. again they listened to cheers for the united states and mexico, again they responded with their cheer for tabio. "jesus h. christ," hall said. "this is the first time i've carried an american flag in the streets since i was a boy scout in ohio." "it will do you good, mateo." "i like it. but try to make anyone believe it back home!" at the fourth block hall and duarte started to detour around a trolley car which had stopped in the middle of a crossing. a dozen hands reached down from the crowded roof. "_compañeros!_ take our hands! climb up! take our hands! we want a speech!" "long live mexico! homage to colonel felipe duarte, counselor of the mexican embassy and hero of the war against the fascists in spain!" duarte had to join the crowd on the roof of the stalled train. he made a short speech about mexico, republican spain, and the greatness of anibal tabio. two more blocks of happy, cheering hermanitos. vivas, salutes for the american flag and the mexican uniform. men in dungarees and heavy shoes saluting the flag and the uniform with clenched fists. young women and old men who embraced hall and duarte. even an ancient with a nicotine-yellowed white beard, who wiggled out of one crowd, tore the flag out of hall's hand, kissed it, and then handed it back to the american with an embrace and a viva for voodro veelson. * * * * * they were relaxing over a beer in duarte's office when the explosion came. "what the hell...?" hall cried. there were two explosions. a little one, like the crack of a distant artillery piece in the mountains and then a louder, deep-toned whoosh of a noise. they had both heard such noises before. "remember that noise, mateo?" hall was on his feet. "do i! only one thing makes a noise like that," he said. "direct hit on a gasoline tank." "exactly." while they were washing, the sun had begun to set. now a new sun had risen in the skies of san hermano, risen at a point about a mile north of the embassy. a great sheet of flame had shot from the ground, stabbing at the purpling skies, straining to leap clear of the round heavy blobs of black smoke which rose from the same place and surged over and around the fires. the streets were more crowded than they had been when hall and tabio left the congress. new signs had been added to the placards and portraits of tabio which the people carried. tremendous sketches and blown-up photos of churchill, roosevelt, stalin and chiang kai-shek, nailed to frames with handles for two men, bobbed over the heads of the crowds. duarte, from the balcony, asked the people on the street what had happened. they thought it was a victory bonfire. "the hell it is, felipe. let's see for ourselves." "i must stay and write my cable. you go and then come back here." "can you lend me a car and a chauffeur?" "you couldn't drive a car through these crowds. you'll have to walk. leave through the back way. it opens on a narrow street leading to the avenida de la liberacion. you'll save time." hall found the narrow street deserted. he set out at a fast pace, his eyes on the flames and the increasingly heavy puffs of smoke. the shouts of the crowds on the broad avenues and the plazas followed him up the small street. over the cries of the hermanitos came the wail of the sirens, the clamor of the bells on the american fire engines the city had purchased a few years back. the crowd half-pushed, half-guided hall to the entrance of the ritz. he ducked into the lobby to catch his breath, bought some cigars at the stand, lit one, and then decided to have a quick drink. margaret skidmore was at the bar with giselle prescott and a young man hall had met at the embassy ball. the prescott woman was wearing an immense wheel of a white hat. she was very drunk. "what's up?" hall asked. "the reds blew up a church," margaret said. "how are you, matt? i heard that you were out on a monumental bender. too many women?" "too much alcohol." then, to the man with the girls, "didn't we meet at the embassy party? my name is hall." "i'm the marques de runa." "spanish?" margaret answered for him. "no. not exactly. the family had the title revalidated in ." giselle prescott shuddered over an emptied glass. she whispered something about rum, romanism and rebellion. "what's eating her?" hall asked margaret. "gin and communism. she's allergic to burning churches." "my father phoned the governor of our province and demanded soldiers to protect the family estates," the young marques said. "it is scandalous. we hear that they've already raped a nun and killed two priests. my father says that if el tovarich ..." "who saw the church burning?" hall interrupted. "everyone, señor." "any of you?" silence. "any of you?" he repeated. "it was anarchy," the marques said. "when el tovarich started to rant in congress today the reds swarmed into the city from the wharves. they tore a religious poster from my cousin's arms and beat him within an inch of his life." "is that a fact?" hall was staring at the gold emblem of the cross and sword in the marques' lapel. "that's too bad." "you see what i meant," margaret said. "now you understand me, matt." "sure. now i understand. how about you, giselle?" "what about me? i'm filing for the wp today." "then you'd better come with me. i'm going to have a look at this burning church. might be good color stuff." "i don' wanna look," she said. "gives me hives. besides, i know all about it anyway." hall put his arm through margaret's. "let's you and me look, then," he said. "don't go!" the marques cried. "you're both dressed too well. they'll kill you." "i'd better not go with you, matt." "but i insist. i'm going and you're coming with me." they watched de runa stiffen. "now don't be a child," she said. "hall will bring me back intact." "don't go," the marques said. hall freed his hands. for a moment he thought he would have to use them on the marques. then margaret tugged his arm. "let's go if we're going," she said. "you wait right here for me with giselle, freddie. i'll meet you here in half an hour." the fire was five blocks from the ritz. there was a half block heap of glowing brick and rubble. behind the rubble stood an old church, one wall partially blown out. the firemen were playing streams of water into and around this hole. "god!" margaret said. "the stench!" "oil. my guess is that a thousand gallons of oil went up in smoke." in the crowd standing at the rim of the fire lines, a taxi driver turned around and glanced at hall. "some fire," he said. "what happened?" "garage. the phoenix garage went up in smoke. blew a hole in the cathedral when it exploded." "the phoenix garage?" "that's what it is, señor." the driver moved closer to the gutted rubble. "you wait here, margaret. i'm going to talk to the firemen." he crossed the fire lines, found his way to the engine captain near the main hydrant. when he returned to margaret, he gave her a complete report. "the fire chiefs say that the reds didn't blow up the church at all," he said. "seems as if the gasoline tanks in the garage caught fire by themselves." margaret laughed. "don't tell gis," she said. "she's already cabled a story to the states that the reds burned the church." _chapter eleven_ duarte knew about the phoenix garage before hall returned to the mexican embassy. "commander new dropped in while you were at the fire," he explained. "he told me." "does he know anything else about it?" "not about the fire. but he does know a little more about fielding. he says that fielding's files have been cleaned out. there wasn't a single copy of any of fielding's reports when the british officials opened the files." "but the british have all the dope, felipe. fielding's reports--at least the ones he showed me--were all carbons of the reports he made to his embassy." "i know that. but if his reports are now in the hands of the falange, the axis knows it too. it will give them time to cover their traces. it will also put the finger on you. one of the things they did find in the office was a note fielding had made reminding himself to prepare copies of certain reports for you, mateo. that might explain what happened to you in that falangist café on the waterfront the other day. fielding had already been killed when you were drugged." hall lay down on the couch in duarte's office, took his shoes off. "i'll be all right in a few minutes," he said. "i just need about ten minutes of this." "i'll get some cold beer." "no. i don't need it. listen, felipe, do the british know that i was drugged?" "i don't think so. i didn't tell them, anyway. i wouldn't, without your permission." "maybe you should tell them. it might do some good. but what are we going to do now that we know about the fire? i still feel like a drunk on a merry-go-round." duarte laughed. "you can always get off and go home," he said. "no. it feels worse when i get off." "i did something this morning, mateo. i sent word to general mogrado through one of our diplomatic couriers." "mogrado? of the spanish air force?" "he's living in mexico city now. i asked him to rush everything he could get on ansaldo. the largest spanish republican colony in the hemisphere is in mexico, you know. i figured that surely there must be one man among the exiles--a doctor, a former army officer, someone--who could give us the dope on ansaldo." "sounds like a possibility." "we'll see." "don't let me fall asleep here. i've got things to do." "then get some rest. i've got to complete my report." duarte turned to his typewriter, glanced at what he had written on the sheet in the machine. "mateo," he said, "i'm meeting dr. gonzales in an hour. we're going to try to reach lavandero with your havana information on ansaldo. will you join me?" "no. i have some unfinished business myself. i think that before the night is over we'll know a lot more about ansaldo." "what are you going to do?" hall stifled a yawn. "i'm going to take a chance and shoot the works on someone who can talk. it might work." "be careful, mateo. you look very tired." "i'll turn in early. let's have breakfast at your place tomorrow, eh?" hall found a phone booth in a tobacco shop near the embassy. he called jerry. "i knew it would be you," she said. "i was waiting for you to call, you dog." "i hope you're hungry," he said. "i'm taking you to dinner." "i'm famished. where are you?" "i can be at the bolivar in about fifteen minutes. meet me in the lobby?" "all right. but hurry. and just in case you've forgotten what i look like, i'll be wearing a red carnation." he became part of the growing multi-directional parade in the streets. nightfall had brought colored torches to the hands of many of the hermanitos, and hundreds of new huge portraits of the four leaders of the united nations. there was a new pattern to the street festivities. now whole groups of hermanitos, each marching behind a picture of one of the four statesmen, made their way through the crowds to the embassies of the united nations and then to the plaza de la republica, where they paraded their signs and their sentiments in front of all the government buildings and the presidencia. after that, the marchers joined the milling groups of celebrators who just seemed to move around in slow circles, singing, cheering, loudly wishing a long life to anibal tabio and the united nations. the darkened plaza was packed, torches in the hands of hundreds of the crowd bringing more light to the ancient square than had been seen there since the nation had been forced to begin conserving its fuel. hall cut through the crowds toward the bolivar, too excited to sense his fatigue. this is a night i shall long remember, he thought, this is the night i will tell my children about if i ever have any children. this is the night that i saw the power of the common people, the night i saw democracy take to the streets of a nation's capital and tell the world that fascism's day of cheap triumphs is done. this is the night of the meek who shall yet inherit the earth. through the shoulders of the crowd, he could see jerry's red hair. as he drew closer, he saw that she had two little girls in her arms. the children were crying wildly, the tears choking in their throats and coursing down their contorted faces. "there, there," jerry was saying to them, "everything will be all right. you're only lost. we'll find out where you belong." but the strange foreign words only added to the terror in the frightened hearts of the girls. "what happened?" hall asked jerry. "they're lost. i was afraid they'd get trampled or something, matt." he spoke to the kids in their own language, soothing, silly words. then he took them in his arms while jerry dried their tears with a perfumed handkerchief. between sobs, the little girls told hall that they had slipped out of the house to see the fiesta and had been having a swell time until the crazy lady swooped them up, talking crazy words and keeping them from going on their way. "do you know where you live?" he asked them. they pointed toward their own house. "we will take you there. and don't call the señorita a crazy lady, little ones. she is your friend." "are they lost?" jerry asked. "hell, no. just tourists. let's get them home, first." the girls lived nearly a mile from the bolivar. they watched the paraders in silence while hall carried them to their house, but when he reached their block the girls insisted that they could walk the rest of the way. "no," he laughed, "i'm taking you right to your door. and i'm waiting in the street until you come to your window and throw me a kiss." the girls, who had less than a dozen years between them, giggled and hid their heads in his shoulders. "we won't throw you a kiss," the older of the sisters said, shyly. "you aren't our _novio_." "these little devils!" he laughed to jerry. the girls began to squirm in his arms. "no, little ones," he told them, "i won't make any more crazy talk like the señorita." "this is our house." he put them down on the first steps. "now hurry," he said. "upstairs with you, and be quick!" they scrambled up the stairs. "they're sweet," jerry said. for a brief moment, the faces of the two little girls appeared at the open window on the first floor. then the ample figure of a woman in a white cotton dress loomed behind them. "let's scram before they catch it," hall said, but he was too late. the shrill cries of the girls, as their mother flailed their behinds with a righteous hand, followed hall and jerry down the street. "me and my good-neighbor policy," jerry said. "it's all my fault." "they deserve it. what would you do to your kids if they joined a stampede?" jerry had to laugh. "the same thing, i guess. but what's all the celebrating about? is it the local fourth of july?" "no. but i have a funny feeling that in years to come it might be. your patient started it." "tabio?" "president anibal tabio. he decided not to die today. he got out of bed and addressed the opening session of the congress and called for war on the axis." "you're kidding me again, matt." "the hell i am. i was there. i saw him myself." "but he's paralyzed, matt." "he spoke from a wheel chair." he told jerry about the speech, and as they walked through the dense crowds toward a restaurant, he translated some of the signs carried by the people who swarmed on all sides of her. "_abajo el eje_--that's down with the axis. and that one says long live the united nations. _mueran los falangistas_--death to the falangists." "what are they, matt?" "the spanish fascists. hadn't you heard of them before?" jerry shook her head. "i still don't see how he got out of bed. he must have done it on nerves alone. i was at the lab all day with marina and tabio's x-rays." "he delivered a great speech, jerry." "i'll bet he did. i guess nothing can stop this country from joining the democracies now, matt." "no," he said. "nothing but gamburdo--if tabio dies." they had to wait on a street corner while a line of students carrying red torches snake-danced across their path. "where are we eating?" she asked. "i know a wonderful place facing the sea wall. it's very plain, but the food is stupendous. we'll have to walk, though." "i'm game. it's fun walking in these crowds tonight. it's almost like new year's eve in new york." the restaurant was packed. the waiter had to put an extra table on the sidewalk for hall and jerry. "it's better from here anyway," hall told her. "we can see the ocean and get away from the din inside." a hundred happy men and women jammed the interior of the restaurant, singing to the music of the small orchestra, toasting the slogans which were all over san hermano this night. hall invited the waiter to drink a toast in sherry to don anibal, and then he ordered lobster salads and steaks for jerry and himself. "i missed you," he told jerry and, hearing his words, he was startled to realize that he meant them. "you're just lonely. but i like to hear you say it." "no. i really missed you." "what's wrong, matt? you look all in." "nothing," he said. "i've had a long day. what do you think of this lobster salad?" small talk. make small, polite talk about lobsters and cabbages, talk about the weather and your neighbor's garden, talk about anything before you start talking love talk and then you'll forget why you have to talk to her at all. "you're beautiful tonight," he said, softly. "i'm ignoring you, hall." good. banter. nice cheap café-society banter. have to play the game as she is played; silly brittle talk about nothing. break her down, keep her off guard, keep your own guard up. talk about the lobster. talk about the steak. make vacuous wise-cracks over the coffee. now she's pleased with the guava pastry. be the man of the world. talk about guava. "you're talking down at me, matt. i told you once before. i'm not really stupid." "god, i'm sorry," he said. "i must have been groggy all through dinner." "you sounded it." "can you walk?" "i'm too full." "let's sit on the sea wall. it's the pleasantest spot in town." hall bought a paper from a passing newsboy. they walked along the sea wall for a block, and then he spread the paper out on top of the wall and lifted jerry to the broad ledge. they sat facing the sea, not saying much of anything. "the beach looks so clean," she said. "do you think ..." he leaped to the sand. "take my hand," he said, "and bring the paper with you." he spread the papers on the sand, laid his jacket over the papers, and sprawled on the makeshift pallet. jerry sat near him, took his head in her lap. "poor matt! you're so tired. want to tell me about it?" "about what?" she stroked his face with soft, gentle hands. "about what's bothering you, darling. something terrible is happening to you." "there's nothing wrong." "you're such a bad liar, darling. i can see it in your face." "only that?" "it's enough. that is, when you care for a guy." "you're sticking your chin out, baby." "no, i'm not. you're really a very gentle person. but you want to be hard as nails, don't you, matt?" "i don't know what i want to be, baby. i'd like to see the world a good place for little guys who like republics. i'd like to kill the bastards who are fouling up such a world. it sounds very big, i know. but i'm not big. i'm a little guy and i like the world of little people. or don't i make sense?" "i think i understand you, matt." "later i'll read you tabio's speech. or at least the high lights, in english. you'll get a pretty good idea of the things i believe in." "what was it like on the other side, matt? in the war, i mean. or don't you want to talk about the war?" it's now or never, he thought. tell her about the war, tell it to her straight. if she's ever going to see it, she's got to see it now. "i don't like to talk about it," he said, "but i will. i guess i owe it to you to talk about it. i was there when it started, and i kept hollering that it had started, but no one would believe me." "in poland?" "hell, no! in madrid. the summer of ' . i reached madrid in the fourth week of july, and by september i'd seen enough of the nazis and the italians to know it was world war two." the words came easily, the whole fabric. tabio had told the story as a historian. this was the other way it could be told, the way of the eyewitness, of the partisan. he told her everything, about the fighting in spain and about the slaughter of the innocents; about the grotesque ballets of death and disintegration on the green tables of geneva; about the arrows of falange, reaching out from the festers of spain to the new world. everything but the role of ansaldo. "now," he said, "i think you can guess why i'm so bothered about this war, why i sometimes act as if i have a very personal stake in it. please try to understand what i mean, jerry." she was silent for a long moment. "i think i do," she said. "for the past few days i've been thinking about the war. ever since--oh, you know since when. i've been thinking that if i don't do anything else, maybe i'll join the army as a nurse when we leave here." "you've got it bad, haven't you?" "i don't know what i've got, darling. all i know is that i don't have the right to be a me firster any more. do you think i'm right about that?" "baby, listen to me. you don't have to go to bataan to get into the war. it's spread everywhere. the front stretches from murmansk to manila to san hermano. and it's the same front." "but what can i do here?" hall drew a deep breath. "let's both have a cigarette," he said. "this is going to take some telling." he sat up, faced the girl, took her hands and held them firmly. "now, what i'm going to say might sound harsh, jerry. but you'll simply have to believe me." "what is it, matt?" "how much do you know about dr. ansaldo?" "only that he's a nice guy. he's never made a pass at me, he behaves like a gentleman, and he's one crack surgeon. don't tell me he's no good, matt. i just won't believe it." "you'll have to believe me," hall insisted. "what do you know about ansaldo's past? do you know where he was during the spanish war?" "i haven't the faintest idea. do you know?" "sure, i do. i saw him." hall described his first meeting with ansaldo. as he spoke, jerry abruptly withdrew her hands. trembling, she backed away from him, started to get up. "what's wrong?" he asked. "i wish you hadn't made love to me," she said, simply. "now i feel cheap--and used." "don't say that. i ..." "you know it's true. you're not just another newspaperman. and you don't give a damn about me. it was ansaldo you were interested in from the beginning. that's why you were on the same plane with us on the way here. and that's why you ..." "you mean i'm a g-man? don't be absurd." "don't make it worse by calling me a fool. i liked you. i liked you a lot. don't make it worse now, matt." "but you're dead wrong." he tried to put his arms around her. she shook him off. "believe me," he said, "i'm not government. you were right--but only partially--about my original interest in your party. but tonight i wish to hell it were only ansaldo who interests me. it would make things a lot easier all around. the other morning i was watching marina when a spanish ship came in. someone didn't want me to watch. i was drugged. that's why i disappeared for a few days. it damn near finished me. i've got something on ansaldo--before i'm through i hope to have enough to hang him. i mean it literally. i'm trying to have him fitted for the same grave he thought i'd have. and it's going to be simple. what won't be simple is convincing the authorities here that you were an innocent bystander in the whole affair. do you think i would talk to you this way if things were as you suspect they are with me?" "i don't know what to think, matt." "don't stop liking me," he said. "take me back to the hotel, please. i'm all confused. i want to believe you. honestly i do. but what am i supposed to do? you give me the choice of matching one line against the other, and all the time i'll be wondering if both lines aren't fakes." "listen to me, baby ..." "don't 'baby' me. you've got sand on your jacket. no, don't, hall. just take me back to the hotel, please." they walked to the sea wall in silence. hall made a step for jerry with his hands, boosted her to the top of the wall. "i'll try to find you a cab," he said. "but before we turn in, i'm telling you again that i'm not government. i'm exactly what i said i am. believe me, jerry. please believe me." "i don't know what to believe any more." "but you do believe what i said about ansaldo, don't you?" "i don't know," she said, miserably. "haven't you asked enough questions for one night? show me your badge and subpoena me or something to the american embassy and i'll tell you all i know. which is nothing. i don't know any more than i've already told you." hall was flagging every passing car. "they're all private," he muttered. "we'll never get a cab tonight. and for god's sake, stop sniffling. even if i am a g-man i won't bite you." "you shouldn't have played me for a sucker, hall." "i didn't play you for anything." "don't say any more, hall. please don't." her attitude infuriated him. furiously, he flagged a passing car, biting his lips in anger and frustration. he fought against yielding to his anger. "jerry," he said, "there's one thing i'll have to ask you to do. i'm asking as a private citizen. but whatever you think i am, you'll have to do this one thing. i must insist that you don't tell ansaldo anything about our conversation or about my having been in spain." "is that an order?" "yes," he roared. "yes, damn you, it's an order!" one of the cars he had flagged slowed down, pulled over to where he stood with jerry. but it was not a taxi. it was a small chauffeur-driven town car. the young marques de runa sat alone in the back seat. "good evening," he smiled. "can i give you and your young lady a lift? you'll never be able to get a public car tonight." "thanks." hall took jerry's elbow, pulled her toward the door. he made the introductions, then climbed in after jerry and shut the door. "we were just going to the bolivar," he said. "were you trying to escape from the mobs?" the marques asked. "no. the lady has a bad cold. we thought the sea air might do it some good." "you should try the mountain air," the marques said. "i always take to the mountain air when i have a cold, señor hall. don't you think the mountain air is better?" hall let the question go unanswered. he was looking into the mirror over the driver's seat, studying what he could see in the small glass of the chauffeur's face. "the mountain air, señor hall." "oh, yes. very dry. perhaps the lady will try the mountain air. what do you think, jerry?" "no, thank you," she said, sharply. "i have hallucinations on mountain tops." the marques thought this was very funny. but not too unusual, he hastened to add. "for example," he said, "once when i was on a skiing week-end in austria, three members of our party saw an apparition." he chattered amiably about the experiences on that and other skiing trips, directing his words solely to jerry. hall ignored them both. he was still staring at the mirror, and, after catching the chauffeur's eyes for the second time, he knew definitely that the man at the wheel was the little dog who had trailed him to the ritz and then driven off after ansaldo's limousine with androtten as his passenger. it was only when the car was less than a block from the bolivar that hall spoke again. "it's too bad," he said, his eyes trying to focus both on the mirror and on de runa, "it's too bad about the phoenix garage blowing up today." the chauffeur and the marques started. "but--why?" the marques asked. "oh, i don't know. it's just that an officer in the british embassy was telling me just the other day that the phoenix garage was one of the most fascinating establishments in san hermano. i was planning to visit the garage myself tomorrow. i'm interested in garages, you know." the chauffeur stopped the car in front of the bolivar with an abrupt slamming of his brakes. hall laughed. "your chauffeur was daydreaming, i think." the marques laughed, or tried to laugh, as if hall had just made one of the funniest remarks ever heard in san hermano. "that's what he is," the marques laughed, "a man who dreams by day. very good, señor hall. excellent." hall got out of the car, helped jerry to the street. "thank you again for picking us up," he said. "and do something about your driver before he starts driving into people in his sleep." the car was in gear and on its way down the street before the marques could make his answer heard. "what was so funny about your crack?" jerry asked. "i'll tell you tomorrow. are we still friends?" "stop it, matt. just leave me alone tonight." "sure," he smiled. "sleep on it. but please to keep the mouth shut, yes?" "i'm going to my room, matt." "may i phone you in the morning?" jerry ran into the hotel without answering. hall stood in the street for a moment, watching the receding crowds in the plaza. they started to become a blur in his heavy eyes. he entered the lobby. souza was going over a bill with two guests. hall nodded to the night clerk, then went into the small bar of the bolivar to have a drink while souza got rid of the strangers. only one of the four tables in the bar room was occupied. androtten and a san hermano coffee dealer sat at this table, three open copper canisters between them. the hollander was driving a hard bargain for two types of monte azul bean. "mr. hall," he smiled, "delighted to see you healthy again. delighted as hell." "healthy again?" "damn rumors have been spread about the hotel that you were ill, mr. hall. not seriously as hell, i hope? why don't you join us? mr. rendueles has been trying to make a deal with me on some fairly choice bean." hall downed his double scotch. "no, thanks. i'd better get some sleep." "yes. you look sleepy, mr. hall. i wonder if we'll ever find time for--you know--my damn story. eh?" "one of these days," hall said. "we'll get the complete story, androtten. all the facts, in complete detail. good night." he paid for his drink and went to the desk in the lobby. "your key," souza said. "i have it right here." "thanks. what's new?" "oh, nothing, señor. nothing at all." souza was being profoundly impersonal. "i hope you are feeling better, señor. oh, yes, message in your box." the message was from souza himself, and the ink was not yet dry. "i can't speak now," it read. "thank you. good night." hall put the message in his pocket and went to his room. he flung himself across the bed, yielding to the fatigue that was tearing at every nerve and muscle in his body. in the dark, he managed to get rid of his shoes and his suit, letting them drop to the floor when he had taken them off. he tried to think of all that had happened that day, of what he would have to do tomorrow. the fading shouts of the crowds in the plaza grew fainter. the bed grew softer. he fell asleep. the phone bell woke him in a few minutes. souza was calling. "señor hall, the drinks you ordered are on the way upstairs," he said. "i am sorry for the delay, but we have a new waiter, and he is not accustomed to our system yet." "oh, i get it." the _cabrón_ of a night waiter was gone. the invisible, detested _cabrón_ whom hall had never seen. he half expected miguelito or juan antonio to be standing in the hall when he heard the knock on the door. instead, there was a short, swarthy man in his forties, balancing a tray of brandy and soda in his right hand, a professional waiter down to his flat feet and his bland smile. "shall i bring it in, señor?" "please. set it down here, on the little table." the waiter closed the door, put the tray down. "_compañero_ hall," he said, the bland smile gone, "permit me to introduce myself. i am emilio vicente, delegate of the waiters' union." he shook hall's hand, then gave him a calling card. it was major segador's private card. "turn it over, _compañero_ hall." the short message on the reverse side indicated that hall was to trust vicente. "i am happy to know you," hall said. "will you have a drink with me?" "some other time, _compañero_. tonight i have a message. major segador suggests that should you need any assistance in a hurry, you can call upon me. i am at your orders." "thank you." emilio vicente picked up his tray. "_compañero_," he said, "it might seem a little dangerous, but the major assured us that you do not lack for _cojones_." "what?" "good night, _compañero_ hall. you look as if you could use some sleep." _chapter twelve_ hall slept through the morning. he rose at noon, staggered into a cold tub, and then ordered a breakfast of steak and eggs. vicente wheeled the table into the room. "i have been thinking of the major's offer," hall said. "there's something you can do for me. do you know anything about the marques de runa?" "yes. he's a falangist. his family owns one of the biggest import and export companies in the country. the young one works there, too." "what is he up to now?" "perhaps we can find out." "good. do you know anything about his chauffeur?" "no. but we can find out." "do you mind if i ask pepe delgado to check up too?" "not at all, _compañero_. he is very reliable." * * * * * san hermano had settled back to her old routines when hall left his room. the trolleys ran, cars moved along all the streets, the loud speakers on the poles and buildings had been taken down, and street sweepers were groaning over the litter of signs and papers they themselves had helped scatter over the whole city the day before. yesterday's crowds had gone back to their jobs, their homes, their own quarters. the papers had little news about tabio's condition. they carried his speech and, in most cases, described the events which had followed tabio's speech as a spontaneous demonstration on the part of the people. _el imparcial_ merely said that a great crowd had heard the speech over the public amplifiers and that red hoodlums had severely beaten some anti-communists who had joined the crowd in the plaza to listen to the address of the president. hall scanned the papers at a café table in old san hermano while pepe went to telephone some friends who were doing some further checking on the marques de runa. the information pepe received over the telephone was very brief. at six o'clock that morning, the marques de runa and his chauffeur had taken a plane for natal from the san hermano airport. "wait for me in the car." hall went to a phone himself, called margaret skidmore. "hi, pirate," she said. "getting lonesome for the farm?" "sure. how about you?" "i can't get away this week," she said. "how about the week-end?" "i'll have to let you know tomorrow. tell me, margaret, how well do you know the marques de runa?" "very well. why?" "oh, nothing much. i left my notebook in his car last night, i think." "i know. he told me." "about the notebook?" "no. about your red-headed girl friend. she sounds like a good substitute for farming." "cut it out," hall laughed. "is she the gal you were dreaming about at the wrong time one day last week?" "no. but about my notebook. it's not too important, but i had some interesting things in it, margaret. i was wondering how to reach the marques." "it would be impossible today," she said. "he just left for barcelona on a business trip." "is he a good friend of yours?" "freddie? he's my fiancé." "you're kidding!" "no. i'm to be the marquesa de runa. didn't you know?" "does anyone else know it?" "yes," she said. "he does. now don't start cross-examining me about that! it's my affair." "i won't. you always know what you're doing." "thanks. i feel like doing some plowing over the week-end. with you. let's talk about it then, if it still interests you. and in the meanwhile, i'll have someone look through the car for your notebook." "thanks a lot." hall went to the car. "let's go back to the hotel," he said, "and find souza. or is the day clerk reliable?" "don't worry," pepe said. "arturo can be trusted. that's why souza got him the job." "we have a lot to do, pepe. i want to search the room of the dutchman, androtten. we'll need all the help we can get." they found the task very simple. androtten had left that morning with a small handbag on what he described to the clerk as a two-day buying trip in the south. with the day clerk standing guard at the phone and vicente lounging in the hall to sound any needed alarm, hall and pepe entered the dutchman's room with a pass key and drew the blinds. there was a picture of androtten and what was evidently his family in a portable leather frame on the bureau. it showed androtten and a fat blond matron sitting at a table, with a youth in his teens at androtten's left and a little girl leaning at the woman's knee. "he's a family man," pepe said. "we'll see." hall went through the wastebasket, the clothes hanging in the closet, every drawer in the bureau. he examined every piece of luggage for false sides and bottoms, hidden compartments, and stray papers. in the traveling bag he found in the closet, hall discovered a heavy brown envelope. inside was the picture of a young colonial netherlands officer and a letter from the dutch government-in-exile. the letter regretted to inform androtten that his esteemed son, lieutenant wilhelm androtten ii, had perished fighting the nazi invaders in the battle for the lowlands, and had been posthumously awarded the second highest decoration the queen gave such heroes. hall had to guess at the contents of the letter, using his german as a basis for deciphering the dutch. "does this look like that boy grown up?" he asked pepe. "i think so, mateo. what does the letter say?" hall gave him the gist of the letter as he understood it. "but i still think he's a fraud, pepe. let's examine the labels on his clothes again." the labels revealed only what androtten had already indicated. london, amsterdam, new orleans, rio. he had purchased no clothes in san hermano. "let's get out of here, pepe." "where are you going now?" "i've got to write a letter in my room. but wait for me. i think we're going to visit duarte when i've got the letter finished." his own room, he soon discovered, had also been searched that day. the lock on his traveling bag had been picked, and the stethoscope was missing. he flung the new straw hat in the closet and went to the lobby. pepe was talking to the day clerk. he grinned at hall, asked, "so soon?" "i changed my mind." then, to the clerk, "where is miss olmstead? at the university laboratory?" "no, señor. she went to the country with the two doctors." "do you know where exactly?" "no. only that she went to the country. they will not be back tonight. they left an hour ago." "come on, pepe. we have to get started." they sat down in the car. "first stop the mexican embassy," hall said. "but wait there for me. i won't be too long." "what happened?" "my room was searched. the stethoscope is missing." "that means trouble, mateo." "sure. it also means that someone was careless. where the hell were arturo and vicente?" "it's a big hotel, mateo. we were talking about it only this morning. duarte wants you to stay with him in his house for the night." "what do you think about it?" "duarte is right." "but i have a good gun, pepe. and good friends." "i know that, mateo. but stay with duarte tonight. i think that tonight someone else should sleep in your bed. duarte suggested three pillows or a log. then, in the morning, if there are no bullet holes in the pillows ..." "or the log ..." "... or the log, then you can say it was a mistake to sleep at duarte's house tonight. someone followed me this morning, mateo. i drove him crazy, but i couldn't get a look at him myself. it was very funny. but it is also serious." hall put the gun back in his pocket. "maybe it is," he said. "i'll stay with duarte." "it is the right thing to do, mateo. i'll leave you with duarte. i have to see souza and some other friends tonight." pepe waited at the curb until hall was admitted to the mexican embassy. then, his eyes sweeping the streets for signs of anyone shadowing him on foot or by automobile, he took the most roundabout route he could devise to reach the transport workers' union headquarters. duarte had had no word from general mogrado. "i'm sure he met the courier," he told hall. "but i'm worried by his silence. it is not like him." "give him another night, felipe. in the meanwhile, i'll send another letter to havana. i just can't believe that the evidence on ansaldo is not available on this side of the ocean. if it's nowhere else, it must be in havana." "why are you so sure?" "because i know havana. i know what the spanish republicans and the secret police must have there. i tell you, felipe, we can hang ansaldo in havana. do you remember where and how i first saw ansaldo in burgos? well, there was a photographer standing and working in front of me for hours that day. i know who he was, felipe. he was the man from _arriba_. i don't doubt but that either the spaniards or the cubans have a complete file of _arriba_ in havana. and i'm willing to bet my bottom dollar that i'll find those pictures of ansaldo in that file." "i hope so, mateo. but i hope you don't have to go. are you very tired?" "i could stand an hour's sleep before dinner." "we'll go to the house. dr. gonzales might join us for dinner. and lavandero is going to try to join us after dinner." they went to duarte's house in one of the embassy's cars. hall stretched out on the couch under the mural of madrid and fell asleep in a few minutes. it was some while before he was rested enough to dream, and then the figures in the mural above the couch began to move through his sleep in a macabre procession. duarte woke him in an hour. "twice you yelled in your sleep," he said. "and then you started to twist like a chained snake. bad dreams, mateo?" "i guess so," hall said, his fingers working the muscles at the back of his neck. "i always dream about the bombardments when i feel bad." "gonzales and lavandero can't meet us tonight. they're both at the presidencia. i think tabio is getting weaker." "is that what they told you?" "no. they just said they couldn't meet us." "too bad. what have you got cooking?" "i don't know, _amigo_. i hired a new cook and she won't allow me to put my face in the kitchen." "she must be a smart cook." "we'll find out in a few minutes. i forgot to tell you, but gonzales had some news for us tonight. he says that gamburdo is planning to delay the actual start of congress for another week. his game is to allow the present high feelings of the people to cool down a bit before the congress starts its business." hall was puzzled. "i don't quite understand the maneuver," he said. "the congress has to choose a delegation for the inter-american parley, and to compose its mandate. gamburdo still wants a delegation committed to neutrality." "can he get away with it?" "who knows? he was a long way toward success when don anibal stopped him. the real question is how long can don anibal be counted on to get out of bed and fight for an anti-fascist war policy?" a soft rain had started to fall while hall was sleeping. it splashed gently against the open shutters of the cottage, embracing the house, the palms and the papaya trees on the grounds, its soft rhythms throwing hall into a small boy's melancholy. he talked little during dinner, and when he did, it was to subject duarte to his reminiscences of rainy days when he was very young. they swapped yarns for hours, listened to duarte's endless collection of mexican and flamenco records, and killed a bottle of black rum. "i'm going to sleep until noon," hall said when they quit for the night. but his sleep was cut short very early in the morning by pepe, who arrived with the news that jerry had returned from the country late at night and was trying desperately to contact hall. he phoned her at once. "matt," she said, "can you come over right away? i think that i owe you an apology." jerry was waiting for him in her room. she had not had any sleep for a full night, and her eyes showed it. hall noticed that the two ash trays in the room were filled to the rims with fresh cigarette stumps. "what's up?" he asked. "i'm out of cigarettes. have you got any?" "only cubans. they're very strong." she accepted one, choked a bit on the first puff, then continued smoking. "give," he said. "what happened?" "you were right, i think. i can't swear to it, but i'm sure i recognized his voice. the little dutchman, i mean." "androtten?" she nodded. "he was at the ranch. i'm certain of it." "wait a minute, baby. sit down. relax. now start from the beginning. what ranch?" "oh, i thought you knew. i went to gamburdo's brother's ranch with ansaldo and marina. doctor was ripping mad. there was entirely too much interference in the tabio case, he said, and he'd called for a showdown. he said he was going to stay on the ranch for a few days, or at least until the politicians who were interfering with him would come to their senses. he said we'd all just take a holiday until we could go back to work." "who else was at the ranch?" "gamburdo's brother, two men i've never seen before, and our hostess." "were you introduced to the two men?" "no, that's just it. they were not there when we arrived. they came on horseback after we'd been there for some hours. señora gamburdo said they were merely neighbors who wanted to talk over a cattle deal with her husband." "and what makes you think she was lying?" "i can't say, exactly, matt. i didn't like the way she explained them to me--it was as if she felt that i insisted upon an explanation. that was when i decided to tell ansaldo that i wanted to come back to town this morning. i told him there was some shopping i'd neglected. he didn't seem to object at the time." "when did androtten arrive?" "i don't know. i told you--i didn't see him. i just heard his voice. it was about five in the afternoon, i'd say. i was taking a dip in the pool--alone. there was a puppy playing around the pool. he found one of my red beach shoes and started to chew on it. then he took the shoe in his mouth and carried it over to the side of the house and left it near a hedge. "it was when i went for the shoe that i heard androtten. some sort of a conference was going on in the room above the spot where the pooch had dropped my shoe. i recognized the voices of ansaldo and marina and the two others. but most of the talking was being done by a new voice. i thought i recognized it. then he stopped speaking spanish and switched to german. i'm sure it was german." "what was he saying?" "i couldn't make it out. but he was very angry." "and it was androtten?" "definitely." "could you see into the room?" "no. i didn't try, anyway. i was afraid. i just picked up my shoe and beat it." hall hesitated. he gave jerry a fresh cigarette, lit it for her. "could they have seen you?" he asked. she shook her head. "but that's not the end of it," she said. "after dinner, ansaldo took me for a walk in the garden. he made a lot of small talk about different cases. then he asked me why i insisted upon returning to town. i told him again that i wanted to buy some things to take home for friends. he was very pleasant about it. he asked me, half-seriously, if the real reason i wanted to go back was because i had a date with you. he was acting the part of a jealous lover when he said it." "acting?" "i'm sure he was only acting. because when he said that i just laughed and said, 'good heavens, no, doctor! the last time i saw hall he said he was going to make a small fortune writing the story of that little dutchman's experience with the japs, and my guess is that he'll be spending the next few days locked up in his room with the dutchman.' "ansaldo stopped dead in his tracks when i said that, matt. he asked me which dutchman i mean--but only after he had caught his breath." "what did he say when you told him you meant androtten?" "nothing much. he made a joke--a bad one--about flying dutchmen. and then he continued talking about medical cases." "and that was the last you saw of him?" "just about. my train left at five-thirty this morning. he was asleep when i left." "who drove you to the station?" "marina and a ranch hand. marina was glad to see me go. he hates to see me around ansaldo." "why? is ansaldo also a fairy?" "god, no!" jerry laughed. "he's anything but." "you're exhausted. let me get you some breakfast," he said. "and then, when you catch your second wind, maybe you'll remember some other details." "i'm sure i've told you everything, matt." he picked up the phone, asked for vicente. "ham and eggs?" he asked jerry. "no. just coffee and toast." hall gave vicente the order. "and one other thing," he told the waiter. "the woman is in trouble. some one will have to keep an eye on her today. and let me know when the fat little foreigner on this floor returns to town. he is a dangerous enemy." "all those words for coffee and toast?" jerry asked. "i've learned a few words, matt. i know that _mujer_ is woman." "good for you. i was asking him about his wife. she's been ill." "oh." jerry relaxed in her chair. "tell me, matt. what was it all about at the ranch? there was something wrong there. i know. why should ansaldo have wanted me around? and who is androtten?" "that's a big order, baby. there's only one thing i definitely know about it. i know that ansaldo is a hot shot in the falange. i know that two falange agents arrived in san hermano on board a spanish ship the other day, and that they were traced to the ranch. but i can only guess that the two neighboring _estancieros_ you saw were these two visiting falange agents." "and androtten?" "again i'm guessing. i know that a nazi general named wilhelm von faupel is the man who actually runs the falange. i know something about the way the nazis work. o.k. so i assume that androtten--if it really was androtten whose voice you heard--is a gestapo agent. that would make sense. hitler orders tabio's death; the job is handed to hitler's falange, and a gestapo officer tags along to run the show in san hermano as his comrades run it in spain. it would all make sense if we could prove that the two visiting _estancieros_ were the falange agents off the _marques de avillar_, and that androtten was the man you heard." "then why should they have wanted me around?" jerry asked. there was a gentle rap on the door. "time out for coffee," hall smiled. "_entrada!_" the door was unlocked. the handle turned, and wilhelm androtten entered. he took off his small panama hat, fanned his red, puffy face with it. "ah," he sighed, "they told me at the desk that i would find you here, mr. hall. hot as hell, isn't it?" he put a large coffee canister on the arm of a chair. "may i sit down?" he asked. "of course." hall glanced at jerry, whose fingers were clenched tightly on a large amber comb. "what can i do for you?" androtten put the canister on his lap. "oh, my dear mr. hall," he sighed, his pudgy right hand resting on the lid of his tin. "i just wanted to tell you that i am leaving for rio on an extended buying trip tomorrow. if you still are interested in my damn story, perhaps you could spare me some time this afternoon, eh?" "i think it could be managed," hall smiled. "did you buy all the damn monte azul bean you wanted, sir?" "oh, yes. oh, yes indeed, mr. hall. fine, rich, full-bodied bean, fragrant as hell. please, i'll show you." androtten opened the canister. there was no coffee under the lid. instead, there was a small automatic pistol, equipped with a gleaming silencer. "please," androtten sighed, "no noise, please. i should hate to be forced to shoot you both." jerry stifled a muted cry. "you wouldn't dare," hall said. "you are a fool, hall. i hope you have already noticed that my gun is equipped with the only silencer in this jungle of indians and blackamoors." "the gestapo--you nazis think of everything, don't you?" hall said in a rising voice. "i must remind you again not to shout, hall. please, lock your hands on top of your head." hall obeyed the order. "if the nurse co-operates, she will be spared." "for god's sake, jerry, do anything the nazi orders," hall cried. "he has a gun!" the little man with the gun angrily raised a finger to his lips. "not one word out of you," he whispered. he got out of the chair, started backing toward the door. "now," he said, "listen carefully, both of you. for your information, hall, i am not gestapo. i am from the ibero-american institute in berlin. and that, i am afraid, is the last information you will ever receive about anything, hall." the comb in jerry's hand snapped with a dry little crack. the sudden noise startled androtten. he raised the gun and fired just as hall dove for his feet. three times the cough of a silenced gun sounded in the room. the shots seemed to come all together. a split second after the third shot was fired hall had kicked the gun from the limp hand of the nazi and was sitting astride his chest with his hands locked on androtten's throat. he was oblivious to the noise at the balcony, to jerry, to everything but the man dying under him. a gentle hand tugged at hall's shoulder. "enough, mateo. the _cabrón_ is dead." emilio vicente had climbed into the room from the balcony. he had a pistol in his hand. "the woman," he said. "she has fainted." jerry was lying in a heap on the floor near her chair. "christ, she was hit!" hall rushed to her side, examined her for bullet wounds. "no, mateo. his bullet sailed over my head. my bullets both hit him. i aimed for the heart. see, you are covered with his blood, no?" "water." hall was sitting on the floor, jerry's head in his lap, a hand clasped firmly over her mouth. he dipped a handkerchief into the glass vicente gave him, ran it over her face. "jerry," he whispered, "promise me you won't yell if i take my hand away? everything is all right. his shot missed us both, and now he's under control." she nodded. "i'm sorry i passed out," she said. "you're o.k. now." vicente, standing over them, grinned at the girl. "_sí_, you _magnífica_," he said. "you make boom noise of comb. she"--he pointed to androtten, who lay under a blanket vicente had found while hall was reviving jerry--"she have much scare of boom, she shoot much badly. me, emilio, shoot much good. she no good no more." "is he dead? _muerto?_" "much dead." vicente showed them his pistol. he pointed to his own silencer. "i heard the son of a whore mother," he said to hall, a sardonic smile on his grim face. "when he gets to hell he will learn that there were other silencers in this jungle." "you heard everything?" "but naturally, _compañero_. i followed him to the door and listened. when you shouted to the woman that the nazi had a gun, i knew you were shouting for me. i have a gun, too. and a pass key. so i rushed into the next room and climbed over to the balcony. it was not difficult." "you were very good. you saved our lives." "it is nothing." "i can get up, matt," jerry said. "i'd rather sit in the chair." hall helped her to the chair, told her what vicente had done. vicente laughed at hall's account of his heroism. "it was nothing," he repeated. "the nazi was too fat to miss." "he's very messy," hall said, looking at the blanket. "what are you going to do with the body?" hall asked vicente. "feed it to the sharks." "better fingerprint him and make photos of the face, first," hall advised. "and let segador know immediately." "be tranquil, _compañero_. all in good time. when you and the woman leave, pepe and i shall put the remains of this dog in a laundry basket and get it out of here." vicente looked at jerry. "and i think you had better get her out of this room. she is going to get sick if she stays here." "you're right." hall gave jerry his hand. "come on, nurse," he smiled. "we're going to my room. this is no place for a lady." he helped her to her feet. she held her hand out to vicente. "you are very sweet," she said. "_usted mucho dulce._ understand?" "understand," he laughed. he kissed her hand. hall had a bottle of brandy in his room. he poured two stiff drinks for jerry and himself. "feel any better?" he asked. "it was awful for a few minutes. i was afraid he would kill you." "so was i, baby. i was afraid he'd kill me before i ever got around to telling you how i felt. about you, i mean." "how do you feel about me?" he filled the glasses again. "still think i'm a cop?" "i don't care. i guess you aren't, though." "right." "i'd have died if he killed you. i love you, matt." she was sitting on the edge of the bed. he stood over her, took the glass from her hand. "you know how i feel, then," he smiled. "darling," she said, raising her face, "didn't you think that i knew?" "wait," he laughed. "i'm filthy with his blood. i'd better change my clothes." he found a fresh suit and a clean shirt in his closet. "i'll change in there," he said. "darling," she said, while he was changing, "i still can't figure out why ansaldo wanted me at the ranch." "i think i can, baby. it's not so hard. figure it out for yourself. the beautiful american nurse is a complete political innocent. sees all, knows nothing. a perfect set-up. the falangist doctors take you along to san hermano. you sit in the sickroom while ansaldo examines tabio. you yourself work on the smears and the slides in the laboratory. you are the clean, unbiased witness who can testify that scientifically all was on the up and up. your existence is proof that ansaldo's visit was legitimate. if anything was shady, he'd bring a falangist nurse." "but why was i brought to the ranch?" "same reasoning. lavandero blocks ansaldo's plans. meanwhile, the falange sends two agents from spain with the latest orders for ansaldo. he has to sneak out of town to confer with them. so does androtten, the nazi boss of the expedition. again ansaldo takes the unbiased, non-political nurse along. she is still the witness. she sees nothing wrong at the ranch, and, after ansaldo puts tabio in the grave, if anyone starts to suspect anything, they question the obviously innocent american nurse and she backs ansaldo's story. she really hasn't seen a thing." "that is," jerry said, "until the dumb american nurse stood under the wrong window and heard joe nazi himself." "exactly." "then you think they know that i heard androtten?" "i can't say. but just to play safe, you're moving out of this hotel to where they can't find you. and right away. not that they're not prepared. remember, you didn't _see_ androtten. they know that much. by now you can bet your bottom dollar that they have a coffee planter three hundred miles from the gamburdo ranch who will swear on a stack of bibles that androtten was with him for the past three days, and a whole slew of witnesses to back him up." "but won't it make them suspicious if i move?" "the hell with them, baby. it's you that counts now." "then i'm staying. i won't spoil it for you by playing into their hands." hall took her in his arms. "you're wonderful," he said. "but ..." the phone began to ring. it was dr. gonzales. "can you come over to the presidencia at once?" he asked. "yes, very important. i am in don anibal's apartment. please, hurry." "i'll be right over." "what is it, matt?" "come on. we're going to the presidencia. it sounds like the end." _chapter thirteen_ the private elevator in the presidencia was both carpeted and bullet-proof, as it had been in general segura's day. but the magnificent bronze friezes of general segura's capture of san hermano had long since been melted down to make medals, and in place of the martial friezes there now hung a series of water colors painted by grade-school children in the small villages. every year, hall explained to jerry as the car climbed to the fourth floor, a committee of the republic's leading artists chose twenty water colors submitted by the schools for a place in this elevator. the students whose pictures were chosen received medals made from the bronze frieze which had originally hung in their places. gonzales was waiting for them at the fourth-floor landing. "are you all right?" he asked jerry, and without waiting for an answer he took hall's arm and started to walk down the long gilded corridor toward the private library of the president. the library was large, perhaps forty feet square, the four walls were lined with books from floor to ceiling. in one corner was an immense mahogany writing table, clean now except for a drinking glass packed with sharpened pencils and a large yellow foolscap pad. when tabio was well, this table was always piled high with books, most of them opened and kept in place by an inkwell, a heavy watch, or another book. today there were no books on don anibal's table; instead, almost as if in explanation, a padded steel and aluminum wheel chair stood empty near the little corridor which led to the door of the president's bedroom. "please, sit down." gonzales indicated two leather chairs. "i'm in the way," jerry said. "i don't belong here." "i had to take her along," hall said. "it was a matter of her life. is there some place where she can rest while we--while we talk?" "excuse me. i will make the arrangement." gonzales stepped out of the room. "what's happening?" jerry asked. "i don't know. it looks bad. whatever it is, don't cave in on me now. it won't do anyone any good." "i'm all right now. but i'll probably have nightmares about today for the rest of my life." gonzales returned to the library with a middle-aged maid in a simple uniform. "please, nurse," he said, "this lady will escort you to a quiet apartment. you will find brandy and a bed. i hope you will forgive us and find comfort." his blue lips tried to smile at jerry as she followed the maid out of the library. "you're not well," hall said. the blue lips tightened. "i'm a cardiac, you know. but it is not of importance. simon tabio will join us in a moment. it is very serious, _compañero_." "don anibal?" "yes. simon will tell you about the new development. he is young, but he is very strong. he knows that gamburdo is a traitor." "has he told don anibal?" "the mere telling might kill him. we must have the proof before we tell him." "the proof?" hall started to tell the ailing doctor about androtten when simon tabio entered the library. "ah, simon. this is _compañero_ mateo hall." "how do you do?" the boy said, in english. "i regret that we must meet under such sad circumstances." "_el habla castellano, chico_," gonzales said. "the sorrow weighs with equal weight in my own heart," hall said. "_compañero_ hall was on the point of telling me some important news when you came in, simon. i think you should hear it." "i would like to hear it," simon said. "do you know about corbeta the falange agent and jimenez the c.t.e. radio operator being at the gamburdo ranch with ansaldo?" "yes. segador has kept me informed." "there was one other man at the ranch with them, a nazi. an agent of the ibero-american institute named androtten. at least that was the name he used. he reached san hermano on the same plane which brought ansaldo and me." hall told them of jerry's accidental discovery and of the events which followed and brought about the death of the nazi. he told it in very few words, his eyes taking in the uncanny resemblance between simon and his father. "my father is very ill, señor. we must be able to prove your story for him." "he is my friend," hall said. "he will believe me." "he is very ill. i believe you, of course. but what proof have we for my father that androtten was a nazi agent? if you know my father at all well, señor, you must surely know his passion for the truth. and we must remember that in his illness ..." the boy's voice trailed off to nothingness, and he turned away from his elders. "i think," gonzales said, gently, "i think that you had better tell _compañero_ hall about what happened this morning." simon bolivar tabio dabbed at his reddened eyes with a white handkerchief. "they are killing him," he said, brokenly. he paused to swallow the painful lump in his throat, ashamed before the friends of his father for his weakness. "there are many tears in san hermano for don anibal," hall said. "you should be proud of your own." "this morning," simon said, "dr. marina arrived here with a written message for my mother from dr. ansaldo. the surgeon refused to operate without the written permission of the entire cabinet. he says in the note that he refuses to predict how long my father can live without an operation. he says that the operation must be performed immediately." "it is murder," gonzales said. "every doctor in san hermano who has examined don anibal swears that he is too weak to undergo an operation right now." "he sent a copy of the note to each member of the cabinet," simon said. "they refuse to discuss the question without my father's permission." "the dirty bastard," hall said. "we were discussing you this morning," gonzales said. "lavandero and simon and myself. we think that if we get no further actual proof, we will have to place a great burden on your shoulders, _compañero_ hall. don anibal trusts you." "do you want me to tell don anibal what i know?" "not immediately. it would be too great a shock. don anibal would demand proof even from you. but if he hears from you that you are here to investigate the falange and then if, say tomorrow, you come back and tell him that you have run across some important information, perhaps ..." "but have we time to break it to him in easy stages? is his--health--adequate?" "it is a chance we are forced to take," simon said. "my father's health is not--adequate--for a sudden shock." "you may be right. i have already notified segador about androtten. perhaps by tomorrow he will have established androtten's real identity." "then you will see my father now?" "i will do anything you ask, _compañero_." "excuse me, then." simon left the library. "don anibal is not going to live," gonzales said when the boy left. "not even a miracle can save his life." the doctor was tearing the stopper from a small vial of adrenalin. he held the open mouth of the vial to his nose and breathed deeply. "adrenalin?" hall asked. "it is nothing, _compañero_. say nothing to simon, please." a corner of his blue underlip was growing purple in tiny spots. "i hear him now, mateo." the boy carried his shoulders proudly when he returned to the library. "my father is sitting up in bed," he said. "he is preparing a radio speech to the entire republic." dr. gonzales was incredulous. "are you sure, _chico_?" simon touched his right eye with his index finger. "i have seen it at this moment. my father is a great and a brave man. he says that we should bring _compañero_ hall in at once." the door leading to tabio's room was opened by an armed army sergeant. "the president will see you now," he said. hall followed simon and gonzales through the small corridor which took them to the sick room. the shutters were opened, and the sun streamed into the chamber, bathing everyone and everything in its gentle light. anibal tabio was sitting up in bed, his hand raised in a familiar gesture as he dictated to a secretary who sat on a stool near his pillows. "neutrality," he was dictating, "neutrality is either abject surrender to hitler or an open admission of complicity with the fascist axis or a sinful combination of both..." the swarthy esteban lavandero was, as always, at tabio's side, his fierce moorish face twisted with pain and love. he stood behind the girl secretary, one black hairy hand resting on the carved headboard of the ancient bed, his ears cocked for every word which came from tabio's pale lips. tabio's wife and two doctors in white coats stood on the other side of the bed. the prim white collar of her dark dress matched the streaks of white in her long black hair. her luminous _mestiza's_ eyes, swollen from quiet weeping, were now bright and clear, and when anibal tabio looked to his wife after turning a particularly telling phrase in his speech her generous lips parted and she smiled at him the way she had smiled to reward his earliest writings three decades ago. "the great north american martyr to freedom, don abraham lincoln, a man of great dignity whose humor was the humor of the people from whose loins he sprang, was a man who many years ago described such neutrality. lincoln was not a neutral in the struggle between slavery and freedom. and when some fool insisted that most americans were neutral in this struggle, lincoln replied with the anecdote of the american woman who went for a walk in the woods and found her husband fighting with a wild bear. being a neutral, this woman stood by and shouted, 'bravo, husband. bravo, bear.' "and then, lincoln said ..." "don anibal," one of the doctors said, gently, "i must implore you ..." the restraining hand of tabio's wife made him stop. "it is no use, doctor," tabio smiled. "at a time like this, if a president can speak at all, he must speak to his people. tonight you will type my speech, and tomorrow you can bring the microphone right into this room, and right from my bed i shall talk to the people. if i am to die in any event, it will not matter much. and if i am to live, doctor, the speech will not kill me." simon, who was standing next to hall in the doorway, whispered that tabio's eyes were too weak to distinguish them at that distance. they started to walk toward the bed on their toes, and hall, glancing at tabio sitting up in the old bed in a white hospital gown surrounded by the burly lavandero and his wife and son, was suddenly struck by the similarity of the scene which was before him and the doré engraving of the death of don quixote. it was all there, even to the faithful sancho panza figure of lavandero, and at that moment hall knew why spanish savants had for hundreds of years written scores of books on the true significance of cervantes' classic. here were the two great impulses of the hispanic world, the fragile, gentle, trusting dreamer of great new horizons and at his side the broad-backed practical man of earth who threw his strength into the effort of implementing the dreams and making them the new realities. here was the visionary juarez and the young soldier porfirio diaz, when the warrior was still a man untainted by his own betrayal of a people's dream. here was the romantic poet josé marti and one of his durable guerrilla generals, maximo gomez or antonio maceo, whose white and black skins, blended, would have yielded a skin the color of lavandero's. (was it any wonder, then, hall thought in those fleeting seconds before tabio recognized him, that tabio as a young exile went to cuba to write a biography of marti while his faithful fellow-exile spent the same months in havana writing an equally good study of maceo?) at that moment tabio saw hall. "_viejo!_" he said, happily. "mateo hall, a good friend and thank god never a neutral. señorita, give him your stool. come, sit down, mateo." hall took his hand, tenderly, for fear of hurting him. it was a thin hand, bony and fleshless; cold, as though death had already touched it. "_viejo_," tabio said. he might have been genially scolding a favorite child. "say something, old friend, and don't sit there staring at me as if i were already a corpse. tell me about yourself, mateo. we've come a long way since geneva and madrid and the day they fished you out of the ocean, eh?" "it has been a long time," hall said. "a very long time, don anibal. a century." tabio smiled. "time is of no matter. it is the present and the future which counts, eh, _viejo_?" "of course, _ilustre_." "my family and my good friends are afraid that i am dying," tabio said, smiling as if at some secret joke he wanted to share with hall. "i am an old dog. an old prison dog. tell them, _viejo_, tell them that our breed doesn't die so easily, no?" hall could only nod and pat the sick man's hand. "do i sound like a dying man?" hall swallowed hard, managed to grin. "you? what nonsense, don anibal! i was at the congress the other day. i watched you and listened to you speak. it was a great speech, anibal." "it was not a great speech. but it was good because i spoke the truth. and do you know, mateo, that the truth is better than any great speech?" tabio was breathing with increased difficulty. he slumped back against the pillows, but out of the corner of his eye he saw the doctors quicken, and he turned to them and winked. "not yet," he smiled. meekly, he allowed one of the doctors to hold a tumbler of colored liquid under his mouth. he sipped some of it through a bent glass tube, then turned to hall again. "where were you sitting?" he asked. "in the diplomatic box with duarte and the mexican ambassador. don't try to talk to me, anibal. save your strength. i'll be here for a long time, and when you're out of bed and on your feet again, perhaps we can have a real visit and sit up all night talking as we used to talk." "mateo! you talk like a child. i will never be on my feet again. but just the same," and he winked impishly at his wife, "i'm a long way from dying." "of course you are," hall insisted. "there, you see?" tabio said to everyone in the room. "mateo can tell you. he knows how tough our breed is. tell me, mateo, is it true that the american ambassador considers me to be the most violent bolshevik outside of russia?" lavandero laughed, and hall laughed, and when tabio, laughing, turned to his wife and son, they laughed too. "he is such a pompous fool, that ambassador. oh, i am being terribly undiplomatic, _viejo_, but to think of an old-fashioned bourgeois reformer like me being compared to lenin and stalin! it is the height of confusion. but if you ever meet him you can tell him that i admire stalin and the russian people. your ambassador and i were together at a state dinner the day the nazis invaded russia and he said that the soviets would be crushed in a month and that he was glad. i told him then that the red army would destroy the nazi war machine and i told him that before the war was over the united states would be fighting on the side of russia and that therefore it was dangerous of him to say he was glad so many red army soldiers were being killed. and you can tell him that some day when i speak to mr. roosevelt again i will tell him what the american ambassador to our country said openly in june of ." "please, don anibal," one of the doctors begged, "you must save your strength." "for the speech," lavandero added, quickly, motioning to hall that it was time for everyone but the doctors to leave the room. hall stood up, again patted the blue-veined hand of the president. he watched tabio, pausing to gain strength, mutely protesting with glazed eyes the obvious stage directions of the doctors who ended this visit. "i must go now, don anibal," hall said, softly. "if you wish, i will be back tomorrow or the next day." "matthew," tabio said, and he began to address hall in english, "you were in spain. you saw. tell them it does not matter if one man lives or dies. i have no fears for truth. i have come a long way on truth. tell them, _viejo_, tell them what a miracle truth is in the hands of the people. you have but"--the words were coming with great difficulty--"you have but to make this truth known...." tabio's jaw sagged open. he fell forward against his knees. the doctors took him by the shoulders and moved him into a prone position. his eyes, still open, stared at everything and nothing, glass now. "_cariño mío!_" his wife sobbed, but at an unspoken order from one of the doctors simon led his mother to a chair in the corner and kept her still. lavandero, gonzales and hall left the chamber for the library. "what happened to anibal?" lavandero asked gonzales. the doctor shook his head. "it is the end," he said. "don anibal will never speak again." "you lie!" "no, esteban." he turned to hall. "his last words were to you, _compañero_." "christ almighty!" "for god's sake, tell me what happened to anibal!" "he fell into a coma. i think it is a stroke." gonzales sat heavily in one of the leather chairs, began to fumble in his pocket for another adrenalin vial. his fingers began to become frantic in their impotence. "i--i ..." hall caught his head as he started to collapse. he reached into the doctor's pocket, found the adrenalin and used it. "it is a stupid way to live," gonzales said. "to have your life depend always on your being a vegetable with a bottle. thank you, _compañero_. just let me rest here for a few minutes." throughout all of this, lavandero stood over tabio's table, staring down at the jar of pencils with a dark, ugly face. he clenched opened clenched opened clenched his fists, his fingers working to no definite rhythm, and then he looked at his fists opening and closing and for a few minutes it seemed as if he looked upon his own hands with loathing. then, straightening up, he put his hands in the pockets of his blue jacket and turned to hall and gonzales. "this is no time to plan personal violence," he said. "it would be exactly what the fascists wanted." "i am at your orders," hall said. "i think you know that." "i am counting on you." "what do i do now?" "keep out of sight for a few hours. i think you should go to gonzales' house. i'll get you an official car and a chauffeur." "i'm not alone," hall said. he told lavandero about jerry and the death of androtten. "_madre de dios_, take her with you! and keep her hidden." the sweat pouring down his face betrayed lavandero's excitement; his voice was calm and steady. "i'll send an armed guard with you." "i'll get the nurse," gonzales said. "no. don't get up. tell us where she is." lavandero had taken over. later, hall knew, the man would allow himself to fly into a wild rage, but he would do it alone, where no one could hear or see him. and hall knew, also, that soon lavandero would be engaged in a battle with gamburdo and the fascists for control of the nation. _chapter fourteen_ the black packard roared out of the subterranean garage of the presidencia, shot out to the avenida de la liberacion. hall and jerry, in the back seat, looked behind them at the second packard which carried their convoy of guards. "they have enough tommy guns back there to blow up anyone who makes a pass at us," he said. "and the two boys in the front seat can throw plenty of lead." "it's like a gangster movie," jerry said. "that shooting in your room this morning was no movie. i've never seen a deader nazi than the late wilhelm androtten, alias x." "what's going to happen to us now, matt?" "don't worry." "i am worried. i want to know." the two cars pulled up at the doctor's house. maria luisa, gonzales' fourteen-year-old daughter, met them at the door. "i am preparing some sandwiches," she said. "father said you were famished." they waited in the living room while the girl worked in the kitchen. "you're too hot in san hermano," hall said. "not yet. they don't know what happened to androtten. i can just go on being ansaldo's nurse until ..." "forget it," he snapped. "this isn't for amateurs any longer. and you're still an amateur, baby." "then what do you suggest i do?" "you're going back to the states with a bodyguard on the next plane out of here. you're waiting for me in miami. i'll give you a letter to one of the chiefs of military intelligence there. you'll be safe." "how about you?" "i'll meet you in two weeks. three weeks at the outside." "i won't do it, matt. i'm staying here with you." "but i won't be here all the time." "then i'll wait here for you." "baby, listen." he took out a package of american cigarettes, put one in her mouth, lit it. "ladies don't smoke in san hermano. you can smoke until you hear anyone coming. then hand it to me. now, sit down like a good girl, and for god's sake, listen carefully. there's a job i've got to do. it's my job alone. i've got to do it alone. i had an idea that before i was through here i'd have to do it. but tabio's last words were spoken in english and they were to me, and baby, as soon as he stopped talking i knew what i had to do." hall quoted the president's words about the power of truth. "and he was right," he said. "i remember what happened when i got out of the can in spain. i went back to paris to get some rest. tabio was in geneva, packing his things to go home. i found out he was still there and i went to see him before he left. he was going home to run for president so that this country shouldn't become a second spain. "i remember telling him that the thing which kept me alive in franco's prison was my feeling that a miracle would happen--that the little guys in england and france would force the appeasers to sell guns to the republic, or that russia would be able to fly some heavy bombers across france for madrid, or that roosevelt would open his eyes and lift the damned embargo, or anything. any good miracle like these, even a tiny one, would have saved the day. and i went to sleep every day sure that each morning i'd wake up closer to the day this miracle would happen, and that some morning i'd wake up and find that the people somewhere outside of spain had performed this miracle. "i remember the way tabio listened to me speak, and how when i was done he said that the miracle i wanted all that time was that the truth should get to the people. it was that simple. and he was dead right. it's exactly what he did in his own country, and you know how the people love him for it." jerry looked puzzled. "but what do you propose to do?" "look," he said. "it's a matter of days at most before the whole nation will be mourning tabio. the constitution says that within thirty days after the president dies, there must be a general election. i have an idea that the race will be between gamburdo and someone like lavandero. both will claim that they are tabio's real choice as a successor. if i can get to havana, i can dig up the truth about gamburdo and ansaldo in a matter of days. i'm sure of it. if it's anywhere at all, it's in havana. gamburdo is taking public credit for trying to save tabio's life by bringing ansaldo to san hermano. the truth can make this boomerang in his face." "can't i help in any way?" hall stopped short. "do you know what you're asking? that scrape in the hotel this morning was nothing compared to the things you're asking for if you stay. even if gamburdo is licked, it's only the beginning." "but you're sticking it out, aren't you?" "i have to. i've been in it since madrid. there's no escaping it for me. i'll never know any peace until the crime of spain is liquidated. fascism isn't just an ideological enemy for me, baby. it's a cancer burning in my own, my very personal guts. i'd go off my conk if mine weren't two of the billion fists that are smashing and will go on smashing back at fascism until it's deader than willie androtten. i've never stopped to think of what my chances are of being alive at the finish. all i know is that if i stopped fighting it i'd die." "let me stay," jerry pleaded. "i'd be a liar if i said that's the way i felt, too. but the war came to me this morning at the end of androtten's gun, darling. i can't escape it any more than you can now." * * * * * they had an early dinner with gonzales and his daughter, avoiding all serious discussion until lavandero arrived. the minister of education brought grim news: anibal tabio had suffered a second stroke and was dying. "where is ansaldo?" hall asked. "he is still on the ranch of gamburdo's brother. he is waiting for an answer to his ultimatum. don anibal's condition is still a secret." "but esteban," gonzales said, "we cannot keep it a secret. you will be accused of murdering don anibal if gamburdo finds out." "i know. i've asked segador to come. i wanted to bring simon tabio, but he refuses to leave the room while his father still breathes. what do you think, _compañero_ hall? what is the first thing we have to do? by the way, does the señorita speak spanish?" "no. i will tell her what she should know later." "is she reliable?" "i hope to marry her--if i am alive in three weeks." jerry looked at hall's face and blushed. "i'll bet you just told him about us," she said. "my felicitations," lavandero said, in english. he gave her his hand. "but with your permission, we must speak in spanish." hall told lavandero and gonzales his plan about havana. "i was going to do it in any event if duarte didn't hear from his friends in mexico." "but why havana?" "because havana was the base headquarters in the western hemisphere for all falangist work. the boys in the casa de la cultura and on the staff of _ahora_ worked with the batista government to break it up. they arrested the key leaders, but even though they had to let them go back to spain, they took their confidential files away from them." "and you think that ansaldo will turn up in these files?" "it is something we must not overlook." "there is someone at the door," gonzales said. "wait." he slipped the safety of the automatic in his pocket, and went to the door with his hand on the gun. "be tranquil," gonzales announced. "it is diego." the major diego segador who walked into the room was quite a different creature from the mournful-visaged officer in the neat uniform hall had met at the barracks. he wore a gray civilian suit, whose jacket was at least four sizes too small for his broad frame, yellow box-toe shoes and an incongruous striped silk shirt. the discolored flat straw hat he carried in his tremendous square hands completed the picture which immediately came to hall's mind: a vision of diego segador as a tough steel-worker on a holiday in youngstown, ohio, during the twenties. "you look," said gonzales, "like a gallego grocer on his way to high mass." "that's enough," lavandero said sharply, "don anibal is dying." the blood rose to segador's head. "no!" he shouted. "sit down, diego." gonzales opened a cabinet and took out a bottle of brandy. he shouted to the kitchen for his daughter to bring glasses. "major," hall said, "this is miss olmstead." "hello," segador said, in english. "you have close shave, no?" all the men had brandy. jerry merely looked at the bottle with great longing. "well then, diego," lavandero said, "minutes count now. hall has a plan. it is a good one." he described it for the major. "if he comes back with pictures of ansaldo in the uniform of the falange, we will have to flood the country with them. they will not look nice next to the pictures of ansaldo embracing gamburdo, no?" "they will look very nice--for us. but how is hall going to get to havana?" "by plane. why?" "why? because you are a marked man, hall." "get me to the border, then. i'll get to havana from across the border." "not on your passport," segador said. "it is too risky. tomas, you have a passport, no? never mind. all right, then, hall. you go on a passport made out to vicente, but with your picture on it. i'll drive you north by car. you board a plane in san martin province--there's one that meets the clipper for miami. the mining men use it. you travel to havana as one of our nationals, one emilio vicente. then the officials of your own government in san juan won't ..." he stopped suddenly, filled his glass with brandy, and drank it in one short gulp. "out with it, major," hall said. "what are you hiding?" "hiding?" "about me and my government?" "nothing. it's just that you are too well known as matthew hall. you are known by face in san juan. perhaps, when you land there to refuel, someone will recognize you. and then there will be trouble about your vicente passport. perhaps--one cannot be too careful." hall knew that the major was concealing something from him, something that had to do with himself. he thought of his low standing at the american embassy, and of some of the fascists in high places he had offended in san juan. "yes," he said, "i think you are right." this, he decided, was not the time to start new trouble. "no," lavandero said, "it is no good. we shall need another passport for _compañero_ hall." "how can we get it?" segador asked. "there is no time." "there is time," lavandero said, evenly. "duarte is preparing a passport and papers for hall. diplomatic. he will travel as victor ortiz tinoco, official courier of the mexican government." "when did he start on the papers?" hall asked. "a few hours ago. he thought you might want to make the trip." "why didn't you tell me before this?" lavandero's face softened. "my dear friend," he said, "what you are undertaking is no minor task. the complications are enormous. if you are caught, you face much legal trouble at the very least; death by violence, if the fascists catch you first. you are under no obligations to this republic. i had to hear it from your lips first." "when can i start?" "in two hours. you will have to give me your passport, so that i may have the picture copied for the ortiz tinoco papers. segador's idea is the right one. he will drive you to the san martin airport tonight. the mexican embassy is ordering the tickets. i will leave you with gonzales and segador to work out the rest of the details." "good. here is my passport." "the republic will always be grateful to you, _compañero_ hall." lavandero stood up and started for the door. hall accompanied him. "well," hall said, "i'll try to get back within the week--if i'm lucky." he held out his hand to the minister. "thank you, _compañero_." lavandero raised his arms to hall's shoulders and embraced him. "you were worthy of his trust." "and you of his love," hall answered. he was sorry for lavandero, sorry for him as a friend, as a man, as a leader so intent on answering his responsibilities to his moment in history that he had to allow his own personal rages to simmer unattended within him until there again came a time when a man could walk off alone and be his own master. "i will see you in a week, _compañero_." hall walked back to the living room. segador was trying to convey to jerry his impressions of atlantic city in . "womans _bonitas_," he was shouting, "whisky bad. much bad. i have young years, much money. well, well. so." "we'll listen to your memoirs when i get back," hall said. "when we get back," segador said. "you're coming with me?" "i'm meeting you on your way back. we'll meet in caracas. listen to me, _compañero_. the chief of our air force is loyal. he will give me one of our american bombers. from the san martin airport, a bomber can make caracas in fifteen hours. give me ten hours' notice, and i will meet you in time. i already have a loyal flying crew standing by for my orders." "where can we meet in caracas?" "at the airport. i can meet your plane." "won't you be followed?" "of course. by three or four of my picked men. don't worry about that." gonzales interrupted to say that there would be time for them to have dinner at the house before starting on the drive north. "oh, while we're at it," hall said, "i am going to ask you to be good enough to keep my _novia_ here until i return. that is, if segador thinks it is safe." "it is safe," the major grunted. "we will make it safe." "then it is the privilege of my daughter and myself to make this house the señorita's for a century." gonzales called his daughter in from the kitchen. "it will be very good for her, _amigos_. maria luisa is studying english in high school. it will help her greatly." "let her teach jerry spanish in a week," hall said. the girl seemed pleased when her father told her about jerry. "oh, nice," she said, trying out her english immediately. "you are very welcome, aunt. the pleasure it is all of mine." "you are very kind," jerry said. "please. may i show you the room? there are five rooms upstairs in my father's house. your room faces the ..." she paused, flustered, turned to hall. "_cómo se dice, por favor, frente con vista al mar?_" "tell her that her room _faces the ocean front_, maria luisa. and teach her two words of spanish for every word you learn from her." "let's go," jerry said to the girl. "vamoose _arriba, sí_?" "under no circumstances," segador said when the girls were gone, "must you attempt to come back by regular routes. if anything happens to me, wait at the border. get to santiago by plane, and wait in the big hotel for word from us." "how bad is it for me?" "who knows? the fascists are mother-raping bastards, but they are no donkeys. today they must be looking for you in san hermano. in a few hours, they will begin to worry. tomorrow they will become upset because you are gone, and by tomorrow night they will turn the whole cross and sword gang loose to look for you. but by tomorrow night, if all goes well, and if that madman of a duarte doesn't try to drive the car himself but brings his driver along, you will be in havana. "of course," segador said, "we will do everything we can to end the hunt. but we can only do the usual things. perhaps we will identify the body of some poor hermanito who gets killed by a car as matthew hall. give me some papers, by the way; we'll need them if we can get the right body." "lavandero has my american passport. and here's my wallet. that's good enough." hall took the three photos out of the wallet. "the pictures are for her--if i don't come back." "and the money?" hall flipped his fingers through the eight hundred-odd dollars worth of travelers' checks. "i'd better sign these, just in case," he said. "i want you to split it between pepe delgado and emilio vicente." "i understand," segador said. "duarte is bringing some money for you to travel on." "i'll repay him when i return. is there anything else i should know? i have to write a letter. have you any paper, doctor?" "in a moment." "just a few things," segador said. "a simple code for sending messages to us." he explained the code system in a few minutes. "and one other thing. i have the pictures we took of that nazi vicente shot; pictures of his face and his fingerprints. we will seal them in the pouch you are carrying. perhaps you can identify it in havana somehow." "i will try. ah, thanks for the paper. this will take me only a few minutes." hall propped the writing pad on his lap and wrote a short note to his attorney in new york. "well, this is it," he wrote, "and i'll be more surprised than you are if you ever receive this letter. i'm about to leave this country on what might turn out to be a one-way trip to the grave. if i don't come back, this letter is to be sent to you. it's about my will. i still want the dough to go to the spanish refugees and the veterans of the international brigades, but i want to lop off about a quarter of the total in the bank and due me from bird and leave it for miss geraldine olmstead. she is an american citizen and, if you hadn't received this note, would by now be mrs. h. when you meet her, introduce her to my friends and take her around to the committee; she wants to help the spanish republicans. if i really thought this was my last trip, i guess i'd close this letter with some appropriate and high-sounding last lines--you know, the kind of crap a guy would write as the lead for his own obit. but we'll skip the farewell address. this letter is being witnessed by two good friends, one a doctor and the other a major in this country. i guess that makes it legal." hall signed the letter, told gonzales and segador what he wanted done with it, and handed them the pen. "how much time do we have?" he asked. "you will have to leave in less than two hours," segador said. "duarte will be here long before then." "good." hall looked at his watch. "i would like to see the girl alone in her room for a while. there is much that i must tell her before i go." "i understand," segador said. "are you making the trip to san martin with me?" "no. i will only ride the first twenty miles with you. i have a car waiting for me at marao." hall waited for gonzales to call his daughter, and then he went up to jerry's room. _chapter fifteen_ hall had time to buy a paper at the havana airport before the panair bus started out for the city. in the half-light of evening, he could read only the headlines, and the front page carried nothing about tabio's condition. it meant only one thing, that don anibal was still alive. his death would have rated a banner headline in every paper published south of the united states borders. he folded the paper under his sealed attaché case, sat wearily back in his seat as the half-empty bus rolled through the flat table lands between the airport and havana. it was a run of fifteen miles from rancho boyeros to the prado, a stretch long enough to give hall another opportunity to review in his mind the nature of the tasks that lay ahead of him. physically, there were few details which could trap him. duarte had been very thorough, even to the point of bringing mexican labels for jerry to sew into every item of apparel on hall's body and in his mexican leather grip. the credentials in his worn mexican wallet had carried him through the control stations of four governments, including the station in san juan (although the night in puerto rico had been a jittery twelve hours of sulking in his room like a caged animal). he wore a hat and a pair of soft ankle boots which belonged to duarte, and a pair of broad-framed tortoise-shell reading glasses he had borrowed from dr. gonzales. the attaché case, protected by the mexican seal, contained the pictures of androtten, a letter from duarte to a man named figueroa in the mexican embassy, and the automatic segador had given him the day after he was drugged. it was too late to report to the mexican embassy and deliver the letter to figueroa. but the casa de la cultura would be open (there were lectures and meetings of some sort going on every night at the spanish republican society), the boys on the staff of _ahora_ would be at their desks at the paper, and colonel lobo could always be reached within a few hours. the idea was to contact all three tonight; if the documentary bomb which would blow up ansaldo was anywhere in havana, it would be either at the casa, the paper, or in the files of the secret police. his heart quickened as the bus reached the narrow streets of havana, honked its way to the maceo, and then turned lazily down the prado. he loved this city as he loved only two others, new york and madrid. in the course of nearly four decades, hall had spent a mere four months in havana, but these were months in which he rarely got more than four hours' sleep a night. he had worked hard in this city, but for a hundred-odd nights he had also known the fantastic pleasures of merely walking the streets of the cuban capital, talking to friends, stopping off to rest and have a tropical beer or a tall glass of mamey pulp, getting drunk only on the green softness of the havana moon and the cool pleasures of the gulf breeze. here he had found old friends from spain, and made new and life-long friendships with a host of cubans. he knew, when he last left havana, that the city had become one of his spiritual homes, that always he would think of it as a place to which he could return when he wanted the peace which comes to a man from being where he belongs. as they approached the panair office, hall became apprehensive. he was afraid that he might be recognized by one of the clerks. he dug into his wallet for an american two-dollar bill and handed it to the driver. "take me directly to the jefferson hotel, _chico_," he said. "it is only two streets out of your way." "i won't get shot if i do, _amigo_." he chose the jefferson because it was a small, ancient and very unfashionable hotel, without a bar, and completely overlooked by the american colony. it was also very inexpensive, just the kind of a place a new courier, anxious to make a good record, would choose. it was on the prado, it was clean, and the bills were modest enough to reflect to the credit of the government traveler who submitted them. not the least of its charms for hall was that the jefferson was the one place where he stood not the slightest chance of being known by either the guests or the employees. he signed the register with a modest flourish, insisted upon and obtained a reduced rate due to his standing as a courier, and then, spotting the large safe in the office behind the counter, he asked for the manager. "i am," he said, flourishing his identity papers, "a courier of the mexican government. since i have arrived too late to present myself to my embassy tonight, could i ask for the privilege of depositing my case in your safe for the night?" the manager said he would be honored to oblige. he had, he said, traveled widely in mexico, and admired the mexican people, the mexican government, and most of all señor ortiz tinoco's department of foreign relations, and did the visitor expect to make frequent stops in havana? the visitor assured the manager that he did. the case was handed to the night clerk, who opened the safe, deposited it, and closed the heavy iron door. "it will be as safe," the manager said, "as the gold in the teeth of a gallego." "that," said hall, "is security enough for me." he got into the rickety elevator and went to his room. it was a large room overlooking the prado. he opened the shutters, looked out at the star-drenched skies. he was home again. outside, juke boxes in three different open cafés on one street were playing three records with maximum volume. a baby in the next room was lying alone and cooing at the ceiling. near by, a light roused a rooster on some rooftop to let out a loud call. hall heard the sounds of the city as they blended into the tone pattern peculiarly havana's own. he took a quick shower, changed into some fresh clothes, and went downstairs to the prado. he stopped first at a cigar stand a few doors from the hotel, bought a handful of choice cigars, and lit a long and very dark partagas, being careful to remember that only gringos removed the cigar band before lighting up. he walked casually down the prado, toward the malecon, pausing in the course of the four blocks between the casa de la cultura and the jefferson to study the stills in the lobby of a movie house showing an american film, to sip a leisurely pot of coffee, and to buy a box of wax matches and a lottery ticket from a street vendor. from the street, he could see that the windows of the casa were well lighted. he walked another block, crossed the street, and then, very casually, he studied the signs on the street entrance to the organization's headquarters. _tonight: lecture on history of music by professor a. vasquez. dance and ball for young people._ and why shouldn't a bachelor courier on the loose in havana attend a dance for the young _refugiados_? he went through the motions of a visiting blade debating with himself the propriety of attending such a ball. squaring his shoulders, the mexican courier put the cigar in his mouth and started to climb the stairs to the headquarters of the casa. he climbed slowly, afraid of receiving too enthusiastic a greeting when he reached the first-floor landing. there was a light in the small meeting room at the end of the corridor. hall stood near the door for a few minutes, listening for a familiar voice through the opened transom. then, carefully, he knocked, and turned the handle of the door. it was open. he stepped into a meeting of a small committee. eight men were sitting around a long table. they were talking about the problems of getting help to the spaniards in the french concentration camps in north africa. all discussion stopped the moment the confreres saw hall. "i am looking," he said, "for santiago iglesias." a tawny-haired spaniard at the table looked up. "_viejo!_" he shouted, springing from his chair and rushing over to confront hall. the right hand which rose to take the cigar from hall's mouth also lingered long enough to hold an admonishing finger to his lips. "hello, rafael," he said. "i didn't know you were in cuba." rafael was grinning like a cheshire cat. "neither did franco," he laughed. "last week i found out for the first time that the fascists had jailed you and that you got out after the war. i thought you were dead, m..." the look in hall's eyes stopped him from pronouncing the rest of the american's name. "let's go outside," hall said, softly. "i do not have much time." they stepped into the corridor. "where can we talk?" hall asked. "is anyone using santiago's office?" "no. we can sit there." they found the office unoccupied. "don't turn the light on," hall said. "the window faces the street." rafael locked the door, pulled two seats close to the big desk in the corner. "we can sit here and talk quietly," he said. "it's wonderful to see you, rafael. i'd heard you were captured in a hospital during the ebro retreat." "_mierda!_ that's what the fascists boasted. no. i came out of the retreat in good order. i started with thirty men, but, instead of taking to the roads like the lincolns, i started to cross the mountains. i went up with thirty men, and i came down on the other side with a battalion. most of them got through alive after that." "good boy! where have you been since then?" "in hell!" rafael spat, angrily. "rotting in a french concentration camp, mostly. i organized an escape. we killed six guards, and more than twenty prisoners got away. i got to casablanca through the underground, and they put me on a chilean ship. two weeks ago we reached havana. i'm to eat and rest for a month. then i go back to spain for more fighting. with the guerrillas. when did you get here?" "an hour ago. listen, i want to talk to you. but it is important that we find santiago. is he in town?" "yes. he is supposed to be at our meeting. he'll be here." "can you go back and leave word for him to join you in here the minute he comes? it's very important." rafael jumped from his chair, struck an absurd caricature of military posture, and made a limp french salute, his hand resting languidly against his ear. "_mais oui, mon général_," he said. "_mais oui, oui, oui._" he marched stiffly out of the room, posing at the door to make an obscene gesture meant for the men of vichy. he glided noiselessly back to the dark office in a few minutes, waved hall's proffered cigar away. "i can't smoke any more. we had nothing to smoke the last year in spain, and monsieur daladier and company never sent us any tobacco. now i just can't stand it. i walk around havana and everyone offers me cigars, but i've lost my taste for it." "it will come back, rafael." "why are you in havana, mateo?" "it is a long story, _chico_. i'd rather tell you in front of santiago. it's about anibal tabio. i left san hermano two nights ago. things are serious, there. falange." "is tabio really so ill?" "he is dying, _chico_. he may be dead by now. i think he was killed by the falange. i came here for the proof. santiago knows. we've exchanged letters." "_hola!_" santiago iglesias was at the door. "then you got my letters?" he was ten years older than rafael, tall and powerfully built. he crossed the room in long, athlete's strides, his head thrown back as if to announce to the world that the white hairs which outnumbered the black of his head were merely an accident of the war. "i knew you would understand," hall said. "what happens?" "don anibal is dying. i think ansaldo did it." "he is a fascist, mateo. you were absolutely right." "how do you know? i need the proof immediately." "there is a man in town who was trapped behind franco's lines for two years. he knew ansaldo well." "that is good--for you and me. but it is not enough. there is too much at stake." "i guessed as much, mateo. general mogrado sent a message from mexico city a few days ago. he wanted the information also. i took this man in havana and we went to a lawyer and he made a long affidavit about ansaldo. mogrado has the affidavit by this time." "who is this man? is he well known?" "no, mateo. he was a minor official of the ministry of commerce. i have a copy of his affidavit, and you can meet him tomorrow if you wish. he is staying with relatives in marianao." "let us try to see him tomorrow. but i need much more than his affidavit. i need more than anything else a picture of ansaldo in falange uniform, a picture that shows him with officers of germany and italy. i was in burgos when the picture was taken--and i have a feeling that the picture is right here in havana." "here? in havana?" "listen, _compañeros_. i saw the _arriba_ man take that picture. i was standing a hundred feet away. it was in the spring or summer of ," hall said. "i know you have the complete file of _arriba_ here." "no, mateo. we do not." the blood left hall's head. "you don't?" he said. "but when i was here we ..." "it is the complete file of _arriba_ of madrid since april of , mateo. since franco entered madrid, _amigo_." "and before that?" "there are some, but not a complete file. they have many fascist papers at _ahora_, and at the university there is dr. nazario with his personal collection of fascist publications. it is very large, and it goes back to in some cases, but it has many empty places." "and the secret police? what has colonel lobo got?" "dossiers and documents. but papers--who knows?" "i'll be back in madrid in a month," rafael said. "i can go back sooner if it will help the cause, mateo. there is surely a complete file there." "no, thank you, rafael, but i need the picture in a few hours." he told them why the pictures were needed, and how they would be used if he could find them. "don't worry," santiago said. "there are three collections to examine, and in the meanwhile we might get some further clues from de sola. he is a very intelligent fellow. i'll put him to work on dr. nazario's collection in the morning. rafael, tonight you go to _ahora_. go through their spanish collection, and then examine their files of _arriba_ of havana. the local _arriba_ used more pictures than an american magazine, and most of them came from franco spain. you'd better go right now." "i'll be there in ten minutes. shall i tell them what it's about, mateo?" "no, i'll tell them myself. i'm here on false papers. just warn them that if they see me on the street i'm not to be recognized. but i'll see them before i leave." "i'm going to call lobo," hall said. "at the very least his dossiers are more official than de sola's affidavit." santiago shoved the phone toward hall. "i was going to suggest it myself. do you remember the number?" "of course." there was no answer at lobo's house. hall called the headquarters of the national police. "i want to reach colonel lobo," he said to the man who answered his call. "we no longer have a colonel lobo." "what?" "we have a general lobo, señor." "where is he?" "who is this speaking?" "who am i?" hall hesitated. "if he's there, just tell him it's johnny verde luna. he'll know who it is." lobo called all americans johnny; verde luna was a horse he and hall had played for three straight weeks at the hipodromo until it romped home in front at the longest odds in ten years. "i will, mr. johnny green moon," the other man said, in english. "when i see him tomorrow." "i don't understand you, señor. i ..." "he is not here, señor." "i know. don't tell me where he is. but do you know?" "that depends." "listen to me, my friend," hall said, his voice rising angrily, "i have no time to play games. if you know where he is, find him and give him my message. i'll call you every fifteen minutes until you get word from him." "yes, señor. i will do what i can. where can i call you?" "never mind. i will call you." hall hung up. "a clown!" he muttered. "i forgot to tell you that lobo is now a general." "when did it happen?" "last week. it came as a reward for breaking up the pinar del rio nazi-falange ring. you know, the one that was in radio contact with the german submarines." "i remember it well." hall had worked with lobo in rooting the spy ring out. "i wonder where the hell he is?" "who knows? but listen, mateo, i know a man who knows all of lobo's hangouts. suppose i send him out to look?" "excellent. just tell him to give lobo this message--that he is the only man who can save the life of don anibal tabio. eh?" "we'll try it. wait here for me. i'll be right back." hall started to tell santiago the whole story of his experiences in san hermano when the spaniard returned to the office. as soon as he mentioned the fact that ansaldo's assistant marina was a morphine addict, santiago interrupted him. "_hijo de la gran puta!_ i think i know him. wait, i'll describe him. i know him, all right, mateo. wait, i'll close the shutters. then we can turn on the light. i think i have his picture in this room." "who is he, santiago?" "just a second. that's better." he turned on the small desk light. "let's go to the files." the spaniard took a set of keys from his pocket, opened a heavy door behind the desk and snapped on the light in a small store room. he stepped in front of a row of steel filing cabinets, opened one with another key. "he used another name in spain--and in paris. i know it's the same man. called himself marcelino gassau in . wait. here it is." "it's the _maricón_!" hall cried when he saw the picture santiago drew from the file. "i knew it." hall glanced at his watch. "just a second. i'm going to call lobo back. it's time. let's bring the whole file on the bastard out to the desk." the man at police headquarters had no news of lobo. "i'll call you back," hall said. "keep trying him." "so gassau is your marina," santiago laughed. "we knew him well, the _cabrón_. he was working in portugal and berlin as a liaison between sanjurjo and von faupel in and . then, when the war started, he went to paris, the coward, spying on the german anti-fascists who were on their way to fight with the thaelmanns in spain. he posed as a contact man for the u.g.t., and then he'd lead the germans straight to the french police and notify the german embassy. then the nazis would start to complain that they were criminals who escaped from german prisons and claim them back. not one of the poor devils ever got to spain, but some of them were ultimately turned over to the german government and killed. it's all in this file." "what else can i find here?" "not too much. he made a trip to barcelona in . the authorities arrested him, but his friends got the british consulate to make a special plea for his release, and the damned fools gave in and let him go. after that he went to argentina, but he returned to madrid in may of ." the papers contained a detailed record of the fascist agent's crimes against the republic, and ended with a clipping from _informaciones_ of madrid which revealed that gassau-marina was one of ten men to be decorated by the falangist government for distinguished service during the three years of the war. a footnote to this list said that gassau-marina was one of the three men decorated that day who had previously been awarded the order of the german eagle, second class, by german ambassador to spain, general wilhelm von faupel. "this will help," hall said. "it's a good start." "there's my phone. just a minute." it was rafael. he was calling from the offices of _ahora_, and he suggested that santiago join him there. "let's go," hall said. "do we use separate cabs?" "don't be a child, mateo. you're in havana." "i'd better check with police headquarters on lobo before we leave." they found rafael in a tile-lined office on the second floor of the newspaper building. he was sitting at a large table, three large piles of fascist publications before him, and an opened copy of the havana _arriba_ in his hands. "no luck yet," he said. "but eduardo sanchez had an idea where the picture can be found." "where is he?" "he's in there," rafael pointed to a door. "he's digging out some more magazines." sanchez walked in with an armload of bright-colored havana _arribas_. "it's good to see you again, mateo," he said. "what passes?" "trouble. how are you making out?" "who knows? are you going to stay long?" "i'm leaving tomorrow if i can get what i need." "you say the picture would be in _arriba_ for ?" "if at all, eduardo." "that's serious. there is only one place in town where i know definitely there is a complete file of _arriba_. it might be a little hard to get into." "where is it?" "the third floor of the spanish embassy." "that's bad," hall said. "bad, yes," santiago said. he put his arms over the shoulders of rafael and eduardo. "but not hopeless, eh, _compañeros_?" eduardo smiled, grimly. rafael grinned, a sudden glint in his blue eyes. "what do you think, rafael?" "i think we should shoot our way in, _mi coronel_." "and you, eduardo?" "i don't know. if we shoot our way in, we have to shoot our way out again too. maybe we'll kill a few fascists, but will we be able to get at their files?" "it would do us good," rafael said, "to kill ourselves a few fascists. i think we are getting out of practice." "sit down," santiago said. "this takes some planning. mateo, you had better tell eduardo what is at stake." "in a minute. i want some water. and i'd better phone lobo's headquarters again." "use this phone," eduardo said. "i'll bring you water." he took three sheets of gray copy paper from his desk and fashioned a water cup. "we can't get paper cups since pearl harbor." "listen to me," santiago said. "there is a way we can kill two birds with one stone. eduardo, if hall gets the picture, it kills gamburdo and the falange in san hermano. that's one bird." "and the other?" "the other, _compañeros_, is fernando rivas." "rivas?" eduardo's dark, good-looking face grew puzzled. "is he in this too?" "wait. i should bring _compañero_ hall up to date. you don't know rivas, mateo. he is a queer bird. he comes from a good republican family in madrid. a very good family. republican since before the first republic. this rivas, this fernando, he was good. under alfonso, he got a job in the foreign office. they sent him to havana as an attaché in the legation. even then he was a good republican. but something happened to the man when the war started. he didn't fight for the fascists, but ..." "tell him about his wife," rafael said. "that's what i think did it. he had a british wife, and she had high-life aspirations." "i think i understand," hall said. "i don't have to go into the details. there is no time for that, anyway. the point is that he had to go to spain last year, and he came back filled with loathing for everything he saw. this i know for a fact. first, he started to sit home alone every night and get drunk, and then he began to write a memoir about what he saw. he didn't think anyone would ever see it. he still doesn't know that anyone but himself has ever seen it. i got it from his servant one morning a few weeks ago. she is one of ours. we photographed it and she put it back before he got home that night." eduardo passed a box of inexpensive cigars around. "the week before that," he said, "i ran into rivas at a café in matanzas. he was sobering up after a drinking bout. i tried to avoid him but he followed me out of the place. he was crying. he called himself a son of a whore mother and a traitor to his honor and his people and carried on like a fool. then he started to tell me about his wife's lover--we've known all about that for months, but rivas had just found out--and i became filled with disgust for the creature. i shook him off and left him standing in the street crying like a whipped dog. i hate weaklings." "i get it," hall said. "but when you saw his diary, you started to change your mind, eh?" "i still don't trust him. i introduced him to santiago because santiago wanted to meet him." "i wouldn't trust him with franco's daughter," rafael said. santiago iglesias sighed heavily. "no one asks you to sleep with him, rafael," he said. "it isn't that. but you remember what happened in the early days of the war. we had to take any officer who swore loyalty to the republic. we had no choice in the matter, did we, _chico_?" "but we also put in commissars to keep an eye on them." "it's true, _chico_. but some of them proved to be really loyal, eh?" "a handful." "all right, even a handful. but the point is that they were useful. here is the situation as of tonight: if the pictures which will kill the falange in san hermano are anywhere within our reach at all, they are in the spanish embassy. we have no contact we can trust inside the embassy. the nearest thing to such a contact is rivas. he is a weakling and he was a traitor. we know that. what we don't know is whether his repentance is sincere. the only way to really find out is to test the man. this is the time to test him. i've spoken with him three times in the past week. he begs for a chance to prove that he has the right to serve the republic again." "he can serve the republic best," rafael insisted, "by blowing his brains out." "rafael!" "i'm sorry, colonel iglesias. i hate traitors." "i don't love them, _chico_. but it is not for us to put our personal likes and dislikes before our greater duties, major. and please remember," he added, smiling, "you still are a major in the people's army. neither your commission nor your army has expired yet." "what do you want me to do?" rafael asked, softly. "i will respect your commands as my superior--and my friend." santiago toyed with a thick copy pencil. "i am going to put it to a vote right here. who is for getting fernando rivas to let us into the spanish embassy and removing what we need from the files? understand, we won't tell him what we want in the files--that would be trusting him too much before he proves himself. who is for raiding the embassy with the help of rivas? on this, mateo, you will have to vote also." hall and eduardo sanchez raised their hands. "against?" the three men looked at rafael. he folded his hands in his lap, ostentatiously studied the ceiling. "are you against the idea, rafael?" "i think it is crazy, santiago. i am not afraid. i just think it is crazy. can't we get in without the traitor?" "i don't know how," santiago said. "i guess we'll have to try it without you, rafael." "over my dead body, my friend. i'm going with you. i've been wrong before, but i've never avoided a battle. i'm not ducking this one, santiago." eduardo winked at hall. "listen to the strategist," he laughed, but there was pride and real affection in his words. "rafael," he said, "if you didn't shoot so straight i'd say that you talk too damned much." "go to hell," rafael said. "you're wasting good time. let's finish examining these fascist papers. maybe we'll find the filthy picture tonight in these piles, and then we won't have to risk three, no four," he looked at hall, "four good republican lives on the guts of a traitor. come on, eduardo, get to work." hall motioned santiago to the door. "let's go around the corner," he whispered, "and bring back a few bottles of cristal." they walked slowly to the _cantinería_ on the corner, had some beer, and bought a dozen bottles to take back with them. santiago said that he hoped it would not be necessary to raid the embassy without previously testing rivas on less hazardous tasks. "personally," he said, "i think rivas is honest about wanting to come back. i think he can be trusted if we have to do it with him. but it might mean shooting, and you cannot afford to get shot. perhaps you had better not join us." "no. don't try to cut me out, _viejo_, or i'll do it alone with rafael." "all right. but i hope we find it before we have to raid the fascists." they went upstairs. "call fabri at your office," eduardo told santiago. "he says he has some good news for you." "he must have found lobo." santiago was right. his man had reached the general. "he says for you to meet him at headquarters in an hour. fabri found him at a party in vedado. if i know jaime lobo, that means he will actually be back in two hours. you've got plenty of time." eduardo took a bottle opener from his desk. "you'll get me in trouble," he said. "we're not allowed to drink in the office." "tell escalante it was my fault," hall laughed. "you'd better sign a sworn statement." "tomorrow. listen, eduardo, there is something you must do for me. santiago has a file on a man named marcelino gassau. i want the whole thing copied on microfilm, four negatives of everything in the file. can you have it done in your dark room tomorrow morning?" "consider it done, mateo." rafael drank his beer and cursed the magazines for not having the pictures of ansaldo that hall wanted. "let's get back to work," he said, impatiently. "let's find the damned pictures if they're here." hall and santiago sat down at the desk and started to go through individual issues of various fascist publications for the year . while they worked, hall asked santiago if he knew the figueroa whom he had to see in the mexican embassy. "he is a friend," the spaniard said. "he is completely reliable. he will do anything you ask within reason--and nearly anything that is without reason at all." none of the men found the photo hall was seeking by the time he was ready to leave for general lobo's headquarters. "i'll get you a taxi," eduardo said. "you can take a look at the ap ticker in the wire room in the meanwhile. there might be some news on tabio's condition." the wires reported that tabio still breathed. * * * * * it was nearly midnight when hall crossed the threshold of the brooding stone building that was secret police headquarters. like all police headquarters the world over, this one also smelled faintly of carbolic and damp stone, a stench hall had grown to detest in san sebastian. he walked briskly down the dark corridor which led to lobo's office. a young lieutenant was sitting at the desk in the anteroom. "mr. johnny green moon?" he asked, grinning. "hello," hall laughed. "you still here?" "just a second." the lieutenant pressed a button on his desk. there was a click in the electric door stop of the massive oak and iron door behind the desk. "go right in, mr. green moon." hall pushed the door open, stepped into the spartan simplicity of lobo's private office, and quickly shut out the smell of carbolic by slamming the door behind him. lobo, who had equally good reasons for hating that odor, had installed an american air-cleaning system in his own office. the young general--he was about three years younger than hall--was sitting at his tremendous carved desk and studying some papers. "johnny!" he shouted. "_qué tal?_" he was wearing a very formal white dress uniform heavy with medals and gold braid. "hello, jaime," hall said. "you look like an american christmas tree." "johnny, you dog! you took me away from a most beautiful reception." "beautiful?" "a dream. unbelievable! four and twenty blonde vassar girls dancing around lobo and wondering out loud if the handsome spik speaks english. sensational!" hall had to laugh with the general. he could easily picture the effect of jaime lobo's towering dark attractiveness--more than once in the united states hollywood talent scouts had begged him to sign contracts--in the eyes of the american women one could find at a lavish reception in havana. "an american sugar king's party?" "no. the british business colony. it was stupendous." lobo had lived in the united states for five years, got a great kick out of scattering the superlatives of hollywood in his speech when he spoke english. "o.k.," hall said, dryly. "it was super-colossal." he sat down in the large armchair at the side of the desk, helped himself to one of lobo's cigars. "so you don't want to play," lobo said, sobering and taking his own seat. "some other time, jaime." "sounds bad, keed. but tell me, johnny, is it true that don anibal is dying?" "he may be dead by now." "ansaldo killed him?" hall started. "what do you know about ansaldo?" "i know he's a fascist pig. why?" "why? for the love of god, jaime, if you can give me the proof, we can ..." he told lobo about the plans of lavandero and the anti-fascists in san hermano. "i understand," lobo said. "i've already sent for the dossier on ansaldo. it should be here in a few minutes. but while we're waiting, there are a few things i'd like to show you." he opened the drawer in his desk and took out an automatic wrapped in a brown-silk handkerchief. "take a look at this gun," he said, "but don't touch. i want to save the fingerprints." "what about it?" hall asked. "oh, nothing. i thought you might know something about it. the hell with it. but tell me, mateo, when did you get to town?" "this evening." "panair?" "sure, why?" "then you're staying at the jefferson, registered as victor ortiz tinoco, eh?" "my god," hall laughed. "that's my gun!" "that was your gun, _chico_. it is now cuban government exhibit a in the case against your brains. so you had it all figured out, my boy. you'd come to havana with fake papers, put up at an out-of-the-way hotel, check your gun with the hotel management, shoot the spanish ambassador, and then plant the gun in my back pocket and blow town on your diplomatic mexican passport. but you reckoned without two suspicious and smart young second lieutenants from oriente province." "what was my fatal mistake, chief?" "your accent and the cardinal stupidity of giving your attaché case to the desk clerk. he's a communist from oriente. the weight made him suspicious, and he called his friends in my office. only he guessed from your accent that you were a spaniard, and that the gun was for the purpose of shooting up the mexican embassy." "you know what jefferson said about eternal vigilance being the price of liberty, jaime." "sure. jefferson and the natural shrewdness of a peasant from oriente province. of course the minute i saw the report describing ortiz tinoco as a spaniard with scars on the face, a broken nose, and big feet which took him directly to the casa de la cultura, i knew it was matthew hall in a beard." "yeah. of course my phone calls every fifteen minutes didn't give you any idea." "they helped, my boy. i'll admit that." he took the envelope bearing androtten's pictures and fingerprints from his desk. "who is this individual? he looks as if he is very seriously dead." "i brought that envelope here for you, jaime. he was shot three days ago in san hermano, but i'm afraid i broke his nose before he died. that other picture of him with his family and the letter from the dutch government-in-exile might be more interesting." "wilhelm androtten? sounds like a brand of gin. why did you kill him?" "he's a nazi, jaime. he was trying to kill me." general lobo took some notes as he listened to hall's account of androtten's role in the ansaldo mission. "i guess the first thing to do is to find out if the letter from queen wilhelmina is genuine. but it still wouldn't prove anything. the nazi, if he was an agent, could have picked the name androtten from a casualty list and then written to the dutch government in the name of the soldier's father. i'll check the photos and the fingerprints here, and also with american f.b.i. and the british. the f.b.i. has been very good lately. they've helped out terrifically here with technical things." a green light on lobo's desk began to flicker. "it's the file room," he said. "i guess they have the ansaldo dossier." he called the lieutenant on the inter-phone, told him to bring in the ansaldo dossier. the dossier was not very long. it told the story how, in the winter of , a prominent cuban falangist in the best of health had suddenly taken to bed with a "serious complaint." his family announced to friends that they had sent to spain for a great doctor, one varela ansaldo. they said ansaldo cured the cuban, to be sure, but he also had long private sessions with the leaders of the falange at the spanish embassy and, before he returned to franco spain, the falange in cuba had undergone a complete shake-up of its leadership. there were pictures of ansaldo, but alone and in plain clothes. "are these the only pictures?" hall asked. "perhaps not. we took about three thousand feet of movie film from the inspector general of the falange for latin america when he tried to escape to spain on a c.t.e. ship two years ago. let's look at them, old man." he pressed a key in his inter-phone box. "pablo," he barked, "set up those villanueva films in the machine. i'm coming in in ten minutes." "i didn't think of that film," hall confessed. "every time you were supposed to show it to me, something came up, remember?" lobo was barking into the inter-phone again. "teniente, scare up two cold bottles of champagne for the theater, will you? we have a thirst that is killing us." "are you screening the film in a theater?" "no. it's a crime laboratory the f.b.i. installed for us. the whole works. wait till you see it, matt. it's just like hollywood. colossal!" "and the champagne?" "that's my own contribution. i'll be damned if i can stop drinking champagne in the middle of a party just because johnny green moon drags me out. come on, let me show you the joint." he led hall on a ten-minute cook's tour of the crime laboratory, his patter a slightly off-color imitation of an american tourist guide's spiel. a small beaded screen had been pulled down from the ceiling, facing two chromium-and-leather lounge chairs. when the lieutenant brought in the champagne in two ice buckets, general lobo signaled the soldier in the tiny projection booth to start the film. there was everything but a shot of ansaldo. "he was too smart, the _cabrón_," lobo said. "let's go back to my office and think it over." he poured what remained of the champagne into hall's glass. on the way back to his office, he asked the lieutenant to join hall and himself. "lieutenant," he said, "here are some pictures and data on a man named wilhelm androtten, and some notes i made. put them all through the mill--our own files, f.b.i., the british. check the papers and letters of villanueva and alvarez garcia for any reference to varela ansaldo. and give me a report by noon tomorrow. anything else you can think of for the moment, mateo?" "one thing. those pictures of gamburdo at the secret falange dinner in san hermano. remember it? i want about six microfilm negatives of each shot." "give them to me with your report, lieutenant." the young officer accepted the papers, saluted smartly, and left. "there's one place in havana where i can get that picture, jaime," hall said. "the spanish embassy has a complete file of the spanish _arriba_, and i'll stake my life on that picture of ansaldo's being in that file." "so?" "listen, jaime, i don't know if i'll have to examine that file. i won't know until some time tomorrow morning. there's an outside chance that old man nazario has the _arriba_ we need in his collection at the university. but please, jaime, if i do have to go through the files on oficios street, i don't want any of your excellent boys from oriente province giving me a nice case of cuban lead poisoning." lobo, who had opened his collar and draped his long feet over his desk, stopped smiling. he put his feet on the floor, buttoned the tunic collar. "you don't understand," he said, speaking to hall in spanish for the first time that evening. "in there, with the foolish movies, i make foolish sayings. at the circus lobo becomes the clown. but please remember, mateo, that i am a latin american. my own people were driven out of spain by the spiritual forefathers of the falange. i know what will happen to latin america if the falange crowd wins out anywhere." "i know you do, jaime." "i'm not always the playboy, mateo. i know what my chief means to the little nations of the caribbean. i know what don anibal means to every country south of miami. i love don anibal. i love you because you love my chief and my people and don anibal. _claro?_" "thanks, jaime. then you'll tell your men i'm o.k.?" "on the contrary, my friend. i must tell them much more than that." "thanks. i'll try not to make any trouble. no international incidents." "if you don't have to shoot." lobo became gay again. "ay, señor ortiz tinoco," he sighed, "you might want to shoot, but you are without a shooter to shoot with. my men are too good for you. they stole your gun." "they are very good men, my general." "they have a good chief. but look, friend, in this drawer. i have a treasure for you." he emptied the contents of a canvas bag on the desk. "ay, señor ortiz tinoco, when i relieved jefe villanueva of his super-production, i also took his gun. such a wonderful little swiss automatic, built to be carried in a lady's purse or a horse's--ear. and such a dainty spanish leather shoulder holster. you would be a fool not to accept this outfit in return for your gigantic cannon." hall took off his jacket. "it's a deal," he said. "help me get the holster on." "where are you going when you get the picture--if you get it, mateo?" "caracas. someone is meeting me there." the general laughed. "caracas? ay, we'll get you back to caracas in style, _chico_." he opened his cigar box, held it out in front of hall. "by the way, mateo," he said, "i never asked you before. are you a red?" "no. i'm a red, white and blue kid. why?" "your government. your embassy in san hermano was sure that pepe stalin was paying for your rice and beans. they asked your embassy here to check on you with me." "what did you tell them?" "naturally, i told them that you were an agent. _si_, señor! i told them that you were a triple agent: mornings for the kuomintang, afternoons for the grand llama of tibet, and evenings for the protocols of zion. you'd better be careful when you get back to new york." "you bastard!" "where are you going now? me, i'm going right back to that party. i promised a certain vassar female, in my halting english, that i would be back. can i drop you anywhere?" "i'm going to the casa de la cultura." "good. but listen, mateo, give me at least five hours' notice if you decide to do any scholarly research on oficios street, eh? _vámonos._" _chapter sixteen_ don anibal tabio died at ten o'clock the next morning. he died on the operating table, under ansaldo's knife. hall was in santiago's office when eduardo sanchez called at eleven to say that an ap flash had just come through in the newspaper's wire room. "call me when the next bulletin comes through," he said, slowly. "we have to know what gamburdo and lavandero are planning." somehow, although he had known for days that tabio's hours were numbered, it was hard to swallow his friend's dying on ansaldo's terms. he was too stunned to wonder how gamburdo had finally won out. for a moment, there was a sensation of sudden emptiness; this gave way to a sense of horror and rage. "poor anibal," he said. "charging the arrows of the falange with only the white plume of truth in his thin hands." "he was your friend, wasn't he?" santiago said. "he was a very great man." "yes." "would you like a drink, mateo?" "no, later. call de sola again. tell him to hurry up. i'm going to the mexican embassy. i have to leave an envelope with the secretary. i'll be back in less than an hour." "_bueno._" the spaniard walked to the door with hall. "there has been a good change in you, mateo," he said. "i remember the day when such a blow would have sent you off like a wild bull. it is better to fight them back the new way, no?" "you should know, colonel iglesias. you should know." hall stopped off at a bar on the way to his hotel for a quick double brandy to steady his nerves. the manager of the jefferson avoided hall's eyes when he handed the attaché case back to him. "the señor will notice that the seal is unbroken?" he asked. "it is a new seal," hall said. "but be tranquil. i was present at secret police headquarters when the seal was broken. and please tell your clerk that i am not angry with him." he put the case under his arm and took a cab to the mexican embassy. there was more bad news when hall returned to the casa. the files of franco publications kept by doctor nazario at the university had also failed to produce the needed picture of ansaldo. and a messenger from eduardo sanchez had brought for hall a copy of the first ap bulletin from san hermano. hall read the bulletin aloud for santiago and rafael. "the wily bastard!" he said, reading how gamburdo had decreed six days of official mourning and a national election on the seventh day following tabio's death. "'as our beloved educator's chosen deputy and successor, i can promise the people of the republic a continuation of the peace which was ours under don anibal's wise leadership. i can promise that any warmongers who would destroy this great blessing left to the nation by don anibal will immediately feel the wrath of the government. it was anibal tabio's last wish that our republic be spared from suffering the ravages of a war that is neither of our making nor of our choosing.'" "i hate politicos," rafael said. "they are a stench in the nostrils of decent people." "tabio was a politico, too," santiago said, sharply. "what else does it say, mateo?" "it says that the radicals and the nationals have already nominated gamburdo. the progressives and the communists are meeting this afternoon to select lavandero as their candidate, and the socialists are asking both candidates for guarantees against bolshevism before making up their minds. the traditional nationalist action party--that's the cross and the sword--are out a hundred per cent for gamburdo." "what the hell are the socialists stalling for?" rafael shouted. "where are their brains?" "you mean," santiago answered, gently, "where is their socialism?" "listen to this," hall said. "'the body of the president will lie in state for six days in the great hall of congress. acting president gamburdo has ordered a hand-picked elite corps of army and navy officers to maintain a twenty-four-hour watch over the bier.' an elite corps for don anibal! "and listen to this: 'in the name of the republic, acting president gamburdo thanked the noted surgeon, varela ansaldo, for his last-hour effort to save the life of the late president, and announced that he would recommend to the congress that dr. ansaldo and his assistant, dr. marina, be given formal decorations. gamburdo revealed that ansaldo, who came to san hermano at his urgent pleas, left the mourning capital at noon on the first leg of a flying voyage to lisbon where he is to perform a delicate operation on a prominent jurist.'" "they got away!" rafael said. "it's not so bad," hall said. "that is, it won't be if ..." "of course, mateo. if we can pin the arrows on ansaldo after this statement," santiago said, "it will be very hard for gamburdo to explain to anyone. especially since you have that picture of gamburdo at the secret falange dinner." "i have more than that. i have a copy of the report the inspector general of the falange made about gamburdo at that dinner, and it's written on official stationery. we've just got to get more on ansaldo!" "are you still against raiding the embassy, rafael?" "i changed my mind. when do we do it? tonight?" "i hope so, rafael, you'll have to find dr. moré. i think you'll catch him in at the clinic now. tell him to get rivas and bring him to his own house in vedado." hall took out his wallet. "here, rafael, you'll need money for taxis." "are you crazy, mateo? this is a hundred-peso note." "you'll also need a new suit. they won't let you into the spanish embassy in those clothes." "i'll buy my own clothes!" "rafael," santiago said, gently, "hall is our _compañero_." the boy began to blush. "i am sorry," he stammered, "but it is not my way to accept such offers." "i don't offer it to a man," hall said. "i gave it to an officer of the people's army. it is money intended to aid that army in its fight." "hurry up, rafael," santiago said. "we will argue after we get out of the embassy--if we get out." "i've got to see lobo," hall said when rafael left. "i've got to tell him to ask the american intelligence service to check on ansaldo's movements in lisbon. i don't think he is going to operate on any portuguese jurist or anyone else in lisbon." "you'll make a fool of yourself, mateo. you're not dealing with stupid spanish fascists like franco and gil robles. you're dealing with the german nazis who run the falange. i know them. they're too smart not to have a patient waiting in bed for ansaldo when he gets to lisbon. why don't you see lobo after our conference with rivas? in the meanwhile, i'd better get statements from de sola and carlos echagaray on ansaldo and marina." * * * * * meeting fernando rivas in the home of the cuban doctor, hall was reminded of what an acid-tongued czech journalist said to him at geneva about chautemps, a french politician. there was nothing wrong with the politician, the czech said, except that he had the face of a traitor. in a city where the sun always shined, rivas had the pallor of a skin which never saw the sun. he sat tensely at the edge of the chair in moré's study, hands working a battered panama, his puffy eyes darting furtive looks at rafael and hall, men he had never seen before but whom he obviously suspected of being agents of the republican underground. hall thought: this is a man who can no longer know hate or love or anything but fear. it was santiago's show. he ran it on his own terms. from the outset, he made it clear that he, or rather the republic for which he spoke, was giving the orders. they were given decently, temperately, but not without the proof that force lay behind the commands. rivas was to address him as colonel. "and these," he said, indicating rafael and hall, "are my aides, majors juan and pancho." "what is it you want of me, colonel? there is nothing i would not do for you." "for whom?" "for the--for the republic." "what republic?" "the republic of spain. the republic of the constitution of ." "and why should the republic trust you now, rivas?" "there is no reason, colonel. i can ask only in the name of my family." rafael had seen the older brother of rivas die charging a german battery near bilbao. "it is not your privilege," he said. "i knew your brother." hall laid a restraining hand on his arm. "you betrayed your family when you betrayed your people," santiago said, softly. "it is not good enough. i must have a better reason." "state your own terms," rivas said. "i will meet them." "why?" the traitor took out a silk handkerchief, mopped his face. he suddenly seemed to grow, to straighten his back. his head held high, he looked each man proudly in the eyes. a moment earlier, his hands, his lips had been quivering. now they were firm and still. "why?" he repeated in a new, stronger voice. "why?" he was fighting for one last chance, fighting with his remaining reserve of dignity. "i'll tell you why, my colonel. because i don't care whether i live or not. but i want to die as a spaniard, as a free man again. i want to die as a republican. is that reason enough?" colonel santiago iglesias was not a cruel person. he hated to play cat and mouse with a human being, even with such as rivas. but his first responsibilities were to the republic. "i hardly think so," he said, speaking as an officer, although as a man he knew that rivas had stated a good reason, because he knew the reason to be true. "i hardly think so, rivas," he said. "merely because the wife of a man who betrayed the republic turns out to be a whore is no reason for the republic to love him more." fernando rivas bent forward, as if he were trying to ward off a heavy series of blows. "no," he said. "it is not reason enough." the thin body of rafael abelando shook with silent laughter for a moment, and then it became still. the young major turned to santiago, his face filled with a sudden pity for the wreck of a man in the chair. hall caught the look, too, the admission of something rafael would have died rather than say out loud. the boy was ready to give the traitor rivas his last chance. it was the moment santiago had been waiting for; without rafael's implicit confidence in his plan, he had all but decided to call it off. "what do you think, pancho?" hall nodded agreement. "and you, major?" "the hell with what i think. i'll do my thinking later. if he comes through, i'll tell you what i think. if he funks out on us, i'll slit his throat." "all right, rivas," santiago said. "we will give you your chance. we need your help tonight." "shall i come armed? i am an expert marksman, colonel." "no. we shall carry the arms. you shall carry the key--or the keys. we want to get into the third floor of the embassy, and we want to get out alive--and without shooting. can it be done?" rivas raised his head, stared into the faces of the three men who held open the gates of the republic. "i am willing," he said. "it might take some planning, gentlemen, but it can be done." he held out his hand to santiago. the colonel accepted it. "i am glad you are with us," santiago said. "in a sense, you are the most fortunate of the four of us. you see, rivas, if we should all get killed tonight, yours would be the most lasting memorial." "but why me, colonel?" santiago picked a heavy manila envelope up from the floor. he took out the photographs of the memoir on franco's spain that rivas had written in his own hand. "you see," he said, "if we should all die tonight, the casa de la cultura will publish your excellent memoir--with a postscript about your heroic sacrifice." "but how?" rivas gasped. "where?" "you are surprised, rivas? please let me assure you that there are many of us. we are everywhere where _they_ are. _claro?_" "i understand." for a fleeting moment rivas had been back with the republic, a free man among free men. now he was again a prisoner, but with two jailers--franco and the republic. now the republic could force the other to destroy him. "yes," he said, "i understand." the republic, he knew, gave him his choice of executioners or his opportunity to fight for his freedom. "well?" "i am grateful," he said. "i am grateful for the chance to belong to the republic again." "good. we must plan. shall we drink on it?" there was a decanter of scotch whisky on dr. moré's sideboard. santiago filled four glasses to the brim, then called for and filled a fifth glass. "it is for the other who will be with us tonight," he said. eduardo was getting the affidavit on ansaldo from the exile in marianao. "to the republic!" hall watched rivas drink his scotch in one greedy, hysterical gulp. he quietly filled the man's glass, shoved the bottle toward him. rivas downed the second scotch, reached for the bottle, then changed his mind as his hand was in mid-air. "paper," rivas said. "the desk. i must draw a floor plan of the embassy." * * * * * at eleven o'clock, rivas let santiago and his three friends into the spanish embassy through the rear door. at ten-thirty, a large but unscheduled military parade started winding through the streets of old havana. no one seemed to know what the parade was about, but the soldiers in the ranks thought that it had something to do with a surprise party being given to general jaime lobo to celebrate his promotion in rank. it was his old regiment which had been called out at nine that night and ordered into parade formation. at ten forty-five, the paraders were halted for some reason, and the general's runners motorcycled down along the line of march and told the bandmasters to keep on playing the liveliest of tunes. the order reached the second band in the line just as it stopped in front of the spanish embassy. a crowd gathered to listen to the band and watch the parade. santiago, hall, rafael and eduardo casually detached themselves from this crowd at precisely eleven. rivas led them quietly up the back stairs. the blare of the brasses, the booming of the drums, the crashing of the cymbals penetrated every corner of the embassy. "god is with us," he said. "the noise is wonderful." hall bit his tongue. a fat lot god had to do with it! he was crawling behind santiago, the swiss automatic in the right hand cocked at his hip. eduardo was behind him, and ahead of rafael. "third floor," he whispered. "we turn left at the head of the stairs and climb three steps." santiago pulled out his gun as they approached the third-floor landing. he allowed rivas to get a few steps ahead of him, to take the three steps which led to the library. "go in with rivas," he whispered to hall. "you too, eduardo." they followed rivas into the dark room. he was standing near a draped wall, motioning to them to follow him quietly. "behind the drape," he said. eduardo closed in next to him. he frisked him for hidden knives or guns. "don't move," he said. santiago joined eduardo and hall. "rafael is covering the door," he said. he motioned to rivas to approach the drape. eduardo remained at the traitor's heels, the gun in rivas's back. hall knew what to do. he waited until santiago flattened himself out against the wall which paralleled the drape, then he quickly drew the cloth to one side. he found himself facing a large steel cabinet built into the wall. "open." santiago's fingers twirled an imaginary dial before his nose. "open it, rivas." the frightened man who was both host and hostage raised his hand slowly, fingered the dial, dropped his hand in disgust. he dried his sopping fingers against the front of his jacket, tried again. the tumblers of the lock rose and fell; the lock remained closed. santiago slowly released the safety catch of his pistol. "what passes?" he asked. "ssh," rivas pleaded. "i'll try it again." "wait." hall held a small bottle of brandy up to rivas's face. "take a drink. it will steady your hands." "many thanks." "open it." "it's coming, colonel." santiago looked at the luminous dial of his wrist watch; eight minutes gone. the band would not be under the window all night. he beckoned to hall. "that white door near the window, mateo. he says you will find the _arribas_ in there perhaps." "i'll try it." "he's opened the steel door," eduardo said. "keep him covered." santiago stepped in front of rivas, opened the door as wide as it would swing. he faced a multitude of locked steel drawers. "let me," eduardo said. he changed places with santiago. he was good at picking such picayune locks; the concentration camp on the isle of pines was full of native fascists whose careers ended when eduardo jimmied open the locks that protected their secrets. he could crack them open swiftly, almost noiselessly. "there's one," he whispered. "two." "he has a talent," santiago said to rivas. hall glided over to the white door of the closet. like the others, he wore soft-soled rubber shoes. he took a small oil can from his pocket, saturated the hinges and the handle of the white door. slowly, he opened the wooden door. a book balanced precariously on an upper shelf behind the door started to fall. he grabbed it with his left hand. a rash of invisible pimples spread over his scalp. too much noise that time, even though the book didn't fall. he held his breath, counted to twenty. the band was still blaring, the drums pounding away. good old god! he ran the slim beam of the dime-store flashlight over the shelves. _informaciones, a.b.c._, ah, here, _arriba_! he turned to signal to santiago that he had found it, but the colonel had again changed places with eduardo, was now emptying documents from the little steel drawers to the inside of his shirt. rafael, standing guard at the doorway, wildly signaled hall to get to work on the files. he pointed vigorously to the non-existent watch on his narrow wrist. hall dug into the _arriba_ pile. he pulled the top of the batch to the floor, sat down in front of them. april. may. june. not here. impossible! he sneaked the remainder of the brandy into his throat. once again. april. he looked at santiago, working calmly; light flickering over the papers in the drawers, eyes selecting the wheat from the chaff. the problem is april. it happened in april, . easy does it. april one. april two. three. four. seven. nine. no. no. not yet. santiago was in the middle of the room, his hands crammed with papers. he beckoned to rafael, stuffed batches of papers into the major's shirt. "got the bastard!" hall said. he forgot to whisper. he climbed to his feet, a yellowing newspaper in his hands. "got it!" a door opened on the floor above. "rivas?" someone on the fourth-floor landing called. rafael was still in the room. santiago held his shoulder, shook his head. stay here, he motioned. he signaled for rivas, handed him his own gun. he pointed to the third-floor landing, smiled at the man. the four men in the room covered the back of fernando rivas as he advanced toward the landing, the warm gun gripped firmly in his sweaty hand. they watched him stick his head out of the door, say, hoarsely, "yes. it's all right," the gun hidden behind his thigh. "what's all the noise?" fourth floor again. "parade." "what are you doing there?" no suspicion--just conversation. anyone could see fourth floor only meant conversation. anyone but rivas. to a man, the four behind rivas prayed he would stall off the man above him with a polite nothing. "none of your business, you fascist pig!" over and above all the noises of the city, of the band on the corner, of the hearts thumping in the breasts of the four men in the room there fell a whining silence which was both hours long and seconds short. then the silence was shattered by the crashing explosions of two heavy pistols. "let me." rafael ran to the doorway, flattened out against the wall. his eyes took in the prone body of rivas at the landing and the heap of man sprawled on the stairs. rivas was dead. his gun lay near his head. the man on the stairs still held onto his gun. rafael reached behind him for the silent weapon, the weapon you used on lone forays into enemy territory, on guards in concentration camps. the knife flashed over his head, pinned the hand with the pistol to the wooden stairs. behind the knife flew rafael. once again the blade was raised, this time with a hand still on it as it descended. eduardo pulled hall's sleeve. "quick," he said. "the stairs. follow me." "all right," rafael said to the dead rivas, "now you're a republican." the watch on santiago's wrist read . when rafael, the last man to leave, melted into the crowd around the band. people on the sidewalk could hear feet pounding heavily through the large empty rooms of the embassy. lights were going on in all the dark windows. yells. a woman's scream. at the head of the parade, a baton twirled. the uniforms started to move forward. the crowd on the sidelines followed the band. * * * * * later, sitting in lobo's office, the mass of documents from the shirts of santiago and eduardo and rafael on the desk before the general, hall remembered his outcry when he found the picture of ansaldo and the axis officers giving the fascist salute. my "got it!" got poor rivas, he thought. i'm still an amateur at it. santiago was good; found dynamite, but he kept his mouth shut. eduardo was good; cracked the locks and kept his mouth shut. rafael was good; finished off the bastard from the fourth floor in seconds, and remembered to use a knife, and kept his mouth shut until it was all over. funny the way he stood over what remained of rivas and said, "all right, now you're a republican." mocking, yet respectful. it was good; no forgiveness for the dead man's treachery but respect for his insane courage. "it was a nice band concert, yes?" lobo said. "plenty of bim bam boom in the drums. tsing! tsing! cymbals. tarantara, tarantara." "sure." "i'm a one-man band, eh, keed?" "colossal." "what's eating you, matt? that little slob who killed himself with his big mouth?" "it was my fault, jaime. it was my big mouth." the general picked up a fistful of the documents which had cost the life of fernando rivas. "what the hell is his life worth compared to the lives of the hundreds of american seamen who now won't be sent to the bottom by nazi torpedoes in the south atlantic? i'll say it again, matt, and if you'd stick around long enough, i could prove it. by tomorrow morning i'll have at least twenty mucking bastards in the calabozo thanks to what's in these papers; twenty fascist snakes who are the eyes and the ears and the oil and the water of the nazi subs in this part of the ocean. you did it--and at the cost of only one second-rate life. isn't it worth it?" hall was going through the documents on the desk. bombshells, most of them. _mandato # : . from: inspector-general delegación nacional, del servicio exterior, de falange española tradicionalista de las j.o.n.s. to: jefe supremo, falange de san hermano._ in re: a.t.n. effective immediately you will form acción tradicionalista nacional, to replace organization of falange ordered dissolved by the jew-communist betrayer, tabio. you will replace yoke and arrows with new symbol of cross and sword. until further orders, you will not enter spanish embassy or consulates. _camarada_ portada will arrive with detailed orders within thirty days. _saluda a_ franco! _arriba_ españa! _mandato # : , servicio exterior. confidential_: enrique gamburdo entered tabio government with permission and approval of the national delegation of the falange. _camarada_ gamburdo is to be given the support and unquestioning loyalty due an old shirt. there will be no exceptions to this order. signed ... _orden # : . confidential_: our heroic japanese allies have today destroyed the jew-protestant-marxist american fleet in honolulu. _camaradas_ of the cross and sword must be prepared to defend the wise peace policies of _camarada_ gamburdo against the jewish war mongers who will now try to make the kahal the government in san hermano. el caudillo has shown how the motherland can frustrate the war mongers. do not falter and delay the glorious hour of our final victory. _camarada_ marcelino gassau will soon arrive in san hermano with instructions on how to help the victory. signed ... "photograph these, will you, jaime?" lobo was sorting out the documents in rough piles. sabotage. espionage. undersea warfare. guantanamo. cuban politics. "the works," he grinned. "in a week, this haul will have crammed our prisons with fascist rats. if we didn't have to avoid treading on the toes of your state department these documents would be enough to put the spanish ambassador in the calabozo and bring about a break with franco. but even if it happens, you won't be around to see it, matt. you're leaving in exactly four hours." "four hours?" "just a minute. that's my private phone. yes, general lobo speaking." he put his hand over the mouthpiece. "pick up the other phone. it's the spanish ambassador." "o.k." "yes, mr. ambassador?" "general! something terrible has happened." "terrible?" "there's been a murder in the embassy. someone broke into the embassy and shot one of our attachés. communists, i think." "is he dead? when did this all happen?" "five minutes ago." hall and lobo looked at the wall clock. the hands showed ten minutes after one. "five minutes or hours, mr. ambassador?" "minutes, general. it just happened." "where did it happen?" "on the stairs. the back stairs, between the third and fourth floors. it is terrible." "who is the man?" "elicio portada, general lobo. poor portada!" "just a minute." he put his hand over the mouthpiece. "listen to those lies, will you? only one body. three hours to dispose of the rivas carcass and search the files. did you leave them in much of a mess, matt?" "i don't remember." "it doesn't matter." the hand came away from the phone. "hello. yes, this is still general lobo. mr. ambassador, i have very serious news for you. as the representative of a friendly neutral, i am sure we can count on your co-operation." "what is it, general?" "we happen to have incontrovertible evidence that the late elicio portada was connected with a nazi-falange ring in direct contact with german submarine fleets in these waters. my immediate deduction is that he was killed by members of this ring to keep him from confessing to us. he was on the verge of making a complete confession." "what? it is preposterous! i shall protest to the foreign minister!" "suit yourself, señor. our evidence is incontrovertible. in the meanwhile, thanks to your attitude as you now express it. i must remind you that while the crime was committed on what is legally spanish territory, if you move the body one inch out of the embassy grounds you will be moving it on to cuban national territory. do you understand me? not one body is to be moved out of the embassy without my consent. not one body, do you understand?" "my government shall protest your interference, general lobo." "let them. i'm sending two men over to the embassy. tell them what happened. and make up a list of all of portada's friends. we'll find the murderer on that list, i'll warrant." he hung up the telephone with a slam. "let him sleep that off," he laughed. "my super-dooper crime laboratory will prove that the ambassador lied about the time of the shooting. my super-sleuths will find bloodstains on the third-floor landing--and i hope to christ rivas has a different blood type than portada. my super-sleuths will keep a straight face when the fascists hand them the gun of the missing murderer. then my colossal courtesy-of-the-f.b.i. crime laboratory will find rivas's fingerprints on the gun. mystery: where is rivas?" "have you got his fingerprints?" "teniente," lobo shouted into the inter-phone, "send those einsteins of crime to the home of fernando rivas of the spanish embassy. bring back fingerprints: best place to find them is liquor bottle, razor, hair brush--and do it fast." "good going." "i'll teach that fascist bastard to tell me nursery tales on the telephone at one in the morning." lobo was growing genuinely indignant. "god, how i wish you didn't have to leave town, matt. i'm going to be running a circus for the next two weeks!" "i'll take a rain check on it, jaime. maybe i can come back in time for the closing day." "who knows?" lobo sent for his aide, ordered microfilm copies of the documents to be ready in four hours. "and bring me the special belts and harnesses, teniente." "did you get me a seat on a panair plane? i thought figueroa would take care of that." "better than that, my boy." lobo crossed the room, opened a panel in the wall. it revealed a closet filled with uniforms. "get into one that fits, mateo. i have a seat for you on a flying fortress headed for caracas." "_yanqui?_" "_yanqui._ you're traveling as major angel blanco of my confidential staff. you are going south for me on a most delicate mission. you speak very little english, and you stink from pomade. besides, you wear these thick glasses and you've been out on such a night of wild latin debauchery that you sleep most of the time. in short, you are the anglo-saxon's dream of the stupid, conceited, lecherous latin officer who can't hold his liquor." "_claro._ i'm repulsive." "yes, but you are also a walking microfilm file, only no one knows it. your belt, your sam browne harness, the lining of your short boots, the inside of the visor of your cap are filled with identical sets of microfilms. your pouch carries a letter from me to a general xyz in code--and god preserve the sanity of anyone who attempts to uncode it. it will add up to precisely three tons of _mierda de caballo_." hall found a uniform that fit him. he got into it, smeared the proffered pomade into his black hair. "do i carry any baggage?" "we'll pack you a bag. two extra uniforms, pictures of your wife, your mistress, and your mother, a pound of pomade, a few copies of the _infantry journal_--it will be all right." "i can imagine. but before i go, jaime, there's something i don't quite get. why did the spanish embassy crowd have to hide rivas's body? why couldn't they admit that he did it?" lobo adjusted hall's tunic. "elementary, my dear watson," he said. "the portada blighter was sleeping with the rivas bloke's wife. it's the ambassador's job to avoid scandals within the happy family. admitting rivas killed portada over a rag, a bone, and a hank o' hair would be a confession the ambassador couldn't run his own show. elementary?" "no. you're improvising, and the notes sound all wrong. let me know about it when you really find out, sherlock." "come back in two weeks." general lobo yawned, stretched his long frame. "i'll take you to the american air base myself," he said. "i'll introduce you and act as your interpreter. and after you take off, you'll be on your own. who's meeting you in caracas, by the way?" "major diego segador. know him?" lobo smiled. "you'll get through," he said. "segador has nine lives, each of them tougher than the side of a battleship. ask him to tell you what we did to those three nazi heavyweights in san souci in ' . _madre de dios_, mateo, it was carnage!" twenty steps down the corridor, a negro technician was focusing a sharp lens on page three of _arriba_ for april , . the picture which spread across four columns of the top of the page was remarkably like the picture hall had carried in his mind since that day with jerry in san hermano. the fans in the negative dryer were whirring over twenty-odd other negatives. lobo was right, hall realized. they were worth the life of one rivas, they might yet take the life of a hall. the stakes were worth the risk. kill the beast in san hermano, drive a knife into its arteries, keep it from crawling north and its foul breath beginning to stink up the clean air. kill, so you can live again, kill, so you can go back to ohio when the beast was dead, and have children and not worry that some day they'd have to kill or be killed too. kill for the same reasons the rafaels and the santiagos and the lobos kill and you'll never have to lose a night's sleep. "what are you thinking, mateo?" "i'm thinking of the girl i'm going to marry in two weeks." "_hijo de la gran puta!_ he's in love, too! let's go to the laboratory. we've got a lot to do before you go." _chapter seventeen_ the american army plane banked sharply over the blacked-out caracas field. three times the four-motored ship circled the airport, breaking its speed, rousing the men who controlled the lights along the correct runways. during the second time around, hall thought he saw a douglas with the bright green-and-white flag on its wings. he was not so sure the third time. the pilot brought his ship in gently. it rolled down the new concrete strip, a silver juggernaut in a cloud of red dust. hall climbed out, gave the captain a silver cigarette case as a souvenir of the trip. the plane was not through for the night; it was to take on more fuel and proceed to a base farther south. hall went to the small operations building. he showed his papers to a sleepy official, had his passport stamped. "that douglas on the other end of the field," he said to the official, "is that the plane from san hermano?" the official didn't know. he offered to find out. "it is not of importance," hall said. he left his bag with the official. "i will be ready to go to the city as soon as the american plane takes off. is that car for me?" he went out to the field, stood chatting with the american flying officers as they stretched their legs and smoked while their plane was readied for the next leg of their flight. the boys were an agreeable surprise, or they had a c. o. with brains; each of them spoke some degree of spanish, and to a man they were polite to the "cuban officer" who had made the trip with them. it was a decent, non-condescending politeness. "i am going to ask general lobo to thank you all for your kindness," he said. "you are, as they say in english, _damn regular guys_!" the young captain, who had given hall his life history and his seattle home address, was touched. "aw," he said, "we're just ordinary yanks, major blanco. don't forget to look me up if you ever get to seattle after the war. then i'll show you some real hospitality. _entiende?_" "oh, i understand perfectly, captain. and you must visit me, too. you can always reach me through general lobo." hall, who had calmly appropriated the story of lobo's boyhood and palmed it off on the captain as his own during the flight, began to laugh. "oh, yes, captain," he said, "we will have the most amazing reunion after the war." "well," the american pilot said, "we're shoving off now." hall exchanged salutes and handshakes with the fortress crew. "_hasta pronto_," he shouted, as the last man climbed aboard. he remained where he stood, waving at the americans, when he saw the outlines of segador's thick shoulders emerging from the lighted doorway of the administration building. segador was walking toward the douglas. he approached hall, glanced at the cuban uniform for a second, and continued on his way to the parked plane. there was no hint of recognition. "pardon me," hall said to segador, "have you a match, please?" "of course." "ah, major, i see the stamp of the government match monopoly. would you be from san hermano, by any chance?" in the darkness, segador's hand crept toward the huge pistol in his holster. hall held the unlighted match in his fingers. it was unbelievable; he was still unrecognized. he had been speaking to segador in a disguised voice. "it is a very black night," he said in his normal voice. "yes--colonel." "thank you, but it's major. major angel blanco of the cuban army, señor." then he struck the match, held it close to the cigar in his mouth. "_madre de dios!_ it's you!" "who the hell did you think it was, diego? wilhelm androtten?" "i am a fool. but the uniform, the glasses--this confounded blackness...." "is that the plane?" "yes. we can't take off until morning. i can't trust the night flying instruments. was it worth the trip?" "_in spades_," he said, in english. "it was successful?" "very much, diego. i found the picture. i found other things." he told him about the documents on san hermano which santiago had taken from the steel boxes. "if we stand behind the plane can we be seen by anyone?" "no. only by my men in the cabin." "good." they walked farther into the blackness, put the plane between themselves and any eyes that might be watching them from the field buildings. "quick," hall said, "give me your belt and take mine. it is loaded with a complete set of negatives." the exchange was completed in seconds. "i've got three duplicate sets hidden on my person," hall said. "now they'll have to kill both of us to stop the truth from reaching san hermano." "i'm sleeping in the plane," segador said. "you had better sleep in town. did you arrange for a hotel, mateo?" "lobo arranged a room for me through the cuban legation. there's a diplomatic car at the gate now, waiting to take me to town. what time do we start out?" "a minute after sunrise." "i'll be here. can i bring anything from the hotel? hot coffee? beer?" "no. we have everything. even," he looked up at the plane and smiled, "even machine-gun belts." hall followed his eyes. he found himself facing the twin barrels of the machine guns in the side panel of the douglas. there was a young soldier at the firing end of the guns. "you do well, sergeant," segador said. "at ease." "can he use them, diego?" "he is a fantastic shot, that boy. he was in spain. but you will meet him tomorrow." "all right. but tell me one thing, if you can. it's been bothering me for days. how did ansaldo...?" "don't. i hate to think of it, mateo. the fascists put us all in a bottle. _el imparcial_ ran a big story on the front page--they charged that don anibal's only chance for life lay in an operation by ansaldo. they also hinted that selfish politicians were tying ansaldo's hands. the cabinet had to capitulate." "and lavandero?" "he didn't vote." "poor anibal! what was it that finally killed him?" segador savagely bit the end off a cigar. "his faith in scoundrels!" he said, vehemently. "enough, mateo. shut up before i--i ..." * * * * * hall rode into town, had dinner sent up to his room. for an hour or so, he read the local papers. then he turned out the lights, took off his tunic, opened his shirt collar, and put the sam browne belt with the hidden pockets on the bed beside him. it was to be a night of rest without sleep, a night of relaxing on the unmade bed with a hand never farther than six inches from one of his two guns. twice during the long night he took benzedrine pills to keep awake. there could be no sleep until the plane was well under way. * * * * * the two-motored douglas was warming her engines when the cuban diplomatic car delivered hall to the airport. "drive right over to that bomber," he ordered. "fast." "hey," he shouted before the car could skid to a stop, "taking off without me?" segador, freshly shaven, stepped to the doorway of the plane. "no. get on board. we were waiting. toss me your grip." hall tipped the driver of the car with a five-dollar note. "give me a hand, diego. i'm not an antelope." segador and the young sergeant pulled him into the cabin. "meet my crew. major blanco--first pilot captain millares, co-pilot navigator lieutenant cuesta, sergeant mechanic ruiz. they are a picked crew, and they know what is at stake in this flight." the flying officers were at the controls. they saluted hall, bade him welcome. "snub nose says we can take off," the captain told segador. "then let's take off. snub nose, give blanco a hand with his safety belt. his hands are stiff." the wiry little sergeant fastened hall's belt. "a lot of good it will do you if we ground-loop, major," he grinned. this one was a spaniard. hall knew it at once. young, no more than twenty-five, but very dry behind the ears. "_chico_," he said, "if we crash and i get hurt i'll murder you." "you terrify me." snub nose was laughing with the animal glee of sheer happiness in being alive. "but i like you. i brought a bucket along just for you when you get air-sick." "that's enough out of you, general cisneros!" the first pilot yelled into the microphone in his fist. "come on up to the office and stop bothering your betters." "call me when you feel sick," the boy roared at hall, his strong-timbred voice rising above the blasts of the engines. he went up forward, stood behind the pilots as the big plane taxied into position and took off. "i examined the negatives last night," segador said. "they are worth all they have cost. were they very hard to get, mateo?" "two lives. but one was a doomed life. it was not hard." "feel like sleeping?" segador pointed to an inflated rubber pallet in the bomb bay. "i could use a few hours of sleep," hall admitted. he made his way to the pallet, covered himself with an army greatcoat. he slept heavily, waking only to eat, to stretch his legs once when they landed to refuel and show their papers to a new set of officials, and, finally, when segador shook him and told him to put on his parachute. "we're near the border," segador said. he had a map and a heavy black pencil in his left hand. "can you put it on?" hall had worn similar chutes while flying with the r.a.f. over france. he waved snub nose away with a derisive gesture. "back to your nursery, _chico_," he said to the sergeant. "i was wearing chutes when you were in diapers." "i'm sorry," snub nose said, deliberately misunderstanding, "we can't give you a diaper, señor. just make believe you're wearing a diaper if you have to jump." hall looked out of the window. the late afternoon sun was beginning to wane. "look," segador said, making a mark on the map. "we are here now. i'd planned on crossing our own borders just after dark. but we had a strong tail wind all the way. we're ahead of time." "good." "it's not so good, mateo. most of the army is loyal, but for the last two months gamburdo has been bringing the germans back into the army." "germans?" "we call them the germans. i mean the sons of the _estancieros_ and the _señoritos_ who became officers under segura while he had his reichswehr experts running the army. tabio kicked them out, but he neglected to shoot them. the bastards are everywhere now. we have to assume that they know i left the country in a douglas bomber. you might have been recognized in havana or in caracas by falangist agents. the germans are also able to put two and two together." "i was very careful." "but it cost two lives." segador flipped a switch on the panel in front of his seat. "attention, everyone," he said into his microphone. "lieutenant, how soon before we reach the national border?" "if we maintain our air speed, major, we are due to cross the border in less than forty minutes." "good. come back here, please." then, while the co-pilot left his seat up front and started back to the seats near the bomb bay, segador continued talking. "captain, you know what we must expect. the fliers are all loyal; i don't think they would shoot down one of our own planes without permission of their chief. but there are too many germans in the a-a arm. we may have trouble from the ground." "i can fly higher, sir. we are now at seven thousand." "take her up to nine." he turned to the navigator. "how much will that put between our belly and the mountain tops at the border?" "three thousand, major." "not enough." "we can climb higher and fly on oxygen," the captain suggested. "no. we've got to take this chance," segador said. there was not enough oxygen on board, and only the major knew that this was because the chief of the air arm feared the new officers who handled the oxygen depot. "navigator, take a look at my map." the pencil traced a straight line extending two hundred miles across the border. "is this our course?" "yes, major. we are flying on course now." "thanks." segador looked at his watch, extended the pencil line another hundred miles into the country. "snub nose--how much flying time is left in our fuel tanks?" "three hours." the point of the pencil came to rest at the end of the line segador had drawn on the map. "can we make this point on our gas and still have enough left to fly back to san martin airport _from the north_? it would mean flying a wide circle." the navigator studied the map. "it can be done, sir." "good. mateo, my plan is to drop by parachute with the negatives at this point. the plane is then to return and land at san martin. you will then make your way to san hermano by train and go directly to gonzales by car." "will i be followed?" "i have a man at san martin. he will guide you." "and you?" "with luck, i'll be in san hermano before you." "all right." "nine thousand," the captain said. "border ahead." "pour on the coals. take your stations, men." segador patted snub nose on the back as the youngster crawled into the glass bubble below the pilot's feet. the navigator went to the guns in the rear. "stay here, mateo," segador ordered. he climbed into the mid-ship gun turret. hall had once been accustomed to being human super-cargo on board a fighting plane. this time the feeling irritated him. for want of something better to do, he took down a tommy gun from a rack near segador's seat and examined it for dust and grease. it was immaculately kept. he laid it across his lap. "crossing the border now," the pilot announced. the plane shot across the heavily wooded mountains, left them well behind in fifteen minutes. hall followed the fading shadows of the plane as it sped over the foothills. in a few minutes, darkness would blot out the shadows, and then he would again know the strangely exhilarating feeling of being alone in the skies at night. "lieutenant," segador said, "go up front and check the course." the major and the sergeant remained at their guns. "more hills ahead," the navigator explained to hall as he passed. "no lights," segador ordered. hall walked forward, stood behind the men at the instruments. the navigator was making his readings under a shielded blue light. millares, the pilot, pulled back on his stick, slightly, begging altitude at a minimum loss of air speed as he climbed to put more distance between the plane and the string of lower hills which lay across their course. the navigator suddenly became very busy at his radio. "major," he said into his microphone, "we are being called by a ground station. they've spotted us. they want to know who is in command, and what flight this is." "stick to your course," segador answered. "maximum speed." he crawled back to the main cabin. "what shall i answer, major?" "don't answer them. we'll just act as if we didn't pick up their signal." "yes, major. they're repeating their request." "mateo," segador said, "this is very bad. i don't know who controls the ground station. we can't take chances. i'm jumping as soon as it gets dark." "that's a matter of minutes." "i know. navigator, the plan remains the same, except that i jump in ten minutes. ignore all ground challenges on your way back to san martin." "i'm jumping with you," hall said. "no, you're not." "if they shoot us down on the way back to san martin, the negatives will fall into their hands, if they're not destroyed." "suppose we both jump and are both caught?" "it's a chance i'd rather take, diego." hall opened the secret pocket in the visor of his cuban army cap. "let me leave this set of negatives with snub nose. i have two more sets on me--in my sam browne and my boots." "i have to think about it." segador adjusted the harness of his parachute. then he picked up his microphone. "snub nose," he ordered, "come back here. adjust the _compañero's_ parachute. he's jumping with me." "_bueno._ i'll show him how to use it, too." hall and segador formally shook hands with the rest of the crew before they jumped. for a few long seconds, plunging face downward, hall could not think. he saw the plane pass over his feet, silver wings etched against the dark ceiling. he counted to seven, aloud, his voice lost in the wind. then he pulled the release cord. there was the expected moment of tensing pain as the silk clawed at the night air and the straps of the harness cut into the insides of his thighs. in his mind's eye there was a picture he had forgotten: a sand-bagged office in london on a bright may morning, the english girl with the yellow crutch under her arm as she handed him the mail. tear sheets on the series he'd done in scotland. _copyright by ball syndicate inc., somewhere in england, april , ._ this morning i took my place in line inside of a converted lancaster, watched the man in front of me lean out and tumble into the clear sky, and then did exactly as he had done. i counted to ten, pulled my release cord, and ... and what a hell of a pseudo-romantic way to make a living, he'd said to himself and to the english girl that morning. but tonight there was nothing phony about sitting in a canvas sling, falling through a wet cloud, eyes peeled for the white of segador's parachute. tonight he was no sunday supplement kibitzer taking a joy ride amidst men rehearsing for death. tonight he was finally in the war, as a combatant. the tricks he had learned in scotland served him in good stead now. he was able to play the cords of the parachute, guiding the direction of his descent so that he followed segador. there was little time to think of anything but the operation of the moment. fortunately, it was a green night. like segador, hall could see from a thousand feet that they were dropping over a sloping meadow. at about two hundred feet, they could see that they were going to land in the middle of a flock of sheep. the sheep began to bleat madly and run about in circles, as first segador, then hall, dropped into their pasture. segador broke free of his silk, ran over to help the american. "careful," he said. "with so many sheep, there must be a herder around. let me do the talking." a man in a woolly sheepskin cape was following a cautious sheep dog toward the spot where they stood. he carried a rifle. segador allowed the shepherd to approach to within fifty feet. "_hola!_" he called. "we have disturbed your flock." the shepherd said something to his dog, continued advancing slowly toward the two men from the sky. "he is afraid we might be germans," segador said. "they hate the germans worse than the devil in the country." "who are you?" the shepherd was now quite close to them. hall could see at once that he was a basque. "vasco?" hall asked. he poured out a stream of basque greetings. they served only to put the shepherd more on his guard. "i saw you fall from the skies--like _quintacolumnistas_." "that is true, _compañero_," segador said. "but we are not fifth columnists." "are you of the republic?" "yes." "the other. he is not of the republic. his uniform is different, and he speaks the tongue of my fathers badly." "he is of the republic of cuba. he is a friend of our republic." "you both have guns," the herder said. he looked at his dog, who stood between him and the intruders. "if you are friends, you will give your guns to the dog. i am without letters, but if you are friends, you can prove it to an educated man in our village." "what is your village?" "you have guns." "they are yours, _compañero_. see, i take mine. i lay it on the ground for your dog." the shepherd addressed his dog in euzkadi. the dog walked over to the gun, picked it up in his mouth, dropped it at the peasant's feet. he then made a trip for hall's gun. "you will walk in front of me," the shepherd said. "we will go toward that stile." he picked up the two pistols, shoved them into his skin bag. segador started to laugh. "i salute your vigilance, shepherd. we had two guns to your one. we could have shot you first. a coward would have run for help, first." "cowards do not serve the republic," the shepherd said. he remained ten feet behind them, ignoring segador's further attempts at conversation, marching them toward a thatched hut on the outskirts of a tiny village. when they approached the hut, the dog ran ahead, started to scratch on the unpainted door. an indian woman with a mestizo baby in her arms stood in the doorway when the three men reached the hut. "let them in, woman," the shepherd ordered. the inside of the small hut was dark and bare. on a pallet in the far corner, hall could see the forms of children huddled in sleep, how many he could not tell. there was a stone stove, a hand-hewn table and two benches. in another corner, a fragment of a tallow candle burned fitfully under a dim portrait. hall realized, with an inward start, that the portrait was not of jesus but of anibal tabio. "hold the gun." the woman put the baby on the pallet with the other children, took the rifle in her hands. "if you are of the republic," the shepherd said, "you will allow me to tie your hands." "we are of the republic--and for the educator, who is now dead." the woman, who held the gun, backed away, closer to the picture, while her husband bound the hands of segador and hall behind their backs, and then connected all four hands with a third length of rope. "send your woman for the educated man," segador said. "but hurry. we are on a mission for the republic. we must not be delayed too long." the shepherd took the gun from his wife. "go then," he said to her. "bring bustamente the notary to this house." two of the children on the pallet were now sitting up, staring at the visitors with wide, frightened eyes. segador grinned at them. his eyes were growing accustomed to the darkness. "go back to sleep, _niños_," he whispered. "we will play with you when you awake." the kids ducked under the woolly coverlet, hiding their heads. "sit down," the shepherd said. "if you are friends, i will offer you the hospitality of this table." he started to roll a cigarette out of a fragment of newspaper. "there are cigarettes in my pocket," hall suggested. "cuban cigarettes. perhaps you would like one." the shepherd rose from his own bench without a word, found the cigarettes, put two in the mouths of hall and segador. he struck a rope lighter, started their cigarettes. then, still without speaking, he finished rolling his own cigarette and lit it. "if you are fifth columnists," he said, "i spit on your cigarettes." there was no rancor in his statement; it was a polite expression of simple logic. his wife returned in a few minutes. she was with a nervous little white-haired man who clung to the waistband of his alpaca trousers. he carried a shiny alpaca jacket in his free arm--this and the steel-framed glasses on his ancient nose were his badges of authority. "this is bustamente the notary," the shepherd said. bustamente fingered his glasses. "yes," he said, alive to the importance of the moment. "i am the notary." he squinted down his nose at the two men. "major diego segador, of the republic. and this is my colleague, major angel blanco, of the cuban army." "they fell from the sky," the shepherd said. "like fifth columnists." "is that true, your eminences?" bustamente the notary was taking no chances. "it is true." "and you have papers?" "we have papers. mine are in here. and yours, major blanco?" the notary adjusted his glasses, turned to the papers while the shepherd's wife held a candle over them. "ay," he said. "they look real. yes, i must admit they look real. on the other hand, i must also admit that i have never seen real cuban papers." this was indeed a problem for the notary. he scratched his chin, importantly, cleared his throat with a rumbling hawk. "what do you think, juan antonio?" "i am without letters," the shepherd said. "i must admit," the notary said, not without sadness, "i must admit that i have never seen real papers of our own army." "please," segador said, "it is important that we get to san hermano. is there anyone in this village who is not for the landowners or the mine owners or the germans who has seen real papers? i ask this in the name of don anibal tabio, in whose name we undertook our mission." "justice will be done," said bustamente the notary. "this is the era of justice, my good friends." he tried to punctuate his pronouncement with tabio's famous gesture. to do this he had to release his waistband, and his trousers started to fall to his knees. from the pallet came a choking snicker. "silence!" juan antonio hissed to the kids on the dark pallet. "show respect for bustamente the notary." his wife, at the same time, restored the notary's dignity by handing him a length of cord to use as a belt. he fixed his trousers and then made the moment truly solemn by putting on his jacket. "i am sure the notary will dispense the justice of the republic," the shepherd said. "_hombre!_ this is very serious," bustamente the notary whispered. it was a loud stage whisper. "we must consider our decision with careful seriousness, juan antonio." he stepped outside of the hut. hall could hear his discussion with the shepherd. "the one who claims to be of us," the notary said, "he does not talk like an enemy of don anibal, mayhissoulrestinpeace. how does the other talk?" "i do not know. he tried to speak in euzkadi. it is not his tongue." "it is, in a sense, suspicious then. but we must not be hasty. justice begins in the village." the phrase was tabio's. "what are we to do, señor notary?" "the laws of the constitution of the republic guarantee justice to all suspects, juan antonio. please tell me all you know about the two officers." he listened to the simple recital of the facts. "ay, it is as i have observed, _amigo_. there is much to be said on both sides. if they were germans or fifth columnists, perhaps they would have shot you first. on the other hand, since neither of us has ever seen a cuban uniform, how can we tell? and if they are ours, why did they drop from the sky into the middle of a flock of sheep?" "it is very deep, señor notary." "let us talk softer, juan antonio. perhaps they can hear us inside." they moved farther from the doorway, conversed in whispers for a few minutes, and then they started to walk down the dirt street of the village. hall and segador sat patiently, without exchanging a word. once, while they waited for the shepherd and the notary, segador told hall with a look that he thought everything was going to be all right. then the two villagers returned with two horses and two donkeys. "we have decided," said bustamente the notary, "that in the interests of full justice we must take you to see the school teacher in puente bajo. he will know what to do." segador sighed with relief. "thank you, señor notary," he said. "and thank you, _compañero_ shepherd. i am certain that your decision is the wisest one could make, and that we shall receive ample justice from the school teacher of puente bajo. but tell me, how far is the village from here?" "it is less than five miles, major." "i am content." the shepherd undid the cord that connected the bound hands of hall and segador and, because their hands were still tied behind their backs, he helped them mount the donkeys. he and the notary climbed into the wooden saddles of their small horses, fastening the donkeys' leads to their pommels. segador smiled at hall, whose donkey was being led by the shepherd. "wonderful," he said. "sancho leads the noble don home from an encounter with the sheep." "please, gentlemen," bustamente the notary said, sharply, "you are not to address one another. justice begins in the village, and justice"--again he aped don anibal's gesture--"and justice will be done." "we bow to your authority in matters of justice," segador said, gravely. he and hall sat in silence as the convoy cut across a meadow on the slope and turned toward the outlines of a larger village in the valley. they jogged toward the dim yellow lights of puente bajo, the shepherd piercing the night quiet with the curses he flung at the heads of the donkeys every time they balked. at the outskirts of the town, bustamente the notary ordered a halt. "i have been thinking," he said. "it is my feeling that if the two on the donkeys are of the republic and innocent, then we will have committed an offense against their sacred dignity if we lead them into puente bajo fettered on mangy donkeys. i have therefore come to the conclusion that perhaps it would be better for me to ride on alone to the school and bring the teacher back to meet us here, by the road." "i can agree," the shepherd said. "but wait until i tether their donkeys." he dismounted, led the donkeys to the side of the road and tied their forefeet to lengths of rope he fastened to a strong tree. "would you want one of your own cigarettes?" he asked hall. "yes. many thanks. and one for major segador, too. and please take one for yourself." the shepherd declined with a serious face. "first," he said, "i must hear what the school teacher has to say about you. he is wiser, even, than bustamente the notary." bustamente the notary and the man who was acknowledged to be even of more wisdom than he returned out of breath; the school teacher from trotting after the short horse and the notary from talking incessantly to the pedagogue. the teacher was a compact mestizo in his early twenties, a short youth with a furrowed sloping indian forehead and bright beady black eyes. he was wearing a pair of brown-cotton trousers, a blue shirt without a tie, and rope-soled slippers. "are you truly major segador?" he asked. and then, without waiting for the answer, he turned to the shepherd and began to berate him. "you fool," he shouted, "untie his bonds at once. do you know that he sat in el moro with don anibal?" "i am without learning," the shepherd said. "it is all right, teacher," segador said. "the _compañero_ did his duty--and he did it properly. undo my hand, juan antonio, so that i may shake your hand." "i am sorry, _compañero_," the school teacher said to the shepherd. "i spoke to you without thinking." "what is your name, teacher?" "i am called pablo artigas." he helped hall and segador get off the donkeys. "i regret that you have had so much grief in our province." "are you a member of the union?" segador asked. "naturally. for three years--since i am a teacher. before that i belonged to the union of students." "and you have your _carnet_?" "not with me, major segador. it is in my room at the school." "we will look at it. may we go with you?" "i will be honored." "please, your honors," said bustamente the notary, "i insist that you ride the horses. the teacher may have one of the donkeys. i shall walk." the shepherd reached into his sheepskin cloak. "here are your pistols," he said. hall passed his cigarettes around. the shepherd accepted one with a shy smile. "i am glad that you are not angry, señor cuban major," he said. "i have never had a cuban cigarette before." _chapter eighteen_ "fantastic! sheer fantasy on paper, but it's all true. all roads lead to san hermano. first, lobo. then, today, the man from spain. then ..." felipe duarte could not sit still. he walked around hall's room at the bolivar like a referee during a fast bout between flyweights. "ostensibly, lobo came to represent batista at the funeral yesterday. actually, he came to bring duplicates and even the originals of most of your negatives--as well as a report on androtten. i don't know what's in the androtten report yet; all i know is that the american intelligence service had something on it, and they gave it to lobo." "i tried to reach him on the phone." "he's busy, mateo. he's closeted with lavandero. that's not all ..." "i know, the de sola affidavit. i'll have to tell you about havana, felipe. and about the all-night march to cerrorico through the woods with segador and the school teacher and the notary's mules." _mateo, eh mateo, what did you see in the shepherd's hut? tabio's picture? all i could see was poverty, mateo._ "hey, you're not listening? what are you thinking of?" hall put his shaving brush down, inserted a fresh blade in his razor. "a thousand things. cerrorico. the mining stronghold. segador said the communists had a good press and that they were reliable. he wasn't kidding. they must have run off a million leaflets with reproductions of the ansaldo pictures and the havana documents by the time i left." later, he would tell duarte about the ride from cerrorico in the engine cab of an ore train, and hopping off at dawn at the monte azul station, and being met by a pepe delgado who wore a freshly washed and ill-fitting reservist's uniform and drove a small army lorry. segador had gone ahead on an earlier train. "you should have seen the leaflets yesterday, mateo. just as the funeral procession was at its greatest the army planes appeared overhead and started to drop the leaflets by the ton. and an hour after the leaflets fell from the skies, the pro-united nations papers were all over the country with front-page reproductions of the pictures and the documents." "and all that time i was sleeping on an ore train. who is this man from spain you mentioned, felipe?" "it is fantastic! after mogrado got my message, he rounded up two spanish army surgeons who knew ansaldo. they made affidavits, too. that isn't the half of what mogrado did. he reached the spanish underground in spain via a cable to lisbon. and this morning the clipper came in from lisbon, and what do you think?" "i can't think. but don't tell me it's fantastic, felipe." "but it is fantastic. there is a man on board the plane, a typical _señorito_. he has papers with him that say he is a spanish diplomat. the minute he steps ashore, a mug from the spanish embassy recognizes him. 'he is a fraud, a _rojo_, a defiler of nuns and an arsonist of cathedrals!' he shrieks. it's fantastic! the man with the papers lifts a heavy fist and he lets fly with a blow that knocks out the fascist's front teeth. 'baby killer!' he hollers, and then he turns around to the airport officials and he says he is a mexican citizen who used fake papers to escape from spain and he demands that they take him under guard to the mexican embassy. in the meanwhile he says they'll have to kill him if they want to take his papers before he is delivered in person to the mexican embassy. is it fantastic, mateo?" "for god's sake stop telling me that!" "but it is fantastic! he makes them drive him to the mexican embassy, and the spanish official is screaming like a stuck pig that the man is a spanish citizen and an agent of the comintern." "who is he?" "he is a spaniard, of course. the underground sent him. they had cadres in the office of the falange national delegation. they took out the falange party records of ansaldo and marina, put them under a camera, and sent the pictures to san hermano with this agent. it was a farce. i was in the next room, listening to him as he told the ambassador that his name was joaquin bolivar. then i walked in, the sweet light of recognition on my ugly face, shouting 'joaquin! my old university pal, joaquin! don't you recognize your old felipe duarte?' the ambassador just watches me. the man's papers are still in a sealed envelope before him. "it is enough for him. he slams his hands down on the papers and says he claims them in the name of his government. 'i will take the responsibility for señor bolivar,' he says. 'i have reason to believe he is a mexican national.' i ask you, mateo--is it fantastic?" "no. it's just efficient. where is he now?" "the ambassador took him and his papers to see lavandero. he's giving a deposition and an interview to the press." "i ought to take in the interview." "no. stay away. segador thinks it will be wiser if you stay away. but that isn't all. do you remember the picture of ansaldo that started you off on your wild-goose chase?" "vaguely. what about it?" "there is a doctor in the institute of tropical medicine in puerto rico. he is the head of the pro-loyalist spanish society on the island ..." "ramon toro?" "toro. you know him? well, he must be a man worth knowing. he has a collection of _avance_--that was the falange organ in san juan, starting with issue number one. when he sees the picture of gamburdo embracing ansaldo--it was on the front page of _el mundo_ in san juan--a bell rings in his head. he starts going through his _avances_, and what do you think? he finds the picture you were looking for in an august issue. so he rips open his suitcase, pastes the whole issue of _avance_ between the linings, and arrives at the san hermano airport last night. he doesn't stop. he takes his bag straight to the editor of _la democracia_, empties it of his clothes, and pulls out the ..." "christ! toro had it all the time!" "it's on the front page of _la democracia_ this morning. i was in such a rush to get here that i left it in my office. i tell you, all roads lead to san hermano. every time i hear a plane overhead, i think, aha! more anonymous republicans and underground agents and cuban generals are coming in with more documents. it's fantastic!" "did anyone else turn up?" hall was feeling better than he had in years. he was one of many now, he knew, one of an army who marched in uniform, out of uniform, but an army which knew the enemy and knew how to fight him. mogrado, fielding, duarte, segador, rafael, pepe, vicente, iglesias, even poor rivas for all his cringing and breast-beating--the army was strong, and it was growing stronger with the taste of victory. that was all that mattered, now. "i guess that's the beginning of the end for the falange," he said. "the hell it is, mateo." duarte was coming down to earth. "it will be a long row to hoe. your state department has been distributing judicious hints that a unilateral policy toward franco will upset the apple cart. they're after an all-hemisphere policy toward spain. all that this means is that none of the countries, except my own, will dare to break with franco until washington takes the lead. not even this one." "you're crazy." "i'm a diplomat, mateo. mark my words." "i hope you have to eat those words by the end of the week." hall doused his face with bay rum, patted it with a towel. "when did they call the troops up? pepe started to tell me about it when he drove me over last night, but i fell asleep as soon as he got started." "three days ago, mateo. there was a meeting of the student council to aid the united nations at the university. the hall was packed. then the cross and sword gunmen stormed the entrances and fired point blank into the crowd. there were over fifteen deaths, and so many injured that the university authorities established an emergency hospital in five lecture rooms. your jerry has been there since. the commanding general of this area is loyal to the republic; he called up the reserves." "what about jerry? i've been trying to reach her all morning." "she is wonderful. all the patients are trying to teach her spanish." "what are we waiting for? let's go to the university." "not me. i've got to go back to the embassy. lobo says he can meet us both for lunch at the embassy." "i'll make it. let's go. oh, one more thing. i put through some calls to new york. and some are coming in. i gave your office as one of the places i could be reached." "don't be late." * * * * * jerry could spend only a few minutes with hall on the university steps. "gonzales told me that you were safe," she said. "and also what you accomplished. i'm proud of you, matt." "i worried about you," he said. "were you scared when you found yourself in a war zone?" "no. just angry. maria luisa was at the meeting when the shooting started. she wasn't hurt, thank god, but she was a bloody mess when she got home. gonzales and i left for the university at once. i've been here, since. we've had four deaths to date." "when can you get away?" "not till dinner time. but things are easing up. we've been able to transfer more than half of our cases to the hospitals." "the bolivar at eight." he took a cab to the mexican embassy. the driver was beaming as he shut the door. he told hall that the early returns were overwhelmingly in favor of lavandero. "yes, señor," he laughed, "the fascists are on the run today. the lines formed outside of the polling places three and even four hours before they opened. did you see what fell from the planes yesterday? did you see the papers? those dirty fascists!" duarte had figures to back up the cab driver's story when hall reached the mexican embassy. "it is a wonderful victory, mateo," he said. "the tide is running so strongly that gamburdo is expected to concede the election before the polls close at five." "the bastard! where's lobo?" "he'll be here in a minute. let me show you some of the leaflets. i'll bet you haven't seen one yet." the leaflet was the size of a standard newspaper page, printed on both sides. there was the large picture of gamburdo embracing ansaldo smack up against the shot of ansaldo, in fascist uniform, giving the fascist salute along with the nazi and the italian officers. most of the falange documents proving the axis ties of gamburdo and the cross and sword were also reproduced on the single sheet. "it turned the election," duarte said. "until yesterday, the fascists were spreading the story that lavandero had kept ansaldo from operating in time. gamburdo was so anxious to grab the credit for ansaldo that he dug his own grave." "he's not in the grave, yet." "be patient." lobo walked into the office. he was wearing his regulation tan uniform. "mateo," he shouted, "you're a fraud! i heard you were wearing a cuban officer's uniform." "it's in shreds, jaime." lobo eased his long frame into duarte's favorite chair. "i thought you'd never gotten through," he said. "after the second day of silence i was sure the fascists had clipped your wings. don't bother to tell me about your hardships, though. i've already seen segador." "everyone has seen segador," hall laughed. "everyone but me. when the hell do i see him?" "he's very busy, my friend. he's responsible to a government, you know, not to himself, like you." "_mierda!_" "that reminds me. there's an american officer in town. from miami." "intelligence?" "naturally. he's a very nice guy, mateo. the american ambassador's daughter here told him that you are an agent of the comintern. he told me that he knew she was crazy. he asked me to tell you that he's a straight-shooter and he wants to speak to you. in a friendly way, of course. name's barrows. a lieutenant-colonel. know him?" "no. what about androtten?" "what about barrows, first? if i were you, i'd give him a ring. he's at the american embassy." "all right. shall i ask him to lunch with us?" barrows was not free for lunch. he arranged to meet hall at duarte's office at three. "he sounds human," hall admitted. during their luncheon, lobo told hall and duarte what he had learned about androtten from the american government. the man was a german named schmidt or wincklemann (he had used passports in both names) who had a record as a german agent which went back to . he had spent some time in java, some years in spanish morocco, and the year of living in a villa at estoril, the beach resort outside of lisbon. "the record doesn't say what he was doing in portugal," lobo said. "my guess is that he was working with sanjurjo." "i'd back you on that," hall said. "the old rumhound needed someone to hold his hand before the war." "there are blank spaces in the record after that," lobo said. "the next entry is the spring of , when your androtten was known as wincklemann. he turned up in rome as an art dealer specializing in spanish masterpieces. he sold two goyas and a velasquez to three rich ladies in the british colony; told them the paintings were from the private collections of spanish noblemen who had been ruined by the _rojos_. he was lying, of course--the paintings had all been taken from spanish museums by the nazis. wincklemann disappeared, and the ladies finally sold the paintings back to the franco government in for the same price. the last mention of wincklemann or schmidt is a paragraph from a letter mailed to washington from mexico in july, . the letter was from the junta of dominican opposition leaders and mentioned a gunther wincklemann as one of four nazi agents who had been guests of trujillo in the dominican capital that month." * * * * * hall borrowed an empty office in the mexican embassy for his appointment with the american officer. it went off well. barrows was a plain-speaking man in his early forties, with the handshake of a young and vigorous boiler maker. he had a nice, unhurried way about him, his frosty blue eyes surveying hall with good humor while he fussed with his thick-walled pipe. "i'd heard all sorts of conflicting stories about you," he said, smiling at the conflicts. "i can imagine," hall said. "i wish i could tell you half of them." "i know the ambassador's half. heard it in havana." barrows snorted. "have you a match that lights?" he asked. "i've been trying to get this pipe started for days." he refused a cigar. it was a match that he wanted. hall had a lighter whose flame burned long enough to light the pipe. "there now," he said, "now we can talk. i know that you heard about the ambassador's report. if it will make you feel any better, skidmore got his tail singed for it." he was highly amused. "good." hall was warming up to barrows. "i hate stuffed shirts." "so do i. but frankly, hall, i'd like to drop the subject. i--i need your advice. unofficially, of course. but i need it. it's about the reports that the late roger fielding made to the british embassy. you saw them, i understand." "only once. a few nights before he was killed." "that's what i was told. commander new in the british embassy told me. he's not exactly up on the san hermano scene yet, you know. he thinks that after the job you and lobo did in havana that he ought to turn the originals of the fielding reports over to the government. what he doesn't know is who to hand them to. he wants to know who will use them and who will burn them. he thought that since you were an american, he'd ask me to get your slant on it." "i get it," hall said. "you want one guy who is certain to be an anti-fascist. someone who will know just how to use the information." "exactly. i don't suppose i have to tell you, hall, that the enemy has been sinking our shipping in the south atlantic and the caribbean at a rate that spells one hell of a long war. i know, as you do, that falangist spaniards on shore are working with the nazi undersea raiders. but even if we wanted to, we couldn't send enough marines to south america to root 'em out. we've got to rely on the local governments to do the job." "yeah." hall was bitter. "we want this republic to root out the falangists, so we send an ambassador who plays footy with the falangists in public and calls the anti-falangist president a dirty red." "you're carping, hall." "all right. i'm carping. i'm a taxpayer, it's my prerogative to carp. we want the latin american republics to get tough with the franquists who are helping the nazis sink our ships, so we sell the spanish fascists the oil they transfer to the nazi subs, and we send an ambassador to madrid whose only exercise is kissing franco's foot in public every sunday morning, and when any of our sister republics want to break with franco we dispatch a sanctimonious buzzard in striped pants from the state department and he tells them to lay off franco, spain's saviour from atheism and communism. how in the hell can we expect the latin republics to crack down on franco's stooges at home when we ourselves play up to franco in madrid?" "let's have that lighter again." barrows was cool and unruffled, the smile that danced across the smooth lines of his face never wavered. "i'm a soldier," he said, pleasantly. "i can't discuss policy. i can only talk tactics. you know that, hall. tactics is the art of working with an existent situation and licking it--not waiting for the millennium. you think our policy toward franco spain should be changed. maybe you're right. maybe it will be changed. but, in the meanwhile, franquists in latin america, in this country specifically, are putting the finger on our ships. fielding's reports might be accurate. if we are to act on them, we need the help of pro-allied members of this government. who is our man?" "there is one man in these parts who can be trusted completely to do the right things with those reports," hall answered. "give him the reports, and after the polls close he'll be in a position to round up every fascist fielding listed and put them on ice for the duration. he's an army man--major diego segador." "and you think he's our man, eh? would you mind writing his name in my book, and the best place to reach him?" hall carefully printed the information barrows wanted and then, as he returned the book, he said, deliberately, "but there's one thing you should know about segador. he's everything i said he is, and more. but he's also a leftist. he's very close to the communist party." "so what?" barrows said, casually. "the russians are killing plenty of germans, and i understand their chief is a member of the party, too. man named stalin, or something like that." "do you mind if i call you unique?" "not at all. but let me ask one. what are you planning to do for the duration? ever think of g- ?" "yeah. i applied before pearl harbor. they turned me down so hard i thought i was hit by a truck. i applied again on december th, . it was still no soap. i was for the loyalists in spain, you know. that made me what the brass hats term a 'premature anti-fascist' and definitely not officer material." "i didn't know about that," barrows said. "what would you do if the door was opened for you now? understand, i'm not making an offer. i'm just asking." "i don't know," hall said. "i don't think the door would be opened. if it was--i'd have to think about it." "may i have your lighter again?" hall watched barrows make a major operation of relighting his pipe, and recognized it as the officer's neat device for creating a break in a conversation that needed breaking. barrows had a way of making the ritual of lighting his pipe serve as the curtain that falls on a given scene of a play. "the ambassador," barrows smiled. "he's been tearing his nice white hair since you got back from havana. you put him on an awful spot, you know." "it'll do him good, the old bastard. do you know what tabio told me about him a few days before he died? he said that he was with skidmore at a dinner a few days after germany invaded russia and that skidmore said he was glad that now the russians would get what was coming to them." "not really?" "lavandero was there. he'll back me up." hall stopped. "say, i have an idea," he said. "there's one thing i can do for g- . i can write a report on skidmore. i'll do it right after the elections." "oh-oh! it'll mean trouble with the spats department." "spats?" "state. but you make your report, and give it to me. i'll turn it in with the rest of my stuff when i get back. why not? you're a civilian. the worst that can happen to you after you write the report is that you'll have trouble getting passports and visas." "i don't give a damn," hall said. "and i'll do something else. you gave me an idea. i'm still a civilian, you said. swell, then i won't be climbing over anyone's brass hat if i see to it that a copy of the report reaches the white house." barrows leaned back in his chair, laughing. "he told me that you threatened to do just that," he said. "but he's just a harmless old duffer, hall. he told me he wanted to shake your hand." "he can shove it. did you meet his daughter?" "once. she doesn't like you." "ever receive any reports in miami about her?" "you know i can't answer that question, hall." "o.k. that means--oh, i guess it means that you got reports that she sleeps around plenty. but her political life is more important to g- than her sex didoes." "gossip?" "fact. she's secretly engaged to be married to the man who killed fielding. the marques de runa. but don't worry--he'll never be brought to trial for it. he's in spain. left by clipper over a week ago with his chauffeur, the man who actually ran poor fielding down." the officer from miami laid his pipe down on the desk. "this is pretty serious," he said. "i don't want to get it all by ear, old man. would you mind talking while it was taken down? not only about margaret skidmore. about everything you can give your uncle about the falange? facts, names, addresses, opinions--the works. i brought a young lieutenant with me from miami; he was a crack stenographer in civilian life. how about spending a few hours with us?" "sure. i can give you the rest of the day, if you like." "i'd like it fine. but if you don't mind--not here." "o.k. dr. gonzales' house. it's on the outskirts of the city, and we'd be alone." * * * * * hall spent the rest of the day at gonzales', dictating to the lieutenant. while they worked, duarte phoned to tell him that gamburdo had formally conceded the election. "what are your dinner plans?" he asked the mexican. "none. i have to finish a long report on the elections before i eat. where and when are you eating?" "i don't know. i thought that for sentimental reasons i'd eat with jerry and pepe and vicente and souza at the bolivar. lobo is tied up for the evening." "i'll join you when i can, mateo." later, when the american officers left, hall tried to reach his friends by phone. arturo, the desk clerk, told him that souza had taken the day off and that pepe and vicente had been called up with the reserves. he gave hall a list of numbers where he might possibly find pepe. hall finally reached him at the transport workers' union. "can you eat with me tonight?" he asked. "yes. where are you? our officers just handed us our new orders. i am to be your driver and emilio your guard." "what?" "sergeants delgado and vicente at your orders, sir." "is this official?" pepe laughed heartily. "official," he said. "we can show you our orders." "i am at gonzales'. can you pick me up now?" "at once." the sergeants were there in fifteen minutes. pepe now drove an army car whose color matched his uniform. they drove to the university for jerry. soldiers were everywhere, patrolling the city, guarding both the axis diplomatic buildings and the commercial houses owned by known fascists. the streets were crowded with civilians. they hung around the cafés, listening to the latest election bulletins over the café radios, or they congregated under the government's loud speakers in the plazas and the broad avenues. even though gamburdo had already conceded his defeat, the people awaited the results of each new count, cheered each new electoral repudiation of the falange candidate. everywhere the sidewalks, the gutters, the doorways of stores and buildings were littered with whole or tattered copies of the leaflets exposing gamburdo and ansaldo. "we gave them a licking they won't forget so quickly," pepe chortled. "yes, but they are still alive, pepe. they took a licking in the last spanish elections, too." "_de nada_," vicente said, grimly. "let them try to make a second spanish war in our republic. we'll drown them in their own blood." jerry was waiting for them on the university steps. "matt, it was amazing. translate for me, will you? i think pepe and vicente would like to know, too. as soon as the word was flashed to the wards that lavandero won the election, the serious cases started to pull through, and the others are just about ready to dance. i've never seen anything like it!" duarte joined them as they were finishing their soup. he was pale and upset. "the axis got the news pretty quickly," he said. he picked up a bottle of brandy, poured a half tumbler and downed it in a gulp. "for christ's sake, what happened, felipe?" "the nazis," he said. "this afternoon, a few minutes after gamburdo quit, a nazi submarine deliberately sank one of the republic's unarmed freighters. it happened less than thirty miles from where we're sitting. that isn't all. the ship had time to wireless for help before she sank. and the nazis waited until the rescue boats had picked up the survivors before they surfaced again and sank each of the boats with their deck guns." "when did you find out?" "hours ago. i kept quiet because i wanted to make sure about souza. now it's been confirmed. he was on one of the rescue boats. he is dead." "why, the dirty ..." "wait, mateo. there is something else. don't go. you had a call from radio city in new york. they want you to broadcast to america at ten o'clock tonight. the siglo station has the hook-up here." the clock on the bolivar dining-room wall read eight-thirty. "i'd better go right over," hall said. "eat and wait for me here, felipe. don't bother to drive me, pepe. i'll walk. it's less than two blocks. have some more brandy." "i'm going with you," jerry said. * * * * * "_come in, san hermano ..._" over the long-wave from radio city. the station announcer gave hall his signal. hall mopped his face with his sleeve, glanced at his notes. "for a few hours this afternoon here in san hermano," he said into the microphone, "most of us believed that virtue is its own reward, that the truth by itself is the most powerful weapon in the hands of a democracy. "at three o'clock this afternoon, the fascist candidate for the presidency of this republic conceded defeat in an election marked by the dramatic revelation of his ties with the falange in madrid and the nazis in berlin. there was no bloodshed, no disturbances. democracy had scored a bloodless victory in san hermano. "for thirty-five minutes and twelve seconds, the elections remained a triumph for the ideals of the late president, anibal tabio, a man in the traditions of our own abraham lincoln. it was tabio's life-long belief that 'ye shall know the truth and it shall make you free.' but tabio, like the leaders of the last spanish republic, placed too much faith in the power of good and decency and progress and had too little fear of the fascist powers of evil abroad in this world. "at exactly thirty-five minutes and twelve seconds after the fascist gamburdo conceded the elections to his popular-front opponent, the people of this republic learned that the world has grown much smaller since lincoln declared that no nation could exist half slave and half free. today what lincoln had to say about one nation goes for one world. this one world, our one world, is now torn by a global war. it is a total war. the people of this democracy struck at the axis today by overwhelmingly defeating the axis candidate at the polls. it took the axis exactly thirty-five minutes and twelve seconds to answer the democratic people of this free nation. the answer was delivered by the torpedoes and deck guns of a nazi submarine lurking thirty miles from the docks of this port...." he talked on, glancing at the station clock frequently. there was a lot he wanted to cram into his fifteen minutes. if possible, he hoped, he would be able to get in a few words about the big feature story on the front page of the bulldog edition of _el imparcial_. it was a long and lachrymose account of how mexico was suffering because the food of the nation was being rushed to the american armed forces and how the war had forced inflation and shortages on that suffering catholic country whose people had no quarrel with hitler and no love for the godless stalin. the red sweep-second hand raced hall through his account of this story. "it is no accident that this piece of axis propaganda should be featured on page one of the nation's leading pro-franco paper tomorrow," he said. "this is the falange line for latin america. this is the unnecessary acid the axis is preparing to inject into the very real wounds latin america is suffering and will suffer from this total war." the announcer standing at the other microphone drew his hand in front of his own throat. hall's time was up. jerry rushed into the studio from the anteroom, where she had been listening to the talk over the studio radio. she kissed him, took his hand as they went downstairs and into the narrow street which led to the plaza de la republica. "where do we go from here, matt?" she asked. "god alone knows. let's get married tomorrow. that's one thing we'd better do while we still have a chance. i used to think i belonged in the army. the army doctors rejected me for combat service; i'm too banged up. twice i tried to get into intelligence, the first time before pearl harbor. they wouldn't touch me with a fork. saturday, colonel barrows hinted that they were less squeamish about accepting anti-fascists into g- . he hinted that maybe i could get an intelligence commission." "i'll go in as a nurse if they accept you, matt." "that's a big _if_, baby. but if they don't, we can go on fighting the fascists in our own way. we won't get legion pins and ribbons and bonuses after it's all over, and the only uniforms we'll ever get to wear will be decoy outfits like the one i wore when i left havana. but the fight will be the same, and the enemy will be the same. and we won't have to worry about getting stuck on an inactive front. we can pick our fronts. "when it's all over, we'll go to spain and we'll spit on franco's grave and i'll show you where a great man named antin died and where a kid lieutenant named rafael killed fourteen fascists with one gun and we'll walk down the puerta del sol in madrid with the most wonderful people i've ever known--what's left of them--and we'll dandle black-eyed spanish kids on our knees until our guts begin to ache for kids of our own and then we'll make a kid of our own and fly back so he'll be born in ohio like his folks and grow up to be a good anti-fascist president or at least an intelligent american ambassador to san hermano. ah, i'm talking like a fool, baby, talking like a drunk in a swank bar off sutton place." the loud speakers on the lamp posts of the plaza suddenly came alive. "attention, everyone! attention!" "wait," matt said. "something's up." "attention! this is the mayor of san hermano speaking. eduardo gamburdo, wanted for the murder of anibal tabio, has fled the country. the cabinet and a quorum of the legislature, meeting at six o'clock tonight, have unanimously voted that president-elect esteban lavandero should be sworn in as president immediately. at ten o'clock tonight, president lavandero took his oath of office from the chief justice of the supreme court in the presidencia. i will repeat this announcement. attention...." hall translated the announcement. "now lavandero has been introduced. i'll translate as he goes along." "citizens, members of the popular front parties, members of all parties," lavandero began. "this afternoon, at three thirty-five o'clock, a submarine which has been positively identified as being of german nationality torpedoed a ship bearing the flag of our republic within our national waters. the ship was sunk. the survivors and the men on the boats which set out from shore to rescue them were shelled by this submarine. the losses have been enormous. at the last official count, we had lost over eighty citizens, all victims of fascist bestiality. "tomorrow, i shall go before the congress and speak for a declaration of war against the axis. tonight, my first official act has been to promote major diego segador to the rank of colonel for outstanding services to our republic, and to appoint him emergency chief of the defense of san hermano. i have asked colonel segador to speak to you now." hall put his arm around jerry. "the war has come to us," he said. "we don't have to look for it any longer." "citizens," segador said. "our city is in sight of a wolfpack of nazi submarines of undetermined size. the lights of our city are therefore at the service of the fascist enemy. if you are on the streets, go into your houses, or into the nearest cafés or other buildings. if you are indoors, put out your lights, wherever you are. in five minutes, the street lights of the city will be turned off. this announcement is being recorded, and will be repeated for the next thirty minutes, or as long as one light remains lit in san hermano. our lights are the eyes of the submarines--we must blind their evil eyes. "soldiers on duty, remain at your posts and await further orders. soldiers off duty, report at once to your commanding officer. sailors off shore ..." they stood together, watching the people hurry off the streets, watching the lights go out in the lamp posts, in the cafés, in the houses of the old plaza. they remained near the loud speaker, listening to the announcement repeated, listening to the national anthem, listening, finally, to the dark silences of the night. they remained frozen to the cobbles of the plaza de la republica which had been born in the days of the empire as the plaza de fernando e isabel and whose cobbles bore the shadows of the edifices of the conquistador generations and the segura generations and the democratic decade. monuments of all manners of life rose in dark, brooding piles on all sides of the plaza; the slave life and the life that was half slave and half free and the free life which now had to fight for its freedom. in the dark plaza, they could almost hear the young heart of the city, of the republic, beating slowly, steadily, confidently. "darling," she said, "i'm not afraid of anything any more. i'll never be afraid again." "i know," he answered. "that's what this war is about, baby. it's the war of the people who are not afraid to live their own lives. let's go back to the bolivar, baby. pepe and vicente are still expecting us." pepe and vicente were sitting in their lorry, waiting for them. "_compañeros_," pepe said, "duarte is waiting for you inside. you will all have to stay at the hotel tonight." "that's all right, pepe." "we have to go back to our barracks," vicente said. "we are called." "yes, _compañeros_," pepe said. his uniform looked less strange on him in the blackout. "we cracked the thick skull of the falange today, _compañeros_, but the black heart is still pumping." transcriber's note: the hyphenation and spelling in the original document have been preserved. italic text is denoted by _underscores_. the letter o with a macron is represented as [=o]. works issued by the hakluyt society. mendoza's historie of the kingdome of china. vol. i. no. xiv originally published by the hakluyt society reprinted by permission published by lenox hill pub. & dist. co. (burt franklin) east th st., new york, n.y. originally published: reprinted: printed in the u.s.a. s.b.n.: - library of congress card catalog no.: - burt franklin: the hakluyt society first series the hakluyt society. sir roderick impey murchison, g.c.st.s., f.r.s., corr. mem. inst fr., hon. mem. imp. acad. sc. st petersburg, &c., &c., president. the earl of ellesmere. } capt. c. r. drinkwater bethune, r.n., c.b. } vice-presidents. rear-admiral sir francis beaufort, k.c.b., f.r.s. captain becher, r.n. charles t. beke, esq., phil. d., f.a.s. william desborough cooley, esq. bolton corney, esq., m.r.s.l. the right rev. lord bishop of st. david's. rt. hon. sir david dundas. sir henry ellis, k.h., f.r.s. john forster, esq. r. w. grey, esq., m.p. john holmes, esq. john winter jones, esq. sir charles lemon, bart., m.p., f.r.s. p. levesque, esq., f.a.s. sir john richardson, m.d. the earl somers. sir george t. staunton, bart., f.r.s. r. h. major, esq., f.r.g.s., honorary secretary. introduction. in presenting to the members of the hakluyt society a reprint of the cotemporary english translation by parke of mendoza's interesting and now rare account of china, the editor thinks it due to his readers that some explanation should be given of the circumstances under which the original work was compiled, and that at the same time it should be shown what previous accounts had reached europe respecting that remarkable country. the interest of the narrative itself, abounding as it does with minute and curious details of the manners and customs of so peculiar a race as the chinese, requires no vindication: it will speak for itself. it will nevertheless interest those who appreciate the objects of the society, to know, that the present translation was made at hakluyt's own suggestion, shortly after the appearance of mendoza's original work in spanish. it is the leading purpose of the hakluyt society to deal with the archæology of geography, and more especially so in connexion with the progress made by our own english ancestors in the advancement of that important science. in pursuance of that object, therefore, mendoza's account of china has been selected for re-publication, as being the earliest _detailed_ account of that country ever published in the english language. we say _detailed_ account, because we must not omit to mention that it was preceded by a short but interesting document, published by richard eden in his _history of travayle in the west and east indies_, entitled "reportes of the province of china," of the history and contents of which we shall hereafter speak in its proper place. while, however, in the selection for re-publication, respect is paid to the earliest narratives which appeared in our own tongue, the reader's appreciation of the subject is best secured by an introductory notice of all the antecedent descriptions which may at intervals have appeared in other languages. this plan is more especially desirable with respect to those earlier glimmerings of information which europe obtained respecting a country so removed from the civilized world, by its geographical position and ethnological peculiarities, as china, yet so marvellously in advance of it at the times of which we speak, both in its intellectual and moral developments. in such notice, meanwhile, we propose to pass by all discussion as to the much disputed question of the position of the thinæ of eratosthenes, strabo, and the periplus of the erythræan sea, or of the application of marinus's serica, as preserved to us by ptolemy, to the kingdom of china. upon these more uncertain data we shall dwell no longer than to state, that our own impression agrees with that of vossius, that china is the country referred to, and that the seres of ammianus marcellinus, corresponding as they so closely do in character with the modern chinese, were intended to represent that people. that the romans possessed some knowledge of china, would seem to be shown by a discovery made by the learned de guignes, of a statement in a chinese historical work, that in the year of our lord , an embassy, said to have come by sea, arrived from an-thon (antoninus) to the emperor yan-hi; and the use of the "serica vestis", alluded to by horace and propertius, would appear to confirm the impression, provided only that silk, and not muslin, were the commodity really alluded to. on these less certain points, however, we are, as we have said, unwilling to dwell. we pass on therefore to the mention of more explicit and unquestionable record. first of these is the narrative given in an arabic manuscript, written about the year , describing the observations of two arab merchants, who, from the style of the documents, were evidently in china a couple of centuries earlier. their respective dates, indeed, are concluded to be and . this curious and valuable manuscript, discovered by the learned m. eusèbe renaudot in the comte de seignelay's library, was translated by him into french, and published at paris in . a translation appeared in english in . although thus concealed from the acquaintance of europeans till this comparatively recent date, it rightly takes its place here as comprising the two earliest accounts of china, of which we have as yet received any information. though adulterated with some few exaggerations, and statements manifestly fabulous, they contain so many curious particulars, which even now, from the permanence of institutions and manners in china, may be considered as accurate, that no doubt can be entertained of their genuineness, or of the intelligence of the narrators. the two narratives were written consecutively, one of them forming a sort of comment or supplement to the other. the country is described as extensive, but, though more populous, less extensive than the indies, and divided into many principalities. it is represented as fruitful, and containing no deserts, while india is said to contain some of great extent. tea, under the name of _tcha_, is distinctly referred to, as being universally drunk infused in hot water, and supposed to be a cure for every disease. porcelain is spoken of as an excellent kind of earth, of which is made a ware as fine and transparent as glass. the chinese are described as more handsome than the indians, and are "dressed in silk both winter and summer; and this kind of dress is common to the prince, the soldier, and to every other person, though of the lowest degree. in winter they wear drawers, of a particular make, which fall down to their feet. of these they put on two, three, four, five, or more, if they can, one over another; and are very careful to be covered quite down to their feet, because of the damps, which are very great and much dreaded by them. in summer they only wear a single garment of silk, or some such dress, but have no turbans. "their common food is rice, which they often eat with a broth, like what the arabs make of meat or fish, which they pour upon their rice. their kings eat wheaten bread, and all sorts of animals, not excepting swine, and some others. "they have several sort of fruits, apples, lemons, quinces, sugar-canes, citruls, figs, grapes, cucumbers of two sorts, trees which bear meal, walnuts, filberts, pistachios, plums, apricocks, services [cherries], and coco-nuts; but they have no store of palms; they have only a few about some private houses. "their drink is a kind of wine made of rice; they have no other wine in the country, nor is there any brought to them; they know not what it is, nor do they drink of it. they have vinegar also, and a kind of comfit like what the arabs call natef, and some others. "they are not very nice in point of cleanliness. they eat also of dead animals, and practice in many other things like the magians; and, in truth, the religion of the one and the other is much the same. the chinese women appear uncovered, and adorn their heads with small ivory and other combs, of which they shall wear sometimes a score together. the men are covered with caps of a particular make. they are very expert mechanics, but ignorant of the arts that depend on the mathematics." the knowledge of reading and writing is described as being general amongst them, all important transactions being put into writing. idolatry is mentioned as very prevalent, and a hideous and incomprehensible statement is made, of human flesh being publicly exposed for sale in the markets. at the same time the punishment of vice is represented as most severe, and the surveillance over individuals extremely rigid, "for everybody in china, whether a native, an arab, or any other foreigner, is obliged to declare all he knows of himself, nor can he possibly be excused for so doing". and thieves are put to death as soon as caught. canfu (canton) is mentioned as the seaport of china, resorted to by arabian shipping; and cumdan, described as a very splendid city, supposed to be nanking, was the residence of the monarch. renaudot, to whom the world is indebted for rescuing this narrative from obscurity, believes that it supplied edrisi, the celebrated arab geographer of the twelfth century, with the materials for the observations on china which occur in his _geographia nubiensis_; but this reproach would seem to be unfounded, inasmuch as his details are too few and vague, to warrant the conclusion that they were digested from the more lucid and ample account to which we have been referring. the most observable point of information with which edrisi supplies us, is the fact, that the northern parts of _sin_ had by that time been conquered by a tartar nation, whom he calls the baghargar turks. abulfeda also, who flourished nearly two centuries later, seems to have been equally ignorant of the existence of the two arab travellers; for he gives, as an apology for the ignorance of the geographers of that day respecting china, that no one had been there from whom they could procure information. the incidental reference to china by benjamin of tudela, a jewish traveller in the east, of the twelfth century, should not be omitted. it is but a reference, but curious enough to be quoted. it is as follows:-- "from thence (the island of khandy) the passage to china is effected in forty days; this country lies eastward, and some say that the star orion predominates in the sea which bounds it, and which is called sea of nikpha. sometimes so violent a storm rages in this sea, that no mariner can reach his vessel; and whenever the storm throws a ship into this sea, it is impossible to govern it; the crew and the passengers consume their provisions, and then die miserably. many vessels have been lost in this way, but people have learned how to save themselves from this fate by the following contrivance. they take bullocks' hides along with them, and whenever this storm arises and throws them into the sea of nikpha, they sew themselves up in the hides, taking care to have a knife in their hand, and being secured against the sea-water, they throw themselves into the ocean; here they are soon perceived by a large eagle, called griffin, which takes them for cattle, darts down, takes them in his gripe, and carries them upon dry land, where he deposits his burthen on a hill or in a dale, there to consume his prey. the man, however, now avails himself of his knife, therewith to kill the bird, creeps forth from the hide, and tries to reach an inhabited country. many people have been saved by this stratagem." the first european reference to china described by a traveller from _hearsay_, is that given by the minorite friar john de plano carpini, who, with five other brothers of the order, in was sent by pope innocent iv into the country of the mongolians. the purpose of this mission was, if possible, to divert these devastating conquerors from europe, and to instigate them rather to a war with the turks and saracens. at the same time they were to inculcate, as much as might be, the christian faith, and at all events to collect every possible information respecting a people so little known. carpini was absent sixteen months. a copy of his narrative, formerly belonging to lord lumley, is in the british museum, and is the same which was used by hakluyt for his _principal navigations_, from which the following extract is taken. it is after describing a battle between the mongals and the chinese, whom he calls kythayans, that he describes the latter as follows: "the men of kytay are pagans, hauing a speciall kinde of writing by themselues, and (as it is reported) the scriptures of the olde and newe testament. they haue also recorded in hystories the liues of their forefathers: and they haue eremites, and certaine houses made after the manner of our churches, which in those dayes they greatly resorted vnto. they say that they haue diuers saints also, and they worship one god. they adore and reuerence christ jesvs our lord, and beleeue the article of eternall life, but are not baptized. they doe also honorably esteeme and reuerence our scriptures. they loue christians, and bestowe much almes, and are a very courteous and gentle people. they haue no beardes, and they agree partly with the mongals in the disposition of their countenance. in all occupations which men practise, there are not better artificers in the whole worlde. their countrey is exceeding rich in corne, wine, golde, silke, and other commodities." the first traveller, from whom accounts collected from personal experience respecting china were received in _europe_, was william van ruysbroeck, commonly known by the name of de rubruquis, a friar of the minorite order, and sometimes called william of tripoli, from the circumstance of the narrative of his travels having been transmitted from tripoli to st. louis, king of france, at whose instance they were undertaken. the cause of his mission was a rumour, which had spread through europe, that the mongolian chief, mangu khan, had embraced the christian religion; and st. louis being then engaged in the fourth crusade against the saracens, was anxious to cement an alliance with the tartars, who were at that time in hostility with the same power on the side of persia. this political purpose was enhanced by sanguine hopes that the tartars were even then, or likely soon to be, converted to the christian faith. the passage of rubruquis was by constantinople over the black sea, through the crimea, to the district of the city of the caraci, in the gobi desert, where mangu khan was then residing. his first reception was not of the most hospitable kind, but nine days after his arrival he succeeded in obtaining an imperial audience; and when mangu khan, a short time after, departed for karakorum, a city on the east side of the river orchon, he and his companions followed in his train. this city, of which no traces have been found in the desert for some centuries, is mentioned by marco polo, who visited it about eighteen years after rubruquis, as having been the first in which these tartars ever fixed their residence, and was at that time the capital of mangu khan, and the only considerable city in that part of asia. rubruquis, in describing it, says: "there are two grand streets in it, one of the saracens, where the friars are kept and many merchants resort thither, and one other street of the catayans (chinese), who are all artificers." the explanation of this is, that the tartars had already conquered the greater part of northern china, then known under the name of cathay. rubruquis and his companions, who by this time had gained considerable favour in the eyes of the khan, entered karakorum with great distinction. he describes the city itself as not equal to the village of st. denis, near paris, the monastery of which he asserts was "tenne times more worth than the palace, and more too." the place was surrounded by a mud wall, and had four gates. the description of the palace conveys the idea of a hall, at one end of which was a raised seat for the khan, on which he "sitteth above like a god". in this city the friar found to his surprise a french goldsmith, named guillaume bouchier, who is not unfrequently mentioned by early writers under the name of william of paris, and who had constructed a piece of mechanism, the ingenuity of which deserves the highest praise, when the early period at which he worked is taken into consideration. its description is thus given by purchas, in a translation of the greater part of the travels of rubruquis, inserted in the third volume of his _pilgrimes_. "master _william parisiensis_ made him (the khan) a great silver tree, at the root whereof were foure silver lions, having one pipe sending forth pure cowes milke, and the foure pipes were convayed within the tree, unto the top thereof: whose tops spread backe again downward: and upon every one of them was a golden serpent, whose tayles twine about the bodie of the tree. and one of those pipes runs with wine, another with caracosmos, that is, clarified whay; another with ball, that is, drinke made of honey; another with drinke made of rice, called _teracina_. and every drinke hath his vessell prepared of silver, at the foot of the tree, to receive it. betweene those foure pipes in the top, he made an angell holding a trumpet; and under the tree, he made an hollow vault, wherein a man might be hid; and a pipe ascendeth through the heart of the tree unto the angell. he first made bellowes, but they gave not wind enough. without the palace there is a chamber, wherein the drinkes are layd, and there are servants readie there to poure it out, when they heare the angell sounding the trumpet. and the boughes of the tree are of silver, and the leaves and peares. when therefore they want drinke, the master butler cryeth to the angell that he sound the trumpet. then he hearing (who is hid in the vault) blowes the pipe strongly, which goeth to the angell. and the angell sets his trumpet to his mouth, and the trumpet soundeth very shrill. then the servants hearing, which are in the chamber, every of them poure forth their drink into their proper pipe, and the pipes poure it forth from above, and they are received below in vessels prepared for that purpose. then the butlers draw them, and carry them through the palace to men and women."[ ] amongst the various points of information gathered by rubruquis respecting the chinese or catayans, as they were so long called, occur the following important items. the characteristic principle of their religious and political creed, embodied the great truth of the existence of one supreme presiding deity, under whom the grand khan maintained the presidency over his extensive dominions, and resistance to that dominion consequently involved not only treason but heinous impiety. another curious fact, first communicated by rubruquis, and afterwards confirmed by marco polo, is that of paper currency, which was not adopted in europe for some centuries after, being then in general use in china. to him also we are indebted for some notion of the peculiar characters and mode of writing practised by the chinese, who, as he says, do not write with pens as we do, but with small brushes, such as are used by our painters, and in one character or figure give a whole word. he also speaks at length of a strong drink called cosmos, which he describes as follows:-- "their drinke, called cosmos, which is mare's milk, is prepared after this manner. they fasten a long line unto two posts, standing firmly in the ground, and unto the same line they tye the young foales of those mares which they meane to milke. then come the dammes to stand by their foales, gently suffering themselves to be milked. and if any of them be too unruly, then one takes her foale and puts it under her, letting it sucke a while, and presently carrying it away againe, there comes another man to milke the said mare. and having gotten a good quantitie of this milke together (being as sweet as cowes milke) while it is new, they powre it into a great bladder or bag, and they beat the said bag with a piece of wood made for the purpose, having a club at the lower end like a mans head, which is hollow within: and soone as they beat upon it, it begins to boyle like new wine, and to be sowre and sharpe of taste, and they beat it in that manner till butter come thereof. then taste they thereof, and being indifferently sharpe they drinke it; for it biteth a mans tongue like the wine of raspes when it is drunke. after a man hath taken a draught thereof, it leaveth behind it a taste like the taste of almond-milke, and goeth downe very pleasantly, intoxicating weake braynes. likewise karacosmos, that is to say, blacke kosmos, for great lords to drinke, they make on this manner. first, they beat the said milke so long till the thickest part thereof descend right downe to the bottome like the lees of white wine; and that which is thinne and pure remaineth above, being like unto whay or white must. the said lees and dregs being very white, are given to servants, and will cause them to sleepe exceedingly. that which is thinne and cleere their masters drinke, and in very deede it is maruellous sweet and wholesome liquor."[ ] this limited stock of information, however, valuable as it is from the priority of its date, sinks into insignificance before the detailed and almost cotemporaneous narrative of that once reviled but now much honoured pioneer of geographical investigation, marco polo. in the present advanced age, when enlarged facilities have opened up to the knowledge of the world the characteristic peculiarities of remote countries and their inhabitants, we can do justice to the courage and fidelity of those who, six centuries ago, could dare to describe such apparent anomalies, while at the same time we can find an excuse for the disbelief of those who regarded them as extravagant and impudent fictions. nor can we, indeed, conceive of any country and people, the description of which, unconfirmed by the repeated observation of many, was more calculated to excite suspicion and disbelief, while those very peculiarities, now that they are authenticated, become the staple proof of the trustworthiness of the early narrator. the father and uncle of marco polo, natives of venice, had in made a trading journey to tartary; the exploration of the east, and the importation of its rich and beautiful productions, offering a peculiar attraction to the commercial enterprise of that great and flourishing city. marco was not born till some months after the departure of his father, but by the time of the return of the two brothers was become a young man, fifteen years having been devoted to their interesting and extraordinary peregrinations. they had crossed the euxine sea to armenia, whence they travelled by land to the court of a great tartarian chief named barba. by him they were favorably received, and were enabled to effect advantageous sales of their merchandise. after a year, however, spent in his capital, a war broke out between him and a neighbouring chieftain, and the return of the travellers to europe being thus intercepted, they took a circuitous course round the head of the caspian, and so through the desert of karak to bokhara. after an abode there of three years, during which they obtained a knowledge of the tartar language, they attached themselves to the company of an ambassador going to the court of kublai, grand khan of the tartars, where they arrived after a year's journey. this potent monarch gave them a gracious reception, and was curious in his enquiries concerning the affairs of europe and the christian religion. learning from them that the pope was the person regarded with the greatest veneration in europe, he resolved on despatching them as his ambassadors to his holiness, with the request that he would send persons to instruct his people in the true faith. protected by his signet they set out, and pursuing their journey across asia, arrived in venice in the year . at this time there was a vacancy in the popedom, and the brothers remained in venice two years before it was filled. at length, on the accession of gregory x, they obtained letters from him, accompanied with presents to kublai khan, and taking with them young marco, now seventeen years of age, and accompanied by two friars of the order of preachers, they again departed for the east. they landed at a port in armenia named giuzza (ayas), but finding that the sultan of babylon was at war with the province, the two friars became intimidated and returned home. the three venetians, however, pursued their way, and after travelling for three years and a half across asia, and encountering numerous perils and disasters, at length reached the court of kublai. he was greatly pleased at their return, and marco, becoming a great favourite with him, was employed by the khan in various important missions to distant provinces. after a residence of seventeen years at the court of kublai, the three venetians were extremely desirous of returning to their native land, and at length obtained permission to accompany the ambassadors of a king of india, who had come to demand a princess of the khan's family in marriage for their sovereign. it was a voyage of a year and a half through the indian seas before they arrived at the court of this king, named argon. thence they travelled to constantinople, and finally reached venice in . such is the narrative of the travels and foreign residence of the three polos, as related by marco. they returned rich in jewels and valuable effects, after an absence of twenty-four years, which had so altered them, that nothing less than a display of their wealth was necessary to procure their recognition by their kindred. hence, marco gained the name of il millione, the house in which he had lived in venice being still known in the time of ramusio under the name of "_la corte del millioni._" not long afterwards, news came to venice that the genoese were approaching with a powerful armament, and a number of galleys were immediately fitted out to oppose them, and marco polo was made _sopracomito_ of one of them. in an engagement that ensued he fell into the hands of the genoese admiral lampa doria, and was carried prisoner to genoa, to which circumstance we owe the advantage of possessing a permanent record of his travels. then he spent four years in prison; but the interest excited amongst the genoese nobles by the stirring narrative of his adventures, led them to urge him to allow an account of his travels to be drawn up from his notes and dictation. his narrative was thus taken from his mouth in his prison at genoa, by the hand of his friend and fellow-traveller rustichello, a native of pisa. he afterwards regained his liberty, but of his subsequent history little or nothing is known. the most interesting portion of his narrative is unquestionably that which refers to china, of which he speaks under the names of kataia and manji; the former, as we have already stated, denoting the northern, and the latter the southern part of the empire. the northern kingdom of kataia contained the residence of kublai khan, while the south, although subjugated, had not been completely incorporated into the almost boundless tartar dominion, which had been established by kublai's victorious ancestor, the renowned zenghis khan. the route by which polo entered china was along the northern frontier, and is thus referred to by mr. marsden:--"having reached the borders of northern china, and spoken of two places (succuir, the modern sucheu, and kampion, the modern kancheu) that are within what is named the great wall, our author ceases to pursue a direct route, and proceeds to the account of places lying to the north and south, some of them in the vicinity and others in distant parts of tartary, according to the information he had acquired of them on various occasions. nor does he in the sequel furnish any distinct idea of the line he took upon entering china, in company with his father and uncle, on their journey to the emperor's court, although there is reason to believe that he went from kan-cheu to sining, and there fell into the great road from thibet to peking." before reaching the latter city, however, they visited karakorum, already referred to as the capital of the khan's dominions visited by rubruquis. this city, mr. marsden says, was built by oktar khan, the son and successor of jenghis khan, about the year , whose nephew mangu khan, made it his principal residence. no traces of it have been in existence for some centuries, but its position is noted in the jesuits' and danville's maps. j. reinhold forster, however, on the authority of fischer's _history of siberia_, observes, that it must be looked for on the east side of the river orchon, and not on the onghin or onguimuren, where d'anville has placed it. from the length of time which had elapsed since nicolo and maffeo polo had left china as kublai's ambassadors, they were forgotten, but as soon as the khan, who was then absent, heard of their arrival at karakorum, he issued orders that they should be received with all honour and escorted to his presence. the appearance of young marco produced a highly favourable impression upon the khan, who immediately took him under his especial protection. the assiduity of marco in studying the language and manners of the tartars, and the wisdom and prudence which he exhibited in the exercise of the various important functions in which he was employed by the khan, caused him rapidly to rise in the estimation and favour of that liberal-minded monarch. upon the removal of the khan to khambalu, a corruption of khambalig (capital of the khan), and understood to be the modern pekin, marco followed in his train. this city was found to surpass in splendour everything that he had yet met with. the dimensions of the palace comprehended a square, each side of which was six miles long, a statement not very widely different from the truth. this enclosure, however, comprised all the royal armouries, as well as fields and meadows, stored with various descriptions of game. the roofs of the spacious halls were covered with gorgeous gilding, and painting in brilliant colours, while representations of dragons and battles were carved upon the sides. to the north of the palace stood an eminence called the green mountain, of about a mile in circuit, covered with the finest trees which could be collected from all parts of the empire, and which had been brought by elephants to this spot. this account strikingly agrees with those of modern travellers, and the description of the internal government of the country, its postal arrangements, and the beneficent distribution of grain from the imperial granaries in times of scarcity, agree with since recognized chinese history. marco subsequently made an excursion into the country of manji, or southern china, his route lying by the course of the imperial canal. in his southward progress, after passing by various cities, he at length reached tinqui (taitcheou), distant about three days' journey from the sea, where there is an extensive manufactory of salt, an article which forms a leading article of commerce in china. he next came to yanqui (yangtcheoufou), at the mouth of the river yang-tsi-kiang, the seat of a viceroy, in which polo himself exercised for the space of three years the supreme jurisdiction. his subsequent route lay along the banks of the yang-tsi-kiang, and he incidentally alludes to the noble city of nanghin (nanking), where he speaks of the manufacture of cloths of gold and silver, but does not seem to have visited the city itself. taking thence a southward course, he reached quinsai (hang-cheou), or the city of heaven, the splendour of which still important place was at that time such, that he speaks of it in the following terms: "in the world there is not the like, nor a place in which there are found so many pleasures, that a man would imagine himself in paradise." this city, then the metropolis of manji, was in the height of its glory, and may well be supposed to have surpassed in grandeur any city which polo had seen; and if he is to be charged with exaggeration in describing it as one hundred miles in circumference, and to have contained one million six hundred thousand houses, and twelve thousand bridges, it must be remembered that its really immense extent was calculated to mislead the judgment of an observer, and to make him credulous of the accounts of the inhabitants. it is still a splendid and very extensive city, and it is not to be wondered at that polo, who witnessed its unfaded glories, should have dwelt with enthusiasm on its spacious and beautiful palaces, and its waters covered with richly decorated barges. the character of the inhabitants he describes as effeminate, luxurious, and unwarlike. in his southward journey polo mentions many great cities in manji, which it would be difficult to identify with their modern nomenclature. among these unguen, a city of the province of fokien, is referred to, as remarkable for its extensive manufacture of sugar, sent from thence to khambalu; its natives being described as skilled in the art of refining it with wood ashes, from persons belonging to babylonia (egypt). it is also worthy of notice, that his embarcation took place at a famous port called zaitun, which was much frequented by ships with rich cargoes from india for the supply of manji and kataia, and exceedingly productive in revenue to the grand khan, who received ten per cent. on all merchandise. in spite of this impost, and the heavy freights, amounting to nearly fifty per cent., the merchants are described as making enormous profits. the inhabitants of the place are represented as distinguished for their skill in embroidery and tapestry. this has been supposed to mean fou-cheou-fu, amoy, or some neighbouring port in fokien; but it is difficult to reconcile this with the statement that one arm of the river on which this city stood reached to quinsay, which, as we have already stated, appears to be intended for the great city of hang-cheou. the next in rotation on our list of eastern travellers, is giovanni di monte corvino, a franciscan monk of calabria, who went as ambassador from pope nicholas iv in to the grand khan, and died in khambalu, that is, pekin, holding the distinguished position of archbishop of the missions in that city. his letters refer to little more than the progress he made in the advancement of the roman catholic religion in that capital. the next traveller in china of whom we have to speak is oderico mattheussi, a minorite friar, more commonly known under the name of oderico de pordenone, from pordenone in friuli, in which place he was born about the year . he undertook a journey in , accompanied by several other monks, through tartary, by trebizond, to china, and returned by thibet to europe. in , a year before his death, he dictated in padua, to guglielmo di solagno, a monk, an account of his travels as they occurred to his memory, in the italian language. an english translation is given by hakluyt in his second volume, from which we quote the following extracts. "travelling more eastward, i came vnto a city named fuco, which conteineth miles in circuit, wherein be exceeding great and faire cocks, and al their hens are as white as the very snow, having wol in stead of feathers, like vnto sheep. it is a most stately and beautiful city, and standeth vpon the sea. then i went daies iourney on further, and passed by many prouinces and cities, and in the way i went ouer a certain great mountaine, vpon ye one side whereof i beheld al liuing creatures to be as black as a cole, and the men and women on that side differed somewhat in maner of liuing fro' others: howbeit, on the other side of the said hil euery liuing thing was snow-white, and the inhabitants in their maner of liuing were altogether vnlike vnto others. there, all maried women cary, in token that they haue husbands, a great trunke of horne vpon their heads. from thence i traueiled dayes journey further, and came vnto a certaine great riuer, and entered also into a city, whereunto belongeth a mighty bridge to passe the said river. and mine hoste with whom i soiourned, being desirous to shew me some sport, said vnto me: 'sir, if you will see any fish taken, goe with me.' then he led me vnto the foresaid bridge, carying in his armes with him certaine diue-doppers or water-foules, bound vnto a company of poles, and about every one of their necks he tied a thread, least they should eat the fish as fast as they tooke them: and he caried great baskets with him also: then loosed he the diue-doppers from the poles, which presently went into the water, and within lesse then the space of one houre, caught as many fishes as filled baskets: which being full, mine hoste vntyed the threads from about their neckes, and entering a second time into the river they fed themselues with fish, and being satisfied they returned and suffered themselues to be bound vnto the saide poles as they were before. and when i did eate of those fishes, methought they were exceeding good. "trauailing thence many dayes iourneys, at length i arriued at another city called canasia [quinsay, or hang-cheou], which signifieth in our language the city of heaven. neuer in all my life did i see so great a citie; for it continueth in circuit an hundreth miles: neither saw i any plot thereof, which was not thoroughly inhabited: yea, i sawe many houses of tenne or twelue stories high, one above another. it hath mightie large suburbs, containing more people then the citie it selfe. also it hath twelue principall gates: and about the distance of eight miles, in the high way vnto every one of the saide gates, standeth a city as big by estimation as venice and padua. the foresaid city of canasia is situated in waters and marshes, which alwayes stand still, neither ebbing nor flowing: howbeit it hath a defence for the winde like vnto venice. in this citie there are mo then , bridges, many whereof i remembered and passed over them: and vpon euery of those bridges stand certaine watchmen of the citie, keeping continuall watch and ward about the said city, for the great can the emperour of catay. "the number of his owne followers, of his wives attendants, and of the traine of his first begotten sonne and heire apparent, would seeme incredible vnto any man, vnlesse hee had seene it with his owne eyes. the foresayd great can hath deuided his empire into twelue partes or prouinces, and one of the sayd prouinces hath two thousand great cities within the precincts thereof. whereupon his empire is of that length and breadth, that vnto whatsoeuer part thereof he intendeth his iourney, he hath space enough for six moneths continual progresse, except his islands, which are at the least , . "the foresayd emperor (to the end that trauailers may haue all things necessary throughout his whole empire) hath caused certaine innes to be prouided in sundry places upon the high wayes, where all things pertaining vnto victuals are in a continuall readinesse. and when any alteration or newes happens in any part of his empire, if he chance to be farre absent from that part, his ambassadors vpon horses or dromedaries ride post vnto him; and when themselues and their beasts are weary, they blow their horne; at the noise whereof, the next inne likewise prouideth a horse and a man, who takes the letter of him that is weary, and runneth vnto another inne: and so by diuers innes, and diuers postes, the report, which ordinarily could skarce come in dayes, is in one naturall day brought vnto the emperor: and therefore no matter of any moment can be done in his empire, but straightway he hath intelligence thereof." the next traveller of whom we have to make a short mention, is the celebrated arabian author ibn batuta, the date of whose journey is . his point of arrival in china was zaitun, the port already mentioned of marco polo's embarcation. its identity is not easy of recognition. from this port he would seem to have travelled to hang-cheou and back again, embarking again at zaitun. although his route is not distinctly traceable, the account he gives of the country appears very accurate. he particularizes the facility and safety of travelling, and the convenient, but at the same time rigid surveillance of the hostelries, in which a register was kept of all strangers who lodged in them. silkworms and silk are mentioned, but the latter as being inferior in value to cotton. the paper money and the manufacture of porcelain are also referred to. in pursuance of our chronological arrangement of travels in china, we shall here introduce the account of an embassy, though not european, sent by mirza shah rokh, one of the sons of tamerlane, to cathay, in the year . the ambassadors set out from herat in persia, about the month of november in that year, and reached a spot in the desert within twelve stages of sekju (sucheu), near the great wall in shensi, on the th of june . at this place they were met, by order of the khan, by some cathayans, who erected tents or huts for their accommodation in the desert, and plentifully supplied them with roasted geese, fowls, and various kinds of meat, fruits, etc., which were served to them on china dishes; they likewise regaled them with a variety of strong liquors, together with a pot of chinese tea. the chief person in the embassy was the emir sadi khoja; and, according to the list of the names of the ambassadors and the number of their retinue, taken down by some cathayan secretaries, the entire embassy, including merchants, amounted to eight hundred and sixty persons. in taking this list, the cathayan officers earnestly desired that the exact number should be stated, as a want of truthfulness would involve them in discredit. two days after their arrival, they were invited to the encampment of the dankji or governor of the borders of cathay, by whom they were entertained with a magnificent feast. on reaching the spot, they found a square space of ground enclosed with tents, in the centre of which was a lofty awning of cloth supported on wooden pillars, with an imperial canopy of state at one end, where the throne was placed, as if for the emperor, with other seats on each side: on the left of this throne were placed the ambassadors, and on the right the cathayan officers. each ambassador had placed before him two tables, the one covered with a variety of meats and fruits, the other with cakes and bread, gracefully ornamented with silk and paper. the other persons present had but one table apiece. at the lower end of the tent stood a sideboard covered with silver and china. after the banquet they were entertained with music and a comedy, in which the actors wore masks representing the faces of animals: among these a child, enclosed in the body of an artificial stork, amused them by performing a variety of curious antics. on the next day they reached a karawl, a strongly fortified outpost, built in a defile in the mountains, through which all travellers that way must unavoidably go. here their retinue was again carefully numbered. they next arrived at sucheu, a large and strong square city, where they had lodgings appointed to them in a public building over the city gates, and were amply provided with every convenience and comfort for themselves and their horses, even the servants having mattresses and counterpanes allowed them for their beds. they next came to a city called khamchu, after which we find them crossing the river karamoran by a bridge of boats, and arriving at a magnificent city containing many splendid temples. from the beauty of the women, who, contrary to usual chinese observances, were seen standing at the doors of the taverns, they designated this town in the persian language, rhosnabad, the city of beauty. after passing several rivers they reached sedinfur, a large city, in which they saw a cast image of gilt metal of immense proportions, having a great number of hands with an eye in each. this image rested on a pedestal of polished stone, and was surrounded by six tiers of balustrades. in december , after a journey of ninety-five days, they reached kambalu or pekin, the whole road thither from sucheu being through so populous a country that they lodged every night in a large town. workmen were at that time still occupied in building the walls of kambalu. immediately on their arrival they were conducted to the palace, and, though before sunrise, they found a multitude assembled in the outer court, amounting apparently to no less than one hundred thousand men. at sunrise, at beat of drum, the prince took his seat on a lofty throne, placed under a canopy at the outside of the palace, and amidst profound silence a number of criminals were led in, who had been brought to the capital from all parts of the empire. each man had a board fastened to his neck, specifying his crime and his legal punishment, and was led by the hair to the emperor, who after inspecting the board pronounced sentence. upon the dismissal of the criminals, the persian ambassadors were introduced, and after prostrating themselves as demanded, were graciously received by the emperor. an amusing occurrence, however, had nearly destroyed all their prospects of success. the monarch having been slightly injured by a fall from a horse which had been presented to him by the ambassadors, was so exasperated, that he condemned them all to imprisonment for life in a distant part of the empire. he afterwards, however, thought better of his resolution, and merely upbraiding sadi khoja, with the taunt that such a horse ought not to be presented by one sovereign to another, overlooked the offence; and on hearing that the animal was sent to him by tamerlane as an especial favourite, his anger was entirely appeased. previous to their departure, a circumstance occurred which threw a gloom over the imperial court,--the most beloved of the emperor's wives died. and here, _par parenthèse_, we would mention a curious custom recorded in this narrative, respecting the burial of ladies belonging to the imperial family: they are interred on a certain mountain, on which all the horses belonging to them are turned out to graze at liberty for the rest of their lives; all the maidens of their retinue also are placed in attendance on the grave, and have provisions allowed them for about five years, and when these are exhausted they are left to die of famine. in addition to this loss of his favourite wife, the new palace of the emperor was struck by lightning on the night after the funeral, the flames causing fearful devastation and loss of life. these afflictions so affected the emperor, that he fell sick, and the prince his son assuming the reins of government, gave the ambassadors their audience of leave. on their return through cathay they were furnished as before with every necessary, and at sucheu, some articles which had been detained were honourably restored to them. they took their departure by a circuitous route, in consequence of intestine commotions, and passing through khoten and cashgar proceeded homewards to herat, which they reached in september . hitherto we have had to treat of travellers who in the middle ages reached china by an overland journey; we have now to allude to those who have visited that country by sea, subsequent to that grand achievement of the portuguese, the discovery of the passage by the cape of good hope. the portuguese themselves were, as might be expected, the first to take advantage of this expeditious route, and about the same time that they had succeeded in establishing a communication with the king of siam they aimed at forming relations with china. on gaining information of the boundless wealth of the east and its empires in the productions of nature and art, king manoel determined on despatching a squadron farther eastward to bengal and china. this squadron, consisting of eight sail, the commander of which was fernando peres d'andrade, selected on account of the ability he had shown previously in india, especially at malacca, departed, after various unsuccessful cruises, from malacca on the th june , and arrived on the th august at the island of tamang (called by the portuguese beniaga), lying three miles from the mainland, where all foreign ships that trade to canton must lie at anchor and transact their business.[ ] in the harbour andrade found edward coelho, who, in a previous expedition, had been separated from him by a storm, had wintered at siam, and had already been there a month. andrade caused it to be notified to the commander of the chinese fleet, which was stationed off the coast there for the protection of merchant ships against pirates, that he was come on a peaceful embassy from the king of portugal to the emperor of china. the commander bade him welcome, but referred him to the pio (great admiral) at nanto upon the subject of his business. after various delays and difficulties, occasioned by the numerous gradations of rank amongst the chinese authorities, their ceremoniousness, and the mistrust, imperfectly veiled by civility, of the chinese towards strangers, andrade reached canton at the close of september, and ran into the harbour with all the usual nautical ceremonies. when surprise was expressed at this, he justified himself by referring to the practice of the chinese in this particular when their ships came to portuguese malacca. he then begged that he might forward to the emperor the ambassador and the presents which he had brought with him, and that the portuguese fleet might be dismissed as soon as possible. he was answered civilly, that they would receive the ambassador, and as soon as permission was obtained from the emperor, would escort him to court. meanwhile the commander had permission to carry on trade in the town, after the ambassador had landed. andrade now caused the ambassador, thomas pires, with seven portuguese, richly dressed, to be put on shore with sound of trumpets and discharge of cannon. this tomas pires, erroneously called by mendoza, bartholomew, though a man of no rank, had been selected for this mission on account of his scientific qualifications, his tact, and experience. he was an apothecary by profession, and a practised and competent judge of the merchandize and productions of india. they not only granted him one of the best houses in the town, wherein he and his companions received visits from the most distinguished inhabitants, but also offered them maintenance, according to the custom observed with ambassadors. this, however, the commander declined, nor did he accept the invitation to come on shore, but, excusing himself, sent the factor with some assistants in his stead, and when a warehouse was granted them near the fleet, allowed the merchandize to be landed by degrees, and an interchange of traffic commenced. matters were in this prosperous condition, when circumstances rendered it necessary for the commander to leave canton. many of his people had become sick from malaria, and nine, including the factor, were dead. these and other disasters compelled andrade to take leave of the chinese commanders, and he went back to the island of tamang, where he was plentifully supplied with all that he required for the repair of his ships. before his departure andrade caused proclamation to be made in canton, nanto, and the harbour of tamang, that those who had demands on the portuguese, should apply to him in order that they might be fully satisfied. this proceeding gave the chinese a high opinion of the integrity of the portuguese. at the end of september , fernando peres d'andrade again set saile with his whole fleet, and entered the harbour of malacca loaded with renown and riches.[ ] at his departure from canton, he left the affairs of the portuguese so arranged that their trade with the chinese might be carried on securely and peacefully, and with profit to both parties. his brother, simon d'andrade, received from the king a commission to make another voyage to china, and departed in april from malacca. upon his arrival in august in the harbour of tamu, he found that the portuguese ambassador, thomas pires, had not yet left canton, as, in spite of three applications, no order had yet been received from the court to escort him thither. at length the order came, and pires went in the beginning of january by water as far as the mountain range malenschwang, thence to nankin, where the emperor was, who ordered him to pekin, where he himself usually resided on account of the nearness of the tartars, with whom he was continually at war. in january , the emperor came there, and immediately dismissed the embassy. he had received unfavourable accounts of the portuguese from the authorities at canton and nankin, whom the king of bintang had influenced by an emissary; they told the emperor that, under the pretext of trading, the portuguese explored the country with the view of taking it by force of arms, and that in this way they had made themselves masters of india and malacca. pires therefore was admitted no more into the palace. meanwhile the emperor fell ill and died, and the counsellors of his successor were of opinion that pires and all his companions should be put to death as spies. the emperor however ordered the ambassador, real or pretended, to be sent back to canton with the presents, and to be kept in custody there until answer should be received from the portuguese authorities at malacca. until then no portuguese or portuguese merchandise was to be admitted into the empire. the emperor further commanded that the king of malacca, who was an ally of the emperor, and who had been driven out by the portuguese, should be restored. the severe conditions imposed upon the portuguese by the emperor are not to be wondered at, for all the accounts which he had received from his authorities respecting them were prejudicial, and simon d'andrade himself gave frequent occasion for complaint by inconsiderate or unjust regulations, contrary both to the laws and to the received opinions of the country, and provoked the chinese against the portuguese; and even his personal behaviour seems to have been calculated to provoke animosity.[ ] at last a hot encounter took place between the portuguese and chinese ships, during which, fortunately for the portuguese, a storm arose, which scattered the chinese fleet and favoured the flight of the portuguese, so that they happily reached malacca at the end of october. thomas pires meanwhile was, upon his arrival in canton, thrown into prison with all his companions, and died in chains; the presents which he had brought with him were stolen. the letters, which two or three years afterwards arrived from the prisoners, contained lamentable descriptions of the oppressions they had to endure, and of the robberies which were committed in foreign ships, upon the pretence that they had portuguese on board. the great stores of valuable merchandize, gold and silver from india, were entirely lost. mendoza does not complete the tale of pires's adventures, but some interesting details are given by remusat in his _nouveaux mélanges asiatiques_, page , tom. ii. the next portuguese adventurer who comes within the range of our special notice, is ferdinand mendez pinto, who from the apparent extravagance of his accounts became proverbial as an accomplished romancer. congreve, in his _love for love_, makes foresight thus address sir sampson legend: "ferdinand mendez pinto was but a type of thee, thou liar of the first magnitude." like most of his predecessors, however, in early travel, he has by this time recovered much of his forfeited reputation, and, as in their case, some of his most remarkable statements have been confirmed by more recent explorations. being compelled to leave his country from some accident, which he describes as casting "him into manifest peril of his life", he took to the sea. the chances of his life led him to abyssinia, and subsequently along the coast of arabia to india. with his adventures in these countries we have here nothing to do, but pass at once to the circumstances under which he was thrown upon the coast of china. at goa, pinto hired himself as a soldier to pedro de faria, who was proceeding as governor to malacca. in this employ he was selected as portuguese agent in the company of the ambassador of the battas, on the return of the latter to sumatra from his complimentary visit to faria, at malacca, the seat of government. here he fell in with one antonio de faria, with whom he joined in a great commercial expedition to be sent up the gulf of siam. we pass over various romantic adventures with pirates, described in his narrative, especially those with one coja acem, a native of guzerat, and an implacable enemy of the portuguese, whom faria at length overcame in a desperate encounter. the adventurers then sailed to liampoo (ning-po), where faria gained intelligence of an island called calempluy, in which were the tombs of seventeen kings of china, all of gold, and containing great treasure of various descriptions. this place they sought and reached, and having plundered, loaded their ships with the treasure. about a month after they had put to sea, they were wrecked in a furious gale in the gulf of nanking, and fourteen of the portuguese alone escaped with their lives. the chinese gave the shipwrecked pirates but a harsh reception; they were first thrust into a pond where they were almost devoured by leeches, and were afterwards sent with other criminals to nanking, where they were punished with a severe whipping. they were subsequently sent to peking, also chained together in parties of three, and on their arrival received thirty lashes apiece by way of welcome. pinto gives an animated account of the magnificence of these two great capitals, but splendid as the objects he observed in them were, they would scarcely bear comparison with those which presented themselves along the great rivers and canals. the multitude of cities, together with the abundance which here prevailed, was almost incredible. the immense concourse of boats at the time of the great fairs, the mode of rearing water-fowl, their plan of hatching eggs by artificial heat, the industry and regularity of populace, and their fashion of eating with chop-sticks, are detailed with great exactness. upon the whole, his remarks leave no doubt, we think, of the truth of his having been an eye-witness of what he records. upon the subsequent occurrences of his eventful life, and his final return to lisbon in , we shall not here dwell, but proceed to the consideration of the next in order on our list of european travellers to china. among a series of letters in spanish, received in from various jesuits in the east, and appended to the edition of francisco alvarez's _historia de ethiopia_, occurs an account of some matters regarding the customs and laws of the kingdom of china, which a man (who was a captive there for six years) related at malacca, in the college of the jesuits. this valuable account, we believe, has never before appeared in english, and is here translated. "the chinese build their towns in the strongest situations, near rapid rivers, and chiefly at the curves, in order that they may serve in part for enclosures; and if the towns are half a league in circuit, they build walls of a league in extent, so that in case of war they may hold a considerable number of defenders. the towns are walled with stone built in mortar, for the most part; some, especially the large towns, have very strong brick walls. they contain very large buildings, and bridges of half a league, all of stone excellently wrought, and there are blocks in them so large that it appears impossible for men to have raised and set them by any contrivance. one of the things that surprised us much, was to see eight columns, upon which the government palace is built, in a town where we were for three years. we measured these columns, and two men stretching their arms round them did not touch each other; they appeared to us to be sixty feet high, little more or less; and it is very strange that men should have been able to raise them and place them where they are. the houses which are upon them are very high, all of wood, painted and gilded. an officer resides there who collects the revenue of the province, and there are similar ones in the other provinces. each of these houses is separately enclosed by walls, within which they are accustomed to plant trees and make very pleasant gardens, with all kinds of fruit, which the chinese are exceedingly fond of, and also of having ponds at their houses in which they breed fish for their amusement. "what is generally considered by the nobility and principal men as the greatest distinction, is to erect edifices in front of their gates, in way of an arch going from one side of the street to the other, so that the people pass underneath; some build them of stone, others of wood, with all kinds of painting, colours of gold and blue, with pictures of various birds and other things that may gratify the sight of the passers by. and they are so curious and vain in this particular, that he who goes to the greatest expense therein, is thought most of amongst them. on the border of the arches are the name and arms of him who caused them to be erected, in letters of gold and blue. "the houses are covered with glazed tiles of many colours, and the woodwork is much wrought. the streets are very well made and paved with stone, and the highways are all raised. i say this because they took us from that town (where we had been prisoners for three years), and we went one hundred and twenty days' journey, without going out of the kingdom, and found all the roads raised and even; and several times when we passed rivers and inquired if most of the roads that ran forward were similar, we were told that they were, and that it was a four months' journey to reach the court of the king, and the roads were all alike. they treated us very well on the journey, giving us sumpter beasts and every thing necessary. "in all the towns there is a street of very noble houses built by order of the king, in which the officers who perform the service of visitation lodge. these officers are commissioned with the royal authority over the governing presidents (who are called in their language taquoan). the governors of provinces and those who hold any command, are chosen for their learning and great prudence, without regard to anything else, and if the sons are as able as their fathers they succeed them in their offices, otherwise they are not admitted by the king into his service. the special governors of the towns are obliged to sit to hear and do justice to all, every morning until midday, and after having dined till sunset. "officers of the court come twice every year, by command of the king, to make a stay in all the towns, principally to see if the governors do their duty well, and to remove them at once and put others in their place, if they are tyrannical, or oppress the people, or perform their functions ill. these officers examine all the walls, and if they are in bad condition, order them to be repaired. they afterwards inquire concerning the royal revenues and the expenses of the towns, moderating them if they are excessive. he who gives out money at usury loses it (if proved), and, moreover, incurs further punishment. in the towns where these officers come, they cause public notice to be given, in order that those who are aggrieved by any injustice may come before them. "in the town i was speaking of there are six governors, one of whom takes precedence; and there are also six others whose business it is to collect the revenues, and one of them is obliged to watch the town every night with his men, that thieves may not disturb the people. others take care to close the gates, which are very strong and fortified with iron. the governors and magistrates of every town are charged to write every moon, to the court of the king, an account of what takes place; and each has to write separately, that it may be seen if they concert what they write, and whether they speak truth; for those who lie to the king incur the punishment of death; wherefore they dread much to state anything false in their accounts. no man governs in his native place, where he has relations, that he may do justice to all without respect of persons. "in the principal towns are many strong gaols; we being prisoners were distributed in six of them. there are prisoners for various crimes; the most serious with them is murder. the prisoners are numerous, because the towns are populous; in every gaol there are three, four, or five hundred of them. a native of the town, where we were, told us, that in it alone there might be at that time more than eight thousand prisoners; and that was because it was a principal town, where those of the neighbouring places were assembled together. in every gaol there is a book of the prisoners therein, whom the gaoler counts every night. in that where i was, sometimes there were three hundred prisoners, at others four hundred; and although i did not see the other gaols, it appears to me from this, that there might be as many prisoners as they told me. "the serious crimes go to the court; and for those who come from thence sentenced to death, the king gives power to the governors of the towns--if, upon a re-examination of the case, from being nearer where the offence was committed, they should find them less guilty--to spare their lives, and condemn them to banishment, or to the king's service, for so many years, or for their whole life. they take all possible pains to avoid condemning any to death. it can scarcely be expressed how much the king is feared by his subjects: they call him god and king for the strict government and justice that he maintains in his kingdom, which is necessary from the people being bad and malicious. "in their ancient books they find that at a certain time, white men with long beards are to take their kingdom of china; on this account they are so careful of the walls and of fortifying the towns; and the officers make a muster of the soldiers, they receive and examine them to see if they are good soldiers; they do the same with the cavalry; and to those who excel they give rewards according to their personal qualities, putting also in their heads a branch with gold and silver leaves, as a sign of honour; but those who do not satisfy them they dismiss, paying them their hire and giving them the money with reproachful words. "the people of china are, in general, neither brave nor skilful, nor have they any natural inclination for warlike affairs; if they maintain themselves it is by the multitude of the people, the strength of the walls and towns, and the provision of ammunition. at the boundary of the kingdom of china, where it borders on the tartars, there is a wall of wondrous strength, of a month's journey in extent, where the king keeps a great military force in the bulwarks. where this walls comes upon mountains, they cut them in such a manner that they remain and serve as a wall; for the tartars are very brave and skilful in war. at the time we were prisoners, they broke through a part of the wall and entered into the territory within for a month and a half's journey; but as the king prepared great armies of men provided with artful contrivances (in which the chinese are very crafty), he kept back the tartars, who fight on horse-back. as their horses had become weak and were dying of hunger, one of the chinese officers commanded a large quantity of peas to be placed in the fields, and thus it was that the horses (being so hungry as they were) set themselves to eat against the will of their masters; and in this manner the army of the king of china put them in disorder and turned to drive them out. and now a strict watch is kept on the wall. "they make great feasts in the provinces of the kingdom of china, every year on the king's birthday; and in the government palaces of every town, in a hall covered with an awning, and having the walls and the floor ornamented with very rich coloured cloths, they place a seat painted of the same colour. this hall has three doors, and it is the custom of the officers of the towns to enter by any one of them, on foot like any other man, without taking anything with him, and without a sunshade before him; in passing they make obeisance by seven or eight genuflexions, as if the king were sitting on the seat. having finished, they go to their houses, and at this time enter on foot and by any door; for except on this day they only enter by the middle door and in very rich litters, in which their servants carry them. they hold it for greater dignity to go in these litters than on horseback, taking one or two persons on the right for state, and a sunshade on foot before them, like those which they use in india. "they make another very great feast on the first day of the year, which is the day upon which we celebrate the feast of the circumcision. these feasts last three days; on every one of which they represent scenes by day and night, for they are much addicted to the performance of farces. on these three days the gates of the town are closed, because from much eating and drinking the people are at times beside themselves. they make other very great feasts when the king nominates his son for his heir; upon which day, they declared to me, they release all the prisoners, even those sentenced to death. at the time that we were prisoners, there came news that the king intended to make his son a king, upon which the prisoners in all the gaols rejoiced much. "these great kingdoms of china are divided by the same king into fifteen provinces, and in every one of them there is a chief town, where there is a governor, who is changed every three years; in these chief towns the treasure of the king, from the revenue of all the province, is collected. the privilege for those who shall betake themselves to the chief town is, that for crimes which they have committed elsewhere they cannot be taken; and the reason of this privilege is, that as they are continually carrying on war with the tartars and with other kings, if they did not afford this security these persons would pass over to the enemy. "it has been, and still is, the custom to write everything remarkable and worthy of remembrance on large stones on the highways, and in the same places where they occurred, principally in the towns at the government palaces, where the officers reside. these antiquities are written in the open courts, many of them in letters of gold; and the noblemen and men of quality are very curious to read them, and fond of talking of remarkable actions, and of the dignity and achievements of the former kings. "i have heard much of the grandeur of these kingdoms, and seen somewhat (although little), which to those who have no knowledge of china would scarcely appear true; wherefore i only speak of those things that are most common among the people, leaving the rest to time, which will discover them. the noblest and most populous town is one where the king resides, which is called paquin; the natives (for i did not see it) say that it takes seven days to traverse it by a direct road, and thirteen to go round it. it is surrounded by three enclosures and a very copious river, which entirely encompasses it, forming, as it were, the interior enclosure. marvellous things are reported of the riches and structure of the royal residence; the designs are taken from many provinces of the same kingdom, none being allowed to go out of it. before entering the palaces seven or eight very strong gates have to be passed, where there are very tall and stout men for guards. the king (according to what they say) never goes out of that town, and everything he eats is produced within the walls; he does not go to the outer enclosures; and they say he is never seen except by those who attend upon him, who are all eunuchs, sons of noblemen, and who when once they enter there into the residence, never more depart from it until death. the king has noblemen about him, very learned and of great prudence, with whom he transacts all the business of the kingdom. and these also never go without the enclosure on any account; they are called vlaos. the manner of choosing them for that dignity is this: when there is a vacancy, the king inquires for some one distinguished in learning and for discretion, and inclined to justice; if there be one who is commonly held of this reputation, he orders him to be summoned from any province of the kingdom where he may be, and invests him with the office of vlaos. "the chinese observe much exactness in their courtesies and great neatness in their apparel, both men and women; they generally go very well dressed, from the quantity of silk there is in the kingdom. "the soil is very productive of necessaries, fruits, and very singular waters; there are very pleasant gardens, and all kinds of game and hunting. the chinese touch no food with their hands, but all, both small and great, eat with two little sticks for cleanliness. "their temples are very large edifices, richly wrought, which they call valeras, and which cost a great deal, for the statues, which are of large size, are all covered with beaten gold. the roof of the temples is gilded, and the walls ornamented with boards well wrought and painted in pictures. they are skilful workmen in carpentry. in these temples there are priests (who are obliged to remain in them always), with an appointed income. they eat neither flesh nor fish, only herbs, principally beledas, and some fruits; on certain days they fast. if they do anything that they ought not, they are driven out and allowed to be priests no longer, and others are put in their place. "no man can go from one province to another without taking a licence of the governor, and he who is found without one is punished; and no traveller can be (by law of the kingdom) more than three or four days in a town where he has not business; there is a man whose office it is to go about looking to this, and if any such is found, he is taken up, for they presume him to be a thief and a man of bad life. and so every one is accustomed to have some occupation, and to hold some office, even the sons of the officers and nobles. all employ their sons, of whatever condition they may be, setting them to read and write, which they vnderstand generally. others put them to trade, and they are also in the habit of placing their sons with officers and noblemen, that they may learn how to serve. the officers are waited on with much veneration; all who speak to them do so with genuflexions, and whatever they have to ask for must be done in writing. "the sentences which the officers pronounce are conformable to the laws of the kingdom; they judge according to the truth of the matter, which they inquire into themselves, without taking account of what the parties say; and so they are very correct in affairs of justice, for fear of the visitation, which, they say, is made every six months. their years have twelve moons, and every three years they add to the year one moon, and thus it has thirteen. "the people of any consequence wear black silk for their dress, because coloured is held dishonourable for clothing; so much so, that no one dares to go before any officer or person of quality without a black dress; and if he has gone away from home with a coloured cloak, and he happens to have to speak to any officer, he takes a black cloak from some acquaintance whom he meets, and leaves him his own while he transacts his business. the common people always speak to the nobles cap in hand, and they may not wear black cloaks, but only very short coloured ones. the officers wear a kind of cap, different from other people, for a certain dignity is kept up amongst them as with us. in these caps they have tufts made of horsehair, stuck on every part. the king wears the same, except that they say he has two points cross-wise at the top. "they praise and extol the richness of the king's dress, which they say is always of the colour of heaven. the officers, on the principal feasts, on the first day of january and at the beginning of the moon, dress themselves richly in coloured damask, and on the breast and back of the vesture they bear a stag and an eagle, very naturally embroidered, for they are clever designers. these garments look very well; they reach within a hand's breadth of the ground, and have very long, large, and wide sleeves. they wear boots of a blackish colour, with soles of white cloth strong as boards. "the officers and nobles, at the death of father or mother or a very near relation, wear white dresses, very cross and rough; and they gird themselves with a girdle as thick as the leg, which reaches to the ground, as does the dress also. attached to the cap, they wear another thinner cord. when the deceased are less nearly related, they also clothe themselves all in white, from the shoes to the cap, but not so coarse and rough. "these are the matters that are most commonly seen and known in china, where we were prisoners six years; other very remarkable things that we heard tell of i omit, because i did not see them, and because it appears to me that every day will discover more and more." the next account of china is by gaspar da cruz, a native of evora, and one of the order of friars preachers; he is thus described by barbosa machado, in his _biblioteca lusitana_. "inflamed with an holy ardour of announcing the gospel to distant barbarians, who were given to idolatry, he set sail in the year with twelve companions, of whom the friar diego bernardo was vicar-general, to the east indies; and after building a convent at goa, and another at malacca, he penetrated as far as the kingdom of camboya; but as the fruits of his labours did not correspond with his desires, he resolved upon passing on to china in the year , being the first missionary who illuminated its inhabitants with the light of the faith, and had the glory of being the precursor of all those gospel labourers, who with so much labour and expenditure of blood cultivated that wild but extensive vineyard. he spent many years in this laborous undertaking, and several times incurred the risk of his life, especially on one occasion when, in a sumptuous pagoda, he threw down a multitude of idols, but at the same time confounded and silenced by the vehement efficacy of his preaching the greatest masters of paganism. he returned to his country in , and was nominated by king sebastian, bishop of malacca, but this dignity he did not accept. he died in , through exposing himself in charitable exertions to assist the sufferers in a plague which then raged at lisbon." the narrative of his travels was published in black letter at evora in - , to., under the title of "tractàdo em que se contam muito por estenso as cousas de china con suas particularidades y assi do regno dormuz." in the preface reference is made to a narrative of china by a fellow-countryman, one francisco henriques, but he appears merely to refer to him as having presented this relation to sebastian i, king of portugal, which seems to have been an unpublished manuscript. an abbreviated translation of the narrative of his travels is given by purchas, in which he mentions "the storie of certaine portugals, prisoners in china," one of which he nameth galotti perera, from whom he received great part of his chinese intelligence. he is also referred to by mendoza, in the first chapter of the second book, as one from whom he "follows many things in the process of his historie." this person is mentioned by barbosa machado under the name of galeoti pereyra, brother of ruy pereira i, first count of feyra, and as being captive in funchien in china. his account appears to have been first printed in italian at venice, from the original portuguese ms., and an english translation by r. willes was given by richard eden in his _historye of travaile in the west and east indies._ as this, though comparatively short, preceded the narrative of mendoza now reprinted, and formed the main basis of the account of gaspar da cruz, we think it right to supply the reader with copious extracts from it, as being for these reasons a highly important and interesting document. they are as follows: "this land of china is parted into shyres, the which sometymes were eche one a kyngdome by it selfe, but these many years they haue been all subject unto one kyng. fuquien is made by the portugalles the first shyre, bycause there their troubles bygan, and had occasion thereby to know the rest. in this shyre be viii cities, but one principally more famous than others, called fuquico, the other seuen are reasonably great, the best known whereof unto the portugalles is cinceo, in respect of a certain hauen ioyning thereunto, whyther in tyme past they were wont for merchandyse to resort. "cantan is the second shyre, not so great in quantitie, as well accoumpted of, both by the kyng thereof and also by the portugalles, for that it lyeth nearer vnto malacca than any other part of china, and was first discryed by the portugalles before any other shyre in that prouince: this shyre hath in it seuen cities. "chequeam is the third shyre, the chiefest citie therein is donchion, therein also standeth liampo, with other thirtiene or fourtiene boroughes: countrey townes therein to many to be spoken of. "the fourth shyre is called xutiamfu, the principall citie therof is great pachin, where the kyng is alwayes resident. in it are fyftiene other very great cities: of other townes therein, and boroughes well walled and trenched about, i will say nothing. "the fyft shyre hath name chelim: the great citie nanquin, chiefe of other fyftiene cities, was herein of auncient tyme the royall seate of the chinish kynges. from this shyre, and from the aforesayde chequeam forwarde, bare rule the other kynges, untyll the whole region became one kyngdome. "the sixt shyre beareth name quianci, as also the principall citie thereof, wherein the fyne claye to make vessels is wrought. the portugalles beyng ignorant of this countrey, and fyndyng great abundaunce of that fyne claye to be solde at liampo, and that very good cheape, thought at the first that it had been made there; howbeit, in fine, they perceiued that the standing of quinzi, more neare unto liampo than to cinceo or cantan, was the cause of so muche fine clay at liampo: within the compasse of quinci shyre be other cities. "the seuenth shyre is quicini, the eight quansi, the nienth confu, the tenth vrnan, the eleuenth sichiua. in the first hereof there be cities, in the next fyftiene: howe many townes the other three haue we are ignorant as yet, as also of the proper names of the and shyres and the townes therein. "this, finally, may be generally sayde heereof, that the greater shyres in china prouince may be compared with mightie kyngdomes. "in eche one of these shyres be set ponchiassini and anchiassini, before whom are handled the matters of other cities. there is also placed in eche one a tutan, as you would say a gouernor, and a chian, that is a visitor, as it were, whose office is to goe in circuit and to see iustice exactly done. by these meanes so upryghtly thinges are ordered there, that it may bee worthely accompted one of the best gouerned prouinces in all the world. "the king maketh alwayes his abode in the great citie pachin, as muche as to say in our language, as by the name thereof i am aduertised, the towne of the kyngdome. this kyngdome is so large, that vnder fyue monethes you are not able to traueyle from the townes by the sea syde to the court and backe agayne, no not vnder three monethes in poste at your vrgent businesse. the posthorses in this countrey are litle of bodie, but swyfte of foote. many doe traueyle the greater parte of this iourney by water in certayne lyght barkes, for the multitude of ryuers commodious for passage from one citie to another. "the kyng, notwithstandyng the hugenesse of his kyngdome, hath such a care thereof, that every moone (by the moones they reckon their monethes) he is aduertised fully of whatsoeuer thing happeneth therein, by these meanes folowyng. "the whole prouince beyng diuided into shyres, and eche shyre hauyng in it one chiefe and principall citie, whereunto the matters of all the other cities, townes, and boroughes are brought, there are drawen in euery chiefe citie aforesayde, intelligences of suche thinges as doe monethely fall out, and be sent in writing to the court. if happely in one moneth euery post is not able to goe so long a way, yet doeth there notwithstandyng once euery moneth arryue one post out of the shyre. who so commeth before the newe moone, stayeth for the deliuery of his letters vntyll the moone be chaunged. then lykewyse are dispatched other postes backe into all the shyres agayne. "before that we doe come to cinceo we have to passe through many places, and some of great importance. for this countrey is so well inhabited neare the sea syde, that you cannot go one myle but you shall see some towne, borough, or hostry, the which are so abundantly provided of all thinges, that in the cities and townes they liue ciuily. nevertheles such as dwel abrode are very poore, for the multitude of them euery where is so great, that out of a tree you shal see many tymes swarme a number of children where a man would not haue thought to haue founde any one at all. "from these places in number infinite, you shall come vnto two cities very populose, and beyng compared with cinceo, not possibly to be discerned which is the greater of them. these cities are as well walled as any cities in all the worlde. as you come in to eyther of them, standeth so great and mightie a brydge, that the lyke thereof i haue neuer seene in portugall nor els where. i heard one of my felowes say, that he told in one bridge arches. the occasion wherefore these bridges are made so great, is for that the countrey is toward the sea very plaine and low, and ouerwhelmed euer as ye sea water encreaseth. the breadth of the bridges, although it bee well proportioned vnto the length therof, yet are they equally buylt, no higher in the middle than at eyther end, in such wyse that you may directly see from ye one end to the other, the sydes are wonderfully well engraved after the maner of rome workes. but that we did most marueyle at, was therewithall the hugenesse of ye stones, the lyke wherof as we came into the citie, we dyd see many set up in places dishabited by the way, to no small charges of theyrs, howbeit to little purpose, whereas no body seeth them but such as doe come bye. the arches are not made after our fashion, vauted with sundry stones set togeather; but paved, as it were, whole stones reaching from one piller to an other, in suche wyse that they lye both for the arches heades and galantly serue also for the hygh waye. i haue been astunned to beholde the hugenesse of these aforesayde stones, some of them are xii pases long and upwarde, the least a xii good pases long, and a halfe. "the wayes echewhere are galantly paued with foure square stone, except it be where for want of stone they vse to laye bricke: in this voyage wee traueyled ouer certayne hilles, where the wayes were pitched, and in many places no worse paued than in the playne grounde. this causeth us to thinke, that in all the worlde there be no better workemen for buildinges than the inhabitantes of china. "the countrey is so well inhabited, that no one foote of ground is left untilled; small store of cattell haue we seene this way, we sawe onely certayne oxen wherewithall the countreymen doe plough theyr grounde. one oxe draweth the plough alone, not onely in this shyre, but in other places also wherein is greater store of cattell. these countrymen by arte doe that in tyllage which we are constrayned to doe by force. here be solde the voydinges of close stooles, although there wanteth not the dunge of beastes; and the excrements of man are good marchandise throughout all china. the dungfermers seeke in euery streete by exchange to buye this durtie ware for hearbes and wood. the custome is very good for keepyng the citie cleane. there is great aboundance of hennes, geese, duckes, swyne, and goates; wethers haue they none: the hennes are solde by weight, and so are all other thinges. two pounde of hennes fleshe, goose, or ducke, is worth two foi of their money, that is, _d. ob._ sterling. swines flesh is solde at a peny the pounde. beefe beareth the same pryce, for the scarcitie thereof; howbeit northwarde from fuquieo, and farther of from the sea coast, there is beefe more plentie and solde better cheape; beefe onely excepted, great aboundance of all these viandes we haue had in all the cities we passed through. and if this countrey were lyke vnto india, the inhabitants whereof eate neyther henne, beefe, nor porke, but keepe that onely for the portugalles and moores, they would be solde here for nothing. but it so fallyng out that the chineans are the greatest eaters in all the world, they doe feede uppon all thinges, specially on porke, the fatter that is, vnto them the lesse lothsome. the highest price of these thinges aforesayde i haue set downe, better cheape shall you sometymes buye them, for the great plentie thereof in this countrey. frogges are solde at the same price that is made of hennes, and are good meate amongst them, as also dogges, cattes, rattes, snakes, and all other vncleane meates. "the cities be very gallant, specially near vnto the gates, the which are marueylously great, and couered with iron. the gatehouses buylt on hygh with towers, the lower parte thereof is made of bricke and stone, proportionally with the walles; from the walles vpward, the buyldyng is of tymber, and many stones in it one aboue the other. the strength of theyr townes is in the mightie walles and ditches, artillarie haue they none. "the streetes in cinceo, and in all the rest of the cities we haue seene are very fayre, so large and so streight that it is wonderfull to beholde. theyr houses are buylt with tymber, the foundations onely excepted, the which are layd with stone; in eche syde of the streetes are paynteles or continuall porches for the marchantes to walke vnder: the breadth of the streete is neuerthelesse suche, that in them xv men may ryde commodiously syde by syde. as they ryde they must needes passe vnder many hygh arches of triumph that crosse ouer the streetes made of tymber, and carued diuersely, couered with tyle of fine claye: vnder these arches the mercers doe vtter theyr small wares, and such as lyst to stande there, are defended from rayne and the heate of the sunne. the greater gentlemen haue these arches at their doores, although some of them be not so myghtyly buylt as the rest. "i shall haue occasion to speake of a certayne order of gentlemen that are called loutea; i will first therefore expound what this worde signifieth. loutea is as muche to say in our language as syr, and when any of them calleth his name, he answereth syr: and as we doe say, that the kyng hath made some gentleman, so say they that there is made a loutea. and for that amongst them the degrees are diuers both in name and office, i will tell you onely of some principalles, beyng not able to aduertise you of all. "the maner howe gentlemen are created louteas, and doe come to that honour and title, is by the gyuynge of a broad gyrdle not like to the rest, and a cap, at the commandement of the kyng. the name loutea is more generall and common vnto moe, than equalitie of honour thereby signified, agreeth withall. such louteas that doe serue their prince in weightie matters for iustice, are created after triall made of their learning; but the other, whiche serue in smaller affayres, as capitaynes, constables, sergeantes by lande and sea, receyuers, and such lyke, wherof there be in euery citie, as also in this, very many, are made for fauour: the chiefe louteas are serued kneelyng. "the louteas are an idle generation, without all maner of exercises and pastymes, excepte it be eatyng and drynkyng. somtymes they walke abrode in the fieldes to make the souldyers shoot at prickes with theyr bowes, but theyr eatyng passeth: they wyll stande eatyng euen when the other do drawe to shoote. "the inhabitants of china be very great idolaters, all generally do worshyppe the heauens: and as we are woont to saye, god knoweth it, so say they at euery worde, tien tautee, that is to saye, _the heauens do knowe it_. some do worshyp the sonne, and some the moone, as they thynke good, for none are bounde more to one then to an other. in their temples, the which they do cal meani, they haue a great altar in ye same place as we have; true it is that one may goe rounde about it. there set they up the image of a certayne loutea of that countrey, whom they haue in great reuerence for certaine notable thinges he dyd. at the ryght hande standeth the deuyl, muche more vglie paynted then we do vse to set hym out, whereunto great homage is done by suche as come into the temple to aske counsell, or to drawe lottes: this opinion they haue of hym, that he is malitious and able to do euyl. if you aske them what they do thynke of the soules departed, they will answeare, that they be immortall, and that as soone as any one departeth out of this life, he becometh a deuyle if he haue liued well in this worlde; if otherwyse, that the same deuyl changeth him into a bufle, oxe, or dogge. wherfore to this deuyl do they much honour, to hym do they sacrifice, praying hym that he wyll make them lyke vnto hym selfe, and not lyke other beastes. they haue moreouer an other sorte of temples, wherein both uppon the altars and also on the walles do stande many idoles well proportioned, but bare headed. these bare name omithofon, accompted of them spirites, but suche as in heaven do neither good nor euyll; thought to be suche men and women as haue chastlye lyued in this worlde in abstinence from fyshe and fleshe, fedde only with ryse and salates. of that deuyl they make some accompte, for these spirites they care litle or nothyng at all. agayne, they holde opinion that if a man do well in this lyfe, the heauens wyll geue hym many temporall blessynges; but if he do euyll, then shall he haue infirmities, diseases, troubles, and penurie, and all this without any knowledge of god. "in the principall cities of the shyres be foure cheefe louteas, before whom are brought all matters of the inferiour townes throughout the whole realme. diuers other louteas haue the maneagyng of iustice and receyuyng of rentes, bounde to yeeld an accompte thereof vnto the greater officers. other doo see that there be no euyll rule keept in the citie: eache one as it behoueth hym. generally al these do impryson malefactours, cause them to be whypped and racked, hoysing them vp and downe by the armes with a corde, a thyng very vsuall there, and accompted no shame. these louteas do vse great diligence in ye apprehending of theeues, so that it is a wonder to see a theefe escape away in any towne, citie, or village. upon the sea neere vnto the shore many are taken, and looke euen as they are taken, so be they fyrst whypped, and afterward layd in prison, where shortly after they all dye for hunger and colde. at that tyme when we were in pryson, there died of them aboue threescore and ten. yf happely any one hauyng the meanes to geat foode do escape, he is set with the condemned persones, and prouided for as they be by the kyng, in such wyse as hereafter it shalbe sayde. "theyr whyps be certayne peeces of canes, cleft in the middle, in such sort that they seeme rather playne then sharpe. he that is to be whipped lieth grouelong on the ground. upon his thighes the hangman layeth on blowes myghtely with these canes, that the standers by tremble at theyr crueltie. ten strypes drawe a great deale of blood, twentie or thyrtie spoyle the fleshe altogeather, fyftie or threescore wyll require long tyme to be healed, and yf they come to the number of one hundred, then are they incurable. "wee are wont to call this countrey china, and the people chineans; but as long as we were prisoners, not hearing amongst them at any tyme that name, i determined to learne howe they were called: and asked sometymes by them thereof, for that they vnderstoode vs not when wee called them chineans, i answered them that all the inhabitantes of india named them chineans, wherefore i prayed them that they would tell mee for what occasion they are so called, whether peradventure any citie of theyrs bare that name. heerevnto they alwayes answered mee, to haue no suche name, nor euer to haue had. than dyd i aske them what name the whole countrey beareth, and what they would answere beyng asked of other nations what countrymen they were: it was tolde me that of auncient tyme in this countrey had been many kynges, and though presently it were all vnder one, eche kyngdome neuertheless enioyed that name it fyrst had: these kyngdomes are the prouinces i spake of before. in conclusion they sayde, that the whole countrey is called tamen, and the inhabitantes tamegines, so that this name china or chineans is not hearde of in that countrey. i doe thinke that the nearenesse of an other prouince thereabout called cochin-china, and the inhabitantes thereof cochinesses, fyrst discouered before that china was, lying not farre from malacca, dyd gyue occasion both to the one nation and to the other of that name chineans, as also the whole countrey to be named china. but their proper name is that aforesayde. "i haue hearde moreouer that in the citie nanquim remayneth a table of golde, and in it written a kyng his name, as a memory of that residence the kynges were wont to keepe there. this table standeth in a great pallace, couered alwayes except it bee in some of theyr festiuall dayes, at what tyme they are wont to let it be seene: couered neuerthelesse as it is, all the nobilitie of the citie goeth of duetie to doe it euery day reuerence. the lyke is done in the head cities of all the other shyres in the pallaces of the ponchiassini, wherein these aforesayde tables doe stande, with the kyng his name written in them, although no reuerence be done therevnto but in solempne feastes. "i haue lykewyse vnderstoode that the citie pachin, where the kyng maketh his abode, is so great, that to goe from one syde to the other, besydes the subarbes, the which are greater than the citie it selfe, it requyreth one whole day a horsebacke, going hackney pase. in the subarbes be many wealthy marchantes of all sortes. they tolde me furthermore that it was moted about, and in the motes great store of fyshe, wherof the kyng maketh great gaynes. "they haue moreouer one thing very good, and that whiche made vs all to marueyle at them, beyng gentiles: namely, that there be hospitalles in all theyr cities, alwayes full of people, we neuer sawe any poore body begge. we therefore asked the cause of this: answered it was, that in euery citie there is a great circuit, wherein be many houses for poore people, for blinde, lame, old folke, not able to traueyle for age, nor hauyng any other meanes to lyue. these folke haue in the aforesayde houses, euer plentie of rice duryng theyr lyues, but nothyng els. such as be receyued into these houses, come in after this maner. whan one is sicke, blinde, or lame, he maketh a supplication to the ponchiassi, and prouyng that to be true he wryteth, he remayneth in the aforesayde great lodgyng as long as he lyueth: besides this they keepe in these places swyne and hennes, whereby the poore be releeued without goyng a beggyng. "the kyng hath in many ryuers good store of barges full of sea crowes, that breede, are fedde, and do dye therein, in certayne cages, allowed monethly a certayne prouision of ryce. these barges the kyng bestoweth vpon his greatest magistrates, geuyng to some two, to some three of them, as he thynketh good, to fyshe therewithall after this maner. at the houre appoynted to fyshe, all the barges are brought togeather in a circle, where the riuer is shalowe, and the crowes, tyed togeather vnder the wynges, are let leape downe into the water, some vnder, some aboue, worth the lookyng vppon: eche one as he hath filled his bagge, goeth to his owne barge and emptieth it, which done, he retourneth to fyshe agayne. thus hauyng taken good store of fyshe, they set the crowes at libertie, and do suffer them to fyshe for theyr owne pleasure. there were in that citie where i was, twentie barges at the least of these aforesayde crowes; i wente almost euery day to see them, yet coulde i neuer be thoroughly satisfied to see so straunge a kynde of fyshyng." the spaniards were long behind their neighbours the portuguese in prosecuting the important task of eastern investigation. the papal division of the world between the discoverers of the two nations by the boundary of a certain meridian, made them follow the line of exploration to the westward. the father andres de urdaneta, who, previous to entering himself as a monk of the order of the augustins, had been a skilful navigator, persuaded philip ii to realize the conquest of the philippines, where the voyages and the life of the celebrated magellan were brought to a close. this prince consequently issued orders to the viceroy of mexico, to send out an expedition under the command of a native of mexico, named miguel lopez de legaspi, and desired that andres de urdaneta should accompany him, together with four other augustines, viz., diego de herrera, martin de herrada, pedro de gamboa, and andres de aguirre. the fleet arrived in at the island of zebu. on the st of june the same year, the father andres de urdaneta returned to mexico. in legaspi built the town of zebu, and the augustines established a monastery as a station for their missions among the natives. the spaniards, pursuing their conquests, arrived in at the island of luzon, the most northerly and the largest of this archipelago: legaspi here founded the city of manilla. the work of conversion and civilization was scarcely begun, when the island was engaged in a quarrel by the attacks of the malays of borneo and mindanao. these pirates, too cunning to venture on an open struggle, landed suddenly on the coast, slaughtered or extorted money from the missionaries, and carried away several of the natives, whom they afterwards sold as slaves. in a more serious aggression diverted attention from the attacks of these pirates: a chinese corsair, who was called king limahon, appeared before manilla. for a long time he had resisted the squadrons of his emperor, but at last, vanquished by numbers and forced to flee, he entertained the project of conquering luzon with seventy-two vessels, which carried two thousand soldiers, bold adventurers, besides the sailors and one thousand five hundred women. they effected a landing on the th of november , just after lopez de legaspi had been appointed governor-general of the philippines. the corsairs marched against the spanish town, which they expected to surprise; but a little corps of advanced guard, under the orders of captain velasquez, having given the garrison time to rally, a general battle took place, and ended in the defeat of the chinese. limahon in vain essayed to renew the attack: repulsed afresh, he took refuge at the mouth of the river lingayen, in pangasinan, the northern province of luzon. at the time of his attack, he had been closely followed by a chinese captain, charged to watch him, and who had a conference with the spanish governor. the latter thought this a favourable occasion for introducing the gospel into china. having sent for alfonso de alvarado, provincial of the augustins, a venerable and holy old man, one of those whom charles v had sent to the discovery of new guinea, he told him to select missionaries for the celestial empire. the provincial in his joy offered to go there himself, old as he was; but the governor would by no means consent to this proposal. the choice fell upon martin de herrada, or rada, a native of pampeluna, in navarre, who had already filled the office of provincial, and who burned with such desire to convert the chinese, that after having studied their language, he had made a proposal to some merchants of that nation who had come to the philippines, that they should carry him as a slave to their country, where by this means he hoped to introduce the knowledge of the gospel. they chose also friar geronimo marin, a native of mexico, a man equally distinguished for his piety and learning, and in company with these two missionaries, who they hoped would be able to remain a considerable time in china and to spread the knowledge of the gospel there, they sent two soldiers, who were to bring back news respecting the progress of the mission. besides other presents, the governor gave the chinese captain all the slaves of his nation which the spaniards had taken from limahon, who was at that time held under blockade, to take them back free to their country. the th of july , the friars landed at tansuso [gan-hai], whence, on their way to visit the governor of chincheo [tsiuen-cheu] they passed through the town of tangoa [tong-gan] in china.[ ] the mandarin of chincheo, of whom the captain who conducted them held his commission, gave them a good reception; but as the ambassadors were sent by a simple lieutenant of the king of spain, and not direct from the monarch, he insisted that they should address him on their knees. this mandarin, after having entertained them at a banquet, sent them with a good escort to the tutan or viceroy of the province. they then made a journey of thirty leagues, carried in palanquins. at aucheo [focheou, so pronounced in the fokien dialect] they met with an honourable reception. each of the monks received a present of six pieces of silk tissue, which they crossed upon their breast in the manner of a stole, and two bouquets of silver: the other members of the embassy also had presents. as to the alliance proposed between spain and china, and the permission requested by the missionaries for the exercise of their apostolic ministry, the viceroy referred them to the emperor. while waiting the reply from pekin, the monks bought many books in the chinese language, and visited the pagodas. the principal contained one hundred and eleven idols, all carved in relief and gilded. three in particular attracted their attention. the first was a body with three heads, which looked at one another: they believed they saw in it a vague symbol of the trinity. the second was a woman who held a little infant in her arms; they called her the virgin mother and the divine infant. the third represented to them an apostle. the monks having been to examine the gates of the city, this demand awakened the suspicions of the viceroy, who would seldom permit them to go out after. upon his desiring to see some piece of writing by their hand, they copied for him the lord's prayer and the ten commandments, putting the chinese translation to the spanish text; and the viceroy took great pleasure in reading them. he only retarded their departure till the arrival of the visitor of the province, who desired to see them. the curiosity of this functionary once satisfied, he gave them rich presents for the spanish governor of the philippines, saying that they might return when they brought limahon dead or alive. they then left aucheo to return to chincheo, where they made no lengthened stay, the mandarin of this town attending them to the port of tansuso. after fresh entertainments, the chinese captain who had brought them, was charged with the task of reconducting them to manilla, and they embarked on the th of september . _en route_, they learned that limahon, who had been blocked up by the spaniards, had contrived to escape with part of his troops, and had gained the island of formosa. the flight of limahon disconcerted the chinese captain who brought back the missionaries, and who feared that he should be disgraced on this account when he returned to china. this captain, to whom they explained the principal points of the christian faith, would have embraced it, had he not feared the punishment inflicted in his country on those who forsake the national religion. he said even that they would easily succeed in converting the chinese, if they could first gain over the emperor, by means of an embassy sent to him by the king of spain. herrada, thus prevented from preaching, had not been idle during his stay in china; he composed a vocabulary of the chinese language, now apparently unknown, and drew up a succinct account of his voyage, respecting which we translate some very curious remarks by the friar geronimo de ramon, in his _republicas del mundo_. he says that this treatise fell into his hands, but was taken away by some one, he could not tell by whom, and never returned to him; a circumstance which caused him much annoyance, because he wished to write the _republic of china_; but it turned out, he says, the better for him, for he wrote in consequence to the licenciate juan de rada, alcalde of the upper court of navarre and brother of martin, who sent him a great number of interesting papers of his brother's. he then proceeds to speak of the high respectability and credibility of de rada, on account of his rank and distinguished piety. an original letter by de rada, however, giving a succinct account of his embassy is inserted by the friar gaspar de san augustin, in his _conquistas de las islas philipinas_, to which we refer the reader for full accounts of all the movements of those zealous preachers of the gospel in the philippines and in china at that early period. de rada's treatise formed the basis of the narrative compiled by mendoza, which is now republished. on his return from china, his ship being stranded on the island of bolinao, he and his companions were stript of everything and left naked; but were saved by the providential arrival of a spanish armament, which conducted them safe to manilla, where he died in . his narrative was transmitted to philip ii, in the year , by the hands of his companion, the friar geronimo marin, and the king consequently nominated three ambassadors; viz., marin, the father juan gonzalez de mendoza (the compiler of the work now reprinted, a native of toledo, and who had left the career of a soldier for the garb of a monk of the order of st. augustine), and father francisco de ortega: all these were augustinians. they were dispatched to mexico for the purpose of making suitable additions to the costly presents provided by the king; but the viceroy of mexico, instead of favouring their immediate departure, threw so many obstacles in the way, that it was not till that the embassy was carried out, and it ultimately proved a complete failure. meanwhile the work of evangelization was not confined to the augustinians. some franciscans of the province of st. joseph, in spain, were sent to their assistance, and among these pedro de alfaro, the narrative of whose adventures is given by mendoza in the second book of the second part. the place and date of his birth are not recorded. we know only that he arrived in manilla from spain on the nd july , with fourteen brothers of his order, of which he was the superior, to assume the post of chief "costodio" of the province of st. gregory in luzon, and that he built a church in that city. on his arrival, he soon became acquainted with the mission of martin de rada in china, and conceived an earnest desire to penetrate that almost inaccessible empire. he therefore solicited permission for that purpose from francisco de sande, alcalde of the royal audience of mexico, governor of the philippines; but the failure of the former mission, and the fear of compromising the newly opened relations between the countries, caused a refusal. upon this the zealous missionary resolved upon embarking without permission. he took with him juan bautista de pizaro, augustin de tordesilla, and sebastiano de becotia, all three franciscans, three spanish soldiers, four natives of the philippines, and a young chinese taken from limahon, to serve as an interpreter. without any nautical experience, they trusted themselves to a little boat, and managed to pass, as if by miracle, through the fleet of vessels which guarded the coast, and entered the port of canton. on being led before a judge and asked what they sought, and how they had found their way, they freely stated the facts, and announced that their wish was to teach the way to heaven to the inhabitants of china. a native christian, however, who acted as interpreter, considering his and their safety rather than the truth, adroitly modified their statement, and declared that they were holy men like the bonzes, that they had had no idea of visiting china, but in sailing from the philippines to the hilocos they had suffered shipwreck and lost most of their crew. their only resource had been this little bark, which had unexpectedly brought them into this unknown port. the mandarin who examined them enquired what they had in the vessel, and was told that they had no weapons or merchandize, but only their books and articles used in their worship. he was much interested with the sight of these when they were brought, but expressed surprise that they had been saved in such a storm. the ingenious interpreter replied, that they had been saved as the most valuable objects they possessed. the result of this examination was a formal permission to land. they were not, however, allowed to preach. for some time they suffered much from want, but were at length liberally supplied from the public funds with the necessaries of life. misrepresentations meanwhile were made respecting them, which subjected them to a second lengthy examination, which resulted in their being sent to fucheou by order of the viceroy of that city, in order that everything they possessed might be inspected. this journey enabled them to make the observations on the country recorded by mendoza in the second volume. the viceroy asked them some questions and handed them over to his deputy, who treated them with much courtesy. after a stay of several days in fucheou, the timpintao or deputy sent them back to canton, upon arriving at which place they were ordered to prepare to leave the kingdom. this command, in their then state of destitution, overwhelmed them with dismay, and they made strenuous efforts, but without success, to gain some assistance in these trying circumstances. some of them received a licence to go to macao, and others to luzon. those who resolved upon returning to the philippines proceeded to tsiuencheu, where they embarked, and reached luzon on the nd february . the various and repeated disasters, consequent upon the zealous efforts of these adventurous friars, may well explain the failure of the mission of which mendoza was a member. as a compensation for his failure, however, he adopted a course which was calculated to be far more practically useful. he collected the accounts of the various portuguese and spanish priests, which have been already alluded to; viz., gaspar da cruz, martin de rada, pedro de alfaro, etc., and brought them together into one volume for publication. in this task he must have received valuable assistance from his colleague in the mission, geronimo de marin, who, in company with de rada, had been an eye-witness of the most important facts detailed throughout the work. to these were added, as a sort of appendix, an "itinerario del nuevo mundo", in which is inserted a comparatively short account of the adventures of another party of franciscans in china, in the year , at the head of whom was father martin ignazio [de loyola], a relation of the celebrated founder of the jesuits. it is but a repetition of similar disasters to those already recounted, the whole party narrowly escaping with their lives. the ill success of the augustinians and franciscans did not deter the well-known perseverance of the jesuits, who, of all the monkish orders, have undoubtedly done the most for the diffusion of christianity; and although it is not our province here to relate the details of their progress, it appears but an interesting sequel to the discouragements we have related, to mention the final triumph of the eminent matteo ricci, in the year , in gaining access to the emperor at pekin, and being finally permitted to settle in that capital. nor can we refrain in this place, and at this particular juncture of chinese affairs, from presenting the reader with the following translated extract from a letter written by that distinguished man in , together with some observations by its recipient, one geronimo roman, factor of the philippines at macao. the document referred to was first printed by m. ternaux compans, in his _archives des voyages, ou collection d'anciennes relations inédites ou très-rares_, and is, as he observes, especially curious for the suggestions it contains with reference to the conquest of china. it is as follows:-- "the power of china rests rather upon the great number of towns and the multitude of inhabitants, than upon the valour of the people. there are more than sixty millions of rated persons inscribed on the royal registers, exclusive of the public functionaries and those people who are too poor to pay taxes. all the neighbouring kingdoms pay tribute to the king of china, excepting japan, which has freed itself recently; it is on this account that the chinese are accustomed to consider their country as the centre of the world, and to despise all other nations. they are very much dreaded by all the kings in the vicinity, because they can assemble, in a moment, so considerable a fleet, that it frightens them by the number of vessels; the chinese, however, are but poor warriors, and the military is one of the four conditions which are considered mean among them. nearly all the soldiers are malefactors, who have been condemned to perpetual slavery in the king's service; they are only fit to war with thieves. thus, whenever two or three japanese vessels happen to make a descent upon the coast, the crews penetrate into the interior, even seize upon the large towns, pillage and put everything to fire and sword, and no one dares to resist them. but, being badly led themselves, they always end by falling into some ambuscade, and very few of them return to japan. it also happens sometimes that brigands intrench themselves upon a mountain, in the interior of the country, and all the force of the empire is insufficient to dislodge them. it is said, moreover, that the tartars ravage the frontiers of the empire; in short, it appears to me the most difficult thing in the world to regard the chinese as warriors. they have no more spirit than women, and are ready to kiss the feet of any one who shows his teeth at them. they spend two hours every morning in combing and plaiting their hair. running away is no dishonour with them; they do not know what an insult is; if they quarrel they abuse one another like women, seize each other by the hair, and when they are weary of scuffling become friends again as before, without wounds or bloodshed. moreover it is only the soldiers who are armed; others are not permitted to have even a knife in their houses; in short, they are only formidable from their numbers. the walls of the towns are, at most, but fit to protect them from robbers; they are built without any geometrical knowledge, and have neither _revers_ nor ditches.... "the above is [an extract from] father resi [ricci]'s letter forwarded to me by father ruggiero; i think it necessary to add the following observations:-- "the king of china maintains a numerous fleet on this coast, although he is not at war with any one. in an island called lintao, which is situated near this town [macao], there is an arsenal, the director or haytao of which is continually occupied in superintending the building and equipment of vessels. the island furnishes timber, but every other necessary for them has to be imported from the continent. there are always more than two hundred and fifty armed vessels in this province of canton, as far as chincheo, where a separate jurisdiction begins, and the coasts of which are guarded by another fleet. the admiral has the title of chunpin; it is a very high rank, although inferior to the tutan; he has a numerous guard and many drums and trumpets, which make a most agreeable music to the ears of the chinese, but an insufferable din to ours. "these vessels go out a little when it is fine weather, but hasten back at the least wind. they have some small iron guns, but none of bronze; their powder is bad, and never made use of but in firing salutes; their arquebuses are so badly made that the ball would not pierce an ordinary cuirass, especially as they do not know how to aim. their arms are bamboo pikes, some pointed with iron, others hardened by fire; short and heavy scimitars, and cuirasses of iron or tin. sometimes a hundred vessels are seen to surround a single corsair, those which are to windward throw out powdered lime to blind the enemy, and, as they are very numerous, it produces some effect. this is one of their principal warlike stratagems. the corsairs are generally japanese or revolted chinese. "the soldiers of this country are a disgraceful set. the other day they had a quarrel with some other chinese who were carrying provisions to market, and beat them; the latter went to complain to the governor of macao, who caused forty soldiers to be arrested and beaten with bamboos. they came out afterwards crying like children. they are mean, spiritless, and badly armed knaves. there is nothing formidable in thousands of such soldiers. besides what can the soldiers be in a country where their position is looked upon as dishonourable and occupied by slaves. our indians of the philippines are ten times more courageous. "with five thousand spaniards, at the most, the conquest of this country might be made, or at least of the maritime provinces, which are the most important in all parts of the world. with half a dozen galleons, and as many galleys, one would be master of all the maritime provinces of china, as well as of all that sea and the archipelago which extends from china to the moluccas." mendoza's work was first published at rome in , in a small octavo form, under the following title: "historia de las cosas mas notables, ritos y costumbres del gran reyno de la china, sabidas assi por los libros de los mesmos chinas, como por relacion de religiosos y otras personas que an estado en el dicho reyno. hecha y ordenada por el mvy r. p. maestro fr. joan gonzalez de mendoça de la orden de s. agustin, y penitenciario appostolico a quien la magestad catholica embio con su real carta y otras cosas para el rey de aquel reyno el año . al illustrissimo s. fernando de vega y fonseca del consejo de su magestad y su presidente en el real de las indias. con vn itinerario del nueuo mundo. _con privilegio y licencia de su sanctidad._ en roma, a costa de bartholome grassi, , en la stampa de vincentio accolti." this edition, of which there is a copy in the british museum, having on its title-page the autograph of sir hans sloane--is described by brunet as "rare". the text comprises four hundred and forty pages: it is preceded by the latin privilege of pope sixtus v, dated june th; mendoza's dedication to fernando de vega, dated rome, june th; a note or post-script "al lector", in which mendoza alludes to the recent receipt of letters from father andres de aguirre, provincial of the philippines, conveying the startling intelligence that the king of china and his subjects were ready and willing to embrace the catholic faith; this is followed by mendoza's preface to the reader, and two sonnets in spanish, the first entitled: "soneto de ... en la reduçion del reyno de la china a la iglesia catholica." this interesting and important little volume is also remarkable as being the first european work in which chinese characters were printed. we learn from brunet that two editions of the original spanish were published the following year ( ), one at madrid, the other at barcelona: it was again printed at medina del campo in , and at antwerp in . an italian translation by francesco avanzo was published at venice in , vo.; at rome and genoa in the same year, to.; and again at venice in , in mo.; and in vo. the english and french translations appeared in the same year, viz., ; the rare black-letter english version now reprinted, being made by parke at the instance of hakluyt himself, as we learn from the translator's dedication to the celebrated navigator thomas "candish" (cavendish), which is dated on new-year's day, . the french translation, which was made by luc de la porte, was reprinted at paris in and ; and with a slightly varied title at geneva in , at lyon in , and at rouen in . a latin version by marcus henning was published at frankfort in , vo.; and that by joachimus brulius appeared at antwerp in , to. adelung (_fortsetzung zu jöchers lexikon_) states that a german version was published at frankfort in , to. on his return, as a recompense for his services, mendoza was made bishop of lipari in . in he went to america with the title of vicar apostolic, and in the same year was made bishop of chiapa; and in was translated to the bishopric of popayan. he was the author of several other works, historical and theological. the year of his death is not exactly known, but it was about the year . ossinger, in his _bibliotheca augustiniana_, describes him as a most eminent historian, a very eloquent orator, and a highly accomplished preacher. the historie of the great and mightie kingdome of china, and the situation thereof: togither with the great riches, huge citties, politike gouernement, and rare inuentions in the same. translated out of spanish by _r. parke_. to the right worshipfull and famous gentleman, m. thomas candish, esquire, increase of honor and happie attemptes. it is now aboue fiue and thirty yeares passed, right worshipfull, since that young, sacred, and prudent prince, king edward the sixt of happie memorie, went about the discouerie of cathaia and china, partly of desire that the good young king had to enlarge the christian faith, and partlie to find out some where in those regions ample vent of the cloth of england, for the mischiefs that grew about that time neerer home aswell by contempt of our commodities, as by the arrestes of his merchantes in the empire, flanders, france, and spaine: forsseeing withall how beneficiall ample vent would rise to all degrees throughout his kingdome, and specially to the infinite number of the poore sort distressed by lacke of worke. and although by a voyage hereuppon taken in hande for this purpose by sir hugh willobie and richard chauncellour, a discouerie of the bay of saint nicolas in russia fell out, and a trade with the muscouites, and after another trade for a time with the persians by way of the caspian sea ensued, yet the discouerie of the principall intended place followed not in his time, nor yet since, vntill you tooke your happie and renowmed voyage about the worlde in hande, although sundrie attemptes, at the great charges of diuers honorable and well disposed persons, and good worshipfull merchants and others haue beene made since the death of that good king, in seeking a passage thither both by the north-east, and by the northwest. but since it is so (as wee vnderstande) that your worshippe in your late voyage hath first of our nation in this age discouered the famous rich ilandes of the lu zones, or philippinas, lying neare vnto the coast of china, and haue spent some time in taking good view of the same, hauing brought home three boyes borne in manilla, the chiefe towne of the said ilands, besides two other young fellowes of good capacitie, borne in the mightie iland of iapon, (which hereafter may serue as our interpretors in our first traficke thither), and that also your selfe haue sailed along the coast of china, not farre from the continent, and haue taken some knowledge of the present state of the same, and in your course haue found out a notable ample vent of our clothes, especially our kersies, and are in preparing againe for the former voyage, as hee that would constantly perseuer in so good an enterprise: we are to thinke that the knowledge and first discouerie of the same, in respect of our nation, hath all this time beene by the almightie to you onely reserued, to your immortall glorie, and to the manifest shew of his especiall fauour borne towards you, in that besides your high and rare attempt of sailing about the whole globe of the earth, in so short a time of two yeares and about two monethes, you have shewed your selfe to have that rare and especiall care for your countrie, by seeking out vent for our clothes, that ought vpon due consideration to moue many thousands of english subiects to pray for you, and to loue and honor your name and familie for euer. for as you haue opened by your attempt the gate to the spoile of the great and late mightie, vniuersall, and infested enimie of this realme, & of al countries that professe true religion: so haue you by your great care wrought a way to imploie the merchants of englande in trade, to increase our nauie, to benefite our clothiers, and (your purpose falling out to your hoped effect) to releeue more of the poorer sort, then all the hospitals and almes houses can or may, that haue beene built in this realme, since the first inhabiting thereof. and sir, if to this your late noble attempt, it might please you, by your incouragement, and by the help of your purse to adde your present furtherance for the passage to be discouered by the northwest, (for proofe whereof there bee many infallible reasons, and diuerse great experiences to be yeelded) our course with our commodities to the rich iland of iapon, to the mightie empire of china, and to the ilandes of the philippinas, for the vent that you haue found out, should be by the halfe way shortened, and you should double and manyfolde treble the credite of your fourmer late enterprise, and make your fame to mount, and yourself to liue for euer in a much higher degree of glorie, then otherwise it might be, or that by any other mean you could possibly deuise: in which action so highly importing the generall state of this lande i haue perfect experience that many worshipfull and wealthie marchants of this citie and other places would most willingly ioyne their purses with yours: and to play the blabbe, i may tell you they attende nothing with greater desire and expectation, then that a motion hereof being made by some happie man, your selfe and they might friendly and seriously ioyne together for the full accomplishing of this so long intended discouerie: and to descende to some particulars, there is one speciall reason that giueth an edge vnto their desires, proceeding from the late worthie attemptes of that excellent and skilful pilot m. john dauis, made for the search of the aforesaid northwest passage these three late yeares, hauing entred into the same foure hundred leagues further than was euer hitherto thoroughly knowen, and returned with an exact description thereof, to the reasonable contentment for the time, of the aduenturers, and chiefly of the worshipfull m. william sanderson, whose contributions thereunto, although they haue beene verie great and extraordinarie, yet for the certaine hope or rather assurance that he conceiueth vpon the report of the captaine himselfe and all the rest of any skill employed in these voyages, remayneth still constant, and is readie to disburse as yet to the freshe setting on foote of this enterprise entermitted by occasion of our late troubles, euen this yeare againe, for the finall perfection of so profitable and honorable a discouerie, a farre greater portion then in reason would be required of any other man of his abilitie. and albeit, sir, that you haue taken in your late voyage, besides the knowledge of the way to china, the intelligence of the gouernement of the countrie and of the commodities of the territories and prouinces of the same, and that at the full, according to the time of your short abode in those partes, yet neuerthelesse for that of late more ample vnderstanding hath beene in more length of time, by woonderfull great endeuour taken by certaine learned portingals and spaniardes of great obseruation, and not long agoe published in the spanish tongue, i haue for the increase of the knowledge of the subiectes of englande, and specially for the illuminating of the mindes of those that are to take the voyage next in hande to iapan, china, and the philippinas, translated the same worke into english, and committed it to print, passing ouer paulus venetus, and sir john mandeuill, because they wrote long agoe of those regions: which labour, to say trueth, i haue vndertaken at the earnest request and encouragement of my worshipfull friend master richard hakluit late of oxforde, a gentleman, besides his other manifolde learning and languages, of singular and deepe insight in all histories of discouerie and partes of cosmographie: who also for the zeale he beareth to the honour of his countrie and countrimen, brought the same first aboue two yeares since ouer into this court, and at this present hath in hande a most excellent and ample collection of the sundrie trauailes and nauigations of our owne nation, a matter long intended by him, and seruing to the like beneficiall and honorable purpose, which i hope will shortly come to light to the great contentation of the wiser sort. in the meane season, hauing nowe at length finished according to my poore skill and leasure this my translation, i thought best to dedicate and commende the same to your worshipfull patronage, as the man that i holde most worthie of the same, and most able of our nation to iudge aright of the contentes thereof, and to correct the errors of the author whensoeuer you shall meete with them: beseeching you to accept in good part the trauaile and good meaning of the translator: and so wishing vnto you health, increase of knowledge, with fortunate and glorious successe in your further couragious attempts, i leaue you to the protection of the almightie. from london the first of ianuarie . your worships alwaies to command, robert parke. the printer, to the christian reader. whereas (good courteous reader) in this historie describing the kingdome of china with the countries there adiacent, thou shalt finde many times repeated, and that in some things too gloriously, the zeale of certaine spanish friers that laboured in discouerie of the saide china, and the declaration of certaine myracles (but falsely reported) by them to haue beene wrought, togither with examples of diuerse their superstitious practices: which happily may giue offence vnto some in reading: thou must vnderstande that this is to be rather imputed vnto the first writer of this historie in spanish, than to any fault of mine: for the spaniardes (following their ambitious affections) doo vsually in all their writinges extoll their owne actions, euen to the setting forth of many vntruthes and incredible things: as in their descriptions of the conquestes of the east and west indies, etc., doth more at large appeare. notwithstanding all which, our translator (as it seemeth) hath rather chosen to be esteemed _fidus interpres_, in truely translating the historie as it was, though conteyning some errors, then to be accounted a patcher or corrupter of other mens workes. but howsoeuer either our first authour, or the translator, haue shewed themselues affectioned, sure i am that the knowledge of this kingdome will not onely be pleasant, but also verie profitable to our english nation: and by playing the good bee, in onely accepting herein that which is good, i doubt not, but the reading of this historie will bring thee great contentment, and delight. vale. the historie of the mightie kingdome of china, in the which is contained the notable things of that kingdome, touching that which is naturall. chap. i. _the description of the kingdome and the confines that it hath belonging._ this great and mightie kingdome of china, which we do meane to treat of in this historie, hath beene discouered by cleere and true notice, within this tenne yeares, by spanyards that were dwellers in the ilands philippinas, that are three hundreth leagues distant from the said kingdome: notwithstanding, that long time before, there was relation giuen, by way of the portingall indias, by such as dwelt in macao, and did trafike to canton, a citie of the same kingdome of china. but this was by relation so, that the one nor the other could satisfie, for that there was founde varietie in that which was true, till the yeere of . frier martin de gorrada,[ ] prouincial of the augustine friers, who were the first discouerers of the said ilands philippinas, and ministred first the holy baptisme amongst them, with his companions, frier hieronimo martin, pedro sarmiento, and myghell de loarcha, cheefe officers of the citie of marrila[ ] in the said ilands, by the order and commandement of guido de labassares, gouernour thereof, did enter into the saide kingdome of china, led and gouerned by a captaine belonging to the king of the said kingdome, called omoncon. of the comming of this omoncon vnto the ilands philippinas, and of his hardines to carrie the aforesaid vnto the firme land, he being commanded to the contrarie vpon paine of death, and how he was receiued, and great courtesie shewed, and of other things verie curious, you shall finde in the second part of this historie, where as is the substance and whole relation of all that was brought vnto the king of spaine. you shall vnderstande that this mightie kingdome is the orientalest part of all asia, and his next neighbour towards the ponent is the kingdome of quachinchina,[ ] whereas they doo obserue in whole all the customes and rites of china. the greatest part of this kingdome is watred with the great orientall ocean sea, beginning at the iland aynan,[ ] which is hard by quachinchina, which is degrees towards the north, and compassing towards the south, whereas their course is northeast. and beyond quachinchina towards the north, the bragmanes[ ] do confine, which are much people, and verie rich, of golde, siluer, and pretious stones, but in especiall, rubies: for there are infinit. they are proude and hawtie men, of great corage, wel made, but of browne colour: they haue had (but few times) warre with them of china, in respect for that betwixt both the kingdomes, there are great and mightie mountaines and rockes that doth disturbe them. and harde vnto this nation ioyneth the patanes[ ] and mongores,[ ] which is a great kingdome, and warlike people, whose head[ ] is the gran samarzan:[ ] they are the true scythas or massagetas, of whom it is affirmed that they were neuer ouercome by any other nation: they are a people well proportioned and white: by reason they dwel in a cold countrie. betwixt the west and the south is the trapobana, or samatra, a kingdome very rich of gold, pretious stones, & pearles: and more towards the south, are the two iauas, the great and the lesse, and the kingdome of the lechios:[ ] and in equall distance, are the iapones: yet notwithstanding those that are more indifferent to this kingdome are the tartarians, which are on the selfe firme land or continent, and are alonely diuided by a wal, as shal be declared in the chapter of this booke. these tartarians haue had many times wars with them of china: but at one time (as you shall perceive) they got the whole kingdome of china, and did possesse the same for the space of yeares, till such time as they of china did rebell and forced them out again. at this day they say that they are friends one with another, and that is, for that they bee all gentiles, and do vse all one manner of ceremonies and rites. they doo differ in their clenes[ ] and lawes, in the which the chinas doth exceede them very much. the tartarians are very yellow and not so white: and they go naked from the girdlested vpwards, and they eate raw flesh, and do annoint themselues with the blood of raw flesh, for to make them more harder and currish, by reason whereof they doo so stinke, that if the aire doth come from that part where they be, you shall smel them afar off by the strong sauor. they haue for certainty, the truth of the immortalitie of the soule (although it be with error), for they say that the soule doth enter into other bodies, and that soule that liued well in the first bodie, doth better it from poore to rich, or from age to youth: and if it liued evill, to the contrarie in worse. the sons of the tartarians do very much obserue and keepe the commandement in obeying their parents, for that they doo wholly accomplish the same without failing any iot of their will, vnder paine to be seuerly and publikelie punished. they confess one god, whom they worship, and haue him in their houses carved or painted, and every day they doe offer vnto it incense, or some other sweet smelles: they do call him the high god, and do craue of him vnderstanding and health. they haue also another god, which they say is son vnto the other; they do call him natigay: this is their god of terestriall things. they haue him likewise in their houses, and every time they go to eate they doo annoint his face with the fattest thing they haue to eate: that being doone they fall to eating, hauing first giuen their gods their pitance. they are a kinde of people that verie seldome doo fable a lie, although their liues should lie thereon, and are verie obedient vnto their king: but in speciall in their warres, in the which euerie one doth that he is appointed to doo: they are led by the sound of a drome or trumpet, with the which their captaines do gouerne them with great ease, by reason that they are trained vp in the same from their youth. and many other things are amongst them, in the which they do resemble them of china, (who) if they did receiue the faith of our lord jesu christ, it is to be belieued that the tartarians would do the same, for that they are taken for men very ducible, and do imitate verie much them of china. chap. ii. _of the temperature of the kingdome of china._ the temperature of this mightie kingdome is diuersly, by reason that almost the whole bignesse therof is from the south to the north, in so great a length that the iland of aynan being neere vnto this land, in degrees of altitude, have notice of some prouinces that are in more than degrees, and yet they do vnderstand that beyond that there bee more vpon the confines of tartaria. it is a strange thing to be seene, the strange and great difference betwixt the colours of the dwellers of this kingdome. in canton, a mightie citie, whereas the portingales had ordinarie trafficke with them of china, for that it was nigh vnto macao, where as they had inhabited long since, and from whence they do bring all such merchandise as is brought into europe. there is seene great diuersities in the colours of such people as doe come thither to trafficke, as the said portingales do testifie. those which are borne in the citie of canton, and in al that cost, are browne people, like vnto them in the citie of fez or barbarie, for that all the whole countrie is in the said paralel that barberie is in. and they of the most prouinces inwards are white people, some more whiter than others, as they draw into the cold countrie. some are like vnto spanyards, and others more yealow, like vnto the almans,[ ] yelow and red colour. finally, in all this mightie kingdome, to speake generally, they cannot say that there is much cold or much heat, for that the geographers do conclude and say it is temperate, and is vnder a temperate clime, as is italy or other temperate countries, wherby may be vnderstood the fertilitie of the same, which is (without doubt) the fertilest in all the world, and may compare with the peru and nuoua espannia, which are two kingdomes celebrated to be most fertill: and for the verification, you shall perceiue in this chapter next folowing, wherin is declared such things as it doth yeeld and bring forth, and in what quantitie. and yet aboue all things (according unto the sayings of fryer herrada,[ ] prouinciall, and his companions, whose relation i will follow in the most part of this hystorie, as witnesses of sight), vnto whom we may giue certaine credite, without any exception. they say that the countrie is so full of youth that it seemeth the women are deliuered euery moneth, and their children, when they are little, are extreame faire; and the country is so fertill and fat, that it yeldeth fruit three or four times in the yeere, which is the occasion that all things is so good cheape, that almost it seemeth they sell them for nothing. chap. iii. _of the fertilitie of this kingdome, and of such fruits and other things as it doth yeld._ the inhabitants in this countrie are perswaded, of a truth, that those which did first finde and inhabite in this lande, were the nevewes of noe (who, after they had traueiled from armenia, wheras the arke stayed, wherin god did preserue their grandfather from the waters of the flood), went seeking a land to their contentment; and not finding a countrie of so great fertilitie and temperature like vnto this, wherein was all things necessarie for the life of man, without comparison: they were compelled, with the aboundance thereof, to inhabite therein, vnderstanding that if they should search throughout all the world, they should not finde the like; and i thinke they were not deceiued, according as now it is to be seene, and what may be considered in the proces of this chapter, of such fruits as the earth doth yeeld. and although there is declared here of such as shall suffice in this worke, yet is there left behind a great number more; of whose properties, as well of herbes and beasts, which of their particulars may be made a great volume, and i doo beleeue that in time there will be one set forth. the great trauell and continual laboure of the inhabitants of this countrie, is a great helpe vnto the goodnes and fertilitie therof, and is so much that they do neither spare nor leaue mountains nor vallies, neither riuers, but they do sow and plant all such things as they perceiue that the place wil yeeld, according unto the goodnesse thereof: as orchards with fruite, great fields of wheat, barlie, rice, flaxe and hempe, with many other things: all which traueile vnto them is verie easie, remembering with what great libertie they do inioy their goods, and the great and infinit number of people that there is, as well for handie craftes as for to till and cultiuate the grounde. in all this mightie countrie they do not suffer vacabunds nor idle people, but all such (ouer and aboue that they are greeuouslie punished), they are holden for infamous: neither doo they consent nor permit any of them that are naturally borne there to go out of their countries into other strange countries; neither haue they any wars at this present, which was the thing that in times past did consume much of their people. the king dooth content himselfe onely with his owne kingdome (as one that is helde the wisest in all the world). beside all this, they are naturally inclined to eate and drinke wel, and to make much of themselves in apparel, and to haue their houses well furnished with household stuffe; and to the augmenting hereof, they do put themselues in great labor and trauaile, and are great dealers and trafickers: al which, with the fertilitie of the countrie aboue said, is the occasion that iustlie it might haue the name to be the most fertilest in all the whole world. [sidenote: excellent plummes.] this country doth yeeld all kind of herbs, as doth spaine, and of many kindes mo: also all manner of fruites, like as in spaine, with diuers other sorts, the names whereof are not yet knowne, for that they do differ very much from ours; but yet the one and the other are of a marueilous excellent tast, as they doo say. they haue three sorts of orenges, the one verie sweete, which doth exceede sugar in their sweetnesse: the other sort not so sweet as the first: the third sort are somewhat sower, but verie delightfull in the tast. also they haue a kinde of plummes, that they doo call _lechias_,[ ] that are of an exceeding gallant tast, and neuer hurteth any body, although they shoulde eate a great number of them. it yeldeth great aboundance of great melons, and of an excellent sauour and tast, and verie bigge. also a kinde of russet appels that be very great, of a good tast. i doo not heere declare of other fruites, nor of their names, because i will not seeme tedious vnto the reader, nor spende the time herein, but will treat of other things of more importance. [sidenote: excellent white sugar good cheape.] [sidenote: honie and wax.] [sidenote: excellent good silke.] in all parts of this kingdome there is great store of sugar, which is the occasion that it is so good cheape: for you shall have a quintal of verie excellent white and good sugar, when it is most deerest, for the value of sixe ryals of plate. there is great abundance of honie, for that their delight is in hiues, by reason whereof not only honie, but waxe is very good cheape; and there is so great quantity therof, that you may lade ships, yea fleetes thereof. they do make great store of silke, and excellent good, and give it verie perfite colours, which dooth exceed very much the silke of granada, and is one of the greatest trades that is in all that kingdome. [sidenote: great store of flaxe and hempe.] [sidenote: cotton, wool, wheat, and barlie, rie, oates.] [sidenote: great abundance of rice.] the veluets, damaskes, sattens, and other sortes of webs, which is there made, is of so small a price, that it is a wonder to speake it, in especiall unto them that doo know how their prises be in spaine and in italie. they do sell none of their silkes there by the yard, neither any other kinde of websterie, though it be lynnen; but by the waight, wherein there is least deceit. they haue great store of flaxe, wherwith the common people doo apparell themselues: also hempe for the cawlking of their ships, and to make ropes and hasers. and on their drie and tough landes, although they be stonie, they gather great stoore of cotton wooll. they doo sowe wheate, barlie, rye, and oates, and manie other kindes of graine; and the one and the other doo yeelde great increase. in the marrish groundes (of which there be many), by reason of moyst and great aboundance of riuers that be in this countrie, they doo sowe rice, which is a common victuall or maintiniment vnto all people of the kingdome, and vnto them that dwell neere them; and they doo gather so greate aboundance that when it is most dearest you shall haue a haneg[ ] for a ryall of plate: of the which, and of all other graines aforesaid, the countrie was woont to yeeld them, and foure times in the yeere there increase. [sidenote: chestnuts.] on their high grounds, that are not good to be sowne, there is great store of pine trees, which yeelde fruite very sauorie: chestnuts greater, and of better tast, then commonly you shall finde in spaine: and yet betwixt these trees they do sow maiz, which is the ordinarie foode of the indians of mexico and peru, and great store of panizo,[ ] so that they doe not leaue one foote of grounde vnsowen. and of trueth, almost in all the whole countrie, you shall not finde any ground that is barren or without profite, what by the naturall vertue of the country, and also by the manuring and helping of it. chap. iv. _here i do proceed in the fertilitie of this kingdome, and of such things as it doth yeeld._ [sidenote: all kind of beasts.] [sidenote: excellent furres, muske.] [sidenote: great store of beefes.] [sidenote: deere, hogs, and goates.] [sidenote: great store of wildfoule.] [sidenote: foule solde by waight.] besides the fertilitie of this countrie beforesaide, all the fields be verie faire to behold, and yeelde maruelous odoriferous smelles, by reason of the great quantitie of sweete flowers of diuers sorts. it is also garnished with the greene trees that be planted by the riuers sides and brookes, whereof there is great quantitie. and there is planted there orchards and gardens, with banketing houses of great pleasure, the which they doo vse verie much for their recreation and auoiding the troubles of minde. the loytias, or gentlemen, doo vse to plant great forrests and thicke woods, whereas doo breed many wilde boores, bucks, hares, and conyes, and diuers other beasts: of whose skins they make very excellent furres, but in especiall of _martas ceuellias_,[ ] of which there is a great number. there is great aboundance of muske, the which they do make of a little beast that doth feede of nothing else but of a roote which is of a maruellous smell, that is called camarus, as big as a man's finger. they do take them and beat them with blowes till they be brused all to peeces; then they do put them in a place whereas they may soonest putrifie; but first they do bind very fast such parts whereas the blood may run out of their brused bones, all to peces, remaining within them. then after, when they thinke they be putrified, then they do cut out smal peeces, with skinne and all, and tie them vp like bals or cods, which the portugals (who doth by them) do call _papos_: and this is the finest that is brought out of all indies (if there be no deceit vsed in it), for many times they will put amongst it small peeces of lead, and other things of weight. there is also great store of kyne, that are so little worth that you may buy a very good one for eight rials of plate; and beefes, that are bought for halfe the mony: one whole venison is bought for two rials; great store of hogs, whose flesh is as holsome and good as our mutton in spaine. there is great aboundance of goates, and of other beasts that are to be eaten, which is the occasion that they are of little value. the flying foules that doo breed about the lakes and riuers are of so great quantitie that there is spent daily, in small villages in that countrie, many thousands, and the greatest sort of them are teales. the fashion how they do breed and bring them vp shal be declared in a chapter particularly; for that which is said shal not seeme impossible. they be sold by waight, and likewise capons and hens, and for so smal value that two pounds of their flesh being plucked, is worth ordinarily two foys, which is a kinde of mony like vnto the quartes[ ] of spaine; hogs flesh, two pounds for a foy and a halfe, which is six marauadiz. likewise all other victuals after the same rate, as it doth plainly appeare by the relation made by the friers. [sidenote: reubarbe and other medicinall hearbs.] [sidenote: foure hundred of nutmegs for six-pence. cloues, sixe pound for pence; the like of pepper.] [sidenote: mines of gold and siluer and other mettals. iron and steele shilling a quintal. siluer is worth more than gold. great store of pearles.] there are also many herbs for medicines, as very fine reubarbe, and of great quantitie, and wood called palo de china; great store of nutmegs, with the which they may lade fleetes, and of so lowe a price that you may buy foure hundreth for a ryall of plate; and cloues, sixe pound for halfe a ryall of plate; and the like in pepper. synamon, one rowe, which is pound, for four ryals of plate, and better cheape. i do leave to speake of many other hearbs medicinable and profitable for the vse of man: for that if i should write the particular vertue of euerie of them, it would require a great volume. of fish, both swimming and shell fish of all sorts, that they haue with them is to be wondred at: not onely vpon the sea coasts, but also in the remote places of that kingdome, by reason of the great riuers, which be nauigable vnto such places. besides all this it is verie rich of mines of golde and siluer, and other mettals, the which (gold and siluer excepted) they do sell it so good cheape that a quintal of copper, yron, or steele is to be bought for eight rials of plate. gold is better cheape there then it is in europe, but siluer is more woorth. there is founde great store of pearles in all this kingdome: but the most part of them are not rounde, by the which you may gather and vnderstande the goodnesse and fertilitie of the same. and that the first that did discouer and inhabite that kingdome were not deceiued, for that they founde all things necessarie vnto the preseruing of the life of man, and that in aboundance: for the which, with iust reason, the inhabitants may thinke themselues to possesse the best and fertilest kingdome in all the whole world. chap. v. _of the antiquitie of this kingdome._ [sidenote: kings.] as before is said, this kingdome is of so ancient antiquity, that there is opinion that the first that did inhabite this countrie, were the neuewes of noe. but the light which is found in the histories of china, is that from the time of vitey, who was their first king, and did reduce their kingdome vnto an empire, and hath and doth indure vnto the king that now rayneth: as you shall vnderstand in the place where we shall make mention of the kings of that countrie, whereas you shal vnderstand by iust computations, that vnto this day, there hath rayned, naturall and vsurped, to the number of kings. the sonne doth succeede the father in the kingdome, and for want of a sonne, the next kinsman doth succeed: and for that they do take (after the vse of the emperors of turkie) so many wiues as pleaseth them: it seldome falleth out to lacke heires, for that the first sonne that is borne of either of his wiues is right heire vnto the kingdome: and the rest of his sonnes he doth appoint them cities where as they do dwel priuately: and there they are prouided of all things necessarie for them, conformable vnto their degrees, with expresse commission vpon paine of death neuer to go out of them, neither to returne vnto the court, except they be sent for by the king. so after this conclusion, all those that are kinsfolke vnto the king, are resident and kept in a mightie and populous citie, called causi,[ ] whereas those whome the king and his counsel do thinke and see to be men of great wisdome, or giuen to martiall affaires, they doo commande that they neuer goe forth of their houses, to auoide occasions of suspition whereby might grow alterations and treasons against the king. the dwelling places of these prouinces, are mightie and of a huge bignesse: for that within the compasse of them, they haue all manner of contentment necessary for them: as gardens, orchards, fishing ponds of diuers sorts, parkes and groues, in the which are all kinde flying foules, fish and beasts, as are to be found in the mountaines and riuers. and it is walled round about with a stone wall, so that euery house of these seemeth to be a towne. they giue themselues much vnto musike, wherewith they doo passe away the time. and for that they are giuen to pleasure and ease, they are commonly corpulent and fatte, verie faire conditioned and quiet, liberall vnto strangers. these princes, in what place soeuer they are, the gouernours of the cities are bound to visite them euery festiuall day. likewise if they doo passe on horsebacke by their doores, they must alight and walke on foote while they haue passed it: and if they be borne in a litle chaire, likewise to come out of the same, and to walk on foote with silence, till they be past. and for that they shall not plead ignorance, the gates of these princes houses are all painted red: so that they being brought vp from their youth, in this straight, close, and idle life, it is not vnto them tedious, but dooth rather reioyce in the same. chap. vi. _the bignesse of this kingdome of china, and of such measures as they do vse in trauaile._ [sidenote: the china is in compass leagues and leagues long.] this mightie kingdome, which we commonly call china, without knowing any cause or foundation wherefore we should so cal it, those countries neere ioyning vnto the same, do call it sangley: and they in their naturall toonge do cal it taybiner,[ ] the which is to be vnderstood, nothing but a kingdome: and is the most biggest and populous that is mentioned in all the world, as it shalbe apparant in the discourse of this hystorie, and in the wonderfull things that shalbe treated of in the next chapter following. all the which is taken out of the bookes and hystories of the said chinos, whereas they do make mention of the mightinesse thereof, and of the prouinces that are comprehended in the same: the which bookes and hystories were brought vnto the citie of manilla, printed and set forth in china, and were translated into the spanish toong, by interpreters of the saide nations. and for that they were baptised and became christians, they remaine as dwellers amongst vs in these ilandes, the better to obserue and keepe the lawes of baptisme, and to flie the paine and punishment the which they should receiue for dooing the same: for that they turned christians and receiued the faith without the license of the king and counsell, which is forbidden vppon paine of death, and is executed with great violence, and without remission. this mightie kingdome is in circuit or compasse about die,[ ] which is a kind of measure that they do vse: which being reduced into the spanish account, is almost legues, and in length leagues, this is to be vnderstood the whole prouinces: the which are garnished with many cities and townes, besides a great number of villages, as you may plainely see in the chapter following. by the said booke, it is found that the chinos haue amongst them but only three kind of measures: the which in their language are called _lii_, _pu_, and _icham_, which is as much as to say, or in effect, as a forlong, league, or iorney: the measure which is called _lii_, hath so much space as a mans voice in a plaine grounde may bee hearde in a quiet day, halowing or whoping with all the force and strength he may: and ten of these _liis_ maketh a _pu_, which is a great spanish league: and ten _pus_ maketh a dayes iourney, which is called _icham_, which maketh long leagues. by the which account it is founde that this kingdome hath the number of leagues as afore is saide: yet, by the account of other bookes, they do finde it bigger and of more leagues. yet frier martin de herrada, prouinciall of the austen friers in the ilands philippinas, who is an excellent geometrician and cosmographer, did cast the account with great diligence, by their owne descriptions, and doth finde it to amount vnto the sum aforesaid, to be leagues long and leagues in compasse, beginning at the prouince of olam, which is that towards the south, and nearest vnto malacia,[ ] and so alongst the countrie towards the north east for the space of leagues. chap. vii. _of the prouinces that are in this kingdome._ this mightie kingdome is diuided into fifteene prouinces, that euery one of them is bigger then the greatest kingdome that we doo vnderstand to be in all europe. some doo esteeme those cities to be metropolitans, where as is resident, the gouernors, presidents, or viz rées, which in their natural toong are called cochin: of the prouinces, two of them, which are called tolanchia and paguia, are gouerned by the king in person with his royall counsel. the occasion why the king is alwayes resident or abiding in one of these two prouinces which are two of the mightiest and most popularst of people, is not for that in them he is most at his content, or receiue more pleasure in them then in any of the other: but onely for that they doo confine vpon the kingdome of tartaria, with whom in times past they had ordinary and continuall wars: and for that the king might with more ease put remedie in such harmes receiued, and defend with better oportunitie the rage of his enimie, he did ordaine and situate his pallace and court in them two. and for that it hath beene of antiquitie many yeeres past, it hath remained hitherto, and appeareth to continue still the habitation of the kings of that kingdome, as by desert for the excellencie of the clime, and aboundance of all things necessarie. the names of the fifteene prouinces are as followeth:--paguia,[ ] foquiem,[ ] olam,[ ] sinsay,[ ] sisuam,[ ] tolanchia,[ ] cansay,[ ] oquiam,[ ] aucheo,[ ] honan,[ ] xanton,[ ] quicheu,[ ] chequeam,[ ] susuam,[ ] and saxij.[ ] almost all these prouinces, but in particular tenne of them which are alongst the sea costs, are full of deepe riuers of sweete water and navigable, vpon whose branches are situated many cities and townes, whereof you may not onely haue the number of them, but also their names: for that these chinos are so curious people, that in their books are named besides the cities and townes, the banketing houses and houses of pleasure, which the gentlemen haue for their recreation. and for that it will be more trouble than profite to inlarge any further in this matter, i will refer it vnto the next chapter, where i will intreate of the cities and townes that either of these prouinces hath, and pass ouer all the rest, as not necessarie; for our intent is to set forth the bignes of this kingdome. chap. viii. _of the cities and townes that every one of these prouinces hath in himselfe._ these fifteene prouinces, which with better truth might be called kingdomes, according vnto the greatnes of them, as you may perceiue by the number of cities and townes that each of them hathe, besides villages, the which if i should adde herevnto, would be an infinite number. the number of cities and townes that euery prouince hath. first, the prouince of paguia, where as ordinarily the king and his counsel is resident, hath cities and townes. canton hath cities and townes. foquien hath cities and townes. olam hath cities and townes. synsay hath cities and townes. sisuan hath cities and townes. tolanchia hath cities and townes. cansay hath cities and townes. ochian hath cities and townes. ancheo hath cities and townes. honan hath cities and townes. xaton hath cities and townes. quicheu hath cities and townes. chequeam hath cities and townes. susuan hath cities and townes. [sidenote: the mightie citie called suntien, or quinsay.[ ]] by which account appeareth to be cities and townes, beside villages and houses of pleasure, which are an infinite number: by the which you may consider that this kingdome doth deserve to be called great, and compared with the best and principalst that is heard of in al the whole world. the chinos do vse in their pronunciation to terme their cities with this sylable, fu, that is as much as to say, citie, as taybin fu, canton fu, and their townes with this sylable, cheu. they have some villages that are so great, that it lacketh but onely the name of a towne. all their cities for the most part are situated by the riuers sides: such as are nauigable, the cities are moted rounde about, which make them to bee verie strong, not only the cities but townes are walled round about with high and strong wals of stone, one faddome high, and all the rest is of bricke, but of so hard a substance that it is not to be broken almost with pickaxes. some cities hath their wals so broad, that and men may walke side by side on them: they are garnished with many bulwarks and towers, a small distance the one from the other, with their battlements and faire galleries, where as many times their vizroyes doeth goe to recreate themselues with the gallant sight of the mountains and riuers, with their fields so odoriferous. there is betwixt the wals of their cities and the mote of the same a broade space, that six horsemen may ride together; the like space is within, betwixt the walles and the houses, whereas they may walke without impediment. their wals are kept in such good reparation, by reason of their great care and diligence, that they seeme to be but new made, and yet in some cities there is founde mention of two thousand yeeres since the first foundation. in every city the king doth ordaine a justice, and giveth him great rents onely to visit them, and make them to be renewed and repaired where as is requisite, and is done vpon the kings cost: for out of his rents in such cities and townes is given them all that is needful to be asked. the high waies in all this kingdome are made and kept plaine with great care and diligence, and the entering into the cities and townes are very sumptuous and with great maiestie, they have three or foure gates bound with yron very strong. their streetes very well paved, and so broad that horsemen may ride together in them, and so straight, that although they be very long, yet you may discouer the end. on both the sides are portals, vnder which be their shops full of all sorts of merchandises very curious, and of all occupations that you will desire: in the streets, a good space the one from the other, are made manie triumphall arkes of extreme bewtie: they are made of masons worke, very curiously painted after the fashion of the old antiquitie of rome. all their houses ordinarily haue three doores, that in the middest is great, the other be lesser, but of a maruellous gallant proportion. the king is alwayes resident in the citie of suntien,[ ] which in their language is as much to say, the citie of heauen. of which citie the chinos do declare many things which seemeth to be true, for that if you do talke with many of them, and at sundrie times and places, yet doo they not varie the one from the other: and according to their report, it should be the greatest in all the worlde, in these dayes. they who do make it to be least, do affirme, that to goe from gate to gate, leauing the suburbs, had need of a summers day and a good horse to do it: it is also called quinsay, as marcus paulus doth call it. chap. ix. _of the wonderfull buildings in this kingdome, and of mightie wall or circuit in the same of leagues long._ in this kingdom in al places, there be men excellent in architecture: and the necessaries that they haue to build with is the best that is in the world. for as it is said in the chapter past, they haue a kinde of white earth of the which they make brickes, of so great hardnesse and strength, that for to breake them, you must haue pickaxes, and vse much strength: and this is the cause that in all the kingdome there is mightie buildings and verie curious. putting apart the kings pallace where hee is resident in tabin[ ] (for of that you shall haue a particular chapter), in all such cities that bee the heads of the prouinces, is resident a vizroy or gouernour, and dwelleth in the house that (in euery such citie) the king hath ordained on his proper cost: all the which, to conclude, are superbious and admirable, and wrought by marueilous art, and are as bigge as a great village, by reason that they haue within them great gardens, water ponds and woods compassed about: in the which (as it is declared in the chapter) is great quantitie of hunt and flying foules. their houses commonly be verie gallant and after the manner of rome, and generallie at the doores and gates of them are planted trees in gallant order: the which maketh a gallant shadow and seemeth well in the streets. all these houses are within as white as milke, in such sort that it seemeth to be burnished paper. the floares are paued with square stones, verie broad and smooth; their seelings are of an excellent kind of timber, verie well wrought and painted, that it seemeth like damaske and of the colour of gold, that sheweth verie well: euerie one of them hath three courts and gardens full of flowers and herbes for their recreation. and there is none of them but hath his fish poole furnished, although it bee but small. the one side of their courts is wrought verie gallant, like as it is in counting houses, vpon the which they haue many idols carued, and wrought of diuers kinds of mettals: the other three parts or angles of their courts are painted with diuers things of verie great curiositie. but aboue all things they are marueilous cleane, not only in their houses, but also in their streets: in the which commonly they haue three or foure necessarie or common places of ease, verie curiously ordained and placed; for that the people, being troubled with their common necessitie, shall not foule the streetes, and therefore they haue this prouision: the like is vsed in all wayes throughout the kingdom. some cities there be, whose streets be nauigable, as in bruxels in flanders, mexico in the indians, and as in venice in italie; which is the occasion that they are better serued and prouided, for that their barkes and boates doo enter laden with all kinde of victuals harde to their doores. the highways throughout all this kingdome, are the best and gallantest paued that euer hath beene discouered: they are verie plaine, yea vnto the mountaines, and they are cut by force of labour and pickaxes, and maintained with brick and stone, the which by report of them which hath seen it, is one of the worthiest things that is in all the realme. there are many mightie bridges, and of a wonderfull making, and some wrought vpon boats, as it is in syvill: but in especiall vpon such riuers as are broad and deepe. in the citie of fucheo,[ ] there is a towre right against the house of the kings chiefe receiuer, and it is affirmed by those that haue seene it, to surmount any building that hath beene amoungst the romans: the which is raised and founded vppon fortie pillars, and everie pillar is of one stone, so bigge and so high that it is strange to tell them, and doubtfull to the hearers to beleeue it: for which cause i thinke it best not to declare it in particular, as i do in all things where as i doo finde it difficult to be beleeued, and where i haue no certaine author to verifie the truth. [sidenote: a wal of leagues long.] there is in this kingdome a defence or wall that is fiue hundred leagues long, and beginneth at the citie ochyoy,[ ] which is vppon the high mountaines, and runneth from the west vnto east. the king of that countrie which made it was called tzintzon, and it was for his defence against the tartaries, with whom he had warres; so that the wall doth shut vp all the frontier of tartaria. but you must vnderstande that foure hundred leagues of the saide wall is naturall of it selfe, for that they be high and mightie rockes, verie nigh together: but in the other hundred leagues is comprehended the spaces or distance that is betwixt the rockes, the which he caused to be made by mens handes of verie strong worke of stone, and is of seuen fathom brode at the foote of it, and seuen fathom high. it beginneth at the partes of the sea, in the prouince of canton,[ ] and stretcheth foorth by that of paguia and cansay, and doth finish in the prouince of susuan.[ ] this king, for to finish this wonderful worke, did take of euerie three men one thorough his kingdome, and of fiue, two; who for that they trauailed in their labour so long a iourney, and into different clymes (although that out of those provinces that were nearest there came great store of people), yet did they almost all perish that followed that worke. the making of this superbious and mightie worke, was the occasion that his whole kingdome did rise vp against the king, and did kill him, after that he had raigned fortie yeares, and also a sonne of his that was called agnitzi. the report of this wall is helde to be of a verie truth, for that it is affirmed by all the chinos that doo traficke to the islands philippinas and to canton, and machao, and be all confirmable in their declaration as witnesses, because they haue seene it: and it is the farthest parts of all the kingdome, whereas none of vs vnto this day hath beene. chap. x. _of the dispositions, countenance, with apparell and other exercises of the people of this countrie._ both men and women of this countrie are of a good disposition of their bodies, well proportioned and gallant men, somewhat tall: they are all for the most part brode faced, little eyes and flat noses, and without bearde saue only upon the ball of the chinne: but yet there be some that haue great eyes and goodly beardes, and their faces well proportioned, yet of these sorts (in respect of the others) are verie few: and it is to bee beleeued that these kinde of people doo proceede of some strange nation, who in times past when it was lawfull to deale out of that countrie, did ioyne one with another. those of the prouince of canton (which is a whot[ ] country) be browne of colour like to the moores: but those that be farther within the countrie be like unto almaines,[ ] italians and spanyardes, white and redde, and somewhat swart. all of them do suffer their nailes of their left hande to grow very long, but the right hand they do cut: they haue long haire, and esteeme it very much and maintaine it with curiositie: of both they make a superstition, for that they say thereby they shall be carried into heauen. they do binde their haire up to the crowne of their heade, in calles of golde verie curious, and with pinnes of the same. [sidenote: great abundance of wool and good cheape.] [sidenote: shooes and buskines of veluet.] [sidenote: great abundance of marters furres.] the garments which the nobles and principals do vse, bee of silke of different colours, of the which they haue excellent good and verie perfite: the common and poore people doo apparell themselues with another kinde of silke more courser, and with linnen, serge, and cotton: of all the which there is great abundance. and for that the countrie for the most part is temperate, they may suffer this kinde of apparell, which is the heauiest that they doo vse: for in all the whole kingdome they have no cloth, neither doo they suffer it to be made, although they have great aboundance of woolle, and very good cheape: they do vse their coates according vnto our old vse of antiquitie, with long skirts and full of plaites, and a flappe ouer the brest to be made fast under the left side, the sleeues verie bigge and wide: upon their coates they doo vse cassockes or long garments according vnto the possibilitie of either of them, made according as wee doo vse, but only their sleeues are more wider. they of royall bloode and such as are constituted vnto dignitie, do differ in their apparell from the other ordinarie gentlemen: for that the first haue their garments laide on with gold and siluer downe to the waste, and the others alonely garnished on the edges, or hem: they do vse hose verie well made and stitched, shoes and buskins of veluet, verie curious. in the winter (although it be not very colde,) they haue their garments furred with beasts skins, but in especiall with martas ceuellinas, of the which they haue great aboundance (as aforesaid) and generally they do vse them at all times about their necks. they that be not married doo differ from them that be married, in that they do kirrle their haire on their foreheade, and wear higher hattes. their women do apparell themselues verie curiouslie, much after the fashion of spaine: they vse many iewels of gold and precious stones: their gownes haue wide sleeues; that wherewith they do apparel themselues is of cloath of gold and siluer and diuers sortes of silkes, whereof they haue great plentie, as aforesaid, and excellent good, and good cheape: and the poore folkes doo apparell themselues with veluet, vnshorne veluet and serge. they haue verie faire haire, and doo combe it with great care and diligence, as do the women of genouay, and do binde it about their heade with a broad silke lace, set full of pearles and precious stones, and they say it doth become them verie well: they doo vse to paint themselues, and in some place in excesse. [sidenote: an il vse and custome.] [sidenote: ingenious people.] [sidenote: wagons with sailes.] amongst them they account it for gentilitie and a gallant thing to haue little feete, and therefore from their youth they so swadell and binde them verie straight, and do suffer it with patience: for that she who hath the least feete is accounted the gallantest dame. they say that the men hath induced them vnto this custome, for to binde their feete so harde, that almost they doo loose the forme of them, and remaine halfe lame, so that their going is verie ill, and with great trauell: which is the occasion that they goe but little abroad, and fewe times doo rise vp from their worke that they do; and was inuented onely for the same intent. this custome hath indured manie yeares, and will indure many more, for that it is stablished for a law: and that woman which doth breake it, and not vse it with her children, shalbe counted as euill, yea shalbe punished for the same. they are very secreat and honest, in such sort that you shall not see at any time a woman at her window nor at her doores: and if her husband doo inuite any person to dinner, she is neuer seene nor eateth not at the table, except the gest be a kinsman or a very friende: when they go abroade to visite their father, mother, or any other kinsfolkes, they are carried in a little chaire by foure men, the which is made close, and with lattises rounde about made of golde wyre and with siluer, and curteines of silke; that although they doo see them that be in the streete, yet they cannot be seene. they haue many servants waiting on them. so that it is a great maruell when that you shall meete a principall woman in the streete, yea you will thinke that there are none in the citie, their keeping in is such: the lameness of their feet is a great helpe therevnto. the women as well as the men be ingenious; they doo vse drawne workes and carued works, excellent painters of flowers, birds and beasts, as it is to be seene vpon beddes and bords that is brought from thence. i did see my selfe, one that was brought vnto lysborne in the yeare , by captaine ribera, chiefe sergant of manilla, that it was to be wondred at the excellencie thereof: it caused the kings maiestie to haue admyration, and he is a person that little wondreth at things. all the people did wonder at it: yea the famous imbroiderers did maruaile at the curiousnesse thereof. they are great inuenters of things, that although they haue amongst them many coches and wagons that goe with sailes, and made with such industrie and policie that they do gouerne them with great ease: this is crediblie informed by many that haue seen it: besides that, there be many in the indies, and in portugall, that haue seene them painted vpon clothes, and on their earthen vessell that is brought from thence to be solde: so that it is a signe that their painting hath some foundation. in their buying and selling they are verie subtill, in such sort that they will depart a haire. such merchants as do keepe shoppes (of whom in euery citie there is a great number) they haue a table or signe hanging at their doore, whereon is written all such merchandise as is within to be sold. [sidenote: cloth of gold tissue and silke.] [sidenote: porsilan.] [sidenote: all occupations be in streets by themselves.] [sidenote: the son inherits his fathers occupation.] that which is commonly sold in their shops is cloth of golde and siluer, cloth of tissue, silkes of diuers sorts and excellent colours: others there be of poorer sort that selleth serges, peeces of cotton, linnen and fustian of all colours; yet both the one and the other is verie goode cheape, for that there is great aboundance, and many workemen that do make it. the apothecarie that selleth simples, hath the like table: there be also shops full of earthen vessels of diuers making, redde, greene, yellow, and gilt; it is so good cheape that for foure rials of plate they giue fiftie peeces: very strong earth, the which they doo breake all to peeces and grinde it, and put it into sesternes with water, made of lime and stone; and after that they haue well tumbled and tossed it in the water, of the creame that is vpon it they make the finest sort of them, and the lower they go, spending that substance that is the courser: they make them after the forme and fashion as they do here, and afterward they do gild them, and make them of what colour they please, the which will never be lost: then they put them into their killes and burne them. this hath beene seene and is of a truth, as appeareth in a booke set foorth in the italian toonge, by duardo banbosa,[ ] that they do make them of periwinkle shelles of the sea: the which they do grinde and put them under the ground to refine them, whereas they lie years: and many other things he doth treat of to this effect. but if that were true, they should not make so great a number of them as is made in that kingdome, and is brought into portugall, and carried into the peru, and noua espania,[ ] and into other parts of the world: which is a sufficient proofe for that which is said. and the chinos do agree for this to be true. the finest sort of this is neuer carried out of the countrie, for that it is spent in the seruice of the king, and his gouernours, and is so fine and deere, that it seemeth to be of fine and perfite cristal: that which is made in the prouince of saxii[ ] is the best and finest. artificers and mechanicall officers doo dwell in streets appointed, whereas none do dwell amongst them, but such as be of the same occupation or arte: in such sort that if you doo come at the beginning of the street, looke what craft or art they are there, it is to be vnderstood that all that streete are of that occupation. it is ordayned by a law and statute, that the sonne shall inherite his fathers occupation, and shall not vse any other without licence of the justice: if one of them bee verie rich and will not worke, yet he cannot let but haue in his shop men that must worke of his occupation. therefore they that do vse it, by reason that they are brought vp in it from their youth, they are famous and verie curious in that which they do worke, as it is plainelie seene in that which is brought from thence to manilla, and into the indies, and vnto portugall. their currant monie of that kingdome is made of golde and siluer, without any signe or print, but goeth by waight: so that all men carrieth a ballances with them, and little peeces of siluer and golde, for to buy such things as they haue neede of. and for things of a greater quantitie they haue bigger ballances in their houses, and waights, that are sealed, for to giue to euery man that which is theirs: for therein the iustices haue great care. in the gouernement of chincheo[ ] they haue copper monie coyned, but it is nothing woorth out of that prouince. the historie of the mightie kingdome of china, wherein shalbe declared, of the religion that is amongst the people, and of their idols that they do worship, and of other things touching that they do vse aboue nature. the second booke. chap. i. _of the number of gods that they doo worship, and of some tokens and paintings that is found amongst them that do represent a mysterie of our christian religion._ in the two prouinces, paguina an[d] tolanchia, wheras we haue said, the king of the countrie is ordinarily resident, for that they do bound vpon tartary, with whom they haue continuall warres: and againe the most principall and politike people be in those places, ouer and aboue all the other. [sidenote: a strange image.] [sidenote: a mysterie of the trinitie.] [sidenote: s. thomas preached in this kingdome.] [sidenote: the martyrdom of saint thomas.] amongst the figures of all their idols that they do haue, the chinos doo say that there is one of a strange and maruellous making, vnto whom they do great reuerence: they doo paint him a bodie with three heads, that doth continually looke the one on the other: and they say that it dooth signifie, that all three be of one good will and essence, and that which pleaseth the one pleaseth the other: and to the contrarie, that which is grieuous and displeaseth the one, is grieuous and displeaseth the other two: the which being interpreted christianly, may be vnderstoode to be the mysterie of the holy trinitie, that wee that are christians doo worship, and is part of our faith: the which, with other things, seemeth somwhat to be respondent to our holy, sacred, and christian religion: so that of verie truth we may presume that saint thomas the apostle[ ] did preach in this kingdome, who as it is declared in the lesson on his day, after he had receiued the holy ghost and preached the holy gospel vnto the parthes, medes, persas, brachmanes, and other nations, he went into the indias, whereas he was martyred in the city of calamina, for his faith and holy gospel that he preached. it is verified that when this glorious apostle did passe into the indies, hee trauelled through this kingdome of china, where as it appeareth he did preach the holy gospel and mysterie of the holy trinitie: whose picture in the manner aforesaid doth indure vnto this day, although those people, by the great and long blindnesse which they are in with their errors and idolatrie, doo not perfectly knowe what that figure with three heads doth represent or signifie. the better for to beleeue that which is said, or at least to vnderstande that it is so, is that it is found in the writings of the armenians, that amongst them are in reputation and of great authoritie: and there it saith, that this glorious apostle did passe through this kingdome of china, when he went into the indies, where he was martyred, and that he did preach there the holy gospell, although it did profite verie little, for that the people were out of order, and occupied in their warres: and therefore this apostle did passe into the indies, and left some of the countrie (although but a few) baptised and instructed, that when it should please god, they might haue occasion to perseuer in that which was taught them. they haue also amongst them (as it is said) certaine pictures, after the fashion and with the ensignes of the twelue apostles, which is a helpe to the verifying of that aforesaide: although if you doo aske of the people who they are, they doo answere that they were men, and great philosophers that did liue vertuouslie, and therfore they are made angels in heauen. they doo also vse amongst them the picture of a woman verie faire with a man childe in her armes, whereof they say shee was deliuered and yet remained a virgine, and was daughter vnto a mightie king: they do reuerence her verie much, and do make prayer vnto her: more then this, they cannot say of this mysterie, but that she liued a holy life and never sinned. frier gaspar de la cruz, a portugall of the order of saint dominicke, was in the citie of canton, where he did write many things of this kingdome,[ ] and with great attention, whom i do follow in many things in the proces of this hystorie, and he saith, that he being vpon a small island that was in the middest of a mightie riuer, there was a house in manner of a monasterie of religious people of that country, and being in it, he saw certaine curious things of great antiquitie: amongst them he saw a chappel, like vnto an oratorie or place of prayer, verie well made, and curiouslie dressed: it had certaine staires to mount into it, and compassed about with gilt grates, and was made fast: and looking vpon the altar, the which was couered with a cloth verie rich, hee sawe in the midedst of the same an image of a woman of a meruailous perfection, with a childe hauing her armes about hir necke, and there was burning before her a lampe: he being amased at this sight he did demande the signification: but there was none that could declare more thereof then that which is said before. of this which hath been said, it is easily to be beleeued how that the apostle s. thomas did preach in this kingdom, for that it is seene these people haue conserued these traditions many yeares past, and doo conserue the same: which is a signe and token that they had some notice of the true god, whose shadows they do represent. there is amongst them many errors, and without any foundation, and is not of them to be seene nor perceiued til such time as by faith they shall knowe the right god: as may bee seene in the chapters, where we shall speake of these matters. chap. ii. _i do prosecute the religion they haue, and of the idols they do worship._ ouer and aboue that which is saide, these idolators and blind people (being men so prudent and wise in the gouernment of their common wealth, and so subtill and ingenious in all arts) yet they do vse many other things of so great blindnes and so impertinent, that it doth make them to wonder, which attentiuelie doo fall in the consideration: yet is it not much to be meruailed at, considering that they are without the cleere light of the true christian religion, without the which the subtilest and delicatest vnderstandings are lost and ouerthrowne. generally amongst them they doo vnderstand that the heauen is the creator of all things visible and inuisible: and therefore they do make a shew of it in the first caract or letter of the crosse row, and that the heauen hath a gouernour to rule all such things as are comprehended there aboue: whom they call laocon izautey,[ ] which is to be vnderstood in their language: the gouernour of the great and mightie god, this they do worship as the principall, next vnto the sun. they say that this gouernour was not begotten, but is eternal, and hath no body, but is a spirit. likewise they do say that with this there is another of the same nature, whom they call causay,[ ] and is likewise a spirit, and vnto this is giuen power of the lower heauen, in whose power dependeth the life and death of man. this causay hath three subiectes whom he doth commande, and they say they bee likewise spirites, and they doo aide and helpe him in things touching his gouernment. they are called tauquam, teyquam, tzuiquam, either of them hath distinct power the one ouer the other: they say that tauquam hath charge ouer the raine, to prouoke water for the earth, and teyquam ouer humane nature to bring forth mankinde, ouer warres, sowing the ground, and fruites. and tzuiquam ouer the seas and all nauigators. they doo sacrifice vnto them, and doo craue of them such things as they haue vnder their charge and gouernment: for the which they do offer them victuals, sweate smels, frontals and carpets for their altars: likewise they promise many vowes, and represent plaies and comedies before their idols, the which they do verie naturallie. besides this, they haue for saints such men as haue surmounted other in wisdome, in valour, in industrie, or in leading a solitarie or asper life: or such as haue liued without doing euill to any. and in their language they cal them pausaos, which be such as we do call holy men. they likewise doo sacrifice vnto the diuell, not as though they were ignorant that he is euill, or condemned, but that he shoulde doo them no harme, neither on their bodies nor goods. they haue manie strange gods, of so great a number, that alonely for to name them is requisite a large hystorie, and not to be briefe as is pretended in this booke. and therefore i will make mention but of their principals, whom (besides those which i haue named) they haue in great reuerence. the first of these they doo call sichia, who came from the kingdome of trautheyco,[ ] which is towards the west: this was the first inuenter of such religious people, as they haue in their countrie both men and women, and generally doth liue without marrying, in perpetuall closenesse; and all such as doo immitate this profession do weare no haire, which number is great, as hereafter you shall vnderstand: and they greatly obserue that order left vnto them. the next is called quanina, and was daughter vnto the king tzonton, who had three daughters; two of them were married, and the third, which was quanina, hee woulde also haue married, but she would neuer consent thereunto: saying that she had made a vow to heauen to liue chast, whereat the king her father was verie wroth, and put her into a place like vnto a monastrie, whereas she was made to carrie wood and water, and to worke and make cleane an orcharde that was there. the chinos do tell many tales of this maide, for to be laughed at: saying, that the apes came from the mountaines for to help her, and how that saints did bring her water, and the birds of the aire with their bylles did make cleane her orchard, and that the great beastes came out of the mountaines and brought her woode. her father perceiuing that, imagining that she did it by witchcraft, or by some art of the diuell (as it might well bee), commanded to set fire on that house whereas she was: then she seeing that for her cause that house was set on fire, she would haue destroyed her selfe with a siluer pinne, which she had to trim vp her haire: but vpon a sodanne at that instant there fel a great shower of raine and did put out the fire, and shee departed from thence and hid her selfe in the mountaines, whereas she liued in great penance and led a holy life. and her father, in recompense of the great sinne and evill he committed against her, was turned to a lepar, and full of wormes, in such sort that there was no phisition that could cure him: by reason whereof hee was constrained to repaire vnto his daughter to seeke cure (which being aduised of the same by reuelation of a deuine spirit); then her father, being certified thereof, did craue pardon at her handes, and did repent him verie much of that which he had done, and did worshippe vnto her, the which she seeing, resisted her father therein, and put a saint before him, that he should worship it and not her, and therewith shee straight waies returned vnto the mountaines, whereas she died in great religion. this they haue amongest them for a great saint, and doe pray vnto her to get pardon for their sinnes of the heaven, for that they do beleeve that she is there. besides this, they haue another saint which they call neoma, and was borne in a towne called cuchi, in the prouince of ochiam. this they saye was daughter vnto a principall man of that towne, and would neuer marrie, but left her owne naturall soyle and went vnto a little iland, which is right ouer against ingoa, whereas she liued a verie straight life, and shewed manie false miracles. the occasion why they haue her in reputation of a saint is: there was a certaine captaine of the king of china, whose name was compo; he was sent vnto a kingdome not farre from thence to make warre against the king. it so chaunced that he, with his nauie, came to an anker at buym, and being readie to departe, hee would haue wayed his ankers, but by no meanes he could not mooue them: being greatly amazed thereat, and looking foorth, he sawe this neoma sitting on them. then the captaine came vnto her, and told her with great humilitie, that he was going to warres by commandement of the king. and that if so be she were holie, that she would giue him counsell what were best for him to do: to whom she answered and sayd, that if he would haue the victorie ouer them that hee went to conquer, that he should carrie her with him. he did performe that which she said, and carried her with him vnto that kingdome, whose inhabitantes were great magicians, and threw oyle into the sea, and made it seeme that their shippes were all on fire. this neoma did worke by the same art, and did vndoe that which the other did practise or imagine, in such sort, that their magicke did profitte them nothing, neither could they doe anie harme vnto them of china. the which being perceiued by them of ye kingdome, they did yeeld themselues to be subjectes and vassales vnto the king of china. the captaine beleeued this to be a myracle, yet notwithstanding he did coniure her (as one of good discretion), for that thinges might fall out to the contrarie; and the better to certifie his opinion, whereby hee might the better giue relation thereof vnto the king, he said: ladie, turne me this rodde the which i haue in my hand drie, to become greene and florishing, and if you can so do, i will worship you for a saint. then she at that instant did not onely make it greene, but also to haue an odoriferous smell. the which rod he put vpon the poope of his ship for a remembrance, and for that he had a verie prosperous and good viage, he did attribute it vnto her. so that vnto this day, they haue her in reputation of a saint, and carrie her picture vppon the poope of their ships, and such as be trauellers to the sea doo offer vnto her sacrifices. these aforesaide they doo esteeme for their principall saints, yet besides all these they haue an infinite number of carued idols, which they doo place vpon alters in their tempels: the quantity of them is such that in my presence it was affirmed by frier geronimo martin, he that entred into china, and is a man of great credite woorthy to giue credite vnto, that amongst many other things, he was in one of their temples in the cittie of vcheo, where as hee did count one hundred and twelue idols: and besides this they haue manie in the high wayes and streetes, and vppon their principall gates of the citie, the which they haue in small veneration, as you shall perceiue in this chapter following: whereby it is plainlie to be seene, in what subiection they are vnto errours and idolatrie, such as doo lacke the trueth of true christian religion. chap. iii. _how little they doo esteeme their idols whome they worshippe._ these miserable idolaters doo so little esteeme their idols, that it is a great hope and confidence, that at what time soeuer the gospel shal haue any entry into that country, straightwayes they will leaue off all their superstitions: in particular in casting of lots, which is a thing much vsed throughout all that kingdome: also this will be a great helpe thereunto, for that they are generally men of good vnderstanding, and ducible and subiect vnto reason, in so ample sort (as is declared by that religious dominicke aforesaid), he being in canton in a temple whereas they were sacrificing vnto their idols, being mooued with great zeale to the honour of god, did throw certaine of them downe to the grounde. when these idolaters did see his boldnesse, which seemed vnto them to be without reason, they laide hands on him with an infernall furie, with determination for to kill him: then he did request of them that before they did execute it, that they would heare what he would say: the which his petition seemed vnto the principals that were there to bee iust, and commanded all the people to withdrawe themselues, and to heare what he woulde say. then he, with the spirit that god did put in him, said, that they should aduertise themselues, for that god our lorde and creator of heauen and earth, had giuen vnto them so good vnderstandings, and did equall them vnto the politikest nations in all the world: that they should not imploy it vnto euil, neither subiect themselues to worship vnto stones and blocks of wood, which haue no discourse of reason, more then is giuen them by the workmen that did make them, and it were more reason the idols should reuerence and worship men, because they haue their similitude and likenesse: with these words, and other such like in effect, they were all quieted, and did not only approoue his saying to be true, but did giue him great thankes, excusing themselues: saying, that vntill that time there was none that euer did giue them to vnderstand so much, neither how they did euill in doing their sacrifices, and in token of gratefulnes (leauing their idols on the ground, and some broken all to pieces) they did beare him company vnto his lodging. hereby you may vnderstand with what facilitie, by the helpe of almightie god, they may be reduced vnto our catholicke faith: opening (by the light of the gospel) the doore which the diuell hath kept shut by false delusions so long time, although the king, with all his gouernors and ministers, hath great care that in all that kingdome there be none to induce nouelties, neither to admit strangers or any new doctrin without license of the said king, and of his roial counsel, vpon pain of death, the which is executed with great rigor. they are people very ducible and apt to bee taught, and easie to bee turned from their idolatrie, superstition, and false gods: the which they haue in smal venerati[=o] as aforesaid. with great humility they do receiue and approue corrections of their weaknes, and do know the vauntage that is betwixt the gospell and their rights and vanities, and do receiue the same with a verie good will, as it hath beene and is seene in manie chinos that haue receiued baptisme in the citie of manila, vpon one of the ilands philippinas, whereas they do dwell, and leaue their owne naturall countrie for to enioy that which they vnderstande to bee for the saluation of their soules. so that those who haue receiued baptisme are become verie good christians. chap. iv. _of lots which they doo vse when they will doe anie thing of importance, and howe they doe inuocate or call the diuell._ [sidenote: they cast lottes.] [sidenote: they throw their gods under their feet.] [sidenote: a hogs head for a sacrifice.] the people of this countrie do not alonely vse superstitions, but they are also great augurisers or tellers of fortunes, and do beleeue in auguries, as a thing most certaine and infallible, but in especiall by certaine lots which they do vse at all times, when they beginne any jorney, or for to doe anything of importance, as to marie a sonne, a daughter, or lend anie money, or buy any lands, or deale wt merchandise, or any other thing whose end is incertaine or doubtfull. in all these matters they do vse lottes, the which they do make of two sticks, flat on the one side, and round on the other, and being tyed togither with a small threede, throwe them before their idols. but before they do throwe them, they do vse great ceremonies in talke, and vse amorous and gentle wordes, desiring them to giue them good fortune. for by them they doe vnderstand the successe to be good or euill in their iourney, or any other thing that they do take in hande. likewise they do promise them, if they do giue them good fortune, to offer vnto them victuales, frontalles, or some other thing of price. this being done, they throwe downe their lots, and if it so fall out that the flat side be vpper, or one flat side and the other round, they haue it for an euill signe or token. then they returne vnto their idols, and say vnto them manie iniurious words, calling them dogs, infamous, villaines, and other names like in effect. after they haue vttered vnto them all iniuries at their pleasure, then they beginne againe to fawne vpon them, and intreat them with milde and sweet words, crauing pardon of that which is past, and promising to giue them more gifts then before they did, if their lot do fal out wel. then, in the like manner as before, they do proceed, and throw the lots before the idols: but if it fal not out according vnto their expectation, then they returne againe with vituperous and vile words: but if to their desire, then with great praises and promises. but when that in matters of great importance, it is long before their lots do fall well, then they take them and throwe them to the grounde, and treade vppon them, or else throwe them into the sea, or into the fire, whereas they let them burne a while: and sometimes they doo whippe them vntill such time as the lottes doo fall as they would haue them, which is the rounde side vpwards, and is a token of good successe vnto that for which they do cast their lottes. then if the lottes doo fall out vnto their content, they doo make vnto them great feastes with musicke and songes of great praise, and doo offer vnto them geese, duckes, and boyled rise. but if the thing whereon they doo cast their lottes bee of importance, then they doo offer vnto them a hogges heade boyled, dressed with hearbes and flowers, the which is esteemed aboue all other thinges, and therewith a great pot with wine. of all that they doo offer, they doo cut off their billes, and the clawes of the fowles, and the hogges snowte, and do throw vpon it graines of rise, and sprinkling it with wine, they set it in dishes vpon the altar, and there they do eate and drinke, making great feast and cheere before their idols. [sidenote: another kind of lots.] another kinde of lots they doo vse, in putting a great number of little stickes into a pot, and vpon everie one of them is written a letter: and after that they haue tumbled and tossed them together in the pot, they cause a child to put in his hand and take out one, and when they haue seene the letter, they seeke in a booke which they haue for that purpose the leafe that beginneth with that letter, and looke what they doo finde written therein, they do interpret of it conformable vnto the thing that they cast their lots for.[ ] [sidenote: inuocation to the diuell.] [sidenote: the diuell telleth lies.] generally in all this country when they finde themselues in any trouble, they do inuocate and call vpon the diuell, with whom they do ordinarily talke (euen as we do cal vpon god in our neede): of him they doo demande what way and order they might take to cleere themselues thereof, as they did in the presence of frier pedro de alfaro, of the order of saint francis, in the yeare of our lorde , at such time as he came from china, as may be seene in his relation. the order that they haue in inuocating or calling on the diuell, is as followeth. they cause a man to lie vpon the ground, his face downwards, then another beginneth to reade vpon a booke singing, and part of them that are present do answere vnto him, the rest do make a sound with little bels and tabers; then within a little while after, the man that lieth on the ground beginneth to make visages and iestures, which is a certaine token that the diuell is entered within him: then do they aske of him what they doo desire to know; then he that is possessed doth answere, yet for the most part they bee lies that hee doth speake; although hee doo keepe it close, yet doth hee giue diuers reasons vnto that which hee dooth answere, for that alwayes they doo answere either by worde or by letters, which is the remedie they have when that the diuell will not answere by worde. and when that he doth answere by letters, then do they spread a redde mantle or couerlet vpon the ground, and throw thereon a certaine quantitie of rice dispersed equally in euery place vpon the couerlet; then do they cause a man that cannot write to stand there with a sticke in his hand; then those that are present do begin to sing and to make a sounde as at the first inuocation, and within a little while the diuell doth enter into him that hath the sticke, and causeth him to write vpon the rice, then do they translate the letters that are there formed with the sticke, and being ioyned altogether, they finde answere of that they do demaunde; although for the most part it falleth out as aforesaide, as vnto people that do communicate with the father of all lying, and so do their answeares fall out false and full of leasings. if that at any time he do tell them the truth, it is not for that he dooth it by nature or with his will, but to induce them vnder the colour of a truth to perseuir in their errors, and they do giue credite vnto a thousand lies: in this sort doo they inuocate the diuell, and it is so ordinarie a thing throughout al the kingdome, that there is nothing more vsed nor knowne. chap. v. _of the opinion they haue of the beginning of the worlde, and of the creation of man._ although the chinos be generally verie ingenious, and of a cleere vnderstanding, yet in their owne respect they say that all other nations in the worlde be blinde, except the spaniards, whom they have knowne but of late time; they haue amongst them both naturall and morall philosophie, the which is read publikely amongst them, and also astrologie. but nowe touching the beginning of the worlde, and the creation of man: they have many errors, wherof some of them shalbe declared in this chapter, taken out of their owne books, and specially out of one that is intituled the beginning of the world. [sidenote: strange opinions.] [sidenote: marvellous varieties.] [sidenote: the first invention of fire.] [sidenote: strange opinions.] [sidenote: the invention of plough and spade.] [sidenote: sic. orig.] [sidenote: the first king of china.] they say that at the beginning, the heaven, the earth, and the water were a masse or lumpe ioyned in one. and that there is one resident in heaven, whom they call by name tayn, hee by his great science did separate heaven and earth the one from the other, so that the heaven remained hie in the state that it is, and the earth following his naturall inclination, as grave and heauie, did remaine whereas it is. they say that this tayn did create a man of nothing, who they call panzon,[ ] and likewise a woman, who they call pansona. this panzon, by the power that was given him by tayn, did create of nothing another man, who they call tanhom,[ ] with thirteen other brothers. this tanhom was a man of great science, in so ample sort, that hee did give name vnto all created things, and did know by the assignement and doctrine of tayne the vertue of them all, and to apply them to heale all manner of diseases and sicknesses: this tanhom and his brethren, but especially the eldest, who was called teyencom,[ ] he had twelve; his first begotten, called tuhuncom, had nine, so had al the rest very many. they do believe that the linage and generation of these did indure for more than ninty thousand yeeres, and in the end and conclusion of them did end all humaine nature; for that it was the will of tayn, who did first create the man and woman of nothing, for to be reuenged on certaine iniuries that they did vnto him, and for euery one that he had shewed vnto them, they did almost knowe so much as himselfe, and would not acknowledge any superioritie, as they did promise him, at such time as hee did give vnto him the secreat of all his science. at that time did the heauen fall downe, then did tayn raise it vp againe, and created another man vpon the earth named lotzitzam;[ ] hee had two hornes, out of the which proceeded a verie sweete sauour, the which sweet smell did bring forth both men and women. this lotzitzam vanished away, and left behind him in the world manie men and women, of whom did proceede all nations that now are in it. the first that this lotzitzam brought foorth was called alazan, and lived nine hundred yeares; then did the heauen create another man called atzion, whose mother, called lutin, was with childe with him, onely in seeing a lyons head in the aire: he was borne in truchin in the province of santon, and liued eight hundred yeares. at this time was the worlde replenished with much people, and did feede on nothing but on wilde hearbs and raw things: then was there borne into the worlde one called vsao, who gave them industrie to make and do many things, as to vse the trees to make defence to save them from wilde beasts, which did them much harme, and to kill them, and make garments of their skinnes. after him came one called huntzui, who did inuent the vse of fire, and instructed them what they should doo, and how to rost and boyle their victuals, and how to barter and sell one thing for another. they did understande one another in their contradictions by knots made vpon cords, for that they had not the vse of letters nor any mention thereof. after that, they say that a certain woman, called hautzibon, was deliuered of a son named ocheutey,[ ] who was the inuentor of many things and ordained mariage, and to play on many and diuers instruments. they do affirme that he came from heauen by myracle for to doo good vpon the earth: for that his mother going by the way did see the print of a mans foote, and putting her foote on it, she was straight wayes invironed with a lightning, with whom she was conceiued, and with child with this son. this ocheutey had a son called ezoulom,[ ] who was the inuentor of phisicke and astrology, but, in especiall, matters touching lawe and iudgement. hee showed them how to till the lande, and inuented the plough and spade; of this man they do tell manie wonderfull and maruellous things, but amongst them all, they say that he did eate of seuen seuerall kindes of hearbes that were poyson, and did him no harme; he liued hundred yeares; his son was called vitey, the first they had amongst them; hee reduced all things to be vnder gouernement, and to haue it by succession, as shalbe declared in the chapter whereas i will treate of the king of this mightie kingdome that now liueth. these and many other varieties and toyes they saie of the beginning of the world, whereby may be vnderstood how little men may do without the fauour of god, and the light of the catholike faith, yea, though they be of the most subtilest and finest wit that may be imagined. chap. vi. _how they hold for a certaintie that the soule is immortall, and that he shal haue another life, in the which it shalbe punished or rewarded according vnto the workes which he doth in this world; and how they pray for the dead._ by that aforesaid it appeareth to be of a truth that the apostle s. thomas did preach in china, and we may presume that all which wee haue seene dooth remaine printed in their hearts from his doctrine, and beareth a similitude of the truth and a conformity with the things of our catholike religion. now touching this that wee will treate of in this chapter, of the immortalitie that they believe of the soule, and of the rewarde or punishment which they shall have in the other life, according vnto the workes doone in company with the bodie, which appeareth to be the occasion that they do not live so euill as they might, not hauing the knowledge of this truth. [sidenote: the soul is immortal.] [sidenote: strange obsequies.] [sidenote: they make their sacrifices in the night.] [sidenote: great superstition.] i do hope by the power of his diuine maiestie that they wil easily be brought vnto the true knowledge of the gospel. they say and do affirme it of a truth, that the soule had his first beginning from the heauen, and shall neuer haue ende, for that the heauen hath given it an eternall essence. and for the time that it is within the body that god hath ordained, if it do liue according to such lawes as they have, without doing euill or deceit vnto his neighbor, then it shalbe caried vnto heaven, wheras it shal liue eternally with great ioy, and shalbe made an angel: and to the contrarie, if it liue ill, shall go with the diuels into darke dungeons and prisons, whereas they shall suffer with them torments which neuer shall haue end. they doo confesse that there is a place whither such soules as shalbe made angels doo go to make themselues cleane of al such euil as did cleaue unto them, being in the bodie: and for that it should be speedelier doone, the good deeds which are done by their parents and friends doo helpe them verie much. so that it is very much vsed throughout al the kingdome to make orations and praiers for the dead,[ ] for the which they have a day appointed in the moneth of august. they do not make their offrings in their temples, but in their houses, the which they doo in this manner following. the day appointed, all such as do beare them companie vntill their sacrifices are concluded for the dead, which are such as we do cal here religious men, euery one hath his companion and walketh the streets, and dooth report the daies and houses where they will be, for that it cannot be doone altogether. so when they come vnto the house whereas they must doo their offices, they enter in, and do prepare that euery one do make oration and sacrifice according to their fashion for the dead of that house, vnderstanding that by their helpe they shalbe made cleane from their euils, which is an impediment that they cannot be angels nor inioy the benefite which is ordained for them in heauen. one of these that is like vnto a priest, dooth bring with him a taber, and other two little bords, and another a little bell. then they do make an altar, wheron they do set such idols as the dead had for their saints liuing; then do they perfume them with frankensence and storax and other sweet smels: then do they put fiue or six tables ful of victuals for the dead and for the saints: then straightwayes, at the sound of the taber, little bords, and bels (which is a thing more apt for to dance by, as by report of them that have heard it), they begin to sing certaine songs which they haue for that purpose: then do the nouices goe vp vnto the altar, and do offer in written paper those orations which they did sing to the sound of those instruments. this being done, they sit down and begin anew to sing as before. in the end of their prayers and songs, he who doth this office, doth sing a prayer, and in the end thereof (with a litle borde that he hath in his hand for the purpose) he striketh a blow vpon the table, then the other do answere in the same tune, declining their heades, and doe take certaine painted papers, and guilt papers, and doe burne them before the altar. in this sort they are all the night, which is the time that ordinarily they do make their sacrifices, the which being done, the priests and those that be in the house, do eat the victuals that was set vpon the tables, wherein they doo spend the residue of the night till it be day. they say that in doing this they do purifie and make cleane the soules, that they may goe and become angels. the common people do beleeue of truth that the soule that liueth not well, before they go into hell (which shall not be before the end of the world, according as they do thinke in their error), in recompence of their euill life, the heauens doo put them into the bodies of buffes and other beasts; and those which liue well, into the bodies of kings and lords, whereas they are very much made of and well serued. these and a thousande toies in like sort, making that the soul dooth mooue out of one into another, as certaine old philosophers did affirme it to bee, who were as blind and as far from the truth as they. chap. vii. _of their temples, and of certaine manner of religious people, both men and women, and of their superiors._ [sidenote: gallant colours for religious men.] [sidenote: gallant bels.] there are found in this kingdome many moral things, the which do touch verie much our religion, which giueth vs to vnderstand that they are people of great vnderstanding, in especiall in naturall things, and that it should be of a certainty, that the holy apostle of whom we have spoken, did leaue amongst them by his preachings occasion for to learne manie things that do shew vnto vertue; one of the which is, that there is found amongst them many monasteries in their cities and townes, and also in the fieldes, wherein are manie men and women that do liue in great closenes and obedience, after the fashion of other religious monasteries. they haue amongst them (that is knowne) onely foure orders, euery one of them hath their generall, who dwelleth ordinarily in the citie of suntien, or taybin, whereas is the king and his counsell. these their generals they doo call in their language _tricon_, who doo prouide for euery prouince a prouinciall, to assist and visite all the conuents, correcting and amending such faults as is found, according vnto the institution and manner of liuing. this prouinciall doth ordaine in euery conuent one, which is like vnto the prior or guardian, whom al the rest do reuerence and obey. this generall is for euer till he doo die, except they doo finde in him such faults that he doth deserue to be depriued; yet they do not elect their prouincials as we do vse, but it is doone by the king and his counsell, alwayes choosing him that is knowne to be of a good life and fame, so that fauour carrieth nothing away. this generall is apparelled all in silke, in that colour that his profession dooth vse, either black, yeallow, white, or russet, which are the fower colours that the foure orders doo vse: hee neuer goeth foorth of his house, but is carried in a little chaire of iuorie or golde, by foure or sixe men of his habite. when any of the conuent doth talke vnto him, it is on their knees; they haue also amongst them a seale of their monasterie, for the dispatching of such businesse as toucheth their religion. these haue great rentes giuen them by the king for the sustayning of themselues and their suruants. all their conuents hath great rentes in general; part giuen them by the king, and part of charitie, giuen them in those cities or townes whereas they haue their houses, the which are many and verie huge. they doo aske their charitie in the streets, singing with the sounde of two little bords, and other instruments. every one of them when they do begge, doth carrie in their hands a thing, wherein are written certaine praiers, that they say is for the sins of the people; and all that is giuen them in charitie they lay it vpon the said thing, wherewith they do vnderstand (in their blind opinion) that their spirit is cleare of all sinne. in general their beards and heads are shauen, and they weare one sole vesture, without making any difference, according vnto the colour of their religion. they do eate altogether, and haue their sels according to the vse of our friers, their vestures or apparel is ordinary of serge of the said foure colours. they haue beads to pray on, as the papists vse, although in another order; they doe assist al burials for to haue charity; they do arise two houres before day to pray, as our papists[ ] do their mattins, and do continue in the same vntill the day doo breake: they doo praie all in one voice, singing in verie good order and attention, and all the time of their praying they do ring belles, whereof they haue in that kingdome the best and of the gallantest sounde that is in all the world, by reason that they are made almost all of steele; they pray vnto the heauen, whom they take for their god, and vnto sinquian, who they say was the inuenter of that their manner of life, and became a saint. they may leaue their order at all times at their pleasure, giuing their generall to vnderstand thereof. [sidenote: the eldest sonne is prohibited to take orders.] but in the time that they are in that order they cannot marrye, neither deale with anye woman, vpon paine to bee punished asperly.[ ] at such time as one doth put himselfe in religion, the father or next kinsman of him that taketh the order, doth inuite all them of the conuent, and doth make them a great and solemne banket; yet you must vnderstand that the oldest sonne of any man cannot put himself in any monasterie, but is prohibited by the lawes of the countrie, for that the eldest sonne is bound to sustaine his father in his old age. when that any of these religious men do die, they doo wash him, and shaue him, before they do burie him, and do all weare mourning apparell for him. the religious man or woman that is once punished for any fault, cannot afterward turne and receiue the habite at any time. they haue a certaine marke giuen vnto them in token of their fault, and that is a borde put about their necke, so that it is seene of all people. euerie morning and euening they do offer vnto their idolles frankensence, benjamin, wood of aguila,[ ] and cayolaque,[ ] the which is maruelous sweete, and other gummes of sweet and odoriferous smels. when that they will lanch any ship into the water after that it is made, then these religious men, all apparelled with rich roabes of silke, do go to make sacrifices vpon the poopes of them, wheras they haue their oratories, and there they doo offer painted papers of diuers figures, the which they doo cut in peeces before their idols, with certaine ceremonies and songes well consorted, and ringing of little belles, they do reuerence vnto the diuell. and they do paint him in the fore castle, for that he shall do no harme vnto the shipps: that being done, they do eate and drinke till they can no more. and with this they thinke it is sufficient for the shippe, that all such viages as shee shall make shall succeede well, the which they haue amongst them for a thing most certaine: and if they did not blesse them in this order, all things would fall out to the contrarie. chap. viii. _the order that they haue in burying of the dead, and the mourning apparell they haue._ [sidenote: a strange kind of buriall.] it seemeth vnto me not farre from our purpose, to declare in this place, how they vse in this kingdome to burie the dead, and it is surely a thing to be noted: the manner is as foloweth. when that any one doth die, at the very instant yt he yeeldeth vp ye gost, they do wash his bodie all ouer from top to toe, then do they apparell him with the best apparell that he had, all perfumed with sweet smels. then after he is apparelled, they do set him in ye best chaier that he hath; then commeth vnto him his father and mother, brethren and sisters and children, who kneeling before him, they do take their leaue of him, shedding of many teares, and making of great moane, euery one of them by themselues. then after them in order commeth all his kinsfolkes and friends; and last of all his servants (if he had any), who in like case do as the other before. this being done, they do put him into a coffin or chest, made of verie sweete wood (in that countrie you haue verie much); they do make it very close, to avoid the euil smel. then do they put him on a table with two bankes, in a chamber verie gallantly dressed and hanged with the best clothes that can be gotten, couering him with a white sheete hanging downe to the ground, whereon is painted the dead man or woman, as naturall as possible may be. but first in the chamber whereas the dead bodie is, or at the entrie, they set a table with candles on it, and full of bread and fruits of diuers sorts. and in this order they keepe him aboue ground dayes, in ye which time euery night commeth thether their priests and religious men, whereas they sing praiers and offer sacrifices, with other ceremonies: they bring with them many painted papers, and do burne them in the presence of the dead bodie, with a thousand superstitions and witch-craftes: and they do hang vpon cordes (which they haue for the same purpose) of the same papers before him, and many times do shake them and make a great noyse, with the which they say it doth send the soule straight vnto heauen. in the end of the daies, all which time the tables are continually furnished with victuals and wine, which the priests, their kinsfolkes and friends, that do come to visite them, do eat. these ceremonies being ended, they take the coffin with the dead bodie, and carrie him into the fields, accompanied with all his kinsfolks and friends, and with their priests and religious men, carrying candles in their hands, wheras ordinarily they do burie them on a mountaine, in sepulchres, that for the same purpose in their life time they caused to be made of stone and masons worke: that being doone, straight waies hard by ye sepulture, they do plant a pine tree, in ye which place there be many of them, and they be neuer cut downe except they be ouerthrowne with the weather, and after they be fallen they let them lie till they consume of themselues, for that they be sanctified. the people yt do beare him company to the graue, do go in uery good order like a procession, and haue with them many instruments, which neuer leaue playing till such time as the dead is put into the sepulcher. and that burial which hath most priests and musicke is most sumptuous, wherin they were woont to spend great riches. they sing to the sound of the instruments many orations vnto their idols, and in the end they do burne vpon the sepulcher many papers, whereon is painted slaues, horse, gold, siluer, silkes, and many other things, the which they say, that the dead body doth possesse in the other world whether he goeth to dwell. at such time as they do put him into the grave, they doo make great bankets and sports with great pastime, saying of a truth, that looke what soeuer they doo at that time, the angels and saints that are in heauen doe the like vnto the souls of the dead that is there buried. their parents, familiars, and servants, in all this time doo weare mourning apparell, the which is verie asper,[ ] for that their apparell is made of a verie course wolle, and weare it next vnto their skins, and girt vnto them with cords, and on their heads bunnets of the same cloth, with verges brode like vnto a hat hanging downe to their eyes; for father or mother they do weare it a hole yeare, and some two yeares, and if his son be a gouernor (with licence of the king), he doth withdraw himself many times, leauing the office he hath, the which they esteeme a great point of honor, and have it in great account, and such as are not so much in aliance do apparell them in died linnen certaine monethes. likewise their parents and friendes, although these doo weare it but for the time of the buriall. chap. ix. _of their ceremonies that they vse in the celebrating the marriages._ [sidenote: they that haue most daughters are most richest.] [sidenote: they may marrie with many wiues.] [sidenote: honest women.] the people of this kingdome haue a particular care to giue state vnto their children in time, before that they be ouercome or drowned in vices or lasciuious liuing. the which care is the occasion, that in this countrie, being so great, there is lesse vice vsed than in any other smaller countries: whose ouer much care doth cause them many times to procure to marrie their children being verie yoong: yea, and to make consort before they bee borne, with signes and tokens, making their writings and bandes for the performance of the same in publike order. in all this kingdome--yea, and in the ilands philippinas--it is a customable vse, that the husband doth giue dowrie vnto the wife with whom he doth marrie; and at such time as they doe ioyne in matrimonie, the father of the bride doth make a great feast in his owne house, and doth inuite to the same the father and mother, kinsfolkes and friends, of his sonne in lawe. and the next day following, the father of the bridegroome, or his next parent, doth the like vnto the kinsfolkes of the bride. these bankets being finished, the husbande doth giue vnto his wife her dowrie in the presence of them all, and she doth giue it vnto her father or mother (if she haue them) for the paines they tooke in the bringing her vp. whereby it is to be vnderstoode, that in this kingdome, and in those that doe confine on it, those that haue most daughters are most richest; so that with the dowries their daughters do giue them, they may well sustaine themselues in their necessitie; and when they die, they doo giue it that daughter that did giue it them, that it may remaine for their children, or otherwise vse it at their willes. a man may marrie with so manie wiues as he can sustaine, so it be not with his sister or brothers daughter; and if any doo marrie in these two degrees, they are punished very rigorously. of all their wiues, the first is their legitimate wife, and all the rest are accompted but as lemanes or concubines. these married men doo liue and keepe house with his first wife, and the rest he doth put in other houses; or if he be a merchant, then he doth repart them in such villages or townes whereas hee doth deale in, who are vnto him as seruantes in respect of the first. when the father doth die, the eldest sonne, by his first wife, doth inherite the most part of all his goods, and the rest is reparted in equall partes amongest the other children, both of his first wife and of all the other wiues. for lacke of a sonne by his first wife, the first borne of the other wiues doth inherite the most part: so that few times, or neuer, there is none that dieth without heyres, eyther by his first wife, or by the others. and if it so fall out that any of these his wiues do commit adulterie (the which seeldome chaunceth, by reason of their keeping in, and great honestie, as also it is great infamie unto the man that doth offer any such thing), then may the husband, finding them togither, kill them: but after that first furie being past, he cannot but complaine of the adulterers vnto the justic, and although it be proued verie apparent, yet can they giue them no more punishment but beate them cruelly vpon their thyghes, as is the custome and lawe of the countrie, as shalbe declared vnto you in his place. then may the husband afterwardes sell his wife for a slave, and make money of her for the dowrie he gaue her. notwithstanding, there be amongst them that for interest will dissemble the matter--yea, and will seeke opportunities and occasion. yet if such be spied or knowen, they are righteously punished. they say in the prouinces that bee neere vnto tartaria, and in the selfe same tartaria they doo vse a custome and manner of marriage very strange, that is: the vizroys or gouernors doo limit and appoint a time when that all men and women shall meete together, such as will marrie, or receive the order of religion. [sidenote: a strange kind of marriage.] the time being accomplished, all such as would be married, do meete together in a citie of that prouince appointed for that purpose; and when they come thither, they doo present themselues before auncient and principall men, appointed there by the king for the same purpose, who doo take a note of their names, both of men and women, and of what state and degree they are, and of their substance for to dowrie their wiues with whom they shalbe married. then do they number all the men and women that be there, and if they do find more men than women, or, to the contrarie, more women than men, then they cast lots, and do leaue the number that doth so beare in register til the next yeare; yt they may be the first that shalbe married. then sixe of those ancient men do put the men in three parts; the rich they put in one part, without any consideration of gentilitie or beautie, and those that are rich in a meane in an other parte, and the poor in the thirde part. in the meane time that these sixe men be occupied in the reparting of the men, the other sixe doe repart the women in three parts--to say in this manner, the most fairest in one part, and them not so faire in an other, and the fowlest in an other. this diuision being made, then do they marrie them in this order: vnto the riche men they doo giue the fairest, and they doo giue for them the prise that is appointed by the judges, and vnto them that are not so rich they do giue them that are not so faire, without paying for them anye thing at all; and vnto the poore men they giue the fowlest, with all that which the rich men do pay for the faire women, diuiding it into equall partes. sure it is a notable thing if it bee true. this being done, they are all married in one daie, and holpen (although peraduenture not all content), the marriages being doone, there is greate feastes made, in such houses as the king hath ordeyned in euerye citie for the same purpose, the which are furnished with beds, and all other necessaries belonging thereunto, for that the new married people may be serued of all that is needful for the time that the feast do indure. this solemnitie beeing finished, which they saye doth indure fiftie dayes, these newe married people doo goe vnto their owne houses. you must vnderstande that this custome of marriage is ordeyned for the common and poore people, and not for lords nor gentlemen, who are not bound to obey this ordinaunce, but to marrie whereas they like best, euerie one to seeke and marrie with his equall, or else by an order which the king hath set downe vnto the viceroys and gouernors, what to be done therein. when that the king of china is married, then dooth he choose thirtie concubines, the principallest persons in all his kingdome, the which hee dooth keepe and maintayne within his pallace so long as hee doth liue. but after that hee is dead, and his funerall ended, as is accustomed, then doth the heire or successor of the kingdome apparell these thirtie women maruelous gorgeously, with many iewelles; then doth hee cause them to set in an estrado, or rich pallet, gallantly dressed and furnished, in one of the three halles (as shall be declared in the second chapter of the third booke), with their faces couered, in such sort as they may not be seene nor knowen; and being set in this order, then doth there enter in thirtie gentlemen of the principallest of the kingdome, (those whom the king left named in his testament), the which goeth by antiquitie, or according vnto order set by the king; and eyther of them doth take one of these ladies by the hand, and looke howe they found them, so they doo carrie them with their faces covered till they bring them home to their houses, whereas they haue them for their wiues, and do maintaine and keepe them all the dayes of their liues. towards the mainteyning of them, the king doth leaue in his testament great reueneues, and the successor in the kingdome doth accomplish and performe the same with great diligence and care. in old time, when that the kinges of china would marrie one of his children or kingsfolkes, he did make in his pallace a great and solemne banket, to the which he did inuite all the principallest lordes and gentlemen of his court, commaunding to bring with them their sonnes and daughters, who did accomplish the same, striuing who should apparell their children most richest and most gallantest. the banket being done, the young princes do go whereas are these young ladies, euerie one placed in order according to their age, and there he doth chuse his wife according to his owne will or desire, and where he liketh best. but at this time, this custome is left off, for that the princes and gentlemen do marry with their kinsfolkes, so that it be not in the first or seconde degree: yet many times they do not keepe the second. chap. x. _how that in all this mightie kingdome there is no poore folks walking in the streets nor in the temples a begging, and the order that the king hath giuen for the maintayning of them that cannot worke._ [sidenote: a good order to avoid idle people.] [sidenote: i would the like were with vs.] [sidenote: a very good order.] [sidenote: a mirror for vs to look vpon.] manie things of great gouernment hath beene and shall be declared in this historie worthy to be considered: and in my opinion, this is not the least that is contained in this chapter, which is such order as the king and his counsell hath giuen, that the poore may not go a begging in the streetes, nor in the temples whereas they make orations vnto their idols: for the auoiding therof the king hath set downe an order, vpon great and greeuous penaltie to be executed vpon the saide poore, if they do begge or craue in the streetes, and a greater penaltie vpon the citizens or townes men, if they do giue vnto any such that beggeth; but must incontinent go and complaine on them to the justice, who is one that is called the justice of the poore, ordayned to punish such as doo breake the lawe, and is one of the principallest of the citie or towne, and hath no other charge but only this. and for that the townes be great and many, and so full of people, and an infinite nomber of villages, whereas it cannot be chosen but there is many borne lame, and other misfortunes, so that he is not idle, but alwaies occupied in giuing order to remedie the necessities of the poore without breaking of the lawe. this iudge, the first day that hee doth enter into his office, hee commandeth that whatsoeuer children be borne a creeple in any part of his members, or by sicknes be taken lame, or by any other misfortune, that incontinent their fathers or mothers doo giue the iudge to vnderstande thereof, that he may prouide for all things necessarie, according vnto the ordinance and will of the king and his counsell; the which is, the man child or woman child, being brought before him, and seene the default or lacke that it hath, if it be so that with the same it may exercise any occupation, they giue and limit a time vnto the parents, for to teach the child that occupation ordayned by the iudge, and it is such as with their lamenes they may vse without any impediment, the which is accomplished without faile; but if it so be, that his lameness is such that it is impossible to learne or exercise any occupation, this iudge of the poore doth command the father to sustaine and maintaine him in his owne house all the dayes of his life, if that hee hath wherewithall; if not, or that hee is fatherlesse, then the next rich kinsman must maintaine it; if he hath none such, then doth all his parents and kinsfolkes contribute and pay their partes, or giue of such thinges as they haue in their houses. but if it hath no parentes, or they be so poore that they cannot contribute nor supply any part therof; then doth the king maintaine them in verie ample manner of his owne costes in hospitalles, verie sumptuous, that he hath in euerie citie throughout his kingdome for the same effect and purpose: in the same hospitalles are likewise maintayned all such needie and olde men as haue spent all their youth in the wars, and are not able to maintaine themselues: so that to the one and the other is ministered all that is needefull and necessarie, and that with great diligence and care: and for the better accomplishing of the same, the iudge doth put verie good order, and dooth appoint one of the principallest of the citie or towne, to be the administrator, without whose licence, there is not one within that hospitall that can goe foorth of the limittes: for that license is not granted vnto anie, neyther doo they demand it, for that there they are prouided of all thinges necessarie so long as they doo liue, as well for apparell as for victualles. besides all this, the olde folkes and poore men within the hospitall, doo bring vpp hennes, chickens, and hogges for their owne recreation and profit, wherein they doo delight themselves. the iudge doth visite often times the administrator by him appointed. likewise the iudge is visited by an other that commeth from the court, by the appointment of the king and the counsell to the same effect: and to visite all such hospitalles as bee in the prouinces limited in his commission, and if they doo finde any that hath not executed his office in right and iustice, then they doo displace them, and punish them verie rigorouslie: by reason whereof all such officers haue great care of their charges and liue vprightly, hauing before their eyes the straight account which they must giue, and the cruell rewarde if to the contrarie. the blinde folkes in this countrie are not accounted in the number of those that of necessitie are to bee maintayned by their kinsfolkes, or by the king; for they are constrayned to worke; as to grind with a querne[ ] wheate or rice, or to blowe smythes bellowes, or such like occupations, that they haue no neede of their sight. and if it be a blind woman, when she commeth vnto age, she doth vse the office of women of loue, of which sorte there are a great number in publike places, as shall be declared in the chapter for that purpose. these haue women that doo tende vpon them, and doo paint and trim them vp, and they are such that with pure age did leaue that office. so by this order in all this kingdome, although it be great, and the people infinite, yet there is no poore that doo perish nor begge in the streetes, as was apparent vnto the austen and barefoote fryers, and the rest that went with them into that countrie. the third booke and historie of the great and mightie kingdome of china, in the which is contayned many notable things woorthie to be considered of, touching morall and pollitike matters. chap. i. _how manie kinges hath beene in this kingdome, and their names._ [sidenote: vitey, the first king of china.] in the fourth chapter of the first booke, i did promise particularly to declare howe many kinges haue beene in this kingdome, and their names. nowe to accomplish the same, i will beginne and declare the succession of them from vitey (who was the first that did reduce the kingdome to one empire gouernment) vnto him that dooth reigne at this daye, remitting that which shall lacke vnto the chapter aforesaide: whereas shall be found the number of the kinges, and how many yeares since the first beginning of this kingdome, and the manner of the succession.[ ] [sidenote: which is foure yeardes quarter and halfe.] [sidenote: the first inuention of garments and dying of colours.] this vitey was the first king of china (as it appeareth by their histories, where as they doo make particular mention). but amongest other thinges that they do declare of the kinges person, they do say that he was in height so much as seuen measures, which is accustomed in china; and euerie measure is two thirdes of a spanish vare, which is by good account foure vares[ ] and two terses[ ] in length: he was sixe palmes broade in the shoulders, and was as valiant in his deedes as in bignesse of his bodie: he had a captaine called lincheon, who was not onely valiant, but politike and of great wisedome, by reason whereof with his valour and strength he did subiect vnto vitey all the whole countrie that he doth now possesse, and caused all people to feare him. they do attribute that this vitey did first inuent the vse of garmentes for to weare, and by the dying of all manner of colours, of making of shippes: hee likewise inuented the sawe to sawe tymber; but aboue all thinges he was a great architector, and an inuenter of buildinges, whereof hee made verie manie and verie sumptuous, which doo indure vnto this day in the remembraunce of his name: he did also inuent the wheele to turne silke, the which is vsed to this day in all the kingdome: hee was the first that did use to weare golde, pearles, and precious stones for iewelles, and to weare cloth of golde, siluer, and silke in apparell: he did repart all the people of the countrie into cities, townes, and villages, and did ordaine occupations, and commaunded that no man should vse any other but that which his father did vse, without his particular licence, or the gouerners of his kingdome. and that should not be granted without great occasion for the same. [sidenote: no woman to be idle.] all of one occupation were put in streetes by themselues, the which order is vsed vnto this day throughout al the kingdome; so that if you doo desire to know what occupation is in anye street, it is sufficient to see the first house thereof, although it be very long: for it is verie certaine that they be all of one occupation and not mingled with any other. amongst all other things he ordeyned one thing of great consideration, that was, no woman to be idle, but to worke, either in her husbands occupation, or in sowing or spinning. this was a law so generall amongst them, that the queene her selfe did obserue and keepe it. [sidenote: a strange kind of hearb.] they saye that he was a great astrologician, and had growing in the court of his pallace a certaine hearbe, the which did make a manner of demonstration when that any did passe by it, whereby it did shewe if any were euill intentioned against the king. many other things they do declare which i let passe, because i would not be tedious vnto the reader, referring the dreames and fondnesse of these idolaters vnto the iudgement of your discretion: for vnto the discreete is sufficient to touch of euerie thing a little. he had foure wiues, and by them fiue and twentie sonnes; he reyned a hundreth yeares: there was betwixt this king and he which did build the great wall (that was spoken of in the ninth chapter of the first booke) one hundred and sixteene kinges, all of the lynage of this vitey. all the which did raigne, as appeareth by their histories, two thousand two hundreth and fiftie seuen yeares. i do not here declare their names, because i would not be tedious, although they be particularly named in their histories; but here i will set downe them that i finde necessarie to be spoken of for the succession vnto him that now reygneth. the last king of the lynage of this woorthie vitey, was called tzintzon: this did make the mightie and great wall aforesaide. finding himselfe to be greatly troubled with the king of tartarie, who did make warre vppon him in many places of his kingdom, he did ordaine the making thereof, and for the furnishing of the same, he did take the third man of the countrie to the worke; and for that manie people did die in this tedious worke, by reason they went so farre from their owne houses, and in diuers climes cleane contrarie vnto that where as they were bred and borne: it grew that the king was hated and abhorred of all people, in such sort that they did conspire his death, which in effect they did accomplish and slew him, after he had reigned fortie yeares: and also his sonne and heyre, who was called aguizi. after the death of this tzintzon and his sonne, they did ordaine for their king one that was called anchosan, a man of great valour and wisedome; hee reigned twelue yeeres: a sonne of his did succeede him in the kingdom, called futey, and he reigned seuen yeares. after the death of this king, who died very young, his wife did reigne and gouerne, and was of his owne lineage: she did maruellously gouerne that kingdome for the space of yeares, and for that shee had no issue naturall of her bodie, a sonne of her husbands yt he had by an other wife did succeede in the kingdome, and reigned three and twentie yeares: a son of his did succeede him, called cuntey, and reigned yeares and eight monthes: a son of his called guntey, did reigne yeares: a sonne of his did succeede him called guntey, and reigned thirteene yeares: his sonne, called ochantey, did succeede him, and reigned yeares and three monthes: his son, called coanty, succeeded him, and reigned yeares and two monthes. after him reigned his sonne tzentzey yeares and monthes: then succeeded his son called anthrey, and reigned no more but yeares; his sonne, pintatey, did inherite and reigned yeares. this pintatey when he died was not married, and therefore a brother of his did succeede him, called tzintzuny, and reigned but yeares and monethes: after him succeeded a younger brother called huy hannon, and reigned sixe yeares: his sonne, called cubun, did succeed him, and reigned yeares: his sonne, bemthey, did inherite and reigned yeares: after him his son, vnthey, and reigned yeares: othey succeeds him, and reigned yeares; his sonne, called yanthey, reigned but monethes, and left a sonne, called anthey, who reigned yeares, whose eldest sonne, called tantey, died incontinent after his father, and reigned only monthes, and his brother, called chyley, reigned one yeare; his son, called linthey, reigned yeares; his sonne, called yanthey, did succeede him, and reigned years. this yanthey (the historie saieth) was a man of small wisedome, which was the occasion that he was abhorred and hated of those of his kingdome. a nephew of his, called laupy, did rebell against him; he had two sociates for to helpe him, gentlemen of the court; they were two brethren and verie valiant, the one was called quathy, the other tzunthey; these two did procure to make laupy king. his vncle the king vnderstoode thereof, and was of so litle valor and discretion, that he could not, neither durst he put remedie in the same, which caused commotions and common rumors amongst the people. but in especiall there was foure tyrantes ioyned in one, and all at one time, they wer called, cincoan, sosoc, guansian, and guanser. against these laupy did make warre vnder colour to helpe his vncle, but after a while, that the warre indured, he concluded and made peace with cincoan, and he married with one of his daughters, who straight wayes made warre against the other three tyrants with the helpe of his father in lawe. at this time this mightie kingdome was diuided in three partes, and beganne the tyrannie as you shall vnderstande: the one and principall part fell vpon laupy by the death of his vncle, the other to sosoc, and the other vnto cincoan his father in law. in this sort remained the kingdome in diuision a while, til such time as cuthey, sonne vnto laupy, did reigne in his fathers steede. then did there a tyrant rise vp against him, called chimbutey, and slew him: he by his great valour did bring the kingdome all in one as before, after that it had bin in diuision yeares, and reigned after that alone yeares: his sonne, named fontey, did succeede him, and reigned yeares. and to make short of this linage, there was kinges, and reigned yeares; against the last of them, who was called quioutey, there did arise against him tyrannously tzobu. of this linage there was eyght kinges, who reigned yeares: against the last of them, called sutey, there arose one called cotey, of whose lynage there was fine kings, and reigned twentie foure yeres; the last of them, called otey, was slaine by dian. there was of this lynage foure kings that reigned yeres: against the last of them rose vp tym, and there was of this race fiue kinges, and reigned one and thirty yeares: against the last of this house rose vp tzuyn. and there was of this linage three kings, and reigned seuen and thirtie yeares, against the last of these rose vp tonco. this and all the rest of his lynage did gouerne maruelous well; which was the occasion that they endured the longer time. there was of them one and twentie kinges, and reigned yeares; the last of them, called troncon, did marrie with one that had beene his fathers wife, called bausa, a verie faire woman: hee tooke her out of a monasterie, where she was a nunne, onely to marrie with her: she vsed such policie that he was slaine, and did gouerne the kingdome after, alone, one and fortie yeares. the historie sayth that she was dishonest, and that with extremitie, and vsed the companie of the best and principallest of the realme; and not content with that, she married with one of base lynage, one fit for her purpose, because she was so vicious. they say that before she did marrie, she caused to be slaine the sonnes she had by her first husbande, for that she had a desire that a nephew of hers should succeede her in the kingdome. then those of the kingdome perceiuing her intent, and wearie of her by reason of her ill liuing, sent out to seeke a bastard sonne of her husbandes, who was fledde away, and with a common consent they raysed him for king. he was called tautzon: he caused cruell and rigorous iustice to be done vpon his stepmother, as was reason for her euilles, and an example to all those of the kingdome, who by a president of her ill liuing beganne to straggle: there was of his lynage seuen kinges, that reigned yeares: against the last, called concham, arose dian; of this linage there were but two kinges, and reigned eighteene yeares. against the second and last arose outon, and was of his linage three kinges, and reigned but fifteene yeares: against the last there arose outzim; of this there was but two kinges, and reigned nine yeares and three monethes; there arose against the last tozo: he and his sonne reigned foure yeares: with the sonne of this one auchin did fight and slewe him in the combat, and succeeded him in the kingdome: hee with other two of his lynage reigned tenne yeares; against the last of these arose vp one of the lynage of vitey, the first king, and slewe him; hee was called zaytzon; there was of this lynage seuenteene kinges, and reigned with all peace and quietnesse three hundred and twentie yeares: the last of this lynage was called tepyna, with whom did fight the gran tartaro called vzon, who entred into china with a mightie armie, and got all the kingdome; and it was possessed with nine tartare kings, the which reigned yeares, and intreated the inhabitantes with great tyrannie and seruitude: the last of these was called tzintzoum; this was more cruel vnto the chinos then any of the rest, which was the occasion that all the kingdome did ioyne together in one, and did elect a king, called gombu, a man of great valour and of the lynage of ancient kinges past, who by his great woorthinesse and ioyning much people together, did so much that hee did driue all the tartaros out of the kingdome, with the death of many thousands of them, who obstinately and without iustice did with all tyrannie keepe that kingdome in possession: there was of this lynage twelue kinges with this that now reigneth: the eleuen kinges past reigned two hundreth yeares: he that now possesseth the kingdome is called boneg, who by the death of his elder brother that died by a fall hee had from his horse, did inherite the kingdome: he is of yeares of age (as they saye) and hath his mother aliue, of whom, as yet, there is nothing written: so that i can write nothing in particular, but that they say he is a gallant gentleman, and welbeloued of his subiects, and a great friende vnto iustice. he is married with a cosen of his, and hath one sonne. those of his linage hath got of the tartares many countries since they were driven out of china, the which are on the other side of the mightie wall. god for his mercie's sake bring them to the knowledge of his holy lawe, and accomplish a prophesie that they have amongst them, by the which they are given to vnderstand that they shall be ruled and brought in subiection by men with great eyes and long beards--a nation that shall come from countries farre off, by whom they shalbe commanded, which signifieth to be christians. the king of this countrie is had in so great reputation amongest his subiects, that in all the prouinces where he is not resident, in the chiefe cities whereas are the vizroyes or gouernors, they haue a table of gold, in the which is portred the king that nowe reigneth, and couered with a curtin of cloth of gold, verie riche, and thether goeth euery day the loytias, which are the gentlemen, men of lawe, and ministers of justice, and do by dutie reuerence vnto it, as though the kinge were personally present. this table and picture is discouered the first day of their feasts which they doo celebrate, and is at the newe moone of euery month, on the which day all people do repaire and do reuerence vnto the picture with the same respect as they would doo if he were present: they do call the king lord of the worlde, and sonne of heaven. chap. ii. _of the court and pallace of the king, and of the citie where as he is resident; and how that in all the kingdome there is not one that is lord over subiects by propertie._ [sidenote: a citie of a daies iourney long.] [sidenote: foure curious halles.] the habitation of this king, and almost of al his predecessors, hath bin and is commonlie in the citie of taybin or suntien: the occasion is (as they saye) for that it is neerest vnto the tartarians, with whom continually they have had wars, that they might the better put remedie in any necessitie that shoulde happen, or, peraduenture, for that the temperature or clime of that place is more healthfull than the other prouinces, or the dwelling to be of more pleasure, as it is giuen to vnderstand by that worde suntien, which in their language is as much to say the celestiall citie; it is of such bignesse that, for to crosse it ouer from gate to gate, a man must traueile one whole day, and have a good horse, and put good diligence, or else he shal come short: this is, besides, the subburbes, which is as much more ground. amongst the chinos is found no varietie in the declaration of this mightie city, and of the great riches that is in it, which is a signe to be of a truth for that they agree all in one. there is so much people in it, what of citizens and courtiers, that it is affirmed that, vpon any vrgent occasion, there may be ioyned together two hundreth thousand men, and the half of them to bee horsemen. at the entring into this citie toward the orient, is situated the mightie and sumptuous pallace of the king, where he remaineth ordinarily, although hee hath other two: the one in the midst of the citie, and the other at the end towards the west. this first pallace they do testifie is of such huge bignesse, and so much curiositie, that it is requisite to haue foure days at the least to view and see it all. first it is compassed about with seuen walles, very huge; and the space that is betwixt one wall and other doth contain ten thousand souldiers, which doo watch and gard the king's house dayly: there is within this pallace three score and nineteen halls, of a marueilous rich and curious making, wherein there are many women that do serve the king in the place of pages and squires; but the principallest to be seen in this pallace is foure halles very rich, whereas the king giveth audience vnto such ambassadours as come vnto him from other kingdomes or prouinces, or vnto his owne people when they call any court of parliament (which is very seldome), for that he is not seene by his commons out of his owne house but by great chance, and yet when they doo see him, for the most part it is by a glasse window. the first of these hals is made al of mettal, very curiously wrought with manie figures: and the seconde hath the seeling and the floore wrought in the order of masons' worke, all of siluer of great value: the third is of fine golde, wrought and inamiled verie curiously. the fourth is of so great riches, that it much exceedeth all the other three: for that in it is represented the power and riches of that mightie kingdome: and therefore in their language they do cal it the hall of the king's treasure; and they do affirme that it deserueth to haue that name--for that there is in it the greatest treasure that any king hath in all the world, besides many iewels of an inestimable price, and a chaire (wherein he dooth sit) of great maiesty, made of iuory, set full of precious stones and carbuncles, of a great price, that in the darkest time of the night the hall is of so great clearenesse as though there were in it many torches or lights: the wals are set full of stones of diuers sorts, verie rich and of great vertue, wrought verie curiously: and to declare it in fewe words, it is the richest and principalst thing to be seene in all the kingdome, for therein is the principallest thereof. [sidenote: punished for taking bribes.] in these foure halles are heard such ambassadours as are sent from other countries, according vnto the estate and qualitie of the king and prouinces from whence they come: so that according as they are esteemed, so are they entertained into one of these foure hals. if that from whence they come is from a king of small power, he hath audience in the first hall: if he be of a reasonable power, in the second hal, and in this order in the rest. within this mightie pallace, the king hath all that any humane vnderstanding can desire or aske (touching this life), in pleasure for to recreate his person, and for their queene: for that neuer (or by great chance) they go foorth of the same: and it hath beene a customable vse amongst the kings of that countrie, that it is as a thing inherited by succession never to go forth. they say, their reason why they doo keepe themselues so close and not to go abroade, is to conserue the mightie estate of their estade,[ ] and also to auoide for being slaine by treason (as many times it falleth so out); for which occasion you haue had kings, that in all the time of their reigne haue not gone out of their pallace but onely the day of their oath and crownation: and besides this their close keeping, yet haue they tenne thousande men continually (as aforesaide) in garde of the pallace both day and night, besides others that are in the courtes, staires and halles, and other places. within the gates and wals of this mightie pallace they haue gardines, orchards, woodes, and groues, whereas is all manner of hunt, and foule, and great pondes full of fish. and, to conclude, they haue all manner of pleasures and delites, that may be inuented or had in any banketting house in the fielde. in all this kingdome there is not one that is lorde ouer any subiect or vassales (as they of turkie), neither haue they any iurisdiction proper, but that which is his patrimonie and moueables, or that which the king doth giue them in recompence of good seruice or gouernment, or for any other particular respect: all the which dooth end with the person, and is returned againe vnto the king, except he will giue it vnto the sonne of him that is dead, in curtesie more then by obligation or duetie: giuing to vnderstande that it is to auoyd inconueniences and occasions of treasons, which might grow if that there were any lords that were rich or of power, and not for couetousnes or any other intent. those whom he dooth put in authoritie, whether they are vizroyes, gouernours, or captaine generals, or whatsoeuer they be, hee giueth vnto them large wages, sufficient to sustaine them in their office, in so ample sort, that it is rather ouerplus vnto them then lacke; for that he will not that their necessitie compell them to take presents or bribes, which thing doth blinde them, that they cannot do iustice vprightly: and vnto him that doth receiue or take any such (although it be but of smal prise) he is cruelly punished. chap. iii. _the number of such subiects as doo pay vnto the king tribute in all these fifteene prouinces._ vnderstanding the greatnesse of this kingdome of china, and the infinite number of people that is therein, it is an easie thing to bee beleeued, the number that euery prouince hath of such as do pay tribute, as is taken out of the booke that the officers haue, whereby they do recouer that tribute: and it is affirmed, that there are as many more, such as are free and do pay no tribute. the loytians and ministers of iustice, all sorts of soldiers, both by sea and land (which is an infinite number), are free and do pay nothing; the number as followeth. the prouince of paguia[ ] hath two millions seuen hundred and foure thousand that doth pay tribute to the king. the prouince of santon, millions and thousand tributers. the prouince of foquien, two millions foure hundred and seuen thousand tributers. the prouince of olam, two millions two hundred and foure thousand tributers. the prouince of sinsay, three millions three hundred and foure score thousand. the prouince of susuan, two millions and fiftie thousand. the prouince of tolanchia, there where as the king is resident, and is the biggest of them al, sixe millions fourescore and ten thousand. the prouince of cansay, two millions three hundred and fiue thousand. the prouince of oquiam, three millions and eight hundred thousand. the prouince of ancheo, two millions eight hundred and foure thousand. the prouince of gonan, one million and two hundred thousand. the prouince of xanton, one million nine hundred fortie and foure thousand. the prouince of quicheu, two millions thirtie and foure thousand. the prouince of chequeam, two millions two hundred and fortie foure thousand. the prouince of sancii, which is the least of all the prouinces, hath one million sixe hundred threescore and twelue thousand tributers. by this account it is found, that the tribute payers are verie many: and it is approoued in manie places of this historie whereas they do treate of the greatnes of this kingdome, that it is the mightiest and biggest that is to bee read of in all the world. god, for his mercies sake, bring them to the knowledge of his lawe, and take them out from the tyrannie of the diuell, wherein they are wrapped. chap. iv. _the tribute that the king hath in these fifteene prouinces, according vnto the truest relation._ although this kingdome is great and very rich, yet there is none that doth pay so little tribute ordinarily vnto their king as they do, neither amongst christians, moores, nor gentiles, that we know. the extraordinary and personall seruice is very much, that in some respect wee may say that they are more slaues than free men, for that they do not possesse one foote of land; but they pay tribute in respect whereof, as also for the great misusing of them by their gouernours, will bee a great part and occasion to inuite them to receiue the lawe of the gospell, and that with great facilitie to inioy the libertie of the same. the ordinarie tribute that euery one dooth pay that dooth keepe house, is two mases[ ] euery yeare, which is as much as two spanish rials of plate. this tribute is verie little, yet the loytians (which is a great part of the kingdome) do pay none, neither their gouernours nor ministers, captaines nor souldiours: the multitude of the people is so great, and the kingdome so bigge, that alonely that which they giue for expences of the king and his court is woonderfull, with customes, dueties, portages, and other rents: not accounting that which is paide vnto garisons and souldiers of that kingdome, neither in that which is spent in repairing of walles of particular cities, and in men of warre at sea, and campes by land, to gouernoures and iustices, which doth not enter into this account. [sidenote: the rent of the king.] the rent which remaineth vnto the king ordinarily is this that followeth, and is taken with great regard out of the booke of his excheker. yet the chinos do say that it is much lesse then that they do pay at this time; for that this is of old antiquitie, when as the tributes were lesse: the tributes as followeth. [sidenote: pure gold.] of pure golde, from seuenteene to two and twentie killates,[ ] they giue him foure millions, and two hundred fiftie sixe thousand and nine hundred taes:[ ] euerie one is worth ten rials and foure and twentie marauadies spanish mony. [sidenote: fine siluer.] of fine siluer, three millions one hundred fiftie three thousand two hundred and nineteene taes. [sidenote: pearles.] the mines of pearles, whereof you haue many in this kingdome (although they are not verie round), is woorth vnto him commonly two millions sixe hundred and thirtie thousand taes. [sidenote: precious stones.] of precious stones of all sorts, as they come from the mines, one million foure hundred three score and ten thousand taes. [sidenote: muske and amber.] of muske and amber, one million and thirtie fiue thousande taes. of earthen dishes and vessell, fourscore thousand taes. besides all this, the king doth put forth verie much ground to his subiects, and they do pay him with part of the croppe that they gather, or with the cattle that they bring vp on ye same grounde. [sidenote: rice.] the quantitie that they pay him is as followeth. of cleane rice (which is a common victuall throughout all the kingdome, and of the countries adioyning to them) they pay him three score millions, one hundred three score and eleuen thousand, eight hundred thirtie and two hanegges. [sidenote: barley] of barley, twentie nine millions, three hundred foure score and eleuen thousand, nine hundred fourescore and two hanegges. [sidenote: wheate.] of wheat like vnto that in spaine, thirtie three millions, one hundred twentie thousand and two hundred hanegges. [sidenote: salt.] of salt, twentie fiue millions three hundred and fortie thousand foure hundred hanegges, which is made in his owne salt pits, and is of a great rent. [sidenote: mayz.] of wheat called mayz, twentie millions two hundred and fiftie thousand hanegs. [sidenote: millo.] of millio,[ ] twentie foure millions of hanegges. [sidenote: panizo.] of panizo,[ ] fourteene millions and two hundred thousande hanegges. [sidenote: other graine.] of other different graine and seeds, fortie millions and two thousand hanegges. [sidenote: peeces of silk.] they doo pay him in peeces of silke, of fourteene vares long the peece, two hundred fiue thousand and fiue hundred ninetie peeces. [sidenote: raw silke.] [sidenote: cotton wool.] of raw silke in bundles, fiue hundred and fortie thousande pounds. of cotton wool, three hundred thousand pounds. [sidenote: mantels.] of mantles wrought of all colours, eight hundred thousand and foure hundred mantles. of chimantas[ ] made of rawe silke, that waieth twelue pound a peece, three hundred thousand sixe hundred and eightie of them. of mantles made of cotton of fourty vares, sixe hundred seuenty eight thousand, eight hundred and seuentie. of chimantas of cotton, three hundred foure thousand sixe hundred forty and eight. all this aforesaide is for expenses of the court, which is great. the chinos yt come vnto the philippinas do affirme the same, and do not differ in the report, which is a signe to be true: likewise they do receiue of it in his tresurie, whereas is many millions, and cannot be otherwise, considering his great rentes. chap. v. _of the men of war that are in the fifteene prouinces, as wel footmen as horsemen, and of the great care they haue in the gard of the kingdome._ [sidenote: great care for to defend their countrie.] looke what care and diligence this mightie king hath, that iustice should be ministred with right and equitie: so likewise (yea and much more) he hath touching matters that may preuent wars, which be offered by princes adiacent vnto him, or any other whatsoeuer. but in especiall with the tartarians, with whom they haue had continuall wars many years. (although at this day) that the tartarians doo feare him very much: in such sort as he thinketh it best to keepe him for his friende, and doth acknowledge vnto him a certain manner of vassalage. and although at this present and long time since, he hath bin and is without any occasion of wars, that should come vpon a sodain; yet hath he had manie and grieuous enimies to defend himselfe from, or to offend them, as you shall perceiue in this that followeth. for besides that he hath in euery prouince his president and counsell of war, captaine generall, and others ordinarie to take vp people, and ordaine their campes and squadrons as well by sea as by land, to serue at all assaies when that occasion shall serue; so likewise he hath in euery city captaines and souldiers for their particular garde and defence, and doo range and watch to set their garde in order both day and night, as though their enimies were at the gates. this military order they do vse and maintaine, in such sort that no nation knowne may be compared vnto them. although, speaking generally, (according vnto the relation of certaine spanish souldiers that were there, and did manie times see them) there be other nations that do exceed them both in valiantnesse, courage, and worthinesse of mind. they haue at the gates of all their cities their squadrons, who let[ ] the entrie and going out of any whatsoeuer, except he haue licence of the iustice of that citie or towne, brought them in writing: the which gates they do shut and open by order and licence of their captaines, which is sent vnto them euery day, written in whited tables, and their sine vnto it. these gates are the force of all the cittie, and thereon is planted all the artilerie they haue; nigh vnto the which gate, is ordinarily the house whereas they are founded or made. at night, when they do shut their gates, they do glew papers vpon the ioinings of them: then they doo seale the papers, with the seale that the gouernour or iudge of that cittie doth weare on his finger, the which is done by himselfe, or by some other in whom he hath great confidence and trust: and they cannot open them againe in the morning vntill such time as it bee seene and acknowledged that it hath not been touched since the night that it was put on. so that if any haue any iourney to ride very early in the morning, he must go forth of the citie ouer night, before the gates be shut, and remaine in the suburbs: for out of the cittie it is not possible to goe vntill the gates be open, which is not till the sunne be vp ordinarily. they do not vse any castles nor forts, but great bulwarkes and gun bankes, whereas they haue continuall watch, and doo change by quarters according as wee do vse: and the officers with a great number of souldiers do range throughout the city, and bulworkes: and commonly the captaines be naturall of those prouinces, whereas they haue their charge giuen them in consideration that the loue they haue to their countrie, doo binde them to fight to the death for the defence thereof. and for that there should be more quietnesse and rest in the cities, it is not permitted that any do weare weapons, defensiues, nor offensiues, but onely such souldiers as haue the kings pay: neither do they consent they should haue them in their houses, neither vse any in trauaile by sea nor lande. besides all this, the king hath in the citie of taybin and suntiem (whereas hee is resident), and in such cities lying there about, a great number both of horsemen and footemen, alwaies in a readinesse for to go with him into any place, for the safegarde of his person in time of necessitie. [sidenote: uerie ill horsemen.] the souldiers of his kingdome are in two sortes and manners, the one sort are such as bee and are naturals of the citie whereas they haue their charge, and these be called in their language cum: in this place the sonne doth succeed the father, and for lacke of an heire, the king doth prouide one in the dead man's place. euery one of them hath his name written vpon the post of his doore, and the place appointed whither he shal go when occasion shall serue (enemies being against that cittie or towne). the other sort of souldiers are strangers, and are consorted for yeares or monethes to serue. these be they that ordinarily make their watches, musters, and ioyne companies for the receit of the captaines: these be called in their language pon.[ ] these goe from one place vnto another, whereas they are commanded to go. one captaine and ancient hath charge of a thousand, and a meaner captaine with his ancient a hundreth, that doo depend vpon the other. so that for to knowe the number of people that is in a great campe, it is done with great ease in accounting the ensignes of a thousand men, which are easily knowne. euery chiefe or petie captaine of these, hath his house vpon the cittie wal, and his name put on it, and there he dwelleth so long as the warres indureth. these captaines euery moneth do exercise their souldiers in marching and putting them in order: sometime with quick speed, and other times more slower, and to giue assalt and retyre as they are taught by the sound of the drum: this they do vse continually in the time of peace, as well as in the time of warre: also how to vse their weapons, which are ordinarie, hargabuses, pikes, targets, faunchers,[ ] brushebilles,[ ] holbards, dagars, and armour. the horsemen do vse in the warres to carrie foure swords hanging at their saddell bowes, and doo fight with two at once, with great dexteritie and gallant to behold. these do accustome to go into the wars accompanied with many seruants, and familiar friends on foote, all wel armed after the gallantest manner that possibly they may. these footemen be marueillous full of policie, and ingenious in warlike or martiall affaires: and although they haue some valor for to assalt and abide the enemie, yet doo they profite themselues of policies, deuises and instruments of fire, and of fire workes. thus do they vse as wel by land in their wars as by sea, many bomes[ ] of fire, full of old iron, and arrowes made with powder and fire worke, with the which they doo much harm and destroy their enimies. the horsemen do fight with bowes and arrowes, and lances, and with two swordes (as i haue saide before), and some with hargabuses. they cannot gouerne their horses very wel, for that they haue but one peece of iron that is crosse in their mouthes that serueth for a bridle; and for to make them stay, they pull but one raine, and with clapping their hands together and making of a noise before them. they haue very ill saddels, so that they be al verie ill horsemen. the like prouision hath the king for the sea: hee hath great fleetes of ships, furnished with captaines and men, that doo scoure and defend the costs of the countrie with great diligence and watchings. the souldiers, as well by land as by sea, are paid with great liberalitie, and those that do aduantage themselues in valor, are very much esteemed, and haue great preferment and rewards. when these chinos doo take anie prisoner in the wars, they doo not kill him, nor giue him more punishment, but to serue as a souldier in that countrie in the farthest parts from their naturall, the king paying him his wages as other souldiers are paid. these for that they may be knowne doo weare redde bonnets, but in their other apparell they do differ nothing from the chinos. likewise such as be condemned by iustice for criminall offences, to serue in any frontier (as is vsed much amongst them), they also weare redde caps or bonnets: and so it is declared in their sentence, that they do condemme them to the red bonnet. chap. vi. _more of the men of war which are in al these fifteene prouinces, and how many there be in euery one of them, as well horsemen as footemen._ in the chapter past you do vnderstande what care these chinos haue in the time of peace as well as in warre for to defend their citties, and what preparations they haue generrally throughout al the countrie. now lacketh to let you know particularly the number that euery prouince hath in it selfe, the better to vnderstand the mightinesse therof. they haue in euerie prouince in their chiefe or metropolitan citie, a counsell of warre, with a president and foure counsailers; all the which are such as haue bin brought vp from their youth in the wars, with experience of the vse of armour and weapon: so that vnto them is giuen the charge for the defence of their prouince. these counsellors doo ordaine captaines, and prouide other officers and all necessaries for the warres, and send them vnto such cities and townes whereas they see it is needfull. and for that in the accomplishing thereof there shalbe no lacke, the treasurer is commanded to deliuer vnto them whatsoeuer they do aske without any delay. [sidenote: the number of souldiers in all china.] the number of the souldiers that euery prouince had in the yeare , at such time as frier martin de herrada and his companie entered into china (hauing no wars, but great peace and quietnesse), is as followeth. the prouince of paguia, whereas ordinarily the king is resident, hath two millions and one hundred and fiftie thousand footemen, and foure hundred thousand horsemen. the prouince of santon hath one hundred and twenty thousand footemen, and fortie thousand horsemen. the prouince of foquien hath eight and fiftie thousande and nine hundred footemen, and twentie two thousand foure hundred horsemen. the prouince of olam hath three score and sixteene thousand footemen, and twentie fiue thousande fiue hundred horsemen. the prouince of cinsay hath eightie thousand three hundred footemen, but of horsemen verie few or none; for that this prouince and the other that followe, are all mountaines, and ful of rockes and stones. the prouince of oquiam hath twentie thousand and sixe hundred footemen, and no horsemen, for the reason aforesaide. the prouince of susuan foure score and sixe thousande footemen, and foure and thirtie thousande and fiue hundred horsemen. the prouince of tolanchia, which is that which doth border vpon the tartarians, with whom the kings of china haue had wars (as aforesaid), hath two millions and eight hundred thousand footemen, and two hundred and ninety thousand horsemen, and are the most famous and best in all the whole kingdome: for that they are brought vp in the use of armour from their youth, and many times exercised the same in times past, when they had their ordinary war with their borderers the tartarians. the prouince of cansey hath fiftie thousand footemen, and twentie thousand two hundred and fiftie horsemen. the prouince of ancheo (there whereas the friers were) hath foure score and sixe thousand footemen, and fortie eight thousand horsemen. the prouince of gonan, fortie foure thousand footemen, and fourteene thousand fiue hundred horsemen. the prouince of xanton hath fiftie two thousand footemen, and eighteene thousand nine hundred horsemen. the prouince of quincheu, hath fortie eight thousand and seuen hundred footemen, and fifteene thousande three hundred horsemen. the prouince of chequeam, thirty foure thousand footmen, and thirteene thousand horsemen. the prouince of sancii, which is least of them all, hath forty thousand footemen, and sixe thousand horsemen. [sidenote: the souldier is royall paid.] [sidenote: the number of footemen and horsemen.] all these people aforesaid, euery prouince is bound (by an order set downe in parlement) to haue in a redinesse, the which is an easie thing to be done; the one is for that the king doth pay them roiallie, the other for that they do dwel in their owne natural countries and houses, wheras they do injoy their patrimonies and goods: leauing it vnto their sonnes. in the time of wars, they are bound to assist the place that hath most necessitie. by this account it plainely appeareth that all these prouinces (which may better be called kingdomes, considering their greatnes) haue fiue millions and eight hundred fourtie sixe thousand and fiue hundred footemen, and nine hundred fortie eight thousand three hundred and fiftie horsemen. all the which, if in valor and valientnes might be equalled vnto our nations in europe, they were sufficient to conquer ye whole world. and although they are more in number and equal in policies, yet in their valientnesse and courage they are far behind. their horse for the most part are little, but great traueilers: yet they say, within the countrie there are verie great and excellent good horse. i do not here declare the industrie that might (with the fauour of god) be vsed to win and ouercome this people, for that the place serueth not for it; and i haue giuen large notice thereof, vnto whom i am bound. and againe, my profession is more to bee a meanes vnto peace, then to procure any warres; and if that which is my desire might be doone, it is, that with the word of god, which is the sworde that cutteth the hearts of men, wherewith i hope in the lorde to see it. chap. vii. _of a law amongst the chinos, that they cannot make anie wars out of their owne countrie, neither go forth of the same, neither can any stranger come in without licence of the king._ [sidenote: they haue no neede of other nations.] [sidenote: straight lawes.] although in many things that haue bin seene in this kingdome is shewed and declared the sharpe and ripe witts of these men, and with what wisedome and prudence they doo most manifest the same (in my iudgment) is in that which shalbe declared in this chapter. they without all doubt seeme to exceede the greekes, carthagenians, and romanes, of whom the old ancient histories haue signified to vs, and also of those later times; who for to conquere strange countries did separate themselues so farre from their natural, that they lost their owne countries at home. but these of this kingdome being forewarned (as ye prouerbe saith:) felix quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum. by the hurt of another, etc., they haue found by experience yt to go forth of their owne kingdome to conquer others, is the spoile and losse of much people, and expences of great treasures, besides the trauaile and care which continually they haue to sustaine that which is got, with feare to be lost againe: so that in the meane time whilest they were occupied in strange conquests, their enimies, the tartarians and other kings borderers vnto them, did trouble and inuade them, doing great damage and harme. and more, considering that they do possesse one of the greatest and best kingdomes of the world, as well for riches as for fertility, by reason whereof, and by the great aboundance of things that the country doth yeeld, many strange nations do profite themselues from them, and they haue need of none other nation, for that they haue sufficient of all things necessarie to the mainteining of humane life. in consideration whereof they called a generall court of parliament, whether came all vizroyes and gouernours and other principall men of all the fifteene prouinces: and there they did communicate, to put remedy in this great inconuenience in the best manner possible. then after they had wel considered of the same with great care and diligence, taking the iudgment particular of euery one, and in generall by common consent, they found it requisit for their quietnes and profite, and a thing most conuenient for the common wealth to leaue al yt they had got and gained out of their owne kingdome, but specially such countries as were farre off. and from that day forwards not to make any wars in any place: for that from thence did proceed a known damage and a doubtfull profite: and being altogether conformable, they did request the king that was at that present that he would cal home al such people as he had in other kingdomes bordering there about vnder his obedience, perswading him that in so doing, he should remaine a mightie prince, more richer, more in quiet and in more securitie. then the king perceiuing the request and petition of his kingdome and subiects, and being fully satisfied that this perswasion was requisite to be put in execution: he straight wayes set it a worke, and commanded vpon great penalties, that al his subiects and vassals naturall that were in any strange countries, that in a time limited, they should returne home to their owne country and houses: and likewise to the gouernours of the same countries, that they should in his name abandon and leaue the dominion and possession that he had of them: excepting such as would of their owne good will acknowledge vassalage, and giue him tribute, and remaine friends, as vnto this day the lechios[ ] and other nations do. this law was then established and is inuiolablie kept to this day: in the which it is first commanded that none whatsoeuer, vpon paine of death, shall make or begin warre in any part without his licence. also on the said penaltie, that no subiect of his shall nauigate by sea out of the kingdome without the said licence. also that whatsoeuer will go from one prouince to another within the said kingdome, to traficke in buying and selling, shall giue sureties to returne againe in a certaine time limited, vpon paine to bee disnaturalled of the countrie. likewise that no stranger whatsoeuer shall come in by sea nor by land, without his express licence, or of the gouernours of such ports or places whereas they shall come or ariue. and this licence must be giuen with great consideration, aduising the king therof. all which lawes haue beene the occasion that this mightie kingdome hath not come to notice and knowledge but of late yeares. all the which that is said, seemeth to be true, for that it is cleerely found in their histories and books of nauigations of old antiquitie: whereas it is plainely seene that they did come with the shipping vnto the indies, hauing conquered al that is from china, vnto the farthest part thereof. of all the which they indured possessors in great quietnes, till such time as they ordeined the law of abandoning of their owne good will, as aforesaid. so that at this day there is great memory of them in the ilands philippinas and on the cost of coromande, which is the cost against the kingdome of norsinga[ ] towards the sea of cengala;[ ] whereas is a towne called vnto this day the soile of the chinos, for that they did reedifie and make the same. the like notice and memory is there in the kingdom of calicut, wheras be many trees and fruits, that the naturals of that countrie do say, were brought thither by the chinos, when that they were lords and gouernours of that countrie. likewise in those dayes they were of malaca, siam, and chapaa,[ ] and other of their borderers. also it is to be beleeued of ye ilands of iapon, for that there are many token unto the chinos unto this day, and the naturals of the country are much after the fashion of the chinos, and many particular things that do giue vs to vnderstand: and some lawes that are obserued and kept in china. but now in these dayes the gouernors of the sea ports do dispence with the law that forbiddeth ye going out of the kingdome, by certaine gifts which is giuen them by merchants to giue them secret licence, that they may go and trafficke in ilands bordering there about, as vnto the philippinas, whither come euery yeare many ships laden with merchandise of great riches, of the which is brought many times into spaine. likewise they do trauaile vnto other parts and places, wheras they vnderstand they may profite themselues. yet they do not giue any such licence vntill they haue giuen sureties to returne within one whole yeare. the desire of gain hath caused them to traueile to mexico, whither came the yeare past in anno three merchants of china, with verie curious things, and neuer staied till they came into spaine and into other kingdomes further off. likewise the said iudge and gouernours doo giue licence vnto strangers (in the order aforesaid) for to enter into their ports to buy and sel, but first vpon examination and charge, that they should haue a great care not to demand any licence but to the same intent. then haue they their licence with a time limited, and with condition that they shall not procure to goe about their cities, neither to see the secrets thereof. and this is giuen in writing vpon a whited table, which is set vpon the fore partes of their ships, that when they come to an anker in any port it may be seene of the keepers and guards that they sinke them not, but let them peaceably to enter and to trafficke in buying and selling, paying their ordinarie customes due vnto the king. in euery port there is a scriuener or notarie, put there by the gouerners, that dooth set downe in memorie the day and houre that any shippe doth enter in, in order that, whether hee be a stranger or natural, to take in his lading and dispatch, according vnto the old custome of those ports, the which is inuiolably kept; which is the occasion that they do lade and dispatch in so short a time, and with so great quietnesse, as though there were but one shippe, although many times you shall see in one port two thousande ships small and great. in this sort, with a bought licence, did the portugals traficke from the indies in canton, a prouince of this kingdome, and in other parts of that kingdome, as they themselues haue declared, and likewise the chinos. chap. viii. _of the kings royall counsell, and the order they haue to know euerie moneth what dooth passe in all the kingdome._ the king hath in the citie of tabin,[ ] whereas he is resident, a royall counsell of twelue counsellers, and a president, chosen men throughout al the kingdome, and such as haue had experience in gouernement many yeares. for to be one of the counsell, it is the highest and supremest dignitie that a man can come vnto; for that (as aforesaid) in all this kingdome there is neither prince, duke, marquesse, earle, nor lord, that hath any subiectes, but the king only, and the prince his sonne. these counsellers, and the gouernors of these prouinces by them appointed, bee such personages, that they are respected and esteemed for the time of their continuance in the same estimation, as is the other, where as they haue these titles. [sidenote: councillors must be expert in sciences.] for to be one of this counsell, it is not sufficient that they be expert and learned in the lawes of the countrie, and in morall and naturall philosophie, and commenced in the same, but they must be also expert in astrologie and iudgements. for they say, he that must be of this supreme counsell, by whome is gouerned all these fifteene prouinces: it is requisite that they know all this that is saide, for to prognosticate what shall succeede and happen, the better to prouide for all necessities that shall come. these twelue doo sit in counsell ordinarily in the kinges pallace, for the which there is a hall appointed, maruellous richly trimmed: and in the same thirteene chayres, sixe of them of golde, and sixe of siluer: both the one and the other of great price, wrought with great curiositie: yet the thirteenth is more richer, for that it is of golde and set full of precious stones of great value, and that is placed in the middest of them vnder a canopie or cloth of estate, of cloth of gold: in the which is imbrodered the kinges armes, and is as it is saide, certaine serpentes, wrought with golde wyer: in this chayre the president doth sitte when the king is not in presence: but if hee be there (as seeldome he is) then doth the president sit in the first and highest of the chaires on the right hand, which be of gold: in the which, and in the other of siluer, they bee placed according vnto their antiquitie: in this sort, that if the president do die, then do the most auncient proceede and inherite his roome, and in his chaire doth the fift person rise on the side of the golden chaires: and so from the fourth vnto the fift: and in this order all the rest arise in the chaires of siluer, passing into the other chaires of golde. this may the president doo, preferring euerie one in order (if any doo die) without the consent of the king. and if any of these chaires be voyd, then doth the counsell choose an other by voices: the which is done by vprightnes, and he which hath the most is preferred; but the chiefest in this preferment is merit and sufficiencie. if he that is chosen be absent in any gouernment, then doo they send for him; but if hee be present in the citie, then doo they carrie him before the king, giuing him to vnderstand of their election, in whose power it is to accept or to make it voyde, which neuer doth happen. then the king himselfe on his owne handes, according vnto their custome, doth make him sweare a solemne oth that he shall doo vpright iustice according vnto the lawes of the countrie, and that he shall likewise doo vprightly in the choosing of viceroyes and gouernours or any other iustices, and not be led with affections nor passions, neyther receiue anie bribes himself nor any other for him: with many other things in this order and effect: and aboue all thinges hee shall not bee partaker, neyther consent to anye treason at anie time against the king: but rather if that hee doo vnderstande of anie such, directly or indirectly, he shall straight wayes giue the kinge to vnderstande thereof, or his counsell, of all that he dooth knowe or vnderstande, alwaye favouring with his industrie and force the preseruation of peace and life of the king. this oth of homage being doone, they doo carrie him vnto the chaire which is on the left hande in the hall, and doo giue him the possession with great solemnitie; for the which, certaine dayes after there is great feastes in the citie, as well by them of the counsell as by the citizens and courtiers: during the which time, the marchants do leaue their contractions and trafickes, and handicraft men their occupations. if any occasion bee requisite to talke with the king, there is none that speaketh with him but the president, and if it so fall out that hee be sicke, then the most auncient and vppermost in the golden chayres dooth talke with him at all times when neede requireth; but when hee talketh with him hee is on his knees, and his eyes inclyned to the grounde, and neuer mooueth although the talke endureth two houres. he is paide with the same money that all viceroyes, gouernours, iustices, and captaines of the kingdome are: when they will talke with the president, it is in the self same order. in this royall counsell euerie moneth they doo knowe all thinges that doo happen in all the kingdome woorthie to bee aduised of, and this is without falt; for that those which doo gouerne the prouinces haue expresse commandement to sende notice vnto the court of all thinges that doo happen in anye of their prouinces touching warres, the estate of the countrie, the kinges rents, or any other thing: the which is accomplished with so great care, that although it bee a prouince distant fiue hundred leagues from the court, yet the post doth not misse his day appointed. and those which do first come, do tarrie till the last or furthest off doo come, and then vpon the day appointed they do all together giue their relations. those which are farre off for to be at the court so soone and at the instant as those which are nigh at hand, doo send postes daily, that the one may ouertake the other. they do run post after the vse of italy and spain with a horne, but they were woont to haue a coller of belles, the better to be heard: so yt the postmasters when they do heare the horne or bels, do straight waies bridle their horse to be in a readines. likewise, if their iourney be to passe by water (as many times it hapneth), then ye boat-men do make their barks readie. then when the counsell hath taken relation of all the posts in effect, the president incontinent doth giue a straight account thereof vnto the king: then hee, or the counsell by his order (if anie such neede requireth), do put remedie for that that is needfull for the time. and if it be requisite to send any iustice about the same, he is straight wayes appointed, and dispatched and sent in all haste and with great secrecie: and this iustice doth make inquiries in such sort that it is not knowen, no not in the citie where the fault is committed. and for that, touching this matter, it shall bee spoken of more at large in chapters following, i will conclude with this: that this king will haue such dominion ouer his kingdome and subiectes, that although it be great with so manie prouinces, cities, and townes, yet not one uiceroy, gouernor, nor iustice can put any man vnto death, without his sentence be first confirmed by the kinge and his royall counsell, except it be in the warres actually, for that there in the delaying thereof may growe some perill; therefore they doo permit the captaine generall or his lieftenant, to behead or hang what so euer souldier that shall offende or doo anie ill thing; this may they do without consentment of the king or his counsell, onely with the consentment of the kinges treasorer, or of the generall of the fielde: the which bee both of them graue personages, and they must be both conformable in their iudgementes or else they cannot execute death. chap. ix. _of such presidents and ministers as the king doth put in euerie prouince, and the order that they haue in their gouernment._ [sidenote: euery prouince hath his viceroy.] you do vnderstande howe the two prouinces, paguia and tolanchia are gouerned by the supreme counsell of the king, and such ministers as they doo send to gouerne. the other thirteene prouinces that do remaine, haue eyther of them a vizroy or gouernor, whom the common people do call insuanto;[ ] who is continually resident, and doth dwell in the metropolitane citie, whereof the prouince doth commonly beare the name. and although all the kinges officers and iustices of what sort of administration they are, be generally called by the name of loytia;[ ] yet euerie one hath a speciall and a particular name besides, according vnto his office that he doth execute: of the which and of their proper names i will giue you to vnderstand, for that it doth differ from our purpose. the vizroy, that is in euery prouince principall and supreme magistrate in place of the king, they do call him comon.[ ] the second in dignitie is the gouernour of all the prouince, and he is called insuanto, who hath verie little less maiestie than the viceroy: then the corregidor or gouernor that is resident in any citie, where as is neither viceroy nor gouernor, is called tutuan,[ ] all of this degree. of any thing that is of importance, of what citie soeuer they be, they do giue relation thereof vnto the higher gouernor, called insuanto, and likewise this insuanto vnto the viceroy or comon, whose charge is to giue the king to vnderstand thereof or his royall counsell, by the postes that we haue spoken of before. the third in dignitie is called ponchasi;[ ] this is the president or counsell, of the kinges reuenewes, who hath vnder him a counsell and many ministers and officers, as sargents and others, which do recouer the rents in euery province. this state dooth giue account of all his office vnto the tutuan, after that he hath paide all kind of wages and charges ordinarie and extraordinarie due to any officer of the kinges in all that prouince. [sidenote: captaine generall.] the fourth degree or dignitie is called totoc,[ ] and this is captaine generall of all souldiers, as well footmen as horsemen. the fift is called anchasi;[ ] he is president and gouernour ouer iustices both criminall and ciuill: and doth determine with his counsell of matters in difference, whatsoeuer that do appeale vnto him from other meaner iustices. the sixt is called aytao:[ ] this is generall puruier and president of the counsell of warre, whose office is to prouide souldiers when that it is requisite or necessitie demaundeth, and to prouide ships, munitions, and victuals for any fleete that shall passe by sea, as that shall be requisite by land, and for the suppliment of garisons in cities and coastes. to this is giuen the charge to examine such strangers that do come to any prouince, to knowe of whence they are, and wherefore they do come, and of all other thinges, and after beeing knowen, to giue the viceroy to vnderstand thereof, and of all thinges needful. these sixe offices or charge are of great authoritie, and they that haue the execution thereof are had in great reuerence: euerie one of them hath in societie or counsell tenne, which are men chosen of great experience and diligence, and they do help him in the exhibition and dispatch of matters touching that office. when they are in place of counsell, which is in the pallace of the viceroy (whereas euerie office hath his place appointed, garnished in very good order), their sociates are diuided in two partes, fiue of them do sit on the right hand of the president, and fiue on the left hand; those which do sit on the right hande are the most auncientes and haue the more preheminence, and doo differ from the other that be on the left hande in this only, for that they do weare wastes or girdels imbossed with gold, and yealow hattes: and they on the left hand haue their girdels imbossed with siluer, and weare blewe hats; the which girdels, with gold and siluer, and hats yealow and blewe, there is none that is permitted to weare but onelye the counsellers. likewise these and the presidents do weare the kinges armes on their breastes and backes imbrodered with golde, without the which they can not goe foorth to anie place where they must be seen, neyther sitte in iustice to determine anie thing whatsoeuer. if they doo, they are not onely disobedient, but are seuerely punished at the time of their visitation. [sidenote: a very good propertie of iustices.] if the president of any of these counsels doo die, then one of the auncientest of the counsellers dooth succeede him in the office, obseruing in all thinges the order, as i haue saide in the chapter past, of the royall counsell. all these iustices generally haue a maruellous morall vertue, and that is, they be all very patient in hearing any complaynt, although it be declared with choller and proude speech. it is the first thing that is taught them in their schooles: they are verye well nourtered, and courteous in their speeches, although it bee with them that they haue condemned by lawe. if that vppon any necessitie they must goe into any part of the prouince to make any information of importance, then is appointed one of the counsell, and hee goeth alone, but he hath with him the authoritie of them all. besides these sixe counsellers or iudges aforesaide, there bee others of lesse dignitie (although greatly respected, as all ministers of iustice bee in this kingdome), and they are called as followeth: cautoc, this is the chiefe auncient-bearer;[ ] pochim,[ ] the seconde treasourer; pochinsi, he that keepeth the seale royall; antzatzi,[ ] he is as the maior or bailife of any citie or towne. there be also other three officers, which are called guytay,[ ] tzia,[ ] toutay,[ ] these doo keepe court and haue audience in their houses once a weeke; and when they do open their doores, there is shott off foure peeces of artilerie, to giue all men to vnderstande that they are in place, readie to heare, and to doo iustice. if they do finde any that is culpable or faultie, they doo straight wayes sende them with a sargent vnto the ordinarie iustice of the citie, which is called zompau, with a bill or note, in the which is signified the punishment that he must haue. [sidenote: a very good order.] euerie ordinarie iustice hath committed to his charge a thousand souldiers. he can not exceed his limit nor iurisdiction, neyther can anie other haue to doo in his charge. euerie night they doo range their circuit, and doo cause that euery one may be quiet in his house, and to put out their candelles and lightes in time to auoyde fires, which hath happened amongest them verie great, by reason that their houses are so neere one to an other, and all the vpper partes of their houses wrought with tymber, according vnto the vse of byskaye: and all suche as they doo finde with light after the houre limited, they are punished verie asperly. from these there is no appellation but vnto suche iustices as are sent from the court, and besides them vnto none but vnto the visiters that doo come ordinarily, who doo vndoo and make satisfaction of all griefes or wronges doone by the other, and these are called in their language gomdim, which is as much to say, a righter of all griefe: this man is respected more than all the rest. besides all these there be other particular officers, which be called tompo:[ ] these haue the charge to see the prouision of victualles, and to put a price on them; an other is called tibuco,[ ] he that dooth arest and punish vagabundes and idle persons. quinche[ ] is the cheefe sargent, chomcan[ ] is the keeper of the prison: this is one that they haue in great reuerence, for that he hath a priuilege aboue all the rest: that after hee hath done his dutie vpon his knees at his first entrie, hee may tell his tale on foote, and so can not the rest doo, but kneeling. when that these gouernours or iustices doo newly come into these prouinces or cities, ordeyned and sent by the supreme counsell, they doo sende two or three dayes before they come themselues their letters patentes and prouisions: the which being seene and obeyed, there goeth foorth to receiue him all the loytias and men of warre with their souldiers and ensignes military, and other officers, making great feastes and pastimes. likewise the citizens at this time doo hange their streetes with clothes of silke and other thinges very richly, and trimmed with flowers, bearing him companie vnto his lodging with much musicke and sound of instrumentes. aboue all these dignities and offices there is one which is called quinchay, which is to be vnderstood in their language "the golden seale"; this goeth not from the court, but vpon waightie matters and of great importance touching the quietnesse of all the kingdome. the order they haue in the choyse of these iustices and officers, and of other matters touching good gouernment, shall be declared vnto you in the chapter following. chap. x. _here is prosecuted the manner how they do choose their gouernors and iustices, and howe they doo execute the same._ [sidenote: a very good consideration.] all such officers as i haue declared vnto you in the chapter past, the king dooth ordaine them by consent of his counsell, who doo informe themselues with a particular diligence of the qualitie and behauiour of the person that shall be elected. the principall matter that they doo aduertise themselues is, that the viceroy, gouernour, or counsellor be not a naturall of that countrey that he is prouided for; and that for to preuent the inconuenience that might happen in the executing of good iustice, which many times chaunceth, eyther for the loue of his friendes and kinsfolkes, or else for the hate hee hath to his enimies. all such as are prouided in these offices, after that they do depart from the court whereas the charge is giuen them, til they come to the prouince, citie, or towne, whereas they shall remaine in iustice, they doo spende nothing on their owne horses; for that in all places whereas they doo trauaile or come, the king hath houses appointed, whereas they are receiued and lodged, and serued of all thinges necessarie, as well for horses for themselues as horses for them that come with him; likewise of barkes and boates, if that his iourney be by water, all is of free cost: it is all appointed what they shall haue to eate, which is conformable vnto the qualitie of his person, and the office he hath in charge. and when they do come vnto such houses as are appointed by the king to receiue and cherish them, they of the house do aske him if he will haue his pittance or ordinarie in money or in victualles; who, if he haue any kinsfolkes or friendes in that place that will inuite him, then dooth hee demand it in money, and keepe it to himselfe. these houses are maruelously well prouided of beds, and all other things necessarie; for that the ponchas, who is president of the kinges reuenewes, hath a particular care to see all these things well furnished, by a commandement from the king and the supreme counsell. when they doo come vnto the citie or towne whereas they take the charge of gouernment, after they haue giuen the intertainment vnto them with feasts and pastime, as is declared in the chapter past, then do they bring him and lodge him in the kings house, and do prouide him of seruants and all thinges necessarie that belongeth vnto him, and ministers needefull for the execution of iustice, who likewise haue their abiding in the same house, as sergeants and notaries, and other ministers of lesse authoritie. the king doth pay them all sufficient wages, for that it is forbidden vpon great penalties to take bribes or any other thing of any clyent. likewise ye iudges be straightly charged and commanded, and that is one of the chiefest articles that is giuen them from the counsel, not to consent to be visited of any clyents in their houses, neither can they pronounce any sentence but in the place of publike audience, and in the presence of all the officers, and it must be done in such sort that all men that are in the place of audience may heare it, and is doone in this sort following. the iudge doth set himselfe in the seate of iustice, then do the porters put themselues at the entring or doores of the hall, who do name with a lowde and high voice the person that doth enter in to demand iustice, and the effect of that he doth aske. then the plaintife doth kneele downe somewhat a far off from the iudge, and doth with a loud voice declare his griefe or demand, or else in writing. if it be in writing, then one of the scriueners or notaries doth take the petition and doth read it, the which being vnderstood by ye iudge, he doth straightwaies prouide vpon the same that which is agreeable vnto iustice, and doth firme the petition with his own firme with red inke, and commandeth what is needful to be done. these iudges are straitly charged and commanded by the kinges authoritie, that they must go fasting into ye hal of audience or iudgement hall without drinking of any wine, and they must giue no sentence with wine; and that is such a custome amongst them, that whosoeuer dooth breake it is seuerely punished. by way of phisicke they do permit, before they doo go to giue any sentence, to comfort themselues with some conserues or such like. but wine in no manner of wise, although they bee sicke of any infirmitie, and the lacke thereof to be hurtfull unto them: for they esteeme it a lesse euill to leaue of the hearing of any matter, then to giue any sentence after that they haue eaten or dronke. these matters being executed in publike (which is maruelously obserued and kept), it is not possible yt any of the officers should take any bribes, but it must be discouered by one of them; and for that they are vsed with great rigour in their residence, euerie one is afraid of his companion, and are one to an other (in this case) great enemies. the sergeants and notaries and the other officers are maruelous precise in the executing of their office: if that any doo not his duetie in his office, they take him and put a little banner in his hand, and he remaineth with the same, kneeling on his knees till the court of audience be ended. then do the iudge command the bedelles to giue him so many whippes as hee doth deserue for the neglecting of his office. this same is little esteemed amongest them, for that it is a common thing vsed amongest them. when that anie of these iudges will go abroade into the citie (as seeldome times they doo for the reseruing of their authoritie), they are accompanied with the officers and ministers of iustice, and that in so good order, that the first two doo carrie siluer mases, after the manner as they doo in rome carrie the mases before the cardinalles. they doo carrie them vpon long roddes, which doth signifie that in the name of the king they are in those offices: then after them followeth other two, and they do carrie ech of them in his hand a long cane and very straight, which doth signifie the vpright iustice that ought to be done and is doone by that iudge that there goeth: then followeth them other two, and they doo trayle ech of them a cane vpon the ground with long red laces, and at the endes tassels, which doth signifie the instrumentes wherewith they do whippe the faultie or malefactors; then followeth them other two with tables, like vnto white targets, in the which is written the name of the iudge, with his title and office. the rest, which be many in number, do accompanie him to do him worship and honor. those two that we spake of before, that do carrie the mases, do crie out and make a noyse vnto the people apart themselues, and to make roome that the iudge may passe: the which is straightwayes accomplished, for that by experience they know that he that doth neglect the same, is incontinent punished in the streete without remission: and the respect they haue vnto him is such that not one, of what state or degree soeuer he be, that dare mooue himself at such time as he doth passe by, neither crosse the streetes (except it be some superior iudge, vnto whom the inferiors doth the like reuerence). if any man do offend therein, he is then straightwaies punished. in all matters of lawe, as ciuill as criminall, the iudges do nothing but by writing, and do pronounce the sentences, and examine witnesses in publike, before all the rest of the officers, because no subtilty nor falshood shalbe vsed in their demaundes, neither in their writings, to set downe other then the truth. euerie witnesse is examined by himselfe, and if he do double in his declaration, then do they ioyne together and make their demaunde from one to an other, til by their striuing they may come to a better knowledge of the truth. but when by these meanes they cannot bring it to light, then doo they giue them torments to make them confesse, beleeuing that without it such persons as haue experience and knowledge will tell the truth. in matters of great importance, and such as doo touche graue personages, the iudge will not trust the scriuener or notarie to write any information; but they with their owne handes will write the declaration of any witnesse, and will consider verie much of that which is declared. this great diligence is the occason that fewe times there is any that doth complaine of any ill iustice doone, the which is a great and notable vertue, and ought to be imitated of all good iustices, for to auoyd many inconueniences which doo happen for the not vsing the same the which these gentiles haue great care to performe; who, beside the prosecution of right iustice, without respect or exception of any person, do vse certaine preuentions worthie to be suffered. [sidenote: an occasion of amitie betwixt neighbours.] first these iudges, in al cities and townes of their iurisdiction, do number the households, and do repart them in ten and tenne housholds, and vpon the tenth house they do hang a table or signe whereon is writen the names of those ten housholders, with a commandement, in the which generally they are commanded, and euery one by himselfe particular, yt hauing any knowledge or notice that any of those ten housholders haue committed any trespasse or fault against any of the rest, or against himselfe, that is hurtfull vnto his neighbours or to the commonaltie, to go straight way and giue the iustice to vnderstand thereof, that the fault may be punished, with a mendment vnto the offender, and an example to al other. and vnto him that doth know any such offence and wil not declare it, is allotted the same punishment yt the offender should haue, which is the occasion that one neighbour hath a care of an other, and liueth vnder feare, least they should giue occasion to be complained of. and againe, that their enimies may not this way take any aduantage. when that any of these ten neighbours doth remooue into an other streete, or into any other citie or towne to dwell, or will make any long iorney, hee is bound to ring a bell, or play on a coper kettle amongest all the neighbours for the space of ten dayes before he doth remooue or depart, and to aduise them all of his departure, and whether for that if he do owe any thing, or any thing be lent, that they may come and demaund it before their departure, because that none shall loose yt which is theirs. and if it so fall out that any shall depart without vsing this diligence, the iustice doth compell the rest of his neighbours yt are written on the signe to pay his debt, because they did not aduise the iustice or his creditors before his departure. such as do owe money or debts and will not paye (proouing the debt they doo execute their goods), if they haue none, they put them in prison, and limit a time for him to pay the same. but if it passe, and the debt not paide nor his creditor contented: for the first time they doo whippe them moderately, and do appoint him the second time limited for to pay ye same: if he do then misse, they do whip him more cruelly, and doo appoint him an other time, and so doo prosecute the same till he die with punishments, which is ye occasion yt euery one doth pay that he oweth, or procure amongst his friends to pay, or else giue himselfe for a slaue vnto his creditor, to shun the trouble of the prison and the paine of whippings, which is a thing not to be suffered. [sidenote: cruell tormentes.] [sidenote: a more cruell torment.] these iudges do vse two maner of torments to make them to confesse the truth, when by fayre meanes they can not, or by pollicie, the which first is procured with great care and diligence: the one is on their feete, and the other on their hands, and is so terrible that it cannot be suffered, but of force they do confesse that which the iudge doth pretende to know; yet doo they execute none of them except first they haue good information, or at the least, semiplena, or else so many indicions that it is a sufficient information for the same. the tormentes on the hands is giuen with two stickes as bigge as two fingers, and a span long, turned round and full of hooles in all places, wherein are put cordes to pull in and out: their fingers of both their hands are put into the cordes, and little and little they do pinch them, till in the end they do breake them at the jointes, with an incredible paine vnto them that doo suffer it, and yt causeth them to giue great shrikes and groanes that will mooue any man to compassion. and if it so come to passe that by this cruell torment they will not confesse, and that the iudge do vnderstand by witnesse and by indicions that hee is faultie and culpable, then dooth he commaund to giue him the torment of the feete, which is a great deale more cruell than that of the handes, and is in this sort: they take two peeces of woode, foure square of foure spannes long and one spanne broade, and are ioyned together with a gume, and hooles boored thorough, and put thorough them cordes, and in the middest of these bordes they doo put the whole foote, and straine the cordes, and with a mallet they do stryke vpon the cordes, wherewith they do breake all the bones, and cause them to suffer more paine and griefe than with the torment of the handes. at the executing of these torments the supreme iudges are alwaies present, the which seeldome times doth happen: for that such as be culpable will sooner confesse than suffer those torments, desiring rather to die some other death that is not so cruell, than to suffer the paines of this torment. the prisons that they haue are no lesse cruell and rigorous, as you shall vnderstand in a chapter by it selfe hereafter. chap. xi. _of the visitors that the king doth send euery yeare to visite the inferior iudges of his prouinces, and of the punishing of such as they do find culpable._ [sidenote: a great care to do true iustice.] it is to be woondred at the great and vigilant care that this heathen prince hath, in that his ministers and iudges, as wel viceroyes, gouernors, presidents, as anie other officers, should execute their offices well and vprightly, as they ought to doo: for in the end of three yeares that their gouernment doth indure, they do take of them in residence straight account by the iudges thereof, who bee called chaenes. likewise they doo dispatch euerie yeere in great secrecie into euerie prouince, other iudges and visitors, that be called leachis,[ ] the which are persons of great confidence, and prooued by experience of long time to be of good life, good customes, and haue done good seruice in the administring of iustice vprightly. these as they trauaile do inquire in euerie citie and towne that they come in (not being knowen, and in verie secret manner), all griefes and iniustice that is done in that prouince, which is the occasion that euerie one dooth liue (as the prouerbe sayth) with their face discouered. these do carrie from the king so great authoritie in their commissions giuen them, that without returning to the court, if they finde any delict culpable, they may apprehend the iudges and punish them, suspend, and reprieue, and do any thing touching their commission at their owne pleasure, so that it be not to take away the life of any man. this (as it is said) none can do without the consent of the king. [sidenote: ceremonies in performing of their oth.] and because they should execute their office the better in this visitation, and with iustice and equitie, they do make them to sweare to be loyall, true, and secret. the which oth is executed in this order: they doo giue him to drinke three times of a certaine beuerage which they doo vse, and that is the confirming of their oth. and for that their departure should be with more secrecie, the counsell doth command their secretaries to make their prouisions, leauing in blank a space for his name that shal haue the prouision, and for the name of the prouince whether he shall goe, declaring nothing but that which is their ordinarie, that wheresoeuer the loytia or iudge (being so dispatched) shall come, that they shall obey him as the king himselfe. but when soeuer it is in secret determined who shall goe, then doth the president of the counsel command the prouision to be sealed, then he himselfe doth write his name in, and the prouince whether he doth goe. and tharewithall hee dooth depart from the court in great secrecie, and vnknowen of any who it is, nor whether he doth go, nor wherefore. then when he doth come to the prouince, citie, or town, whether he is sent, he dooth with like secrecie make his inquirie how the viceroy or gouernour doth vse himselfe in his gouernment, and how all other officers do execute their offices, without knowing from whence he came, nor whether he will, neither what he doth pretend. so after that hee hath passed throughout all the prouince, and is fullie certified of all his desire, then doth hee goe vnto the chiefe or metropolitane citie, whereas are resident all those iudges against whom hee hath made his visitation, and there he dooth remaine and abide till such time as the tutam or viceroy doth make a generall counsell, which is once a month at the least: and at such time as they are in their counsell hall (and peraduenture without thought of any such iudge that should come), then this uisitor doth goe vnto the doore, and sayth vnto the porter, goe and tell them of the councell, that there is a uisitor that must and will come in, to notifie vnto them a commandement from the king: then the viceroy (vnderstanding by these words what he might be) doth commaund the doores to be open, and doth himselfe and the rest that are with him, rise vp from their seates, and doth goe and receiue him as their superior iudge; who doth enter with his prouision open in his handes (which dooth not cause a small feare amongest them all, but in especiall vnto such as their owne conscience doth accuse them): he doth read his prouision in the presence of them all, and at the instant of the conclusion, the viceroy doth arise from his place and dooth vnto him great reuerence and complementes, and so doo all the rest, acknowledgeing their duties. then dooth this uisitor place himselfe in the principallest seate of counsell, and maketh his oration as the common vse is amongst them, wherein he doth giue them to vnderstande the cause of his comming, and with what care and diligence he did vse in his visitation to search out the trueth of matters: after which, with well pondred wordes, he doth laude and prayse all such as haue well executed their offices, and according thereunto he doth straight waies place them in their counsels in the higher seates, and promising them to giue the king and his counsell large account of their good seruice, that they might be rewarded according as they do deserue. likewise he doth sharply reprehende all such as haue neglected their bounden dueties. then doth he read there before them all the sentence pronounced against them, declaring in summe all such thinges wherein he hath found them culpable, which hath caused him to pronounce that sentence against them, the which, although it be never so rigorous, it is foorthwith executed without any replication or appellation: for from these visitors there is no appellation. all such as shalbe punished or reprehended, they do first take away from them the ensignes of iustice, which be, as i haue told you, the girdle, bonnet, or narrowe brimd hat: with the which they can neither punish nor hurt him: and if that any wil absolutely do it, he shall for the same be deprived of his office, and loose his head. so being cleare of these things, then do they execute the rigour of the sentence pronounced against the malefactor. but if there be any doubt in the sentence giuen, doth he straight waies (vppon the same doubt) ordaine nine iudges to sit vpon it, admonishing them (with the present before their eyes) to vse well their offices, wherewith hee doth charge them in the name of the king. manie times these visitors do carrie power for to reward all such as doo well execute their offices, in giuing them roomes and offices of greater honor: so that the present and knowen reward which is done vnto the good, and the rigorous punishment for the malefactors, is the occasion that this mighty kingdome is one of the best ruled and gouerned of any that is at this time knowen in all the world: waying the gouernement of the one (as in many places of this historie it is expressed) and ioyne it vnto the long and great experience which we haue had in the other, and then you will say as i say. many times these visitors do visite the colleges and schooles, such as the king hath ordained of his owne cost in euerie prouince (as in the processe of this booke you shall vnderstand), and do examine the schoollers of the same, animating them to promotion all such as doo profite themselues in their studies, and doo whip and put in prison, yea and thrust them out of the schooles all such as are to the contrarie. of all the which and of their commencing and rewardes, which is given vnto such as they do find sufficient, shall be at large declared vnto you in a particular chapter for the same. chap. xii. _of their prisons they doo vse, and the order they haue in the executing of iustice vpon the culpable._ [sidenote: thirteene prisons in euery great cittie.] [sidenote: victualing houses in the prisons and shops.] euen as the iudges and ministers are seuere and cruell in punishing, euen so are they in putting them in prisons, the which are as terrible and as cruell, with the which they doo keepe in peace and iustice this mightie kingdome: and as there is much people, so haue they manie prisons and verie great. there are in euery principal citie throughout al these prouinces thirteene prisons, inclosed and compassed about with high wals, and of so great largenesse within, that besides the lodgings of the keeper and his officers, and for a garison of souldiours that are there continually, there are fish ponds, gardeines, and courts, whereas the prisoners do walke and recreate themselues all the day, such as are in for small matters. likewise there are victualling houses and shops, whereas is solde all manner of such things as the prisoners doo make for to sustaine themselues: which if they did not vse, their whole substance were not sufficient for their maintenance, the time is so long that they be there, although it be for a small matter: the occasion is for that the iudges take deliberation in their sentences: and againe, their cities are great and ful of other matters. likewise they are slowe in the execution of any sentence. so that many times it doth fall out, that men being condemned to die, doo remaine so long in prison after their condemnation, that they die with pure age, or some other sicknesse or infirmitie, or by the crueltie of the straight and asper prison. of these thirteene prisons aforesaide, alwayes foure of them are occupied with prisoners condemned vnto death, and in euerie one of them there is a captaine ouer one hundred souldiers which are reparted, and dooth keepe watch and warde day and night: euery one of these condemned prisoners hath a bord tied about his necke that hangeth downe vnto his knees, a third of a yarde brode; it is made white with a certain whiting, and written vpon it the occasion wherefore he was condemned to die. the keeper of the prison hath a booke, wherein is written all the names of them that are condemned, and the occasion wherfore: for to be accountable of them at all times when they shalbe demaunded of him by the iudges or vizroies. they are shakled and manakled, and put in wards that do answere into the court, whereas the officers of the prison do make them to lie with their face downewarde vpon a floore made of bords for the same purpose, and do drawe ouer them iron chaines, drawne through great iron rings that are placed betwixt prisoner and prisoner, wherewith they are so strait crushed that they cannot mooue nor turne them from one side to another: also they doo lay on them a certaine couering of timber, wherein remaineth no more space of hollownesse then their bodies doth make: thus are they vsed that are condemned to death. this prison is so painefull and grievous, that many doo dispaire and kill themselues because they cannot suffer it. in the day time they do take them forth and take off their manacles, that they may worke for to sustaine themselues; all such as haue nothing to maintaine themselues, nor any other that will help them, them the king doth giue a pittance of rice to sustaine them. likewise they do worke what they may to better the same. there is neuer no execution done vpon such as are condemned to die, but at the comming of the visiters or iudges of residence, whom they do call chenes and leuchis,[ ] the which doe make their visitation in secret (as you doo vnderstande in the chapter where i spake of them). these doo visite the prisoners and demaund a note of the names of all them that are condemned, and the cause wherefore: and although that some of their sentences are confirmed by the king and his counsell, yet they will see them againe in the presence of these iudges that did condemne them, or such as did gouerne in their absence, for to be informed of them the faults of euerie one: whereby he may see and vnderstand whether his sentence of condemnation bee done with iustice or not. this diligence being done, they doo choose out among them fiftie condemned men, such whose faults are most odious, and commande the iayler to put all things in order for to doo execution on them: the which being done, they do examine them a new, and looke vpon the causes and faults, to see if by any meanes they can saue them. and if they do finde in any of them any iot of discharge, they do apart them from the rest, and straightwayes command three pieces of ordinance to be shot off, which is to giue warning to bring forth them that shalbe executed. then againe, when they doo bring them forth, they doo a new enter into counsell, to see if they can saue any of them: and when not, they command other three peeces of ordinance to be shot off, to cause them to be brought out into the fielde, and yet before they do breake vp their counsell, they doo turne and see once againe all their faults, to see if that by any meanes possible there might bee some remedie to saue them. if they do finde any, or any suspect of indicion, they do returne out of the fielde that person, and sende him againe to the prison. some doo returne with an euill will, for that they had rather die at once, then for to suffer the straightnes and crueltie of the prison. in the meane time while they are perusing their causes, and concluding the same, they do cause these condemned prisoners to sit vpon heaps of ashes, and do giue them to eate. so when all yt these diligences are concluded, and they can find no remedy to saue any of them according vnto iustice, they doo commande three peeces of artilery more bee shot off, then do they execute iustice according vnto their sentence giuen them. [sidenote: adulterie is death.] the deathes that they do execute is hanging, setting vppon stakes, quartering, and burning: but there is none that is burned, but such as are traitors to the king. when the last three of artilerie is shot off, then the belles do ring, and a great rumor is in the cittie, for that this execution is done but seldome. the day of execution all their shops are shut in, and there is none that doth worke vntill sun be set, which is after that the executed men are buried, the which is done with the companie of much people. the next day after this is done, the visitors do make the second visitation, which is of the theeues (a thing verie much abhorred amongst them): and such as they doo finde culpable, hee is whipped throughout the common streetes with great shame, with a borde hanging about his necke (as aforesaide), whereon is written his fault: and therewith they are carried throughout the streetes three or foure dayes. they do beate them on the calues of their legges, with a broade and thicke cane of foure fingers broad, and as thicke as a mans finger, the which they do lay in water before, the more for to torment them: they are bound with their hands behind them, and their faces downewards to the earth: two hangmen do execute this whipping of them, the one at one legge and the other at the other, and it is done with so great crueltie, that after they haue giuen sixe blowes, they cannot stande vppon their feete, and many times it chanceth that with fiftie blowes they die. the most part of these theeues do die in the punishments, and many times there is whipped togither of theeues two hundred. so that with these and others that are punished in the prisons (is of a verie truth) that there do die euerie yeare in one of these principall cities of the prouince more than sixe thousande persons. at these punishments the iudges are alwaies in presence, and for that they should not be mooued to compassion, in the meanetime that execution is done, they do occupie themselues in banquettings or other pastimes. adulteries are death, and such as do consent to be coockoldes (which is neuer founde but amongst them of the basest sort), are punished with exemplar punishments ordained for the same. chap. xiii. _of the characters and letters that the chinos do vse, and of the colleges and scholes that are in this kingdome, and of other curious things._ [sidenote: sixe thousand characters in writing.] it is not from our purpose (now after that we haue told you of the gouernement of this mightie kingdome) to giue you to vnderstand how that there be great and famous philosophers, as well naturall as morall, and other things of great pollicie and curiosity: to tel you now of their characters, and the manner they haue in writing, and then of the colledges and schooles. now vnto the first. you shall finde verie fewe in this kingdome but can both write and reade, yet haue they not the alphabet of letters as we haue, but all that they doe write is by figures, and they are long in learning of it, and with great difficultie, for that almost every word hath his character. they do signifie the heauen, which they do call guant, by one character alone, which is this [chinese character]:[ ] the king, whom they doo call bontay,[ ] by this [chinese character], and by consequent the earth, the sea, and the rest of the elements. they do vse more than sixe thousand characters different the one from the other, and they doo write them verie swiftly (as it hath beene seene many times at the philippinas, by manie chinos that are there, and come thither daily); it is a kinde of language that is better vnderstood in writing then in speaking (as the hebrue toonge), by reason of the certaine distinction of points that is in euery character differing one from the other, which in speaking cannot be distinguished so easilie. their order of writing is cleane contrarie vnto ours, for that they doo beginne their lines from aboue downewards, but in verie good order: likewise they begin their lines at the right hande and write towards the left, contrarie vnto vs. they keepe the verie same order in their printing, as you shall vnderstande, and as may be seene this day at rome in the librarie of the sacred pallace. and likewise in that which king philip hath caused to be erected in the monasterie of saint laurence the royall, and also in other places; in this order as i haue saide, and of their characters to the which i referre me, it is an admirable thing to consider how that in that kingdome they doo speake manie languages, the one differing from the other: yet generallie in writing they doo vnderstand one the other, and in speaking not. the occasion is, for yt one figure or character vnto them all doth signifie one thing, although in the pronouncing there is difference in the vowels. the character that doth signifie a citie is this [chinese character],[ ] and in their language some doo call it leombi, and others fu, yet both the one and the other doo vnderstande it to bee citie; the like is in all other names. and in this order doo communicate with them the japones, lechios, those of samatra, and those of the kingdome of quachinchina and other borderers vnto them: whereas in their speech or language, there is no more vnderstanding then is betwixt greekes and tuskanes. the king hath in euerie citie colleges or schooles at his owne cost, in the which they doo learne to write, read, and count, as well as to studie naturall or morall philosophie, astrologie, lawes of the countrie, or any other curious science. they that doo teach in these schooles be such persons as excell in euerie facultie, such as may be found none better, but speciallie in writing and reading: for that there is none, although he be neuer so poore, but dooth learne to write and read, because amongst them he is accounted infamous that cannot doo both. unto higher studies come a great number of students, and doo trauaile all they may possiblie to profite, for that it is the best course and surest way to obtaine the name of a loytia, or gentleman, or other dignitie: as more plainelie shall bee showed you in the chapter following, where the order howe they doo giue them the title loytia shall bee spoken off, and is amongst vs after the fashion of proceeding or commencing doctor. [sidenote: paper made of the filme of canes.] [sidenote: pens made of canes.] unto the colleges, as well maiors as minors, the king dooth sende euerie yeere uisiters, for to see and vnderstande howe the studentes doo profite, and what the masters bee, with other matters touching their good governement. in their visitation they doo honour in wordes those whome they finde of abilitie, animating them to perseuer in the same: and doo put in prison and punish such as they knowe to haue abilitie, and doo not profite themselues thereof; and such as haue none, nor will not learne, they put out of the colleges, that others may occupie their places that better will imploy themselues. they haue great abundance of paper, the which is made of the filme of canes, and with great facilitie: it is verie good cheape: their printed bookes are made thereof: the most part of it can be written but on the one side, for that it is so thinne: they doo not write with pennes as wee doo, made of quilles, but with pennes made of canes, and at the end like a fine brush, like vnto a painters pensill: and although this bee their order, yet haue they amongst them excellent scriueners, that grow thereby to bee verie rich. when they write letters vnto anie principall person, they gilde the margent of the paper, and limbe it, and they put the letter written into a purse made of the same paper all guilt and painted, the which they shut and seale, so that the letter is onely contained therein. this they doo vse verie much, that although one go to visite another in person, yet they doo carrie a letter written in their sleeues, and possible there shall not bee written in the same tenne letters, and that signifieth that they doo come to kisse their handes; these things are to bee solde at the bookebinders of all sortes, as well for principall persons and men of authoritie, as for others of meaner estate for to desire, reprehend, or discommende: and to conclude, for all thinges that they will desire or haue neede of, yea if it bee to defie anie bodie, so that the buyer hath no more to doo but to close it vp and seale it to sende it whither his pleasure is. these and manie other curiosities they do vse, as you haue heard and shall heare in the discourse of this small hystorie, or at the least somewhat touched, for that the breuitie that i doo pretend and will vse, will not permit that i shoulde enter so farre for to declare at large, but to be briefe in that i shall declare. chap. xiv. _of the examination of such whome they preferre to the degree of loytia, which is with vs the degree of a doctor: and howe they doo commence them, and howe they doo beare him companie._ these uisitours of whome wee haue spoken, the king and his counsaill doo sende them to visite his prouinces; and amongest the greatest things that are giuen them in charge, is the visitation of the colledges and schooles which the king hath in all the principall citties, as is saide; the which visitour hath a particular authoritie for to commence or graduate such students as haue finished their course, and are of abilitie and sufficiencie to perfourme the same. they doo make them gentlemen, if they bee capable of anie charge of iustice or gouernment. and for that the vse of their ceremonies is a thing woorthie to bee knowne, i will here declare the same order which frier martin de herrada, and his companions, did see in the citie of aucheo,[ ] at the time of their commencement. at such time as the visitor hath concluded the visitation of his prouince, and hath punished the malifactors, and rewarded the good: in the metropolitane cities, hee doth straight wayes cause proclamation to bee made that all students and scholers that doo finde themselues sufficient, and haue a corage to be examined to take the degree of loytia, the which, although amongst them is vnderstoode to bee made a gentleman, yet amongst vs is a doctour. the day appointed being come, they are all presented before the visitour, who taketh all their names in a scrowle, and appointeth another day for their examination. this day, for honour of the feast, the visitor dooth inuite all the learned loytias that are in the citie, who ioyntly with him do make the examination with great rigour, alwayes putting forwardes and preferring those that are skilfull in the lawes of the countrey, by which they do gouerne all other faculties whatsoeuer, and that they be therewithall good, and vertuous. and all those that they doo finde with these properties, they do write their names in an other scrowle, and doo appoint the day of commencement, the which is done with great ceremonies and much people, in whose presence the visitor, in the name of the king, doth giue vnto them the ensignes of degree and dignitie to be a loytia; that is, a waste or girdle bossed with gold or siluer, and a hat with certaine thinges on it, as shall be shewed you in the chapter following; which is a signe and token that doth make the difference from the vulgar people, without the which none can shewe himselfe in publike. and although al be called loytias, i meane those that come to it by letters or learning, and others by the warres, and others by a gift of the king, yet they differ the one from the other in estimation. for that those of the royall counsell, viceroyes, gouernors, and visitors, are made loytias by disputation in learning; and the generall captaines, maiors, bailifes, and testators, are a gift of the kinges in recompence of some good seruice that they haue done. these haue no more preheminence, but onely that they haue the benefite of their priuileges, and haue the dignitie of that vocation, but these are neuer preferred to greater honours, as the other loytias are, of these you have in euery citie very many. [sidenote: any good thing gratified.] there be others likewise of great estimation, and are put in the second degree, and are those that are made by desert in the warres, and are elect and chosen by the generals by authoritie of the king, for some act or worthie deede done in the wars, by force of armes or such like, approued by witnesse of great credite; vnto whom, besides the title and honour giuen vnto them, they doo giue them great liuings, for that no valiant or worthie deede but is had in estimation, and gratified with great liberalitie, which is the occasion that those which are meane souldiers, are animated to imitate those that be most principall and valiant. according vnto my promise i will here, with as much breuitie as may bee, declare vnto you the order of their commencements, and how they do accompanie them after that they are made loytias, for that it is a thing worth the hearing. the day appointed being come for to commence or giue degrees, all the loytias, with the visitor, doo enter into the royall hall whereas they were examined, al richly apparelled, and being assembled, then do enter in al those that shal receiue degrees, galantly apparelled without any upper garment, and before euerie one of them, go the padrines,[ ] and after them the graduates with garments very finely made, riding on gennets very sumptuously couered with cloth of gold and silke, that do carie the ensignes that shalbe giuen vnto him, the which hee dooth demande of the visitor, kneeling vpon his knees with great humilitie. who first sweare them, that in all offices committed vnto them, they shall with all care and diligence doo iustice equallie vnto all men, and that they shall not receiue any bribes or presents whatsoeuer: that they shall be true and loyall vnto the king, and that they shall not conspire in any confederacie or treason against him, and manie other things: which ceremonies he standeth long about. this oth being taken, the visitor who presenteth the kings person, dooth put on them the ensignes aforesaide, with the facultie belonging thereunto, and then hee and all the loytias imbrace them presently. this doone, they depart out of the hal in verie decent order, at which instant all the belles in the citie are rong, and great store of ordinance and artilerie discharged, which continueth a good space. then they carrie these newe loytias throughout the citie, accompanied with a multitude of people in manner following. there go first before them many souldiers, marching in good order, with drommes and trumpets and other musicall instruments verie melodious: after them are borne many maces, then follow all the loytias, some on horsebacke and some are carried in litter chaires, in most gallant order, after which follow the padrines. then the new commenced loytias, without any upper garment as before is saide, all mounted vppon white horses verie richly couered with cloth of golde; hauing euerie one of them a tippet of taffeta vpon his shoulder, and on his head a hat with two small tippets hanging downe behinde, much after the fashion of those that hang on the bishops miter; this is permitted unto none but vnto those of their orders abouesaide: vpon their hats they haue two branches of golde, or of siluer and guilt, made like vnto a bunch of fethers: before euerie one of them are carried sixe frames, couered with satten, and euerie one is carried by foure men: in these frames are written in letters of golde their disputation, facultie, and title giuen them for the same, and their armes, with manie other things which i omit for breuitie sake, because this marching and passing holdeth eight houres togither. the citizens there keepe this day festiuall, and do ordeine manie dances and sportes. and the better sort doo celebrate three or foure daies after, banquetting the newe made loytia, and giuing him ioy of his newe preferment, euerie man seeking his good will and fauour. from this day forwards hee is of abilitie to take vppon him any office and gouernement whatsoeuer: and therefore straight wayes he goeth vnto the court to procure the same, and carrieth with him the ensignes of his commencement, and is apparelled so that he may be knowne, wherefore they doo him great honour in the way as hee goeth, and lodge him in such houses as the king hath appointed in euerie towne for such as they be. when he commeth to the court, hee goeth and dooth his duetie vnto the president and vnto the rest of the royall counsell, who euerie one a part, doo giue him ioy of his new dignitie, and with many words of great curtesie and praise promise him, as occasion shall serve, to prouide him a place, as they by their examination doo vnderstande his abilitie, and, againe, as they see his discreete dealing and care in such matters as they do giue him in charge, so will they preferre him to better dignitie and honour. so the next day following they register him in their booke of memorie, which is alwayes in the counsell chamber; and they remaine there waiting and seruing them vntill they haue prouided them of some gouernment, which is not long after, for that the kingdome is great, with manie prouinces and citties, as by this historie you shal vnderstand. chap. xv. _how that with them they haue had the vse of artilery long time before vs in these parts of europe._ [sidenote: the first inuenting of armor.] [sidenote: artilerie years before us.] amongst many things worthie to bee considered, which haue beene and shalbe declared in this historie, and amongst manie other which of purpose i omit, because i would not be tedious vnto the reader, no one thing did cause so much admiracion vnto the portugals, when that they did first traficke in canton, neither vnto our spaniards, who long time after went vnto the philippinas, as to finde in this kingdome artilerie. and wee finde by good account taken out of their histories, that they had the vse thereof long time before vs in europe. it is said that the first beginning was in the yeare , by the industrie of an almane,[ ] yet howe he was called there is no historie that dooth make mention: but the chinos saie, and it is euidently seene, that this almaine dooth not deserue the name of the first inuenter, but of the discouerer, for that they were the first inuentors, and from them hath the vse thereof beene transported vnto other kingdomes, where it is now vsed. the chinos saie that their first king, called vitey, did first inuent the same, and that he was taught the matter how to make them by a spirite that came out of the earth, for to defende himselfe and his kingdome from the tartares, that did much molest him with warres: for, according vnto the tokens giuen him, (as it dooth appear in their histories,) and the industrie for the same, it appeareth that it was some spirit, enimie vnto mankind, onely for to destroy them, as in these daies the experience thereof is apparent vnto vs. all the which carieth a similitude of the trueth, for that this king was a great sorcerer and inchanter, as you may well vnderstand by the herbe that he had growing in ye court of his pallace, whereof before i haue told you. and if this be not credible, because so many yeres are past since this kings raigne, yet it is of truth, yt when these chinos went to the kingdom of pergu,[ ] and to c[=o]quest ye east indies more then yeares since, they caried with them ye like instruments of warre, which did serue them in their conquest: the which conquest being ended, they left behind them certaine peeces of artilerie, which were found afterwards by the portugals, whereon were grauen the armes of china, and in what yeare they were made, agreeing iust with the time of the conquest. such artilerie as the frier gerrarda and his companions did see at their being there, they say it was of antiquitie, and very ill wrought, and was for the most part peeces to shoote stones, or murderers: but it was giuen them to vnderstande that in other prouinces of the kingdome, there be that bee verie curiouslie wrought and faire, which may bee of such which the captaine artreda did see: who in a letter that hee wrote vnto king phillip, giuing him to vnderstande of the secreats of this countrie, amongst which hee saide, the chinos doo vse all armour as wee doo, and the artilerie which they haue is excellent good. i am of that opinion, for that i haue seene vessels there of huge greatnesse, and better made then ours, and more stronger. in euerie citie they haue certaine houses, where they make their ordinance and artilerie continuallie: they doo not plant them on castles (for that they haue not the vse of them in all the kingdome), but vppon the gates of their cities, which hath mightie great and thicke walles, and deepe ditches, which they doo fill with water out of the next riuer, at all times when neede requireth, which they account the greatest strength in all the kingdome. at euerie gate of the citie there is a captaine with manie souldiours, that keepeth watch and warde, night and daie, to suffer no stranger to enter in without especiall lycence of the gouernour of the citie or towne. by this that i haue alredie saide, as seemeth vnto me, is apparantlie shewed and declared the antiquity of artilerie in this kingdome: and howe that they were the first inuentors thereof. likewise it dooth plainely appeere that there was the first inuention of printing, a thing as strange as the other, whose antiquitie in that kingdome shall be shewed in the chapter following. chap. xvi. _of the antiquitie and manner of printing bookes, vsed in this kingdome, long before the vse in our europe._ the admirable inuention, and the subtill ingenie of printing is such, that for lacke of the vse thereof, should haue beene forgotten the worthinesse of manie excellent men, and of their deedes doone in the happie daies and times long past: and manie in these our daies woulde not trouble themselues so much as they doo, in learning to get honour and promotion, or in feates of warres, if that their fame should no longer continue in writing then their liues on the earth. leauing apart the woonderfull effectes of this subtile inuention, least speaking thereof i should be ouer tedious, i will heere onlie goe about to prooue that which this chapter dooth propounde, with some ensamples, whereof manie are found in their histories, and likewise in ours. it doth plainlie appeare by the vulgar opinion, that the inuention of printing did beginne in europe in the yeare , the which was attributed vnto toscan,[ ] called john cutembergo: and it was saide of trueth, that the first mould wherewith they doo print was made in maguncia, from whence an almaine called conrado[ ] did bring the same inuention into italie. and the first booke that was printed, was that which saint austine did write, intituled _de ciuitate dei_: wherein manie authors agree. but the chinos doo affirme, that the first beginning was in their countrie, and the inuentour was a man whome they reuerence for a saint: whereby it is euident that manie yeares after that they had the vse thereof, it was brought into almaine[ ] by the way of ruscia and moscouia, from whence, as it is certaine, they may come by lande, and that some merchants that came from thence into this kingdome, by the redde sea, and from arabia felix, might bring some books, from whence this john cutembergo, whom the histories dooth make authour, had his first foundation. the which beeing of a trueth, as they haue authoritie for the same, it dooth plainlie appeare that this inuention came from them vnto vs: and for the better credite hereof, at this day there are found amongst them many bookes printed yeares before the inuention began in almaine: of the which i haue one, and i haue seene others, as well in spaine and in italie as in the indies. the frier herrada and his companions, when they came from the china vnto the philippinas, did bring with them manie printed bookes of diuers matters, which they did buy in the citie of ancheo, the which were printed in diuers places of the kingdome.[ ] yet the most part of them were printed in the prouince of ochian,[ ] whereas is the best print: and as they did report, they woulde haue brought a great number more, if that the vizroy had not disturbed them, for they haue great libraries, and very good cheape; but hee suspected that those bookes might be a meane to giue them to vnderstande the secrets of their kingdome, the which they doo indeuour to keepe close from strangers. the vizroy vsed a policie, and sent them word, how that he was certified that they went about buying of bookes for to carry them into their countrie, and howe they shoulde not spende their money on them, for hee would giue them for nothing so manie bookes as they woulde haue, which afterward hee did not performe, possible for the reason aforesaide, or else he did forget his promise. at such time as this commandement came vnto them, they had bought a good number, out of the which are taken the most things that wee haue put in this small historie, for to giue a briefe notice of them and of that kingdome, till such time as by a true certificate the experience of manie shall cause more credite thereunto: for that vnto this day, by reason of the small notice wee haue, we cannot with so great authoritie make it so credible as wee hope that time hereafter will doo. the which hath moued mee, yea and constrained me, to leaue to intreat of manie things, which in those parts are to bee credited, yea and are most true: and for the same i haue beene blamed and reprehended by such as haue had perfite notice thereof. and nowe for that i will not go from my purpose, you shall vnderstand in the chapter following, whereof these bookes that they brought doo intreat, that the better you giue credite vnto the curiositie and policie of that kingdome, as in manie places i haue declared, and hereafter will declare. chap. xvii. _the substance and manner of those bookes that frier herrada and his companions brought from china._ they brought with them a great number of bookes, as wee haue said, that did intreate of diuers matters, as you shall perceiue in the sequell. of the description of all the whole kingdome of china, and the placing of the prouinces, and the length and bredth of euery one of them, and of other kingdomes bordering vppon them. of all tributes and rentes belonging vnto the king, and of all the orders of his royall pallace, and of his ordinarie pensions that hee giueth, and the names of all officers in his house, and how far euery office doth extend. how many tributaries euerie prouince hath, and the number of such as are free from tribute, and the order and time, how and when they are to be recouered. for the making of ships of all sorts, and the order of nauigation, with the altitudes of euery port, and the quantitie of euery one in particular. of the antiquitie of this kingdome of china, and of the beginning of the world, and in what time and for whome it beganne. of the kings that have raigned in this kingdome, and the order of their succession and government, with their liues and customes. of the ceremonies they vse in doing sacrifice vnto their idols (which they hold as gods), and the names of them: of their beginnings, and at what time they shoulde make their sacrifices. their opinions of the immortalitie of the soule, of the heauen, of hell, of the manner of their funerals, and of their mourning apparel that euery one is bounde to weare, according as he is alianced unto the dead. of the lawes of the kingdome, and when and by whome they were made; and the punishment executed on those which violate the same, with manie other matters touching their good government and policie. manie herbals, or bookes of herbes, for phisitions, shewing how they should be applied to heale infirmities. many other bookes of phisicke and medicine, compiled by authors of that kingdome, of antiquitie and of late daies, containing in them the maner how to vse the sicke, and to heale them of their sicknes, and to make preseruatiues against all sicknesses and infirmities. of the properties of stones and mettals, and of things natural that haue vertue of themselues; and wherefore pearles, gold, and silver, and other metals, may serue for the vtility of man, comparing with the one and the other the vtilitie of euerie thing. of the nomber, and moouings of the heauens: of the planets and stars, and of their operations and particular influences. of such kingdomes and nations as they haue notice off, and of particular things that are in them. of the life and behauiour of such men, whom they holde for saints, where they lead their liues, and where they died and were buried. the order howe to play at the tables, and at the chests, and how to make sports of legerdemaine and puppets. of musicke and songs, and who were the inuentors thereof. of the mathematicall sciences, and of arithmeticke, and rules how to use the same. of the effectes that the children doo make in their mothers wombs, and how they are euery moneth sustained, and of the good and bad times of their birth. of architecture, and all manner of buildings, with the bredth and length that euerie edifice ought to haue for his proportion. of the properties of good and bad ground, and tokens how to know them, and what seede they will beare euery yeare. of astrologie naturall, and judiciarie, and rules to learne the same, and to cast figures to make coniectures. of chiromancia and phisiognomia, and other signes and tokens, and what euery one doth signifie. the order how to write letters, and how to give euerie one his title, according to the dignitie of his person. how to bring vp horses, and to teach them to runne and trauaile. how to deuine vpon dreames, and cast lottes when they beginne any iourney, or take any thing in handes, whose ende is doubtfull. of apparell worne in all the kingdome, beginning with the king, and of the ensignes or coates of armes of such as doo gouerne. how to make armour and instruments of warre, and howe to firme a squadron. these bookes, and many others that the fryers brought, out of the which (as afore saide) haue been taken all such thinges as haue beene and shall be declared in this historie, interpreted by persons naturally borne in china, and brought vp in philippinas with the spaniards that dwell there, who affirme that they haue seene great libraries in cities where they abode, but especially in ancheo and chincheo. chap. xviii. _the order that these chinos obserue in making bankets, and in celebrating their festiuall daies._ for that in some parts of this historie wee haue touched the bankets that the chinos do make, it shall not bee amisse to declare here the order they vse therein, for that they are curious, and differ verie much from our order and vse in their banquetting, the which we haue perceiued as well by their feeding as by many other thinges. amongest these chinos, more than amongest any other people of the world, are vsed bankets and feastes, for they are rich and without care, and also without the light of heauen, albeit they do confesse and beleeue the immortalitie of the soule, and the rewarde or punishment in an other worlde, according vnto their workes in this life (as we haue saide). all that euer they can, they doo giue themselues vnto the contentment of the flesh, and vnto all maner pastimes, wherein they liue most delicately, and in verie good order. their custome is, although they haue a hundred guestes, yet euerie one must sit and eate at a table by himselfe. their tables be verie fine, gilt and painted full of birdes and beastes, and other varieties verie pleasant vnto the eye. they do not vse to put table clothes on them, but onely a forefront of damaske, or some other silke, on euerie one of them, which hangeth downe to the ground; and on the foure corners they doo sette manie little baskettes curiously wrought with golde and siluer wyre, full of flowers and knackes of sugar, made with great curiositie, as elefantes, grayhoundes, hares, and all other kinde of beastes and foules, gylt and painted: in the middest of the table they doo sette the victualles in maruelous good order, as flesh of diuerse sortes, fowle, and fishes: of the which they make diuers manners of brothes passing well dressed, and are serued in fine earthen dishes of great curiositie, and of siluer (although these they vse verie seeldome, except for the viceroyes): they haue no neede of table clothes nor napkins, for they eate so delicately, that they doo not touch the meate with their handes, but with little forkes of golde or siluer, with the which they eate so cleanly, that although it be verie small that they eate, yet will they let nothing fall: they drinke often, but a little at a time, and therefore they vse verie little cuppes. at these bankettes and feastes, there are present alwayes women gesters, who doo play and sing, vsing manie prettie gesters to cause delight, and make mirth to the gestes: besides these they haue diuerse sortes of men with other instruments, as tomblers and players, who doo represent their comedies verie perfectly and naturally: in these bankets they spende the greatest part of the day, by reason of so manie diuersities of meates that they serue in. they passe manie times a hundreth sundrie dishes, when that the estate of the person that is inuited, or of him that maketh the banket, dooth require. as may shew the report of the augustine fryers, in the beginning of the second part of this historie: where one doth tell of bankets that were made him by the insuanto, a gouernor of the prouince of chincheo, and the uiceroy of ancheo, and of the gallant deuices they had to driue away the time so long as the banket lasted. unto euerie one of their guestes they doo set a table, euerie table standing one along by an other, making a difference of the number of them, according vnto the qualitie of the persons: vpon the first table (where sitteth he that is inuited) they set the victualles readie dressed, sweete meates, or march-panes,[ ] which is the last seruice: and on the rest, although they be twentie, they set great store of diuerse kindes of meates, all rawe, as capons, ducks, teales, hennes, peeces of salt and martlemas biefe, gammons of bacon, and many other thinges. all these doo remaine vppon the tables till the banket be ended, and the guestes departed: then doo the seruantes of him that made the banket take all these rawe meates, and carrie them before their guestes till they come vnto their houses or lodges, where they doo leaue it with great ceremonies. when they doo make any banket to a viceroy or to any embassadour, it is with so great cost and sumptuousness, that they spend a great substance therein. these bankets do commonly indure twentie daies together, continuing vntill the last day as royally and as plentifully as the first day. they do celebrate all their festiuall dayes in the night, which is ordinarily their newe moones; and they doo solemnize them with much musicke and newe inuentions. but more particularly they doo celebrate the first day of the yeare, which is, after their account, the first day of the moneth of march: on this day they apparell themselues verie costlye and sumptuouslie, both men and women, and doo adorne themselues with all their iewelles and newe toyes, and doo hang their houses and doores with carpettes and clothes of silke and cloth of golde, and dresse them vppe trimme with roses and other flowers, for at that time there is great store in that country: likewise they doo sette at all their doores great trees, on the which they doo hang manye lightes, and all the triumphall arches that bee in the streetes (which bee verye manie, as wee haue sayde) are decked with bowes this day: wherein they put manie lightes, and set full of canapies of cloth of gold, damaske, and manie other sundrie sorts of silkes. their priestes doo assist them in these feastes very richly apparelled, and doo offer sacrifice vpon their altars vnto the heauen, and vnto their idolles, and they sing many songes. this day dooth all people generally sport themselues with great singing and sounding of instruments, in the which they are very cunning. such instruments as the augustine fryers did see, were lutes, gytternes, vyalles, rebbukes, wayghtes, virginalles, harpes, and flutes, and other instrumentes which wee doo vse, although they doo differ something in the fashion of them, but yet easie to be knowen. they do tune their voyces vnto their instrumentes with great admiration: they haue all commonly very good voyces. in these feasts they do make many representations of great pastime according vnto nature, with vestiments that they haue for the purpose. all the dayes that these feastes do indure, their tables be full of diuerse sorts of meates, as well of fish as of flesh, and of all sortes of fruites, and excellent good wine, the which they make of the palme tree, with certaine mixtures, which maketh it have an excellent good taste. all the day, they and their priestes do eate and drinke so much till they can no more. they haue it for a thing most certaine amongest them, that looke how they are in disposition that day, so shall they passe the whole yeare, eyther sorrowfull or merrie. i omit the feastes which they make at marriages, and at any good successe, though they be in great number and very sumptuous, because i would not be tedious: in all things they couett to auoyde melancholy. chap. xix. _how they salute one another in this countrie, and of some part of their ceremonies._ there is no nation in all the worlde, be it neuer so barbarous, that hath been found out vntill this day, without a manner of courtesie, or some ceremony of salutation in their meetinges and visitinges, or when they do assemble in any particular businesse: whereof wee haue large notice by auncient histories, and sufficient experience in that wee haue seene and vnderstoode in these kingdomes and prouinces which in our dayes hath beene discouered: although herein (as i am fully perswaded) those of this kingdome do exceede all nations of the world (as is affirmed by them that haue had the experience), for they haue so many ceremonies and vsages of courtesie and ciuilitie amongest them, that they haue bookes to teach them only how they should behaue themselues in making difference of persons. of all the which, such as shall seeme expedient to giue notice of, i will declare in this chapter, using therein the breuitie that this historie requireth. they esteeme it a great discourtesie, not to salute one an other when they see or meete one an other, although the acquaintance betwixt them be but small. the salutation that the common people do vse is, when they do meete the one with the other, to shut the left hande, and to couer it with the right, ioyning therewith their breastes together, with much bowing their heades downewardes, signifying that loue and amitie is as firme betweene them as their handes are fast, and that their friendshippe is not alonely in the ceremonie, but also in the heart: the which they giue to vnderstande by woordes at the same time. but amongest courtyers and gentlemen they vse an other manner of courtesie, which seemeth vnto them of much more curiositie, that is: at such time as they doo meete, they make a little staye, then they caste abroad their armes, and claspe their fingers together, remayning in compasse, humbling themselues manie times, and contending one with an other about their parting for to prosecute his waye; and the higher estate they are of, the more is their contention. when that anie meane person doth meete with a principall man, who for dignitie or for any other occasion dooth acknowledge superioritie, straight wayes hee dooth stay with great silence, declining his head, till such time as he is past by, although the most part of them dooth it more for feare than for courtesie: for that experience hath taught them, that he that dooth it not, is straight wayes punished and whipped cruelly. [sidenote: a strange kind of courtesie.] when that any of these commeth to speake with any loytia, at the entering in at the hall whereas he is, hee kneeleth downe, declyning his head and looking vpon the ground: and on this sort he goeth vpon his knees till hee come into the middest of the hall, and there he stayeth and declareth his petition by worde of mouth, with an humble and meeke voyce, or else presenteth it by writing: and hauing receiued answere, hee dooth returne on his knees backwardes, without turning his backe to the loytia, vntill hee bee quite out of the hall. and if they which doo meete or visite one an other be equall in dignity, they shew great courtesie on both sides, contending who shall surpasse in courtesie and wordes: wherein they are verie ceremonious. when one doth goe to visite an other, he that is visited, after the visitation done, doth bring the other vnto the streete doore. this custome is vsed most amongest the common people, being equal in degree, or differing little. likewise they vse one thing verie strange, and neuer heard of amongest other nations, that is: if that one doo come out of the countrie, to visite an other that is in the citie or towne (although he be a nigh kinsman, and long time acquainted), if that knocking at the doore or in the streete hee doo meete with him whome he dooth come to visite (hee being not well apparelled), although he speake vnto him, yet will hee not make any aunswere, nor any resemblance that euer he sawe or knewe him before: but straightwayes returneth home to his house in all haste possible, and doth apparell him selfe with the best apparell that he hath, and then he goeth foorth and receiueth his guest and friend, dissembling as though he had not before meete nor seene him. this ceremonie amongest them is infalliblie kept, for that it is amongest them an auncient tradition, and founded vppon their religion. they giue great intertainement vnto their guestes, and make them straightwayes a beuer[ ] or collation with manie sortes of conserues and fruites, and good wine, and an other kinde of drinke, that is generally vsed thorough out the whole kingdome, and is made of diuerse physicall hearbes, good to comfort the heart, the which they warme when they drinke thereof. these ceremonies they vse when that one neighbour dooth visite an other. but when that one of the towne dooth meete with a stranger that hee dooth knowe, and hath beene in the towne certaine dayes, and he not seene him, then hee of the towne dooth aske of the other if that hee hath eaten any thing: if he aunswere no, he dooth by and by, without any delay, carrie him to the next victualling house, whereas hee dooth banket him deliciously: for in euerie towne there is good opportunitie for the same, by reason that in the market places and streetes, and in the suburbes, there is great store of victualling houses, that doo keepe tabling verie orderly, and for little cost: for there (as we haue sayde) all kinde of victualles are verie good cheape. but if the stranger dooth aunswere that he hath eaten, then dooth the citizen or townesman carrie him to an other kinde of victualing houses, where are to be had al sortes of conserues and iunkettes, fruites and marchpanes, and there dooth hee make him a banket with great love and good will. of the women as well strangers as towneborne, or of what degree soeuer, they haue great respect, but especially of the married women: vnto whome if any man giue an ill or dishonest woorde, he is accounted infamous: and likewise if he doo not offer to them courtesie, and giue them place or way when they passe the streetes, which is seeldome seene. but when they doo passe they behaue themselues so discreetly that they giue no occasion that anye shoulde misuse them: towardes strangers they vse verye great courtesie: but especially the principallest: as you shall perceiue in the relation of the seconde part of this historie, where it shall be declared by experience. chap. xx. _of the great closenesse that the women of this kingdome do liue in, and with what condition they permit common women._ the principall intent that this king and his gouernors haue, as is gathered by their lawes, is to preserue their common weale from vices; for the which he dooth set downe great penalties, and executeth the same without any remission; and least any should offend they vse great vigilancie, and do iudge that the libertie and dishonestie of the women is most preiudiciale thereunto, and is the occasion that their common wealth falleth to decay, being neuer so well gouerned: therefore they haue ordained many preseruatives and remedies by their lawes and customes to preuent the same, which is the only occasion (that although it is so long since this kingdome first began, and againe, being so great as you may vnderstande), yet in this one point there is lesse inconuenience or preiudice than in any other countrey of lesse antiquitie and fewer people. so that a dishonest woman is knowen by name, although it be in a great citie, the which is seldome seene, and a rare thing. and the best way they haue to preuent this is, that all people that haue daughters are commaunded by expresse order, that they shall bring them vp (after they haue the vse of reason) in their owne houses very close, and not be seene, but alwayes to doo something to auoide idlenesse, for that it is the mother of all vices, whereby it may take no roote in them. this lawe dooth comprehende married women, and is kept in such sort that the wiues of the viceroyes and gouernours do obserue it, yea they say that the queenes themselues doo obserue it, and that they are alwayes spinning golde, silke, or flaxe, or doing some other exercise with their handes, esteeming all idle persons woorthie to be hated and contemned: so that the children being brought vp in this manner, seeing the good example of their mothers, is the occasion that this vertuous exercise, worthie to be imitated, is conuerted vnto a dayly and perpetuall custome, in such sort, that they think it a perpetuall torment to commaunde them to be idle. these ordinarie and voluntarie exercises haue the women of this kingdome in such sort, that it is newes and a strange thing to meete a woman in the streetes of any citie or towne, neither at the windowes, which is a signe that they liue honest. if it so fall out that of force they must go abroad, as to the buriall of parents and kinsfolkes, or to visite any one being sicke, or vpon any like occasion, then are they carried in litter chaires where they are seene of none, as we told you before: but other superfluous visitations or meetings of gossips are not there vsed. albeit tendering the conseruation of this honest crewe, and to eschewe greater euils in the common wealth, they permit common women as a necessarie thing: yet they do allow them in such sort, that their euill example may not be hurtfull vnto the honest state of them which liue chast. and therefore they do build for them houses out of the cities and townes in the suburbes, giuing them straight commandement there to remaine in the said houses, and not to straggle and go abroad at all. and whilst they liue there they are prohibited, vppon paine of death, to enter into the gates of the citie or any part thereof. such women as doo vse this facultie are nothing esteemed amongst them, for they are for the most part of the basest sort, as strangers, slaues, or such as haue beene bought of their mothers being yoonge, which is a kinde of perpetuall bondage, yea a great crueltie which is vsed amongst them there, and yet suffered amongst them. you shall vnderstande, that such as are poore widowes and driuen by necessitie, cannot sustaine themselues, may for the supplying of their want, sell their children and binde them to perpetuall seruitude, the which is permitted in such sort, that there are amongst them rich merchants that deale in no other thing: and all the maiden children that they buy so bee brought vp with great care, and taught to plaie and sing, and other things appertaining vnto pleasure. then after, when they are of yeares, they carrie them vnto the houses aforesaid ordained for common women. the first day that they doo dedicate her to this ill office, before shee is put into this common house, they carrie her before a iudge, which the king hath ordained for euerie house appertaining to any cittie or towne appointed to bee their keeper, and see that there bee no euill rule kept amongst them: and this iudge dooth place her in the house himselfe, and from that day forwards her master hath no more to doo with her, but to go euerie moneth vnto the iudge to recouer his tribute, which is a certaine summe set downe by the iudge, by agreement made betweene them both, and hee appointeth besides this the time when hee shall be paide for her, and for that was spent in her bringing vp and teaching. these women be very much haunted, and passe away the time maruellous pleasantly by reason of their singing and playing, which they doo with great cunning: and according vnto the report of the chinos, they apparell themselues with great curiositie, and paint themselues. they haue amongst them many blinde women, that are free and not bonde: these are trimmed, dressed, and painted by others that haue their sight; and such as haue spent all their youth in these houses, can not goe foorth so long as they liue, as is commaunded by a lawe publike, least by their dishonest demeanure they should be an occasion of some harme and an euill example to others. whatsoeuer profite dooth remaine vnto these women when they haue payed their maister, they giue vnto the iudge their superiour, who doth keepe it faithfully and carefully, and giueth a good account thereof euerie yeare vnto the uisitors. and afterwardes when these women waxe olde, it is repaied vnto them againe by order of the said iudge. but it is bestowed in such sort, that they shall not lacke, neither haue vrgent necessitie. but if it so fall out that they should lacke, they will giue them a stipend to maintaine them, onely for to dresse and trimme the blinde women, or else they will put them into the kinges hospitall, a place ordeyned for such as cannot helpe themselues. the men children which they buy, and are solde to supplie their necessitie, in the order aforesaide, of the women, they put to learne some occupation, and after that they are expert therein, they doo serue a master in the same trade for a certaine time; the which being expired, their masters are not only bound to giue them their libertie, but also to provide them of wiues and to marrie them, prouiding also for them houses and necessaries wherewith they may get their liuing. which, if they doo not of their owne free will, they are compelled by iustice to doo, whether they will or no. and they for a token of greatefulnesse must come vnto their masters the first day of the yeare, and other dayes appointed, and bring them some present. the children of these be all free, and subiect to no bondage for the benefite doone vnto their father for their bringing vp. chap. xxi. _the fashion of their ships, as well of those that passe the seas, as of those that doo roade riuers, which are manie and great: and howe they doo prouide themselues of fish for all the yeare._ there is in this kingdome a great number of shippes and barkes, with the which they sayle all a long their coastes, and vnto ilandes neere hande, and into their riuers, the which doo runne cleane through the most part of all their prouinces: and there dwelleth so much people vpon these riuers in shippes and barkes, that it seemeth to be some great citie; there is so many of them that they do esteeme that there is almost as many people that dwell vpon the water as vpon the lande. they make them slightly and with small cost, for they haue in all partes of this countrie great aboundance of tymber, iron, and other thinges necessarie for this vse: but in especiall a kinde of glew, wherewith they doo dawbe and trimme their shippes, that is much more tougher and stronger then the pitch which wee vse, which after it is layde on, sticketh fast and maketh their shipping as harde as stones; the aboundance whereof, and the great number of ship-wrightes, and againe for that there is not on the lande roome enough for the people to inhabite, being so many in number, causeth them to build so great a number of shippes and barkes. they vse their shippes and barkes of many fashions, euery one hath his proper name. such ships as they haue to saile long voiages be called iuncos, but for the warre they make huge and mightie vessels, with high castles, both on the prowe and sterne, much after the fashion of them that come out of the easterne seas, and vnto those with which the portingales sayle into the east india. they haue these in so great number, yt a generall may ioine together in dayes an armie of more than . those which they do commonly vse for burden and to lade, are much after ye same fashion and greatnes, and smal difference there is betweene them, but that they are lower both before and at the sterne. there is an other sort of lesser vessels, and are much like vnto pinases, and haue foure great ores on ech side, whereat row sixe men at euery ore and foure at the least. these are excellent good to rowe in and out ouer their bard hauens, or into any place where is litle water: they do call them bancoens. there is an other sort that is more brode than these, which they call lanteas, and carie eight ores on a side, with sixe men at euerie ore. of these two last sorts of vessels pirates and rouers at the sea do commonly vse (for in those seas there be very many), for that they be very nimble to fly and to giue assalt as occasion doth serue. they haue an other sort of vessels yt are long, like vnto a galley, but more square, being very brode and neede little water: they do vse them likewise to transport merchandise from one place to an other: they are swift and run vp the riuers with smal force of the armes. many other sorts of barks they haue, besides the aforesaid, some with galleries and windows painted and gylt, but chiefely those which the uiceroyes and gouernours doo make for their recreation. of those sortes of shipping afore sayd, which they call iuncos, the king hath in al his prouinces great armies, and in them souldiers with their captaines to defend the coastes, that as well all ships of their owne countrie, as those that doo come from other places to traficke with them, may goe and come in safetie, and not bee spoyled and robbed of the roauers that be there abouts. in the riuers there are pynases well equipped appointed for the same purpose. and the king doth out of his rentes pay all these ordinarie souldiers, and that with great liberalitie. the pitch wherewith they doo trimme their shippes (as we haue sayde) is founde in that kingdome in great aboundance; it is called in their language iapez, and is made of lyme, oyle of fish, and a paste which they call vname:[ ] it is verie strong and suffereth no wormes, which is the occasion that one of their shippes dooth twise out last one of ours: yet dooth it hinder much their sayling. the pumpes which they haue in their shippes are much differing from ours, and are farre better: thay make them of many peeces, with a wheele to draw water, which wheele is set along the shippes sides within, wherewith they do easily clense their shippes, for that one man alone going in the wheele, doth in a quarter of an houre cleanse a great shippe, although she leake verie much. many men be borne and brought vp in these shippes and barkes (as is aforesayde), and neuer in all their liues haue beene on lande, and doo knowe none other occupation wherewith to liue, but that which they doo inherite of their fathers, which is, to goe in one of these shippes or barkes, carrying and recarrying of merchandise from place to place, or to ferrie people ouer the riuers. they haue in them their wiues and their children, and haue like neighborhood amongst them on the riuers as in their cities and townes, of whom they stand in little need, for they do bring vp within their ships all things necessarie for their sustenance, as hens, duckes, pigeons, and other foules good to be eaten: and if they do lacke any thing, they haue it in victualing houses and shops, which they haue amongst them on the same riuers in great abundance: and of other superfluous thinges such as may bee founde in a citie, they are well furnished: as of many sorts of silkes, amber, and muske, and other things more curious then needefull. they haue also in their shippes, pots with little orange trees and other fruits, and gardins with flowers, and other herbes for their recreation, and in the wide shippes pooles of water, wherein they haue great store of fish aliue, and yet doo dayly fishe for more with nettes. this kingdome is the best prouided of fish of any that is knowen, by reason of the great number of these barkes, as also because they haue many fisher men at sea and in the riuers, that continually fish with nettes and other engines for the same purpose: and doo carrie the same fishe (in infinite number) aliue into their pooles fiue hundreth leagues vp into the lande by the riuers, which they doo with great ease in shifting the water euerie day, and doo feede them with thinges fit for the nature of the fish. the chiefe and principallest time of fishing in this countrie, is in three monethes of the yeare, which is februarie, march, and aprill, at such times as are the spring tides, which do bring the fish out of the mayne sea into the riuers, and there they do spawne and leaue their young: then these fisher men, who doo liue by that facultie, doo take them and put them into their pondes, and feede and nourish them in the ships till they come to bignesse to be solde. unto these fishermen repayre many barkes from diuerse partes of the countrie to buye their fishe, and doo bringe with them wicker baskets lyned with a certaine thicke paper for that purpose, and annoynted with oyle, so that the water can not goe out: wherein they doo put their fish, and do shift them euerie day, and feede them as aforesaide. all people doo buye of this fish, although they bee verie small and leane, and doo put them in their pondes which euerie one hath in his house (as common vse in all that countrie is), whereas in a small time they waxe great, fitte to be eaten. they doo feede them with a paste made of cowes doung, buffes doung, and pigins doong. likewise they doo throwe of these small fishes into the mootes of their cities, which is the occasion that they are so full of fish. but all that breede in them do appertaine vnto the gouernors or iudges of the cities, so that none without their expresse commandement dare fish for them. these gouernors and iudges doo vse much to recreate themselues vppon the riuers, and haue for the same purpose barkes made close, and chambers in them verie curiously wrought, with windowes and galleries likewise hanged with rich clothes, and many other thinges for their contentment and pleasure. chap. xxii. _a curious order that these chinos haue to bring vp ducks in great abundance, and with small cost: and of a pleasant and ingenious order of fishing which they vse._ the great number of people that is in this countrie, and not permitting any idle people to liue therein, is the occasion that it doth stirre vp the wits of poore men (being constrained thereunto by necessitie, the inuenter of manye thinges) to seeke new inuentions to get their liuing, to relieue and supply their necessities. so that many of this kingdome, seeing the whole countrie so throughly inhabited and tilled, that there is not one foote without an owner, they do take them vnto the riuers (which are verie great), and there they do make their dwellinges in ships and barkes (as is aforesaide), where they have their whole families vnder borde to defende them from the sunne and rayne, and inclinations of the heauens. there they do vse the occupation that they do knowe, or that which they did inherite of their father, and many misteries to liue by, verie strange: whereof the most principall is to bring vp in some of their barkes so great quantitie of duckes, that they sustaine a great part of the countrey therewith; and the vse thereof is as followeth. they haue cages made of canes so bigge as the vpper most holde of the barke, in the which may be foure thousand duckes at once. they haue in certaine places of these cages made nestes, where these duckes do almost euery day laye egges, the which they take: and if it be in the sommer, they doo put them in buffes doong, or in the doong of those duckes, which is verie warme, where they leaue them so many dayes as experience hath taught them that they will come foorth. then they doo take them out of the doong, and do breake them one by one, and take a little ducklin, the which they do with so great cunning that almost none of them doth perish, which is yt which causeth great admiration vnto some that go to see it: although they bee but few, for that it is an auncient custome vsed for long time in that countrie. and for to haue the fruition of this benefite all the yeare, in the winter they must vse an artificiall helpe: to giue a little warmenes vnto the doong for the bringing forth of their egs, they do vse then an other inuention as ingenious as the first, and that is this: they take a great number of canes tied one by another, whereon they do laye the doong, then vppon that they doo lay their egges, and do couer them verie well with the same: this being done, they put vnder the canes straw, or some other like thing, and set it on fire, but in such sort that it dooth not burne, but keepeth a naturall heat all the time, till they thinke that they are readie to be taken out. then doo they take and breake them, as aforesaide, so that their pultrie dooth increase in such number as though they were antes. then doo they put them into an other cage for the same purpose, wheras be old duckes brought vp for no other purpose but to couer the little ones vnder their winges and keepe them warme: and there they doo feede them euery day, till such time as they can feede themselues, and go abroad into the fieldes to profit themselues in the companie of the olde duckes. many times they haue in number aboue twentie thousand, yet do they maintain them with a small cost, and it is in this order: euery morning they do giue them a small quantitie of boyled rice, then do they open a doore of the cage, which is towardes the riuer, and doo put a bridge of canes that doth reach vnto the water: then doo they come foorth with so great haste one vpon an other, that it is a pastime to see them. all the day after they do passe the time vpon the water, and in the fieldes of rice vpon the land, wheras they do feede: the owners of the rice doo giue vnto the owners of the duckes somewhat to let their duckes go into their fields, for that they do destroy all the grasse and other weeds in it, and hurt nothing of the rice. when that the euening draweth on, then they of the barke do make a sound with a taber or such like, ye which being heard of his duckes, they throwe themselues with great speede into the water, and swimme straight vnto their owne barke, whereas their bridge is readie put for them; and euerie flocke doth know his owne barke by the sounde, without missing at any time, although there be many flockes together. for euerie barke doth vse a different sound the one from the other, to the which the duckes are vsed, and their ears full thereof, so that they neuer fayle their owne barke. this manner of liuing is greatly vsed in all that countrie, and verie profitable, for that it is a victuall most vsed amongst them, and is esteemed as a thing of great sustentation and of small price, by reason that at al times there is breeding of them and of small cost. likewise in this country they do vse a kinde of fishing, that is of no lesse industrie then the bringing vppe of these duckes, and a thing to be scene. the king hath in euerie citie founded vppon the riuers, houses wherein euerie yeare is brought vp many cormorantes or sea rauens, with whome they doo fishe in those monethes that the fish dooth spawne, and that is in this maner following. they take the cormorantes out of their cages, and carrie them vnto the riuer side, whereas they haue many barkes ordeyned for their fishing, and they are halfe full of water. then they take their cormorantes, and with a corde they do binde their mawes, in such sort that no fish can fall into it: then they do cast them into the riuer to fish, the which they do with such good will and couetousnesse, that it is a woonder to see; they throwe themselues into the water with great swiftnesse, and diue, whereas they do fill their throate with fish. then they come foorth, and with the like hast they go vnto the barkes that are halfe ful of water, and the fish which they have taken they put in that water, which is put there for that purpose, that the fish may not die; the which being done, they returne againe vnto their fishing as they did before. in this order they do indure their fishing foure houres together, in such sort that the one doth not trouble the other; and when yt their boates with water are ful of fish, then do they vnbind them, and turne them againe into the riuer for to fish for themselues, for they haue neede thereof, for that alwayes the day before that they will fish they keepe them from their ordinarie victualles, which is a litle _millio_, that they may ye better do their office. so after a while that they haue filled their bellies and recreated themselues, they take them out of the water and carrie them vnto the ordinarie places, whereas they are kept; and euerie third day during the time of this fishing, they do take them forth for the same exercise, which for them is so great pastime, that they would it should indure all the yeare. in these three monethes they do take so much fish, that they do prouide the whole kingdome for all the yeare; as in the chapter past it hath beene tolde you, which is the occasion that they are as well prouided of fish as of any other thing: so that, if they please, they may eate euerie day fresh fish, although they are farre from the sea. chap. xxiii. _of the curtesie that the king of this mightie kingdome doth vnto the ambassadors that come to him from anie other king, prince, or comonaltie._ we should in the chapter following intreate of the ambassage that king philip of spaine, with the christian zeale that he had, to sende vnto the king of this kingdome, who being mooued by certaine causes and reasons, did referre it till a better occasion, and we do beleeue that it will be offered shortly. therefore now it shall not be from our purpose to declare in this chapter the honour and curtesie that this king doth vnto the ambassadours of kings, princes, or any other prouince, that doth come vnto him, in what sort soeuer it be; and for that it is of great curiositie, it shall be necessarie to declare it with the circumstance wherewith it is done. all such as doo enter into this kingdome, with the title of ambassadour, be it from a king that is a friend or enemie, they are respected, intreated, and made of, with so great care and diligence, as though they came themselues in person that doo send them. unto whome, besides the obseruing the law of nations, which is obserued and kept among all kings in the worlde, in especiall that their persons shall not receiue neither incurre any danger, although their ambassage bringeth discontent or harme vnto the king; besides all the which, there is granted vnto them great and particular priuiledges. when that he doth enter into the kingdome, by any of the prouinces whatsoeuer, the iudge or gouernor of the first towne dooth in person go forth to meete and receiue him, and giue him his welcome, with great complement of words and ceremonies. all the loytias, captaines, souldiers, and the inhabitants of the towne, doo accompanie the iudge or gouernour, when that they go to receiue him. but at his disembarking to come a shore, they will not suffer him to set his feete vppon the ground (although it be but a little way that he should go), but hath at the waters side in a readinesse eight men, with a chaire made of yuorie, or of some other pretious thing, with the curteines of ueluet, damaske, or cloth of golde: which for the like oportunitie, they haue in euerie cittie or principall towne appointed by the king, wherein they do carrie him to his lodging. likewise they haue in euerie citie and great towne throughout all the kingdome, a principall house, and sufficient for to lodge such like personages. it is also vsed to lodge such iudges as are sent by the king to execute his commandement, when they passe by anie of such cities or townes. there is in euery one of these houses a lieutenant, and he hath in it maruellous and excellent household stuffe, as hangings, beddes, seruants, and all other necessaries, not only to lodge one ambassador, but many, if they should there meete, and not one to disturbe another. so as aforesaide, they doo beare him company (either on horsebacke, or in a chaire, which is the ordinarie carriage amongst them) till hee come vnto this house, whereas they do leave him with much curtesie and many ceremonies, alonelie with them that waite vppon him and serue him. and also a captaine with a thousand or two thousande souldiers for to garde him continuallie, and to beare him companie till hee returne againe out of the kingdome. then the next day following, the iudge or gouernour that did receiue him dooth go and visite him. and after that they haue demanded of him such ordinarie thinges as is vsed in such like visitations, then doo they learne of his estate, and of the prince that hath sent him, and in summe, the effect of his comming and ambassage: then doo they straightways at the houre dispatch a post vnto the gouernour or vizroy of the prouince, who is alwayes resident in the chiefe or metropolitan citie thereof, and hee at the same instant dooth dispatch another post with that message vnto the king and his counsel. and he dooth sende order vnto the ambassador, either to stay, or a safe conduct for him to go vnto the place whereas hee is. likewise hee sendeth order vnto the iudge, how hee shall intreate that ambassador, which is giuen according vnto the relation sent him, wherein he did vnderstande the state of the king and prince that sent him. likewise the number of souldiers yt shall beare him companie, and of all other thinges needefull for him in his iourney: all the which is set downe in order, and in particular, as what they shall giue euery man to eate for him and his seruants, and in what townes, and howe hee shall be lodged. his safe conduct is brought him, written vppon a whited table (after the fashion as we haue tolde you heere before in manie places), and is with great letters, wherein is contained from what king that ambassador is sent. this table is borne alwayes before him, wheresoeuer hee dooth go. but that pasport, which is sent him afterwards from the royall councell, with facultie, that hee may go vnto the court, is after another sort: for that it is written in parchment and gallantlie lymned, and with the kings seale of golde hanging at it, which is neuer giuen but at such like occasion, or for some prouision giuen to a vizroy. looke what is spent vppon this ambassadour in all his iourney, and vppon them that doo beare him companie for all necessaries, is vppon the kings cost and charges, and is paide by the kinges treasurers in euerie place whereas they doo go. generallie in all partes, they doo make him great feastes and banquets, with pastimes and presents, that day that hee dooth enter into the cittie of taibin or paquin, whereas the king is. there goeth foorth to meete him without the citie, all the gentlemen of the court, with the royall councel and president, who, according vnto the saying of the chinos, goeth forth with little lesse maiestie and companie than the king: who, if the ambassadour be from a king that is mightie, they giue him the right hand, if not they giue him the left hand: and in this sort they go, ether talking with himselfe, or, by interpreters, demaunding of him of his health, and of his trauail in comming, and other thinges, till hee come into the court of the pallace, whereas he is lodged; and there they doo leaue him, with some to beare him companie, and hee dooth returne vnto his house with all this company aforesaid. but when they do depart from him, they doo giue him power in the name of the king, to make a certaine number of loytias, and to set at libertie a certaine number of prisoners, such as are condemned to die, and other good deeds particular. those that doo enter in this kingdome with the title of an ambassador, they cannot do him any griefe, for anie delight or euill that he doth, although they can make good proofe thereof. and for that it is of a truth, you shall vnderstande the proofe by experience. there was sent vnto this king, one bartholomew perez, a portugall, and his company, by order of the vizroy of the india, with an ambassage from the king don manuel of portugall, and they were accused before the vizroy of the prouince of canton, by the ambassadors of the king of malaca, that were there present, who were bounde vnto the court to treat of matters of their king; they did testifie that the ambassage that the portugall did bring was false, and they were spies sent from the vizroy of the india for to view the fortresses of the citie, that they might come afterwards and take it, as they had done in many places of the india: they perseuering still in the euill and mischieuous intent, did will the vizroy to apprehend them, and to punish them as such spies did deserue, offering themselues to giue good information for the same. who, after that he had well considered thereof, and consulted with the loytias of the citie, and with his counsailors, they commanded that they should be apprehended and put in straite prison, whereas their declarations were taken with great care, deceit, and pollicie: and by reason that in them they found contrarieties: some for feare confessed much more then that which was demanded, and other saide that it was of truth; so that by their confessions, according vnto the lawes of the countrie, they were condemned to die, and sent their iudgment vnto the roiall councell for to confirme the same, with intent and great desire for to execute the same. the which being seene by the roiall councell, and considering with what title they entred into that kingdome, did not onely make voide the sentence and would not confirme the same, but did send commandement vnto the vizroy to set them at libertie, and to returne freely back againe vnto the india from whence they came, and that hee shoulde furnish them with all things necessarie in aboundance, til they were entred into the same, although in this time the ambassadors of the king of malaca, who were in the court, did still perseuer in their malicious intent. in which commandement, although it were true all that which the foresaide ambassadors did testifie, and that they for feare of death did confesse it, yet it is sufficient that they entred into his kingdom with the title of ambassador, whereby they should receiue any harme. but now let vs returne to our purpose. so after this ambassador hath refreshed himselfe of his iourny, and receiued many banquets and orations of the gentlemen of the court: vpon a day appointed he goeth to speake with the king, accompanied with all the gentlemen of the court, and with the president of the councell, who doth giue him audience in one of the three rich hals aforesaide, at all times as his businesse doth require. so when that all his busines is dispatched and gratified with many gifts, he returneth backe againe from whence he came; and looke with what curtesie they did receiue him at his comming, the like they doo vnto him at his returne. but if an ambassador doo come from any common wealth of the said kingdome, they do not giue him the intertainement abouesaid, but cleane contrarie thereunto, for that he dooth enter into the citie, accompanied onely with the iustice, whose charge it is to lodge him in such houses as the king hath ordeined to the same effect, and to giue him all that is necessarie, takeing of him the summe and effect wherefore he doth come: and he doth giue relation thereof vnto the president of the councell, and the president doth giue the king to vnderstand therof: then doo they appoint the day of audience, with this condition, that when he dooth go thither, hee must go on foote, or else on horse back without a bridle, with onely a halter on his horse head, in token of humility, and acknowledging to be a subject. the day of his audience, he commeth forth obseruing the order and condition aforesaid, accompanyed with the iustice. and when hee doth come into a great place, which is right against the pallace of the king, he staieth there till an officer of the king doth come vnto him (who is master of the ceremonies), and hee dooth cause him to proceede forwards, and dooth shew him the place whereas hee must first kneele downe, with his handes ioyned togither in token of adoration or worship: and all the time of this ceremonie, his eis must bee fixed on that part where as they say the king is. in this sort hee goeth onwards his way, making in it other fine adorations like vnto the first, vntill such time as he do come into the first hall of the pallace, which is at the staires heade, whereas the president is set with great majestie, and doth represent the kings person: who after that hee hath hearde the effect of his ambassage, dooth sende them away without answering one word at that time; but after that hee hath giuen the king to vnderstande, hee dooth sende him answere by that iustice, who hath the charge to lodge him, and to prouide him of all things necessarie for the time that hee is in the court. chap. xxiv. _of the ambassage that the king of spaine did send vnto the king of this kingdome, and the occasions that did mooue him therevnto, as also wherefore it was declared._ for to conclude this small historie, in the which i haue declared, in summe, all such things as i haue vnderstoode of this kingdome of _china_ vnto this, i meane such as i might wel set forth, leauing a great number more, of the which i haue particular note: some for that they are vnknowne, and others for that they will cause admyration because they haue not beene seene. and according vnto the counsell of the wise, they should not be intreated of, vntill that time that experience dooth make them more credible. and againe, i doo hold it for a lesse euill, to be reprehended for breuitie (as some haue beene), then to bee prolix and tedious in the declaring, although it bee hurtfull vnto this worke, from the which i doo take away much that i might put in. nowe letting all passe, i will in this last chapter declare of the letter present, and ambassage, wherewith the king of spaine did sende mee in the yeare of our lorde one thousande one hundred and foure-score: for that in company of other religious men of my order, i should passe from his mightie kingdome of mexico to china, and to present it vnto the king of that countrie in his name: of all the which i will declare that which i doo vnderstande and know, not exceeding the limits of fidelitie, by reason that the ambassage was not ended, nor no conclusion in effect of that which was pretended, but doo hope in the deuine maiestie, and with the care and diligence that is put therein by the king of spaine, shortlie to haue a conclusion of that they desire, for the which the letter and the rest was sent. beeing considered of by the spaniards (such as were dwellers in the ilands phillippinas, which by another name are called the ilands of the ponent or west) the thinges of great valour and riches, as of golde and silkes and many other thinges which is brought from the kingdome of china, and out of their ports, and how those which brought it did sel it for a small quantitie in respect as they did esteeme it, and being certified by the saide chinos of many other things which were in the firme land, wherof some of them haue beene made mention in this historie: being mooued with the conuerting of these soules, and with the profite that might come of trafike that they might haue with the chinos, it was concluded by the gouernour and principals of the citie of manila, with the iudgement of the prouinciall of the order of saint augustine, and of many other religious men that were both graue and wise, such as were the first, that in those parts did preach the gospell, and did baptize a great number of the dwellers therein, and did many other thinges, of the which i might say much, if it were to my purpose, and that my part were not therein: so that i say it was concluded amongst them to sende vnto the catholike king graue personages, vnto whome intire credite might be giuen, for to giue relation what they vnderstoode of that kingdome, and also of the euident necessitie (that all those ilands that were his) had for their conseruation to holde to friendes the chinos their borderers, whereof might growe vnto them great benefites and profites: and likewise to request him (if it were his pleasure) to sende an ambassador to the king of that kingdome, the better to confirme their friendship, and to carrie with him some things which he vsed in his countrie, which would be maruellous well esteemed of the chinos, and be a way vnto the preaching of the gospel, and bee a beginning that a farther contraction may growe betwixt the christians and chinos, of the which shall follow the aforesaid profite vnto other countries, by the great quantitie of things, as well of riches as of other curiosities that shalbe brought from thence. after they had well considered with great deliberation, who should be the person that they shoulde send vpon so long a iourney, for to request his maiestie of the aforesaid: in the ende they did agree vppon for to desire the prouinciall of the augustine friers, who was called frier dilho de herrera, a man of great learning and of great experience touching matters of those ilands, for that hee was one of the first discouerers of them: they requested him for the loue of god and the good seruice to his maiestie, and the benefite that might come thereby vnto these ilands, that he would take vpon him to go with this petition, for they were fully perswaded for that he had trauailed so manie places of those ilands, as also for his office and vocation, there was none that better coulde put in effect their desire, and perswade with his maiestie the great importance of that ambassage: and manie other things necessarie touching the gouernement of those ilands. this determination was liked well of them all, and that they had chosen well in sending of the prouinciall, who incontinent departed from the ilands in a shippe that was prepared for noua hispania, which was in the yeare of christ . at his imbarking, hee was accompanied with the gouernour, and all those of that citie, of whom hee was maruellouslie well beloued for his holinesse and good condition. desiring him with all diligence to procure to returne, with as much breuitie as was possible, vnto those ilands, whereas they so much loued him, and had neede of his presence. he did promise them to make all the speede possible, and in paiment of the trauel that he did take vpon him, for the benefite and profite, he requested them al that they would pray vnto god to giue a good voyage: they promised him to doo it, the which they did performe with particular care. then did the master command to weigh ankers, and to set saile, which was in the moneth of nouember the same yeare: and with reasonable wether they arriued at the new spaine, and came vnto the cittie of mexico, and from thence they went and embarked themselues in the north seas; who with prosperous winds the day of august, the yeare following, they ariued in san lucar debarameda, in spaine, and caried me in his company. from thence, the day following, we departed from syuel, from whence wee departed forthwith toward madrid, whereas his maiestie was at that present, and we came thither the fifteenth day of september in anno , the same weeke that they had newes of the losse of the goleta.[ ] wee went straightwayes to kisse the kings hands, and caried the letters which we brought from his gouernor and citie: by whom both we and the letters were receiued with his accustomed benignitie, and did heare the petition with great satisfaction, for that the desire was holy and profitable, and told vs that he would command his counsell to vnderstand in the same with a particular consideration, and with so much breuitie as the thing required: and gaue vs thankes for the great trauell and long iourney which we tooke vpon vs in his seruice, for to giue him notice of the discouering of this great kingdome, and of other things touching the ilands philippinas. he straightwayes commanded that we should be prouided for of all things necessarie for our sustentation for the time that we should there remaine, and that we should go and giue account of all things (for the which we came thither) vnto the counsel of the indies, who was don iuan de obando, vnto whom his maiestie did recommend the consideration to be done with great care, and to consult vpon the same. after that they had comuned with the roiall counsell of the indies touching that which should be requisite and conuenient, which was done as it appeared in effect, for that they gaue vs facultie in a few dayes after of all things that was requested from the said ilands, except that which did touch the ambassage vnto the king of china, as a thing of greater importance, and requested longer time to consider of the same: so that they did referre it till they had a better occasion. so that with this resolution and with fortie religious men, and manie commissions from his maiestie touching the good gouernement of that new kingdome, wee departed from syuell in the moneth of ianuarie, the yeare following, in , whereas i remained by his order and for certaine respects. but the aforesaid prouinciall did imbarke himselfe with his fortie religious persons, and departed in the moneth of iuly with a faire winde and merrie passage, till they came vnto newe spaine, and from thence into the south sea, vntill they came in sight of the ilands: whereas the wether did alter, and they were forced by the furie thereof to ariue at an iland inhabited with gentiles, by whome they were all slaine, and none escaped but onely an indian natural of the ilands, which wee carried from thence in our companie for spaine. he afterwards came vnto manilla, and gaue them to vnderstand how they were all slaine, and how the gentiles did teare all the papers and commissions in peeces, and of all that happened to them. this beeing knowne by the gouernor, and by the rest that dwelt in the ilands (after that they had done the rytes, with the funerall griefes, as iustice required in such a case), they finding themselues in the same necessitie that before they were in by reason of the losse of the aforesaid prouinciall and his companions, and also of the letters and prouisions sent from his maiestie, they forthwith in the same determination did write newe letters, in requesting that which in part the king had granted (although they had no knowledge thereof); they did also therein write touching the ambassage that they did request for the king of china, adding thereunto new occasions, wherby they should be moued to do them so much fauour as to send the ambassador afore requested, which was a thing of great importance for all those ilands. when that these letters came in conformitie with the others before sent, the king did ordaine for gouernor of those ilands, a gentleman, who was called don gonsalo de mercado y ronquillo, a man of great valor and discretion, one that had serued the king as wel in the peru as in mexico with great fidelitie; who vnderstanding the earnest request wherewith those of the ilands did aske the ambassage, and how much it did import to haue it (as a man then elected for gouernor of those ilands, and a matter that touched him very much), did put the king and his counsell in memorie of the same: and in conclusion, they answered that hee should foorthwith depart with the souldiers that were prouided for those parts, for that it was conuenient so to be doone by reason of great necessitie that they had of them in the said ilands; and as for the ambassage, for that there was no such great necessitie nor haste, it should be intreated of at more leasure, when that the counsell will aduertise themselues of al that shalbe conuenient touching that matter, and that they would consult and confer with his maiestie that he may, as the right owner of them, command that which shuld be to the seruice of god and his benefite. so with this answere the said gouernor departed. it happened that in the moneth of august, in the yeare following, before that this gouernor was ariued at the ilands, there came newe letters from thence of supplications, requesting with greater instance, that which before at other times they had requested, sending with their petition the whole relation of the entrie of frier martin de herreda, prouinciall of the augustine friers and his companions, into the kingdome of china, and of such things as they had seene and heard of (as may be seene at large in the said declaration, which is in the second parte of this booke). this being seene by his maiestie, he was resolued to send the ambassage which so many times they haue requested; this chanced at that time that he began to go vppon portugall, a time of trouble, but yet a great token that it was the will of god, in whose hands (as the wise man saith) are the hearts of kings. for the appointment of one for to go on this ambassage, the king did remit it vnto his roial counsel of the indies, whose president was don antonio de padilla y meneses, who had communicated with me diuers times, touching matters of that kingdome and of mexico, whereas i was alwayes resident euer since i was seuenteene yeares of age, and by reason of matters that was committed vnto me out of that country, was the occasion that i did vse to visit him the oftener: the which large conuersation and the good wil that hee did beare me, did perswade him that i could put in execution the ambassage of his maiestie, for that his will was that some religious person should do it: and they being fully perswaded that my good will and desire was for the saluation of those soules, and in all respects willing to serue his maiestie: all the which, with the knowledge that i had of that large nauigation,[ ] and the qualitie of that countrie and people, was a great helpe to the accomplishing in effect the will of his maiestie, and desire of those that dwelt in philippina. so after this charge being committed vnto me, and his maiestie readie to depart on his voiage for portugal as aforesaid, he did remit my dispatch vnto the lords of the royall counsell, who were at that time the licenciado gasca de salaçar, and doctor gomez de santisteuan, the licenciado espadero, the licenciado don diego de zuniga, the doctor vaillo, the licenciado eua, the licenciado gedeon de hinonsosa. by whose commandement i depart from the court vnto syuell, where as order was giuen that all such things should be prouided that i should carrie vnto the king. whereas i was procuring the same certaine dayes, and for that they were many the which i should carrie, it was not possible by any meanes that they should be made readie against the departure of the fleete. then the licenciado gasca de salacar aforesaide, who was at that present resident in the contractation house of syuel, gaue his maiestie to vnderstand thereof, who was at badaioz occupied in matters touching the kingdome of portugal as aforesaid, and requested him to giue order what his pleasure was to be done therein: who commanded that the fleete should depart, and that i should stay till such time as all things were made and concluded that i shoulde carrie with me for the king of china, as in ample manner as hee had commanded. and when that all things were in good order, that they should cause a shippe or galoon to bee made readie, wherein i should made my voyage, for to ouertake or meete at the newe spaine such shippes as euerie yeare dooth depart for the ilands philippinas, which is at christmas time: this commandement was delayed vntill the beginning of lent, as well for that the thinges were manie that shoulde bee made, and coulde not be dispatched in the time, as also for a generall sicknesse that was amongst them in spaine, called the cattarre or murre. then after that all thinges were in order, by the commandement of the licenciado gasca, hee deliuered vnto me the kinges letter, and all other thinges. the which, for that they were manie, and againe i haue beene tedious in this chapter, i doo not declare it; for that the prudent lector may of himselfe conceiue, if hee doo weigh the magnanimitie of the catholike king that dooth sende them, and the mightinesse and richnesse of him to whome it is sent, of the which we haue declared enough in this small historie. i would i could particularly declare it vnto you, as also the copie of the letter that his maiestie did send vnto that heathen or gentile king, a thing worthie of the author: but for that it came not to effect, neither had i anye licence of him that all onelye might grant it: and againe, in place whereas i could not aske it, therefore i dare not, for that i will not excede the limits of fidelitie which i owe vnto my prince. but it is sufficient that the letter and the present sent by his maiestie vnto the king of that countrey was to no other intent, but to procure him and all his subiects to acknowledge the true god, and to exhort them to receiue our catholike faith, and to giue them to vnderstand the error wherein they are, and how ignorant they are of the knowledge of the true god, the creator of heauen and earth, and of all the creatures of the world visible and invisible, sauiour and redeemer of all such as with a true knowledge doo beleeue in him and obey his holy lawe, declared by his worde, and confirmed by his deuine tokens, and other thinges in effect. so being dispatched, i prosecuted my iourny, and order, till i came vnto the kingdome of mexico, whereas i found a certaine inconuenience touching a matter needful in that voiage, whereof his maiestie, in the commission he gaue me, willed me to be well aduertised, and, if it were needfull, to giue him notice thereof before i did passe any farther. the vizroy of that kingdome, who was the earle of couma,[ ] thought it good that i shoulde returne vnto lysborne, whereas the king was at that instant, and to giue him to vnderstand of the difficultie that was found, in a meeting that the vizroy had caused to bee made of the most grauest personages of all that kingdome, about the prosecuting of that ambassage. with this resolution, i departed from that kingdome, and returned to spaine, and left the present in mexico, in the power of the kings officers, till such time as order was giuen what should be done therewith. i found his maiestie in lisborne, whereas i did deliuer him the letters that were written touching the same matter, and did declare vnto him my iudgement touching the meeting aforesaid: who incontinent did take the charge vpon him to seeke occasion, for to put in effect his most christian intent and zeale; the which i doo beleeue he had procured, and will by al waies possible: and that very shortly we shall see in that kingdome planted the catholike faith, and their false idolatrie banished. and i hope in god it will bee very shortly, for that there be within that kingdome religious men, of the order of saint augustine, and barefoote friers of saint francis, and of the order of jesus, or jesuits, who are called there the fathers of saint paule: of whom there is placed fiue or sixe in the citie of xanquin, whereas the vizroy doth dwell, and hath erected a couent in that citie ever since the year , with a church, whereas they doo say masse ordinarily. and it is said, of a truth, that they haue got license of the saide vizroy for to passe freely thorough out all the whole kingdome of china. but if it bee so, you must thinke that hee did it after that he had consulted with the king, and doone by his authoritie: otherwise i am perswaded he durst not grant any such license. at this present dooth there go out of spaine, by the order and commandement of his maiestie and his royall counsell of the indies, a companie of religious men, of the order of saint dominicke, for to aid and helpe the rest that are there to conclude this enterprise, from whom can proceed nothing but that which tends to great effect, by reason of their great zeale and learning, and the better if that they doo ioyne together in charitie as seruants to one lord and master, and as they which are bounde to doo all one worke. by which meanes, with the fauour and helpe of almightie god, putting to their diligence and industrie, they shall easily conquest their hearts and good willes, and shall frustrate the diuell from the possession that so long time he hath possessed in that kingdome, and reduce them to their true lord by creation and redemption. it will not bee a small helpe, the manie and evident tokens which the chinos doo giue of desire of their saluation; for as it is said that they haue read in their bookes, that from the occident shall come the true and perfite law to direct them to heaven, where they shalbe angels. and they, seeing that those religious people which are come into their kingdome, doo come from the occident, they are perswaded, without doubt, that the law that they doo declare vnto them is the truth; by which meanes shall redowne vnto them great goodnesse. they are greatly affectioned vnto the commandements of the catholike faith, and vnto the catechisme, which is translated into their language, and is abrode in manie parts of that kingdome, which is the occasion (as the fathers of the companie that are in the citie xuquien dooth write) that many principal persons are conuerted vnto the catholike faith, and others, being holpen by the heauens, and encited by the ensample of them, doo demande the holy baptisme, which is left undone because they will not cause any vprore in the countrie. and againe, when they shall better conceiue thereof, they may receiue it with more firme faith. god, for his mercie, cause to go forwards, and with his diuine fauour, this good worke, for his honour and glorie, and exalting his holy faith; and that so great and infinite a number of soules, redeemed by his pretious blood, might be saued, and to put in the hart of christian kings to proceed forwards in that which he hath begun: putting alwaies in their breasts a greater augmentation, to the concluding of the same, and to put apart from him all such perswasions as shoulde cause him to leaue it off, which the diuell will procure by all the wayes and meanes that he may. but against god and his diuine will there is neither power nor wisedome. the end of the first part. footnotes: [ ] purchas's _pilgrimes_, vol. iii, p. , . [ ] purchas's _pilgrimes_, vol. iii, p. . [ ] barros, dec. iii, liv. ii, cap. . [ ] ... mui prospero em honra, e fazenda, cousas que poucas vezes juntamente se conseguem, porque ha poucos homens que por sus trabalhos as merecem pelo modo que fernão peres naquellas partes as ganhava. barros, dec. iii, liv. ii, cap. . goes, p. iv, cap. . osorius, lib. xi, p. et seq. [ ] barros, dec. iii, liv. vi, cap. , has further particulars concerning his regulations. concerning his person and manners the same author says: "como era cavalleiro de sua pessoa, muy pomposo, glorioso e gastador, todos suas obras eram com grande magestade, etc." in osorius (lib. xi, p. _b_) he appears more faulty and blameworthy. "... andradii, viri sane fortis sed temerarii, et plurimum a mente fratris abhorrentis ... deinde in tyrannidem erupit: rapuit quae voluit, intulit vim ingenuis virginibus, quibus voluit: multa praeterea signa insiti furoris dedit." [ ] for the elaboration of the route of the friars, rendered difficult of solution by the changes in the form of names, the writer is indebted to the kind assistance of his learned friend dr. neumann, professor of chinese in the university of munich. [ ] martin de bada, otherwise called herrada, for an account of whom and his companions, see introduction. [ ] manilla. [ ] cochinchina. [ ] hainan. [ ] birman empire. [ ] bernier, in his _lettre à colbert sur l'étendue de l'hindoustan_, describes the patans as "peuples mahometans, sortis du costé du gange vers bengale, qui avant l'invasion des mogols dans les indes avoient sceu se rendre puissans dans plusieurs endroits, et principalement à dehly et faire plusieurs rajas des environs leurs tributaires. ces patans ... haïssent mortellement les mogols, souvenans toujours de ce qu'ils ont été autrefois, avant qu'ils les eussent chassez de leurs grandes principautez et les eussent obligez de se retirer deça delà, loin de dehly et agra dans des montagnes où ils se sont habituez." [ ] moguls. [ ] capital. [ ] samarcand. [ ] loo choos. [ ] cleanness. [ ] germans. [ ] see note, page . [ ] dimocarpus leechee. [ ] from fanega, _span._ a measure for grain, varying in capacity in different parts of spain and portugal. it contains on an average one and three-fifths of an english bushel. [ ] panic-grass. [ ] martas zibellinas--sables. [ ] the spanish _cuarto_ equals four maravedis, and is of about the same value as a french sou, or something less than an english halfpenny. [ ] misspelt for cansi. probably sin-gan-fu, capital of the province of chen-sy is here referred to. [ ] misspelt for taybinco, meaning ta-bing-kwo, the kingdom under the great bing (ming) dynasty. [ ] query li. [ ] misspelt for malacca. this sentence shows olam to be yun-nan. [ ] after a careful collation of the following illspelt and vague enumeration of the provinces of china with those given by semedo, heningius, heylyn, and in a very early map of the country, as well as with some elucidatory passages in the text, the following explanations are offered as to their respective significations. the paguia here mentioned is evidently pe-che-lie. [ ] fo-kien. [ ] yun-nan, see note page . [ ] quang-see. [ ] chen-sy. [ ] chan-si. [ ] kiang-see. [ ] hou-quang. [ ] this name which is spelt in the same manner as that given in the second volume to the city of fo-cheu, would seem to mean the province of kiang-nan, as that province is not otherwise represented in the list. [ ] ho-nan. [ ] chan-tung. [ ] koei-tcheou. [ ] che-kiang. [ ] se-tchuen. [ ] evidently canton, by comparison with the list in next chapter. [ ] quinsay or king-sze, means "the capital." [ ] peking. [ ] tay-ping-fu. [ ] one of the five ports opened to england by the treaty of nanking in . [ ] ho-chow, in the province of shen-si. [ ] the tartar province of leao-tung, in which the wall commences, has also the name of quantonz: see gutzlaff's map of china and biot's _dictionnaire des noms anciens et modernes des villes, etc., dans l'empire chinois, fo. _. from this it is evident that our author is now considering the work in its course from east to west, and not from west to east, as in the commencement of this paragraph. [ ] this is evidently se-tchuen, as given in p. ; for although it is not strictly correct to say that the great wall terminates in se-tchuen, yet that province borders on the ancient province of shen-si sufficiently near to justify the conclusion that it is here referred to, the whole of the geographical information gained by the writers at this early period being necessarily but vague and indefinite. [ ] _sic_, hot. [ ] germans. [ ] a mis-print for barbosa. duarte barbosa, or barbessa, a native of lisbon, wrote in portuguese an account of his travels in the south of asia; but according to antonio, they have only appeared in type in an italian translation. an abridgement of his narrative is given in _ramusio_, tom. i, p. . subsequently barbosa accompanied magellan in his voyage round the world, and shared the melancholy fate of that great navigator in the island of zebu in . [ ] mexico. [ ] _saxii._ this has been supposed to mean the province of canton, the names of the other provinces having been pretty well identified. the writer may have considered that the finest porcelain was made at canton, as it was usually exported from thence to europe; but the chief seat of the manufacture is, in fact, the province of _kiang-see_. [ ] _chincheou._ one of the chief districts of _fokien_, often named for the entire province. [ ] this and the following details of the striking similarity which exists between the ceremonial of the buddhist and roman catholic religions, are verified by later travellers and resident missionaries, but there is no evidence from history to show that the former derived these peculiarities from the latter. [ ] the work here referred to was printed in black letter at evora, , to., under the title, "tractado em que se contam muito por estenso as cousas da china, con suas particularidades, y assi do regno dormuz." [ ] _laocon izautey._ the following particulars evidently relate, not to the confucian or national religion of the chinese, but to the sect of the _tao-sse._ grosier tells us, that "the sect of the tao-see was founded by a philosopher named _lao-kiun_ or _lao-tse_, who came into the world in the year before the christian era." grosier's _china_, vol. ii, p. . it is impossible to identify all the names given in this legend of chinese superstition. _paosaos_ (see next page) is probably the same with _poosah_, the name generally given to the chinese idols. the _sichia_, who are said to have come from _trautheyco_, towards the west [thibet? _see note next page_], are probably the disciples of the sect of _foe_, also noticed by grosier. "this sect, still more pernicious and much wider diffused throughout china than the preceding, came originally from india."--vol. ii, p. . the description here given of the _religious people_ who _live without marrying_ and _wear no hair_, tallies exactly with the practice of the bonzes or priests of _foe_ of the present day. [ ] this would seem to be kwan-she, the same as kwan-yin, the goddess of mercy of the votaries of foe. [ ] this would appear to be thibet (for there is no chinese form that we can recognize as corresponding with the word), and thibet is the country from which those points of belief are derived. [ ] this superstitious practice is described in much the same terms by grosier. "the commonest way is to burn perfumes before an idol, and to beat the earth several times with the forehead. upon the altar which supports this idol, there is always a kind of horn, filled with small flat sticks, upon which are traced a variety of unintelligible characters. each of these small sticks conceals an answer. the person who consults, lets fall, at random, one of these small sticks, the inscription of which is explained by the bonze who accompanies him. when no bonze is present, they have recourse to a paper fixed up to the wall of the pagoda, to discover the enigmatical meaning of the word. this manner of consulting is very common in china."--grosier, vol. ii, p. . [ ] pwan-koo, the adam of the chinese. [ ] better known as teen-hwang. [ ] also called te hwang. [ ] also named laoutsze. [ ] also named fuh-he-te. [ ] also named shin nung. [ ] the chinese pray _to_ the dead, but the practice of prayers _for_ the dead and the doctrine of the creation of man out of nothing by tien, alluded to at page , are not found in other writers; if therefore our author is correct, these may possibly have been relics of early christian teaching. [ ] this expression is introduced by the english translator. [ ] severely. [ ] this is the well-known lignum aloes of commerce. in some remarks by the late h. t. colebrooke, esq., on a paper of the late dr. roxburgh's recently read at the linnean society, occurs the following observation: "the portuguese _pao de aguila_ is an undoubted corruption, either of the arabic aghaluji, or of the latin agallochum; and it is by a ludicrous mistake that from this corruption has grown the name of lignum aquilæ, whence the genus of the plant now receives its botanic appellation, _aquilaria agallocha._" roxb. [ ] it is thus spelt also in steven's _spanish dictionary_. _query_, cayolizan, a mexican shrub, giving a perfume like incense. [ ] rough. [ ] a mill. wickliffe's translation of the bible: matthew xxiv, has: two wymmen schulen be gryndynge in oo querne; oon schal be taken and the tother left. [ ] this sketch of the early annals of china is not altogether correct; but agrees in the main with that given by _du halde_. the names of the sovereigns are strangely misspelt; but the order of succession, and the years of their respective reigns, render it not difficult to identify them. _vitey_ does not seem to be the commonly reputed founder of the chinese monarchy _fo-hi_, but either his great successor _hoang-tie_, who had sons, or the celebrated emperor _yao_, whose reign lasted years, and commenced b.c. . _tzintzon_ is evidently the _chi-hoang-ty_ of du halde, who built the great wall, and reigned b.c. . _aguisi_, his son, is named by du halde _cul-chi._ the _anchosan_ of our author is clearly the first emperor of the dynasty of han, named _han-cao-tsou_ by du halde. the years of the reigns which follow correspond very exactly with those of the several emperors of the han dynasty; but the names are all spelt differently. [ ] _spanish._ vara--a yard. [ ] a third. [ ] position, from _span._ estado. [ ] for the names of the following provinces, see note, p. . [ ] more properly "mace". "the only coin in general use throughout china is the _le_ or cash. its intrinsic value may be about one-twelfth part of an english penny. the nominal names are those called _fun_, _tsien_, and _leang_, denominated by foreigners _candareen_, _mace_, and _tael_, bearing respectively to each other a decimal proportion."--murray's _china_, vol. iii, p. . the mace is usually estimated at about _d._, and the tael _s._ _d._ sterling. [ ] _span._ quilates--carats. [ ] more properly "tael". [ ] _spanish._ millo or mijo--millet. [ ] _spanish._ panizo--panic-grass. [ ] this word is spelt the same in the original. query blankets, from _portuguese_ chim--chinese, and mantas--blankets. [ ] prevent. [ ] the military and non-military in china are usually distinguished by the terms _ping_ and _ming_. the _pon_ seems to refer to the _ping_ or regular troops, and the _cum_ to the _ming_ or people; being only a species of local militia. [ ] falchions? [ ] billhooks? [ ] bombs. [ ] loo chooans. [ ] mis-spelt for narsinga. [ ] mis-spelt for bengala. [ ] query, java. [ ] pekin. [ ] tsong-tuh. [ ] laoye. see chap. xiv on the title of loytia. [ ] possibly this word is confounded with colao or chung-tang, a minister of state. [ ] more properly to't'ung. [ ] more properly po-ching-sz, or, as du halde has it, pou-ching-ssee. [ ] more properly too-tuh, adjutant-general. [ ] more properly ngan-tcha-see. [ ] more properly hai-tao. respecting these offices see du halde, vol. ii, fol. , . [ ] standard-bearer. [ ] more properly paou-yin. [ ] this and the preceding title seem to be the same as those similarly spelt on page . [ ] perhaps the koo-ta-sze, or treasurer. [ ] perhaps the che-tsze, or secretary. [ ] taou, tae, the intendant of circuits. [ ] more properly kwan-paou, commissioner of customs. see morrison's _view of china_, p. . [ ] perhaps te-paou, a police runner. [ ] more properly yuen-chae, a police constable. [ ] perhaps ching-tang, assistant officer in a prise. [ ] shin is the chinese for the verb "to judge", and with the word officer added to it will be "a judging officer". thus also leu--law, prefixed to che--to rule, or govern, may be the origin of the term leuchi. this construction is, however, entirely conjectural. [ ] see note on page . [ ] this character is so vague as to be scarcely recognizable. the proper chinese word for heaven is tien. the word here given may perhaps mean tsang, _the azure sky_, which is sometimes used metaphorically for heaven. at the same time the modern chinese character for keen, also pronounced kan [chinese character], which is likewise a very old word for heaven, appears somewhat to approximate in form to the character given in the text. [ ] evidently hwang te, the character here given corresponding with the modern chinese character hwang. [chinese character] [ ] this character would seem to be intended for ching,--a walled city, the correct form of the character being [chinese character] [ ] fucheou, the capital of fokien. [ ] _padrinos_, _span_.--literally sponsors. [ ] a german. [ ] a misprint for pegu. [ ] mis-translated from the spanish "tudesco", a german. the reader will readily recognize the name of johann gutemberg or ganzfleisch, of mentz, who disputes with laurens koster, of haarlem, the honour of having invented and first practised the art of printing with moveable types. [ ] conrad sweynheim, who, in partnership with arnold pannartz, published in , at the monastery of subiaco, near rome, the _lactantii opera_, to., the first work printed in italy. the _de civitate dei_ of st. augustine, was printed by the same printers at subiaco two years later. it is now known that the first book printed in europe with metal types, was the _mazarine bible_, printed by gutemberg and fust, at mentz, in . [ ] germany. [ ] printing without moveable types does not go back, even in china, beyond the beginning of the tenth century of our era. the first four books of confucius were printed, according to klaproth, in the province of sze-chuen, between and , and the description of the technical manipulation of the chinese printing press might have been read in western countries even as early as , in raschid eddin's persian history of the rulers of khatai. according to the most recent results of the important researches of stanislas julien, however, an ironsmith in china itself, between the years and , a.d., or almost years before gutemberg, would seem to have used moveable types made of burnt clay. this is the invention of pi-sching, but it was not brought into application. see humboldt's _kosmos_, translated by otté, fol. . moveable types are now no longer used, for as sir john davis observes, vol. ii, p. , "the present mode of chinese printing with wooden stereotype blocks is peculiarly suited to the chinese character, and for all purposes of cheapness and expedition is perfect". a complete set of the materials used by the chinese in the process of printing, may be seen in the museum of the royal asiatic society. in the note on page of hakluyt's _divers voyages_, edited for the hakluyt society by j. winter jones, esq., the following description is given of a book printed in : "the earliest work of which we have been able to obtain an account, from one having had the opportunity of personally inspecting it, bears date the eighth year of the last period of the reign of shun te, or a.d. . mr. prevost, our informant, who is at present engaged in cataloguing the splendid collection of chinese books in the british museum, has favoured us with the following description of the book. the title is 'chin tsaou tsëen wan, or the thousand character classic'. it is one of the most popular works in china, and consists of exactly one thousand different characters, not one being repeated. it is composed in octosyllabic verses, which rhyme in couplets; each verse presenting to the student some useful chinese notion, either in morals or in general knowledge. the object of this work is to teach the written character, both in its semi-cursive and in its stenographic form, termed tsaou, or grass-writing: the text is, therefore, printed in parallel columns, alternately in the chin, or correct, and the tsaou, or cursive character. the author lived in the first half of the sixth century. this work, when seen by mr. prevost, was in the possession of colonel tynte." the editor has also in his own possession a chinese bank note, printed, or rather stamped, in the fourteenth century. [ ] hou-quang. [ ] a sort of confection made of almonds, sugar, etc. [ ] bever, probably from bevere, _ital._, to drink, a small collation between dinner and supper. [ ] _vname_, is probably _yew ma_,--pitch, or the resin of the pine. in morrison's _dictionary_, "tar" is translated _pa ma yew_: but the editor finds nothing analogous to _ja pez_, which is probably now obsolete. [ ] the goletta of tunis was taken from the spaniards by sinan pacha, admiral of selim ii, on the rd of august . [ ] mistranslated for "the extensive knowledge which i had of navigation." [ ] misspelt for corunna. none https://archive.org/details/spanishamericaor bonn transcriber's note: text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). spanish america; or a descriptive, historical, and geographical account of the dominions of spain in the western hemisphere, continental and insular; illustrated by a map of spanish north america, and the west-india islands; a map of spanish south america, and an engraving, representing the comparative altitudes of the mountains in those regions. by r. h. bonnycastle, captain in the corps of royal engineers. "such of late columbus found the american, so girt with feathered cincture, naked else and wild among the trees, on iles and woody shores-- ----in spirit perhaps he also saw rich mexico the seat of montezume, and cusco in peru, the richer seat of atabalipa, and yet unspoil'd guiana, whose great city geryon's sons call el dorado."-- paradise lost. in two volumes. vol. ii. london: printed for longman, hurst, rees, orme, and brown, paternoster-row. . printed by a. strahan, new-street-square, london. contents of the second volume. part ii. south american dominions. (continued.) captain generalship of caraccas, boundaries and extent page political and territorial divisions, government discovery, history capital description of the features, &c. of the country province of new andalusia ---- new barcelona features, climate, &c. province of venezuela and coro ---- maracaybo ---- varinas ---- spanish guiana government of the island of margarita viceroyalty of peru extent and boundaries political and territorial divisions, government, &c. discovery, history, &c. intendancy of truxillo ---- tarma ---- lima ---- guancavelica intendancy of guamanga ---- cuzco ---- arequipa viceroyalty of buenos ayres or la plata, boundaries and extent political and territorial divisions, government, history, discovery, &c. features, climate, &c. commerce and resources government of los charcas or potosi ---- paraguay history, discovery, &c. ---- tucuman ---- cuyo or cujo ---- buenos ayres history, &c. climate, features, &c. captain generalship of chili extent and boundaries political and territorial divisions and government discovery, and history climate, features, &c. population animals continental provinces of chili province of copiapo ---- coquimbo ---- quillota ---- aconcagua ---- melipilla ---- santiago ---- rancagua ---- colchagua ---- maule ---- itata ---- chillan ---- puchacay ---- huilquilemu insular chili archipelago of chiloe araucania or indian chili islands on the coasts of spanish south america plate and description of comparative altitudes of the mountains list of works on or relating to spanish america, quoted in this publication, &c. table of the latitudes and longitudes of the principal places summary of the population wealth and revenue index errata. pages , line , for _angelo_ read _antonio_. , , _for_ converziones _read_ conversaziones. , , _for_ omomum _read_ amomum. , , from bottom, _for_ tarmu _read_ tarma. , , _for_ uraguay _read_ uruguay. , , from bottom, _for_ neustra _read_ nuestra. , , from bottom _for_ totten _read_ tolten. , , _for_ caquil _read_ caguil. , and , _for_ lautro _read_ lautaro. spanish america. part ii. south american dominions. (continued.) captain-generalship of _caraccas_. caraccas is a name taken from that of a tribe of indians, and given to a country which includes new andalusia, or cumana, with margarita, barcelona, venezuela, or caraccas proper, maracaybo and coro, on the coast of the caribbean sea, varinas and spanish guiana in the interior. boundaries and extent. it is bounded on the north by the caribbean sea, east by the atlantic, south by peru and dutch guiana, and west by the kingdom of santa fé or new granada; its extent may be computed from the twelfth to the eighteenth degrees of north latitude, and occupies a space extending over a surface equal to , square leagues. political divisions and government. the caraccas are subdivided into seven provinces; _viz._ new andalusia or cumana; barcelona, venezuela or caraccas proper, containing venezuela and coro, maracaybo, varinas and guiana, with the detached government of the island of margarita; the whole of these are under the particular superintendence of an officer of the highest rank, who is styled captain-general of the provinces of venezuela, and the city of caraccas. the population amounts to nearly one million, of whom sixty thousand are slaves, and about one-ninth indians. discovery and history. the coast of this country was originally discovered by columbus in , during his third expedition. several adventurers succeeding in exploratory voyages on this part of the continent, the spanish government came to the determination of endeavouring to place colonies on its soil. these being chiefly ill conducted, and managed by priests unacquainted with the manners and customs of the natives, did not succeed, and it was found necessary to endeavour to subdue the inhabitants by force. when this was partially effected, and spanish settlers were placed in some security, the management of the new colonies was entrusted to the care of the welsers, a german mercantile company. these people exercised, for a length of time, an uncontrolled sway over the unfortunate indians and the colonists. their excess of punishment and their fraud becoming at last notorious, the king of spain deprived them of their power, in , and appointed an officer of the crown to administer justice to the oppressed. this office, under the title of captain-general of the caraccas, has subsisted ever since, and with some few variations in the territorial divisions, and some abridgments of the authority of the person who fills it, it existed in the same form, until the year . at this period, the mother country, subdued in part by the victorious arms of the french nation, had no time to attend to the situation of her transatlantic colonies. engaged in destructive and terrible struggle herself, she little knew of the events which were taking place in the americas, or if she did know them, was unable to assist those subjects devoted to her cause, or to quell the insurgent and ambitious. taking advantage of the shackled state of the resources of spain, the disaffected raised the standard of rebellion, and formed a _junta suprema_ (a congress, or supreme council) in caraccas. at first they published their acts in the name of ferdinand the seventh; but soon, however, on the arrival of miranda with some troops, declared themselves independent of the mother country, and appointed miranda to the chief command. spain now placed their ports in a state of nominal blockade. they have since been daily engaged in hostile measures, and junta has succeeded to junta, royal power to insurgent government, and _vice versa_, with little interval up to the present moment. the caraccas may indeed be styled the focus of the spanish american revolution. numerous and bloody actions have taken place between the spanish troops and the caraccanians, miranda has been beheaded, and the captain-general has reinstated himself. don simon bolivar, a native of the country, possessing much property and considerable influence, has been the great leader of this revolt, styling himself president and commander in chief of the united provinces of venezuela. obtaining from the congress of a neighbouring state (new granada) an army of men, he marched against monteverde, the captain-general who had beheaded miranda and punished his colleagues, and meeting with few obstacles to surmount entered the city of caraccas as conqueror, on the th august, . the captain-general fled, and refusing to treat with the insurgents, as derogatory to the honour of the master he represented, remained quiet until he received from spain a reinforcement of men; he then attacked the city, but was repulsed with the loss of nearly his whole army, and himself severely wounded. in discussing the historical facts relating to south america in general, we have entered more at large upon this subject. at present bolivar occupies the lower parts of the orinoco, having made the town of angostura his head-quarters. we have chosen the description of the kingdom of peru as the proper place to give detail of the general historical facts relating to the whole of south america, as it was in that kingdom that the spanish government first took a consolidated form; we shall, therefore, at present recur to the metropolis, description, and political divisions of the captain-generalship we are now engaged in treating of. capital. the city of caraccas, or as it is written by the spaniards, caracas, is the metropolis of this vast region, and has given its name, within a late period, to the whole government. it is situated in ° ' " north-latitude, and ° ' " west longitude, the highest square being elevated feet above the level of the sea, at the commencement of a fine plain or valley, which extends nine miles to the eastward, and has nearly the same breadth, through which runs the river guayra; the site of the town is an uneven ground with a steep slope; it was founded by diego de losada, in , and called santiago de leon de caracas, in order to have a permanent settlement in the neighbourhood of some gold mines, which were imagined to be very productive. the ground is so precipitous, that the few carriages which the inhabitants possess are little used. the anauco, the catache, and the caraguatu, three small streams, run through the city from north to south; the second of these furnishes the water used by the labouring classes, the rich inhabitants having that useful fluid brought from a stream about three miles off, supposed to possess peculiar medicinal qualities. the streets of caraccas are straight, wide, and intersect each other at right angles; the houses very handsome and spacious; there are some fine squares, and a handsome cathedral, with eight churches and five convents. this city is the seat of the metropolitan, archbishop of caraccas, and contains a royal audience, which governs the civil affairs of the captain-generalship, and of which court the officer holding the reins of government is always president, it being in fact a sort of legislative council, composed of the governor and great state officers. the number of inhabitants of this celebrated town are stated not to exceed , at present, owing to the tremendous loss sustained by the earthquake in , and to the recent sanguinary events which have taken place. the theatre of caraccas holds from fifteen to eighteen hundred persons, and is well frequented; the female part of the audience occupy the pit, and are separated from the men. the pleasantest part of the year is during the months of november and december, when the air is cool, and the mornings very fine, but the evenings are foggy and damp. during the months of june and july, the nights are beautiful and serene; in fact, the climate during the whole year is so good, that this city may be said to enjoy a perpetual spring. this state of the atmosphere is finely contrasted with the dreary and savage appearance of the mountains in the neighbourhood, the tremendous precipice of the silla, or saddle, and the confused appearance of the country on the right of the plain; which plain, called chacao, is highly cultivated in many parts, and affords the principal objects of subsistence to the town. in it grows the plantain, the orange, the apple, the apricot, the coffee-tree, the sugar-cane, the pine-apple, the strawberry, vine, peach, quince, maize, corn, vegetables, rice, &c. and in this fertile valley, numerous herds of cattle abound, it having been computed that forty thousand head are annually brought to the market, for the purpose of being salted, and of immediate consumption. the only inconvenience felt during this eternal spring is from the effects of certain winds, which cause the weather to prove occasionally inconstant, and produce low nervous fevers, and other disorders incident to a variable atmosphere. the yellow fever sometimes, though rarely, extends its ravages to this place, and once lasted (in the year ) for sixteen months, and in was fatal to the garrison newly arrived from europe. the season of periodical rain lasts during the months of april, may and june; but hail is seldom or ever known oftener than once in four or five years. this capital, placed in so charming a climate, compared to many others in the same latitude, has bean subjected to a scourge, which no beauty of situation, or salubrity of the air, can ever compensate. in the year the whole city was nearly destroyed by an awful earthquake. on the th of march, in that year, the population of leon de caraccas amounted to fifty thousand souls; in a short space, even in the passing of a moment, these devoted people were reduced to thirty eight thousand, and as if an enormous mine had been exploded under the city, the earth was upheaved to a tremendous height, and twelve thousand persons were swallowed up, or perished amid the ruins of their houses. the survivors have been ever since busily engaged in repairing the damages, and rebuilding the city, which is now rapidly advancing to its former state, and the population annually increasing. _la guayra_, a small town situated on the coast of the spanish main, is the port of caraccas, in ° ' " north latitude, and ° ' " west longitude, at the foot of the chain of mountains which terminate abruptly in precipices on the coast, and which form the sides of the valley in which the capital is built. from the city to the port, it requires a journey of two hours on the mules of the country, which are very safe and swift. the road is kept in excellent repair, and is fortified by draw-bridges, thrown over the natural clefts, and by small batteries. the harbour itself is rather a roadsted than a haven, and contains a newly formed mole, protected by strong batteries. the wall of rocks rise perpendicularly from the back of the town, and forbid all access, excepting by the regular road. at la guayra the sea is always agitated, and the vessels are laden and discharged with much difficulty; so much so, that mules are not embarked, the mulattoes and negroes carrying the cacao and other merchandizes to the vessels, by wading into the water. the flat space on which la guayra stands is only about feet in breadth, from the precipice at the back to the sea, and the whole aspect of the place is arid, gloomy and unpleasant. this town is surrounded on the sea side by works and batteries, some of which are very strong, and contain within their limits two streets, parallel to each other, with inhabitants. it may be said, that this port is one of the hottest places in spanish america; the yellow-fever had, however, only commenced its destructive ravages within ten or twelve years, before which time, it was unknown; some are of opinion, that it was brought there after the port was opened to foreign commerce, by the seamen from the united states; others, that it was caused by the overflowing of the river guayra, which filled the cellars and deep places with water, that soon became stagnant, and exhaled putrid effluvia. however it may be, the inhabitants and strangers who reside at la guayra, have suffered dreadfully of late years from this disorder. the annual amount of the commerce of this port, which is the principal one of the province, has been estimated (in peaceable times) to arise to the sum of , _l._, in the exportation of cacao, indigo, cotton, coffee and hides; and the importations of european and other goods to , _l._ sterling in the same period. description of the features, &c. of the country. the coast of caraccas which extends for an immense length, is exceedingly rocky and mountainous, affording views of some of the most tremendous precipices in the world, that near the capital, called the _precipice of the silla_, being of the height of feet above the sea, which washes its base. the chain of the andes, traversing the whole territory in the direction of its shores, elevates itself the most in the western parts; and is lost in the sea opposite to the great island of trinidad, which is itself very mountainous. the average height of the cordillera of caraccas may be estimated at feet, though it occasionally exceeds ; its breadth varies from ten to twenty leagues, and it forms some extensive and beautiful valleys. owing to this elevation of the land, the heat is not so insupportable as might be imagined from its situation; along the coast it is very great; but ascending gradually into the higher regions, the traveller finds it sensibly diminish, and observes with delight, the vegetable productions of different countries, concentrated in a small space. the great valley or plain of the orinoco bounds the cordillera to the south, and far from possessing those elevated lands which characterise the southern portion of the new world, nature has here spread the country into immense flats, or savannahs, known by the name of los llanos (the plains). in these plains innumerable herds of cattle are fed, attended by the slaves or servants of the owners, who reside in the towns and villages. these people, living entirely in the desert, have become little better than so many wandering savages; they pass the greater part of their time on horseback, and are said to infest the roads on the borders of the savannahs with their robberies. the heat in the valley of the orinoco is intense, the thermometer rising even to °. the seasons are divided into rainy and dry, the rainy season lasting from march to november, not however, without ceasing, as there are many days in that period, in which no rain falls; during the time of incessant rain, it does not descend in drizzling misty showers, but comes with such volume and rapidity, that streams, which have been dried to their very channels, now assume in the short space of a few hours, the appearance of large rivers; the plains bordering the orinoco, and its tributary streams, are inundated by seas of fresh water extending three or four hundred miles in length. _rivers._--there is no country in the world which possesses more numerous rivers than caraccas, most of which rise in the andes and its dependent branches; every valley is traversed by its river; the ridge which divides the provinces as it were into two distinct portions, furnishes abundance of sources on both its declivities. those which arise on the northern side of this ridge, run from south to north, and fall into the bosom of the spanish main. of these the _manzanares_, _tuy_, _guiges_, _tocuyo_, _aroa_, _yaracuy_, _unara_ and _neveri_, are the largest. the southern flank and main chain of the andes afford rivers which traverse the great llanos in a southern direction, and swell, by their junction with the orinoco, the majestic body of that grand river; of these, the _mamo_, _pariagou_, _pao_, _chivita_, _zoa_, _cachimamo_, _arauca_, _capanaparo_, _sinaruco_, the _apura_ and the _meta_, are the principal; and the _parima_, _siaba_, _joa parana_ and the _cassiquiari_, fall into this river on its southern bank, the latter forming a communication with the still more majestic stream of the maranon. the orinoco, or oronoco, is not only amongst the largest, but the finest of south american rivers, and is chiefly distinguished by its very singular and intricate course. its sources are not well known, but according to la cruz, it rises in a small lake called ipava, in ° ' north-latitude, and thence winding upon itself, enters the lake of parima to the south-east, and issues by two outlets towards the north and south; on the western shores of the lake; receiving the guaviara, it bends north, then north-east, and embracing the meta, the apura, the arauca, and the other large streams above-mentioned, with thousands of smaller ones, falls into the atlantic ocean, by numerous estuaries, opposite the island of trinidad, its chief mouth being considerably to the south-east of that island. this noble river communicates with the maranon, and it is supposed, that a stream called the siaba flows from the south-west of the lake parima into the negro, and that to the south-east of the same lake, the rio blanco, or parima, joins the rio negro also, this last communicating with the maranon by means of the joa parana. the river cassiquiari, long conjectured to be a strong branch of the orinoco, but now known to be an arm of the negro, communicates also with the amazons, its streams having been visited by m. de humboldt, who encountered great perils in the undertaking, by the force of the current and other obstacles. the whole country for miles was a complete desert, in which the ants and mosquitoes were so exceedingly troublesome as almost to deter the traveller from proceeding. he entered the orinoco, by the cassiquiari in ° ' north-latitude, and mounted the current of the great river as far as esmeraldas, the last spanish settlement in that quarter. the mouths of the orinoco are very dangerous to navigators; the largest is six leagues in width, and seven of them are navigable for large vessels. the isles formed by these are of very great extent, and are inhabited by the _guaraounos_ and _mariusos_ indians. on the banks of the orinoco the magnificence of the scenery is beyond description. forests of the greatest extent are filled with aromatic trees, which diffuse the most delightful odour; birds of every singular variety of beautiful plumage are everywhere observed, and hordes of monkeys follow the astonished traveller. passing these forests, enormous plains extend their verdant surfaces further than the eye can reach, and the cataracts of the orinoco give their name to the whole cordillera, and are represented to be the most tremendous that have ever been observed; but no good description of these falls has yet been given, though they constitute the only outlets from the country situated on the east of the andes to the vast plains of the maranon. these cataracts are at maypura and atures, two villages in about ° north-latitude, near the great bend of the river. the periodical inundation of the orinoco begins in april and ceases in august; in october the flood is low, arriving at its shallowest point in february; the rise is equal to thirteen fathoms at the distance of ninety leagues from the ocean. the mouth of the great estuary is in ° ' north-latitude, and ° ' west longitude. the caymans, or alligators, are very numerous, and very formidable throughout its whole length, which may be estimated at about miles. _indians._--on the banks of the orinoco the indian tribes are not numerous, consisting only of from to warriors each; of these, the _caribs_ are the most powerful as well as the most formidable. the _otomacs_ follow them, and all are nearly in the same state of nature. in this part of the caraccas, the total number of the natives cannot be accurately ascertained; but in the province of new andalusia, they amount to , , and in the two provinces of barcelona and cumana to , . in cumana they live almost wholly under the missionaries in little towns or amongst the europeans, each mission containing about five or six hundred. in the province of barcelona, the indian villages contain from two to even three thousand inhabitants. the _guaraounoes_, who inhabit the islands of the orinoco, are independent of the spaniards, and amount to about six thousand. to the north of the orinoco, there are few natives in a state of absolute barbarism; it is only to the south of this river that the efforts of missionaries have been ineffectual. the provinces of new andalusia and barcelona contain fourteen tribes, the _chaymas_, _guayquerias_, _pariagotoes_, _quaquas_, _araucas_, _caribbees_, _guaraounoes_, _cumanagotoes_, _palenkas_, _piritoos_, _tomoozas_, _topocuares_, _chacopatas_, and _guarivas._ the _guayquerias_, who are civilized indians residing at cumana and araya, amount to . the chaymas, the caribs of the savannahs, and the cumanagotoes, are the most numerous. a few, and only a few, of the savages of the islands of the orinoco, who build their huts on trees, have been formed into missions on the left bank of the orinoco. these four last possess languages which are the most universal in this part of the world, the cumanogoto language prevailing in the western part of the captain-generalship, and the caribbean and chayman in the southern and eastern districts. the missions are not always formed of the same tribe, but often consist of families of different nations, speaking different languages; they all cultivate the land, their huts are all erected in the same style, and they have all a common field for the uses of the community, and are governed by fixed laws; the magistrates are chosen from among themselves, and each village is superintended in its religious and civil affairs by a monk. the _chaymas_ were reduced to subjection in the seventeenth century, by francisco of pamplona, a monk who had been the captain of a ship; and the oldest mission bears its date from . of these there are at present twenty-five, containing , souls. they suffered much from to from the caribs, who burnt the settlements. in stature, the natives of this tribe are short, being not more than five feet two inches, their body thick, with broad shoulders and flat chest, their colour a dull brown, and they are of a melancholic temperament. they have a great aversion to european clothing, and remain naked whilst in their houses, but when obliged to go out, they put on a vest with sleeves, which reaches almost to the knees; the women wear this habit without the sleeves, and both sexes use a narrow bandage tied round the loins: they also carefully eradicate the hair from the chin, and are a neat people, keeping their persons, houses and utensils very clean. their language, as well as those of the caribs and cumanagotoes, has each had a dictionary composed for the use of the missionaries; no word begins with _l_, and it is destitute of _f_, _b_ and _d_. the _pariagotoes_ are mixed with the chaymas, in the missions; and exist in the villages on the banks of the caroni. they speak a language peculiar to themselves. the _guaraounoes_ build their huts on the trunks of the mangrove and palm trees, to raise them above the waters in the great inundations of the orinoco; as we before observed, they are independent, with the exception of a very few, who have been converted by the monks. sir walter raleigh describes them under the names of aroottes, trititivas and warawites. they make their bread of the flour extracted from the palm tree, which they cut down for this purpose, just previous to the appearance of the flowers. five or six hundred of this race quitted the islands a short time ago, and formed two villages on the north and south banks of the great river, twenty-five leagues distant from the sea, where they live independent of the missionaries. they are of a middle size, and very strong, and are able to run on the mud of the marshes, where no other indians can walk. these people are the pilots of the orinoco, possessing a perfect knowledge of its navigation, and are concerned in the clandestine commerce carried on from trinidad. the _guayquerias_ will be described in speaking of the town of cumana which they chiefly inhabit. a tribe called the _quaquas_ are mixed with the chaymas in the missions, and inhabit an immense tract of country as far as the main cordilleras of the andes. the _cumanagotoes_, to the amount of , , live in the west of cumana, in the missions of piritoo. the chief mission of the piritoos (so called on account of a thorny palm of which pipes are made) was founded in , and was named la conception. in this country, the _caribbees_ are spread over a great extent, existing also in french guyana, and in trinidad; and the guarivas, as well as many others, are carib tribes. a few missions are found in the great plains, in which some of these people are settled. the caribs are distinguished in the caraccas by their great size. a tribe on the banks of the orinoco, named the _otomacs_, raise their dead at the end of twelve months, and place the bones in a general burying place; they cover their grain, fish, vegetables, &c., with earth, to preserve them, and devour their food mingled with the soil in which it has lain. the substances become quite hard in these pits, by the incrustations of the soil, and some of them are said to eat a pound and a half of the earth in a day. the indians of all these tribes, who prefer a wandering life to the subjected state of their brethren in the missions, are frequently attacked in the night by the monks and their followers, and made prisoners. when the missionaries give the young people to the converted indians as slaves, in which capacity they remain until of an age to marry, in consequence of this, the mission indians frequently instigate the priests to attack these unfortunate people, being eager to possess them. those who are thus taken are called poitos, and in general consist only of children, torn with unrelenting severity from the arms of their terrified parents. the motive assigned by the monks for such arbitrary measures, is the hope of their ultimate conversion. _lakes_--the lakes of caraccas are chiefly those of valencia and maracaybo. _maracaybo_ is a body of water of an oval form, lying in a north and south direction, and communicating with the gulf of venezuela by a very narrow channel. in length it is miles, in breadth , and in circumference; its waters being always fresh, excepting when violent storms force the salt waters of the gulf into it. there is generally a considerable undulation on its surface, and in some winds, particularly those from the north, the waves rise to a great height. the depth of this lake is very profound, and it is navigable for vessels of the greatest burthen. the produce of the interior is conveyed by the rivers which feed it, to the town of maracaybo, and thence shipped for europe or the adjoining colonies; and the various sorts of fish, common to the american rivers, are to be found in this lake. the shores in the immediate vicinity of its waters, are unhealthy, owing to the vapours arising in the night after the great heat of the day. when the spaniards first landed in this country, they observed several villages built in the lake, which is the mode adopted by the indians at present, considering this plan as the healthiest. the appearance of one of these little towns amid the waters, caused the spanish adventurers to name it little venice, or venezuela, which title was afterwards transferred to the whole province in the neighbourhood. four of these villages still remain, and are under the government of a monk, who has a church, and the spiritual charge of these people. the principal employment of the indians of these towns is fishing and catching the aquatic birds which frequent the lake. to the north-west of lake maracaybo, is a vein, or mine of mineral pitch, (used by mixing it with grease, to grave vessels,) which is of such an inflammable nature, that during the hot weather, and particularly at night, corruscations are seen arising from its surface, which have the appearance of quickly repeated lightnings. the indians and spaniards, who navigate the vessels and canoes of the lake, called them st. antony's lanthorns, or the lanthorns of maracaybo, as they serve them to steer by during the dark nights, so prevalent in the torrid zone. the lake of _valencia_, which though not so extensive as the last we have described, is far more beautiful and useful. its banks are fertile and healthy, and clothed with the most luxurious vegetation. it is situated three miles from the city of valencia, and eighteen from the sea, from which it is separated by inaccessible mountains; the lake of valencia is of an oblong form, stretching north-east and south-west, and is forty miles in length and twelve in breadth, in a valley surrounded by very high and steep land, excepting on the west. this extraordinary lake receives the waters of twenty rivers, and has no visible outlet. it has been diminishing for twenty years, and its waters are still receding, leaving behind them a rich and productive soil, but at the same time an unhealthy air; and the cultivators are in some parts under the necessity, from the want of water, of drawing off the neighbouring streams to irrigate their plantations. the eastern side is laid out in tobacco grounds, which occupy , people, who are paid by the crown; and the islands in which it abounds are highly fertile, the largest called caratapona, being well populated. the woods near this lake are famous for the diversity and beauty of the birds, and its waters furnish fish, and the guanas, or edible lizard, which are considered as a very delicious food; of these, two species are common to the lake. the water of lake valencia is not so good for drinking as that of maracaybo, being thick and nauseous. this lake bears the indian name of tacarigua, as does a bay or lake on the coast, which is situated a league and a half from the mouth of the river tuy, of a circular form, and is twenty-one miles in length from the sea on the north-east to the south-east, it abounds in fish, and is remarkable for the great number of alligators it contains. the lake of _parina_, or _paranapitinca_, in guiana is said to be an oblong sheet of water, miles in length, and broad, in an island of which is a rock of glittering mica, celebrated as having been the seat of el dorado, a supposititious city, the streets of which were paved with gold, alluded to by milton in his paradise lost. "and yet unspoil'd guiana whose great city geryon's sons call el dorado." this lake is in ° ' north latitude, and ° ' west longitude, and gives birth to a large river, called rio blanco, or parima, which we have before spoken of. _province of new andalusia._ this province, which is also known by the names of cumana and paria, is bounded on the north by the caribbean sea; on the east by the atlantic ocean; west by barcelona, and south by spanish guiana, or the river orinoco. the government of cumana usually includes the adjacent province of new barcelona. we shall therefore describe these two under the same head, mentioning however the distinct boundaries of-- _new barcelona_, which is limited on the north by the caribbean sea; east by cumana; west by venezuela, or caraccas proper, and south by guiana and the orinoco. the great extent of the territory of cumana and barcelona, its being washed on two of its sides by the ocean, and by the broad expanse of the orinoco on the third, render it one of the most important governments of the captain-generalship. _history, &c._--the eastern part of new andalusia is famous as having been the scene of the first continental discoveries of columbus. the mouths of the orinoco and the adjacent shores of paria were visited by him during his third voyage. the first land discovered during this expedition, was however not the continent, but the island of trinidad, which was so named because the admiral had vowed to give the appellation of the trinity to the first land he should see, and also because three mountains were observed at the same moment. this happened on tuesday, st july, , and having but one cask of water left, he landed at punta de la playa, where he procured the necessary supply. on the st of august, whilst plying between cape de la galera (the first cape they made) and punta de la playa, he discovered the main land twenty-five leagues distant; but imagining it another island, he named it isla santa. the channel between trinidad and isla santa was named boca del sierpe, and the next day he sailed into the lower channel, and called it boca del drago. they were so styled on account of the furious hissing noise which the current of an immense river made in rushing towards the ocean. he coasted the supposed island until sunday, the th of august, when he anchored and went on shore. soon afterwards he took some of the natives into his ship, and landing further to the west, by the direction of these people, discovered that the supposed island was part of an immense continent, and that the natives called it paria. being informed that pearls were found in great abundance among some islands to the west, he steered in that direction, and discovered the islands of margarita, or of pearls, cubagua, and los testigos, or the witnesses, &c. on the th of august he stood to the north-west, and anchored on the coast of hispaniola soon afterwards. the admiral was followed by ojeda, in , who traced the coast as far as cape de la vela, entering several ports to procure information. christoval guerra, accompanied by pedro nino, who had been with columbus on this coast, obtained a licence to explore the continent and islands for gold and pearls. they procured plenty of the latter in the bay of pearls, between margarita and the main, and visited the coasts of venezuela and coro. having got ounces of very fine pearls, these adventurers sailed back, along the shore to the gulf of paria, whence they stretched over for spain, in which country they arrived on the th of february, . vicente yanez pinzon having discovered the mouth of the great maranon in , sailed northwards from it, and explored the estuary of the orinoco, and the coast of paria, from which he sailed for st. domingo, having first laden his vessels with brazil wood. the report of the arrival of guerra, with such a valuable cargo, soon spread over the whole kingdom of spain; and expeditions were fitted out in every part for the american continent. charles the fifth gave these adventurers permission to enslave the indians who should resist them; in consequence of this, avarice and rapacity soon made a dreadful havoc among these unfortunate people; a complaint of these proceedings at last reached the royal audience of st. domingo, which court immediately took measures to punish the offenders. they appointed juan ampues, to the government of the country, who landed on the coast of curiana, in , with an armed force. the mildness of his measures gained him the affections of the indians, and the cacique of the curiana nation took the oath of allegiance to spain, on the th of july, .--this governor laid the foundation of the city of coro. at this time the company of the welsers, a german establishment of augsburgh, having advanced great sums to charles the fifth, that emperor granted them, at their earnest request, the sovereignty of the province of venezuela from cape vela, to maracapna, and with unlimited boundaries to the south. their power did not last long, and juan perez de tolosa was appointed governor, with the rank of captain-general. new laws were made, and the indians were declared free from involuntary servitude; as soon as a nation or tribe was subjected, a town was built, and a hundred europeans were sent to colonize it. the laws of the repartimientos and encomiendos were established, and every thing went on properly at first, but the settlers abusing their authority over the natives, these laws were repealed, and spanish america was declared a kingdom united to the spanish crown. the council of the indies was formed at madrid, the legislative functions were declared to be vested solely in the king, aided by this council, and the executive was to belong only to officers appointed by the court; accordingly, on the th of september, , this act was decreed and promulgated, since which caraccas has been governed by a captain-general, and subordinate officers. in treating of cumana we must not omit mentioning the history of the visit paid to this coast by las casas, the bishop of chiapa in guatimala. bartolemeo de las casas who was born at seville in , and when only nineteen years of age, accompanied his father and columbus to the west indies, returning to spain after an absence of five years, took the habit of a monk, and again embarked with columbus to hispaniola; on the settling of cuba, he was appointed rector of zaguarama, where he strenuously objected against reducing the indians to servitude, at the same time relinquishing his own share in the partition of these people among the whites. meeting with great opposition, on account of his determined resistance to the oppression of the aborigines, he set out for spain in , for the purpose of laying the grievances, under which the newly-discovered nations laboured, before the king. ferdinand promised that new laws should be made, but death prevented his resolves from being put into execution; las casas then applied to cardinal ximenes the regent, and that minister sent out three commissioners to enquire into the circumstances of the case. these three persons were monks of st. jerome, and were accompanied by a lawyer of great abilities, and las casas, who was granted the title of "protector of the indians." on their arrival at st. domingo, these commissioners finding it impossible to do away with the enslavement of the indians at once, they adopted some salutary measures to better their condition. las casas remonstrated with them, but found his efforts useless, and as he had made all the planters his enemies, he saw himself under the necessity of retreating to the protection of the convent from the effects of their malignity. he again set out for spain, with a determination not to abandon the cause in which he had embarked. ximenes being on his death-bed, and the emperor charles the fifth having appointed his flemish ministers to the chief offices of state, las casas was obliged to endeavour to interest them in his favour; in this he succeeded, and they recalled the monks of st. jerome, and appointed a judge to examine the complaints of the indians with ample powers to redress them. but las casas here tarnished the glory he would otherwise have enjoyed unsullied. to carry his favourite scheme the more certainly into execution, he proposed that a certain number of negroes should be purchased from the portuguese in africa, to replace the indians who were to be liberated. his plans, unfortunately for the poor africans, were adopted, and ever since that period these degraded people have suffered the most galling servitude, which it is now the delight of an englishman to know, that his nation have stepped forward to put a lasting stop to; and the reign of the prince regent, would, independent of the brilliant events which have rendered it immortal, have been remembered, to the remotest ages by this magnanimous act alone. the emperor charles granted a patent to one of his flemish courtiers, containing the exclusive right of sending negroes to the west indies; this patent was sold to genoese merchants for , ducats, and these people have the odium of being the first who brought this abominable traffic to a regular form. las casas proposed also to send mechanics and labourers to hispaniola with the negroes, who should be allowed an advance to go thither; but the bishop of burgos, who was the great enemy of columbus and his followers, defeated this project, as well as every other that las casas offered. fearful that he should not succeed in relieving the indians in the new settlements, he requested from the emperor the grant of a district, then unoccupied, from the gulf of paria to cape de la vela, thus including cumana, barcelona, venezuela, coro, and maracaybo. in his memorial, he proposed settling this country with a colony of priests, husbandmen, and labourers; he engaged in two years, to instruct the natives in the arts of social life; to civilize , of them, and that at the end of that time, the king should derive a revenue of , ducats, which was to increase to , in ten years. after much difficulty, in consequence of the opposition of the meddling bishop, this extent of coast was granted to him, with liberty to extend it indefinitely into the interior. he sailed from spain with followers in . many of these left him at puerto rico, others died, and he landed on the coast of cumana, with a few only who still adhered to him; here he found the country in a state of great agitation from a recent invasion of the spanish islanders, who had attacked the natives, for the purposes of procuring slaves and gold. he was obliged to go over to hispaniola to procure a reinforcement, and during his absence, the indians attacked the colony he had planted, destroyed many of the people, and forced the remnant to take refuge in the little isle of cubagua. this isle they soon abandoned, and not a spaniard was then left in any part of the continent from paria to darien. las casas, mortified beyond every thing, by the failure of his splendid schemes, shut himself up in the dominican convent at hispaniola. here he devoted himself to the performance of religious duties, still keeping in mind the great object of his ambition. the sufferings of the indians increasing daily, and a chapter of his order at chiapa in new spain, having made him their messenger to europe, on some important affairs, he once more revisited madrid in , and took a favourable opportunity of pleading the cause of the injured indians before charles v. he also composed a treatise, which he called "a brief relation of the destruction of the indians;" in which was painted, in the most pathetic and forcible manner, the enormities which had taken place in every country of the new world which the spaniards had visited. this work created the most lively sensations throughout europe, and such a general abhorrence of the cruel measures of the adventurers, that the spanish court thought fit to adopt some measures to silence the universal clamour. new regulations were adopted, some of which tended to ameliorate the condition of the unfortunate americans; and las casas was elevated to the dignity of bishop of chiapa, in order to afford every relief in the power of the church to bestow. he returned to america in , and continued in this see until , exerting himself in every possible manner to attain the object of his wishes; in which he succeeded greatly, but his health failing in , he resigned his bishopric, and once more revisited his native country; in the same year, and for five years subsequent to his return, he lived in madrid, still exerting all his influence to consolidate the measures which had been taken for the prosperity of the people to whom he was so much attached; at last nature became worn out, and this indefatigable, and benevolent man, closed his career in , in the d year of his age. besides the work alluded to above, he wrote several others, among which, is a "general history of the indies," of which antonio de herrera is said to have availed himself in the compilation of his celebrated history of the new world. features, climate, &c. the provinces of barcelona and cumana are extremely mountainous; the first branch from the main chain of the andes running through these districts, and terminating in the ocean at the gulf of paria. this ridge gives birth to the rivers which flow into the orinoco on the south, and into the caribbean sea on the north, and contains some highly picturesque and singular scenery; the most noted parts of which will be hereafter described. the climate of this government varies according to the situation of its districts, on the high land of the mountains, or in the valleys or plains of the interior. _capitals._--the chief town of new andalusia is cumana, where the governor of the two provinces usually resides. the chief town of new barcelona, is barcelona. _cumana_ is situated in ° ' " north latitude, and ° ' " west longitude, a mile from the battery of the boca, or mouth of the harbour, between which and the town extends a great plain, called el salado. the port is formed by the fine river manzanares, which runs through the town. east of the city is another extensive plain, and north of it a rocky mass, on which stands the citadel of st. antonio. the city occupies the space between the citadel, the river manzanares, and another smaller stream called the santa catalina, and the plains which surround it are highly cultivated; that towards the sea having an indian suburb and gardens filled with sapotes, mameis, plantains, &c. the suburb is divided into three parishes; on the east is that of sarritos, on the south-east, st. francisco, and the great town of the guayqueria indians. cumana is one of the oldest cities of the continent, and was built by gonzalo ocampo in . in the city of cumana are no very remarkable buildings, owing to the fatal effects of the last earthquake. there is only one parish church and two convents, but additions are daily making to it, which will render it a fine town. this city is remarkable for the purity and healthiness of its climate, on account of the heat being moderated by the sea-breezes; the most fatal disorders are fluxes, which carry off numbers of children annually, owing to the great use they make of green indigestible fruits. the women, particularly the indians, are very prolific, which in some measure compensates for the loss annually experienced of the younger branches of society. the population of cumana amounts at present to , or , souls, of which, two-fifths are indians of the guayqueria, chayma, and other tribes. of these, the _guayquerias_ are the most noted tribe not only of cumana, but of caraccas; they are a branch of the guarounoes, who inhabit the swampy island, at the mouth of the orinoco; but they have now become so incorporated with the spaniards, that for the last century they have spoken the spanish language only. when columbus was on this coast, his people saw these indians fishing with long poles pointed at one end, and tied to a cord at the other; demanding of them the name of their country, they immediately replied guiake, which signified pointed stick; the sailors thought this was the name of the tribe, and accordingly called them guaikerias, which name they have since retained. these people, who also inhabit the islands, show to europeans with pride the punta de la galera, so called, because columbus's vessel touched there, as well as port manzanillo, where they swore fidelity in to the whites, which vow they have never violated. the guayquerias are the pilots of the coast of cumana, and their suburb is composed of rows of uniform low buildings disposed into the form of streets, which have a very neat appearance. on a naked rock which commands the city, feet above the level of the sea, is the castle of st. antonio, which commands the place. there is also another fort in ruins, on the south-west; and the entrance into the port is defended with inconsiderable batteries, but the military positions of cumana are of little importance, as the citadel is commanded by a part of the same rock on which it stands; the chief defence of this post being a thick wood of the cactus, whose thorny shoots defy admission into its recesses. the entrance of the harbour of cumana is highly picturesque, the city rising out of the plain backed by the citadel, its rocks and groves, the plantations of cocoa-nuts, cassias, capers, and arborescent mimosas; the shores covered with alcatras or brown pelicans, egrets, and flamingoes. the beauty of the river, and the clear blue of the sky, contrasted with the dark and gloomy appearance of the mountains in the interior, conspire to afford a landscape of the most captivating character. the european inhabitants, and the descendants of europeans, are noted for their great politeness and hospitality to strangers; they are chiefly occupied in commercial enterprize, this and barcelona being ports where much trade is carried on. the manner and customs of these people is nearly allied to those of their brethren in the other great cities of spanish america. one of the most singular of their customs is that of passing most of their evenings sitting on chairs placed in the river. in this city, the first question in a morning is, "is the water cool?" their conversaziones are carried on in the rivers where the evening parties are mostly spent in talking about the weather, the news, and in smoking. all the inhabitants of the town it is said can swim, and the children pass the greater part of their time in the water. the alligator is not dangerous at cumana, as they are seldom seen, and are only of the smallest kind; the chief fear that the women have whilst bathing is from the dolphin, which sometimes comes up the river and spouts like the whale. the port of cumana is formed by the gulf of cariaco, and its harbour by the river manzanares. the gulf of cariaco is thirty-eight miles in length and sixty-eight in breadth, with excellent anchoring ground; and the ocean is always smooth and unruffled from porto cabello to the point of paria; so much so, that the coasting vessels are not decked; the only danger in the port of cumana being a shoal, called morro roxo, half a mile in breadth and very steep on all sides. this city has been repeatedly shook by subterrene convulsions; and the natives have a tradition that the gulf of cariaco was formed by an earthquake, just before the third voyage of columbus. in , the whole coast was shaken, and the city, then called new toledo, suffered by having its fort at the mouth of the river destroyed; an immense rent was made in the coast, from which asphaltum and water issued. these shocks were very frequent towards the end of the th century, the sea often rising fifteen or twenty fathoms. on the twenty-first of october, , the city was overthrown, and numbers of persons perished; the tremblings of the earth continued hourly for fourteen months; but in , the inhabitants incamped in the streets, when the shocks only took place once a month; a great drought had happened in , but during , the rains were so continual, that the harvest was very abundant. in this memorable earthquake the ground opened and threw out hot water. in , they experienced another tremendous convulsion, and on the th of december, , four-fifths of the city were utterly destroyed, the earth heaving up with loud subterraneous noises; but the people got into the streets in time, and a small number only perished of those who sought for refuge in the churches. half an hour before this happened, there was a strong sulphureous smell near the castle, and a loud noise under the ground; flames were seen to rise from the banks of the river, and in several other places. these flames are frequently observed near the city on the plains, they do not burn the herbage, and issue from no apparent crevices, the people calling them the soul of the tyrant aguirra, who took part in a revolt against ursua, governor of omaguas, and styled himself "the traitor." he descended the amazons, and reached the island of margarita by the rivers of guiana. though so continually exposed to this dreadful calamity, the inhabitants of cumana are in a measure insensible to it, as they imagine that it never occurs but at particular intervals, and that they have always sufficient notice by the state of the weather and other occurrences. the neighbourhood of cumana is infested with the rattle snake, the coral vipers, centipedes, &c. farms and country-seats adorn the banks of the manzanares; at a little distance from the city these are beautifully situated, amid groves of cactus, tamarinds, brazilletoes, the enormous ceiba, palms, &c., and the soil is so rich for pasturage, that excellent milk and butter are produced. near cumana the most noted mountains are the cerro or chain of the brigantin, about eighteen miles distant, the highest summit of which has a flat top, and is elevated more than feet above the sea, and the sides of this chain are nearly perpendicular, the country about it being a mere desert. the inhabitants of cumana attempted to cross these mountains with a road, but found it impracticable, and the passage to the plains of the interior lies over a part of the chain, known by the name of the imposible, over which a new road is carrying on, the present one being very steep. this chain is continued to the extremity of the gulf of cariaco, and forms the barrier between it and the ocean. on the peninsula formed by this gulf are the salt works of araya, which have been successively worked by most of the european nations who possess colonies in the west indies. the dutch were however expelled in , when a fort or battery was built to prevent their return, and the mere or lake which these salt-works consist of, was overflowed by the sea in the great hurricane in , which also destroyed the battery; but pits or reservoirs have been since dug, and the sea dyked out, so that great quantities of salt are still procured. the consumption of this article in forming tasajo, or salted provision, amounts, in barcelona and cumana, to or , fanegas (each lbs.) annually, of which the salt marsh or grounds of araya, furnish fanegas, and the sea the rest. the indians use very little salt with their food, but the creoles and negroes live almost entirely on salted meat and fish. salt being a royal monopoly, the revenue derived from araya is considerable. a small village is established on the peninsula of araya, where the indians keep large flocks of goats. this strip of land was the first place where the spaniards began to found a town; and it contains springs and masses of petroleum; this substance existing also on its coasts, at cape de la brea, punta soto, and guararitto. a stream of naptha issues from the bed of the sea, near these shores, and forms a visible spot, feet in diameter, among the weeds, with which the beach is covered. nueva barcelona, the chief town of the province of the same name, is situated in a plain on the left bank of the river neveri, half a league distant from the sea, in ° ' north latitude, and ° ' west longitude; ten leagues by land from cumana. this city was founded in , by juan de urpin, who had been a canon, doctor, and counsellor of laws in st. domingo, and a private soldier in the fort of araya; he gave the name of new catalonia to the province, which was afterwards changed to that of the city. it is meanly built, though it has a regular appearance; the streets are very dirty in the rainy season, and very dusty in the hot weather; and the immense quantity of hogs bred in this place renders the town disgustingly dirty, from the filth which they spread over the footways; and it was not till the year , that some measures were taken to put a stop to this nuisance. barcelona contains one parish church and a convent of franciscans, with a population of , souls, half whites and half mulattoes and negroes. such is the trade in live and dead cattle in this city, that the inhabitants have not turned their attention to the cultivation of the land, though excellently suited for cotton, cacao, and maize. barcelona is the emporium for the contraband goods of trinidad, and from hence they are dispersed through all the inland provinces. the value of this trade has been computed at , dollars annually. hides, tallow, oxen, mules, jirked and salted beef, form the great commercial articles of this port; this trade is chiefly carried on with the havannah and west india islands. in the jurisdiction of barcelona, which declared itself independent in the year , commence those immense plains that stretch with those of caraccas, as far south as the orinoco. they are covered with excellent pasturage, and feed innumerable herds of cattle and mules, which are mostly kept on the banks of the rivers. such immense quantities were killed before the breaking out of the present commotions, that the trade was at one time very considerable, the inhabitants of barcelona being noted for their skill in salting meat; but just after the first symptoms of this struggle, the plains became infested with robbers, who deprived the owners of their beasts, and greatly lessened the value of the trade. the other towns of cumana are chiefly missionary establishments seated near the rivers, and on the great plains, the greater part of the country being yet in a state of nature. of these towns the principal one is _cumanacoa_, twelve leagues distant from cumana, on a plain surrounded with lofty mountains, which was founded in , by domingo arias, on his return from the guaripiche river, where some frenchmen had attempted to plant a colony; it was at first called san baltazar de las arias, but soon lost that appellation, for its present one. the climate of this place is mild, and even cold, although it is not more than feet above the sea, owing probably to the abundance of rain, to the frequency of thick fogs, and to being surrounded by humid forests. the dry season begins here in the winter solstice, and lasts till the vernal equinox. light showers are frequent in april, may and june; the dry weather again commences, and lasts to the end of august, when the winter rains set in, which only cease in november; and during this interval, the country is deluged with water. the environs of cumanacoa are very fertile, and are chiefly cultivated with tobacco, with which article it supplies the whole province. indigo is also grown here and in this town; the population amounts to about souls. the road from cumana over the imposible, through the forest, to cumanacoa, passes by the mission of st. fernando, of the chayma indians. it is described as highly picturesque. the forest consists of trees, whose trunks are of the largest dimensions, and which are clasped in every direction by creeping or parasitical plants, of which the lianas reach to the very summits of the trees, and pass from one to another, at the height of more than a hundred feet, displaying beautiful festoons of dark green leaves, intermixed with the most fragrant and splendid flowers. under these arcades, which scarcely admit the rays of the sun, the traveller proceeds, viewing, at intervals only, the deep blue of the sky. the parrots, macaws, and innumerable tribes of birds of the most brilliant plumage, are continually hovering about, and here the oriole builds his bottle-shaped and pendant nest. the screaming of the parrots actually drowns the roar of small cataracts which here and there fall from the rocky mountains. on quitting this forest path to go to st. fernando, the country is open for a short space, and the road is now lined with the bamboo or guadua, whose elegant form, agitated by the slightest winds, strikes the european traveller with the most agreeable sensations. we shall describe the village of st. fernando, as a type of all the other missionary settlements, which are too numerous to name. the huts of the indians are built of mud or clay, strengthened by the stems of the lianas, and are disposed into streets, very wide and straight, and crossing each other at right angles, the whole appearing very neat. the gardens are either in, or at a short distance from the village, and each family possesses one which they cultivate, together with a large plot of ground, common to all, and called the conuco, at which the grown-up young men and women are obliged to work one hour in the morning and one in the evening. in the missions near the coast, this conuco is generally an indigo or sugar plantation, the profits of which are divided by the priest, for the support of the church and the village. the great square of san fernando is situated in the centre of the village; in it is placed the church, the priest's house, and the casa del rey, or king's-house, destined for the accommodation of travellers. the priest governs the people in their spiritual and temporal affairs, but the parish officers are always chosen from among the indians; a matter of necessity, as no whites are to be found in these settlements. they have their governor, alguazil, mayor and militia officers, and the company of archers have their colours, and perform their exercise at stated periods, shooting at a mark. the villages in which the europeans or creoles are settled, and in which indians are occasionally found occupying a distinct part, are called _doctrinas_, and differ entirely from the missions. of these there are many on the side of the country nearest the coast, the missions being mostly in the interior. near cumanacoa, is the great mountain called tumiriquiri, where an enormous wall of rock rises out of the forest, and is joined on the west by the cerro de cuchivano, where the chain is broken by an enormous precipice more than feet in width, filled with trees, whose branches are completely interlaced with each other. the rio juagua traverses this crevice, which is the abode of the jaguar, or american tiger, of a very formidable size, being six feet in length. they carry off the horses and cattle in the night from the neighbouring farms, and are as much dreaded as the most ferocious of the feline race are in the east indies. two immense caverns open into this precipice, from which flames occasionally rush out that may be seen in the night at a great distance. the great mountain of _tumiriquiri_ is situated on the road to caripe, the chief mission of the chaymas, which passes over the summit of a lower part of the chain, which bears the general name of the _cocollar_. from the summit of this last chain, at more than two thousand feet in height, the eye wanders over the immense plains which reach towards the banks of the orinoco, in the ravines alone of which can be distinguished any trees, and these but thinly scattered; the remainder of the surface is covered with an uniform coat of long waving grass, intermixed with flowering shrubs. from this point the traveller ascends towards the tumiriquiri; the road is partly traversed on horseback, but soon becomes too steep and slippery for these animals. the round summit of the tumiriquiri is covered with turf, and is elevated more than feet above the ocean. this elevation gradually diminishes towards the west by a ridge of steep rocks, and is interrupted at the distance of a mile by an immense crevice, which descends towards the gulf of cariaco. beyond this two enormous peaks arise, the northernmost of which, named the _cucurucho of tumiriquiri_, is more than feet in height, surpassing that of the brigantin with which it is connected. these peaks are covered with mahogany, javillo, and cedar trees, of an enormous size, whose shades are frequented by tigers and other wild beasts, which are hunted now and then for the sake of their beautiful skins. the view from the summit of this mountain is very fine; the chain which extends from west to east is seen in all its forms; its ridges running parallel to each other at short distances, form longitudinal valleys, intersected by crevices worn by the waters in their passage to the orinoco or the sea. the sea bounds the prospect on the north, and the immeasurable plains form its horizon on the south. the rivers colorado and guaripiche rise in the chain of the cocollar, and mingle their streams near the east coast of cumana. the colorado at its mouth is very broad, and the guaripiche more than twenty-five fathoms deep; and between this river and the areo which falls into it, are some springs of petroleum. beyond tumiriquiri the road descends the mountains towards caripe, by the mission of _san antonio_ across savannahs strewed with large blocks of stone, over a thick forest lying on two steep ridges called los yepes and fantasma, into a valley in which are the missions of _san antonio_ and _guanaguana_, which are separated by the rivers colorado and guaripiche. guanaguana valley is divided from that of caripe, by a ridge called the _cuchillo de guanaguana_, which is difficult to pass, the path being often only fourteen inches broad and extremely slippery, as the slope is covered with grass. these paths are traversed on mules, whose footing is so sure, that accidents rarely occur. the height of the cuchillo is about feet, and the descent to caripe is by a winding path through a forest; and as the valley is high, the journey is short and easy. here the climate is mild and delightful, but in the valley of guanaguana it is hot and unwholesome; so great is the difference which is experienced in this country in passing from one side of a mountain to the other. the height of the convent of _caripe_, in which the missionary monks reside, is feet above the sea, in ° ' " north-latitude; and this appears to be the only high valley of cumana, which is well inhabited. the convent is seated on a delightful plain, backed with an immense wall of perpendicular rocks, covered with plants; the ceiba and palms show their gigantic and elegant forms, numberless springs gush out on every side, and it is difficult to imagine a more picturesque spot than that which these priests have chosen. the cultivation of the valley adds to the natural beauty of the scene, as the gardens of the indians are filled with plantains, papaws, and all the fruit-bearing plants common to the tropical regions. the conuco or common plantation contains maize, the sugar cane, culinary plants, and coffee trees. near this valley is the cavern of the guacharo, three leagues from the convent towards the west. this cave gives its name to the range of mountains in which it is situated. the cavern is pierced in the face of the perpendicular side of the lofty guacharo mountain, the access to its mouth being rather difficult, on account of the numerous little torrents which cross the valley. its entrance is towards the south, and forms an arch eighty feet broad, and seventy-two high, surmounted with rocks, covered by gigantic trees; festoons of creeping plants throw themselves across the chasm, and variegate the scene with the beautiful and vivid tints of their flowers; a river issues from the vault which continues at the same height as at its entrance for a considerable distance; and arums, heliconias and palms, follow the banks of the stream for thirty or forty paces into the interior. it is not necessary to use torches for feet from the mouth, as the grotto keeps the same direction, and forms but one channel from south-east to north-west; when the day-light fails, the hollow murmuring sound of a vast number of nocturnal birds, inhabiting the recesses of the cave, may be distinguished; advancing further by the help of lights the whole rock is seen covered with the nests of these birds, which are called guacharoes, and are of the size of a fowl, with a crooked bill, feathers of a dark bluish grey, mixed with specks of black, the head, wings and tail, being studded with large white heart-shaped spots edged with black; the spread of the wings is three feet and a half; its eye, which is blue and small, cannot endure the light of day, these birds quitting the cavern only at night in search of the fruits on which they exist; their nests are seen by fixing a torch at the end of a pole, and are generally on the very highest parts of the arch. the indians enter this cave once a year to destroy the young for the sake of a layer of fat, with which the abdomen is covered. these people construct temporary huts at the mouth of the cavern, and melt the fat in pots of clay, over brushwood fires; this fat is called the butter of the guacharo, is transparent, half liquid, without smell, and so pure as to keep more than a year without becoming rancid; the monks purchase this oil of the natives for culinary purposes. notwithstanding this annual destruction of the birds, their numbers do not sensibly diminish, as it is conjectured that other guacharoes re-people the grotto from neighbouring caves, which are inaccessible to man. the river which runs through the cave, is from twenty-eight to thirty feet in width, and can be traced into the recesses for a considerable distance, the cave preserving its altitude and regular form for feet; farther than this the river forms a small cascade over a hill covered with vegetation; and surrounded with stalactites; after this ascent the grotto contracts its height to forty feet, still preserving the same dimensions; here the bottom is covered with a black mould on which plants, deposited accidentally by the birds, have vegetated; their characters are however so much changed by want of light and air that it is impossible to recognise the species. beyond this spot the cries of the birds were so shrill and piercing that no persuasions could induce the indians to proceed, and m. de humboldt was obliged unwillingly to return. this subterraneous river is the source of the rio caripe, which joining the river santa maria a few leagues distant, is navigable for canoes, and falls into the river areo under the name of canno de terezen. the forests of this and of every other part of cumana are peopled with numerous tribes of monkeys, of which the araguato is the most common and singular; it is three feet in height from the top of the head to the tail, with a reddish brown bushy coat of fur which covers its whole body, being very fine on the belly and breast; its face is of a blackish blue, and covered with a delicate wrinkled skin; the beard long, and its eye, voice and gait, denoting melancholy; when domesticated they have not that vivacity which most monkeys are celebrated for; on the rains, or any sudden change of weather approaching, the howling noises made by this creature are beyond conception dismal, and add, during a storm, to the horrors of the uninhabited wilds in which the traveller finds himself alone, and unprotected. near cumana, at the farther end of the gulf of cariaco, is the little town of _cariaco_, in the middle of a large plain filled with plantations, huts and groups of cocoa and palms; on a hill behind this town, at some distance, and named buenavista, may be seen the range of mountains which stretch towards the east under the names of sierra de paria and areo; from this hill it is said the most extensive view is to be had which can be seen on the coast of cumana. the town of cariaco is small and very unhealthy, owing to the great heat of the climate, the humidity arising from the surrounding plains and the exhalations from the shallow mere or lake campona. the number of inhabitants of this town amounted in to , and the population is on the increase. its chief commerce is in cotton of a fine quality; cumana and barcelona exported , quintals of this article in , of which the town of cariaco furnished six or . cacao is also attended to, but the cultivation of this plant does not flourish. the sugar cane has of late become an object of much speculation at cariaco, where considerable quantities of it are now grown. from cariaco the gulf stretches to cumana, its northern shore being naked, dry, and rocky, while the south coast is covered the whole way with plantations of cocoa nut trees; and between cumana and cariaco is the small village of _mariguitar_, seated in the midst of these plantations. eastward of cariaco the range of mountains continue to bend towards the promontory of paria; they contain in their bosom, a short distance from cariaco a large lake, four or five leagues in diameter, called putacuao, which communicates with the river areo. these mountains are visited only by the indians, and are haunted by the great boa serpent. this part of cumana, as well as all the country lying towards the east, is nearly uninhabited by europeans, but a new town has lately been founded at punta de piedra, opposite spanish harbour in trinidad; and people are daily forming settlements along the coast and in the fertile valleys of the interior; of which, _concepcion del pao_, forty-five leagues south of barcelona, fifty-five from cumana, and twenty-eight south-east of caraccas, has lately been raised to the rank of a city, and contains persons, mostly proprietors of cattle and land in the northern plains of the orinoco. the provinces of barcelona and cumana contain about , inhabitants, of which the indians compose more than one-half, , inhabiting new andalusia alone, without including the guaraounoes of the islands of the orinoco; and who, as it were, command the mouths of this fine river, which extend along the sea-coast for more than sixty leagues. these mouths are very numerous, but seven of them only are navigable. the first of these is twelve leagues south of the mouth of the rio guaripiche, and is called _grande manamo_. the second is two leagues south-east of the first, and is named _canal de pedernales_; on the east of it is the island guarispa, and three leagues south-west is isla del soldado, at the south entrance of the gulf of paria; these two channels are too shallow for large vessels. the third is called _capure_, and is a branch of the second, detaching itself about seven leagues inland. the fourth is _macareo_, six leagues south of capure, navigable for schooners and brigs, and the principal outlet between guiana and trinidad, its mouth being opposite erin river in that island. the fifth is called _maruisas_, from the tribe which dwell on its shores; it is twelve leagues south of the fourth entrance, but is little frequented. eighteen leagues farther is a branch of the _maruisas_, which is the sixth mouth, and is navigable for small vessels. eight leagues south of this is the _boca de los navios_, or grand mouth of the orinoco, which is navigable for large ships. the rivers of cumana and barcelona which fall into the caribbean sea, beginning from the west are chiefly, the _unare_, which bounds the provinces of venezuela and barcelona. it is navigable for six leagues from the sea, as far as the village of san antonio de clarinas. its whole course from the mountains is about thirty leagues from south to north; the small river _ipire_ joins this last at about half its course from the interior. the next river eastward of any consequence is the _neveri_, on which barcelona is built. the indian name of the stream is enipricuar; it is infested with crocodiles, but by means of this river which rises in the mountains of the interior, the port of barcelona carries on its trade in cattle and skins. the animals are brought from the plains behind the mountains by three days' journey, so easy is the road, whilst it requires eight or nine days to reach cumana by a similar route, on account of the steepness of the brigantin and imposible; this has greatly facilitated commercial speculation, and will one day render new barcelona an important place. in , eight thousand mules were embarked at barcelona for the west india islands, and it is computed that the plains of the government of caraccas furnished annually , of these animals to the spanish, english, and french islands. barcelona has been lately fortified, by having a small fort erected on an eminence on the right bank of the neveri, about feet above the sea. but this is commanded on the south by a more lofty hill. the distance by sea between cumana and barcelona is twelve leagues, but by land considerably more, and over a most difficult road. at cumana the river _manzanares_, which is only navigable for canoes beyond the town, is noted only for having its shores lined with the most fruitful plantations. beyond cumana, the mountains approach so near the coast, that they leave no room for any streams of importance to flow; and therefore proceeding round the point of paria, and verging towards the orinoco, the next river we find, of any consequence, is the _guaripiche_ which flows into the atlantic by a broad mouth just above the first estuary of the orinoco; this river rises in the interior as has been before mentioned. of the rivers which join the orinoco and flow through the plains of cumana, the _mamo_, the _pao_, and the _suara_ are the largest; and on the banks of these are some newly erected settlements. _provinces of venezuela and coro._ the government of venezuela comprehends venezuela, or caraccas proper and coro. it is bounded on the north by the caribbean sea; east by barcelona; west by maracaybo and varinas; and south by the great plains of varinas, and the orinoco. this extensive government was named venezuela from the towns inhabited by indians which were seen by the spaniards on the lake maracaybo, having a resemblance to venice. in the population of venezuela, including varinas, amounted to , persons. the soil of venezuela is fertile, and yields in abundance all the products of the west indies, besides many others, which those islands do not possess. its most noted commercial article is cacao, which is inferior to none in the americas; vanilla, maize, indigo, cotton, sugar, tobacco and coffee, are a few of the richest objects of cultivation; wild cochineal, dyewoods, medicinal drugs, gums, resins, balsams, sarsaparilla, sassafras, liquorice, squills, storax, cassia and aloes, here find that climate the most favourable to their growth; and the immense plains in the interior feed multitudes of cattle, horses and mules, and in the valleys and mountains, sheep and deer are numerous. all kinds of game are found in this country, the rivers of which also abound with fish. the climate of venezuela is modified according to the situation of its districts in the mountains, on the coast or on the plains; on the coast and in the plains a scorching heat prevails, accompanied in the latter with deluges of rain. in the mountain valleys the air is in general pure and mild, and in some elevated parts even cold. these mountains, which form a part of the great branch extending from the west to the gulf of paria, divide the lands of the coast from the plains of the valley of the orinoco. their surface is rent in every direction by the force of subterraneous convulsions; it is on these mountains that the climate is so singularly altered that a traveller may observe the fruits of the tropics luxuriating at a short distance from those of europe. to the south of this chain the llanos or plains, which stretch to the orinoco are inhabited solely by herds of cattle tended by mulattoes, who are as nearly in a state of nature as the beasts they guard. on the plains of venezuela, the rainy season commences in april, and continues till november. the rains fall oftener in the morning than in the evening, and on an average generally occupy three hours of each day; during which period, the plains nearest the rivers are converted into lakes of immense extent. for about a century after this country was subdued by the spaniards, all their thoughts were turned towards its mineral productions, and the pearl fishery on its coasts. but being disappointed in their expectations of finding immense riches from these sources, they at last turned their attention to the cultivation of the soil. they first planted cacao trees, and so abundant were the profits which this labour yielded, that cacao alone occupied their fields till a very late period. about the year indigo plantations appeared, and immense plains, hitherto desert, were soon covered with this plant, which was speedily followed by cotton, sugar, tobacco, coffee, &c., but notwithstanding the aptitude of the soil, and the genial nature of the climate, agriculture still languishes in these fine regions, partly from want of enterprise, and active industry, and partly from a too great confidence in the prolific nature of the soil. besides the articles before mentioned, the forests of venezuela produce every species of timber fit for the purposes of the joiner, the cabinet-maker, the carpenter, or the shipwright. cedar is used for their door-posts, window-frames, tables, &c. black, red, and yellow ebony are common. mahogany, brasiletto, and all sorts of ornamental woods are abundant, so much so that the workman would be puzzled in his choice of the finest; but the immense forests which overspread the chain of mountains, remain unexplored, and continue to be the receptacles of ferocious animals and venomous reptiles. the lakes of venezuela are not numerous, for we can hardly give that appellation to the sheets of water produced by the periodical swell of the orinoco, or the rains, and which are generally without any depth; the lake of valencia has been already described. the rivers of venezuela are more numerous than in any other part of spanish america. every valley has its stream, and though many of them are not of sufficient size to be navigable, yet all afford ample supplies of water to irrigate the plantations on their banks. the principal of these, which run from the mountains of caraccas and coro into the caribbean sea, are the _guiges_, _tocuyo_, _aroa_, _yaracuy_, and the _tuy_. the _guiges_ falls into that sea sixteen leagues west of the city of coro; the _tocuyo_ discharges its waters twenty-five leagues east of the guiges or gaigues; its source is fifteen leagues south of the town of carora, at the distance of nearly one hundred miles from the ocean; and it is navigable as far as the village of banagua, at the distance of forty leagues from its mouth; its banks furnishing abundance of timber of the largest size, and fit for every kind of building. the _aroa_ rises in the mountains, west of the town of st. felipe, and enters the ocean near burburata bay. the _yaracuy_ is another river which enters the caribbean sea, near the latter; and the _tuy_ discharges itself into the sea, thirty leagues east of la guayra; it rises in the mountains of st. pedro, ten leagues from the capital, and being joined by the _guayra_, becomes navigable, and serves to transport the produce of the cultivated plains or valleys of aragoa, tacata, cua, sabana, ocumara, santa lucia and santa teresa, through which it passes, and which particularly abound in cacao of the best quality. the rivers which rise on the southern side of the chain, and flow to the orinoco, are the _guarico_, which receives some of the branches of the apure, and then following a course parallel to that river, enters the orinoco a short distance eastward of it. the islands formed by the junctions of the apure and guarico are three in number; the first, near the town of st. fernando de apure, is called _isla de blanco_; the second, which is very large, and is north of the indian town of santa barbara, is named _isla del apurito_; and the third, which is between the mouths of the guarico and apure, is the _isla de las garzitas_. the guarico, which is a very fine river, is joined near its confluence with the orinoco, by the _rio mancapra_, which flows through the plains of calabozo. the _iguane_, the _cachivamo_, and several others which fertilise the vast uninhabited plains of the orinoco, flow into that river west of the junction of the great apure. most of these swell in the month of april, and continue to overflow their banks during three or four months, covering the low lands in their neigbourhood; they abound in alligators and fish. the _portughuesa_, which is formed by the union of the two rivers, the _pao_ and the _barquisimeto_, flows through the greater part of venezuela, and joins the apure forty miles north-west of its mouth. _commerce._--the relation of the commercial undertakings of these provinces will necessarily comprehend those of all the governments of caraccas, the produce of each being nearly the same. the settlement of the dutch at curaçoa, in , first roused the inhabitants of caraccas to exert their minds in agricultural pursuits: cacao and hides were soon exported in sufficient quantities to answer the purposes of carrying on an exchange trade with the dutch for such articles of european produce as were necessary to the colonists of venezuela. this trade became so brisk, that the mother country thought it time to interfere; edicts were issued to suppress it, and two vessels were freighted from spain with merchandise for the colony, for which enormous duties were charged: the dutch accordingly commenced a contraband trade, and so greatly undersold the spanish merchants, that they were left until , in quiet possession of the traffic. from to , the merchants of spain endeavoured to revive their speculations, but the activity of the hollanders was so great, that they were undersold in every article; at this period, the annual produce of the caraccas in cacao alone was , quintals (of ounces to each quintal); the exports through the royal custom houses amounted to , , so that the dutch received the remaining , quintals in their smuggling vessels. the court of madrid viewing this decrease of its revenues, resolved to put a stop to the intercourse of the foreigners by forcible methods, and confiscations of property, fines and punishments were inflicted on every person discovered engaging in commerce with the dutch. notwithstanding these measures, the contraband trade still continued, and the means taken not being found to answer the proposed end, it was at last suggested that a company should be created to monopolize the whole export and import trade of the captain-generalship. this was accordingly done, and such was the vigilance of the members of this company, that the unlawful trade was soon destroyed, and they succeeded by their constant supplies, and by purchasing every article which could be turned to account, in giving complete satisfaction to the colonies. in , this mercantile body, known by the appellation of the caraccas and guipuscoa company, obtained an exclusive grant of the monopoly of the trade; but in consequence of the discontent which this concession raised in the minds of the colonists, a board was appointed, composed of an equal number of members of the company and of planters, the governor-general being president; this board was to regulate the prices at which the planters and company should respectively exchange their merchandise, at the same time permitting the cacao growers to export one-sixth of their cacao to spain, on their own account in the company's ships. to prevent all irregular supply, ten armed vessels were built, carrying guns and men, and men were equipped on shore, to guard the harbours. immense warehouses were constructed at the different ports, and advances of money without interest were made to the cultivators. flourishing villages arose in every direction, and the land was converted from immense marshes and forests to smiling plantations. in , , quintals of cacao were only exported, whilst in , the amount of this article increased to , quintals. cattle multiplied rapidly in the vast plains on the south, and hides were added to the other objects of the export trade. from this time the duties paid at the various custom houses, was so great, that caraccas was no longer supplied with remittances from mexico, to defray the expences of its government. but with all these advantages, which lasted only a short time, the directors of the company assumed powers foreign to the intentions under which their grant was conferred, they became corrupt; and such was the state of the trade from the abuses they daily committed, that, in , the court of madrid opened the ports of venezuela and spain reciprocally to each other. new regulations were adopted, and the trade of the colony gradually increased till , when it experienced a check from the operations of the maritime warfare so vigorously carried on by great britain at that period. at present it is not in a very flourishing state, owing to the dreadful struggle which has existed between the mother country and her colonies. _capital._--the capital of venezuela is _caraccas_, which is also the metropolis of the captain-generalship, and has already been described. _coro_ is the principal place of the province of that name, and is situated in ° north-latitude, and ° ' west-longitude, on an isthmus which divides the gulf of venezuela or maracaybo, from the caribbean sea: it was founded in , and was the second settlement made by europeans on this coast. coro was considered, for a long while, the capital of venezuela, till in , when the governor transferred his residence to leon de caraccas, since which time no person of high rank, excepting the bishop, remains at coro. this city is placed on a dry sandy plain, covered with indian figs or plants of the cactus family; it is supplied with fruit and vegetables from some fertile plains three leagues distant. the inhabitants, who amount to , , are in general not rich, possessing little activity or enterprise; many of them pride themselves, on account of being descended from the conquerors of the country. some trade is carried on among them with the west india islands in mules, hides, goats, coarse pottery ware, cheese, &c. which are all brought from the interior. their chief commercial relations are with curaçoa, from which island, they are distant only a day's sail. coro contains but few negroes, as the laborious work is performed by the indians who inhabit the suburbs. such is the scarcity of water, that the city is supplied from a distance of two miles, by means of mules and asses, laden with that necessary aliment. the streets of coro are regular, but the houses are mean, and the city is not paved, its public buildings being a church, and a small convent of franciscans. the local government is lodged in a council, of which the commandant of the place is president. its port lies open from north to north-east and neither its accommodations, nor the commodities it trades in, are sufficient to render it a place of much resort. the peninsula, which lies to the north of coro, is called paragoana, and the isthmus is about a league in width, from which the peninsula stretches from south-west to north-west for twenty leagues. it is inhabited by people of colour and indians, who breed great quantities of cattle on it, which they ship off clandestinely to curaçoa, that island being supplied from this place with meat and vegetables, by open boats, which cross over daily. coro is leagues west of caraccas, north of maracaybo, and north-west of barquisimeto. the next place of note in the government of venezuela, is _porto cavello_, or _puerto cabello_, leagues north-east of caraccas, in ° ' north latitude, and ° ' west longitude. it lies in a fine harbour, in the golfo triste, near curaçoa, to the neighbourhood of which island it owes its importance. _burburata_, a village and harbour, a league to the east of porto cavello, was originally the port of venezuela, and was founded for that purpose in . the harbour of puerto cabello, being well adapted for carrying on a contraband trade with burburata, its shores were soon settled by fishermen, and many dutch smugglers erected huts there. such was the boldness and enterprising spirit of these people, that all the efforts of the spaniards were unable to check them, and they continued their unlawful trade under the eyes of the local authorities. when the guipuscoa company obtained their final charter, they ejected the most troublesome of these people by force, built a town, a wharf, and forts for its defence; and they also erected immense warehouses, some of which still remain. the site of this town was a small peninsula, the neck of which was almost under water; this isthmus was cut through, a canal formed, and the town detached from the suburbs. the exterior buildings are by far the most numerous, they are however built very irregularly, and the island town is chiefly occupied by the forts and warehouses; the communication between the two being by a bridge over the canal, at the end of which is placed a gate that is always closed at night. the population of this town amounts to about , their sole employment being navigation and commerce, and their principal connection is with the continental harbours and the islands. about vessels are employed in the coasting, and four or five in the european trade. it is the place of resort for ships requiring repair, and some vessels are built here; and it may also be said to be the entrepôt of eastern venezuela. the climate is very hot and unhealthy, which prevents its becoming a place of importance. puerto cabello is supplied with water by canals from a river a league to the west, and distributed to the public in cisterns, built at proper distances. it has one parish church near the harbour, and two hospitals, one for the soldiers, and one for private persons; and the local authority is vested in the hands of the commandant. this place was attacked by the english in , but they lost many men, and were obliged to relinquish the undertaking. porto cavello is leagues from la guayra by sea, by land, from caraccas, following the road through the towns of valencia, maracay, tulmero, victoria and san pedro. _carora_, an inland town, in ° north latitude, lying on the morera river, is miles north-east of gibraltar, on the lake maracaybo, and contains a population of souls, resembling in its commerce, inhabitants, &c.-- _tocuyo_, a large town, in ° ' north latitude, and ° ' west longitude, seated in a fine valley between two ranges of high mountains. the city of tocuyo is very regularly built, the streets being all wide and straight, containing a church, chapel and two monasteries. in this city, the climate is very fine and wholesome, owing to the vicinity of high mountains, but the air is occasionally cold. the inhabitants who amount to , , are in general artizans, traders, graziers, and agriculturists. the wheat of tocuyo is reckoned the best in the province, and furnishes flour to many towns of the interior. manufactories of woollens are also established, in which coverlids, blankets, &c., are made, and sent to maracaybo, and even as far as carthagena. tanneries and taweries supply work to a great part of the inhabitants, who work up as much of the raw materials as they can find hands to do, and export the rest. salt from the salt ponds of coro affords a lucrative article of traffic to the merchants of this town. tocuyo is leagues south-west of caraccas, and north of truxillo. _guanara_, on a river of the same name, that flows into the portughuesa, which furnishes the inhabitants with excellent water, and fertilizes the land by its overflowings; on the western parts of this stream, the country is very fruitful; and on the south and east are the immense plains of varinas. the chief wealth of the people of guanara consists in cattle, of which they possess immense herds. they supply the provinces of caraccas with vast numbers of oxen and mules, and export their surplus by coro, puerto-cavello, or guiana. this city consists of a number of streets disposed in an uniform and regular manner, and the houses, though not sumptuous, are well built. the church is large, handsome, and much adorned, and there is a very good hospital. the image of nuestra senora de comoroto, which is supposed to have a particular virtue, attracts a great concourse of devotees from the neighbouring provinces, and renders guanara a lively place; it is leagues south-west of caraccas, in ° ' north latitude, and ° ' west longitude. _barquisimeto_, which contains a population of , souls, is situated in ° ' north latitude, and ° ' west longitude; miles west-south-west of caraccas, north-north-east of santa fé, north-north-east of tocuyo, miles south of valencia, and north-west of calaboza, on a small river of the same name, which joins the portughuesa. it was founded in , after the surrounding country had been reduced, and is one of the oldest cities of venezuela; being placed on a plain at such an elevation, that it enjoys every cool breeze from the river, and owing to this happy situation, the great heat of the climate becomes supportable. the north-east winds are the most constant, and whenever these do not blow, the thermometer rises to ° and ° of fahrenheit. the inhabitants pasture the plains with herds of cattle, and find this a lucrative occupation, and an easy method of making use of their time; but they also cultivate the valleys, which produce cacao of an excellent quality, owing to the periodical overflowing of the stream; and the sides of the mountains are now planted with coffee-trees, which only require a little more care to be of the purest quality. the houses of barquisimeto are well built, and the streets are on a wide, regular, and good plan. its church is a handsome structure, and the luxury of its ornaments, as well as the general aspect of the city, show the ease and affluence in which the inhabitants, who are mostly europeans and their descendants, live. the city is governed by a lieutenant-governor, and common council. _victoria_ is situated on the road leading from caraccas to puerto cavello, six leagues east of tulmero. it was founded by the missionaries, and for a long time consisted wholly of indians, till the fruitful nature of the valley of aragoa drew a number of whites to it. the lands were soon cultivated, and victoria was covered with houses instead of huts. the principal ornament of this place is a handsome church, so large that it might well be termed a cathedral; the number of inhabitants of the town is about . _tulmero_ is another town in the same fertile valley at six leagues distance west of the latter, and two from maracay. this town is modern, well built, and the residence of a number of tobacco, coffee, indigo, cacao, &c., planters, but has been peculiarly the abode of the officers appointed to the administration of the tobacco farm; it is embellished with a handsome church and neat private buildings, and is governed by a lieutenant; a vicar also resides here, for the direction of ecclesiastical affairs. the population is about souls. _maracay_, forty miles south-west of caraccas, is also seated in the same rich vale of aragoa, and is a beautiful new town famous for the excellent chocolate made in its neighbourhood. the inhabitants who are mostly descendants of biscayan spaniards, have been computed to amount to , who cultivate indigo, cacao, cotton, coffee and grain. _valencia_ in ° ' north latitude, and ° ' west longitude, sixteen miles south-west of caraccas, was founded in consequence of faxardo, one of the conquerors having greatly praised the surrounding country; it was first built by villacinda in , with the view of establishing a port near the capital; but alonzo diaz moreno afterwards preferred a scite more distant from lake tacarigua (now valencia), and he accordingly removed the colony half a league west of the lake to a beautiful plain, where the air was pure and the soil fertile. the population of this city is said to be about souls, mostly creoles, of good families, with some biscayans and canarians; the streets are wide and well paved, and the houses built like those of caraccas, but not of stone. this town has a beautiful square, in which the church, a very pretty structure, stands. in another church was built and dedicated to nuestra senora de la candelaria; and the franciscans have a monastery which has also a neat church. the inhabitants were formerly noted for their indolence, but have lately become active and industrious, and the situation of the place is peculiarly favourable for trade, being separated from puerto cavello by only ten leagues of good road. every commodity landed at that port for the consumption of the provinces of the interior passes through valencia, which necessarily causes much traffic. the adjacent country produces every sort of provision and fruits in great abundance, and the plains feed immense herds of cattle, with sheep, horses and mules, so that its markets are well supplied. near it is the lake of valencia, which has been described already. valencia, with the towns of victoria and barquisimeto, suffered very much from the earthquake which overthrew caraccas, la guayra, merida and the villages of san felipe and maiqueta, on the th of march, . _ocumara_, though only a village, is celebrated for having a very fine port, the entrance to which has a battery for eight pieces of cannon. ocumara is five leagues east of porto cabello; the port is excellent and well sheltered, with fine moorings. the village is about a league distant from the anchoring place on a small river of the same name, which, after fertilizing a fine valley, enters the sea at the foot of the fort. between this bay and la guayra are the bays of _choroni_, _puerto_, _la cruz_, _los arecifes_ and _catia_, and between ocumara, or seinega de ocumara are the bays of _turiamo_, _burburata_, and _paranego_, from all of which the inhabitants of the coasts export their produce to la guayra, porto cavello, or the west indies, as each of these afford fine anchoring places for vessels. in the bay of burburata there is a village, formerly a place of consequence, but principally of note for the number of mules which it exports. _san carlos_ was formerly a missionary village, which owes its present beauty to the luxuriancy of the surrounding country; it is twenty-eight leagues south-south-west of valencia, in ° ' north latitude; the climate is very hot, but owing to the prevalence of the north-east wind it is much ameliorated. the inhabitants amount to , composed of spaniards from the canaries, and creoles, and are engaged in rearing cattle, horses and mules, which form their chief riches; the quality of the soil is so good that it gives an exquisite flavour to the fruits, particularly to its oranges, which are celebrated throughout the province. indigo and coffee are the chief articles cultivated at san carlos, and the town is large, handsome, and well laid out. _araura_ on the shore of the river acarigua is north-north-east of truxillo, in a fertile country, where numerous herds of cattle are reared, and cotton and coffee are cultivated; this town, which was, till lately, a missionary village, contains a fine square, a handsome church, and several streets of well built houses. _calaboso_ was also a mission until lately; it was formed into a town for the sake of those spanish owners who wished to be near their cattle which roam on the vast plains of the same name. it is situated between the rivers guarico and orituco, which unite their waters four or five leagues below the town, and then flow into the apure. the number of inhabitants in this new town is , and it has settlements in its jurisdiction, containing free indians, people of colour, and slaves. it is fifty-two leagues south of caraccas, and about the same distance from the orinoco, in ° ' north latitude. _san juan del pao_ is also inhabited by the proprietors of the cattle on the plains, and consists of a church and several handsome streets on the pao, which runs into the orinoco. it contains souls, and is fifty leagues south-west of caraccas, in ° ' north latitude. _san luis de cura_, in ° ' north latitude, twenty-two leagues south-west of caraccas, and eight leagues south-east of lake valencia, possesses inhabitants, and a miraculous image of the virgin, to which votaries are constantly flocking. _st. sebastian de los reyes_ in ° ' north latitude, twenty-eight leagues south-south-west of caraccas, and in a hot climate, contains souls. _st. felipe or cocorota_, in a very fertile soil, where cacao, indigo, coffee, cotton and sugar are cultivated, contains inhabitants, and is well built. it stands in ° ' north latitude, leagues west of caraccas, leagues north-west of valencia, and seven leagues north-west of _nirgua_; which place was built in the early periods of the conquest, on account of its mines; but it is now in a decaying state, and is inhabited only by sambos, or the race springing from the indians and negroes; their number amounts to . this town is in ° south latitude, leagues west of caraccas. besides the above, there are several other smaller towns, and some very large villages in this government, which are too numerous to describe. the country of venezuela is not famous for mines of gold or silver, though some gold has occasionally been found in the streams, which rush from the mountains; the pearl fishery of its coasts will be described in treating of the island of margarita. _the province of maracaybo._ maracaybo, or maracaibo, surrounds the lake of the same name. it is bounded on the west by santa marta, in new granada; on the east by coro and venezuela; on the north by santa marta, and the gulf of maracaybo; and on the south by merida and santa marta. owing to the great extent of the lake, this province extends but a short distance inland to the east and west, its length being about leagues. the soil of maracaybo is unfruitful on the banks of the lake. the east shore is dry and unhealthy, and on the west shore the land does not begin to be fertile for more than twenty-five leagues south of the city. south of the lake the country may vie with the richest lands of south america. in this province the population is estimated at about , souls. it was from the indian towns built on posts of iron wood on the lake of maracaybo that the spaniards gave the country the name of venezuela, or little venice. this country was long unknown after the conquest. ampues, who was governor at coro, had engaged all the neighbouring nations of indians, by his conciliatory measures, to swear allegiance to spain, when, in , alfinger and sailler, who had been sent, with followers, to assume the government, under the authority of the company of the welsers, landed at coro. unfortunately for the indians, they dispossessed ampues of his government, and began to search in every direction round the lake for gold; finding that their hopes of suddenly acquiring riches from this source were not likely to be realised, alfinger took the resolution of penetrating into the interior, to pillage the indian towns, and make prisoners of as many as he could, in order to sell them for slaves. the indian villages about the lake were soon destroyed; carnage and havoc spread around; the natives were sold to the merchants from the islands, and the whole province was a scene of horror and devastation. alfinger did not long survive this inhuman conduct, he met his fate in a valley, six leagues from pamplona, in merida, the natives killing him there in a skirmish in . two other german agents succeeded him, and continued the same barbarous conduct towards the indians, which coming to the knowledge of the king of spain, they were formally dispossessed: but it is asserted that the traces of the crimes they committed are visible to this day. four villages of maracaybo were all that escaped, and are yet standing, the iron wood on which they are founded becoming like a mass of stone from the petrifying quality of the water. these villages are situated on the east part of the lake, at unequal distances from each other, and have a church, which is also built in the water on piles, and to which the inhabitants of all the villages resort. several small rivers empty themselves into this lake: but as the country is uninhabited, excepting by indians, and immediately on the shores, nothing is known with accuracy concerning them, the savage goahiros from la hacha preventing all access on the western side, and keeping the settlers continually in alarm. the lake is navigable for vessels of any burden, but this advantage is sometimes rendered useless by a dangerous sand-bank across the narrow entrance, on which vessels drawing twelve feet water will occasionally ground. near the borders of the lake, on the west, are the only parts of this province which are cultivated, where, notwithstanding the heat of the climate, and the insalubrity of the air, some whites have fixed their habitations to cultivate cacao, and other plants. these settlers are much scattered, and have a chapel placed in the centre, to which they all occasionally resort. the climate of the province is in general hot and unhealthy, excepting in the southern parts which border on the snowy mountains of merida. its chief town is the city of _maracaybo_, in north latitude ° ', and west longitude ° ', on the western side of the narrow or strait which leads into the lake at about six leagues from the sea, on a sandy soil, and in a dry hot climate. in july and august the air is so heated, that it seems as if it issued from a furnace: but the most usual preventative for the ill effects of this abominable climate is constant bathing in the lake. thunderstorms, hurricanes, and earthquakes, are common in this country. the city is built with some taste, but disfigured by having most of its houses covered with reeds. the principal part of the town is on the shore of a small gulf, a league in length, which extends towards the broad part of the lake on the south, and the other part is built on the neck to the north, where the lake is only three leagues in width. the place where the town begins is named maracaybo point; that where the gulf commences aricta point; opposite to which is point sta. lucia. maracaybo was founded in by alonzo pacheco, an inhabitant of truxillo, who gave it the name of new zamora. it contains one parish church, a chapel of ease, and a convent of franciscans and is supplied with water from the lake, which at times is brackish near this place, when the strong breezes, especially in march, impregnate it with salt from the spray of the sea. the population consists of about , persons, owing to the number of emigrants who fled hither from st. domingo. the great families, or people of rank, are about thirty. the whites, or europeans and creoles, apply themselves to agriculture, commerce, the fisheries and navigation, and live very comfortably. the slaves and freemen are composed of negroes and mulattoes, who exercise all the laborious trades and handicrafts, and the number of slaves is about . the best schooners which sail on the spanish main are built at this city, which possesses peculiar advantages for ship-building. though the air is so hot, and the land so arid, yet the natives enjoy a good state of health, and live to an old age, owing, most probably, to the custom of frequent ablutions, as the children may be said to live in the water, and most of the people pass their time in navigating the lake. the young people are celebrated for their wit and ingenuity: but the charge of a want of probity in their dealings with strangers is brought against these people. the females are sprightly and modest, and are extremely fond of music; the notes of the harp resounding through the streets of an evening. the great object of veneration at maracaybo is an image of the virgin, denominated chiquinquira, the name of a village in new granada, from whence she was brought. a temple was dedicated to her worship in , and immediately a fountain rose up under the altar where she was placed; miraculous virtues were communicated to its waters, and this image has procured a lasting reputation in the surrounding country. the mariners of the lake invoke this holy shrine in all their undertakings, and it is placed in the chapel of ease of st. juan de dios. three forts protect the harbour of maracaybo. this place was plundered by michael de basco, and francis lolonois, in , when they sailed up the gulf of venezuela, with eight ships and men; they entered the strait, stormed and took the fort of la barra which defended it, and putting to death the garrison consisting of men, they then advanced to maracaybo; on their arrival there, the inhabitants abandoned the city, and removed their most valuable goods. here they remained a fortnight reveling in drunkenness and debauchery, and then proceeded to gibraltar, which the people of maracaybo had newly fortified; after a severe contest, this place was also taken, but proved a barren triumph, which so exasperated the buccaneers, that they set fire to the place, and threatened maracaybo with the same fate; the poor inhabitants collected as much property as they could, and ransomed the city, but not before it had been gutted of every thing. soon after this, henry morgan a welsh adventurer attacked porto bello, and succeeding in his expedition, fitted out in , a fleet of fifteen vessels, manned with men, with which he sailed to maracaybo, silenced the fort of the strait, reached the city, and found it deserted; but following the people to the woods, he discovered their treasures; he then sailed to gibraltar, which was desolate; while engaged in torturing the people he had made prisoners, in order to make them produce their hidden treasures, he learnt that three spanish men of war, had arrived at the entrance of the lake. summoning all the impudence he was master of, morgan sent an order to the commander of the vessels to ransom the city. the answer was, as might be expected, a denial, and direction to surrender himself immediately; to this he replied, that if the admiral would not allow him to pass, he would find means to do so; accordingly dividing his plunder among his vessels, that each might have a share to defend, he sent a fire-ship into the enemy's fleet, and having burnt two, and captured a third ship, he made a show of landing men to attack the fort, which being thus put off its guard, morgan passed the bar with his whole armament, without sustaining the slightest damage. maracaybo is the seat of the governor of the province, who enjoys the same salary, and exercises the same authority as the governor of cumana. this district was at one time under the jurisdiction of the governor of merida, but since that province has been annexed to the viceroyalty of new granada, and since the province of varinas has been formed out of part of venezuela and part of maracaybo, the latter has been made a distinct government. on the east side of maracaybo lake are several small towns, of which _paraute_, _las barbacoas_, _gibraltar_, and _san pedro_, are the most considerable places. _paraute_ is eighty miles south of coro, and is a small place on the banks of the lake. _las barbacoas_ is situated a short distance farther south, and seventy-five miles south of coro. _gibraltar_, in ° ' north latitude, and ° ' west longitude, is miles south-east of maracaybo, on the eastern banks of the lake; it is a very old town, famous for the production of a particular sort of tobacco, called tobacco of maracaybo, from which the best sort of snuff, vulgarly called maccabaw, is made. the country in the vicinity of this town is well watered with rivers, and consequently grows excellent cacao. cedars of immense size are found in its woods, but the climate is very hot and insalubrious, especially during the rainy season, when the merchants and planters retire to maracaybo or merida. _san pedro_ is a short distance south of gibraltar, and also on the banks of the lake. the other places being mere villages, or scattered plantations, are not worth mentioning. _truxillo_, on the confines of merida, in ° ' north latitude, twenty leagues north of merida, south-west of caraccas, and thirty west of guanara, is in a country producing sugar, cacao, indigo, coffee, &c., and in which wheat is cultivated in great abundance, and forms the chief article of the commerce of the inhabitants, who also carry the above fruits, sweetmeats, cheese, woollens, &c. to maracaybo, by means of the lake, which is only twenty-five leagues distant, but the route to which lies across the desert and unhealthy plains of llonay. the inhabitants of truxillo are an active and an industrious race; and at present amount to souls, though the city, which is one of the oldest on the continent, was formerly also one of the best peopled, until it was destroyed and sacked by francis gramont, the buccaneer, who, in , traversed the province of venezuela, with a small band of followers, attracted by the riches of this place. the scite of truxillo is between two mountains, and it contains a good parish church, a chapel of ease, two monasteries, a convent of dominican nuns, and an hospital. _province of varinas._ varinas, the next province of caraccas, divides the territories of this government from those of the kingdom of new granada. it is bounded on the north by the provinces of maracaybo and venezuela, east by the plains of caraccas and the orinoco, west by merida and new granada, and south by juan de los llanos, or casanare. this province was formed in the year , by separating the southern districts of venezuela and maracaybo, when it was also constituted a distinct government. the chief has the title of governor, and his functions are the same as those of cumana and maracaybo, in the civil, military and ecclesiastical departments. in order to defend this new province, a militia was raised in , and a garrison allotted to the city of varinas, consisting of seventy-seven men. the chief products of this extensive country are tobacco, well known in the european markets, and cattle, sugar, coffee, cotton, indigo; and all the fruits of the torrid zone, find here a soil adapted to each; and their qualities are unrivalled. the commodities of varinas are exported chiefly by water to guiana; the place of embarkation being at a spot called tocunos, five leagues below the city. the most remarkable features of this country are the extensive plains, of which it is mostly composed, and which are covered with a luxuriant herbage, feeding innumerable herds of cattle, flocks of sheep, and droves of mules and horses; these are either used in the province, or exported by means of the great orinoco. varinas is intersected by numerous large and navigable rivers, which occasionally inundate and fertilize its plains. of these, the _apure_, the _portuguesa_, the _guanarito_, the _bocono_, _guanapalo_, the _arauca_, the _capanaparo_, the _sinaruco_, and the meta, are the most noted. the _apure_ rises in one of the ridges that diverge from the eastern branch of the andes in new granada, in the province of santa fé; its length is leagues, of which forty are from north-east to south-east, and the rest from west to east, where it joins the orinoco by a number of mouths, after having received many very fine rivers, which will one day serve to render the carrying on of the trade from the eastern district of new granada, and the countries bordering on the atlantic extremely easy. these rivers are the _tinaco_, _san carlos_, _cojeda_, _agua blanca_, _acarigua_, _areyaruo_, _hospicia_, _abaria_, _portuguesa_, _guanare_, _tucapido_, _bocono_, _masparro_, _la yuca_, the _santo domingo_, _paguay_, _tisnados_, &c., which all come either from the mountains of granada, or those of venezuela, and mingle their waters with the apure, in the immense plains of varinas. the santo domingo, and portuguesa, are the largest of these streams, almost the whole of which unite above santiago, and form a great body of water, which enters the apure twelve leagues below that place, and twenty leagues north of the orinoco. this immense quantity of water gives such an impulse to the apure, that it forces the orinoco before it for the space of four miles, although the latter river is there a league in width. the shock of the meeting of these two noble rivers is so great, that it occasions a great agitation in the middle of the orinoco, forming dreadful eddies and whirlpools, at which the most dextrous indians shudder. for the space of three leagues after the stream of the greater river has regained its force, the waters of the apure are still distinguishable by their bright and crystal appearance, after which they are lost in the muddy current of the orinoco. the exportation of cattle by way of guiana takes place along the banks of these two rivers, on account of the excellent pasturage which they every where afford. all the traders of the eastern portion of caraccas, are induced by the easy means of conveyance afforded by so many confluent streams, to send their coffee, cotton and indigo to guiana, instead of sending them on the backs of mules to caraccas, or porto cavello, and traveling miles in a country often almost impassable, from the inundations of the rivers. the _arauca_ is a river nearly as large as the apure, and which rises in the mountains of santa fé, a short distance south of the sources of the latter, with which it holds a parallel course, through a country inundated by the apure, and communicates with it near the orinoco by several branches before it enters that river, thus forming some large and fertile islands. the _rio capanaparo_ rises in the marshy country south of the arauca, and enters the orinoco, south of the latter river by two mouths, at some distance from each other. south of this is another named the _sinaruco_, which also rises in the marshes, and receives an accession to its waters from the overflowings of the apure and the arauca, entering the orinoco between the capanaparo and the meta. the _meta_ is a noble river, which rises in the mountain ridge opposite to santa fé de bogota, and flowing through the province of juan de los llanos, and the district of casanare, it receives many other large rivers, and enters the orinoco, thirty leagues below the cataracts of ature, and leagues from santo tomé of guiana. the meta receives the _pachiquiaro_, the _upia_, the _cravo_, and the _pauto_ in juan de los llanos, and the _ariporo_, the _chire_, and the _casanare_ (a fine river into which flow several others) in the province or district of casanare. the meta also receives several smaller streams in varinas, and seems destined to form vast commercial relations between the kingdom of new granada and the government of caraccas. when the annual fleet of galleons was put a stop to, the government issued orders that all the interior produce of new granada should be carried to carthagena, and forbid every article, excepting coarse cottons and flour to be exported by way of the meta, which considerably retarded the progress of the settlers in varinas, the llanos, and guiana, and put a stop to the cultivation of many articles too bulky to be carried over such bad roads as those which descend to the magdalena and the cauca. the banks of the meta are inhabited chiefly by indians, of which the _guahibos_ tribe occupies the country near the orinoco; and in juan de los llanos, the missionary villages, are very numerous on both banks of the stream. the capital of varinas is the city of _varinas_ in ° ' north latitude, and leagues south-east of caraccas. it is a neat little place in a tolerable climate, with one church, and an hospital. its inhabitants amount to about , the governor of the province residing here. the other towns of most consequence are _san jayme_, _st. fernando de apure_, and _san antonio_. _st. jayme_ is situated on the west bank of the portuguesa, above its junction with the guanaparo and the apure in ° ' north latitude on a sand hill. the town is so environed with water for three months, that the inhabitants cannot leave their houses but in canoes; it is seventy-five leagues south of caraccas. _st. fernando de apure_ is erected on the south bank of the apure, near its junction with the portuguesa. this town is well built, in a hot but healthy climate, and contains about inhabitants, whose occupation consists in rearing mules and cattle, and their property is in large commons, lying south of the city. _san antonio_ is situated on the north bank of the apure, just above where it divides itself into several branches to join the arauca, in about ° ' north latitude, with a village called _bancolargo_ on the opposite bank of the river. south of this town and between the capanaparo and the sinaruco, the country is inhabited by tribes of wild and independent indians, who allow no settlements to be made among them. the whole province of varinas on its western and northern parts is covered with farms and small villages, mostly situated on the banks of the different rivers. a road leads from the plains of calobozo, in venezuela, through st. fernando de apura, and across the rivers to the junction of the meta with the orinoco. this province has lately become the scene of contests between the spanish troops and the insurgents; particularly in the vicinity of the apure. _province of guiana; or, spanish guiana._ this immense province extends from the frontiers of juan de los llanos and quixos, in new granada to the frontiers of british, french and portuguese guiana. it is bounded on the north by the orinoco and the plains of cumana, barcelona, and caraccas; on the east by unknown lands between the settlements of the english and french; west by the orinoco and the provinces of new granada; and south by the portuguese possessions. it has been computed to be leagues in circumference; but this vast extent is inhabited chiefly by warlike and savage tribes of indians, who forbid all access into the interior. the population of those parts which are occupied by the spaniards, their descendants, and the mission indians, is computed at , , this population being confined mostly to the banks of the orinoco. the precise boundaries of this country cannot be laid down, on the west it is said to extend to the western mouth of the river yapura, proceeding thence almost due north. on the east it has, from cape nassau, a shore of thirty leagues to the mouth of the orinoco; thence along that river to the rio portuguesa, an extent of more than leagues. the portuguese territories on the south, were formerly bounded by a line passing under the equator, but they have since acquired more settlements to the north in the western parts of guiana. the population of spanish guiana is thus divided; , indians, under the care of missionaries; creoles, mulattoes, &c. scattered in the settlements, and the remainder in the capital; the villages being more frequent at from fifty leagues from the atlantic to about up the orinoco. guiana is subdivided into upper and lower guiana, the capital being the point of separation. the most southern fort of the spaniards is that of san carlos, on the rio negro, in ° ' north latitude. upper guiana comprehends all the country west of the caroni river; few plantations are seen there, though the soil is rich beyond imagination. lower guiana is east of the caroni, or in the space bounded by the sea on the east, the orinoco on the north, the caroni on the west, and the essequibo on the south; than which, a more fertile soil cannot be found, watered by numerous rivers, whose periodic overflowings deposit a slime as prolific as the nile; but this fine district is nearly a waste, harbouring anthropophagical tribes, of whom the caribs are the most formidable, as well as sanguinary. the riches of the few spaniards and creoles settled in this province, consists in cattle, of which the missionary franciscans alone possess more than , head. the trade of guiana consists entirely in the export of cattle and mules, with some tobacco, cotton, and indigo, and in they had thirty-four small vessels employed in trading to trinidad and the neighbouring spanish ports. in the history of the discovery of guiana much obscurity prevails; but martin silva, in , obtained a patent to conquer some tribes to the westward of the present limits. after penetrating through venezuela, his people deserted him; when he returned to spain, and collected new followers. silva then attempted to cross the country from the coast between the maranon and orinoco, but he and his followers were slain and devoured by the caribs. the missionaries, pizarro's brother, and diego ordaz, also attempted to enter and explore guiana, but were all frustrated by the natives. sir walter raleigh also twice tried to reach the pretended city of manoa, or el dorado, which is supposed to have been situated in lake parima, and whose streets were paved with gold; which marvellous story had most probably its origin in an indian village, built on an island whose soil contained mica, which glittering, and appearing splendid in the sunshine, deceived the adventurers who had observed it. in later times the spaniards have endeavoured to conquer these regions, but have always been unsuccessful; one of them has had the courage to cross the greater part of the country in the dress of an indian; and from his researches, the direction of the ranges of mountains has been ascertained. humboldt, also contrived to go a great distance along the chain of the cataracts, but was prevented from exploring the sources of the orinoco and the celebrated lake of parima by the _guayecas_, a race of indians who, though of very diminutive stature, display the utmost courage and activity in defending their possessions. these people resist all persuasion to become the converts of the monks who had visited their frontiers, and equally defy the armed force which generally accompanies these priests. the rivers flowing through guiana, which are best known, are the _orinoco_, into which, on the north, the _caroni_, the _aruy_, the _caura_, and several smaller ones empty themselves; on the west the _suapure_, the _sippapu_, &c., join that stream, while on the south the _guaviare_, the _ynritta_ and the _atabapo_ also add to the magnificence of its course. the _rio negro_ also flows through a part of guiana, and forms, by means of the _cassiquiari_, a junction between the maranon and the orinoco, thus constituting guiana an immense island detached in every direction by a broad expanse of water from the continent of south america. the _yapura_ and the _uapes_ run through the southern or continental parts of this province, and join the maranon. many large rivers issue from, or rise near lake parima and the interior; of which _rio branco_ and the _siaba_ are the most noted, but as the lake itself, and all the surrounding country are as unknown as the internal parts of africa, it will be useless to repeat names that are gathered from maps, often imaginary, and generally erroneous. the capital of guiana is _santo tomé_, or _angostura_, (the strait, so called, because situated in a narrow part of the orinoco;) it was originally built in , nearer the sea, at the distance of fifty leagues from the mouth of the river, but having suffered successively from the invasions of the english, french and dutch, it was removed, in , to its present scite, ninety leagues from the atlantic, on the right bank of the river, at the foot of a small mountain. opposite the city is a village and fortress on the left bank of the orinoco. this place was built for the defence of the passage of the strait, and is called port rafael. between this port and the city is the island del medio, a low rocky islet, covered during the floods. the channel lies between this shoal and the town, the river being feet broad at low water. santo tomé is the seat of government, the bishop and governor of guiana residing in it, but its buildings are said to be mean, and its appearance unworthy of a better title than that of a large village. the other towns of guiana are also no better than villages, and it has many forts near the portuguese boundaries. _island of margarita._ this island, which is about thirty leagues in circumference, forms a government separate from that of cumana, on whose shores it lies, and dependant on the captain-general of caraccas. it lies in north latitude ° ', and in and degrees west longitude. it was first discovered by columbus in . the pearls found on the coasts of this and the neighbouring isle of cubagua, soon rendered it famous, and the fishery was carried on at the expence of vast numbers of indians who lost their lives in the undertaking. the possession of margarita is an object of some consequence to the spaniards, as it is separated from the continent by a straight only eight leagues wide, and to windward of all the best ports of caraccas. it forms the channel through which all vessels coming from europe, or windward, to cumana, barcelona and la guayra, must pass, though it is not navigable in its whole breadth, the rocky island coche between it and the continent, leaving only a narrow pass of two leagues, but which is seldom dangerous, owing to the general calmness that reigns in this part of the caribbean sea. in this island there are only three ports, _pampatar_ on the east-south-east; _pueblo de la mar_, a league to leeward of the preceding, and _pueblo del norte_ on the north side. the population of margarita has been estimated at , persons, consisting of whites, guayqueria indians, and castes. the pearl fishery formerly constituted their principal occupation, and is still attended to by the indians, who also take numbers of turtles and fish, the latter of which they salt and export. they fabricate cotton stockings, and hammocks of a very superior quality. fowls, turkeys, and all kinds of poultry are exported to the continent by the lower classes, and the island is celebrated for its beautiful parrots and other curious birds, which are so much esteemed that scarcely any trading vessel leaves the place without carrying away some of them. along the coast of margarita the land is in general rocky and very steep, but the interior is fertile, producing maize and fruits, and covered with groves; its climate, though very hot, is wholesome, the greatest inconvenience experienced by the inhabitants being a want of good fresh water. the capital of this government is the city of _asuncion_, situated in the centre of the island, and which, excepting its being the chief place, is otherwise unimportant. this island has lately been the scene of some sanguinary actions between the insurgents and the spanish troops under general morillo; the latter having been defeated in a severe battle, was obliged to retire to the adjacent continent. the chief scene of these operations was near the port of pampatar. _viceroyalty of peru._ the viceroyalty of peru is far from being the largest, or the richest of the spanish american governments, as since the dismemberment of several of its most important provinces it has become of very little comparative importance; to its name is however attached the most interesting recollections, and as the empire of its incas was formerly the most renowned, the history of its conquest the most extraordinary, and its ancient splendour the greatest, we have judged it proper to place the general outline of the most important historical relations regarding ancient and modern south america, with the particular description of those of peru. boundaries and extent. peru is bounded on the north by the southern provinces of quito, maynas, jaen de bracamaros, and guayaquil; on the west by the pacific ocean; on the east, by the portuguese possessions, and the provinces of buenos ayres; and on the south, by the government of chili and the viceroyalty of la plata. it was formerly the most extensive kingdom of south america, but in the year the provinces of quito in the north, as far as the river tumbez, were annexed to the government of new granada, and in , potosi, and several other of its richest districts on the east were annexed to the viceroyalty of buenos ayres; its present extent is therefore from the rio tumbez, in ° ' south latitude, to the chain of vilcanota, in ° south latitude, or geographical miles, while along its coast this length maybe prolonged to more; its medial breadth, not including the pampas del sacramento, is nearly eighty, so that its area may be estimated at , square leagues, or according to humboldt, only at , . its eastern settlements bound on colonna, or the land of the missions, the pampas del sacramento, and the savage nations of the pajonal, a vast steppe covered with long grass. political and territorial divisions and government. peru is divided into seven intendancies, viz. truxillo, tarma, huancavelica, lima, guamanga, arequipa and cuzco, each of which is governed by an intendant, nominated by the viceroy, a nobleman of the highest rank, who is sent from spain, and whose appointment is one of the first consequence in spanish america. the population of peru may be estimated at , , , of which , are whites, , , mestizoes, and the remainder indians and negroes, the latter of whom are in very small numbers. the missionary lands to the east have not been included in this statement; of them we shall have occasion to speak hereafter. in peru the revenue is derived from the duties on imports, exports, gold, silver, tobacco, liquors, the capitation tax on the indians, taxes on the clergy, &c. it is said to amount to , , _l._ annually, and it remits, in prosperous times, to spain for the royal coffers, , _l._, to panama, , _l._, to valdivia in chili, _l._, and to the island of chiloe a similar sum to defray the expences of their several administrations. the net revenue of the colony, after defraying these sitaudos, or remittances, does not amount to more than is sufficient to settle the expenses of its own internal government. the salary of the viceroy is , _l._ a small sum, but which is assisted by the monopoly of certain manufactures, by grants, and by the colonial situations and titles he can confer. peru is the seat of two royal audiences, that of lima and that of cuzco. the audience of lima was established in , and is composed of a regent, eight oidores or judges, four alcaldes, and two fiscals, the viceroy being president. it is divided into three chambers, and is the superior court of appeal for the whole government. the royal treasury is the next great office of state, composed of the viceroy, the regent of the council, the dean of the tribunal of accounts, and other officers, and the revenue appeals are determined by the tribunal of accounts. _commerce._--the commerce of peru is important, and on account of the number of fine ports along its coast, it may be styled the maritime province of the south american states. the trade flows through three channels; by the straits of magellan from europe, through the north pacific from india and mexico, or guatimala; and through the interior with the southern provinces of chili and buenos ayres. since the trade was unshackled in , its exports and imports have doubled, and the principal branch of its commerce is that carried on round cape horn. the exports of peru are chiefly gold, silver, brandies, sugar, pimento, cinchona, salt, vicuna wool, coarse woollens, and other trifling manufactures. its imports are european goods, linens, cottons, woollens, silks, iron, hardware, superfine cloths, mercury, wax, paper, glass, medicines, wines, liqueurs, books and furniture: from buenos ayres it receives paraguay tea, live stock and provisions, and from the other internal provinces, coca leaf, indigo, tallow, cacao, timber, cordage, pitch and copper. chili also supplies lima with grain and fruits in immense quantities, and salted meat, soap, wine, copper, saffron, &c. the ports of peru which are most frequented, are those named arica, ilo, iquique, and quilca, in the intendancy of arequipa, and pisco, on the south of lima; chancay and guacho in lima; and guanchaco, pacasmayo, and payta, in truxillo, on the north. with the southern ports, the trade is in wine, brandy, iron, dried fruits, copper, tin, lead, &c.; with the northern, in wool, cotton, leather, chocolate, rice and salted fish. to the rio de la plata, the exports are maize, sugar, brandy, pimento, indigo and woollens; these exports are said to amount to , , dollars annually, and the imports from that government, to , , consisting in mules, sheep, hams, tallow, wool, coca leaf, paraguay tea and tin; and , mules arrive annually from tucuman, for the service of the peruvian mines. a great trade is also carried on with guayaquil and guatimala, but with panama it is almost nothing. from the philippine islands, muslins, tea, and other east indian goods, are imported, amounting to , dollars annually, in return for about , , , exported to asia, in silver and gold. the produce of the mines of peru, including those of chili, is about , , _l._ annually, whilst the value of european goods imported, is nearly , , _l._ in the same period; and the value of the agricultural produce exported, of peru and chili, is , _l._ in this country the population is much scattered, and composed of castes who have the greatest distrust of each other, the indians being the most numerous, and leading a life of indolence and apathy; the natural resources of this fine region are unheeded; and its commerce, far from being restricted by the government, suffers only from the inactivity of its inhabitants. _mines._--the mines, which in general are very rich, are very ill worked, and often abandoned from trivial causes; and the quicksilver necessary to obtain the metal from the ore, is procured in insufficient quantities, no exertions being made to clear the mines of that valuable substance, which exists in the greatest profusion in the country. the mines which produce the greatest quantity of valuable metals, are those of _lauricocha_, the province of tarma, commonly called the mines of _pasco_ in the _cerro de bombon_, or high-table-land, in which is the small lake de los reyes, to the south of the cerro de yauricocha; those of _gualgayoc_, or _chota_, in truxillo, and the mines of _huantajaya_. the mines of _pasco_ were discovered by huari capac, an indian, in ; they alone furnish two millions of piastres annually, and are at an elevation of more than , feet above the level of the sea; the metalliferous bed appears near the surface, the shafts being not more than from to feet in depth; water then makes its appearance, and causes great expence in clearing it. the bed is , feet long, and feet in breadth, and would produce, if worked by steam, as much as guanaxuato in mexico; its average annual produce is however , _lbs._ troy. _gualgayoc_ and _micuipampa_, commonly called chota, were discovered in , by don rodriguez de ocaño a european; but in the time of the incas, the peruvians worked some silver vein, near the present town of micuipampa. immense wealth has been discovered at _fuentestiana_, at _comolache_ and _pampa de navar_; at the last of which, wherever the turf is moved, for more than half a square league, sulphuretted and native silver, in filaments, are found adhering to the roots of the grasses, and it is also occasionally discovered in large masses. all the mines in the partido of _chota_, comprehended under the name of _gualgayoc_, have furnished the provincial treasury of truxillo, with , _lbs._ troy of silver annually; these minerals are richer than those of potosi, and are discovered mostly at the height of , feet. the mines of _huantajaya_ are surrounded with beds of rock salt, and are celebrated for the quantity of native masses of silver they produce. they are situated in the partido of arica, near the small port of yquique, in a desart destitute of water, and furnish an annual supply of from to , _lbs._ troy. two masses, which were discovered here lately, weighed, one, two, and the other eight quintals. gold was formerly procured by the incas in the plains of _curimayo_, north-east of the city of caxamarca, at more than , feet above the sea. it has also been extracted from the right bank of the rio de micuipampa, between _cerro de san jose_, and the plain called _choropampa_, or the plain of shells; so named, on account of a vast quantity of petrified sea shells, found there, at the absolute height of more than , feet. at present, the peruvian gold comes partly from _pataz_ and _huilies_, in tarma, and is extracted from veins of quartz, traversing primitive rock, and partly from washings established on the banks of the _maranon alto_, in chachapoyas. cobalt, antimony, coal and salt, exist in this country; but as they are, with the exception of the latter, chiefly found in the mountain regions, the high price of carriage prevents their useful qualities from being brought into general use. the coinage of gold and silver in the royal mint of lima, between and , amounted to , , _l._ or , , _l._ _per annum_; of which marcs were gold, and , silver. the number of gold mines and washings worked in peru is about , and the number of silver mines , which includes all the different works on the same spot. of quicksilver, four mines exist, with four of copper, and twelve of lead. emeralds and other precious stones are found in this country, with obsidian, and the stone of the incas, a marcasite capable of the highest polish. _climate_, _features_, &c.--the climate of peru is singularly various. the mountains which extend on the west side of america, cause a division of this country into three distinct parts, the maritime valleys, the barren summits, and the plains or uplands between the ridges. the chain of the andes, arresting the clouds, which dissolve on the mountain districts into rain and vapours, accompanied with storms of thunder and lightning, whilst between ° and ° south latitude, on the coast, rain is unknown, and the dry winds from the antarctic constantly pervade this region, from the desert of atacama to the gulf of guayaquil, a distance of leagues. in this tract, the houses are covered only with mats, sprinkled with ashes, to absorb the night dews, and the soil, being moistened only by these dews, is rather sandy and barren. on the uplands vegetation nourishes, and to the height of , feet, the sierra or high peru, enjoys a climate composed of a mixture of perpetual spring and autumn. beyond , feet, the sierra is covered with eternal snows, and consequently an everlasting winter reigns in its neighbourhood. the cultivation of these different tracts is little attended to; along the coast, desarts of thirty or forty leagues in extent are frequent; and the immense forests which cover the maritime plains, prove that the inhabitants are not numerous; these forests contain acacias, mangle trees, arborescent brooms and ferns, aloes, and other succulent plants, cedars, cotton or ceiba trees of gigantic growth, many kinds of ebony, and other useful woods, ten or twelve species of palms, and the maria, an enormous tree used in ship building. these forests are thickest at the distance of seven or eight leagues from the coast, and the trees then become covered with parasitical plants, which reach to their very top, mixing their beautiful and lively flowers with the dark green foliage, so peculiar to the tropics. in the forests and in the plains of the coast, are found the cabbage palm, the cocoa nut, the cacao nut, the cotton shrub, the pine apple, canna, amomum, turmeric, plantain, sugar cane, &c., on the sides of the andes, and in its great plains, are the precious cinchona, coffee tree, the cardana alliodora, a large tree, whose leaves and wood emit an odour resembling garlic. twenty-four species of pepper, five or six of capsicum, and several of potato, tobacco and jalap exist in peru, and the green and hot houses of europe owe most of their beautiful flowers and plants to this country. the llama, the guanuco, the vicuna, and the alpaca, or the different species of american camel, find their native climate in the cold districts of peru; the jaguar, the cougar or puma, and several other wild animals, inhabit the thick forests; while the elk, the ant-bear, deer, monkeys, the great black bear of the andes, and armadillos, &c., are very numerous. the woods abound in beautiful birds, the rivers in fish and alligators, and numerous tribes of reptiles infest the warm districts of the coast, in which venomous insects are also common. the mountains of peru do not yield in height to those of quito, the great chain of the andes dividing itself into several parallel branches, forming as in quito, long and narrow valleys, near its summits; it is very precipitous towards the east, and seems to form a natural barrier between the kingdoms of la plata and peru. it here gives birth to the maranon, the guallaga, the tunguragua, and a variety of smaller rivers, which either lose themselves in these or in the pacific ocean. history, discovery, &c. the history of peru in the remote ages is not so clearly ascertained as that of mexico; traditions were not handed down to posterity as in that country by symbolical paintings, but were remembered only by means of the quippus, a knotted string of different colours, or by the priests who were brought up from their youth in temples, where the history of the nation was one of the objects of the care of their elders in their instruction. although it is doubtful which nation had advanced to the greatest state of civilization, it is certain that the mexicans had the most correct chronological notions; and accordingly, the æras of their early history are the most to be depended on. from what country the ancient peruvians migrated is not known; they were however of a character widely different from the mexicans, and have been conjectured by some authors to have come from the south-east. they remained for a length of time without any decided form of government, until they were subdued by a tribe who were said to have come from an island in a great lake to the south of peru. these people were warlike and totally different in their manners from the peruvians, who were merely tribes of wandering inoffensive savages. according to some authors manco capac, and mama oello his wife were the conquerors of peru, appearing on the banks of lake chucuito, clothed in flowing garments, and whiter than the natives whom they came amongst; they gave themselves out as children of the sun, sent by that divinity to reclaim and instruct mankind. awed by the presence of these people, the rude savages followed them till they settled at cuzco, where they founded a town, afterwards the capital of peru. persuading the tribes who wandered over the country to collect around them, manco capac, instructed the men in agricultural and other useful arts, while mama oello taught the females to weave and spin. after securing the objects of primary importance, those of providing food, raiment and habitations for his followers, manco capac turned his attention towards framing laws for their government, in order to perpetuate the good work he had begun. he constituted himself their sovereign and high priest, enacted a law that no one but his descendants were to fill this post, that they were to be held sacred, and looked upon as inferior only to the planet from whom they sprung. at first his territories embraced only a few leagues in extent round the capital, but these were rapidly enlarged from the mild and beneficent effects of his patriarchal government. he was now styled by his subjects capac, or rich in virtue; he founded the temple of the sun at cuzco, which was to be served only by virgins of royal descent. this monarch lived among his people for a number of years and then suddenly disappeared. his successors increased the boundaries of their territories by the force of their arms, and by the greater force of persuasion, backed by the mildest exercise of their royal functions. these monarchs were styled incas, and were distinguished by a peculiar dress and ornaments, which none of their subjects dared to assume; they were adored by the peruvians, who looked upon them as the sons and vicegerents of the divinity they worshipped. this unbounded power of the incas was unaccompanied by any ill effects, as their attention was uniformly exerted for the good of their subjects, in extending the benefits of civilization, and knowledge of the arts introduced by their founder. it seems highly probable that such a person as manco capac existed, and that he introduced the measures we have related, but it is also most probable that he was accompanied by followers who carried his dictates into effect among the rude peruvians, and therefore the supposition that these people were conquered by a superior and warlike tribe from the south, is by no means improbable, as at the present day, there exist several tribes in the southern forests, who are more civilized than the modern peruvians, and who have successfully resisted the invasion of the spaniards. the successor of manco capac, who died in the latter end of the twelfth or beginning of the thirteenth century, was his son _sinchi roca_, or the brave, who extended his dominions sixty miles south of cuzco. the third inca was _lloque yupanqui_, who further extended the territories of cuzco and reduced several tribes; the fourth was _maita capac_, who also added to the empire, and erected several splendid edifices; the fifth, _capac yupanqui_, was another conqueror; the sixth, _inca roca_, subdued many small districts; the seventh was named _yahuar huacac_; the eighth, _inca ripac_, and who had an army of , men; he conquered many provinces, and obliged the chief of tucuman to pay him homage; the ninth was _inca urca_, who was deposed after he had reigned eleven days; he was succeeded by _pachacutec_, who subdued jauja, tarma, and other provinces; the eleventh was _yupanqui_, who carried his conquests to the river maule, in chili, and over the mojos far to the east of the andes; the twelfth, _tupac yupanqui_, conquered several districts in quito; and the thirteenth, _huayna capac_, subdued the kingdom of lican or quito, and established himself in the capital. his history has been related in the historical description of that province. on his death-bed he divided quito and peru between his sons; but _inti cusi hualpa_, or _huascar_, was declared inca; he fought a bloody battle with his brother _atahualpa_, and was taken prisoner, on which _atahualpa_ or _atabalipa_, invested himself with the regal fillet, and was proclaimed fifteenth inca of the peruvians. on his being killed by pizarro, _manco capac_ was crowned by permission of that general, but revolted from the allegiance he had vowed to spain, and retiring to the mountains, is supposed to have died about . the seventeenth and last of the incas, was _sayri tupac_, who resigned his sovereignty to philip the eleventh of spain, and died a christian, leaving only one daughter, who married onez de loyola, a spanish knight, from whom descend the marquesses of _oropesa_ and _alcanises._ manco capac, the second, left several children, one of whom, _tupac amaru_, was the oldest, and was beheaded by the spaniards, on pretence of his having assumed the imperial fillet. the discovery of peru by the europeans takes its date from the latter end of the reign of huana capac in , when three inhabitants of the city of panama entered into an association for the purpose of exploring the continent south of the isthmus of darien. don francisco pizarro of truxillo, don diego almagro of malagon, and a priest named hernando de luque, were at that time among the richest people of panama, and proposed to themselves the employment of their fortunes in one common stock, to discover and conquer new countries on the south, after the model of cortez in mexico, with whom pizarro had served, and to whom he was related. having obtained permission from pedro arias de avila, the governor of terra firma, _pizarro_ fitted out a vessel, in which he embarked in the port of panama with men. about fifty leagues from the harbour, he discovered a small barren district, named _peru_, and from this now unknown spot, the celebrated country we are describing received its name. beyond peru, he explored another district, which he called _el pueblo quemado_. the indians of that country were so resolute, that pizarro was obliged to return to the coast of panama. in the mean time almagro fitted out another vessel and sailed in search of pizarro, as far as the rio san juan, a hundred leagues south of panama, but not meeting with him, he returned and landed on the coast of pueblo quemado, where finding certain indications that he had been there, almagro landed his men, who were immediately attacked by the natives, and forced to retire to their ship and put to sea; in this action almagro lost an eye. following the shore to the north, he found pizarro at chinchama, near the isla del rey, in the gulf of panama; they had now by their junction an armed force of men, and again resumed their expedition, and sailed to the south, with their two vessels attended by three large canoes. they suffered very much in their attempts to land on the coast from the barren nature of the country, and from contrary winds and currents, as well as from the native tribes. having lost several men from famine and the constant attacks of the indians, almagro was dispatched to panama for recruits and provisions. he soon rejoined pizarro with twenty-four men and good supplies; they therefore advanced to the coast of tacames, beyond the river san juan, which had hitherto been the extent of their voyages; here they found a better peopled country and plenty of provision; and the natives, who were still hostile, were observed to wear ornaments of gold. almagro was therefore detached a second time to panama to procure more men, and pizarro remained at the _isla gallo_, near the shore of barbacoas, to await his return; in which island his men suffered great hardships from the want of food. on the arrival of almagro at panama, he found the governor, pedro de los rios, adverse to the plan, and he was not allowed to raise any recruits, while an order was sent to gallo, for those to return who wished not to engage in such a dangerous enterprise. in consequence of this measure, the party of pizarro was reduced to twelve men, who were the whole that chose to abide the issue of the voyage. they retired with their leader to a small uninhabited isle, named _gorgona_, at a greater distance from the coast, and seventy miles nearer panama. this isle abounding with rivulets, the little band lived more comfortably than they had done at gallo, and waited with great anxiety for a supply of provisions from panama, which at last arrived in a small vessel. with this assistance, pizarro and his faithful twelve, embarked on board the vessel, and putting themselves under the guidance of the pilot, bartolomeo bruye of moguer, they reached with great labour, (from the adverse currents,) the coast of a district named _mostripe_, on which they landed and advanced a short way up the river amatape, which flows into the gulf of payta, where they procured some peruvian camels or sheep, and took some of the natives to answer as interpreters in their future progress. leaving this place, pizarro sailed for the port of _tumbez_ on the south side of the bay of guayaquil, where he had learnt that a rich monarch who existed in the interior had a fine palace. at tumbez, three of his followers left him, and were afterwards slain by the indians. procuring the information he wanted, pizarro returned to panama, having spent three years in these discoveries, and from being the richest was now reduced to be the poorest of the colonists of tierra firma. in concert with almagro, in the latter end of , pizarro raised some money, and was sent to spain to beseech the king to forward the further discovery of the country, and to name a governor, which office he solicited for himself. his demands were complied with, and he returned to panama, accompanied by his brothers ferdinand, juan and gonzalo. besides these, he brought with him francisco martin de alcantara, his uncle, and as many men as he could procure; he was assisted in raising these men, by a supply of money from cortez. on his arrival in panama, in , a violent dispute broke out between almagro and himself, the former complaining that he had unjustly procured the title of governor of peru. pizarro was obliged to soothe him, by assuring him that he would renounce all pretensions to that office, if almagro could procure the consent of the spanish monarch. almagro being appeased by this concession, exerted himself at first, to the utmost, in forwarding the expedition, but owing to the jealousy he still entertained of the pizarros, he at last endeavoured to thwart their efforts, and pizarro sailed without him, with three small vessels, carrying soldiers, thirty-six of whom were horsemen in february ; contrary winds obliged the general, after a voyage of thirteen days, to land leagues more to the north than he intended, and the place of disembarkation was named the _bay of st. mateo_, from whence the troops had to undergo a long and painful march, crossing rivers and other obstacles; they at last reached _coaque_, a place in tacames on the sea-side, where they procured fresh provision. after subduing the natives of this town, pizarro sent one of the ships which had sailed along the coast, to panama, and the other to nicaragua, with about , or , ducats worth of gold, which he had seized. this was destined for almagro and others, in order to procure a farther reinforcement, with which he was gradually supplied, the first who joined him being benalcazar, from nicaragua. he then continued his march along the coast, and met with scarcely any resistance, until he attacked the _isle of puna_, in the bay of guayaquil. six months expired before he could reduce this island to subjection, and from hence he went to tumbez, where, on account of the disease which raged among his men, he remained three months longer. from tumbez, he advanced in may , to the river _piura_, and close to its mouth founded the first spanish colony in peru, to which he gave the name of _san miguel_, having subdued all the curacas or chiefs in the vicinity. while engaged in founding this city, the general received a message from huascar, the reigning inca, informing him of the revolt of atahualpa, and requesting his assistance in establishing the empire in the hands of its lawful sovereign. placing a garrison in san miguel, pizarro determined to penetrate into the interior, under the guidance of the inca's messengers; his disposable force consisting at this time, of sixty-two horsemen and foot soldiers, twenty of whom were armed with cross-bows, and three only carrying matchlocks, with two small field-pieces. the peruvian ambassador directed his march towards the province of _caxamarca_, in which atahualpa then was. on his route he received messengers from the usurper with costly presents, requesting also his assistance. pizarro informed these people, that his views were entirely pacific, and that he meant merely to assist in reconciling the difference between the brothers. on his arrival, after a distressing march at caxamarca, he was shown a house, in which himself and troops were to repose. this building, which was very extensive, was formed into a square, in which stood a temple and a palace, and the whole was surrounded with a strong rampart. atahualpa, immediately after the spaniards had taken possession of their quarters, paid their general a visit, accompanied with an immense train of courtiers and warriors. father vicente valverde, the chaplain to the army, and bishop of peru, advanced to meet the usurping inca, holding in one hand his breviary, and a crucifix in the other, and commenced a long harangue, in which he set forth the necessity of his immediately embracing the christian religion, related its forms, and told him that the king of spain, had received a grant from the pope of all the regions in the new world, ending with desiring him to be baptized, to acknowledge the supremacy of the pope, and the authority of the king of castile, promising in their names, that the general would favour his claims to the empire of peru, if he submitted, but denouncing war and vengeance if he refused. the reply of atahualpa, to such parts of this speech as he could be made to comprehend, was temperate; he said, "he was lord of the territories he had succeeded to by the laws of his country, that he could not conceive how a foreign priest could pretend to dispose of his dominions; he declared he had no intention to renounce the religion of his fathers, and he wished to know where the spaniards had learnt all the wonderful things which valverde had been relating;" the bishop answered, "in the book he held," on which atahualpa requested it from him, and turning over a few leaves, and placing it to his ear, threw it on the ground, saying, "it is silent, it tells me nothing." valverde turning to the spanish troops, immediately exclaimed, "to arms! to arms! christians! the word of god is insulted, avenge this profanation on these impious dogs." pizarro being of opinion that the numbers of the peruvians would overpower him if he waited their attack, gave the signal of assault, advancing at the head of his band to the charge, he pushed directly for the litter in which atahualpa was borne, the people who carried it were repeatedly slain, and as repeatedly replaced by others, anxious for the honour of rescuing their sovereign. pizarro at last cut his way through the crowd to the unfortunate prince, and seizing him by the long hair of his head, he dragged him from his seat. in doing this, several soldiers cutting down the people who supported the golden litter, and a sword glancing off, wounded pizarro in the hand, but regardless of the pain, he held fast his rich prize in spite of the multitude of peruvians who surrounded him. as soon as the monarch was secured beyond redemption, universal panic seized his army, and they fled in every direction, night alone putting a period to their pursuit, by the cavalry; indians fell in this memorable battle, which decided the fate of a mighty empire; not a single spaniard was killed, and the plunder of the indian camp was immense. this action took place on the th of november . the captive inca finding he had no chance of escape, offered a ransom, which was to be so great a quantity of gold, that it would fill the apartment in which he was confined, as high as he could reach. this chamber was twenty-two feet in length, and sixteen in breadth, and a line was drawn around the walls, to indicate the height to which the treasure was to rise; and pizarro, acceding to this proposal, the inca immediately dispatched emissaries to cuzco, to procure the ransom; with these messengers two spanish officers were sent, to see that the gold in the treasury of cuzco was sufficient to answer the demand, as some doubts had been shown by the europeans on that subject. on their route, they met the captive inca huascar, escorted by a party of atahualpa's troops; conferring with huascar, they discovered that he possessed treasures to a much greater amount; but as they were concealed, he alone knew where they were; he informed the officers, that if pizarro would reinstate him in his dignity, he would give three times as much gold as his brother, and promised to swear allegiance to the spanish king. soto and barco, the two officers, told him it was out of their power to return to caxamarca, as they were ordered to go to cuzco, but that they would faithfully relate all that had passed to the general, when they had executed their mission; this they did, but in the interval, the whole conference had been detailed to atahualpa, who foreseeing, that if pizarro once got possession of the enormous treasures of huascar, he should become of no importance, ordered his emissaries to kill his unfortunate brother; and as his will was a law, the order was speedily carried into execution. whilst these events were passing, almagro arrived from panama, with a large reinforcement, to the great joy of the spaniards; the treasure from cuzco also arrived, and consisted of golden utensils and ornaments, used in the temples of the sun; these, excepting a few which were reserved as curiosities, were melted down; a fifth was set aside for the king; , dollars were distributed to the followers of almagro; and the remainder, amounting to , , dollars, an enormous sum in those times, was divided among pizarro and his troops, each horseman receiving dollars, and each foot-soldier . after this ransom was paid, instead of releasing his prisoner, pizarro, who was alarmed on one hand by the exaction of an equal share of the ransom by the troops under almagro, and on the other by the accounts of large armies forming in the interior determined to kill atahualpa, which fate that monarch hastened, by professing his contempt of the general, on account of his want of learning. the inca seeing and admiring the method which the europeans had of communicating their ideas by writing, was for a long time unable to conceal his astonishment and doubts, whether it was not managed by evil spirits; accordingly he directed a soldier to write the name of god on his thumb nail, and showed it to every spaniard he saw, in order to observe whether they all gave a similar account of its meaning. at length he showed it to pizarro, who blushing, acknowledged that he was ignorant of the art of writing, which was an acquirement that most of his nation possessed. from that time the inca, who now clearly saw the whole mystery, looked upon the general, as a person of low birth, less instructed than the meanest of his soldiers, and not having the address to conceal his sentiments, forfeited any good opinion which pizarro might have had for him. a mock trial was instituted, and the inca formally arraigned, before the self-constituted tribunal, which consisted of pizarro, almagro, and two assistants; he was charged by philipillo, an indian, who had been to spain with pizarro, with attempting to seize the empire of peru from his natural sovereign; with putting him to death; with idolatry; permission and encouragement of human sacrifices; with having many wives; with waste and embezzlement of the royal treasure, and with inciting his subjects to take up arms against the spaniards. witnesses were examined, to whom philipillo served as an interpreter, and gave their evidence as he pleased. on these charges the inca was condemned to suffer death, by being burnt alive. valverde signed the warrant, and attended the monarch to the stake, which was immediately prepared. actuated by the fear of a cruel death, and tormented by the infamous bishop, atahualpa consented to be baptized, in hopes of obtaining a release from so dreadful a punishment. valverde crossed and confessed his royal victim, baptized him, and then led him to be strangled! on the death of atahualpa, his son was invested with the royal insignia by pizarro, who hoped to retain the indians in subjection, by the command he held over their sovereign. quizquiz, a peruvian general, had made head in a province named xauxa, so that it was necessary for pizarro to march against him; this was accordingly done; and hernando de soto, moving forward with a strong advanced guard, quizquiz retreated, being unable to withstand soto; but that leader followed him, and obliged the peruvians to retreat on quito. so great was the fame of pizarro's conquests at this time, that numerous bodies of troop joined him from tierra firma, guatimala, &c., and he was now enabled to take the field with men, besides leaving sufficient garrisons in the conquered towns. he accordingly hastened his march on cuzco, the capital, in the route to which he met _paulu inca_, a brother of atahualpa, who had been solemnly invested with the regal fillet by the peruvians. he told the spanish general that he had a large army at cuzco, who were ready to submit to his orders. on the arrival of the spaniards they were however attacked very vigorously by the peruvians, and a battle ensued which lasted till night. the next day the general entered the metropolis without opposition, where he found an immense booty; his thoughts were now turned on colonizing the country, and placing such a force in cuzco as should insure a permanent settlement there; this he effected with much difficulty, as many of his followers were determined to return to spain in order to enjoy in their native country the fruits of their hard-earned wealth. san miguel the first town built by the spaniards being poorly garrisoned, pizarro now sent benalcazar with ten horsemen to reinforce the place. this officer receiving complaints from the neighbouring indians of the exactions and vindictive proceedings of the peruvians at quito, took with him a number of soldiers who had then arrived from panama and nicaragua to subdue that country; his success was complete. quito and cuzco the two capitals being now reduced fernando pizarro was dispatched by his brother to spain, to lay an account of the proceedings of the spanish army before the king, carrying with him an immensely valuable present in gold and silver. he was favourably received, pizarro was confirmed in his government and a further addition of seventy leagues to the south made to his territories; on almagro was conferred the government of the countries leagues south of the limits prescribed to pizarro, who was created marquess of atavillos. while the negotiations were going on, alvarado the governor of guatimala had landed on the peruvian coast with a large force, and gone into the interior with the intention of dispossessing almagro of his command, and pizarro of the possession of cuzco, but marching against the army of the former who was employed in reducing the provinces between quito and peru, his men refused to fight their brethren, and the leaders after much parleying became reconciled; alvarado promising to deliver over his troops to the two generals for a stipulated sum, which was honourably paid him by pizarro. these troubles being at an end, pizarro founded the city of lima, on the th of january, , and transferred the colonists he had placed in xauxa thither. while he was thus employed almagro having heard of the king's grant, determined to take possession of cuzco, which he considered within his limit; in this attempt he was defeated by the municipal body of that place, and pizarro arriving in good time, put a stop to his further proceedings. it was then agreed that almagro should have men, and proceed southward, conquering such countries as he deemed expedient, in which he was to be assisted by every means in pizarro's power; this was the commencement of the conquest of chili. after the departure of almagro on this scheme, pizarro resumed his task of giving a regular form to his government, by making the necessary distributions of land to the colonists who were continually arriving, by instituting courts of justice, and by founding towns, &c. manco capac the reigning inca revolted at this period, and entered, with philipillo and others, into a conspiracy to exterminate the armies of pizarro and almagro; he obtained possession of cuzco, which was not taken from him until after eight days hard fighting, and with the loss of juan pizarro, who was killed by a stone. the brothers of pizarro, who was at lima, had much difficulty to maintain possession of the capital; all communication between them and the governor being cut off, and the place was vigorously besieged by manco capac and his brothers paullu and villaoma, for eight months, during which time the spaniards lost many men. almagro hearing of these disasters, thought this a convenient time to assert his old pretensions to the government of cuzco, and accordingly marched from the frontiers of chili to that place in . he was met by the inca, who under pretence of making overtures to him, drew him into a snare, from which he narrowly escaped, with the loss of several of his men. the brothers of pizarro finding they had now a new enemy to withstand, prepared cuzco to undergo a formidable siege; but having lost six hundred men during the attacks of the peruvians, they were surprised by the troops of almagro who forced them to submit, and declared himself governor of the place, imprisoning fernando and gonzalo pizarro, and quartering philipillo, who was taken prisoner in the ambush of the inca. manco capac finding that almagro was too strong to be easily ejected, retired to the mountains, but his brother paullu remaining at cuzco, was raised to the throne of peru by almagro. it was some time before all these untoward tidings reached the ears of the new marquess pizarro; he first heard of the attack of the city by the inca, and imagining it to be a trivial affair, detached small parties at different periods to the assistance of his brothers; none of these reached their destination, being always cut off by the peruvians in the narrow and difficult passes of the mountains. some few of these people escaping from the massacre, which always took place on their being surprised, returned to lima, and related the fate of their companions to the marquess, who recalling all his outposts, nominated alvarado to the command of the army, and sent him towards cuzco, with men; but being closely invested at lima by the peruvians, under titu yupanqui, a brother of manco capac, he sent off all his vessels to panama, fearful that the troops might otherwise desert, and by these ships he implored assistance from the governors of new spain and the west indies. alvarado, after a harassing march, and fighting severe battles with the peruvians, halted near the bridge of _abancay_ on the apurimac; at which place he was met by a messenger from almagro, insisting on his acknowledging the title he bore to the government of cuzco. an unsatisfactory reply being sent, almagro advanced to attack the army under alvarado, and by dint of bribery, corrupting the greater part of it, obtained a bloodless victory on the th of july, . pizarro hearing nothing of his general, and receiving a strong reinforcement from hispaniola, marched from lima with men to relieve his brothers at cuzco from the peruvians, not having yet heard of the usurpation of almagro. having marched twenty-five leagues, he received the intelligence of the death of one of his brothers, the imprisonment of the other two, and of the determined opposition of almagro; this news so much alarmed him that he immediately returned to lima, and dispatched a messenger to cuzco to treat with almagro; but that officer instead of returning an answer marched to within twenty leagues of lima, where he was met by pizarro who seemed earnest to heal the breach amicably; but after various endeavours to obtain this end, he found it necessary to have recourse to force; and almagro, finding himself unable to cope with him, retreated to cuzco, whither ferdinand pizarro pursued him: a dreadful battle then took place near that city, on a plain called _salinas_ or _cachipampa_, in which almagro was defeated and taken prisoner, and was soon afterwards brought to trial and beheaded. this important affair being settled, the marquess dispatched troops in all directions to conquer and subdue those provinces which remained under the domination of the indians. in these expeditions, and in settling the affairs of his government, pizarro was fully occupied for two years, during which time he was much distressed by the mutinous conduct of the almagrian party, who at last assassinated him on the th of june, . soon after the untimely death of pizarro, vaca de castro was appointed governor, while the court of madrid were employed in taking measures to put a stop to the contentions of the colonies. he was removed to make room for blasco vela, who was nominated the first viceroy of peru, and who landed at tumbez in the month of february, . the conduct of this viceroy increased the disaffection and contention of the colonists, many of whom siding with gonzalo pizarro, chose him as their leader. after various actions with the royal troops, gonzalo at last utterly defeated them in a pitched battle, in which the viceroy was slain. upon this occasion gonzalo pizarro was advised to assume the sceptre of peru, but he chose to treat with spain. during the interval which elapsed before the return of his ambassadors, pedro de la gasca, a priest, was sent over as president: finding he could not persuade pizarro to any terms, he gave him battle, in which the latter was taken, and being brought to trial by the president, was beheaded on the th of april, . after this action, gasca set himself about to reform abuses, and render the government more stable; he was occupied in this work till , when wishing to return to a private station, he quitted peru, and entrusted the command of the presidency to the royal court of audience, till the pleasure of the king should be manifested. after the departure of gasca, till the arrival of the second viceroy, mendoza, peru continued to be in a state of continual ferment, which lasted more or less until his death. the next viceroy was the marquess de canete, who arrived in lima in july . he was succeeded in july , by the conde de neiva, who, dying suddenly, was replaced by lope garcia de castro with the title of president, until francisco de toledo arrived from spain, to assume the viceregal government, who had been only two years in peru, when he attacked _tupac amaru_, the son of manco capac, who had taken refuge in the mountains. a force of two hundred and fifty men was detached to vilcapampa under martin garcia loyola, to whom the inca surrendered himself, with his wife, two sons, and a daughter, who were all carried prisoners to cuzco. this unfortunate prince was brought to trial for supposed crimes, and at the same time, all the sons of indian women by the spaniards, were committed to confinement, under the charge of endeavouring to assist tupac amaru, in overturning the spanish government. many of these poor people were put to the torture, others were banished, and all the males who were nearly related to the inca, or who were capable of succeeding to the throne, were ordered to live in lima, where the whole of them died. tupac amaru was sentenced to lose his head; previous to the execution, the priests baptized him in the prison, from whence he was led on a mule to the scaffold, with his hands tied, and a halter about his neck, amid the tears of his people. thus ended the line of the emperors of peru; than whom, a more beneficent race of monarchs, in a barbarous state, has never been known. the viceroy, toledo, after continuing sixteen years in peru, amassed a large fortune and returned to spain, when falling under royal displeasure, he was confined to his house and his property sequestered, which preyed so much on his mind, that he died of a broken heart. martin garcia loyola, who had made tupac amaru prisoner, married a coya, or peruvian princess, daughter of the former inca sayri tupac, by whom he acquired a large estate; but being made governor of chili, he was slain in that country by the natives. after the death of tupac amaru, the royal authority was gradually established as firmly in peru as in the other spanish colonies, and that country has continued to be governed by viceroys appointed by the spanish king, up to the present time. the only event of any particular importance, which has occurred till very lately, was the insurrection of the natives in , under jose gabriel condorcanqui, a descendant of, and styling himself tupac amaru. he was born in tongusuca, a village of tinta, and had been carefully educated by his family at home; on the death of his father, he petitioned the spanish court to restore him the title of marquess of oropesa, which had been granted to sayri tupac, his ancestor; but finding his request unattended to, retired to the mountains, and giving himself out as the only and true sovereign of peru, the indians flocked to his standard, especially those in the neighbourhood of cuzco, who had suffered severely from the tyranny of the corregidor arriaga. with every mark of the most profound submission, they bound the imperial fillet on his brow, and he was proclaimed inca by the title of _tupac amaru the second_: collecting an immense army he appeared before the walls of cuzco, and in the beginning of his campaign, he protected all ecclesiastics and people born in america, vowing vengeance solely against the european spaniards; but his followers, elevated by the success which every where attended them, began a war of extermination against all but indians, the consequences of which were dreadful, and will ever be remembered in peru. his brother diego, and his nephew andres condorcanqui, favoured this disposition of the indians, and committed enormities which it was out of the power of tupac amaru to repress. this insurrection lasted two years, and he made himself master of the provinces or districts of quispicanchi, tinta, lampa, asangara, caravaja and chumbivilca; but was at last surprised and taken prisoner with all his family, and a short time after this event, they were all quartered in the city of cuzco, excepting diego, who had escaped. so great was the veneration of the peruvians for tupac amaru, that when he was led to execution, they prostrated themselves in the streets, though surrounded by soldiers, and uttered piercing cries and execrations as they beheld the last of the children of the sun torn to pieces. diego surrendered voluntarily, and a convention was signed between him and the spanish general, at the village of siguani, in tinta, on the st of january, ; from which time he lived peaceably with his family, but was taken up twenty years afterwards on suspicion of being concerned in a revolt that happened at riobamba, in quito, in which great cruelty was exercised against the whites. his judges condemned him to lose his head, and since that period, peru has been in a state of profound tranquillity, though now surrounded by states torn with the most dreadful convulsions. having now related the principal occurrences concerning the history of peru, we shall give a concise description of the people of that kingdom; and in so doing, shall be led to the general relation of the manner in which the vast continent of spanish america has been governed, and to a summary of the history of the present struggle. the peruvians, at the time they were discovered by pizarro, had advanced to a considerable degree of civilization; they knew the arts of architecture, sculpture, mining, working the precious metals and jewels, cultivated their land, were clothed, and had a regular system of government, and a code of civil and religious laws. the lands were divided into regular allotments, one share being consecrated to the sun, and its products appropriated to the support of religious rites; the second belonged to the incas, and was devoted to the support of the government, and the last and largest share was set aside for the people. these were cultivated in common, no person having a longer title than one year to the portion given him. in their agricultural pursuits they displayed great diligence and ingenuity, irrigating their fields, and manuring them with the dung of sea fowls procured from the islands on the coast; they also turned up the earth with a sort of mattock formed of hard wood. in the arts of architecture they had advanced far beyond the other nations of america. the great temple of the sun at pachacamac, with the palace of the inca, and the fortress, were so connected together as to form one great building half a league in circuit, and many ruins of palaces and temples still existing, prove the extent of the knowledge and perseverance of these people. the immense obelisks of _tiahuacan_, and the town of _chulunacas_, with the mausolea of _chachapoyas_, which are conical stone buildings supporting large rude busts, are among the most singular, though unfortunately the least known of the peruvian remains; and are equally curious as the great military roads with their accompanying palaces or posts; together with the buildings still existing in the province of quito, which have already been described. their skill in polishing stones to form mirrors, in sharpening them to serve as hatchets and instruments of war, was as admirable as the ingenuity they displayed in all their ornamental works of gold, silver and precious stones. in the religion of the peruvians few of those sanguinary traits which so forcibly marked the character of the worship of the mexicans were found; they adored the sun as the supreme deity, under whose influence they also acknowledged various dependent gods; and instead of offering human victims on the altars, they presented to that glorious luminary a part of the productions of the earth, which had come to life and maturity through his genial warmth, and they sacrificed as an oblation of gratitude some animals before his shrine, placing around it the most skilful works of their hands. next to the sun they beheld their incas with the greatest reverence, looking upon them as his immediate descendants and vicegerents upon earth. the system universally adopted by these patriarchal kings, bound the affections of their people more firmly to them, than even this their supposed divine legation; and as they never intermarried with their subjects, they were kept at so great a distance that their power was unbounded. the only sanguinary feature displayed in the peruvian rites, was in their burials; as, on the death of the incas, or of any great curaca or chief, a number of his servants and domestic animals were slain and interred around the guacas or tumuli, that they might be ready to attend them in a future state, in which these people fully believed. when huana capac, the greatest of the incas, was buried, victims were doomed to accompany his body to the tomb. in ancient peru the only very large city was cuzco or couzco; every where else the people lived in villages or in scattered habitations: and as the palaces of the incas and their fortresses, which were built in all parts of the country, were rarely surrounded with the houses of the natives, very few distinct towns remain. the ancient peruvians had traditions concerning a deluge, in which their ancestors were all drowned, excepting a few who got into caves in the high mountains; they also adored two beings named con and pachacamac, who created the race of peruvians in an extraordinary manner; and they asserted that pachacamac dwelt amongst them till the spaniards came, when he suddenly disappeared. but the peruvians of the present day are a very different people from their progenitors, as they are timid and dispirited, melancholy in their temperament, severe and inexorable in the exercise of authority, wonderfully indifferent to the general concerns of life, and seeming to have little notion, or dread of death. they stand in awe of their european masters, but secretly dislike and shun their society, and they are said to be of a distrustful disposition, and though robust and capable of enduring great fatigue, yet they are very lazy. their habitations are miserable hovels, destitute of every convenience or accommodation, and disgustingly filthy; their dress is poor and mean, and their food coarse and scanty; their strongest propensity is to spirituous liquors, and to that they sacrifice all other considerations, but which is unmixed with any love for gaming: they follow all the external rites of the catholic religion, and spend large sums in masses and processions. soon after the conquest of america, the country and the indians were parcelled out into _encomiendas_, a sort of feudal benefices which were divided among the conquerors, and the priests and lawyers who arrived from spain; the holder of this property was obliged to reside on his estate, to see the indians properly instructed in religions duties, and to protect their persons. in return the natives were bound to pay the _encomendero_ a certain tribute, but they were not reduced to absolute slavery. this system was variously modified and changed by the successors of charles v. who introduced it, till the reign of philip v. when it was entirely abolished on account of the continual complaints which were made to that sovereign of the exactions of the spaniards, and their total neglect of the indians. this plan was followed by one still more fatal, that of the _repartimientos_; according to which the governor or judge of the district was directed to supply the indians in his department with cattle, seed corn, implements of agriculture, clothes and food at a fixed price. the abuses attendant on such a system were enormous, and so grievously were the natives afflicted that it at last was abolished in . spanish america was incorporated to the crown of castile by charles v. on september th, , at a solemn council held in barcelona; but notwithstanding this decree declared that the white inhabitants of america were to have no personal controul over the indians, the greatest enormities were still committed. in caraccas the natives were enslaved, and carried to the plantations in the west indies, from which they were not freed till after the repeated remonstrances of las casas, montesino, cordova and others; these remonstrances gave rise to the establishment of the royal audiences and the council of the indies; the jurisdiction of the latter extending to every department; all laws and ordinances relative to the government and police of the colonies originate in it, and must be approved by two-thirds of the members; all the offices, of which the nomination is reserved as a royal prerogative, are conferred on this council, and to it every person employed in spanish america is responsible. it receives all dispatches, &c., and is in fact the government of the indies. since the establishment of this council, the royal audiences or superior tribunals, and the regular succession of viceroys and captain-generals, the americas have been governed, if not with less rigour, at least with more beneficial results to the indians. they are left to manage their own concerns as they please, and no one can interfere in the disposal of their property. in peru alone they are subjected to the _mita_, a law obliging them to furnish certain quotas for the mining operations, but for which they are well paid, and generally become resident miners; they are not under the controul of the inquisition, and pay no other tax than a capitation tribute, which is very moderate, and rather a mark of vassalage or distinction from the other classes, than a burden. in their towns the indians are always the magistrates, and they are allowed to enter into holy orders: but no spaniard or white is permitted by the law to intermarry with them or to settle in their towns, the indians always residing in a distinct quarter from the europeans, and other castes. the indians and their descendants are the only people in this part of the world who can endure the unwholesomeness and fatigues attendant on the mining operations, as the spaniards and negroes sink under the toil in a short time; but the number of indians has decreased since the conquest to an alarming extent from the ravages of the small-pox, and from the fatal effects of intoxicating liquors, though according to the statements of late travellers this branch of the population is again on the increase, probably owing to the general introduction of vaccination, and to the gradual abolition of the _mita_ in most of the governments. the total population of spanish america is reckoned at about , , , of which three millions are creoles, or the descendants of european whites, , are spaniards, and the rest are indians, negroes, and the mixed descendants of these and the whites, the indians bearing the greatest proportion, as peru alone contains , ; but the negroes are not very numerous, and exist principally in the provinces of caraccas and new granada. till the end of the last century the ports of spanish america were shut against the whole world, the commerce of the country being carried on exclusively by two or three large ships called galleons from manilla, and by an annual fleet to spain; but these vessels falling continually into the hands of enemies, and generally containing all the treasure on which the spanish court relied, they were at last abolished, and special licences were granted by some of the governors to carry on a trade with the antilles, and in the court of madrid was obliged to open some of the ports. urged by extreme necessity cisneros the viceroy of la plata in , declared the port of buenos ayres free to all nations in alliance with spain. the power of spain was maintained for a long while in her trans-atlantic colonies, by a very small number of spanish troops, who acted with the national militia on any unforeseen disturbances; the most profound tranquillity reigned in these happy regions till the year , with the exception of the revolt of tupac amaru in , and some other trifling occurrences. three prisoners of state, who had been banished from spain for revolutionary crimes, arrived at la guayra, the port of caraccas, in the first mentioned year; by dint of argument these men gained over the soldiers by whom they were guarded, and they were permitted to hold forth the doctrines at that time so dangerously afloat in europe, to the people who came from all parts to hear them, and finding many admirers among the creoles and mestizoes, formed at last the daring plan of revolutionizing the country. these men, instead of remaining to head the revolt, retired to the islands in the caribbean sea, on which active measures being taken by the government the plot was discovered; several who were concerned in it were executed, and others banished. previous to this, in , some reforms and additional taxes which were introduced in new granada created such dissatisfaction that , men collecting themselves together marched against the city of santa fé de bogota exclaiming "long live the king, but death to our bad governors," but this insurrection was soon quelled by politic measures. after the disturbances in , the country was again tranquil, until the period when napoleon buonaparte, assuming upon the numerous victories which the french troops had gained, grasped at the sceptre of europe. after subduing, in part, the mother country, and depriving the king of his liberty, he dispatched his emissaries in every direction to america; these men were, in general, of acknowledged talents, and endeavoured by every means in their power, under assumed characters, to widen the breach which had gradually been opening between spain and her colonies. the americans, instigated by such advisers, and finding themselves cut off from all communication with spain, now intent solely on her own preservation, were dubious how to act; but the mass of the people resisted all idea of throwing off their allegiance, and would not consent to their country being under french controul. accordingly, they established juntas in caraccas, new granada and buenos ayres, in imitation of similar acts on the part of their spanish brethren. in caraccas and other places, ferdinand the seventh was proclaimed with all due solemnity, and when it was announced in july , that joseph buonaparte had usurped the throne of spain, , of the inhabitants of caraccas flew to arms, surrounded the palace of the captain-general, and demanded the proclamation of their sovereign; this he promised to do next day, but such was their ardour, that they proclaimed him immediately themselves. in buenos ayres, the viceroy, liniers, receiving intelligence of the events in the peninsula, in july , exhorted the people in the name of buonaparte to remain quiet; but xavier elio, the governor of monte video, accused him of disloyalty, and separated his government from that of buenos ayres; and this officer afterwards ineffectually endeavoured to persuade that city to acknowledge the title of viceroy, which he had received from the mother country. in mexico, the news of the spanish affairs was not known, till the th july , when a junta was immediately established; and the city of la paz in charcas, in the beginning of , formed a similar junta for its government; but the viceroys of buenos ayres and peru opposed this motion, and both sent armies to quell the insurrection, in which they were successful. in quito a junta was established on the th of august, , but the viceroys of peru and new granada, with the greatest promptitude, detached a force against this city, which compelled the insurgents to abandon their project. at this time affairs wore a serious aspect in america; numerous adventurers appeared on her shores, eager to enrich themselves on the spoils of spanish power. the partizans of revolution in caraccas, the coast of which was more accessible to emissaries from europe, formed themselves into a junta suprema, assumed the reins of government, but still published their acts in the name of the spanish monarch. at buenos ayres a similar measure was taken; in chili, the junta was organized in september, and an insurrection breaking out in the town of dolores, near guanaxuato in mexico, the whole continent was now in a state of alarm and tumult. in the mean time these proceedings were related to the council of the regency in spain, which determined that body to take such active steps as their circumstances enabled them to do, and the coasts of the captain-generalship of caraccas were declared in a state of vigorous blockade. from this period, the revolt in that province and the northern parts of new granada, became daily more alarming; general miranda was the commander of the venezuelan army, in which capacity he achieved one victory, the result of which can never be forgotten in the caraccas. the inhabitants of valencia were for the royal cause, and though of very inferior force, resisted the insurgent party in two actions, in the first of which they were victorious, but in the second were subdued. the th of july , was the day on which the congress of venezuela proclaimed themselves the representatives of the free provinces of caraccas; and the little village of mariara, close to the beautiful lake of valencia, saw the first blood that was spilt in the civil war of these unfortunate countries. on the return of the king to his throne, on which he was placed by the glorious and ever-memorable conduct of the british and spanish troops commanded by the duke of wellington; he issued a decree on the th of june , announcing to the spanish americans, his arrival in his kingdom, ordering them to lay down their arms, and promising oblivion of the past; to enforce this mandate, he also sent general morillo from cadiz with a well equipped army of , men. this army landed on the coast of caraccas in april ; but the insurgents not paying attention to his majesty's commands, the general immediately commenced active measures. from campano, where he landed, he proceeded to margarita, from thence to caraccas, and in the following august he besieged carthagena. previous to his arrival, boves, a spaniard by birth, but a person of low rank, collected a handful of men, attached to the royal cause, and although destitute of assistance from the spaniards, who were besieged in puerto cabello, he found means to raise a large body of troops in the interior, and seeking the insurgent army commanded by bolivar, he fought several battles with them, in all of which his band was victorious, so that he was enabled to overthrow the new government established at caraccas. this valiant individual, following the career he had so fortunately begun, dispersed the army of the independents in every direction, but was killed in storming their last strong-hold, at the moment of victory. on the arrival of general morillo he found the province free from the independent troops, and therefore commenced his march for carthagena, joined by the natives of the country who had formed the army of boves, and who assisted him materially in taking carthagena, and re-conquering the revolted provinces of new granada. castello and bolivar were at this time the leaders of the independent forces in this country, but dissensions occurring between them, carthagena was supplied with only troops; the siege lasted from august to the th of december, , when the governor and garrison evacuated the place, and the royal army took possession of it, but persons perished through famine during this siege. general morillo now advanced through the provinces of new granada to the city of santa fé de bogota, which place he entered in june, , remaining in it till the following november: during his stay the leaders of the insurgents, and all who had been criminally engaged, were imprisoned, shot or exiled. from this period bolivar, who had gone to jamaica, turned his attention again towards venezuela, planned an expedition to assist the people of margarita, and joining borion, an affluent native of curaçoa, assembled the emigrants from venezuela, and part of the garrison which had evacuated carthagena. borion was appointed commander of the naval forces, and sailing from aux-cayes they landed in the beginning of may , at la margarita. from this island bolivar proceeded to campano, five leagues west of the city of cumana, of which he dispossessed the royal forces, and having armed many light troops who joined him, again embarked and proceeded to ocumare; landing at this port he issued a proclamation, enfranchising all slaves, but was soon afterwards defeated by the royalists in a severe and hard fought action, after which he retired to aux-cayes, from whence he again brought new reinforcements in december , to margarita. on this island he published another proclamation, convoking the representatives of venezuela to a general congress, and went afterwards to barcelona, where he organised a provisional government. at this place he repulsed the royalists under generals real and morales, with great loss, but in the month following, on the th of april, , the city of barcelona was taken by the spanish troops, and morillo received an addition of men from spain, in the month of may; since this period the actions between the spanish troops and the insurgents have been frequent; the congress of venezuela has been established by bolivar, and again overthrown by morillo; the islanders of margarita have repulsed the spanish forces, and at this moment the army of the independents is concentrated near the shores of the orinoco, and the spanish troops are in possession of the capital and all the principal towns. while these events were going on in caraccas, the congress of buenos ayres declared its independence. the town of monte video was taken possession of by the portuguese, and the march of insurrection spread itself into the remote government of chili. mina, who had been concerned in the caraccas revolution, undertook an expedition against new spain, in which, after sometimes repulsing, and at others being repulsed, by the spanish generals, he was at last taken prisoner and beheaded at mexico. the united states have ejected the adventurers who had established themselves on amelia island in the government of east florida, and it appears, that the revolutionary cause is only successful in buenos ayres and venezuela, in both which provinces, it cannot however be said to be established, as a large spanish army occupies part of one, and the portuguese troops have partial possession of the other. in new granada, florida, quito, peru and mexico, the insurgents have very little sway, and in the islands of puerto rico and cuba they are unknown; consequently the colonies of spain, so far from being wrested from her, are still under her dominion; and it appears extremely probable, that they will remain so. recurring to the subject of the kingdom, which it is the primary object of this section to describe, we must now treat of its capital, a city which, from its former as well as from its present importance, may well justify its pretensions to be the metropolis of spanish south america. _capital._--lima is situated in ° ' " south latitude, and ° ' " west longitude, in the spacious and fertile valley of rimac, whence by corruption, the name lima is derived. this city was formerly called ciudad de los reyes, and was founded by pizarro, on the th of january, . the name of the valley was derived from that of an idol of the peruvians, who was called by way of distinction rimac, "he who speaks." this city is an archbishopric, the rental of which is valued at , dollars. the scite of lima is very advantageous, as it commands a view of the whole valley in which it lies. a river of the same name washes the walls of the town, over which there is an elegant and spacious bridge of stone. on the north are the vast mountains of the cordillera of the andes, from which some branches extend towards the city; those of st. christoval and amancaes being the nearest. at the end of the bridge is a gate of noble architecture which leads into a spacious square, the largest in the place, and beautifully ornamented. in the centre of this square is a fine fountain with bronze figures; the form of the city is triangular, its base lying along the banks of the river. this base is two-thirds of a league in length, whilst the perpendicular may be estimated at two-fifths of a league, the whole being surrounded with a brick wall, flanked with thirty-four bastions; it is entered by seven gates and three posterns. opposite to the river is the suburb of st. lazarus; and its streets, like those of the city, are broad, regular, parallel, and crossed at right angles; they are also well paved, and the drains are supplied from the river, thus rendering the place exceedingly clean. the number of streets has been stated at . towards the east and west within the walls are many fruit and kitchen gardens, and most of the principal houses have gardens watered by canals. the city abounds with churches, chapels, convents, nunneries, colleges, and hospitals, and it has a noble university founded in . all the churches are magnificently decorated, and are in general large, and adorned with paintings of value. the viceroys of peru usually reside at lima and keep their court there, giving public audience every day, for which purpose there are three fine rooms in the palace. the tribunals of account, of justice, of the treasury, &c., are also held there, which, with the royal mint, the court of the municipal body, and the police, afford employment to numbers of persons, and render lima the most lively and magnificent place in south america. the viceroy's palace, formerly a fine structure, but which was damaged by the great earthquake in , the city prison, the archiepiscopal palace, the council house, and the cathedral, stand in the great square, and occupy three sides of it. in the suburbs, as well as in most parts of the city, the houses are of wood-work, interlaced with wild canes and osiers, both within and without, plastered over with clay and white washed; the fronts being painted to imitate stone. most of the houses are only one story high with a flat roof, covered on the top with slight materials to keep out the wind and sun, as it never rains violently in this part of peru, and the rafters which support the roofs are carved and decorated within side, and covered with clay on the outside. this mode of building has been adopted, in consequence of the destructive effects of the earthquakes which have so often devastated lima. on solemn festivals, or on the entrance of a new viceroy, the riches and pomp displayed in this city are astonishing, the churches being loaded with massive plate, consisting of tables, candlesticks, statues of saints of solid silver, the holy vestments and chalices covered with gold, diamonds, pearls and precious stones, and even on the common days of office, the decorations of the churches is richer than can be seen at the most splendid catholic festival in europe. luxury in dress and splendid retinues are the prevailing passion of the gentry and people of lima, so that the public walks and malls are crowded with carriages. the dress of the ladies is extremely rich; and even those of low rank never appear without bracelets, rosaries, and gold images about their necks and arms. the white females are in general of a middling stature, handsome, of a very fair complexion, with beautiful dark hair and bright eyes; they are naturally gay, sprightly and without levity in their outward behaviour, though taxed with vicious propensities; and all the women of lima have a great fondness for music: the dress of the men is also very superb, but they are said to be in general fonder of gallantry than of following any useful avocations, though they occasionally show great ardour for the acquisition of knowledge. the theatre of lima is a neat building, but the performers are said to be very wretched; coffee-houses were only established here in , cock-fighting and bull-baiting are the favourite amusements of the populace, who are also greatly addicted to gaming. in lima the number of inhabitants has been estimated at , , the monks and clergy being , the nuns , the spaniards at , , with indians, and negroes, the rest being mestizoes and other castes. the rich priests, proprietors of estates, military and civil officers, physicians, lawyers and artizans, compose a body of , , and the remaining , are slaves, domestics and labourers; but the population has declined since the erection of the viceroyalty of la plata. the climate of this city is agreeable, and though the variation of the four seasons is perceptible, yet they are all moderate; spring begins in november, winter in june or july, when the south winds cease, and this season continues, with the intervention of a second spring or autumn until november; rain is seldom or ever known at lima, tempests rarely happen, and the inhabitants are strangers to thunder and lightning; but they are infested with vermin and insects during the summer months, and are always subject to the recurrence of earthquakes, several of which have nearly ruined the city at different times in the th, th, and th centuries; the one which happened in , being the most tremendous and destructive, and which took place on the th of october at half after ten at night, continuing for many weeks. the city was nearly destroyed, numbers of the inhabitants perished, and the port of callao was submerged by the sea; twenty-four vessels were lying in the harbour, nineteen of which were sunk, and a frigate, and three others carried up by the rise of the waves into the country a considerable distance from the beach; out of people, the number which escaped at callao was only , while at lima were buried under the ruins, and numbers wounded and maimed. in lima, the most common disorders are malignant, intermittent, and catarrhous fevers, pleurisies and constipations. the small-pox was formerly very fatal; but in , a merchant vessel, the _santo domingo de la calzada_, put into callao, in a voyage from spain to manilla; a philanthropic individual in spain had sent some vaccine matter on board of this ship for the philippines; but as the small-pox was raging at that time in lima, don m. unanue, the professor of anatomy, hearing of this precious cargo, and instantly availing himself of it, vaccinated his patients, which he performed with the greatest success, and since that period, the jennerian system having been followed, the virulence of the small-pox gives way. the great wealth of the citizens of lima is mostly derived from the mines in the internal provinces, but agricultural pursuits are much followed, and the pastures in the vicinity feed multitudes of horses, mules and cattle. the ancient peruvians had rendered the valley of rimac very fertile by intersecting it with small canals, and this plan has been adopted by the spaniards who irrigate their spacious fields of wheat and barley, their meadows, plantations of sugar-cane, olives, vines, as well as their gardens, which are thus rendered very productive, but the frequent earthquakes having tended to alter the good quality of the soil, it consequently requires much care to manage. bread, butter, milk, beef, mutton, pork, poultry, &c., are all excellent in lima, and the place is plentifully supplied with fish from the bay of callao, and the adjacent villages, as well as from the river lima. the wines used in this city are generally the produce of chili and the southern provinces, from which the brandies are also brought; most of the european and dried fruits are also supplied by chili, but no manufactures are carried on in the place itself, as it depends entirely on being the emporium of the commerce of peru with chili, new granada, guatimala and new spain. the port of lima is _ballavista_ or _callao_, the former name being that of the new town which was founded at the distance of a quarter of a league from the remains of callao, which had been totally destroyed by the earthquake in . at the present port there is a fort named san fernando, with a garrison to protect the bay, which, on the south-west is fenced by a barren island called san lorenzo. here all the vessels anchor about two leagues from lima; and the harbour of callao is one of the finest in the south-sea, the anchorage being deep, but the ocean always tranquil, and the largest vessels lying in perfect safety. the river _rimac_ or _lima_, discharging itself into the sea here, furnishes an abundant supply of fresh water for the vessels, and every thing can be procured of which a ship may be in need; as in callao it may be said that the productions of the four quarters of the world are exchanged for each other; the ships from europe meeting those from the east indies, from africa, and from the northern shores of america. callao is situated in ° ' " south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, at about five english miles distance from the city of lima. _intendancy of truxillo._ this province is the most northerly of those in peru, it is bounded by the river tumbez and guayaquil, on the north-west; jaen de bracamoros on the north-east; the lauricocha or tunguragua on the north; the rio guallaga and pampas del sacramento on the east; the pacific on the west; and the province of tarma on the south; containing within its limits seven jurisdictions; viz. sana, piura, truxillo, caxamarca, chachapoyas, llulia, and chiloas and pataz. the province of truxillo along the coast, has a climate in which excessive heat predominates; whilst in the interior it varies according to the high or low situation of the districts, from temperate to frigid. the first district of truxillo, towards the north, is piura, through which passes the road from guayaquil to lima; the whole country from the northern borders of piura to lima being named the _valles_. the climate of piura is hot, though not unhealthy; but the greater part of the country is uninhabited. the chief towns are piura, tumbez, the frontier of new granada, sechura and payta; and it contains , inhabitants, in settlements. _piura_, the capital, is situated in south latitude, ° ' and in ° ' west longitude. it was the first spanish settlement in peru, and was founded in the year , by pizarro, who built the first church in it. the city then stood in the valley of targasala, near the sea, and was called san miguel de piura, but was removed, on account of the unhealthiness of its situation, to its present scite, on a sandy plain. the houses are constructed of bricks, or cane and wood-work, and have generally only one story. the corregidor, and an officer employed in collecting the royal revenue, reside here and at payta alternately, and the town contains about inhabitants. it has an hospital and church; the climate is hot and dry, but not unwholesome, and water is sometimes scarce in the heats of summer. it is miles south-south-east of payta, its port; north-north-west of truxillo; north-north-west of lima, and seven from the ocean; and its territory is fertile, and produces some cotton, sugar, maize and has extensive woods of sarsaparilla. _tumbez_ is situated in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, miles north of truxillo, and leagues n. of piura, on the rio tumbez, which discharges itself into the bay of guayaquil, opposite the isle of santa clara. it is seated a short distance from the mountains, in a sandy plain, and consists of about houses, scattered without any order, in which there are about families, mostly mestizoes and indians, and along the banks of the river there are many farms, where they continually employ themselves in rural occupations. tumbez was the place where the spaniards first landed in , and where they were astonished at the immense temples and palaces they every where observed, no vestiges of which now remain. the road from this town to piura is extremely unpleasant, owing to its running along the sea-coast, and being only passable at low water in some points. the village of amotape, the only inhabited place on the road, is leagues from tumbez, after which the way lies over a sandy desert, where even the most experienced guides occasionally lose their way; and as no water is to be procured here, it is necessary to carry that article in skins on the backs of mules; near the last stage is a deposit of mineral tar, which is exported to callao, for the purposes of ship-building. _sechura_ is the last town of piura on the south; it is situated on the banks of the river piura, a league from the ocean, and miles north-north-west of truxillo, in ° ' " south latitude. it contains about houses, with a handsome brick church, and the inhabitants, who are all indians, compose about families, being chiefly employed in fishing, driving mules, or guiding passengers to morrope, across the desert of sechura, which is a waste of sand extending leagues, of difficult and dangerous passage. _payta_, or _san miguel de payta_, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, was founded by pizarro. it is a small place, consisting of mud houses, having a church and chapel, with the corregidor's house built of stone. the number of inhabitants is inconsiderable, and the town is noted only for its port, which is the chief place at which the ships from new spain touch, on their voyage to lima. southward of this town is a high mountain, called the silla de payta; the soil of the surrounding country is barren and sandy, and there being no river, the inhabitants have to fetch their fresh water from colan, a village in the bay, four leagues to the north, the indians of colan being obliged to send one or two balsa loads every day. the occupations of the inhabitants of payta, who are whites and mulattoes, is chiefly in landing the cargoes of goods sent from panama and lima. the bay of payta is famous for its fishery, in which the indians of the surrounding villages are constantly employed; a miserable battery mounting eight guns, defends this harbour and town, which has been repeatedly taken and plundered by the english; and lord anson's squadron pillaged and burnt it, in the year . the principal rivers of piura are the _tumbez_, the _catamayu_, and the _piura_; in this district a branch of the andes turns towards the coast, and under the name of sierra de pachira, forms cape blanco, and the punto de purma. sana is the next district of truxillo, and extends about miles along the sea-coast. its soil is level, and, excepting in the desert of sechura, fertile; the heat is however at times insupportable. the town of _sana_ is in a state of decay, in consequence of an inundation which almost destroyed it, and it was sacked by davis, the english adventurer, in . the river _sana_ runs through the town, which has obtained the name of _miraflores_, on account of the beautiful flowers in its neighbourhood, as well as for being situated in a fertile and pleasant valley. sana is miles n. of truxillo. morrope, lambayeque and st. pedro are the other most noted towns of this district, which contains settlements. _morrope_ consists of about or houses, and contains families of indians. it is seated on the banks of the river _pozuelos_, miles north-west of truxillo. _lambayeque_, in ° ' south latitude, ° ' west longitude, is at present the capital of sana, in a pleasant and fertile spot, containing about houses. the inhabitants, who amount to , consist of spaniards, mestizoes and indians. the parish church of stone is elegant and much ornamented, and the river _lambayeque_ runs through the town, and fertilizes its environs. some wine is made here, and the poorer classes manufacture coarse cottons. the road to lima passes through this place, which is miles west-north-west of truxillo. _st. pedro_ contains indian families, thirty families of whites, and twelve of mulattoes. it stands on the river _pacasmayo_, and its environs produce grain and fruits in abundance. st. pedro is twenty leagues from lambayeque on the high road, and stands in ° ' " south latitude. the andes elevate their crests on the west of the districts of piura and sana. the jurisdiction of truxillo, extends twenty leagues along the coast, and as far in the interior, being composed throughout of beautiful valleys. in its climate there is a sensible difference between winter and summer, the former being attended with cold, and the latter with excessive heat. the country is extremely fruitful, abounding with sugar canes, maize, fruits and vegetables; also with olives and vineyards: the parts nearest the andes produce wheat, barley, &c., so that the inhabitants export corn to panama. on the coast the sugar cane is cultivated with success. the chief town of the district is _truxillo_, which is also the capital of the whole province, and stands in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, miles south of quito, north-north-west of lima, in a pleasant situation surrounded with gardens, groves and delightful walks. it was founded in , by pizarro, at the distance of half a league from the sea, on the banks of a small river; the houses which are chiefly of brick, have a very neat appearance, but are low on account of the frequency of earthquakes; an intendant and the bishop of truxillo reside here. the inhabitants amount to , and consist principally of rich spaniards, some indians, mestizoes and mulattoes; the greatest luxury in this city is that of equipages, few of the europeans being without a carriage. a revenue office for the province of truxillo is established in this town, and it also contains a cathedral, several convents, a college, hospital and two nunneries. truxillo is surrounded with a low brick wall, flanked by fifteen bastions; and carries on its commerce by means of its port of _guanchaco_, which is about two leagues to the northward, and is the only good harbour on the coast from callao to tumbez. chocope and biru are the most noted places of this district. _chocope_ contains sixty or seventy white families, and twenty or thirty of indians. it has a fine brick church, eleven leagues north of truxillo. _biru_ in ° ' " south latitude, contains about seventy families of whites, creoles and indians, and its situation is pleasant on the high road to lima, in a fertile vale, well watered with small canals. the district of _caxamarca_ lies to the eastward of that of truxillo, and extends an immense distance between two parallel branches or crests of the andes. it is extremely fertile, producing corn, fruits and all kinds of esculent vegetables, as well as cattle, sheep and hogs; with the latter of which a thriving trade is carried on with the lowland districts. there are also the celebrated silver mines of _gualgayoc_ or _chota_, near micuipampa, the galleries of which are above , feet higher than the sea. the indians of this extensive district manufacture cotton for sails, bed-curtains, quilts, hammocks, &c., and the chief town is _caxamarca_, celebrated as having been the point from which pizarro carried on his operations, and for being the place where atahualpa was strangled. the palace of atahualpa is now inhabited by the family of the astorpilcos, the poor but lineal descendants of the incas. it is seated in ° south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, seventy miles from the ocean, on the western slope of the andes, at the height of feet. micuipampa is celebrated for its silver mines, its height above the sea being feet more than that of the city of quito. _chachapoyas_ is the next district towards the east and north of caxamarca situated on the eastern slope of the andes, and embracing an immense extent of country, in a warm climate. it is very thinly inhabited; but the indians are ingenious in manufacturing cottons, to which they give beautiful and lasting colours. chachapoyas and llulia bound the government of juan de bracamoros in quito. the chief town is _juan de la frontera_, or _chachapoyas_, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude. east of chachapoyas is the district of llulia and chiloas, a low, warm, moist country, covered with forests, so that the greater part is uninhabited. the principal commodity of this country is tobacco and fruits; and the river _moyobamba_ flows through the district in its course to join the guallaga. the chief town of this district is _moyobamba_, miles north of lima, in ° south latitude, and ° ' west longitude; and some gold washings exist on the banks of the moyobamba. the last jurisdiction of the intendancy of truxillo is that of pataz, including _huamachucho_; its situation on the slope and summit of the mountains causes it to enjoy different climates, favourable for many kinds of grain and fruits; but the chief occupation of the inhabitants is in working the mines of gold with which it abounds, and its great commerce consists in exchanging gold for silver coin. the chief towns are _caxamarquilla_ and _huamachucho_, both of little note excepting for the gold washings in their neighbourhood. _the intendancy of tarma_ comprehends several minor districts, of which caxatambo, huamalies, conchucos, and huailas, are the principal. it is bounded by truxillo on the north, the pacific on the east, the apurimac on the west, and lima and guanca-velica on the south. on the sea-coast its climate is hot, but in the interior it varies, according to the height of the land. we shall not follow the minute divisions of this province, as we have done those of truxillo, on account of its being the boundary between new granada and quito, merely describing the chief towns and the country in their neighbourhood. tarma contains the sources of the xauxa and guallaga rivers, the former of which falls into the apurimac. the _juaja or xauxa_ rises in the little lake of chinchay cocha, in about eleven degrees south latitude, and after a long and precipitous course, it throws itself into the small river mantura, by which it joins the apurimac. the _guallaga_ rises a short distance north of the xauxa, in a little lake, called chiguiacoba, on the opposite side of the mountains, which form the cerro de bombon, whence it flows north, receiving several rivers, till it passes the town of guanuco, when it becomes very rapid, and receives the monzon from the west, in ° ' south latitude, after which, it follows its original course, and becomes more tranquil. at ° ' it receives the moyobamba, and after this, four dangerous rapids present themselves before it reaches ponquillo at the foot of the mountains. its breadth is now feet, and running through the province of maynas; at ° ' south latitude, it falls into the false maranon, being yards wide, and deep. at the confluence, the guallaga is divided into two branches, and a lake is formed half a league in breadth and fathoms deep. during the course of a league, the two rivers seem of equal force, but at length, the tunguragua overcomes the guallaga. the banks of this fine river are clothed with beautiful trees, enlivened with a great variety of birds, and one tree produces a sort of tallow or grease, which is used by the natives for the same purposes as candles. besides these, the beautiful river _pachitea_ rises in tarma, in ° ', on the east-side of the andes, first running east, then north, and called the _pozuzo_ at its confluence with the mayro, where it forms a fine haven, from which there is a direct and open navigation to the maranon, which it joins in ° ' south latitude. the _lauricocha_ or _false maranon_, also rises near caxatambo in this province; but as this river has been already spoken of, it is merely necessary to observe, that the lake in which it rises, is near the city of guanuco, in degrees south latitude, from which it directs its course southwards towards xauxa, forming a circle, when, after precipitating itself over the east-side of the andes, it flows northwards, through chachapoyas to jaen de bracamoros, and thence to the ucayale or true maranon. the course of the lauricocha is about leagues from lauricocha lake to jaen, and about from thence to its junction with the ucayale. the intendancy of tarma contains many gold and silver workings, particularly the celebrated mines of _yauricocha_, in the cerro de bombon. the chief towns of tarma are tarma, huamalies, huialas, caxatambo, conchucos, guanuco and pasco. _tarma_ is miles east-north-east of lima, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, in a temperate climate, and surrounded by a large district, in which the soil is every where fertile, excepting on the higher mountains, where it is very cold. the land is chiefly applied to feeding cattle, but many veins of silver of great importance being found and worked in the district, agriculture is neglected. of these mines, the _yauricocha_, two leagues north of _pasco_, the _chaupimarca_, _arenillapata_, _st. catalina_, _caya grande_, _yanacanche_, _santa rosa_, and _cerro de colquisirca_, are the most productive; there are however many others, which are either unworked, or produce but feebly. the city of tarma contains inhabitants. _huamalies_ is miles east of truxillo, and is the chief town of a jurisdiction of the same name, situated in the centre of the cordilleras, commencing at the distance of miles north-east of lima, and mostly situated in a cold climate extending miles. the towns are chiefly inhabited by indians, who apply themselves to weaving, and manufacture a great quantity of serges, baizes, and stuffs, with which they carry on a considerable trade, and there is a silver mine, named _guallana_, in this district. _huialas_ is the chief place of a district in the centre of the andes, beginning fifty leagues from lima, in the same direction as conchucos. the low parts produce grain and fruit, and the upper abound in cattle and sheep, which form the great branch of its trade. some gold is found in the mines of this district. _caxatambo_ is also the chief town of a district commencing thirty-five leagues north of lima, and extending twenty leagues partly among the mountains, so that the climate is various, but the whole district is very fertile, producing abundance of grain. the indians manufacture baize, and work some silver mines, of which those of the towns of caxatambo and chanca are the most productive. _conchucos_, the chief place of a district or partido of the same name, beginning forty leagues north-north-east of lima, and extending along the centre of the andes, is noted for its cattle and grain, and for the great number of looms worked by the indians. it contains also the mines of _conchucos_, _siguas_, _tambillo_, _pomapamba_, _chacas_, _guari_, _chavin_, _guanta_ and _ruriquinchay_. _guanuco_ is the chief town of a partido, commencing miles north-east of lima, in a mild and pure climate, with a fertile soil producing excellent fruits. this town is miles north-east of lima, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, and was founded in , under the name of _leon de guanuco_; the first inhabitants being those who favoured the royal party in the wars between pizarro and almagro. it was formerly a large city, but is now a small village, containing the remains of a palace of the incas, a temple of the sun, the ruins of the houses built by the conquerors, some marks of the great road from cuzco to quito, a church and three convents. _pasco_ is on the borders of the small lake de los reyes, and is chiefly noted as being the place in which the office of the provincial treasury is held, and from which the mines of the cerro de bombon or yauricocha are named. _intendancy of lima._ this province contains several districts; it is bounded on the north by truxillo, east by tarma and guancavelica, west by the pacific, and south by arequipa. its principal districts are chancay, huarachiri, lima, canta, canete, ica, pisco and nasca. lima is the seat of the royal audience, which was established in , and contains one archbishopric and four bishoprics in its jurisdiction, viz. those of truxillo, guamanga, cuzco, and arequipa. the revenue of the archbishop of lima is , dollars per annum; he has, besides the above bishops, those of panama, maynas, quito, and cuença, as suffragans. in this province rain is seldom or ever known to fall on the west of the cordillera of the andes, which runs along its eastern side; on the sea-coast it is very hot, but as the land rises towards the interior, the air becomes cooler and milder. the wealth of the province consists chiefly in the produce of the mines of tarma, which are worked by proprietors in lima; but agricultural pursuits are not neglected, and the whole vale may be said to be cultivated. lima is noted as being the place where the grains of europe were first planted, as maria de escobar, the wife of diego de chaves, carried a few grains of wheat to lima, then called rimac, shortly after the conquest. she sowed these grains, and the produce of the harvests she obtained, was distributed for three years among the colonists; so that each farmer received twenty or thirty grains. it increased rapidly, but in , wheat bread was still a luxury in cuzco that was hardly to be obtained. some idea may be formed of the difficulty in procuring articles of utility or luxury in the early periods of the settlement of these countries, from the circumstance of benalcazar, the conqueror of quito and popayan, purchasing a sow at buza, for a sum equal to _l._ sterling, which sow was killed for a feast; the riches of the conquerors must consequently have been immense. in the middle of the th century, two hogs were worth _l._; a camel from the canaries, _l._; an ass, _l._; a cow, _l._; and a sheep, _l._ the camels that were introduced both in peru and caraccas, did not thrive, and their utility was superseded in the former country by the vicunas, llamas, &c.; and in both by mules. the chief town of the intendancy of lima is lima, which being also the capital of peru has been already described. the other towns of most note are guara, guarachiri, chancay, canta, canete, ica, pisco and nasca. _guara_ consists of a single street containing houses, and many indian huts, with a parish church and convent, and is chief town of a district of the same name, which is covered with plantations of sugar canes, corn, maize, &c. at the south end of guara stands a large tower and fortified gate, which protects a stone bridge, under which flows the river guara, and separates the suburb of the indians from the town. guara is in ° ' " south latitude, near the pacific ocean. this town lies on the high road to lima from truxillo, and on this road are many magnificent remains of the tambos, or palaces of the incas. _guarachiri_ is the chief place of a partido, commencing in the andes, six leagues east of lima, in which the valleys and lower grounds are the only inhabited parts; and these being very fertile, produce wheat, barley, maize and other grain in great abundance. the high mountains of guarachiri, and the neighbouring district of canta, contain excellent coal, but on account of the difficulty and high price of carriage, it cannot be used in lima; cobalt and antimony have also been found in guarachiri, which likewise contains several silver mines of which that of _conchapatu_ is the most noted. this town is situated in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, miles east of lima. _chancay_, in ° ' " south latitude, is also the chief town of a district lying in the valley north of lima, having the river passamayo running through it, and fertilizing its plantations; the chief growth of which is maize, for the purpose of fattening hogs for the market of lima. chancay is fourteen leagues from guara and twelve from lima, on the high road from tumbez; the distance from tumbez to lima being leagues. chancay contains about houses, and many indian huts, with a large population, most of the inhabitants being very rich. _canta_ is the chief town of a jurisdiction of the same name, beginning five leagues north-north-east of lima, terminating on the district of that city, and extending above thirty leagues to the north, over the eastern branch of the andes; so that its climate differs according to its situation, on the tops, sides, or valleys of the cordillera. it supplies the markets of lima with fruits; the upper plains affording pasturage for innumerable flocks of sheep, which belong to the rich inhabitants of the capital of peru. _canete_ is the chief place of a district of the same name, commencing six leagues south of lima, and extending along the coast for about thirty leagues; the climate is the same as that of lima, and the soil being watered by several small streams, produces vast quantities of wheat, maize and sugar canes; these plantations are mostly the property of the inhabitants of lima. at a place called _chilca_, ten leagues south of lima, saltpetre is found in great quantities: the indians of this district trade with the capital in poultry, fish, fruits and vegetables. _ica_, _pisco_ and _nasca_ compose a jurisdiction bordering on canete and extending sixty leagues along the coast, but interspersed with sandy deserts. great quantities of wines are made in this district, which is fertile wherever the lands can be irrigated from the rivers. brandy is also an object of export, chiefly to guamanga, callao, guayaquil and panama. olive plantations are numerous, as well as those of maize, corn and fruit trees. the country round ica is noted for abounding in carob trees, with the fruit of which vast numbers of asses are fed. the indians on this coast live by fishing, their salted fish being eagerly sought after in the interior. the town of _ica_ or _valverde_ is situated in a valley, and contains about inhabitants, its principal commerce consisting in glass, wine and brandy; it stands in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, miles east-south-east of lima. _pisco_ was formerly situated on the shore of the south-sea, but in , an earthquake, accompanied by an inundation, destroyed the old town, and it was rebuilt by the inhabitants a quarter of a league further inland. it contains about families, most of whom are mestizoes, mulattoes and negroes; the whites being the least predominant: the road of pisco is a fine anchoring ground, capable of holding a large navy, and sheltered from the south-east and south-west winds, which are the most violent in this quarter. pisco is miles south-south-east of lima, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude. _nasca_ has a fine harbour, but the town is in a state of decay; the surrounding country is fertile in vines and sugar canes, and is watered by a river of the same name. nasca is miles south-east of lima, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude. _intendancy of guancavelica._ this province lies almost entirely in the mountains, and is bounded on the north by tarma, east by lima, west by cuzco, and south by guamanga. the climate of this country is in general cold, owing to the high situation of the land which is surrounded by the lofty peaks of the andes; its districts are chiefly those of _xauxa_ and _angaraes_, the latter of which is about seventy-two miles in length from east to west, and twelve in width, of a very irregular figure, being bounded by the cordillera on the west; this district produces wheat, maize and other grains, although its climate is in general cold, being temperate only in the valleys; in these are cultivated the sugar-cane, some fruits and herbs, and a strong grass which serves for fuel in the ovens in which the quicksilver is extracted; from the sale of this fuel great emolument is derived when the mines are in work. the district abounds in cattle, and as mercury is found in it, it also produces various earths used in painting. the head waters of some of the streams which join the apurimac are in this jurisdiction, which contains about thirty indian villages. the intendancy of guancavelica is chiefly of note on account of the mercury mines it contains, there being only one silver mine of any importance. the quicksilver of peru is only found near valdivui in the district of pataz, near the great nevado de pelagato; in the district of conchucos, to the east of santa; in the district of huamalics, to the south-east of guarachuco, at the banos de jesus; in the district of guialas near guaraz, and near guancavelica; of all those places _guancavelica_ is the only one which has ever produced that useful mineral in great abundance, the principal mine being situated in the mountains of _santa barbara_, south of the town of guancavelica at the distance of more than a mile; it was discovered by the indian gonzalo de abincopa, in the year ; but appears to have been known in the time of the incas, who used cinnabar in painting themselves, and they are said to have procured it in this neighbourhood. the mine was opened in september ; it is divided into three stories, named _brocal_, _comedio_ and _cochapata_, the last of which the government forbid to be worked, the bed containing red and yellow sulfuretted arsenic or orpiment, which was the cause of many deaths. this mine is free from water, and contains galleries cut in the solid rock at an immense expence. there has been extracted from it up to the year , , , quintals, or , , pounds troy, being or quintals annually; quintals of tolerable mineral containing and yielding by distillation eight or twelve pounds of mercury. the cinnabar is found in a bed of quartz freestone of about feet in thickness, in strata and in small veins, so that the metalliferous mass averages only from to feet in breadth. native mercury is rare, and the cinnabar is accompanied with red iron ore, magnetic iron, galena and pyrites, the crevices being frequently variegated with sulphate of lime, calcareous spar, and fibrous alum, and the bottom of the mine is , feet above the level of the sea. this mine employed seven thousand peruvian camels, or alpacas, and llamas in carrying the ore to the furnaces of the town; which animals were governed by dogs trained for the purpose. carelessness, or rather the avidity of the overseers destroyed this celebrated mine for a time, as this being the only royal mine in spanish america, these men were anxious to obtain as much profit and credit as they could by sending great quantities of the mineral to the royal office. the gallery of the _brocal_, which was the uppermost, was supported by pillars of the rock containing the ore; as the mineral became scarcer in the body of the mine, these pillars were thinned, and at last cut away, so that the roof fell in and hindered all communication with the other parts. at present, it is said, some attempts are making, owing to the dearth of mercury from china, to re-open the gallery; but the silver works of peru are mostly supplied from small veins which are found in other parts of the same chain of mountains, near _silla casa_; these veins generally traverse alpine limestone, are full of calcedony, and although thin, they cross and form masses, from which the indians, who are allowed to work them, are said to obtain quintals annually by merely uncovering the surface. the chief town of this intendancy is _guancavelica_, thirty miles north-west of guamanga, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude. it was founded, in , by the viceroy toledo, and stands in a breach of the andes, being one of the largest and richest cities of peru. the temperature of the air at guancavelica is very cold, and the climate changeable, as it often rains and freezes on the same day, in which there are tempests of thunder, lightning and hail. the houses are generally built of tufa found near a warm spring in the neighbourhood, and there is a dangerous torrent near the city, which is crossed by several bridges. this town was founded on account of the quicksilver mines of santa barbara, from the working of which the inhabitants derived all their subsistence. in this intendancy with its dependencies of _castro vireyna_ and _lircay_ there is one mine of gold, eighty of silver, two of quicksilver, and ten of lead. guancavelica is , feet, and the neighbouring mountain of santa barbara , feet, above the level of the sea. the number of its inhabitants is now only , probably owing to the abandonment of the mine. the other towns of most note are xauxa and castro vireyna. _xauxa_ or _jauja_ is the chief town of a district on the southern extremity of tarma, reaching to about forty leagues from lima, in the spacious valleys and plains between two parallel chains of the andes. the river xauxa runs through this district, in which there are several pretty towns or large villages well inhabited by spaniards, indians and mestizoes. the soil produces plenty of wheat and other grains, together with a great variety of fruits, and the city is on the great road of the mountains to cuzco, paz, and la plata; it borders on the east, as well as the district of tarma with the country between the andes and the apurimac, inhabited by fierce and wild indians, some of whom have made inroads into these jurisdictions; the missionaries have however succeeded in establishing villages amongst them, the nearest being the town of _ocopa_. _castro-vireyna_ is the chief town of a district of the same name, which lying on the cordillera, has a very various climate, and produces the fruits of the tropic and temperate regions. on its great plains, which are in the highest and coldest parts, are numerous flocks of the vicuna, or peruvian sheep, whose wool is the chief article of commerce. this animal prefers the coldest and highest parts of the andes, and is rarely seen north of the line; they formerly were very numerous in all the mountains of peru, till they were so much hunted for the sake of their fleeces, that they are now caught with great difficulty, and are only to be seen wild in the most inaccessible parts of the southern andes. the town of castro vireyna is miles south-east of lima, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude. _the intendancy of guamanga._ is bounded on the north by guancavelica and the uncultivated countries on the banks of the apurimac, east by the same and cuzco, west by lima, and south by arequipa. it contains several fine districts, of which guanta, vilcas-guaman, andagualas, parina cocha and lucanas are the chief, with that of guamanga itself. the capital is _guamanga_, situated in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, in a wide and beautiful plain, watered by a fine river, and having a healthful climate. the buildings are of stone, and are equal to any in peru, and the city is decorated with fine squares, gardens and walks, which render it a very pleasant residence. the soil in the surrounding district is fertile in grain and fruit, the chief articles of commerce being cattle, hides and sweetmeats, with the produce of several mines; sixty of gold, of silver, and one of quicksilver, having been wrought in this and the dependent district of lucanas. guamanga was founded by pizarro in , and is the see of a bishop, whose annual revenue is dollars. this city has three churches, one for the whites, and the others for the indians; as well as the cathedral, several chapels and convents, and a university, with a good revenue, in which the study of divinity, philosophy and law is followed. the number of inhabitants is , , including spaniards, mestizoes, mulattoes and indians. guamanga is also called san juan de la victoria, in memory of the precipitate retreat which manco capac made from pizarro, when the armies were drawn up for battle, and pizarro founded the town in order to keep up the communication between lima and cuzco. about three leagues from guamanga is the town of _anco_; the territory around which is infested with jaguars and reptiles. anco stands in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude. _guanta_ is the chief town of a jurisdiction of the same name, and is twenty miles north of guamanga, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude; the district begins four leagues from guamanga, and stretches for thirty leagues north-north-west of it. it enjoys a temperate climate, and is very fertile, but its mines, which were formerly very rich, are abandoned. in an island formed by the _tayacaxa_ or _xauxa_ grows the coca or betel nut in great plenty, in which, and with the lead produced in the mines, the commerce of guanta consists. it also carries on a trade with the capital, which it supplies with corn and fruits. _vilcas guaman_ is a district south-east of guamanga, beginning six or seven leagues from that city and extending above thirty leagues; vilcas guaman or _bilcas_ is the chief town, in which is a church, built on the ruins of a peruvian fortress. the climate is temperate and the district furnishes vast quantities of cattle. the chief commerce is in woollens, &c., manufactured by the indians, and which they carry to cuzco. east of guamanga, and verging to the south, is the district of _andagualas_ with its town of the same name. this district extends along the valley or plain between two branches of the andes for about twenty-four leagues. it is the most populous partido of guamanga, having large plantations of sugar-canes belonging to the inhabitants of the capital. the river _pampas_ which runs into the apurimac, and several others flow through this territory, contributing greatly to its fertility; and the number of its inhabitants is about , . _parina cocha_ and _lucanas_ are districts lying between that part of the chain of the andes which stretches down in a circular form towards arequipa; they abound in mines of silver and gold, and though in a cold climate, produce grain, herbs and fruits in abundance. the chief towns of these districts have the same names excepting that of the first, which is called _pausa_. in the mountains are found herds of huanucos or peruvian camels, and the plains and valleys are filled with sheep, goats and cattle, in consequence of which most of the inhabitants are drovers or woollen manufacturers. in the former district which contains , inhabitants dispersed in thirty settlements; there is the lake of _parina cocha_ seven leagues in length and one in width, in which a white bird of the name of panuira breeds. this name has been corrupted to parina, and the word cocha or lake being added, has given rise to the designation of the department. _intendancy of cuzco._ cuzco contains a number of partidos or districts lying on the west of the great apurimac, and on the eastern cordillera of the andes; it is bounded on the north by the apurimac and the andes of cuzco, on the west by unconquered countries, east by tarma, guancavelica, and guamanga, and south by arequipa and the viceroyalty of la plata, the boundary line of which runs between the lake chucuito or titicaca and along the chain of vilcanota, and bounds the district of paucartambo on the south. the capital of this extensive province is the celebrated city of cuzco, which has a peculiar jurisdiction around it, over which its magistrates exercise their authority. this district extends only two leagues, but in it the climate is various, and on the highlands the cold is intense, though in general the temperature is mild. it contains, with the partido of _carahuasi_, nineteen mines of silver. the city of cuzco or couzco is situated in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, on uneven ground in the skirts of mountains watered by the small river guatanay, its north and west sides are surrounded by the mountains of sanca, and on the south it borders on a plain, in which are several beautiful walks. cuzco was originally founded by manco capac and his consort mama oello, who were supposed to have reigned in the th or th century. he divided it into high and low cuzco, the former having been peopled by the peruvians whom he assembled, and the latter by those whom his consort had prevailed upon to leave their wandering mode of life. the first tract forms the north, the latter the southern divisions of the city; here he founded a temple of the sun and appointed his daughters to serve as priestesses. the spaniards who took possession of cuzco, under pizarro, in october , were astonished at the extent and splendour of the city, the magnificence of the temples and palaces, and the pomp and riches which were every where displayed. cuzco was besieged by manco capac the second, who took it, but was soon driven out by the europeans, and afterwards blockaded the place for eight months; in this and the subsequent contest between the followers of pizarro and almagro, cuzco suffered very much, great part of the city having been destroyed. on the mountain which surrounds the north part of this celebrated city, are the remains of the fortress of the incas, by which it appears that they intended to encompass the mountain with a wall, constructed in such a manner, that the ascent would have been impracticable, though it could be easily defended within. it was strongly built of freestone, and is remarkable for the immense size of the stones, as well as for the art with which they are joined. the internal works of the fortress itself are in ruins, but great part of the wall is standing. a subterraneous passage of singular construction led from this fort to the palace of the incas, and with these ruins, are the remains of a paved causeway which led to lima. one of the stones designed for the wall lies on the ground near it, and is so large that it has obtained the name of cansada, alluding to the apparent impracticability of bringing such a mass from the quarries, by a people unacquainted with machinery, or even by those who are. most of the houses of cuzco are covered with red tiles, and built of stone; their interior is spacious, and those of the rich highly decorated; the mouldings of the doors being gilt, and the ornaments and furniture of the most costly kind. the cathedral is a noble building of stone, and is erected on the spot where the spaniards rescued the place from the inca manco capac the second; it is served by three priests, one for the indians, and two for the whites; cuzco also contains six parish churches, and nine convents, one of which, the dominican, is built on the spot where stood the temple of the sun, the stones of that building serving to erect its church, the altar being paced on the same ground where the golden image of the luminary was formerly fixed. these convents contain hospitals for the sick indians and whites. there are also four nunneries, and the government of the city consists of a corregidor and alcaldes, who are chosen from the first people in the place. there are four hospitals, two universities, and a college, the latter being for the children of indian caciques; and the courts are those of the royal audience, revenue, inquisition, cruzada, &c. the bishop of cuzco is suffragan of the archbishop of lima, and enjoys a revenue of , dollars annually. this city contains , inhabitants, of whom three-fourths are indians, who are very industrious in the manufacture of baize, cotton and leather, and have a great taste for painting. it formerly contained many spanish families, but at present the indians and castes prevail. quispicanchi is a district of cuzco, beginning close to the city, and extending thirty leagues from east to west, and thirty-five from north to south, producing maize, wheat and fruits. part of this district borders on the forests inhabited by independent indians, and which contain great quantities of coca or betel. the chief town is _urcos_, miles south of cuzco, and the partido has other settlements, which only contain inhabitants. abancay is another district and town of cuzco, extending about leagues east and west, and fourteen broad, and commencing four leagues north of the capital. it forms, on its northern boundary, an extended chain of mountains covered with snow. its climate is in general hot, so that it contains great plantations of sugar canes, in which fine sugar of a superior whiteness is made. it has seventeen villages or towns, the chief of which, _abancay_, is seated in a fertile and spacious valley, miles north of cuzco, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, on the river abancay, over which is thrown one of the largest bridges in peru. in this province is the valley _xaquijaguana_, in which gonzalo pizarro was taken prisoner by pedro de la gasca. the river abancay joins the apurimac, which runs through this district; the junction being to the north of the town. on the north of abancay, and on the east of the cordillera, named the andes de cuzco, the _vilcamaya_, _urubamba_, or _quillabamba_ river, at about ° ' south latitude, throws itself into the apurimac, which, having pursued a north-west course through cuzco, quispicanchi and abancay, suddenly turns, after meeting the vilcamayo, to the north-east; and on the eastern shores of the apurimac are the small towns _vilcabamba_, _urubamba_ and _calca_. the andes de cuzco divide the valley of the vilcamayo from that of the paucartambo river. the district of paucartambo begins eight leagues east of cuzco, and is of great extent, having indefinite bounds on its northern, western and southern sides. it is mostly uninhabited, its chief town of the same name lying in ° west longitude, and nearly in the same latitude as cuzco, between the andes de cuzco and the chain of vilcanota, which separates it from la plata. the river paucartambo takes its rise in this chain, and flows northerly, to meet the apurimac, which it enters in ° ' south latitude, after a course of miles. the junction is only a short distance south of that of the beni, with the apurimac; and the country in the vicinity of these mouths, is inhabited by several independent tribes of indians. west of paucartambo, and between it and the river beni, is the country called _chunchos_, also peopled by warlike tribes. the inhabitants of paucartambo amount to , dispersed in eleven settlements. calcaylares is another district, beginning four leagues west of cuzco, and between it and paucartambo. the climate is exceedingly fine, and the chief town is _calca_, above mentioned. _chilques y masques_ is also a district at the distance of seven or eight leagues south-east of cuzco, and extending above thirty leagues, noted for its producing abundance of grain, and feeding great quantities of cattle and sheep; but it is chiefly inhabited by indians, who manufacture coarse woollens. the jurisdiction of cotabamba begins twenty leagues south-west of cuzco, and extends thirty leagues between the rivers abancay and apurimac, which are separated from each other by a ridge of mountains. it abounds in cattle, and the temperate parts produce maize, wheat and fruit. there are also several gold and silver mines; but most of them are abandoned. its chief place is an unimportant town named _cotabambas_. the district of tinta, or canas y canches, commences fifteen or twenty leagues from cuzco, and extends in breadth and length about twenty leagues; the cordillera dividing it into two parts, the highest being called _canas_, and the lowest _canches_. the latter yields all kinds of grains and fruits, while the former feeds numerous flocks and herds; and in the valleys between the mountains, or , mules, are annually pastured from the neighbouring provinces. there is also a great fair for mules at tinta, which draws people from all parts of cuzco. in canas is the mine of _condonoma_, formerly noted for yielding much silver. _tinta_ is the chief town on the west of the vilcamayo river, at sixty miles distance south of cuzco. the district of aymaraez commences forty leagues south-west of cuzco, and is bounded on the north-west and west by andahuailas; east by cotabamba, west by parinacocha, and south by chumbivilcas. it is miles long from north to south, and miles from east to west, full of mountains; the andes here taking a circuitous turn towards the coast, in the southern part of this district, their summits frequently entering the limits of perpetual congelation. its valleys are productive in grain and sugar, and afford sustenance to numerous herds of cattle, and it is intersected by three rivers, which unite and form the _pachachaca_, that flows into the abancay, and is crossed by no less than bridges of ropes and wood. numerous veins of gold and silver in its mountains are not worked owing to the poverty of the inhabitants, of whom it contains , . there are fifty settlements in aymaraez, and lake _chinchero_ is in this district. the jurisdiction of chumbivilcas begins forty leagues south-east of cuzco, and extends about thirty leagues. it is chiefly noted for feeding large herds of cattle, and contains many unworked mines. lampa the last district of the intendancy, commences thirty leagues south of cuzco, and is of great extent among the mountains, but its climate being cold, it produces little else than pasturage for numerous herds of cattle; but this district contains many valuable silver mines, and the chief town is _lampa_, ninety miles south of cuzco, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude. lampa is bounded by the chain of _vilcanota_, which separates it from asangara on the east, in the kingdom of la plata, and whose crests also constitute a part of the barrier between the viceroyalty of buenos ayres and the kingdom of peru. the last great division of the peruvian territories towards the south, is-- _the intendancy of arequipa_, which is bounded on the north by those of lima, guamanga, and cuzco; on the east, by cuzco and the viceroyalty of la plata; on the west by the south sea or great pacific ocean; and on the south by the desert of atacama in the viceroyalty of la plata. it contains several districts, of which arequipa, camana, condesuyos, cailloma, moquehua, and arica, are the most important. the district of arequipa proper, contains the capital of the intendancy, also called _arequipa_, which is situated leagues south-east of lima, sixty south-west of cuzco, and fifty north of arica, and is the last town of any note in peru. the city of arequipa stands in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, in the valley of quilca, twenty leagues from the pacific. it is one of the largest towns in the peruvian government, containing , inhabitants, and was founded in by order of pizarro in a bad situation, but was soon afterwards removed to its present scite. this town is well built, most of the houses being of stone and vaulted, and are much decorated on the outside. it is watered by the rio chilé, which is conducted by sluices over the neighbouring fields, and by canals through the city, serving at once for convenience and cleanliness. the climate of arequipa is remarkably good, though frost is sometimes known, but the cold is never intense, or the heat troublesome. the surrounding district, which is about sixteen leagues in length, and twelve wide, is always clothed with verdure, and presents the appearance of a perpetual spring, its plantations producing sugar, wheat, maize, and potatoes, and it carries on also a commerce with the neighbouring provinces in wine and brandy. the port of arequipa is _aranta_, at twenty leagues distance, the harbour of which is deep, but difficult of access. arequipa is the see of a bishop, who enjoys a revenue of , dollars. this bishopric was erected on the th july . the public buildings consist of a cathedral with a parish-church for the indians, six convents, a college, seminary, hospital, and three nunneries, with the revenue office, &c. this city has been repeatedly devastated by earthquakes, which have four times totally ruined it; and a volcano in its vicinity, named _guayna patina_, contributed to destroy the devoted town by a tremendous eruption, on the th of february . the district of camana lies along the shore of the south sea, north of arequipa, and is very large, but contains many deserts, extending on the east to the chain of the andes. its temperature is nearly the same as the former, excepting on the mountains, where it is cold. it contains many old silver mines, but these being neglected, its chief trade consists in supplying the mines of the neighbouring district with asses and other beasts of burthen. the principal town of the same name is seventy miles north-west from arequipa, on the river camana near its confluence with the south sea. the next district to the north and bounding lima, is condesuyos de arequipa, extending about thirty leagues. it is chiefly inhabited by indians who breed the cochineal insect, with which they supply the woollen manufactures of the adjacent districts. condesuyos abounds in gold and silver mines, but they are unworked. _ocona_ is situated in this district, and is a port on the pacific, ninety-six miles west-north-west of arequipa, in sixteen degrees south latitude, on the rio ocona, which rises in the interior, and receives a small river flowing from lake parina cocha. caylloma is the next jurisdiction bounding the kingdom of la plata on the east, and cuzco on the north; it lies entirely among the cordilleras of the andes, which here divides its western branch into several ramifications, approaching very near the south sea. caylloma is famous for containing a very high mountain of the same name, and the sources of the _apurimac_ or genuine maranon, which rises in a small lake formed by the curvature of the chain of the andes, and flows through a long valley made by two parallel ranges of the same mountains, which divide its bed from that of the vilcamayo on the east. the source of the _apurimac_ is in about ° ' or ' south latitude. caylloma contains, several badly worked mines of silver; but the cold is so intense, owing to the great height of the andes, that the inhabitants who have settled in it, are obliged to have recourse to the neighbouring districts for grain, fruits, &c.; and the country abounds with wild asses and beasts of prey. _caylloma_, the principal place, is a village on the eastern range of the andes, at the silver mines of the great mountain of the same name. it contains an office for receiving the king's-fifths, and for selling the quicksilver necessary in the extraction of the metals. south of arequipa, at the distance of forty leagues, lies the district of moquehua, at sixteen leagues from the pacific. this jurisdiction extends forty leagues to the south, in a fine climate and fertile soil, adorned with large vineyards, producing great quantities of wine and brandy, which constitute its whole commerce, and with which it supplies all the provinces, as far as potosi on the andes by land carriage, and by sea to lima; and the fruits of moquehua are also numerous and good, among which are olives of excellent quality. the chief town of the same name is principally inhabited by spaniards and mestizoes, who are in general opulent; it is seventy miles south of arequipa, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude. the most southerly district of the intendancy of arequipa, and the last of the kingdom of peru, is arica; it is bounded on the north by arequipa and moquehua, west by the pacific, east by the cordillera and charcas, and south by the desert and province of atacama in the kingdom of la plata. it is eighty-two leagues in length, north-west and south-east; and sixteen wide, east and west; composed of valleys commencing from the andes and running to the pacific. the ranges separating these valleys are arid and unfruitful, while the vales themselves grow maize, wheat, &c. long-pepper is also cultivated, and a thriving trade is carried on with this, and with cotton, sugar, olives, wines, and brandies. the mountains feed numerous herds of cattle, and are famed for the vicunas, llamas, &c.; but the climate is hot, and in the higher parts inclement. the chief town is _arica_, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, miles north-west of la plata, and north-west of atacama, in a beautiful valley on the shore of the pacific, with a good port, much frequented by the coasting vessels. it was formerly a large place, but having been destroyed by an earthquake in , and sacked by the english in , most of the inhabitants removed to _tacna_ twelve leagues distant, where the climate is better. near the small port of yquique are the celebrated silver mines of _huantajaya_ already mentioned. having now treated of the known provinces of peru, we shall give some account of those countries which lie on the east of the andes, between the intendancies and the frontier of portuguese america. by the most recent authorities it appears that the viceroyalty of la plata is supposed to extend to the frontiers of jaen de bracamoros and maynas in new granada; but as it is not distinctly stated where its limits in this quarter are, it will be better to follow the old boundary of peru, on the north-east and east. within the confines of that extensive territory, lying between the andes, the guallaga, the maranon, or ucayale, and the western frontiers of the portuguese settlements, are several immense tracts of land, known by the names of pampas del sacramento; colonna, or the land of the missions; chunchos, &c. the pampas del sacramento, in their restricted sense, include all the country between the guallaga on the east, maynas on the north, the ucayale on the west, and the apurimac on the south. it consists of immense plains, and was so called by the jesuits; but it is now usual to give the same name to the whole country denominated the land of the missions, and extending from the ucayale to the portuguese limits, bounded only by the amazons on the north, and embracing square leagues. the jesuit missionaries succeeded in establishing several villages among the numerous nations who inhabit this region, through which flows the ucayale. father girval is the most recent traveller in this great steppe, and the information he has given concerning the country, is not uninteresting. embarking on the lake of the great cocama, at the junction of the guallaga and tunguragua, in maynas, he went to the confluence of the true and false maranons, near st. joachin de omaguas, (a spanish fort, at the distance of miles from st. pablo de omaguas, the most westerly portuguese settlement.) having two canoes with omaguan indians to row them, he soon passed into the ucayale, which he ascended with great resolution, frequently meeting with little fleets of canoes, manned by unknown tribes, from whom it required all his address to escape; and after days' rowing, there appeared on the west a chain of mountains, running south-east and north-west. in two days after this, he reached the little settlement of sariacu, among the panos, then the habitation of anna rosa, an italian lady, educated at lima; passing this, he reached the river manoa, which he ascended, with the view of seeing if a passage could be had to maynas, but it was found almost impracticable, on account of the thick forests, and the precipices; therefore again descending the maranon, he arrived at the missions of maynas, after an absence of four months. in this voyage, father girval found that there existed several singular tribes of indians, of whom the _conibos_ were nearly as fair as europeans, but that they were discoloured by the bites of mosquitoes, and by painting their skins. their customs were much the same as those of the other american indians, in a state of nature. in the second voyage of girval, in , he was unaccompanied by any soldier or white person; and again ascending the ucayale, found the _casibos_, a fierce tribe on the eastern banks, but the conibos still appeared to be the principal navigators of this part of the stream, and were the most humane; the sound of their rude flutes indicating peace, and a desire to show hospitality. after passing the conibos, they met the canoes of the _panos_, and sixty of these accompanied him to anna rosa's village, where he found that she had built a little convent, and that the tribe obeyed her as their chief, with great devotion. in twenty days' navigation from sariacu, in the latitude of tarma, he found the _piros_, whose country produces a species of cinnamon, and in which a settlement has since been made. father girval is said to have passed miles up the genuine maranon, from its confluence with the tunguaragua; to have discovered twenty-five tribes, and to have partly persuaded the _piros_, the _chipeos_, the _panos_, and the _conibos_, to become christians. he found the worship of most of these tribes to consist in the adoration of the moon, and evil spirits. in war they always choose a chief noted for his courage and capacity, and make prisoners of the women and children of their enemies, slaying the men. some tribes were gentle and humane, while others resembled tigers more than human beings; of these the _casibos_, and _carapochas_, were anthropophagi. the _capaguas_, a tribe on the mague, were said to cook and eat their dead, and yet to be one of the most humane of the savages on the maranon. the pampas del sacramento are divided from peru by a lofty chain of mountains, from which they appear so level as to resemble the ocean; they are covered with trees and verdure, and produce balsams, oils, gums, resins, a sort of cinnamon, cacao, cascarilla, and many other excellent drugs, spices, &c. in these vast levels the trees are very lofty, and form impenetrable forests unexplored by man, in which wander all the animals peculiar to the torrid climate of america. the heat is very great, and is accompanied with much humidity, and thick fogs, so that till the forests could be cleared, the pampas would not be a desirable residence for europeans; the missionaries have nevertheless been very active in founding villages in the most accessible parts, several of which now exist, and new communications are opened constantly with peru. south of the pampas del sacramento is a district named _montana reale_, through which runs a chain east from the andes, named the cerro de la sal, which gives birth to the pachitea, and several other rivers, and divides their streams from the perene, and some others which flow into the apurimac; a branch from this cerro, runs to the north, under the name of sierra de san carlos, and separates the maranon, after receiving the beni, from the pachitea. there are some missions in this country, on the banks of the pachitea, but it is in general inhabited only by the _mayros_, a fierce nation, and several other wandering tribes. the land of the missions, or colonna, now included in the pampas, is that territory on the amazons, through which flow the cassiquin and the yvari, part of which serves as the boundary of brazil; the yutay, the yurba, and several other large rivers, joining the maranon, and of which little, or in fact, nothing is known. chunchos is a district between the beni and the paucartambo, in which are many wandering tribes, who are very imperfectly known, and whose country forms the barrier between brazil and peru. we shall conclude the description of this viceroyalty, by some few remarks upon the language of the natives, &c. the number of dialects totally differing from each other, which are spoken by the indian inhabitants of this kingdom, is very great, and it was the same during the time of the incas; to remedy which inconvenience, those sovereigns instituted a general language, which they ordered all the chiefs who came to their courts to speak; it was called the quichuan, or language of the incas; and was that which prevailed in the capital; and so unbounded was the power of these princes, that the quichuan was soon learnt, even in the most remote provinces, and continues to the present day to be the general tongue of the peruvians, who are averse to making any efforts to obtain a knowledge of the spanish; so that the priests consider it as indispensably necessary to become acquainted with the quichuan, in order to retain the peruvians in their power. the sounds _b_, _d_, _f_, _g_, _r_, are wanting, but the language is harmonious, and its grammar as variegated and artificial as the greek. a work has been published at lima on this subject; and great pains have been used to render it well known. at the time of the conquest, peru was named by its inhabitants tavantin-suyu, or the four parts. that on the east, in which was cuzco, was named _colla-suyu_, or the east part; that of the west or coast, _chinchay-suyu_; that of the north, _anti-suyu_; and that of the south _conti-suyu_; which titles, with some alterations, were retained till very lately, in the best maps. the names of most of the principal places, are still quichuan; and so little is the spanish language and power spread in this country, the first of their conquests, that upwards of sixty unsubdued nations or tribes, are said to exist within its territories; though these have been greatly straitened by the formation of the new government, of which it now becomes necessary to give a description. viceroyalty of _buenos ayres, or la plata_. boundaries and extent. this government is the most extensive and one of the richest kingdoms of the new world. it is bounded on the north by the vast steppe of the amazons, or, according to some authorities, by that noble river itself; on the east the territories of the portuguese and the atlantic ocean are its limits; on the west it is divided by the andes from peru and chili, having also a province bordering on the south sea; and on the south its bounds are the pampas and patagonia. from cape lobos in the atlantic to the most northerly settlements on the paraguay its extent may be estimated at miles; and from cape st. antony, the mouth of the plata, to the andes of chili, its breadth is at least miles. political and territorial divisions, &c. this country was erected into a viceroyalty in , and at that time several provinces were added to it from peru and chili. at present it is divided into five governments, los charcas, paraguay, tucuman, cuyo, and buenos ayres, which are again subdivided into departments and districts. the whole is governed by a viceroy, whose title is at present disputed, by the capital being in possession of the insurgent government; and the ecclesiastical affairs of the country are under the guidance of the archbishop of la plata, in charcas, who has six suffragans. its population is estimated at , , creoles and spaniards: but the indians have not been numbered. history, discovery, &c. the spaniards claim the honour of first discovering this country. juan dias de salis, having sailed from spain with two ships, in , to explore brazil, arrived at the mouth of the rio de la plata, and took formal possession of the land: but, deluded by the friendly appearance of the indians, and being off his guard, he was slain, with the few attendants who had landed with him. in , sebastian cabot, then in the spanish service, also endeavouring to make the coast of brazil, entered the same river, and discovered an island, which he called st. gabriel; advancing about leagues, he found a fine river flowing into the great stream, this he named st. salvador, and causing his fleet to enter this river, disembarked his men, and built a fort, in which he left a garrison, while he proceeded farther up, and also discovered the paraguay. having procured much silver from the indians, particularly the guaranies, who brought the metal from the eastern parts of peru, he imagined that mines existed in the country he was in, and accordingly gave the name of river of silver, or rio de la plata, to the great stream he had sailed up. the spaniards soon came to a determination of colonizing this valuable acquisition, and to prevent any interference on the part of the other nations of europe, don pedro de mendoza was sent from spain, and founded the city of buenos ayres, in . from the early times of the colonization of this country till the establishment of a viceroyalty, the government was dependent on that of peru; though the chief of buenos ayres had the title of captain-general. buenos ayres continued for a long time almost unknown, all the inhabited parts of the kingdom lying at a distance from the ocean, and by the restrictions put upon its commerce having no other communication with europe than by the annual flota from spain, it languished in indigence and obscurity: but the resources of so extensive and so fertile a territory could not remain for ever concealed; as the population, and, consequently, in an agricultural country, the riches increased, the constant remonstrances of the people at last opened the eyes of the spanish government to the importance of the colony, a relaxation took place in the system of commercial monopoly which had been hitherto rigorously adhered to, and at last, in order to put a stop to a contraband trade that had been carried to an alarming height, register ships were allowed to sail under a licence from the council of the indies at any time of the year. the annual flota dwindled away from , to tons of shipping, and, in , they sailed for the last time to cadiz, after having carried on, for two centuries, the trade of spanish america. the register ships now supplied the market with european commodities at a cheaper rate, and at all times of the year; and buenos ayres became from that time a place of importance. other relaxations in the mercantile system followed soon after: in a free trade was allowed between several of the american ports, and in seven spanish sea-ports were declared free, to which in , five others were added, and these were allowed an open trade to buenos ayres, and the ports of the pacific. the city and the captain-generalship was now advancing with rapid strides into political importance; this was rendered stable by the erection of the government into a viceroyalty in ; and since that time its trade has progressively increased. previous to this epoch, not more than fifteen registered vessels traded to south america, and these not oftener than once in two or three years; but in , their number at once augmented to . they kept gradually increasing till , when the memorable war began between spain and great britain, and a death blow was given to the commerce of spanish america, for in , it was calculated, that three millions of hides were rotting in the warehouses of buenos ayres and monte video, for which no vent could be had, so active and vigilant were the british cruizers. various causes have since contributed to fluctuate the commerce of this government; sometimes it has risen to an amazing height, whilst at others, owing to foreign causes, or to its own internal convulsions, it has been totally at a stand. nothing of any material moment occurs in the political history of buenos ayres, till the year ; when there appeared a british squadron in the rio de la plata, from which a body of troops was landed for the purpose of taking the capital; and this object general beresford accomplished in a very spirited manner. he had not however had possession of the city for more than six weeks, when he was assailed by such a superiority of force, that his garrison were obliged to surrender on the th of august. reinforcements arriving under sir home popham, from the cape of good hope, fort maldonado at the mouth of the la plata was taken, and monte video unsuccessfully besieged. other troops commanded by sir samuel auchmuty, coming to the assistance of their companions, monte video was eventually taken by storm, and here the combined forces waited for a further succour, to resume the attempt on the capital. in may, , these succours arrived, under general whitelocke, who assumed the chief command, and was joined on the th of june by general crawford. the army now amounting to men sailed up the river, and disembarking below the capital, marched towards it. but no sooner had they entered the place, than they were assailed from all quarters, with a tremendous fire of grape and musquetry. the subsequent results are well known; a convention was entered into, and the british troops evacuated the territories of the viceroyalty. when sir samuel auchmuty took monte video, the people of buenos ayres were in a state of ferment. they assembled an extraordinary junta, and deposed their viceroy, sobremonte, placing in his seat, don santiago liniers, a french emigrant, who had headed the military force, which retook the metropolis, on the th august, . this man had sunk himself by a propensity for gambling into a state of great obscurity; but when the british landed in the country, his superior military talents, at once placed him above the inactive and ignorant spanish officers, who composed the army of the viceroyalty, and by his success in retaking the capital, the populace looked upon him as the only man fit to guide them to repel the second attack, which they were in constant expectation of; thus rose liniers to the highest station, which could be obtained in a country, where a very short time before, he had been unknown. but his reign lasted not long, attempting to thrust on the people the yoke of buonaparte, they began to doubt his sincerity; and aided by xavier elio, who had been dispatched from the junta of cadiz, to assume the viceregal title, and who had succeeded in getting possession of monte video, they became turbulent. to quell this spirit, liniers sent an expedition against monte video; but while this was going on, don josef de goyeneche arrived from spain, to endeavour to mediate between the newly formed parties. he caused the inhabitants of buenos ayres to proclaim ferdinand the seventh; advising at the same time, that a junta should be immediately formed. so powerful were his measures, that on the st of january , the people rose in all parts of the city, and demanded the establishment of a junta. they were however dispersed, and the leaders punished by the troops who remained faithful to liniers. but this temporary triumph was not of long continuance, as in august, , cisneros, the new viceroy, arrived from spain, and liniers was deposed by the junta, which now solemnly declared their rights. liniers was then exiled to cordova, but the spirit of insurrection had spread itself too widely by this time to admit of the new viceroy continuing long in the exercise of his functions; commotion succeeded to commotion, and on the th of may, , a provisional government assembled itself; deposed the new viceroy and sent him to spain; against this measure the interior provinces and monte video protested. liniers formed an army in the neighbourhood of his retreat, and in potosi another assembled under general nieto. to check these, a force marched from buenos ayres; liniers and nieto were defeated, and themselves and six of their principal officers beheaded. this violent measure did not extinguish the loyal feelings of the natives of the kingdom; a force was put in motion in paraguay, under the governor velasco, who was however taken prisoner and sent to buenos ayres, but monte video still remained firm in her allegiance to spain, and repelled every attempt of the new government. since this period monte video has been taken possession of by the portuguese. buenos ayres, though threatened with a counter-revolution, still retains its provisional government; the mines of potosi are in the hands of the viceroy of peru; the greater part of paraguay is quiet, and the spirit of insurrection is chiefly confined to the capital; which furnishes a great number of privateers that much annoy the spanish merchant vessels trading to peru and the coasts of the pacific. it would be endless to recount the different actions which have taken place between the royal troops and the insurgents, or between the city of monte video and that of buenos ayres; but the latter have been generally victorious, and the privateers of this new government still dare to show their flag in the pacific, and to keep the coasts of chili and peru in constant alarm. features, climate, &c. buenos ayres presents on its eastern territories a tract of land so nearly level that many of its principal rivers, unable to roll themselves forward with sufficient impetus, form large shallow lakes, and it has been calculated that the great paraguay in its course southward does not fall above one foot in height between the th and d degrees of south latitude. these immense levels are covered with a strong and luxuriant herbage, which pastures innumerable herds of half-wild horses and cattle. no hill or swelling rises in this expanse to a greater elevation than feet above the plain, so that if placed on one of these eminences, the eye wanders over a space resembling the ocean, uninterrupted, save by the dark spots formed here and there by the grazeing cattle, or by the travelling waggons and escorts. but on the west the viceroyalty offers a very different scene, a vast chain of mountains, whose summits are lost in the frozen regions of the air, elevate their eternal barriers between the plains of the la plata, and the kingdoms of peru and chili. from this the main chain of the andes, a secondary cordillera, branches out between ° and ° of south latitude, and traversing the province of chiquitos, it appears to, and in fact does connect the andes of peru and chili with the mountain country of brazil and paraguay. from it flow, on the north, the rivers that empty themselves into the maranon, whilst its southern flank supplies the streams which swell the la plata. this chain, named the _cordillera of chiquitos_, has not been explored by any scientific traveller, and being inhabited by savage nations, its structure and disposition are almost unknown. the next remarkable features of this interesting country are its lakes and rivers. in the flat plains of la plata the _los xarayes_ is formed by the collected waters of the torrents which flow, during the rainy season, from the mountains of chiquitos, and the paraguay swelling over its banks at that period, inundates an expanse of flat land under the ° of south latitude to an extent of miles in length, and in breadth; but when the waters of the paraguay abate, this lake becomes a marsh infested with multitudes of alligators. its banks swarm with jaguars, pumas, monkeys, stags, &c. and with venomous reptiles and insects. it is never navigable for any other vessels than canoes and small barks, in which the portuguese cross it from their settlements in cuyaba. besides this lake there are many others of great size, formed in a similar manner, such as _aguaracatay_, in the th degree, _ypoa_ in the th degree, and _neembuco_ in the th degree of south latitude. there are also several smaller ones which are formed by the inability of the rivers to continue their course without inundating the land in the vicinity of their banks to find an outlet; these are permanent, but generally of no depth, such as _mandiha_ in ° ', _ypacary_ in ° ', and the _iberi_ between the th and th degree of south latitude. this last lake gives rise to three rivers which fall into the great parana; viz. the sta. lucia, the batela and the corrientes from its south-west extremity, and to the mirinay, which taking a south-east course falls into the uruguay. lake iberi is shallow and filled with aquatic plants, but is diversified with islands, on which feed deer and other animals; these islands are unlike the plain surrounding the lake, being in general covered with wood, and many settlements have been made on its banks, which are in beautiful situations, supplied with plenty of game, and fish, and it overflows twice a year. _titicaca_ or _chucuito_ is not only among the largest but the most remarkable lakes of la plata. it is situated between the two cordilleras of the andes, in the north-west part of los charcas, and being formed by the surrounding mountains, has no outlet, and is in some parts from to feet in depth: its circumference is about miles, containing many islands, of which titicaca the largest, is three leagues long and one wide, and is famous as having been the supposed residence of manco capac. this lake is navigable for the largest vessels, but is subject to dreadful storms owing to the tremendous gusts of wind which rush from the andes. the rivers of buenos ayres are innumerable, but the largest and the most noted is the rio de la plata, which may be termed the great channel by which the south-eastern part of america is drained. this noble stream is the conjunct flood of the _paraguay_, the _pilcomayo_, the _parana_, the _uruguay_, and a multitude of minor rivers which rise either in the andes or the mountains of brazil. it was first discovered by juan de salis in , who sailed up as far as an island in ° ' south latitude. the distance from the confluence of the parana and paraguay to the mouth of the la plata is miles; but if the length of any of the three great streams is added, the la plata will not yield in magnitude of course to the amazons or to the orinoco. the _paraguay_ is generally supposed to be the original river; this stream rises in ° south latitude in the mountains, forty leagues north of the portuguese town of cuyaba, and on the opposite side of the chain in which rises the arinos, a broad navigable river flowing into the maranon. the sources of the paraguay are very numerous, forming, soon after their issue, large rivers, and successively joining into one stream, under the name of the paraguay. in ° ' south latitude, seven leagues from villa bella, the _jauru_ flows into this river, and is noted as being the point where a fine marble pyramid is erected, which was brought from lisbon, and denotes, by several inscriptions, that this place is the boundary of brazil and spanish america. from its sources to this point the paraguay has a navigation interrupted only by one fall; and the lofty chain of mountains in which this river rises, are terminated seven leagues below the pyramid, in south latitude ° ' by a point called morro excalvado. east of this cape all is marsh; nine leagues further south, the _rio nuevo_ joins the paraguay; this river was only discovered in . in ° ' the west or spanish banks of the great river again become mountainous, and three leagues to the south of his parallel there is a deep break in the chain which forms the mouth of lake _gaiba_, which is connected with another named _uberava_; six leagues and a half below the mouth of the gaiba, and opposite the mountain bank the st. _lourenço_ or porrudos enters the paraguay from brazil. this river receives several very large ones, such as the cuyaba, the paraiba, the jaquari, and the itaquiri. the _itaquiri_ rises near the great parana in brazil, and allowing only for a short portage, canoes actually circumnavigate the country included between the parana and the paraguay. the mountains continue on the western banks under different names; on the eastern bank the river receives the _taquari_ by many estuaries, the largest of which is in ° ' south latitude, and ° degrees west longitude. five leagues lower, and on the same side, the _embotetieu_ or _mondego_, flows into the paraguay, one league below the mouth of which two high capes front each other, and here, at the foot of the mountain, on the west, is _fort nueva coimbra_, the last and southernmost portuguese settlement on the paraguay, which, after bounding the possessions of the two nations from the pyramid of jaura, becomes wholly a spanish river, after passing _bahia negra_, a large inlet eleven leagues south of coimbra. thence the river continues to south latitude °, where, on the west bank, on a hill named miguel josef, the spaniards have a station with four pieces of cannon, named _fort bourbon_, and previous to reaching this fort, the little river _guirino_ flows into it from the east. in south latitude ° ' the river forms two channels by passing an island, and the banks are here high on both sides, the interior being very mountainous. at this point the great inundations of the river which commenced at the mouth of the jaura, and have received the name of _lake los xarayes_ terminate. during the rainy season, the channel of the paraguay is here confounded with those of its tributary streams, in such a manner that it is difficult to find. the banks of the river continue high; and in ° ' south latitude, it receives a large river from the west, and twenty leagues south of this, the _corientes_ joins its streams. the _xexuy_ flows into it from the east in ° '; from thence the paraguay runs southwards for thirty-two leagues to the city of asuncion, the capital of paraguay. six leagues below asuncion, the first mouth of the great _pilcomayo_ joins the main river, its second mouth being fourteen or sixteen leagues lower. in the intermediate space on the eastern side several small rivers join, and on one of them, the _tibiquari_, at leagues south-east of asuncion is villa rica, a fine spanish town. the _rio vermelho_ enters the west bank of the paraguay in ° ' on which, in the interior, is the town of salto. the stream of the paraguay, being now augmented by the pilcomayo, proceeds with increased rapidity and volume to ° ', where the immense body of waters, (much larger than itself) of the _parana_ join it, and their united streams take the name of the _rio de la plata_, and continue their course by an immense channel to the south, forming several islands, and receiving many noble streams, till it has passed the thirty-fourth degree of south latitude, when it begins to take an easterly course, and after receiving the great _uruguay_ or _river of the missions_ above buenos ayres, it flows with a steady and majestic course, and by an immense estuary into the atlantic ocean. the cape santa maria on the north, and st. antonio on the south side of its mouth are miles distant from each other, in ° ' south latitude; but the navigation of this fine river is interrupted by banks, rocks and islands, and is rendered dangerous by violent winds, which, sweeping with great velocity over the plains, cause perfect hurricanes in the la plata. it is even said that the storms are more frequent than at sea, and it requires very little nautical knowledge to know that they must be infinitely more dangerous than on that element. the water of the ocean is fresh at a great distance from the la plata, owing to the rapidity with which that river discharges itself. the other noted streams and features of buenos ayres will be noticed in the description of the different provinces. commerce and resources. since the attachment of several of the peruvian provinces to this government, the commerce and resources of the country are greatly enlarged and altered. from being merely an agricultural state, it has now become possessed of some of the richest mines in america. the districts which supply the most considerable quantities of the precious metal are potosi, changata, porco, oruro, chucuito, la paz and carangas, and the mountains of anauca, near carabaya, and asangara, north-east of lake titicaca, were celebrated in the first years of the conquest for their gold mines. the annual produce of the mines of buenos ayres is estimated at , _l._, including those of caylloma in arequipa, which are said to be attached to the government of la plata. this produce is nearly all silver. the quantity that has annually paid the fifth being in fine gold marcs, and in fine silver , marcs, or , , piastres. its contraband trade in these metals has also been estimated at , marcs, most of which passes to europe by the rio de la plata, while in peru, by the amazons and the south sea, the same unlawful trade carries away , marcs. the trade of buenos ayres consists in these metals, and in exports of salt beef, tallow, fine furs, sea wolf-skins, wool, sheep-skins, flour, oil, copper, hides, &c.; to the interior provinces of peru it sends paraguay tea, swan skins, negro slaves, thread, &c., in exchange for sugar, cacao, cinnamon, rice, indigo, cotton, oil, pimento, wax, baize, woollen goods, quicksilver, &c. from europe la plata receives linens, woollens, silks, cottons, hats, iron, &c., and the imports may be estimated, in average years, at , _l._, whilst its exports amount, in agricultural produce, to , _l._, and in gold and silver to , , _l._, thus forming a total of , , _l._ sterling. it formerly remitted , piastres, at _s._ _d._ each, to the royal coffers: but since the late struggle its expences have been so great in maintaining the insurgent cause, that it can hardly defray them; especially since the viceroy of peru has taken possession of the richest mines for the king. _capital._--the capital of this viceroyalty is the city of buenos ayres, containing a population of sixty thousand souls, or, according to estalla, of forty thousand, of whom the greater part are creoles. this city is situated in ° ' south latitude and ° ' west longitude, on the south side of the rio de la plata, adjoining to a small river, from which the plain it is built on, gently ascends. it was founded in by don pedro de mendoza, who gave it the name of buenos ayres, on account of its fine climate, but was abandoned soon after, and not rebuilt until , after which it speedily increased and was erected into a bishopric in , and into the capital in . buenos ayres is well fortified, and its streets are straight, handsome, and clean, being paved on each side. the principal square is very large, and contains the residence of the governor, and the houses are built of brick or chalk, consisting generally of two stories, with a tiled roof. the cathedral is a spacious and elegant structure, and there is a church appropriated for the indians, with several convents, chapels, &c. the distance from cape santa maria, the entrance of the la plata, to buenos ayres, is miles: but the navigation is very dangerous, owing to rocks and shallows. in consequence of these dangers, large vessels generally come to an anchor every night in sailing up, and on the most moderate days it is necessary to be very vigilant, owing to the sudden effects of the blasts from the plains. after arriving within three leagues of the city, the cargoes are put into light vessels, and the ships go to the bay of barragan, about twenty-four miles below, to refit and wait for freights. the principal streets of this town are the calle de la santa trinidada, and the calle de san benito. the former runs almost the whole length of the city, and is occupied by the richer classes, who have also splendid villas in the country; almost every house has a garden both before and behind, and many have balconies latticed for odoriferous shrubs and flowers. the interior of the houses display great wealth, but not much cleanliness; and in summer they cover their floors with fine indian matting, and in winter with carpets. the gardens are watered by small canals, and there is generally a large basin or reservoir in each, from which water is conducted by pipes into the houses. that part of the city inhabited by the negroes and castes has a very mean appearance, and, being very dirty, presents a great contrast to the external show of the other parts. the churches are covered with cupolas and steeples, which give them a handsome look, and the town-hall is a fine building in the great square; the convents, nunneries, the hospital for men, that for women, and those for foundlings and orphans, being edifices of stone, of a beautiful whiteness, which is quarried in the plains near the city. buenos ayres is well supplied with provisions, particularly with fish and flesh; there is no place in the world where butcher's meat is better, more plentiful, or cheaper; and it is frequently distributed to the poor, as the merchants often buy the animal for the sake of the hide alone. poultry is dear, a couple of fowls costing as much as an ox. buenos ayres was taken by the british in , but retaken after six weeks by the inhabitants; the subsequent events have been already noticed. its port is the great outlet for all the produce of the interior, and, in times of war, much of the produce of peru and chili pass to europe by it, as well as vicuna wool from the andes, copper from coquimbo, gold from chili, silver from potosi, and from paraguay, the finest tobacco, sugars, cotton, yellow wax and threads. the commerce carried on with peru is chiefly returned in mules and cattle, with matté, or paraguay tea. goods are conveyed in covered waggons over the vast plains to mendoza in one month; from this place they cross the ridges of the andes on mules to santiago, a distance of eighty leagues; and thence in carts to valparaiso, a distance of thirty leagues, which occupies fifteen days more. the climate of the city of buenos ayres is hot during the summer season, and during the winter so much cold is felt that water generally freezes slightly: but if this happens often the season is reckoned very severe. the north and east winds are the most common; a north-east wind always brings heat, and a south-east cold; and these winds are generally violent, and when the westerly winds begin they blow with extreme force, and are known by the name of pamperos, from their having their origin in the great _pampas_ or plains. the atmosphere is very moist, and those rooms which have a southern aspect are always damp, as the walls to the south are covered with moss, and the roofs with long bushy grass, which grows nearly three feet high, and which requires to be cleared away occasionally to prevent its injuring the houses. during summer rains are common, and are often accompanied with dreadful thunder and lightnings. in the year , the electric fluid struck the city of buenos ayres in thirty-seven different places by which nineteen persons were killed. this city is a bishop's see, suffragan of the archbishop of charcas. a court of royal audience for the eastern provinces of buenos ayres was erected here soon after the establishment of the viceregal form of government, but at present is superseded by other regulations which the independent government have adopted. _government of los charcas, or potosi._ this government is one of the recent acquisitions of buenos ayres, and in point of mineral produce is the most valuable of its territories. it is bounded on the north by the chain or cordillera of vilcanota, which separates it from the peruvian provinces, and by countries inhabited by wandering tribes; on the east it has the mountains of arequipa, the pacific ocean and the chilian andes; on the west the governments of paraguay and buenos ayres; and on the south that of buenos ayres. its most noted districts are lampa, carabaya, ansangaro, chucuito, paucar-colla, pacajes, omasuyos, larecaja, la paz, sicasica, oruro, paria, carangas, porco, chayanta, charcas proper, pilaya, cochabamba, pomabamba, tomina, atacama, lipes, amparaes, apolabamba, santa cruz de la sierra, tarija, chiquitos, moxos and chacos, the last three being countries inhabited by independent tribes, among whom there are a few missionaries and settlements. this immense tract is covered with deserts, forests, vast plains and rivers, and its most populous parts are those which are called provincias de la sierra, and which lie on or near the andes. the inca capac yupanqui subjected these provinces to his sceptre; his son inca roca continued the conquests of his father, and greatly extended the dominions of peru on the east, till he became master of all the nations as far as the place where the city of la plata was afterwards built. after the conquest of the western parts of peru by the spaniards, they turned their attention towards reducing the remote tribes. in gonzalo pizarro marched at the head of a body of troops from cuzco, and advancing to charcas, was opposed with such spirit by the natives, that it was not till after great efforts that they were subdued; this was the commencement of the spanish colonization of la plata; and the different conquests, and the descriptions of the numerous districts of this government will be treated of in describing their chief towns. the capital of charcas is _chuquisaca_, or _la plata_, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, in a small plain surrounded with mountains. in summer the temperature of the air is very mild, nor is there any very great difference throughout the year; but in winter, which commences in september and lasts till march, rains are very frequent, and are accompanied with thunder and lightning. this town was erected into a bishopric in , and in was raised to the metropolitan dignity. it was founded by pedro anzures, in , by order of gonzalo pizarro, on the scite of the indian town of chuquisaca; which name it now generally bears, it having received its other appellation of la plata, in consequence of the number of silver mines in its vicinity. the houses are generally two stories high, and covered with tiles; they are large, convenient, and have beautiful gardens, in which grow all sorts of european fruits. the cathedral is also large and well ornamented, and there is a parish church appropriated solely for the indians, who live in the suburbs, and amount to about . besides these there are five convents, each of which has a handsome church, two nunneries, an university, and two colleges. the greatest evil attending the situation of this city is the want of water, which is only scantily supplied by the public fountains, dispersed in different places. chuquisaca is famous as being the seat of the royal audience of los charcas, which is the supreme court of buenos ayres, and has the viceroy for its president; it was erected in . the magistracy of this city are chosen from among the first nobility, and consist of a corregidor, regidores, and alcaldes, who govern the district attached to the town, which includes a very large space around it, and contains, amongst others, the celebrated city and mines of potosi. the inhabitants of la plata are computed at , . in the district surrounding the capital, and which is called charcas, are several rivers, which form from their united streams the pilcomayo. the names of these rivers are the _tarapaya_, that runs from _porco_; the _potosi_, which is employed in washing the ores in the mines of that name; and the _cachimayo_, which passes near la plata; after the junction of this last, the united stream flows through the districts of pilaya, paspaya, and tomina, from whence it enters chaco, and runs leagues as far as the llanos de manso, after which its channel is through thick forests to the south-east, and it enters the paraguay, south of the city of asuncion, in between ° ' and ° ' south latitude, by two mouths, after a course of miles. its banks are inhabited by independent nations, who are so warlike, that the jesuits in vain sought for a passage by this stream, from peru to paraguay. the city of _potosi_, included in this jurisdiction, is in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, east-south-east of lima in peru, in a country inclosed by the mountainous district of porco; the climate is cold, and the environs very barren, the valleys being destitute of wood, the sides of the hills covered only with moss, and their summits capped with eternal snows. a few vicunas are now and then seen grazing in this elevated and desolate region, which would never have been frequented by man, had it not happened, that diego hualca, an indian peasant, was pursuing some wild goats, and arriving at a very steep place, laid hold of a small shrub to prevent himself from falling, but the shrub being unable to support his weight, was torn up by the roots, and disclosed to the astonished hunter, a rich mass of silver, lumps of which adhered to the earth, that came away with the plant. the indian who lived at porco, made use of this inexhaustible fund of riches for a length of time, but his good fortune could not remain long concealed, as his friend guanca, observing a considerable change in his manner of living, became anxious to investigate the cause, and pressing hualca constantly to know the reason, he at last disclosed the mystery. they however kept their secret for some time, till hualca, refusing to show his friend the manner of purifying the metal, the latter related the whole affair to villaroel, his master, who also resided at porco. villaroel accordingly proceeded to the vein, on the st of april , and procuring the necessary assistance, the mine was immediately opened. the city of potosi was founded in a narrow glen, on the river of the same name, on the south side of the mountain which contains the mines, in the year . a royal mint was established in , and so rapidly did its population increase, that in , the town contained , inhabitants, but from various causes, the population of this city since that time has continually decreased, and at present it consists only of about , souls. potosi has a mint, six convents, two nunneries, a college and an hospital; and its inhabitants are still chiefly concerned in the working of the mines, and consist of whites, mestizoes, and indians, for the latter of whom there are six curates and chapels in the city and its district. the city of potosi is miles west-south-west of la plata. the celebrated mines of potosi are in the same mountain on which the city is built. this mountain is three miles in circumference, and is of a sharp conical figure, rising to the height of feet above the plain, and is known by the name of _hatun potocsi_; its summit is crowned by a bed of porphyry, which gives it the well defined conical form it possesses. this famous mine has caused the destruction of thousands of human beings, for in the latter end of the th century, , indians were constantly forced to work in it; but at present, there are not more than miners, who are well paid, and usually work from choice alone; , llamas and , asses, are constantly employed in carrying the ore to the amalgamation works in the city. the mint of potosi coined in , , piastres of gold, and , , of silver, or , _l._ sterling. from the discovery of these mines, till the year , they have supplied , , , piastres, or , , _l._ sterling, which has paid the royal duties; and this also only includes silver, consequently the gold and smuggled metals must have swelled the total furnished by the works to a much greater amount. at present, the minerals are poor, and their abundance only causes the spaniards to work them; but according to helms, if they were properly managed, they would still produce from twenty to thirty millions of dollars yearly. the mountain is perforated by about rude shafts; and the numerous furnaces which surround it, form at night a very singular spectacle. potosi is distant from its metropolis, buenos ayres, miles across a road, which for miles, lies over a rocky mountainous country, very difficult to pass. the annual produce of this mountain at present, is not more than five or , marcs of silver (each marc being two-thirds of a pound). the richest shafts or workings are in the north-side of the mountain, and are named, _la descubridora_, _del estaño_, _la rica_, and _la mendieta_, their direction running south. other causes occasionally conspire to render the vicinity of these mines more populous than the mere riches they contain; as some hot medicinal baths are found here, called don diego, to which many people from the neighbouring towns resort; there is also a great concourse of peasants and merchants to the city, to supply it with provisions, &c., with which articles the district around it is totally unprovided. the district of tomina begins about eighteen leagues south-east of la plata, and borders eastward on the _chiriguanos_, a nation of independent indians; it is twenty-four leagues in length from north to south, and seventy in circumference, containing a mountainous country, in the valleys of which there are some sugar plantations, and in its higher parts, it feeds large and small cattle and horses. the climate is in general hot, and in some of the valleys excessively so. the rivers which water tomina are small and unite into one stream, named _el dorado_, and it is separated from santa cruz de la sierra, by the _rio grande_, which joins the mamore. there are some small lakes in this province, two of which are in a district, named mayocaya. in this province, the inhabitants who are mostly indians, amount to , , and the town of the same name, is fifty-five miles east of la plata, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, but is inconsiderable; the vicinity of the warlike indians, rendering the province an insecure place of abode. the town of _porco_ or _talavera de la puna_, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, is the capital of the province of porco, which commences on the west side of the town of potosi, and extends twenty leagues. the coldness of its situation, amid the high ridges of the andes, occasions a scarcity of fruits and grain; but it abounds with fine cattle, and the mountain of porco in this province is celebrated, as having been the place from whence the incas of peru drew the greater part of their silver, and was the first mine worked by the spaniards after the conquest; the district still producing great quantities of that metal, particularly at _tomahave_, and the mines of the porco mountain, which are twenty-three leagues from chuquisaca. the inhabitants amount to , . thirty leagues south of la plata, lies the province of chichas y tarija; it is a very fertile territory, and produces wheat, maize, oil, wine and fruits; it also contains excellent pastures, abounds in cattle, and has several gold and silver mines. the river _tipuanis_, which flows on its eastern side, carries much gold in its sand, which the natives employ themselves in collecting. the greatest extent of this province is thirty-five leagues, and the eastern parts are only separated from the independent tribes, by the above mentioned river. its chief town is _san bernardo de tarija_, which was founded by don francisco de toledo, to repel the incursions of the warlike indians, and to defend the high road to tucuman, in . it has four convents and a college, formerly belonging to the jesuits; in one of its convents, a cross is adored, which it is pretended, was found by the conquerors of peru in a cave in this country; and that it was made by one of the apostles, who had preached the gospel to the peruvians. joining tarija, and on the south-west, is the province of lipes which extends leagues. its capital of the same name is miles south-south-west of potosi, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude. the climate of this country is excessively cold, and its chief commerce consists in the produce of its mines, of which it possesses two of gold, one of silver, and one of copper. the silver mine of _st. christoval de acochala_ was formerly the most valuable in peru, but at present is not worked owing to the want of hands. lipes abounds in cattle, and with vicunas, alpacas and llamas, the high chain of the andes pervading this province. amparaes or yamparaes is a district to the east of la plata, and bounds the province of santa cruz de la sierra. its productions are chiefly grain in its warm plains, and cattle on its high lands and cold districts. oruro, or _san felipe de oruro_, is a city thirty leagues north-west of la plata, and capital of a jurisdiction or province of the same name. the greater part of this country lying on the andes is exceedingly cold and barren, producing only herbage for the pasture of cattle and sheep, with numerous herds of peruvian camels. it contains many gold and silver mines which were formerly very famous, but most of them have been abandoned, though the mountains of _popo_ still yield much silver. the capital has five convents, and four churches, and is a populous place, with a revenue office for collecting the duties on the metals. pilaya y paspaya, or cinti, is a province lying forty leagues south of la plata and bounded on the north by tomina and pomabamba, on the east by the chiriguanos indians, and on the west and south by porco and chichas. its length is about thirty leagues and its width forty, and this province is intersected in all directions, by the cordillera, among whose breaches and valleys its inhabitants are settled. they are dispersed in different estates, and amount to , . the climate in the valleys is moderately hot, and the soil very productive. the grapes of this district are made into wine and brandies, which are much esteemed in the neighbouring provinces, and the river _san juan_ which rises in lipes, pervades this country. the _toropalca_ and the _cinti_ also fertilise the valleys through which they run, and the _supas_ and _agchilla_ form, by their united streams, the _paspaya_ which divides the province from pomabamba, and runs into the pilcomayo. the towns of pilaya and paspaya were destroyed by the incursions of the indians from the east, so that the corregidor resides on an estate in the fertile valley of cinti; but there are some abundant lead mines in the settlement of pototaca. the province of chayantas begins fifty leagues north-west of la plata, extending for about forty leagues. this district is famous for its silver mines, of which it contains three, with one of copper, one of tin, and two of lead; and the _rio grande_ which flows through it deposits auriferous particles in its bed. the cattle in this province are barely sufficient to feed the inhabitants, who are not numerous. adjoining to chayantas is the province of paria, which is bounded by that of pacajes on the north, on the north-east, by oruro, east and south-east by porco, south-west by lipes, and west by caranjas. it contains several silver mines, and, lying among the mountains, is of a cold temperature. there are also some salt mines in it, and a small lake from which that article is extracted. a rapid river rising in lake chucuito, runs through this province, and is called the _desaguadero_, or drain, forming a lake four leagues long and two wide. the river ends in this basin, which has given rise to various conjectures concerning the manner in which the water finds a vent, as the lake is always of the same level; but in one part of it is a whirlpool which sucks down any rafts that get within its vortex. in the year this singular lake rose to a great height. the inhabitants of paria amount to , , and employ themselves in farming; and the cheeses of this district are much sought after. its capital of the same name is miles north-west of la plata, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude. the province of caranjas commences leagues west of la plata, and extends above leagues on the west bank of lake paria. the andes pervading this district, the climate is very cold, and it produces no grain, but has abundant pastures for cattle, vicunas, &c. there are also many silver mines, two of which are very productive, and one of copper is worked. a singular silver ore is found in the mines of turco, which consists of beautiful fibres, penetrating the mass of stone in which they are contained. in the sandy desert parts of caranjas that extend towards the pacific are discovered lumps of native silver, which are called papas, or potatoes, because they are dug out of the ground like that root. these lumps have the appearance of melted silver, and many of them have been found weighing as much as marcs, and more than a foot in length. the capital of this province, which is not populous, is a small town of the same name, on a rivulet which flows into the southern extremity of lake paria. the city of _oropesa_ is the capital of a province named cochabamba, of about leagues in extent, which is bounded by sicasica on the north-west, la paz on the west, chayantas on the south, and charcas, or la plata, and santa cruz de la sierra on the east, and lying leagues south-east of plata. it possesses one gold mine, and several of silver, but they are not productive. the chief wealth of this province is in its agricultural produce, as it is fertilized by so many rivers and streams, that it yields immense harvests of grain, &c. from this circumstance it has obtained the appellation of the granary of peru. the climate is in general mild and healthful. the _rio grande_ is its principal river, which rises in the andes, west of the district of sicasica. _oropesa_, the capital, is a very considerable place; it is seated on a small river, which is one of the streams of the rio grande, in a beautiful and fertile valley; and the chief occupation of its inhabitants, consists in supplying the neighbouring provinces with fruits and grain. it is miles north-west of la plata, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude. the province of sicasica is a very extensive tract, of nearly a hundred leagues in length, and contains some silver mines, two of which are worked. the far greater part of this district lies among the mountains, and it has cochabamba to its west, oruro to the south, paria to the east, and la paz to the north. those parts which consist of plains or valleys, are extremely hot, and produce great quantities of coca or betel, with which the neighbouring provinces are supplied. the mountains feed large herds of cattle, and flocks of vicunas, guanucos, &c.; and, the capital is _sicasica_, miles north-north-west of oruro. pomabamba is a province bounded on the north by tomina; east by the lands of the independent tribes; west by porco and amparaes, and south by pilaya y paspaya. it is about leagues in length, and has no other town than its capital, the inhabitants being dispersed in their plantations. its population is only souls, who gain a scanty subsistence from their farms, which are often plundered by the chiriguanos indians. it has the river _parapeti_ on the north, and the _rio nuevo_ on the east, which separates it from the indian territories. the capital of the same name is on the shore of the parapeti, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, nine miles east of la plata. the province of la paz lies north of sicasica, and consists only of a small district round the city of the same name, in the vicinity of the western cordillera of the andes. the produce of this country is barley, coca or betel, and papas. it is chiefly noted for the city of _la paz_, or _chuquiavo_, or _pueblo nuevo_, which was first founded by mayta capac, the fourth inca, who subdued this country; but the spaniards thinking this an advantageous place, as a post between arequipa and la plata, built the city under the presidency of pedro de la gasca, who ordered alonzo de mendoza to place it midway between cuzco and charcas, and to call it _neustra senora de la paz_, in memory of the public tranquillity being settled by the defeat of gonzalo pizarro and his adherents. accordingly a valley in the country, called las pacasas, was pitched upon, in which the city was begun, on the th of october , the place abounding in cattle, grain, &c. this city is in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, and miles east-south-east of arequipa; south-east of cuzco; south-east of lima; and west of santa cruz de la sierra, on a fine river, which flows through the valley. the adjacent cordillera, which is only leagues distant, is very high, and one of its summits, called _illimani_, is covered with perpetual snow, which exposes the district to so cold a climate, that hard frosts, storms of hail, &c., are not uncommon. but the city is not subject to these, enjoying a salubrious air, and considerable heat. the unequal ground on which la paz is seated, the snow-clad mountains, the fertile valleys and the fine river give peculiar charms to its scenery. the inhabitants in the district around the city are mostly confined to the valley, as the higher grounds are covered with forests which afford shelter to bears, jaguars, pumas, &c. they find some gold in the river, when it is increased by the melting of the snow, which forces large masses of rock from the mountain of illimani. in , an indian discovered in this stream a lump of gold of such size, that it was bought for , piastres, and sent to the king. la paz has a fine cathedral and four churches, four convents, a college, three nunneries, and an hospital, and contains , inhabitants, who are chiefly engaged in trading in paraguay tea. a late traveller represents it to be an elegant and clean place. it is a bishop's see, whose revenues are very considerable. this city had formerly the five following provinces or districts under its jurisdiction, and its bishop still holds ecclesiastical sway over them; _viz._ omasuyos, pacages, laricaxas, chucuito and paucarcolla. the district of omasuyos begins at the gates of la paz, and extends leagues, being bounded on the west by lake chucuito or titicaca. its climate is very cold, so that it produces little corn; but its pastures feed a great number of cattle; and it has four gold mines. it is chiefly inhabited by indians. near the borders of this province is the town or village of _tiahanuaco_, in which are colossal pyramids and gigantic figures cut out of stone; and these, though much injured by the weather, are highly singular, and are conjectured to have existed before the times of the peruvian incas. this place is thirty-six miles north-west of la paz, in south latitude ° ' and very near the south-east coast of lake titicaca. unfortunately no traveller has given a detailed account of these images, which are supposed to be the most ancient and singular in america. pacajes is bounded on the north by chucuito and the great lake; north-east, by omasuyos; east, by la paz and sicasica; south, by oruro, paria and carangas, and south-west and west, by the peruvian province of arica, which is separated from it by the lofty chain of the andes. its length from the bridge over the river desaguadaro, which divides it from chucuito to the province of paria, is fifty-six leagues, and its greatest width forty. from the neighbourhood of the andes, its climate is cold, and its soil not very productive. its inhabitants are dispersed in small settlements, and consist chiefly of indians, who are employed in tending cattle and sheep, with which it abounds. there were formerly several mines of silver and emeralds, but they are not worked at present. a mine of talc supplies the whole of peru with plates of that substance to serve instead of window glass for the churches and houses. including tiahanuaco, there are fifteen settlements in pacajes, which has a capital of the same name, eighty miles south-west of la paz, in a variable climate, and whose chief commerce consists in the sale of cattle to the neighbouring towns. laricaxas, north of la paz, is a district which extends miles from east to west, and from north to south; it bounds that of carabaya on the north, and most of its products are the same as those in that province. it contains many gold mines, the metal found in which is of a superior fineness, and four of these mines are in work. the mountain of _sunchuli_ in this province is celebrated as having been the situation of a gold mine which was discovered in , and was worked with immense profit till , when it was inundated by a spring which suddenly burst in it, and all attempts to get the water under have since proved in vain. chucuito commences twenty leagues west of la paz, and borders the western shore of lake titicaca. the extent of this province from north to south is about twenty-eight leagues, its climate, from the high mountains of which it is composed, is cold, and its chief trade consists in the cattle which are pastured in its elevated plains. the andes in this province contain many veins of silver, but none of them are worked at present, and the great lake _chucuito_ takes its name from this district; it is supplied with water from ten or twelve large rivers, and has no other outlet than by the desaguadero, which flows from it into lake paria, and is there lost. it abounds with fish, though its waters are bitter and brackish, and numbers of geese and other wild fowl frequent its shores, which are covered with strong flags or rushes of which the bridges in the country are constructed. it contains many islands, one of which, titicaca, was formerly a mountain, but was levelled by the incas. this island gave the lake one of its names, titicaca signifying leaden mountain; and manco capac having first appeared here, the succeeding incas raised a temple of the sun in memory of the event. this temple was one of the most splendid in the empire, and contained the greatest riches, owing to the obligation which all the peruvians were under of visiting it, and depositing an offering on the shrine. on the conquest of the country by the spaniards it is said all these riches, and even the walls of the temple itself, were thrown into the lake. towards the south part of the lake the banks approach each other, and form a bay, which terminates in the rio desaguadero, or the drain, and over this river is a bridge of rushes, invented by capac yupanqui, the fifth inca, in order to transport his army across the stream, which is between eighty and one hundred yards in breadth, flowing with an impetuous under current, though its surface is smooth. the inca caused four large cables to be made of the long grass which grows on the high paramos or deserts of the andes, two of these were stretched across the stream, bundles of dry rushes or flags from the borders of the lake were laid across them, and fastened together; on these the other two cables were laid, and they were again covered with other bundles of flags, smaller than the first and firmly fastened together in such a manner as to form a level surface, and over this marched the peruvian army to the conquest of charcas. this bridge, which is five yards broad, and one and a half above the river, is repaired or rebuilt, as circumstances require, every six months, in pursuance of a law made by the incas, and followed up by the spanish government, on account of its great utility. the island titicaca contains several settlements, and, among others, that of _copacavana_, celebrated for its sanctuary of nuestra senora de copacavana. the island produces fruits, flowers and vegetables, pastures much cattle, and in its woods are found wild rabbits and pigeons. the indians navigate this lake on balsas or rafts, supported by inflated skins, and carry on by this means a considerable commerce with the towns on the banks. _chucuito_, a small town on the banks of the lake, is the capital of this province, which contains, as do the shores in general, many settlements, villages and towns. paucarcolla, the last of the old provinces of la paz, is bounded on the north-east by the lake; east by the same and chucuito; north by lampa; west by moquehua in peru; and south by pacajes and arica, also in peru. it is eighty-six leagues long, and twenty-eight broad, and is watered by several streams flowing into the lake, of which the _rio suches_ and the _taraco_ are the largest. the climate is generally cold, and in the parts bordering on lake titicaca are cultivated peruvian bark, papas, barley, &c. the chief occupation of the inhabitants consists in breeding cattle, sheep, pigs and llamas, and there are many vicunas, deer, partridges and lake fowl, which are caught or killed by the natives; the lake also supplies fish, and by means of it the indians carry dressed hides, thread, &c., and take in exchange wines, brandies and other commodities from the adjacent districts. they fabricate their clothing and other articles from the wool of the peruvian camel, and carry on a considerable traffic in that article. the capital was formerly the present settlement of the same name, but it was transferred to that of huancane, till the discovery of the mines of laicacota, when that large village became the chief town; since that time it has again changed, and is now seated at _puna_, from whence the whole province is sometimes called. _cancharani_ and _san josef_, two mountains in this district, contain rich veins of silver, which have been worked with great effect; on the north of these is the mountain _del azogue_, or of quicksilver, which was formerly worked to such advantage that it exceeded the produce of the celebrated mines at guancavelica: but the government suspended the operations at this place from some political motives. the furnaces in the mines of this province are supplied by the natives, who breed cattle, with cow-dung, to serve as fuel, which is used instead of wood, on account of the scarcity of that article, and proves a good substitute. the inhabitants of this province amount to more than , souls, dispersed in fifteen settlements and towns. _paucarcolla_, the old capital, is situated on the banks of lake titicaca, and inhabited by a few spanish families. the inca yupanqui, third emperor of peru, added this place to his territories, the natives submitting voluntarily. _puna_, the present capital, stands on the shores of the lake in ° ' south latitude, ° ' west longitude, and is a rich and populous place, containing many illustrious families, with a beautiful church for the whites, and another for the indians. the mines in the neighbourhood of this town were among the richest in peru, but were abandoned on the death of their owner, who built the spanish church. it is, however, said, that the rich mines of _salcedo_ or _laycacota_ are again in work. puna is fourteen miles north-west of chucuito. the remaining districts towards the peruvian frontier, and which were under the jurisdiction of the audience of cuzco, until the formation of the new kingdom of buenos ayres, are asangaro, carabaya and lampa. asangaro or asangaro y asila, is bounded on the north-east and east, by carabaya, south-east and south by laricaxa, south-west by paucarcolla and lake chucuito, and west and north-west by lampa. it is sixty miles in length and as many in breadth, containing about inhabitants. as it lies almost entirely on the andes, which are here very high, its climate is cold, and the soil produces little else than grass to pasture the cattle, in which its trade consists. papas, quinoas, and canaguas, grow plentifully in its plains; of the two last, the natives make an intoxicating liquor common in peru, called chica, which is nearly the same as the spirit procured in mexico from maize; and chica is also the principal beverage of the indians inhabiting the andes. the chief towns of the same name are mere villages, but near _asila_ is a lead mine, which has been very productively worked; and in the parts of this province bordering on carabaya, there are several silver mines, three of which are worked. carabaya is bounded on the north by the peruvian frontier, east by the country of the independent indians, and west and south by asangara. the extreme parts of this province are sixty leagues from cuzco, and its greatest extent is more than fifty leagues; but lying in a mountainous region, its climate is generally cold, though some of its valleys enjoy heat enough to mature the coca or betel; and it abounds in grain, vegetables, and rich pastures, which feed numerous herds of cattle. carabaya contains silver and gold mines in great numbers, one of the former and two of the latter being in work. the river which separates it from the indian countries, contains much gold in its sand; and the indians of peru are said to come down in companies to this river, in order to collect sufficient metal to pay the capitation tax. in the village of _poto_ is an office for collecting the royal duties on the mines, and the most famous lavaderos or washing places, are _san juan del oro_, _pablo coya_, and _monte de anauca_, two leagues from poto. the greatest gold mine is that of aporama; the metal being twenty-three carats fine. _carabaya_, or _san juan del oro_, is the capital of this province, miles south-east of cuzco, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude. lampa is bounded on the north and west by the peruvian frontier, and on the south and east by chucuito and asangaro. it lies on the ridge named the chain of vilcanota, which separates buenos ayres from peru; and its climate, though generally cold, is healthy. it carries on a considerable trade in cattle; and its silver mines are very numerous, but only two are worked to advantage. the capital is a town of the same name, ninety miles south of cuzco; in the vicinity of which are the richest mines of the province. this town is in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude. _pucara_, a village in this province, is remarkable as containing the ruins of a fort built by the peruvians, having two large stone reservoirs within it; some of the stones of which are three yards long and two broad, and not far from this fort is a fountain of warm water. having now described the northern and andean districts or provinces of charcas or la plata, we must turn to those which lie on the coast of the pacific, on the east, and those towards paraguay on the west. the viceroyalty of buenos ayres enjoys the advantage of possessing a province on the shores of the great southern ocean, which, though at present nearly desert, may one day become of great importance. this province named atacama, is bounded on the north by arica in peru, on the west by the pacific or south sea, on the north-east by lipes, south-east by the government of tucuman, and south by copiapo, in the kingdom of chili. it is divided into high and low atacama, and is of great extent, some parts of it being very fruitful, but intermixed with deserts, particularly towards the south, where there is an immense tract of untenanted land, which divides la plata from chili. the sea-coast of this province, is noted for the numerous fisheries established on it, and which supply a large fish, called tolo, that forms the chief food of the inland districts of la plata during lent. the inhabitants of atacama are chiefly indians, those who live in the settlements, amounting only to . its chief town is _atacama_, in a barren plain, surrounded by the lofty summits of the cordillera, which are uninhabited, owing to the intense cold. this town is a small place, miles from the south sea, and leagues from la plata, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude. crossing towards the east from this western boundary of buenos ayres, we find the provinces of apolabamba, santa cruz de la sierra, chiquitos, moxos and chacos. apolabamba is bounded on the east by the province of moxos, and on the west by carabaya, commencing about sixty leagues from cuzco in peru, and extending eighty leagues from south-west to north-east. the country is mountainous, and intersected with rocks and precipices, consequently the roads are very rugged and difficult. the principal cultivation consists in rice, maize, plantains, &c., which are the common food of the inhabitants. in the plains or valleys, some cacao and cotton are raised, but more grows wild than in plantations, and the forests are numerous and filled with wild beasts and monkeys of every kind. the people carry their produce to la paz, where they procure what is necessary for their comforts. apolabamba is a newly planted colony, and consists mostly of settlements of indians, who have been converted by the franciscan missionaries. seven villages are in a flourishing condition, and in order to defend these from the incursions of the surrounding tribes, the inhabitants are formed into a militia, governed by a spanish officer. santa cruz de la sierra is a very large province including several districts; it is, as its name indicates, a mountainous country, and little inhabited by spaniards, the chief places being the missions, which were first planted by the jesuits. it borders on, or rather contains in its government, the countries of the chiquitos, guaranis, and other tribes, among whom a few missions are settled. its climate is warm, and the chief trade of its settlers consists in honey and wax. the capital is _santa cruz de la sierra_, eighty or ninety leagues east from la plata. it was originally built farther to the south near the cordillera of the chiriguanos and was founded in by de chaves; but the city having been destroyed, it was rebuilt on its present scite: it is however a place of little importance, though erected into a bishopric in , the chapter consisting only of the bishop, dean, and archdeacon. the usual residence of the bishop is at _mizque pocona_, which is the chief town of a large district of the same name. this latter city, which is miles south-south-west from santa cruz, is a small place in a valley about eight leagues in circumference, producing all kinds of grain and fruits, and in a warm climate; the woods and mountains affording large quantities of honey and wax, which constitutes a principal branch of the trade of the place. there is also a lake two leagues in extent near this town, and the district of mizque is the most populous part of the province. the _rio grande de la plata_ is the finest river of santa cruz; it rises in some small lakes on the south, and running through the province into that of moxos, enters the piray by a broad mouth, and forms a good port at pailas, north of the capital. the province of chiquitos lies to the north and east of santa cruz de la sierra, and embraces an immense extent of territory, which reaches to the brazilian frontier on the paraguay. it was first colonized by the jesuits who began their missionary establishments in this country towards the close of the seventeenth century, and their success was so great that in they had seven settlements, each containing more than families. the indians who inhabit chiquitos are small-sized, active and brave, and have always resisted the endeavours of the portuguese to carry off members of their community to slavery; many of them live peaceably in the missions, but others lead a wandering life amid the mountains and plains of their native land. the forests in this country produce the cinchona, or jesuit's bark, and many other useful substances; and the great inundation of the paraguay, called _lake xarayes_, extends through the western parts of this province, which is also celebrated for containing the third great branch of the andes, that leaves the main body between ° and ° of south latitude, and crossing the provinces of the sierra sweeps round chiquitos, between ° and °, stretching from la paz, potosi and tucuman, through moxos, chiquitos and chaco, towards the government of the mines, and of st. pablo in brazil. the highest summits of this chain appear to be between ° and ° of south latitude, giving rise to many rivers which flow either into the la plata or the maranon. _san josef de chiquitos_, the chief settlement of this province, is thirty-six miles north-west of santa cruz; and south of the chiquitos indians, are another tribe, named the _chiriguanos_, whom the missionaries have in vain attempted to convert; they are the terror of the western provinces of buenos ayres, and are continually at war with the chiquitos. in their country flows the river _parapiti_, which rising near cochabamba in ° south latitude, is first called _conderillo_, and receiving smaller rivers, assumes the name of _parapiti_, and passing through a large lake it turns to the north; having pursued hitherto a south-east course into this lake, which is in ° ' south latitude. it is now called _st. miguel_, and still running north assumes the name of _sara_, and being joined by the united streams of the piray and plata, as well as several others from the province of santa cruz, it becomes a broad river, and in ° south latitude, is called the _mamore_, till ° south latitude, when it leaves peru or la plata, and entering the portuguese territories becomes the _madera_, continuing under that name to south latitude, ° ', and ° ' west longitude, when it discharges its immense stream into the maranon, after a course of miles. moxos or mojos is an extensive territory bounded by the portuguese government of matto grosso on the east, cuzco and the peruvian provinces on the west, and chiquitos and santa cruz on the south. it extends on each side of the mamore, and is chiefly inhabited by warlike and wandering tribes of indians, who forbid access to its interior. this country contains the lake _rogagualo_, a large body of water of an oval figure, formed by an arm of the _rio beni_, which rises near la paz on the west side of the andes, in ° south latitude, and flowing north, enters the ucayale, their united streams joining the apurimac. the banks of the beni have many settlements of the missionaries. this lake empties itself into the mamore by a channel called _de la exaltacion_, thus forming an immense island of the country lying between the maranon on the north, the madera and mamore on the east, and the beni and ucayale on the west. from lake rogagualo three other rivers take their rise and flow into the amazons on the north; _viz._ the _jutay_, the _juruay_ and the _puros_. there are several missionary villages in the province of moxos: but the country is still under the power of the aborigines. chacos is another large territory, bounded by chiquitos on the north; paraguay on the east; the great plains of manos on the south; and tucuman and tarija on the west. it is of immense extent, and chiefly inhabited by tribes of wandering indians, having on its east the great chain of mountains on the banks of the paraguay, and contains the great _rio pilcomayo_, which flows into the paraguay near asuncion. the jesuits made several attempts to colonise chaco, but did not succeed, and little is known concerning its products or features. the adjoining government to los charcas, which has now been described as fully as the nature of the work would admit, is,-- _the government of paraguay._ paraguay is a very extensive government of buenos ayres, which is bounded by chiquitos, chacos, and tucuman on the north-west and west; on the north it extends to lake xarayes; north-east and east it bounds the portuguese territories; and south-east and south it is limited by the parana, which separates it from the missions of guayra in buenos ayres, its jurisdiction ending in the south of the city of asuncion, in ° ' south latitude, and it is divided from tucuman, or the llanos de manso, by the river paraguay. history, discovery, &c. the history of this province commences with its discovery by sebastian cabot, in , who sailed up the parana. this navigator was the son of a venetian pilot, who was much employed in england, and by some accounts is said to have been born at bristol, in , and having been brought up to the same profession, went with his father, john cabot, to the discovery of newfoundland, and from thence to florida. they had the honour of being the first navigators who saw the continent of america, columbus not having discovered it till a year afterwards. sebastian, after this voyage, made another to hispaniola and puerto rico, in the service of henry vii. of england, and reached the coast of brazil, but was hindered from exploring it by the timidity of his coadjutor sir thomas pert. owing to some opposition on his return to england, he went to spain, and offered his service to the king; his request was graciously attended to, and on account of his great skill, he was appointed pilot-major of the kingdom, an office of great honour in those days. in , the spanish merchants entered into a treaty with cabot, to command an expedition to the moluccas, which was to pass through the newly-discovered streights of magalhaens. he undertook this voyage, and proceeded to the coast of brazil, coasting it southward from the bay of todos los santos, till he arrived at the river la plata, where he landed three of his chief officers, who had mutinied, on a desert island, and being unable, from want of provisions and the bad behaviour of his crew, to proceed farther to the south, he sailed thirty leagues up the river, and discovered an island, which he called _san gabriel_; three leagues higher up he saw a large river, and named it _san salvador_; here he landed his people, and built a fort, from which advancing in his boats he discovered another river, thirty leagues distant, called _zarcacana_ by the natives, on the banks of which he constructed another fort, and named it _santi spiritûs_. he afterwards explored the river parana, and sailing up it entered the paraguay, where he found the natives tilling the ground. these people opposed his landing and in a skirmish with them he lost twenty-five men who were killed and three who were taken prisoners. cabot wintered, however, in this country, and was joined by another adventurer, jayme garcia, who had been sent from europe to explore the river, and returning together to the fort _santi spiritûs_, they dispatched a vessel with an account of their discoveries to spain. so long were the ministry in sending the necessary supplies to cabot, that, tired of waiting, he returned to spain, after an absence of five years, in the year : but not being well received at court, he continued a few years in the spanish service, and returned to england in the latter end of the reign of henry viii. in the following reign he was made grand pilot of england, with a pension of _l._ _s._ _d._ per annum; a sum in those times equal to _l._ at present. during the reign of edward, and that of philip and mary, many privileges were granted to cabot; he was made governor of the russian company, and had the management of the expedition which sailed under sir hugh willoughby to the north seas. the variation of the compass was first observed by this celebrated man, though ferdinand columbus in the life of his father, printed at venice, in italian, in , asserts, that the admiral first noticed it on the th of september . cabot published a large map of his discoveries in north america, which was hung up in the gallery at whitehall. he also wrote an account of his voyage in the north american seas, in italian, which was printed at venice in in one volume folio; and is very scarce. juan de ayolas followed up the discoveries of cabot in paraguay, having had a commission, troops, and stores given him, in , for that purpose, by don pedro de mendoza, the first governor of buenos ayres. by the orders of ayolas, juan de salinas founded the city of asuncion, but the conquest of the natives being attended with much difficulty, and ayolas and his party having been murdered by them, alvar nuñez cabeza de vaca, the second governor of buenos ayres, undertook their subjugation in person. he had arrived with men to take the chief command, in case of the death of ayolas, and finding that this event had happened, he collected all the settlers in buenos ayres, and detaching irala, who had acted as governor before his arrival, into the interior, with ninety men, to report on the state of the country, was so satisfied with what he had seen, that he set out with spaniards, and guarani indians, and entered paraguay; but meeting with reverses, owing to the mutinous conduct of his troops, who were corrupted by irala, he was forced to return, when he was deposed and sent to spain; irala then assumed the chief command, and by his conduct soon reduced the natives, and rendered the spanish settlements secure. the indians were parcelled out to the conquerors, and in , the city of asuncion was erected into a bishopric. much cruelty was practised towards the unfortunate natives, till the arrival of the first bishop of paraguay, in , who brought with him laws and regulations for their protection; but however wise and humane these ordinances were, they did not totally restrain the colonists from ill using their vassals; and it being found that paraguay and the territories then discovered, were not sufficient to supply indians enough to work in the plantations, parana or guayra was conquered, and the city of ciudad real being founded, , of the natives were reduced to slavery; and in a few years after, the spanish power was extended over chiquitos, on the left of paraguay, where , of the natives were compelled to labour for the profit of their employers. the year was a new era for the aborigines, as in that epoch the jesuits made their appearance in paraguay, and taking a method directly contrary to that of the conquerors, they reduced the natives by the arts of persuasion alone. they showed them how industry would conduce to their comfort; and having, by an uniform course of mildness and conciliation, reclaimed them from their native woods and wandering way of life, they settled them in towns and villages, which soon increased and flourished under their guidance. the number of these settlements was astonishing, and so completely had these priests gained the affections of the natives, that their government and power was absolute and unlimited. the principal missions of the jesuits, or rather the jesuit government, was not however in paraguay, but in uruguay, an immense district of buenos ayres, on the south of the parana; and in describing that country, some further account of their possessions will be given. their order being expelled from the spanish dominions, in , the countries they possessed in south america were divided into governments, and priests of other orders were appointed to take charge of the ecclesiastical affairs. _climate, productions, features, &c._--the climate of paraguay is in general moist and temperate, though in some parts it is cold, and white frosts are common in those places in july and august. the temperate parts abound with all kinds of grain, beans, pease, melons, cucumbers, and european vegetables; asparagus is found wild, and there is a remarkably fine sort of vine, of which good and healthy wine is made, magueys, sugar-cane, maize, from which the indians make their favourite drink; potatoes, a fruit resembling the almond, which produces an excellent oil; the european fruits; tobacco, and cinchona, or jesuit's bark, sarsaparilla, rhubarb, jalap, sassafras, guiacum, dragon's blood, cupay, whose oil is used in medicine, nux vomica, vanilla, cacao, the timbabi, supplying a fine yellow gum, which is run into moulds, and formed into beads, necklaces, crosses, &c. cedar, the curi or pine, from whose red knots, which contain a varnish, the indians make images; the algarrobo, or carob tree, which is converted into bread, and the paraguay tea or matté, a plant which rises about a foot and a half high, with slender branches, and leaves something like those of senna; of this there are two kinds, one called paraguay, the other caamina, or yervacamini, which last sells for one-third more than the other. so useful is this western tea, that the mines would stand still, if the owners were to neglect to supply the workmen with it; and every person in peru, chili, and buenos ayres, consider themselves wretched, if not able to procure it; two millions of piastres worth of this herb, being sold from the province of paraguay every year. it is infused and made nearly in the same way as chinese tea, excepting that the branches are put in with the leaves, and that it is drank out of the vessel it is made in, through a silver or glass pipe, as soon as possible; as if it stays too long, it is supposed not to be good. the smell, and colour of this drink, is nearly as fine as that of the best indian teas. the pomegranate, peach, fig, lemon and orange, flourish in paraguay, as do the cocoa-nut and other palms. the native fruits have among them the jujuba, the chanar, the yacani, the quabira, from which candles are made for the churches; the quembe yielding a delicious pulp; the mammon growing on the trunk of a tree, and resembling a melon; the tatay, having a fruit like the mulberry; the alaba, with a delicious fruit; the anguay, whose pips are of a rich violet colour and triangular shape, are used by the indian women for necklaces; the tarumay resembling the olive; the molle, yielding a fragrant gum; the bacoba, banana, anana, manioc, the cotton tree, which grows to a great size and is very common; the zevil, whose bark is used in tanning; the ceibo, with flowers of a purple colour; the izapa, whose leaves distil a copious supply of water; the ant-tree, which is the chosen resort of these insects; the umbu, with an immense and spreading head; the willow; the ambay, used in striking fire; the arucuy, a shrub yielding a strong scarlet dye; indigo, cochineal, nacalic, whose beautiful yellow is used by dyers and painters, and reeds of great size, besides an infinite number of other trees and plants, all useful in their kind, and an immense assemblage of beautiful flowers. the wild animals of paraguay are chiefly found in the mountain regions bordering on the great river, and on brazil, where the forests are of impenetrable thickness. the jaguar, the puma or the cougar, and the black bear, are large and very fierce, destroying the cattle whenever they are exposed to their ravages. the ant-bear is a common animal, feeding principally on ants, which it catches, by placing its long tongue on their nests; and the tapir, the water-pig, or capibara, the river-cavies, and various other amphibious animals, frequent its numerous rivers. mosquitos and other venomous insects are the great plagues of this fine country, and about twenty kinds of serpents, of which, the rattle-snake is the most common, and the boa constrictor the largest, frequent its woods and plains. in paraguay, the bird tribes are also very numerous, and possess the charms of song and beauty of plumage, in a degree equal, if not superior to those of any part of south america. of these, nine different kinds of the humming-bird alone have been enumerated. but the largest bird seen in the plains of paraguay, is the great cassowary or american ostrich, remarkable for its immense size, fine plumage, and swift motion. the fertility of paraguay is proverbial, and though no mines are worked in it, it is one of the most opulent governments of buenos ayres, on account of its various vegetable productions, and the immense herds of horses, mules, cattle and sheep, which pasture on its extensive plains. of this government, the southern parts are those which are best known and most inhabited; the northern bordering on the brazilian frontiers, and reaching to the great inundation of the paraguay, have been little explored, and are tenanted only by the aborigines and wild animals. the great features of this country are the numerous rivers, swamps, lakes, plains and woods, with which it abounds. its largest and most noted rivers being the _paraguay_, the _parana_, the _porrudos_, _mbotely_, _tobati_, _ipane piray_ in the north parts, and in the south the _cañabe_ and _tibiquari_, the latter of which, divides the government from that of buenos ayres. _commerce._--the trade of paraguay consists in the export of its tea, tobacco, sugar, cotton, hides, tallow, wax, honey, cattle, horses, mules, wool, leather, &c. it is chiefly carried on by the river paraguay; the journey to buenos ayres by land, being seldom performed excepting by couriers, who are then obliged to wade and swim over many rivers, and are exposed to the attacks of the wandering indians, even the navigation of the great river not being free from them; the _payaguas_ tribe often collecting sixty or seventy canoes, with five or six men in each, armed with long lances and clubs, who attack any vessel unprovided with the means of making resistance. peace has been made with these people, but they sometimes commit depredations, and the whole government is surrounded by nations equally inveterate and ferocious; on the west are the _tobas_ and _moscobies_, on the south the _abipones_, on the north the _guaycurus_ or _mbayas_, and the _panaguas_; but the east is free from any immediate neighbours of this description, though on the distant mountains in this quarter called _yerva_, are the _monteses_, who give great trouble to the people employed to collect the tea, which grows spontaneously in their vicinity. the monteses also greatly annoy the portuguese, who are constantly at variance with them. this tribe pushed its way lately across cuyaba, and part of matto grosso, in brazil, to make an incursion into the head settlements of moxos, in order to open a path to plunder the country of santa cruz de la sierra and la paz. these unsubdued indians frequently attack the settlements of paraguay, which has obliged the inhabitants to form a militia in order to repel their aggressions, which are always sudden, and at times when they are least expected. the forts of paraguay are nineteen in number, and are generally near the river, which is also furnished with guard boats. the number of indian villages of the missions is very considerable; they are governed by magistrates, chosen from among themselves, and generally consist of stone or mud houses covered with tiles, having a large square in which is the priest's house, and a good church, the number of inhabitants in each being seldom less than , and often exceeding , and the total population of paraguay is estimated at , indians and spaniards or whites, of which the latter do not form much more than a twentieth part. the only towns of importance are the capital, asuncion, villarica, curuguaty, concepcion and neembucu. _asuncion, or nuestra senora de la asuncion_, the capital, is situated on an angle made by the eastern bank of the river paraguay, eighteen miles above the first mouth of the pilcomayo, and forty-eight above that of the second, in ° ' west longitude, and ° ' south latitude; it was originally a small fort, built in , which soon became a town, and was erected into a bishopric in . its population consists of spanish families, and several thousand indians and mestizoes. the adjacent country is rich and fertile, and the climate temperate; the trees around it are always in bloom, foliage, or fruit, and the rich pastures in its neighbourhood nourish abundance of cattle. it exports hides, sugar, tobacco and paraguay tea; but the boats which trade to this place from the city of buenos ayres, take two or three months to ascend the river la plata, though the only difficulty in navigating it is from the force of the descending current, as the winds generally blowing from the south are favourable for the passage. _villarica_ is miles north-east of asuncion, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, and was founded in , and contains inhabitants. _concepcion_, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, contains inhabitants, and was built in . _curuguaty_, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, contains inhabitants, and was founded in . _neembucu_ was built in , in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, and is peopled by souls. _government of tucuman._ the third government of buenos ayres is that of tucuman, which is bounded on the north-east by chichas and lipes in charcas, north-west and west by atacama, west and south-west by cuyo, or cujo, south-east by the pampas or territories inhabited by the aucaes, huarcas, or pampas, pihuenches, puelches, uncos and other unconquered tribes which wander over the plains and mountains adjacent to chili. on the south-east, it has the jurisdiction of santa fé in buenos ayres, and on the east it has the uncultivated llanos de manso and the country of chacos or chaco gualamba. its extent is from ° to ° ' south latitude, its length leagues, and its breadth leagues from east to west. tucuman was united to the empire of peru, in the reign of vira cocha, the eighth inca, by the desire of the inhabitants, who probably intimidated by the conquest of the adjacent country of charcas, sent messengers to beg to be admitted under the peruvian government. the spaniards conquered this country after finishing the subjugation of peru, and diego de roxas was the first discoverer in , but it was not subdued till the president pedro de la gasca, sent juan nuñez de prado in , to establish settlements in tucma or tucuman. the inhabitants proving of a mild and peaceable nature, the expedition was unattended with any bloodshed, and four cities were immediately founded, namely, santiago del estero, san miguel del tucuman, nuestra senora de talavera, and cordova de la nueva andalucia; but these being found insufficient in so large a territory, rioja, santa, and jujui or xuxui were soon afterwards added; the spaniards then divided it into three provinces, which they named after the nations they found in it, _viz._ juries on the east, diaguiras on the west, and comichingones to the south; of which the comichingones indians dwelt in caves. _climate, features, &c._--the climate of tucuman is hot in those parts farthest from the main chain and branches of the andes, but in general the seasons are regular and the soil prolific and good; and as an instance of the healthiness of some parts of the country, it is stated that louisa truxo, a negress, lived to the amazing age of , and was living on the th of october, . it produces all sorts of grain, esculent plants and fruits in abundance, with plenty of excellent pasture for the innumerable herds of cattle, mules, and horses it contains. the forests, which overspread a great part of it, contain good timber for building, and which forms one great article of its trade, supplying santa fé, buenos ayres and its own towns with boards which are conveyed in carts drawn by oxen. it also supplies the timber so necessary in the mining operations at potosi, and so dear is a peculiar hard wood of which axles for the wheels and engines are made, that dollars are given for a large axle, owing to the great labour and expence of transport. box trees, laurels, pines, dragon trees, walnuts, palms and cedars, are a few of the useful plants of tucuman; and cotton, vines, tobacco, cacao, cochineal, indigo and flax are also cultivated, but none of these articles enter into its export trade, which chiefly consists of cattle and timber; honey and wax are also plentifully produced in the forests. in tucuman, the desert places and woods abound with all kinds of game and wild animals, as pumas, jaguars, ant bears, bears, wild hogs, elks, deer, hares, rabbits, armadillos, guanucos, vicunas, and many other kinds. the american ostrich or cassowary frequents the plains, and innumerable birds are seen in its woods, &c. the immense boa, called in this country ampolaba, destroys the smaller animals which come within its reach, and appears, when lying among the grass, like the huge trunk of an old tree; besides the boa, there are also rattle-snakes, vipers and other reptiles common to warm climates. in the rivers and lakes are found abundance of fish, tapirs, cavies, water-pigs, and other amphibious animals. the great chain of the andes, which borders and sends forth branches into tucuman, is so high in some parts as to reach the regions of eternal snow; in it there are several mines, which were formerly worked by the spaniards, and there remain striking vestiges of the mining operations carried on by the peruvians. the rivers of tucuman are numerous, the principal ones being the _vermejo_, the _salado_, the _xuxuy_, the _dulce_ and the _quarto_. the _vermejo_, or _rio grande_, rises near casabinda, and flows with a stately stream into the la plata, near corrientes. the _salado_ takes its waters from many streams which flow down from the mountains of tucuman, in south latitude °, and chiefly from those of the valley of calchaqui, where it receives a large stream which comes from the south-west; it then runs into the valley of huachipas, which name it takes, but soon changes it for that of charomores, from a place so called; it then flows westward, and is called pasage; as being in the road from buenos ayres to la plata, it must be here crossed by travellers with some risk, owing to the rapidity of its current; it then is called de balbuena, from passing through the settlement of that name, and is joined near this place by the _rio piedras_, and passes down through the district of santiago del estoro, from whence it runs eighty leagues, under the name of _salado_, and loses itself eighty-six miles north-north-west of the city of santa fé, in a lake named el mar chiquito. the _chacos_, or _dulce_, runs by the side of this river, after it passes through salta, and at last falls into it. its whole course is leagues, and it formerly reached santa fé, where it formed a peninsula with an arm of the la plata, but having opened itself new channels by its great swellings, it now loses itself in the lake, which is the case with almost all the rivers of this province, as they generally form large sheets of water, from which they rarely issue. the numerous lakes in this province are generally shallow, and produced by the overflowing of the rivers: but they have the singular quality of being mostly saline, particularly those in the neighbourhood of the rio vermejo. there is in these vast plains through which the rivers pass an immense tract of land, the soil of which is saturated with fossil salt. it extends to the south of buenos ayres, and is about miles in length by in breadth. it is said that in this extent, which reaches to the rio vermejo, there is not a river, well or lake whose waters are not brackish. all the rivers which flow through it to the la plata are fresh until they cross this waste, after which they become salt till they enter the great stream. even the pilcomayo and vermejo, although they have a free course, have always a salt taste when the waters are low. this substance appears in the greatest abundance between santa fé and cordova, and the salt quality of the soil reaches to st. jago del estero, where the whole ground is covered with a white incrustation even to the foot of the cordillera. natural saltpetre is also collected in this part of the country, after a shower the ground being whitened with it. chaco contains many salt lakes, and to the south-west of buenos ayres, they are found at from to miles distance. to these, journeys are frequently made with carts, in order to collect the fine crystallized grains which cover their banks. the cattle of this country cannot subsist without this substance; they devour with avidity the salted clay they find in the ditches; and when this happens to fail, as is sometimes the case in paraguay, they perish in the course of a short time. from buenos ayres, the great road to potosi and lima passes through tucuman. in , regular stages were built all the way, post-houses were erected, and relays of horses and carriages provided. the method of travelling is in covered waggons drawn by oxen or horses, in which the traveller can recline, and must necessarily exercise much patience: but the silver and gold from the mines, as well as all kinds of merchandize, are conveyed along this road on the backs of mules. its extent from buenos ayres to potosi, is , or according to some accounts, miles, of which are over the elevated chains of the andes, and are impassable for the waggons; from potosi to lima the route continues miles more, and passes over the highest ridges of the mountains, where the traveller undergoes all sorts of danger and privations, and is exposed to the utmost extremes of heat and cold. about the distance of miles from buenos ayres, the country is one plain, covered only with cattle, horses and mules, and stretching to the horizon; the land then begins insensibly to rise, and in miles more, the road lies over the branches of the chain of chiquitos, to the town of salta, where the grand and snow-covered tops of the central andes present themselves. the thick woods of tucuman are then lost; but the swarms of locusts, crickets, ants, mosquitoes, toads, frogs, serpents, and alligators, also disappear, the traveller having now entered the temperate region; the road then winds amid abrupt and frightful precipices and chasms, and sometimes with so narrow a footway that the mules can scarcely move. the path is here indented with deep holes, in which the animals place their legs, and thus prevent the danger of slipping over the precipices; at other places where the road inclines at a great slope, these sagacious creatures place themselves with their fore and hind feet close together, and inclining forward, as if about to lie down, they slide with inconceivable velocity to the bottom. these mountains in some parts are traversed at the bottom of narrow and perpendicular clefts, where, if the animal falls, his rider must infallibly be crushed. the passage of the many torrents and rivers is also another difficulty; across those which are shallow, very large and high horses are used, which are trained for the purpose; over the deeper ones, rope bridges are thrown; and it is only in summer that this journey can be attempted, as the swelling of the rivers and the winter torrents render them impracticable. even in summer, when the snow in the higher regions suddenly melts, the torrents are swoln to such a degree, and dash with such force from the mountains, that many an unhappy traveller perishes. mules constitute the great commerce of tucuman; these animals are bought in cordova, santa fé and buenos ayres, and being fattened during the winter in the valleys and plains, are driven to peru, where they sell for twelve or seventeen dollars each, , being thus sold every year, and with them are driven from to , cows. it also sends soap wrapped in hides to peru; but the importation of all articles is subject to a toll, on passing the peruvian frontier, the produce of which is applied to the pay of the troops, the repair of the forts, and the defence of the frontier against the unsubdued indians; for there is not a government in all america so liable to the incursions of these tribes as tucuman, as they surround it on the east and south; for which reason its population has not much increased, the settlers being continually liable to lose their property from these irruptions. of the forts built for the protection of the government, there are at present thirteen; and the amount of the population, including the converted indians, is , . that singular order, the jesuits, had some missions in tucuman, and formed about , of the natives into a militia, to repel the invasions of the chaco indians, of whom the _mataguayos_ are the most warlike; but the indians of tucuman at present are under the care of the monks of st. francis, and are employed in cultivating maize, cotton, tobacco, &c., for their use, and those of the towns. the capital and chief towns of this government are tucuman, cordoba, rioxa, jujuy, santiago, londres, and salta, with thirty-eight other towns and villages, and ten missions. its capital, _tucuman_, or _san miguel del tucuman_, is in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, geographical miles in a direct line from lima, south of la plata, and miles east of copiapo, in chili; it was founded by diego de villaroel, in , but placed in another situation, its present site, by the then governor, in , on account of an inundation which swept away the church and houses. it is in a pleasant plain, though much in want of water, having a mild climate, producing abundance of fruits and grain, and containing a cathedral, a convent of franciscans, one of la merced, and a college, which was built by the jesuits. it has a trade in mules, but its principal traffic consists in oxen for the travelling waggons, and in the waggons themselves; there are also some unworked silver mines in its neighbourhood. san miguel is the see of a bishop who resides at cordova. the bishopric is that of tucuman, and was erected in . in the jurisdiction which surrounds it, is found a tree, named quebracho, on account of its great hardness, which often breaks the axe, and becoming, when steeped in water, as solid as stone. the salt river, _sali_ is about a league south of this city. _cordoba_, or _cordova de la nueva andalucia_, is in ° ' south latitude, ° ' west longitude, leagues from buenos ayres, at the foot of the andes, and was founded, in , by juan nuñez de prado. the river _primero_, so called because it is the first of five, is in its vicinity, and a hill of some height adjoins it, so that, although in the plain, the water easily passes off. this city approaches a square form, with many good houses, a large but irregular cathedral, three convents, and two colleges. few places of the same extent display equal wealth, the spaniards and creoles being noted for their industry. the chief trade is to the fair at salta, in mules, where they are sold for peru, and the town of cordova contains many slaves, who weave and make their own cloths. the bishop and chapter also reside here. wine and grain are brought from mendoza in cuyo, brandy in leathern bags from st. juan de la frontera, and meat and fruits are abundantly supplied in the neighbourhood. cordova is the capital of a province or district of the same name, extending about leagues in length, and seventy in breadth, intersected by a chain of mountains, and celebrated for its woollen manufactures. the mountains which traverse this province are covered with perpetual snow, and at ramauso, sixty miles from cordova, they branch out, and are so far from each other that a saline plain, seventy miles in length, extends to tucuman, in which nothing grows but the salsola kali, nearly four yards in height, amid the white incrustations of fossil salt. the decayed city of _st. jago del estero_ is in this plain, miles north-north-west of buenos ayres, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, on the banks of the dolce, which is large and navigable, and affords great variety of fish. it contains about houses, or families, of mulattoes and mestizoes, of a dark yellow complexion and sickly appearance, from the great heat of the climate; as surrounded on one side with the plain, and on the other with deep forests; the place suffers from a stagnation of the air. the women are subject to goitrous swellings, which much disfigure them, though they are generally handsome when not afflicted with this disease; and the country near the woods produces wheat, rice, barley, and all sorts of fruits, particularly figs and raisins; the forests supplying game, but are infested with jaguars and beasts of prey. _rioxa_, or _todos santos de rioja_, is a small city, founded, in , by juan ramirez de velasco, on a plain of great extent, bounded on the west by the mountains, in which the inhabitants breed some cattle. its territory produces cotton, grain and vines, but the soil is poor. this city contains a parish church, three convents and an ancient college of the jesuits, being in ° ' south latitude, and ° west longitude, miles west-south-west of st. jago del estero. _xuxuy_, or _jujuy_, or _san salvador_, is twenty leagues north of salta, miles north of santiago del estero, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, and is the chief place of a district of the same name on the frontier of peru. this town is seated at the foot of a high mountain of the eastern andes, contains about houses, and is the most northerly city of tucuman. near it the river _xuxui_, being joined by several others, flows towards the la plata, after forming the vermejo in chaco. _londres_, or _london_ is a village which was formerly founded by juan de zuriata, in honour of mary queen of england, in , on the event of her marriage with philip ii. it is in ° ' south latitude, but is at present of little importance. _salta_, or _san miguel de salta_, is a city and district of this government, from which the cattle trade with peru is carried on. this city stands in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' " west longitude, and was founded, in , by don gonzalo de obreu y figueroa, under the name of _san clemente de la nueva sevilla_, but was afterwards changed to its present scite in the beautiful valley of lerma, which is five leagues in circumference, and through which passes a river, on whose shore the city stands, having a fine bridge over it. it contains houses, and men capable of bearing arms, who have hitherto defended the city against the indians, though it has no walls. in it are one church, two chapels, four convents, and a college which belonged to the jesuits, the inhabitants being chiefly spaniards and their slaves. its environs are very fertile, abounding in wheat, rye and vines, with pastures for the cattle exported from this place to peru; and its commerce consists in corn, meal, wine, cattle, salt meat, fat hides and other commodities, which are sent to all parts of peru. the cattle and mules of tucuman also go from this place, which is situated on the high road from buenos ayres to potosi. it is computed that the number of mules fattened in the valley of lerma amount, during the months of february and march, when the annual fair is held, to , , and besides these, there are generally horses and cows. the natives are subject to a species of leprosy, and nearly all the women, after they have attained the age of , have the coto, or goitrous swelling in the throat, which disfigures them very much, and which they take great pains to conceal. salta is fifty miles south of xuxui, and the river which washes the town runs east, and enters the vermejo. _the government of cuyo or cujo._ cuyo was formerly a chilian province; it is bounded on the north by tucuman, on the east by the pampas or deserts of buenos ayres, on the south by patagonia or terra magellanica, and on the west by the andes, which separate it from chili; it is comprehended between the twenty-ninth and thirty-fifth degrees of south latitude, and extends about leagues from north to south, its breadth being nearly . _climate, features, &c._--in this extensive tract, the climate is variable, during the summer months those parts which do not lie on the high andes are excessively hot, and the winter is very cold. storms of thunder and hail are also common, and in the parts nearest chili, these storms are of short continuance, but very violent. the soil consists of arid plains, fertile valleys, and desert highlands; but those parts, which are the most barren, become extremely fertile, if irrigated by drawing over them the waters of the numerous rivers in which it abounds. fruits and grains of europe arrive at perfection much sooner in cujo than in chili, and the vines produce a rich and delicious wine. the history of this province is uninteresting; the aborigines, of whom there are few remaining and who are called _guarpes_, were conquered by the peruvian incas; and on the road over the andes to chili, are still to be seen some tambos or military stations of the inca yupanqui. the spaniards who explored cuyo were under the command of francisco de aguirre, who was sent by valdivia from chili, but returned without effecting any thing of importance. in , don garcia de mendoza sent pedro castillo to conquer this country; he subdued the guarpes and founded two cities. the principal rivers in this extensive province are the _san juan_, the _mendoza_, and the _tunujan_. _the san juan_ rises in the chilian andes, and washes the walls of st. juan de la frontera. the _mendoza_ also rises in the same chain, and the two, after receiving several smaller streams, and running twenty-five and thirty leagues, lose themselves in the chain of lakes called guanasache, which extends more than fifty leagues from north to south, and also receives the _tunujan_. in these lakes, according to some maps, the great _rio colorado_ rises, which flows into the atlantic, in about ° south latitude. the eastern part of cujo is watered by several rivers, but of them very little is known, as these parts are mostly immense plains, in which the herbage is of such a height as to conceal the cattle and animals that feed in them. unlike the savannahs of the orinoco and the la plata, they possess lofty and beautiful trees; of these a species of cocoa palm is the most singular, its leaves and branches commence from the ground, and though they bear some resemblance to those of the cocoa-nut, they are hard and sharp like the aloe, and the tree, which never exceeds eighteen feet in height, bears a fruit also resembling that of the cocoa, but containing no kernel or edible substance. its trunk is very large, and consists of several concentric layers, each of which to the heart, are finer as they approach the centre, and from a yellow decrease by shades to a perfect white. of these fibrous coats, the natives make cloth which is strong and flexible, but not so soft as that of flax. the other trees of cujo are those which are peculiar to the warm regions of chili and la plata; of them, the cactus family bear a large proportion, and the nopal or opuntia feeds the cochineal insect, of which, however, none are exported. the animals of cujo are similar to those of buenos ayres, or tucuman, as jaguars, cougars or pumas, wild swine, deer, &c. the jaguars grow to a great size, even as large as an ass, and their skin, like that of the african tiger, is beautifully variegated with white, yellow and black. the natives hunt them for their skin, arming themselves in these encounters with long lances of hard wood; but they seldom attack the animal singly, three indians usually composing the hunting party, and exerting all their address and courage to kill it. the cold parts of this province abound with vicunas, llamas, &c. alligators, iguanas, and other amphibious animals, frequent the lakes and rivers, which are abundantly supplied with fish. birds are as numerous in cuyo as in paraguay, from the great condor to the beautiful little picaflor, or humming-bird. ostriches, or rather cassowaries, frequent the plains, and are so fleet in their half-running half-flying motion, that the swiftest horse is soon tired of the pursuit. the insect and reptile tribes are as numerous as in the other warm tracts of america, and only disappear as the land elevates itself towards the cold regions of the air. large grass-hoppers, or locusts, are so abundant in the plains, that they frequently cover several miles of country, destroying every green thing they settle on. the northern parts of cuyo furnish gold and silver, but the mines of these metals have been till lately unworked, owing to the poverty, or rather want of numbers of the inhabitants. its mountains also yield lead, sulphur, coal and gypsum, while the lakes and plains furnish salt. in the neighbourhood of st. juan de la frontera, the hills are wholly composed of strata of white marble of a beautiful grain. it is used by the inhabitants in making fine lime, and in building bridges over the small canals, with which they irrigate their fields. in this country, through which the road from buenos ayres to chili passes, besides the tambos or military posts of the ancient peruvians, there are several singular monuments of a far more ancient date. these are however very imperfectly known; but one of them, on a low range of hills, between mendoza and la punta, has been repeatedly visited. it consists of a large stone pillar or obelisk, feet in height, and twelve in diameter, on which are curious marks, supposed to resemble eastern characters; and near a river is another stone, containing the same characters, the figures of several animals, and the print of a foot, of which, the spanish priests have availed themselves, to impress their converts with the idea, that it was the work of one of the apostles, who left this mark as a token of his mission. the commerce of cuyo is of little importance, consisting chiefly in wines, brandy, and dried fruits, which it sends to buenos ayres, cordova, &c. its european fruits, grapes, figs, pears and apples, are much sought after, and the wool of the vicuna is sent for exportation to buenos ayres; its beautiful fawn colour, gloss and softness, rendering it of great value in spain. whatever commercial relation is established between the viceroyalty of buenos ayres and the kingdom of chili, the goods must pass through cuyo; the passage over the andes being in this government, which, although exceedingly difficult, will one day render it an important district, especially should the trade of china or the east embrace the southern and western shores of america. the capital of cujo is the city of _mendoza_, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, in a plain at the foot of the andes, the environs being adorned with plantations, which are watered by means of canals. it contains four convents, a college, formerly established by the jesuits, and a church. a silver mine having been opened in its vicinity, named _uspallata_, the number of inhabitants of mendoza is constantly increasing; at present, they amount to about six thousand, who are employed in these works, or in carrying on a productive trade with buenos ayres, in fruits, wool, and wine. the river mendoza flows by this town, which is fifty leagues from santiago in chili, and the district around it contains two silver, one copper, and one lead mines. the next town of note in cujo, is _san juan de la frontera_, forty-five leagues north of mendoza, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude near the andes, from which circumstance it is also called _san juan de la cordillera_. the neighbourhood of this city, which is washed by the river san juan, has some gold mines; but its principal trade consists in sending wine, brandy, fruits, and vicuña-wool to buenos ayres; the pomegranates of san juan being greatly esteemed for their size and flavour. its population is nearly the same as that of the capital, which it resembles in regard to the number of its public edifices. besides these two cities, cuyo contains the towns of _san luis de loyola_, or _de la punta_, jachal, vallofertil, mogua, concorto, leonsito, calingarta, and pismanta. _san luis de loyola_ is the great thoroughfare for the commerce between chili, cujo, and buenos ayres; it is situated sixty-two leagues east of mendoza, and has a church, convent, and college, of the late order of jesuits. the inhabitants amounting to about . the other towns are of little note or importance, and are at present mere villages. the fifth and last division of the viceroyalty of la plata, is-- _the government of buenos ayres_, which is bounded on the north by the government of st. paul, in brazil; on the north-west by the river parana, which divides it from paraguay; on the west by the plains of tucuman; on the east by the portuguese frontier, which passes south through lake mini; on the south-west, by the atlantic ocean, and the line of demarcation between it and the independent tribes; on the south-east by cuyo, and on the south, by an imaginary line, passing through the pampas or patagonia. _history, &c._--the history of this government is that of the viceroyalty; the most extraordinary part of it being that which relates to the subjugation of the indians by the jesuits, who established their principal stations in the country, embraced by the parana on the north, the uruguay on the east; and the la plata on the west and south. the road for these missionaries was prepared by alvar nuñez de vaca, in , who conquered the country, and named it vera. two monks of the order of st. francis accompanied the governor in his expedition, and laboured very hard to convert the natives, which they succeeded so well in, that others of the same order were soon established in the country, in which they erected chapels and villages. of these monks, father luis de bolaños was the most zealous; he stayed fifty years among the guaranies, and made himself master of their language; at last, bent down with age and fatigue, he went to welcome the arrival of some jesuit brothers, who came to assist him in his labours; these were with difficulty admitted into the country, owing to the aversion of the natives to have any other pastor than the venerable bolaños. from this time the jesuits laboured so effectually to convert the indians, that in a very short period, the greater part of the country was in their power; they extended their dominion over paraguay, and organized the indians into a well disciplined body of militia, by which means they kept all persons, whether spaniards or portuguese, out of their territories. from paraguay and parana, they drew such great revenues, by making their converts work at stated periods in the plantations, &c., that they were enabled not only to supply every thing necessary for the comfort of the people from europe, but were also enabled to send immense sums to the superiors of their order. the indians were studiously kept in ignorance of the spanish language; they were instructed in all sorts of useful arts, and sedulously trained to the fatigues of a military life, being formed into large bodies of cavalry and infantry, and well supplied with arms and ammunition. some hundred thousand of americans were already under the power, and infatuated in their subjection to these fathers, when in , the courts of madrid and lisbon, entered into a treaty for the purpose of definitively fixing the boundaries of their respective possessions in the western world. commissions were appointed in , to carry this treaty into execution, when on account of the representation of the jesuits, who were unwilling to allow the new portuguese limits, a war ensued between the two countries, and the indians taking an active part against the portuguese, the court of lisbon began to entertain suspicions of the real motive of the jesuits, in forming such extensive governments in america. from this time, their influence in europe began to decrease; a trial was instituted against one of the order in france, by some of the merchants concerned in speculations at martinique which had involved the society in debt; on this trial, their constitution and books were examined, and found to contain matter so dangerous to the interests of the kingdom, that it was declared necessary to suppress their order in france, and in the year following, the king of portugal being assassinated, it was resolved to expel the jesuits from that kingdom. this was followed by their expulsion from spain and naples, in , and in pope clement xiv. totally abolished the society. they were exiled from america soon after, and the care of the nations they had converted was given to priests of other orders, but chiefly to the franciscans, and their government placed in the hands of civil officers, in the same manner as in other parts of america. on their expulsion from the territories on the banks of the parana there were discovered in thirty settlements alone, no less than , horses, , mules, and , sheep. _climate, features, &c._--the climate of buenos ayres is variable according to the situation of the districts on the great pampas or plains, the heat in summer being scorching, whilst at buenos ayres, and in the mountains of parana or guayra, the winter is cold. nearly the whole of the southern, western, and some of the northern parts of this government consist of wide spread plains, on which immense herds of cattle are fed; the road from the capital to cuyo lying over one of these levels, called the _pampas_, which are of an extent that would equal the size of a great european kingdom. on this plain the cattle range unowned and unvalued, being only hunted down occasionally for the sake of their hides and tallow; wild horses also abound in these deserts, and wander about in such troops that travellers are surrounded by them for three weeks together; sometimes they are observed in innumerable quantities passing over the road at full speed for hours at a time, and on these occasions it requires great exertion to prevent being trampled down by them; but the same road is often travelled without one of these creatures being seen. the plains also abound in cassowaries, partridges, geese, ducks, deer and other game, and are uninhabited by man. no stages are fixed upon the route to chili, as it is impossible in parts of it which are covered with sands to preserve a regular tract, and it is also infested with the predatory incursions of the surrounding indians, the method of travelling is therefore in covered carts, made as commodious as possible, drawn by oxen, and accompanied with horses and mules to carry the baggage and goods; merchants and others performing this journey, set out in companies, and generally in the evening two hours before sun-set, travelling all night till an hour after sun-rise in the morning, after which they rest during the heat of the day, to partake of the provisions they bring with them, or the game they procure on the journey. in this course their whole dependence is on the compass, which guides them across the vast steppe, and the travelers are exposed to the dangers of being murdered by the indians, of sinking under the scorching noon-day heat, or of dying for want of water, of which none is to be had, but by mere chance, besides what they carry with them in skins. the rains which fall in this plain are of short continuance but in great quantity, and when these happen, the conductors never fail to replenish their water bags; but from these rains the caravan becomes drenched through, and not unfrequently the goods and property of the passengers are spoilt. the westerly winds or pamperos are another source of inquietude to the persons undertaking this fatiguing journey; they sometimes blow with such violence that it becomes utterly impossible to proceed, as the carriages would inevitably be overturned. in this government the mountainous parts are chiefly those situated to the north-west of the river uruguay, and which border on the portuguese frontiers; they are little known, and are inhabited only by tribes of savage and warlike indians, who set the missionaries at defiance. the rivers of buenos ayres are the great _la plata_ already described, the _parana_, the _uruguay_, and many others of less note, but generally very large. the _parana_ rises in the province of minas geraes to the south of the city of joas del rey, in brazil, in some lofty mountains, and runs from north-east to west for leagues, when it joins the paraguay, receiving in its course innumerable streams; at the distance of leagues from its mouth it has two falls of a tremendous nature, which render it necessary for the boats that navigate it to be carried a short distance over-land. the parana is a considerable river before it enters the spanish territories, and after passing the frontiers of brazil in about ° ' it flows in a south-west course through the colonies of the jesuits, in a country of incomparable fertility and of a delightful aspect. it seldom overflows its banks, owing to the breadth and depth of its channel, and it is much more rapid than the paraguay as it flows from higher ground: at its junction with the paraguay it is nearly two miles broad, and incloses innumerable islands, which are overflowed in the annual inundations; but it is not navigable in its whole extent, on account of the two falls and several rapids. this river was always supposed (and is still conjectured by some geographers) to be the main stream of the great la plata. the third great river of buenos ayres is the _uruguay_, which rises about the ° of south latitude, in the portuguese province of rio grande, among the chain of mountains that run along the coast of the atlantic. its course is at first to the west, along a high valley, which is separated from the parana by an elevated ridge, and it receives so many smaller streams that at eighty miles from its sources it is a large river. the great declivity of the ground over which it has passed gives it so much strength, that after emerging from the mountains it overflows the plain to such an extent, that it requires half an hour's time to cross it in a ten-oared boat, though the current is not very strong. after leaving the mountains at the distance of miles from its mouth it flows through a desert country for a considerable length, and then turning to the south it receives an increase from numberless streams, and enters the la plata, in the ° of south latitude. the banks of the uruguay are romantic and fertile, after it quits the desert and turns southerly: but it is generally a rapid stream, though navigable for vessels two hundred miles from the la plata; beyond this it can only be ascended by canoes or rafts, as it is interrupted by frequent falls and rapids. on the southern confines of buenos ayres, the plains are drained by the _saladillo_, the _hueyque leuva_ or _colorado_, and the _desaguadero_ which descend from the andes of cuyo: but of these rivers very little is known. the chief town of this government is _buenos ayres_, which, being the metropolis of the viceroyalty, has been already described. _monte video_ is the next city of note in this province; it is situated on the north side of the la plata, in a small bay twenty leagues west of cape santa maria, in ° ' " south latitude, and ° ' " west longitude, and has its name from a mountain that overlooks the place, and on which is a light-house that has a good view to leeward. monte video is a very recent town, and was erected on account of its harbour being one of the best on the coast. it stands on a gentle elevation at the end of a small peninsula, and is completely enclosed with fortifications. the harbour, which is the best in the la plata, is shoal, and exposed to the north-east winds. this city is tolerably well built, the houses being generally of one story. the great square contains the cathedral, which is a handsome edifice, the town-house, and the public prison: but the streets are unpaved, and consequently either always dusty or muddy, and the inhabitants experience great inconvenience from the want of water, the spring which furnishes the place being two miles distant. its climate is moist; in summer the heat is very great, and the sky is frequently overcast by dreadful storms of thunder, lightning and heavy rain: but the winter is cold, and the air, during the months of june, july and august, keen and piercing. the vicinity of this city presents an agreeable landscape of hill and valley, interspersed with small rivers; but it wants trees, and so scarce, indeed, is wood, that almost all the houses of monte-video are floored with brick. the inhabitants do not attend to the cultivation of the fertile country that surrounds them, their principal property consisting in the numerous herds which feed in the plains towards the portuguese frontier. the population of this city is between , and , souls, consisting of spaniards, creoles and slaves. its commerce consists in exporting hides, tallow and salted beef; the hides and tallow being sent to europe, and the salt beef to the havannah and the west indies. monte-video was taken by the british in their expedition against buenos ayres, and was delivered up by treaty to its ancient masters; since which time it has declared its adherence to the cause of the mother country, and its citizens have had several conflicts with the insurgent government of buenos ayres. at present it is garrisoned and held by the portuguese. _santa fé_ is the third city of buenos ayres; it is seated at the confluence of the salado with the la plata, about ninety leagues north-west of the metropolis. it is of a square form, surrounded with a wall, and tolerably fortified, to preserve it from the attacks of the indians, who have pillaged it several times, always massacreing the inhabitants. it contains a church and convent. the environs abound in game, and the soil being fertile produces corn, wine and fruits. it is the channel through which the paraguay tea is sent to peru, and is, on that account, of considerable importance. _maldonado_ ranks as the fourth town of this government. it is situated on the same shore of the la plata as monte-video, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, miles west of buenos ayres, and nine leagues west of cape santa maria, at the entrance of the river, and is a small place, chiefly noted as having a harbour, in which vessels trading to buenos ayres sometimes refit. _las corrientes_, near the confluence of the parana and paraguay, on the east bank of the la plata, leagues north of santa fé and of buenos ayres, is a small town well situated for the trade between paraguay, peru and buenos ayres. it contains a church, three convents, and a small population, who are formed into a militia, to defend the place against the indians. this city is in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude. the trade carried on from this place with the capital is by means of the river, in fine tobacco, sugar, yellow wax, paraguay tea, cotton, cloth and thread. _colonia del sacramento_, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, was formerly a place of some importance, as, the small tract of country surrounding it, which is thirty-three miles north-east of buenos ayres on the opposite bank of the la plata, having been colonized by the portuguese, in , they built a city on it. it was taken from them in , they however recovered it, but were again driven out in , and it was not restored till the peace. in , it was besieged a third time by the spaniards, with troops and indians by land, and with four vessels by sea, but they could make no impression, so strongly was it fortified. it was however taken in , but restored at the subsequent peace; the spaniards still viewing it with a jealous eye, took it for the last time in , when they destroyed the city and fortifications. its only importance, at present, consists in its having a tolerable harbour or bay, formed by the river, and it is said, that the portuguese have again recently occupied it. the above are the principal towns of this extended government, which contains many others, most of them are however either missionary or military stations; the former abounding on the banks of the parana and uraguay, while the latter are chiefly on the north-west, towards the llanos de manso and tucuman, and on the east towards the portuguese frontier. the provinces of this government have not been enumerated, they are little known, and many of them are only divisions of the missions, such as _guarania_, which extends along the south shores of the parana, and contains about thirty villages of the guaranis indians. on the south-east of buenos ayres, the country is named _tuyu_; it however contains no spanish settlements of any importance, and seems to be a tract crossed by a chain of mountains, which divide it from the coast of the atlantic; much has been written concerning the _abipons_, who occupy the north-west corner of this government; they appear to be a tribe consisting of about souls, who are of a very warlike disposition, frequently disturbing the settlements. their language is distinct from that of the neighbouring nations, and they exist by the chase, preferring the flesh of the jaguar or american tiger to any other animal, and retire to the islands and high trees, when the annual inundations commence in their country. the _patagonians_ on the southern frontier have also excited much curiosity; but it seems to be proved beyond a doubt, that they are merely a race of indians of a stature rather above the middling size, and that they do not differ in their general habits from their neighbours. the limits of this work will not permit any farther description of the indian nations who inhabit and surround buenos ayres. of many of them, the spanish settlers know nothing more than the names, and of the rest, it is observed, that the more the settlements spread, the less the aborigines are seen, and the thinner their numbers become; most probably owing to the new diseases they acquire, and the more wandering and uncertain life they are obliged to lead; not so the indians who settle in the missions, their life becoming one of peace and tranquillity, their wants being supplied by their own labour, and not being constantly exposed to the burning sun or chilling rains of the southern regions, their numbers continually increase; and though the spaniards formerly used very harsh methods, to convert them either to their faith or their profit, it cannot be denied, that they have within the last century, wiped that blot from the historic page, and with a few exceptions, have conduced very materially to the welfare of a race, remarkable for their general inaptitude and unwillingness to assist in bettering their own condition. having therefore detailed every subject concerning the extensive governments of the viceroyalty of la plata, which has been deemed interesting or novel, with the exception only of particular descriptions of the animals which are peculiar to it, and to the other southern regions of america, it now remains for us, only to treat of the last great political division of the spanish colonies in that country, and in so doing, we shall give a more extended account of some of the most singular zoological objects; as they are equally common to the territory about to be treated of, as to buenos ayres. the kingdom of chili will therefore now engage our attention. captain generalship of _chili_. the kingdom of chili or chilé is the last and most southerly of the governments which compose the empire of spanish america. extent and boundaries. it extends between the ° and ° of south latitude, and comprises the continent bounded by the ocean on the west, and the andes on the east; and the islands on its coasts. its greatest length being about miles, and its greatest breadth . the extent has been estimated to be equal to , square leagues. it is bounded on the north by la plata, and from peru it is separated by the desert and province of atacama; on the east it is bounded by the buenos ayrean provinces of tucuman and cuyo, and by terra magellanica, or patagonia; on the west, the southern pacific washes its shores; and on the south, the unconquered and desert countries of terra magellanica complete its limits. political and territorial divisions and government. chili is governed by a spanish officer, appointed by the court of madrid, and holding the title of captain general of the kingdom of chili, having under his orders all the inferior governors of departments and military posts; he is likewise commander in chief of the chilian forces, and president of the court of royal audience of santiago. the country he governs is divided into continental and insular partidos, or departments, over which intendants or lieutenants preside. the continental part, or chili proper, is divided into thirteen partidos, which extend from the twenty-fourth degree to the thirty-seventh degree of south latitude, and are named copiapo, coquimbo, quillota, aconcagua, melipilla, santiago, rancagua, colchagua, maule, itata, chillan, puchucay, and huilquilemu; from the thirty-seventh degree to the islands of chiloe, the country is chiefly under the power of three native tribes, the araucanians, the cunches, and the huilliches. insular chili, comprehends the archipelagoes of chiloe, and chonos or guaytecas, and the andean part of chili is inhabited also by independent tribes. discovery and history. the origin of the native inhabitants of chili is involved in impenetrable obscurity. they had traditions respecting their ancestors, which were so vague and uncertain as not to merit notice; so that nothing can be advanced concerning the history of chili, prior to about the middle of the fifteenth century. in the year , the country was occupied by fifteen independent tribes, governed by caciques or ulmens; they were named copiapins, coquimbans, quillotans, mapochians, promaucians, cures, cauques, pencones, araucanians, cunches, chilotes, chiquilanians, pehuenches, puelches, and huilliches. the peruvians were at this period governed by the inca yupanqui, who having extended his empire to the borders of their country, was ambitious to possess a territory, of which his subjects gave a highly favourable report. he accordingly moved southward to atacama, and dispatched sinchiruca, a peruvian prince, from thence with a large army, to the northern territories of chili; this general reduced the copiapins, coquimbans, quillotans, and mapochians, but was interrupted in his career by the promaucians, who defeated his forces in a sanguinary battle. from henceforward the peruvians were foiled in all their attempts to proceed southward, and a fort being erected on the rapel river, the four first tribes became tributaries to the incas. though the peruvian form of government was never introduced into their territories, which were still presided over by the ulmens or caciques. on the arrival of the spaniards at cuzco, the chilese were mostly an agricultural nation, subsisting on the plants their labour had brought to perfection; they had aqueducts to irrigate their fields, and they turned up the soil with a rude sort of plough, which they pushed forwards by a handle opposed to the breast. the peruvian camels were used as beasts of burden, and these people made bread, fermented liquors, and boiled or cooked their victuals in earthen pots of their own manufacture. the chilese lived in large or small villages, and they knew and practised the laws and rights of hereditary property; they had also advanced so far in the knowledge of some of the useful arts, that they were able to form hatchets and implements of copper, vases of marble, and they worked mines of gold, silver, copper, tin and lead. their religion consisted in the acknowledgement of a supreme being, whom they named pillan, from pilli, the soul; and for whom they had also names equivalent to the great being, the thunderer, the eternal, the creator, the omnipotent, &c. pillan was said to be the king of heaven, the lord of all the inferior spirits, who were both males and females, and whose offices consisted in guiding the destinies of man in battle, in peace, &c.; and in producing harvests; each person had his attendant spirit or genius, who protected them from guecebu the evil one. being extremely independent in their notions, their ulmens or caciques had no power to impose contributions on the people they governed, and were merely sages or warriors who guided the tribes in council or in the field. no temples were erected in chili, the great being and his subordinate agents were invoked in times of need, and on occasions of great distress sacrifices of animals and offerings of fruits were made. as well as their neighbours, the peruvians, they had a tradition of a great deluge, in which only a few persons were saved. they had words to express units, tens, hundreds, and a thousand, with all the intermediate numbers, and preserved the memory of transactions by the pron, a bunch of threads of several colours, resembling the peruvian quippus. in treating of the araucanians, we shall give some further account of a people, who, though they had not attained the degree of civilization acquired by their northern neighbours, were, nevertheless, very far from being in a state of barbarism, and who are probably the only american nation, surrounded by european colonies, who have hitherto retained the same customs, manners, language and independence which they possessed before the conquest of the new world, as the spaniards have scarcely made more progress in subduing them than their predecessor, the inca yupanqui, did. from the determination of almagro to conquer the country possessed by the peruvians south of cuzco, in consequence of the reports constantly received by himself and pizarro, of the riches it contained, may be dated the discovery of chili by europeans. don diego de almagro de malagon having collected a force of spaniards, and , peruvians, set out from cuzco, in the year , attended by paullu inca, and choosing the road of the mountains, reached the province of copiapo in chili, after a march in which they had to contend with the indians at every step; this, together with the inclemencies of the weather, the rugged nature of the road, and the winter overtaking them on the summit of the andes, caused the death of of the spaniards and , of the peruvians. on the arrival of the army in copiapo, paullu inca obliged the natives to deliver up all the gold in their possession, which amounting to the value of , ducats, he presented to almagro. the natives every where received the spaniards with respect, amounting almost to adoration, as they imagined the new comers were a divine race sent by their gods to govern them, till after the arrival of rodrigo orgonez, with a reinforcement from peru, when two of the soldiers committing acts of violence near the river huasco, were slain by the people. this, the first blood shed on either side, so irritated the spaniards, that almagro ordered the ulmen, his brother, and twenty of the chief people to be brought before him, when warning the natives to beware of similar transgressions, he committed his unfortunate victims to the flames; but the army disapproving of this cruel step, the affairs of almagro soon became unprosperous. at this juncture, juan de rada arrived with fresh troops from peru, and with the letters of the king appointing almagro governor of the territory south of that claimed by pizarro. the inca paullu having reinforced his army with the peruvian garrisons in chili, almagro penetrated as far south as the rapel or cachapoal, the boundary between the independent chilians and the peruvian colonies: at this place the inca endeavoured to persuade the general not to hazard an attack, as he was convinced, from what the peruvians had experienced for a hundred years, that it would be unavailing; but almagro persisted, a battle was fought, the promaucians were victorious, and the spaniards, disgusted with the event and with their general, returned to peru, to which almagro marched by the coast road through the desert of atacama, and arrived near cuzco, in , with little loss; his subsequent history has been already related. after the defeat and death of almagro, pizarro, wishing to extend his conquests, ordered pedro de valdivia to undertake an expedition to chili with spaniards, a numerous body of peruvians, women, monks and european quadrupeds, in order to settle such districts as he might deem proper. valdivia departed from cuzco in , and pursued the mountain road, taking the precaution of passing it in summer, on his arrival in copiapo, so far from receiving the hospitable reception which almagro met with, his army was attacked by the natives with great resolution, but as they had been too long in subjection to the peruvians to be able to afford an effectual resistance, valdivia soon reduced copiapo, coquimbo, quillota and melipilla, and with little loss arrived in the country of mapocho, now called santiago, where he laid the foundation of the city of santiago, on the th of february, . the promaucians assembling some forces to attack the spaniards, valdivia set out from santiago to repel them, and left the new city in the care of alonzo de monroy; he was no sooner gone than the mapochians attacked the place, and burning the settlement, forced the inhabitants to retire into the fort, but the commandant was relieved after a desperate siege by the return of valdivia, who, hastening to the town, attacked the mapochians and utterly defeated them. during this attack a woman named iñez suarez killed several chieftains who were prisoners in the fort, with an axe; as she perceived they were about to take advantage of the distressed state of the spaniards. the mapochians continued at intervals to annoy the colony for six years, after which being utterly defeated they destroyed their crops and habitations and retired to the mountains. valdivia being harassed by the natives as well as by the mutinous conduct of his men, sent messengers to peru for succour, and to show the riches of the country he caused the bits, spurs and stirrups of his two messengers to be made of gold; but they were intercepted in their route by the copiapins, from whom they did not escape till after a length of time, and arriving in peru where vaca de castro was governor, who immediately dispatched succours by sea and land to valdivia; with this assistance he reduced some of the surrounding tribes and founded serena or coquimbo, in . in he entered into a treaty with the promaucians, who thenceforward became allies of the spaniards, and in he passed the river maule and reduced the natives from that river to the itata; here he was however attacked by the indians, and forced to retreat to santiago, from whence, hearing of the civil wars in peru, he went to that country, leaving francisco villagran governor in his absence. valdivia acted so meritoriously under de gasca in peru, that after gonzalo pizarro was subdued the president sent him back to chili, with the title of governor, abundance of stores, and two ships filled with soldiers. the coquimbans and copiapins having revolted, the governor sent francisco aguirre against them, who succeeding in his expedition, rebuilt the city of coquimbo, in a more convenient place in . nine years from this period were passed in constant exertion by the governor, before he could consider his power as fully settled in the northern provinces of chili; when having distributed the lands and indians among his followers, he turned his arms against the southern portion of his government, and after a march of miles, arrived at the bay of penco or concepcion, where he founded the city of concepcion, on the th of october, . no sooner had he colonized this settlement, than the toqui or chief of the araucanians, attacked him with an army of men; but after a battle of several hours, _aillavalu_, the toqui, was slain, and the araucanians forced to retreat. in the following year, , valdivia was attacked in concepcion, by _lincoyan_, the new toqui, or general of the araucanians, but they retreated, after displaying much valour. valdivia now occupied himself in strengthening his post, and having received succours from peru, he marched into arauco, where, arriving at the river cauten, he founded the city of imperial, after which he traversed the country to the territory of the cunches, in which he founded the town of valdivia; and satisfied with his success, returned to st. jago, having fought several battles with the natives, in which his troops were always victorious. he now dispatched aguirre, with men to conquer cuyo and tucuman, and returning with fresh troops into araucania, he built the city of la frontera; and having effected this object, retired to concepcion, and dispatched a messenger to spain, with an account of his conquests, a solicitation of the government, and of the title of marquess del arauco, and he sent francisco de ulloa by sea, to explore the straits of magellan, by which he hoped to carry on a communication with the mother-country, independent of peru. occupied with these affairs, he did not perceive the increasing power of the araucanians, who having deposed lincoyan, elected _caupolican_, a warlike chief, to the supreme command of their army. caupolican then attacked the fort of arauco, which the spaniards abandoned in the night; he also compelled them to evacuate tucapel, both of which he destroyed. valdivia immediately collected what force he could, marched against him, but sending an advanced guard of ten horsemen to reconnoitre, they were cut off, and their heads fixed in the road through which the spanish army was to pass. this army arrived in sight of the araucanians, on the d of december, , when a fierce contest immediately commenced. the araucanians were put to flight, but in their confusion, a young chief who had been baptized and employed as page to valdivia, suddenly deserted the spanish army, and brandishing a lance, called out to his countrymen to turn and follow his example; this so encouraged the enemy, that they immediately commenced a fresh attack, with such success, that the spaniards and their promaucian allies were cut to pieces, only two of the latter escaping. valdivia retired with his chaplain to a convenient spot, and having received absolution, prepared himself for death. he was soon taken prisoner, and his late page, begging that he might be spared, was on the point of obtaining his release, when an old ulmen, indignant at the fate of his countrymen who had fallen in the battle, put an end to the conference, and the existence of valdivia by a blow with his war-club. on the news of the defeat and death of the governor arriving at concepcion, villagran was appointed to the chief command, and marching with a force against the araucanians, he was defeated by _lautaro_, the page before mentioned, and losing men, was forced to retreat to concepcion, which place he abandoned and proceeded to st. jago. by his wise measures and resolute conduct, as well as by the dreadful ravages of the small-pox which had been communicated to the araucanians, the spanish possessions were once more established, but battles were constantly fought between the natives and the settlers, which though they generally terminated in favour of the europeans, were the means of their losing many settlements, and lautaro the toqui, was slain in , in an action with villagran. in , the viceroy of peru sent don garcia hurtado de mendoza his son to chili, with a great force of cavalry, infantry and shipping. the new governor landed on an island in the bay of concepcion in april; here he remained during the winter, making overtures of an amicable nature to the araucanians, but not receiving a determinate answer, he landed men at monte pinto, and erected a strong fort to command the harbour; this place was immediately attacked by the araucanians, under caupolican, when a tremendous battle ensued, in which the army of the toqui were defeated. don garcia then proceeded into arauco, where he fought another desperate action, and defeating the araucanians, marched to the southward, through the province of the cunches, a tribe hitherto unsubdued. in this expedition, they discovered the chiloe islands, and returning from thence, he marched through the country of the huilliches, and founded the town of osorno. about this time, caupolican the great toqui or general, was taken prisoner, impaled, and shot to death with arrows, but his son was elected to the chief command, and exasperated by the cruel death of his father, attacked the spanish forces under the officer who had slain caupolican; in this attack, the young chief was victorious, and immediately besieged imperial, in which he was however foiled. many battles occurred in , the last of which was peculiarly favourable for the spanish cause, all the best leaders of the araucanians being slain in it. don garcia now rebuilt the cities which had been destroyed; sent castillo to conquer cuyo, and at last, embarked for peru, in which country he had been advanced to the viceregal rank. villagran who had been to spain returned to chili, with the title of governor, but meeting with reverses, his spirits sunk, and dying soon after, he left his son pedro as governor; at which period, the araucanians were once more getting the better of the spaniards, who founded the town of castro, in chiloe, in the year . in , the court of royal audience was established in the city of concepcion, their first act was to depose quiroga, who had dispossessed the younger villagran in his government, and to appoint ruiz gamboa, to the command of the army. the natives had now become exceedingly powerful under the conduct of a mestizo, named alonzo diaz, who had been raised to the rank of toqui by the name of _paynenauca_, and who had been joined by the chiquillanians and the pehuenches. this chief fought many actions with the spanish troops, but was at last taken prisoner and beheaded. on his death, _cayancura_ was elevated to the dignity of toqui. in his time, the araucanians besieged the fort of arauco, and being defeated, the toqui resigned his command to _nangoniel_ his son, who was killed in attacking another fortress. _cadaguela_ was then unanimously proclaimed general, and in his time, the english under sir thomas candish landed on the coast of chili, and endeavoured to enter into negociations with the natives; but being attacked by molina, the corregidor of santiago, they were forced to reimbark, after losing several men. several chiefs succeeded cadaguela, each of whom were engaged in desperate actions with the spaniards. in , don martin loyola, nephew of the celebrated founder of the order of jesuits, having married the daughter of sayri tupac, the last inca of peru, was appointed governor of chili; he was slain five years after his arrival, on the d of november , by _paillamachu_ the toqui, in whose country he had imprudently ventured with too small an escort. on this event which had been previously planned, the whole araucanian country, with the cunches and huilliches, their allies, suddenly rose, and put to death every spaniard who had the misfortune to be without the forts; the towns of osorno, valdivia, villarica, imperial, canete, angol, and arauco, were all attacked, and conception and chillan were burnt. amid all these misfortunes, the dutch landed in the chiloe islands, plundered chiloe, and put the spanish garrison to the sword; but landing in an island where the araucanians were posted, these people attacked them and killed twenty-three of their men, mistaking them for spaniards. all the spanish cities above-named, were also taken by paillamachu the toqui, and the spaniards were completely expelled from the territories of the araucanian confederacy. luis valdivia, a jesuit, who had been employed in converting the chilese, finding it impracticable to prevail on the araucanians to listen to him, went to spain, where he instigated the emperor to take measures to procure a peace; and returning to chili, in , this zealous missionary nearly effected the object he had taken so much trouble about, and in a short time peace was about to be proclaimed between the spaniards and the indians, when an unforeseen circumstance occurred, which rendered the war more active than before. battle succeeded battle, with no extraordinary result on either side, till the dutch made a second attempt on the islands, in which they were repulsed as before, the natives again mistaking them for spaniards. some wars took place after this, till the arrival of don francisco de zuniga, marquess of baydes, who assumed the government in . by his exertions, the preliminaries of a peace were arranged and finally settled on the th of january , between _lincopichion_, the chilese general, and the marquess, by which the two nations mutually agreed to suspend all hostilities, and the araucanians, on their part, engaged to prevent any foreign power whatever from landing in their territories. in , the dutch made a third and last attempt to colonize this country, by building two forts, and taking possession of valdivia; but being deprived of provisions by the cunches, and hearing that a powerful army of spaniards and araucanians were marching against them, they evacuated chili. the peace thus happily settled, lasted until , when war again broke out with all its former fury, being carried on by both parties for ten years with equal spirit. at the end of this period, meneses a portuguese noble, who held the reins of government, again persuaded the turbulent natives to consent to a peace. this was more lasting than the former, and the history of chili presents nothing worthy of notice till the commencement of the eighteenth century, when the inhabitants of the islands of chiloe revolted, but were soon quelled. the famous war of the succession happening in europe at this epoch created much internal discussion in the spanish colonies; several governors were removed for favouring the bourbon party, but when a prince of that house was at last placed on the spanish throne, the ports of chili were filled with french ships, and from , to , many persons of that nation settled in the country. about this time, the araucanians began to show some symptoms of an inclination to break the treaty, and in , they elected _vilumilla_ their toqui or war-chief. so actively did this chief employ himself, that he gained to his party, nearly the whole of the indians from peru to the river biobio, causing them to agree to rise against the whites, at a certain moment, which was to take place when they should see the watch-fires on the mountains: accordingly on the th of march , these fires blazed from copiapo to itata, but from some reason, which has not been related, the natives of the northern provinces did not join, and his scheme was put into execution by the araucanians only, who took some places, and then made overtures of peace. the year was famous for the arrival of don josef manso, the new governor, who collected all the scattered colonists, and placed them in several cities which he founded, and which are now the capitals, and chief towns of the different provinces. his successors continued this line of conduct, and in , several new towns were built, and don domingo rosa sent a colony to occupy the island of juan fernandez, which had remained uninhabited till that time. in , the governor, don antonio gil gonzago, created a new war, by endeavouring to force the araucanians to live in towns, giving them materials to build with, appointing workmen to assist them, and sending a force to compel them to do so, and entering into a treaty with the pehuenches, he attacked them on all sides. the pehuenches were defeated, and instead of becoming the eternal enemies of their conquerors, they have since that time been their most faithful allies. the spanish governor being thwarted by these warlike people in all his schemes, a peace was resorted to after a dreadful battle in , and on this occasion the araucanians insisted on being allowed to retain a resident agent at santiago, which was granted. a native of ireland, don ambrosio higgins, was appointed captain-general of chili, in , and being still at peace with the natives, this governor built several new towns, opened the mines, and encouraged commerce and agriculture. in his government, the regular militia of chili, amounted to , men. the veteran troops, or royal guard, was men; and beside these, each city has an armed force, with a local militia, the former being kept in constant pay. since the year , several governors have presided over chili, and nothing material occurs in its history, until , when a partial revolution took place. spain being overrun by the french armies, the creoles of this country judged it a favourable moment to throw off their allegiance, and accordingly, being the most numerous, they effected their object with little trouble. since that period, the royal armies have subjected the kingdom, which has been thrown into fresh convulsions by the appearance of san martin, with a detachment from the insurgent force of buenos ayres; at present the government is decidedly spanish, though the capital and several strong places are occupied by the revolutionists, but very little is known concerning what particular cities, towns and forts they hold. climate, features, &c. the climate of chili is probably superior to that of any other country in spanish america, as the air is remarkably salubrious, the inhabitants being troubled with few contagious diseases, and the extremes of heat and cold are not felt in continental chili. the spring commences in september, summer in december, autumn in march, and winter in june. from september till march, south-east or south winds prevail, during which time the sky is clear and serene, but the north and north-west winds regularly occasion rain, and chiefly occur during the remaining months. a singular circumstance attends the difference of climate between the countries lying on the eastern and western sides of the chilian andes; for though the winter is the rainy season of chili, at that time tucuman and cuyo enjoy their finest weather. in the northern districts of chili rain seldom falls; whilst in the southern parts and in the isles it is frequent. the chilian andes being very high, and many of them entering the regions of eternal snow, the lands lying in their neighbourhood are subject to occasional frosts, and the mountains themselves are impassable from april to november, on account of the frequent and overwhelming snow storms. the want of rain in the northern provinces is supplied by abundant dews, and fogs are common on the coasts, but they are never of long continuance. on the whole it may be stated, that the climate of this country is temperate, and favourable for bringing forward the productions of its fertile soil. this soil yields by cultivation all the grains common to europe, and in the most uncultivated parts, is covered with a profuse and luxuriant vegetation. the crops are usually from sixty to eighty for one; but in the rich valleys, this proportion is greatly exceeded; but the sea-coast being the least productive, the harvests there do not give more than forty or fifty to one. the grains most commonly sown are maize, wheat, barley and rye. hemp and flax give abundant returns, but are not so much attended to. european fruit trees find a genial clime in chili, and in the southern provinces are woods of apple and quince trees, of several miles in extent, from which fruit of excellent quality is gathered. pears, cherries, peaches, of which there are fourteen sorts, some weighing sixteen ounces; oranges, lemons and citrons, melons, &c., are every where to be seen in the fields growing without culture, and each in their kind yielding delicious fruit. vines grow wild in the forests, and those which are planted give a red wine not inferior to the produce of any european vintage. the olive trees thrive exceedingly, some of them reaching to a great height, and being three feet in diameter. in the northern provinces the tropical fruits and plants grow in the greatest abundance; of these the sugar cane, the cotton plant, the banana, the pine apple, the manioc, jalap, pimento, indigo, contrayerva, tobacco, sarsaparilla, guiacum, cassia, tamarinds, pepper, canello, or white cinnamon, cocoa nut and date are the most common. besides the plants common to the other kingdoms of america, and the luxuriancy with which all kinds of european herbs, trees, grains and fruits, grow in chili, this country has a long catalogue of vegetables peculiar to itself. the plains, the valleys, and the lower mountains, are covered with beautiful trees, and with an herbage so high that it conceals the sheep which graze in it, and species of non-descript plants were collected by an able naturalist, who has enumerated the properties of some of them; of these the most singular are, a large strawberry, which is cultivated for the table, and also grows wild; the madi yielding a fine oil; relbun, a species of madder; panke, which gives a good black dye; the cachan-lahuen, a balsam equal to that of peru; and the viravira, useful in intermittent fevers. various kinds of creeping plants, whose flowers afford the most beautiful decorations to the gardens and forests; and the puya, whose bark is used for the same purposes as cork. ninety-seven kinds of trees are found in the chilian forests, of which thirteen only shed their leaves; so that an everlasting verdure presents itself; of those resembling the european, the cypress, pine, oak, laurel and cedar, are varieties of the same kinds. the other most curious ones are the theige or chili willow, which yields a great quantity of manna; the floripondio, whose flowers diffuse so great a fragrance that one is sufficient to perfume a garden; the chilian orange, whose wood is esteemed by turners, on account of its fine yellow colour; the boighe, or white cinnamon, resembling the cinnamon of ceylon, and esteemed a sacred tree by the araucanians, who always present a branch of it to the embassadors, on concluding a peace. the luma, a myrtle which grows to the height of forty feet, and whose trunk affords the best wood for the coachmakers of peru; the quillia, from whose bark a soap is manufactured; the palma chilensis, or chilian cocoa nut, whose fruit, though resembling that of the tropic nut, is not larger than an apple; the gevuin, which is a sort of walnut tree, and the pihuen, a sort of fir or pine, which is the most beautiful tree in chili. its trunk is generally eighty feet in height, and eight in girth; the limbs which branch from it begin at half its height, and leave it alternately by fours, decreasing in length as they approach the top. the fruit, like that of the pine, is very large, and has two kernels, which in taste nearly resembles the chestnut; a gum, used as frankincense, exudes from the bark; and its timber is highly useful. chili is as singular in its landscape as any, and perhaps more so than most other parts of america, as on the east it is shut out from la plata by the andes, which, rising to an enormous height, has its surface covered with pinnacles, which are in general volcanic. this cordillera scarcely ever depresses itself in its course through the country, till it approaches peru; and it seems probable that it attains a greater elevation in this kingdom than in quito; no actual measurement has however been made of its highest summits, though they are well known by name. the chilian andes are about miles in breadth, taking a direction from the archipelago of chonos to the frontiers of tucuman, and consisting of an uninterrupted chain of ridges, constantly losing themselves in the snowy regions of the air; their sides are interspersed with fruitful valleys and dreadful precipices, and give birth to rivers, exhibiting the most beautiful and the most terrific features of nature. the roads leading from chili to tucuman and cuyo are not more than eight or nine in number, of which that leading from aconcagua to cuyo is the best. it is bordered on one side by the deep beds of the chilé and the mendoza rivers; on the other by lofty and impracticable precipices; and is so narrow that in many places the rider is obliged to descend from his mule and proceed on foot; nor does a year ever pass without some of those animals being precipitated into the thundering streams below. the precipices which accompany this route occasionally open and display beautiful and fertile plains. in these places are seen the tambos of the incas, only one of which has been destroyed. this road requires eight days to pass in good weather, but in winter it is totally impracticable. that portion of the andes between the ° and ° south latitude is wholly desert, and the remainder, as far as the °, is inhabited by the chiquillanes, pehuenches, puelches, and huilliches, tribes who are in amity with the araucanians. the chilian andes form three parallel ridges, the centre being the most elevated, and flanked by the others at or miles distance, and they are connected by transversal branches. the highest mountains of this chain are the _manflos_, in ° ' south latitude, the _tupungato_, in ° ', the _descabezado_, in °, the _blanquillo_, in ° ', the _longavi_, in ° ', the _chillan_, in °, and the immense _corcobado_, in °; and it is said that all of these are more than , feet above the level of the sea, the lowest part of the chain being in the province of copiapo. this cordillera has no fewer than fourteen volcanoes, in a constant state of eruption, and a much greater number discharging only smoke. fortunately for the inhabitants, these are, with the exception of two, all situated on the very ridge of the andes, and thus cover only a small space in their immediate vicinity with the devastating effects of the heated substances which are thrown from them. the greatest eruption ever known in this country was on the d of december , when the volcano _peteroa_ burst forth by a new crater, and rent asunder a mountain in its vicinity. it formed a lake by stopping up the passage of a considerable river, and was heard throughout the whole country. the two volcanoes which are not on the ridge of the andes, are that at the mouth of the river rapel, which is inconsiderable, and ejects only vapour; and that of _villarica_, near a lake of the same name in arauco. villarica is so high, that its summit is covered with snow, and may be seen at miles distance. its base, which is fourteen miles in circuit, is covered with thick forests, and many rivers flow from it; and though in a constant state of activity, its eruptions are never very violent. although the chilese seldom suffer from the obvious effects of these volcanoes, their country is subjected to earthquakes, caused, in all probability, by the struggle in the bosom of the earth amid the combustible materials which are striving to vent themselves. these earthquakes generally occur three or four times a year, but they are seldom of material consequence, and are not dreaded as in peru and caraccas. since the arrival of the spaniards only five violent shocks have occurred, in , ; , in , when the sea rose over the walls of concepcion, and in , when that city was destroyed by the ocean; but only seven persons perished who were invalids and unable to move. these shocks are usually preceded by a noise under ground, which gives sufficient warning to the people to leave their houses, and as the earth rarely opens, few buildings are overthrown; and the towns are erected with such broad streets, and with such spacious courts and gardens behind the houses, that even should these fall, the people are safe. _rivers._--chili possesses more than rivers, but as the distance from the andes to the sea, is in no instance more than miles, none of them are very large: they are however of great importance to the country, by affording the means of irrigating the fields, and of internal navigation. the finest rivers are the _maule_, the _cauten_, the _tolten_, _valdivia_, _chaivin_, _rio bueno_, and the _sinfondo_. the only lake of importance is that of _villarica_, or _laquen_, which is miles in circumference. sheets of fresh and salt water are common throughout chili. in the marshes of the maritime ports are the lakes _bucalemu_, _caguil_, and _bogerecu_, which are salt, and from twelve to twenty miles in length. salt springs are common in coquimbo and copiapo, and in the latter province is the _rio salado_, which, rising in the andes, runs into the pacific, and leaves a fine crystallized salt on its banks, which is so pure as not to need any preparation for use. mineral springs and thermal waters also are common. _mines._--the mineral kingdom is not less rich in chili than the vegetable one is. it produces all the known semi-metals; they are, however, neglected by the spaniards, with the exception of mercury, so necessary for the refining of gold and silver: but the government having forbidden the two richest mines of quicksilver to be worked, that substance is only procured in a small quantity. lead is found in all the silver mines, and in various parts it is worked for its own value, in others on account of the silver it always contains. in the provinces of copiapo, coquimbo, aconcagua and huilquilemu are rich iron mines, and the sands of the rivers and sea yield this metal abundantly. tin is also plentiful in the sandy mountains; and mines of copper are scattered over the whole country, the richest being between the ° and ° south latitude; the ore usually containing gold. the copper mines of coquimbo and copiapo have been long known; they are said to amount to more than , all of which are in constant work; and the richest mine of this metal was that of _payen_, which the spaniards were forced to abandon by the natives; lumps of pure copper were found in it, weighing from fifty to one hundred pounds; and it is said that the mine at _curico_, recently discovered, is equally rich, its ore consisting of gold and copper in equal proportions, and having an uncommonly brilliant and beautiful appearance. the silver mines are usually discovered in the highest and coldest parts of the mountain-country, on which account it has been found necessary to abandon several very rich veins. the most celebrated are those of _coquimbo_, _copiapo_, _aconcagua_ and _santiago_. in these the metal is found pure, as well as in ores mineralized with arsenic and sulphur. _uspallata_, in the ° south latitude, is the most productive. it is situated eight leagues north-west of mendoza in cuyo, and yields from forty to sixty marks per quintal. gold is found, not only in the silver, copper and lead ores, but there is hardly a mountain in the kingdom which does not contain some of this precious metal; and it is found in the plains, and in the beds of the rivers. the most important mines and washings of gold in chili being at _copiapo_, _huasco_, _coquimbo_, _petorca_, ten leagues south of chuapa, _ligua_, near quillota, _tiltil_, _llaoin_, _putaendo_, _yapel_, or _villa de cuscus_, _caen_, _alhue_, _chibato_ and _huillipatagua_, and all but the three last have been wrought ever since the conquest. the quantity of gold and silver produced annually in chili amounts, excluding that which is sent clandestinely out of the country, to the value of , _l._ sterling annually; and there were , piastres of gold, and , of silver, coined at the mint of santiago in : but since that period the plain of uspallata has yielded a greater proportion of silver. the contraband silver exported from chili is as three to two on that which pays the fifth; the annual average of the fine gold and silver which receives the royal stamp in chili being , , piastres, or , _l._ sterling, of which , marcs are gold, and , silver: but the administration consumes the revenue of chili, which, therefore, never remitted any sum to the royal coffers. _population._--the population of this extensive country is composed of europeans, creoles, indians, mestizoes and negroes; of these the creoles are by far the most numerous in the spanish provinces. the country is in general thinly inhabited; the whites living in towns, and the independent indians roaming in their native woods and mountains, it is not probable that the spanish part contains more than , inhabitants including all the classes. the creoles are a well-made, brave and industrious race, and have a frankness and vivacity peculiar to themselves; being in general possessed of good talents, but which are not cultivated, owing to the want of proper places of education. the other classes are much the same as in other parts of spanish america; and the peasantry, though of european origin, dress in the araucanian manner; and, dispersed over an extensive country, are perfectly free from restraint; they therefore lead contented and happy lives. the general language is spanish, excepting on the borders of arauco, where the ancient dialect, the _chili-dugu_, or chilese tongue, is cultivated by all classes. the females of chili are as luxurious in their dress and equipages as those of lima: but are noted for their kindness and hospitality towards strangers; and this virtue is practised in its greatest extent by all the inhabitants of the spanish portion. in short the chilians appear to be the most frank, courteous and generous people of spanish america. _animals._--the animal kingdom is not so various as the vegetable in this country; the indigenous species amounting only to about thirty-six; of these the vicuna, resembling the animal of the same name in peru, is a sort of camel, which lives in the highest regions of the andes; its body is the size of a large goat with a long neck, round head, small straight ears and high legs. its coat is of a fine dirty rose-coloured wool, which will take any dye, and is used for manufacturing a variety of cloths; they live in flocks on the highest heaths of the andes, and are so timid, that they are taken by stretching a line across their path, to which pieces of cloth are tied, these fluttering in the wind terrify the vicunas, who stand still and suffer themselves to be caught. this animal has never been domesticated in chili, but is chiefly sought after for its wool and flesh, the latter being esteemed equal to veal. the chilihueques, or araucanian sheep, which resemble the european sheep, were employed as beasts of burden by the natives, who now use them for the sake of their fine wool, and they are a variety of the former. the guanuco is another species of the american camel, exceeding the last in size; its length from the nose to the tail being about seven feet, and its height in front four feet three inches; many of them are however much taller; the body is covered with long reddish hair on the back and whitish under the belly; its head is round, the nose pointed and black, the tail short and turned up, and the ears straight. they live during the summer in the mountains, but quit them on the approach of winter for the plains in which they appear in herds of two or three hundred. they are hunted by the chilians, whose horses are unable to keep pace with them, but the young being more feeble are generally taken. the indians, who are excellent horsemen, sometimes get near enough to throw the laqui between their legs, and thus take them alive. this laqui is a strip of leather five or six feet long, to each end of which is fastened a stone of two pounds weight, the huntsman holding one of these in his hand, and whirling the other, slings the string at the animal in so dexterous a manner that the stones form a tight knot round his legs. they have also longer strips of leather with a running noose at the end, which they carry coiled on their saddles, one end being made fast to them, and thrown with so sure an aim that the noose falls over the animal's head and neck, the rider then turning round, puts his horse into a full gallop, and such is the irresistible force with which he moves, that the game is compelled to follow. in this manner the peons of buenos ayres, who are the natives of paraguay that take charge of the immense herds of cattle roaming on the plains, catch them when they have occasion for their hide or carcass. the guanuco is naturally gentle, and is soon domesticated; it is used for the same purposes as the llamas and alpacos of peru, which are only varieties of this animal. they resemble the camel in several particulars, having reservoirs in their stomachs for water, they can go for a long while without food, are very docile, kneel in order to discharge or receive their burdens, and have hoofs so firm as not to require shoeing, with such thick skins that they are rarely galled. their step is slow but sure, even in the steepest parts of the mountains, and they pass the greater part of the night in ruminating, when they sleep folding their legs under them. the females produce one young one at a time, and are five or six months in gestation. their cry is like that of a horse, and to defend themselves they eject their saliva. the period of existence of these singular animals is about thirty years. chilihueques were much used as beasts of burden before the introduction of mules, but these animals have now nearly superseded them, from their greater strength. the llama and alpaco, are not known in the chilian andes, and the three species we have described, though evidently of the same genus, never copulate with each other, and are seldom observed in the same place. the puda is a kind of wild goat of the size of a half grown kid, with brown hair, the male having small horns; these creatures come down in very numerous flocks from the mountains as soon as winter approaches, in order to feed in the plains; they are then killed in great numbers by the inhabitants for food, and caught for domestication, to which state they are very easily brought, and are said to be very fond of playing with children. the guemul inhabits the most inaccessible parts of the andes. it resembles the horse in some particulars and the ass in others, but is not the produce of either, and is most probably another variety of the peruvian camel. the vizcacha is an animal resembling the rabbit and the fox. it is larger than the latter, and its fur being very fine and soft, is used for the manufacture of hats. the cuy, is another species of rabbit, but much smaller, not exceeding the size of the field mouse, and it is occasionally domesticated. the armadillo, of which there are three kinds, in chili, the four banded, the eight banded, and the eleven banded; the eight banded being common in the valleys of the andes, and are of various sizes, from six to thirteen inches in length, covered with a thick bony defensive armour which is so minutely jointed that they can roll themselves up as the english hedge-hog does. the armadilloes are elegant and inoffensive little animals. the degu, is a kind of dormouse; and the maulin wood-mouse is exactly like a mouse, but so large that it resists the attacks of the dogs; and there are several other kinds of mice peculiar to the country, all of which differ in their habits, and in other points from the european animals of the same name. the pagi, or chilian puma, is nearly the same as the puma, or cougouar of la plata, and the mitzli of mexico; it is named the american lion by the spaniards, but it resembles that creature only in its shape and roar, having no mane. the hair on the upper part of the body is ash-coloured with yellow spots, and very long, and the belly is dusky white. its length, from the nose to the root of the tail, is about five feet; and its height, from the sole of the foot to the shoulder, near two feet three inches. the ears are short and pointed, the eyes large, the mouth wide and deep, and well furnished with sharp teeth; the paws have each five toes, armed with very strong claws, and the tail is upwards of two feet long. the female is less than the male, of a paler colour, carries her young three months, and brings forth two cubs at a time. it inhabits the thickest forests and the most inaccessible mountains, from whence it issues to attack the domestic animals roaming in the plains, preferring the flesh of the horse to any other. its mode of seizing its prey is similar to that of the tiger; and it is not uncommon for this formidable creature to carry off two horses at a time, as they are often linked together in the pasture. it kills one, and dragging it along obliges the other to follow by lashing it with its tail. the pagi is said never to attack man unless provoked, but it has been proved, by several intelligent travellers, that the lions and tigers of america are sometimes as ferocious and destructive as those of africa. the guigna, and the colocola, are two species of wild cats which inhabit the woods. the culpeu is a large fox resembling the european wolf. it is said always to approach man, and stopping at a short distance, looks at him very attentively for some time, and then retires. owing to this singular propensity the animal is frequently shot; and the race is much thinned. the american, or brazilian porcupine is an inhabitant of the chilian forests, in which there are several animals resembling the weasel, ferret, martin, &c. many species of amphibious creatures are contained in the rivers of chili, of which the coypu, is a water rat, as large as and resembling the otter in its habits and form; and the guillino is a species of the castor, or beaver. the shores of chili throng with marine animals. the sea lion, the sea wolf, the chinchimen, or sea cat, a very formidable kind of otter, the lame, or elephant seal, which is frequently twenty-two feet in length and a proportionate bulk; and many other kinds are killed by the natives for the sake of the oil they afford. in arauco the lakes are said to contain a species of hippopotamus, as large as a horse; and the european quadrupeds which have been imported by the spaniards, thrive exceedingly. chili has also animals similar to the hare and the fox, but peculiar to itself. horses, asses, mules, cattle, sheep, goats, swine, dogs, cats and even mice have been introduced into chili by the europeans, and the first cat was given to almagro by montenegro, who received six hundred pieces of silver for it. the horses of chili are fine, strong, and very active. those bred in the plains are the fleetest, whilst those in the mountains are the best for draught. these noble animals are necessary to the very existence of the chilians, as they never perform any journey on foot, and would be unable to catch their cattle without them. chilian asses are stronger and taller than the european asses, from which they are derived; they exist chiefly in a wild state, and are hunted for their skins. the cattle are also large, excepting near the coasts, where the herbage is not so luxuriant; and so numerous are these useful beasts, that many persons have , head on their estates. they require no care, and enough are usually killed at christmas to serve for salt provision for the rest of the year, and for exportation. sheep, in this country, are equal to those of spain, and are chiefly kept for the sake of their wool only. goats have multiplied astonishingly, and are hunted, in the mountains, for their skins. the birds of chili are as numerous as in mexico, the known species inhabiting the land amounting to , and the aquatic to far more. parrots, swans, flamingoes, whose beautiful feathers are prized by the indians for head dresses; wild geese, ducks, pigeons, turtle-doves, plovers, curlews, divers, herons, kites, falcons, blackbirds, crows, woodpeckers, partridges and european domestic fowls are common. an eagle named calquin, measures ten feet and a half from the extremity of one wing, when extended, to that of the other. the penguin inhabits the southern shores and islands; the alcatraz or brown pelican is as large as a turkey-cock, and may be constantly seen on the rocks and islets in the sea. humming-birds are very common in the fields and gardens; of which, three species, the little, the blue-headed, and the crested, are peculiar to chili. thrushes and other birds of song are very plentiful, and enliven the dreary woods with their varied notes. the jacana is a kind of water-hen, about the size of a magpie, with a spur on each wing. the piuquen or bustard, is larger than that of europe, and nearly white, inhabiting the great plains; this bird lays two eggs larger than those of a goose, and is easily tamed. the cheuque, or american ostrich, is sometimes seen in the plains of chili, but chiefly inhabits that part of araucania on the east of the andes and the valleys of those mountains, and exactly resembles the cassowary of la plata. its stature is equal to that of a man, its neck being two feet eight inches long, with legs of the same height; the plumage of the back and wing is generally dark grey, the other parts of the body being white, though some are seen all white, and others all black; and it has not the callous substance on its wings or breast as the african ostrich has, but it is equally voracious. the note of this bird is a shrill whistle, and the female lays from forty to sixty eggs, in a careless manner, on the ground at a time; they are good eating, and as large as those of the eastern ostrich. the feathers are very beautiful, and by their great quantity on the wings, hinder the bird from rising; its motion is a quick run, in which it is so much assisted by the wings, which are eight feet in length, that it outstrips the fleetest horse. the indians make plumes, parasols, and many beautiful ornaments of the feathers, which are highly valued. there are also several kinds of owls, falcons, and vultures peculiar to this country, but the largest, as well as the most extraordinary of the winged tribe, is the condor or manque; its wings when extended, measuring from fourteen to sixteen feet; its body is covered with black feathers, excepting the back, which is white, the neck is encircled with a white ruff, projecting an inch beyond the other feathers, and the head is covered with short thin hairs; the irides of the eyes are of a reddish brown, and the pupils black. the beak is four inches long, very broad and crooked, white towards the point, and black at the base. the legs are short, and the feet are furnished with four strong toes, the hindmost being two inches long, with one joint and a black nail an inch in length; the middle toe has three joints, is six inches long, and has a crooked whitish nail of two inches; the other toes are shorter, and each armed with very strong talons. the general figure of the bird is that of an eagle, but the female is smaller than the male, has no ruff, but only a small tuft at the back of the neck, and builds her nest on the highest cliffs, laying two white eggs larger than a turkey's. these immense eagles frequently carry off sheep and goats, and even calves, when they are separated from the cows. when they attack a calf, it generally happens, that several condors pounce upon it at once, tear out its eyes, and rend it in pieces. the peasants have several methods of taking and killing this bird, which possesses such strength, that it is rarely shot, owing to the great velocity with which it ascends into the higher regions of the air. the coasts of chili and its rivers abound with many kinds of shell-fish common to the american seas, and others which are found on these shores alone. oysters, craw-fish, crabs, lobsters, &c., are in great abundance, and the bays, harbours, and creeks swarm with fish, no less than seventy-six different species having been enumerated; and all the rivers beyond the thirty-fourth degree of south latitude are remarkable for containing fine trout, &c. insects are as numerous as the former; the lanthorn fly, glow-worms, &c., illuminating the forest and plains during the dark nights, and the fields and gardens glittering in the day-time with thousands of the most beautiful butterflies. the wild bees produce so much wax, that the churches are supplied with tapers from the collections of that useful substance made in the woods. mosquitoes, gnats, and venomous flies are not known in chili; but a great spider is found near santiago, whose body is as large as a hen's egg, and covered with soft brown hair, the legs are long and large, and armed with great fangs; though it is innoxious and lives under ground. scorpions of a small size are also found in the lower andes and on the shores of the rivers, but they are said not to be dangerous. the reptiles of chili consist only of sea and fresh water turtles, two kinds of frogs, the land and water toad, aquatic and terrestrial lizards, and one kind of serpent, but none of them are venomous. _commerce._--the external trading relations of this country are carried on by the straights of magellan with europe, and by the pacific with peru, particularly with the port of callao; with peru it trades in fruits, preserves, grain, vegetable productions and copper, to the annual amount of , piastres, from which traffic it derives a net profit of , piastres. from europe it receives linens, woollens, hats, steel, mercury, and most articles of european manufactures, in return for which chili sends gold, silver, copper, vicuna wool and hides; and this trade is said to amount annually to , , of piastres. between la plata and chili there is an internal traffic in favour of the former for paraguay tea, &c. but the internal commerce of the chilian provinces is trifling. the inhabitants make ponchos, a sort of loose cloak universally worn, and principally manufactured by the indians, stockings, carpets, blankets, saddles, hats, cloths, &c., which are chiefly used by the peasantry, the richer class employing european goods. these with grain, wine, brandy and leather, form the chief articles of home consumption and trade. on the whole the present state of commerce in chili is not very flourishing, owing to the few inhabitants in proportion to the extent of the country. a late traveller has given for the united exportation and importation of peru and chili, the following average, viz. for the importation , , piastres: for the exportation in agricultural produce , , of piastres, and for the exportation of gold and silver , , ; or , , _l._ sterling for the importations, and , , _l._ sterling for the exports, leaving a clear profit of , _l._ _capital._--the metropolis of chili is the city of santiago, founded by pedro de valdivia, in , in an extensive valley inclosed on the east by the andes; on the west by the hills of prado and poanque; on the north by the river colina, and on the south by the mapocho or tepocalma, which flows on the northern side of the city. it was first called nueva estremadura, but soon changed its name to that which it now bears, and its situation is the most delightful that can be imagined, in the midst of a fertile and abundant country, and in a serene and temperate climate. santiago stands fifty-five miles from its port of valparaiso, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude. its population is supposed to exceed , souls, many of whom are people of noble descent, and whose families enjoy exalted stations in the colonies. they are in general robust, well made, and active; the women are handsome, elegant in their manner, and graceful in their conversation. more than one half are creoles, and in the other moiety, the indians bear the largest proportion. the streets are very wide, paved, and built in straight lines forming small squares at intervals, each house having its garden, and though they are built low, yet they are in general convenient and well finished. the river is conveyed by small canals into the gardens, and the chief square, which is in the centre of the town, has a magnificent fountain. this square contains the palace of the captain-general, the court of the royal audience, the town-hall, the prison, the bishop's palace and the cathedral. the suburbs are separated from the city by the river, over which a fine stone bridge is thrown, and are bounded by a hill, from the top of which the whole plain is descried. besides the cathedral there are four parish churches, nine monasteries, four colleges, an university, several chapels, seven nunneries, a house for orphans, an hospital, and many other public buildings; the cathedral was planned and commenced by two english architects, but finished by indians whom they had taught. it is a fine building, and is feet in length. the mint is also a fine stone structure, and was built by an artist from rome. the governor of chili and the bishop reside in santiago, which being also the seat of the royal mint, and of all the public offices, renders it a place of great wealth and gaiety. it is frequently subject to earthquakes, which are however seldom very destructive. the araucanians destroyed santiago in , but they have not disturbed its tranquillity of late, having been driven by the increasing white population of chili to the more mountainous regions. santiago is the see of the bishop of chili, primate of the kingdom, whose revenues are very considerable; this bishopric was erected by paul iv. in , its immediate jurisdiction extends over all the provinces of peru, from the river maule. the capital being the centre of all the internal traffic, and having rich mines in its neighbourhood, contains more shops than any other chilian town; but these shops are confined to a particular quarter of the city, and are stored with every kind of goods. it is asserted, that the population and commerce of santiago and its port are increasing very rapidly, owing to the number of vessels trafficking in the pacific, and by late writers this population is made to amount to between and , . continental provinces of chili. spanish chili, or that part of the country which is colonized by europeans, lies between the ° and ° ' south latitude, and is divided into thirteen, or according to some accounts into fifteen partidos, or departments. these having been already named, we shall give a slight sketch of each, with its capital and chief towns. the first in proceeding from the north, southwards, is the partido, or-- _province of copiapo_, which is bounded on the north by the deserts of atacama, on the east by the andes, on the west by the pacific, and on the south by coquimbo; its extent being about leagues from north to south. this province is celebrated for its mines of gold and copper; it also furnishes fossil salt, sulphur and lapis lazuli. the great _volcano del copiapo_ is on its south-east boundary, and it contains the rivers _salado_, _copiapo_, _castagno_, _totoral_, _quebradaponda_, _guasco_ and _chollai_. copiapo is seldom subject to earthquakes, and little or no rain falls in it, the want of which is supplied by heavy dews, and the many streams with which it abounds; no part of chili is richer in minerals than this, and turquoises and other gems are also found in it. the capital is _copiapo_, on the river of the same name, and which has a port at the mouth of the copiapo, which is the best on the coast. the city itself is twelve leagues from the sea, the houses being irregularly built, and containing about families, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude. at the mouth of the _guasco_ river is also a port of the same name, in ° ' south latitude, but it is a mere village, as is the case with most of the other towns of copiapo. _province of coquimbo._ the second partido is that named coquimbo; it is bounded on the north by copiapo, east by the andes, on the west by the pacific, south-east by aconcagua, and south-west by quillota. it is forty-five leagues in length, and forty in breadth. this country is similar to copiapo; it also is extremely rich in gold, copper and iron, and produces wine, olives, and every kind of european fruit, as well as several tropical plants. the rivers are the _coquimbo_, _tongoi_, _chuapa_ and _limari_; and the volcanoes _coquimbo_ and _limari_ are on its western frontier. the climate is mild, and the air pure and healthy. the great copper mine of coquimbo, is situated on the cerro-verde, a hill which rises from the plain in a conical form, and serves for a land-mark to the port. the capital is _la serena_, or _coquimbo_, which is pleasantly situated on the river of the same name, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude. it was the second town built by valdivia, in , and stands about a mile from the sea, commanding a fine prospect of the ocean, the river and the country, which presents a landscape of the most lively appearance. this city is large but not very populous, the families who inhabit it amounting to only or , consisting of spaniards, creoles, mestizoes, and a few indians. the streets are wide, straight, and intersect each other at right angles, so as to form squares and spaces for gardens; every house having its garden, which are well filled with fruit trees and esculent vegetables. besides the parochial church, there are three convents, a town-house, and a college which formerly belonged to the jesuits. its port is also called coquimbo, and is at the mouth of the river, two leagues from the city; here, and at _tongoi_, which is twenty-two miles to the south, in ° ' south latitude, and is a small harbour formed by the estuary of the rio tongoi, vessels load for peru with copper, hides, tallow, fruit, &c. the bay of coquimbo is the only good one on its coast; ships lie very safely in it, and are defended from all winds by several islands which are near it. coquimbo has been taken several times by english cruizers. _province of quillota._ this partido is bounded on the north by coquimbo, south by aconcagua and melipilla, south-east by santiago, west by the ocean, and north-east by the andes. its length from north to south is twenty-five leagues, and its width from east to west twenty-one. the climate is mild, and the inhabitants cultivate grain of all kinds, vines and fruits, and feed immense herds of cattle. gold and copper-mines are extremely numerous, and the natives manufacture rope, cords and thread; and these with soap and copper, constitute their principal articles for trade; the number of inhabitants is said to be about , . the rivers of quillota are the _limache_, the _aconcagua_, the _longotoma_, the _chuapa_, and the _ligua_. its harbours are el papudo, quintero, la herradura, concon, la ligua and valparaiso. this district contains the city of quillota, and the towns of valparaiso, plaza, plazilla, ingenio, casa-blanca, and petorca. the capital, _quillota_, or _st. martin de la concha_, is situated in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, in a fine valley on the banks of the river aconcagua. it has a parish church, three conventual churches and a college formerly belonging to the jesuits, but is not a place of much note; the towns of valparaiso and petorca drawing away most of the settlers. _valparaiso_ is situated in ° south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, miles north of concepcion, and sixty north-west of santiago; and was formerly a very small village, with a few warehouses, which the merchants of the metropolis erected for their goods, in order to ship them for callao. its only residents were the servants who had charge of the merchandize, but in process of time, the excellence of the harbour drew many foreign vessels to it, and the merchants built themselves houses, since which it has gradually increased, and is now large and populous. its situation is inconvenient for the purposes of building, as it stands at the foot of a mountain, so near to its cliffs, that many houses are erected in the breaches and on the acclivities. valparaiso has a parish church, a convent of franciscans, and one of augustins, but very few monks, and the churches of the convents are small and badly built. it is inhabited chiefly by whites, mestizoes and mulattoes who are engaged in the trade carried on with peru and europe; and the governor of this city is nominated by the king, being dependent only on the captain-general of chili. the ships from peru all touch here, and take in wheat, tallow, cordovan leather, cordage and dried fruits: many of these vessels making three trips to lima during the summer, which lasts from november until june. valparaiso is well supplied with provisions from santiago and quillota, and there is such abundance of game in its vicinity, that the markets are always well stocked with it; the partridges are so numerous in march, and three or four months after, that the muleteers knock them down with sticks without going out of the road. this circumstance is by no means singular, as it is observed, throughout america, that the birds of this species are remarkably stupid, and suffer themselves to be easily taken. the rivers of the country around valparaiso, as well as the coasts, are very indifferently stocked with fish, which is not so plentiful in the northern as in the southern districts of chili. the harbour is every where free from rocks and shoals, except to the north-east, where there is a rock within a cable's length of the shore, and this is dangerous, as it never appears above water. when the north winds set in, which usually happens towards the end of summer, they blow directly into the bay, and causing a very high sea, render it necessary for vessels to have good hold with their anchors towards the north-north-east, as they are, otherwise, liable to be driven on shore. three miles from this port is a pleasantly situated and flourishing little town named _almendral_. the last town of importance in quillota is _petorca_, between the rivers longotoma and qualimari, in ° ' south latitude and ° ' west longitude, which is very populous, on account of the number of miners who resort to work in the mines of its neighbourhood; but it is said, that of late the gold has been found to be so much alloyed with silver and other metals, that the works are not in so flourishing a condition as they were, though it has been one of the most productive undertakings in the kingdom. in the country around this town, which is near the andes, the sides of the mountains produce palm trees of very large size, and the small cocoa not is found amongst them. the merino sheep bred here, yield a wool from which excellent saddles, much esteemed in peru, are made; and which form an extensive branch of chilian commerce. _the province of aconcagua_ is bounded on the north by quillota, east by the andes, west by quillota, and south by santiago. it is about the same extent as quillota, and is a level and well watered district, producing a great quantity of grain and fruits. in the mountains which bound, and may be said to belong to it, are the famous silver mines of _uspallata_, with several of copper. its chief rivers are the _longotoma_, the _ligua_, the _chilé_, and the _aconcagua_; the latter of which is a very fine stream which waters, in its progress to the sea, from the andes, the great valleys of the province and those of curimon, quillota, and concon, forming numerous branches as it passes them. it enters the ocean in ° south latitude. in this district is the high road leading to st. juan de la frontera, in cuyo, by which the treasure and commodities are carried to buenos ayres. it is traversed, by the people employed in this traffic, only from november to april and may, the tambos and the other houses which have been erected by the government, are stored with meal, biscuit, hung beef, and fuel, during the winter, for the couriers who are obliged to go once a month for the mails from europe, and who are frequently detained by heavy falls of snow. the inhabitants of the partido of aconcagua amount to about . its capital is _san felipe_, on the river aconcagua in ° ' south latitude, which contains several convents, a college built by the jesuits, and a parochial church. south-west of this city, and on the central ridge of the andes, is the volcano of aconcagua. the village of curimon, near the andes, is noted for having a convent of franciscans who are extremely strict in their rules. _the province of melipilla_ is bounded on the north by quillota, east by santiago, south by the river maypo, which divides it from rancagua, and on the west by the pacific. its sea coast is of little extent, and its breadth, from east to west, is about twenty-five leagues; its principal produce being wine and grain. the chief rivers are the _maypo_, the _maypocha_, and the _poanque_. the chief town is _melipilla_, or _st. josef de logrono_, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, not far from the rio maypo, in a beautiful situation and fertile territory, but thinly inhabited, owing to its vicinity to the metropolis. it contains a parish church, two convents, and a college founded by the jesuits. _st. francisco de monte_, in which is a convent of franciscans, and the port of _st. antonio_, at the mouth of the maypo, both of which are inconsiderable places, are the only other towns of any note in this province. _the province of santiago_ is bounded by aconcagua on the north, the andes on the east, melipilla on the west, and the rio maypo on the south. it is twenty-one leagues long and twenty-six wide. the gold mines of this district are chiefly in the mountains, and can be only worked during the summer; but they are said to amount to , besides five lavaderos, or washing places, in the mountain of guindo, and some other veins near tiltil. santiago also possesses many silver, several copper and tin, and one lead mine. the most celebrated of the first are those of _lampa_. jasper has been lately found in the settlement of montenegro, of which the people make vases, jars, pitchers and other articles. santiago is watered by the _mapocho_, _colina_, and _lampa_ rivers, besides many beautiful rivulets. it also contains lake _pudaguel_, which is about three leagues in length. no part of chili surpasses this district in fertility. it produces immense quantities of corn, wine, and fruits; the peaches are particularly fine, and of a very large size. the whole mass of the andes, on its eastern borders, seems filled with metallic substances, which are washed down by the rivers, the sands of many containing gold. the capital has been already noticed by its being the metropolis of chili. _the province of rancagua_ is bounded on the north by the maypo, which separates it from santiago and melipilla; east by the andes; west by the pacific, and south by the cachapoal, which river divides it from colchagua. its length, from east to west is about forty leagues, and its breadth, from north to south, thirteen. the country is fertile and is inhabited by about , persons of all the different castes, who live in a very dispersed manner in small farms and settlements, and are not numerous. it has several gold mines, and the mountainous parts contain fine rock crystal; near its northern border are some good medicinal springs and baths, which are resorted to by the inhabitants of the metropolis. rancagua is watered by the _maypo_, _codagua_, _cochalan_ and _cachapoal_, or _rapel_, near the mouth of which is a small volcano, and several smaller rivers which are of great benefit to the plantations, rendering them very productive. there are also some large lakes, which as well as the rivers contain fish in abundance. the two most celebrated of these are _acaleu_ and _bucalemu_, the first is six miles in circuit, near the centre of the province; and the latter, near the sea, is from six to seven leagues in length; near this is a smaller one, from which much salt is obtained. its capital is _rancagua_, or _santa cruz de triana_, a small town situated in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, on the north shore of the river cachapoal, and fifty-three miles south of santiago. it has a parish church, a convent of franciscans and another of mercedarii. a town named _algue_, has been recently built, eight leagues, from the capital towards the sea-coast, on account of a very rich gold mine discovered in its neighbourhood. _the province of colchagua_ is situated between the cachapoal on the north, the andes on the east, the pacific on the west, and the teno river on the south. near the andes its breadth is twenty-five leagues, but on the coast it does not exceed fourteen, while its length, from east to west, is forty-three. its climate is temperate, the soil fertile, and, being well watered by numerous rivers, produces grain, wine and fruits. here are several gold mines, and it is not wanting in other metallic substances. this province was formed out of part of the country of the promaucians, who vigorously repelled the attempts of the first conquerors: but having been compelled to make peace they have ever since been the faithful allies of the spaniards, and the enemies of the people of arauco. their name signifies the nation of the country of delight, in the chilese language, as they were so called by the other tribes, on account of the beauty of the territory they inhabited. the principal rivers are the _rio claro_, _tinguiririca_, _chimbarongo_, _teno_ and _nilahue_, and it contains several lakes, of which _taguatagua_ and _caguil_ are the largest; the former is noted for the abundance of water-fowl which frequent numerous beautiful islands in it, and for its trout. this lake is fourteen leagues from santiago, on the shore of the tinguiririca. caguil is small, and full of fish. the capital and chief towns are st. fernando, rio clarillo, roma, malloa, topocalma and navidad. _st. fernando_, the capital, is in ° ' south latitude, near rio tinguiririca; it was built in , and contains about families, with a parish church, a franciscan convent, and a college, with a handsome church built by the jesuits. _topocalma_ is a port at the mouth of the river of the same name, which passes near the city of santiago, and discharges itself into the ocean in ° ' south latitude. _rapel_ is a settlement near lake rapel, a sheet of water formed by the sea. this village is noted for having a hill in its vicinity in which is a singular cavern, consisting of a single vault, fifteen yards long, and from three to four wide, to which there is a natural door-way two yards high. the other towns are of no note. _province of maule._ this partido is bounded on the north by colchagua, on the east by the andes, on the south-east by chillan, south-west by itata, and on the west by the pacific. it is forty-four leagues in length, and forty in breadth, and, like the preceding, having formed part of promaucia, is a delightful country, abounding in grain, fruits, cattle, sea and river fish, salt and gold; and the cheese made in maule is esteemed the best in chili. it is watered by many rivers, of which the _lantue_, _rioclara_, _panque_, _lircay_, _huenchullami_, _putugan_, _achiguema_, _longavi_, _loncamilla_, _purapel_, _mataquito_, _liguay_ and _maule_ are the largest. the inhabitants of this fine province are mostly promaucian indians, who are tributary to the spaniards, and live in villages governed by their ulmens or caciques. the great volcano of _peteroa_ is on its eastern border, amid the andes, and is the most dreadful of all chilian volcanoes. its greatest eruption happened on the rd of december, , when it formed itself a new crater. peteroa is miles south-south-east of santiago, north-east of concepcion, in ° ' south latitude; and ° ' west longitude. the capital of this district is _talca_, or _st. augustin_, founded, in , in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, miles north-north-east of concepcion, and south of santiago, on the shore of the river maule. in its vicinity to the east is a fort to restrain the incursions of the indians, and to the north-east is a small hill, which furnishes abundance of amethysts, and another which consists of a singular cement sand, known by the name of talca. its population is considerable, owing to the rich mines of gold in the mountains, and to the low price of provisions, which has induced many families to leave the other towns, and settle in talca. it contains a parish church, two monasteries, and a college built by the jesuits, and in its immediate neighbourhood are two chapels of ease. maule contains several other towns, and large villages of indians. curico, cauquenes, st. saverio de bella isla, st. antonio de la florida, and lora, are the principal ones. _curico_, or san josef de buena vista, was built in , on a fine plain at the foot of a hill, from which there is a good view, in ° ' south latitude, and has a parish church and two convents. _cauquenes_ was built also in , in ° ' south latitude, between the rivers cauquenes and tutuben. it has a church and convent. _st. saverio_ and _florida_ were founded in , the first in ° ', and the second in ° ' south latitude. _lora_, near the mouth of the mataquito river, is a large village of the promaucians, a courageous, robust and warlike race; and it is governed by an ulmen or chief. the port of the province is _asterillo_, a small bay between the maule and the metaquito rivers: but the province of maule is now said to be divided into three parts; the part southward of the river maule being named the partido of cauquenes, that on the north maule, and on the north-east, some lands in colchagua having been annexed, it is called the partido of curico, with the town of that name for its capital. _the province of itata._ is bounded by maule on the north, chillan on the east, the pacific on the west, and puchacay on the south. from east to west its length is twenty leagues, and its breadth from north to south eleven. the river itata intersecting this department, it had its name from it, and the only other stream of note is the lonquen. the fertility of itata is such that it produces the best wine in chili; which wine is called concepcion, from its being made on the estates of persons belonging to that city. the sands of the rivers above-named, contain gold, and some is also found in its mountains. the capital of itata is _coulemu_, in ° ' south latitude, but it is merely a small place founded in . _the province of chillan_ is bounded on the north by maule, east by the andes, west by itata, and south by huilquilemu. its length is twelve leagues, and breadth twenty-five, and the whole district till it reaches the andes is a plain, in which immense flocks of sheep are fed, that are highly esteemed on account of their fine wool. the soil being very fertile produces corn and fruits in abundance. its chief rivers are the _cato_, _nuble_, and _chillan_, and on its eastern border is the great volcano, which bears the name of the district. the capital, _st. bartolomeo de chillan_, was founded in on the river of the same name, in ° south latitude, and has been frequently disturbed and destroyed by the inroads of the araucanians; in the year it was destroyed by an overflow of the chillan, and in consequence, it was removed to its present scite, which is a short distance from where it first stood, and less exposed to the inundations of the river in winter. this city has a numerous population, one parish church, three convents, and a college founded by the jesuits, miles north-east of concepcion. _the province of puchacay_ is bounded on the north by itata, on the east by huilquilemu, on the west by the ocean, and on the south by the river biobio, being twelve leagues in extent from north to south, and twenty-three from east to west. puchacay is noted for the abundance of gold found in it, and for the fertility of its soil; its large wild and garden strawberries are much sought after for making preserves. the _lirquen_ the _andalien_, and the _biobio_ are its finest rivers. the capital is _gualqui_, founded in , upon the north shore of the biobio, in ° ' south latitude, and in which the intendant or prefect usually resides; but the city of concepcion is the most important town in the province. _conception_, or _penco_ was founded by valdivia in a valley on the sea-coast in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude; at the commencement it flourished very much, owing to the predilection which the founder had for it, and to the quantities of gold discovered in its vicinity, but after the battle of mariqueno in , villagran the governor abandoned the place and it was burnt by lautaro the araucanian toqui; it was however rebuilt in november , but lautro returning with a great force took it, slew the inhabitants, and once more destroyed the town; don garcia de mendoza restored it and fortified it so strongly that it was enabled to resist a siege by the indians for fifty days; but concepcion was doomed to be again taken and burnt by them in . the consequence of the harbour to the spaniards, and the necessity of having a strong town on the frontier, caused it to be once more rebuilt, and as every means to increase its natural strength was taken, it soon became formidable enough to defy the indians. this city continued to increase till , when it was almost totally destroyed by an earthquake and inundation. it was again rebuilt, but in another earthquake, attended with a still more dreadful inundation, destroyed it totally. the inhabitants fled to the hills, and continued in an unsettled state for thirteen years, when they resolved to build their favourite city a league from its former scite, in a beautiful valley named mocha. concepcion was erected into a bishopric after the total destruction of the city of imperial in . the corregidor of penco is commander of the army on the araucanian frontier, and assembles the militia when ordered out at this place. there are also several public offices in concepcion, _viz._ the royal treasury for the payment of the troops; the camp master general's office, &c. the royal audience was first established there in , but was afterwards removed to santiago. besides the palace of the captain-general who is obliged to reside at concepcion occasionally, it contains a cathedral, convents of all the religious orders established in chili, a nunnery, a college founded by the jesuits, public schools, and a seminary for the nobility. the inhabitants amount to about , ; and the climate of this city is delightful, the temperature being always mild. the bishop of concepcion has a jurisdiction extending over all the islands and continental settlements of the spaniards south of the province of santiago; but what renders this city of the greatest importance, is its bay, which is one of the best in spanish america. its length from north to south is about three leagues and a-half, and the breadth from east to west three. in the mouth of it lies the island of _quiriquina_, forming two entrances, of which that on the east is the best, being two miles broad. in the bay are three anchoring grounds, that named _talcaguana_ is the most frequented by all vessels, as they lie secure from the north winds. it has a small town at its termination two leagues from the capital, and to which it gives its name; the two other roads are not so well sheltered from the north winds, and have not such good bottom as talcaguana. the tides rise six feet three inches, but the water is smooth, and the current is scarcely felt. though this celebrated harbour is so good, yet it is necessary to have an experienced pilot to conduct a ship into it, as there are several reefs and shoals off the entrance. _province of huilquilemu._ huilquilemu is the thirteenth and last department of continental chili, and is bounded by chillan on the north; by the cordillera of the andes on the west, puchacay on the east, and the biobio on the south. the rivers _biobio_, _puchacay_, _itata_, _claro_, _laxo_, and _duqueco_ are its chief streams, and the first named may be said to be the boundary between the spanish possessions and the country of the araucanian confederacy. it rises in the andes near the volcano of tucapel, and runs into the pacific, a short distance south of the city of concepcion, where at a league above its mouth it is four leagues in breadth. the biobio may be forded on horseback in summer, but in winter it is deep, and generally navigated with balsas or rafts. on the northern and southern shores of this river, the spaniards have constructed a chain of frontier forts to restrain the indians; these works are generally strongly built, and well furnished with arms, ammunition, provisions, and a competent garrison of cavalry, infantry, and artillery. the principal forts are _arauco_, where the commanding general resides, _santajuana_, _puren_, _los angelos_, _tucapel_, _yumbel_, _santabarbara_, _st. pedro_, _nascimiento_ and _colcura_. huilquilemu is rich in gold, which is procured by washings in the numerous streams flowing from the andes; its plains are very fertile, and yield grains and fruits in great plenty, and an excellent muscadel wine is made from the vines grown in its settlements. the indians are of the same tribe with those of itata, and having been long accustomed to defend their country against the araucanians; they are warlike and courageous. the capital is _estancia del rey_, or _st. luis de gonzaga_, lately built near the biobio in ° ', south latitude. it has a parish church, and a college erected by the jesuits. the other places of huilquilemu, are mostly small villages, and it contains the four frontier forts, yumbel, tucapel, santa barbara and puren. the spaniards possess no other part of chili on the continent, in proceeding to the south of the biobio river, till the ° ' of south latitude, where they hold the city of valdivia and the country in its vicinity, but as their tenure is by no means certain without the walls of the town, it cannot be called a province. _valdivia_ is situated on the banks of the river of the same name, in south latitude ° ', west longitude ° ', at three leagues distance from the sea. this city was founded in , by pedro de valdivia, who gave it his name, and amassed much gold in its vicinity, which tempted many europeans to settle in it, so that it soon became a place of importance. in , it was surprised by the toqui paillamachu, who entered it at night with men, slew the greater part of the garrison consisting of soldiers, burnt the town, and carried the inhabitants into captivity. it was, however, soon rebuilt more strongly, and resisted all the attacks of the araucanians, but was taken by the dutch in , who abandoned it soon after. on the arrival of the spanish fleet which had been fitted out to attack the dutch garrison, they found valdivia deserted, and therefore set immediately about adding to its fortifications, erecting four new forts on both sides of the river, towards the sea, and one on the north on the land front. these precautions have prevented it from falling into the hands of the natives or foreigners, but it has been twice nearly destroyed by fire. this town contains a college built by the jesuits, several convents, a parochial church, and a royal hospital; and is governed by a military officer, nominated from spain, who has a strong body of troops under his orders. the fortress is provisioned, by sea, from the ports of chili, and the troops are paid by the treasury of peru. all the rivers in the vicinity of valdivia contain much gold dust in their sands, and the plains furnish fine timber. its harbour is formed by a beautiful bay made by the river, which is navigable for large vessels a considerable distance from its mouth. the island of manzera, lying in the entrance of the stream, divides it into two channels, which are bordered by steep mountains and strongly fortified. the spaniards not possessing any other settlements important enough to excite notice on the main land, towards the south, we shall pass to the description of their island territories in this quarter. _insular chili._ no part of america has more islands on its coasts than chili has, and many of these being inhabited, they form a political as well as a natural division of the kingdom. the following are the chief chilian isles:-- the three _coquimbanes_, _mugillon_, _totoral_ and _pajaro_, which lie off the coast of coquimbo, and are each six or eight miles in circumference, but are uninhabited. _quiriquina_, at the entrance of the harbour of concepcion, and _talca_, or _santa maria_ to the south of the harbour, which are two islands of about four miles in length, noted for the abundance of shell fish and sea wolves found on their coasts. in santa maria there are also fine springs, and many wild horses and hogs, the latter of which feed on the wild turnips which cover its valleys. _mocha_, in ° ', is more than sixty miles in circumference, and lies off the coast of araucania; is not inhabited, but is very fertile, and was formerly settled by some spaniards; at present it is frequented by the whalers from the united states and england, who begin fishing here, as it is well supplied with wild hogs; but the most important of the chilian group are the isles comprised in the-- _archipelago of chiloe_, which is an assemblage of islands, forty-seven in number, situated in a great bay or gulf, near the southern extremity of chili, and extending from cape capitanes to quillan, or from ° ' to ° south latitude, and from ° to ° ' west longitude. of this group thirty-two have been colonized by the spaniards or indians, and the rest are untenanted. the largest of those which are inhabited is chiloe, or isla grande, which in former times was called ancud, but has since given its present name to the whole group. _chiloe_ is situated at the entrance of the gulf of chiloe, or ancud, having its western shore opposed to the continent, and forming a channel, which is about three miles broad at the north entrance, and twelve leagues at the south. it lies between ° ' and ° south latitude, being about sixty leagues in length and twenty in its greatest breadth. the climate of this, and of all the others, is mild and salubrious, and the extremes of heat and cold are unknown. unlike the northern provinces of chili, the rains in chiloe are so frequent that it is only in the autumn they discontinue, and that but for a short time. the air is, therefore, humid, and grain and fruits are not so abundantly produced as on the continent. the corn raised in chiloe is however fully sufficient for the consumption of the inhabitants; and barley, beans and pease thrive very well. the vegetables principally cultivated, are cabbages and garlic; but the gardens do not produce much fruit; apples and some other hardy plants being the only ones which arrive to perfection. horses and cattle are bred in considerable numbers, as are sheep and swine; and in the two latter the commerce of the islanders principally consists. deer, otters and foxes are natural to the soil, and there is no want of game. the seas around, and the streams which flow into them, swarm with fish of every kind; and the forests furnish abundance of timber fit for every purpose. this group of islands was first discovered by don garcia de mendoza, in his march to the south of chili. in , don martin ruiz gamboa was sent to conquer them with men, and with this trifling force he subjected the indians, amounting, it is said, to as many thousands. he founded the town of castro and the port of chacao in chiloe. the chilotes, or native indians, remained quiet for a long time, but at last threw off the yoke of spain; and don pedro molina was then sent with a strong force from concepcion, and soon reduced them to their former obedience. they are descendants of the chilese of the continent, but far from resembling them in their warlike bent, are extremely timid and docile. the chilotes are remarkable for their ingenuity, and are particularly capable of carrying on the trades of carpenters, joiners, cabinet-makers and turners. their manufactures of cloths, linen and woollen, display much taste, and are dyed with beautiful colours. the chilotes are the best sailors in south america; their little barks, or piraguas, are very numerous in the seas surrounding their island, and being navigated with sails as well as oars, give a lively appearance to the shores. in these barks, which only consist of a few planks sewed together and cauked with moss, they make voyages to concepcion. besides the chilotes, there are several other natives of different tribes in the islands, who have accompanied the missionaries from the neighbouring continent, and the indian inhabitants of the archipelago are said to amount to , , divided into seventy-six settlements or districts, each governed by a native chief. the number of persons of spanish descent is about the same, dispersed in farms, in small settlements, and in four towns. the commerce of the archipelago is carried on by a few vessels from peru and chili, which bring wine, brandy, tobacco, sugar, paraguay tea, salt and european goods, and take in return red cedar and other boards, timber of different kinds, ponchos or cloaks manufactured by the indians, hams, dried and salted fish, toys and ambergris; but their trade will probably never be very thriving, as the navigation of the numerous straits formed by the islands, is extremely difficult and dangerous for large vessels. all the islands are mountainous and full of craggy and precipitous rocks, covered with impenetrable thickets, which render cultivation difficult, except in the valleys and on the shores; the interior is therefore seldom inhabited; on chiloe there are forty settlements or townships, which are mostly on the coast. these townships have each their church or chapel, but the houses are very much dispersed. earthquakes are as frequent in these islands as on the mainland, and it does not appear by any means improbable, from the conic formation of most of the mountains, and their scorified appearance, that they are the produce of some dreadful internal convulsion, which has disrupted them from the adjacent continent, on which is the lofty snow-capped summit of the great corcobado, and several active volcanoes; the range of the cordillera approaching close to the coast in these latitudes. in , the archipelago suffered very much from the effects of an earthquake, and the islands of the guaytecas group to the south, were covered with ashes which destroyed the vegetation for thirteen years. the continent opposite to the northern extremity of chiloe, has some spanish settlements in the country of the canches and huilliches, small but independent tribes; these settlements are said to be three in number, of which _fort maullin_, opposite to chaco bay in chiloe is the chief, and the spaniards are engaged in forming communications from this settlement to valdivia; as the sea is rendered almost innavigable during the winter by the frequent and dreadful storms. pedro de agueros, gives the names of twenty-four islands on the east of the great chiloe, which are inhabited, but as so little is known concerning this group, and as several contradictory statements have been made about them, the mere names are uninteresting. the capital is _castro_, in ° ' south latitude, on the eastern shore of the island of chiloe, upon an arm of the sea, and was founded in , by don martin ruiz de gamboa. the houses, as is the case with all the rest in the province, are of wood, and are inhabited by about persons; it has a parish church, a convent of franciscans, and another of mercedarii, in which only two or three monks reside. this city was overthrown by an earthquake soon after its foundation, since which it has never been in a flourishing state; it is miles south of valdivia. the other towns are the port of _chacao_ or _chaco_, in the middle of the north coast of chiloe, and opposite to port maullin, which has a tolerable anchorage, but is difficult of access. _san carlos_ is on the bahia del rey, and was built in , on account of the difficulties attending the entrance to chaco. it is in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, and is the most populous and flourishing town in the province, containing inhabitants. the harbour is good, but subject to tremendous squalls and hurricanes; and the town is fortified, and has a regular garrison; and from the advantages of its harbour, the governor and council always reside at san carlos. the other islands have each one settlement and a missionary church on them, excepting _quinchuan_, which has six; _lemui_ and _llachi_, each four, and _calbuco_ three, but none of any material consequence. south of the islands of chiloe is the archipelago of guaytecas and chonos, lying in a large gulf or inlet of the continent, from ° ' to ° ' south latitude; they are comprehended by the spaniards within the province of chiloe, but are uninhabited, being a mere mass of granite rocks, covered with thick forests. some of these, namely, _tequehuen_, _ayaupa_, _menchuan_ and _yquilao_, the indians of chiloe visit periodically, and put cows in them, for the sake of the pasture, which is luxuriant. having now concluded the description of that part of chili inhabited by spaniards, and their descendants, we shall give a slight sketch of the country, reaching from the biobio river to fort maullin; and which, on account of its being the territory of the araucanians and of nations in confederacy and identified with those people, in manners and language, it may be proper to give the general name of araucania. _araucania, or indian chili_, extends from the river biobio in ° to the south of chiloe, in the ° of south latitude, exceeding miles in breadth, and also occupying from the ° to the ° south latitude, both the central and eastern ridges of the andes. the nations who inhabit this extensive tract are the _araucanians_, possessing the country between the biobio and the valdivia rivers, the pacific and the andes; the _puelches_, who inhabit the western flanks of the cordillera and its central valleys; and still farther north, on the andes, adjoining cuyo, the _pehuenches_ and the _chiquillanes_, their territory lying as far north as the thirty-third degree of south latitude, or opposite to santiago, the capital of chili, and extending indefinitely to the east. south of the valdivia river, and as far as the forty-fifth degree, are the _cunches_ on the sea coast, and the _huilliches_ in the plains, near the western declivity of the andes, which mountains are also occupied in this quarter by the puelches. all this country, to the north of the archipelago of chiloe, is fertile and pleasant, consisting mostly of wide plains, agreeably diversified with mountains. that part which lies on the andes possesses some beautiful valleys, but as the chain attains a great elevation the climate is cold. in these valleys, towards the east, salt and sulphur is plentiful; and the precious metals are by no means rare. near valdivia, immense quantities of gold were formerly found in the sands of the rivers and in alluvious grounds, but they are not worked at present, as the spaniards are kept from those places by the natives. in araucania the vegetables and animals are the same as those of spanish chili; but the rivers and sea abound with fish in greater quantities than in the latter country. the araucanian nation is the most considerable and the most noted of all those which have been named as inhabiting indian chili; the others resemble them in their customs and persons, but are in a more savage state; we shall therefore only describe these extraordinary people, whose history forms so prominent a feature in the affairs of chili. they are of a middling stature, well made, and of a strong muscular form and martial appearance. their colour is the same as that of the other native american tribes, only rather clearer, and they have round faces, small eyes, and small feet; and many of their women are said to be beautiful. accustomed to a hardy life; and breathing a pure air, these people live to an advanced age, and are not subject to many disorders. in character they are haughty, free, patient under fatigue, and very intrepid in danger; but are fond of strong liquors, which causes them to commit crimes. their dress consists of clothes fitted close to the body, and ponchos, or cloaks, which are made of cotton, and are so beautifully worked that they are sometimes worth a hundred and fifty dollars. their heads are girt with embroidered wool, in which is placed plumes of ostrich, flamingo and other beautiful feathers. the women wear a robe of woollen stuff, descending to the feet, and tied round the waist with a girdle, over which they put a small cloak. the hair is allowed to grow long, and is formed in tresses ornamented with a kind of false emerald and other gems; necklaces, bracelets, and rings on every finger, complete the female toilet. the national colour, which is worn by both sexes, particularly among the lower classes, is greenish blue. these people never inhabit towns, but dwell in huts, occasionally placed near each other, though oftener dispersed on the banks of the rivers and in the plains; these habitations descend from father to son, and are not removed, except in case of absolute necessity. the cottages are remarkably neat, and are proportioned to the size of the family; they are surrounded with trees, under whose shades their repasts are made in summer; and the rich people display much plate on these occasions. at their marriages, funerals, and feasts, the utmost profusion of provision appears; and at these times fermented liquors are given in such quantities that they often occasion feuds. polygamy is practised by these people, every man having as many wives as he can maintain, it being deemed reproachful to remain unmarried. instead of the husband receiving a portion with his wife, he pays a considerable sum to the parents for their permission to wed her; after he has obtained which, he carries off his bride without any further ceremony, excepting giving a feast to her relations. the first wife is regarded as the head of the family, the others being under her orders in respect to the management of the house; each wife has a separate apartment where she prepares food for her husband every day, and all present him once a year with a poncho or embroidered cloak, but the women are in general condemned to the laborious occupations. both sexes practise daily ablutions in the rivers, and are excellent swimmers. oratory is held in the highest esteem by these people; and their language, which is the ancient dialect of chili, is very soft, harmonious, and rich. molina in his description of chili has given a full account of it, and says that it differs essentially from all the languages of the american tribes. the government of that part of chili inhabited by this nation is singular; they divide the territory into four parallel provinces, the maritime, the plains, the foot of the andes, and that which lies on the sides of these mountains; each province is separated into five districts, and these are again subdivided into nine other portions. the four provinces are governed each by a _toqui_ or general, subordinate to whom are the _apo ulmens_; and on these, as far as military affairs are concerned, the _ulmens_ are dependent, each subdivision having its ulmen or cacique. all these magistrates have distinctive badges; the toqui a hatchet; the apo ulmen a silver-headed rod encircled by a ring; and the ulmen a rod with a silver head; and these dignities are hereditary. the whole are occasionally combined in a general council, which meets on a plain; the chief occasion to assemble this council being to elect a supreme toqui for the command of the army when it is about to take the field; and any native is eligible to this appointment. their wars are terrible, and as they are excellent horsemen, the araucanian cavalry is very formidable, their arms being swords and lances; those of the infantry, clubs and pikes; their onset is furious, but always conducted with order, and though swept down in rants by the cannon, they close with their spanish enemies, and fighting hand to hand, are frequently victors in spite of the superiority of european discipline and arms. after a great victory they sacrifice a prisoner to the manes of their warriors who have fallen in battle; and this ceremony is said to be attended with some disgusting circumstances, such as the toqui and chiefs sucking the blood from the panting heart of the victim, which is cut for that purpose from his breast. these people have always resisted the attempts of the english and dutch to land on the shores of chili; they were seen by sir francis drake in his celebrated voyage round the world, in some of the islands near the coast, and subsequently they drove the dutch from several points on which they had landed. they have hitherto frustrated all the attempts of the spaniards to conquer their country, and being in strict alliance with the surrounding nations, keep the europeans at defiance. the araucanians are said to wander over the andes with the puelches, in order to attack the convoys of merchandize and the travellers going from buenos ayres to chili through the pampas; and have even penetrated in the disguise of friendly indians, as far as buenos ayres itself. we shall conclude this account of spanish america with a short description of a spanish settlement formerly made in the straits of magalhaens, and of the islands on the coasts of south america belonging to or claimed by that power. the straits of magalhaens and others in their vicinity being at present, though it is to be hoped that the voyage now performing by order of the british government will not long allow them to remain so, the only passage from the atlantic into the pacific ocean, it may not be uninteresting to state that they were discovered by ferdinand magalhaens a portuguese navigator, who having turned his mind to the circumstance of the extreme probability of there being a communication between the two oceans which had in vain been sought for by columbus and his followers, offered to conduct an expedition to explore the southern part of america for this purpose. meeting with a denial from his own court, he went to madrid, where, from his known talents and previous voyages, he received the utmost favour; a fleet was fitted out, and, being placed under his orders, magalhaens sailed from the guadalquivir on the th of august , and discovering the coast of patagonia, proceeded along its shores to the south, where the land bearing away to the west, the admiral followed it, till he found his squadron in the straights that now bear his name, through which he passed, and entered the great south sea on the th of november, ; proceeding through it till he discovered the ladrones, and in one of those isles was killed in a skirmish with the natives; after which, one of his ships only arrived in spain by way of the cape of good hope, on the th of september, , having been absent three years and twenty-seven days; and having had the honour of being the first to circumnavigate the globe. sir francis drake, following magalhaens by the same route into the south sea, and taking much treasure and many ships from the people of chili, peru and mexico, it was determined by the spanish court that the newly discovered passage should be explored and fortified. with this view sarmiento, the best naval officer in the service, was selected in peru to pass the straits from the south sea into the atlantic; he accordingly performed this voyage; and so plausible were the representations he made to the cabinet of madrid, that philip ii. ordered twenty-three ships to be fitted out, with men, under don diego de valdez, and sarmiento with veterans was directed to settle and fortify such positions as he deemed the best. it was more than two years before this fleet arrived at its destination: but as soon as it entered the straits, sarmiento built a town and fort at the eastern entrance, which he named _nombre de jesus_ and in which he left men; fifteen leagues farther to the west he erected another fortress, in the narrowest part of the straits, and in ° ' south latitude, where he built his principal town, which he called _ciudad del rey felipe_. this was a regular square, with four bastions, and is said to have been excellently contrived. in it was placed a garrison of men and thirty women, with provisions for eight months: but on the return of sarmiento into the atlantic he was taken by an english ship. the garrison, for want of succour, fell a prey to disease and famine, and on january the th, sir thomas candish found only one spaniard, out of twenty-three who had remained alive, which were all that had escaped of the whole colony; the twenty-two others had set out to find their way to the rio de la plata over land: but as they were never heard of, it is conjectured they must have perished miserably in the deserts of patagonia. thus ended this seemingly well-ordered expedition; since which time the spaniards have not attempted to resume the colony; finding that the straits were too wide to fortify, and that other passages existed to the south, which were equally good for the purposes of the navigator. _islands on the coasts_ of spanish south america. commencing the description of the spanish south american islands from the coasts of chili, our attention is first led to the islands of juan fernandez, three in number; the largest, which alone properly bears that appellation, is in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, distant from chili leagues, and was discovered by a spaniard, who gave it his name, in . this island was so much spoken of by navigators in early times that it was supposed to be a terrestrial paradise. it is, however, in fact, merely a small spot, rising out of the ocean to a considerable height, not more than four leagues in length from east to west, and generally mountainous, but there are some fine valleys and plains, which are full of trees and herbage. the hills towards the north are also covered with large woods, but those on the south are destitute of timber; every place is, however, overspread with coarse grass, which grows to the height of six feet. among all the species of trees there are few of the tropical kinds, owing to the coldness of the climate; for being surrounded by the sea, it is even cooler here than on the coast of chili, under the same parallel: but the european and american fruits peculiar to these latitudes flourish and grow abundantly. juan fernandez has been the abode of several english navigators in the voyages round the world, and into the pacific, from the circumstance of its being excellently adapted as a place of shelter and refreshment to squadrons or vessels cruizing against the trade of peru and chili; but the government of the former country made a settlement here in , which completely prevented all vessels from touching here excepting those belonging to powers in amity with spain. its western side is composed of cliffs rising perpendicularly out of the sea, but the north-west point is the first anchoring place, and here the spaniards have a guard-house and battery. about half a mile east north-east of this is the great bay, where the anchorage is close to the shore; and in this bay is seated the village or principal settlement; in a fine valley between two high hills. a battery of five guns on the right commands the road, and there is another on the left, with seven embrazures to the anchorage, and seven towards the town. in this village the houses amount to about forty; but there are several dispersed over different parts of the island. each house has a garden, with grape vines, fig, cherry, plum and almond trees, and plenty of vegetables. the officer who commands at this island is sent from chili, in which government it is included, and the island is called _la de tierra_ by the spaniards, on account of its lying nearer the shore of chili than the next largest, which is distinguished by the name of _mas-afuera_, or the farthest, and is miles west from juan fernandez, in ° ' west longitude, and ° ' south latitude. this last is very high and mountainous, and at a distance appears one hill; its form is triangular, and seven or eight leagues in circuit; the southern part is much the highest, and on the north end are some clear spots, but the rest is covered with wood. several parts of the coasts of this isle afford good anchorage, but the bottom is generally deep; and it abounds in goats, which are easily caught and afford a good supply of fresh provision. on the south-west point of the island is a pierced rock, which proves a good mark for the anchorage on the western shore. mas-afuera contains plenty of wood and fresh water, falling in cascades from the high ground of the interior; but these articles cannot be procured without difficulty, on account of the rocky nature of the shore causing the surf to beat violently. several birds, and amongst these large hawks, are seen on the land, and hovering over the fish which abound on the shores, and may be easily caught. sea wolves, seals, and other aquatic animals, are also very common. off the south-western extremity of juan fernandez is a small uninhabited isle, or rather rock, named isla de cabras, or isle of goats. these islands are noted for having been the residence of two persons whose adventure gave rise to the novel of robinson crusoe. the one was a mosquito indian left there by the buccaneers, and the other alexander selkirk, a scotchman, also left there by his ship, and who lived four or five years on juan fernandez, subsisting upon the goats he caught, which were introduced into the islands by fernandez, the discoverer, who settled and died in la de tierra. in proceeding to the north from these, the next isles of any consequence off the coasts of peru, are those named _st. felix_ and _st. ambrose_; but these are mere rocks of some extent and very high, on which innumerable seals and marine animals are found. they are not more than five miles in circumference, and are four leagues and a half distant from each other, between ° ' and ° ' south latitude, and between ° ' and ° ' west longitude. on the coast of peru, opposite the town of pisco are the _isles of lobos_, or the sea wolves, where numbers of seals and other aquatic animals may be caught; they are also, however, mere rocks; north-north-west of these rocks is the small isle of _sangallan_ in ° ' south latitude, famous for seals and sea wolves, and north of this are the isles _chinca_, _pachacamac_, and _st. lorenzo_, all small, but the latter of which is famous as forming the road of callao, being the place where the dutch fortified themselves in , when they made an attempt against lima. north of these are the _farellones de huara_, which are dangerous rocks, and the isles _de saint martin_, _de santa_, and _de chao_, also very small, and close to the coast of peru. the next are the _lobos de mar_, formerly the resort of the buccaneers, and the _lobos de tierra_, the first sixteen leagues from the shore, and the latter close to it; they are twelve miles from each other, in ° ' and ° ' south latitude, but are unimportant. north of these, in the gulf of guayaquil, is the large island of _puna_ already mentioned. the next on the coast of new granada is _salengo_, a small isle near cape santa elena, and still further is _la plata_, the place where sir francis drake divided his plunder, and is a very small isle close to the coast, in ° ' north latitude, which is followed at a considerable distance on the shore of atacames, by the _isla del gallo_, a small uninhabited spot, furnishing good wood and water, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude. the next is _gorgona_, in ° ' south latitude, and ° ' west longitude, miles in circumference, and eighteen from the coast; opposite to these, but at a great distance from the land, are the _gallapagos or tortoise islands_, but as they are uninhabited, and more than leagues from the land, a description will take us beyond the limits we have prescribed to the work. from plata there are no isles of any consequence on the coast, till those which lie in the bay of panama, occur, but they have already been mentioned in the description of the isthmus. crossing to the western side, and beginning at the northern boundary of panama, we find several groups of rocky islets on the shores of that province, but none of them are of sufficient size or importance to merit a detail of their figure or qualities; passing therefore along the northern shore, the island of _baru_, or _varu_, presents itself near the southern part of that which carthagena is built. it is large, fertile, and inhabited; its length is about sixteen miles, and breadth three, in ° ' north latitude, and ° ' west longitude. off the coast of caraccas are several large islands, of which _aves_, _rocca_, _orchilla_, _blanca_, tortuga-salada, _margarita_, _cubagua_, _cocke_, _los testigos_, and some others belong to the spaniards, and are included within the limits of the captain-generalship of caraccas. _aves_ and _rocca_, are barren and uninhabited rocks; _orchilla_ or _horchilla_, is a small cluster, in ° north latitude, and ° ' west longitude, the largest isle being in the form of a crescent, and is low, excepting on the east and west capes, which are very hilly; on this part the trees and verdure abound, whilst the other sides are barren and salt. the only animals on it are goats and lizards, and it contains but little fresh water; _blanca_, or _blanquilla_, in ° ' north latitude, and ° ' west longitude, is also desert, but higher and more rocky than the former. _tortuga-salada_ is in ° ' north latitude, and ° ' west longitude, ninety-five miles east-north-east of la guayra on the main land, and forty-eight west of margarita, being about thirty miles in circumference, and abounding in salt ponds. the southern part contains some fresh-water springs, and is well covered with trees, but the rest is barren, naked and full of salt-pools, for which reason it was much frequented by vessels of all nations, in order to take in cargoes of that substance, but the spaniards have lately laid these pools under water; this island is, however, still used by foreign vessels in time of peace, and on it are some goats which have multiplied very much. _margarita_ has been already noticed; its western side is a noted sea-mark, on account of a cape in ° ' west longitude, named cape macanao, the mountains of which are or feet in height above the sea. _cubagua_, _coche_, _los testigos_ and _los frayles_, are small uninhabited islands in the neighbourhood of margarita, but were formerly noted for their pearl fishery, and they were first discovered by columbus. on cubagua a town was founded soon after by ojeda, who named it new cadiz; but no vestiges of it now remain. at that time the coast from paria to cape vela, was named costa de las perlas, the coast of pearls, the first spaniards who landed on this shore, finding the natives every where decorated with those valuable jewels. so actively was the trade carried on in these islands, that at the conquest, _coche_ alone furnished to the value of marks a month; and the king's annual fifth amounted to , ducats; til , the pearl fishery averaged yearly , _l._, while the american mines furnished only during the same period, , _l._ sterling. but this fishery diminished rapidly afterwards, and was entirely at an end before . the destruction of the oysters contributed to this decay, as well as the cutting and setting diamonds which had become common in the th century. at present the indians are the only persons concerned in this traffic, and they sometimes procure a few pearls, but they are generally of the seed kind, and they sell them at cumana for five shillings a dozen. the island of _cubagua_ is full of small deer, which are of a brownish red on the back, white under the belly, and beautifully spotted, some of them are quite white; the guayqueria indians frequently land on the island to kill them for the sake of the venison and skins. nearer the coasts of caraccas, and between la guayra and cumana, in the bays of mochima and santa fé, are some extraordinary islets named _caraccas_ and _chimanas_ the former being three, and the latter eight in number, but they are nearly barren rocks, some of which, as _picua_, _picuita_, _caraccas_, and _boracha_ which is the largest, rise to the height of feet above the surrounding ocean. on one of them are large wild goats, which were originally left there by a family who settled on it from the continent; but the father outliving his children, and becoming rich enough to purchase slaves, he brought two blacks from cumana, who murdered him, and living on the produce of the farm, were undiscovered in so lonely a spot, for a length of time; but by some accident the affair becoming known, they were taken to cumana, where one was beheaded, and the other turned public executioner in order to save his life. between cape unare and barcelona are the two _piritoo_ islands, which are low and covered with herbage, but are uninhabited and of small size. in the channel between the british island of trinidad and cape paria are several small and desert isles which are of little importance; and descending further to the south, the islands of the mouths of the orinoco present themselves, inhabited by a fierce and warlike tribe of indians, named the guarounoes. no island of any importance occurs on the spanish coast of south america, till we reach the mouth of the la plata, where the island of _lobos_, wolves, in south latitude ° and fifteen miles south-west of cape santa maria, is found; it is small and chiefly noted for the quantity of sea-wolves, seals and other marine animals which are taken on it. the _falkland_ or _malouin islands_, on the east of the straits of magellan, are at present possessed by the spaniards, as they have a fort and barracks on the eastern one, which they have named _soledad_; here all the male criminals from peru and buenos ayres are sent for life; vessels sail with these convicts, and with provisions at stated seasons, but as no woman ever accompanies them, soledad cannot be named a spanish colony; and it is even doubtful, whether in the present state of the government of buenos ayres, they continue to send their delinquents to this banishment. description of the plate of comparative altitudes of the mountains in spanish north and south america. the accompanying plate represents the elevations which some of the most noted summits attain in mexico or new spain, contrasted with the altitudes of the higher peaks of the southern andes in quito, merida, santa marta and caraccas; by which it will be readily seen, that the northern range of the _cordillera of the andes_, is not very inferior in height to that part of the chain which has been considered, till very lately, to reach an elevation unequalled by any other mountains in the world. recent enquiries, and the researches of zealous travellers and geographers, have not only disclosed the fact, that the asiatic summits rival and surpass those of peru, but have also made it questionable whether the continuation of the andean chain, south of _chimborazo_, _cotopaxi_, &c. is not far superior in altitude to those celebrated peaks. it is true, that the cordillera sinks very much after it has passed the confines of peru, and that it continues to lower its lofty crest in running through the vast deserts of _atacama_, in the kingdom of la plata, and the upper districts of chili; but no sooner has it passed these provinces, than it again assumes the same majestic form, and continues it in three parallel ridges, as far as the forty-fifth degree of south latitude, beyond which scarcely any thing is known of this enormous chain, excepting that its height is very great till it loses itself in the ocean of the south, opposite to cape pilares, the western entrance of the straits of magalhaens. from its quitting copiapo, the most northerly province of chili, till it arrives opposite to the great island of chiloe and the archipelago of guaytecas, is the space in which the cordillera is conjectured to attain an elevation superior to that of the equatorial ridges of popayan and quito; as in this space are the lofty peaks of the _descabezado_, the _tupungato_, _blanquillo_, _manflos_, _longavi_, _chillan_, and the _corcobado_ or gibbous mountain; all of which rise so far superior to the lower limits of perpetual congelation, that not only molina, but other travellers have imagined they must be higher than the equinoctial range, though unfortunately all those who have had the opportunity of seeing them, have either been ignorant of the methods of determining their altitudes, or have been engaged in such active employments as to have precluded them from making any other than slight and general observations. one of the most curious circumstances attendant on the scenery of the cordillera of the andes, and which is, from local causes, in a great measure peculiar to those mountains, is the extreme regularity with which the inferior term of congelation or lower limit of perpetual snow, is described on their heads; this feature has therefore been introduced into the drawing, and that in such a manner as to show by the scales placed on its sides, the various heights at which the phenomenon takes place, in the different latitudes the mountains are situated in. some of the principal cities, towns and volcanoes, and a few of the most extraordinary scenes in the andes, have also been introduced, and a scale of miles has been adapted to the right hand, as well as a scale of feet to the left, in order to afford every facility to the reader of the work, in forming just notions of the singular situations of those objects, which may be better done in a graphic manner, than by any description; but as the immediate object of this plate is to exhibit comparative magnitude, on a determinate scale, it is with this view only that it has been constructed, no regard having been paid to the effect as a drawing. in the centre is introduced the mountain island of socorro, one of the revillagegido group, off the western coast of new spain, which attains a great elevation for so small a spot, and is remarkable as being nearly on the same parallel as the volcanic summits of _popocatepetl_ or the _smoky mountain_, _citaltepetl_, or _pico de orizaba_, or the _starry mountain_; _iztaccihuatl_, or the white woman; _nauhcampatepetl_, or _cofre de perote_, or the square mountain; the _volcan de xorullo_ and the _volcan de colima_, on the continent, and as being itself evidently the produce of an ancient eruption. [illustration: _comparative altitudes_ of the mountains, towns, &c. of _spanish america_. _london, published by longman, hurst, rees, orme & brown. july , _] the ensuing list will be found to contain an enumeration of most of the works which may be referred to as the best authorities for the early and modern history, &c. of the spanish colonies in the western world. list of works on, or relating to spanish america, quoted in this publication, or which contain the most valuable information concerning those colonies. account of the expedition to the mississippi, and to the interior of new spain, by zebulon montgomery pike, . acosta, historia natural y moral de las indias, and . a journey through peru, from buenos ayres on the great rio de la plata, by potosi, to lima, vo. in german, by helms, dresden, . alcedo's dictionary (geographical and historical) of america and the west indies, edited by thompson, vols. to. . london. alzate, don j. a. descripcion de las antiguedadas de xochicalco. mexico. . anquetil, precis de l'histoire universelle, vols, paris, . anson's voyage round the world. astronomical, barometrical and trigonometrical observations in the equinoctial regions of america, from ° of south latitude to the ° of north latitude, by m. de humboldt, in french, vols. paris. aublet, histoire des plantes de la guyane francoise. aurora ó correo politico-economico de la havanah. azara, voyage dans l'amerique meridionale de juin, jusqu'a . vols translation, , vo. azara, don felix de, essais sur l'histoire naturelle des quadrupedes du paraguay, vols. paris, . bancroft's natural history of guiana. beauchamp, histoire de la conquete et des revolutions du perou, vols. paris, . bernal diaz, historia de la conquista del mexico. berenger, collection abregée des voyages autour du monde, vols. paris, - . biggs' history of miranda's attempt to revolutionize south america, vo. vol. borda, voyage de la flore. boturini's bernaducci, historical essay on new spain. bougainville, voyage autour du monde. bouguer, figure de la terre, vol. to. paris, . buffon, histoire naturelle, vols. aux deux ponts, - . carli, j. r. comte de, lettres americaines, vols. boston, . cateri, . cardenas, historia de la florida. chappe d'auteroche, voyage en californie. cronica del peru, por piedro de cieca de leon, . charlevoix, histoire du paraguay. churruca, apendice a la relacion del viage al magellanes, . clavigero, storia antica di messico. colnett's voyage to the south atlantic and pacific oceans, to. vol. condamine, voyage a l'equateur. paris, . comentarias reales de los incas, por garcilasso de la vega. cook's voyages round the world. vols. correspondence du ferd. cortez avec charles v. sur la conquete du mexique. francfort, . cosme bueno, descripcion del peru. cronica serafica de queretaro, . mexico. dampier's voyages, vols. vo. london, . depons, f., voyage a la terre firme dans l'amerique meridionale, - , vols. paris, . des marchais, les voyages de, par labat, vols. dobrizhoffer, de abiponibus. vienna, . due antichi monumenti di architettura messicana illustrati, da pietro marques. rome, . du pratz, voyages dans la louisiane, vols. paris, . el viajero universal, por estalla. madrid, . equiara, bibliotheca mexicana. equinoctial plants of america, vols. folio, (french) by humboldt. essai sur la geographie des plantes, &c. par humboldt. falkner's patagonia. fernandez or hernandez, nova hispania. feyjoo, relacion de la ciudad de truxillo, . fleurieu, voyage de l'isis, dans et . forbes' oriental memoirs, containing observations on parts of south america, vols. frezier, voyages de, vols. mo. . gap's voyage of lewis and clarke to the pacific, vo. gage, on spanish north america, , folio. galleano viage al estrecho de magellanes. gazetta de literatura de mexico, a periodical publication. mexico. gemelli carreri, giro del mondo. naples, . vols. gilij, saggio di storia americana, or storia di terra firma, vols. . rome. gomara, conquista de mexico, , folio. medina del campo. ----, cronica general de las indias, , folio. grynÆi, novus orbus, . gumilla, orinoco illustrada. henderson's account of the british settlements of honduras. herrera descripcion de las indias occidentales. madrid, . history of chili, by molina, english translation, vols. historia de la nueva espana escrita por don hernando cortez y aumentado por lorenzana. history of the settlements of the europeans in the east and west indies, by raynal, vols. historia del nuevo mundo, girolamo benzoni. horn de originibus americanus, . humboldt's political essay on new spain, vols. vo. london. humboldt's personal narrative of travels in america, vols. vo. london. ---- tableau de la nature, vols. paris. ---- monographie de la melastomas, rhexia, &c. vols. folio, paris. ---- observations sur la zoologie, &c., vols. to. paris. ---- vues des cordilleres, &c., vol. folio, paris. ---- researches, vols. vo. london. jeffreys on the spanish west india islands, , to. london. journal of andrew ellicott, commissioner for determining the boundaries of ohio and mississippi, &c.; . kerr's collection of voyages and discoveries. knox's collection of voyages. koster's travels in brazil. la florida del inca, madrid, . la guia de forasteros (annual almanac of mexico); mexico. labat's voyages to the west indies, vols. vo. laet, orbis novus, . lavaysse (dauxion), voyage aux isles de trinidad, de tabago, de la marguerite, et dans diverses parties de venezuela, vols. paris, . leblond (j. p.), voyage aux antilles et à l'amerique meridionale, et , vols. vo. paris. . ledru, voyage aux isles de teneriffe, porto rico, &c.; - ; vols. paris, . lettre de monsieur godin. lockman's travels of the jesuits. malte brun, precis de la geographie universelle; vols. and vols. of maps, paris, . mawe's travels in the interior of brazil, and account of the revolution in buenos ayres; to. marchand, voyage autour du monde, - ; vols. to. paris, - . marieta, historia eccleslastica, . memoirs of the jesuits concerning california, vols, to. madrid, . mercurio peruiano (a literary periodical work), lima. michaux, voyage a l'ouest des monts alleghany, . munorz, historia del nuevo mundo. notes on the viceroyalty of la plata; london. noticia de la california del padre fray miguel venegas, . oexemelia's (oliver) history of the bucaniers, . origen de los indios del nuevo mundo por p. garcia, valencia, . observaciones sobre el clima de lima, por el doctor don hipolito unanue, lima, . oviedo, historia natural de indias. pauw, recherches philosophiques sur les americains, . perouse (la), voyage autour du monde, - , redige par m. l. a. millet-mureau, vols. paris, . perez de roxas, historia de cinaloa. pinckard's notes on the west indies, vols. pinkerton's modern geography, vols. vo. piedrahita (lucas fernandez, el obispo), historia general de las conquistas del nuevo reyno de granada. poterat (marquis de), journal d'un voyage au cap de horn, au chili, au perou, &c., - , paris, . purchas' pilgrim; a collection of curious voyages, in vols. raynal, histoire politique et philosophique des etablissemens et du commerce des européens dans les deux indes, vols. et atlas, geneva, . relations des diverses voyages curieux, par m. m. thevenot. robertson's history of america. robin, voyage dans l'interieure de la floride occidentale, &c., - , vols. ruiz (hyp.) y jose pavon, flora peruviana, vols. madrid, -- . semple's sketch of the present state of the caraccas. sir francis drake's voyages, london, , to. skinner on peru. solis, historia de la conquista de mexico y de nueva espana, por josse, vols. solorzano pereira, de indiarum jure. southey's history of brazil, to. stedman's history of surinam. thou (i. a. de), universal history, - ; vols. london, . torquemada, monarquia indiana, vols. folio. . touron, histoire generale de l'ameriquedepuis sa decouverte, vols. paris, - . tuckey's maritime geography. ulloa and juan's voyage to south america, vols. vo. (english translation.) unanue, guia politica del peru (periodical). vater, inquiries into the population of the new continent (german). vancouver's voyage round the world. vida del padre fray j. serro, mexico, . vida del almirante colon por fernando colon. vidaurre, compendio del chili, vo. bologna, . volney, tableau du climat et du sol des etats unis. voyage a la recherche de la perouse, par m. d'entrecasteaux. voyage au perou, - , par les p. p. manuel sobreviella, et narcisso y barcel, vols. with an atlas, in to. paris, . vue de la colonie espagnole de mississippi, en , paris, . wafer's description of the isthmus of darien, . walton's present state of the spanish colonies, vols. london. wilcocke's history of the viceroyalty of buenos ayres, . ydea de una nueva historia general de la america septentrional, por boturini. zarate, histoire de la conquete du perou; paris, . zoega, de origine et usu obeliscorum. table of the latitudes and longitudes of some of the principal places in _spanish america_, corrected from the latest information, with the number of inhabitants in the chief towns. +-------------------+-----------+-----------+----------+------------------+ | | government| latitude |longitude | number | | places. | or | north or | west of | of | | | situation.| south. |greenwich.| inhabitants. | +-------------------+-----------+-----------+----------+------------------+ | | |d. m. s. | d. m. s. | | |abancay |peru | s.| | | |_acapulco_ |new spain | n.| | . | |aconcagua, or} | | | | | | san felipe} |chili | s.| | | | | | | |{ families of | | | | | |{indians, and | |actopan |new spain | n.| |{families of | | | | | |{whites and | | | | | |{castes. | |adais, or adayes} |new spain | n.| | | |fort} | | | | | | | | | |{ families of | | | | | |{whites, and many | | | | | |{castes; famous | |aguas calientes |new spain | n.| |{for its hot | | | | | |{springs | | | | | |{impregnated with | | | | | |{copper. | |aguatulco |new spain | n.| | | |alangi, or el angel|new granada| n.| | | |alausi |new granada| n.| | | |albuquerque |new spain | n.| | . | |almaguer |new granada| n.| | | |alvarado |new spain | n.| | | |amapalla |guatimala | n.| | | |amatiques |guatimala | n.| | | |amotape |peru | s.| | | |amparaes |la plata | s.| | | |anco |peru | s.| | | |andahuailas |peru | s.| | | |antonio de bejar |new spain | n.| | . | | | | | |{populous, and an | |antonio de los cues|new spain | n.| |{ ancient aztec | | | | | |{ fortress. | |antonio de la }| | | | | | florida }|chili | s.| | | |apalachia |florida | n.| | | |_apurimac_, source}|peru | { or | |{near the city of | | of }| | { s.| |{ arequipa. | |archidona |new granada| s.| | . | |_arequipa_ |peru | s.| | , . | |arica |peru | s.| | | |arispe |new spain | n.| | . | | | | | |{ white | | | | | |{ families, and | |_asuncion_ |la plata | s.| |{ several | | | | | |{ thousands of | | | | | |{ indians and | | | | | |{ mestizoes. | |atacama |la plata | s.| | | |atrato, mouths of }|gulf of }| | |{rises in the | | the }| darien }| n.| |{ mountains of | | | | | |{ choco, and runs | | | | | |{ leagues. | |atunxauxa |peru | s.| | | |avila |new granada| s.| | . | |austria, san }| | | | | | felipe de }|caraccas | n.| | families. | | | | | | | |babahoyo |new granada| s.| |populous. | |baracoa |cuba | n.| | | |baranca del malambo|new granada| n.| | | |barbacoas |new granada| s.| | | |_barcelona_ |caraccas | n.| | , . | |barquisimeto |caraccas | n.| | , . | |batabano |cuba | n.| | | |bayamo |cuba | n.| | | |borja |new granada| n.| | | |buenos ayres |la plata | s.| | , . | |buga |new granada| n.| | | | | | | | | |cadiz |cuba | n.| | | |calabozo |caraccas | n.| | . | |cali |new granada| n.| | | |callao |peru | s.| | | |_campeche_ |new spain | n.| | . | |carabaya |la plata | s.| | | |caraccas |caraccas | n.| | , . | |cariaco |caraccas | n.| | . | |carora |caraccas | n.| | . | |_carthagena_ |new granada| n.| | , . | |carthago |new spain | n.| | | |carthago |new granada| n.| | or . | |casas grandes |new spain | n.| |near the rio gila.| |castro |chiloe | s.| | . | |castrovireyna |peru | s.| | | | | | | |{celebrated for | | | | | |{the palace of the| | | | | |{incas it | | | | | |{contains, which | |caxamarca |peru | s.| |{is at present | | | | | |{inhabited by some| | | | | |{of their | | | | | |{descendants. | | | | | |{population . | |cayman grande } |caribbean | | | | | isle, east point} | sea | n.| | | |caymanbrack, east }|caribbean | | | | | point }| sea | n.| | | |cerro de axusco, } | | | | | | mountain } |new spain | n.| | | |chachapoyas or }| | | | | | juan de la }|peru | s.| | | | frontera }| | | | | |chancay |peru | s | - - - |populous. | |_chiapa real_ |guatimala | n.| | families. | |chiapa de los }| | | | | | indios }|guatimala | n.| | , . | |chihuahua |new spain | n.| | , . | |chillan |chili | s.| - - - |populous | |cholula |new spain | n.| | , . | |cholula, pyramid } | | | | | | of } |new spain | n.| | | |_chuquisaca_ or }| | | | | | _la plata_ }|la plata | s.| | , . | |cinaloa |new spain | n.| | . | |coche, isle of } |caribbean | | | | | east cape }| sea | n.| | | |cofre de perote, } | | | | | | mountain } |new spain | n.| | | |colchagua or san }| | | | | | fernando }|chili | s.| - - - | families | |colonia del } | | | | | | sacramento } |la plata | s.| | | |_comayaguaso_ or }| | | | | | valladolid }|guatimala | n.| | | |concepcion del pao |caraccas | n.| | . | |_concepcion_ |chili | s.| | , . | |concepcion |la plata | s.| | . | |copiapo |chili | s.| | families. | |coquimbo or la }| | | |{ families of | | serena }|chili | s.| |{whites, &c., | | }| | | |{and some indians.| |cordova |new spain | n.| | families. | |cordova |la plata | s.| | . | |_coro_ |caraccas | n.| | , . | |corientes, cape |pacific | n.| | | |coulemu |chili | s.| - - - | | |cuença |new granada| s.| | , . | |_cumana_ |caraccas | n.| | , . | |cumana, port of |caraccas | n.| | | |cumanacoa |caraccas | n.| - - - | . | |curuguaty |la plata | s.| | . | |cuzcatlan |guatimala | n.| | . | |_cuzco_ |peru | s.| | , . | | | | | | | |_durango_ |new spain | n.| | , . | | | | | | | |fort buenavista |new spain | n.| | | |fort del altar |new spain | n.| | | |fort del passage |new spain | n.| | | |fort passo del }| | | | | | norte }|new spain | n.| | | | | | | | | |gibraltar |caraccas | n.| | | |gracias a dios |guatimala | n.| | | |granada |guatimala | n.| | | |_guadalaxara_ |new spain | n.| | , . | |gualqui |chili | s.| - - - | | |_guamanga_ |peru | s.| | , . | |guanara |caraccas | n.| | , . | |_guanaxuato_ |new spain | n.| | , . | |_guancavelica_ |peru | s.| | . | |guanta |peru | s.| | | | | | | |{near the sources | |guanuco |peru | s.| |{ of the false | | | | | |{ maranon. | |guarochiri |peru | s.| | | |guatimala |guatimala | n.| | , . | |_guaxaca_ |new spain | n.| - - - | , . | |_guayaquil_ |new granada| s.| | , . | |guayra |caraccas | n.| | . | | | | | | | |hacha |new granada| n.| | | |hambato |new granada| s.| | . | |havannah |cuba | n.| | , . | |honda |new granada| n.| | | | | | | | | |jaen |new granada| s.| - - - | . | |janos or yanos, }| | | | | | fort }|new spain | - - - | | | |ica or valverde |peru | s.| | . | |jorullo volcano |new spain | - - - | | | |juan de los llanos |new granada| n.| | | |juan fernandez, }| | | |{ leagues from | | isle }|pacific | s.| |{ the coast of | | }| | | |{ chili. | | | | | | | |iztaccihuatl, }| | | | | | volcano }|new spain | n.| | | | | | | | | |lambayeque |peru | s.| | . | |lampa |la plata | s.| | | |_la paz_ |la plata | s.| | , . | |las corrientes |la plata | s.| | | |_latacunga_ |new granada| s.| | , . | |lima |peru | s.| | , . | |lipes |la plata | s.| | | | | | | |{founded in honour| |londres |la plata | s.| |{ of mary queen of| | | | | |{ england. | |loxa |new granada| s.| | , . | | | | | | | |macas |new granada| s.| | . | |_magdalena_, }|caribbean | | | | |mouths of }| sea | n.| |main channel. | |maldonado |la plata | s.| | | |_maracaybo_ |caraccas | n.| | , . | |maranon }|atlantic | s.|{ | | | mouths of }| ocean | |{ | | |mariquita |new granada| n.| | . | |mas-afuera, isle, |{pacific | | | | | |{ ocean | s.| | | |mayobamba |peru | s.| | | |melipilla |chili | s.| | | |_mendoza_ |la plata | s.| | . | | | | | |{limit of the | | | | | |{ conquests | |mercaderes |new granada| n.| - - - |{ of the peruvian | | | | | |{ incas to the | | | | | |{ north. | |_merida_ |new granada| n.| | , . | |mexico |new spain | n.| | , . | |mompox |new granada| n.| | | |moquehua |peru | s.| |populous. | |_monte video_ |la plata | s.| | , . | |monterey |new spain | n.| | . | |moran-mine |new spain | n.| | | | | | | | | |nasca |peru | s.| | | |nata |new granada| n.| | | |neembucu |la plata | s.| | . | |nevado de toluca, }| | | | | | mountain }|new spain | n.| | | |neyva |new granada| n.| | | |nicoya |guatimala | n.| | | |nirgua |caraccas | n.| - - - | . | | | | | | | |ocana |new granada| n.| | | |omoa |guatimala | n.| | | | | | | |{boca de los | |orinoco, mouths of|atlantic | n.| |{ navios or | | | | | |{ great estuary. | |oropesa |la plata | s.| | | |otabalo |new granada| n.| | , . | | | | | | | |pamplona |new granada| n.| | | |_panama_ |new granada| n.| | | |paria |la plata | s.| | | |pasquaro |new spain | - - - | | . | |payta |peru | s.| | | |pensacola |florida | n.| | | | | | | | | |perdido, mouth of |{mexican | | |{boundary between | | |{ gulf | n.| |{ the united | | | | | |{ states and | | | | | |{ florida. | |petatlan hill |new spain | n.| | | |petorca |chili | s.| |populous. | |pico de orizaba, }| | | | | | mountain of }|new spain | n.| | | |piedra blanca |new spain | n.| | | |pisco |peru | s.| | families. | |piura, or san }| | | |{ . the oldest | | miguel }|peru | s.| |{ city of south | | | | | |{ america. | |pomabamba |la plata | s.| | | |_popayan_ |new granada| n.| | , . | |popocatepetl, }| | | | | | mountain }|new spain | n.| | | |porco |la plata | s.| | | |pore |new granada| n.| | . | |porto bello |do. | n.| | | |_potosi_ |la plata | s.| | , . | |_puebla de los_ }| | | | | | _angelos_ }|new spain | n.| | , . | |puerto cabello |caraccas | n.| | . | |puerto rico |puerto rico| n.| |populous. | |puna |la plata | s.| |populous. | |punta del ana }| | | | | | nueva, or mission}|new spain | n.| | . | | of santa }| | | | | | cruz }| | | | | | | | | | | |queretaro |new spain | n.| | , . | |quillota |chili | s.| | | |quito |new granada| s.| | , . | | | | | | | |_rancagua_, or }| | | | | | santa cruz de }|chili | s.| | | | triana }| | | | | |real de rosario } | | | | | | mine } |new spain | n.| | . | |real de los alamos}| | | | | | mine }|do. | n.| | . | |realexo |guatimala | n.| | | |_riobamba_ |new granada| s.| | , . | |rio bravo del }|gulf of }| | | | | norte, mouth }| mexico }| n.| | | | of }| | | | | | | | | |{cape santa maria,| |rio de la plata, } | | | |{ miles north | | mouth of } |atlantic | s.| |{ of the south | | | | | |{ cape, st. | | | | | |{ antonio. | |rioja |la plata | s.| | | | | | | | | |salamanca |new spain | n.| | | |salta |la plata | s.| | | | | | | |{boundary between | |saint mary's }|atlantic | n.| |{ the united | | river, mouth of }| | | |{ states and | | | | | |{ florida. | |santander |new spain | n.| | | |san antonio cape |cuba | n.| | | |san augustin |florida | n.| | . | |san bernardo de }| | | | | | tarija }|la plata | s.| | | |san blas |new spain | n.| | | |san carlos |chiloe | s.| | . | |san carlos |caraccas | n.| - - - | . | |san diego mission |new spain | n.| | . | |san felipe, or }| | | | | | cocorata }|caraccas | n.| - - - | . | |san francisco }| | | | | | mission }|new spain | n.| | . | |san josef mission |new spain | n.| | | |san juan del rio |new spain | - - - | | | |san juan mission |new spain | n.| | . | |san juan de la }| | | | | | frontera }|la plata | s.| | . | |san joan del pao |caraccas | n.| - - - | . | |san juan de pasto |new granada| n.| | . | |san lazaro, }| | | | | | mountain }|new spain | n.| | | |san lucas, cape |new spain | n.| | | |san luis de cura |caraccas | n.| - - - | . | |san luis de gonzaga|chili | s.| | | |_san luis de_ }| | | | | | _zacatecas_ }|new spain | n.| | , . | |san miguel de } | | | | | | ibarra } |new granada| n.| | , . | |san salvador |guatimala | n.| | . | |san sebastian de }| | | | | | los reyes }|caraccas | n.| - - - | . | |san sebastian del} | | | | | | oro, or la plata} |new granada| n.| | | |santa barbara, }| | | | | | mission }|new spain | n.| | . | |santa buenaventura |new spain | n.| | . | |santa fé |new spain | n.| | . | |santa fÉ, or bogota|new granada| n.| | , . | |santa fé de }| | | | | | antioquia }|new granada| n.| | | |santa marta |new granada| n.| | | |santiago |chili | s.| | , . | |santiago del estero|la plata | s.| | families. | |_santo tomé_ |caraccas | n.| | or . | |sechura |peru | s.| - - - | families. | |silla de caraccas }| | | | | | mountain, }|caraccas | n.| | | | highest-peak }| | | | | |sisal |new spain | n.| |{port of merida de| | | | | |{ yucatan. | |soconusco |guatimala | n.| | | |socorro, isle |pacific | n.| | | |suchitepeque |guatimala | n.| | . | | | | | | | |tabasco |new spain | n.| | | |tacames |new granada| n.| | | |talca, or san }| | | | | | augustin }|chili | s.| |populous. | |_tarma_ |peru | s.| | . | |tasco |new spain | n.| | | | | | | |{ families of | |tehuantepeque |new spain | n.| |{ indians and | | | | | |{ of whites. | |teneriffe |new granada| n.| | | |tezcuco |new spain | n.| | | | | | | |{famous for some | |tiahuanaco |la plata | s.| - - - |{ singular | | | | | |{ monuments. | |timana |new granada| n.| | | |tocayma |new granada| n.| | . | |tocuyo |caraccas | n.| | , . | |todos los santos |new spain | n.| | | |tolu |new granada| n.| | | |tomina |la plata | s.| | | |tres marias isle }| | | | | | south cape of }|pacific | n.| | | | the east isle }| | | | | |trinidad |cuba | n.| | | |truxillo |guatimala | n.| | | |_truxillo_ |peru | s.| | . | |truxillo |caraccas | n.| - - - | . | |_tucuman_ |la plata | s.| | | |tumbez |peru | s.| | | |tunja |new granada| n.| | . | | | | | | | |_ucayale_, }| | | | | | junction of, with}|new granada| s.| - - - |forms the maranon.| | the false maranon}| | | | | | | | | | | |valdivia |chili | s.| |populous. | |valencia |caraccas | n.| | . | |_valladolid_ |new spain | n.| | , . | |valparaiso |chili | s.| |populous. | |varinas |caraccas | n.| - - - | . | |velez |new granada| n.| | | |_vera cruz_ |new spain | n.| | , . | |vera paz, or coban |guatimala | n.| | | |villa del fuerte |new spain | n.| | | |villa del principe |cuba | n.| | | |villa rica |la plata | s.| | . | | | | | | | |xalapa |new spain | n.| | , . | |xagua, boca de |cuba | - - - | | | |xuxui |la plata | s | | | to this table it will not be uninteresting to add a summary of the population, &c., of the governments of spanish america. inhabitants. inhabitants. new spain , , , of which its capital, mexico, has , guatimala , , , guatimala , cuba , , havannah , puerto rico , , puerto rico, very populous. { san augustin, has floridas uncertain, { pensacola. { santa fÉ de } new granada , , , { bogota } , caraccas , , caraccas , peru , , , lima , chili , , santiago , buenos ayres} , , , buenos ayres , or la plata} ----------- making , , . ----------- to which may be added , more for cuba, as according to the latest enquiries that island possesses a population of , souls; thus there will be a total known population of , , , and allowing for the inhabitants of the floridas, and the unnumbered indians of the kingdom of la plata, the actual number of persons existing under the government of spain in the americas, will not fall short of fifteen millions, while the portuguese subjects in brazil amount only to , , , of whom one million and a half are negroes, one million are indians and the rest whites. of the above total of , , souls, there are , , whites born in the country, , europeans, and the remaining , , are indians, negroes and mixed races, or castes, of which the indians bear by far the greater proportion, the negroes in caraccas amounting to , , in cuba to , ; the other states having comparatively very few slaves. the spaces which this mass of people occupy, in the different governments, have been thus calculated: square leagues. new spain extends over a surface equal to , guatimala , cuba and puerto rico , floridas , new granada , caraccas , peru , chili , buenos ayres or la plata , ------- , ------- making an extent of country equal to , square leagues; whilst great britain, which has a population of , , souls, occupies a space equal only to , square miles. the mines of the empire of spanish america furnish annually in gold and silver in-- £ sterling. new spain to the value of , , new granada , peru and chili , , buenos ayres or la plata , --------- , , --------- making a total of , , _l._ sterling; to which may be added more than another million for the contraband trade. the commerce of these countries annually averages in-- £ sterling. importations , , exportations of agricultural produce , , exportations of gold and silver , , and the annual revenue is equal to nearly eight millions of pounds sterling. index to the principal places and subjects treated of in the foregoing volumes. a _abancay_, district and town of, peru, ii. . _abancay_, battle of the bridge of, ii. . _abipons_ indians, ii. . _abolishment_ of the slave trade, ii. . _acamapitzin_, king of mexico, i. . _acapulco_, city of mexico, unhealthiness of, i. . great mart for new spain and india, . description of, population, &c., . _aconcagua_, city and province of, chili, ii. . _agave_, or aloe, supplies the liquor most drank in mexico, and method of making it, i. . _aguas calientes_, city of new spain, i. . _aguaracatay_, lake of la plata, ii. . _aguatulco_, town of new spain, i. . _aguilar jeromimo_, found on the isle of cozumel, by cortez, i. . _ahuitzotl_, mexican king, i. . _aillavalu_ toqui or war chief of chili, ii. . _alamos_, mine of, new spain, i. . _alangi_, or st. jago el angel, town of guatimala, i. . _alausi_, city of new granada, i. . _albuquerque_, town of new spain, i. . _alcolhuacan_, kingdom, i. . _alfinger_ and sailler, german merchants, cruelties practised by, in caraccas, ii. . _alligator_ of new spain, i. . of new granada, . . _almagro_, revolt of, against pizarro, ii. . conquest of chili by, . _almendral_, town of chili, ii. . _alpaco_ or peruvian sheep, ii. . _alto de tiopullo_, chain of the, i. . _alvarado_, expedition to peru by, ii. . _amalgamation_ works of new spain; mercury consumed by the, i. . _amatiques_, gulf, new spain, i. . _amazonia_, discovery of, by orellana, i. . _ambergris_ key or ubero island, i. . _amelia_ island, florida, i. . _america_, spanish, extent of, i. . _america_, spanish, north, era of discovery of, i. . extent of, . political and territorial divisions, i. . _america_, spanish, south, general idea of, i. . boundaries, . political divisions, _ib._ era of discovery, . _america_, portuguese, population of, ii. . _amerigo vespucci_, publishes the first regular account of america, i. . voyages of, . _amotape_, village of peru, ii. . _amparaes_, district of la plata, ii. . _ampolaba_, or boa constrictor of tucuman, ii. . _ampues_, first governor of caraccas, ii. . _anahuac_, ancient name of mexico, i. . _anahuac_, cordillera of, i. . plain of _ib_. _anco_, town of peru, ii. . _ancud_, gulf of, ii. . _andagualas_, district and town of peru, ii. . _andalusia_, new. see _new andalusia_. _andero_, or st. andres isle, gulf of mexico, i. . _andes_, cordillera of, in new spain, i. . . description of the, . _andes de cuzco_, ii. . _andes_ of chili, ii. . _angaraes_, district of peru, ii. . _angelos puebla de los_, city of new spain, i. . _angostura_, or santo tomé, capital of guiana, ii. . _animal_ food, the secondary article of human nourishment in new spain, i. . _animals_ of new spain, i. . _antioquia_, or santa fé, province of new granada, i. . city of ditto, . _antiquities_ of new spain, i. . _antonio_, st., castle or citadel of cumana, ii. . _apacheria_, country of new spain, i. . _apaches_, indians, i. . . _apalachia_, town of, florida, i. . river of, florida, . _apallachicola_, river, florida, i. . _apo-ulmens_, chiefs of the araucanians, ii. . _apolabamba_, district of la plata, ii. . _apura_, or apure, river of caraccas, i. . ii. . _apurimac_, river, i. . sources of, in peru, ii. . _araguato_, singular monkey in caraccas, ii. . _aranta_, town of, peru, ii. . _araucania_, or indian chili boundaries, extent, ii. . _araucanian_ indians, ii. . _arauco_, river of caraccas, ii. . _araura_, town of caraccas, ii. . _araya_, salt works of, in caraccas, ii. . _archbishopric_ of mexico, i. . of lima, ii. . _archidona_, town of quito, i. . _archipelago_ of chiloe, ii. . _arequipa_, intendancy of, in peru, ii. . _arequipa_, city of, peru, scite, population, foundation, rivers, climate, vicinity, trade, port, ii. . bishopric, public edifices, earthquakes at, . _ari_, singular deity of the muzos indians, i. . _arica_, district and city of, peru, ii. . _arispe_, city of, new spain, i. . _armadillo_, ii. . _army_, of new spain, i. . . _aroa_, river of, caraccas, ii. . _arrival_ of the spaniards in peru, i. . _asangaro y asila_, district of, la plata, ii. . _asterillo_, port of chili, ii. . _astorpilcos_, descendants of the peruvian incas, ii. . _ascension_, river, new spain, i. . _asuncion_, capital of paraguay, ii. . _atabalipa_, or atahualpa, history of, in quito, i. . fifteenth inca of peru, ii. . . death of, . _atacama_, district and town of, la plata, ii. . _atacames_, government of. see tacames. _atavillos_, marquess of, title granted to pizarro, ii. . _atlixco_, town of, new spain, i. . _atrato_, river of, darien, i. . _atures_, cataract, i. . _audienza_, real, of new spain, i. . . _audienza_, real, of santa fé de bogota, i . of quito, _ib._ of lima, ii. . of buenos ayres, . of los charcas, . _augustin_, san, capital of, east florida, i. . _avila_, town of quito, i. . _axayacatl_, king of mexico, i. . _ayaupa_, isle of the archipelago of chonos, ii. . _aymaraez_, district of, peru, ii. . _aztecas_, ancient mexican people, i. . b _baba_, district of quito, i. . _babahoyo_, district of quito, i. . town of ditto, . _bacuachi_ fort, new spain, i. . _baeza_, town of quito, i. . _bahia negra_, spanish boundaries on the paraguay, ii. . _balize_, british settlement in honduras, i. . _balsas_, or rafts of guayaquil, i. . _banana_, uses of the, in new spain, i. . . _baracoa_, town of cuba, i. . _baragan_, mountain of new granada, i. . . _baranca del malambo_, town of new granada, i. . _barcelona_, province of. see _new barcelona_. _barcelona_, city of, in caraccas, scite, foundation, buildings, ii. . population, trade, . _barquisimeto_, city of caraccas, population, scite, foundation, climate, trade, ii. . public buildings, &c., . _bastidas_, discoveries of, i. . _batabano_, town of cuba, i. . _batopilas_, native silver sometimes found in the mines of, i. . ----, mining town of new spain, i. . _bavispe_ fort, in new spain, i. . _bayamo_, or st. salvador, town of cuba, i. . _benalcazar_, conquest of quito by, i. . . _beni_ river, i. . ii. . . _biriquite_, district of new granada, i. . _biru_, town of peru, ii. . _biscay_, new. see _new_ biscay. _bishops_ of new spain, i. . _blanca_ isle, caribbean sea, ii. . _blanco_, river of new spain, i. . _blanquillo_, mountain of chili, ii. . _bluefields_ river, guatimala, i. . _boca de los navios_, great mouth of the orinoco, ii. . _boca del sierpe_ and _del drago_, names given by columbus to the channels between trinidad and caraccas, ii. . _bochica_, great lawgiver of the bogotians, i. . . _bogota._ see _santa fé_. _bolaños_ mines, in new spain, i. _bolivar_, leader of the insurgents in caraccas, ii. . _bolson de mapimi_, desert in new spain, i. . _bonacao_ island, in the gulf of mexico, i. . _boracha_, high rock of the caribbean sea, ii. . _bore_ or _pororoca_ of the maranon, i. . of other rivers, . _borja_, town of quito, i. . _borriquen_, ancient name of puerto rico, i. . _boundary_ line between the united states and florida, i. . _bravo, rio del norte_, description of, i. . . estuary of, . _bridges_, pendulous, i. . rope, on the magdalena river, . natural, . peruvian, over the rio desaguadero, ii. . _brigantin_, chain of mountains in caraccas, ii. . _bucaniers_, plunder of maracaybo by, ii. . _buenara_, lake of new spain, i. . _buenavista_, mountain of caraccas, ii. . _buenos ayres_, viceroyalty of. boundaries and extent, ii. . political and territorial divisions, . history and discovery, _ib._ late events in, . present condition of, . features, climate, &c., _ib._ lakes, . rivers, . commerce and resources, . capital, . provinces of, - . ----, government of. boundaries, history, &c., ii. . climate, features, &c., . method of travelling over the plains, . rivers, . chief town and cities, - . indian nations, . ----, city of. population, scite, foundation, streets, squares, houses, cathedral and churches, ii. . navigation of the la plata, buildings, gardens, . markets, trade, climate, pamperos, royal audience, . _buga_, department of new granada, i. . _burburata_, village of caraccas, ii. . _burying-places_ of the ancient peruvians, i. . _butter_ of the guacharo, ii. . c _cabot_, sebastian, discovery of the rio de la plata by, ii. . _cacao_ or chocolate tree, i. . ---- used as money by the mexicans, i. . _cachemecan_, kingdom, i. . _cachipampa_, battle of, ii. . _caciques_, of new spain, i. . _cadaguela_, toqui of the chilese, ii. . _cadiz_, town of cuba, i. . _calabozo_, city of caraccas, ii. . _calbuco_, island of the archipelago of chiloe, ii. . _calcaylares_, district of, peru, ii. . _calender_ of the muyscas, i. . _callao_, port of, lima, ii. . _cali_, department of, new granada, i. . ----, town of, new granada, i. . _california_, new and old, extent, boundaries, and discovery, i. . population, missions, . natives, . animals, commerce, . description of the missions, . capital, . _callo_, palace of the incas, i. . _caloto_, department of, new granada, i. _calquin_, or large eagle of chili, ii. . _camana_, district and town of peru, ii. . _campeche_, city of new spain, i. . scite, fortifications, manufactures, logwood cutters, population, . _cana_, town or fortress of darien, i. . _canal_ de la raspadura in choco, unites the pacific and atlantic oceans, i. . ---- of mexico, i. . ---- de pedernales, a mouth of the orinoco, ii. . _canatagua_, sierra de, chain of mountains dividing north and south america, i. . _canas_ y canches or tinta, district of, peru, ii. . _canavami_, mountain, i. . _canete_, town and district of, peru, ii. . _cannibalism_, nations probably accused falsely of, i. . _cansada_, immense stone of the wall of cuzco, ii. . _canta_, town and district of peru, ii. . _capac yupanqui_, fifth inca of peru, ii. . _capaguas_ indians, ii. . _capanaparo_, river of, caraccas, ii. . _cape_ casinas, name given to cape honduras by columbus, i. . ---- catoche, new spain, i. . ---- cross, florida, i. . ---- florida, i. . ---- gracias a dios, guatimala, i. . ---- honduras, i. . ---- roman, florida, i. . ---- sable, florida, i. . ---- st. blaz, florida, i. . _captain_ general of caraccas, ii. . _capure_, a mouth of the orinoco, ii. . _caqueta_, river, new granada, sources of, i. . _caraccas_, captain generalship of, boundaries and extent, ii. . political divisions and government, discovery and history, . capital, . features of the country, &c., . rivers, . indians, . lakes, . provinces, . commerce, . ----, city of, situation and foundation, ii. . streets, buildings, population, theatre, surrounding country, . climate, earthquake, . port, . ----, islands, caribbean sea, ii. . _carabaya_, district and town of, la plata, ii. . _carahuasi_, district of, peru, ii. . _caranjas_, district of, la plata, ii. . _carapochas_ indians, ii. . _caratapona_, isle in lake valencia, ii. . _carguirazo_, mountain of quito, i. . _cariaco_, gulf of caraccas, ii. . ----, town of caraccas, ii. . _carib_ indians, i. . ii. . _caramari_, indian name of carthagena, i. . _caripe_, river of caraccas, ii. . ----, convent of caraccas, ii. . _carora_, city of caraccas, ii. . _carthagena_, province of new granada, boundaries, extent, features, produce, forests, animals, i. . birds, insects, reptiles, . fruits, inhabitants, . discovery, . capital, . towns, . ----, city of, in new granada, situation, suburbs, i. . fortifications, bay, climate, . public buildings, inhabitants, . offices, trade, history, . exports and imports, . _carthago_, town of popayan, i. . ----, town of guatimala, i. . _casanare_, province of new granada, i. . _casas grandes_ de rio gila, i. . ---- _grandes_ in new biscay, i. . _casibos_ indians, ii. . _cassava_ bread, i. . ---- or manioc forms the bread of the indians, i. . _cassiquiari_ river, i. . _cassiquiari_, river, ii. . _cassiquin_ river, ii. . _castro_, town of chiloe, ii. . ---- _vireyna_, district and town of peru, ii. . _catacatche_ village, of new granada, i. . _cataract_ of tequendama, i. . cataracts of the rio pusambio in popayan, . cataract of maypures and atures, . ii. . _catorce_, mine of new spain, i. . _cauca_, river of new granada, i. . . _caupolican_, toqui of the chilese, ii. . _cauquenes_, town of chili, ii. . _causeway_ of ancient mexico, i. . . of the incas in quito, . . _cavern_ of the guacharo in caraccas, ii. . of rapel in chili, . _caxamarca_, defeat and imprisonment of huascar inca at, i. . battle of, ii. . district and town of peru, . _caxatambo_, town and district of, peru, ii. _cayambe_ urcu, mountain of quito, i. . ----, village of new granada, i. . _cayancura_, toqui of the chilese, ii. . _caylloma_, town and district of peru, ii. . _cayman_ lake, new spain, i. . _cedros_, isle, pacific ocean, i. . _celaya_, city of, new spain, i. . _cerro de la giganta_, chain of mountains in california, i. . _cerro del brigantin_, chain of mountains in caraccas, ii. . _cerro de la sal_, chain of mountains in peru, ii. . _cerro de cuchivano_, chain of mountains in caraccas, ii. . _chacao_, town of the island of chiloe, ii. . _chacao_, plain, near caraccas, ii. . _chachapoyas_, district of, peru, ii. . _chachapoyas_, or juan de la frontera, town of, peru, ii. . _chacos_, territory of, la plata, ii. . ----, river of, la plata, ii. . _chagre_, river of, new granada, i. . _chalco_, lake, new spain, i. . _chancay_, district and town of, peru, ii. . _chapala_, lake of, new spain, i. . . _chapultepec_, aqueduct of, mexico, i. . _charcas_, mines of, new spain, i. . ----, or potosi, government of, boundaries, and districts of, ii. . history, capital of, . provincial descriptions, . ----, district of, la plata, ii. . _chayantas_, district of, la plata, ii. . _chaymas_, indians, ii. . _cheuque_, or ostrich of chili, ii. . _chia_, consort of bochica, singular tradition concerning, i. . _chiapa_, province of guatimala, boundaries, extent, features, and rivers, i. . productions, animals, inhabitants, capital, . ----, _real_, city of guatimala, situation, government, inhabitants, cathedral, i. . ---- _de los indios_, city of guatimala, scite, description, inhabitants, climate, churches, amusements of the natives, vicinity, trade, i. . ----, river of, guatimala, i. . _chibcha_, or language of the muyscas, i. . _chica_, an intoxicating liquor made by the indians of peru and la plata, ii. . _chichas y tarijas_, district, la plata, ii. . _chicometepec_, river, new spain, i. . _chihuahua_, city of, new spain, i. . _chilca_, famous for saltpetre, town of, peru, ii. . _chilese_, ancient, ii. . _chillan_, mountain of, chili, ii. . _chillan_, town, and district of, chili, ii. . _chili_, captain-generalship of, extent and boundaries, ii. . political and territorial divisions and government, . discovery, and history of, _ib._ climate, features, . recent events in, . rivers, and lakes, . mines, . population, . animals, _ib._ commerce, . capital, . continental provinces, . insular provinces, . araucania, . _chili-dugu_, or language of the chilese, ii. . _chilihueques_, or araucanian sheep, ii. . _chiloe_, islands of, ii. . _chilotes_, indians, ii. . _chilques y masques_, district of, peru, ii. . _chimalapa_, river of, new spain, i. . _chimbo_, district and town of, new granada, i. . _chimborazo_, mountain, i. . . _chingasa_, mountain of, new granada, i. . _chiquillanes_, indians, ii. . _chiquitos_, indians, ii. . _chiquitos_, district and town of, la plata, ii. . _chiriguanos_, indians, ii. . _chiriqui_, bay of, guatimala, i. . _choco_, province of, new granada, i. . _chocolate_, name originally mexican, i. . ----, manufacture of, i. . _chocope_, town of, peru, ii. . _chollolan_, republic, i. . _cholula_, pyramids of, i. . ----, city of, new spain, ancient capital of the republic of chollolan, population and history, i. . _cholutecas_, or xeses, district and town of, guatimala, i. . _choropampa_, or the plain of shells, peru, ii. . _chota_, mines of, peru, ii. . . _chuchanga_, town of, new granada, i. . _chucuito_, district and town of, la plata, ii. . _chucuito_, lake, la plata, ii. . . _chumbivilcas_, district of, peru, ii. . _chunchos_, country of, peru, ii. . . _chuquisaca_, or la plata, city of la plata, scite, climate, ii. . foundation, buildings, indians, royal audience, magistracy, and population, . _cinaloa_, district, new spain, i. . ----, city of, new spain, i. . _cinchona_, or peruvian bark, i. . _citlaltepetl_, or pico de orizaba, i. . _claim_ of the spanish government to the west coast of america, i. . ---- of the united states government to part of new spain, i. . _clayborne_, fort of, the united states, i. . _clergy_ of new spain, i. . . _climate_ of florida, i. . ---- of new spain, i. . ---- of cuba, i. . ---- of new granada, i. . ---- of caraccas, ii. . ---- of peru, ii. . ---- of la plata, ii. . ---- of chili, ii. . _coaguila_, city and province of, new spain, i. . _coal_ of new spain, i. . _coban_, city of, guatimala, i. . _coca_, or betel of america, i. . _cochabamba_, province of, la plata, ii. . _coche_, island, caribbean sea, ii. . _cochineal_, of new spain, i. . _cocinas_, indians, i. . _cocollar_, chain of the, in caraccas, ii. . _cocomaricopas_, indians, i. . _cofre_ de perote, mountain, i. . . _coinage_ of the mint of mexico, i. . ---- of santa fé de bogota, i. . ---- of popayan, _ib._ ---- of lima, ii. . ---- of potosi, ii. . _colchagua_, province and city of, chili, ii. . _colhuacan_, kingdom, i. . _colima_, volcano of, new spain, i. . _college_ of mines at, mexico, i. . _colon_, don pedro nuno, duke of veragua, viceroy of new spain, a descendant of columbus, i. . _colonia del sacramento_, territory of la plata, ii. . _colorado_, river of, new spain, i. . . _colorado de texas_, river of, new spain, i. . _colorado_, river of, caraccas, ii. . _columbus_, first voyage of, and discovery of america by, i. . second voyage, i. . third voyage, _ib._ sent to spain in irons, _ib._ fourth voyage, . . wrecked on jamaica, . death of, at valladolid, _ib._ discovery of caraccas by, ii. . _comandantes generales_, of new spain, i. . _comayaguas_, or valladolid, city in guatimala, i. . _commerce_ of new spain, i. . ---- of cuba, i. . ---- of new granada, i. . ---- of la guayra, the port of caraccas, ii. . ---- of caraccas, ii. . ---- of peru, ii. . ---- of la plata, ii. . ---- of paraguay, ii. . ---- of chili, ii. . ---- of the island of chiloe, ii. . _concepcion del pao_, city of, caraccas, ii. . ----, city of, la plata, ii. . ---- or penco, city of, chili, ii. . _conchocando_, title of the kings of quito, i. . _conchapatu_, silver mine of, peru, ii. . _conchucos_, city and district of, peru, ii. . _condor_, ii. . _condesuyos de arequipa_, district of peru, ii. . _condonoma_, mine of, peru, ii. . _conibos_ indians, ii. . _conquest_ of mexico, i. . _continental_ provinces of chili, ii. . _continent_ of america, first discovered by cabot, ii. . _conuco_, or public garden of a mission village, ii. . _copacavana_ town, on an island in lake chucuito, ii. . _copala_, mine of new spain, i. . _copiapo_, province and town of chili, ii. . _copper_, ancient mexicans made their tools of, i. . _coquimbo_, province and town of chili, ii. . _coquimbanes_, islands of chili, ii. . _corcobado_, mountain of chili, ii. . . . _cordilleras_, of new spain, i. . _cordilleras de los andes_, description of, i. . _cordillera_, of new granada and caraccas, i. . _cordillera_ of the cataracts of the orinoco, i. . of chiquitos, . of santa marta, . of merida, . of santa fé, . of santa fé de antioquia, . of popayan, . of quito, . of caraccas, ii. . of chiquitos, . . of the chiriguanos, . of chili, . . _cordova_, city of new spain, i. . _cordova_, city of la plata, scite, edifices, trade, district surrounding, ii. . _corientes_, river of la plata, ii. . city of la plata, . _cortez, fernando_, history of, i. . conquest of mexico by, . sets sail from cuba, and arrives at tabasco, meets the embassadors of montezuma, who are astonished at the europeans, arms, horses, &c., . present from montezuma, mutiny of the army, burns his fleet, . marches for mexico, conquers the tlascalans, . arrives at mexico, seizes the emperor, marches to fight narvaez, . returns to and evacuates mexico, montezuma slain, . recruits his army, and again lays siege to the city, which capitulates on guatimozin being taken and put to death, . discovery of california by, . _cosumel isle_, discovery of, by grijalva, history of, &c. i. . _costa rica_, province of guatimala, i. . _cotabamba_, district of, peru, ii. . _cotopaxi_ volcano, i. . _coulemu_, town of chili, ii. . _council_ of the mines in new spain, i. . of the indies, ii. . _crater_ of pichinca, i. . _creoles_, of new spain, i. . _crevice_ of icononzo, i. . of chota, . _crevices_ of the andes, i. . _cruces_, town of panama, i. . _cuba_, island of, situation, i. . supposed to have been part of the continent, gulf-stream, extent, position, discovery, . history, climate, . productions, forests, . mines, cultivated part, population, mountains, . government, revenue, army, capital, . towns, . city of, . pinos isle, . _cubagua_, island, caribbean sea, ii. . _cuchillo de guanaguana_, mountain of caraccas, ii. . _cucurucho de tumiriquiri_, mountain of caraccas, ii. . _cundinamarca_, kingdom of, i. . _cuença_, district and city of new granada, i. . _cuernavaca_, city of new spain, i. . _cues, st. antonio de los_, ancient aztec fort, i. . _cujo or cuyo_, government of la plata, ii. . boundaries, climate, features, history, rivers, lakes, productions, . commerce, capital, . _cuitlahualtzin_, or _quetlavaca_, king of mexico, i. . _culpeu_, or chili fox, singular habits of, ii. . _cumana_, province of. see _new andalusia_. _cumana_, city of caraccas, scite, ii. . port, citadel, rivers, suburbs, buildings, climate, population, . indians, . customs of the inhabitants, harbour, earthquakes, . environs, . _cumanacoa_, town of caraccas, ii. . _cumanagoto_ indians, ii. . _cumanches_ indians, i. . _cunches_ indians, ii. . _curaçoa_ island, trade of with caraccas, ii. . _curico_, mine of chili, ii. . ---- town of chili, ii. . _curimayo_, ancient gold mines of peru, ii. . _curuguaty_, town of la plata, ii. . _cuzcatlan_, or _san salvador_, city of guatimala, i. . _cuzco_, intendency of peru, ii. . ----, city of, scite, foundation, ii. . ancient splendour, history, antiquities, buildings, cathedral, . temple of the sun, public edifices, bishopric, population, trade, . d _darien_, isthmus of, i. . ----, province of new granada, extent, climate, inhabitants, i. . rivers, produce, population, capital, . scotch colonization of, . ----, gulf of, i. . _daule_, district of new granada, i. . _danta_, large animal of quito, i. . _degu_, or chilese dormouse, ii. . _desaguadero_, singular river of la plata, ii. . _descabezado_, mountain of chili, ii. . _doctrinas_, or villages of spanish america, ii. . _dominic de gourges_, attack of florida by, i. . _don josef sarmiento valladares conde de montezuma_, a descendant of montezuma, viceroy of mexico, i. . _doraces_, indians, i. . _duida_ mountain of guiana, i. . _durango_, intendancy of. see _new biscay_. _durango_, city of new spain, i. . e _earthquakes_ at guatimala, i. . at quito, . at riobamba, . at caraccas, ii. . at cumana, . at valencia in caraccas, . at lima, . at arequipa, . in chili, . _el altar_, mountain, i. . _el corazon_, mountain, i. . _el dorado_, or golden mountain, i. . _el dorado_, celebrated fictitious city, ii. , . . _elevation_ on the cordillera of new spain, at which sugar, cotton, cacao, and indigo, and european grains flourish, i. . also pines and the banana, . _ekanfanoga_, a swamp in florida, i. . _encomiendas_, history of, ii. . _equator_ crosses the great mountain cayambe urcu, i. . _eruptions_ of cotopaxi volcano, i. . _escambia coenecah_, river of florida, i. . _escuintla_, district of guatimala, i. . _espiritu santo_, or nassau bay in florida, i. . _europeans_, number of in new spain, i. . in spanish america, ii. . _european_ fruits and vegetables successfully cultivated in new spain, i. . _excessive_ cold experienced by the french mathematicians in measuring the degree on the andes, i. . f _farallones_, rocks, pacific ocean, i. . _falkland_, or malouin isles, ii. . _false_ maranon, i. . _features_ of the country of new spain, i. . of new granada, . of caraccas, ii . of peru, . of la plata, . of chili, . _fernandina_, town of florida, i. . _fernando, st._, mission of caraccas, ii. . _first_ european colony planted in the west indies, i. . on the continent of america, . _flames_, innoxious, of the plains of caraccas, ii. . _floating_ gardens of mexico, i. . _floridas_, boundaries, i. . discovery of, history, . cession of to spain, . productions, . animals, . capital of east florida, _ib._ capital of west florida, . rivers and lakes, _ib._ islands, . government, . recent events, . _florida_, town of chili, ii. . _force_ which originally undertook the conquest of mexico, i. . _fort bourbon_, spanish fort on the paraguay, ii. . _fort nueva coimbra_, portuguese settlement on the paraguay, ii. . _fort maullin_, chili, ii. . _fortress_ of the incas at cuzco, ii. . _fresnillo_, town of new spain, i. . _frontier_ forts of chili, ii. . _funza_, or bogota river, i. . g _gallo_, isle, pacific ocean, ii. . _ganges_ in india subject to the bore, i. . _gardens_, floating, of mexico, i, . _garito de paramo_, highest point of the pass of quindiu, i. . _general_ history of the indies by las casas, ii. . _genoese_ merchants, the first traffickers in negro slaves, ii. . _gibraltar_, city of caraccas, ii. . _gila_ river, ancient mexican city on its banks, i. . _girval_, voyage of, up the maranon, ii. . _goahiros_ indians, i. . _godin's_, madam, journey down the maranon, i. . _gold_, generally procured by washings in new spain, i. . quantity of procured annually in new spain, _ib._ of antioquia, . of peru, ii. . _gold_ washings of choco, i. . _golden castile_, ancient denomination of darien, &c. i. . _gonzalo pizarro_, exploratory journey of, i. . _gorgona_, isle in the pacific, ii. . _gracias a dios_, town of guatimala, i. . ---- ---- ---- _cape_, named by columbus, i. . _granada_, new. see _new_ granada. ----, town of guatimala, i. . _grand manamo_, a mouth of the orinoco, ii. . _grand para_, a name of the maranon, i. . _grant_ made to cortez of part of oaxaca, i. . _guacas_, or tumuli of the ancient peruvians, ii. . _guacharo_ cavern and birds, ii. . _guadalaxara_, audience of, i. . intendancy of, _ib._ boundaries, extent, _ib._ population, productions, rivers, volcanoes, lakes, capital, and towns, . ----, city of new spain, scite, fertility of the country, extent, inhabitants, climate, buildings, &c., i. . _guadelupe_, isle, pacific, i. . _guadiano_, or durango river. see _durango_. _guahibos_ indians, ii. . _guallaga_, river of peru, ii. . _gualgayoc_, mines of peru, ii. . _guamanga_, city of peru, scite, climate, buildings, mines, foundation, population, ii. . ----, intendancy of peru, ii. . _guamoco_, town of new granada, i. . _guana_, or edible lizard, i. . _guanabana_, i. . _guanacas_ mountain, i. . pass of the, . _guanara_, town of caraccas, ii. . _guanahani_, or cat island, first land discovered by columbus, i. . _guanaxuato_, intendancy of, i. . city of new spain, _ib._ mines produce twice us much as potosi, . _guancavelica_, intendancy of peru, ii. . mines of peru, . city of peru, scite, buildings, height, population, . _guanchaco_, port of truxillo, in peru, ii. . _guanta_, town of peru, ii. . _guanuco_, city and district of peru, ii. . _guanucos_, or peruvian sheep, ii. . _guara_, town of peru, ii. . _guarania_, territory of la plata, ii. . _guarapiche_, river of caraccas, ii. . . _guarico_ river, ii. . _guarisamey_ mines of new spain, i. . _guarochiri_, district and town of peru, ii. . _guarounoes_ indians, ii. . _guarpes_ indians, ii. . _guasco_, port of chili, ii. . _guascualco_ isles, gulf of mexico, i. . _guastays_, ancient princes of quito, i. . _guatavita_ lake, of new granada, i. . _guatimala_, captain-generalship of, captain-general, i. . sub-divisions of, productions, climate, features, royal audience, . capital, . ----, proper, provinces of, i. . ----, city of, scite, archbishopric, university, trade, foundation, earthquake, inhabitants, i. . _guatimozin_, emperor of mexico, defends the capital against cortez, is taken prisoner, and tortured, i. . . _guaxaca._ see _oaxaca_. _guayaquil_, jurisdiction of new granada, i. . ---- city, scite, foundation, buildings, streets, i. . fortifications, population, . trade, . ---- river, i. . _guayecas_ indians, ii. . _guayna patina_, volcano of peru, ii. . _guayqueria_ indians, ii. . . _guayra_, river of caraccas, ii. . ----, port of caraccas, ii. . _guemul_, singular chilian animal, ii. . _guerra_, voyage of, to explore the coast of caraccas, ii. . _guiana_, or spanish guiana, extent and boundaries, ii. . population, divisions, . history, el dorado, guayecas, and sources of the orinoco, . rivers, capital, . _guiges_, river of caraccas, ii. . _guipuscoa_ company, ii. . _gulf_ stream, i. . h _hambato_, town of new granada, i. . _hatun potocsi_, mountain in which the mines of potosi are worked, ii. . _havannah_, captain-generalship of, i. . ---- city, scite, harbour, i. . fortifications, dockyard, commerce, manners and customs of the inhabitants, . attacks on, by different powers, and population, . ---- harbour, i. . _hayti_, or _hispaniola_, discovery of, i. . _hiaqui_, district of new spain, i. . river of new spain, _ib._ _hispaniola_, or _st. domingo_, first settlement of europeans in america, i. . _history_ of florida, i. . of new spain, . of mexico, . of caraccas, ii. . of peru and of spanish america, - . of the present disturbances in spanish america, . of buenos ayres, . of paraguay, . of the jesuit settlements in paraguay, . of chili, . _honda_, town of new granada, i. . _honduras_, province of, boundaries, extent, history, climate, i. . productions, mahogany felling, and mahogany tree, . logwood, mosquito, shore, indians, . chief town, &c., . ----, bay of, i. . ----, english factories of, balize, i. . _honey_ and wax, immense quantities produced in new spain, i. . _horses_, wild, in new spain, i. . _hostimuri_, town of, new spain, i. . _huailas_, town and district of peru, ii. . _huamalies_, town and district of peru, ii. . _huana capac_, th inca of peru, ii. . ---- inca, conquest of quito by, i. . _huantajaya_, mines of peru, ii. . _huascar_, or inti cusi hualpa, th inca of peru, ii. . ----, history of, i. . _huasacualco_, river of new spain, i. . _huexotzinco_ republic, i. . ----, town of new spain, i. . _huilies_, peruvian gold works, ii. . _huilquilemu_, province of chili, ii. . _humboldt_'s journey to explore the orinoco, ii. . _huncahua_, king of the muyscas, i. . i and j _jaen de bracamoros_, government of new granada, i. . ----, city of new granada, i. . _jalap_ takes its name from xalapa, i . _jauru_, river, and pyramid of la plata, ii. . _jaguar_, or american tiger, i. . ii. . . _ibague_, town of new granada, i . _iberi_, lake of la plata, ii. . _ica_, or putumayo river, i. . . ----, town and district of peru, ii. . _icononzo_, natural bridges of, i. . _jesuits_, discoveries of the, in california, i. . ----, history of their settlements in paraguay, ii. . _illimani_, mountain of la plata, ii. . _illinissa_ mountain, i. . _imposible_ mountain, road over, ii. . _incas_ of peru, ii. . _inca_ roca, th peruvian monarch, ii . ---- ripac, th ditto, ii. . ---- urca, th ditto, ii. . ---- yupanqui, partially subdues the chilese, ii. . _indians_, independent, in new spain, i. . ---- tribute levied in mexico, i. . method of catching wild geese, . method of snaring the alligator, . ---- chili, or araucania, ii. . _indians_, numbers of, in new spain, i. . description of, . ---- of peru, ii. . of caraccas, ii. . _inscription_ on the tomb of columbus, i. . ----, commemorative of the geodesic operations in quito, i. . _insular_ chili, ii. . _intendancies_, number of, in new spain, i. . _joanes_ island, at the mouth of the maranon, i. . _jorullo_, volcano of, new spain, i. . _ipava_ lake, source of the orinoco, ii. . _ipire_, river of caraccas, ii. . _isabella_, first town founded in the new world, i. . _isabella_ isle, pacific, i. . _islands_, on the coasts of florida, i. . on the coasts of new spain and guatimala, . in the gulf of california, . revillagegido, . on the coasts of south america, ii. . _isthmus_ of darien, or panama, i. . _itaquiri_, river of la plata, ii. . _itata_, province of chili, ii . _itzcoatl_, king of mexico, i. . _itzli_ stone, i. . _juan fernandez_ isle, ii. . ---- _de grijalva_, discovery of mexico by, i. . ---- _de ulua isle_, gulf of mexico, i. . ---- _rodriguez cabrillo_ isle, pacific, i. . _juanico_ isle, pacific ocean, i. . _juruay_ river, ii. . _jutay_ river, ii. . _iztaccihuatl_, mountain of new spain, i. . l _la guayra_, port of, caraccas, scite, distance from caraccas, fortifications, ii. . harbour, population, commerce, . _la paz_, province of la plata, ii. . ----, or chuquiavo, city of la plata, foundation, scite, ii. . climate, buildings, trade, population, . _la plata_, viceroyalty of. see _buenos ayres_. ----, town of new granada, i. . ---- isle, in the pacific, ii. . _la purissima concepcion de catorce_ mine, profits of, i. . ---- _serena_, or coquimbo, city of chili, ii. . ---- _de tierra_ isle, in the pacific, ii. . _lake ipava_, source of the orinoco, ii. . ---- _putucuao_, ii. . ---- _chucuito_, or _titicaca_, ii. . . ---- _maracaybo_, ii. . ---- _parima_ ii. . ---- _parina cocha_, ii. . ---- _valencia_, ii. . ---- _xarayes_, ii. . ---- _guatavita_, i. . ---- _george_, i. . ---- _tezcuco_, i. . ---- _chalco_, i. . ---- _st. cristoval_, i. . ---- _zumpango_, i. . ---- _cayman_, i. . . ---- _parras_, i. . ---- _chapala_, i. . . _lakes_ of new spain, i. . ---- of caraccas, ii. . _lambayeque_, town of peru, ii. . _lampa_, district of peru, ii. . ----, city of la plata or peru, ii. . _land_ of the missions, or colonna, ii. . _land-crabs,_ natural history of, i. . _language_ of the indians of caraccas, ii. . of peru, . of chili, . _lanthorns_ of maracaybo lake, ii. . _laqui_, singular method of catching animals with, ii. . _laricaxas_, district and town of la plata, ii. . _las casas_, bishop of chiapa, styled protector of the indians, history of, ii. . _las corientes_, city of la plata, ii. . _latacunga_, district and city of new granada, i. . _lauricocha_, or false maranon, i. . ii. . ---- mines of peru, ii. . _lautaro_, toqui of the chilese, ii. . _lemui_, isle of the archipelago of chiloe, ii. . _leon_, city of guatimala, i. . ----, new, province of new spain, i. . _lerma_, river of new spain, i. . _lianas_, beautiful parasitical plants, ii. . _lican_, ancient name of quito, i. . _lima_, intendancy of peru, districts of, boundaries, history, chief town, and towns, ii. , . ----, scite, foundation, ii. . public edifices, universities, viceroys, . courts of justice, palace, mint, suburbs, pomp of the church ceremonies, manners and customs of the inhabitants, population, climate, . earthquake, commerce, port, river, . _linares_, town of new spain, i. . _lincopichion_, toqui of the chilese, ii. . _lincoyan_, ditto ditto, ii. . _lipes_, district and town of la plata, ii. . _llachi_, isle of the archipelago of chiloe, ii. . _llamas_, or peruvian sheep, ii. . _llano del corazon_, plain of popayan, i. . _lloque yupanqui_, d inca of peru, ii. . _llulia_ and chiloas, district of peru, i. . _lobos_ isles, pacific, ii. . ----, isle of the rio de la plata, ii. . _logwood_ trees, i. . _longavi_, mountain of chili, ii. . _londres_, town of la plata, ii. . _lora_, town of chili, ii. . _loretto_, mission of, california, i. . _los charcas._ see _charcas_. _los llanos_, or the plains of caraccas, ii. . _los llanitos_, mountains of new spain, i. . _los paredones_, ruins of an ancient peruvian palace, i. . _los santos_, town of new granada, i. . _lucanas_, district of peru, ii. . m _macanao_, cape, margarita isle, ii. . _macareo_, a mouth of the orinoco, ii. . _macas_, town and province of new granada, i. . _maccabaw_ snuff, origin of the name, ii. . _madera_ river, i. . ii. . _magalhaens_, discovery of the passage into the south pacific by, ii. . _magdalena_, rio grande de, i. . . _magnificent_ gift sent to cortez by montezuma, i. . _maguey_, or agave, i. . . _mahogany_ trees, i. . _maita capac_, th inca of peru, ii. . _maize_, plantations of, support the indians in new spain, i. . sugar made from its stalks by the mexicans, . _maldonado_, city of la plata, ii. . _malpays_, i. . _mama oello_, ii. . _mameis_, i. . _mamore_ river, ii. . _manati_, or sea cow, i. . _mançanillo_, or poison apple, i. . _manco capac_, st sovereign of peru, ii. . ---- ----, th inca of peru, ii. . . _mandiha_, lake of la plata, ii. . _manflos_, mountain of chili, ii. . _manioc_, cultivation of, in new spain, i. . _manoa_, or el dorado, pretended city of guiana, ii. . _manta_, flat fish, destructive to pearl divers, i. . ---- _blancas_, offensive little insects, i. . _manzanares_, river of caraccas, ii. . _mapimis_, fort de, in new spain, i. . _maracay_, town of caraccas, ii. . _maracaybo_, province of caraccas, boundaries, soil, population, indian towns on the lake, ii. . history, rivers, . climate, capital, . towns, . ----, city of caraccas, scite, climate, buildings, ii. . foundation, population, slaves, ship-building, manners and customs of the inhabitants, . history of the plunder of by the bucaniers, . ---- lake, ii. . _maranon_ river, description of, i. . _margarita_ island, caribbean sea, situation, discovery, ii. . ports, population, commerce, climate, soil, capital, recent events, . ---- island, pacific ocean, i. . _maria de escobar_, sows the first wheat in peru, ii. . _marias, las tres_, isles, pacific ocean, i. . _mariguitar_, village of caraccas, ii. . _mariquita_, town of new granada, i. . _maruisas_, a mouth of the orinoco, ii. . _marquess del valle de oaxaca_, title granted to cortez, i. . _mas-afuera_ isle, pacific ocean, ii. . _mataguayos_ indians, ii. . _matte_, or paraguay tea, ii. . _maule_, district of chili, ii. . _mausolea_ of chachapoyas in peru, ii. . _maynas_, province of new granada, i. . _mayo_, district and river of new spain, i. . _maypure_ cataract, i. . _mayros_ indians, ii. . _measurement_ of a degree of the meridian in quito, i. . _mechoacan._ see _valladolid_. _medellin_, birth-place of cortez, i. . _melipilla_, city and province of chili, ii. . _menchuan_ isle, pacific, ii. . _mendoza_, city of la plata, ii. . _mentuosa_, isle, pacific, i. . _mercaderes_, town of popayan, limit of peruvian conquests, i. . _mercury_ of antioquia, i. . ----, quantity used in the mexican mines, i. . _merida_, province of new spain. see _yucatan_. ----, city of new spain, i. . ----, province of new granada, i. . ----, city of new granada, i. . _mestizoes_ of new spain, i. . _meta_ river, ii. . _method_ of travelling over the passes of popayan, i. . the plains of la plata, ii. . . ---- of carrying the post letters in quito, i. . _mexicana_ river, i. . _mexico_, viceroyalty of. see _new spain_. ----, intendancy of, boundaries, ancient and modern history of, i. . climate, produce, animals, . minerals, . ancient inhabitants, . features, . antiquities, . towns, . ----, new, province of, extent, boundaries, features, i. . climate, capital, towns, . mines, population, rivers, . indians, . antiquities, . ----, city of, attack and capture of by cortez, i. . description of, scite, architecture of the public edifices, &c., i. . population, . market-place, aqueducts, police, municipal body, courts of justice, . viceroy's court and splendour, . troops, archbishopric, clergy, ecclesiastical courts, university, . colleges, patron saint, character of the people, . manners and customs, . scenery in the vicinity, . public walks, climate, . antiquities, lakes, . lazaroni, . _mexicans_, ancient, i. . modern, . _mexitli_, the mexican god of war, i. . _michuacan_ kingdom, i. . _micuipampa_, mines of, peru, ii. . town of, peru, . _mimbrenos apaches_ indians, i. . _minas_, basin of, in nova scotia, subject to the bore, i . _mineral_ pitch of maracaybo, ii. . _mines_ of new spain, many abandoned for want of proper machinery, number of, i. . the most valuable of, . ---- of new granada, i. . ---- of peru, produce of, ii. . description of, ii. . ---- of talc in la plata, ii. . ---- of la plata, produce of, ii. . ---- of potosi, ii. . ---- del azogue, in la plata, ii. . ---- of salcedo, in la plata, ii. . ---- of chili, ii. . _mint_ of mexico, quantity of coinage issued from since the conquest, i. . ---- of santa fé de bogota, coinage of, i. . ---- of popayan, coinage of, i. . _miraculous_ fountain in florida, i. . _mission_ villages of paraguay, ii. . _missionary_ town, description of one, ii. . ---- war with the indians, i. . _missions_ of california, i. - . _misteriosa_ island, i. . _mita_, a law obliging the indians to work in the mines, ii. . _mitla_, temple of the ancient mexicans, i. . _mixteca_, country of new spain, i. . _mizque pocona_, town and district of la plata, ii. . _mocha_ isle, pacific ocean, ii. . _mompox_, town of new granada, i. . _monclova_, town of new spain, i. . _mondego_, river of la plata, ii. . _monkeys_ of panama, eaten by the natives, i. . _montana reale_, country of peru, ii. . _monte capiro_, mountain of porto bello, i. . _monteleone_, duke of, a descendant of cortez, i. . _monterey_, town of california, i. . bay of ditto, . ----, town of new spain, i. . _monteses_ indians, ii. . _montes claros_, town of new spain, i. . _monte video_, city of la plata, scite, name, ii. . harbour, buildings, climate, vicinity, population, commerce, . taking of, by the british, . _montezuma ilhuicamina_, emperor of mexico, i. . _montezuma xocotzin_, emperor of mexico, magnificent reception of cortez by, i. . made prisoner, . slain, . history of, . _moquehua_, district and town of peru, ii. . _moqui_ indians, i. . _moquihuix_, king of tlatelolco, i. . _morgan_ the freebooter, sack of panama by, i. . taking of porto bello by, . plunder of maracaybo by, ii. . _moro_ castle, i. . _morrope_, town of peru, ii. . _mosquito_ shore, i. . ---- indians, i. . _mountains_ near the river magdalena, curious structure of, i. . _mouths_ of the orinoco, ii. . . _moyobamba_, town of peru, ii. . _moxos_, territory of la plata, ii. . _mugillon_ isle, in the pacific, ii. . _mulattoes_ of new spain, i. . _musky_ smell and white colour of the rivers frequented by alligators, i. . _muyscas_ or _moscas_ indians, ancient tribe of new granada, i. . . _muzo_, town of new granada, i. . _muzos_, singular indian nation, i. . n _nacogdoch_, fort of texas, in new spain, i. . _narvaez_, defeat of, by cortez, i. . _napo_ river, i. . _naptha_, spring of, in caraccas, ii. . _nasca_, town of peru, ii. . _nata_, city of new granada, i. . _nauhcampatepetl_, mountain of new spain, i. . _neembucu_, lake of la plata, ii. . ----, town of la plata, ii. . _negroes_ in new spain, i. . ---- in new granada, i. . _nevada_ de toluca mountains, i. . ---- de santa marta, i. . ---- de merida mountains, i. . _neveri_, or _enipiricuar_, river of caraccas, ii. . _new albion_, explored and named by sir francis drake, i. . _new andalusia_, province of, boundaries, history, ii. . features, climate, capital, . _new barcelona_, province of, ii. . _new biscay_, or durango, intendancy of, boundaries, extent, i. . population, capital, . inhabitants, towns, &c., . _new caledonia_, i. . _new california._ see _california_. _new granada_, viceroyalty of, boundaries and extent, i. . territorial and political and divisions, discovery and history, . audiences, viceroy, population, . archbishopric, commerce, revenues, . mines, produce, indians, . ancient inhabitants, . climate, . features of, . capital, . provinces of, . _new leon_, province of new spain, boundaries, extent, and capital, i. . _new mexico_, province of. see _mexico_. _new santander_, province of new spain, boundaries, extent and description of, i. . mines, capital, towns and rivers, i. . _new santander_, city of new spain, i. . _new spain_, viceroyalty of, government history, and discovery, i. . political and territorial divisions, . boundaries, . extent and climate, . features, productions and mines, . rivers, . lakes, . temperature, . population, . . antiquities and manufactures, . commerce, . revenues, . army, . recent events, . metropolis, . provinces of, . _neyva_, town of new granada, i. . _nicaragua_, province of guatimala, boundaries, climate, features, i. . productions, trade, mines, population, animals, capital, i. . ----, town of guatimala, i. . _nicoya_, town of guatimala, i. . _nicuessa_, voyage of, i. . _nirgua_, town of caraccas, ii. . _noanamas_, village of new granada, i. . _nobles_ of new spain, i. . _norte_, rio grande del, i. . . _nuestra senora de la vittoria._ see _tabasco_. o _oaxaca_ or guaxaca, intendancy of, boundaries, i. . mines, inhabitants, manufactures, capital and towns, . mountains, antiquities, rivers, grant to cortez, . _oaxaca_, city of new spain, scite, vicinity, climate, i. . public buildings and population, . _obelisks_ in cuyo, ii. . _ocana_, town of new granada, i. . _ocona_, town of peru, ii. . _ocumara_, town of caraccas, ii. . _olives_, cultivation of, forbidden in new spain, i. . _ojeda_, voyages and discoveries of, i. . _omaguas_ indians, i. . _omasuyos_, district of la plata, ii. . _omoa_, town of guatimala, i. . _orchilla_ island, caribbean sea, ii. . _orellana_, discovery of the maranon by, i. . _origin_ of the slave trade, ii. . _orinoco_ river, ii. . . _oro_, platina mine in new granada, i. . _oropesa_, city of la plata, ii. . _orizaba_, volcano of new spain, i. . ----, town of new spain, i. . _oruro_, district of la plata, ii. . ----, city of la plata, ii. . _ostimuri_, district of new spain, i. . _ostrich_ of america, ii. . _otabalo_, jurisdiction of new granada, i. . ----, city of new granada, i. . _otomacs_ indians, ii. . _ovando_ refuses columbus leave to refit his ship at hispaniola, i. . p _pacajes_, district and town of la plata, ii. . _pachachaca_, river of peru, ii. . _pachacamac_, a deity of the peruvians, ii. . temple of, in peru, . ----, isle in the pacific, ii. . _pachacutec_, th inca of peru, ii. . _pachitea_, river, ii. . _pachuca_, town of new spain, i. . _pachuquilla_, the most ancient village of the vale of anahuac, i. . _pacific ocean_, discovered by vasco nuñez de balboa, i. . _pagi_, or puma, of chili, ii. . _pajaro_, chilian island, ii. . _paillamachu_, toqui of the chilese, ii. . _paintings_, mexican, i. . . _pampas_ of buenos ayres, ii. . _pampas del sacramento_, ii. . _pampatar_, in margarita, recent events at, ii. . _pamplona_, city of new granada, i. . _panama_, province of, i. . boundaries, discovery, climate, soil, forests, mountains, trade, produce, . mines, rivers, animals, capital, . bay, pearl fishery, and cities, . ----, city of new granada, scite, i. . history, government, public offices and buildings, inhabitants, bay, tides, . _panos_ indians, ii. . _panuco_, river of new spain, i. . . _papantla_, pyramids of, i. . _papaws_, i. . _paragoana_, peninsula of, in caraccas, ii. . _paraguay_, government of, boundaries, extent, history, discovery, &c., ii. . climate, and productions, features, &c., . animals, . rivers, commerce, . missions, capital, and towns, . _paraguay_ river, small declension of, ii. . description of, . _paramo de guanacas_, pass of, i. . . ---- _de la summa paz_ mountain, i. . ---- _del assuay_, road over the, i. . _parana_ river, ii. . . _paria_, district and city of la plata, ii. . _paria_, province of caraccas, ii. . _pariagoto_ indians, ii. . _parima_ lake, ii. . _parina cocha_ lake, ii. . _parina cocha_, district of peru, ii. . _parral_, town of new spain, i. . _pasco_, town of peru, ii. . _pasco_ mines, in peru, ii. . _pascuaro_, town of new spain, i. . _pasquaro_, town of new spain, i. . _pass_ of guanacas, i. . _passo del norte_, fort of new spain, i. . _pasto_, town of new granada, i. . _patagonians_, ii. . _pataz_, gold works of peru, ii. . _pataz_, district of peru, ii. . _paucarcolla_, district and town of la plata, ii. . _paucartambo_, district of peru, ii. . ---- river, i. . ii. . _paullu_, inca, gives pizarro battle, ii. . _pausa_, town of peru, ii. . _paynenauca_, toqui of the chilese, ii. . _payta_, town of peru, ii. . _pearl_ fishery of panama, i. . _pedro arias de avila_, governor of terra firma, i. . _pedro de la gasca_, third governor of peru, ii. . _pehuenches_ indians, ii. . _pendulous_ bridges in south america, i. . _pensacola_, city of florida, i. . _perdido_ bay and river, boundary of the united states and florida, i. . . _perote_, plain of, i. . _peru_, viceroyalty of, boundaries and extent, ii. . political and territorial divisions, population and government, . commerce, . produce of the mines, . mines, . climate, features, &c., . history, discovery, &c., . ancient peruvians, . antiquities, . modern peruvians, . recent events in, . capital, . provinces of, . _peruvians_, ancient, ii. . _peruvians_, modern, ii. . _peruvian_ sheep, ii. . _peteroa_, volcano of chili, ii. . . _petorca_, city of chili, ii. . _pichinca_ volcano, i. . _pico de orizaba_ volcano, i. . . _pico de tancitaro_ mountain, i. . _piedra blanca_, pacific, i. . _pihuen_, or chilese pine tree, ii. . _pilaya y paspaya_, province of la plata, ii. . _pilcomayo_ river, ii. . . _pillan_, name of the deity in ancient chili, ii. . _pimeria_, province of new spain, boundaries, climate, inhabitants, i. . rivers, . forts, . _pinos_ isle, cuba, i. . _pique_, insect, i. . _piritoo_ isles, ii. . _piros_ indians, ii. . _pisco_, town of peru, ii. . _piura_, district of, and oldest town in peru, ii. . _pizarro_, history of the conquest of peru by, ii. . _pizarro gonzalo_ assumes the government of peru, ii. . ---- ---- exploratory journey of, to the false maranon, i. . _plain_ of the maranon, i. . _plains_ of barcelona, ii. . _platina_ of choco, i. . _poitos_, slaves of the mission indians, ii. . _pomabamba_, province and town of la plata, ii. . _pongo de manseriche_, or crevice of the false maranon, i. . . _ponce de leon_ explores florida, i. . _popayan_, government of new granada, i. . ----, city of new granada, scite, environs, rivers, i. . volcanoes, buildings, population, . _popo_, silver mines of la plata, ii. . _popocatepetl_ volcano, i. . . _population_ of new spain, i. . of mexico, . of puerto rico, . of cuba, . of new granada, . of caraccas, ii. . of peru, . of spanish america, . . of la plata, . of chili, . _porco_, city of la plata, ii. . ----, mountains of la plata, ii. . _porcupine_, american, ii. . _pore_, city of new granada, i. . _porrudos_, river of la plata, ii. . _port_ sir francis drake, i. . . . _port_ san francisco, i. . . _porto bello_, city of new granada, scite, foundation, i. . fortifications, harbour, climate, . inhabitants, commerce, . edifices, &c., . _porto cavello_, city of caraccas, scite, history, ii. . buildings, population, trade, . climate, &c., . _portuguesa_, river of caraccas, ii. . . _potatoe_, not indigenous to mexico, only found in south america at the conquest, i. . _poto_ mines of la plata, ii. . _pototaca_ lead mines of la plata, ii. . _potosi_, mines of, ii. . _potosi_, city of la plata, scite, climate, environs, mines, ii. . foundation, mint, population, buildings, ii. . _precipice_ of the silla de caraccas, ii. . _price_ of provisions in choco, i. . ---- given for european animals in the early times of the spanish colonies of peru, ii. . _produce_ of the mines in the new world, not so great as has been imagined, i. . actual amount of, ii. . _pron_, bundle of threads used to record events in chili, ii. . _protector_ of the indians, title of las casas, ii. . _pucara_, remarkable ruins in la plata, ii. . _puchacay_, province of chili, ii. . _puda_, or wild goat of chili, ii. . _puebla, la_, province of new spain, boundaries, extent, i. . produce, history, climate, and ancient capital, i. . present capital, . mountains and antiquities, . towns, . rivers, . ---- _de los angelos_, city of new spain, situation, cathedral, buildings, bishopric, trade, environs, population, height, i. . ---- _nueva_, city of new granada, i. . _puelches_ indians, ii. . _puerto rico_ island, situation, extent, history, i. . land-crabs, produce, . population, capital, . ---- ----, city of, i. . ---- _viejo_, district of new granada, i. . _pulque_, strong liquor made from the agave, i. . _puma_, or american lion, ii. . _puna_, city of la plata, ii. . ---- island, i. . _punta de la galera_, so called on account of columbus' ship touching at it, ii. . ---- _de santa elena_, district of new granada, i. . _purace_, volcano, i. . ----, village of popayan, i. . _purissima concepcion de catorce_, mines of new spain, profit of, i. . _puros_ river, ii. . _puruays_, ancient inhabitants of quito, i. . _pusambio_, or vinegar river, i. . _putacuao_, lake of caraccas, i. . _pyramid_ erected on the banks of the paraguay, as a boundary mark between spanish and portuguese america, ii. . q _quaquas_ indians, ii. . _quebrada_, or crevice of tipe, i. . _quelendama_ mountain, i. . _quelenes_, indian country of guatimala, i. . _quesaltenango_, district of guatimala, i. . _queretaro_, city of new spain, i. . _quesada_, gonzalo ximenes de, conquest of new granada by, i. . . _quetlavaca_, or cuitlahuatzin king of mexico, i. . _quiabaslan_, i. . _quibo_, or caybo isle, i. . _quicaras_ isles, pacific, i. . _quichuan_, language of peru, ii. . _quillota_, province and city of chili, ii. . _quinchuan_, isle of chiloe, ii. . _quindiu_ mountain, i. . . pass of, . _quiriquina_, isle of chili, ii. . _quispicanchi_, district of peru, ii. . _quito_, presidency of new granada, boundaries, i. . extent, districts, history, . capital, . features and mountains, . provinces, . ----, city of, foundation, scite, vicinity, i. . climate, earthquakes, population, . manners and customs of the inhabitants, public buildings, i. . trade, height, . rivers, . ----, jurisdiction of new granada, i. . _quixos y macas_, government of new granada, i. . r _raleigh_, sir walter, voyage of, to guiana, ii. . _ramirez_, isle in lake tamiagua, i. . _rancagua_, province and city of chili, ii. . _ransom_, immense, given by atabalipa, ii. . _rapel_, village and cavern in chili, ii. . _raspadura_ canal, unites the pacific and atlantic oceans, i. . _region_ of perpetual snow in mexico, i. . _real de los alamos_, town of new spain, i. . _realejo_, town and port of guatimala, i. . _religion_ of new spain, i. . of ancient mexicans, i. . of the muyscas, . . of the ancient peruvians, ii. . of the wandering tribes on the banks of the maranon, . of the ancient chilese, . _repartimientos_, history of, ii. . _revenue_ of new spain, i. . of new granada, . of peru, ii. . of spanish america, . _revillagigedo_ isle, i. . _riobamba_, district of new granada, i. . ---- city of new granada, i. . _rio bravo del norte_, i. . . ---- _colorado_, new spain, i. . ---- _conchos_, or de salinas, new spain, i. . ---- _de la hacha_, district and town of new granada, i. . ---- _de la plata_, discovery of, ii. . description, . ---- _grande de la magdalena._ see _magdalena_. ---- _negro_, i. . . ii. . ---- _santiago_, or rio lerma, new spain, i. . ---- _vermelho_, or vermejo, ii. . ---- _verde_, new spain, i. . _riochico_, town of new spain, i. . _rioxa_, city of la plata, ii. . _rivers_ of florida, i. . of new spain, . of caraccas, ii. . of la plata, ii. . of chili, . _road_ of the mexican plain, great length of, i. . from cumanacoa, highly picturesque, ii. . from buenos ayres to potosi, . _roads_ of new spain, i. . over the andes, in chili, ii. . _roca partida_ isle, i. . _roderic de triana_ first sees the american land, i. . _roebuck_ isle, florida, i. . _roguagualo_ lake of la plata, ii. . _roncador_ isle, i. . _rosario_, mine of, new spain, i. . _ruatan_ isle, i. . _ruminagui_ usurps the sceptre of quito, i. . _ruminavi_ mountain, i. . . s _sacrifices_ of the muyscas, i. . . ----, island of, i. . _salado_, river of la plata, ii. . _salamanca_, town of new spain, i. . _salis_, discovery of the rio de la plata by, ii. . . _salt_ plains and lakes of la plata, ii. . ---- works of araya, in caraccas, ii. . _salta_, city of la plata, ii. . _saltillo_, town of new spain, i. . _sana_, town and district of peru, ii. . _san antonio_, town of caraccas, ii. . ---- ---- _de bejar_, fort of texas, i. . ---- ---- _de los cues_, ancient fort, i. . _san bartolomeo de chillan_, town of chili, ii. . ---- _benedito_ isle, pacific, i. . ---- _benito_ isle, pacific, i. . ---- _bernardo de tarija_, town of la plata, ii. . ---- ----, bay in the gulf of mexico, i. . ---- _blas_, port of new spain, i. . ---- _buenaventura_ mission, california, i. . ---- _carlos_, town of caraccas, ii. . ---- ----, fort of guiana, ii. . ---- ----, town of chiloe, ii. . _san christoval de acochala_, silver mine, ii. . ---- ----, lake of mexico, i. . _san felipe_, city of chili, i. . ---- ----, town of caraccas, ii. . ---- ---- _y san jago_, town of new spain, i. . _san fernando de apure_, town of caraccas, ii. . ---- ----, town of chili, ii. . _san francisco_, mission of california, i. . ---- _jayme_, town of caraccas, ii. . ---- _joachin de omaguas_, spanish fort on the maranon, ii. . ---- _josef_, town of florida, i. . ---- _jose_, mission of california, i. . ---- _juan de la frontera_, city of la plata, ii. . ---- ---- _de los llanos_, province and town of new granada, i. . ---- ---- _del pao_, town of caraccas, ii. . ---- ---- _del rio_, town of new biscay, i. . city of mexico, . ---- ----, river of florida, i. . town of nicaragua, . river of nicaragua, importance of, . _san lazaro_, fort of carthagena, i. . ---- _luis de cura_, town of caraccas, ii. . ---- ---- _de gonzaga_, city of chili, ii. . ---- ----, island in the bay of san bernardo, i. . ---- ---- _de loyola_, city of la plata ii. . ---- ---- _potosi_, intendancy of new spain, boundaries, extent, population, climate, i. . mines, capital, . ---- ---- ----, city of new spain, i. . _san martin_ isle, pacific, i. . ---- _miguel_, town and district of guatimala, i. . ---- ---- _de ibarra_, city and province of new granada, i. . ---- _nicolas_, isle in the pacific, i. . ---- _pablo de omaguas_, portuguese fort on the maranon, ii. . ---- _pedro_, town of caraccas, ii. . town of peru, . ---- _salvador_ isle, pacific, i. . ---- ----, town and district of guatimala, i. . ---- _sebastian_, colony founded by ojeda, i. . ---- _sebastian de buenavista_, town of new granada, i. . ---- ---- _de los reyes_, town of caraccas, ii. . _santa ana_, mission of california, i. . ---- _barbara_, mission of california, i. . _santa catalina_, or providence isle, i. . ---- _cruz_, mission of california, i. . ---- ---- isle, pacific, discovered by cortez, i. . ---- ----, town of cuba, i. . ---- ----, village of new mexico, i. . ---- ---- _de la sierra_, province and town of la plata, ii. . _santa fé_, province of new granada, i. . ---- ---- _de bogota_, capital of new granada, scite, foundation, buildings, height, population, i. . climate, viceroy, archbishopric, environs, . mint, . ---- ----, city of new spain, i. . ---- ----, city of paraguay, ii. . ---- ----, aqueduct of mexico, i. . ---- ---- _de antioquia._ see _antioquia_. _santa maria_, name of the ship in which columbus sailed, i. . ---- ---- _el antigua del darien_, colony founded by balboa, i. . first settlement in spanish north america, . _santa maria_, or talca, isle of chili, ii. . _santa marta_, province of new granada, boundaries, discovery, history, i. . climate, productions, features of, . rivers, . cacao plant, . population, capital, . towns, . ---- ----, city of new granada, i. . _santa rosa de cosiquiriachi_, town of new spain, i. . _santa rosa_ isle, pacific, i. . _santanilla_ isle, i. . _santiago_, capital of chili, scite, population, streets, buildings, squares, suburbs, ii. . cathedral, mint, governor, bishopric, trade, ii. . _santiago_, province of chili, ii. . _santiago del estero_, city of la plata, ii. . _santo tomé_, capital of guiana, ii. . _st. anastasia_, isle of, florida, i. . _st. augustine_, city of florida, i. . _st. felix_ and st. ambrose isles, pacific, ii. . _st. john's_, river of florida, i. . _st. lorenzo_ isle, pacific, ii. . _st. mark's_, town of florida, i. . _st. martin_, plains of, ii. . _st. mary's_ river, boundary between florida and the united states, i. . _st. saverio_, town of chili, ii. . _sangai_, or mecas, volcano, i. . _sangallan_ isle, pacific, ii. . _sansonate_, town and district of guatimala, i. . _sapotes_, i. . _sariacu_, village on the maranon, ii. . _savannah_ of the orinoco, i. . _sayri tupac_, th and last inca of peru, ii. . _scotch_ darien company, i. . _sechura_, town of peru, ii. . _sensitive_ plant, i. . _serrana_ isles, i. . _serranilla_ isles, i. . _settlements_ formerly made in the straits of magellan, ii. . _sicasica_, province and town of la plata, ii. . _sierra de canatagua_ divides north from south america, i. . . ---- _madre_, range of mountains, i. . . . ---- _de las grullas_, i. . . ---- _gorda_, i. . ---- _verde_, i. . ---- _de san martin_, i. . ---- ---- _pacaraimo_, i. . ---- ---- _quineropaca_, i. . ---- ---- _paria_, ii. . ---- ---- _san carlos_, ii. . _silla de caraccas_, i. . ii. . _silla casa_, mercury veins in peru, ii. . _silva_, exploratory journey of, in guiana, ii. . _silver_ exported from new spain, i. . ---- produced annually in new spain, i. . ---- native, found in batopilas, i. . _sinaruco_ river, ii. . _sinchi roca_, d peruvian inca, ii. . _singular_ monuments in cuyo, ii. . _sir francis drake_ takes porto bello, i. . ---- ---- ---- takes carthagena, i. . _sisal_, port of yucatan, i. . _slave_ trade, origin of, ii. . _slaves_ of new spain, i. . _snow_, limits of perpetual snow in mexico, i. . _socorro_, town of new granada, i. . _socorro_ isle, pacific, i. . _soconusco_, district and town of guatimala, i. . _solola_, district of guatimala, i. . _sombrerete_, town and mines of new spain, i. . _sonora_, intendancy of new spain, boundaries, districts of, capital, i. . ----, district of new spain, i. . ----, city of new spain, i. . _sotara_, volcano, i. . _sources_ of the apurimac or maranon, ii. . ---- of the magdalena and cauca, i. . _steam engine_ much wanted in the american mines, i. . _suchitepeque_, town and province of guatimala, i. . _sucumbios_ missions of new granada, i. . _sumasinta_, river of new spain, i. . _sunchuli_ mountain, celebrated for its gold mines, ii. . _sutiles_, or limes, use of in cookery, i. . t _tabasco_, province of new spain, former extent of, i. . climate, productions, chief town, . lakes, towns, rivers, . volcanoes, . ---- island, i. . . ----, city of new spain, i. . ---- river, i. . _tacames_, province of new granada, i. . ----, city of new granada, i. . _tacarigua_, indian name of lake valencia, ii. . _tacna_, town of peru, ii. . _tacubaya_, town of new spain, i. . _talca_, or san augustin, city of chili, ii. . _talcaguana_, road of, in the bay of concepcion, ii. . _tambo_, or palace of the incas, i. . _tamiagua_ lake, i. . _tampico_ river, i. . _taquari_, river of la plata, ii. . _tarabitas_, or flying bridges, i. . _tarma_, intendancy of peru, ii. . ----, city of peru, ii. . _tavantin-suyu_, ancient name of peru, ii. . _tasco_, city of new spain, i. . _tea_ of paraguay, ii. _tehuantepeque_, city of new spain, i. . _temperature_ of the air in mexico, i. . _temple of the sun_ at cuzco, ii. . _teneriffe_, town of new granada, i. . _tenochtitlan_, original name of mexico, i. . _teocallies_, or mexican temples, i. . _teotihuacan_, san juan de, temple, i. . _teotl_, name of the deity in mexico, i. . _tequehuen_, isle of chonos archipelago, ii. . _tequendoma_, cataract of, i. . . tradition concerning, . _texas_, province of new spain, i. . _tezcuco_, lake of mexico, i. . _tiahuanaco_, singular monuments at, ii. . _tibiquari_, river of la plata, ii. . _tiburon_ isle, gulf of california, i. . _tides_, great difference of, at panama and porto bello, i. . _tierra firme_, general name for panama, veragua, and darien, i. . ---- ---- proper, or panama. see _panama_. ---- ----, conjecture concerning the application of this name to panama, i. . _tiguesgalpa_, district and town of guatimala, i. . _timana_, town of new granada, i, . _tinta_, town of peru, ii. . _tipuanis_, river of la plata, ii. . _tisingal_, mine of guatimala, i. . _titicaca_, or chucuito lake, ii. . . _tlacopan_ kingdom, i. . _tlacotalpan_, town of new spain, i. . _tlascala_, city of new spain, i. . _tlascalan_ republic, i. . _tlatelolco_ town, i. . _tlaxcallan_ republic, i. . _tocaima_, town of new granada, i. . _tocunos_, river port of varinas, ii. . _tocuyo_, city of caraccas, ii. . ----, river of caraccas, ii. . _todo hierro_, castle of porto bello, i. . _tolosa_, first captain general of caraccas, ii. . _tolu_ balsam, i. . . ----, town of new granada, i. . _toluca_, city of new spain, i. . ---- mountain, i. . _tomahave_, mines of la plata, ii. . _tomina_, district of la plata, ii. . _topia_, cordillera of, i. . _topocalma_, port of chili, ii. . _toqui_, great chief of the araucanians, ii. . _tortuga salada_ isle, ii. . _totonicapan_, district of guatimala, i. . _totoral_, isle of chili, ii. . _toultecs_ or toltecs, nation, i. . _traditions_ of the muyscas, i. . _trexo_ or truxo, a negress, great age of, ii. . _trinidad_, discovery of, by columbus, ii. . ----, town of cuba, i. . _triste_ isle, gulf of mexico, i. . _truxillo_, intendancy of peru, boundaries, climate, districts, ii. . capital, . _truxillo_, jurisdiction of peru, ii. . ----, city of peru, scite, foundation, buildings, population, fortifications, ii. . ----, city of caraccas, ii. . ----, city of guatimala, i. . _tucuman_, government of la plata, boundaries, ii. . climate, features, history, . capital, . ----, city of la plata, ii. . _tula_, river of new spain, i. . . _tulmero_, town of caraccas, ii. . _tumbez_, town of peru, ii. . _tumbibamba_, battle of, i. . _tumiriquiri_ mountain, ii. . _tumulus_, singular one in quito, i. . _tumuli_ of quito, i. . _tunguragua_ mountain, i. . ----, or false maranon river, i. . _tunja_, disappearance of bochica at, i. . . ----, town of new granada, i. . _tupac amaru_, the st, revolt of, and death, ii. . ---- ----, the d, or, jose gabriel condorcanqui, revolt of, crowned by the peruvians, wages dreadful war against the whites, ii. . _tupac yupanqui_, th inca of peru, ii. . _tupungato_, mountain of chili, ii. . _tuquillo_, plains of, i. . _turbaco_, village and volcanitos of, new granada, i. . _turco_, mines of la plata, ii. . _turneff_ isle, i. . _tuy_, river of caraccas, ii. . _tuyu_, territory of buenos ayres, ii. . _tuxtla_, volcano of new spain, i. . _tzapoteca_, district of new spain, i. . u _ucayale_, or true maranon, i. . _ucucuamo_ mountain, a supposed el dorado, i. . _ulmens_, chiefs of the araucanians, ii. . _ulua, st. juan de_, island of, fort of, light-house, i. . _umama_, peak of, i. . _unare_, river of caraccas, ii. . _university_ of mexico, i. . _urcos_, town of peru, ii. . _urubamba_ river, ii. . _uruguay_, jesuits' territories, ii. . ----, or river of the missions, ii. . . _uspallata_, silver mines of chili, ii. . . v _vaca de castro_, government of peru by, i. . ii. . _valdivia_, conquest of chili by, ii. . ----, fortress and city of chili, history, buildings, fortifications, environs, harbour, ii. . _valencia_, city of caraccas, ii. . ----, lake of caraccas, ii. . _valenciana_, mines of, the richest in new spain, description of, expences of, profit, i. . height of, . _valladolid_ or mechoacan, intendancy of new spain, boundaries and extent, i. . features, . volcano of xorullo, . population, . capital and towns, productions, . _valladolid_, city of new spain, scite, description of, aqueduct, population, &c., i. . _valley_ of caraccas, i. . of aragua, _ib._ of monai, or the llanos, _ib._ of the orinoco, ii. . _valparaiso_, city and port of chili, scite, history, ii. . buildings, trade, . harbour, . _vampyre bat_, i. . _varinas_, province of caraccas, ii. . ----, city of caraccas, ii. . _varu_ isle, caribbean sea, ii. . _venezuela_, origin of the name, ii. . . ----, province of, boundaries, population, soil, climate, ii. . features, . commerce, . capital, . _vasco nuñez de balboa_, discovery of the pacific by, i. . _vega de supia_, silver mines of new granada, i. . _vela blasco_, first viceroy of peru, ii. . _velez_, town of new granada, i. . _vera cruz_, intendancy of new spain, boundaries, extent, climate, i. . singular features of, productions, population, . capital, . towns, . volcanoes, . antiquities, . ----, city of new spain, situation, defence, port, history, buildings, i. . population, vicinity, yellow fever, . _vera cruz el antigua_, town of new spain, i. . _veragua_, first european colony established on the continent of america, i. . ----, province of new granada, i. . boundaries, discovery of, by columbus, i. . . description of, climate, mines, capital, . towns, . ----, duke of, title of columbus, i. . ----, city of new granada, i. . _vera-paz_, province of guatimala, boundaries, i. . extent, climate, features, trade, capital, . ----, or coban, city of guatimala, i. . _vermelho_, or vermejo river, ii. . . _vernon_, admiral, attack on porto bello by, i. . attack on carthagena by, . _vicente yanez pinzon_, discovery of the maranon by, i. . explores paria, ii. . _viceroys_ of new spain, i. . of new granada, . of peru, ii. . _viceroyalty_ of new spain. see _new spain_. ---- of new granada, erection of, i. . ---- of peru, ii. . ---- of buenos ayres, or la plata, ii. . _victoria_, town of caraccas, ii. . ----, or tabasco, town of new spain, i. . _vicuna_, or peruvian camel, ii. . . _vilcamayo_ river, i. . ii. . _vilcanota_, chain of, boundary between peru and la plata, ii. . _vilcas guaman_, district and town of peru, ii. . _villa rica de la vera cruz_, founded by cortez, i. . _villa rica_, town of paraguay, ii. . ---- ----, volcano of chili, ii. . ---- ----, lake of chili, ii. . _villa hermosa_, town of new spain, i. . _villa de leon_, town of new spain, i. . _villa del principe_, town of cuba, i. . _vilumilla_, toqui of the chilese, ii. . _vinegar_ river, singular stream of popayan, i. . _violence_ of the winds on the andes, i. . _vizcacha_, or chilese fox, ii. . _volcanitos de turbaco_, i. . _volcano_ of guayna patina, in peru, ii. . ---- of peteroa, in chili, ii. . . ---- of villa rica, in chili, ii. . _volcanoes_ of new spain, i. . ---- of the andes, i. . ---- of chili, ii. . _voyages_ of columbus. see _columbus_. ---- of different travellers on the maranon, i. . ---- of father girval up the maranon, ii. . ---- of magalhaens, ii. . w _welsers_, a german company, to whom caraccas was intrusted, ii. . _west india isles_ of spain, number of, political divisions, i. . _wheat_, introduction of, into quito, i. . ----, quantity cultivated in new spain, i. . _whites_, number of, in new spain, i. . ----, number of, in spanish america, ii. . _workmen_ and labourers in the mexican mines often steal the metals, i. . x _xalapa_, city of new spain, gives its name to jalap, i. . population, scite, climate, height, i. . _xaquijaguana_ valley, place where gonzalo pizarro was taken prisoner, ii. . _xarayes_, lake of la plata, ii. . _xauxa_, district and town of peru, ii. . ----, or jauja, river of peru, ii. . _xexemani_, suburb of carthagena, i. . _xexuy_, river of la plata, ii. . _xochicalco_ lake, i. . ----, monument of, i. . _xorullo_ volcano, singular formation of, i. . _xuxuy_, or san salvador, city of la plata, ii. . y _yaguache_, district of new granada, i. . _yanos_, fort of new spain. see _janos_. _yahuar huacac_, th inca of peru, ii. . _yapura_ river, i. . . _yaracuy_, river of caraccas, ii. . _year_ of the moscas, i. . _yecorato_, mines of new spain, i. . _yellow_ fever at caraccas, ii. . at la guayra, . _yopez_, river of new spain, i. . _ypacary_, lake of la plata, ii. . _ypoa_, lake of la plata, ii. . _yquilao_, isle of the archipelago of chonos, ii. . _yvari_ river, ii. . _yucatan_ or merida, intendancy of, boundaries, extent, productions, climate, i. . mountains, rivers, inhabitants, british settlers, . logwood cutting, indians, . population, capital, towns, . _yupanqui_, th inca of peru, ii. . _yuranqui_, plain of, place where a degree of the meridian was measured by the spanish and french mathematicians, i. . _yurba_ river, ii. . _yutay_ river, ii. . z _zacatecas_, intendancy of, boundaries, extent, population, mines, capital, and towns, i. . ---- ----, city of new spain, i. . _zacatula_, town of new spain, i. . ----, river of new spain, i. . _zamba_, town of new granada, i. . _zaque_ or xaque, title of the prince of the moscas, i. . _zeruma_, town of new granada, i. . _zinu_, town of new granada, i. . _zippas_, chiefs of the moscas, i. . _zitara_, canal of, unites the pacific and atlantic oceans, i. . _zumpango_, lake of mexico, i. . finis. printed by a. strahan, new-street-square, london. * * * * * transcriber's note: obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected and hyphenation has been standardised. the use of accents has been standardised for names, to ensure compatibility with the index, but other variations in spelling and punctuation remain unchanged. the errata have been implemented. latin america: its rise and progress by f. garcia calderon with a preface by raymond poincarÉ _of the french academy, president of the french republic_ translated by bernard miall with a map and illustrations new york charles scribner's sons - fifth avenue [_all rights reserved_] to monsieur Émile boutroux (_of the institute of france_) permit me to offer you this book as a mark of admiration and gratitude. often of an evening, in the sober hour of twilight, hearing you comment upon a page of plato or a line of goethe, or explain to me with unfailing geniality and marvellous lucidity the troubles of the present day, i have gained a fuller understanding of the magnificent radiance of the french genius; and always, on leaving you, i have found pleasure in repeating the thought of emerson, of the emerson whom you love, concerning the utility of great men: "they make the earth wholesome. they who lived with them found life glad and nutritious." f. g. c. paris, _november_, . { } preface here is a book that should be read and digested by every one interested in the future of the latin genius. it is written by a young peruvian diplomatist. it is full of life and of thought. history, politics, economic and social science, literature, philosophy--m. calderon is familiar with all and touches upon all with competence and without pedantry. the entire evolution of the south american republics is comprised in the volume which he now submits to the european public. m. calderon, a pupil in the school of the best modern historians, seeks in the past the laws of the future development of the latin republics. by means of a scholarly and painstaking analysis, he shows us, in the south american creole, a spaniard of the heroic age, slowly transformed by miscegenation and the influence of climate; he sees in him, modified by time and enfeebled by cross-breeding, the most ancient characteristics of the iberian race; and he expounds, in a few pages, the heroic epoch in which the individualism of spain broke out into the audacious adventure of the conquistadores and the savage mysticism of the inquisitors. then comes the colonial phase, with its disappointments, its illusions, its abuses and errors; the domination of an oppressive theocracy, of crushing monopolies; the insolence of privileged castes, and the indignities of the peninsular agents. a thirst for independence gradually possesses the spanish and portuguese colonies; they rebel not merely against the economic and fiscal tyranny which is crushing them, but also against the rigours of a political and { } moral tutelage that leaves them no political liberty. it is a great and terrible crisis. the movement of liberation fulfils itself in three phases: firstly, the colonies seek to obtain reforms of the metropolis, still anxious to remain loyal; then they consider the question of submitting themselves to european monarchs; and, finally, the republican idea appears, develops, and is victorious. a cycle of pioneers and a cycle of liberators: m. calderon expounds this tragic history with a sense of gratitude. he examines with remarkable insight the fundamental causes of the revolution--the excesses of spanish absolutism; the influence of the encyclopædia and the doctrines of ; the example of north america; the gold of england, and the intervention of canning; the various converging forces whose fulminating combination created a new world, ill prepared for social life, fragmentary, and in travail. m. calderon transports us into certain of the portions of this newborn america. he makes this the occasion of setting before us a whole gallery of vigorously painted pictures. the field of vision is occupied successively by paraguay, with the long dictatorship of its first _caudillo_, the gloomy, taciturn francia, with his authoritative traditions and warlike instincts; uruguay, with its intensely national life; ecuador, bearing the heavy imprint of garcia moreno; peru, with its tormented history, the powerful but fortunate dictatorship of don ramon castilla and manuel pardo and the epidemic of speculation, the insanity of the saltpetre and guano booms, the abuse of loans, warfare and anarchy, and the present effort towards economic recovery and national stability; bolivia, with the cold and crafty ambition of santa-cruz; venezuela, with the gross and material audacity of paez, and the empirical despotism of guzman-blanco, that politician without doctrines, avid of power, but a patriot and a paternal { } ruler. as m. calderon says, the history of these republics is difficult to distinguish from that of their _caudillos_, those representative men who personify, at any given moment, the virtues and vices of their peoples. after the magnificent epic of simon bolivar, which m. calderon recalls with the enthusiasm of gratitude, there commenced a troublous era of military anarchy. the ambition of the _caudillos_ rent south america and multiplied her states. but the soul of germinating nationalities was steeped in the blood of battles, and in the heart of each people a national conscience was awakened. this was the troublous epoch of wars and revolutions. the south american lived a life of danger, like the florentine of the renaissance or the frenchman of the terror; but presently, in the shadow of military power, wealth was evolved and order established; property became more secure, and existence more tame and normal; it was the advent of industry, commercialism, and peace. it seems to me that m. calderon rather regrets having been born too late into a world already too old. what he terms the twilight of the _caudillos_ fills him with a melancholy nostalgia for the bygone days. the tyrants, who were as a rule supported by the negroes and half-castes, helped to destroy racial differences and oligarchies. they have thus founded democracies which the liberal mind of m. calderon cannot regard without goodwill, but which, to his mind, are too far lacking in the sense of solidarity; they are clumsy, inorganic, incapable of associating human effort; the rivalry of families and the hatred of factions absorbs and disturbs them, as it did the mediæval republics, and under the brilliant polish of french ideals they mask a confused medley of europeans and indians, asiatics and africans. in these turbulent republics, however, m. calderon is able clearly to perceive the reassuring symptoms { } of a powerful vitality, and he does not despair of seeing them profit in the near future by the influence of latin discipline. from the scholastic erudition of the colonial epoch, he attentively follows the intellectual evolution of the south american populations, through the troublous mists of political ideology, to the hitherto pallid imitations of european philosophies. despite the diversity of races intermingling in the southern continent, he is convinced that the constant and secular action of the roman law, a common religion, and french ideals, has given these young republics a latin conscience, intangible and sacred. and he expresses the hope, very wisely and reasonably, that the peoples of south america will continue in the path of self-improvement without breaking with the traditions that are natural to them, and without subjecting themselves to alien influences. he goes on to review the german peril, the north american peril, and the japanese peril. he does not fail to realise the extent of the first named, and he complains of the progress of the commercial immigration of germans, especially in the southern provinces of brazil; but he considers that the german element, in the very process of fecundation, will disappear amidst the mass of the nation. he is, on the other hand, very keenly concerned with the north american peril. not that he fails to do justice to the marvellous qualities of the anglo-saxon race; not that he is indifferent to the prestige of the great northern republic, or that he is forgetful of its services to the cause of american autonomy; but he feels the increasing weight of a tutelage originally beneficent, and anxiously demands, _quis custodiet custodem_? he is not oblivious of the fact that the monroe doctrine is changing, that it has insensibly passed from the defensive to intervention, and from intervention to conquest, and this metamorphosis gives him food for reflection. whatever the qualities of yankee civilisation, it is not latin civilisation, and { } m. calderon would not have the latter sacrificed to the former. he implores south america to defend itself against the danger of a saxon hegemony, to enrich itself by means of european influences, to encourage french and italian immigration, and to purify its races by an influx of new blood. in the japanese, as in the german, m. calderon sees an indefatigable emissary of the imperialist idea. according to him, no antagonism is more irreducible than that of america and japan. japanese artisans are invading the shipyards and foundries of chili, peru, and brazil. they form a refractory element which will never be assimilated. he foresees that the supremacy of japan may shortly extend over the entire pacific, and that the whole of america will find it no trivial task to oppose this formidable power. from beginning to end of this book we hear the rallying-cry of the latin republics. i believe that at heart m. calderon regrets the excessive division of the states of south america. but the problem of unity, often brought to the fore in congresses and conferences, appears to him insoluble, and in default of this he would be content with intellectual alliances, with economic or fiscal unions, which would still permit the various republics to draw nearer to one another, to know one another better, and in time and on occasion to associate their defensive efforts. i do not feel competent to criticise the advice which m. calderon offers his compatriots. in particular i cannot speak of his opinions concerning the presidential system in the republics of south america, and their constitutional methods, which differ so sensibly from our french parliamentary methods. i would only remark that m. calderon is right in warning the american states against a plague of which we in france know something, but which in young societies, deficient in established traditions, and without ancient and well-tried organisations, may { } well be exceptionally dangerous--the invasion of a parasitical bureaucracy, which would increasingly develop itself at the expense of the healthy portions of the nation, and which would gradually infect the soundest and most vital tissues. finally, without indiscretion, i may perhaps express my approval of m. calderon's stern requisition against the policy of excessive loans. it is by running into debt over unlicensed extravagances that certain of the south american republics have gained in europe the reputation of being financially unsound or dishonest, and have thereby, by mere force of proximity, injured the repute of wiser and more economical states. since the republics of south america have need of european money, they would be greatly at fault did they alienate it by excessive or reckless budgets. never, i believe, shall we see the dismal hour which m. calderon's imagination hears already striking; when, expelled by slavs and teutons, the latins of the old world will be forced to take refuge on the shores of the blue sea that bore their floating cradle; and a frenchman may be forgiven for refusing to believe that the capital of classic culture will ever pass from paris to buenos-ayres, as it has passed from rome to paris. but without lingering over such alarming anticipations as these we may delight our eyes with brighter and more immediate prospects. may south america, while remaining herself, while cultivating, as m. calderon advises her to cultivate, the american ideal, grow ever more and more hospitable to the literature, the arts, the commerce, and the capital of france. thereby the great latin family can only gain in material prosperity and moral authority. raymond poincarÉ (_of the french academy_). (m. poincaré wrote this preface in december, , before he became president of council and minister of foreign affairs.) { } foreword there are two americas. in the north, the "outre-mer" of bourget, is a powerful industrial republic, a vast country of rude energies, of the "strenuous life." in the south are twenty leisurely states of unequal civilisation, troubled by anarchy and the colour problem. the prestige of the united states, their imperialism, and their wealth, have cast a shade over the less orderly latin republics of the south. the title of america seems to be applied solely to the great imperial democracy of the north. yet among these american nations are wealthy peoples whose domestic organisation has been greatly improved, such as the argentine, brazil, chili, peru, bolivia, and uruguay. they must not be confounded with the republics of central america, with hayti or paraguay. french writers and politicians, such as m. anatole france, m. clemenceau, and m. jaurès, who have visited the argentine, brazil, and uruguay, have remarked there not only an established latin culture, but noble efforts in the direction of augmenting the internal peace of the nations, and extraordinary riches. they are agreed in declaring that these young countries possess economic forces and an optimism which will yield them a brilliant future. several of these states have lately celebrated their first centenary. their independence was won during the first decade of the nineteenth century. the year { } was the beginning of a new epoch, during which autonomous republics were formed, not without tragedy, upon the remnants of the spanish power. the time has come, it would seem, to study these peoples, together with their evolution and progress, unless we are willing to take it as proved that the united states of north america are the sole focus of transatlantic civilisation and energy. we propose to draw up the balance-sheet of these south american republics. this is the object of this book. we must seek in the history of these states the reason of their inferiority and the data which relate to their future. first of all we must study the conquering race which discovered and colonised america. we must analyse the spanish and portuguese genius, the iberian genius, half european, half african. after the conquest new societies sprang up under the stern domination of spain and portugal. they were over-seas theocracies, jealously guarded from all alien trade. unlike saxon america, where the dutch and english immigrants held themselves sternly apart from the indians, pursuing them and forcing them westward, in south america conquerors and conquered intermingled. the half-castes became the masters by force of numbers, conceiving a thirst for power and a hatred of the proud and overbearing spaniards and portuguese. war broke out between the iberians and the americans; it was a civil war. then new states were rapidly formed, without traditions of government or established social classification. these states were dominated by military chieftains, by _caudillos_. from barbarism and periodic anarchy proceeded the dictators. we shall be able to study some of the representative personalities of this period, and to disentangle from the monotonous development of events the history of certain nations, such as { } brazil, in which the social medley has been dominated by the principle of authority. in the argentine, brazil, mexico, peru, and chili we shall perceive a new industrial order, by means of which political life grows less disturbed and the _caudillos_ lose their authority (books i. and ii.). the study of intellectual evolution shows us how great is the power of ideology in these rising democracies. they imitate the french revolution; they submit themselves to the influence of the ideas of rousseau and the romantics, and of the doctrines of the individualists. america, spanish and portuguese by origin, is becoming french by culture (book iii.). here we proceed to the study of the part played by the latin spirit in the formation of these peoples, and the perils which threaten them, whether these proceed from the united states, from germany, or from japan, and to consider the faults and the qualities of this spirit (book iv.). then follows an analysis of the problems and the future of latin america (book v.). the conclusion to be drawn from this examination is that the political life of the ibero-american peoples is as yet chaotic, but that some of them have already cast off the fetters of an unfortunate heredity. across the ocean liberty and democracy are steadily becoming realities. in the battles of the future the support of america will be valued by the great peoples of the mediterranean who are struggling for the supremacy of the latin race. { } contents preface foreword book i chapter i the conquering race its psychological characteristics--individualism and its aspects--the sentiment of equality--african fanaticism. chapter ii the colonies oversea the conquerors--the conquered races--the influence of religion in the new societies--colonial life. chapter iii the struggle for independence i. economic and political aspects of the struggles--monarchy and the republic--the leaders: miranda, belgrano, francia, iturbide, king pedro i., artigas, san martin, bolivar--bolivar the liberator: his ideas and his deeds. ii. revolutionary ideology--influence of rousseau--the rights of man--the example of the united states--english ideas in the constitutional projects of miranda and bolivar--european action: canning--nationalism versus americanism. { } chapter iv military anarchy and the industrial period anarchy and dictatorship--the civil wars: their significance--characteristics of the industrial period. book ii chapter i venezuela: paez--guzman-blanco the moral authority of paez--the monagas--the tyranny of guzman-blanco--material progress. chapter ii peru: general castilla--manuel pardo--pierola the political work of general castilla--domestic peace--the deposits of guano and saltpetre--manuel pardo, founder of the anti-military party--the last _caudillo_--pierola: his reforms. chapter iii bolivia: santa-cruz santa-cruz and the confederation of peru and bolivia--the tyrants belzu, molgarejo--the last _caudillos_: pando, montes. chapter iv uruguay: lavalleja--rivera--the new _caudillos_ the factions: reds and whites--the leaders: artigas, lavalleja, rivera--the modern period. chapter v the argentine: rivadavia--quiroga--rosas anarchy in --the _caudillos_: their part in the formation of nationality--a girondist, rivadavia--the despotism of rosas--its duration and its essential aspects. { } book iii chapter i mexico: the two empires--the dictators the emperor iturbide--the conflicts between federals and unitarians--the reformation--the foreign emperor--the dictatorship of porfirio diaz--material progress and servitude--the yankee influence. chapter ii chili: a republic of the anglo-saxon type portales and the oligarchy--the ten-years' presidency--montt and his influence--balmaceda the reformer. chapter iii brazil: the empire--the republic the influence of the imperial _régime_--a transatlantic marcus aurelius--dom pedro ii.--the federal republic. chapter iv paraguay: perpetual dictatorship dr. francia--the opinion of carlyle--the two lopez--tyranny and the military spirit in paraguay. book iv chapter i colombia conservatives and radicals--general mosquera: his influence--a statesman: raphael nuñez, his doctrines political. { } chapter ii ecuador religious conflicts--general flores and his political labours--garcia moreno--the republic of the sacred heart of jesus. chapter iii the anarchy of the tropics--central america--hayti--san-domingo tyrannies and revolutions--the action of climate and miscegenation--a republic of negroes: hayti. book v chapter i political ideology conservatives and liberals -- lastarria -- bilbao -- echeverria -- montalvo -- vigil -- the revolution of and its influence in america--english ideas: bello, alberdi--the educationists. chapter ii the literature of the young democracies spanish classicism and french romanticism--their influence in america--modernism--the work of ruben dario--the novel--the _conte_ or short story. chapter iii the evolution of philosophy bello--hostos--the influence of england--positivism--the influence of spencer and fouillée---the sociologists { } book vi chapter i are the ibero-americans of latin race? spanish and portuguese heredity--latin culture--the influence of the roman laws, of catholicism, and of french thought--the latin spirit in america: its qualities and defects. chapter ii the german peril german imperialism and the monroe doctrine--das deutschtum and southern brazil--what the brazilians think about it. chapter iii the north american peril the policy of the united states--the monroe doctrine: its various aspects--greatness and decadence of the united states--the two americas, latin and anglo-saxon. chapter iv a political experiment: cuba the work of spain--the north-american reforms--the future. chapter v the japanese peril the ambitions of the mikado--the shin nippon in western america--pacific invasion--japanese and americans. { } book vii chapter i the problem of unity the foundations of unity: religion, language, and similarity of development--neither europe, nor asia, nor africa presents this moral unity in the same degree as latin america--the future groupings of the peoples: central america, the confederation of the antilles, greater colombia, the confederation of the pacific, and the confederation of la plata--political and economical aspects of these unions--the last attempts at federation in central america--the bolivian congress--the a.b.c.--the union of the argentine, brazil, and chili. chapter ii the problem of race the gravity of the problem--the three races, european, indian, and negro--their characteristics--the mestizos and mulattos--the conditions of miscegenation according to m. gustave le bon--regression to the primitive type. chapter iii the political problem the _caudillos_: their action--revolutions--divorce between written constitutions and political life--the future parties--the bureaucracy. chapter iv the economic problem loans--budgets--paper money--the formation of national capital. conclusion america and the future of the latin peoples the panama canal and the two americas--the future conflicts between slavs, germans, anglo-saxons, and latins--the role of latin america. index { } illustrations hidalgo gabino barreda general josÉ antonio paez general francisco de miranda (venezuela) san martin bolivar in bolivar general juan josÉ flores artigas general josÉ tadeo monagas general andres santa cruz manuel pardo don nicolas de pierola don francisco garcia calderon opening of congress, la paz, bolivia colonel ismael montes juan antonio lavalleja rivadavia { } rosas, the argentine tyrant paseo de la reforma, city of mexico, on independence day benito juarez josÉ ives limantour general porfirio diaz the cathedral, santiago, chile josÉ manuel balmaceda general mosquera clÉmente palma ricardo palmer rufino blanco fombona (venezuela) manuel ugarte (argentina) ricardo rojas (argentina) gomez carrillo josÉ enrique rodÓ (uruguay) alcides arguedas (bolivia) map [transcriber's note: the above map (of south america) was omitted from this ebook, being too large (approximately "x ") and fragile to scan.] { } book i _the formation of the american peoples_ when the iberians arrived in america they found either tribes or peoples of semi-civilised inhabitants. these natives differed from the spanish and portuguese invaders to such a degree that their conquest was a true creation of new societies on the ruins of ancient barbarian states. before analysing the various aspects of american history we must therefore know something of the genius of the conquering race. conquerors and vanquished intermingled; territorial possession modified the spirit of the conquerors; and the colonies began to dream of conquering their independence. after twenty years of warfare the republic became the political type of these societies, which were exhausted by spanish tyranny. two periods, one of military anarchy, the other of domestic order, wealth, and industrialism, succeeded in the new states. { } [illustration: hidalgo. a priest who prepared for the independence of mexico from the spanish power. to face p. .] { } latin america chapter i the conquering race its psychological characteristics--individualism and its aspects--the sentiment of equality.--african fanaticism. travellers and psychologists find in modern greece the craft of ulysses, the rhetorical ability of the athenian sophists, and the anarchy of the brilliant democracies once grouped about the blue mediterranean. though its purity has been tainted by the onset of africa and the turks, the old hellenic spirit survives in the race. a similar vitality is to be observed in america. the transatlantic creole is a spaniard of the heroic period, enervated by miscegenation and climate. it is impossible to understand or explain his character unless we take into account the genius of spain. the wars of independence gave the latin new world political liberty, and a deceptive novelty of forms and institutions, but beneath these the spirit of race survives: the republic reproduces the essential traits of the colonial empire. in the cities, despite the invasion of cosmopolitanism, the old life persists, silent and monotonous, flowing past the ancient landmarks. the same little anxieties trouble mankind, which no longer has the haughty moral rigidity of the old hidalgos. belief, conversation, intolerance--all retain the { } imprint of the narrow mould imposed upon them by three centuries of the proudly exclusive spirit of spain. to study the political and religious history of the last century in the american democracies is to add a chapter to the history of iberian evolution. beyond the ocean and the fabled columns which were overthrown by the pikes of the conquistadors is another spain, tropical, and divided against itself, in which the grace of andalusia has vanquished the austerity of castile.[ ] if the troublous existence of the metropolitan state could be reduced to the simplicity of a formula, that formula would also explain the troublous history of a score of american republics, just as the deep root will reveal the germ of the vicious development of a tropical tree. but nothing would be more impossible than to reduce to an abstract and enforced unity the disturbed evolution of spain, full as it is of anarchy and bloodshed. the peninsula, divided into hostile regions, the refuge of inimical races, presents in its past such contradictions as defy synthesis. amid this theocratic people the development of municipal liberties was premature. while feudality still imposed its authority upon the rest of europe, spain saw the rise of the free cities. beside the eternal quixotism which renounces the vulgar kingdom of the useful in order to give itself only to the ideal the wise refrains of the people express a dense, prosaic, positive realism. the catholic nation _par excellence_ furnished the duke of alba with the troops that were to conquer rome. after long years of absolute monarchy the old democratic spirit was reborn in the peninsular _juntas_ which opposed the { } french invasion. from cantabria to cadiz we discover, beneath the unity of castile, a splendid variety of provincial types. the asturian hardness contrasts with the rhythm of andalusia, the impetuosity of estremadura with the dryness of catalonia, the tenacity of the basques with the proud idleness of the castilian. from this territorial complexity arises a turbulent life: the secular struggle in favour of national unity, the generous epic of the catholic crusade against islam, and the gloomy pursuit of religious unity by means of inquisitorial holocausts. european history is transformed south of the pyrenees. feudality is arrested; the crusade against the infidel lasts eight centuries; religion and empire are established in magnificence like that of the oriental theocracies. in the wealth of this national development persist the racial characteristics which we wish to determine: individualism, democracy, the local spirit so inimical to great unities, and the african fanaticism which is satisfied only with excessive sensations and extreme solutions--in short, the heritage of a grave and heroic race, in a state of perpetual moral tension, proud in the face of god and king and fate. individualism is the fundamental note of the spanish psychology. an iberian characteristic, it has all the force of an imperious atavism. it exalts any form of action, of self-affirmation; it inspires an unreasonable confidence in self and the powers of self; it tends to develop human energy, to preserve the national independence from external pressure, to defend it against the rigour of the law, the moral imperative, and the rigidity of duty; and it creates in exalted spirits an ardent desire of domination. strabo observed among the primitive iberians, who were divided into hostile tribes, an immense pride, inimical to union and discipline. in his life and { } attitude the spaniard reveals all the outward and inward aspects of individualism. the austerity and arrogance revealed by the very folds of the hidalgo's mantle, by his majestic port, his sonorous speech, and his lordly gesture, the personal valour which turns history into an epic, the audacity, the love of adventure, and the isolation, are forms of personal exaltation. "the spaniards, in their simplicity," says the squire marcos de obregon, "persuade themselves that they are the absolute masters of all." individualism explains the analogies between iberian and english history: the civilisation of the peninsula recalls, in some of its characteristics, that of the anglo-saxons. in both we find the premature affirmation of liberty, an excessive pride, and a long struggle against invasions. from this arises an aggressive imperialism: commercial in the north, religious in the south. in england the climate and the territory gave individualism a utilitarian bent; in spain the conflict with islam gave it a warlike tendency. idealism, the inward life, and imaginative exaltation created the puritans in england; in spain the mystics and the inquisitors. but in the conquest of hostile circumstances the saxon acquires a sense of realism; while the iberian, under a fiery sun, becomes in spain as in america a hunter of chimeras. a symbol will express the resemblance between the two histories: ariel and caliban, don quixote and sancho panza represent the same eternal dualism of idealism and realism. caliban has given england a vast empire; the knight-errant has returned to his native la mancha, exhausted by his barren adventure. spanish evolution, and the moral and religious aspects of peninsular life, are to be explained by this perpetual exaltation of the individual. stoicism is the moral aspect of individualism. it preaches virility (_esto vir._ says seneca): it develops the human { } will as opposed to destiny; it is a gospel of austerity in the face of suffering, of silent heroism in the face of death. seneca is for roman spain the teacher of energy; from his teaching proceeds that tenacious faith in character which touches peninsular history with a grave virility. christianity, which proclaims human dignity, becomes the national religion south of the pyrenees. according to the stoics, all men are equal before destiny; according to christ, they are equal before god; and of these two doctrines a formidable pride is born. finally, in mysticism, the original expression of the religious genius of spain, there is nothing to recall the pantheism of the orient, nor the annihilation of man before the absolute. the peninsular mystics exalt their individuality, draw strength from the visit of their friend, become divine through ecstasy, and aspire with the ardour of conquerors to the possession of god. to the german reformation, which preached predestination, the theologians of spain opposed free human choice, the efficacy of action, and the dignity and merit of effort. the spanish religion was by no means satisfied with speculation; it made for action and preached energy. the struggles of spain have a religious significance; the heroes are mystics and the mystics "knights of the divine order." ignatius loyola and saint teresa dream of heroic undertakings and read the romances of chivalry. mysticism inspires the warriors; faith purifies the covetousness of the conquerors. wilful and mystical, the spanish temperament is active, and expresses itself externally in conflict; it manifests itself in comedy and tragedy. the peninsular genius is dramatic. adventure, movement, and the shock of passions are developed in an ample theatre which expresses all the aspects of aggravated individualism. the struggle is not only for independence, but for fame, to preserve the integrity of honour in the general eye. jealous and { } revengeful, this preoccupation in respect of honour, which is profoundly spanish, inspires innumerable tragedies. antagonisms, ruptures, theses, and antitheses abound in iberian history; the positivism of sancho panza, the idealism of don quixote; obstinacy and idleness; sloth and violence; parasitism and adventure; gloom and solemnity such as we find in the paintings of zurbaran and ribera, together with the frivolity of harmonious dance and festival and light-headed madness in the hot sunlight; faith in the will and acceptation of destiny; the ardour of mystics and conquerors and the cynicism of rogues and beggars; heroic disinterestedness and passionate covetousness: these are the irreducible contradictions of the spanish mind, which explain the long conflict, the intensity of the internal drama. on the stage we find the reflection of these conflicts, these indurated wills; subtle passions, grandiose pride, lofty character; tragedies with a touch of farce and comedies with a mystic background. the literature of chivalry--the immense crop of romances, the rude primitive poetry, the _cid_, the _children of lara_--is a commentary upon individualism and action. the great literary types--the hero, the adventurer, the mystic, the noble chieftain, the knight, the lover--are exalted individualities. the _picaro_ himself belongs to this hardy family; he is proud as any knight, and a goodly number of knights are _picaresque_. subtle and sceptical, the _picaro_ employs both cunning and heroism in the daily struggle for life. of "gongorism," a school of spanish literature, martinez-ruiz has written that it is the expression of movement in language, a dynamic poetry for men of action. dramas and romances of energy, violent epics, with nothing of the antique serenity: these form the true literature of spain. in art and philosophy and literature there are { } really no schools, but writers, philosophers, and painters; such as el greco, who left no imitators; solitary individuals such as gratian and quevedo. but in spain we see the triumph of those military and political organisations in which the individual finds the greatest freedom: the people, the tribe, the guerilla band, the battalion. the cult of rebellious and exuberant energy is general. in the relations of king and subject the same peninsular individualism appears. "for besar mano de rey no me tengo por honrado, porque la besó mi padre me tengo por afrentado." says a spanish rhyme. obedience to the king is conditional; it is based upon the monarch's respect for the supreme order of justice, and his submission to a tacit or explicit contract between king and people. charters, traditions, and usages limit the absolutism of the monarch. in the cortes of orcana in it is declared that the king is the "mercenary" of the people, who pay him a "salary."[ ] all spanish obedience is steeped in this kind of pride; the nobles of aragon feel themselves individually the equals of the king, and collectively his superior. the cities, federated into _hermandades_ or unions, treat with the monarch; they form a state within the state; they oppose the government and force it to recognise their privileges. in the cities of aragon and catalonia demand of jaime ii. the grant of a charter of popular rights. insurrections are frequent, and are incarnated in a hero of the rude national epic: the _cid_. mariana, a historian, authorises any violence directed against royal tyranny. { } this individualism upholds a strict justice against the narrowness of the laws and the byzantine debates of lawyers; against sentences, penalties, and tribunals. poems and proverbs express this continual clash between the juridic ideal and the law; the peninsular conscience condemns the partial and precarious justice of the codes. joaquin costa writes: "of all the epics known to me--whether national or racial--the spanish has done most to elevate the principle of justice, and has rendered the cult of justice most fervent." austere and inviolable, the law represents a category of eternal relations, beside which all individualities are insignificant, even that of the king, and all institutions fragile, even the church. stoical because it believed in pure justice; nourished by rude heroisms, inward visions, romances, and legends; exalted by mystic dialogues, and hardened by centuries of religious wars; the spanish spirit, full of enthusiasm, entered upon the renaissance, that sixteenth century which was to reveal the new continents across the ocean, the laws of nature behind her mystery, and to create imperious personalities which opposed themselves to fate. then spanish individualism broke out into mysticism, audacity, and adventure: it was the epoch of _conquistadors_, of politicians, of inquisitors, of jimenez and pizarro, torquemada, loyola, and cortez. spain broke through the circle of the old world, fought in defence of christian civilisation at lepanto, and of catholicism in germany and flanders; coveted the mediterranean countries; colonised an immense and unknown continent; threatened europe with the religious imperialism of charles v. and philip ii., and, thanks to the legions of the duke of alba, imposed her will on the pope. her policy had the old roman majesty and force; literature had found its "golden age"; philosophy proposed the vast harmonious solutions of fox { } morcillo, and laid down the bases of natural and national law by the pens of francisco de vitoria and domingo de soto. it was a splendid prodigality of energy, creation, conquest, and heroism--the last stage of a history of violent stoicism, which announced a long and majestic decadence. distrustful of hierarchies, spanish individualism created social and democratic forms. traditions, doctrines, customs, and laws denoted an exact sense of human equality. "monachal democracy," said menendez-pelayo, in speaking of spain, because the levelling of all classes offered certain conventual characteristics, and because there was a christian basis to the fervour of the equalitarians; a "picaresque" democracy, wrote salillas, alluding to the equality of the knight and the _picaro_, to the double phenomenon of a proud people making pretensions to nobility and a careless aristocracy continually drifting into democracy by reason of the lack of middle classes and the traditional idleness of the hidalgo. an anarchical democracy, inimical to hierarchy, proud and undisciplined, according to the analysis of unamuno, in his profound work, _en torno al casticismo_; a democratic cæsarism, thought oliveira martins, for the absolutism of the monarch was not feudal royalty, but rather a principality of the roman type. the king presided over a democracy of knights, mystics, adventurers, and rogues. this spirit of equality may be observed even in the formation of the spanish aristocracy; the gothic and hereditary nobility is foreign to the evolution of the peninsular. the national aristocracy is to be found in the bosom of the church; it is elective, subject to the current popular vicissitudes, to such a degree that the ecclesiastical councils are more truly national than the military councils and assemblies. servitude is less rude in mediæval spain than in the rest of europe; the cultivator progresses, but disappears { } from the other side of the pyrenees before the invasion of feudalism, and the hired or leasehold cultivator is almost free. there are tributary nobles: between the democracy and the nobility there are no irreducible divisions. this equalitarian development is especially notable in the political world. in spain feudalism is not a national institution, and the spirit of gothic kingship becomes transformed under iberian influences. in leon and castile the nobility are less powerful than in france or other parts of spain, catalonia, navarre, and aragon.[ ] the social classes are not superimposed in rigorous order; cities acquire franchises, and "popular seigneuries" are formed. the monarchy, too, undergoes this process of levelling or democratisation. the emperor aims at equilibrium in equality; he destroys the excessive privileges of the aristocracy and the people; in the political conflict he leans to one side or the other alternately. the popular tongue consecrates the equality of the social classes: "in a hundred years a king becomes a thrall; in a hundred and six a thrall becomes a king." "all are equal to the king, except in wealth." the spanish commune lasts, because it is the centre of this great democracy. from the beginnings of peninsular history we see the cities struggling for their independence. they reproduce the _djemaa_ of the atlas, beyond the straits of gibraltar, amid the berbers, the parents of the iberians; the _djemaa_ is the african progenitor of the spanish commune; both make an equal distribution of goods, and endeavour to avoid poverty. the _djemaa_, or municipality, or commune, isolated and autonomous, constitutes the political unit: the state is a confederation of free cities. the spanish towns defend their { } liberties against every form of artificial unity, whether phoenician, greek, or roman. rome reigns for seven hundred years; but because she partially recognises the autonomy of the municipalities, the spanish democracy; she increases civil rights, founds small republics, which elect their own magistrates, administer the communal finances, and discuss the payment of imposts and the distribution of lands in their ward. thus spanish individualism is satisfied. rome, absorbing and centralising under the cæsars, destroys local liberty; but a deep-seated current re-establishes the autonomy of the peoples when the roman power decays. assemblies of free citizens govern the cities; the visigoth monarchy, at the suggestion of the national church, respects the municipal organisation. thus a hybrid system springs up, feudal in the germanic character of the predominant aristocracy, democratic by virtue of the councils, the church, and the tenacious power of the cities. in the struggle against the moors the kings compound with the proud, free cities, conceding charters and municipal privileges in exchange for a tribute of gold or flesh and blood. liberty and democracy are of more ancient date in spain than in england. the charter of leon, dated , anterior to the great english charter, grants the municipalities an administrative and judicial jurisdiction; it recognises the hereditary rights of the serf in the soil which he tills, and his full liberty to change his seigneur; herein we see a modified feudalism. the first charters of castile recognised the rights of the cities. in the councils of burgos in and of leon in the delegates of the municipalities figured; even in the cortes of aragon, where the germanic tradition was predominant, representatives of the cities were admitted as early as the twelfth century. the overlord, who extended his protectorate over a city, did not despoil { } it of its former sovereignty; the _behetrias_ were cities or groups of cities which chose as their guardian a baron or warrior chief, without losing anything of their autonomy. the cities, proud of their privileges, united with the royal power in struggling against the nobility; thirty-four of them, in , constituted the _hermandad_ (brotherhood, guild) of castile, which eventually numbered as many as a hundred cities. in ancient spain we are always discovering something of the nature of a contract, a concert of free wills, a perpetual _concordat_ between governors and governed. from the iberian tribe to the roman city, from the city with its franchises to the villages grouped in _hermandades_, and from these to the popular _juntas_ which defend spain against the power of france and organise an epic resistance, there is an obvious historical continuity. local patriotism is inimical to ambitious constructive policies. many peoples invade the peninsula--semites, berbers, arabs, copts, touaregs, syrians, kelts, greeks, phoenicians, carthaginians, romans, franks, suabians, vandals, goths: they become superimposed like geological strata, draw apart from one another in the mountainous parts of spain, and convert the quarrels of provinces and the rivalries of cities into regional conflicts and racial antagonisms. in the clash of spanish individualities, in the rude assertion of municipal prerogatives, in the democratic developments which are so hostile to any hierarchy, an african or semitic patriotism is revealed, which converts history into a bloody tragedy. in the arid castilian plain, confined by its glaring horizons, under its burning sun, we see the spectacle of a proud people defending absolute principles with aggressive faith. religion is dry and fiery as the desert. señor de unamuno, writing of spain,[ ] calls her "a nation fanatical rather than superstitious, to { } whom the semitic monotheism is better adapted than the aryan polytheism." jews and moors are expelled from the peninsula in the name of simple and rigid ideals, by an intolerance at once religious and political. thus the spiritual integrity of spain is achieved; but industry decays, poverty increases, decadence appears, and in a spain drained of its blood by _autodafés_ and emigrations a solitary cross is raised, the symbol of an african christianity, to which the love of mankind is a stranger. spain is african, even from the prehistoric ages. the iberian is like the men of the atlas; like them, he is brown and dolicocephalous. the kabyle _douar_ and the spanish village present remarkable analogies. an early geological change separates, by a narrow strait, two similar countries; two successive invasions spread an infusion of african blood throughout the peninsula. phoenicians and carthaginians found colonies in maritime spain; in seven thousand berbers establish themselves in the south; and the invasion of the almohades in still further unites iberians and africans. during the long centuries of conflict between christians and arabs the two races intermingle under the cultivated tolerance of the khalifs. the gothic kings seek the aid of arab chieftains in their quarrels; the cid is a condottiere who fights alternately in the mussulman and christian armies, serving, with his troop of heroes, under the highest bidder. the spanish monarchs in turn intervene in the quarrels of the khalifs, and alfonso vi., in , allies himself with the moorish king of seville in order to conquer toledo. the arabs study under the masters of the spanish capitals, while the spaniards study arabic, and are initiated into oriental science. the language still preserves traces of the commerce between the two races. the arabs, sceptical and refined, overlords already enervated by the grace { } and luxury of andalusia, rule without fanaticism; they leave the vanquished their religion and their usages, their laws, authorities, and judges; they free such christian slaves as are converted to islam. the mozarabs, christians who live in the mussulman states, without renouncing their faith and customs, pave the way for the fusion of the hostile races. in spite of a continual warfare, under the indifferent and alien rule of the arab both victors and vanquished become subject, as did the first gothic kings, to the national influence. it seems as though the gradual action of a common life were about to reconstitute the primitive type of man who once peopled iberia from the pyrenees to the atlas. the originality of spain, contrasting, in her development, with the indo-european nations, comes from africa, from the atavism of the iberians, from the long domination of the moors, and from the semitic orient. the anarchy of the tribe persists; the clergy are all-powerful, as are the african marabouts. to the feudal nobility and the european parliament the peninsula opposes the councils; to the struggles between pope and emperor, the oriental fusion of religion and the monarchy, the inquisition, and the omnipotence of the clergy; to the reformation, the coalition of catholics with protestants, and the league of the princes of christendom with the sultan, a fanatical christianity which realises the ideal of national unity by expelling jews and moors, and burning sorcerers and heretics in the crackling flames of _autodafés_. when spain enters upon her decadence her ancient characteristics--individualism, the municipal spirit, and the democratic fervour--disappear, and the african and semitic influences predominate. under the theocracy the nation of conquerors degenerates; at villalar the monarchy conquers the free cities and the arrogant nobility. { } the clergy reign in school and palace; as in the east, they form a superior caste. rogues and ruffians--the _picaros_--succeed to the heroes and adventurers of the days of old; an oriental parasitism invades the peninsula, and legions of arrogant beggars people the highways of castile. it is the final crisis of heroic quixotism. the moors are revenged for their defeat, imposing their african fanaticism on an impoverished peninsula. new spains across the ocean rise against the decadent mother-country. exhausted with creating new nations, the conquering race sinks into repose, and a score of democracies prepare to enjoy its moral heritage. [ ] of the portuguese conquerors we may say that in their individualism and their love of adventure they resembled the spaniards. their fanaticism was certainly less bitter, perhaps because they had not been forced to struggle against the enemies of their faith. [ ] see joaquín costa, _concepto del derecho en la poesia española_ (_estudios jurídicos y politicos_, madrid ) [ ] altamira, _historia de españa y de la civilizatión española_, vol. i. p. _et seq_. [ ] _en torno al casticismo_, madrid, , p. . { } chapter ii the colonies oversea the conquerors--the conquered races--the influence of religion in the new societies--colonial life. in the sixteenth century the spanish race conquered the various kingdoms of america. it founded new societies, destroyed ancient empires, and created cities in the wilderness; and in the following century it made innumerable laws and sent forth innumerable warlike expeditions. between one period and the next--the rude epic of conquest and the tame existence of the civilised colonies--a strange contrast is to be observed. in the first period cupidity may be said to be the _deus ex machina_ of the great epic acted by the conquerors: there is a bloody and barbarous conflict with the unknown territory, the hostile indians, the mysterious forests, the enormous rivers, and the desert that swallows whole legions. this marvellous age is followed, in the silent cities, by a monotonous, pious, puerile existence. exhausted by heroism, the race declines, mingles itself with the indians, imports black slaves from africa, and obeys its inquisitors and viceroys. the obscure events of its lamentable existence take place in a veritable wilderness. grey and unrelieved is this period, the period known as "the colony," for the unstable societies of america reflect the life of spain; while the first, that of the conquest, is an age of greed and bloodshed, in { } which the impetuous adventurers of the peninsula roam from mexico to patagonia, realising, in the words of de heredia's sonnet, their "brutal and heroic dream." the spaniard and the portuguese of the sixteenth century were men of the renaissance; of that age which was perturbed by the restored spectacle of the life of the world. voyages, discoveries, greek myths and classic poems, which filled the past with legends and heroic deeds, gave the latins of the mediterranean the longing to explore lands and seas unknown. individuality developed with an energy that often merged in crime. tyrants or conquerors longing for power and adventure lived in regions far removed from ideals of good and evil. mystics--for the mediæval gloom still hung over europe--they joined cupidity to faith, and renounced a life of contemplation in order to push back the limits of the world. heirs of the phoenician ambition, the portuguese encircled africa before discovering america; and many a spanish captain, before invading the regions oversea, had fought in flanders, pillaged rome, and repeated the journey of don quixote across la mancha. the soul of the _conquistador_ combined audacity with covetousness, superstition with cruelty, the pride of the hidalgo with the rigour of the ascetics, a rigid individualism and a thirst for glory with an infallible faith in the greatness of its own destiny. the adventurers of the peninsula were professors of energy: like the italian condottieri, like the captains of the napoleonic epic. a group of adventurers enslaved the empire of mexico, destroyed the power of the incas, and defeated the indomitable araucan. cortez burned his ships when his companions spoke of renouncing the difficult enterprise of conquest. pizarro, with twelve of his lieutenants, resolved, in a desert island, to invade peru. { } cortez conquered mexico; pizarro and almagro, peru; valdivia and almagro, araucania; jimenez de quesada and benalcazar, the territories of colombia; pedro de alvarado, guatemala; martinez de irala, paraguay; juan de garay, the province of la plata; martin affonso, the souzas and others, brazil. others brought from italy the spirit of the renaissance; such was pedro de mendoza, enriched by the sack of rome, who, in , organised an expedition to the rio de la plata. the sixteenth century, the age of discoveries, was also the age of conquest. from all the provinces of spain and portugal adventurers poured into america. the energetic basques led the way; but there were fiery estremadurans, austere castilians, meditative portuguese, and witty andalusians. triumph lay before them; they advanced to conquest over the ruins of cities and the bodies of indians. their incredible prowess often ended in their death upon the soil they trod as intruders and invaders. the america conquered by the spaniards and portuguese was peopled by various races and occupied by many different civilisations. the invaders unified all these regions, imposing uniform laws, customs, and religion. in brazil they found scattered tribes: tupis, tupinambas, caribs; in paraguay, the guaranis; in uruguay, the charruas. the organisation of these peoples of hunters and fishers was simple; in time of war as in peace they obeyed their chiefs. these vast territories presented many different tongues, and an infinite variety of tribes, clans, and societies; ranging from cannibalism and savagery, through the primitive forms of culture, to nomadism and the sedentary state. the araucanians of chili, a warlike people, held assemblies to decide upon war, joined in confederations, and obeyed a _cacique_, who was the strongest and bravest man of the tribe. they lived in isolation the better to preserve their independence. { } three barbaric monarchies--the chibchas or muiscas in colombia, the incas in peru, and the aztecs in mexico--which boasted of laws, majestic cities, social classes, colleges of priests, reigning dynasties, organised armies, academic myths, and even hieroglyphs and astrologers (not unlike those of assyria)--differed profoundly in their complex political organisation from the tribes of america. although the incas were not the liberal princes of marmontel's dream, and although the history of their rule was not an idyll, their meticulous and beneficent tyranny did after long wars of conquest erect in the ancient tahuantisuyu a great empire of silent obedience, an anticipation of the ideals of state socialism. property was collective, and existence subject to strict regulations. the incas made labour obligatory, supervised all agricultural operations, and respected, when they extended their domains, the rites and customs of vanquished races. if the inca monarchy recalls the great empires of asia, china, and assyria, mexico, on the other hand, appears to have been a feudal kingdom in which _caciques_, governors of vast provinces, ruled beside the absolute monarch. "there is no general overlord," observed cortez. there was a central authority, as in peru, but the mexican despotism was more rude and barbarous than that of the incas; the blood of human victims dripped from its smoking altars. the social organism had not reached the degree of perfection attained by the inca monarchy. the spanish and portuguese conquerors, with their mediæval ideas, their african fanaticism, their marvellous ships, and their powerful weapons, terrified these peoples who were still dwelling in the age of bronze and polished stone. historians report the surprise of these hungry adventurers before the treasures of mexico and peru. atahualpa offered to fill with gold the chamber in which pizarro held { } him prisoner. the court of montezuma displayed an asiatic luxury: surrounded with women, buffoons, idols, and strange birds, under a resplendent canopy loaded with gold and jewels, the aztec monarch advances like a king in an oriental tale. his escort is of haughty princes. the imperial city abounds in temples, lakes, and causeways; it is melancholy and sumptuous, the capital of mexico. the chroniclers of the time tell us how the cupidity of the _conquistadors_ was awakened: men who had left a ruined spain to find these immense treasures in america; they are writing for impoverished hidalgos, and fear that they will not be believed when they speak of this fabulous abundance of gold. since the days of ophir and the queen of sheba, says one of these historians, "no ancient writing had ever stated that gold, silver, and jewels" had ever been discovered in such vast quantities as those which castile was about to receive from her new colonies. the soldiers of the conquest pillaged these treasures, sacked temples and palaces, and quarrelled over their wealth in a series of tragic struggles. around the mines cities sprang up and parties were formed; at potosi vicuñas and biscayans, excited by the sight of the metal which delighted their cupidity, prolonged the savagery of the first conflict. where minerals existed the colonial life was unstable, harsh, and brutal; in poor countries, such as chili and the argentine, societies were slowly formed which cultivated the soil: tenacious oligarchies bound to the new country by solid interests. the vanquished races and the victors differed greatly from one another; hence amidst the political and moral unity of the new societies arose different characteristics and incipient antagonisms. spaniards and portuguese took indian wives or women; the leaders married princesses of mexico and peru; the soldiers founded provisional homes in the colonies. { } the andalusians settled in the tropics; the basques in the temperate regions; and the castilians swarmed in the towns. a curious affinity of race, as between the basques and the araucanians, and analogies of climate and landscape, and, apart from these factors, the erratic wanderings of the conquerors, explain this original diversity of the american provinces. why should they be similar: the offspring of the gentle indian quechuas and the fiery andalusians; the children of the virile araucanians and the calm, reasonable basques? wherever the native population was more abundant, and the political organisation more complicated, as in mexico and peru, its influence on miscegenation was more potent than in colonies from which the indian was disappearing (as the charruas of uruguay or the nomadic tribes of brazil) before the onset of civilisation. the climate, severe on the plateaux, and favourable to an energetic existence, warm and enervating on the coast, contributed to the variety of human types. the first families sprung of the sensuality of the conquerors already revealed the elements of future developments. it was an age of creation: races and cities, new rites and customs; all were sprung of the crossing of iberian and indian. the diversity of the elements whose fusion was paving the way for a new caste gave mankind an interesting variety. the negro, imported by the spaniard for the cultivation of the tropical soil, added yet another complication to the first admixture of castes. grotesque generations with every shade of complexion and every conformation of skull were born in america from the unions stimulated by the kings of spain. in the anglo-saxon provinces of north america the climate only changed the invaders; in the iberian colonies the conquered race, the land itself, the air they breathed, all modified the conquerors. creation, the synthesis of human elements, action and reaction between the country and { } the men who ruled it, a crucible continually agitated by unheard-of fusions of races; all this gave the process of evolution the intensity and the aspect of a continual conflict. from the negro _bozal_ recently imported from africa to the _quinteron_, the offspring of slaves purified by successive unions with the whites; from the indian who mourned his monotonous servitude in the solitude of the mountains, to the coloured student of the universities, we find, in the seventeenth century as in the twentieth, in the colonies as in the republics, every variety of this admixture of iberians, indians, and africans. from a social point of view the rank of the individual corresponded generally with the shade of his epidermis. "in america," wrote humboldt at the beginning of the nineteenth century, "the more or less white skin determines the position which a man holds in society." the spaniard degenerated in the colonies. the passage from a period of violence to one of conventual quietude betrayed this slow decadence of the invader, under the pressure of the climate and in contact with the conquered races. the creole, the spaniard born in america, has lost the prickly characteristics of the hidalgo: the proud individualism, the love of bloody adventure, the stoicism, the tenacity in resistance and conflict, and the rigidity of faith. in flexibility, brilliance, and grace he has surpassed the rude iberian; but his effort is transitory, his will weak; his hatred is as ephemeral as his love. the new race produces neither mystics nor men of action, but poets, orators, admirable intriguers, superficial scholars, brilliant commentators of exotic ideas; from the seventeenth century onwards they succeed to the first generation of audacious colonists, heroic monks, and warlike captains. to extend the domains of the monarch, to "cause the indians to live in the knowledge of our catholic { } faith," they conquered america, and they brought to the new world a religion, a political _régime_, universities, an economic system--all the elements, in short, of a traditional civilisation. absolutism in government, monopoly in matters of commerce and finance, intolerance in questions of dogma and morality, tutelage and rigorous isolation; these were the foundations of spanish colonisation. the methods practised by the dutch and the english in their colonies were not essentially different. toqueville and boutmy have studied the effects, in the united states, of calvinistic intolerance and commercial monopoly. they have remarked upon the slavery of negroes in the agricultural districts of virginia, and the cupidity of the emigrants who pursued the indians with a truly puritan ardour. the viceroy, the representative of the monarch, exercised full powers of government in the colonies. he presided over the _real audiencia_, the king's tribunal, was superintendent of finances, protector of the church, and chief of the army. to him all power was subordinate, whether ecclesiastical, military, or civil. a luxurious court surrounded him, the flattery of courtiers intoxicated him, and subornation had its way with him. sometimes the viceroys represented the real aspirations of the colonists, and were serious legislators, such as francisco de toledo, in peru; or they defended the colonists from the expeditions of filibusters with such energy that their fiercely contested battles evoked the sentiment of nationality. at other times they enriched themselves by the sale of posts, and drained the treasury, or passed in progress through the cities of their state, haughty overlords surrounded with luxury and gold. to her political despotism corresponds the commercial monopoly which spain established in her dominions. humboldt defined the ancient ideal of { } the colonising races in his "essay on the government of new spain": "for centuries a colony was regarded as useful to the metropolis only inasmuch as it furnished a great number of raw materials and consumed plenty of goods and merchandise, which were borne by the vessels of the mother-country."[ ] england, holland, spain, and portugal acted upon the same exclusivist principles; the ordinances of cromwell were as inflexible on this point as the schedules of philip ii. commercial liberty and industrial competition were condemned on the same grounds as rebellion and heresy. politics and economics were subordinated to religion; the third combined the absolutism of the first and the monopoly of the second. the conquest of america was apostolic. the spanish captains fought to convert the overseas infidels. the imperialism of charles v. and philip ii. had a religious character. to preserve the colonies from heresy it closed the ports, prohibited all traffic with foreigners, and imposed a conventual seclusion upon a whole world. the church was the centre of colonial life. she governed in the spiritual order; imposed punishments, flagellations, exile, and excommunication, and delivered unbelievers and sorcerers to the purifying care of the inquisition. in the department of morals she kept a watchful eye upon the people; she defended the indians, and often opposed the governors. viceroy and _cacique_ feared her equally. a formidable moral power, she helped to discipline the unruly creoles, to unite classes and races, and to form nations. the cities were adorned by her chapels and convents, and to these convents, in pious mood, the hidalgos often left all their possessions. thus property became a monopoly of the convents. hence a plethora of monks and nuns, and the { } accumulation, in mexico and at lima, of enormous wealth. in peru the annual income of the archbishop amounted to £ , , and that of some bishops to £ , . what with bishops and viceroys there was no lack of luxury. a pompous and sensual catholicism satisfied the imagination of the creoles, the superstitious fears of the indians, and the cheerful materialism of the negroes. the aztec, the _quechua_, accepted from the monks a strange, byzantine dogma, mingled with aristocratic ideals and oriental mysteries. the native soon confounded the two mythologies. in mexico, so humboldt reported, "the holy ghost is the sacred eagle of the aztecs." novel and sumptuous rites were added to the traditional religion. processions and festivals, a kind of continual religious fair, united all races. the people loved the cult of religion, with its external manifestations, its virgins loaded with heavy _ex-votos_, its sorrowing christs, its gorgeously-decked saints, and the glitter of gold and silk. as confessor the priest influenced the family and directed the education of children; as preacher he condemned immorality and judged the governors. as in byzantium, as in the florence of savonarola, the colonial monk, speaking in the name of the exploited populace, was an austere professor of virtue. the creole admired his ecclesiastical learning, and his invincible attitude before the powers of this world; in him the indian found a protector. the american colonies differed in social composition. the negro abounded in peru and cuba, but soon disappeared in chili and the argentine. the poverty of araucania contrasted with the opulence of caracas, lima, and mexico. in the aztec capital some territorial seigneurs drew forty thousand a year sterling in revenues. frezier valued the jewels of a rich lady of lima at , livres of silver. the melancholy sierra, peopled by indians, contrasted { } with the life of the coast, where luxurious cities attracted the traveller. in the cities of the interior, cordoba or charcas, we find settled traditions, tenacity, and sobriety, but in the capitals of the coast all is luxury, instability, and licence. spain tended to destroy this variety by uniform laws.[ ] originality was as odious to her as heresy. customs and beliefs, hierarchies and privileges, all must be uniform. under such a _régime_ the life of the colonies was dull and monotonous. the cities slumbered, lulled by the murmur of prayers and fountains. idleness was the natural condition of the creole; lengthy meals and daily siestas limited his inconsiderable activities. the empty streets and squares knew hours of silence; rejoicings were ordered, and the orders pasted on the hoardings; gaiety itself was imposed. it seemed as though time itself must stand still in these cities of parallel streets; that the ideal of all men must be absolute quietude. the hidalgo of noble origin, the owner of vast domains, governed his sons and his slaves with the severity of a roman patrician. he could be neither merchant nor manufacturer; commerce and industry were "low callings." he was attracted rather by the bar, the subtleties of the "doctors," the scholarship and poetry of the courts. whether at the university or the _cabildo_ (municipality), his life would be the same. he would sing the glory of viceroys in gongoric rhymes, or commentate upon duns scotus, or meticulously construct acrostics or syllogisms. in the café, at social gatherings, in the literary salons, he would whisper criticisms of the governors and the bishops, or discuss the titles to nobility of a marquis of recent creation, or the purity { } of blood of an enriched mulatto. a conventual chapter, or the quarrel of a bishop and a viceroy, or a bull-fight, would fill him with ecstasy. attending mass in the morning, and in the evening driving through the stately streets in a luxurious _calèche_, the proud caballero would bear himself majestically. at night, in his gloomy house, he would find his wife telling her beads, surrounded by docile slaves. sensuality and mysticism were the pleasures of the colonists. the convents themselves, despite their high walls, were not able to shut out these violent delights. licentious monks, nuns with lovers, sprightly abbés, figure in the chronicles of the period as in the italian _contes_. the cloister, with its rich arabesques, the _patio_ (courtyard) perfumed with orange-blossom, the murmuring jet of the fountain: these evoke the passion of andalusia. a devout society pays the insatiable convents a tribute of gold and virgins; and love, fleeing the dead cities, takes refuge in cells quick with ambition and unruly desires. the woman, guarded in the oriental fashion, in houses strong as fortresses, attracts society to her salon by her parisian grace; in a world of ponderous scholars she is famous for her amenity and subtlety. her fidelity, for the hidalgo, is a question of his honour. the husband revenges himself for transgressions by terrible punishments, as in the calderonian drama, while the heroic lover brings his exasperated desires to the moorish balcony, where he awaits his lady in torment. away from home, a host of illegitimate unions, of concubines, of clandestine amours. passion will be tragic and devotion voluptuous; in place of mystics we shall find _illuminés_. the devil is the essential personage of this religion of minutiæ; thanks to him the dreary colonial life is surrounded by mystery; his appearances and his manoeuvres thrill the creole's blood. hobgoblins, { } sorcerers, spells, thefts of the consecrated host, and exorcisms occupy the inquisition; tales of incubi and succubi, of pacts with satan, of ghosts that expiate their old offences in long-abandoned houses; absurd miracles of saints; processions mingling with the dances of slaves; gaily decked temples and parasitic rights which stifle the traditional faith, deprive the catholicism of spain of its semitic rigidity. all through life the pious colonist is surrounded by marvels. he loves nature with an ingenuous faith, and attributes to the saints and demons a continual intervention in his placid existence. an unexpected sound reveals the presence of a soul in torment; a tremor of the earth, the divine wrath; sickness is a proof of diabolic influence; health, of the efficacy of an amulet. in the pharmacies chimerical products may be purchased--condor's grease, unicorn's horns, and the claws of the "great beast." the monotonous hours are passed in devotions and futilities, prayers and conventual disputes, long ceremonies and useless entertainments. sometimes the even course of life is interrupted by a startling feat of prowess, or a festival, all gold and servility; the royal seals have arrived, a princess is born in spain, a treasure has been discovered, a port has been sacked by audacious pirates, or sorcerers or portuguese jews are to be burned in an imposing _autodafé_. then the provincial cities, slowly threaded by sumptuous processions, are all astir, but the dazzling vision is only ephemeral, and the grey monotony returns, with its petty quarrels, its indolence, its exaggerated rites. the royal seals arrive under a _pallium_, and a luxuriously appointed horse advances, bearing the treasure. the spectators kneel before the symbol of monarchical majesty, and incense, as at the feet of a byzantine ikon, expresses the adoration of { } believers. the viceroy also enters beneath a canopy, passing in solemn procession through the servile city, while the bells of a hundred churches celebrate his advent, and a solemn cohort of _cabildantes_ in their robes, monks of all orders, and bedizened doctors, praise with courtier-like devotion the glory of the royal messenger. in the religious festivals the majestic altars which the devout, in token of penitence, carry upon their shoulders, bear virgins clad in velvets and glittering with jewels, or saints that bow to one another like courtly hidalgos, or christs that weep before the wondering crowd. around these gorgeous altars dance the slaves, and the monks chant a melancholy anthem. seized by a sacred intoxication, men and women scourge their bodies till they bleed. the cry of anguish mingles with the monotony of the prayers, amidst the tremulous excitement of the faithful. the _autodafés_ were the supreme feast of blood. the chronicles of the time praise the "marvellous" spectacle. the funeral procession advanced towards the pyre, surrounded by burlesque and fanatical groups. groaning monks hemmed in the sorcerers, the blasphemers, the heretics; some bearing a yellow and others a green veil, and lugubrious draperies on which were miniature paintings descriptive of the infernal torments; others wore dunces' caps, which excited the cruelty of the people. as the victims proceeded to the pyre a crowd thirsting for the sight and sound of martyrdom, drunken with the heat of the sun, acclaimed the holocaust beneath the impassive tribune of the inquisitors. farce and grotesque invention mingled with tragedy, oriental luxury with a mystic terror; and the great lady who at night would be dancing the pavane in her salon now devoutly sniffed the acrid stench of charred flesh and blood. [ ] vol. iv. p. ; paris, . [ ] the portuguese colonisation of brazil was less rigid, and the commercial isolation less rigorous; and religion was neither fanatical nor so powerful as in the spanish colonies. { } chapter iii the struggle for independence i. economic and political aspects of the struggles--monarchy and the republic--the leaders: miranda, belgrano, francia, iturbide, king pedro i., artigas, san martin, bolivar--bolivar the liberator: his ideas and his deeds. ii. revolutionary ideology--influence of rousseau--the rights of man--the example of the united states--english ideas in the constitutional projects of miranda and bolivar--european action: canning. i. oppressed by theocracy and monopoly, by privileged castes and peninsular functionaries, the spanish and portuguese colonies aspired towards independence. the english provinces of the north separated themselves from england for practical reasons; in the struggles of the south we see a double economic and political motive. in some vice-royalties, such as that of la plata, the struggle was due chiefly to an opposition of interests; in other provinces, as in venezuela, ideas of political reform were predominant. writers have attempted to explain the unanimity of the liberative movement by a "historical materialism" analogous to that of karl marx and labriola; but the reality, richer and more complex, does not submit itself to this logical simplicity. the revolution was not merely an economic protest; it nourished concrete social ambitions. an equalising movement, it aimed at the destruction of privileges, of the arbitrary spanish hierarchy, and finally, when { } its levelling instinct was aroused and irritated, the destruction of authority to the profit of anarchy. the creoles, deprived of all political function, revolted; in matters of economics they condemned excessive taxation and monopoly; in matters of politics they attacked slavery, the inquisition, and moral tutelage. charles iii. had recognised, in , in spite of the counsels of his minister aranda, the independence of the united states, which were to serve his own colonies as precedent, and he expelled the jesuits from america, the defence of the indians against the oppression of spanish governors. the corruption of the courts, the sale of offices, and the tyranny of the viceroys, all added to the causes of discontent, disturbance, and poverty. the creoles opposed nationality to patriotism, the half-castes opposed democracy to the oligarchies. these were two phases of a great revolution. the first battle was over in , and the conflict between the privileged class and the democracy commenced. it reached its culminating point about , with the enfranchisement of the slaves, but it continued during the rest of the century and engendered an interminable civil discord. the spanish provinces, subjected to a political absolutism, transformed themselves into republics, a change of system that was not effected without a moral crisis. even while fighting their battles the creoles sought uneasily for a new mould into which to pour their liberalism. in the face of increasing disorder they had thoughts of a monarchy, of an oligarchic republic, of a permanent presidency: of various forms which might possess the necessary stability. three phases may be distinguished in the movement of liberation: the colonial, the monarchical, and the republican. during the first phase the colonists manifested their loyalty to the peninsular monarchy. { } the first colonial _juntas_, in and , desired the spanish suzerainty to be preserved. they invoked the feudal tie which bound them to the monarch, the imprisoned ferdinand vii. the french were triumphant in the peninsula, but they swore fidelity to the absent king. vassalage having been destroyed by the foreign invasion, the colonies, in accordance with the law of _las partidas_, acquired the right of self-government; they were reserved for the king. the _juntas_ disguised their radical ambitions under legal forms. their effort towards traditionalism was perhaps sincere on some occasions, but the current of revolution, which was gathering itself together in the womb of history, destroyed these provisional vistas. thus the _cabildo_ of buenos-ayres declared that "no obligations would be recognised other than those due to his person" (the king's). spaniards and americans joined in taking an oath of fidelity to ferdinand vii. the captain-general of venezuela, deprived of his functions in , was replaced by a "supreme junta," preserving the rights of the sovereign, and the oath of fidelity to the monarch was observed. in the junta of la paz, which emancipated the creoles, and the revolt of quito, recognised the same royal tutelage. the chilian regulations of enacted that the executive power should govern in the name of the king. in iturbide proclaimed his submission to the king upon founding the empire of mexico. it was an ephemeral loyalty, given to a king who had abdicated, who had suffered exile, and who, after the liberal cortes of cadiz, re-established a despotic government. these immense colonies did not revolt merely in order to restore an incapable prince to his throne. while newly-created generals were winning battles political autonomy was becoming a fact. the creoles, who had directed the revolutionary movement, concealed their bold ambitions { } from a populace that was passive, a slave to routine, and largely royalist. [illustration: gabino barreda. great mexican educationalist general josÉ antonio paez. president of venezuela ( - and - )] the american _élite_ were monarchists. in liberating a continent their generals and statesmen professed to endow the new nations with the stability of a monarchy. iturbide was emperor of mexico. the lieutenants of bolivar offered the latter a crown; paez persistently held the imperial ambition before him. belgrano, in , at the congress of tucuman, stated that the best form of government for the argentine was "a tempered monarchy"; and many deputies in that assembly demanded the restoration of the throne of the incas and of its traditional seat at cuzco: in short, the creation of an american dynasty. bolivar wished to see colombia and spanish america constitutional monarchies with foreign princes. ministers were to exercise a policy "of vigilance or defence, of mediation or influence, of protection or tutelage" on the part of the great european states in respect of the colombian nation. other partisans of the monarchy were flores, sucre, monteagudo, garcia del rio, riva-agüero, and the argentine director posadas, who wished to establish that form of government "on solid and permanent foundations" in the provinces of la plata; dean funes, the colombians nariño, mosquera, briceno mendez, and others. the founders of south american independence understood that only a strong government could save the new nations from demagogy, anarchy, warfare between military chiefs, and untimely provincial ambitions. they wanted autonomy without licence, monarchy without despotism, and political solidity without spanish suzerainty. despite this conviction on the part of the revolutionaries, south america saw the birth of the republic. alberdi wrote that its origin was involuntary, and that it was the result of european { } indifference and yankee egoism; more than involuntary, it was spontaneous. the demagogues and the crowd accepted it as the negation of monarchy. the latter symbolised the gothic despotism, the old humiliating domination, the persistence of castes and municipal privilege. in the popular mind, naturally of a simplifying tendency, monarchy was slavery; anarchy and the republic were liberty; there was no distinction between the king of spain and other princes, between the absolutism of ferdinand vii. and the constitutional monarchy of england. a universal hatred condemned all kings. the republic was not so much an organisation or a political system as a negation, and indissolubly bound up with it were the cardinal ideas of country, equality, and liberty. monarchy offered america stability and independence; it would have prevented civil war and avoided half a century of anarchy. it was the sole american tradition. the battles of the revolution gave the hegemony to ambitious generals; against these a central government, above the quarrels of parties, would have defended liberal institutions. a constitutional prince would have given these divided nations unity and continuity, under the pressure of which ambitions, parties, and classes would finally have found their places. the social elevation of half-castes and mulattos would have been less violent under such a system. finally, the american monarchy would have entered into the group of occidental nations, and the monroe doctrine would not have isolated her politically from the europe that sent her men, money, and ideas. but would it have been possible to found respectable and lasting dynasties in america? the fall of two empires, mexico and brazil, tells us that republicanism is obscurely implicated with the { } destinies of the country. the new states had no nobles to surround a prince, nor could they have supported the luxury of a court. the equalitarian instinct condemned all hierarchies in america, and there were no princes to become creators of nationality as in modern europe. the viceroys and semi-feudal barons exercised an ephemeral empire and were not americans; the colonies were used to frequent changes of authority. to these reasons in favour of a republic we must add the danger that foreign monarchies might have involved the continent in the diplomatic complications of europe. perhaps even the holy alliance would have led the colonies back to spain, as a prodigal child is led back to its parents. bolivar expounded the defects of a foreign monarchy. to the imported king he would have preferred the irremovable president and the english senate, and if in the face of advancing anarchy he glanced at the question of european princes he soon understood that it could never prove a radical solution of the problems of the new world. "there is no power more difficult to maintain than that of a new prince" he told the bolivians. there were in america "neither great nobles nor great prelates, and without these two props no monarchy is permanent." to the liberator kings symbolised tyranny; he connected independence with republicanism, and believed that nature itself would oppose the monarchical system in america. in , in a letter to vergera, the colombian minister of foreign affairs, he expressed his arguments against the monarchy with great precision: "no foreign prince," he wrote, "would accept as his patrimony a principality which was anarchical and without guarantees; the national debts and the poverty of the country leave no means to entertain a prince and a court, even miserably; the lower classes would { } take alarm, fearing the effects of aristocracy and inequality; the generals and the ambitious of every stamp could never support the idea of seeing themselves deprived of the supreme command; the new nobility indispensable to a monarchy would issue from the mass of the people, with every species of jealousy on the one hand and of pride on the other. no one would patiently endure such a miserable aristocracy, steeped in ignorance and poverty and full of ridiculous pretensions." the creator of five nations, bolivar was profoundly conscious of the new social body, a disturbed and disorganised mass. he understood that the ambition of his lieutenants and the equalitarian tendency of the mob would oppose an american monarchy or a foreign principality. iturbide and maximilian, two emperors dethroned and shot, have justified his objections. england, who might have founded constitutional monarchies in america, in spite of the holy alliance, pursued a commercial rather than a political policy. in lord aberdeen announced that his government would not permit the establishment of a french or english prince, nor a prince of any other european dynasty, in colombia. he would accept only a spanish prince, or the monarchy of bolivar himself.[ ] the conde de aranda proposed to the king of spain that america should be divided into nations governed by the infantas, but his plan was not followed up. once the independence of america was a fact, and the despotism of ferdinand vii. re-established, no spanish prince could be acceptable either to argentina or colombia. in the face of european indifference the tentative efforts of the monarchists spent themselves in america, and the continent acquired its definitive individuality. in opposition to the monarchies by divine right of the { } old world a liberal world came to birth; incoherent and incipient nationalities adopted equalitarian constitutions, which were, in the distant future, to flood their deserted territories with immense moral and material forces. from mexico to chili the same revolutionary fervour engendered the partial movements of to . conspirators similar to the italian _carbonari_, lodges in which men spoke of liberty in the midst of ingenuous rites, and university students who had read the encyclopædists, were preparing the great crusade. the year was the first of the revolution. on the st of january there was a popular rising in buenos-ayres; on the th of july a revolt at la paz; on the nd of august a meeting took place at quito. in an english expedition attacked buenos-ayres. at a venture, on his way home from africa, an officer who entertained ambitions in the direction of new territory and new sources of wealth--sir home popham--invaded the capital of the viceroyalty of la plata. this city was defended not by the legitimate spanish authority, but by a noble _caudillo_, who was soon to be a popular viceroy: santiago de liniers, the hero of the "reconquest." in this struggle against the imperialist invader the argentine people found the first revelation of nationality. first they freed themselves from the english; then from the spaniards. on the th of may, , the _cabildo abierto_ (the municipality and the people), who had united on the nd, demanded the dismissal of the viceroy, and elected a governmental and revolutionary _junta_, patriotic but undecided. as early as , in montevideo, a _junta_ formed in the heat of a violent popular commotion had turned against the viceroy of buenos-ayres. spain implacably condemned these precursors of the independence. she exiled or strangled the rebels, { } zela in peru; dr. espejo in ecuador; gual y españa in venezuela; two indomitable priests, hidalgo and morelos, in mexico; father camilo henriquez and dr. martinez de rosas in chili; tiradentes in brazil; nariño in colombia; all, between and , struggled against the governors and viceroys, and in their liberal enthusiasm were precursors of the audacious wars of the future. the most notable of these was a byronic individual, the venezuelan francisco de miranda. he was born in caracas in . he had a brilliant career in europe, knew ministers and monarchs, was the favourite of catherine of russia, fought beside dumouriez in the armies of the french revolution, went to the united states with the legion which spain sent thither to fight in the cause of american independence, obtained the sanction of pitt to lead revolutionary expeditions against the spanish authorities in venezuela, and was concerned in all the liberative movements of his time, whether in caracas or buenos-ayres. he formed an alliance between the destinies of the continent and the ambition of england, the gold of the london bankers, and the interests of english merchants, and so contributed, even more than by his abortive enterprises, to the cause of american liberty. the cycle of the precursors closed and that of the liberators opened. the spanish reaction had not vanquished the revolutionary principle. the first _caudillos_ were dead; they were replaced by fresh leaders: the directors, energetic and impassioned: belgrano and san martin in the argentine, dr. francia in paraguay, artigas in uruguay, iturbide in mexico, general morazan in central america, king pedro i. in brazil, and bolivar, the liberator of five republics. [illustration: general francisco de miranda (venezuela). who prepared for the liberation of his country. to face p. .] belgrano, an economic reformer, a supporter of commercial liberty, a founder of schools, was the { } leader of the argentine emancipation. he fought in paraguay, where he suggested autonomy; in uruguay, in the argentine sierra, and on the frontiers of upper peru. he was not a fortunate leader; he won the battle of tucuman, but he was defeated by the royalists in other battles: vilcapugio and ayohuma. he retired, then returned to the struggle; took part in the civil wars against the dissident leaders, defended the constitutional monarchy at the congress of tucuman, and from to personified the uncertain progress of the argentine revolution. san martin was his superior as a successful fighter, and in the scope of his action as liberator; he was a continental figure. a great general, able to organise armies and lead them to victory, his mind was methodical and conservative; he disliked abstractions, and was concrete and positive in his plans. he delivered chili and contributed to the independence of peru. while others were drawing up political programmes he was winning battles. he recalls washington by the disinterested nobility of his character; he refused power after liberating two nations, and condemned himself to exile, being surrounded by ambitious generals who quarrelled for the supreme power. in action he was simple and orderly, and progressive; he defeated the spaniards at san lorenzo in , giving proof of admirable warlike qualities; he then led the army of the north which fought in upper peru, and became the intendant of an argentine province, cuyo, in . there he formed an army, and proposed to cross the andes to the aid of the chilian patriots. according to a french military critic, m. charles malo, "the passage of the andes was in no way surpassed by the more famous passage of the alps by the french." the summits of the cordilleras are over twelve thousand feet high; and it was across them that { } the army of san martin, decimated and heroic, victorious over cold and fatigue, made its way into chili. from that time forward the argentine leader was an american general. at the foot of the cordilleras, on the flanks of chacabuco, he gained a decisive battle over the spaniards ( ). he dislodged them from the summits which they occupied and entered santiago in triumph, and was there proclaimed supreme director of chili. he accepted the command of the armies, and was thereafter victorious at maipo ( ), where his artillery put the royalists to flight. chilian independence once assured, he aspired to fresh victories in peru. american autonomy was his unfaltering ambition. the peruvian viceroyalty was the centre of the spanish power, the treasury and arsenal of the royalists. bolivar, in colombia, and san martin, in chili, understood that all their victories would remain futile if they did not defeat spain in the richest and most impregnable of her domains. lord cochrane, an english privateer, who had seen service in the mediterranean, formed a squadron in chilian waters for the purpose of dominating the pacific ( ). he defeated the spanish fleet at callao, and declared a blockade of the peruvian ports as far as guayaquil. during this time san martin was making ready, with his argentine and chilian troops, for his expedition of liberation. the peruvian revolutionaries were awaiting him. he landed at pisco ( ) with his army, and proclaimed the independence of peru at lima, which the spaniards had deserted, on the st of july, . appointed protector of the republic which he had founded, he promulgated a provisional constitution. then from the north came another liberator, bolivar, to discuss with san martin, in that mysterious interview at guayaquil, the destinies of the spanish new world. [illustration: san martin. general of argentine, liberator of chile, and protector of peru. to face p. .] san martin, stoical and silent, yielded to the { } impetuosity of bolivar, abandoned peru to him, the theatre of his future deeds of prowess, renounced his position ( ), and left america. his ambition, like his genius, was circumscribed; he preferred military glory to dictatorships; he believed in the benefits of foreign monarchies: he could organise armies, but he was powerless before anarchy. bolivar is the greatest of the american liberators. he surpasses some in ambition, others in heroism, and all in multiform activity, in prophetic insight, and in power. he was, amid the glorious generals and rival _caudillos_, the hero of carlyle, "source of light, of intimate and native originality, virility, nobility, and heroism, in contact with whom every soul feels that it is in its element." all powers yielded to him. "often," writes general santander, "i go to him full of rancour, and only to see him disarms me, and i go away full of admiration." the people, with an infallible instinct, understood his heroic mission and worshipped him; the clergy praised him, and the glory of bolivar was sung in the catholic churches. he was statesman and warrior; he could criticise olmedo's ode on the battle of junin, decide the make-up of a journal, draw a plan of battle, organise legions, draft statutes, give diplomatic advice, and direct great campaigns; his genius was as rich and as various as that of napoleon. five nations, which he had snatched from the rule of spain, seemed to him a narrow theatre for his magnificent career; he conceived a vast plan of continental federation. at panama he assembled the ambassadors of ten republics, and was already dreaming of an amphictyonic league of nations which should influence the destinies of the world. simon bolivar was born at caracas on the th of july, , of a noble family of vascongadas. in his youth he travelled through europe in company { } with his tutor, simon rodriguez: an austere mentor. he studied the latin classics, montesquieu, rousseau, holbach, and the encyclopædists. before his tutor, at rome, on the monte sacro, he swore, like hannibal of old, to consecrate his life to the liberation of his native country. he was nervous, impetuous, sensual--traits of the american creole of the south; active and persevering in his undertakings, as an heir to the tenacity of the biscayan should be; generous to a fault, and valiant to the verge of folly. he had the bearing and the features of a typical _caudillo_; the forehead high, the back straight; a luminous glance that impressed both friends and enemies, a resolute air, and eloquent gestures. his was a nature shaped for action, unhesitating and immediate; he had the face and the genius of an imperator. at caracas, after his long years of travel, he kept his roman oath. from to he fought against the spaniards and against his own generals, indefatigable in his task of liberation. two terrible iberian warriors, boves and morillo, carried "war to the death" into venezuela. bolivar opposed them, aided by bermudez piar, mariño, and paez, lieutenants alternately for and against him during his warlike career. in the antilles he made ready for many expeditions. he was appointed supreme leader, provisional president, and director of the country; his generals doubted him, were jealous of his fame, and conspired against his authority, but bolivar continued the war in the midst of the anarchy of colombia. [illustration: bolivar in . to face p. .] he routed the spaniards at boyaca in , and at carabobo in , and entered caracas victorious. colombia liberated, he turned to quito. one of his lieutenants, sucre, a man heroic and noble as the heroes of antiquity, won fresh battles at bombona and pinchincha ( ). peru appealed to the liberator, to "bolivar, the hero of america." { } the colombian _caudillo_ did not ignore the perils of the undertaking; the spanish troops were good fighters; they had been victorious, and were not without resources in the sierra; and the peruvian and colombian allies were inferior to them in experience and cohesion. "this matter of the war in peru demands an enormous effort and inexhaustible resources," he wrote to sucre. impelled by his genius, he accepted the offer of the peruvians, for he did not forget that "the loss of peru would necessarily involve that of the whole of the south of colombia." the congress of lima invested him with "the supreme military authority throughout the territory of the republic." two great battles, junin and ayacucho ( ), assured the independence of america. at junin bolivar led a cavalry charge which decided the day, which was followed by a hand-to-hand fight, not a single musket-shot being heard above the ring and clash of the sabres. sucre was the hero of ayacucho: it was he who devised the admirable plan of battle. the patriots were , , the spaniards , . the spanish artillery was superior to that of the allies. the enemy opened fire, descending the hillsides; the two lines of battle drew together. night brought a truce; the officers of the two armies chatted in friendly groups before the coming conflict. on the morning of the th of december a charge of cavalry under general cordova scattered the spanish battalions: whereupon the royalist reserve came into action. the left wing of the allies wavered, but was reinforced, and the victory was complete. the spanish army capitulated, its generals surrendered, and peru was abandoned by its ancient rulers. bolivar praised the heroism of sucre, "the father of ayacucho, the saviour of the sons of the sun," and lima lauded the liberator to the skies, proclaimed him the father and saviour of peru, and elected him permanent president. after { } these victories the capture of potosi by the troops of sucre and the reduction of the fortress of callao, where the _penates_ of spain were guarded, terminated bolivar's magnificent career. his last years were melancholy, like a tropical twilight. paez and santander revolted against him; he was given the supreme power and deprived of it; he was offered a crown, and was the victim of conspiracy. the liberator died, abandoned, a tragic figure, at santa marta, on the deserted colombian coast, like napoleon at st. helena, at the age of forty-seven, on the th of december, . statesman and general, bolivar was even greater in the assembly than on the field of battle. equal to sucre and san martin as tactician, as politician he was the greatest of all the _caudillos_. he was the thinker of the revolution; he drafted statutes, analysed the social condition of the democracies he liberated, and foretold the future with the precision of a seer. the enemy of ideologists, like the great first consul, an idealist and a romantic, a lover of syntheses in the region of ideas and of politics, he never forgot the rude environment of his deeds. his latin dreams were tempered by a saxon realism. a disciple of rousseau, he wished "the will of the people to be the only power existing on the face of the earth"; but in the face of an anarchical democracy he sought uneasily for a moral power. in he thought that the sovereignty of the people was not illimitable: "justice is its basis, and perfect utility sets a term to it." a republican--"since napoleon has been a monarch," he said, he who so admired napoleon, "his glory seems to me a gleam from hell"--he wished, despite the servile admiration of his friends, to be neither a napoleon nor an iturbide. he disdained all imperial pomp; he wished to be merely the soldier of the independence. he made a profound analysis of the failings of a future { } monarchy in the old spanish colonies. at the conference of guayaquil ( ) san martin represented the monarchical tendency, bolivar the republican principle. their opposition was irreconcilable, said mitre, the argentine historian, for one was working for the argentine hegemony and the other for the colombian: the first respected the individuality of the separate peoples and would only accept intervention in exceptional cases; the second wished to unite the various peoples according to a "plan of absorption and monocracy."[ ] this antagonism called for a superior point of agreement, a synthesis, for the colombian doctrine brought with it as a reaction the premature formation of unstable democracies, and the argentine theory favoured indifference, egoism, and the isolation of nations united by race, tradition, and history. the genius, aristocratic pride, and ambition of bolivar impelled him towards autocracy. he exercised a dictatorship and believed in the benefits of a permanent presidency. "in republics," he stated, "the executive power should be of the strongest, for all conspire against it; while in monarchies the legislative power should be supreme, for all conspire in favour of the monarch. hence the necessity of giving a republican magistrate more authority than a constitutional prince." he did not forget the dangers of an autocratic presidency; but he feared anarchy, "the ferocious hydra of discordant anarchy," which grew like a noxious vegetation, stifling his triumphant work. he regarded with amazement the contradictions of american life: disorder leads to dictatorship, and the latter is the enemy of democracy. "the permanence of power in a single individual," writes the liberator, "has often marked the end of democratic governments." yet "indefinite liberty, absolute democracy, are { } snares in which all republican hopes come to grief." liberty without licence, authority without tyranny: such was the ideal of bolivar. in vain did he struggle single-handed amid ambitious generals and a disordered people; before he died he understood the vanity of his efforts. "those who have served the cause of the revolution," he cried, "have ploughed the sand.... if it were possible that a portion of the world should return to its primitive chaos, such would be the last phase of america." he denounced the moral poverty of these new republics with the severity of a hebrew prophet. "there is no faith in america, neither in men nor in nations. their treaties are waste paper; their constitutions are paper and ink; their elections are battles; liberty is anarchy, and life a torment." this pessimism, the _credo_ of his maturity, was born of his implacable analysis of american failings. bolivar understood the original traits and the vices of the new continent. "we are," he said, "a small human family; we possess a world of our own, surrounded by vast oceans; new in almost every art and science, although, in a certain sense, old in the usages of civil society. the present state of america recalls the fall of the roman empire, when each part formed a distinct political system, in conformity with its interests, its situation, or its corporations." "we shall not see, nor the generation following us," he wrote in , "the triumph of the america we are founding: i regard america as in the chrysalis. there will be a metamorphosis in the physical life of its inhabitants; there will finally be a new caste, of all the races, which will result in the homogeneity of the people." while scholars were constructing utopias, imitating, in their provisional statutes, the federal constitution of the united states, and legislating for an ideal democracy, bolivar was studying the social { } conditions of america. "we are not europeans," he wrote, "nor indians either; but a kind of half-way species between the aborigines and the spaniards; american by birth, european by right, we find ourselves forced to dispute our titles of possession with the natives, and to maintain ourselves in the country which saw our birth in spite of the opposition of invaders: so that our case is all the more extraordinary and complicated." "let us be careful not to forget that our race is neither european nor north american; but rather a composite of america and africa, than an emanation from europe, since spain herself ceased to be european by virtue of her african [arab] blood, her institutions, and her character." the liberator proposed political institutions suited to a continent which in its territory and race and history was original. he was in favour of a tutelary authority: "the american states need the care of paternal governments which will heal the wounds and sores of despotism and war." he loathed federalism and the division of power: "let us abandon the federal forms of government: they are not suited to us. such a form of society is a regularised anarchy, or rather a law which implicitly prescribes the necessity of dissociating and ruining the state in all its members.... let us abandon the triumvirate of the executive power, by concentrating it in the person of a president, and conferring on him a sufficient authority to enable him to maintain himself and contend against the inconveniences inherent in our recent situation." he taught valuable lessons in public wisdom: "to form a stable government we must have the basis of a national spirit which has for its object a uniform inclination towards two capital points: to moderate the general will and limit the public authority. the blood of our fellow-citizens presents many diversities: let us { } mix it in order to unify it; our constitution has divided its powers: let us confound them in order to unite them.... we ought to induce immigration of the peoples of north america and europe, in order that they may settle here and bring us their arts and sciences. these advantages, an independent government, free schools, and intermarriage with europeans and anglo-americans, will totally change the character of the country, and will render it well-informed and prosperous.... we lack mechanics and agriculturists, and it is these that the country has need of to ensure advancement and progress." in bolivar's writings are to be found the best programmes of political and social reform for america; he was the first sociologist of these romantic democracies. carabobo and junin were his great military triumphs; the letter from jamaica ( ), the constitutional project of angostura ( ), the statute of bolivia ( ), and the congress of panama ( ) were his most admirable political creations. to unite the american nations in a permanent assembly; to oppose anglo-saxon power by latin force, the necessary factor of continental equilibrium; to labour in favour of unity and synthesis: such was the aim of the abortive assembly of panama. the letter from jamaica was a prophecy which the docile reality was to accomplish during the century. "from the nature of the different regions of the country, from the wealth, population, and character of the mexicans," said the liberator, "i imagine that they will attempt in the beginning to establish a representative republic in which the executive will have very wide attributes and will be concentred in a single person, who, if he governs with wisdom and justice, will attain almost naturally to irremovable authority." "if the preponderant party is military or aristocratic, it will be in favour of a monarchy, which { } will probably be limited and constitutional in the first place, but will very soon become absolute." the presidency of porfirio diaz, the empire of iturbide and maximilian, supported by the monarchist party, and even the dictatorship of juarez, and the powers which the mexican constitutions have conferred on the head of the state, all confirmed the predictions of bolivar. "the states of the isthmus of panama as far as guatemala will form a federation." this federation existed until , and to-day the central american republics are slowly returning to it. panama was for the liberator the emporium of the world. "its canals will shorten the distances of the world, will strengthen the ordinary ties between europe, america, and asia, and will bring to this happy region the tribute of the four quarters of the globe. there alone, perhaps, the capital of the world might be set, as constantine pretended to make of byzantium the capital of the ancient world." "new granada will unite itself to venezuela in order to form a central republic, whose capital will be maracaibo, or a new city, which, under the name of las casas (in honour of that hero of philanthropy), will spring up on the confines of the two countries, on the superb harbour of bahia-honda." bolivar kept venezuela and new granada united until ; then new leaders, such as general mosquera, wished to establish the federation which even to-day is still the object of the politicians of ecuador, venezuela, and colombia. "at buenos-ayres there will be a central government, in which the military power will be supreme as a consequence of intestine divisions and external war." this is a prophecy of argentine history up to the advent of rosas, the struggles of the _caudillos_, and the anarchy of . "this constitution will necessarily degenerate into an oligarchy or a monocracy." and a plutocratic group did actually rule in buenos-ayres, { } and over all rose the monocracy of rosas. "chili is called by the nature of her situation, by the simple customs of her virtuous inhabitants, and the example of her neighbours, the proud republicans of araucania, to enjoy the benefits of the just and mild laws of a republic. if any republic lasts long in america i incline to think it will be the chilian.... chili will not alter her laws, manners, or practices; she will maintain the uniformity of her political and religious opinions." the long stability of the araucanian nation, the homogeneity of its population, the lasting nature of its political charter, the conservative character of its institutions, the slow and steady development of chili until the war of the pacific and the revolution of , fully realised the prophecies of bolivar. "peru includes two elements inimical to all just and liberal government--gold and slavery. the first corrupts everything; the second is corrupt in itself. the soul of a serf rarely succeeds in taking liberty sanely. it rushes furiously into tumult, or lives humiliated in chains. although these rules are applicable to all america, i believe they apply with most reason to lima. there the rich will not tolerate the democracy, and the slaves and the liberated slaves will not tolerate the aristocracy; the first will prefer the tyranny of a single person, in order to avoid popular persecutions and to establish a rule that will at least be pacific." the evolution of peru proved the profound truth of this statement. the oligarchy accepted military dictators, who upheld property and preserved peace. as early as , when america was still a spanish domain, bolivar, watching the spectacle of social forces in conflict, announced not merely the immediate struggles, but the secular development of ten nations. he was a great prophet. to-day, a century later, the continent is fulfilling his predictions as though they were a fate strangely laid upon it. { } at angostura the liberator placed before the colombians a draft of a constitution. the bases of this constitution were republican government, the sovereignty of the people, the division of powers, civil liberty, and the abolition of slavery and of privilege. in this remarkable essay we find the theories of montesquieu, rousseau, and bentham, the realism of england and the democratic enthusiasm of france. the legislative power is to be composed of two chambers: the first popularly elected, and the senate hereditary, according to the english tradition, formed by the liberators who would found the nobility of america. the president is a kind of constitutional king; his ministers, who are to be responsible, will govern. the judiciary will acquire stability and independence. a new authority, the moral power, completes the political structure. this moral power of the liberator's republic is an imitation of the athenian areopagus and the roman censors: it is to be responsible for education and ensure respect for morality and the law; "it chastises vice by opprobrium and infamy, and rewards the public virtues by honour and glory." bolivar had a tendency towards moral and intellectual despotism: this tribunal was to compel good behaviour. later the liberator condemned the teachings of bentham in the universities of colombia, and accepted catholicism as an instrument of the government. article of the angostura draft states that "ingratitude, disrespect, and disloyalty toward parents, husbands, the aged, the magistrates, and citizens recognised and proclaimed as virtuous; the breaking of the given word, in no matter what connection; insensibility before public misfortunes or those affecting friends or immediate relations, are recommended especially to the vigilance of this moral power." this was paternal tyranny, exercised over the feelings, the conduct, and the passions. { } bolivar created a republic--upper peru, which was to call itself bolivia in memory of its founder. he gave it the constitution he wished, but in vain, to apply to peru and colombia. he developed there the ideas expounded in the angostura draft, and thereby defined his ideal of a republic; it was, in fact, a monarchy in which the power was hereditary. the president must be irremovable and irresponsible, "for in systems without hierarchy there must be--more than in others--a fixed point upon which magistrates and citizens, men and things, may revolve." against anarchy, a fixed magistracy; against tyranny, independent powers; the judiciary elected by congress among the citizens nominated by the electoral colleges; the legislature composed of three chambers: tribunes, senators, and censors. the first exercise their functions for four years, the second for eight, and the last are permanent, "and exercise a moral and political control"; they constitute the "moral power." with this system the liberator avoided political anarchy and the destructive ambition of the _caudillos_, constituting two stable forces in the midst of shifting democracies--the censors and the permanent president. he adapted unity and permanence--characteristics of the constitutional monarchy--to republicanism. the generals quickly realised that this constitution was a menace to them, and rose against it in bolivia, in peru, and in colombia. the founders of the independence were surrounded by brilliant leaders, such as o'higgins, the carreras, güemes, la mar, santander, santa-cruz, and sucre, admirable as hero and statesman; but above them, dominating them all like an oak in the midst of saplings, according to the classic image, towered bolivar, liberator of venezuela, colombia, ecuador, peru, and bolivia. [illustration: bolivar. the liberator of venezuela, new granada, ecuador, peru, and bolivia. to face p. .] he was the genius of the south american revolution. { } he felt himself dominated by "the dæmon of war." like all great tormented spirits since socrates, he obeyed, in his impetuous campaigns, an interior divinity. in his acts and his speeches, in his dignity and his faith, there was a notable grandeur. he worked for eternity, accumulating dreams and utopias, dominating the hostile earth and censorious man; he was the superman of nietzsche, the representative man of emerson. he belonged to the ideal family of napoleon and cæsar; a sublime creator of nations; greater than san martin, greater than washington. ii. from france, as emissaries of the ideal, came the doctrines of the revolution. in the encyclopædia we find the intellectual origin of the south american upheavals. the patricians in the archaic colonial cities smiled upon voltaire; they adopted the essential ideals of rousseau, the social contract, the sovereignty of the people, and the optimism which conceded supreme rights to the human spirit untainted by culture. bolivar had read the _contrat social_ in a volume that had formed part of the library of napoleon; by will he left this book to an intimate friend. the great, sounding promises--democracy, sovereignty, human rights, equality, liberalism--stirred the patriotic tribunes like fragments of a new gospel. the masonic lodges worked in silence against the power of spain and portugal, and upheld the humanitarian ideas of french philosophy. in the lodge of lautaro, san martin and alvear received their initiation as revolutionaries. in mexico the lodge of york was transformed into a jacobin club. in antonio nariño, the forerunner of colombian independence, translated the _rights of man_. the venezuelan miranda fought in the revolutionary armies of france; the peruvian pablo de olavide, the friend of voltaire, took part in the convention; { } raynal, condorcet, and mably had american disciples. montesquieu was read in the universities as an antidote to the absolutism of the viceroys; beccaria, filangeri, and adam smith were among the prophets. not only did french thought predominate, but the revolution, the terror, the jacobin madness, the eloquence of the girondins, the dictatorship of the first consul, and the empire, even, all exercised an immense influence upon the rising democracies of america. iturbide, emperor of mexico, imitated napoleon; in buenos-ayres there was a directoire, as in paris; there were consuls in paraguay, and rivadavia was a girondist lost among the _gauchos_. to the aid of french theory came the example of north america; washington and the federal system served the iberian statesmen as models. belgrano exalted the first president of the united states as a hero "worthy of the admiration of our own age and of the generations to come--an example of moderation and true patriotism." he translated the _farewell address_, which was his favourite reading. bolivar wished to be the washington of south america. one of the forerunners of brazilian independence, josé joaquin de maia, had known jefferson in paris, and informed him that "the brazilians considered the north american revolution as the expression of their desires, and they counted on the assistance of the united states." the first south american constitutions betrayed this double influence; they adopted the policy of federalism, copying the political organisation of the united states, and were inspired by french ideas. they destroyed the privileges of the nobility, and established equality of caste. this was the case with the first venezuelan constitution, despite the efforts of miranda and bolivar--opponents of federation. the chilian constitution of and the peruvian constitution of { } conferred a conservative function upon the senate, as in the north american republic; and the first chilian statutes established federation. in mexico and in central america the federal principle dominated the constitutions of and . the argentine constitution of was a copy "for the united provinces of south america of the declaration of independence of the united states." to french doctrines and the example of the united states we must add the influence of english ideas. miranda and bolivar admired the political constitution of great britain, and were inspired by it. bolivar, in , recommended the study of this constitution: "you will find therein," he said, "the division of powers, the only means of creating free and independent spirits, and the liberty of the press--that incomparable antidote to political abuses." his enthusiasm for voltaire and rousseau was tempered by a study of english methods. in his angostura draft he recommended a permanent senate, a reproduction of the house of lords. the british executive--the sovereign surrounded by responsible ministers--seemed to him "the most perfect model, whether for a kingdom, or an aristocracy, or a democracy." the colombian constitution of cucuta ( ), in which the political ideas of the liberator were predominant, merited the eulogy of the marquis of lansdowne. "it has for its basis," said the english minister, "the two most just and solid principles"--property and education. miranda laid before pitt a constitutional essay inspired by british ideas, with a house of commons, an upper chamber composed of hereditary inca _caciques_ and censors; in which curious project we find american traditions mingled with political forms borrowed from the english. spain also contributed to the development of the revolutionary ideas. she united the populations of { } america under her crushing authority; she combined in a single body all the disinherited castes which were later to struggle for independence. "the despotic rigour of authority," wrote bauza, "unites all these heterogeneous elements with a rigid tie, and forms a race of them."[ ] the napoleonic invasion provoked a reaction in the peninsula: the _juntas_--provisional representations of nationality--took the place of the captured king. the central _junta_ proclaimed in that "the american provinces are not colonies, but integral portions of the monarchy, equal in their rights to the rest of the spanish provinces." in the regency informed the american colonies: "your fate depends upon neither ministers nor viceroys nor governors: it is in your own hands." the constitution of the cortes of cadiz ( ), at which the deputies of the colonies were present, declared "that the spanish union cannot be the patrimony of a person nor a family--that sovereignty resides essentially in the nation--and that the right of making law belongs to the cortes and the king." in these documents, independence, national sovereignty, the idea of the native country, and the functions of the assemblies came overseas from the metropolis. the struggles against privateers, against the english invasions of buenos-ayres and the dutch invasions of brazil, and the influence of the territory itself, created the sentiment of nationality in america. french, english, and spanish ideas fertilised this vague aspiration. before imposing themselves upon the universities and assemblies these ideas became current in the journals and the meetings of the _cabildo_ and revealed to the creole oligarchy its desire for independence. from to all things conspired to help the cause of american liberty; revolutions in europe, ministers in england, the independence of { } the united states, the excesses of spanish absolutism, the constitutional doctrines of cadiz, the romantic faith of the liberators, the political ambition of the oligarchies, the ideas of rousseau and the encyclopædists, the decadence of spain, and the hatred which all the classes and castes in america entertained for the inquisitors and the viceroys. so many forces united engendered a sorry and divided world. the genesis of the southern republics is rude and heroic as a _chanson de geste_. then history degenerates until it becomes a comedy of mean and petty interests--a revolutionary orgy. such was the evolution of south america during the nineteenth century. [ ] gil fortoul, _historia constitucional de venezuela_, berlin, , vol. i, p. . [ ] _historia de san martin_, buenos-ayres, , vol. i. p. . [ ] _historia de la dominacion española en el uruguay_, vol. ii. p. . { } chapter iv military anarchy and the industrial period anarchy and dictatorship--the civil wars: their significance--characteristics of the industrial period. spencer observed the invariable succession of two periods in the development of human affairs--the military and the industrial period. bagehot contrasted a primitive epoch of authority and a posterior epoch of discussion. sumner-maine discovered a historic law--the progress from status to contract; from the _régime_ imposed by despotic governors to a flexible organisation accepted by free wills. thus, in three different formulæ, we may express the same principle of evolution. in the beginning a warlike and theocratic authority determines ritual, customs, dogma, and laws. the common conscience is potent; individuality accepts without discussion or scepticism the essential rules of social life. history is thereafter a struggle between authority and liberty, a progressive affirmation of autonomous wills, an assertion of destructive and censorious individualism. in america political development presents the same successive phases. invariably we find the sequence of the two periods, one military and one industrial or civil. the independence realised, the rule of militarism sets in throughout the republics. after a period of uncertain duration the military caste is hurled from power, or abdicates without violence, and economic interests become supreme. politics are { } then ruled by "civilism." the military _régime_ is not theocratic, as in some european monarchies; the president does not combine the functions of religion and empire. none the less, the civil period involves a fatal reaction against the church--a period of anti-clericalism or radicalism. the revolution is confined to a change of oligarchies: the military group gives way to plutocracy. [illustration: general juan josÉ flores. president of ecuador ( - and - ). to face p. .] as the generals of alexander disputed, after his death, for the provinces of europe, asia, and africa, the remains of the imperial feast, and founded new dynasties in the flood of oriental decadence, so the lieutenants of bolivar dominated american life for a period of fifty years. flores in ecuador, paez in venezuela, santa-cruz in bolivia, and santander in colombia, governed as the heirs of the liberator. so long as the shadow of the magnificent warrior lay upon the destinies of america, so long the _caudillos_ triumphed, consecrated by the choice of bolivar. the monarchial principle was thus forced upon unconscious humanity. the liberator left america in the hands of a dynasty. the wars of the peoples were therefore civil conflicts; the quarrels of generals ambitious of hegemony. united in independence, united during the colonial period, the new nations were divided, and stood aside at the suggestion of these warriors; as ecuador, peru, and bolivia, in the name of santa-cruz or gamarra, castilla or flores. the national conscience was roughly shaped upon the field of battle. the generals imposed arbitrary limits upon the peoples; they are the creators in american history; they impress the crowds by their pomp and pageantry; by military displays as brilliant as the gaudy processions of the catholic cult; by magnificent escorts and decorations and forms of etiquette; they call themselves regenerators, restorers, protectors. { } this first period is troublous, but full of colour, energy, and violence. the individual acquires an extraordinary prestige, as in the time of the tuscan renaissance, the french terror, or the english revolution. the rude and bloodstained hand of the _caudillo_ forces the amorphous masses into durable moulds. south america is ruled by ignorant soldiers: the evolution of her republics must therefore be uncertain. there is, therefore, no history properly so called, for it has no continuity; there is a perpetual _ricorso_ brought about by successive revolutions; the same men appear with the same promises and the same methods. the political comedy is repeated periodically: a revolution, a dictator, a programme of national restoration. anarchy and militarism are the universal forms of political development. as in european revolutions, anarchy leads to dictatorship; and this provokes immediate counter-revolution. from spontaneous disorder we pass to a formidable tutelage. the example of france is repeated on a new stage; the anarchy of the convention announces the autocracy of bonaparte. the dictators, like the kings of feudalism, defeat the local _caciques_, the provincial generals; thus did porfirio diaz, garcia moreno, guzman-blanco, &c. and revolution follows revolution until the advent of the destined tyrant, who dominates the life of the nation for twenty or thirty years. material progress is the work of the autocracy; as witness the rule of rosas, guzman-blanco, portales, and diaz. the great _caudillos_ will have nothing to do with abstractions; their realistic minds urge them to encourage commerce and industry, immigration and agriculture. by imposing long periods of peace they favour the development of economic forces. in matters political and economic the dictators profess americanism. they represent the new mixed { } race, tradition, and the soil. they are hostile to the rule of the roman church, of european capital, and of foreign diplomacy. their essential function, like that of the modern kings after feudalism, is to level mankind and unite the various castes. tyrants found democracies; they lean on the support of the people, the half-breeds and negroes, against the oligarchies; they dominate the colonial nobility, favour the crossing of races, and free the slaves. [illustration: artigas. liberator of uraguay. to face p. .] anarchy is spontaneous, like that which taine discovered in the jacobin revolution. there is a movement hostile to organisation, to civilisation: thus artigas fought at once against the king of spain, the argentine revolution, and the portuguese. he would have no subjection; he was a patriot to the death. güemes fought against spaniards and argentines. the _caudillos_ are like chiefs of barbarian tribes; they uphold local autonomy, division, and chaos. sarmiento compares lopez, ibarra, and quiroga, violent chieftains of the argentine sierra and pampa, to genghis khan or tamerlane. "individualism," he says, "is their essence; the horse their only arm; the pampa their theatre." the _montoneras_ are tartar hordes, burned by the sun--a wild, devastating force. their leaders represent the genius of the continent; they have the rudeness, the fatality of natural forces. like igdrasil, the fantastic tree of scandinavian mythology, they send their roots deep into the earth, into the obscure kingdom of the dead. the general ideas of this period are simple. there is a faith in the efficacy of political constitutions, and these are multiplied; men aspire to ideological perfection. they believe in the omnipotence of congresses, and distrust the government. constitutions separate the powers and enfeeble the executive, rendering it ephemeral; they divide authority by creating triumvirates, consulates, and governmental { } _juntas_. the liberalism of the charters is notable. they usually establish three powers, according to the traditional rule of montesquieu, in order to ensure political equilibrium; they recognise all the theoretical liberties--liberty of the press, of assembly, the rights of property, and industrial and commercial liberty. they accept trial by jury, popular petition, universal suffrage--in short, the whole republican ideal. they consecrate a state religion, catholicism, thus paving the way for religious revolutions, and all the "red and black" revolts and conspiracies of south american history. election is in some republics direct; in others by the second degree, by means of electoral colleges which appoint the president and the members of the legislative chambers. from north to south institutions are democratic; they bestow political rights with a generous profusion. the judicial power is independent, sometimes elected by the people, generally by congress. the judges are often dependent on the executive. justice and the law are ineffectual. the president cannot be re-elected. these constitutions imitate those of france and the united states in the democratic tendencies of the one and the federalism of the other; they are charters of a generous and hybrid species. the presidential _régime_ exists in reality as in the united states; the parliaments are important in virtue of the constitution, but in actual political life are powerless in face of the pressure exercised by the military chiefs. the theory of the social pact and the ideology of the revolutionary are predominant in public speech. the motives of the civil wars vary. in ecuador men fight for the _caudillos_; in colombia, for ideas; in chili, for or against the oligarchy. all the national forces are involved in these wars. revolution is the common heritage of these nations. the races which peopled america were warrior races, { } both indians and spaniards, and their warlike spirit explains the disorder of the republics. castes and traditions are inimical: the psychological instability characteristic of primitive peoples wars upon discipline and authority. two social classes--the military class and the intellectual or university class--had been in opposition since the origin of the republic. they disputed the supreme power, or sometimes the intellectuals sided with the generals. the "doctors," by aid of reasonings of byzantine subtlety, justified the dictatorships as well as the revolution. a venezuelan deputy, coto-paul, in , pronounced a lyrical eulogy of anarchy. the generals distrusted the lawyers, who represented the intellectual tradition of the colony: paez hated the juriconsults as napoleon hated ideologists. and the "doctors," vanquished by the military power, became the docile secretaries of generals and _caudillos_; they drafted laws and constitutions, and expressed in polished formulæ the rude intentions of the chiefs. to the violence of these latter they opposed subtlety; to the ignorance of despots, the scholastic ease and knowledge acquired in the universities of spain. to the struggles of classes was added the war of races; the half-breeds fought against the national oligarchy; the new american class was hostile to the aristocracy of the capitals. the indians lived in the towns of the interior, in which the colonial isolation was unchanged; the metropolis--buenos-ayres, lima, or caracas--was still spanish and increasingly alien. on the coast, where feeling was more mobile and will more variable, the ideas of reform took root; exotic ideas and customs were introduced; while the sierra,[ ] more american than the coast, remained slow and gloomy, and ignorant { } of the brilliant unrest of the capitals. thus a triple movement came into being; inferior castes rose against the colonial aristocracy, the provinces against the all-absorbing metropolis, and the half-caste sierra against the cosmopolitan seaboard. the provinces desired autonomy; the capitals, monopoly and unity; the metropolis was liberal, the sierra conservative. the political conflict might know a change of names, but this antagonism was universal. the leaders disguised their deep-seated ambitions under a cloak of general ideas; they supported unity or federation, the military or the civil _régime_, catholicism or radicalism. in argentina the provinces fought against the capital; in venezuela the coloured middle class against the oligarchies; in chili the liberals against the _pelucones_, the proprietors of the soil; in mexico the federals fought the monarchists; in ecuador the radicals opposed the conservatives; in peru the conflict was between the "civilists" and military _caudillos_. in the diversity of these quarrels we see one essential principle: two classes were in conflict--the proprietors of the _latifundia_ and the poverty-stricken people, the spaniards and the half-breeds, or the oligarchs and generals of a barbarous democracy. in each republic the soil and the traditions of the country gave a different colour to the universal warfare. in the argentine the provinces, under viceroys and intendants, enjoyed a partial autonomy; there federalism had remote antecedents. unity seemed an imposition on the part of buenos-ayres, which possessed the treasury and the custom-houses of the nation, and monopolised the national credit and revenue. in chili, the long, narrow country, with the cordillera at the back, like a granite wall, naturally evoked a unitarian republic. the disputes between centralisation and federalism were soon over. { } unity was possible in peru, a brilliant sub-kingdom, the centre of a long-established and powerful authority. but some aspects of these violent struggles remain obscure. in ecuador, peru, venezuela, and mexico there was enmity between the coast and the sierra. lima and caracas were capitals near the seaboard; mexico and quito were far removed from it. yet in peru the struggle was civil and military; in ecuador, conservative and liberal; and in mexico, federal and central. why do we not find the religious struggles, which lasted so long in colombia, in bolivia and the argentine? to explain this diversity we must study the psychology of the different _conquistadors_--castilian, biscayan, andalusian, portuguese--and of the different subjected races: the quechuas, araucanians, chibchas, aztecs, and the proportion in which they were mingled; for the action of the territory itself upon the various admixtures of blood would vary as it was tropical or temperate, coast or sierra. the confusion of the struggles in some democracies was extreme. the oligarchs were not always conservatives, nor the half-breeds always liberal. there were reactionary autocracies, like that of portales in chili, and liberal autocracies like that of guzman-blanco in venezuela. the federals were usually democrats and liberals, but they were occasionally conservative and autocratic. the democrats of peru were reactionary in matters of religion; those of chili were radical. the civil _régime_ was conservative in bolivia under baptista and in ecuador under garcia-moreno, but liberal in mexico under juarez and chili under santa-maria and balmaceda. militarism was radical under lopez in colombia, but conservative under general castilla in peru. when political evolution followed its logical development, federalism, liberalism, and democracy formed a trilogy, and oligarchy was conservative and unitarian. { } revolutions, in opposing castes and uplifting the half-breed, prepared the way for a new period. but a democratic society cannot easily establish itself in the face of the established aristocracies, and slavery still survived, although softened by liberal institutions. the military class, accessible to all, replaced the old nobility. confusion of races commenced as early as , when generous laws enfranchised the negroes, and new economic interests arose to complicate these democratic societies. revolutions, dictatorships, and anarchy were the necessary aspects of the dissolution of the old society. the age of generals gave way to an industrial period in which wealth increased, industries became more complex and numerous, and labour was subdivided, while association became more usual both in commerce and agriculture. co-operation, organisation, and solidarity, unknown during the period of anarchy, were aspects of an intense economic development. the interests newly created sought for peace, and the internal order which favoured their expansion. politics commenced to eschew and disdain the squabbles of ideology, and constitutional liberties acquired precision and efficacy. plutocracies came into being, and aspired to government in place of internal revolution and external warfare; immigration, transforming the social classification, facilitated their advent. national progress was effected despite the governments; it was an anonymous and collective task. the energetic individualities of the military epoch were followed by the laborious crowd. the _caudillo_ receded to the background of politics; the captains of industry replaced him, the merchants and the bankers. courage was once the supreme criterion of the man; now wealth is the touchstone by which individuals and peoples are judged. the table of human values changes; instruction, { } foresight, and practical common sense determine success in an industrial democracy. in the social ascension of the generations which industry and commerce have thrown forward to the attack upon the old patrician society, the prejudices of class and religion grow feebler, and after a century of conflict the nations of the present day emerge. in the southern republics of america industrialism is supreme in the argentine, uruguay, and chili; even in tropical brazil. in bolivia and peru the last leaders are not yet dead, the parties are still personal, but their influence is not as decisive as it was thirty years ago. among the northern peoples, from mexico to ecuador, anarchy and _caudillism_ still survive; there political unrest has not yet been dominated by the principle of authority. the long dictatorship of general castro and certain central american presidents proves that the dictatorial _régime_ is the only form of government that is able to maintain peace in these countries. it is hardly possible to determine the "historical moment" at which these republics passed from the military to the industrial system. the twilight of the _caudillos_ was a long one. even in the argentine, where the economic life is magnificent and complex, their influence persists. in peru, bolivia, and brazil there exists a latent militarism which might quickly destroy the work of the civil presidents. for ten years in peru and uruguay and bolivia government has followed government without revolutionary violence, but can we say that the anarchy of fifty years has disappeared for ever? the political order is slowly becoming assured, and the relation between wealth and the increase of immigration and of peace is obvious. even in the industrial field evolution is the work of a few _caudillos_ who have been pacificators: general pando in bolivia, general roca in the argentine, pierola in peru, and battle { } y ordonez in uruguay, not to speak of the greatest of all, porfirio diaz. economically speaking this period of development material is superior to the first period of sterile revolution; it is superior also from the political point of view, for institutions have been perfected and their constitutional action has defined itself. the municipalities and the legislative power have acquired a relative autonomy; they have been victorious over the executive, which was omnipotent during the military period. in beauty and intensity, however, the prosaic age of industrialism has been inferior to the preceding period. of old, vigorous personalities rose above the common level, and history had the vitality of a tragedy; men played with destiny and with death as in the time of the italian renaissance. "tyranny," writes burckhardt, "in the ancient latin republics, commenced by developing to the highest degree the individuality of the sovereign, of the condottiere." he then demonstrates the equally personal character of the statesmen and popular tribunes of florentine history.[ ] this analysis is applicable to the american leaders. heroic audacity and perpetual and virile unrest characterise the struggles of the _caciques_. the military cycle closed, the republics lose this dramatic interest. instead of describing the history of governments we must study the economic evolution of nations, and their statistics of industry and commerce. in tragedy the chorus, the crowd, becomes the essential person; it judges and executes, it is spectator and creator, while the heroes of old, the conquerors of destiny and founders of cities, disappear in the mists of the past. to these political changes correspond changes in manners and customs; the cities, too, have changed { } and have lost their archaic character. the cosmopolitan invasion has resulted in a brilliant monotony, and interest has become the sole motive of action; permanent war is followed by peace _à outrance_; the republics have gained in wealth and mediocrity. it is a period of transition: we cannot yet distinguish the firm lineaments of the future state. will the argentine and brazil become great plutocratic states like the united states? will chili, which is copying the social organisation of england, be subjected, like the anglo-saxon empire, to the attacks of demagogy? the spectacle of these enriched nations permits us to affirm only that in revolutionary america four nations, the argentine, brazil, uruguay, and chili, will, before the lapse of a century, be definitively organised as republics. yet these states still betray old racial characteristics. "the dead found the race," writes m. gustave le bon. "the dead generations impose on us not only their physical constitution but also their thoughts. forms of government matter little."[ ] in the democracies of latin america the "fundamental revolution" of which politicians boast has been sterile; under the republican mask the spanish heredity survives, deep-rooted and secular. the forms vary but the soul of the race remains the same. president-autocrats replace the vice-kings; the old struggles between the governors of the state and the bishops persist, for patronage in ecclesiastical affairs, the prestige of the "doctors," and academic titles. the ruling caste, the heir to the prejudices of spain, despises industry and commerce, and lives for politics and its futile agitations. the territorial seigneurs still have the upper hand as before the { } revolution. the ancient _latifundia_ still survive, the great domains which explain the power of the oligarchy. assemblies exercise a secondary function, as the municipal _cabildos_ of old. catholicism is still the axis of social life. the _picaros_ of spanish romance, haughty and ingenious parasites, are still accepted at their own value. the bureaucracy swallows up the wealth of the exchequer; it was formed a century ago of voracious castilians; to-day it consists of americans devoid of will. despite the equality proclaimed by the constitutions the indian is subjected to the implacable tyranny of the local authorities, the curé, the justice of peace, and the _cacique_. under other names the little despots of the spanish period are still alive and active. the democracies of south america, then, are spanish, although the _élite_ has always been inspired by french ideas. democracies by proclamation and in their anarchy, equalitarian and of mixed blood, the individual often acquires a heroic significance like that of the supermen of carlyle; mediæval republics divided into irreducible families and factions, governed by enriched merchants; greek republics, hostile to their own leaders, jealous of the virtue of aristides and the wisdom of themistocles, but without the plebiscitary ardour of the hellenic community. [ ] the cold region of lofty table-lands. [ ] _la civilisation en italie au temps de la renaissance_, paris, , vol. i. pp. _et seq_. [ ] _les lois psychologiques de l'evolution des peuples_, paris, , pp. and . { } book ii _the caudillos and the democracy_ the history of the south american republics may be reduced to the biographies of their representative men. the national spirit is concentred in the _caudillos_: absolute chieftains, beneficent tyrants. they rule by virtue of personal valour and repute, and an aggressive audacity. they resemble the democracies by which they are deified. without studying the biographies of paez, castilla, santa-cruz, and lavalleja, it is impossible to understand the evolution of venezuela, peru, bolivia, and uruguay. { } chapter i venezuela: paez, guzman-blanco the moral authority of paez--the monagas--the tyranny of guzman-blanco--material progress. two central figures, paez and guzman-blanco, dominate the history of venezuela. the first founded a republic in spite of the unitarian aims of bolivar; the second established a long autocracy over the factions and the quarrels of half a century. paez was an individualist, a nomadic leader, an impassioned champion of the district, of the native country, as against any vast political concentration. as the argentine pampa gave birth to quiroga, and the arabian desert engendered the mystic adventure of the khalifs, so the _llanos_ of venezuela created paez. among the haughty _llaneros_ of apure he grew to be a horseman, a lover of the infinite plains, the leader of a nameless troop, the hero of a host of adventures, romantic or brutal. he was born in . he was a half-breed, representing the indigenous forces in conflict with the spanish oligarchy and the creole aristocracy. a democrat of the school of castilla and rosas, robust and audacious, with the perspicacity of the indian and the pride of a tribal chieftain, he cared only to lead armies. he detested "literary people," "judges," and ideologues. a lieutenant of the liberator's, he was with him in a hundred battles, but he loathed all discipline, { } and his incipient insubordination in diminished the success of bolivar. his pride revolted against all tutelage, even when this was just. at times he wished bolivar to be an absolute chieftain, an invulnerable monarch; at other times he rebelled against him. in he led the patriots of the llanos to victory; he obtained power and honours but was always notably insubordinate. in he opposed the order of enrolment issued by santander, the vice-president of colombia. the municipality of caracas shared his desire for autonomy, and venezuela followed the leader who represented the national instincts. bolivar intervened to enforce the unity of colombia and gave way to paez. in the latter counselled the liberator to assume the crown. the fusion of the peoples, unity as against discord, was the bolivian ideal. at this time the spirit of nationality was working obscurely, and spontaneous republics were springing up. the race, exhausted by its long tutelage, uneasily sought subdivision, thinking thereby to gain autonomy; paez, profoundly american, followed the stream and exiled bolivar. he broke up the colombian unity, as santander in new granada and flores in ecuador, and liberated his country in . the nomad _guerrillero_ had then to organise the country, to give it stability and continuity; his supple nature adapted itself to his new duties. by instinct (writes an eminent historian, gil fortoul) he inclined to play the part of certain constitutional kings, leaving the government to his ministers. without denying his democratic past, he frequented the society of the literate and the oligarchs. his presidency ( - ) resulted in domestic peace, strict order in matters financial, political conciliation, and economic progress. dr. vargas, an enemy of militarism, succeeded { } him, but the brothers josé tadeo and josé gregorio monagas, who had risen against paez in , renewed their attempt in . the weak, irresolute president appointed paez commander-in-chief of the army, while the revolutionists of caracas proclaimed him supreme ruler. his immense moral force loomed paternally above the squabbles of the parties; he became the arbiter of venezuelan quarrels. he upheld the constitution and the presidency of vargas, but the latter could not retain supreme power and abandon the reins of government to the hands of the vice-president. the chieftain of the plains was elected for a second presidential period in . militarism declined under his rule, foreign credit increased, the payment of the debt was assured, and orderly progress was effected. in his loyal friend, general carlos soublette, a republican of the antique mould, austere and liberal, was his successor. once more the omnipotence of paez was triumphant. the political tranquillity of these two periods masked a social transformation. venezuela was not a democratic republic; it was, like chili, ruled by an oligarchy. the constitution of conferred the enjoyment of political rights only upon the land-owners, property-owners, and government employés; as in the southern nation the territorial overlords ruled, and slavery persisted. the "doctors" belonged to the dominant group. the oligarchs were conservatives; they defended property, order, and wealth against militarism and demagogy. they recognised no state religion, nor did they practise intolerance. in a liberal reaction set in against the dictatorship of paez and the conservative clan; democratic institutions and "new men" were called for. it was a struggle of classes and races. the obscure mass--_pardos_ (mulattos), mestizos, proletariats--subjected { } to slavery or servitude, oppressed by the privileged, hybrid and anarchical--attacked the established ruling caste. thus political unrest was complicated by social conflict. antonio leocadio guzman, a brilliant demagogue, comprehending the liberal ambitions of the crowd, founded a popular party upon the hatred of hierarchies and traditions. a tribune and journalist, he violently attacked paez, soublette, and their ministers; he offered the people the abolition of slavery and the repartition of the soil, with the violence of all the creators of democracies, from tiberius gracchus to lloyd george. he was presidential candidate in ; paez supported general tadeo monagas, a gloomy personage who represented the oligarchy. the supporters of guzman rebelled against the influence of soublette and the tutelage of the great _llanero_, and a social revolution commenced under the mask of a political quarrel. the liberals wished to overthrow the "gothic oligarchy." guzman was made prisoner. he was judged as were the tribunes of antiquity who terrified the patrician class by the tumult of a hungry democracy. condemned to death as a conspirator and anarchist, he saw his punishment commuted to banishment. [illustration: general josÉ tadeo monagas. president of venezuela ( - and - ). to face p. .] the conservatives had won; the evolution of democracy was checked, thanks to the advent of certain crude demagogues. as in chili, a moderate liberalism was germinating in the heart of the conservative group itself. until the oligarchical constitution of was maintained, as in chili the analogous constitution of persisted, in all its rigidity, until . the liberals could hardly be distinguished from the conservatives; the democratic guzman himself accepted slavery. there was not, therefore, any violent war of castes, but rather a slow infiltration of liberal principles in the substance of the aristocratic class. the man of this { } period of transition was president monagas. he governed with liberals and conservatives, and founded a personal system. the congress wished to impeach him, but the people defended him against the congress. the independent assembly was dissolved, amidst bloodshed and the bodies of the slain, on the tragic th of january, , and the executive was triumphant. the rule of oligarchies was followed by personalism or autocracy. monagas struggled against paez; these two predominant influences could not co-exist. the old _caudillo_ took the head of a revolution; he was defeated, and, like guzman, exiled. curious analogy between the fate of the chieftain of the oligarchy and that of the leader of the democrats! josé tadeo monagas was replaced by his brother josé gregorio. the pair formed a strange species of dynasty in which inheritance was collateral. guzman having again lost the presidency, his supporters and those of paez rebelled against the government in and ; but the government was victorious, and in liberated the slaves. better than the apostrophes of the popular tribune this radical measure prepared the way for the advent of the democrats. after josé gregorio monagas his brother josé tadeo became president in . a new constitution of , centralistic in tendency, permitted the re-election of presidents, and monagas remained in power. general castro defeated him at the head of a coalition of all parties. the old political groups were reorganised; the struggles between federalists and centralists recommenced; and the decline of the oligarchies saw the advance of democracy. the convention of valencia ( ) promulgated a liberal constitution, which established the autonomy of the provinces under governors and congresses of their own; the electoral capacity, restricted by the old statute, was enlarged; the jury { } system was established; and the executive was weakened, with an eye to the personalism of monagas. a civil war in which federals, liberals, centralists, conservatives, constitutionalists, and ideologists were mingled in motley assemblies disturbed the country. the battles lacked the simplicity of the old directorates, the rigidity of the old hierarchies. the democracy lamentably increased; the liberal factions were seized with an equalitarian frenzy. their leaders--falcon, zamora--were demagogues on horseback. at the spectacle of this barbarism paez, returning in from the united states, restored reaction and autocracy. on september th he proclaimed himself supreme chief in the face of the federal power; an octogenarian, he gathered all the powers of the state into his trembling hand; a melancholy symbol of the oligarchy, exhausted in its struggle against the invading democracy. in vain did he issue tyrannical decrees; he could not prevent the triumph of federation. at coche, guzman-blanco, general of the federal forces, negotiated with rojas, the omnipotent secretary of paez, an agreement which put an end to the tottering dictatorship. the action of the founder of venezuela, "the man of the plains," representing the conservative aristocracy, was over. he died in , when his work of a half-century was about to be continued, under another form, by the great _caudillo_ antonio guzman-blanco. he was the son of antonio leocadio guzman, leader of the liberal party. he had travelled in the united states, was a diplomatist, and had followed a course of study in the law, and on his return to venezuela had directed military operations during the revolt against paez. he had the gifts of the military leader; he skilfully organised attack and retreat in that difficult warfare of many factions amidst the plains; he revealed himself as a heroic leader of men, dashing and persevering. in { } he attained the rank of general-in-chief of the army. the general assembly elected him vice-president of the republic, under the presidency of falcon, after the agreement of coche. guzman-blanco then contracted a loan of one and a half million pounds in london, where venezuelan credit was ruined. it was necessary to restore the public finances after the long crisis of the revolution. the operation was onerous, and the liberal leader was criticised. however, the venezuelan congress awarded him a prize in the form of an award of money. in and , during the absences of president falcon, he exercised command with admirable political tact, introducing severe financial economies, regularising the debt, and suppressing sinecures and pensions. in the political world, despite the triumph of the federals, he demanded the reinforcement of the central power, as against the anarchy of the autonomous provinces. in fact, a new constitution, extremely liberal, which was promulgated by the assembly in , had conceded an excessive degree of independence upon the provinces. a revolution overthrew the federal president, and the conservative malcontents restored josé tadeo monagas. anarchy continued, and guzman-blanco intervened to repress partial revolts, to counsel political tolerance, and to negotiate abroad the unification of the public debt; he had inherited the moral power from paez. monagas wished to draw him into his party, and offered him the succession of the presidency. the struggle increased in intensity; the "blues" of monagas, as in byzantium, defied the "yellows" of guzman-blanco. the civil war lasted five years. the country seeking stability, even if it involved autocracy, josé ruperto monagas succeeded to his father and the monarchical policy was again attempted. the chief of the federals was the enemy of the president, who exiled him, after a { } nocturnal attack upon his house, on the th of august, . guzman arrived in curaçoa, and in september openly commenced to work for revolution. monagas was anxious to compromise, and willing to agree to one of those conventions so frequent in venezuelan history; but the _caudillo_ imposed hard conditions. his father, the demagogue and tribune, accompanied him as journalist. after indecisive battles the revolution triumphed in caracas (april, ), and guzman-blanco assumed the dictatorship. the autocratic _régime_ accepted neither conciliation with the vanquished nor legal artifices; the figure of the imperator looms above the passive crowd, a defence against federal disorganisation, economic waste, and incessant anarchy. the liberal leader attacked his adversaries energetically, directed battles, performing prodigies of strategy at valencia and apure. the "blues" recoiled, successively losing valencia, trujillo, and maracaibo. general matias salazar, the seditious liberal chief, a friend of the dictator, was shot. like porfirio diaz, the venezuelan autocrat checkmated anarchy by decapitating its generals. exile, battles, and confiscation of goods prepared the way for lasting peace. two years the civil war lasted, and in guzman-blanco, a beneficent despot, commenced the material transformation of the country. he knew men, he had the gift of command; his decision was irresistible, his character of steel. he reduced import duties, and abolished export duties, founded a banking company which issued bonds guaranteed by the government, and amortised the public debt. while introducing strict economies he attacked his political enemies with forced loans and special contributions. in the political arena he unhesitatingly repressed the revolts of the blues and would grant them no amnesty; he exiled the archbishop because he refused to { } celebrate the triumph of the liberal revolution by a _te deum_. the dictator was nationalist as against foreign pressure and threats; he aspired to the reconstitution of venezuela, in matters domestic and foreign, despite the anarchy of the factions and the manoeuvres of european stockjobbers. diplomatic conflicts arose with the united states, holland, england, and the papacy. guzman-blanco favoured education; he wished to see "a school in every street." he reformed the civil and penal codes, and established marriage and civil registers. in he renounced the dictatorship before congress, but the latter elected him president, and accorded him supreme honours. statues and streets and medals bore his name; he was given the pompous titles of "illustrious american" and "regenerator of venezuela"; nothing could be refused him by the servile and extravagant deputies. his statue, erected in caracas in , near that of bolivar, glorified the regenerator equally with the liberator. the popular dictator satisfied the ambitions of all; he brought the peace desired by the oligarchs, he was the idol of the crowds, and he attacked the church like the liberals and free-masons. from to the government fostered material development by means of the construction of railways and highways, public buildings in the large towns, and the transformation and embellishment of caracas. it was said that the dictator wished to imitate napoleon iii. by opening up promenades and avenues. credit prospered, the service of the debt was assured, the public revenues increased, orderly and economical budgets were established, and statistics organised. the president reinforced and disciplined the army, and intervened in the politics of the states, in defiance of federalism. he endeavoured to found a venezuelan church, with { } a liberal archbishop and clergy elected by the faithful; he suppressed religious congregations and converted their goods into national property. his autocracy did not respect the powers of the outer world; he stimulated industries by a strict protectionism. an admirer of french art, he established museums in venezuela. in general alcantara succeeded him. guzman-blanco stated in his message, reviewing his seven years' work, that he left behind him peace, administrative and political organisation, external credit, liberty of the vote, and "the triumph of the dignity and the rights of the nation." he was acclaimed to the verge of apotheosis. he left for europe, and in his absence the statues of the dictator were overthrown and his decrees annulled by those who had conferred such honours upon him. democracy, unstable and feminine, burned what she had adored. guzman-blanco returned to venezuela in , devoured with dictatorial ambitions. he had sought in paris to found a company which, like the east indian and african companies of england, should transform his country. he longed for the power he had abandoned to an ungrateful mob. upon his arrival a favouring revolution welcomed him, the state of carabobo proclaimed him dictator, and ten other states followed suit. the revolutionaries triumphed, and those who had overthrown his statues and reversed his statutes now praised him to the skies. guzman-blanco proposed to reform the constitution; the swiss federation was his political model. he reduced the number of states in venezuela, and despoiled the executive of many attributes, which he confided to a federal council. the province approved the "swiss" constitution of . the "illustrious american" then returned to france to realise a financial plan which was to { } transform his country, and to conclude a contract with the great jew bankers. he formed a privileged company which was to exploit the country, obtain concessions of land, and organise what financiers call the _mise en valeur_ of new territories. the constitution promulgated, guzman-blanco was elected president of the general council. in he expounded to congress the benefits of his autocracy: material development, budgetary surpluses, extended cultivation, and political stability. until guzman-blanco was president of the venezuelan democracy, or its minister in european capitals. his power was absolute; he imposed new leaders, left the country, returned; he was the protector of the republic. from the enchanted banks of the seine he directed the febrile development of venezuela. like porfirio diaz in mexico and rosas in the argentine he conquered all other leaders, imposed peace, organised and unified, and ruled by terror or by sentiment. a _caudillo_ without definite political ideas, he loved power and his native country. state, church, parties, and national riches, all were his; they were the domains of this feudal baron. his enemies accused him of enriching himself at the expense of the national property, but his work in the material world was fruitful; he built roads, erected buildings, and stimulated the development of the national fortune. in matters of policy he affirmed the inviolability of the country against foreign aggression; he was a democrat as against the conservatives. he loved pomp and triumph, sumptuous external shows, sonorous phrases, and the servile adoration of the crowd. he had an enormous faith in his own work. in he stated that venezuela, under his authority, "had undertaken an infinite voyage towards an infinite future." his dictatorship appeared to him as necessary, providential: "the people insist upon { } it so that we may be saved from anarchy." he aimed at "the regeneration of the country"; and his was the responsibility for this work; but the greatness also was his. "i have never followed the thought of any but myself," he said. indeed, we may apply to him the classic phrase descriptive of absolutism: "_l'etat c'est moi_."[ ] [ ] _en defensa del septenio_, paris, , p. . { } chapter ii peru: general castilla--manuel pardo--pierola the political work of general castilla--domestic peace--the deposits of guano and saltpetre--manuel pardo, founder of the anti-military party--the last _caudillo_, pierola: his reforms. the gestation of the republic of peru was a lengthy process. the vice-kingdom defended itself against colombian, peruvian, and argentine troops: against the armies of bolivar and san martin. here the _penates_ of spain were preserved: the treasure, the vigilant aristocracy, the warlike armies. it was not until , when america was already independent, that the victory of ayacucho liberated peru from the spanish rule. bolivar wished to give peru the same constitution as bolivia; to force the institution of the irremovable president on the anarchy of these republics; but the municipality of lima refused the project. the peruvians exalted the liberator; "hero" and "demi-god" the poets called him; his praise was sung in the churches; the congress granted him riches and honours. his generals were struggling for the supreme command. the colombian hero returned to his own country, and at once president followed president and revolution revolution. the history of the first twenty years of the republic, as in mexico and the argentine, records only the clash of the forces of society organised and disciplined { } by the colonial _régime_. generals and "doctors," autocracy and anarchy, the oligarchy of the vice-kingdom and the advancing democracy, all were at war among themselves. byzantine factions struggled to attain the supreme power in the assemblies and the barracks. aristocratic presidents--riva aguero, orbegoso, vivanco, and military presidents--la mar, la fuente, gamarra, followed one another with bewildering rapidity. in the south arequipa, the home of a tenacious race, engendered terrible revolts. external wars, such as that with colombia in and bolivia in and (to repulse the protectorate of santa-cruz), were really due to the quarrels of ambitious generals who were disputing the succession of bolivar. new nations, whose frontiers as yet were vague, had not yet acquired a national consciousness. santa-cruz, president of bolivia, unified peru, founding a confederation, from tumez to tarija, necessary to the equilibrium of american politics; but he was a foreign president. amid the host of provincial chiefs a general presently arose who for twenty years was the energetic director of the nation's life--don ramon castilla. [illustration: general andres santa cruz. president of bolivia ( - ). to face p. .] he recalls paez rather than rosas. he was no invulnerable tyrant, but a _caudillo_ of great influence. born in tarapaca in , he was a mestizo, having in his veins the blood of an indian grandmother. this origin perhaps explains his endurance and astuteness. his father was asturian, a member of a warlike race. castilla passed his youth at tarapaca, in a region of vast plains and narrow valleys, and the desert made him a nomad, a chief of legionaries. a spanish soldier in chili, he was made prisoner at chacabuco; set at liberty, he travelled through the argentine and brazil, and on his return to peru he offered his services to san martin; in he fought beside sucre at ayacucho, followed general gamarra against bolivia, and retaken prisoner at { } ingavi, he finally became general, then marshal. short, with virile features and a penetrating glance, he was a great leader, strong and tenacious in the field. his bearing was martial; men felt that opposition irritated him, that he was an autocrat by vocation. without much culture, he was astute enough to seem learned. he intuitively knew the value of men and the manner in which to govern them. his strong point was the gift of command. experience made him sceptical and ironical; his speech was stern and incisive. his ideas were simple; a conservative in politics, he respected the principle of authority. like san martin, to whom he wrote some suggestive letters, he hated anarchy. in the midst of the tumult of revolution he understood the necessity of a strong government. he defeated the dictator vivanco, in skirmishes and pitched battles, at carmen-alto, and became president of peru in . he granted an amnesty to the vanquished and re-established order. his government marked the commencement, after twenty years of revolutions, of a new period of administrative stability, during which commerce developed and the public revenues increased; new sources of wealth, namely, guano and saltpetre, transformed the economic life of the country. the telegraph united lima to callao in ; the first peruvian railroad was inaugurated in . the service of the external debt due to foreign loans commenced, and the internal debt was consolidated. the first presidency of general castilla resulted in peace and economic progress. general echenique succeeded him, and financial scandals, guano concessions, speculations, and a corrupt thirst for wealth engendered discontent. the prophecy of bolivar was accomplished: gold had corrupted peru. castilla hesitated before revolting against a constitutional government. a lover of order, he respected authority in others and in { } himself. but finally a fresh revolution broke out, and triumphed at la palma in . in the same year congress elected castilla as president. in the preceding year the general-president had already proclaimed the emancipation of the negro slaves, in order to ensure that the revolution which he now headed should be welcome. congress declared the personal tribute demanded of the indians abolished. a new constitution, the basis of that of , which is still in force in peru, changed the political organism in several essential aspects. it suppressed the council of state and replaced it by two vice-presidents; it organised the municipalities, and set a term of four years on the duration of the presidency. vivanco rose against castilla in , but was defeated. the government of general castilla terminated peacefully: from to he directed the national policies with a hand of iron. none before him had been able to give the life of the nation such continuity. all the moral and economic forces of the country were developed; the exports attained to three millions sterling, which sum was in excess of the imports; railways and telegraph lines crossed the wilderness, and the credit of the country permitted of new and important loans. peru, conscious of her progressive energy, aspired to extend her domains. castilla declared war upon ecuador in , the pretext being a question of frontiers; as victor he granted generous terms of peace. he built ships to oppose the future maritime supremacy of chili; then, divining the importance of eastern peru, he sent out expeditions to explore the great unknown watercourses. like garcia-moreno in ecuador and portales in chili, he established peace, stimulated wealth, promoted education, created a navy, and imposed a new constitution on the country. his action was not only political but social; by freeing the slaves and indians he prepared the future { } of democracy. the journals of the period condemned his absolutism. "the formula of the general is '_l'etat c'est moi_,'" wrote don josé casimiro-ulloa in . for fifteen years he was the dictator necessary to an unstable republic. after him the national life was personified by a civil president, manuel pardo, who represented the reaction of lawyers and business men against the militarism of castilla and his predecessors. he did not govern for two terms, like the autocratic general, nor did his personal influence last ten years; yet his reputation increased after his death, so that his name, like that of balmaceda in chili, presides over the fortunes of a party. pardo was born in lima in . he was the son of a poet, don felipe pardo; but he soon abandoned dreams for action; to him material interest seemed superior to all other questions. he detested "pure politics"; he regarded the constitution as a "dead letter in national life." his vocation impelled him to protect the financial affairs of the country; he was minister of finance from to , fiscal agent in london, and founded a bank in lima. his best address deals with the subject of taxation. as president he decreed a monopoly of saltpetre in , an economic measure often criticised as having provoked the disastrous war with chili. an economist and champion of order, he continued the work of castilla, was triumphant over revolution, and organised the country. in , when he had already been minister and mayor of lima, a popular election carried him to power. in four years his extraordinary activity reformed all the public services: education, finance, and immigration. he ordered the census to be taken in ; he endeavoured to attract foreigners; founded the faculty of political sciences and the { } university of lima for the education of diplomatists and administrators, and the school of arts and crafts for the improvement of popular education; he opened new primary schools, sent for german and polish professors, and entrusted the pedagogic direction of the country to them. he promulgated new regulations dealing with education on the classic european lines. he re-established the national guard, as portales had done in chili, and organised departmental _juntas_ with an eye to decentralisation. his action was restless and universal. he preferred a positive policy, devoid of doctrinaire quarrels, dreamed of a practical republic, like rafael nuñez in colombia and guzman-blanco in venezuela, and preferred the faculty of political sciences, which formed administrators, to that of letters, which created literary men and philosophers. nevertheless, the country became bankrupt. loans, the great undertakings of president balta, and speculations in guano and saltpetre had exhausted it. pardo could not prevent this financial disaster. he assured the service of the foreign debt and informed the democracy, intoxicated by the economic orgy, that it was ruined. he vainly sought the alliance of the argentine and bolivia in order to erect a triple bastion of defence against the ambitions of chili. his efforts were fruitless, both at home and abroad. he was succeeded by a military president. the alliance of peru and bolivia was powerless against the might of chili, and pardo himself was assassinated during a supreme reaction of the demagogy which he hoped to rule. [illustration: manuel pardo. president of peru ( - ). to face p. .] death made his influence lasting, as was the case with garcia-moreno and balmaceda. a strong ruler of men, he had gathered about him enthusiastic and even fanatical partisans. his work of reformation became the evangel of a party, the civil party which he had founded. as early as the dictator { } vivanco had united, in a conservative group, the leading men of the time: pando, andres martinez, felipe pardo. ureta, pardo's rival in the presidential campaign, united the first elements of a civil party. but it was his rival who concentrated all these forces, making them lasting and harmonious. a scion of ancient families, of the aliagas and lavalles, pardo represented the colonial traditions in a disordered democracy. thanks to the discovery of new sources of wealth --saltpetre and guano--and to fiscal monopolies, a powerful plutocracy suddenly arose in peru, which was soon, by the prestige of its wealth, to overpower the old peruvian families. pardo, not opposing the national transformation, joined this plutocracy; and his party, reinforced by the alliance, became the obstinate champion of property, of slow reform, and of order, against the anarchy of the creoles. it was conservative without rigidity, liberal without violence, like the moderate parties of monarchical governments, or the progressists of the third french republic. originally an aristocratic power, it abandoned its old severity, and became the party of the wealthy classes, taking mulattos and mestizos to its bosom. so, as in other south american democracies, the ancient oligarchy was replaced by a plutocracy which included the sons of immigrants, half-breeds, and bankers. the influence of pardo was greater and more lasting than that of castilla. it responded to many of the needs of peru; placed between militarism and demagogy, the civil element was the only agent of order and progress. the work of pardo, interrupted during the war with chili ( - ) and the period of anarchy which followed, despite the efforts of a military leader who had fought like a hero in the war against chili--colonel caceres--was by the irony of human affairs continued by the sworn enemy { } of pardo: pierola, the last of the great peruvian _caudillos_; restless, romantic, and always ready to seize the reins of power by the violent aid of revolution. in , at the age of thirty, he was minister of finance, following garcia calderon, who had resigned his post rather than authorise the waste of fiscal resources. ten years later pierola proclaimed himself dictator, and prepared, with unusual energy, to defend peru against the invasion of chili. a reformer after the methods of the jacobins, he thought to transform the nation by heaping decree upon decree and by changing the names of institutions. his noble enthusiasm makes it easy to overlook his errors. the peruvian troops defeated, pierola did not resign power, and divided the country. ten years later, in the full maturity of his intellectual powers, he was elected president ( - ); from which period we may date the peruvian renaissance. without raising loans he transformed an exhausted country into a stable republic. like all the great american _caudillos_, he was an excellent administrator of the fiscal wealth of the country; he established a gold standard as the basis of the new monetary system, promulgated a military code and an electoral law, and by means of a french mission endeavoured to change an army which was the docile servant of ambitious factions into a force capable of preserving domestic peace. his organising talent, his patriotism, and his extraordinary ability, surprised those who had known only the revolutionary leader. [illustration: don nicolas de pierola. president of peru ( - ). to face p. .] he founded a democratic party, as did pardo a party inimical to militarism. but in spite of the denomination of this party it has lent its aid to the military leaders, and no law in favour of the workers has emanated from the democrats. pierola, who called himself "the protector of the native race," { } established a tax upon salt, which was a great hardship to that poverty-stricken race. [illustration: don francisco garcia calderon. president of peru ( - ). to face p. .] the leader of the democrats is himself an aristocrat; not only by origin, by the somewhat old-fashioned elegance of his style, and by his patrician tastes; he has always preferred to surround himself with men of the old noble families: the orbegosos, gonzalez, osmas, ortiz de zevallos, &c. this contrast between his tastes and tendencies and the party which he founded does not detract from the great popularity which the old ex-president enjoys in peru; he is popular by reason of qualities which are wholly personal, like those of manuel pardo, and his supporters become fanatics. his mannered phrases, his heroism and his audacity, have a religious significance in the eyes of his believers; like facundo in the epic of sarmiento, he is the nomadic khalif who brings to a democracy in the throes of anarchy the promise of a divine message. { } chapter iii bolivia: santa-cruz santa-cruz and the confederation of peru and bolivia--the tyrants, belzu, molgarejo--the last _caudillos_: pando, montes. bolivia sprang, armed and full-grown, as in the classic myth, from the brain of bolivar. the liberator gave her a name, a constitution, and a president. in he created by decree an autonomous republic in the colonial territory of the district of charcas, and became its protector. sucre, the hero of ayacucho, succeeded him in . during the wars of independence this noble friend of bolivar resigned from power, disillusioned; he was the patroclus of the american iliad. from that time onward the young republic was for twenty years ruled by a great _caudillo_, andres santa-cruz. a lieutenant of the liberator, he inherited, like paez and flores, a portion of his legacy of nations: he was president of bolivia and wished to be president of peru. [illustration: opening of congress, la paz, bolivia. (from "latin america, the land of opportunity," by the hon. john barrett.)] in he presided over the council of state at lima and governed in the absence of bolivar. in he was the head of the bolivian republic, prosecuting a difficult struggle against national anarchy. his ambition included the vast theatre of the old vice-kingdom; he wished to unite bolivia and peru, and to that end organised freemasonry as a political force, from la paz to lima. president of the bolivian republic for the second time { } in , he formed a government sufficiently strong to discourage revolution. like garcia-moreno and guzman-blanco, he was a civilizer. the son of an indian woman of noble origin, the _cacica_ of guarina, he perhaps inherited imperial ambitions. he loved power and display, received the order of the legion of honour from louis-philippe, and instituted an analogous order for the bolivian confederation. he accumulated sonorous titles: captain-general and president of bolivia, grand marshal, pacificator of peru, supreme protector of the south and north peruvians, &c. in domestic politics he was an organiser who was capable of cruelty in defence of order; a strict administrator. he promulgated codes, following the napoleonic example, disciplined the army, and restored the national finances. the revenue increased, credit became more secure, and imperialism saw the light. santa-cruz attracted europeans and protected his countrymen, for the question of population preoccupied him; it is, indeed, the great problem of bolivia and south america. in he proposed the exclusion of celibates from the magistracy, a measure of protection in favour of numerous families. like all the _caudillos_, he made great efforts to develop the public treasury. local triumphs did not satisfy him. distrustful, crafty, frigid, without the declamatory eloquence of other presidents, ambitious of wealth and power, he longed to extend his despotic sceptre over new states. imitating napoleon, like iturbide in mexico, and remembering the successes of the first consul, he prepared expeditions of conquest, and fostered anarchy in peru, which he intended to govern once more as in . orbegoso, president of the neighbouring republic, called for his assistance in in order to overcome salaverry, a brilliant officer who had proclaimed himself dictator. santa-cruz thereupon constituted himself the arbiter of peruvian { } disputes, and invaded the country. he defeated salaverry at socabaya and gamarra, his ally, at yanacocha. the dictator was shot in , and the bolivian president founded a vast confederation as a bulwark against peruvian anarchy: he reconstituted the old vice-kingdom. his ambition then led him so far as to attack rosas, the tyrant of argentina. he had inherited the unitarian ideals of bolivar, and prepared to realise them. three states, bolivia, and north and south peru, each with its own capital, its president, and its congress, formed the confederation, under the imperial authority of the new inca. santa-cruz organised the three states with amazing rapidity, imposed codes and constitutions, and expected to rule from lima, the fashionable metropolis; it was said that he was the avenger of the oppressed race of half-breeds, oppressed by the colonial oligarchy. the confederation existed from , but chili, in the south, envious of the peruvian-bolivian hegemony, threatened its existence. portales, that omnipotent minister, sought pretexts to attack this solid political structure. he accused santa-cruz of fostering expeditions against the chilian conservatives--for instance, that of freire--and called him "the unjust violator of the sovereignty of peru"; he feared that his power would strike a blow at the independence of the south american republics. portales and santa-cruz represented two irreconcilable ambitions; they had the same love of authority and organic construction, and each professed a narrow nationalism and a violent patriotism. the chilian oligarchy, led by portales, proceeded to organise the "liberation campaign" against and on behalf of peru. the historian walker martinez justifies this policy of interference and intervention in american affairs, although since the pacific war the chilian diplomatists have always pronounced against it. { } two successive expeditions were directed against the coast of peru. santa-cruz defeated the first, which was led by the chilian general blanco encalada, in . general bulnes was the leader of another "army of liberation." peruvian generals supported him: gamarra, la fuente, castilla, and orbegoso himself. the battle of yungai, in , put an end to the confederation, and santa-cruz lost all power over the peoples of bolivia and peru. his political work, the confederation, tended to unite two peoples which bolivar had separated in spite of colonial traditions; it organised, on the shores of the pacific, a stable power to oppose the increasing imperialism of chili. eminent peruvians seconded the unifying efforts of the bolivian leader: riva-aguero, orbegoso, garcia del rio, and necochea. his work shattered, santa-cruz retired to europe in , but attempted, when urged by excited supporters, to return to his own country. chili and peru both opposed the suggestion. he was a friend of napoleon iii. in paris, where he several times represented bolivia, and where he died in . the confederation which he vainly desired to found would have changed the destiny of the peoples of the pacific, by giving the political supremacy to bolivia and peru united. the successors of santa-cruz in the bolivian presidency, ballivian and velasco, were friends of his, and continued his ambitious policy, although they had revolted against his autocracy. since the days of the great mestizo leader no ruler has attained an equal reputation, nor attempted so great a political mission. of later presidents, baptista and arce, civilians, and pando and montes, soldiers, exercised a real influence on bolivian history, but had not the importance of the first presidents. the last was a remarkable organiser and a builder of railways which saved his country { } from a dangerous isolation. they belonged to a prosaic age of steady economic development. bolivia has also had its tyrants, figures of tragi-comedy, vulgar and gloomy: belzu, velasco, daza, and finally melgarejo, the bloody incarnation of creole barbarity. he was the nero of bolivia; a man capable of every cruelty and every licence; daring, energetic, he inaugurated a reign of terror, surrounded himself with a prætorian guard, and represented the instincts of the mob, exacerbated by alcohol and envy. in vain did well-meaning dictators like ballivian in or linares in strive to continue, in the interval between two episodes of barbarism, the civilising task of santa-cruz. they dreamed of founding a _republique almara_, like renan in the domains of caliban, a tyranny of the intellectual elements. their effort was fruitless. down to , the year in which president pando inaugurated civil government, the history of bolivia was a dreary succession of revolutions and tyrants. a remarkable writer who has studied his "sick people"[ ] writes that "from to more than sixty revolutions broke out, and a series of international wars, and six presidents were assassinated: blanco, belzu, cordova, morales, melgarejo, and daza, without counting those that died in exile." [illustration: colonel ismael montes. president of bolivia ( - ). to face p. .] [ ] _pueblo enfermo_, by a. arguedas, barcelona, . { } chapter iv, uruguay: lavalleja--rivera--the new _caudillos_ the factions: reds and whites--the leaders: artigas, lavalleja, rivera--the modern period. a small southern republic, situated between an imperialist state, brazil, and a nation ambitious of hegemony, the argentine, uruguay, "the eastern province" (banda oriental) has struggled for its liberty since the commencement of the nineteenth century. artigas represented the principle of nationality in the long wars against buenos-ayres and the spanish armies: he was the first _caudillo_, the forerunner of the independence. rivera and lavalleja inherited his unconquerable patriotism, and proclaimed the independence of their country. in , without the constant aid of armies of liberation, such as those of san martin and bolivar, but by the heroic efforts of its own soldiers, the ancient province of the vice-kingdom of la plata constituted itself a new state, governed by a unitarian constitution. artigas had fought for the liberty of the province of uruguay, for its freedom from all tutelage. rivera and lavalleja were willing to compromise at the commencement of the new campaign of liberation. a congress held at montevideo proclaimed the incorporation of the eastern province with portugal. the two _caudillos_ desired the union of uruguay with brazil. another leader, manuel oribe, was anxious for the protection of the legions of the argentine { } to conquer the independence of his country. an ambassador from buenos-ayres, don valentin gomez, proposed to brazil in that the rebellious uruguay should once more become a province of the argentine, but the empire refused to consent. lavalleja, who had sought for brazilian protection, changed his mind; he sought for argentine assistance, whether that of the capital or that of the federal leaders, while rivera remained faithful to his original programme of union with southern brazil. a piece of heroism worthy of the spanish _conquistadors_ set a term to this indecision. lavalleja, at the head of the "thirty-three," a little band of heroes comparable to the legendary companions of pizarro and cortes, landed on the uruguayan coast on the th of april, . "liberty or death" was their watchword. rivera joined them, and the struggle for the independence of the eastern province at once gained an intenser significance. at florida a provisional government was installed, which decreed separation from brazil and portugal, proclaimed the sovereignty of the nation, and decided upon union, under a federal organisation, with the argentine provinces. "eastern argentines," lavalleja called his compatriots. the rulers of the argentine did not decide upon supporting the liberators of uruguay. with brazil hostile, and abandoned by buenos-ayres, the indomitable "orientals" commenced a bitter warfare which ended in their winning their independence. rivera defeated the brazilian general abreu at rincon-de-haeda, then at sarandu, a decisive battle which zorrilla de san martin compares to chacabuco. the argentines maintained their neutrality, but the congress of , obedient to the suggestions of rivadavia, declared to brazil that it recognised the incorporation of the eastern province "which has by its own efforts restored the liberty of its territory." war broke out against brazil; buenos-ayres and rio de janeiro both aspired to { } rule in montevideo. the conflict lasted from to ; argentines and uruguayans took part in it, fighting side by side. the campaign was directed by lavalleja and general alvear, who in buenos-ayres had been a fashionable dictator. rivera withdrew from the army. brazil suffered a defeat at itazango, where , "orientals" and , argentines fought against , brazilian soldiers. all things pointed to the fact that uruguay would soon be an independent nation. the "orientals" no longer admitted the hegemony of brazil, nor the tutelage of argentina; they decided to pursue the struggle without the help of buenos-ayres. the war would be longer, but even more certain in its results. lavalleja replaced alvear in the government. rivera, who had landed at soriano, fought and won at misiones ( ), and continued unaided the campaign against artigas. he distrusted buenos-ayres and even lavalleja himself, and, thanks to his continued efforts, peace with brazil was finally signed on the th of august, . the empire recognised the independence of the "province of montevideo" and the constitution of a "sovereign state," a necessary factor in the political equilibrium of la plata. [illustration: juan antonio lavalleja. _caudillo_ of uruguay in the struggle for independence. to face p. .] seven years later, under the tyranny of rosas, uruguay saw her autonomy menaced. the argentine dictator aspired to conquer the little republic and to rule as the spanish viceroys had ruled in all the provinces of la plata, from tarija to montevideo. the "oriental" president oribe, elected in , was the ally of rosas against the argentine refugees in montevideo, who were supported by rivera. uruguayans and argentines were confounded in the two parties, but rivera represented a new source of conflict, as in his quarrels with lavalleja, the unconquerable spirit of nationality. defeated in , he continued, upon brazilian territory, an obstinate warfare against oribe. he defeated him, and was { } proclaimed president of uruguay. oribe then figured in the argentine army, as a general of rosas. at this stage the conflict between unitarians and federals around montevideo acquired a transcendental significance. brazil intervened once more in the affairs of la plata. impregnable as paraguay under lopez, the eastern province continued the war against oribe, its ex-president, and against the legions of the argentine tyrant. a noble crusader in the cause of liberty, garibaldi, at the head of the uruguayan squadron which defended montevideo, gave the struggle a romantic character. oribe, a genius of destruction, ravaged the country, and besieged montevideo by land in . foreigners: french, italians, turks, and natives, defended the threatened city. england, france, and brazil at first offered their mediation, which was refused by oribe; they then sent squadrons to defend the autonomy of uruguay and to insure the free navigation of the river parana in the interests of european commerce. after a long war of heroic conflicts urquiza, the leader of the armies in alliance against the autocracy of rosas, put oribe to flight ( ) and saved montevideo from the argentine peril. lavalleja and rivera, the great _caudillos_ in the struggle for liberty, were rival claimants for power and moral influence. rivera, like artigas, represented an aggressive patriotism, hostile to all outside influence; his ideal was national integrity. generous, anarchical, of the native type, he was more liberal and more of a democrat than lavalleja; he defended all liberties--liberty of conscience, of industry, of the press. a nomadic _gaucho_, he organised and led guerilla forces through a campaign of incessant skirmishes. lavalleja, imperfectly educated, rude, authoritative, half a spaniard in his pride and his colonial methods, was the leader of the aristocratic and cultivated classes. more conservative and more politic than rivera, he opposed the rural democracy, { } and desired an orderly independence, a disciplined liberty; in government he was a tyrant. he alienated the supporters of rivera, dissolved the chamber of representatives, reformed the administration of justice, and estranged the authorities of the departments. rivera, president from to and from to , was--like the majority of the american _caudillos_--a zealous protector of commerce and industry. the national revenues mounted by per cent.; imports and exports increased; the population was doubled, and schools and libraries were founded. rivera exterminated the charrua indians, who pillaged in town and country, fostered the stock-raising industry, and, in his democratic enthusiasm, prohibited the slave trade in and freed the slaves in . in the rivalry of these leaders we may already perceive the elements of future civil struggles. two political parties, the whites and the reds, struggled for power, as in other american republics; their disputes, which were long and violent, revealed an antagonism more profound than any simple conflict of political opinions. uruguay, like venezuela and peru, is a country of _caudillos_, but all her leaders, from rivera to battle ordonez, have effected not merely works of material progress, but also religious and moral reforms, which explains the violent mutual hatred of the reds and whites. in matters of local import, or of national convictions and traditions, there is a clash of formidable instincts, and the political problem becomes simplified. two great groups, one conservative and the other liberal, both represented by tenacious leaders, disputed the supreme power in the government and in parliament. the whites were partisans of absolutism, nationalists and catholics, and intolerant towards foreign cults; and the old spanish aristocracy, the clergy, the "doctors"--all those, in short, who would constitute an intellectual oligarchy--sympathised with this authoritative { } and traditionalist party. the reds called their adversaries cut-throats (for in the name of reasons of state and of order they had no respect for human life), reproached them with opposing due liberties (they did condemn what they considered excessive liberties) and were liberals and enemies of the church. the country districts and the cabins supported them; they were the popular party. the whites called them "the savages." although very old families figured in both clans, the new social classes, the mestizos and children of foreigners inclined rather to the reds, while the whites included the proprietors of the _latifundia_. lavalleja died in , rivera in . after the death of the two leaders a barbarous warfare continued between the two parties, which represented tradition and democracy. in vain did certain of the presidents--garro, flores, and berro--attempt to realise the unity of uruguay and to form a national party. the conflict still continued, for the groups were swayed by an inevitable antagonism: the conservative oligarchy and the half-breed democracy are opposed in uruguay as in mexico and venezuela. the old families, _beati possidentes_, defended "_la grande proprieté_" against the foreigners and mestizos. with the triumph of flores ( ) the whites lost their political supremacy, and the liberal party regained its old position. flores protected commerce, rebuilt the cities destroyed by so many wars, and built railways; his dictatorship terminated in . the leader of the reds returned to the presidency from to , and his party established itself more firmly. despite fresh revolutions, it did not yield up the government, and effected great social reforms. another _caudillo_, the present president, don josé battle y ordoñez, is, by virtue of his liberal creed, his influence, and the daring of his political programme, an eminent personage amidst the sordid { } quarrels which divide the populations of america; he has inherited the authority of rivera, flores, and lorenzo battle. the modern uruguay is born of the struggle between the two traditional parties: a small nation with an intense commercial vitality, like belgium and switzerland. a harmonious republic, it has not overlooked, in its material conquests, the suggestion of ariel. an admirable master, josé enrique rodo, has established a chair of idealism at montevideo. immigration, a surplus[ ] in the budgets, a strict service of the internal debt, an increasing population--in short, all the aspects of economic progress--go hand in hand with the spread of education, the abundance of schools, the importance of journalism, and the moral vigour of a younger generation, which is ambitious for its country, and anxious that uruguay shall play a noble part upon the american stage. the most advanced laws--divorce, suppression of the death penalty, a code protecting workers, separation of church and state--give the development of uruguayan civilisation a markedly liberal aspect. miscegenation decreased after the destruction of the charruas, and the race is more homogeneous and keenly patriotic. the enthusiasm of the uruguayans has baptized montevideo in the name of new troy, for the possession of this impregnable city was, in the _iliad_ of america, the ambition of every conqueror: it was the refuge of the pilgrims of liberty, of ambitious foreigners, of argentine unitarians, and of a romantic soldier, garibaldi. when the peoples of america, weary of civil discord, wish to unify their laws and glorify the heroism of their past conflicts, they proceed to montevideo, as to the hague or washington, in periodical peace congresses. in a continent divided by fatal ambitions, the capital of uruguay preserves the tradition of americanism. [ ] this surplus amounted to eight millions of piastres between and . { } chapter v the argentine: rivadavia--quiroga--rosas anarchy in --the _caudillos_: their part in the formation of nationality--a girondist, rivadavia--the despotism of rosas--its duration and its essential aspects. the argentine passed through a crisis, a time of anarchy, like the other american nations. but the struggle between autocracy and revolution assumed epic proportions in the vast arena of the pampa. it was the clash of organic forces. tradition, geography, and race gave it a rare intensity. the provinces fought against the capital, the coast against the sierra, the _gauchos_ against the men of the seaboard, and the various parties represented national instincts. the anarchy and ambition of the provinces commenced during the first few years of argentine life. governments followed one another at rapid intervals; constitutions and regulations were legion; political forms were essayed as experiments, on roman or french models; there was the junta of , the triumvirate of , and the directory of . every two years, with inflexible regularity, from to , this uneasy republic imposed a new constitution. the argentine troops, like the armies of the french revolution, gave the gift of liberty to chili and peru; but at home the effort of buenos-ayres to dominate the provinces was less fortunate. it has been written that in the confusion and { } discord in the argentine were so intense that the effort of the revolutionaries of may appeared to have spent itself. in buenos-ayres there was a divorce between the factions, and a struggle between unitarian and federal _caudillos_: alvear, sarratea, dorrego and soler; between the municipalities and the rebellious troops; in the country as a whole it was the struggle of the provincial leaders against buenos-ayres and the directory. in the midst of this period of disturbance the federal democracy was born; the provinces concluded treaties, the capital compromised with the _caciques_, the governors of the provinces; the _cabildo_ retained its representative character, the military and civil elements entered upon a mutual conflict. finally, in , the directorial party, aristocratic and unitarian, was victorious. bernardino rivadavia was the representative figure of the period. secretary in the government of rodriguez from to , president from to , a civil dictator like portales in chili, a remarkable statesman, a reformer like moreno and belgrano, he presided over a premature realisation of the democratic ideal, and symbolised the unitarian principles in all their force: the supremacy of buenos-ayres, constitutionalism, european civilisation, and the ideal republic. he was the pupil of lamartine and benjamin constant in a barbarous democracy. he had every gift--physical arrogance, oratorical power, honesty, enthusiasm, patriotism. he divined the elements of argentine greatness: immigration, the navigability of the rivers, the stability of the banks, and external trade. but buenos-ayres was then a plebiscitary republic, in which the _cabildo_ and the people resolved all problems of politics, and rivadavia suffered ostracism, as he had enjoyed the unstable popularity with which democracies endow their leaders. he was, according to the expression of { } m. groussac, a vigorous forger of utopias. he granted all political rights; he wished to see a republic with a free suffrage; he 'doubled the number of the representatives of the people, and suppressed the municipalities which had prepared the way for the revolution. the executive power renounced its extraordinary attributes and submitted to the legislative power. was this wise, in a revolutionary country, face to face with the disunited provinces? rivadavia organised the judiciary as a supreme and autonomous entity. he declared, in messages dealing with the doctrine of high politics, that property and the person were inviolable; he proclaimed the liberty of the press, and recognised the liberty of the conscience. he commenced the campaign against the church, suppressing convents, seizing their possessions by mortmain, ignoring the ecclesiastic charter, and secularising the cemeteries. he aspired, like guzman-blanco, to found a national and democratic religion upon the traditional elements. a great educator, he had faith in the benefits of popular instruction, erected buildings for the use of schools and colleges, attracted foreign teachers, and promulgated a plan of study in which the physical sciences and mathematics, forgotten under the old system, occupied the first rank. he founded numerous pedagogic institutions: the faculty of medicine, the museum, the library, special technical and agricultural schools, and colleges for young girls. he did not overlook material progress. his financial reforms were radical; the national budget was instituted; a tax upon rent was imposed, and the customs duties were regularised. the minister garcia contributed to this financial reformation. rivadavia understood that the whole future of buenos-ayres depended upon that great civiliser, the ocean, and he ordered the construction of four harbours { } on the coast. he favoured immigration, protected agriculture, improved the ways and means of transport, reformed the police, and contracted the first loan. it was under the government of rivadavia that the constitution of was promulgated. this was inspired by the doctrines of j. j. rousseau, and his _contrat social_; but it aimed energetically at centralisation and authority. senators were to exercise their functions for twelve years; they were the conservative power. the mandate of the deputies and the director was to last only four years. it was a unitarian constitution which made buenos-ayres, in spite of the protest of the federals, the capital of the united provinces of the rio de la plata, the centre which "rules all the peoples, and upon which all depend." rivadavia imposed unity, propagated his ideas, multiplied reforms, and checkmated the church; he was the civiliser _par excellence_. he wished to transform a spanish province into a european nation, a barbarous people into a democracy, a sluggish and fanatical society into a liberal republic. he governed in the interests of buenos-ayres and the seaboard, for the future latin democracy, and neglected the desert, the anarchy of the provinces, the indomitable sierra, the _caciques_, and the indian tribes. he was vanquished by feudal barbarism, by a confused democracy, hostile to organisation and unity; but his work remains, in the shape of a constitutional programme. alberdi writes that he gave america the plan of his progressive improvements and innovations: it is an immense political structure, a gospel of democracy. were popular myths to rise in spontaneous birth in buenos-ayres, before the evocative ocean, as in the greek cities lovingly bathed by the mediterranean, then rivadavia would be the genius of argentine culture, the patron of the city, the creator of its arts and its laws. { } while the magistral president was showering down reforms, the demagogues triumphed over his efforts toward unity. his constitutional labours miscarried in the provinces; the governors would not submit to the haughty supremacy of buenos-ayres. they fought for power in rude civil wars, in the north and on the seaboard. some provincial congresses were precariously installed, and montevideo renounced its union with the argentine. a _caudillo_, who at times rose to the moral greatness of the liberators, artigas, longed to see uruguay, his country, independent. the empire of brazil and the argentine democracy were wrangling for its possession. rivadavia stoically resigned the presidency in , having shown himself a prodigal and sumptuous creator and an eminent prophet; he left the country, having wearied the populace with his inventive genius.[ ] in his place general dorrego was elected governor of buenos-ayres, the federal chief of the city, as rosas was of the country. the war with brazil continued; but in a treaty was signed which recognised the autonomy of uruguay. [illustration: rivadavia. president of argentina ( - ). to face p. ] this brazilian victory aroused the indignation of the argentine unitarians; they overthrew dorrego and elected general lavalle to be governor. a storm of tragedy broke over the divided city. dorrego was shot by order of lavalle, and then began the terrible war of hatred between federals and unitarians--a jacobin conflict. the daring revolt of the provinces had coincided with the promulgation of the constitution of . { } since the argentine provinces had been in a state of revolt against the imposed or suggested rule of buenos-ayres; it was the period of _caudillos_. to the aristocratic presidency of rivadavia they opposed the terror. they represented the barbarian might of the provinces. they made federation a reality, cemented it by long quarrels, sanguinary hatreds, conventions, alliances, and friendships. the provinces fought within the nation; the cities within the province; within the city, the families. an inflexible individualism--the fundamental spanish tradition--dissolved the provisional crystallisations of society and politics. it was not a simple federal disaggregation--a clash of ambitious overlords eager to surround their manors by new domains; it was a mystic barbarism, the leaders of which recalled the nomadic and fanatical tamerlane. they were impelled by a strange, rude force, disordered and prodigious--the genius of the _pampa_, the instinct of a vagabond race. general quiroga, the "facundo" of sarmiento, was the prototype of these turbulent _gauchos_. by conquest or alliance he extended his government over several provinces. the paltry bustos, the reinafé family, the crafty lopez, and ferré were also among the argentine _caudillos_; lopez extended his rule over entre-rios, santa-fé, and cordoba. facundo dominated them all by the range of his deeds and his influence. he came from the andes to the conquest of the seaboard and the great rivers; he reigned in rio, jujuy, salta, tucuman, catamarca, san juan, san luis, and mendoza; he grouped vast provinces together, and paved the way for unity in the future; he was the forerunner of rosas. cruel and loyal, noble and bloodthirsty, honest, frugal, and aggressive, a product of the _pampa_, he felt himself actuated by primitive forces, by simple passions and instincts, by heroism and the love of peril. powerfully built, { } with an abundant shock of hair, bushy eyebrows, and the eyes of a ruler, he resembled one of those gloomy khalifs who brought the mystic terror of the orient to the west. on the standard which he raised against the liberalism of rivadavia was the proclamation: "liberty or death!" he was the "bad _gaucho_" the enemy of social discipline, who lives far from the city and its laws, conscious and proud of his barbarism. sarmiento stated that he entertained "a great aversion for decent persons," and that he hated the lordly city of buenos-ayres. he fought with success against the unitarian generals, paz and la madrid, and against such secondary leaders as lopez and reinafé. his life was a continual running hunt across the rugged mountains; his goal the city of rivadavia and the directory; his campaigns were bloody, and worthy of a chaotic period, during which barbarism changed only in kind from buenos-ayres to rioja. he pillaged, executed, and triumphed in his rude insurrections at tala, at campana de cuyo. he wrote to general paz in , in his downright manner: "in the advanced state of the provinces it is impossible to satisfy local pretensions except by the system of federation. the provinces will be cut to bits, perhaps, but conquered--never!" assassinated at barranco-yaco by the treacherous hand of reinafé, probably with the complicity of rosas, he left his heritage to this last of the _caudillos_. rosas was one of those hyperborean beings upon whom gobineau conferred a perdurable authority over the human herd. he possessed a coat of arms, blue eyes, and the spirit of a ruler. sober, astute, proud, energetic, he combined all the characteristics of a great and imperious personality. he obeyed neither general conceptions nor vast political plans. he was a will served by ambitions. his authoritative character of a spanish patrician made him the { } _paterfamilias_ of the argentine democracy. the pursuit of power was an instinct, a physiological need; he governed in the interests of federation, the concrete, practical idea, which he absorbed by contact with many regions, of the nomadic _gaucho_, the self-willed provincial; and he expounded it in in a famous letter to quiroga. he was not content to work for the mere realisation of the north american ideal; his aim was national federation. he was persuaded of "the necessity of a general government, the only means of giving life and respectability" to a republic; but only the properly constituted states would accept this central authority. of a federative republic he writes that nothing more chimerical and disastrous could be imagined when it is not composed of properly organised states. the anarchy of the argentine was not a condition propitious to the foundation of federation or unity; rosas affirmed, recalling the united states, that "the general government in a federative republic does not unite the federated peoples: it represents them when united." so he wished to unite the provinces: "the elements of discord among the peoples must be given time to destroy themselves, and each government must foster the spirit of peace and tranquillity." amid dogmatic governors and impenitent revolutionaries, this president who desired a real federation and accepted, as a factor of human conflicts, time, the creator of stable nations, seems a figure strangely out of place. rosas left "the elements of discord time to destroy themselves"; an invulnerable dictator, he watched over the obscure process of national gestation, isolating his people, detesting the foreigner, as though he wished to prepare the way, free from all perturbing influences, for the fusion of antagonistic races, the purging of local hatreds, and the harmonious life of men, traditions, and provinces within a plastic and fruitful organism. from { } chaos a spontaneous federation was to spring, of the north american type; as in the formation of the united states, the provinces, in possession of their autonomy, concluded pacts of union. such was the federal pact of , between the provinces of the seaboard--corrientes, entre-rios, buenos-ayres, and santa-fé; such, twenty years later, was the constitution of . pacts and charters recognised "the sovereignty, liberty, and independence of each of the provinces." the work of rosas was profoundly argentine. it presents a triple civilising significance; it overcame the partial _caudillos_, conquered the wilderness, and founded an organic confederation. traditional, for it respected ancient liberties; opportunist, adapted at the critical moment of national evolution, for it prevented the disaggregation of the provinces by the labours of unconscious leaders. like porfirio diaz, rosas destroyed the provincial _caudillos_; he was a machiavelli of the pampas. he dissembled his unificatory aims; he caused division among the governors, stimulated their mutual hatred, presided over their quarrels; he grouped or isolated his disciples, who cut a lively figure on the hustings. when the power of quiroga increased, he protected lopez, and exposed the former to the hatred of the reinafé; quiroga once murdered, he had the latter accused. he expected the governors to submit to his _exequatur_; the demi-gods fell before the stroke of his imperial axe. "rosas is the louis xi. of argentine history," said ernesto quesada, with justice; for over the heads of the feudal barons he raised a magnificent unitarian structure; he was the creator of argentine nationality. [illustration: rosas, the argentine tyrant. ( - .) to face p. .] rosas surrounded himself with chosen men: the lopez, anchorenas, mansillas, sarrateas, riglos. the cultivated classes demanded a strong government, renounced their liberty with a dionysiac { } delight, and conferred "unlimited power" upon rosas. the tyrant governed, in short, above the law and above custom. he enacted laws to prohibit the carnival, that popular souvenir of the pagan bacchanalia, and to establish the rules of mourning; he himself was the law, was reason, was the _logos_; intoxicated with docility, a whole nation bowed before his cæsarian will, without hierarchic distinctions. his rule was a supreme levelling, a universal servitude; the terror. rosas, impelled and favoured by the supreme traditions of a race, became the cæsar of a democracy. _gauchos_ and negroes supported him; with the aid of the people he subjected the ruling classes. he unified; he destroyed social privileges; he inverted the order of the hierarchies in the unitarian, aristocratic city. his political methods were of the simplest. instinctively he applied infallible psychological truths. he knew the power of repetition, of habit, of formulæ; he understood the enervating effect of panic; the effect of vivid colours and sounding words upon the half-breed mob. "federation or death!" he reiterated, in his proclamations. "savages, infamous unitarians--impious unitarians," one read day by day in the journals, and in official documents; that vivid colour, red, was the symbol of federalism. rosas wrote to lopez: "repeat the word, savage! repeat it to satiety, to boredom, to exhaustion." what such influences did not obtain was produced by that effectual levelling agent, terror. rosas crushed rebellious wills; he overpowered his enemies, the impious, infamous, savage unitarians; he was the jacobin of the federation. a prætorian legion, the _mazorca_, chopped off such heads as raised themselves. he was a fanatical democrat, a lay inquisitor; if he discovered a political heresy he condemned it without pity. as national _caudillo_ he { } protected religion, attracted the clergy, and attacked the unitarians, not only because they were savage, but also because they were impious. like portales, he made a tool of religion. he defended the "patrons," and condemned the jesuits as conspirators, not from religious motives. the clergy saw in him the man chosen by god "to preside over the destinies of the country which saw his birth." rosas governed according to tradition and history by making use of the hatred of the masses and classes, the fanaticism of the mob, the servility of the natives; he was therefore a catholic and a democrat. like all great american dictators, rosas proved to be an eminent administrator of the public finances. in a time of national disturbance and military expenditure he displayed an extraordinary zeal in organising and publishing the national accounts. his method was simple rather than scrupulous; he appointed honest men to high representative posts. the official journals published the fiscal balance-sheet monthly; receipts and expenditure, the fluctuations of paper-money, and the state of the national debt. rosas was vigorous in assuring the service of the external debt; he accumulated neither loans nor fresh taxes. his economic policy was orderly and far-seeing. to him we owe the construction of many of the public works of buenos-ayres, including a magnificent promenade, palermo, where he built his autocratic residence. his invulnerable dictatorship was based upon material progress and fiscal order. he was also the defender of the continent against european invasion. like juarez and guzman-blanco, he professed a jealous individualism; his work was bound up with race and territory. continuing the revolutionary movement of , he desired not merely freedom from spain but autonomy against the whole world. in the twenty-four years, to , rosas { } made federal unity a reality. he was first of all governor and leader of the _gauchos_; in he won the absolute power for five years, which term was extended by several re-elections. before him was the anarchy of and the unitarian bankruptcy of ; after him, the powerful unity of and , and the triumphal progress of the argentine democracy. between this discord and this unity came his fruitful despotism, a necessary terror. his dictatorship was more efficacious than the autocracy of guzman-blanco or the ecclesiastic tyranny of garcia-moreno. porfirio diaz and portales, two founders of political unity, were his disciples. he was the builder of a practicable federation, because he was a _gaucho_ and could interpret the inner voices of his race; he governed as an american, without borrowing anything from european methods. without him anarchy would have been perpetuated, and the vice-kingdom of la plata would have been irremediably disintegrated. like the roman deity janus, rosas had two faces; he closed one epoch and opened another; a past of warfare and terror and a future of unity, peace, democratic development, and industrial progress. he defended the country against the territorial aggression of foreign coalitions, and his own power against conspiracy and revolt; against the avenging stanzas of marmol, the aggressive journalism of rivera indarte, and varela, the rude pamphlets of sarmiento, and the meticulous dialectic of alberdi. to unitarian insult he opposed the bloody campaign of the _mazorqueros_; to european tutelage, the individualism of the _gauchos_. rivadavia was thesis, facundo antithesis, rosas synthesis. the first represented absolute unity; the second, anarchical multiplicity; the third, unity in multiplicity, plurality co-ordinated, union without violent simplification. rivadavia comprehended the { } necessity of the supremacy of buenos-ayres, built as it was upon the ocean that brought men and wealth; he stood for the fundamental unity of la plata. facundo, in the place of this premature unification, erected the autonomous province, pure and simple, but diverse. rosas brought about the final harmony of the forces of argentine politics. he united, like rivadavia; he separated, like facundo; he dominated the capital city, and moderated provincialism; he painfully founded the confederation. his renown reached europe; lord palmerston was his friend; great foreign journals, such as the times, the _journal des débats_, the _revue des deux-mondes_, discussed his policy and his influence. alberdi recognised that he contributed to the repute of the argentine abroad by his heroic defence of his territory. his cruelty was effectual, his barbarism patriotic. "_como hombre te perdono mi carcel y cadenas; pero como argentine, las de mi patria, no!_"[ ] cried marmol. they were necessary chains, for they bound the country together after the feudal dispersion, vanquished the resolvent forces of provincialism, and gave unity and strength to democracy. after rosas, his political work, the confederation, survives in spite of the ambitions of buenos-ayres. a logical development confirms the ties that unite the provinces, grouping and organising all the national forces about the capital city. in eighty-six years, from the anarchy of to the glory of the centenary, the argentine has seen a transformation of race, of policy, of wealth, of culture, of history; argentina is now a great latin nation, which will soon possess the moral and intellectual hegemony of south america. [ ] carlos octavio bunge, in his remarkable book, _nuestra america_, gives the struggle between the capital and the provinces a racial and economic character. he distinguishes three periods of evolution: from to the creole half-breeds contend with the "goths"; from to the rural masses rise against the rich middle classes of the provinces; from to buenos-ayres--the capital city, rich, and creole--enters upon a conflict with the provincial cities--indian or mestizo. [ ] "as man i forgive you my prison and my chains, but as argentine, those of my country--no!" { } book iii _the principle of authority in mexico, chili, brazil, and paraguay_ these republics have stood aside from the normal evolution of venezuela, peru, and bolivia; they have known neither perpetual revolutions nor lasting anarchy. social progress has been accomplished under the pressure of long-continued tutelage; the principle of authority has been a safeguard against disorder and licence. these are the more stable and less liberal peoples. in them liberty is not a spontaneous gift by charter, but something won from selfish oligarchies or tenacious despots. such is the case in mexico, chili, brazil, and paraguay. { } chapter i mexico: the two empires--the dictators the emperor iturbide--the conflicts between federals and unitarians--the reformation--the foreign emperor--the dictatorship of porfirio diaz--material progress and servitude--the yankee influence. in mexico we find an alternation of revolutions and dictators. the principle of authority is supreme; it even gives rise to two empires and a permanent presidency; there has always been a well-organised monarchical party. modern mexico demonstrates the excellence of strong governments in a divided continent. the aztec nation was born into freedom in , after the capitulations of cordoba. the viceroy o'donoju recognised the triumph of iturbide, and the rights of mexico; the spanish leader and the patriot _caudillo_ decided upon the creation of an empire which should conserve the rights of ferdinand vii., like the _juntas_ of south america; the creation of a constituent congress, and the nomination of a provisional government, which should preside over the destinies of the nation during the indecision of the twilight of the old _régime_. iturbide very shortly came forward as an incarnation of the national characteristics; he was actuated by an imperious ambition, and haunted by the triumphs of napoleon. he had studied the classics, and was a brilliant and persuasive orator. his courage and activity and his dominating character { } won him a sudden popularity. bolivar, in a letter to riva-agüero, said: "bonaparte in europe, iturbide in america: these are the two most extraordinary men that modern history has to offer." the clergy, the mexican nobility, the troops, and the lower classes, who regarded him as the liberator of their country, flocked around him. congress was in part hostile; generals bustamente and santa-ana supported him in the assembly; generals victoria and guerrero attacked him. the deputies understood that he aspired to absolutism, and that he aimed at becoming the heir to the overlords of anahouac. a prætorian revolution proclaimed him "constitutional emperor of mexico" on may , . the political opinion of the country was divided. the monarchists wanted a spanish prince; the republicans a federation, a democracy with full liberties. of these latter iturbide said: "they were my enemies because i was opposed to the establishment of a government which would not have suited mexico. nature has produced nothing suddenly; she acts by successive stages."[ ] the emperor responded to the aspirations of the populace, and flattered the imagination of the crowd by the pomp and pageantry of his coronation, and the splendour of his court; he was the national monarch, the creator of his country, as were the feudal kings in europe. convinced of his prestige and impelled by ambition, he dissolved congress. thenceforward his government was menaced by _caudillos_, who defended the violated constitution. iturbide abdicated in may, , and when he returned to his country the sentence of death pronounced upon him by contumacy was enforced. he was executed by shooting in . [illustration: paseo de la reforma, city of mexico, on independence day. (_from "latin america, the land of opportunity," by the hon. john barrett._)] santa-ana, who had directed the revolution against the emperor, was the mexican _caudillo_, as facundo was the _caudillo_ of the argentine pampas, or paez { } of the venezuelan plains. he professed no definite political doctrines; he was, first of all, a radical reformer, but afterwards, with prudent opportunism, he accepted the ideas of the conservatives. crafty, ambitious, ignorant, a democrat by instinct, he finally became the fetish of the mob, the hero of the civil wars; as president, as general, as supreme authority, he governed his divided country. between iturbide and juarez, between emperor and reformer, he was for twenty years a sombre and overpowering figure. his triumph in ratified the policy of federalism; the constitution recognised two chambers; the presidential term was four years; the judicial power was irremovable, and the provincial assemblies elected the national senate. under this system general victoria became president. it was then that a fear of spain and the monarchy resulted in a policy of _rapprochement_ with the great northern republic. the _yorkina_ lodges, radical in spirit, acquired considerable influence, and worked in favour of a north american hegemony; the prestige of the ancient scotch lodges, on the other hand, decreased. santa-ana led a new revolution which gave the presidency to general guerrero; general bustamente was vice-president. the economic crisis was accentuated by these successive revolts; the government was carried on by means of onerous loans; the increasing debt drained the treasury, and discontent evoked another revolution. a supporter of iturbide, general bustamente, autocratic and conservative, was proclaimed president; he had the previous ruler, guerrero, shot, stifled the provincial rebellions, and re-established internal order. a civil war forced him, in , to compromise with the director of all these political conflicts, santa-ana. with him the liberals triumphed, and a social transformation commenced. the liberals were the "new men," as in venezuela, under guzman. the { } colonial oligarchy, the republican bureaucracy, the high clergy, and the wealthy classes composed the conservative group which had founded the empire with iturbide, and desired royalty with lucas-alaman. against them rose the reforming democracy, liberal or radical; it was a conflict of principles and classes. the lawyers, the lesser clergy, and the coloured middle classes gained the upper hand in , and the great economic, social, and religious reformation commenced; juarez was presently to give it the dignity of constitutionalism. in the struggle against the conservative and monarchical church the liberals disregarded ecclesiastical jurisdiction, confiscated by mortmain the goods of the religious communities, promoted lay education, and secularised the reactionary university, as garcia moreno in ecuador condemned the liberal university, and, impelled by a pernicious radicalism, they suppressed the army of a nation a prey to anarchy. after santa-ana a coloured _caudillo_, benito juarez, was the leader of the reformers ( ), and with him the liberal movement took on a profoundly racial character. juarez represented the natives, the democracy, as against the colonial oligarchy; like tupuc-amaru, he was the redeemer of the indians; like las casas, the protector of the vanquished. better than guzman-blanco and rosas he realised the ideal of those american republics which were oppressed by memories of colonial days; hatred of all privilege, a dream of absolute liberty, war upon the tutelary church, and a strict despotism designed to create classes and ideals. he proclaimed the separation of church and state, and the confiscation of ecclesiastical property. lerdo de tejada was the economist and ideologist of the reformation; juarez was its muscle, its iron will; he realised without compromise the old liberal programme. congress, divided into juarists and anti-juarists, { } elected him president. all the laws against the church were applied, but that did not enrich the country. stock-jobbing, scandals, waste, and bankruptcy accumulated and formed a terrible argument against the "pure" liberals; the latter defended themselves by means of proscriptions and new and violent laws of reform. once more the shadow of the empire hovered over the turbulent democracy. it was no longer a question of the national empire of montezuma or iturbide, but of the foreign eagles. napoleon iii., a conqueror by family tradition, intervened in mexican affairs; like louis-philippe, he desired colonies oversea; he defended the latin civilisation against the yankee peril, protected the church against the reformation, and extended over barbarous countries the amiable empire of the french spirit, the spirit of lucidity, method, and harmony.[ ] in the mexican congress suspended the service of the debt, as a remedy against financial bankruptcy, and this measure provoked french intervention; there was a crusade of ambitious creditors against mexico. england and spain signed an agreement in london; both were enemies of the insolvent democracy. the hatred of mexico was then excited against spain; the spanish minister was expelled; the federal government refused to treat with the spanish _chargé d'affaires_. the reformation general, zaragoza, organised the country for defence against the spanish invasion; he was victorious at puebla. the mexican resistance was concentrated upon the central plateau, where dwelt the _penates_ of ancient mexico. zaragoza died; puebla, attacked by the french, defended itself heroically; the national war became also a civil war. the monarchists desired a prince, the restoration of the catholic church, and { } the consolidation of the conservative oligarchy; the clergy shared their ambitions. the archduke maximilian arrived, to whom the conservatives had offered the throne of iturbide, and from to , after some hardly contested battles, the invaders ruled the country. maximilian, surrounded by the aristocrats, triumphantly entered the aztec capital, and the people, overpowered by the splendour of the new court, accepted the foreign monarch. this monarch, pompous and ambitious, wished, like napoleon iii., to found a "liberal empire," a democratic kingdom; he did not condemn the reformation, but professed to be anxious to assist it and to purge it of its jacobin origin. heir to the viceroys and dictators, maximilian re-established the right of "patronage" and favoured religious tolerance. a few reformers applauded his liberalism, but neither liberals nor conservatives were satisfied; the former because they had dreamed of a secular republic, the latter because they wished for a clerical monarchy. the revolution continued. the emperor, effaced like any mikado, did not govern; his tycoon, general bazaine, at the head of a french army, was the real source of authority. [illustration: benito juarez. president of mexico in the struggle against the french invasion. to face p. .] his presidential term ending in , juarez proclaimed himself dictator in order to continue his resistance against the empire, which, between a monarch and a general, between the discontented clericals and the aggressive reformers, was tottering to its fall. the north american republic condemned the monarchy in the name of the monroe doctrine: this was intervention against intervention. the war of secession in the united states was over, and the states feared their imperial neighbour. from that time fortune abandoned the mexican monarch. napoleon iii. had occasion to withdraw his troops; prussia, ambitious of hegemony in europe, and victorious at sadowa, was causing him { } uneasiness. he advised maximilian to abdicate; but the emperor was by no means willing to give way; he had become a reactionary, and vigorously defended his imperial dignity. the tragic hour of desertion and disaster struck, and the mexican revolution was prolonged ( ). porfirio diaz, escaping from puebla, which was besieged by the french, organised the reconquest of mexico at guerrero. sombre and virile, he took refuge on the high plateau, as did the gothic king in the mountains of asturia. he captured puebla after a day's glorious fighting. surrounded by republican troops, maximilian took refuge at queretaro; he was taken prisoner with his army and the best of his generals. he was condemned to death, and juarez, inflexible as the aztec gods, refused to show mercy. the emperor was executed at queretaro on the th of june, . on the following day mexico yielded to the legions of diaz. the reformation had vanquished two emperors and erected two scaffolds. in these struggles juarez, the half-breed _caudillo_, and porfirio diaz, the invincible general, had acquired a lasting influence, and juarez, as president and dictator, proceeded to organise the country. he strengthened the executive power against anarchy, endeavoured to found a conservative senate, maintained order by means of a disciplined army, and improved the condition of finances by severe economies. his ministers, better educated and more intelligent than their leader, realised sweeping reforms while he gathered the victorious generals about him. the new government entrusted the preparatory school to a great educator, gabino barreda; like rivadavia in the argentine, it applied itself to the moral and material transformation of the country. it protected foreign capital, established liberty of trade, favoured colonisation, fostered irrigation, and commenced to build a railway from vera-cruz { } to mexico. the ideal of juarez was the education of the native race, the nucleus of nationality; like alberdi, he believed that protestantism would be a fruitful moral doctrine for the indians. "they need," he told don justo sierra, "a religion which will force them to read, not to spend their money on candles for the saints." he established an industrial democracy, a secular state. but between his political ideas and his dictatorial acts there was a discrepancy which explains the ultimate sterility of his efforts. "the only book he had read thoroughly was the _politics_ of benjamin constant, the apology of the parliamentary system."[ ] juarez relied upon the democracy, on the governing chambers; he aspired to a position like that of a constitutional monarch; that of a glorified spectator of the quarrels of parties. his ideas urged him toward parliamentarism; his ambitions, to dictatorship. he professed to conciliate all the national interests, to be the personification of the mexican democracy, but his dislikes were mean and paltry. severe, impassive, a great personality in his strength and his silent tenacity, he had no great ideals; he was no orator, no leader of the subject crowd. he was merely the supreme _cacique_ of a half-breed nation. [illustration: josÉ ives limantour. minister of finance during the administration of general diaz in mexico. to face p. .] despite his government, anarchy continued in the states. the soldiers who had conquered in the national war disturbed the domestic peace of the nation by their ambitions; in yucutan, sonora, and puebla revolutions broke out, which juarez energetically suppressed. his presidential term at an end, he aspired to re-election, and defeated lerdo de tejada, the financier, and the warrior diaz; but his victory was not lasting. the great revolution in which diaz figured commenced, and juarez died in the midst of the struggle for power. lerdo de tejada, who continued the reforms already { } commenced, was the next president; with him liberal principles figured definitely in the mexican constitution. lerdo strengthened the central power, and started a campaign against the _cacicazgos_, the tyrants of the sierra, and founded a tutelary senate. he, like juarez, aspired to re-election, and a fresh rising at tuxtepec prepared the way for his fall. the supreme court considered itself authorised to examine the titles of the presidential candidates, and invalidated his re-election. by the revolution had conquered the country. it imposed upon mexico the hero of the re-conquest, porfirio diaz, who became the new national _caudillo_, inheriting the imperial ambitions of iturbide, the craft of santa-ana, and the moral dictatorship of juarez. the country was disorganised, its credit in the european markets was destroyed; its national finances were in disorder. the blood-stained soil was divided among petty _caciques_; radicalism led to demagogy and liberty to anarchy. jacobinism had triumphed with the revolution, and condemned the re-election of presidents and the conservative senate; the omnipotence of the popular chamber was proclaimed. the result was a feeble and ephemeral government; in the absence of a moderating power the radical assembly was supreme. a man was needed to organise chaos; porfirio diaz was the necessary autocrat, the "representative man" of emerson. stern and gloomy, he was preparing for the priesthood. born in , he was brought up in poverty. a half-breed, he combined the courage of the iberian with the dissimulation of the native. he knew the efficacy of work, perseverance, and method; he was extremely ignorant, but was shrewd and perspicacious. he was six times elected president, for the last time in , and peace was coterminous { } with his rule. a great hunter and a master of manly exercises, his intensity of will-power was supported by solid physical foundations. above all he was a man of action; his character was served by a robust organisation; a powerful frame and a vast power of resistance enabled him to rule and to intimidate. his intelligence applied itself to concrete things; it was unable to examine facts in the transforming light of an ideal; he had no general ideas, no spacious plans; he was slow in deliberation and rapid in action. his politics were an organised machiavellism; like louis xl, he divided that he might reign and dissembled that he might conquer. his ideas of government were simple: "not much politics and plenty of administration," said his deeds and his programmes. machiavelli, in _the prince_, taught the means of ruling in states which have had autonomous governments; he suggested the implacable extermination of the reigning families. general diaz followed this counsel in part. to overcome anarchy he attacked the obscure tyrants of the provinces, and had them shot or exiled, or else he attached them to himself by means of honours and rewards. he imposed peace by means of terror. he knew that order was the practical basis of progress, as in the formula of comte, which the mexicans are fond of quoting, and this order he firmly established. the destruction of the revolutionary instinct constituted the negative side of his work; diaz built upon this foundation an industrial republic, practical and laborious. weary of barren ideologies, he put the reformation and its jacobin doctrines out of his mind, accepted and encouraged the yankee influence which had made lerdo de tejada so uneasy, conquered barbarism and the desert by means of the railway, and raised a number of loans. he was the president of an industrial epoch. { } his economic labours were imposing; in twenty-five years mexico was transformed from a divided republic into a modern state, from a bankrupt nation into a prosperous and highly solvent people. diaz recalls the gods who built cities and filled the earth with the gold of fruitful grain, and taught the virtues of the metals and of fire. "modern mexico," writes the _times_ in , "is the creation of the genius of general diaz; he is the greatest statesman the transatlantic latin communities have produced since their foundation." this organiser of peace astonished the old-established nations, who listened attentively to the fruitful words of light which fell from the lips of the aztec demigod. in diaz commenced to reorganise the finances of his country. he was seconded in his task by eminent secretaries like limantour and clever financiers like romero and macedo. the gold of the united states invaded the market; it was employed in the construction of railways and in industrial undertakings. in limantour established the gold standard as basis of the monetary system. the service of the debt was regularised by agreement with foreign creditors; the budgets ceased to present deficits; in ten years the surplus reached a sum of seven million pesos. by the exports were in excess of the imports. thanks to this favourable commercial balance, credit increased, and industries were multiplied; the exuberant national prosperity attracted foreign capital and settled it in the country. here are some figures touching this progress. in , at the beginning of diaz's rule, the mexican imports amounted to millions of pesos (silver) and the exports to millions; in the amount of the former was millions and of the latter millions. the imports, a proof of the wealth of the { } country, had increased fivefold; the exports, a sign of agricultural and mineral production, had increased almost in proportion. in twenty years ( - ) the yield of the mining industry increased from to millions, and in the same period banks were founded. a loan of million dollars was contracted in , being issued at , bearing per cent interest, on the sole security of the national credit; that is, the security usual in such transactions in the case of the great european nations. in ten years the budget has doubled, increasing from to millions. the surplus of the fiscal revenue is devoted to decreasing the burden of taxation, and in providing the country with fine and spacious public edifices. the service of the foreign debt has been secured with a continuity rare in america, more than per cent. of certain budgets having been used for that purpose. the result of the industrial evolution of the country is proving to the detriment of agriculture, as in the germany of bismarck and the russia of count witte; looms, paper-mills, hat-factories, &c., have been established. the national requirements being satisfied, the products of agriculture are exported--tobacco, rubber, and sugar. the network of railways is being greatly extended, and irrigation works are being installed. colonies of boers have settled in mexico. the invasion of capital goes on unchecked, as does the development of the economic life of the country, and its political progress, revealed by its external credit. thus, the president, by means of sound money, steady finance, and foreign gold, has founded a practical republic. he has overcome the traditional revolts--the ardour of the jacobins and racial passions--by a utilitarian campaign; he has created a quiet and peaceful state, in which nothing is to be heard but the sound of its factories. a great { } leveller, he has been, according to the spanish tradition, a cæsar at the head of a democracy, the arbiter of national conflicts, the supreme _caudillo_, obedient to the voices of tradition. sierra, the athenian minister, and bulnes, the tempestuous historian, exalt him in admirable dithyrambics. sierra states that diaz created "the political religion of peace." but in the aztec nation this cult demands its sacrifices. bulnes considers that the dictator procured peace by "the system of augustus as expounded by machiavelli"; he gave the _caciques_ "riches and honours," but not the government. and, in fact, porfirio diaz has built up the new mexico by freeing it from the sectarian struggles and the foreign invasion which threatened to destroy it; but his work has been marred by uncertainty, and a heavy shadow has weighed on uneasy spirits.[ ] the president at last abdicated his powers after a bloody revolution, and it is not easy to say whether or no his removal will not result in anarchy or new dictators. his minister, sierra, has written that the political system of the dictator "is terribly dangerous for the future, for it imposes customs which are contrary to self-government, without which there may be great men, but not a great people"; and bulnes says: "the personal _régime_ is magnificent as an exception," for "under its empire a people grows accustomed to expect everything as a favour and a grace; to be the slave of the first who strikes it, or the shameless prostitute of the first to caress it." these criticisms prove that general diaz has not applied the british methods of preparation for self-government by means of a firm tutelage. those who condemn his long autocracy say that he enervated { } men's minds by means of terror, and has accentuated the aztec gloom by a narrow and monotonous absolutism. dictatorships are not societies of freemen; they give humanity uniformity and servility. in abandoning the supreme power after establishing order and peace, by presiding as moral authority over the free development of republican institutions, porfirio diaz, like don pedro in brazil, might have been the supreme educator of the democracy. he governed with the aid of the "scientific" party--a group which believes in the virtue and power of science, exiles theology and metaphysics, denies mystery, and confesses utilitarianism as its practice and positivism as its doctrine. the mexican politicians, in renouncing catholicism after the reformation and the passing of the jacobin laws, have not abandoned dogma and absolutism in doctrine and in life. as in modern brazil, positivism in becoming the official doctrine. the heirs of juarez are slowly returning to catholicism; they aspire to definite certitudes; they have their "syllabus." in the president political majesty and the religious pontificate were united, as in the muscovite czars and the spanish kings. in the restoration of the colonial order juarez and lerdo de tejada attracted european capital, for the yankee supremacy troubled them. against this policy, which was based on racial interests, general diaz protected north american capital; bankers and adventurers invaded the country, dominated its industries, and built railways. how check the fatal current which brings the all-conquering gold from the north? the national transformation is the work of the magnates of wall street; mexico is becoming a "zone of influence" for the united states. [illustration: general porfirio diaz. president of mexico ( - and - ). to face p. .] the scientific party, intoxicated by an orgy of utilitarianism, has not sought to arrest the great { } plutocracy of the north by means of european alliances. unity, wealth, peace: these are the magnificent features of modern mexico, the admirable work of the dictatorship. the yankee peril; lay dogmas which fetter intellectual evolution; a level of utilitarian mediocrity without ideals of expansion, without culture, without the true latin characteristics; popular ignorance and fresh revolutions: these are the disturbing aspects of this long period of tutelage. if the country triumphs over the obscure agents of dissolution, the influence of porfirio diaz will be as durable as that of pedro ii. or portales or rosas. [ ] _memoires autographes_, paris, , p. . [ ] the brilliant mexican historian bulnes states that french intervention was "the revolt of napoleon iii. against the monroe doctrine" (_el verdadero juarez_, mexico, , p. ). [ ] bulnes, ibid., p. . [ ] diaz pacified mexico by means of the weapon employed by rosas--fear. bandits and revolutionaries were shot. his victims are said to have numbered , . { } chapter ii chili: a republic of the anglo-saxon type portales and the oligarchy--the ten-years presidency--montt and his influence--balmaceda the reformer. in chili the course of political evolution has been entirely original. her first years of republican life were as troublous as those of the argentine, bolivia, and peru; it was an age of anarchy. carrera, the dictator, overthrew four governments; there were mutinies in the barracks, and quarrels among the generals; the dictator o'higgins fell in ; a _junta_ followed him, and after the _junta_ four governors, freire, blanco encalada, eyzaguirre, and vicuña--ephemeral figures which a turbulent democracy set up and destroyed. they occupied the centre of the moving scene for some few months, and were seen no more. during the administration of pinto, from to , there were no less than five revolutions. federation was attempted in a country essentially unitarian; the congresses were disruptive assemblies; and in and an obscure demagogy rose in revolt against the guardians of social order. the national life was chaotic: vandalism in the country, commerce paralysed, industry at a standstill, finance in disorder, credit vanished, and politics revolutionary. the parties were struggling for power; the "old wigs," _pelucones_, or conservatives, and the "white-beaks," _pipiolos_, or liberals. the latter governed a people { } in love with liberty. the political orgy continued until ; the chilian people went from liberty to licence, and from licence to barbarism. at last the demagogy was checked by a man of superior powers, diego portales, founder of the araucanian nation. [illustration: the cathedral, santiago, chile. (_from "latin america, the land of opportunity" by the hon. john barrett._) to face p. .] the social constitution of chili, the contact of the castes, and the traditions of the country all favoured his work of organisation. a narrow territory, whose racial action must be unifying, and a long coast-line, evoking the desire of adventure and expansion; these are the geographical basis of a homogeneous race. the araucanians do not exhibit the gloomy passivity of the quechuas and aymaras; they are rude and warlike. miscegenation has not, as in peru and brazil, been complicated by asiatic and african strains; it has been simple, without the terrible "hybridisms" of other countries. hence national unity and historical continuity. over the servile mass reigns, haughty and remote, a narrow oligarchy formed of austere and positive basques, deliberate anglo-saxons, merchants, and sailors. no slaves, as in the tropics, but _inquilinos_, feudal serfs of territorial barons. the oligarchy is agricultural, and therefore stable and profoundly national. in short, we have a copy of anglo-saxon society, or of the first roman republic; a false democracy governed by absolute overlords. with these strong conservative elements, portales constructed an austere nation. he was born in , and was thirty-seven years old at the time of his first intervention in political life. he was a "new" man, a merchant, with precise ideas. he had the suggestive power of the _caudillos_, a concrete intelligence, a moderate education, a strong will, some power of reflection and authority. he might well become the leader of a race that knew nothing of lyric enthusiasms nor enticing dreams--the sensible { } director of a practical people. minister under ovalle in , he profited by the victory of general prieto over the _pipiolos_. his conservative, authoritative ideas carried him into power. he never wished to be president, but a powerful minister, like disraeli or bismarck. three or four simple and concrete ideas guided him in politics; in the first place, the organisation of chili against anarchy. religion is one of the forces of order, and portales, like garcia-moreno, utilised it without going so far as theocracy; the principle of authority is necessary in order to organise a country, and the leader of the _pelucones_ demanded a strong executive with extraordinary faculties. between two excesses--autocracy and demagogy--he inclined rather toward the former, and became a minister-dictator. portales governed against disorder; he dismissed the revolutionary leaders, and men he divided into good and bad. he surrounded himself with "good" men: they were, naturally, conservatives. he hated _sargentadas_ (barrack mutinies); he educated the soldiers, and founded a national guard as a counter-check to militarism. he destroyed the bandits who infested the country. primary and normal schools were opened, in which he favoured religious instruction. a severe economy was introduced into the national finances. his work was given legal and economic form by a peruvian jurist, juan egana, and a minister of finance, tocornal. the minister wished his work to share the majesty of things eternal; his personal and passing influence on life was not enough to satisfy him. he had thoughts of a statute, an inflexible mould for the future. the constitution of , which others promulgated under his sovereign ægis, so to speak, was his political legacy. this constitution created a conservative senate and a strong executive; the first was to defend tradition, { } the second to direct the progress of the nation. the provincial assemblies, vestiges of federalism, were suppressed, and the municipalities were entrusted with the public services. in case of internal trouble, the president could declare a state of siege and suspend the constitutional guarantees; but he could neither judge nor apply penalties. the departments elected the deputies; a limited suffrage appointed the senators; their mandate was for nine years. patronage was organised, and the church became a state institution, for it defended property, order, and the "good ideas" of the _pelucones_: it consecrated the oligarchy, pure and simple. this constitution explains the slow progress of chili in matters of liberalism, her long domestic peace, and the lasting hegemony of an oligarchic group. alberdi attributed the chilian peace to "a vigorous executive" and the constitution of . this statute once a reality, portales quietly organised the country; he imposed order "by reason or by force." he retired from power, and, in consequence, the conservative party passed through a crisis, during which rengijo and tocornal were in conflict; but portales reappeared, as minister of war, under prieto, and tocornal, the eminent financier, was at his side. the _caudillo_ of order resumed his work of organisation with incomparable activity; his patriotic ambition was not satisfied by his triumphs over intestine quarrels. he realised that chili was a maritime nation, commercial and oligarchical, like carthage, and he aspired to the domination of the ocean. in the north, under the leadership of santa-cruz, peru and bolivia had united. portales feared this confederation, intervened in the affairs of peru, sent two expeditions against santa-cruz, and fomented anarchy in peru. he destroyed the great work of the great bolivian _cacique_, and for half a century { } his imperialism made progress. peru had wealth, brilliance, and tradition; chili deprived her of the hegemony of the pacific in a four-years war ( - ). the work of portales was considerable. he established peace in the interior, and excited the ambition to rule; he organised the country under a strong authority, aided by a tutelary church; he fostered wealth and material progress; he built highways and railroads. a constitution was to establish his moral dictatorship for a period of fifty years. the liberals themselves--lastarria, huneeus gana--recognised his masterly action in a time of disorder. a conservative, walker martinez, wrote a brilliant _apologia_ for his work. vicuña mackenna, the historian, wrote that "he was rather a great mind than a great character," though his life's work, from the repression of anarchy to the peruvian war, proves plainly that he was rather a great character than a great mind. portales died in by the hand of an assassin. manuel montt continued his political work. his minister, antonio varas, assisted him, as tocornal had assisted the leader of the _pelucones_. these conservative minds began to govern in , and the re-election of montt in prolonged their term of action; this was the "decenniate," a period of bloodstained autocracy. the monttvarists became a national party; they defended order to the death, by violence and dictatorship, first of all against the radicals, and later against the radicals and the _pelucones_. these ten years of disastrous organisation divided two periods: the conservative period of prieto and portales, and the liberal period of perez and errazuriz. a liberalism better defined than that of the _pipiolos_ was causing the champions of order some uneasiness. the eloquence of a tribune, matta, the patriarch of { } radicalism, the propaganda of bilbao and lastarria, and the work of revolutionary clubs, such as the "society of equality," formed a party of romantic youth eager to sacrifice itself for its ideals. montt and varas opposed it, and exiled or condemned to death the future liberals--santa-maria, vicuña mackenna, &c. they considered that chili was not yet sufficiently prepared for the theoretical liberties upheld by lastarria and bilbao; they sought to promote education of the british type, with a view to liberty and self-government. they were the representative personages of the creole oligarchy, a powerful conservative force, rude and beneficent. dictatorial repression did not destroy liberalism; the presidents of the future were to be liberals, and montt himself slowly changed the direction of his policy. in , in the last years of the decenniate, the _pelucones_ attacked him because he tolerated the protestant religion in valparaiso. under the monttvarist government, as under the dictatorship of guzman-blanco and garcia-moreno, the country progressed in an economic sense. railways, highroads, and telegraph lines were constructed. montt fostered agriculture and the colonisation of the soil in the south by means of credit banks; he opened nearly five hundred schools, and also founded a national bank. maritime commerce increased, and the public revenue was doubled during the decenniate; finally, the admirable civil code of andres bello, promulgated in , gave discipline and stability to the civil life of the country. portales, bello, montt, and varas organised chili both politically and socially. after montt, the presidencies of perez, in , of errazuriz, in , and of santa maria, in , modified the conservative tendencies of the country. all the conquests of the liberals--the civil register, civil marriage, religious toleration--became laws of { } the state. liberalism has not lessened the presidential authority. perez, like montt, ruled for ten years. long autocracies and conservative constitutions explain the strength of chili amid the anarchy of south america. portales was the organising genius; montt represented an epoch of social defence; balmaceda was the democratic reformer in an oligarchic country, a liberal president in a time of conservative traditions. balmaceda is the greatest chilian figure after portales; his presidency excited a revolution, and transformed the political life of his people. josé manuel balmaceda belonged to the chilian oligarchy. he was descended from a very old colonial family. juan de balmaceda was president of the _real audienca_, the king's tribunal, towards the end of the eighteenth century. the name of the family reveals its basque origin. balmaceda was born in santiago in . his father, don manuel josé balmaceda, was a conservative, the possessor of vast _latifundia_, as the head of a traditional family. balmaceda adopted democratic ideas. "apostate" the conservatives called him, forgetting that he had changed his doctrines, but had not abandoned his original mysticism; he believed in liberty as he had previously believed in the inflexible dogmas of the conservatives. he belonged to the reform club of santiago, in which a brilliant younger generation upheld all the liberal idelas and romantic faiths of , the antitheses of the ideas of the _pelucones_ and the monttvarists. to the despotic executive he opposed electoral liberty, a single-term presidency, autonomous municipalities, and the restriction of presidential powers; to the catholic oligarchy, religious tolerance; to the traditions of authority, the formal recognition of the rights of the press and the rights of assembly, meeting and petition; to the confusion of the powers of the state, their independence. { } balmaceda was the president of the reform club. he did not attack the position of a traditional group with plebeian fervour, as the avenger of an age of servitude; he left their ranks, rich and patrician, to condemn their authority and their privileges. it is the attitude of winston churchill in liberal england. balmaceda had powerful tools at his disposal: personal wealth, the basis of independence, a sympathetic creed, and a party which had been growing powerful under the governments of perez and errazuriz. we may distinguish three phases in his political action: as a deputy he championed the laws of reform; as minister of foreign affairs he prevented the intervention of the united states in the pacific war; as president he increased the presidential power against the tyranny of congress. from to he was an impassioned parliamentarian, believing in the efficacy of liberty against the excesses of the conservative _régime_. in the chamber, as deputy and as minister of the interior and religions, he supported the legal measures of the liberals: secular burial, civil register and marriage, and liberty of worship. in place of an absolute separation of church and state--not to be realised in chili--he proposed the union of the two powers on the basis of the traditional "patronage" and religious liberty. he desired no radical reforms. "let us renounce," he said, "the idea of accomplishing everything in a short space of time; let us beware of carrying our solutions, guided by a spirit of rigorous abstraction, beyond what is required by the actual needs of the moment for the correct application of liberal doctrine and for the common happiness." balmaceda, a radical in , moderated his ambitions ten years later, when he came to ask the chilian parliament to pass his reforms. { } minister of foreign affairs under santa-maria in , he consolidated the victories of chili in the war of the pacific. the military campaign was over, and peru was vanquished, but was defending her territorial integrity against the conquering ambition of arauco. what the armies had not been able to do diplomacy hoped to effect. the intervention of the united states would have proposed, as the solution of the war, peace without conquest; this was the policy of mr. blaine, who dreamed of an america at lasting peace under the golden reign of arbitration. a north american minister, mr. trescott, brought the proposals of his government to chili. garcia-calderon, president of peru, the champion of territorial integrity and national union, stimulated the intervention of the united states, but the mediators were inclined to treat the victors with docility. president garfield died, and the north american policy changed. the peruvian president was a prisoner of chili; from rancagua to quillota, from santiago to valparaiso, he was the irreducible symbol of vanquished peru. the united states abandoned him; their policy finally became indecisive, turbid, machiavellic. lima and callao were occupied until , when balmaceda succeeded in arranging the terms of peace, and the treaty was signed which delivered over to chili the riches of southern peru. [illustration: jose manuel balmaceda. president of chile ( - ). to face p. .] the imperialist minister had conquered; he aspired to the presidency of his country. santa-maria put him forward, and public opinion accepted him, proud of his diplomatic triumphs. an age of plenty commenced; the ancient chilian austerity was at an end. balmaceda governed with his energies increased a hundred-fold by the gold of peru, the moral power of victory, his ambitions as a statesman, and the vocation for empire which a victorious war develops in the heart of an energetic people. { } materially, he transformed chili; morally, he presided over her dissolution, or, at least, her decadence. neither this degeneration nor this progress was the exclusive work of the autocratic president. wealth enervates a sober people; it permits the erection of monuments, but it weakens men's characters. honest and far-sighted, balmaceda employed the millions he had drawn from the war in material enterprises; he built schools throughout the country, special institutes, mining and agricultural colleges, professional colleges; he began the construction of new railways, of a breakwater at talcahuano, of palaces for the administrative services; he fortified several ports, bought new ironclads, encouraged immigration, founded military schools, and re-equipped the army. he suppressed contributions, assured the service of the foreign debt, amortised paper money, and demanded guarantees of the banks. when in chili you inquire as to the origin of a public works, a school, or a prison, you will hear of balmaceda. in finance, in education, and in colonisation he effected a fundamental renaissance; he was the master-builder among presidents. balmaceda was raised to the presidency by three parties: the liberals, the radicals, and the nationals; that is to say, by three aspects of one central idea, varying from an attenuated liberalism which verged on conservatism in its ideas (nationalism) to a violent liberalism, verging on demagogy (radicalism). the balmacedist victory stifled all attempts at clerical reaction; balmaceda was a reformer. his ambition could not be satisfied by material progress and practical advance. as ideologist, he applied abstract ideas to politics. he wished to unite all the liberals in one preponderant party, to ensure a still greater independence to the public powers, judicial and municipal, and to despoil the executive of its traditional attributes; to found an educated, liberal, { } military, and virile democracy as a check against the oligarchy, in which democracy dreamers of every school could find their utopia. between his character and his doctrines there was a grave discrepancy. an autocrat by vocation and by temperament, because a patrician, he nevertheless weakened the executive by the municipal law, which established autonomous municipalities, and by the law of incompatibilities, which conceded to congress a complete independence of the other powers. "the mandate of the deputy" declares this law "is incompatible with the exercise of any paid public function." at this hour of party confusion balmaceda despoiled the executive of efficacious agents in parliament. he was thus, by a reform which, ideally speaking, was perfect, preparing the way for serious future conflicts. the liberal president condemned the constitution of , the basis of chilian order; he believed that the new period demanded a new statute. "neither the desires of the country nor those of the parties or groups now active," he wrote, "can adapt themselves to the system of centralisation and authority consecrated by the constitution of ."[ ] he criticised "the attributions which devolve upon the chief of the executive power, the weakening of initiative and of the local charters by excess of vigour in the central power; the part played by the executive in the formation of the judicial power, its influence upon the elections, the functioning of the legislative power, the centralisation of the administration, and the works which foster material progress." but by abandoning, by a sort of heroic suicide, the forces conferred upon him by a traditional statute, balmaceda paved the way for an omnipotent congress. _pelucon_ by heredity, a cultured despot, he { } soon disregarded the power which he himself had raised above the decadent presidency. the contradiction between his life and his doctrines, his heredity and his ideals, gives his noble and patrician figure the majesty of a character of Æschylus, ennobled at once and annihilated by destiny. balmaceda weakened the executive and put forward official candidates; established the preponderance of congress and wished to have independent ministers; destroyed the constitution of and ruled as an autocrat. renan compared himself to the scholastic _hircocerf_, which bears within itself two hostile natures; this was also the fate of balmaceda. his political ideal was that of benjamin constant; of lamartine, of laboulaye. he accepted neither the despotism of the president nor the tyranny of congress. could the perfect equilibrium of the public powers be realised in chili, or was it merely the noble dream of an ideologist? very soon the omnipotence of a centralised government was replaced by the dictatorship of anarchical parliaments. the parties imposed ministers upon balmaceda, and presented him with lists of candidates, among whom the president, powerless to refuse, was to choose his counsellors. it was a radical transformation, for from the time of portales the government had intervened in elections, had insisted upon presidents and deputies. balmaceda disregarded his own work, rebelled against congress, governed without a budget, defended the rights of the power which he had destroyed by short-sighted legislation, and tried to enforce his wishes as to the presidency, in the traditional manner, and congress refused to accept his candidate. it has been truly said that the government of balmaceda was the crisis of electoral intervention.[ ] parliament refused to pass the president's law of contributions, { } overturned his ministries, and protested against the designation of an official candidate; as in the time of the french revolution, a revolutionary committee was formed in the heart of the chamber. the two dictatorships clashed. the revolution broke forth in ; the fleet revolted; civil war divided families; congress fought for the constitution, the government for the autocracy. from la moneda balmaceda directed a terrible war against the combined forces of the fleet, the banks, and the parliament. the factions fought with lamentable ardour; it was a war of hatreds and reprisals, bitter as a racial conflict. two battles, concon and la placilla, destroyed the power of the president. the revolutionaries got the upper hand, invaded valparaiso and santiago, and the araucanian savages burned the dwellings of the president's friends, and swept, brutal and drunken, through the silent cities. balmaceda took refuge in the argentine legation, and his supporters hid, while a horde of vandals proceeded to reduce the capital to ruins. the defeated president took on a stoic grandeur; like a hero of plutarch, he transformed his fall into an apotheosis; he purified the local tragedy by catastrophe. serene as a figure of antiquity, he committed suicide, after drafting a noble political testament. "among those who are to-day my most violent persecutors," he wrote, "are the politicians of various parties whom i have heaped with honours, whom i have exalted and served with enthusiasm. i am in nowise surprised, neither by this inconsequence, nor by the inconstancy of mankind.... all the founders of south american independence have died in dungeons, in prison cells, or have been assassinated, or have perished in proscription and exile. such has been civil war in the ancient as in the modern democracies. it is only when one has witnessed the fury to which the victors in a civil { } war abandon themselves that one comes to understand why, of old, the vanquished politician, even though he were the most unworthy servant of the state, made an end by falling upon his own sword." after these considerations of political philosophy, the firm protestation of the hidalgo. he cannot submit to "the criterion of judges whom he dismissed from their posts on account of their revolutionary ideas." two ways remained open to him: flight or death, and he preferred the second, for it might lessen the persecution and the woes to be endured by his friends. "i might still escape," he says in his testament, "by leaving chili, but this expedient would not be consistent with my antecedents, nor my pride as a chilian and a gentleman. i am inevitably delivered over to the judgment or the pity of my enemies, since the constitution and the laws have no longer any virtue. but you know, gentlemen (he is addressing claudio vicuña and julio banados-espinosa) that i am incapable of imploring favour, or even benevolence, of men whom i despise for their ambition and their lack of citizenship." he felt that a great crisis, or a drama, requires a protagonist or a victim, and he accepted his destiny to the death. above the half-breed _caudillos_, above the obscure crowd who swarm in palaces and parliaments, hungering for power and display, rises this patrician figure, towering and solitary. in his political testament he condemns the existing system: "as long as parliamentary government, as men have wished to practise it, and as the triumphant revolution will uphold it, shall continue in chili, there will be no electoral liberty, no serious and permanent organisation within the parties, nor peace between the groups in congress." his bitter prophecy is accomplished: an excessive and sterile parliamentarism triumphed with the revolutionaries. from portales to balmaceda the president was the supreme { } authority; after balmaceda congress governed, and the president, the slave of the ruling groups, could neither dissolve parliament nor appeal to a popular referendum. the liberty of the vote has been won, but it ratifies the tyranny of the assemblies. the parties are fractional; authority, the basis of chilian greatness, has declined. a president without initiative, an incoherent ministry, a parliament divided and uncertain: there is the political outlook. "the government of congress is the government of the parties, and these political entities exist in chili only in the shape of antipathies or memories."[ ] the balmacedist party itself did not escape the universal dissolution. it still supports the presidential system, but it does so without the rigidity of its founder; it is liberal, democratic, and parliamentary; its strength lies in the assemblies. "in liberalism," don julio zegers can write,[ ] "the balmacedists are those who prefer unitarian pacts to doctrines." in the political world the tradition of the _pelucones_, of a strong tutelary authority, is dying; in the social world the oligarchy is losing its ancient privileges before the progress of the middle classes. balmaceda, the founder of schools and colleges, the champion of all liberties, realised this national transformation. chili was the scene, after the political revolution of , of a social revolution, a warfare of castes, a bloody conflict between the feudal overlords and a third estate formed in the schools, liberal and industrial. two parties, radicals and democrats, are organising themselves for the battles of the future. "the radical party," writes an observer, "is composed of the fervent enemies of the clergy and a { } great part of the youth of the middle class, which combines with its religious hatreds a certain degree of dislike of the wealthy and respected classes."[ ] señor edwards believes that this socialistic tendency, which is predominant among the radicals, "constitutes a serious danger for the future." the democratic party, like the english labour party, and the united socialists of france, is a working man's party. the revolution of was directed by the bankers. after the war of the pacific the chilian oligarchy was dissolved; it formed itself into a plutocracy, without austere traditions, which is predominant in the parliaments and is ambitious to seize the reins of government. balmaceda would never give way before the "new men"; as an aristocrat he was the enemy of the merchants. portales founded a society of patricians, but the liberal president could not organise the democracy he dreamed of. the financiers united with the great families before the threat of formidable strikes, and the intellectual elevation of the middle class, bankers and landowners and property owners grouped themselves in a more accessible oligarchy, much after the pattern of the oligarchy of the united states. balmaceda was the last representative of the great chilian tradition, of the tutelary oligarchy which led and educated the people and distrusted the plutocracy. [ ] see j. bañados espinosa, _balmaceda, su gobierno y la revolucion de _, vol. i. pp. _et seq_. [ ] said by don juan enrique tocornal, a chilian politician. [ ] alberto edwards, _bosquejo historico de los partidos politicos chilenos_, santiago, , p. . [ ] cited by vicuña-subercasseaux in his study of balmaceda. see _gobernantes y literatos_, santiago, , p. . [ ] edwards, as cited. { } chapter iii brazil: the empire--the republic the influence of the imperial _régime_--a transatlantic marcus-aurelius, dom pedro ii.--the federal republic. while the republics of america have passed, without prudent transition, from colonial dependence to self-government, brazil, by means of paternal autocracies, was prepared for the ultimate realisation of its republican dreams. there liberty was not the immediate gift of unrealisable constitutions, but the logical end of a painful conquest. brazil was successively a tributary colony, an independent monarchy, an absolutist empire, and a federal and democratic republic. one principle, that of authority, was dominant throughout this process of evolution. a rigid despotism gradually ceded secular prerogatives before the attacks of an ardent liberalism; progress was definite and order lasting, and revolution has been powerless to shake the principle of monarchical continuity. portugal has not yet been invaded by the french armies. the royal family, carrying the monarchical _penates_, have fled toward their distant colony, the idyllic and tropical brazil. we are in : maria, queen of portugal, is insane; joão de braganza, the regent, placid and undecided, hopes for a _bourgeois_ ostracism, without political convulsions. in brazil, the monarch, guided by conservative spirits, transforms the economic system and decrees { } the freedom of the ports, and the metropolitan monopoly is thereby abolished. england, watching over the exodus of the king, demands protection for her products. the factories which a policy of lamentable rivalities had closed are reopened. as early as the king wishes to found an empire in this colony, devoid as it is of political personality; in he raises it to the category of kingdom, thus laying the foundations of nationality. independence, after this, will only be the natural segregation of an organism already formed. the government of the portuguese king develops all the national forces which were embryonic in the colony--art, law, literature. he founds the bank of brazil, establishes a military academy, a national library, and a botanic garden; he fosters agriculture and immigration. his new domain seems to have transformed the mediocre monarch. under the influence of his queen, charlotte, eager for power and display, he longs to extend his dominion over uruguay and paraguay, perhaps even to reconstitute, to his own profit, the vice-kingdom of la plata. he seizes upon french guiana, which remains in the power of brazil until . but such vast plans as these do not strengthen the hands of the monarch. the court, silent and extravagant, does not please the brazilians, and the king favours the portuguese merchants by an extreme prodigality. he creates a new nobility, that of the "sons of the king," and its influence in the palace and its insolent display soon weary the colonists. the old _régime_ is still extant; a parasitical bureaucracy, recruited among the portuguese, weighs heavily on the destinies of brazil. a revolution in portugal in invites the king to return to europe to accept the constitution put forward by the revolutionary _junta_ of lisbon. the monarch leaves his son, dom pedro de alcantara, { } in brazil, and quits the country. it is said that on bidding dom pedro farewell he cried: "before long brazil will separate from portugal; if it is so, crown yourself before some adventurer gets hold of the sceptre." the lisbon parliament wished to destroy the reforms of joão vi. in brazil, and to transform a monarchical nation into a feudal colony, but the brazilian deputies then in portugal protested and emigrated to england. a revolution at pernambuco in had raised the standard of nationalism. the manifesto or _preciso_ of the revolutionaries formulated the complaints of the colony. "there is no longer any distinction," said the victorious patriots, "between brazilians and europeans; all consider themselves brothers; as descendants of the same origin, as inhabitants of the same country, as believers of the same religion." journalism, in its infancy, was propagating constitutional ideas both in the north and in the south. jacobin declamation and romantic ideology created a powerful movement in the taciturn colony. governmental _juntas_ were appointed in the provinces. portuguese and brazilians struggled for political and social domination, but a lusitanian army, in spite of popular protest, imposed the oath of fidelity to the constitution which had been promulgated for the metropolis by the distant cortes. the prince prevented a federal disaggregation and founded the unity of brazil. he united the representatives of the rebellious provinces, convoked, in , a constituent assembly, visited the country districts, and became the "perpetual defender of brazil." like the gothic kings at the time of the moorish invasion, or the french princes who were faced with feudal anarchy, he founded a national dynasty, and bound the unity and independence of brazil with the destinies of the monarchy. dom { } joão vi. had raised brazil to the rank of a kingdom; pedro i. rendered it independent of portugal. "independence or death!" he cried, in his triumphant odyssey across the rebellious provinces. at ipiranga floated the new flag, gold and green, of the new-born empire. pedro i. was crowned constitutional emperor in december, . josé bonifacio andrade e silva, naturalist, philosopher, and soldier, an encyclopædist according to the french tradition, was the minister of this national transformation; he condemned the revolution, having previously supported natural rights and excessive liberties. he suppressed the journals, and the monarch dissolved the constituent assembly, whose violence and lyrical propensities were not a help to the political action of a conservative minister. extreme groups were formed which the emperor endeavoured to conciliate: reactionaries who wanted an absolute government, idealists who wished for a republic, moderates, and conciliatory monarchists who sought a gradual progress under a stable government. weary of revolutions the emperor inaugurated a despotic _régime_; he withdrew from the assembly, exiled the rebels, among others andrade, now radical but formerly a reactionary, and always greedy for power. he surrounded himself with portuguese troops, and the new nobility, the _filhos do reinho_, and the press attacked him in the name of nationalism. it demanded the persecution of favourites, as in the spanish colonies the expulsion of the old ruling classes was decreed. the emperor once again united the moderate parties, and demanded a constitution, to which the country swore allegiance in ; it was a constitutional charter, an imitation of the liberal european charters. in he convoked a new national assembly. revolutions were still disturbing the country; some provinces wished to secede { } from the new kingdom; pernambuco was always the centre of liberalism. an old patriot, paez de andrade, hoped to unite the northern states of brazil in the "confederation of the equator." the monarch sent troops to the north to intimidate the country, and the lower chamber condemned this act of despotism; a radical priest, diego antonio feijó, led the radical opposition. he was a revolutionary in parliament, demanding a responsible government, and condemning the ministers who forced peace upon the provinces by means of foreign legions, german and irish mercenaries. the chambers were invaded by republicans and federals, and pedro i. by no means abandoned his reactionary ministers. these latter succeeded one another in a series of perpetual crises. the external warfare complicated the political situation; uruguay had revolted, counting on the aid of argentine regiments. the brazilians were defeated, and recognised the independence of uruguay by the treaty of . king joão died in , and the emperor remained undecided between the traditional kingdom and the new empire. he formed a liberal cabinet to satisfy radicals and federalists, who had triumphed at the elections of . a useless transaction: ministries fell, and the financial muddle increased. the people of rio de janeiro revolted, and the emperor abdicated. josé bonifacio, creator of the political _régime_, was to be the tutor of the infant prince. the regency was a moderate government which steered clear of reactionaries and exaltés both, of absolutism and republicanism. father feijó, minister of the regency, became, like many radicals, a conservative; he organised the national guard, suppressed military meetings and enforced peace in the interior. subversive movements continued, and the invulnerable minister repressed them. the administration { } of the country progressed, schools were founded, the assembly issued wise codes of laws. the regent, andrade, imprisoned and deposed, diego feijó was elected tutor of the prince in ; the old radical politician was now dictator. he represented the moderates as against the revolutionists; in extreme cases he abandoned liberalism for autocracy. as early as his political autocracy began to decline and the liberal campaign gathered force. feijó passed over the regency to his friend, aranjo lima, and left the government. this representative of authority in a country which was a prey to anarchy was autocratic by virtue of his patriotism; like all american dictators he stifled revolution in its blood. the liberals of yesterday are often the moderates or conservatives of to-day in monarchical brazil. andrade, feijó, and pereira de vasconcellos are examples of this inevitable transformation. liberty was the creed of these politicians when they were oppressed by colonial absolutism, by the servitude anterior to the monarchy and the empire; they realised their creed, and the reign of liberal principles resulted in disorder. the excess of authority or the excess of anarchy stood in the way of peace and progress. the political leaders of brazil swayed from side to side; they were liberals against despotism and autocrats against demagogy. in the infant prince attained his majority; the liberals, powerful in parliament, demanded that the regency should be terminated. the country longed for internal peace, but discord between the parties continued. numerous revolutions disturbed the country. minas and pernambuco, where sedition had passed into a chronic condition, rose in and respectively. pedro ii. governed with the liberals, but the dangers of excessive liberalism, of premature democracy, { } forced him toward autocracy. he was a learned and sceptical marcus aurelius, a stoic who had read voltaire. "a simple and modest democrat, losing nothing of his personal distinction," wrote the historian ribeiro, "generous and disinterested, an example of all the domestic virtues, he courted the respectful sympathy of the crowd rather than popularity."[ ] he was the first republican of brazil; he presided over a nation in process of transformation. before the clash of races, the revolutionary unrest, and utopian radicalism his government maintained the traditions, reacted against violent reforms, and favoured the gradual formation of a new world. in he confided the ministry to the marquis de paranagua, who exiled the revolutionaries, reinforced the political unity of the country, and re-established the council of state. new ministries continued the conservative reaction. without freeing the slaves, brazil prohibited the traffic in this black merchandise, at the suggestion of england. the empire, faithful to its traditions, intervened in the affairs of la plata. the viscount de itaborahy, once the external conflict was at an end, presided over an administrative ministry. immigrants were attracted, and founded german colonies in the south; the navigation of the interior was protected, and the higher regions of the sertaõ were conquered. a new commercial code, an administrative organisation, agrarian laws, and the reform of the treasury: such were the various forms of the imperial activity. itaborahy was followed by an authoritative minister, the marquis de parana, a political figure of lasting national significance. a great administrator, he organised public education, and extended the railways and the navigation { } of the rivers of the interior. he was assisted in his labours by distinguished statesmen: a jurist, nabuco de araujo, and a diplomatist, baron de rio branco. his activities were not merely administrative, but political and social as well. he wished to reconcile the parties; he absorbed the liberal element in the conservative group, and by this fusion of the old parties prepared the way for the appearance of new groups, dominated by a definite intention of liberation or conservation. the reactionary cabinets and the philosopher-emperor had founded order in the place of revolutionary dispersion. but this order, the victory of narrow traditionalism, could not be lasting. multiple racial elements--portuguese, indian, and african--were seething in the new society; democracy would prove to be the protest of redeemed slaves against a powerful oligarchy. the marquis de parana, who, having attracted the liberals, transformed his own conservative group, and consolidated order by reuniting the factions, understood that reaction could not be permanent in an incoherent democracy. he was the last of the conservatives and the first of the liberals. the reactionary cabinets of caxias, olinda, and ferraz followed his, and other parties were formed: authoritative conservatives, uncompromising liberals, and a party of conciliation. the elections of were a democratic triumph. great orators came to the fore with a truly tropical eloquence; these "new men," like antonio leocadio guzman in venezuela, stirred the passions of the people. to oppose their liberal programme conservatives and moderate liberals united in congress. the reactionaries governed from to ; now the radicals sought for power. the last conservative cabinets fell to pieces before the opposition of parliament and the protests of the crowd. despotic monarchy was condemned; constitutional monarchy had many { } supporters; new elections, in , increased the strength of the liberals and democrats. the paraguayan war against the dictatorship of lopez gave unusual prominence to the external life of the country, and political agitation died down. pedro ii., representing the conservative interests of historical and national continuity, was opposed to an unruly liberalism. after one liberal ministry he chose two moderate cabinets, under olinda and vasconcellos, which were inclined to conservatism, and finally itaborahy dissolved the lower chamber. the emperor had gone back ten years; the ministry that in had marked the triumph of the conservatives was now to rule in the face of a rising tide of democracy. a constitutional monarch by law, he was none the less an autocrat, for he forced his ministries upon a hostile chamber, and gave politics a direction contrary to the will of the people, and those their suffrage had newly elected. the liberals rose against the reactionary emperor and demanded reform or revolution. a transformation of the electoral system, of the draconian code of justice, and of the army, which was really a prætorian legion supporting an absolute power, and, in the social department, the liberation of the slaves: such was the programme of . a dissident group of conservatives united with the liberals, and a patrician, nabuco de araujo, signed the manifesto of the reformers. it was the crisis of the monarchy. its historical function was nearly at an end; it had organised peace, created unity and nationality, and laid the orderly foundations of the new brazilian race. autocracy, necessary in the dawn of the century, was now contrary to democratic development; after the liberals openly aspired to found a republic. the ministry of viscount rio branco, from to , maintained the _status quo_. a great administrator, { } like the marquis de parana, he effected a reform in public education by founding special schools; he took a census of the country, and extended the network of railways. immigration increased under his government and exchange was bettered. a great social reform changed the face of the empire; in slavery was abolished. the separated classes were about to mingle with the nation; the result was the rise of a mestizo democracy. slavery abolished, castes confounded, liberals discontented, the reactionaries growing old--on the doubtful horizon one supreme hope was visible: the republic. it was now the collective ideal, as the empire had been in the last days of the colonial period. it was proclaimed, without violence, in . the emperor, who abdicated, a symbol of the majestic past, had prepared the advent of the republic that ostracised him. his ideas were liberal; he was the protector of the sciences; a smiling philosopher; and in fostering the intellectual transformation of brazil he exposed his own autocracy to the criticism of the liberals. by abolishing slavery he weakened the power of the reigning oligarchy; by destroying privileges and uniting hostile classes he created a democracy. the empire, in america, represents tutelary authority. between the feudal colony and the republic--two extreme points of political development--arose the brazilian monarchy, as a moderative power. it brought a necessary equilibrium, and, with that, progress. first of all it established autonomy; then a national order, a national dynasty; it preserved traditions, and organised the forces of society. beside it arose a conservative oligarchy, bound to the soil; castes and permanent interests were created. the territorial overlords upheld the stability of the empire, and an admirable political system imposed peace upon a heterogeneous people, { } shaken by the clash of races and the opposition of seaboard and province. between and the monarchy created the brazilian nation. in the south american republics anarchy destroys national unity and prevents the crystallisation of the social classes. in brazil there were frequent revolutions under the regency; military leaders were eager for power, but there was a permanent and inviolable bulwark against disorder. the emperor was the _caudillo_ of _caudillos_, the leader of leaders; the constitution partially justified his despotism. without violating it, he imposed, by means of conservative ministries, lasting peace and gradual reforms. against this inflexible cæsar struggled a seething democracy; it snatched certain privileges and won limited liberties, and eventually saw the birth of the republic, the appointed term of political and social evolution. the rigour of the principle of authority has spared brazil the perpetual revolutionary crises endured by other american nations. [ ] work already cited, p. . { } chapter iv paraguay: perpetual dictatorship dr. francia--the opinion of carlyle--the two lopez--tyranny and the military spirit in paraguay. paraguay, a child of the old _régime_, has preserved seclusion and absolutism. in other republics independence was a violent condemnation of the colonial methods. freed from spanish tutelage, the paraguayan democracy none the less maintained its retired life under paternal monarchs. its evolution is original; showing neither continual anarchy, as in the tropics, nor the perpetual quarrels of _caudillos_, disputing territory and wealth. dictators and tyrants imposed their inviolable will on the inland nation. autocracy levelled classes and races, and prepared the way for the appearance, in isolated paraguay, of a new caste, formed of the fusion of guarani indians and spaniards. the dictators of paraguay professed a rigid americanism; they expelled strangers, and with arrogant patriotism wished the republic to be self-sufficing. their ideal was essentially spanish; a democracy governed by cæsar. dr. francia was the first dictator in the republic founded by the jesuits. a gloomy personality, of an intense inner life, like garcia-moreno, he seemed one of cromwell's puritans. taciturn and solitary, truthful and punctual, methodical, like the anglo-saxons, and ambitious, but without passion or exaltation, he admired bonaparte, and like him became consul and emperor. { } he was born in . he was the son of a portuguese or brazilian, garcia rodriguez francia. he studied theology in the colonial university of silent, austere cordoba. when general belgrano fomented the rebellion of the paraguayans against the spanish rule, and a governmental _junta_ was installed, caspar rodriguez francia was a member of the latter. the little republic elected triumvirs and consuls in the roman manner. a congress assembled in the same year decreed the independence of paraguay. the country freed itself not only from spain but also from buenos-ayres. no longer recognising the limits of the ancient vice-kingdom, the _junta_ refused to treat with belgrano unless he recognised the autonomy of paraguay. the congress of , at which a thousand deputies were present, continued to parody rome; it appointed francia and fulgencio yegros consuls, and promulgated a political system. cæsar and pompey became the names of the new magistrates, who were alternately in power. the liberty of paraguay was consolidated, and the consuls refused to send delegates to the congress of la plata, which the haughty metropolis convoked at buenos-ayres. these magistrates condemned argentines and spaniards to civil death, and forbade them to marry paraguayan women of white race. in a third congress ( ) francia and yegros demanded a temporary dictatorship. yegros was ignorant and popular. francia, energetic, learned, and a born dissembler, was obedient to classic memories and to the napoleonic tradition; he aspired to absolute power. he was appointed dictator for three years, and soon obtained supreme power. he improvised his policy upon reading the ancient history of rollin; the republicans of rome served him as constant models, whose energy and austerity he imitated. { } educated for the priesthood, he became an advocate. he knew the law and theology like a lettered colonial, subtle and dogmatic. before becoming consul he had filled various municipal offices; first he was secretary to the municipality, then mayor. he studied local needs, and prepared to govern as a nationalist. he made use of religion, as did garcia-moreno and portales, in order to render his political actions more efficacious. he was tolerant in respect of beliefs, but condemned atheism; he felt that the church was the only moral force in a disturbed democracy. he would accept no international religion; he wanted a paraguayan, american cult, in which also he resembled guzman-blanco. he declared himself head of the national church, and disregarded the authority of the holy see; he suppressed the seminary and the monastic orders of the franciscans, the dominicans, and the sisters of mercy, and proceeded to appoint vicars and curates himself. the inquisition was abolished, processions were forbidden, and the number of holidays was reduced to a minimum. francia ordered the payment of tithes, protected religion, and extended the rights conferred by patronage on the spanish kings; he sold the goods of the church to build schools and barracks. in short, he aspired to govern a christian republic freed from clericalism. religion consecrated his authority; the paraguayan church taught that all power, even tyranny, was in its essence divine. when moral activity did not suffice, francia, like rosas, appealed to terror. conspiracies against his tyranny were numerous; the dictator shot the rebels. his punishments revealed an oriental cruelty. in he executed the representatives of the paraguayan nobility. he levelled his subjects, and governed without ministers, { } surrounded only by informers and prætorian guards. in a congress conferred perpetual dictatorship upon him, and he dissolved the congress. he suppressed the _cabildos_, or municipalities, and replaced them by _juntas_ selected by himself; he annihilated all hierarchy and all privilege, and assassinated yegros, his companion in the consulate. his enemies he imprisoned, exiled, or killed. his ambition was to cut off every head that raised itself above the level of the uniform, anonymous, and laborious crowd. he established internal order under his autocracy. "quarrels," he said, "paralyse industry, and injure the prosperity of the nation." he created a church and a fatherland. to ensure his work, he expelled the spaniards and isolated his country. he protected all foreigners who did not come from spain, closed the ports to trade, and barred the rivers to free navigation. his efforts were contradictory. he hated spain; he wished to abolish the privileges of the nobility and clergy, and he restored the colonial system; he even aggravated it, giving it an unheard-of severity. he restored absolutism, commercial monopoly, and the communism of the jesuits; there were estancias known as "the country's," whose products satisfied the requirements of the budget. he unwillingly conceded licences to trade or navigate on the rivers; he opened great magazines, which recalled the colonial fairs, for the sale of merchandise. paraguay existed in a condition of prodigious isolation; commercial transactions declined, and money went out of circulation. during this time the population increased. the dictator favoured creoles, stimulated the crossing of indian and foreign blood by severe measures, and carefully chose foreigners for the improvement of the paraguayan population by means of forced unions; { } in this way he continued the work of the jesuits. a homogeneous democracy, a national conscience, was gradually formed. like all the great american dictators, he stimulated material progress, and rebuilt assomption, the capital city. he constructed public works, and forts to stop the encroachments of indians, protected agriculture, and created industries. his ideal was full autonomy in an isolation possibly barbarous. by successive regulations he forced proprietors to sow their lands, to extend the cultivated area; like the peruvian incas, he would have none idle in his kingdom; he distributed tasks and enforced their execution. he ruled from to , a long thirty years, a period attained by no other american dictator but rosas. his work was rude and imposing; he created a race, and freed his threatened country in every sense, political, economic, and religious. a priest said once in an ardent panegyric: "the lord, having cast a pitying glance upon our country, sent us dr. francia to save it." the tyrant thus became a redeemer, and is not without his strange legend. at seventy years of age he was regarded as a remote and divine personage. from a secret palace he governed a disciplined people. he had militarised the country and exalted patriotism, the strong national feeling of small nations, from uruguay and paraguay in america and servia, to bulgaria and montenegro in europe. his long tyranny in no way debased the race. when he died francia was mourned by his people, a people about to reveal in warfare a spartan tenacity, a tranquil heroism. paraguay was unconquerable; it was dispeopled, the masculine population disappeared, but the republic remained erect and aggressive. francia had formed a proud and warlike race. he was the most extraordinary man the world had seen { } for a hundred years, said carlyle in one of his essays--a dominican ripe for canonisation, an excellent superior of jesuits, a rude and atrabilious grand inquisitor. the scottish historian praises the grim silences of francia--"the grim unspeakabilities"--that mute solitude in which remarkable men commune with the mystery of things. after thirty years of uniform dictatorship the guaranian people might have revolted against autocracy. but here, contrary to that which passed in other republics, the monarchy was not the term of absolutism. francia was replaced by new tyrants, the two lopez, and paraguay accepted perpetual dictatorship. a "ricorso" exhibited the old round of evolution: the triumvirate, then the consulate, then dictatorship. the last of the lopez was better educated and more moderate than the previous tyrants; he militarised the country, created an army of thirty thousand men, and developed the fleet. brazil and the argentine had difficulties with paraguay; these two countries were quarrelling for supremacy in la plata. paraguay and uruguay, states rebellious to every yoke, provoked conflicts between these ambitious powers. brazil demanded reparation for the attacks directed by uruguay against brazilians, and lopez intervened as meditator in this conflict. he assisted uruguay to maintain "the equilibrium of la plata." the empire refused his good offices, and the haughty tyrant declared war. he asked general mitre, president of the argentine republic, permission to send his troops across the territory of corrientes. the president refused permission, and protested against the accumulation of paraguayan troops on the frontier. the belligerents were now three. paraguay attacked two powerful states, the argentine and brazil. the war lasted five years ( - ). { } the war had all the grandeur of an ancient epic. the heroism of paraguay overcame numbers, destiny, and death; she defeated the allies, and, hemmed in by superior forces, still held out under the leadership of lopez, now transformed into a stern apostle of nationalism. he performed prodigies; he attacked without reserves, and, in a bellicose delirium, shot down those who criticised his actions, and continued the war on a territory dispeopled and steeped in blood. the allies seized assomption, and lopez himself fell in battle: the tragic personification of an irreducible people. the first of the lopez had written to rosas in , "paraguay cannot be conquered." the war confirmed this prophecy. in the brazilian and argentine victors found only a decimated country; the cities were deserted, and foreigners had taken possession of the soil; the solemn silence which francia had dreamed of for his country reigned throughout. the women were accomplishing their funeral rites above unnumbered and innumerable tombs; they dug trenches, and, like antigone in the Æschylean tragedy, carried in the folds of their mantles the maternal soil that was to cover the dead. after this war nothing could be more monotonous than paraguayan life; military presidents and civil presidents have succeeded one another with intervals of anarchy. the spirit of dictatorship is not dead. the intellectuals--dominguez, gondra, baez--deny lopez and francia; but new tyrants reign over the midland republic. the principle of authority, exacerbated and tenacious, has created modern paraguay. this nation confirms a law of american history. dictatorship is the proper government to create internal order, to develop wealth, and to unite inimical castes. { } book iv forms of political anarchy revolution is general in latin america. there the most civilised nations have been rent by civil wars. but there are a few republics in which these conflicts have been perpetual: such is the case in central america and the antilles. it seems as though the tropical climate must favour these disturbances. assassinations of presidents, battles in the cities, collisions between factions and castes, inflammatory and deceptive rhetoric, all lead one to suppose that these equatorial regions are inimical to peace and organisation. there are two south american peoples in which jacobinism has become a national malady, in which men of every creed are involved: they are colombia and ecuador. their tragic history shows us a curious form of ibero-american anarchy: namely, religious anarchy. { } chapter i colombia conservatives and radicals--general mosquera: his influence--a statesman: rafael nuñez, his doctrines political. a certain writer of new granada, rafael nuñez, a president and a party-leader, writes that "there is not in south america a country more iconoclastic, politically speaking, than colombia." republican evolution there has been peculiar: it has witnessed perpetual anarchy, like other american democracies, and civil wars as long and as sanguinary as those of the argentine, but no long succession of tenacious _caudillo_, personifications of local discord, whose ambitions determine the intention of political conflict. in colombia men have fought for ideas; anarchy there has had a religious character. the parties had definite programmes, and in the conflict of incompatible convictions they soon arrived at the byzantine method of destruction. public and private wealth was exhausted, the land was dispeopled, and inquisitors of religion or free thought condemned their enemies to exile. "with us," rafael nuñez admits "there has been an excess of political dogmatism." a jacobin ardour divides mankind; the fiery colombian race is impassioned by vague and abstract ideas. the champions of liberty and the supporters of absolutism apply their principles to an unstable republic; they legislate for a { } democracy devoid of passions and inimical castes; they build the future state by means of syllogisms. these sanguinary struggles have a certain rude grandeur. on the continent men fight for crafty _caudillos_, for the conquest of power and fiscal treasure; the oligarchy which occupies the seat of government defends its bureaucratic well-being from the parties in opposition. in colombia exalted convictions are the motives of political enmities; men abandon fortune and family, as in the great religious periods of history, to hasten to the defence of a principle. these hidalgos waste the country and fall nobly, with the semitic ardour of spanish crusaders. heroes abound in the fervour of these battles. obedient to the logic of jacobinism, colombia perishes, but the truth is saved.[ ] the liberal party, victorious in , promoted a vast democratic programme: the romantic liberalism of the french thinkers, the socialistic ideas of the revolution of , had reached colombia. the colombians desired not only the liberation of the slaves, the abolition of industrial monopolies, and the autonomy of the communes, but also the realisation of the needs of democracy; all the political liberties, subject to prudent reserves; direct and universal suffrage, trial by jury, the suppression of the army, the abolition of capital punishment, the institution of universities and scientific diplomas, and the expulsion of the jesuits, who in america were the obstinate supporters of the old colonial system. federation, a weak executive, a secular state, and powerful communes: such was the aspiration of the liberals. a fraction of the party bore a symbolic name: it was known as _golgotha_. in their civil wars the catholics chose jesus of nazareth for their { } patron. radicalism even aspired to religious consecration; it founded a christian anarchy, like that of the primitive evangelical communities. it preached fraternity and liberty, condemning political power. nothing could be more disastrous to a disorganised republic than rationalism of this type. it applied the principles formulated by the extremest idealists in highly cultivated countries. colombia, shaken by revolutions, had need of a strong government; radicalism destroyed it. there was no provincial life, yet it created the omnipotent commune; it suppressed the army in a democracy threatened by civil and external war, established trial by jury in a country swarming with illiterates, and granted liberties wholesale to a revolutionary people; it accorded political rights to the negro and the indian, servile and ignorant as they were, and demanded federation, which is to say that it multiplied political disorder. foreseeing the errors of the future, bolivar told the colombians: "i can plainly see our work destroyed and the maledictions of the centuries falling upon our heads." from to the liberal party struggled to impose its doctrines. the constitution of , celebrated in colombian annals, was doctrinaire and radical; it proclaimed the liberty of the press, of thought, and of suffrage. by separating church and state it provoked a religious war and accepted a moderated political centralisation. thus the excesses of unity and of federation were avoided. the liberal charter gave rise to lengthy quarrels. the states gave themselves conflicting and opposite constitutions; some were conservative and reinforced authority; some were radical and founded an anarchical democracy; some were liberal and extended the suffrage; some were moderate and conciliatory, uniting the ideas of all parties in unstable equilibrium. { } in a country already divided by religious questions this variety of _status_ created a perpetual disorder. a new constitution, more precise than that of , established the federal system without restrictions; it was the triumph of the "golgothas" over the "draconians," the radicals over the classic liberals. the battle was renewed with fresh vigour. the religious communities lost their legal character, and could no longer acquire property; the state usurped their wealth and ruined them as in mexico. the impetuous radicals sapped not only the ecclesiastical power, but the political power also. they reduced the presidential period to two years, granted the provinces full sovereignty, prohibited the death penalty without exception, conceded the absolute liberty of the press, and authorised the buying and selling of arms. excessive liberalism disorganised the country. colombia suffered much from this vain idealism; she became the social laboratory of professors of utopianism. the radicals created fresh elements of discord; they attacked authority, religion, and national unity. in , in the face of bankruptcy, the party abandoned its original extremeness; it no longer professed anti-militarism, nor desired the complete separation of church and state. sceptical as to the benefits of the suffrage, it re-enforced the executive, in spite of its original federal creed. the conservatives governed the country from the dissolution of greater colombia, in , until ; they performed the work of organisation. without forming an oligarchy, as in venezuela and chili, they represented permanent interests and effective powers; religion, the colonial nobility, and the patricians who won autonomy for their country. they were conservatives in so far as they opposed the radicals, but in they granted a political charter in which they accepted liberal principles; they respected municipal { } liberties and the liberty of the press, surrounded all the powers of the state with prestige and authority, as also the senate and the magistrature, created a council of state, so necessary in an improvised democracy, protected catholicism, and limited the suffrage. to be a citizen a man required "an assured subsistence without subjection to any one whatever in the quality of servant or workman." in the social world they accepted the old division of castes. they did not free the slaves, and they tolerated the exportation of human merchandise. the radicals protested against this shameful traffic; in regulations were passed affecting black immigration, and marked the fall of the conservative party. then arose eloquent demagogues, who preached a social gospel much like that of the french revolutionists of . political life was less imperfect in colombia than in other latin democracies. the opposition did sometimes triumph in the electoral struggle; thus in dr. marques was elected president against the will of general santander, the government leader. i have spoken of the solid organisation of the parties: however, there was no lack of _caudillos_, whose influence in neo-granzdan history was a lasting one. the first president, general santander, was one of bolivar's lieutenants, as was flores in ecuador and paez in venezuela. he inherited the moral authority of the liberator, and governed pacifically from . he aspired to absolutism, founded schools, and organised the public finances; in london he commenced the negotiation of the colombian debt, declared panama a free port, and endeavoured to enforce unity and peace; conspirators and revolutionaries he shot. after the founder of the nation came two strong personalities who hold a prominent place in the history of colombia: general mosquera and { } dr. rafael nuñez.[ ] their long rule is comparable to that of garcia-moreno in ecuador, or of paez and guzman-blanco in venezuela. general mosquera was at first a conservative leader; his education, his origin, and his travels in europe all divided him from the democracy. he had the gift of command, which had been developed by the direction of armies in his youth. president in , he developed the national wealth. his government, which lasted from to , was distinguished by an intense material progress: railways were constructed, steam navigation commenced on the river magdalena, the teaching in the universities was improved, the finances were organised, the service of the debt was assured, and the moral prestige of the country improved. this conservative president had liberal leanings. he presented laws to congress which made his old supporters uneasy; the abolition of the "tenth" or tithe paid to the church, and the diminution of fiscal protection. it is difficult to believe that this lucky soldier conceived the wise ambition to transform his government into a liberal _régime_ without violence. mosquera knew that after and its echoes in colombia the basis of his future popularity must be a violent liberalism, and he became a federal and a democratic leader. as military dictator he placed himself at the head of the revolution of , seized the capital, bogota, and was elected president in . he imposed his variable will, changed his ideas and his party in order to retain power, and attempted to govern above the law and above mankind. [illustration: general mosquera. president of colombia ( - , - , - ). to face p. .] mosquera declared a _kulturkampf_, separated church and state, exiled the bishops, confiscated the goods of the convents, and, like guzman-blanco, { } created a national church. without the authorisation of the supreme power no priest could exercise his religious functions. the civil power was the supreme power; the church and her ministers were subject thereto. the president shot or suppressed his enemies, and imposed his policy by terror; he enthroned militarism. faithful armies followed him, accustomed to victory. the domestic policy of new granada did not satisfy his ambition; he aspired to restore the greater colombia, and dreamed the dream of rosas and santa-cruz; the hegemony of his country to be forced upon other peoples. he declared war upon ecuador, and was victorious. in he was followed by another liberal, dr. murillo-torro. in the military _caudillo_ resumed the reins of government. he was hostile to congress, and proclaimed himself dictator; he violated the constitution and the law, intervened in the struggles of other states, and sought an absolute and irresponsible authority. his own supporters conspired against him, and sent him into exile. in colombia he was the indisputable authority, as paez in venezuela, from to . after this long empire came a period of civil presidents and military presidents, who moderated the ambitions of the liberals. presently a new _caudillo_ arose: dr. rafael nuñez. mosquera was first a conservative, then a liberal. nuñez, a liberal, fomented a conservative reaction and dominated colombian politics for twenty years. at one time secretary to mosquera, he had made a study of the evolution of great states. he was not only a leader, but also a diplomatist, and a philosopher in his political disinterestedness, his lasting moral influence, and the width of his views. a theorist like balmaceda and sarmiento, he none the less did not forget the inevitable imperfections of { } colombia. he became president of the senate in , and a minister of the reformation and head of the republic in . democracy looked to him for a renaissance. in the heart of the liberal party dr. nuñez directed a new independent group. he had been a radical in , but he departed from the rigidity of his original beliefs before the persistent suggestions of experience. why weaken the executive in an anarchical nation--why increase the national troubles by the bitterness of religious warfare? nuñez became a liberal-conservative; he forgot his original socialistic principles, the theories of louis blanc and saint-simon, and applied a british common-sense to colombian politics.[ ] his political ideas (expounded in various articles) were prudent and conciliatory; no sterile idealism dominated dr. nuñez. he believed, with many english statesmen, that "in politics there are no absolute truths, and all things may be good or evil according to opportunity and extent." this was the policy he opposed to colombian dogmatism. he believed that "politics is indissolubly bound up with the economic problem." a conservative in religion, tolerant in the art of governing, he taught the jacobins of america some admirable lessons. "our population," he wrote, "does not exceed three millions of inhabitants, the majority of whom are but slightly civilised. if the social fraction called upon by its aptitudes to the functions of government divides and subdivides itself and occupies itself in weakening itself we shall never succeed in doing anything of importance as legatees of the peninsular domination." his ideal was a free oligarchy, coherent in intention, and in action persistent. equally lamentable were the division of the best { } class of the nation and the intolerance of the governing parties. rafael nuñez preached respect for minorities. "the absolute exclusion from the government of the parties in a minority," he said, "weakens the national spirit, envenoms discussion, and creates extraordinary dangers." majorities have need of discussion and opposition. "the myopia of party spirit," adds the _caudillo_, "fails to perceive the virile vigour which a political group obtains by the mere fact of giving proofs of tolerance, justice, and respect for its defenceless adversary." "when for some extraordinary reason one of the great parties disappears, the surviving party splits up into fractions, and these fractions fight among themselves as bitterly as when they have to face a common enemy: even more bitterly." the leader of the independents had studied political science not only in foreign books, but also in practice, in public life; he had a profound acquaintance with the country which he governed, and with the latin american vices which are the incurable weakness of these new democracies. "we have no viceroy in colombia," he said, "but anonymous rulers. we have a written liberty, but no practical liberty. we have a republic, but only in name, for opinion is not expressed by the only legitimate means, which is the suffrage." "it is a grave error, generally accepted by us, that the sole object of a political party and all its efforts should tend toward the possession of the public power, represented by the leadership of the national army." he defends the principle of authority as against anarchy. "the best of instruments, destined for the long and arduous task of civilising the human species." respect for the constituted powers is unknown in colombia. all "dynamic mechanism" should have a governor, that is, a counterpoise to the predominant { } impulse. nuñez writes: "monarchies need liberal accessory institutions, and republics restrictive or conservative institutions, without which the former degenerate into autocracies and the latter into anarchies, which announce the approach of despotism." in default of the principle of authority, so necessary and generally so feeble in democracies, rafael nuñez sought for "elements of order in the moral domain." he became a conservator; he protected religion, like portales, in order to give a disorganised nation the firm unity of a law. the ex-radical ordered the teaching of religion in the schools. "traitor!" cried his former supporters, but if he renounced his former dogmas it was in his intellectual prime, before the lamentable spectacle of an unstable republic. "fanaticism," he wrote, "is not religion any more than demagogy is liberty; but between religion and morality there is an indissoluble bond." colombia had need of a stable internal law, of a morality. to obtain order dr. nuñez desired a catholic unity; he abandoned his radical convictions, and put his trust in authority, religion, and moderate centralisation. but were not the articles of his new programme the result of a free examination of reality and of history? the leaders of the independents were inaugurating an experimental politics. he accepted neither abstract principles nor theories imported from other continents. free trade obtained in colombia: it is the english economic dogma. "with us," explained the statesman, "free mercantile exchange simply transforms the artisan into a mere proletarian working man, into food for powder or a demagogue, for free trade practically leaves only two industries vigorous--commerce and agriculture--to which those who lack capital and credit cannot as a rule devote themselves." this _caudillo_ wished to see a real autonomy based on a moderate protectionism: { } as president he fostered industries and condemned the bureaucracy; he knew that the latter favoured revolutions, and that men seldom fight in civil conflicts except to obtain public employment. "the motives for disturbing the peace," said he, "will be less and less powerful as the official system ceases to monopolise the opportunities of work." dr. nuñez was a sociologist; he had studied comte and spencer; he wrote of society and its laws, starting from the liberalism of lamartine to arrive at the british prudence of guizot. an eminent colombian, don miguel antonio caro, called him "the providential and necessary man," and demanded recognition of his political infallibility. when he came into power in he was supported by the independents and the conservatives; men hoped for reform and peace as the result of his political action. under his government public order was untroubled. he introduced economies in the finances, and realised, like mosquera, many works of material progress; he founded a national bank, reformed the university, and convoked, like bolivar, a congress of plenipotentiaries at panama. dr. zaldua followed him in . but the influence of the great _caudillo_ was not yet at an end; he was re-elected in for a period of two years, and exercised a moral dictatorship. he proposed to a friendly congress the revision of the constitution of . he then applied his political ideas, condemning the two years' presidency, excessive federalism, and the licence and demagogy of the country; he organised a strong executive, conceded liberty to the church, increased the duration of the presidential term, and initiated a prudent measure of concentration. the constitution of ratified the triumph of the conservatives. from that time forward the president was { } _imperator_; elected for six years in , re-elected in , he continued to exercise the supreme power at intervals. he lived at carthagena, and vice-presidents (designated by himself) replaced him. he became the tutor of the republic; the governors were his pro-consuls. he was the last great man produced by colombia, that fruitful soil for politicians and men of letters. mosquera represented federalism and radicalism; nuñez unity and tolerance. fresh revolutions, conflicts between conservatives and liberals, have retarded the national development; new chiefs have arisen, demigods of the world of politics. the conservative work of nuñez has proved sterile: colombia is always the land of eloquence and jacobinism, extravagant and excessive as the tropics themselves. she still awaits fresh dictators who shall organise the democracy of the future. [ ] in his book _desde cerca_ (paris, ) general holguin writes that colombia has known civil wars. in that of she lost , men. she has spent million pesos (gold) in revolutions. [ ] there was one demagogue president in this state who, when the slaves were freed, excited a conflict of castes: general obaudo. [ ] rafael nuñez, _la reforma politica en colombia_, bogota, . { } chapter ii ecuador religious conflicts--general flores and his political labours--garcia-moreno--the republic of the sacred heart of jesus. ecuador constituted itself a free democracy after a long period of indecision. guayaquil aspired to be an independent state; it listened to the melodious aspirations of its poet, olmedo, and at other times sought to unite itself to peru. bolivar and la mar both sought to claim this city, which a proud provincialism called "the pearl of the guayas." the vast ambitions of bolivar won the day, and ecuador became a province of greater colombia, under the hegemony of venezuela or new granada. general juan josé flores, a venezuelan, and a friend and lieutenant of the liberator's, founded the ecuadorian republic in . he was the "father of the country," and teacher and guardian of this precocious nation, as was paez in venezuela and sucre in bolivia. he governed the country for fifteen years, being elected president in , in , and in . the unity of colombia, maintained by the autocracy of bolivar, was an obstacle in the way of flores' ambitions for ecuador; he therefore sought to destroy the federal organisation. sucre, too, whose young and glorious shoulders were soon to sustain the authority of a liberator, was opposed to the ambitions of the venezuelan _caudillo_. { } the latter convoked a constituent assembly at riobamba. the first national statute of the equatorial republic was then promulgated: it established a representative government with two chambers, an executive independent of these chambers, and catholicism as the sole state religion: these were the bases of the constitution. ecuador once independent, an era of incessant disturbances set in; men fought for their leaders and for ideas. flores symbolised the principles of the conservatives, inimical to radicalism and democracy; he dreamed of a strong executive, a national religion, and a limited suffrage. his ideal was a presidency of eight years, and a senate of twelve, an echo of the bolivian constitution. he accepted monarchy as the necessary solution of ecuadorian anarchy; he fell because he attempted the restoration of a superannuated system. he and rocafuerte, a liberal _caudillo_, the leader of a party of cultivated youth, shared the public functions between them. when flores was president, rocafuerte was governor of guayaquil; when rocafuerte ruled, flores was commander-in-chief of the army. both were sent into exile; they were successively enemies and allies. flores played the tyrant, suppressed liberties, and aspired to the dictatorship; when he fell from power he prepared filibustering expeditions in europe to be launched against his country. spain offered him her aid in . "treason!" cried the ecuadorian patriots. the chimera of a monarchist, the scepticism of an ambitious foreigner who had fruitlessly created a new country on the ruins of greater colombia, say we, after half a century has elapsed. america was stirred by the campaign of reconquest which he headed; in his temerarious plan had entirely miscarried, and he sought the aid of peru in order to invade his country, then a prey to anarchy. he was not successful in the field, and after a long period { } of ostracism he joined garcia-moreno, the leader of the conservative forces; under the authority of the latter his influence decayed and his history ended. his disciple rocafuerte was an excellent administrator, who founded schools, organised the national guard, established military colonies in the east, partially secularised education, proved a liberal patron of arts and letters, and commenced the codification of the civil and penal laws. in general urbina forced a radical government upon ecuador; he was the genius of destruction, an intriguer, an ambitious man whose excesses provoked a conservative reaction. he attempted in vain to establish a military _régime_. garcia-moreno denounced the treason of flores and the radicalism of urbina, and his moral influence overcame the prevailing anarchy. this remarkable statesman was born at guayaquil in ; he came of a castilian family. his mother trained him strictly in poverty; a priest, father bethencourt, directed his later education. in he entered the university of quito, and soon became the supervisor of his own companions--an undergraduate autocrat. tall, of a severe aspect, the forehead wide, and the eyes forceful, he was already revealed as a leader of men. he devoted himself with ardour to mathematics and philosophy; he acquired general ideas and an analytical turn of mind. endowed with a prodigious memory and a vigorous dialectic, always master of himself, he had every desirable gift. towards his nineteenth year his chaste youth passed through a moral crisis. he issued therefrom, according to his biographer, less the devotee but not less of a believer. like goethe, he made up his mind abruptly. he would not be guilty of timidity; he liberated himself from the tutelage of the world by dint of heroism; he was mucius scævola before he was cæsar. his fiery spirit and irreducible will { } made him a leader whom all respected, a mystic whom the conservatives acclaimed. garcia-moreno intervened in politics as a journalist; he was a satiric poet, and founded various polemical sheets: _el zurriago_, _el vengador_, and _el diablo_. he drafted pamphlets, accused and condemned in prose and in verse, and wrote his classic _epistle to fabius_ concerning the poverty of the times. his style was steely, energetic, rarely declamatory; he wrote apostrophes in the manner of juvenal; he brought into politics a rude indignation, the rebellious anger of a hebrew prophet, announcing the final catastrophe of democracy; as a journalist he represented the national interests. in , when the threat of a spanish invasion hung over ecuador, garcia-moreno roused america by his writings. he was the pacificator of guayaquil, where the partisans of flores had risen in insurrection. a voyage to europe brought the young writer into contact with the social revolution of . the spectacle of triumphant anarchy re-enforced his conservative opinions. in ecuador radicalism triumphed in ; on his return the conservative leader protected the jesuits expelled from colombia, demanded the return of their property, and authorised them to found colleges. he published a pamphlet, _defence of the jesuits_, in which he called them "the creators of peace and order," and stated with fearless candour that he was a catholic and was proud of the fact. the military-radical dictatorship of urbina devastated the country; the "tauras," a prætorian guard, as brutal as the "mazorqueros" of rosas, killed and pillaged, and were the docile servants of tyranny. garcia-moreno then founded the journal _la nación_, and preached the doctrine that there can be no social progress in a country which does not foster material progress, and in which a devouring poverty is { } triumphant. he was arrested and exiled. he reached europe once more in , and there gave much time to the study of european politics. he had been something of a gallican on the subject of the relations of church and state, believing in the supremacy of the civil power. his opinions changed. subscribing to the tradition of those popes who aspired to empire, he considered that the church should be absolute sovereign above all earthly powers. but a triumphant radicalism was secularising ecclesiastical foundations, and convents were being invaded by the troops. the conservative _caudillo_ returned from exile in , and was met with every species of homage; he was elected mayor of quito, and rector of the university. he founded a political party--that of national union. elected senator, he called, with the authority of an avenging tribune, for honest finances, the suppression of the masonic lodges, a law of public education, and the abolition of the poll tax, which burdened the native, and represented all the forces of social conservation under the tutelage of the church. the convention of made him provisional president, then constitutional president. garcia-moreno inaugurated a clerical semi-dictatorship after thirty years of revolutions. he did not limit the suffrage; he depended on the democracy to defeat unpopular demagogues. he believed that "to moralise a country one must give it a catholic constitution, and, to ensure the necessary cohesion, a statute of unity." he organised the finances, the army, the schools; he reduced the fiscal expenditure; founded at quito a tribunal of accounts, which he supervised himself; he waged a pitiless war upon smuggling, peculation, and bureaucracy; he built roads connecting the capital with the coast, ruined militarism, and founded a civil _régime_. he was a catholic president. as in the colonial { } period, politics centred upon the church. the clergy taught and legislated. "the church," said garcia-moreno, "must march side by side with the civil power under conditions of true independence." he entrusted public education to the religious congregations, and prepared to sign a _concordat_ with the church; catholicism was to be recognised as the state religion, to the exclusion of all foreign sects and cults, and the bishops would supervise the colleges and universities; they would choose the textbooks to be used, and the government, like the spanish inquisition, would see that no forbidden works were introduced. the ecclesiastical charter would be renewed, and as a set-off the government would annul the _exequatur_, the authorisation which the american governments accorded to the pontifical bulls, that these might be obeyed. more catholic than the sacred college, garcia-moreno insisted upon the reform of the clergy, despite the hesitation of the pope. once the concordat was signed; pius ix. created new dioceses, and ecclesiastical courts, which tried all causes relating to the faith--to religious matters in general, and to marriage and divorce. the conservative leader aspired to a catholic imperialism. he intervened in the domestic affairs of colombia, where a radical president was in power; he eulogised the mexican empire, which was to deliver the country from the "excesses of a rapacious, immoral and turbulent demagogy." he dreamed of an america enfeoffed to the papacy. presidents followed him who were weak in the face of anarchy: borrero, carrion, espinosa. the great _caudillo_ did not lose his influence; many times he was forced to leave his retreat in order to pacify a province or direct a political party. in he returned to power, to lay the foundations of a stable theocracy. his governmental programme read like an episcopal address. as essential articles appeared { } "the respect and protection of the catholic church, unshakable attachment to the holy see, education based on morality and faith, and liberty for all and in everything, excepting crime and criminals." he declared that civilisation, "the fruit of catholicism, degenerates and becomes impure in proportion as it departs from catholic principles"; that "religion is the sole bond which is left to us in this country, divided as it is by the interests of parties, races, and beliefs." the new constitution was to conform to the principles of the syllabus; in ecuador no one was to be elected or eligible who did not profess the catholic religion, and whosoever should belong to a sect condemned by the church would lose his civil rights. in his mystic ardour, he consecrated his country to the sacred heart of jesus, and in he protested, in a note addressed to the minister of foreign affairs of the king of italy, against the taking of rome and the confiscation of the papal states. his ideal was the monarchy of philip ii.; the jesuit empire of paraguay; the return of the middle ages, and a conventual peace. like rafael nuñez and portales, he believed that "religion is the only national tradition in these democracies at the mercy of anarchy--the creative agent, the instrument of political unity." religion is the foundation of morality, and "the absence of morality is the ruin of the republic; there are no good manners and morals without a pure clergy, and a church free of all official tutelage." a moralising despot, he repressed concubinage, and imposed catholic marriage or chastity upon his subjects. virtue, faith, and order: there was his ideal. the authoritative constitution which he promulgated is analogous to the chilian statute of . the president was re-eligible; his mandate was for ten years; he could govern for a third period after his immediate successor. the government was at { } the head of the army, and appointed all provincial authorities; political rebellion was punished as high treason. the legislative term was six years for deputies and nine for senators. garcia-moreno strictly observed this new law; he made war upon revolutionaries, and condemned the leaders of revolts and conspiracies to death. internal order re-established, he commenced a series of vast reforms in the national finances, in public education, and in legislation; he opened schools, re-established the death penalty, sent officers to prussia to follow the military manoeuvres, reorganised the school of medicine, founded an astronomical observatory, and attracted german jesuits who were to teach physics and chemistry. he proved himself a potent organiser: "twenty-five years are needed," he said, "to establish my system." re-elected in , he was quickly overthrown by his enemies. he resisted to the death; the dagger of an enemy struck him down in the mournful solitude of the _plaza_ of quito, and he fell near the cathedral in which he had worshipped. a long silence, a time of deep mourning, followed the death of the _caudillo_; he was named a second gregory the great, the regenerator of his country, the martyr of catholic civilisation. indefatigable, stoical, just, strong in decision, admirably logical in his life, garcia-moreno was one of the greatest personalities of american history. he was no tyrant without doctrines, like guzman-blanco or porfirio diaz. in fifteen years ( - ) he completely transformed his little country according to a vast political system which only death prevented him from realising. a mystic of the spanish type, he was not content with sterile contemplation; he needed action; he was an organiser and a creator. he felt the aid and the continual presence of god; he asked his friends for their prayers, and read daily in _the imitation of christ_. he was even too much { } of a catholic for the conservatives; he was often to be seen carrying the daïs in procession. "a christian hercules, a disciple of charlemagne and st. louis," writes father berthe, his ingenuous and enthusiastic biographer. "a hero of jesus christ, not of plutarch," said louis veuillot in a dithyramb; while his enemies, montalvo and moncayo, accused him of treason, jesuitism, and cruelty. montalvo recognised, however, in the conservative president, "a sublime intelligence, a superiority to every trial, a strong, imperious, invincible will." superior to exaggerated eulogy and acerbated criticism, garcia-moreno represented the great civilising principles in the ecuadorian democracy; unity, the struggle against a militarism of thirty years' standing, material progress, religion, morality, and strong government against licence and demagogy. as an autocrat he resembled all great american leaders; but he surpassed them in idealism, by the logic of his actions and the originality of his essay in theocracy. with philip ii. and the paraguayan jesuits, he believed catholicism to be an instrument of culture, and his policy was for fifteen years the exaltation of that religion. only nuñez and balmaceda brought equally coherent ideas to the task of government. no one in ecuador, neither veintemilla, nor borrero, nor alfaro, could gather up the inheritance of this admirable despot. carlyle, had he known him, would have set him in his gallery of heroes. { } chapter iii the anarchy of the tropics--central america--hayti--san domingo tyrannies and revolutions--the action of climate and miscegenation--a republic of negroes: hayti. in central america and the islands of the antilles civil wars are the result not merely of racial conflict, but also of the enervating action of the tropics. precocious, sensual, impressionable, the americans of these vast territories devote their energies to local politics. industry, commerce, and agriculture are in a state of decay, and the unruly imagination of the creole expends itself in constitutions, programmes, and lyrical discourse; in these regions anarchy is sovereign mistress. five republics came into being here, which have lived in a continual state of conflict, their aim being political domination. internal disorders and international wars are continual. ambitious generals have sometimes forced a provisional unity upon the continent, but it is soon divided by the anarchy and dictatorships which continually overwhelm the soil of the tropics. it is impossible to distinguish a military period and an industrial period in the history of central america. intellectuals and generals govern alternately, it is true, but thanks to identical methods; they all exercise the same sanguinary tutelage. a few dictators whose rule has been slightly more { } prolonged have at times contrived to increase the number of schools or develop the national finances, but personal initiative and the importation of foreign capital are equally out of the question under the rule of autocracies which govern solely by grace of the military element. liberty, wealth, and human rights are the appanage of inhuman dictators. the republic was proclaimed and the political constitution adopted in central america on the th of april, . it was then that the autonomous life of the five united provinces commenced. general manuel joseph was the first president of central america. the federal statute of attributed all powers to congress: it initiated a parliamentary dictatorship. as against the popular assembly the executive was powerless, and the senate, to which the constitution confided the final sanction of the laws promulgated by congress, was weak in point of numbers. as in all republics, the government was popular, representative, and federal. the equality of all citizens and the abolition of slavery being decreed, it was a new era that opened, liberal and romantic. in the lower chamber guatemala had the majority, and from this superiority ensued a tendency to political domination which provoked a long series of internal wars. here was no conflict of nations, but of the interests of rival provinces or the quarrels of individual generals. salvador wished to realise its autonomy; a virile and well-peopled republic, she could not readily accept the hegemony of guatemala. here is one aspect of this monotonous history: the frequent wars which divided guatemala and salvador. they struggled for supremacy, for moral tutelage. the federal tie survived, and the assemblies multiplied; there were general assemblies and provisional assemblies. suddenly one of the states declared void the pact which united it to the { } other republics: congress was dissolved, and at once re-elected. there was a perpetual confusion of powers. during the first twenty years of liberty the anarchical instinct which sought to separate the republics and the calm reason which sought to unite them under the pressure of powerful traditions were in mutual conflict. it was the conflict of nationalism and unity. as in chili the carreras opposed the authority of san martin, as in venezuela paez rebelled against the unification of bolivar, so carrera the guatemalan general warred against morazan, the _caudillo_ of the unitarian party, during twelve years of a struggle of province with province. however, the states separated one from another, and united anew under the domination of a theoretical federation; men still legislated in congresses, and built the future nation with the ardour of jacobins: eleven assemblies of the confederation prepared codes and statutes. one essential trait of the new laws was their secular spirit, and their tendency to aggressive action against the clergy. even sooner than mexico these assemblies promulgated the laws of the reformation; even before the era of religious quarrels opened in colombia the radical fervour which was contemporary with the liberalism of rivadavia was at work in central america. for that matter, it appeared to be a remnant of the old "regalism." in the assembly suppressed all convents of monks; in honduras declared that secular priests might marry; in guatemala it was enacted that the sons of members of the clergy ordained _in sacris_ were necessarily their heirs. in toleration was proclaimed, but, on the other hand, the states were continually fighting over the question of patronage, and the antagonism between the state, which wished to impose its tutelage, and the rebellious church was perpetual. { } two influences dominated the minds of the new law-makers: english utilitarianism and yankee federalism. here french ideas were not predominant. but the tropical republics could not assimilate the severe english doctrine. in vain, in , did congress go into mourning on the occasion of the death of bentham; in vain was absolute liberty of testimony proclaimed in guatemala. the double and inevitable influence of tradition and race cannot be destroyed by means of improvised laws. central america borrowed from the united states their mode of suffrage, the federal system, the organisation of the jury, and the codes of louisiana. but popular agitation condemned the institution of the jury; the codes borrowed from the united states did not annihilate barbarism, and the federal system was powerless to enforce unity. in this troublous confederation of sister nations was dissolved. once these nations were definitely separated, what we may call the period of provincial history commenced; it was confused, yet identical in the case of the various states. above the anarchical multitude rose energetic _caudillos_; necessary tyrants, who endeavoured to enforce order in the interior, and to organise the national finances. the history of costa rica forms the only exception among these republics oscillating between tyranny and demagogy. in this country were no clearly divided social castes, no great capitalists, and no crowds of proletariats. a small homogeneous state, in which men were always known as _hermanicos_ ("brotherlies") because their interests and their ideas were identical, costa rica seemed to justify the classic idea which associated the success of the republican system with limited territories and small human groups. work, unity, and lasting peace have been the characteristics of social evolution in { } costa rica. while neighbouring states were at war this tiny republic was progressing peacefully. salvador also developed normally without the discords of nicaragua or guatemala. race explains the differences to be observed in these great theatres of political experience; in salvador and costa rica the spanish element was predominant, the castes were confounded, the population was dense, and the birth-rate high. in honduras mulattos abounded, and in nicaragua and guatemala the races were mixed, and the indians were superior in point of numbers. among these five tropical republics those which progressed were those in which the race was homogeneous, or in which the iberian conquerors outnumbered the indians, negroes, and mulattos. the very tropical anarchy which has turned central america into a perpetual theatre of civil wars has also continually divided the two zones of the ancient hispaniola: san domingo and hayti. in the one the spaniards ruled, in the other the french, and the antagonism of these two powers was of long duration. hayti is a negro state, and san domingo refused to submit to the tyranny of ex-slaves. conflicts of a political origin were supplemented by the warfare of castes. caudillos and tyrants have succeeded one another in the government; revolutions and domestic wars have continually troubled these two small states, over which the united states have gradually extended their tutelage. as early as the seventeenth century the french were established in hispaniola, on the northern coast; bold normans, herdsmen and shepherds, the celebrated buccaneers, had founded a kind of forest republic ruled by special laws. in this territory was a french colony, and in it contained , free inhabitants and , slaves, black or mulatto. the creoles, according to the chroniclers of the time, were proud and inconstant, idle and { } sceptical as to religion. the negroes, chiefly occupied in servile labour, superstitious and imprudent, formed the bulk of the slaves. a jesuit, father charlevoix, who had observed them, wrote in : "properly speaking we may say that the negroes between cap blanc and cap noir have been born only for slavery."[ ] it was said that the negroes were wont to celebrate the rites of a secret worship in the forest, and were preparing to fight for their liberty. they hated the other castes, the whites, the free negroes, and the mulattos; and the hayti of the future was born of this racial hatred. ex-slaves governed the isle, and found in bloody hecatombs revenge for their long servitude. these formed the oligarchy, an intolerable and intolerant aristocracy, inimical to whites and mulattos. like the revolts of slaves in the ancient world, these rebellions of american serfs were the occasion of wars of extermination. the french revolution provoked them by its utopian liberalism: mirabeau and lafayette were friends of the negro, and the convention decreed the abolition of slavery in the colonies in . the slaves had risen already, in , at the first rumours of the risings in france, burning property and killing their rulers. they therefore attained political and civil liberty suddenly, with no prudent transitions. a _caudillo_, toussaint louverture, was the hero of the war of liberation. the metropolis made this ex-coachman a general. sober and active, crafty and patriotic, he aspired to seize the reins of government; he expelled the english and fought against the people of colour who were led by general rigaud; he was the indomitable defender of his race. the slaves regarded him as a tutelary deity; they thought him inspired; he gradually became the fetish of a superstitious caste. in an assembly elected him governor for life; but he did not renounce the protection of { } france. in vain did his adulators call him the napoleon of the negroes; he did not aspire to absolute rule. he organised an army and set the finances in order; he proved a vigilant administrator. like the dictator francia in paraguay, he forced his people to work by strict regulations; he prosecuted vagabonds, won the esteem of the whites, and introduced a severe morality into matters of finance. napoleon wished to reconquer the emancipated colony, and sent a strong army against it. the negroes rallied round their chief, and offered a heroic resistance; finally the french withdrew, and abandoned the island to the ex-slaves. in the metropolis recognised the independence of hayti. the constitution of the new republic was promulgated in . without disdaining the suzerainty of france, which had prematurely abolished slavery, the negroes made laws intended to establish a democracy; they organised municipalities, and recognised catholicism as the state religion. they recognised that labour, painful as it is to an indolent nation, is yet obligatory. from this time forward the history of hayti is a perpetual succession of civil wars and dictatorships. liberal laws were given to a caste habituated to slavery. pétion, who was honoured by the friendship of bolivar, was president in ; he applied himself more especially to the education of his people, and was called the father of his country; his government was a period of peace between two crises of vandalism. before him the successor of toussaint louverture, dessalines, had ordered the killing of all the whites, and had commenced a disastrous racial war. nothing could be more hateful to the ex-slaves than the aristocracy of the skin; neither whites nor mulattos escaped the fury of the rulers. the integrity of the negro race was the ideal of these ferocious dictators. { } no south american republic had to suffer such ill-augured tyrannies as those of hayti; no autocracy was so formidable as that of these ex-slaves, whose leaders were notable amateurs of pageantry and bloodshed. soulouque, the sworn enemy of the mulattos, proclaimed himself emperor in , taking the name of faustinus i., and surrounding himself with a grotesquely ambitious court: he was the most execrable of despots. the republic was re-established in , and the monotonous sequence of servile coxcombs who made use of their power to gratify their passion for extermination recommenced: civil wars, international wars, assassinations, and massacres filled the bloodstained chronicles of the isle. the haytian rulers exercised a harsh domination over san domingo, where mulattos abounded and the spanish tradition was not extinct; the negro invasion exiled the dominican writers, destroyed the culture of the university, and swept like a wave of barbarism into the brilliant colony. the dominicans abhorred their long servitude, and, despite the terrible reprisals of their rulers, they prepared in silence for liberation. in nuñez de caceres declared san domingo to be separated from spain, and demanded protection of colombia; the president of hayti, boyer, could not permit this unexpected autonomy, and sent an army to occupy the capital of the new republic. after a long period of secret preparation another group of patriots again proclaimed the independence of san domingo, and in a movement which coincided with the revolt of the haytian liberals against the tyranny of boyer. this campaign, known as "the revolt," was directed by an impassioned ideologist, juan-pablo duarte, who was surrounded by intellectuals and men of action. the traditional oppressors were vanquished, and the victors proclaimed that "the peoples of the ancient spanish portion, in vindication of their rights { } and desiring to provide for their own welfare and future happiness in a just and legal manner, have formed themselves into a free, independent, and sovereign state." in winning her autonomy san domingo did not realise the dream of the strict republicans. her history is less troubled than that of hayti, and education and literature have attained an astonishing development in the old spanish colony, but political life has been indecisive and full of revolutionary upheavals, as in the other democracies of south america. perhaps we must attribute to the great number of mulattos, always incapable of self-government, or to the long duration of the haytian domination, the anarchy of this, one of the youngest of the overseas republics. after , the year of liberation, santana, a half-breed dictator, cunning, uncultured, and implacable in hatred, retained the supreme power. the februarists were at the head of the revolution known as the reformation--duarte, mella, sanchez--noble idealists in love with the idea of democracy. however, a _caudillo_ profited by this movement of regeneration, overruling the ideologists in the name of practical despotism. "februarism," said a remarkable dominican thinker, "that is to say, the constitution of a free government founded upon equity, without _caciquism_ and without the shameful fetters which sometimes limit the exercise of sovereignty, has predominated for too short a time on two or three occasions of our national life. on the contrary, santanism--that is, personal autocracy, rigid and stifling, such as characterised the entire policy of santana, and which has been practised since his time by nearly all our rulers, attenuated in some cases and in others exasperated--santanism seems to have deep and inextricable roots."[ ] but is it not the fact that despotism is the necessary { } form of all government in these republics, where the division of castes opposes unity and the normal development of nationality? the future of haytians and dominicans both is full of grave problems: among the first we find poetry, imagination, a high state of culture, but political evolution is very slow. the peoples of the tropics seem incapable of order, laborious patience, and method; so that the prodigal literature of san domingo forms a striking contrast to the archaic quality of its political life. "its geographical situation," says señor garcia godoy, "places it almost at the mercy of north american imperialism." hayti is still a barbarous democracy. it is not easy to turn a colony of negro slaves into an orderly and prosperous republic merely by virtue of political charters of foreign origin; and it has not been proved that parliamentarism, municipal life, and the classic division of powers, the creation of the east, form an adequate system of government for negroes and mulattos. in vain did general légitime, once president of hayti, affirm that had they been properly encouraged and directed, his people would already have arrived at "the highest degree of prosperity and civilisation"; in vain did he pretend that the decadence of his country was due not to a question of race but to a problem of social economy: excess of taxation and paper money. hayti possesses immense natural wealth, yet the taxes are crushing, the railways go bankrupt, labourers emigrate, and agriculture and industry are dwindling, as the general recognised; all because the indolence of the race does not permit it to take advantage of the fertility of the soil nor to govern itself. [ ] _histoire de l'isle cspagnole_, amsterdam, , vol. iv. p. . [ ] _rufinito_, by f. garcia godoy, santo domingo, , pp. , . { } book v _intellectual evolution_ spain founded universities in america, where she exercised a true monopoly of ideas. the revolution in her colonies was inspired by the doctrines of the french encyclopædists. since then--that is, during the whole of the nineteenth century--the metropolis has been losing the greater portion of her ancient intellectual privileges. political and literary ideas, romanticism and liberalism, faith in reason and poetic enthusiasm, all these have been imported from france. it is interesting to study the results of this lasting influence in philosophy and letters. { } chapter i political ideology conservatives and liberals--lastarria--bilbao--echeverria--montalvo--vigil--the revolution of and its influence in america--english ideas: bello, alberdi--the educationists. the revolutionists of america hastily sought for an ideology which should ratify their victory. by virtue of french ideas they had demolished an ancient organisation, had thrown off the spanish tyranny, and had exalted anarchy in speech and in verse. to raise future cities in the wilderness they had need of a political gospel. they founded the republic, imported institutions from abroad, and granted all the political liberties to an amorphous crowd. the first disputes were already audible between the defenders of the old order and the radicals who sought to destroy it; conservatives and liberals appeared at an identical moment of republican life. militarism, revolutions, and the warfare of _caudillos_ were in part explained by the profound differences between the champions of tradition and the soldiers of liberty. dominated by the need to live, these nations created a political philosophy. they disregarded criticism and analysis; they affirmed and constructed; they required a faith as intolerant as the archaic dogmas. democracy and liberalism were the essential articles of this secular religion. to the eyes of the new orthodoxy the convictions of the { } monarchists and absolutists were dangerous heresies: royalists were prosecuted as free-thinkers had been of old. thought was not divorced from action. it reflected the political unrest; it prepared or justified political transformations. a species of pragmatism was characteristic of american thought. poetry was rhymed oratory, lyrical declamation; the poet condemned any form of civil autocracy; he execrated tyrants, or evoked ingenuous liberties; he could not conceive of pure thought as divorced from life. alberdi, an argentine thinker, wrote: "philosophy is meant for politics, morality, industry, and history, and if it does not serve them it is a puerile and a trifling science." he condemned the analysis of the eighteenth century, which "dissolves and corrupts everything"; to vain ideology, to the question whether "ideas and sensations, memory and reminiscence are distinct faculties," he preferred "an argentine philosophy in which are distilled the social and moral needs of our country; a clear, democratic, progressive, and popular philosophy, with ideas like those of condorcet; human perfectibility, continual progress of the human species; a philosophy which inspires men with the love of country and the love of humanity." the champions of liberalism defined the principles of the new social state; they were brilliant commentators, their subject being the ideas of french and spanish philosophy. their action in a society in which the old colonial prejudices were still triumphant was categorical and magistral. they created institutions and laws, and applied foreign doctrines to the troubles of the time. sometimes they seemed inspired in the biblical sense; they prophesied and condemned, as did bilbao and echeverria. lastarria, bilbao, montalvo, vigil, and sarmiento were the leading figures of this romantic period; { } with them intellectual activity was inseparable from politics. lastarria and bilbao opposed the authoritarianism of chili; montalvo and vigil respectively, the clericalism of ecuador and peru; sarmiento, the tyranny of rosas. their works were pamphlets, their theories were always practical: criticisms of contemporary reality, or constructive sketches of the state of the future. lastarria and bilbao were the professors of liberalism in chili. the liberalism of the first was tempered by the influence of comte, and the study of philosophy and history; that of the second, indisciplined and prophetic, was eventually the bitter protest of a misunderstood evangelist. lastarria was the great chilian reformer, as bello was the prudent master who disciplined youth and defended tradition and the classic ideology. he was, like bilbao, a pupil of bello's, but to the conservative doctrines of the latter he opposed a generous liberalism. he was professor of legislation at the national institute of santiago from , and from his professorial chair he criticised chilian laws and prejudices. at first he followed bentham in his lectures on constitutional law, and then the french liberals. he was influenced by herder, by edgar quinet, a jurist and a disciple of krause, and by ahrens. finally he accepted certain ideas of comte's--for instance, the theory of the three estates--and endeavoured to reconcile his teaching with that of john stuart mill, toqueville, and laboulaye. he believed, as did the romantics, in indefinite progress, liberty, universal harmony, and the power of man as against the inevitability of physical laws; in his political studies won the eulogy of edgar quinet. from a liberal standpoint he studied the evolution of chili from the conquest to the republic. in the defence of his political faith the professor intervened in the struggles of his country; academic { } dissertations did not satisfy him; he felt the need of action, of parliamentary agitation. as deputy and publicist he opposed the influence of portales, the representative of the chilian oligarchy, and the constitution of , that admirable piece of conservative legislation. "the state," said lastarria, "has for its object the respect of the rights of the individual: there is the limit of its action." portales, on the other hand, considered a strong central authority, a stern tutelage, to be a necessity in the south american republics, subject as they were to crises of anarchy. liberty seemed to him a premature gift where the crowd was concerned. lastarria opposed the positive work of the dictator by a vague idealism: liberty of conscience, of work, of association; an executive powerless to limit these liberties; municipal government, federation--such were the fundamental items of his propaganda. in the generality of american constitutions he disapproved of the vague definition of individual rights, the attributions of the public powers, the irresponsibility of these latter, and the amalgamation of colonial political forms with the administrative centralisation of the french _régime_. two presidents, bulnes and montt, from to , continued the despotic system founded by portales; against them the liberal professor commenced his magnificent campaign. he was exiled in . he travelled, and continued to publish his political writings. he had studied comte, mill, and toqueville, and he now completed his education in certain directions. his next book, _lessons in positivist politics_ ( ), applied the principles of the positivist school to the evolution of south america and to chilian history in particular. he studied the organisation of the powers of the state, of society, and government, and abandoned his former radicalism. he recognised the fact that where catholicism is the religion of the majority (as in chili) the state may { } protect the national church while exercising the moderate supervision that is known as "patronage." lastarria influenced the destinies of chili. at his death the liberals came into power, and politicians like santa-maria and balmaceda, who supported liberal legislation, may be regarded as disciples of the author of _positivist politics_. lastarria was a politician, bilbao an apocalyptic dreamer. he founded the "society of equality," which was a democratic club. a generous and radical nature, he criticised, in a celebrated article on _chilian sociability_ ( ), "the tradition, the ancient authority, the faith, the servile customs, the national apathy, the dogma of blind obedience, the respect for the established order, the hatred of innovation, and the persecution of the innovator," which he deplored in his native country. he gave a pitiless analysis of chilian prejudices, and studied the national problems--commerce, education, marriage, taxation, the functions of church and state--and answered them in a democratic sense. he was accused of immorality, blasphemy, and sedition. he also attacked the constitution of , and the minister montt could not forgive him for this liberal campaign. ten years later bilbao was exiled for his leanings toward anarchy, and in paris he became acquainted with quinet and lamennais, the evangelists of his democratic faith. in , on his return to chili, he resumed his inflammatory courses. montalvo in ecuador represented the same liberal effort as bilbao and lastarria. but this democrat had read montaigne and voltaire; he was a master of satire, irony, and sarcasm. his contradictory nature united lamartine's faith in democracy with the scepticism of the eighteenth century. he was not a politician merely, but a man of letters. his wide culture was revealed by the multiple forms in which his intellectual activity found an outlet. as an { } essayist, by his lyrical disorder, he recalled carlyle. his harsh criticism of the national clergy in _la mercurial eclesiastica_ is as lively as an italian _conte_. he imitated cervantes with perfection; he could make a clever pastiche of _don quixote_. he knew his byron, milton, lamartine, racine, and the latin and spanish classics, and would have been the completest type of the humanist which the latin new world has produced had not his restless spirit yielded too readily to the solicitations of politics. in contrast to garcia-moreno, the catholic dictator, montalvo was the liberal free-lance; he could not forgive the _caudillo_ his long tyranny, his intolerant faith, his submission to the pope as a supreme monarch. the ecuadorian polemist believed in liberty and the republic; he detested the theocracy implanted by the christian president. but his activities were not destructive; montalvo was a believer in the manner of the revolutionists of . "a sane and pure democracy has need of jesus christ," he wrote in his liberal enthusiasm; he loved christianity because it was the religion of the democracy. democracy would be the law of the nations "if some day the spirit of the gospel were to prevail." he eulogised the stoicism and virtue of the roman republic, in the image of which he wished to construct the chilian democracy, and in a magnificent essay he exalted the nobility of these qualities. he was not a radical like bilbao; a forerunner of pragmatism, he accepted all useful ideas, even catholicism, so that it did not become a political tyranny. "there is nothing to be gained by attacking certain beliefs," he wrote, "which by virtue of being general and useful to all will eventually become verities, even if the curious and courageous investigation of bygone things could constitute a motive for doubting them." an american thinker, he applied latin ideas to { } the affairs of the continent. in his _seven treaties_, his capital work, are some superb passages upon the heroes of south american emancipation. his cult was that of carlyle, religious and full of lyrical passion. "in what is he inferior to the great men of antiquity?" he asks of bolivar. "only in this, that no long centuries flow between us, for only time, the great master, can distil in his magic laboratory the chrism with which the princes of nature are anointed." he traces a parallel between bolivar and napoleon, between bolivar and washington. "in napoleon there is something more than in other men; a sense, a wheel in the mechanism of understanding, a fibre in the heart. he looks across the world from the apennines to the pillars of hercules, from the pyramids of egypt to the snows of russia. kings tremble, pallid, and half-lifeless; thrones crack and crumble; the nations look up and regard him and are afraid, and bend the knee before the giant." montalvo admires napoleon, but he judges bolivar the superior, because the work of the former was destroyed by mankind, while the work of the latter still prospers. "he who realises great and lasting undertakings is greater than he who realises only great and ephemeral things." montalvo believed in the american race, in the mestizos, "in the high, lofty spirit and the stout heart which make the aristocracy of south america." his prophetic enthusiasm exalts the future inhabitants of america, "who will be our descendants when the traveller shall sadly seat himself to meditate upon the ruins of the louvre, the vatican, or st. paul's." to his work of criticism of garcia-moreno and the clericals we must add this religious americanism, this tenacious faith in the destinies of the democracy. without the lyric fervour of montalvo, heavy and dusty as an ancient palimpsest, vigil represents the struggle of peruvian liberalism against the power of { } the church. born in , he was a priest, and abandoned his calling, but without retaining, like renan, the unction of the seminarist. a stoic in his life, the champion of liberty in several congresses, he devoted his riper years to a long campaign against ecclesiastical privilege. his admirable erudition served him in this propaganda. he defended the state against the encroachments of the clergy. an idealist, he preached universal peace, the union of all american nations, and expounded the excellencies of the democracy, in whose christian virtues he, like montalvo, firmly believed. he won respect, as did bilbao, by the austerity of his life and the sincerity of his exhortations: a socratic master whose life was harmonious as a poem. an argentine thinker, genial and tumultuous, sarmiento represented a liberalism less coherent than that of echeverria, but as a champion of the ideal and the intellectual life in the democracy tyrannised over by rosas he deserves to be placed beside lastarria and montalvo. menendez pelayo called him the _gaucho_ of the republic of letters; for his pugnacious individuality, his barbaric impetuosity, and his semi-culture, which was mitigated by admirable intuition, were inimical to all classic order or discipline. sarmiento was a romantic by temperament; he attacked spanish culture in the name of french liberalism, and condemned tradition, which led to slavery; he believed in the virtuality of ideas, the mission of education, and the greatness of democracy. he applied to the united states for models of popular education, and for political examples of federal life. he was a teacher, a journalist, a pamphleteer, and a president. he analysed argentine life and the american revolutions; in he published _el facundo_, an evocation of the argentine civil wars, with all the passion and lyrical fervour of a michelet. sarmiento { } was the enemy of rosas, as montalvo was the eloquent rival of garcia-moreno. in _el facundo_ are pages of pitiless criticism of the tyranny of the federal _caudillo_. exiled, he founded a review in chili, in , in which he still attacked rosas, but he did not confine himself to ephemeral journalism. he discovered eternal elements in the battles of the time; he studied the american man and the american soil, as in the prologue to _el facundo_. he then studied the racial problem, and in another book described the ideal republic of which he dreamed. his work is profoundly american. american liberalism, between and , was inspired by french ideas. one revolution, that of , explained in part the movement for the conquest of political liberty. another, that of , found echoes even in these distant democracies, and disturbed them by the insinuating eloquence of a new gospel. a curious parallelism may be observed between the claims of french socialism and american radicalism. in france the revolution of had not only a political tendency, but also a social aspect. an extension of electoral capacity was desired, and the right to work was proclaimed; men fought for the sovereignty of the people, and workshops were founded in which the state assured the subsistence of the working-classes. while the republican parties were fighting against the monarchy of louis philippe, icarians and communists were preparing for the social revolution; the proletariat was rising against the _bourgeoisie_, as the third estate rose against the nobility of old. a note of equalitarian fervour was noticeable in the protest of the crowd. the leaders of the movement against guizot and his oligarchy of property-owners were socialists: louis blanc, pierre leroux, blanqui, and ledru-rollin; they supplemented their democratic victories by a programme of social reform. { } in latin america the revolution was chiefly political; it demanded the suffrage, equality before the law, and respect for political rights, and it condemned the excesses of authority. it did not forget to make a social protest, but the conflict of classes was not as yet very violent. "the revolution of was loudly echoed in chili," wrote the historian vicuña-mackenna. to combat the oligarchy the young lastarria brothers, bilbao, the amunategui, the three mattas, the three blests, santiago arcos, and diego barros-arana founded the "society of equality," a secret club, "to save the people from the shameful tutelage to which it has been subjected."[ ] this tutelage was more especially political; for this reason the club proclaimed democratic principles: the sovereignty of reason, the sovereignty of the people, and universal love and brotherhood. these young men opened schools for the people. lillo published a translation of _the words of a believer_, by lamennais, which served the radical circle for their bible. but the real master of the new generation in chili and in the other democracies was lamartine. "from to he was a demi-god, a second moses," wrote a historian. the "young men" formed a commentary upon the _history of the girondists_. they imitated the great figures of the french revolution: bilbao was vergniaud; santiago arcos, marat; lastarria, brissot. societies were formed, congresses were held; one exalted group called itself _the mountain_. in venezuela, in , a demagogue by the name of antonio leocadio guzman offered the people the abolition of slavery and the repartition of the soil; he led a revolution against society and the government. in colombia the liberal constitution of was an { } echo of the french revolution of , and democratic clubs were formed as in chili. they ruled the country by means of terror, were predominant in the journals, and propagated socialism and hatred of the oligarchy of property-owners and the omnipotent clergy. the liberals evoked christ as the first democrat, whence the faction known as _golgotha_. anarchy increased in the provinces. bishops and conservative notabilities were pursued, the jesuits were expelled, and in the slaves were freed. a discontent of long standing was revealed by the activities of these eloquent revolutionaries, who imitated, like the chilian girondists, the french politicians of the revolution. "democracy," lamartine had said in , "is, in principle, the direct reign of god." his ideal was an equalitarian republic. his political ideas were drawn from the new testament; he saw in the french revolution "a divine and holy thought." charity, the protection of the disinherited, equality, and fraternity--in short the whole democratic creed--was merely the application of christian ideas to the world of politics. lamartine wrote in defence of all the liberties, and wished the government to be "an instrument of god." we can understand what enthusiasm this eloquence, impregnated as it was with idealism and the love of humanity, must have produced in america; we find the accents of lamartine echoed in the words of montalvo as well as bilbao. anarchy presently became a sort of mystic rebellion against tyrants. throughout all south america lamartine and the revolution of inspired men's speech or writings, and engendered revolutions or fresh tyrannies. the influence of france was sovereign. the influence of guizot and the doctrinaires must be added to that of lamartine. english ideas also were prevalent; bentham was the great authority on { } political science from the earliest years of the republic; at his death the central american congress, which had followed his teaching, proclaimed a period of mourning. in colombia general santander quoted against bolivar phrases inspired by english radicalism and by destutt de tracy. bentham harshly criticised the _contrat social_ of rousseau, and his pretended "natural rights"; policy he based upon the happiness of the greatest number. tracy professed a moderate relativism, and utilitarian ideas, like bentham. bolivar, unlike these professors of individualism, believed in the benefits of a moral dictatorship. bello again represented english thought, not only in his philosophical work, but also in his writings as jurist. he was, like the classic legislators, the creator of the written law. his civil code, promulgated in chili in , served other nations as a model, and his _law of nations_ became the international law of south america. he was born into the world for the purpose of pouring language as well as law into logical moulds. in his legislative work he displayed a severe analysis, a british prudence, and a constant recognition of social realities. he hated the vague and the nebulous, and liked to express his ideas in clear, concrete formulæ; he brought to the solution of social problems a solid common sense. alberdi also adopted british methods and ideas. in france he especially admired guizot, and distrusted lamartine. he attacked the sterile intellectualism of his fellow-americans, and wrote in defence of protestantism, a religion peculiarly appropriate to republics on a catholic continent. he believed in the english constitutional monarchy, in the benefits of technical schools, and in the disastrous effects of a parasitical scholarship; he preferred strong governments, like that of chili, and detested demagogues. "the republic," he wrote, "has been { } and is still the bread of presidents, the trade of soldiers, the industry of lawyers without causes, and journalists without talent; the refuge of the second-rate of every species, and the machine for the amalgamation of all the dross of society." such was his verdict on the political system of south america. he called for a monarchy as the only salvation of the country: "thus the republics might unite themselves to europe, whence their riches and their civilisation derive, and resist the monopoly of north america." from european influence he hoped to obtain not only culture, but also the consecration of political independence. he begged the old world for emigrants, for capital, and for princes. in an admirable volume published in he analysed the "bases" of the argentine organisation. this book was no latin gospel; with the "relativity" of an anglo-saxon he proposed practical solutions; he ascribed supremacy to population, strong governments, laborious immigrants, and industrial wealth; he disdained the ideology of the revolutionists, and their implacable jacobinism. his effort may be compared to that of burke in his criticism of the french revolution. amid the sterile enthusiasm of romantic politicians his book stands out, in its gravity, sobriety, common sense, and realism, like a lesson for all time. other american conservatives were lucas alaman, leader of the mexican conservatives and author of a fine history of his country; bartolome herrera, a follower of guizot, in peru; cecilio acosta, in venezuela: these were in agreement with alberdi upon certain points of his ample doctrine. like the argentine, acosta wished to see more elementary and secondary schools and fewer universities, to find "practical knowledge replacing a parchment scholarship; free speech and thought the fetters of the peripatetic school; and generalisation, casuistry." the jurists obeyed the same tendency; they were { } positive and analytic spirits; they brought clarity and discipline to an incoherent politics. among them we may cite, after bello, calvo, garcia calderon, velez sarsfield, and ambrosio montt. they opposed the ineffectual constitutions of the precisians. liberal idealism vanquished conservative good sense. lastarria attracted impetuous youth more than bello and alberdi; guizot had few readers; lamartine and benjamin-constant were popular. liberalism, radicalism, jacobinism: these were the various disguises of south american anarchy. [ ] za piola, _la sociedad de la igualdad_, santiago, , p. . { } chapter ii the literature of the young democracies spanish classicism and french romanticism--their influence in america--modernism--the work of ruben dario--the novel--the _conte_ or short story the ancient spanish colonies, freed from the political authority of spain, still followed her in the matter of literature; republican autonomy and intellectual subjection were not incompatible. towards writers in prose and verse were by no means imitating france, although she gave them her declamatory politics and her revolutionary code. educated in spain, the best minds were seeking their inspiration in the spanish literature of the eighteenth century: the works of the classic quintana, of moratin, gallego, lista, and jovellanos dominated the american schools. a lasting divorce, this of a romantic politics and a classic literature. when letters were invaded by romanticism, with its lyric lamentations, a sane realism--the realism of men preoccupied with finances or laborious codifications--struggled against the swamping waves of all this rhetoric. literary forms, long out of fashion in france and even in spain, still aroused enthusiasm in america; the american author adopted the realism of the naturalistic novel when the french schools were already given over to symbolism, and at a later date he became first { } a modernist and then a decadent, while in france a classic restoration had set in. to the real current of european literature south america has preferred ephemeral excesses, and the work of coteries, which she has imitated with enthusiasm. it is barely ten years since south american letters began to reflect--curiously behind the times--the direction taken by french poetry. the literature of the new continent, to-day invaded by books and ideas, follows a path parallel to that followed by french and spanish letters. every novelty finds an echo, and the very diversity of imitation ought before long to give rise to a final originality. poets, both romantic and classic, threw themselves into the social conflicts of the time; whence that kinship between poetry and eloquence, already recognised by brunetière in france.[ ] in american poetry we find the civic accent, eulogies of liberty, odes to civilisation and the mother-country, rather than elegies or "states of soul." tyrtæus would be popular there rather than anacreon; béranger would be imitated rather than de musset. classicism thus takes the form of a civic poetry; calm and mannered, it sings of political subjects, of progress, independence, and the victories of liberty over theocracy. in mexico, ecuador, and the argentine, the first generation of republican poets were incontestably disciples of the master of the spanish masters--quintana, whose grave and virile odes exalted the printing-press, philanthropy, and progress: new deities erected by the french revolution upon the ancient altars. his emphasis, the movement of his verse, and the breath of oratory which enlivens his stanzas, charmed and subjugated the writers oversea. liberty, so barely conquered, gave birth to a poetry { } which sang of heroes and of battles. ideas and forms were inspired by quintana; their best eulogy is comparison with their model. thus olmedo, the second poet of this classic age, is known as the american quintana. those who acclaimed the revolution in mexico also were disciples of the spanish poet; republican orators in verse, quintana roo or sanchez del tagle, who describe the heroes of the war of independence. an eminent poetess, salome ureña de henriquez, of san domingo, sang of civilisation and the native land with a most austere and noble eloquence. a political poet again, juan cruz, of argentina, gracefully proclaimed the glory of the unitarian party and that of the reformer rivadavia. the contemporary writers of the revolution did not forget the instruction received in spain, in the universities of the eighteenth century, where they studied in latin and commented upon the classics of greece and rome. they read and imitated horace and virgil, and were inspired by the ancient democracies, and the heroes of plutarch; the isthmus of panama was compared to that of corinth. at their birth the republics appointed consuls and triumvirs. in speeches and proclamations of the time we find numerous classical reminiscences; politicians and poets borrowed their images from pindar, horace, homer, and virgil. the influence of the classics and of quintana is especially to be remarked in olmedo, the poet of ecuador, who chanted the victory of junin and the genius of bolivar. the movement of his verses is that of a latin ode, while the eloquence, sonority, and graceful progression of his stanzas recalls the spanish classics. the venezuelan lyrist bello, a true humanist, was inspired by virgil, and attained a truly classic perfection. { } but quintana was not alone in serving as model to the lost colonies; others, the fiery gallego, and moratin, the author of delightful comedies; a critic, alberto lista; melendez, cienfugos, and martinez de la rosa, cultivators of a correct, elegant, and frigid form, were also imitated, and the imitators could not free themselves from their impoverished classicism. olmedo ( ) and bello ( ) were both masters of metre, taste, and harmony. it is not easy in their case to separate the politician from the artist, they themselves considering their art to be a high republican function; olmedo counsels federation in his _canto à junin_, and josé eusebio caro attacks the tyrant lopez in a poem upon liberty, while felipe pardo writes political satires. of the american democracies he says: "zar de tres tintas, indio, bianco y negro, que rige el continente americano y que se llama pueblo soberano."[ ] towards classicism gave way to romanticism. the revolution, the protest of individualism against the spanish rule, disdained the old literary canons, having first condemned the old political system. the poets, still numerous, sought models in spain. arolas, espronceda; zorilla, the duke de rivas; and in france, victor hugo, de musset, and lamartine. byron, too, had his disciples. all were romantic in life and work, pilgrims _à la_ childe harold, who described _châtiments_ and were persecuted for liberty. disorderly, imperfect, dominated by an inward dæmon who produced a continual exaltation, they portrayed the constant restlessness of their spirits. { } romanticism in europe was the triumph of the individual, of liberty, the lyrical poetry of confessions--the melancholy of rené or the satanic pride of manfred--the revenge, in short, of sentiment against reason. in art this stood for liberty, the cult of the exotic, the return to nature, the gothic restoration, and war upon classic conventions. which among these elements could give the new generation in south america that enthusiasm which might evoke a romantic state of mind? certainly not the national antiquities, remote and misunderstood. although a few poets wrote _orientales_ without much sincerity, none sought to renew his lyrical gifts in the aztec or quechua traditions. but this imitation of the tendencies of french and spanish letters was assisted by the lack of discipline found in the american character, which was more attracted by idealism and sentiment than by classic rigidity or reason. all things favoured romanticism; the political conflicts and the anarchy of the time formed byronic heroes; tropical passion found its food in the sentimentalism of lamartine and the ardour of de musset, while the individual was developed by struggling against the tyrants. in the uncertain and barbaric life of these young democracies there was a confusion of _rôles_; the poet became the _vates_, the leader of the crowd, only to feel himself exiled among mediocrities, the victim of illiterates. melancholy, exasperated individualism, the high mission of the poet, and solitude--these are romantic elements which are reflected in american literature. the colombian caro believed in the "consoling mission" of the poet, and this mission, for the argentine andrade, was a priesthood and a prophetic gift. the poet appears "when the human caravan changes its route in the desert." but as a result of this mission nemesis inflicts solitude and suffering. { } the south american poets abandon the world as a result of their despair:-- "sufrirás el martirio que al nació poeta reserva el hado impío,"[ ] sings the argentine echeverria. and marmol:-- "yo vivo solamente cuando feliz deliro que los terrenos lazos mi corazón rompió. . . . . . venid porque yo gozo yo vivo solamente si pienso que he dejado la humanidad detras."[ ] the peruvian salaverry contemplates his heart:-- "cual la ruina de un templo silencioso vacío, abandonado, pavoroso, sin luz y sin rumor."[ ] josé eusebio caro, who has sung of liberty in admirable strophe, would hide himself in the forest:-- "que los hombres ya me niegan una tumba en sus ciudades en mi patria me expulsaron de la casa de mis padres."[ ] these romantics were not, like rousseau, inclined toward the simple life by an excess of artificial civilisation. their melancholy, when it is not an echo of exotic griefs, is the cry of anguish of a noble mind lost in a barbarous republic. this contrast between the man and his surroundings very clearly explains the strong hold obtained by the { } romantic ideal; the literature of passion, pride, and revolt, it expresses a social condition of inner conflict and solitude. the argentine, marmol, imitates byron in his _pilgrim_. grandiloquent, passionate, and mournful, he curses the tyranny of rosas. echeverria, under a classic mantle, barely hides his romantic subjectivity, full of passion and a vague melancholy. in venezuela heriberto garcia de quevedo left a legacy of prodigiously long poems. in cuba gertrudis gomez de avellanada, wearied and lyrical, exalted love in the accents of de musset; the mulatto placido wrote musical descriptive verse; juan clemente zenea, translator of leopardi and longfellow, confessed, in musical elegiac verse, his disabused outlook upon life; and greater than any, hérédia, the singer of niagara, a fiery, suffering spirit, full of contrasts as his art, tells us of his sorrow and his faith; he sings of love and nature in beautiful imagery, admiring both the divine might and the intoxicating sensuality of the tropics. in mexico espronceda and lamartine inspired fernando calderon and ignacio rodriguez galvan; zorilla found a disciple in manuel flores, the poet of burning sensuality and savage nature. brazil, as fruitful of romantics as cuba, produced gongalvez diaz, who sang of the melancholy and nostalgia so well expressed by a word in his own tongue--_saudades_;--of sorrow, deliverance by knowledge, and the consolation of tears:-- "men deus, senhor men deus, o que ha no mundo que não seja soffrir? o homen nasce, e vive um so instante e soffre até morrir!"[ ] { } in his love poetry there is a very, beautiful sincerity, although we may recognise the influence of many masters--byron, zorilla, and the french romantics. cited by him, this line of saint-beuve's:-- "mon dieu, fais que je puisse aimer!"[ ] enables us to understand his plaints. casimiro de abrou also essayed romantic subjects: solitude, misery, and exile. alvares de azevedo imitated byron and de musset, while a poet who did not versify, josé de alencar, expounded in his tales and novels a romantic conception of the indian, simple and virtuous as one of rousseau's characters. we find this conception again in the work of a great poet of uruguay, zorilla de san martin, who in _tabaré_ sang the struggles of the greedy conquerors and the ingenuous americans. romanticism was not with these men merely a matter of art; their lives were no less troublous and lyrical than their poetry. rebels and nomads, thirsting for democratic liberty, they were wasted in the struggle with tyrants, or sent early to the scaffold or into exile, as though fate respected the unity of their troubled career. thus these disciples of lamartine, imaginative and sensual, vehement and melancholy in their art, gave a sombre yet vivid colouring to a period of american history, the years between and . andrade was conspicuous among all for his sonorous eloquence; he was the greatest by virtue of the oratory, wealth, and ambitious grandeur of his poems, vast compositions which recall the _légende des siècles_, the _prometheus_ of shelley, or the _ahasuerus_ of edgar quinet. doubtless he is not the equal of his masters. but devoid of melancholy and restless passion, his rhetoric, his verbal wealth, and his { } sybilline accents exercised a powerful influence. repeating the grandiloquent excesses of hugo, he was the poet of democracy and the latin race. his _atlantide_ is the latin future; _prometheus_ the eternal battle of thought and fanaticism. he is full of spanish arrogance. marvellously sonorous, his stanzas proclaim, with pomp and majesty, a romantic faith in america and liberty. the soul of rome "destined to inaugurate history and embrace space," lives again beyond the ocean; spain was the heir at first, until she choked beneath the "enervating shadow of the papacy." france, "montana en cuya cumbre anida el genio humano,"[ ] was now the leading latin nation, and napoleon the instrument of the ancient imperial spirit. his sword "que sobre el mapa de la europa absorta trazó fronteras, suprimió desiertos y que quizás de recibir cansada el homenaje de los reyes vivos, fuá á demandar en el confin remote, el homenaje de los reyos muertos."[ ] andrade believed in the sacred _rôle_ of the poet: hugo, his admired master, "la voz de trueno del gran profeto hebreo la cuerda de agrios tonos de juvenal y el rumor de los cantos del viejo gibelino,"[ ] { } seemed to him prophet and forerunner, martyr and exile. the poet, seer, and leader of men, is thus "hermano de las águilas del cáucaso que secaron piadosas con sus alas la ensangrentada faz de prometeo."[ ] lyric scholars in these troublous republics, the romantics sought to ennoble politics by a generous idealism, to overthrow the tyrants, and realise an impossible democracy. french naturalism and the parnassian school had little influence in latin america. although zola enjoyed a strange popularity--which corresponds, in the literary world, to the enthusiasm of the trans-atlantic universities for materialism and positivism--we meet with few imitations of _germinal_ or _la terre_. the american writers have not assimilated the naturalistic methods, their brutal and minute observation, their study of the crowd, and their intentional pessimism; they have hardly read the masters of the realistic school, balzac and flaubert. only during the last twenty years have maupassant, the portuguese novelist eça de queiros, d'annunzio, and the great russian writers interested and disturbed the american reader. the love of the novel is but gradually dislodging the old lyric enthusiasm. [illustration: clÉmente palma. peruvian essayist and novelist. ricardo palmer.] the parnassian movement, in america, produced the argentine poet leopoldo diaz. he adapted to spanish verse the sonority, the relief, and the plastic beauty of the french masters. one of his poems is dedicated in homage to the poet of the _sonnets_, to his incomparable model, josé-maria de hérédia. diaz sought to give his native spanish, the language of eloquence, a parnassian inevitability, and to mould its rhetorical abundance to the narrow limits of the sonnet. _les sombras de hellas_ invokes the greek { } life, sensual and luminous; _les conquistadores_ the thunderous epic; and all his optimistic songs speak of a latin renaissance in the overseas democracies. an absorbing taste for symbolism and the decadents, for "deliquescent" poetry and the work of the small parisian cliques, has produced an intensely vital intellectual movement--modernism--which, by its wealth of language and ideas and the renewed vitality of its language, signifies a true renaissance. beside it the old classic and romantic movements seem lukewarm imitations which pale before the exuberance of more modern work. modernism is undoubtedly an adequate diet for transatlantic latins. but is this decadent renaissance better inspired than the passion and the eloquence of yesterday? is it also an indication of servitude? by no means; the great poets have retained a robust belief in life, and their master, ruben dario, followed his _prosas profanas_ by his _songs of life and hope_. the younger generation was drawn to this art by purely psychological motives. the spanish character had become refined by its new environment; weakened, perhaps, but it had gained a keener intelligence and a greater wealth of fantasy. chiaroscuro and subtle shades, such as the french delight in, delighted the creole also, partial as he was to _finesse_, to a delicate byzantism, and gracefully sceptical of the robust spanish faith. then there were hosts of half-castes, in whom the inimical heredities of two races were in painful conflict. the strangest characteristics--the sensuality of the negro and the melancholy of the indian--gave the new race a spiritual personality full of contradictory characteristics; melancholy but not without optimism; the desires of a faun or a satyr, violent or languid; and a love of the rare and unusual, of verbal music, of complication in the matter of feeling, of { } carefully chosen language and unfamiliar rhythms. reading verlaine, samain, laforgue, moréas, henri de régnier, and not as yet forgetting gautier and banville; mingling all cults and asking intoxication from every flagon, the poets of america have struck the national chord. symbolism has been of little assistance; it calls for a lofty conception of the world and a profound sense of mystery. they much prefer decadence in art, because of its musical lyric quality, its exotic images, and its melancholy rhythms. an elective affinity, to use goethe's phrase, has enabled them to draw an individual music from the foreign instrument. so new metres and old fashions refurbished, modern images in sonorous and tortuous measures, all that in europe was the voice of ennui, the tardy fruit of a world grown old, a baudelairian art, the art of refined scepticism, was made to serve a young generation in love with life for the expression of its ambitions. this reform has reached spain; the initiate has captivated the initiator, as in the drama of renan. the recent voices of spanish poetry follow that of the pontiff of the new school, ruben dario. similarly brazil has influenced portuguese poetry, and, according to theophilo braga, surpasses it. german and french romanticism revived the old forgotten _chansons de geste_, the despised poetry of the gothic school; they charmed by the rude naturalism of the primitive legends. similarly the modernists of america have renewed spanish literature by listening to the ingenuous voice of berceo and the more melancholy accents of manrique. the result is that they are more traditionalist than the classic writers of the seventeenth century, whose intolerance so impoverished the language. this renaissance is of barely twenty years' date. certain forerunners--marti and julien del casal, both cubans, one a revolutionary in politics as in poetry, { } the other a man of tragic life, and gutierrez najera in mexico--revealed the new poetic speech to a continent weary of sentimentalism. new or unfamiliar rhythms and agile metres were the vehicle of a new and intimate lyrical passion. but the note was not as yet decadent: banville and gautier, and de musset, even, had not yet given way to verlaine, who was as unknown as mallarmé. a venezuelan critic, pedro emilio coll, drew attention to the persistent cult among the "american decadents," of the great theodore, and of the author of _funambulesques_. in the _azul_ of ruben dario he noted the influence of mendès and loti, even that of daudet and the realists of his school, rather than the influence of symbolism.[ ] by the vivacity and brilliance of his verse, manuel guttierrez nájera reminds one of banville. he sings in a new key, at once creole and exotic, the complicated sensations which are presently to torment ruben dario. spanish verse had never yet held such grace and spirit, nor this sensuality appeased by tears, nor this proud and reserved melancholy. _a cecilia_, _vidas muertas_, _castigadas_, _mariposas_--these contained a new lyric poetry, elegiac and tender, an unknown rhythm, a forgotten manner. he was a forerunner. who does not know his lines upon the spoiled child whom he loves? "no hay en el mundo mujer mas linda! pié de andaluza, boca de guinda, _esprit_ rociado de veuve cliquot, talle de avispa, cutis de ala, ojos traviesos de colegiala, como los ojos de louise théo."[ ] { } he is not always so frivolous. mystery torments him; he knows the bitterness of vanished illusions; a pessimist, he has a vision of the moths of death "which have such black wings, and encircle us in a funereal round." the monologue of the unbeliever is a lament like that of sigismond de calderon upon the vanity of life:-- "si es castigo ¿ cual pecado, sin saberlo, cometimos? si premio ¿ porque ganado? sin haberlo demandado, responded ¿ porqué vivimos?"[ ] poems and chronicles are filled with a like restlessness and trouble. he writes odes worthy of an anthology; he translates de musset and coppee. his master is gautier: he shares his love of the light; he sings, in love with ideal whiteness:-- "¿ qué cosa más blanca que cándido lirio? ¿ qué cosa más pura que místico cirio? ¿ que cosa mas casta que tierno azahar?"[ ] the modernism of south america was inspired firstly by the parnassian school of france, which did not until later give place to the new voice, symbolist or decadent. verlaine, samain, and laforgue were then the chief models; but beneath the current of imitation a movement was forming which was more and more original, a great school of verse, the leading note of which was refinement. "we owe to foreign literatures, and more particularly to the french," says a writer already cited, "the refinement of the organs necessary to the interpretation of beauty; we owe to them our methods of observation { } and our love of impressions, rather than any kind of co-ordinated æsthetic perspective.... our eyes have learned from them to see better, and our minds to gather fugitive sensations." no writer represents this evolution, this progressive refinement, better than ruben dario, a poet of central america (of nicaragua), the recognised master of the new school and one of the greatest lyric writers of all time in the spanish language. he is to america what verlaine and hugo are to france. his images, his phrases even, excite a servile imitation. a noble band of disciples aspires to continue his immortal work. he denies his disciples: "he who shall slavishly follow my track will lose his treasure, and, whether page or slave, will not be able to hide his livery." but in vain: ardent youth listens and lays its votive offerings at the feet of the great and disdainful artist. his poetic reform was effectual in the extreme. he renewed the youth of archaic metres, adapted french rhythms to spanish verse, and modified, with perfect taste, the classic division of the line of verse--the place of the cæsura. with equal mastery he has employed slow and majestic measures to interpret the melancholy of the flesh, or the dancing metres of banville, or plastic forms of a hellenic perfection. he seems to make his own the cry of carducci: _odio l'usata poesia_. modern spanish poetry used often to employ verses of eight and eleven syllables, forms to which a certain rhetorical pomp very readily allies itself. an interpreter of new ideas, dario would not, like the french poet, accept old forms; he employed lines of ten and twelve syllables, adopted the pentameter and hexameter of the classics, and employed verses of fourteen and sixteen syllables.[ ] he displaced accents, { } and wrote admirable _vers libres_. a revolutionary, in ten years he had transformed spanish poetry. _prosas profanas_, published in , is, according to the phrase of his incomparable critic, josé enrique rodo, "the full tension of his poet's bow." from the paradoxical title to the wealth of metre, all is strange in this delicate piece of work, which opens a new literary cycle, as did _emaux et camées_ or _fleurs du mal_ in france. the originality of the book comes from the poet's prodigious faculty of recognising in each school what is essential to him, and in appropriating it, without, therefore, ceasing to be personal. a lyric unrest carries him to one manner or another, but, archaic or modern, it becomes his own. his grace, suppleness, and learned complexity are unequalled; he will write a symphony in _gris majeur_ like gautier, or poems in the manner of verlaine, or a _chant an centaure_ in the manner of maurice de guerin. his work is not built of imposing granite, but of many coloured marbles, with strange and decadent shades, such as the chiseller of the _camées_ loved. [illustration: rufino blanco fombona (venezuela). contemporary poet, novelist, and thinker. to face p. .] his verse possesses at once the sensuality of a faun, the distinction of a marquis of the _grand siècle_, and the disenchantment of a mystic. no form, no period can arrest his wandering spirit:-- "yo persigo una forma que no encuentra mi estilo, boton de pensamiento que busca ser la rosa."[ ] in the presence of love, art, and life he experiences an enthusiasm which quickly vanishes; he discovers the final melancholy of all things. he knows, with the roman, the sadness that lurks in human joys: _quod in ipsis floribus angit_. but before singing his autumnal bitterness of heart { } he sings of nature, of ancient civilisations, of the art of all ages, and of the pageantry of life. dario is the leader of a school, but other poets, as great as he, may be regarded as the precursors of literary "modernism": josé asunción silva, leopoldo lugones, guillermo valencia, rufino blanco fombana--the latter, like almafuerte, chocano, and the lugones of the "hills of gold," seeks to be the poet of the new america. these writers aim at an american art, an art free from rhetorical _clichés_, innocent of imitation, of declamation, of affected sensibility. who shall say whether the revolt of this younger generation will lead it? angel de estrada is the poet of the exotic in his _alma nomade_; guillermo valencia, as great as dario in the exegesis of the legends of greece and the love of things hellenic, has a universal curiosity and an astonishingly versatile lyrical capacity. rufino blanco fombana has sung of sensual passion, the hatred of tyrants, and the glories of bolivar; he has remodelled the lyric, has written verses as finely chiselled as the gems of the greek anthology, and sonorous lines in which we hear a call to action and to victory. chocano aspires to become the poet of america: grandiloquent, sonorous, rich in imagery. lugones is a much admired author of sentimental verse, audacious as to form and vocabulary. josé asuncion silva was noted for his melancholy, languorous verse: he was a forerunner, a master, like dario. ricardo jaimes freire employs the more audacious metres; amado nervo, equally radical in his love of new forms, exhibits a modernism touched by a breath of buddhistic pantheism, and sings of "sister water" like a modern st. francis. essayists of the english type are numerous in america. they import european ideas, freely discuss the great problems of existence. if they apply themselves to the criticism of letters, they discover { } general ideas; in place of minute analysis they write artistic commentaries. josé enrique rodo, of uruguay, is the master in this department of literature. he has published an essay on dario, and his two books, _motivos de proteo_, a collection of essays of great beauty, and _ariel_, a noble address to the youth of south america, have become classics. there are other critics as brilliant: manuel ugarte, at once thinker and artist, writer of short stories, poet, ideologist, and the author of a remarkable book dealing with the future of south america; the colombian, sanin cano, who treats of ideas; two argentines, emilio becher, who writes admirable analyses of ideas and books, and ricardo rosas, who is, by reason of his nationalism and his wide culture, the master of the rising generation; two venezuelans, manuel diaz rodriguez and pedro emilio coll, the first a noble idealist and prose artist, the second a dreamer, who has been influenced by the sceptical irony of renan; the peruvian, manuel gonzala prada, whose aggressive and sonorous style reveals a lofty moral unrest: in his essay on life and death are pages which guyau might have signed, and his study of castelar is a magnificent satire; josé de la riva agüero, a historian, a critic, and a polemist of unusual vigour; in san domingo a powerful mind with an extraordinary knowledge of literatures, classic and foreign, pedro henriquez ureña; while in uruguay, carlos reyles has just proved by his book, _la mort da cygne_, his acquaintance with all the new ideas and his ability to make a powerful synthesis of them. two brazilian essayists, oliveira lima (also a great historian) and josé verissimo have written remarkable studies of civilisations and books. [illustration: manuel ugarte (argentina). contemporary poet, novelist, and essayist. to face p. .] the short story, neglected by the romantics, is being revived. modernism, having already transformed poetry, has brought to the _conte_ a subtlety { } in the analysis of the passions and a knowledge of psychology that refuses to take alarm at problems of morbid obscurity, and the indispensable quality of concentration of interest. machado de assis is a master of powerful analysis, and a sober and ironical style; his vision of life is melancholy. diaz rodriguez has written some superb short stories. an evocation or a symbol places those of carlos reyles of uruguay on a plane far above that of the ordinary romance. two other writers of the younger generation, attilio chiappori and clemente palma, hailing respectively from argentine and peru, have introduced a new æsthetics into the short story; the latter seems to show the influence of hoffmann and poe, but his examples of the _macabre_ are none the less powerfully original; while chiappori, a physician and alienist, loves the states of twilight phases of a mind which is tottering on the verge of reason. _borderland_ tells us of this vague territory in a sinuous, and, in america, hitherto unfamiliar style. a great peruvian writer, ricardo palma, has created a department of literature, that of tradition, which partakes equally of the nature of history, and the romance, and the _conte_. he has described in a sumptuous style the life of the old spanish colonies, devout and sensual; the traditions of a cultivated community, the city of lima. his subtle irony, his joyous and somewhat licentious narrative, often remind us of m. anatole france and the italian story-tellers. in latin america are published not only exquisite examples of the _conte_, but also novels in which the study of society and the analysis of the mind are not overlooked. among others may be cited _el hombre de hierro_, by rufino blanco fombona, a venezuelan; _canaan_, by the brazilian, graça aranha; _la gloria de don ramiro_ and _redención_, { } by the argentine writers enrique rodriguez larreta and angel de estrada; _idolos rotos_ and _sangre patricia_, by diaz rodriguez, whose high talent as a writer of short stories we have already praised; _la raza de cain_, by carlos reyles, so remarkable, also, for his essays and his tales. blanco fombona possesses irony, the gift of telling a story, a rich descriptive talent, ease of dialogue, and a power of forcible scene-painting. a novelist by temperament, he has written the biography of a representative creole, the lamentable type created by environment, for whom love and life reserve their most terrible cruelties. a scrupulous employé, neither strong nor cunning, he is the product of the languorous tropical life; this "man of iron" is the symbol of all the weaknesses. and about this life is all the monotony of a small city, civil war, the secret hatred of creoles and foreigners, the superannuated grace of the spanish manner and the spanish pomp--in short, the whole of a little seething world. _canaan_ is the romance of the promised land, of fertile brazil, where the blonde immigrant and the half-breeds of every shade compete for the bounty of a prodigal nature. this long struggle is the dramatic interest of the book; its beauty lies in its magnificent descriptions of the tropics; the language of graça aranha is full of harmonious poetry. angel de estrada is one of the most cultivated spirits of america. traveller (is not one of his books entitled _ame nomade_?), novelist, and poet, he distils in his books the quintessence of long meditation and infinite reading. his novel _redención_ is the work of a humanist; civilisations, arts, beliefs, all pass before us, evoked by the hand of a master. a subtle and rich vocabulary serves him to give life to his ideas and resuscitate the life of dead cities. [illustration: ricardo rojas (argentina). contemporary poet and essayist. to face p. .] { } enrique rodriguez larreta has described in his novel _la gloria de don ramiro_ the period of philip ii., bloody, austere, and tyrannical. no american artist has his verbal wealth, his power of evocation, and his meticulous scholarship and genius for reconstruction. this patient and harmonious piece of work surprises us in a literature full of improvisations like that of south america. _la raza de cain_, by reyles, is a remarkable romance, in which the author shows us the superman, nietzsche's man of prey, at grips with the weak and the vanquished; he exalts, in language full of eloquence, the dionysiac joy of life and domination. writer of short stories, a novelist at times, but above all a brilliant chronicler, gomez carrillo has had the greatest influence in latin america. in a nervous, harmonious style, full of delicate shades, he has instructed the younger generation in symbolism, in the elegant paradoxes of wilde, in the work of d'annunzio and verlaine; in short, in the whole of decadent art. above all, he eulogises paris: the "charming soul" of the city, the sounding boulevards, its women, and the _galante_ frivolity of its unrest. a master of smiles and subtle irony, he has the taste, the delicate amenity, of scholl or fouquier, the art of telling an anecdote, of analysing a comedy, of pouring gentle ridicule upon learned heaviness or conceited solemnity. his books on japan and greece, praised by the french critics, have revealed the mystery of exoticism to the american public, and all his work breathes a continual suggestion of france. such is the new literature, in which you will find novelists and poets and a truly florentine love of beauty. he who knows america only by its imperfect social framework, its civil wars, and its persistent barbarism sees only the outer tumult; there is a strange divorce between its turbulent politics { } and its refined art. if ever taine's theory of the inevitable correspondence between art and its environment was at fault, it is in respect of these turbulent democracies which produce writers whose literary style is so precious, such refined poets and analysts. [illustration: gomez carrillo. contemporary novelist, essayist, and chroniqueur.] [ ] _l'evolution de la poésie lyrique en france au xixe siécle_, paris, , p. . [ ] "tzar of three colours, black, white, and indian (red)--who governs the american continent--and is called the sovereign people." [ ] "thou shalt suffer the martyrdom--that for him who is born a poet--is reserved by impious fate." [ ] "i live only when i dream--that my heart has broken all ties with the world-- ... come, for my life and my joy hardly begin to be--save when i know i have left mankind far behind me." [ ] "like the ruins of a silent temple,--empty, abandoned, fearful,--without light and without sound." [ ] "men refuse me a tomb in their cities,--in my country i was expelled from the house of my fathers." [ ] "my god, lord my god, who is there in the world--that is not sorrow's?--man is born and lives a moment--and suffers unto death." [ ] "my god, make me able to love!" [ ] "mountain on whose summit--human genius nests." [ ] "which on the map of astonished europe--traced frontiers and suppressed deserts,--and which, weary perhaps with receiving--the homage of living kings,--came at length to demand afar--the homage of dead kings." [ ] "the voice of thunder of the great hebrew prophet,--the chord of bitter tones--of juvenal--and the rumour of the songs--of the old ghibelline." [ ] "brother to the eagles of the caucasus--who fanned piously with their wings the bleeding face of prometheus." [ ] _decadentismo y americanismo_, in _el castillo de elsinor_. caracas . [ ] "there is not in the world a prettier woman!--foot of an andalusian, mouth of fruit--sparkling wit of veuve cliquot--waist of wasp, skin like a bird's wing--the roguish eyes of a schoolgirl--such the eyes of louise theo." [ ] "if it is a punishment, what sin--have we without knowing committed?--if it is a reward, how gained?--without having asked it,--say, why do we live?" [ ] "what whiter than the candid lily?--what purer than the mystic wax?--what more chaste than the tender orange-blossom?" [ ] see the study of these innovations in _horas de estudio_, by p. henriquez ureña, p. _et seq_. paris, ollendorff. [ ] "i pursue a form which my pen does not find--the bud of an idea which would be the rose." { } chapter iii the evolution of philosophy bello--hostos--the influence of england--positivism--the influence of spencer and fouillée--the sociologists. the democracies of america have not created new systems of philosophy; they have rather contributed, with emerson and william james in the united states, to propound the old problems in a new light. politics and history have been the occupation of intelligent men. to pure speculation they have preferred the patient study of the past, and the impassioned analysis of the conflicts of the day. yet they adopted european theories from the earliest years of the republic: those of the french ideologists, cabanis and laromiguière were the predominant influences in some schools, while the influence of england extended from central america to chili. with that influence went a moderate utilitarianism, a bold analysis of the doctrines of political and economic liberty. england contributed to the liberty of america in montevideo as in colombia; with the english gold which the revolutionaries received the english philosophic radicalism entered the country. jurists and politicians profited by its lessons, and certain of the thinkers of america freed themselves from the shackles of the peripatetic school under the influence of the scottish philosophers. thus ventura martin and josé-joaquin de mora in chili and alcorta in the argentine. with { } andrès bello, poet and legislator, philosopher and philologist, these doctrines acquired a great importance. his _philosophy of the understanding_ was inspired by reid and hamilton. in england he had known james mill, and some of his ideas upon the inductive method and causality recall the doctrines of john stuart mill, the son of james. bello was especially noted for the vigour of his logic and his analysis of the phenomena of consciousness, his penetrating psychology, and his positivism, which caused him to disdain anything in the nature of metaphysics. his conservative spirit accepted the catholic dogmas, while his critical faculty was checked by them; what his implacable analysis destroyed his religious temperament reconstructed. he believed in perception, liberty, and the reality of the external world, and in a first cause; he transformed grammar by his psychological analysis, and by his positivism civil law and the law of nations. his excessive critical faculty sometimes ran to super-fine abstraction, to an intellectual algebra. bello passed from ideology to positivism, from destutt de tracy to stuart; mill, by way of the scottish philosophers. his admirable grammatical and juridical efforts may be attributed to his mastery of english analysis and realism. after bello, the most remarkable of south american philosophers was eugenio de hostos, who was born in . he did not merely expound european ideas; he had his own system, which he developed in a series of remarkable works; he was a moralist rather than a metaphysician, and whether in san domingo or lima or santiago he never ceased his endeavours to reform education and the law. problems, social and moral, gave him no rest; he sought to found a new morality and sociology. hostos might be called an optimistic rationalist. he believed in an ideal world. science, according { } to him, is an efficacious agent of virtue. he thought it possible to discipline the will by teaching what is true. good is not a metaphysical entity nor duty an imperative; the two together constitute a "natural order." a profound harmony exists between man and the world he lives in, and the moral law is merely the revelation in the consciousness of the geometry of things. for hostos the world was just, logical, and full of reason; an internal law, _lex insita_, was manifested in the sidereal harmonies as in virtuous actions. the moral ideal is therefore merely the adaptation of conduct to the inevitable and harmonious relations of things. does not this optimism recall the morality of spencer, the rigorous ethics of spinoza, and the thought of cournot, that "the philosophical basis of morality is the idea of conformity to the universal order"? the founders of the republic were formed by scholasticism. in the old universities men debated in language bristling with syllogisms. a free philosophic doctrine which accepted all the catholic verities--immortality, free will, and providence--and explained them with a fiery eloquence, was the reaction against this school, whose thought was crystallised in variable forms; this philosophy corresponded to the romanticism of the politicians, to their faith in democracy, liberty, and human progress. in spanish america french ideas predominated; in brazil, german thought. tobias barreto and sylvio romero propagated this culture in the place of a colourless eclecticism; the first was a disciple of the german philosophers, the second popularised spencer, without neglecting the germans. in his german studies barreto adopted the monism of ludwig noiré: "the universe is composed of atoms, absolutely equal, which are endowed with two properties: the one, which is internal, is sensation; the { } other, which is external, is movement." this is the metaphysics of the brazilian thinker, and such was his influence that, according to a critic, "the theories of comte and noiré explain modern intellectual brazil." sylvio romero expounded the evolutionary theories of spencer, "a philosophic monument even more important than that of comte"; but in spite of the efforts of this disciple spencer is not as popular in brazil as in other american nations. barreto, a monist and philosopher, was a disciple of the judicial finalism of jhering; sylvio romano, a disciple of spencer, expounded and supported the conclusions of the social science of demolins; in the scientific ardour of these propagandists doctrines were assembled together which had no mutual affinity. in brazil all exotic philosophies find their readers and commentators, but the confusion caused by incoherent imitations completely lacks the unity of a national tendency. a psychologist of great value, a free follower of renan, joachim nabuco, in a style full of subtlety, writes essays in philosophy and criticism. a spanish philosopher, less rigid than the schoolmen and richer in doctrine than the eclectics, balmes engrossed many minds which were fatigued by sterile eloquence. he founded no school in america, but he is much read by the conservatives. his penetrating analysis, his british realism, and his rationalism, which seeks to harmonise these faculties with his dogmas, attract many who are repelled by a diffuse spirituality. these various tendencies--english empiricism, french eclecticism, benthamism--are not very profound intellectual movements. they have replaced the old scholasticism. a political ideology is wanted which shall be adequate to the needs of those who are struggling for power; metaphysical discussions are relegated to oblivion. [illustration: jose enrique rodÓ (uruguay). contemporary critic and essayist. to face p. .] { } positivism was the first philosophy to impress men's intellects; it has created great social movements, such as the reformation in mexico and the republic in brazil. it became an intellectual dictatorship, a new scholasticism. free-thinkers believe in comte and spencer; in the humanitarian religion of the first and the agnosticism of the second. comte, to quote mill, founded a complete system of spiritual despotism. it upholds order and authority as against the abuses of individualism, "the energetic preponderance of the central power"; it condemns "anarchy, and destructive liberalism"; it exalts "the eminently social genius of catholicism." in nations annihilated by revolution and a romantic freedom these theories are liable to justify dictatorship, as they did in brazil. there the comtian phrase "order and progress" has become the national watchword. other causes explain the supremacy of positivism; a reaction against theology in the name of science, and against a vague and official philosophy. minds formed by catholicism, even if they have lost their faith, demand secular dogmas, and verities organised in a facile system: in short, a new faith, and the positivist philosophy satisfies this craving. at the same time material progress, based upon scientific development, and the utilitarianism which exaggerates the importance of wealth, find in positivism, which disdains futile ideologies, a system adequate to industrial life. in mexico, brazil, and chili positivism in its integrity is predominant: the philosophic method and the religion of humanity. in brazil the positivist school, with constant, d'araujo, bastos, and their disciples, preserves the calendar, the secular saints, and the rites of the founder. it produces teachers and creates political constitutions like that of rio grande do sul, and ardently propagates the doctrines { } of comte. in chili, juan enrique lagarigue preached a generous idealism, and the oblivion of patriotic hatreds; but the democracy did not give ear to this ingenuous apostle. in mexico barreda, founder of the preparatory college, and the leader of intellectual life, was a disciple of comte in paris from the year . he revolutionised mexican education in a positivist direction, but did not accept the religious aspect of the new philosophy. there is still in mexico a _positivist review_, which has a certain small influence. comtism influenced thinkers as a method, as a reaction against theology and metaphysics, and as a goal of pedagogy. but the philosophy of spencer is that which has sent its roots deepest into the life of the latin republics; progress, the cardinal idea of the romantics, is succeeded by evolution, a doctrine more agreeable to the positivist intelligence. since the theories of spencer have made converts of two generations; in some universities they constitute an official system. no application has been made of his psychology nor his biology, but his social and moral teaching has been followed with servility. politicians and journalists employ spencerian formulæ: the social organism, the instability of the homogeneous, differentiation, the relativity of consciousness. in a colombian politician, rafael nuñez, president of his country, expounded the philosophy of spencer to his fellow-citizens as a remedy for the political dogmatism of his predecessors. american statesmen might readily have asked the philosopher of evolution for scientific suggestions, as did the japanese. under the influence of the english thinker the scientific period was ushered in. the study of social science is beginning; men profess a materialism or a positivism hostile to the older ontological ideas; they believe in science even more than in the sciences, { } in the rational explanation of all mysteries, in the supremacy of mathematics and physics. various influences are at work, and the confused result thereof favours the triumph of positivism. the political and social theories of dr. gustave le bon, the impetuous writings of max nordau, the criminology of lombroso and ferri, the formulæ of taine, the biology and sociology of letourneau, are studied and commented upon in the universities, the parliaments, and the schools of south america. eloquence is repudiated as contrary to scientific precision, and romantic faith is disdained by the positivist. a party which has ruled over the evolution of mexico for the last thirty years has named itself the "scientific party." the significance of these doctrines rapidly acquired an excessive importance; in place of lucid methods and clear ideas we find the teaching of the professors full of the narrowness of dogma. positivism implants a limited and vulgar rationalism, a new metaphysic which accords an absolute truth to the formulæ of science; which exalts egoism and practical interests, and the frantic pursuit of wealth in daily life. the tendency of the american mind being undue simplification, this philosophy has not been a discipline of knowledge and action, but has limited the effort of man to the conquest of the useful. the positivists organise plutocratic tyrannies in certain american nations. without reigning in the schools as spencer has done, a french philosopher, m. fouillée, has greatly influenced law, politics, and education. in spite of the reign of positivism his flexible doctrine has attracted many americans, and his works, such as the _idée du droit_ and the _histoire de la philosophie_, are coming into use as text-books in some universities. the theory of unavoidable ideas is well known; and thinkers and philosophers have been { } inspired by this "philosophy of hope." by its noble idealism, by its admirable wealth, its serene rationalism, and its essentially latin character, the harmonious system of m. fouillée has won considerable popularity among the youth of america. we cannot separate his influence from that of the young poet-philosopher whom a premature death has consecrated: guyau was the professor of idealism to two generations of america. in _ariel_ josé-enrique rodo has enlarged upon his finest metaphors; and a peruvian thinker, gonzalez prada, has popularised the suggestions of this platonic thinker upon death. nietzsche also has disciples and commentators. translated into spanish and vulgarised, his doctrines are the bible of exasperated egoism. men saw nothing of his stoicism, his worship of heroic life and tragic adventures; "concussionary" ministers and half-breeds aspiring to power believe themselves nietzschians, because in their immoral advancement they ignore all moral scruples. a generation above good and evil is practising opportunism--what the french call "arrivism"--disorganising philosophy and society, and forgetting the code of human dignity. fouillée, guyau, and nietzsche have not supplanted the positivist philosophers; the superstition of science and the hatred of metaphysical construction is still prevalent. all the new doctrines are making their way: pragmatism, bergsonism, the philosophy of wundt and croce, the philosophy of contingency: without, however, creating new tendencies. from this variety of imitations perhaps an american system will arise. to-day every intellectual novelty is passionately received and applied; an argentine judge has even founded some of his judgments upon the teaching of tarde. a reaction is setting in against dogmatic { } positivism; the present is a period of dissolution and criticism. in accepting influences so various--english, german, and french--the old faith in science, in comte and spencer, is evaporating. two young philosophers, antonio caso in mexico and henriquez ureña in san domingo, have contributed to this analysis. inspired by the ideas of m. emile boutroux, they attack the narrow interpretation of scientific laws. thus after thirty years of influence, positivism is losing its prestige. it is not being replaced in the schools by any rigid system; but in place of an intolerant dogmatism we have a free examination of which we cannot yet foresee the consequences. some essays of enrique varona, in his writings on morality and philosophy; of carlos octavio bunge, in his _psicologia individual y social_; of vaz-ferreira, in his critique of the problem of liberty; of deustua, of lima, in his essays on morality, reveal the fact that the new school is not lacking in a serious philosophical orientation. but originality, the new doctrine, the ibero-american school--are these shortly to be realities? so long as these nations are still busy at the task of self-organisation in the midst of anarchical unrest, so long as the cult of wealth prevails above all disinterested efforts, so long we shall assuredly have no other philosophy than an adaptation of foreign systems. but in the new movements philosophical speculation is losing its old simplicity; the study of psychology is developing, analysis is more profound, the old verbal solutions are rejected, and the study of societies is acquiring an extraordinary importance. half a century ago books on political science swarmed. the same pragmatic preoccupation--the adaptation of scientific ideas to the uses of social life--prevails to-day. many sociologists are inspired by biology, or { } psychology, or historical materialism. cornejo, in peru, is adopting the psychological theories of wundt, his analysis of language, myth, and custom. letelier, in chili, inclines toward the positivism of comte; ramos mejia, in the argentine, explains social phenomena in a biological sense. his books, _la locura en la historia_, _las masas argentinas_, reveal this tendency. ingegnieros has studied the history of the argentine in relation to the economic factor. his work, _de la barbarie al imperalismo_, is an essay in marxist sociology. to sum up; social science preoccupies our thinkers rather than pure philosophy. neither the great german idealists nor the critics and thinkers are known in america; neither hume, nor kant, nor hegel, although the spanish orator emilio castelar has propagated a hegelianism _ad usum delphini_ in the new continent. the pessimism of schopenhauer does not acclimatise itself in the tropics. eclecticism, positivism, and spiritualism prevail. [illustration: alcides arguedas (bolivia). novelist and sociologist. to face p. .] { } book vi _the latin spirit and the german, north american, and japanese perils_ from a racial point of view, it is true, one cannot call the south american republics latin nations. they are rather indo-african or africo-iberian. latin culture--the ideas and the art of france, the laws and the catholicism of rome--have created in south america a mental attitude analogous to that of the great mediterranean peoples, which is hostile or alien to the civilisation of the germanic or anglo-saxon peoples. new influences, whether they come from germany or anglo-saxon america, and even more those that come from japan, are dangerous to the latin-american nations, if they tend to destroy their traditions. { } chapter i are the ibero-americans of latin race spanish and portuguese heredity--latin culture--the influence of the roman laws, of catholicism, and of french thought--the latin spirit in america: its qualities and defects. contrasting the imperial republic of north america with the twenty democracies of south america, we seek the reason of the antagonism which exists between them in the essential element of race. the contrast between anglo-saxons and latins is the contrast between two cultures. the south american peoples consider themselves latin by race, just as their brothers of the north are the remote descendants of the anglo-saxon pilgrim fathers; but although the united states were created largely by the aggregation of austere english emigrants, there has been no intervention of pure latin elements in the colonisation of the south. navigators of latin blood discovered an unknown continent, and spaniards and portuguese conquered and colonised it; but there was little latin blood to be found in the homes formed by the sensuality of the first conquerors of a desolated america. emigrants from estremadura and galicia, andalusians and castilians, many-hued men of spain and portugal, were all concerned in the first interbreeding with the vanquished races; they were iberians, in whom the anthropologists discover moral analogies with the berbers of north africa. the basques, { } rude and virile, who emigrated from spain to dominate america, did not come of latin stock; the andalusian element, from seville or cadiz, was of oriental origin. a spain that was half african and half germanic colonised the vast territories of america; two heredities, visigoth and arab, were united in its strange genius. the french and italian colonists have not the importance of the spaniards and portuguese; they are inferior in numbers and in wealth. the iberians have jealously defended their racial prerogative in these isolated transatlantic colonies. after three centuries, when once the continent was opened to the outside world and to european commerce, the italians invaded the rich plains of the argentine; there they contributed to the formation of a new race, which is more latin than spanish. but we must not forget the innumerable anglo-saxons who have founded families in the argentine and in chili, and have brought wealth to those countries; nor the germans in southern brazil, nor the asiatics of the peruvian seaboard. iberians, indians, latins, anglo-saxons, and orientals all mingle in america; a babel of races, so mixed that it is impossible to discover the definite outlines of the future type. it is useless to look for unity of race in such a country. and even in the united states the confused invasion of russian jews and southern italians is little by little undermining the primitive anglo-saxon unity. this confusion of races in the north and the south leaves two traditions, the anglo-saxon and the iberian. by force of assimilation these traditions are transforming the new races. englishmen and spaniards disappear, but the two moral inheritances survive. the latin tradition is not far to seek in the { } americans of the south. they are not exclusively either spanish or portuguese; the legacy received from spain is modified by persistent influences of french and italian origin. from mexico to la plata, by long continued and extensive action, the roman laws, catholicism, and the ideas of france have given a uniform aspect to the american conscience. laws of spanish origin prevail in south america; they have formed the rigid framework of civil life. these laws, in spite of strong feudal elements, are of roman origin. under the influence of roman law alfonso x. unified spanish legislation, during the first half of the thirteenth century; three centuries later the spaniards colonised america. the _partidas_, that vast encyclopædia of law and collection of castilian laws in particular, is a roman code. it confirmed the individualist sense of property as against the spanish forms of collectivism; it reinforced the power of the _paterfamilias_ in the austere iberian family; it consecrated equality, authorising marriage between free men and the serfs formerly banished from the state; and it adopted the roman formalism. politically, after the downfall of the feudal system, ambitious princes, from the time of alfonso x. to that of the catholic kings and of charles v., enforced their royal authority in the roman sense. these monarchs were cæsars; they concentrated all the powers of the state in themselves; they centralised, unified, and legislated. this royal absolutism destroyed privilege and levelled mankind. a vast spanish democracy was formed, subject to cæsar, after the manner of the roman people. the latin sense of authority and law prevailed in the spanish colonies; property was individual and absolute; civil equality obtained; in spite of racial differences, indians and spaniards were theoretically { } on the same plane; the family, like the roman _gens_, united slaves and children under the gloomy paternal power. the distant monarch was a formidable overlord, to whom viceroys and chapters, courts, judicial and ecclesiastical, addressed themselves to demand laws and regulations, penalties and sanctions. catholicism was indissolubly bound up with the roman authority of the laws; in spain and america the prince was at the same time the shepherd of the church. religion was an instrument of political domination; it was an imperial force, a legacy of the latin genius. it multiplied forms and rites; it disciplined the colonists, demanding outward obedience and uniformity of belief and manners. "the roman church," says harnack, "is a juridical institution." catholicism is also a social religion. in america it created the brazilian nation in opposition to the dutch peril; it founded republics among indians inimical to all forms of organised social life; it extended the field of latin endeavour, and from north to south favoured the constitution of new governments and societies. under the double pressure of roman catholicism and legislation, america became latinised. it learned to respect laws and forms, to submit to a religious as well as a civil discipline. french ideas, added to these influences, first prepared the way for the revolution, and afterwards dominated the mind of america, from the declaration of independence to our own days. these ideas constituted a new factor of latin development. france is the modern heir of the genius of greece and rome, and in imitating her, even to excess, ibero-americans have assimilated the essential elements of the antique culture. we find in the gallic spirit the sense of taste and harmony, the _lucidus ordo_ of the classics; the love of general ideas, of universal principles, of the rights of man, { } and a hatred of the mists of the north and the too violent light of the south; rationalism, logical vigour, emotion in the presence of beauty, and the cult of grace. france has been the teacher of social life and letters to the american democracies; her influence is already of no recent date. voltaire and rousseau were the theorists of the revolutionary period; lamartine taught "lyrism" and romantic melancholy; benjamin-constant, the theory of politics, and verlaine the lamentations of decadence. either indirectly, through the influence of the thought and literature of spain and portugal, or directly, these republics have lived by the light of french ideas. thus a general current of thought has arisen on the american continent which is not merely iberian, but also french and roman. france has effected a spiritual conquest of these democracies, and has created a new variety of the latin spirit. this latin spirit is not a thing apart; it is formed of characteristics common to all the mediterranean peoples. french, greeks, italians, portuguese, and spaniards find therein the fundamental elements of their national genius, just as in antiquity the greek women found in helen the reflection of their own beauty. to this spiritual synthesis spain contributes her idealism; italy, the paganism of her children and the eternal suggestion of her marbles; france, her harmonious education. in the iberian democracies an inferior latinity, a latinity of the decadence prevails; verbal abundance, inflated rhetoric, oratorical exaggeration, just as in roman spain. the qualities and defects of the classic spirit are revealed in american life; the persistent idealism, which often disdains the conquests of utility; the ideas of humanity and equality, of universality, despite racial variety; the cult of form; the latin instability and vivacity; the faith in pure { } ideas and political dogmas: all are to be found in these lands oversea, together with the brilliant and superficial intelligence, the jacobinism, and the oratorical facility. enthusiasm, sociability, and optimism are also american qualities. these republics are not free from any of the ordinary weaknesses of the latin races. the state is omnipotent; the liberal professions are excessively developed; the power of the bureaucracy becomes alarming. the character of the average citizen is weak, inferior to his imagination and intelligence; ideas of union and the spirit of solidarity have to contend with the innate indiscipline of the race. these men, dominated by the solicitations of the outer world and the tumult of politics, have no inner life; you will find among them no great mystics, no great lyrical writers. they meet realities with an exasperated individualism. indisciplined, superficial, brilliant, the south americans belong to the great latin family; they are the children of spain, portugal, and italy by blood and by deep-rooted tradition, and by their general ideas they are the children of france. a french politician, m. clemenceau, found in brazil, the argentine, and uruguay, "a superabundant latinism; a latinism of feeling, a latinism of thought and action, with all its immediate and superficial advantages, and all its defects of method, its alternatives of energy and failure in the accomplishment of design." this new american spirit is indestructible. contact with anglo-saxon civilisation may partially renew it, but the integral transformation of the spirit proper to the latin nations will never be accomplished. it would be a racial suicide. where yankees and latin americans intermingle you may better observe the insoluble contradictions which divide them. the anglo-saxons are conquering america commercially and economically, but the { } traditions, the ideals, and the soul of these republics are hostile to them. the ibero-american race should seek to correct its vices without forsaking the framework of tradition which is proper to it. without losing its originality as a nation, france is to-day triumphant in many departments of sport, and is spending her energy and inventive genius upon the conquest of the air without counting the cost; she has made her own victories which seemed to belong to the anglo-saxon. at the same time, if the american democracies are to acquire a practical spirit, a persistent activity, and a virile energy, they must do so without renouncing their language, their religion, and their history. the defence of the latin spirit has become a duty of primordial importance. barrès, an impassioned ideologist, preaches the cult of self as a remedy for barbarism; no foreign tutelage must trouble the spontaneous internal revelation. the republics oversea, wending their way under hostile or indifferent eyes, _sous l'oeil des barbares_, must cultivate their spiritual originality in the encounter with inimical forces. the north american peril, the threat of germany, the menace of japan, surround the future of latin america like those mysterious forces which, in the drama of maeterlinck, dominate the human stage, and in silence prepare the way for the great human tragedies. to defend the traditions of the latin continent, it is useful to measure the importance of the influences which threaten it. { } chapter ii the german peril german imperialism and the monroe doctrine--_das deutschtum_ and southern brazil--what the brazilians think about it. the teutonic invasion is troubling our ibero-american writers. the tutelary protection of the united states does not suffice to make them forget the european peril; memories of the holy alliance, of that crusade of religious absolutism and reconquest, are still lively in latin america. three great nations--england, france, germany--aspired to establish their supremacy oversea in a lasting manner. england, a colonising power in all parts of the world, thought to rule at buenos-ayres; the defence of that spanish city by the viceroy liniers was, says onésime reclus, the latin revenge for the taking of quebec. france attacked mexico, and forced a monarch upon her; england and a french monarch sent expeditions against the nationalist dictator rosas, and lord salisbury, in a diplomatic duel with the north american secretary of state, mr. olney, attempted to ignore the tutelary significance of the monroe doctrine. the triumphs of these attempts would have founded in latin america extensive colonies, proud and populous. the efforts of the ill-organised republics could not have prevailed against them. for the new continent this would have meant a loss of autonomy; but the monroe doctrine stood in { } the way of any conquests save those made by the united states, and a sudden disagreement between the two invading nations, france and england, in their campaign against rosas, caused these attempts to miscarry. the three guianas, british honduras, and some of the west indian islands, bear witness to the ambitions of europe; they are the scattered fragments of the empire which the old world coveted. invasions of capital and of merchant vessels quickly replaced those of warships. secretly, without the employment of these warlike means, germany began to make herself felt; her imperialism wore a mercantile disguise, or took the form of immigration. persevering teutonic colonists made their way toward brazil, chili, and central america, and although the european peril was over the german peril survived. neither russia, who possesses vast desert territories in asia, nor italy, whose ambitions are limited to africa, to tripoli, considered the possibility of conquest upon the american continent. against flat invasion by any power the tutelage of the united states is a protection, but the monroe doctrine is powerless against the slow and imperceptible invasion of german immigration. by virtue of their capital and their adventurers, germany and the united states are slowly occupying south america; other continents being closed to their ambitions of expansion, it is in the free territory of the new world that they found their colonies. there we find their bankers and merchants, the rude emissaries of these commercial powers. americans and germans resemble one another by race and in energy. the middle west of the united states was peopled by german emigrants; two imposing cities, new york and st. louis, are vast reservoirs of teutonic energy. the new empire is actuated by ambitions similar to those of the united states; { } both are conquering and plutocratic powers. the german empire has the passions of a new people; the active faith, the practical christianity, the cult of gold, the instinct of gigantic accumulations, of cyclopean enterprises, trusts, and combinations, and the optimism, the anxious desire to improvise the civilising work of centuries by the pressure of sheer wealth. the kaiser and colonel roosevelt, biblical shepherds of their people, evangelists of the strenuous life, direct the ardent industrial evolution of their nations, and establish a mystic imperialism. it is from this analogy of tendencies that the future clash will come. to-day the continual incursion of the united states into south american affairs and the organised immigration from germany are different forms of the same ambition. in guatemala and costa rica the influence of germany is immense; the importance of her capital in central america can only be compared with that of england in the argentine. it is valued at £ , , . germans acquire landed property, build railroads, and found banks. in these regions two dominating influences are in conflict: german imperialism and the monroe doctrine. the kaiser hastens to recognise president madriz in nicaragua, while the revolutionists, protected by the united states, hasten to deprive him of his ephemeral power. dispersed throughout chili, venezuela, peru, and central america, the germans are concentrating in southern brazil. they aspire to the integral colonisation of three brazilian states--santa-catalina, parana, and rio grande do sul. since a slow current of humanity has invaded these rich provinces: , germans are established there, where they rule the municipalities, enjoy rights of self-government, despise the negroes and half-castes, and live in an aristocratic isolation. they { } have retained the language, traditions, and prejudices of their native country. in certain colonies of the south there are only per cent. of brazilian citizens; the germans represent the prevailing race, the effective nationality. their efforts further the territorial ambition of _das deutschtum_. economists recommend that the excessive immigration which constantly pours into the united states should be directed towards south america. a tenth part of the population of the united states admits to a teutonic origin; there are eight millions of germans in the huge northern democracy. thanks to affinities of race, or thanks to the assimilative action of the national spirit, this colossal colony does not form a state within the state; its members adapt themselves to the american life, and in the numerous schools of the country they assimilate an anglo-saxon culture. they do not threaten the normal development of the republic, as do the negroes of the south and the asiatics of the far west. in brazil the germans occupy eight thousand square miles of territory. they proudly contrast the magnificent destinies of the _vaterland_ with the turbulent federalism of the brazilian states. the colonisation companies affiliated to the powerful and active banks, in especial the _deutsche uberseeische bank_, a marvellous instrument of conquest, are extending the prosaic teutonic hegemony through brazil and the whole of latin america. in chili germans direct the education of the country, and organise the army; just as in the prussian schools, they teach an intolerant patriotism and a strongly nationalistic history. while the emigrants are realising their imperialistic odyssey, german professors are condemning the monroe doctrine. hugo münsterberg, professor of philosophy at harvard, and adolf wagner, an economist of berlin, regard the yankee thesis merely as { } a perishable improvisation upon a fragile foundation. the interest of germany demands that the united states should abandon their tutelage, and that the swarming germanic legions should invade the southern continent. münsterberg writes in his book _the americans_ that the yankee will soon realise "the error and folly" of his argument, which he qualifies as a moribund doctrine. no russian, french, or italian colony in south america, he says, could create difficulties in the united states; but the doctrine which forbids their establishment will be the cause of conflicts in the future. if south america were set free from this tutelage, if its bearing were limited to central america, the possibilities of a conflict between the united states and europe would be considerably diminished. does not this disinterested counsel conceal a desire to found colonies upon a continent which the vigilance of the united states would no longer protect? an economist who, like treitschke and sybel, believes in the divine mission of the german empire, gustave schmoller, would like to see a nation of twenty or thirty millions of inhabitants founded in southern brazil. concentrated in the three provinces of brazil, an unmixed and hostile race would struggle against the brazilian half-breeds and prevail over them, which is what these professors of conquest desire. this fruitful invasion would realise the dream entertained by those rich bankers of augsburg, the velzers, who three centuries ago bought a venezuelan province from the hispano-germanic monarch, charles v. heirs of this vast abortive plan, the german financiers of our days dream of planting a foreign province in the heart of the vast territory of brazil. brazilian thinkers have protested against this german conquest in disguise; they recognise the { } danger, and seek to avoid it. sylvio romero suggests, as a means of limiting this expansion, the education of the race along anglo-saxon lines, which would develop the love of initiative and the sense of effort, a migration of brazilian proletarians who should occupy these southern territories and hold them against the germans, and finally, the establishment of military colonies in the threatened regions. it is the traditional struggle for nationality, for the possession of the very soil itself. language is an instrument of conquest; it is therefore urgent to enforce the use of portuguese in the schools of the south, where the far-sighted colonists teach only their own tongue. foreign syndicates acquire large and numerous stretches of territory; señor romero would have these land trusts inhibited, and would favour the establishment of indigenous centres among the german populations, in order to contend with this perilous invasion by an alien race.[ ] the national uneasiness has even affected the art of the country; graça aranha has written, in _canaan_, the drama of the contact of races. "for the moment," says milkau, the blond invader of the half-breed country, "we are nothing more than a solvent acting upon the race of the country. we are effecting a new conquest, slow, persistent, and pacific in the means employed, but terrible in its ambitious intention." hentz, his companion, proudly describes the triumph of the white man, and the { } expulsion of the "coloured man who was born on the land." he prophesies a terrible future: "the germans will arrive with their thirst for possession and domination, and their originality, the harsh originality of barbarians, in unnumbered legions; they will kill off the sensual and foolish natives who have built up their societies upon this splendid soil and have degraded it by their turpitude." it is the purging of a territory infested by african slaves. germany, mother of men without number, _officina et vagina gentium_, invades with her blond legions the land of brown men, sends forth her chaste teutons to the conquest of the lascivious forest. without denying the reality of this peril, we cannot but realise that it would be difficult to establish on brazilian soil colonies which should reflect the glory of _das deutschtum_. already , germans are lost in the national mass; demographically they signify nothing as against the millions of brazilians. to found a colonial empire in the interior of the lusitanian republic it would first of all be necessary to have a strong basis of population; the theorists of the germanic movement of expansion would dispose of to million emigrants in these rich southern provinces. moreover, the germanic invasion is not concentrated upon brazil. the united states absorb the germanic alluvium; and the brazilian half-breeds being fertile, the numerical disproportion between the natives and the blond invaders would in the future be enormous. on the other hand, the contingent of teutonic immigration is diminishing. the modern cities of industrial germany are increasing in numbers and in population; they are absorbing new elements into their artificial life. the rural multitude which migrates is changing the direction of its painful journey; it no longer forsakes its fatherland, but leaves the silent fields for the enervating life of the { } cities. its taste has become sophisticated; it prefers urban attractions to the adventures of emigration. in the last ten years barely , germans have left the _vaterland_ each year. not with such scanty legions as these will germany establish a centre of domination oversea, for even these are divided among the united states, central america, and brazil. the italians, enriched and triumphant, are invading the argentine and southern brazil. theirs is a current of increasing volume; more than , latins emigrate annually; they adapt themselves to their new country, acquire immense stretches of soil, and accumulate enormous fortunes, until names of foreign origin begin to predominate in the world of argentine letters and in the plutocratic salons of the new continent. they transmit their latin heritage to their numerous children. the stiff-necked group of german colonists cannot vanquish these races, whose affinities are the same as those of the natives, and who bring oversea the sensuality of naples and the commonsense of milan. when german emigration is not excessively concentrated upon one point it forms laborious and assimilable populations. the german learns more readily than the englishman the language of his new country; he studies local manners and adopts them; he brings to the restless and turbulent democracies of america his deliberation, his spirit of industry, and his methodical activity. in the argentine, in chili, in peru, in countries where he has not yet undertaken to establish the foundation of an empire, his influence has been fruitful. the tutelage of the united states seems to us more dangerous than the german invasion. [ ] see _a america latina_, porto, , p. . m. onésime reclus gives the same advice to the lusitanians of america: "in each state, in each municipality, let those charged with the partition of the soil see that they establish no polish, german, english, or irish colonies unless they also establish spanish, portuguese, brazilian, french, and italian, or analogous colonies; let no colony be formed exclusively of people of a single nationality, but well divided among colonists speaking different tongues; and if such a law be strictly observed latin america may resist the fatal onset of slav or german europe" (_le partage du monde_, p. ). { } chapter iii the north american peril the policy of the united states--the monroe doctrine: its various aspects--greatness and decadence of the united states--the two americas, latin and anglo-saxon. to save themselves from yankee imperialism the american democracies would almost accept a german alliance, or the aid of japanese arms; everywhere the americans of the north are feared. in the antilles and in central america hostility against the anglo-saxon invaders assumes the character of a latin crusade. do the united states deserve this hatred? are they not, as their diplomatists preach, the elder brothers, generous and protecting? and is not protection their proper vocation in a continent rent by anarchy? we must define the different aspects of their activities in south america; a summary examination of their influence could not fail to be unjust. they have conquered new territories, but they have upheld the independence of feeble states; they aspire to the hegemony of the latin continent, but this ambition has prevented numerous and grievous conflicts between south american nations. the moral pressure of the united states makes itself felt everywhere; the imperialist and maternal republic intervenes in all the internal conflicts of the spanish-speaking democracies. it excites or suppresses revolutions; it fulfils a high vocation of culture. it { } uses or abuses a privilege which cannot be gainsaid. the better to protect the ibero-americans, it has proudly raised its pillars of hercules against the ambition of the old world. sometimes this influence becomes a monopoly, and the united states take possession of the markets of the south. they aim at making a trust of the south american republics, the supreme dream of their multi-millionaire _conquistadors_. alberdi has said that there they are the "puerto cabello" of the new america; that is to say, that they aim, after the spanish fashion, at isolating the southern continent and becoming its exclusive purveyors of ideas and industries. their supremacy was excellent when it was a matter of basing the independence of twenty republics of uncertain future upon a solid foundation. the neo-saxons did not then intervene in the wars of the south; they remained neutral and observed the peace which washington had advocated. they proclaimed the autonomy of the continent, and contributed to conserve the originality of southern america by forbidding the formation of colonies in its empty territories, and by defending the republican and democratic states against reactionary europe. but who will deliver the ibero-americans from the excess of this influence? _quis custodiet custodem?_ an irresponsible supremacy is perilous. naturally, in the relations of the united states and the nations of the south actions do not always correspond with words; the art of oratory is lavish with a fraternal idealism, but strong wills enforce their imperialistic ambitions. although fully attentive to the fair-sounding promises of the north, the statesmen of the south refuse to believe in the friendship of the yankees; being perturbed by the memory of ancient and recent conquests, these peoples perhaps exaggerate the danger which might come from the { } north. a blind confidence and an excessive timidity are equally futile. in , at the conference of rio de janeiro, secretary root, in the presence of assembled america, was the lay prophet of the new gospel. "we do not wish," he said, "to win victories, we desire no territory but our own, nor a sovereignty more extensive than that which we desire to retain over ourselves. we consider that the independence and the equal rights of the smallest and weakest members of the family of nations deserve as much respect as those of the great empires. we pretend to no right, privilege, or power that we do not freely concede to each one of the american republics." this was the solemn declaration of a puritan politician; mr. root continues the noble tradition of washington, jefferson, and hamilton. ten years earlier another secretary, mr. olney, declared to lord salisbury that the great anglo-saxon republic was practically sovereign--paramount was his word--on the american continent, and that its fiat was law in affairs which called for its intervention. which is the truth: the imperialistic declarations of mr. olney or the idealism of mr. root? against the policy of respect for latin liberties are ranged the instincts of a triumphant plutocracy. the centre of north american life is passing from boston to chicago; the citadel of the ideal gives way to the material progress of the great porcine metropolis. there is a conflict of dissimilar currents of morality. the puritan tradition of new england seems useless in the struggle of the far west; the conquest of the desert demands another morality; the morality of conflict, aggression, and success. the trusts raise their heads above the impotent clamour of the weak. the conflict between the new-comers is tumultuous and brutal; as in the time of imperial { } rome, the latter-day republicans are becoming aware of their defeat by a new caste, animated by an impetuous love of conflict. it is the struggle between idealism and plutocracy, between the tradition of the pilgrim fathers and the morality of wall street; the patricians of the senate and the bosses of tammany hall. the great historical parties are divided; while the democrats do not forget the ideal of washington and lincoln, the republicans think only of imperialism. will a generous _élite_ succeed in withstanding this racial tendency? perhaps, but nothing can check the onward march of the united states. their imperialism is an unavoidable phenomenon. the nation which was peopled by nine millions of men in now numbers eighty millions--an immense demographic power; in the space of ten years, from to , this population increased by one-fifth. by virtue of its iron, wheat, oil, and cotton, and its victorious industrialism, the democracy aspires to a world-wide significance of destiny; the consciousness of its powers is creating fresh international duties. yankee pride increases with the endless multiplication of wealth and population, and the patriotic sentiment has reached such an intensity that it has become transformed into imperialism. the united states buy the products they themselves lack from the tropical nations. to rule in these fertile zones would to them appear the geographical ideal of a northern people. do not their industries demand new outlets in america and asia? so to the old mystic ambition are added the necessities of utilitarian progress. an industrial nation, the states preach a practical christianity to the older continents, to europe, and to lands yet barbarous, as to south america; they profess a doctrine of aggressive idealism, a strange fusion of economic tendencies and puritan fervour. the christian republic imposes { } its tutelage upon inferior races, and so prepares them for self-government. this utilitarian and mystical expansion is opposed to the primitive simplicity of the monroe doctrine. in , to counter the political methods of the holy alliance, president monroe upheld the republican integrity of the ancient spanish colonies. the celebrated message declared that there were no free territories in america, thus condemning in advance any projected establishment of european colonies upon the unoccupied continent of america, and that the united states limited their political action to the new world, and renounced all intervention in the disputes of europe. at the close of the last century the political absolutism of the holy alliance was only a memory; democracy is progressing, even in the heart of the most despotic of monarchies, and france is republican. europe, after the tragic adventure of the mexican empire, abandoned her expeditions of conquest. the united states, forgetting their initial isolation, intervened in the politics of the world; they defended the integrity of china, took part in the conference of algeciras, and maintained peace in the east. like the character in terence, nothing in the world leaves them unconcerned. the two bases of the monroe doctrine, the absolutism of europe and the isolation of the united states, exist no longer, but the monroe doctrine persists indefinitely. "if," says mr. coolidge, professor of political law at the university of harvard, "if, by his principles, the american finds himself drawn to conclusions which do not please him, he ordinarily revolts, forsakes his promises, and jumps to conclusions that suit him better." to the logic of the latins americans and englishmen oppose utility, common sense, instinct. the monroe doctrine has undergone an essential transformation; it has passed successively from the { } defensive to intervention and thence to the offensive. from a theory which condemned any change of political _régime_ among the new democracies under european pressure, and which forbade all acquisitions of territory, or the transfer of power from a weak to a strong nation, there arose the polk doctrine, which, in , decreed the annexation of texas for fear of foreign intervention. in president grant demanded the seizure of san domingo as a measure of national protection, a new corollary of the monroe doctrine. president johnson was anxious to see his country in possession of cuba in the name of the "laws of political gravitation which throw small states into the gullets of the great powers." in secretary of state olney, at the time of the trouble between england and venezuela, declared that the united states were in fact sovereign in america. from monroe to olney the defensive doctrine has gradually changed to a moral tutelage. if theories change, frontiers change no less. the northern republic has been the beneficiary of an incessant territorial expansion: in it acquired louisiana; in , florida; in and , texas; the mexican provinces in and ; and alaska in . the annexation of hawaii took place in . in the same year porto rico, the philippines, guam, and one of the marianne islands, passed, by the treaty of paris, into the hands of the united states. they obtained the samoan islands in , wished to buy the danish west indies in , and planted their imperialistic standard at panama in . interventions have become more frequent with the expansion of frontiers. the united states have recently intervened in the territory of acre, there to found a republic of rubber gatherers; at panama, there to develop a province and construct a canal; in cuba, under cover of the platt amendment, to { } maintain order in the interior; in san domingo, to support the civilising revolution and overthrow the tyrants; in venezuela, and in central america, to enforce upon these nations, torn by intestine disorders, the political and financial tutelage of the imperial democracy. in guatemala and honduras the loans concluded with the monarchs of north american finance have reduced the people to a new slavery. supervision of the customs and the dispatch of pacificatory squadrons to defend the interests of the anglo-saxon have enforced peace and tranquillity: such are the means employed. the _new york american_ announces that mr. pierpont morgan proposes to encompass the finances of latin america by a vast network of yankee banks. chicago merchants and wall street financiers created the meat trust in the argentine. the united states offer millions for the purpose of converting into yankee loans the moneys raised in london during the last century by the latin american states; they wish to obtain a monopoly of credit. it has even been announced, although the news hardly appears probable, that a north american syndicate wished to buy enormous belts of land in guatemala, where the english tongue is the obligatory language. the fortification of the panama canal, and the possible acquisition of the galapagos islands in the pacific, are fresh manifestations of imperialistic progress. the monroe doctrine takes an aggressive form with mr. roosevelt, the politician of the "big stick," and intervention _à outrance_. roosevelt is conscious of his sacred mission; he wants a powerful army, and a navy majestically sailing the two oceans. his ambitions find an unlooked-for commentary in a book by mr. archibald coolidge, the harvard professor, upon the united states as a world-power. he therein shows the origin of the disquietude of the south americans before the northern peril: "when two { } contiguous states," he writes, "are separated by a long line of frontiers and one of the two rapidly increases, full of youth and vigour, while the other possesses, together with a small population, rich and desirable territories, and is troubled by continual revolutions which exhaust and weaken it, the first will inevitably encroach upon the second, just as water will always seek to regain its own level." he recognises the fact that the progress accomplished by the united states is not of a nature to tranquillise the south american; "that the yankee believes that his southern neighbours are trivial and childish peoples, and above all incapable of maintaining a proper self-government." he thinks the example of cuba, liberated "from the rule of spain, but not from internal troubles, will render the american of the states sceptical as to the aptitude of the latin-american populations of mixed blood to govern themselves without disorder," and recognises that the "pacific penetration" of mexico by american capital constitutes a possible menace to the independence of that republic, were the death of diaz to lead to its original state of anarchy and disturb the peace which the millionaires of the north desire to see untroubled. warnings, advice, distrust, invasion of capital, plans of financial hegemony--all these justify the anxiety of the southern peoples. the people of the united states have always desired a _zollverein_, a fiscal union of all the republics; they wish to gather into their imperial hands the commerce of the south, the produce of the tropics. the unity of the german empire was born of a _zollverein_ or customs union, and perhaps in the future the same means will create that eternal empire of which the patriotism of mr. chamberlain used to dream. the united states, according to candid professor coolidge, are, in respect of latin { } america, in a position analogous to that of russia in respect of the nations of the _zollverein_: their population is greater and more imposing. "history shows us," he writes, "that when feeble states and powerful states are closely associated the independence of the weak states runs certain risks."[ ] the yankee ideal, then, is fatally contrary to latin-american independence. for geographical reasons, and on account of its very inferiority, south america cannot dispense with the influence of the anglo-saxon north, with its exuberant wealth and its industries. south america has need of capital, of enterprising men, of bold explorers, and these the united states supply in abundance. the defence of the south should consist in avoiding the establishment of privileges or monopolies, whether in favour of north americans or europeans. it is essential to understand not only the foundations of north american greatness, but also the weaknesses of the anglo-saxon democracy, in order to escape from the dangers of excessive imitation. the anglo-saxons of america have created an admirable democracy upon a prodigious expanse of territory. a caravan of races has pitched its tents from the atlantic to the pacific, and has watered the desert with its impetuous blood. dutch, french, anglo-saxons, and germans, people of all sects, quakers, presbyterians, catholics, puritans, all have mingled their creeds in a single multiform nation. at the contact of new soil men have felt the pride of creation and of living. initiative, self-assertion, self-reliance, audacity, love of adventure, all the forms of the victorious will are united in this republic of energy. a triumphant optimism quickens the rhythm of life; an immense impulse of creation builds cities in the wilderness, and founds new { } plutocracies amidst the whirlpool of the markets. workshops, factories, banks; the obscure unrest of wall street; the architectural insolence of the skyscraper; the many-coloured, material west; all mingle perpetually in the wild, uncouth hymn which testifies the desperate battle of will and destiny, of generation against death. poets have exalted the greatness of america. hear walt whitman, the bard of this advancing democracy:-- "long, too long, america.... for who except myself has yet conceived what your children _en masse_ really are? they will make the most splendid race the sun ever shone upon," he cries, in his free rhythms. "o mother of a mighty race!" said bryant, celebrating the glories of north america, and the fastidious whittier would have the united states excel the old world on its own ground: "and cast in some diviner mould lest the new cycle shame the old." they have reconciled equality with liberty, in manners and in law. fair play, the identical chances which the republic offers her citizens, in creating schools, in fostering the advance of self-made men in society, constitutes the firmest foundation of the life of a republic. equity and equality prevail above the eager onrush of her citizens; equality in industrial struggles against monopolies; equality in the churches in place of intolerance; equality in school instead of the privileges created by wealth. this persistent exaltation of liberty matches the sentiment of social discipline. the germanic sense of { } organisation is added to the anglo-saxon individualism; associations multiply and become a gigantic network spread over the entire face of the country; clubs, leagues, societies of co-operation and production and philanthropic institutions. but this civilisation, in which men of strong vitality win wealth, invent machines, create new cities, and profess a christianity full of energy and accomplishment, has not the majesty of a harmonious structure. it is the violent work of a people of various origin, which has not yet been ennobled by the _patina_ of tradition and time. in the cities which restless workers hastily raise on barren soil, one can as yet perceive no definitive unity. race antagonism disturbs north america; the negroes swarm in the south; japanese and orientals aspire to the conquest of the west. neo-saxon civilisation is still seeking its final form, and in the meantime it is piling up wealth amid the prevailing indiscipline. "we find in the united states," says m. andré chevrillon, "a political system, but not a social organisation." the admirable traditions of hamilton and jefferson have been subjected to the onslaught of new influences, the progress of plutocracy, the corruption of the administrative functions, the dissolution of parties, the abuse of the power of monopolies. the axis of the great nation is becoming displaced towards the west, and each step in advance marks the triumph of vulgarity. an octopus of a city, new york, might be taken as the symbol of this extraordinary nation; it displays the vertigo, the audacity, and all the lack of proportion that characterise american life. near the poverty of the ghetto and the disturbing spectacle of chinatown you may admire the wealth of fifth avenue and the marble palaces which plagiarise the architecture of the tuscan cities. opposite the obscure crowds of emigrants herded in the docks you will see the refined luxury of the plutocratic { } hotels, and facing the majestic buildings of broadway, the houses of the parallel avenues, which are like the temporary booths of a provincial fair. confusion, uproar, instability--these are the striking characteristics of the north american democracy. neither irony nor grace nor scepticism, gifts of the old civilisations, can make way against the plebeian brutality, the excessive optimism, the violent individualism of the people. all these things contribute to the triumph of mediocrity; the multitude of primary schools, the vices of utilitarianism, the cult of the average citizen, the transatlantic m. homais, and the tyranny of opinion noted by tocqueville; and in this vulgarity, which is devoid of traditions and has no leading aristocracy, a return to the primitive type of the redskin, which has already been noted by close observers, is threatening the proud democracy. from the excessive tension of wills, from the elementary state of culture, from the perpetual unrest of life, from the harshness of the industrial struggle, anarchy and violence will be born in the future. in a hundred years men will seek in vain for the "american soul," the "genius of america," elsewhere than in the indisciplined force or the violence which ignores moral laws. among the anglo-saxon nations individualism finds its limits in the existence of a stable home; it may also struggle against the state, according to the formula consecrated by spencer, "the man versus the state." it defends its jealous autonomy from excessive legislation, from the intervention of the government in economic conflicts or the life of the family. and it is precisely the family spirit which is becoming enfeebled in north america, under the pressure of new social conditions. the birth-rate is diminishing, and the homes of foreign immigrants are contributing busily to the formation of the new generations; the native stock inheriting good racial { } traditions would seem to be submerged more and more by the new human tide. a north american official writes that "the decrease in the birth-rate will lead to a complete change in the social system of the republic."[ ] from this will result the abandonment of the traditional austerity of the race, and the old notions of sacrifice and duty. the descendants of alien races will constitute the nation of the future. the national heritage is threatened by the invasion of slavs and orientals, and the fecundity of the negroes; a painful anxiety weighs upon the destinies of the race. the family is unstable, and divorces are increasing at an extraordinary rate. between and the population doubled; during the same period the divorces increased sixfold and the marriages decreased. there is no fixity in the elements of variety, and the causes of this state of transition will not disappear, as they are intimately allied with the development of the industrial civilisation which has brought with it a new ideal of happiness. by emancipating men and women from the old moral principles it has modified sexual morality; by accelerating social progress it has brought an additional bitterness into the social mêlée, a greater egoism into human conflict. excessive and heterogeneous immigration prevents any final crystallisation; in the last ten years , , strangers have entered into the great hospitable union. they came from germany, ireland, russia, or southern italy. it is calculated that the united states are able to assimilate , to , immigrants each year, but they certainly cannot welcome such an overwhelming host without anxiety. criminality increases; the elaboration of a { } common type among these men of different origin is proceeding more slowly. doubtless beneath the shelter of the political federation of the various states a confused agglomeration of races is forming itself, and this justifies the query of professor ripley: "the americans of the north," he says, "have witnessed the disappearance of the indians and the buffalo, but can they be certain to-day that the anglo-saxons will survive them?" in seeking to imitate the united states we should not forget that the civilisation of the peoples of the north presents these symptoms of decadence. europe offers the latin-american democracies what the latter demand of anglo-saxon america, which was formed in the school of europe. we find the practical spirit, industrialism, and political liberty in england; organisation and education in germany; and in france inventive genius, culture, wealth, great universities, and democracy. from these ruling peoples the new latin world must indirectly receive the legacy of western civilisation. essential points of difference separate the two americas. differences of language and therefore of spirit; the difference between spanish catholicism and the multiform protestantism of the anglo-saxons; between the yankee individualism and the omnipotence of the state natural to the nations of the south. in their origin, as in their race, we find fundamental antagonisms; the evolution of the north is slow and obedient to the lessons of time, to the influences of custom; the history of the southern peoples is full of revolutions, rich with dreams of an unattainable perfection. the people of the united states hate the half-breed, and the impure marriages of whites and blacks which take place in southern homes; no manifestation of pan-americanism could suffice to destroy the racial prejudice as it exists north of mexico. the { } half-breeds and their descendants govern the ibero-american democracies, and the republic of english and german origin entertains for the men of the tropics the same contempt which they feel for the slaves of virginia whom lincoln liberated. in its friendship for them there will always be disdain; in their progress, a conquest; in their policy, a desire of hegemony. it is the fatality of blood, stronger than political affinities or geographical alliances. instead of dreaming of an impossible fusion the neo-latin peoples should conserve the traditions which are proper to them. the development of the european influences which enrich and improve them, the purging of the nation from the stain of miscegenation, and immigration of a kind calculated to form centres of resistance against any possibilities of conquest, are the various aspects of this latin americanism.[ ] [ ] the united states as world-power. [ ] _race improvement in the united states_. academy of political and social science, philadelphia, , pp. - _et seq_. [ ] the mexican sociologist, f. bulnes, writes in his book, _l'avenir des nations hispano-americaines_: "it is more than probable that by the united states will hold a population of , , inhabitants. they will then scarcely be sufficient for the needs of this population, and will no longer be able to supply the world with the vast quantity of cereals which they supply to-day. they will therefore have to choose between a recourse to the methods of intensive culture and the conquest of the extra-tropical lands of latin america, which are fitted, by their conditions, to the easy and inexpensive production of excellent cereals." { } chapter iv a political experiment: cuba the work of spain--the north american reforms--the future. by turns spanish and north american, and frequently disturbed by the conflict of these two americanisms, the history of the "pearl of the antilles" has been a long political experiment. its result, the success of one method or the other, will prove the aptitude or the incapacity of the latins of america in the art of organising a state or instituting a republic. the last colony, the final vestige of the vast spanish empire overseas, cuba still betrayed, towards the end of the nineteenth century, the political and moral influence of the mother country. the exuberant and classic land of tobacco and sugar, its tropical opulence attracted pioneers and colonists. spain therefore fought to retain this country, which she granted in recompense of the audacity of her adventurers and the rapacity of her officials. its geographical situation, its wealth, its traditions, are all exceptional. the race, imaginative and precocious, is fertile in poets, heroes, and orators. we see generals of thirty, poetical swordsmen, divided between their battles and their verses; irreducible guerillas, orators full of tropical eloquence, passionate pilgrims, who wander through america relating the miseries of the spanish tyranny: a gloomy tale which has made the liberated democracies attentive { } to the fate of their captive sister. thus europe used to shudder at the fate of poland or ireland. astonishingly audacious were these soldiers--garcia, maceo, gomez--who defended the national liberty to the death; bitter were the battles, the hand-to-hand conflicts, the wars of skirmishes and outposts. of the high lineage of bolivar, san martin, and sucre, the last of the liberators, at once poet, statesman, and warrior, a gothic knight enamoured of an ideal dulcinea--the autonomy of cuba--marti was the representative leader of the nation. as in the other colonies, freed a century earlier, the action of spain in cuba was at once fertile and limited, useful and disastrous. what effort could be more paradoxical than that of loading with fetters, with prohibitions and monopolies, the very cities whose birth and development was the work of spain? authoritatively she sought to stamp out the longing for liberty, and in this island consumed by racial hatred--the old hatred of the conquerors and the creoles--she responded to every revolutionary demand for independence by a terrible policy of repression. one of her governors left the bloody traces of an alva, the pacificator of flanders. in madrid a great minister, canovas del castillo, an uncompromising traditionalist, believed that spain should possess a colonial empire "to preserve her position in the world." from that time only energetic action in the revolted islands could save the metropolis. already, in , at the beginning of his career, he wished to limit the representation of cuba and porto rico; and in , when the long war broke out, he supported the demands of the , spaniards who demanded the rejection of all reform.[ ] once in power, in , canovas was still more emphatic; the cuban problem was to be solved only by violence. the generosity of martinez { } campos was followed by the inflexible severity of governors who turned the island into a vast barracks. the timid liberties granted to zanjon were soon suppressed; neither popular elections nor commercial liberties were allowed, but martial law, and a general to aid the spaniards of the island in their war against the creoles and mulattos. in the first civil war was over, but in the revolt was so successful, so popular, so terrible, that martinez campos abandoned the government of the island, feeling himself incapable of "wholesale shootings and other feats of the same kind." marti, tragic symbol of revolt, was killed. general weyler installed a reign of terror; the island was exhausted. no one could dislodge the guerillas from the plantations of sugar-cane which served them as refuge. weyler ordered a "concentration" of women, children, and the non-combatants in the fortified cities. offences of opinion were punished by death, and absolute submission was demanded. the intervention of the united states forced spain to grant a brittle autonomy in . the assassination of canovas by an anarchist permitted a reaction against his uncompromising ideals, and an offer was made of a constitution, and of elective chambers, without, however, authority over the governor sent by the metropolis, and a council of administration, to which the cubans would have access; but economic interests were ignored and sugar and tobacco were not set free. cuba was awaiting her crusader, her lohengrin. the united states filled the _rôle_. attentive to the affairs of the island, they negotiated, arranged for intervention with non-official agents, and new york began to fit out filibustering expeditions. the incidents of the yankee campaign against spain are well known, from the sinking of the _maine_ by an explosion in havana roadstead to the treaty of { } paris. once their rival was vanquished would the states give cuba her longed-for liberty? porto rico was conquered and cuba obtained only a mediocre autonomy. here is a difficult question: what was it that impelled the americans to undertake the adventure: imperialistic ambition or chivalrous impulse, as many cubans still believe? the opinion of their politicians was always clear; annexation of the island or preservation of the _status quo_. they feared that spain might cede the colony to a power better armed than herself, and cuba, since the time of jefferson, had been reckoned among those countries which a "law of political gravitation" should eventually give them. an eminent brazilian historian and diplomatist, oliveira lima, has even demonstrated that when bolivar, after convoking the congress of panama in , had thereupon proposed, as the last stage of his vast epic, to give liberty to cuba, it was the united states that prevented him. for they knew that independence would also mean the enfranchisement of subject races, and they needed slaves for the proud and wealthy feudal state of virginia. these tropical countries, cuba and porto rico, were the promised prey of a future federal imperialism, and spain might remain their guardian until the states could demand their cession or undertake their conquest. thus the very interest which in vetoed the independence of cuba was later to give the choice between autonomy or war; a dilemma from which the haughty metropolis could not escape. between the commercial brutality of old and this recent quixotism there is only an apparent contrast: a hidden logic has guided american policy. if we consider the end in view--to assure the incontestable control of the caribbean sea, by purchase or annexation of its islands--the former attitude of a { } country which had not yet peopled its own territory, and that provoked to-day by a plethora of wealth and men, no longer appear irreconcilable. as early as the purchase of cuba was discussed in washington. the famous "ostend manifesto" ( ) issued by the american diplomatists, expounded their right to seize the island in case spain should refuse to sell it. this resolution to give independence to a country they despaired of buying was therefore only the end of a long campaign. certainly in , once peace was signed and porto rico conquered, they respected this independence. but their detachment was incomplete; they occupied the island, sent governors thither, and generously reformed the finances, education, and hygiene of the country. a provisional tutelage, soon followed by the proclamation of the republic. was this the independence of which marti had dreamed? the treaty which proclaimed it also limited it; the platt amendment found its way into the margin of a liberal text, reserving to the united states the right of intervention to remedy any possible anarchy. a strange severity, to demand of an untried tropical republic, where the hostility of castes was extreme, a serene and untroubled existence! eventual military occupation for the purpose of suppressing revolts would be a dangerous snare to independence. intervention in the public affairs of the old spanish colony, twice repeated, was both times followed by a campaign of annexation in the yellow press. it is difficult to guess whether yankee imperialism, with its ever-increasing appetite, will respect the autonomy of the island in the face of periodic occupations. it will probably prefer a protectorate or a final conquest when wearied of the turbulence of a democracy incapable of self-government. will this beautiful island one day become a state { } of the anglo-saxon or federal union? the accession of the cubans to this democracy would cause a disturbance in the political and social world as profound as that created by japanese immigration in the far west. the plutocrats of the states have too much contempt for half-breeds and negroes willingly to accept deputies from a country where the profound admixture of races contains an important african element; a society which despises the negro cannot wholly agree with one ruled largely by spanish half-castes of indian and african ancestry. the protectorate would be a step toward the control of the tropics which mr. benjamin kidd and other english sociologists imagine to be the appanage of their race. the civilising work of the united states has been admirable. once spain was defeated and her colony conquered, they transformed the education, finance, and hygiene of the island to prepare the people for the liberty they ignored. it was four years before they gave it; four years of pedagogy, of which brigadier-general wood, military and civil chief, was in charge, until on the th of may, , "thanks to the goodwill of president roosevelt, we were recognised as having attained our majority."[ ] four years of extraordinary activity transformed the exhausted island into a prosperous country, a reform which we may follow in the memoirs of general wood. two years of endeavour extirpated the yellow fever, which had prevailed in havana since . the yankees fought the mosquitos, the vehicles of the disease, and their sanitary works and measures decreased the death-rate from . per , in to . in . in the same period the deaths among the american troops fell from . to . . they also attacked malaria { } and tuberculosis, until havana, as one of them proudly writes, became one of the healthiest cities of america. pavements, gutters, sewers, the demolition of old buildings and the construction of new; asylums, hospitals, and prisons, gave the island an aspect at once modern and sanitary. the fiscal revenues, formerly badly employed by an unskilful bureaucracy, found useful employment; dilapidations were noted and a railway statute was passed. the yankees opened up new roads, knowing how far the prosperity of the island depended on them; in , the second year of the occupation, there were only kilometres of carriage-roads in cuba, while jamaica, with one-fifth the area, had , .[ ] communications being thus improved, the sugar industry, on which the prosperity of the island depends, developed rapidly. the visitors did not forget to attract immigrants and to reconstruct the ports. the government of general wood installed modern schools in the old spanish school-houses, while it built special schools, kindergartens, and technical colleges in the large towns. under the spaniards education was obligatory, no doubt, but it was the americans who brought a lapsed law into force. fines punished parental neglect. a thousand teachers went to harvard, in the year alone, sent thither by general wood to improve their methods of teaching; new pedagogic methods and a wider culture strongly modified social and political life. the americans left ten times as many schools as they found, and an education adequate to the race and the cuban child, who is "impressionable, nervous, and furiously imaginative." governor wood requested his country to reduce by one-half the customs rates upon the coffee, fruits, and { } sugar which the island produced, as the basis of a _zollverein_ profitable to both countries. he complained, in his memoir, of the indifference of the wealthy towards the communal and political life, which he wished to render more active. a law passed by him regulated the elections in the new republic. the cubans willingly recognise that the americans have performed an excellent work in education and finance, but accuse them of having provoked in political life a corruption analogous to that of the leaders or bosses of tammany hall, which replaces violence by fraud. it is difficult to speak of such a matter, but perhaps the reaction against these dangerous methods was insufficient. in , after four years of independent life, president estrada palma demanded intervention. it must be recognised that the americans did not respond without some uneasiness. mr. roosevelt, in a letter to the cuban diplomatist gonzalo de quesada, gave some admirable advice: "i solemnly exhort the cuban patriots," he said, "to form a close union, to forget their personal differences and ambitions, and to remember that they have one means of safeguarding the independence of the republic: to evade, at all costs, the necessity of foreign intervention, intended to deliver them from civil war and anarchy." heedless of the voice of the shepherd of the american people, they asked him to put an end to the long quarrel between the liberals and the moderates. the americans occupied the island for a year; mr. taft, the new president, was one of the pacificators. it is difficult to judge whether the anarchical inhabitants of the island have gained ground since the departure of the americans. one of their most remarkable politicians, señor mendez capote, believes that in cuba--and more generally { } in any very young country where the government has need of an unfailing authority in order to check discord--representatives of one or both parties ought to belong to the cabinet in order to render political life less changeable and to decrease its contrasts.[ ] this organisation is impossible in a democracy which passes alternately from revolt to dictatorship. some cubans, satisfied with the material progress effected, would prefer annexation. others, and among them one of the most remarkable writers of the country, señor jesus castellanos, are never tired, remembering their happy intervention, of calling the united states, "the great sister republic." certainly the states have given cuba autonomy, but was it not a treacherous gift? _timeo danaos et dona ferentes_. the historic interest of cuba for the americans is to-day increased by imperialistic ambitions. a harvard professor, mr. coolidge, writes in a book already cited: "a glance at the map is enough to show us how important the island is to the united states. of great value by virtue of its natural resources and its temperate climate, it is strategically the key to the gulf of mexico, where the mississippi valley terminates facing the caribbean sea and the future panama canal. its situation is comparable to that of crete in the eastern mediterranean." the danger is therefore serious; the island is already in the lion's mouth. only a skilful policy can keep the hope of deliverance alive. the servitude offered by the modern cyclops is only a gilded pill; and to swallow it the merchants of the island would willingly forget their national pride. analysing rodo's book, señor castellanos has denounced the excessive utilitarianism of these men, without idealism, and full of a cupidity and gross materialism, which makes any collective effort towards national unity { } impossible. poets and dreamers, the cubans would need to undergo some prodigious change before one could interest them in action, before they could understand in the medley of political conflict what is really in the interests of the country; before they could establish political solidarity in the place of anarchy, and temper their easy confidence in the yankee by a necessary and self-preserving scepticism. could they ever transform their intellectual gifts into a less showy but more efficacious capacity for conflict and discipline? will they acquire a sense of reality? cuba should serve the rest of latin america as a kind of experimental object-lesson. she suffers from the characteristic malady of the race, the divorce between intelligence and will. she opposes the anglo-saxon invasion, being still thoroughly spanish, her deliverance being a matter of yesterday, but american also by the mixture of the two races, the conquerors and the vanquished, by the usual latin virtues and defects. the loss of her independence would be a painful lesson to the republics of central america, and to mexico even, where anarchy is paving the way for servitude. the united states offer peace at the cost of liberty. the alternatives are independence or wealth, material progress or tradition. the choice between dignity and a future is a painful one. only an abundant immigration under benevolent tyrants strong enough to enforce a lasting peace, only a new orientation of the national life, setting business and industry and rural life before politics, could save the country from the painful fate which seems to be hers. a fresh intervention, followed doubtless by annexation, would demonstrate the racial incapacity for self-government--a mournful experience. the successive rule of anglo-saxons and creoles would render obvious the superiority of the former in the matter of administration, economics, and politics. [ ] see _como acabó la dominación, de españa en america_, e. piñeyro, paris. [ ] enrique collazo, _cuba intervenida_, havana, , p. . [ ] _informe del gobernador charles e. magoon_, havana, , pp. , . [ ] cited in _cuban pacification_, washington, , p. . { } chapter v the japanese peril the ambitions of the mikado--the _shin nippon_ in western america--pacific invasion--japanese and americans. facing the united states in the mysterious orient is an extensive empire which is sending its legions of pacific invaders into the new world. anticipating the japanese victories, the german emperor warned a somnolent europe of the terrible yellow peril; the peril of hordes like those of genghis khan, which would destroy the treasures of western civilisation. this danger, after the defeat of russia and the formation of the anglo-japanese alliance, has been felt in america from vancouver and california down to chili. to dominate the pacific is the ambition both of the north american republic and the asiatic monarchy. before ruling america the japanese, exposed to the hostility of the californians, will fight in the north the great battle which will decide their fate. the monroe doctrine, which liberated latin america from the tutelage of the holy alliance, is perhaps destined to protect it also against the menace of the east. the anglo-saxons will not tolerate the foundation of japanese colonies on the southern coasts of america, and to prevent them they are overcoming the obstacle of the isthmus: are digging a canal, { } fortifying it, and increasing their navy. the united states understand that their future will baffle japan, and by the acquisition of the philippines they have become an asiatic power. they defend the integrity of china, negotiate peace between russia and japan, demand the neutrality of the manchurian railway, and claim a financial share in the chinese loans and undertakings of material civilisation. the policy of mr. taft tends to ensure the american control of the chinese finances. the industry of north america needs outlets in asia, because south america is still a commercial fief of europe. on the other hand, the japanese population is increasing at such an excessive rate that emigration is a necessary phenomenon for that country; a people of mariners hemmed in by the ocean naturally looks for fruitful adventures by sea. moreover, the state stimulates emigration; socialism is causing it anxiety, and the dense population of proletariats is producing implacable caste antagonisms. anarchists, brilliant propagandists of european doctrines, are spreading their convictions among the multitude which vegetates upon a poverty-stricken soil. industrialism, and the general transformation of the nation, renders the protest of the disinherited still more bitter. this current of emigration is neither chaotic nor fruitless. even more than the german the japanese is an emissary of imperialistic design. he does not become absorbed into the nation in which he lives; he does not become naturalised under the protection of hospitable laws; he preserves his worship of the mikado, his national traditions, and his noble devotion to the dead. japan aspires to political domination and economic hegemony in korea and northern china. the japanese have annexed korea, and flying the imperial standard upon this peninsula they have become a { } continental power. they have received from ancient china lessons in wisdom, artists and philosophers, and to-day the initiate seeks to rule the initiator. japan is transforming china and teaching her the methods of the west; the philosophy of heidelberg, the arts of paris. in manchuria, despite the ambitions of the united states, she pretends to supremacy for her industries and her banks. "asia for the asiatics" is the japanese cry, as "america for the americans" is that of the people of the states. neither of these peoples respects the autonomy of foreign nations. the united states are conquering asia economically, and the japanese, the defenders of oriental integrity, are slowly invading the far west of america. the philippines for the united states and hawaii for japan are the advance posts of commercial expansion on the one hand and imperialism on the other. we are then face to face with a struggle of races, a clash of irreconcilable interests. in the proud northern democracy we note an uneasiness which reveals itself by the jealous exclusion of the japanese from the life of the west, and by immovable racial prejudices. the american general homer lee, in a pessimistic book, _the valor of ignorance_, states that a heterogeneous nation in which foreigners constitute half the population can never conquer japan. he foresees that the island empire, having eliminated its two rivals, russia and china, by successive wars, will vanquish the united states and occupy vast territories in the american north-west. only alliance with england, "to-day allied with the destinies of japan," could save the republic from subjection to her oriental rivals. such prophecies, however, do not assume a general character. while waiting for the future war the struggle for the pacific between the two powers { } concerned remains acute. the japanese emigrants halt at hawaii, assimilate american methods, and resume their exodus toward the californian eldorado. in the islands they are electors; they prevail by force of numbers; they change their professions or industries with remarkable adaptability, and then return to japan, or remain, and retain their national feeling inviolate. in california they follow humble callings; they are secretly preparing themselves for conquest. numberless legions thus arrive from the orient; they are proud, adventurous, speculative; they aspire to economic supremacy. in california, that country of gold and adventure, the problem of japanese immigration is becoming more complex. m. louis aubert explains that in this state the japanese constitute a necessary defence against the tyranny of the trades unions.[ ] they accept an absurd wage and furnish the financial oligarchy with useful arms and sober stomachs. when the associations of working men demand increased salaries and threaten the greedy plutocrats with strikes or socialistic demands, the japanese passively submit to the iron law of capitalism. if the interests of the race demand their expulsion from california, the interests of the capitalist class demand their retention. the instinct of the democracy which supports the civilising mission of the white man, "the white man's burden," is stronger than its utilitarian egoism. the immigrant is accused of immodesty or servility. the energy, frugality, self-respect, triumphant patience, and hostile isolation of the japanese in hawaii and california cause the americans much uneasiness. repulsed in the north, the conquering japanese take refuge on the long coast-line of south america. they do not renounce california and its admirable soil, but they prefer to forget the disdain of the { } north, to compromise with that haughty democracy, and prepare in silence for the future conflict. they are, as a race, transformed; they have forsaken their own history in the midst of the millennial and ecstatic orient, and this renovation has resulted in an intense ambition of expansion. the japan which apes europe does not overlook the teachings of anglo-saxon imperialism. its statesmen, disciples of disraeli and chamberlain, wish to found an immense empire under the tutelage of the asiatic england, insular and proud as the united kingdom itself. count okuma stated that south america was comprised in the sphere of influence to which the japanese empire may legitimately pretend. is not this the very language of the conquerors of europe, for whom such "spheres of influence" pave the way for protectorates, tutelage, or annexation? "western america," write the japanese journals, "is a favourable ground for japanese emigration. persevering emigrants might there build up a new japan, _shin nippon_." it is the identical object of the germans in southern brazil; the creation of a transatlantic _deutschtum_. the japanese emigrate to canada, there to establish a base for the invasion of the united states; they do the same in mexico, and settle even in chili; but peru is the favourite soil of these imperialistic adventurers. to a statesman here is a _shin nippon_ whose future is assured, a new hawaii. its climate resembles that of japan. "in peru, as in the greater part of south america, the government is weak, and if energy be displayed it cannot refuse to accept japanese immigrants," writes a journal of tokio. "in this hospitable country the japanese could receive education in the public schools, acquire lands, and exploit mines." it is necessary, says an osaka news-sheet, that these immigrants should not return to japan after amassing a fortune; { } they must remain in peru and there create a _shin nippon_.[ ] the japanese immigrants are reminded that already there are , chinese in the sugar plantations of peru, and that this republic is one of the richest on the pacific coast. a minute explanation is given of the agricultural products which can be raised in mexico, chili, and peru, and what are the privileges granted to immigrants in these countries; but these comprehensive statements do not trouble american statesmen. the very date of the first japanese exodus toward the eldorado of the _conquistadors_ has become the classic anniversary of the commencement of a new era; "the thirty-second of the meijie," of the regeneration of the empire. according to recent statistics , japanese are at work in peru, in the plantations of sugar-cane, the rubber-forests, or the cotton-fields; following the tracks of the chinese, they fill the lesser callings and defeat the mulattos and half-breeds in the economic struggle. new fleets of steamers carry these persistent legions under the imperial flag. the state protects the navigation companies which run between japan and south america, and although the commerce thus favoured is more profitable to peru and chili than to japan, the far-sighted mikado encourages relations which are not particularly favourable to-day, but which permit of the development of japanese influence all along the pacific coast, and the creation of centres of japanese population and influence in mexico, peru, and chili.[ ] the japanese vessels discharge their human freight at callao and valparaiso. the soil, which lacks chinese serfs, is thus fertilised by japanese immigrants, and the agricultural oligarchy { } of chili and peru is satisfied. brazil itself attracts these emigrants, replacing the fertile italian invasion by these sober workers of a hostile race, and is preparing the way for the establishment on brazilian soil of two groups of identical tendencies, but inimical: one japanese, the other german. japanese spies have been captured in ecuador and mexico. at the centennial fêtes of mexico and the argentine in a japanese cruiser and an ambassador of the mikado brought fraternal messages from the orient. uneasy on account of the north american peril, certain writers of the latin american democracies entertain a certain amount of confidence in the sympathies of japan; perhaps they even count upon an alliance with the empire of the rising sun. but we cannot see, with the brilliant argentine writer manuel ugarte, that latin diplomacy must henceforth count upon japan, because the hostility between that nation and the united states might be successfully exploited at the proper moment. in the commercial battles for the domination of the pacific japan does not support the autonomy of latin america; her statesmen and publicists consider that peru, chili, and mexico are spheres of japanese expansion. we have cited conclusive opinions on this subject, and they contradict the optimism of the argentine sociologist. apart from the emigrants and the companies which encourage them the projects and designs of count okuma, leader of the japanese imperialists, are manifested in the nationalist press, which sometimes betrays more than it intends. to-day, in the face of the unanimous opinion of these journals, we cannot deny that japan has ambitious designs upon america. the future war will be born of the clash of two doctrines, of two imperialisms, of the ideal of okuma and the monroe doctrine. victorious, the japanese would invade western america and convert the pacific into a vast closed { } sea, closed to foreign ambitions, _mare nostrum_, peopled by japanese colonies.[ ] the japanese hegemony would not be a mere change of tutelage for the nations of america. in spite of essential differences the latins oversea have certain common ties with the people of the states: a long-established religion, christianity, and a coherent, european, occidental civilisation. perhaps there is some obscure fraternity between the japanese and the american indians, between the yellow men of nippon and the copper-coloured quechuas, a disciplined and sober people. but the ruling race, the dominant type of spanish origin, which imposes the civilisation of the white man upon america, is hostile to the entire invading east. the geography of the oriental empire in no sense recalls that of america; there are neither wide plains, nor mighty rivers, nor fertile and luxurious forests. narrow horizons, gentle hills, minute islands, closed seas, and the strange flora of the harmonious insular landscape: lotuses, cryptomera, bamboos, chrysanthemums, dwarf trees. beliefs, manners, and customs all differ radically from the american. "the europeans," writes lafcadio hearn, "build with a view to duration, the japanese with a view to instability." a keen sentiment of all that is fugitive in life, of the anguish caused by the incessant flux and mobility of things, causes men to love ephemeral apparitions. buddhism speaks of the fluidity of life. japanese art strives to fix passing impressions; the dew, the pale light of the moon, the fleeting tints of twilight, the provisional { } temples, the small houses of wood, the rice-paper _shoji_, on which the very shadows of those within are vague and momentary. there is nothing persevering in japanese life; the inhabitant is a nomad and nature is variable. impassive buddhas, seated on their blue lotus flowers, contemplate the irresistible current of appearances. mobility, and a religious sense of becoming: these would be elements of dissolution in a divided america. powerful and traditional, the japanese civilisation would weigh too heavily upon the latin democracies, mixed as they are. bushido, the cult of honour and fidelity to one's ancestors, is the basis of an intense nationalism; the contempt for death, the pride of an insular people, the subjection of the individual to the family and the native land, and the asceticism of the _samurai_, constitute so formidable a superiority that in the conflict between half-breed america and stoic japan the former would lose both its autonomy and its traditions. [ ] louis aubert, _americains et japonais_, paris, , pp. _et seq_. [ ] m. aubert cites these and other extracts. [ ] the peruvian imports into japan were £ , in ; the japanese imports into peru only £ , . there is a commercial treaty between chili and japan. [ ] perhaps the emigration of orientals towards the two americas will be arrested, for there is a chinese far west which is slowly becoming peopled. japan aspires to assure herself of the domination of manchuria, and is sending colonists to korea, the annexed peninsula. the excess of the population of china and japan tends naturally to occupy territories in which everything is favourable--climate, religion, and race. { } book vii _problems_ serious problems arise from a consideration of the latin democracies, which are in the full tide of development. they are divided, in spite of common traditions, and they comprise races whose marriage has not been precisely happy. in spite of the resources of the soil, and its fabulous wealth, these states live by loans. their political life is not organised; the parties obey leaders who bring to the struggle for power neither an ideal nor a programme of concrete reforms. the population of these states is so small that america may be called a desert. we will consider all these problems minutely: problems of unity, of race, of population, of financial conditions, and of politics. { } chapter i the problem of unity the foundations of unity: religion, language, and similarity of development--neither europe, nor asia, nor africa presents this moral unity in the same degree as latin america--the future groupings of the peoples: central america, the confederation of the antilles, greater colombia, the confederation of the pacific, and the confederation of la plata--political and economical aspects of these unions--the last attempts at federation in central america--the bolivian congress--the a.b.c.--the union of the argentine, brazil, and chili. a professor of the american university of harvard, mr. coolidge, writes that if there is one thing that proves the backwardness of the political spirit of the latin americans, it is precisely the existence of so many hostile democracies on a continent which is in so many respects uniform. with so many points in common, with the same language, the same civilisation, the same essential interests, they persist in maintaining the political subdivisions due to the mere accidents of their history.[ ] and he advises in all sincerity that these inimical nations should associate themselves in powerful groups, a means of defence which no nation could oppose, neither the united states nor europe. if, for example, bolivia, uruguay, and paraguay were to unite with the argentine republic; if the old united states of colombia were re-established, and if, as formerly, venezuela and ecuador, with perhaps peru, were to form a confederation; if the republics of central america were { } at last to succeed in forming a durable confederation, and were perhaps to join mexico--then latin america would consist only of a few great states, each of which would be sufficiently important to assume by right an enviable position in the modern world, and to fear no aggression on the part of any foreign power. the latin republics pay no attention to this wise counsel; we observe among them a tendency toward further disagreement, toward an atomic disintegration. originally a different and a wider movement, in the sense of the close union of similar nationalities, did manifest itself. the contrary principle prevails to-day, and it results in the separation of complementary provinces and the conflict of sister nations. during a century of isolated political development, and under the influence of territory and climate, divergent characteristics have manifested themselves in the nations of america. mexico is without the tropical eloquence we find in colombia; the chilian inflexibility contrasts with the rich imagination of the brazilians; the argentines have become a commercial people; chili is a bellicose republic; bolivia has an astute policy, the work of a slow and practical people, which has given it a new strength; peru persists in its dreams of generous idealism; central america remains rent by an anarchy which seems incurable; venezuela is still inspired by an empty "lyricism." some of these republics are practical peoples governed by active plutocracies; others are given to dreaming and are led by presidents suffering from neurosis. in the tropics we find civil war and idleness; on the cold table-lands, in the temperate plains, and in the maritime cities, wealth and peace. but such divergences do not form an essential separation; they cannot destroy the age-long work of laws, religion, institutions, tradition, and language. { } unity possesses indestructible foundations, as old and as deep-rooted as the race itself. from mexico to chili the religion is the same; the intolerance of alien cults is the same; so are the clericalism, the anti-clericalism, the fanaticism, and the superficial free thought; the influence of the clergy in the state, upon women, and the schools; the lack of true religious feeling under the appearance of general belief. to this first very important factor of unity we must add the powerful and permanent influence of the spanish language, whose future is bound up with the future of the latin transatlantic peoples. sonorous and arrogant, this language expresses, better than any other, the vices and the grandeur of the american mind; its rhetoric and its heroism, its continuity of spirit from the feats of the cid to the republican revolutions. the spanish tongue is an intimate bond of union between the destinies of the metropolis and those of its ancient colonies, and it separates the two americas, one being the expression of the latin and the other of the anglo-saxon genius. the language is always to a certain extent transformed in these democracies; provincialisms and americanisms abound; the popular tongue differs from the autocratic castilian. don rufino cuervo predicts that spanish will undergo essential alterations in america, as was the case with latin at the time of the roman decadence. an argentine writer, señor ernesto quesada, believes that a national language is in process of formation on the banks of the plata, and that the barbarisms of the popular speech are forecasts of a new tongue. in chili an exalted patriot has upheld the originality of the chilian race and language in an anonymous book, claiming that they derive from the gothic. thus is the effect of the national spirit exaggerated. among the ibero-american republics there is a profound and general { } resemblance in the pronunciation and the syntax of the language; the same linguistic defects even are to be found in all. the spanish of the peninsula loses its majesty overseas; it is no longer the language, lordly in its beauty, solemn in its ornaments, of granada, of mariana, of perez de guzman. familiar, declamatory, pronounced with a caressing accent, the castilian of america is uniform from north to south. more effectual than religion and language the identity of race explains the similarity of the american peoples, and constitutes a promise of lasting unity. the native race, the spanish race, and the negro race are everywhere mingled, in similar proportions, from the frontier of the united states to the southern limits of the continent. on the atlantic seaboard european immigration, an influx of russians, italians, and germans, has given the supremacy to the white race, but this influence is limited to small belts of land, when we consider the vast area of the continent. a single half-caste race, with here the negro and there the indian predominant over the conquering spaniard, obtains from the atlantic to the pacific. there is a greater resemblance between peruvians and argentines, colombians and chilians, than between the inhabitants of two distant provinces of france, such as provence and flanders, brittany and burgundy, or between the italian of the north, positive and virile, and the lazy and sensual neapolitan, or between the north american of the far west and the native of new england. the slight provincial differences enable us the better to understand the unity of the continent. this identity explains the monotonous history of america. a succession of military periods and industrial periods, of revolts and dictatorships; perpetual promises of political restoration; the tyranny of { } ignorant adventurers, and complicated and delusive legislation. it is in the great crises of its history that the essential unity of the race is revealed. the wars of independence were a unanimous movement, an expression of profound solidarity. in , after half a century of isolation, the democracies of the pacific once more united to oppose spain's attempt at reconquest. soldiers of different nations, who had already fought in bygone battles, but against each other, now fought side by side for the common liberty. the same unity of inspiration has brought the nations together in opposition to many projects of conquest: the expedition of flores against ecuador, of france against mexico, and the anglo-french alliance against rosas. at the second hague congress in latin america revealed to the western world the importance of her wealth and the valour of her men, and supported her ideal of arbitration; to the monroe doctrine she opposed the doctrine of drago, and, without preliminary understanding, asserted her unity. no other continent offers so many reasons for union, and herein lies the chief originality of latin america. in europe states and races are in conflict, and the unstable equilibrium is maintained only by means of alliances. religions, political systems, traditions, and languages differ. history is merely a succession of turbulent hegemonies: of spain, england, france, and germany. we find artificial nations, like austria; unions of democratic and theocratic peoples, like the franco-russian alliance; rival empires of the same race, like england and germany; political alliances of alien races, like germany and italy; and the dispersion of peoples painfully seeking to recover their lost unity, like the poles, the irish, and the slavs. the federation of europe is a utopian dream. { } africa is not yet autonomous; it is a vast group of enslaved peoples of primitive races, colonised by the great european powers. there the anglo-saxon genius is seeking to establish a political union between english and dutch, and one day, perhaps, the empire dreamed of by cecil rhodes will stretch from cairo to the cape. but the unity of africa is impossible; for the colonists come to the dark continent as conquerors, as the representatives of hostile interests; they can but quarrel over morocco, tripoli, and the congo. oceania possesses only a partial unity in the australian commonwealth, the work of england. in asia it is still more impossible to guess whence a future unity might arise. mussulmans and buddhists share india; japan has won only an ephemeral superiority; china retains all her irreducible independence; in manchuria and korea russian and asiatic interests are opposed; in turkestan, persia, and tibet the conflicts of race and religion are enough to destroy any hope of union. in america and in america only the political problem is relatively simple. unity is there at once a tradition and a present necessity, yet in spite of this fact the disunion of the latin democracies persists. forty years ago alberdi thought it necessary, and believed it possible, to redraw the map of america. to-day the latin nations overseas are less plastic; the frontiers seem too definitely established, and prejudices too deeply rooted to allow of such a recombination; but the formation of groups of nations is no less urgent. if the unity of the continent by means of a vast federation in the anglo-saxon manner seems impossible, it is none the less necessary to group the latin-american nations in a durable fashion, according to their affinities. while respecting the inevitable geographical inequalities which give certain peoples an evident superiority over others, and the no less inevitable economic inequalities which { } create natural unions, it would still be possible to found a stable assemblage of nations, a continent. there is a spontaneous hierarchy in the latin new world; there are superior and inferior democracies, maritime nations and inland states. paraguay will always be inferior to the argentine republic; uruguay to brazil; bolivia to chili; ecuador to peru; guatemala to mexico; as much from the point of wealth as in population and influence. the preservation of the autonomy of republics which differ so greatly in the extent and situation of their territories can only be removed by federative grouping. to oppress and colonise these countries is the desire of all imperialists, no matter whence they come; but the peace of america demands another solution; which is, not the synthesis which some one powerful state might enforce, but the co-operation of free organisms. by grouping themselves about more advanced peoples the secondary nations might succeed in preserving their threatened autonomy. central america, exhausted by anarchy, may aspire to unity; these five small nations maintain a precarious independence in the face of the united states. until central america was only one state, and subsequent attempts at unification proved that this was not merely the artificial creation of its politicians. when the panama canal has divided the two americas, and increased the power of the united states, these nations, together with mexico, might form a true spanish advance-guard in the north. moreover, the free islands of the caribbean sea might be united in a confederation of the antilles, according to the noble dream of hostos. greater colombia might be reconstituted, with ecuador, new granada, and venezuela. their greatest leaders have desired their union, as a preventive of indefinite and fractional division and internal discord. on the basis { } of common traditions, and for important geographical reasons, these three nations might form an imposing confederacy. once the canal is open, this group of peoples, stretching from the atlantic to the pacific, on the northern extremity of the continent, would form a massive latin rampart, a country capable of absorbing european emigration and of opposing to anglo-saxon invasion the resistance of a vast populated and united territory. bolivia, the inland republic, deprived of her coast-line by chili, has already been twice united to peru; in , under the authority of santa-cruz, and in , to oppose the supremacy of chili on the pacific. what should henceforth separate it from a people to which it is united by so many historical and economic ties, and a similitude of territory and race from cuzco to oruro? chili and peru will be either two perpetual enemies, or two peoples drawn together by a useful understanding. their geographical proximity, their mutually complementary products--the tropical fruits of peru and the products of the temperate zones of chili--might contribute to bring them together. have we not here an actual economic harmony? in the moral domain the very causes which have engendered hatred between chili and peru, from the time of portales to that of pinto, might equally prove to be the elements of future friendship. peru, impoverished by the chilian conquest, and deprived of her deposits of nitre, would no longer be the victim of the chilian greed of gold, nor the hatred of a poor colony for the elegant vice-kingdom. chili is wealthier than peru, and her people have more energy and more will-power, although they may have less imagination, less nobility of character, and less eloquence. the peruvian vivacity and grace may be contrasted with the prosaic deliberation of chili; the anarchy of the one country with the political stability of the other; the idealism { } of peru with the common-sense of chili. physically and morally these two countries complete one another. the economic necessities of each might form the permanent basis of a possible alliance. the confederation of the pacific, formed by peru, bolivia, and chili, would be a safeguard against future wars in america. unhappily chili professes and seeks to enforce a superiority founded upon victory, just as, when the german empire was confederated, victorious and warlike prussia enforced her superiority over artistic bavaria. the confederation of la plata, the heir to the traditions of the colonial era, might be formed of argentina, uruguay, and paraguay. rosas did seek to create this great federal organisation. during the course of the century uruguay has extended her sympathies alternately to the argentine and to brazil, and paraguay, during a period of epic grandeur, defended her isolation. the union of these republics was prevented by national rivalities and the ambitions of their _caudillos_, but it will surely be effected in the future under the pressure of the power of argentina. it is true that uruguay has only too definite an originality in the matter of intellect, from the point of view of liberalism and education, but the federation of the future would not be the imposition of a harsh hegemony of one nation over others, but rather the co-operation of republics with equal rights which had at last understood the poverty of their isolated condition. paraguay, remote and concealed, ruled sometimes by a jesuitical and now by a civil dictatorship, has need of a place in such a vast confederation of cultivated peoples. these groups of nations will thus form a new america, organic and powerful. brazil, with her immense territory and dense population; the confederation of la plata; the confederation of the pacific; greater colombia: these will finally { } establish the continental equilibrium so anxiously desired. in the north, mexico and central america and the confederation of the antilles would form three latin states to balance the enveloping movement of the anglo-saxons. instead of twenty divided republics we should thus have seven powerful nations. we should have not the vague union of which all the utopian professors since bolivar have spoken, but a definite grouping and confederation of peoples united by real economic, geographical, and political ties. to realise these fusions there are both economic and political methods. hasty conventions would be powerless to uproot the hatreds and the narrow conceptions of patriotism peculiar to the american peoples. the organisation of the continent should be the work of thinkers, statesmen, and captains of industry, a work fortified by time and history. to the tradition of discord we must oppose another, the tradition of union. a series of partial commercial treaties, navigation treaties, railway systems, customs unions, and international congresses (like those recently held at montevideo and santiago) may all be indicated as means of realising unity. the railways above all will create a new continent; for isolation and lack of population are the enemies of american federation. to-day these peoples do not know one another. paris is their intellectual capital, where their poets, thinkers, and statesmen meet. in america everything makes for separation: forests, plains, and mountains. what does venezuela know of chili, peru of mexico, colombia of the argentine? even in the case of neighbouring nations the political leaders do not know one another. the psychology of neighbouring peoples is a mystery; whence traditional errors and disastrous wars. american journalism is ignorant of nothing in european life--the sessions of the duma, the ministerial crises of { } roumania, the nobility of the gotha almanac, the scandals of berlin; but of the public life of the american nations it publishes only the vaguest and most erroneous news. by stimulating the love of travel and building railroads these peoples would escape from an isolation so perilous. "every line of railroad which crosses a frontier," said gladstone, "prepares the way for universal confederation." the yankees have understood this, which is why they are preparing to build a great pan-american railway to unite the two americas under their financial sceptre. the line which has recently united the two capitals of the south--santiago and buenos-ayres--has contributed to the formation of a solid understanding between chili and the argentine. that which will unite lima and buenos-ayres in the near future will bring the culture of the argentine to the bolivian table-lands, as far as cuzco, the centre of inca tradition; it will draw together the seaboard populations of the two oceans, the atlantic and the pacific, and will prove a powerful agent of civilisation and unity. the great rivers of the amazonian basin from the putumayo to the beni, the affluents of the rio de la plata, the magdalena and the orinoco, united by new railroads, will also contribute to the continental unity by multiplying international relations. one may well repeat the celebrated phrase, that to govern is to lay rails. railways vanquish barbarism; they attract the stranger, people the desert, civilise the native. political organisation and internal peace correspond with the development of the means of communication. with the appearance of the rails the _caudillos_ lose their influence, and a double transformation is effected; in the interior by the civilising action of commingled interests, and at the exterior by the new relations which the multiplication of railways involves. customs unions in germany created the imperial { } unity; mr. chamberlain thinks that a _zollverein_ would increase the power of the british empire. the economic grouping of nations prepares the way for future confederations. the frequent congresses which unify law and jurisprudence, and bring together politicians, men of letters and scientists, all tend to the same result. to increase the number of these assemblies, to hold them in different capitals of the continent, and to replace the pan-american congresses, whose plans are somewhat indefinite, by racial latin-american congresses, would be equally to the profit of the economic and intellectual unity of the continent, and the harmony of its politics and its laws. an undivided, uniform american law,[ ] a single monetary system, a similar policy in respect of protectionism and free trade, the unification of methods of teaching, and the equivalence of academic diplomas and university degrees, are questions that might be discussed at these general assemblies. each nation would have ministers in the other republics, who would be at once intellectual emissaries and propagandists, while to-day american peoples who send ministers to austria or to switzerland have no accredited representatives in the capitals of adjacent states. the national ambitions which satisfy our politicians to-day would be replaced by a more ample and original design, embracing the future of an entire continent, as was the case a century ago. in short, we should neglect no form of co-operation--conventions, travel, diplomatic labours, periodical congresses, commercial treaties, and partial groups of nations. nothing but a disastrous weakness can perpetuate the present division of the latin { } peoples in the face of the unity of the united states. the nations of the south are not unaware of this necessity, and after a century of independence they are seeking to reconstitute the ancient unions. central america, disturbed by periodic wars, is endeavouring to create a confederation. in a treaty between honduras, nicaragua, and salvador formed the republic of central america; only costa rica and guatemala held aloof from this union. in all these nations, with the exception of guatemala, accepted a convention of arbitration. in the presidents of the five republics met at corinth in order to honour the work of morazan and rufino barrios; spontaneously, or at the instance of the united states and mexico, they signed various treaties intended to realise the unity of the sister nations. a central american pedagogic institute was created, and a "bureau of the five republics," with the same object of unification. in , after nine different conflicts in the interval, a conference of these same nations was assembled at washington. on this occasion a tribunal of arbitration for central america was installed, and the neutrality of honduras was recognised. this tribunal, which sits at cartago, in costa-rica, is to judge the conflicts between states and the diplomatic claims of the governments and of individuals. moreover, the republics of central america have agreed to a declaration which provides that they will recognise no government which has been enforced by a revolution or a _coup d'État_, and that they will not intervene in the political movements of neighbouring countries. the court of arbitration thus established had already, in , settled differences between salvador and honduras, and between guatemala and nicaragua, by rejecting the pretentions of honduras in the one case and of nicaragua in the other.[ ] in { } short, the united states and mexico are leading these peoples, who used to be in a condition of perpetual discord, towards the unity necessary to their progress. a congress met recently ( ) at caracas, which was attended by the representatives of the states liberated by bolivar--venezuela, new granada, ecuador, bolivia, and peru. this was a truly bolivian assembly in honour of the national hero. the object of this congress was to reconstitute greater colombia with the three republics which formerly made part of it--venezuela, new granada, and ecuador; this would be a return, after the lapse of a century, to the harmonious union of the sister peoples, which would truly give them a common future. the formation of a great bolivian state, after a period of isolation lasting more than a century, is certainly the dream of generous statesmen. it is not easy to conceive of the political union of peoples as far removed as those of venezuela and bolivia, but this assembly might well result in a natural union of the peoples of the north; a new greater colombia, whose provinces would stretch from the atlantic to the pacific. in the south the a.b.c., the alliance of the argentine, brazil, and chili, is the question incessantly discussed in the sensational press, and in the chancelleries, which love to surround themselves with an atmosphere of mystery. these three nations, wealthy, military powers, situated in distinct zones, are seeking confederation; their ambition is to exercise in america a tutelage which they consider indispensable. already the understanding of may, , had limited the armaments of chili and the argentine, and had put an end to a long conflict. the rivality between the argentine and brazil; the old friendship between that country and chili, which afterwards changed to a jealous alienation; the rivalry between the argentine { } and chili in the matter of wealth and power; discord, threats of war, uneasy friendships; all this is insufficient to restrain the military ambition of the three great nations. the statesmen of buenos-ayres, rio de janeiro, and santiago are labouring to effect the realisation of an alliance between the three most highly civilised and organised and most advanced nations of the continent. once this union is accomplished, to the indisputable influence of the united states will be added the moderative influence of the three great states of the south, and the equilibrium between latins and anglo-saxons would be its immediate result. there are writers in america who defend the chauvinistic autonomy of small countries as against the natural supremacy of such combinations of states. it is, however, certain that these alliances do not in any way threaten the countries which take part in them; they respect their internal constitution, and their historic organisation; they confine themselves to a fusion of general and external interests, to matters of commerce, and of peace and war. these utilitarian partisans of the independence of each separate nation cannot conceive of the grouping of nations as in the greater colombia, the confederation of the pacific, or the southern alliance, without the existence of obvious commercial interests. it is certainly true that the _zollverein_, or permanent customs agreement, was the basis of german unity. but there are moral interests as powerful and as obvious as the interests of commerce. should not a common danger, such as the yankee peril in panama and central america, impel nations toward federation and unity? moreover, federation is not always the result of purely commercial ties. our century tends to synthetical action. as modern nations were formed by overcoming the old feudal anarchy, so metropolis and colonies are uniting in our days to form { } formidable empires which merely commercial interests could not explain. what economic tie served as the basis of the south african federation, a group of hostile races retaining a memory of autonomy? did not north and south in the united states enter upon a terrible war of interests, and, in spite of this utilitarian antagonism, is not lincoln, the founder of the union, as great to-day as washington, the founder of nationality? the enormous power of the north american nation is the result of this unity. if the patricians of the south had been victorious in the war of secession, if they had succeeded in annihilating the federal bond, then instead of the republic which overawes europe and aspires to americanise the world there would be two powerless and inimical states; in the south an oligarchic nation served by slaves, and in the north a feeble assemblage of puritan provinces, while the far west would be incapable of resisting the yellow peril. but there are economic ties between the latin nations, which may assist the preparation of respectable unions. between brazil and chili, peru and chili, bolivia, chili, and peru, or the argentine, paraguay, and bolivia, there are actual currents of commercial exchange, of agricultural products from complementary zones, and therein a basis of union may be found. latin america cannot continue to live divided, while her enemies are building up vast federations and enormous empires. whether in the name of race or commercial interests, of common utility or true independence, the american democracies must form themselves into three or four powerful states. the latin new world is alone in resisting the universal impulse toward the establishment of syndicates and federations, trusts and trades unions, associations and alliances--in short, of increasingly vast and increasingly powerful organisations. [ ] _the united states as a world-power_. [ ] see a. alvarez, _le droit international americain_ (paris, ), in which the reader will find an interesting list of problems respecting frontiers, immigration, and means of communication, affecting latin america in particular, which have on several occasions met with solutions which form the basis of a new law (pp. _et seq_.). [ ] alvarez, _ibid._, p. et seq. { } chapter ii the problem of race the gravity of the problem--the three races, european, indian, and negro--their characteristics--the mestizos and mulattos--the conditions of miscegenation according to m. gustave le bon--regression to the primitive type. the racial question is a very serious problem in american history. it explains the progress of certain peoples and the decadence of others, and it is the key to the incurable disorder which divides america. upon it depend a great number of secondary phenomena; the public wealth, the industrial system, the stability of governments, the solidity of patriotism. it is therefore essential that the continent should have a constant policy, based upon the study of the problems which are raised by the facts of race, just as there is an agrarian policy in russia, a protectionist policy in germany, and a free-trade policy in england. in the united states all the varieties of the european type are intermingled: scandinavians and italians, irish and germans; but in the latin republics there are peoples of strange lineage: american indians, negroes, orientals, and europeans of different origin are creating the race of the future in homes in which mixed blood is the rule. in the argentine, where spanish, russian, and italian immigrants intermingle, the social formation is extremely complicated. the aboriginal indians { } have been united with african negroes, and with spanish and portuguese jews; then came italians and basques, french and anglo-saxons; a multiple invasion, with the latin element prevailing. in brazil germans and africans marry indians and portuguese. among the pacific peoples, above all in peru, a considerable asiatic influx, chinese and japanese, still further complicates the human mixture. in mexico and bolivia the native element, the indian, prevails. the negroes form a very important portion of the population of cuba and san domingo. costa-rica is a democracy of whites; and in the argentine, as in chili, all vestiges of the african type have disappeared. in short, there are no pure races in america. the aboriginal indian himself was the product of the admixture of ancient tribes and castes. in the course of time historic races may form themselves; in the meantime an indefinable admixture prevails. this complication of castes, this admixture of divers bloods, has created many problems. for example, is the formation of a national consciousness possible with such disparate elements? would such heterogeneous democracies be able to resist the invasion of superior races? finally, is the south american half-caste absolutely incapable of organisation and culture? facile generalisations will not suffice to solve these questions. here the experience of travellers and of american history even is of greater value than the verdicts of the anthropologists. in the first place the half-breeds are not all hybrids, and it is not true that the union of the spaniard and the american has always been sterile. hence the absolute necessity of understanding the proper character of each of the races which have formed modern america. the spaniards who arrived in the new world came from different provinces; here alone is a prime cause { } of variety. simultaneously with the languid andalusian and the austere basque, the grave catalonian and the impetuous estremaduran left spain. where the descendants of the basque prevail, as in chili, the political organism is more stable, if less brilliant, than elsewhere, and a strong will-power shows itself in work and success. the castilians brought to america their arrogance, and the fruitless gestures of the hidalgo; where the andalusians are in the majority their agile fantasy, their gentle _non curanza_, militates against all serious or continuous effort. the descendants of the portuguese are far more practical than those of the spaniards; they are also more disciplined and more laborious. the psychological characteristics of the indian are just as various; the descendant of the quechuas does not resemble the descendant of the charruas, any more than the temperament of the araucanian resembles that of the aztec. in chili, uruguay, and the argentine, there were warlike populations whose union with the conquerors has formed virile half-castes, an energetic and laborious _plebs_. in chili araucanians and basques have intermingled; and is it not in this fusion that we must seek the explanation of the persistent character of the chilian nation, and its military spirit? the aymara of bolivia and the south-east of peru is hard and sanguinary; the quechua of the table-lands of the andes is gentle and servile. it is by no means a matter of indifference whether the modern citizen of the latin democracies is descended from a guarani, an aztec, an araucan, or a chibcha; he will, as the case may be, prove aggressive or passive, a nomadic shepherd or a quiet tiller of the common soil. the indian of the present time, undermined by alcohol and poverty, is free according to the law, but a serf by virtue of the permanance of authoritative manners. petty tyrannies make him a slave; he { } works for the _cacique_, the baron of american feudalism. the curé, the sub-prefect, and the judge, all-powerful in these young democracies, exploit him and despoil him of his possessions.[ ] the communities, very like the russian _mir_, are disappearing, and the indian is losing his traditional rights to the lands of the collectivity. without sufficient food, without hygiene, a distracted and laborious beast, he decays and perishes; to forget the misery of his daily lot he drinks, becomes an alcoholic, and his numerous progeny present the characteristics of degeneracy. he lives in the mountains or table-lands, where a glacial cold prevails and the solitude is eternal. nothing disturbs the monotony of these desolate stretches; nothing breaks the inflexible line of the limitless horizons; there the indian grows as melancholy and as desiccated as the desert that surrounds him. the great occasions of his civil life--birth, marriage, and death--are the subjects of a religious exploitation. servile and superstitious, he finally loves the tyrannies that oppress him. he adores the familiar gods of the cerros, of the mountain. he is at once a christian and a fetish-worshipper; he sees in mysterious nature demons and goblins, occult powers which are favourable and hostile by turn. there are, nevertheless, regions where despotism has developed in the indian a sort of passive resistance. there he is sober and vigorous, and by his complete adaptation to the maternal soil he has grown apathetic and a creature of routine. he hates all that might destroy his age-long traditions: schools, military training, and the authority that despoils him. conservative and melancholy, he lives on the border of the republic and its laws; his heart grows hot against the tyranny from which he forever suffers. dissimulation, servility, and melancholy are { } his leading traits; rancour, hardness, and hypocrisy are the forms of his defensive energy. he supports his slavery upon this cold earth, but he sometimes revolts against his exploiters; and at huanta and ayoayo he fought against his oppressors with true courage, sustained by hatred, as in the heroic times of _tupac-amaru_.[ ] after this bloody epic he resumed his monotonous existence under the heedless sky. in his songs he curses his birth and his destiny. in the evening he leaves the narrow valley where in his slavery he is employed in agricultural labours, to journey into the _cerros_ and mourn the abandonment of his household gods. a weird lamentation passes over the darkening earth, and from summit to summit the cordillera re-echoes the sorrowful and melodious plaint of the indian as he curses conquest and warfare. the negroes of angola or the congo have mingled equally with the spaniard and the indian. the african woman satisfied the ardour of the conquerors; she has darkened the skin of the race. the negroes arrived as slaves; sold _a usanza de feria_ (as beasts of burden), they were primitive creatures, impulsive and sensual. idle and servile, they have not contributed to the progress of the race. in the dwelling-houses of the colonial period they were domestics, acting as _pions_ to their masters' children; in the fields and the plantations of sugar-cane they were slaves, branded by the lash of the overseer. they form an illiterate population which exercises a depressing influence on the american imagination and character. they increase still further the voluptuous intensity of the tropical temper, weaken it, and infuse into the blood of the creole elements of { } idleness, recklessness, and servility which are becoming permanent. the three races--iberian, indian, and african--united by blood, form the population of south america. in the united states union with the aborigines is regarded by the colonist with repugnance; in the south miscegenation is a great national fact; it is universal. the chilian oligarchy has kept aloof from the araucanians, but even in that country unions between whites and indians abound. mestizos are the descendants of whites and indians; mulattos the children of spaniards and negroes; _zambos_ the sons of negroes and indians. besides these there are a multitude of social sub-divisions. on the pacific coast chinese and negroes have interbred. from the caucasian white, bronzed by the tropics, to the pure negro, we find an infinite variety in the cephalic index, in the colour of the skin, and in the stature. it is always the indian that prevails, and the latin democracies are mestizo or indigenous. the ruling class has adopted the costume, the usages, and the laws of europe, but the population which forms the national mass is quechua, aymara, or aztec. in peru, in bolivia, and in ecuador the indian of pure race, not having as yet mingled his blood with that of the spanish conquerors, constitutes the ethnic base. in the sierra the people speak quechua and aymara; there also the vanquished races preserve their traditional communism. of the total population of peru and ecuador the white element only attains to the feeble proportion of per cent., while the indian element represents per cent. of the population of these countries, and per cent. in bolivia. in mexico the indian is equally in the majority, and we may say that there are four indian nations on the continent: mexico, peru, ecuador, and bolivia. in countries where the pure native has not survived { } the mestizos abound; they form the population of colombia, chili, uruguay, and paraguay; in this latter country guarani is spoken much more frequently than spanish. the true american of the south is the mestizo, the descendant of spaniards and indians; but this new race, which is almost the rule from mexico to buenos-ayres, is not always a hybrid product. the warlike peoples, like those of paraguay and chili, are descended from spaniards, araucanians, and guaranis. energetic leaders have been found among the mestizos: paez in venezuela, castilla in peru, diaz in mexico, and santa-cruz in bolivia. an argentine anthropologist, señor ayarragaray, says that "the primary mestizo is inferior to his european progenitors, but at the same time he is often superior to his native ancestors." he is haughty, virile, and ambitious if his ancestors were charruas, guaranis, or araucanians; even the descendant of the peaceable quechuas is superior to the indian. he learns spanish, assimilates the manners of a new and superior civilisation, and forms the ruling caste at the bar and in politics. the mestizo, the product of a first crossing, is not otherwise a useful element of the political and economic unity of america; he retains too much the defects of the native; he is false and servile, and often incapable of effort. it is only after fresh unions with europeans that he manifests the full force of the characteristics obtained from the white. the heir of the colonising race and of the autocthonous race, both adapted to the same soil, he is extremely patriotic; americanism, a doctrine hostile to foreigners, is his work. he wishes to obtain power in order to usurp the privileges of the creole oligarchies. one may say that the admixture of the prevailing strains with black blood has been disastrous for these democracies. in applying john stuart mill's law { } of concomitant variations to the development of spanish america one may determine a necessary relation between the numerical proportion of negroes and the intensity of civilisation. wealth increases and internal order is greater in the argentine, uruguay, and chili, and it is precisely in these countries that the proportion of negroes has always been low; they have disappeared in the admixture of european races. in cuba, san domingo, and some of the republics of central america, and certain of the states of the brazilial confederation, where the children of slaves constitute the greater portion of the population, internal disorders are continual. a black republic, hayti, demonstrates by its revolutionary history the political incapacity of the negro race. the mulatto and the _zambo_ are the true american hybrids. d'orbigny believed the mestizo to be superior to the descendants of the africans imported as slaves; burmeister is of opinion that in the mulatto the characteristics of the negro are predominant. ayarragaray states that the children born of the union of negroes with _zambos_ or natives are in general inferior to their parents, as much in intelligence as in physical energy. the inferior elements of the races which unite are evidently combined in their offspring. it is observed also that both in the mulattos and the _zambos_ certain internal contradictions may be noted; their will is weak and uncertain, and is dominated by instinct and gross and violent passions. weakness of character corresponds with a turgid intelligence, incapable of profound analysis, or method, or general ideas, and a certain oratorical extravagance, a pompous rhetoric. the mulatto loves luxury and extravagance; he is servile, and lacks moral feeling. the invasion of negroes affected all the iberian colonies, where, to replace the outrageously exploited indian, african slaves were imported by the ingenuous evangelists { } of the time. in brazil, cuba, panama, venezuela, and peru this caste forms a high proportion of the total population. in brazil per cent. of the population is composed of negroes, without counting the immense number of mulattos and _zambos_. bahia is half an african city. in rio de janeiro the negroes of pure blood abound. in panama the full-blooded africans form per cent. of the population. between and , negroes entered brazil; between and cuba received , . these figures prove the formidable influence of the former slaves in modern america. but they are revenged for their enslavement in that their blood is mingled with that of their masters. incapable of order and self-government, they are a factor of anarchy; every species of vain outer show attracts them--sonorous phraseology and ostentation. they make a show of an official function, a university title, or an academic diploma. as the indian could not work in the tropics black immigration was directed principally upon those regions, and the enervating climate, the indiscipline of the mulatto, and the weakness of the white element have contributed to the decadence of the equatorial nations. the mulatto is more despised than the mestizo because he often shows the abjectness of the slave and the indecision of the hybrid; he is at once servile and arrogant, envious and ambitious. his violent desire to mount to a higher social rank, to acquire wealth, power, and display, is, as señor bunge very justly remarks, a "hyperæsthesia of arrivism." the _zambos_ have created nothing in america. on the other hand, the robust mestizo populations, the mamelucos of brazil, the cholos of peru and bolivia, the rotos of chili, descendants of spaniards and the guarani indians, are distinguished by their pride { } and virility. instability, apathy, degeneration--all the signs of exhausted race--are encountered far more frequently in the mulatto than in the mestizo. the european established in america becomes a creole; his is a new race, the final product of secular unions. he is neither indian, nor black, nor spaniard. the castes are confounded and have formed an american stock, in which we may distinguish the psychological traits of the indian and the negro, while the shades of skin and forms of skull reveal a remote intermixture. if all the races of the new world were finally to unite, the creole would be the real american. he is idle and brilliant. there is nothing excessive either in his ideals or his passions; all is mediocre, measured, harmonious. his fine and caustic irony chills his more exuberant enthusiasms; he triumphs by means of laughter. he loves grace, verbal elegance, quibbles even, and artistic form; great passions or desires do not move him. in religion he is sceptical, indifferent, and in politics he disputes in the byzantine manner. no one could discover in him a trace of his spanish forefather, stoical and adventurous. but is unity possible with such numerous castes? must we not wait for the work of many centuries before a clearly american population be formed? the admixture of indian, european, mestizo, and mulatto blood continues. how form a homogeneous race of these varieties? there will be a period of painful unrest: american revolutions reveal the disequilibrium of men and races. miscegenation often produces types devoid of all proportion, either physical or moral. the resistance of neo-americans to fatigue and disease is considerably diminished. in the seething retort of the future the elements of a novel synthesis combine and grow yet more complex. if the { } castes remain divided there will be no unity possible to oppose a probable invasion. "three conditions are necessary," says m. gustave le bon, "before races can achieve fusion and form a new race, more or less homogeneous. the first of these conditions is that the races subjected to the process of crossing must not be too inequal in number; the second, that they must not differ too greatly in character; the third, that they must be for a long time subjected to an identical environment." examining the mixed peoples of america in conformity with these principles we see that the indian and the negro are greatly superior to the whites in numbers; the pure european element does not amount to per cent. of the total population. in brazil and the argentine there are numbers of german and italian immigrants, but in other countries the necessary stream of invasion of superior races does not exist. we have indicated the profound differences which divide the bold spaniard from the negro slave; we have said that the servility of the indian race contrasts with the pride of the conquerors; that is to say, that the mixture of rival castes, iberians, indians, and negroes, has generally had disastrous consequences. perhaps we may except the fortunate combinations of mestizo blood in chili, southern brazil, mexico, colombia, peru, and bolivia. finally, the territory has not yet exercised a decisive influence upon the races in contact. the modern frenchman and anglo-saxon are born of the admixture of ancient races subjected for centuries to the influences of the soil. the great invasions which modified the traditional stock took place a thousand years ago; they explain the terrible struggles of the middle ages. the new american type has not so long a history. in short, none of the conditions established by the { } french psychologists are realised by the latin-american democracies, and their populations are therefore degenerate. the lower castes struggle successfully against the traditional rules: the order which formerly existed is followed by moral anarchy; solid conviction by a superficial scepticism, and the castilian tenacity by indecision. the black race is doing its work and the continent is returning to its primitive barbarism. this retrogression constitutes a very serious menace. in south america civilisation is dependent upon the numerical predominance of the victorious spaniard, on the triumph of the white man over the mulatto, the negro, and the indian. only a plentiful european immigration can re-establish the shattered equilibrium of the american races. in the argentine the cosmopolitan alluvium has destroyed the negro and mitigated the indian. a century ago there were per cent. of africans in buenos-ayres; the ancient slave has now disappeared, and mulattos are rare. in mexico, on the other hand, in the europeans formed a sixth part of the population; to-day they do not form more than a twentieth part. dr. karl pearson, in his celebrated book _national life and character_, writes: "in the long run the inferior civilisations give proof of a vigour greater than that of the superior civilisations; the disinherited gain upon the privileged castes, and the conquered people absorbs the conquering people." he declared further that brazil would quickly fall into the power of the negroes, and that while the indians would multiply and develop in the inaccessible regions of the north and the centre, the white peoples, crowded out by the progress of these races, would be numerous only in the cities and the more salubrious districts. this painful prophecy will be accomplished to the letter if, in the conflict of castes, { } the white population is not promptly reinforced by the arrival of new colonists. but crossing alone will not communicate the superior characteristics of the race to the mestizo in a lasting manner. "it is necessary that he should be the fruit of a union of the third, fourth, or fifth degree; that is, that there should have been as many successive crossings, with a father or a mother of the white race, before the mestizo can be in a condition to assimilate european culture," writes an argentine sociologist. for this vast process of selection to be realised to the profit of the white man not only must the races subjected to admixture exist in certain proportions, but the mass of europeans must prevail and impose their temper upon the future castes. in short, the problem of race depends upon the solution given to the demographic problem. without the help of a new population there will be in america not merely a lamentable exhaustion but also a prompt recoil of the race. the phrase of alberdi is still true: "in america to govern means to populate." the colonists brought with them the traditions and manners of the disciplined races, a moral organisation which was the work of centuries of common life. people of rural extraction, when they reached america, upheld the established interests, the government, the law, and the peace; they worked, fought, and laid up treasure. moreover, only the most enterprising of men emigrated, and they transmitted to the new democracies an element of vitality they had not before known. as early as the second generation the descendants of the foreign colonists were already argentines, brazilians, or peruvians; their patriotism was as ardent and devoted and exclusive as that of their fathers. they completely adopted the local manners. they had been transformed by the action of the american environment. { } basques or italians have already transformed the argentine. they arrive as artisans, or labourers, or clerks and traders; they form agricultural colonies and become landowners. they soon break their fetters; their sons become merchants, financial agents, or wealthy plutocrats. of , inhabitants there are italians and only argentines who own land. these latins are prolific; in , argentine women gave life to infants; , spanish women to , and , italian women to .[ ] these immigrants thus increase the national wealth and people the desert.[ ] moreover, their descendants figure in politics and letters. let us mention only a few argentine names remarkable on one count or another: groussac, magnasco, becher, bunge, ingegnieros, chiappori, banchs, and gerchunoff. [ ] the _indianista_ society in mexico and the _pro indigena_ in peru were founded for the protection and rehabilitation of the indians. [ ] the bolivian sociologist, a. argüedas, writes of the aymara indians: "they are hard, rancorous, egotistic, and cruel. the indian herdsmen have no ambition other than to increase the number of the heads of cattle which they pasture." [ ] v. gonnard, _l'emigration européenne au xixe siècle_, paris, , p. _et seq_. [ ] to understand the significance of immigration, it is enough to remark that there are in mexico inhabitants per square kilometre, in brazil . , in the argentine . , while there are in france, in germany, no in italy, in england, and in belgium. { } chapter iii the political problem the _caudillos_: their action--revolutions--divorce between written constitutions and political life--the future parties--the bureaucracy. the development of the ibero-american democracies differs considerably from the admirable spirit of their political charters. the latter include all the principles of government applied by the great european nations: the equilibrium of powers, natural rights, a liberal suffrage, and representative assemblies, but the reality contradicts the idealism of the statutes imported from europe. the traditions of the prevailing race, in fact, have created simple and barbarous systems of government. the _caudillo_ is the pivot of this political system: leader of a party, of a social group, or a family whose important relations make it powerful, he enforces his tyrannical will upon the multitude. in him resides the power of government and the law. on his permanent action depends the internal order of the state, its economic development, and the national organisation. his authority is inviolable, superior to the constitution and its laws. all the history of america, and the inheritance of the spaniard and the indian, has ended in the exaltation of the _caudillo_. government by _caciques_, absolute masters, like the _caudillos_ themselves, is very ancient in spain, as was shown by joaquin { } costa in his analysis of the foundations of spanish politics. in each province, in each city, was a central personage in whom justice and might were incarnated; admired by the crowd, obeyed by opinion, enforcing his manners and his ideas. the american indians obeyed _caciques_, and the first conquerors quickly saw that by winning over the local chiefs they would at the same time subject the native populations. the existence of the _caudillos_ may also be explained by territorial influences. it has been written that the desert is monotheistic; over its arid uniformity one imposing god reigns supreme. it is the same with the steppes, the _pampas_, and the table-lands of america; vast and monotonous tracts; paez and quiroga were divinities of such regions. no other force could limit their authority. contrasted with the uniform level of mankind which is the work of the plains, their firm chieftainship assumed divine attributes. american revolutions are like the moorish wars directed by mystic kaids. señor raphael salillas writes that in spain the _cacique_ is a hypertrophy of the political personage; he symbolises the excess of power and of the ambition of spanish individualism. in america the first _conquistadors_ quarrelled for the supreme authority. the civil wars of the conquest arose from conflicts between chiefs; none of them could conceive of power as real unless it was unlimited and despotic. after them the all-powerful viceroy, a demi-god in his powers, exercised a similar domination. the south american president, the heir to the traditions of the governors of the colonial epoch, also possesses the maximum of authority; the constitution confers upon him powers like those of the czars of russia. power for its own sake is the ideal of such men. the less important chieftains are satisfied by the government of a province; the great leader aspires { } to rule a republic. questions of personality are the prevailing characteristics of politics; and despotic rulers abound. when a "regenerator" usurps the supreme power a "restorer" appears to dispute it with him; then a "liberator," and finally a "defender of the constitution." the lesser gods fight to their hearts' content, and the democracy accepts the victor, in whom it admires the representative leader, the robust creation of the race. such a man is not like the character of ibsen's, who is strong in his isolation; in the _caudillo_ the average characteristics of the nation, its vices and its qualities, are better defined and more strongly accentuated; he obeys his instincts and certain fixed ideas; he conceives of no ideals; he is impressionable and fanatical. señor ayarragarray distinguishes two varieties of _caudillo_; the cunning and the violent. the latter was above all peculiar to the military period of ibero-american history. the leader of a band that ravaged like the huns, he ruled by terror and audacity, enforcing the discipline of the barracks in civil life. the _caudillo_ of the cunning type exercised a more prolonged moral dictatorship; he belongs to a period of transition between the military period and the industrial period. this new master retained the supreme power by lies and subterfuges. a half-civilised tyrant, he used wealth as others used force, and instead of brutally thrusting himself on the people he employed a system of tortuous corruption. the rule of the _caudillos_ led to presidential government. the constitutions established assemblies; but tradition triumphed in spite of these theoretical structures. since the colonial period centralisation and unity have been the american forms of government. in the person of the president of these democracies resides all the authority which usually devolves upon { } the public functionaries. he commands the army, multiplies the wheels of administration, and surrounds himself with doctors of law and prætorian soldiers. the assemblies obey him; he intervenes in the course of elections, and obtains the parliamentary majorities that he requires. the upper magistracy is sometimes indocile to the desires of the government, but in the life of the provinces the judges depend absolutely upon the political leaders. the supreme direction of the finances, the army, the fleet, and the administration in general rests with the president, as before the republican era it belonged to the viceroy. the parties fight among themselves, not only for power, but to obtain this omnipotent presidency. they realise that the chief of the executive is the effective agent of all political changes; that ministers and parliaments are only secondary factors in political life. an argentine sociologist, señor joaquin gonzalez, has said very justly that "each governmental period is characterised by the condition and the worth of the man who presides over it. this presidential system, in default of a solid and elevated political education, has in great measure favoured the return to the personal _régime_." to this system correspond the political groups without programmes; men do not struggle for the triumph of ideas, but for that of certain individuals. the consecrated terms lose their traditional meaning. there are civilists who uphold militarism; liberals who strive to increase the presidential authority; nationalists who favour cosmopolitanism; constitutionalists who violate the political charter. the personal system groups conservatives and liberals together. even in chili, where the activity of the parties has been unusually continuous, the older parties have split up into shapeless factions. the president establishes his despotic authority over the { } confusion of these rival groups; he tries to dissolve the small factions, to divide them, in order to rule them. without ideals or unity of action the parties are transformed into greedy cliques, which are distinguished by the colour of their favours. as in byzantium, so in venezuela, the blues struggle against the yellows, while in uruguay the whites oppose the reds, red being the distinctive colour of the argentine federalists. an aggressive intolerance divides these groups; they gather round their _gonfaloniere_ and their party symbol in irreducible factions. no common interest can reconcile them, not even that of their native country. each party supports a leader, an interest, a dogma; on the one side a man beholds his own party, the missionaries of truth and culture; the other are his enemies, mercenary and corrupt. each group believes that it seeks to retain the supremacy in the name of disinterested virtue and patriotism. rosas used to call his opponents "infamous savages." for the gang in possession of power, the revolutionaries are malefactors; for the latter the ruling party are merely a government of thieves and tyrants. there are gods of good and evil, as in the oriental theogonies. educated in the roman church, americans bring into politics the absolutism of religious dogmas; they have no conception of toleration. the dominant party prefers to annihilate its adversaries, to realise the complete unanimity of the nation; the hatred of one's opponents is the first duty of the prominent politician. the opposition can hardly pretend to fill a place of influence in the assemblies, or slowly to acquire power. it is only by violence that the parties can emerge from the condition of ostracism in which they are held by the faction in power, and it is by violence that they return to that condition. apart from the rule of the _caudillos_ the political lie is { } triumphant; the freedom of the suffrage is only a platonic promise inscribed in the constitution; the elections are the work of the government; there is no public opinion. journalism, almost always opportunist, merely reflects the indecision of the parties. political statutes and social conditions contradict each other; the former proclaim equality, and there are many races; there is universal suffrage, and the races are illiterate; liberty and despotic rulers enforce an arbitrary power. by means of the prefects and governors the president directs the elections, supports this or that candidate, and even chooses his successor. he is the supreme elector. the representative assemblies become veritable bureaucratic institutions; deputies and senators accept the orders of the president. according to señor l. a. de herrera, two castes are in process of formation, "on the one hand the oligarchies, which possess the supreme power in defiance of the public will, and on the other the citizens, who are deprived of all participation in the government." frequent revolutions and _pronunciamentos_, according to spanish tradition, disturb the ruling class in the exercise of power; these superficial movements cannot be compared to the great crises of european history, which result in the disappearance of a political system or bring about the advent of a new social class. they are merely the result of the perpetual conflict between the _caudillos_; the leaders and the oligarchies change, but the system, with its secular vices, remains. the south american revolutions may be regarded as a necessary form of political activity: in venezuela fifty-two important revolts have broken out within a century. the victorious party tries to destroy the other groups; revolution thus represents a political weapon to those parties which are deprived of the suffrage. it corresponds to the protests of european { } minorities, to the anarchical strikes of the proletariat, to the great public meetings of england, in which the opposing parties attack the government. it is to the excessive simplicity of the political system, in which opinion has no other means of expression than the tyranny of oligarchies on the one hand and the rebellion of the vanquished on the other, that the interminable and sanguinary conflicts of spanish america are due. these internal wars continually retard the economic development of the state and decrease its stability; they ruin the foreign credit of the republics, prepare the way for humiliating interventions, and give rise to tyrannies; but it must not be forgotten that revolution, in these democracies without law and without real suffrage, has often been the only means of defending liberty. against the tyrants even conservative spirits have revolted, and rebellion has become reaction. for the rest, the civil wars have lost their former character. they used to symbolise the return to primeval chaos; vagabond multitudes, armed bands, desolated the fields and burned the towns. assassination, theft, the devastation of property and estates, war without mercy, fire, and all the powers of destruction were in revolt against the feeble foundations of nationality. as by the inverse selection of the spanish inquisition, the most intelligent and the most cultivated perished. brutal horsemen occupied the cities in which spanish civilisation had attained its apogee. sarmiento has described the assault on the nomad wagons which bore the national _penates_ across the argentine _pampas_ in a sort of tartar odyssey amid the infinite desolation of the plains. even when the social classes were organised and the economic interests defined the rivality of the leaders continued, and politics remained personal. however, civil war is already no longer the brutal onset of men with neither { } law nor faith, no longer an irruption of outlaws. the drama has replaced the epic; the conflict of passions and interests succeeds to the battles of semi-divine personages, proud of their tragic mission. men buy votes; electoral committees falsify the suffrage, as in the united states, by force of money. thus the plutocracy conquers the benches of congress. if the continent spontaneously creates dictators then is all the ambitious structure of american politics--parliaments, ministers, and municipalities--merely a delusive invention? in some states in which the economic life is intense, as in the argentine, chili, brazil, and uruguay, benevolent despotism does not mark the high-water limit of national development; there new parties are forming themselves, and the _caudillos_ will soon disappear. dr. ingegnieros foresees the creation in the argentine of new political groups, with financial tendencies. the rural class which rules in the provinces and possesses the great mass of the national wealth, which is derived from stock-raising and agriculture, and the commercial and industrial middle-class of the cities, will form, like the tories and whigs in england, the two parties of the future. once the secondary parties have disappeared, the two great political organisations will prevail alone. this transformation of the old groups is logical. in the colonial period the conflict for the possession of power took place within the narrow limits of public life; the spaniards were in the majority in the _audiencas_, the courts, and the creoles in the _cabildos_, the municipalities. the former upheld religious intolerance, economic monopoly, and the exclusive and universal empire of the metropolis; the latter endeavoured to obtain economic and political equality, the abolition of privileges, and a national government. after the revolution these divisions grew more { } complex; federalism and unity, religious quarrels, and sometimes the mutual hostility of the different castes, divided men into shifting groups. politics became the warfare of irreducible clans. in the organised nations of the south the dissensions gradually lost their importance, and a general indifference succeeded to the old theological hatreds. federals and municipalists were still fighting, but the original bitterness of their antagonism was dead. on the other hand, the castes were progressively becoming confounded by intermarriage. however, the economic factors persisted, and their importance has increased as towns and industries have developed. financial questions will in future divide the citizens of those democracies which have become plainly industrial; the agrarians will oppose the manufacturers and the free-traders the protectionists. like the republicans and democrats of the united states, certain groups will favour imperialism and others neutrality. the group which would stimulate yankee or german influence will be opposed by another, the partisan of italian or french activity. already in cuba there are some who favour annexation by the united states, while others demand complete autonomy. some politicians would agree to immigration without reserve or restriction, while others, the nationalists, would defend the integrity of their inheritance against foreign invasion. america, like modern france, will have its _métèques_; they will be the europeans, the yankees, and the yellow races. apart from the southern nations there has as yet been no formation of classes or social interests. none of the problems which agitate europe--extension of the suffrage, proportional representation, municipal autonomy--have any immediate importance among them. the state is the necessary guardian, a kind of social providence whence derive riches, strength, { } and progress. to weaken this influence would be to encourage internal disorder; only those constitutions have been of use in america which have reinforced the central power against the attacks of a perpetual anarchy. the progress of these democracies is the work of foreign capital, and when political anarchy prevails credit collapses. governments which ensure peace and paternal tyrants are therefore preferable to demagogues. a young venezuelan critic, señor machado hernandez, having studied the history of his country, rent as it has been by revolutions, considers that the best form of government for america is that which reinforces the attributions of the executive and establishes a dictatorship. in place of the swiss referendum and the federal organisation of the united states autocracy is, it seems to us, the only practical practical means of government. to increase the duration of the presidency in order to avoid the too frequent conflicts of parties; to simplify the political machine, which transforms the increasingly numerous parliaments into mere bureaucratic institutions; to prolong the mandate of senators and deputies, so that the life of the people shall not be disturbed by continual elections; in short, to surrender the ingenuous dogmas of the political statutes in favour of concrete reforms: such would appear to be the ideal which in tropical america--in mexico, peru, and bolivia--would arrest the destructive action of revolutions. it is obvious that a president furnished with a strong authority may quickly become a tyrant, but in these nations is not political power always a semi-dictatorship which is tolerated? the head of the state governs for four years according to the term of the constitution, but his action is continued by his successor. the real duration of his political action is twenty years. { } if a tutelary president is necessary it is none the less essential to oppose his autocracy by a moderative power which would recall, in its constitution, the life-senate of bolivar. one may even conceive of a senate which would represent the real national interests: a stable body, the union of all the forces of social conservation; a serene assembly untroubled by democratic cravings, in which the clergy, the universities, commerce, the industries, the army, the marine, and the judiciary, might defend the constitution and tradition against the assaults of demagogy, against too audacious reformers. garcia-moreno wished to see the mandate of the senators extended to a term of twelve years. the quality of the legislative chambers is ineffective in america. in fact, both being elected by the popular vote, and having like electoral majorities, the lower chamber always gets its way with the senate, which represents neither interests nor traditions. there is in reality one uniform assembly artificially divided into two independent bodies. the whole is dominated, there being no conservative institutions as a useful corrective, by the anonymous or jacobin will of the multitude, which is moved by all sorts of divided interests: the craving for power, provincial pride, and a passion for cabal and intrigue. a factor of american politics which is as serious as the periodical revolutions is the development of the bureaucracy. in the still simple life of the nation the organs of the public administration are complicated in the most exaggerated manner. the budget supports a sterile class recruited principally among the creoles, who prefer the security of officialism to the conquest of the soil. energy and hope diminish with the almost infinite increase of the "budgetivores." foreigners monopolise trade and industry, and { } thus acquire property in the soil which has been inherited by a race of americans without energy. a north american observer[ ] writes that the great fortunes of the argentines of american extraction have been made by the ever-increasing value of real estate, and are due to the natural development of the country rather than to their own initiative or enterprise. but the south americans are on the way to waste these fortunes, and the fortunate colonists from spain and italy are gradually replacing them in the social hierarchy. according to a mexican statesman, señor justo sierra, the government in south america is an administration of employés, protected by other employés, the army. these nations, which are being invaded by active immigrants, are thus directed by a group of mandarins, and if the young men of these countries are not encouraged in commercial and industrial vocations by a practical education the enriched colonists will expel the creole from his ancient position. a few writers defend the bureaucracy as the refuge, in the face of the cosmopolitan invasion, of the choice spirits of the nation: writers, artists, and politicians. "if foreigners dispose of the material fortune of the country," says a distinguished young observer, señor manuel galvez, "it is just that we others, argentines, should dispose of its intellectual fortune." a noble idealism, satisfied by an unreal wealth! but from the point of view of the national life this lack of equilibrium is disturbing. in face of the progress of the victorious foreigners who are making themselves masters of the soil, to shut oneself up in a tower of ivory would be the most complete of renunciations. in the organisation of the america of the future we must not forget the suggestions of caliban. { } among the innumerable bureaucrats who devour the budgets there will not always be writers worthy of official protection; they will rather be recruited among an indolent youth, restive under any sustained effort. the encouragement of "choice spirits" must not be confounded with the unjustifiable maintenance of a legion of parasites. the _caudillo_ multiplies functions in order to reward his friends; nepotism prevails in the world of politics. the great political transformations of the future will be due to the development of the common wealth; new parties will appear and the bureaucracy will have to be considerably diminished. [ ] cited by j. v. gonzalez in _la nación_, buenos-ayres, may , . { } chapter iv the economic problem loans--budgets--paper money--the formation of national capital. unexploited wealth abounds in america. forests of rubber, as in the african congo; mines of gold and diamonds, which recall the treasures of the transvaal and the klondyke; rivers which flow over beds of auriferous sand, like the pactolus of ancient legend; coffee, cocoa, and wheat, whose abundance is such that these products are enough to glut the markets of the world. but there is no national capital. this contrast between the wealth of the soil and the poverty of the state gives rise to serious economic problems. by means of long-sustained efforts, an active race would have won financial independence. the latin-americans, idle, and accustomed to leave everything to the initiative of the state, have been unable to effect the conquest of the soil, and it is foreign capital that exploits the treasure of america. since the very beginnings of independence the latin democracies, lacking financial reserves, have had need of european gold. the government of spain used to seize upon the wealth of her colonies to satisfy the needs of a prodigal court, and to prevent its own bankruptcy. the independence of america was won with the aid of english money, hence the first of the necessary loans. canning encouraged the south american revolutionaries, and the english { } bankers gave their support to their plans, in the shape of loans to the new governments. colombian, argentine, and peruvian agents solicited heavy loans in the city of london, without which assistance the spanish power could never have been defeated. the republican _régime_ thus commenced its career by assuming imperious financial responsibilities. before commencing to practise a policy of fiscal economy, it was necessary to accept the conclusion of the most urgent loans, but once the european markets were open the financial orgy commenced. in señor zea concluded the first colombian loan; in the government of that country declared that it could not ensure the service of the debt. the necessities of the war with spain and the always difficult task of building up a new society demanded the assistance of foreign gold; loans accumulated, and very soon various states were obliged to solicit the simultaneous reduction of the capital borrowed and the rate of interest paid. the lamentable history of these bankrupt democracies dates from this period. little by little these financial contracts lost all semblance of serious business. in the impossibility of obtaining really solid guarantees the bankers imposed preposterous conditions, and issue at a discount became the rule with the new conventions. a series of interventions in buenos-ayres, mexico, san domingo, and venezuela, diplomatic conflicts, and claims for indemnity resulted from this precarious procedure. moreover, thanks to the protection accorded by their respective countries, foreigners acquired a privileged position. the americans were subjected to the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts, before which they could demand the payment of their claims on the state; foreigners enjoyed exceptional treatment. a statute was enacted in their favour, and their governments supported them in the { } recovery of unjustifiable claims. sir charles wyke, english minister to mexico, wrote to the foreign office in : "nineteen out of twenty foreigners who reside in this unfortunate country have some claim against the government in one way or another. many of these claims are really based on the denial of real justice, while others have been fabricated throughout, as a good speculation, which would enable the claimant to obtain money for some imaginary wrong; for example, three days' imprisonment which was intentionally provoked with the object of formulating a claim which might be pushed to an exorbitant figure."[ ] in face of the string of debts which arose from the loans themselves, or from claims for damages suffered during the civil wars, the governments could only succumb. the immorality of the fiscal agents and the greed of the foreigner will explain these continual bankruptcies, which constitute the financial history of america. the descendants of the prodigal spanish conquerors, who knew nothing of labour or thrift, have incessantly resorted to fresh loans in order to fill the gaps in their budgets. politicians knew of only one solution of the economic disorder--to borrow, so that little by little the latin-american countries became actually the financial colonies of europe. economic dependence has a necessary corollary--political servitude. french intervention in mexico was originally caused by the mass of unsatisfied financial claims; foreigners, the creditors of the state, were in favour of intervention. england and france, who began by seeking to ensure the recovery of certain debts, finally forced a monarch upon the debitor nation. the united states entertained the ambition of becoming the sole creditor of the american peoples: this remarkable privilege would { } have assured them of an incontestable hegemony over the whole continent. in the history of latin america loans symbolise political disorder, lack of foresight, and waste; it is thanks to loans that revolutions are carried out, and it is by loans that the _caudillos_ have enriched themselves. old debts are liquidated by means of new, and budgetary deficits are balanced by means of foreign gold. when the poverty caused by political disorder becomes too great the american governments clamour feverishly in the markets of europe for the hypothecation of the public revenues, and the issue of fresh funds, offering to pay a high interest, and recognising the rights of suspended creditors. on the one hand the budget is loaded to create new employments in order to assuage the national appetite for sinecures, while the protective tariffs are raised to enrich the state. thus the forces of production disappear, life becomes dearer, and poverty can only increase. america has until lately known little of productive loans intended for use in the construction of railways, irrigation works, harbours, or for the organisation of colonies of immigrants. the product of the customs and other fiscal dues is not enough to stimulate the material progress of a nation. so application is made to the bankers of london or paris; but it is the very excess of these loan operations and the bad employment of the funds obtained that impoverishes the continent. the excessive number of administrative sinecures, the greed of the leaders, the vanity of governments, all call for gold; and when the normal revenues are not sufficient to enrich these hungry oligarchies, a loan which may involve the very future of the country appears to all to be the natural remedy. the budgets of various states complicate still further a situation already difficult. they increase beyond all measure, without the slightest relation to { } the progress made by the nation. they are based upon taxes which are one of the causes of the national impoverishment, or upon a protectionist tariff which adds greatly to the cost of life. the politicians, thinking chiefly of appearances, neglect the development of the national resources for the immediate augmentation of the fiscal revenues; thanks to fresh taxes, the budgets increase. these resources are not employed in furthering profitable undertakings, such as building railroads or highways, or increasing the navigability of the rivers. the bureaucracy is increased in a like proportion, and the budgets, swelled in order to dupe the outside world, serve only to support a nest of parasites. in the economic life of these countries the state is a kind of beneficent providence which creates and preserves the fortune of individual persons, increases the common poverty by taxation, display, useless enterprises, the upkeep of military and civil officials, and the waste of money borrowed abroad; such is the "alimentary politics" of which le play speaks. the government is the public treasury; by the government all citizens live, directly or indirectly, and the foreigner profits by exploiting the national wealth. a centralising power, the state forces a golden livery upon this bureaucratic mob of magistrates and deputies, political masters and teachers. to sum up, the new continent, politically free, is economically a vassal. this dependence is inevitable; without european capital there would have been no railways, no ports, and no stable government in america. but the disorder which prevails in the finances of the country changes into a real servitude what might otherwise have been a beneficial relation. by the accumulation of loans frequent crises are provoked, and frequent occasions of foreign intervention. a policy of thrift would have led to the establishment of economic equilibrium. foreign gold has { } poured in continually, not only in the form of loans but in the shape of material works--railways, ports, industries, and industrial undertakings. it is in this way that english capital has accumulated in the argentine, uruguay, brazil, and chili, where it has become a prominent factor in the industrial development of the country. in the argentine it amounts to millions, in brazil to millions, in chili to millions, and in uruguay to millions of pounds sterling. new problems arise from the relation between the size of the population and the amount of the capital imported. the increase of alien wealth in nations which are not fertilised by powerful currents of immigration constitutes a real danger. to pay the incessantly increasing interest of the wealth borrowed, fresh sources of production and a constant increase of economic exchanges are necessary; in a word, a greater density of population. the exhaustion of the human stock in the debitor nations creates a very serious lack of financial equilibrium, which may result, not only in bankruptcy but also in the loss of political independence by annexation. the solution of the financial problem depends, then, upon the solution of the problem of population. immigrants will solve it by increasing the number of productive units, by accumulating their savings, by irresistible efforts which lay the foundations of solid fortunes. it is true that the wealth which they will create will also be of foreign origin, but in the second or third generation the descendants of the enriched colonists will become true citizens of the country in which their fathers have established themselves. they will have forgotten their country of origin, and will mingle with the old families which conserve the national traditions. the ideal of peoples whose economic condition is dependence is naturally autonomy; without it all { } liberty is precarious. a considerable stream of exports flows from america to europe to pay for imports and the interest on foreign capital. only this large exportation of products, as in the case of the argentine, mexico, and brazil, can maintain a favourable commercial balance. the argentine economist alberto martinez has demonstrated that as in his country there is neither an economic reserve nor a national capital, the diminution of exports causes serious financial disturbances; exchange is unstable, the rate rises, trade falls off, and credit is suspended. in other countries the economic system is instability itself. it depends almost entirely on two or three agricultural products--coffee, cane-sugar, and rubber--and the incessant fluctuations in the prices of these products, which constitute the wealth of the country. one does not observe the regularity of the exports of the argentine and brazil, nor any important industrial development. to remedy the lack of equilibrium in the budget and to pay the interest on the foreign debt, the state, the guardian of the public fortune, once more resorts to loans. the creation of a national capital is thus an urgent necessity for these prodigal democracies. by stimulating the development of agriculture, by creating or protecting industry, by diminishing the budgetary charges by the reduction of useless bureaucratic employments and sumptuary expenses, the latin-american governments could gradually establish the necessary reserves. on the other hand, fiscal agreements, commercial treaties, and railways must contribute to the solidarity of these nations among themselves. europe has invested vast sums of capital in america; she sends thither large quantities of the products of her industries, but there are peoples more favoured than others by this invasion of capital. it should be possible by a series of practical conventions to lay the foundations { } of a _zollverein_. the dependence of certain republics as compared with others should tend to make them commercially independent of europe. already a number of industries are being developed in america; in brazil their yield attains the annual value of million pounds; in the imports were diminished by million pounds in consequence of this new economic factor. it may be supposed that in the still distant future the agricultural peoples of america will buy the products of their industrial neighbours, the argentine, brazil, and uruguay. the unification of the monetary system will still further facilitate the development of this inter-state commerce, this trade between zones almost exclusively agricultural, and other regions both agricultural and industrial; thus closer economic relations will be the basis of a lasting political understanding. no american republic has yet reached the term of its economic development. we may distinguish three periods in the evolution of the nations towards autonomy; during the first their dependence is absolute, in respect of ideas as much as of men and capital; such is the present situation of the majority of the latin democracies. during the second period agriculture suffices for the national necessities and industry develops; the argentine, brazil, and mexico are already in this state of partial liberty. finally, the period of agricultural and industrial exportation commences, and the intellectual influence of the country makes itself felt beyond the frontiers. after france and england, germany and the united states reached this glorious phase. neither mexico nor the argentine nor brazil is as yet flooding the world with its industrial products nor affecting it by its original intellectual activities; there is no culture or philosophy that we can properly term argentine or chilian. europe is tributary to the argentine for her wheat and meats, { } and to brazil for her coffee, but ideas and machines come from paris, london, and new york. m. limantour, who tried to save the mexican railways from the yankee capitalists, and the argentine economists, who endeavoured to convert the foreign into a national debt, are preparing the way for the future reign of financial liberty; but this transformation depends on the increase of public or private wealth and the activity of immigrants, who in hospitable america soon become landed proprietors or merchants. in the country districts, as in the cities, which are every day more numerous, the common wealth and the fiscal revenues are increasing, owing to the efforts of industrious men. not only are foreign industrial undertakings being founded, but national institutions also, fed by national capital. when the necessary loans can be subscribed in the country itself, when railways and ports are constructed with state or private capital, or with the financial aid of other south american governments; when american multi-millionaires (there are already plenty of them in the argentine) have effected the nationalisation of the public works now in the hands of foreigners, then the economic ideal of these democracies will be realised. latin america may already be considered as independent from the agricultural point of view; it possesses riches which are peculiar to it: coffee to brazil, wheat to the argentine, sugar to peru, fruits and rubber to the tropics. its productive capacity is considerable. it may rule the markets of the world. the systematic exploitation of its mines will reveal treasures which are not even suspected. we may say, then, that even without great industries the american continent, independent in the agricultural domain, and an exporter of precious metals, may win a doubtless precarious economic liberty. [ ] cited by f. bulnes, _el verdadero juarez_, paris, , p. . { } conclusion america and the future of the latin peoples the panama canal and the two americas--the future conflicts between slavs, germans, anglo-saxons, and latins--the role of latin america. a new route offered to human commerce transforms the politics of the world. the suez canal opened the legendary east to europe, directed the stream of european emigration towards australia, and favoured the formation, in south africa, of an anglo-saxon confederation. the panama canal is destined to produce profound perturbations in the equilibrium of the nations of the new world. humboldt announced these changes in :[ ] "the products of china will be brought more than , miles nearer europe and the united states; great changes will take place in the political condition of eastern asia, because this tongue of earth (panama) has for centuries been the rampart of the independence of china and japan." the atlantic is to-day the ocean of the civilised world. the opening of the canal will thus displace the political axis of the world. the pacific, an ocean separated from the civilising currents of europe, will receive directly from the old world the wealth and products of its labour and its emigrants. until the present time the united states { } and japan have shared in its rule as a _mare clausum_, and they are disputing the supremacy in asia and western america. once the isthmus is pierced, new commercial peoples may invade with their victorious industries the enchanted lands of asia and the distant republics of south america. new york will be nearer to callao, but the distance between hamburg and havre and the peruvian coast will be equally diminished. it has been calculated that by the new route the voyage between liverpool and the great ports of the pacific will be reduced by , to , miles, according to the respective positions of the latter, and the distance between new york and the same centres of commercial activity will be diminished by , to , miles. german, french, and english navigation companies will run a service of modern vessels direct to the great ports of chili and china. the paths of the world's trade will be changed; panama will form the gate of civilisation to eastern asia and western america, as suez is to central asia, eastern africa, and oceania. the atlantic will become the ocean of the old world. the trade of the new era must undergo unexpected transformations. the influence of europe in china and western america will be considerably increased. germany should become the rival of the united states in the commercial supremacy in the east and in the republics of latin america. her vessels, messengers of imperialism, which now make long voyages through the straits of magellan to reach valparaiso and callao, will then employ the canal route. the vessels of japan will bear to europe, as formerly did the phoenician navigators, the products of the exotic orient; new york will dethrone antwerp, hamburg, and liverpool; the english will lose their historic position as intermediaries between europe and asia. the united states, masters of { } the canal, will create in new york a great fair in which the merchandise of east and west will be accumulated: the treasures of asia, the gold of europe, and the products of their own overgrown industries. they will thus have won an economic hegemony over the pacific, south america, and china, where they will be at least privileged competitors in the struggle between england and germany. between new york and hong kong, new york and yokohama, and new york and melbourne new commercial relations will be established. in approaching new york the east will recede from liverpool and the ports of europe, and the panama route will favour the industries of the united states in asia and oceania. it may already be foreseen that the united states will be terrible competitors in australia, and above all in new zealand, where they will drive the english merchants from the markets. it is difficult to write, like tarde, a "fragment of future history"; too many unknown forces intervene in the historical drama of the peoples. but no doubt, unless some extraordinary event occurs to disturb the evolution of the modern peoples, the great nations of industrial europe and japan, the champion of asiatic integrity, will oppose the formidable progress of the united states. the canal sets a frontier to yankee ambition; it is the southern line, the "south coast line" of which a north american politician, jefferson, used to dream. as early as he believed that cuba and canada would become incorporated, as states of the union, in the immense confederation; anticipating the rude lyrics of walt whitman, he dreamed of founding "an empire of liberty so vast that the like has never been seen." heirs to the anglo-saxon genius, the americans of the north wish to form a democratic federation. they have succeeded in doing in cuba what japan { } has done in korea: first, the struggle for autonomy, then the necessary intervention, then a protectorate, and perhaps annexation. thus the prophecy of jefferson will be realised. between canada, an autonomous colony, and the united states, there are common economic interests, and commercial treaties have created such a plexus of interests that the evolution from these practical alliances to political union would seem to be a simple matter. the disintegration of the anglo-saxon empire will be the work of the united states. american activities in canada are steadily increasing; the yankee capital employed in various canadian industries amounts to £ , , . trade is increasing, and by virtue of new conventions the united states will be even better situated than ever to dispute the canadian markets with england. in this free colony there is a far west which the states have peopled. the east is anglo-saxon, industrial, aristocratic; the west, barbarian and agrarian, desires union with the neighbouring democracy. münsterberg reports that a boston journal prints every day, in large letters, on the first page, that the first duty of the united states is the annexation of canada. the friendship of england, and the moral harmony of the english-speaking world, will perhaps check the progress of american imperialism northward; but the capital which develops and exploits the west of canada is a competitor which cannot be resisted. moreover, such men as goldwin smith, a moral authority in canada, counsel union with the great republican neighbour. free trade, which the english radicals wish to maintain, relaxes the economic ties which might ensure the duration of the british empire, and prevents the formation of a _zollverein_, of that fiscal union between great britain and her colonies which was the great project of chamberlain. it is to guarantee commercial and economic { } interests that canada is approaching the united states and withdrawing from england. mexico, where £ , , of american capital is invested; panama, a republic subjected to the protectorate of the anglo-saxon north; the canal zone, which the yankees have acquired as a remote southern possession; the antilles, which they are gradually absorbing; central america, where ever turbulent republics tolerate pacificatory intervention; and canada, rich and autonomous, form, for the statesmen of washington and the yellow press, a great and desirable empire. in two centuries the small puritan colonies of the atlantic seaboard will perhaps have come to govern the continent from the pole to the tropics; and will create, with the aid of all the races of mankind, a new anglo-saxon humanity, industrial and democratic. thus the roman republic, from her narrow home between the apennines, governed the world, as did great britain, peopled by a tenacious race, the sea. to check the advance of the united states the south will lack a political force of the same weight. the conflict between the united americans of the north and the divided inhabitants of the south will necessarily terminate fatally for the latin new world. the pacific will be the theatre of racial wars and vast and transforming emigrations. once the canal is open it is extremely probable that european emigrants will descend in large numbers upon the seaboard of western america. brazil and the argentine attract the modern adventurer; their eldorado is in the argentine plains or the forests of brazil. venezuela, invaded by emigrants of germanic race, will be born again; a dense population will fill her valleys, and caracas will become a great latin city. but in colombia, peru, ecuador, and bolivia, there is a great lack of centres of civilisation in the { } interior, and the sierra is largely wild and unpeopled; all progress is in the small towns of the coast, set amidst the aridity of the desert. chinese and japanese, who are content with low wages, are crushing the european worker by their competition. japanese colonies will people the american west from panama to chili, and in these new countries the fusion of japanese and indian blood is by no means impossible. there will always be two distinct regions in south america, separated by the andes and divided by the tropics. the atlantic region will retain its liberty, and increase in wealth and in power. it is possible that the south of brazil will become german, but the argentine, chili, uruguay, and the great brazilian states will defend the latin heritage and european tradition. to the north and the west depopulated and divided nations will struggle against an invasion of peoples of similar races coming from the east and against a conquering people from the north. thanks to the protection of japan, they may be able to free themselves from the tutelage of the united states, or they may be able to hold off the subjects of the mikado by submitting to the influence of north america. only the federation of all the latin republics under the pressure of europe--that is to say, of england, france, and italy, who have important markets in america--might save the nations of the pacific, just as a century ago great britain was able to defend the autonomy of these peoples against the mystic projects of the holy alliance. the monroe doctrine, which prohibits the intervention of europe in the affairs of america and angers the german imperialists, the professors of external expansion, like münsterberg, may become obsolete. if germany or japan were to defeat the united states, this tutelary doctrine would be only a melancholy memory. latin america would emerge { } from the isolation imposed upon it by the yankee nation, and would form part of the european concert, the combination of political forces--alliances and understandings--which is the basis of the modern equilibrium. it would become united by political ties to the nations which enrich it with their capital and buy its products. japan has not lost her originality as an asiatic nation, because she is united to england by a treaty which assures the _status quo_ in the east. the latin republics will not renounce their character as american nations because they may conclude understandings with the nations of the west. already there are commercial treaties between these nations and europe, as well as a harmony of economic and intellectual interests. brazil and the argentine, where british money and french ideals prevail, might themselves unite to form a vast combination of alliances with the group of european nations which conquered, civilised, and enriched america: that is, spain, france, and england. will not a community of interests in america give a new strength to the union of these peoples in europe? great political changes would result from these new influences: the american latins, by entering into the combinations of european politics, would divide italy, whose interests in the argentine and brazil are so great, from the triple alliance, and would strengthen the understanding between england and france against germany, which disputes with them not only the hegemony of europe but also the preponderance in america. canning, who opposed the designs of the holy alliance, used to say a century ago that he had given the new world liberty in order to restore equilibrium to the old world. against the theocratic peoples who were seeking to overshadow the destinies of the earth he evoked the apparition of these free democracies destined to { } establish the benefits of liberty on a firm footing. his hope was premature, because it was hardly possible for perfect republics to rise from the ruins of spanish absolutism. even to-day, after a century of attempts at constitutional government, only a few latin american states--the argentine, brazil, chili, peru, and bolivia--seem capable of fulfilling the desires of canning. these peoples would contribute to the defence of the latin ideal. but is not this an excessive ambition for nations still semi-barbarous? the old races of the west contemplate their impetuous advance with much the same distrust as that which rome experienced as she watched the turbulent migrations of goths and germans. and even if the latin race could check its irremediable decadence by the aid of the wealth and youth of these american peoples, would it really be profitable to oppose the triumph of the anglo-saxons and the slavs for the sake of saving a fallen caste? seventy years ago tocqueville visited the united states and divined their future greatness. to-day m. clemenceau, a politician and a great admirer of the north american republic, praises the latin vigour, as he sees it in buenos-ayres, uruguay, and rio de janeiro. the yankee republic has realised the prophecies of the former critic, and it would not be strange if the southern democracies of america were to confirm the optimism of the latter. a new energy, undeniable material progress, and a fertile creative faith announce the advent, in the new continent, if not of the eldorado of which the hungry emigrant dreams, at least of wealthy nations, rich in industry and agriculture; the advent of a world in which the glorious age of the exhausted latin world may renew itself, as in the classic fountain. when emerson visited england fifty years ago he declared that the heart of the britannic race was in the united states, and that { } the "mother island," exhausted, would some day, like many parents, be satisfied with the vigour which she had bestowed upon her own children.[ ] in speaking of spain and portugal, might not argentines, brazilians, and chilians employ the same proud language? the decadence of the latins, which seems obvious to the sociologist, may really be only a long period of abeyance. the adventures in which such an exuberant force of heroism was expended might well result in a reaction, a weariness after creation. at the beginning of the modern period, in the sixteenth century, the english, undisciplined adventurers, were hostile to the regularity and monotony of industrial life; in the nineteenth century they built an empire, organised a powerful industrialism, and became slow and methodical; and in dr. karl pearson was uneasy as to "the decadence of british energy which is revealed by the adoption of state socialism and by the poverty of mechanical invention."[ ] in the future the latins may regain their old virility. the _ricorsi_ which vico saw in history cause certain peoples to recover the pre-eminence they have lost, while others, prosperous nations, fall back into decadence; no privilege is eternal, no reaction is irremediable and inevitable. "multa renascentur quæ jam cecidere, cadentque quæ nunc sunt in honore...." the imperial policy of charles v. and philip ii., the conquest of a continent by the spaniards, portuguese, and french, the glorious festival of the renaissance, the triumph of lepanto, the splendid empire of venice, the political activity of richelieu, { } the great century of french classicism, the revolution which proclaimed the rights of man, and the napoleonic epic, the liberation of spanish america: this is the hymn of glory of the latin race. to-day belgium, italy, and the argentine give signs of a renaissance of that race, which men have supposed to be exhausted. heirs of the latin spirit in the moral, religious, and political domain, the ibero-american peoples are seeking to conserve their glorious heritage. the idea of race, in the sense of traditions and culture, is predominant in modern politics. flourishing on every hand, we see pan-slavism, pan-islamism, pan-asianism, pan-germanism, pan-latinism--barbarous words which give an indication as to the struggles of the future. the slavs of dalmatia, germany, servia, and bosnia would reconstitute, with the fragments of many divided nations, a state which would also be a race. islam unites divers peoples by the ardour of a new fanaticism, under the inspiration of popular khalifs or marabouts, from soudan to fez, from bombay to stamboul. vast unions of scattered peoples are thus springing into formation, in the name of a religion or a common origin. slavs, saxons, latins, and mongols are contending for the possession of the world. it is thus that the drama of history becomes simplified; above the quarrels of precarious nations are rising the profound antagonisms of millennial races. onésime reclus, in an excellent volume, the _partage du monde_, has gone into the respective positions of each of these powerful groups. the conclusions of his analysis are full of hope; in spite of the saxons and slavs the latins still hold vast territories, which they must people. their geographical position, despite anglo-saxon imperialism and the immense surface of all the russias of europe and asia, is certainly not inferior. { } there are a hundred million slavs scattered over an immense asiatic and european territory, which stretches from vladivostock to the baltic sea; two and a half milliards of hectares are waiting for the children of this prodigious race. by uniting the peoples of norway, sweden, denmark, belgium, holland, and switzerland to the germans of austria, the german race, whether it propagates the gospel of pan-germanism by commercial penetration or by violence, possesses about million hectares for millions of men. the anglo-saxons, the natural enemies of german expansion, the rivals of the _deutschtum_ in asia, africa, and america, rule an almost unlimited area of milliards of hectares; india, canada, the united states, south africa, egypt, australia, conquered territories and kingdoms held in tutelage, peoples of all faiths and all races. more than millions of anglo-saxons people this "greater britain" without including india, which is not assimilable. the territory occupied by the latin peoples in europe, america, and africa is . million hectares, inhabited by millions of men; the number of latins is thus not really inferior to that of the anglo-saxons, nor are the territories open to latin expansion inferior to those reserved for the rival race. with the french colonies in asia they amount to milliards of hectares. here we have a latin superiority; by the extent of their territories and their numbers the latins outnumber the slavs and the germans. they do not yield to the english either in human capital nor in wealth of exploitable territory. and england has reached the zenith of her industrial period, the maximum of her political development; the figures of the birth-rate in the industrial towns are diminishing, and emigration has almost ceased. the state is becoming the protector of a demagogic and decadent { } crowd. the united states seek to conquer new territories for their imperialist race. but the latins possess in south america a rich and almost uninhabited continent, and in the north of africa the french are in process of founding a colonial empire which will rival egypt in wealth and importance, and will reach from morocco to the congo and from dakar to tunis. reclus calculates that latin america could feed a hundred persons per square kilometre. while the natality of the anglo-saxon cities of the atlantic seaboard in the united states remains stationary the latin american population is increasing prodigiously; it is to-day millions, and a century ago, when humboldt visited the new world, it was approximately only millions. it is possible that by the last years of the present century the number of south americans will have reached millions; the equilibrium between latins and anglo-saxons will then be broken in favour of the former. america is thus an essential factor of the future of the latin nations. the destiny of france, spain, portugal, and italy would be different if the millions of latin americans were to lose their racial traditions; if in a century or two america were to pass under the sceptre of the united states, or if the germans and anglo-saxons were to attack and oppress the nucleus of civilisation formed by the argentine, uruguay, and southern brazil. economically america would lose markets; intellectually, docile colonies; practically, centres of expansion. to-day anglo-saxons, germans, slavs, and neo-latins are balancing forces which may develop in harmony in the framework of christian civilisation without wars of conquest and without ambitions of monopoly. the moral unity of south america would contribute to the realisation of such an ideal. a new anglo-saxon continent running from alaska { } to cape horn, built on the ruins of twenty spanish republics, would be the presage of a final decadence. in the struggles of hundreds of years' duration between the latin states and the barbarians, between catholicism and protestantism, between the french genius and the teutonic spirit, between the renaissance and the reformation, the latins would have lost the last battle. america is a laboratory of free peoples. dr. charles w. eliott, rector of the great university of harvard, has studied the contribution of the united states to modern civilisation. arbitration as a universal principle, toleration, universal suffrage, material well-being, and political liberty seem to him to be the characteristics of north american culture. in the latin south we encounter similar principles. arbitration is the basis of international relations; tolerance from the religious point of view is in process of development. political liberty is still more a matter of constitutions than of custom; but the liberal political charters, adapted to the principles of modern civilisation, are the ideal of these republics. when the wilderness is peopled by new races, democracies will grow to maturity within this scaffolding, and universal suffrage, individual rights and tolerance will be realities. in latin america, above all among the southern nations, one cannot conceive of the restoration of the old social order, or of despotism and religious inquisition. the new continent, whether saxon or latin, is democratic and liberal. if as in the time of the holy alliance the theocratic peoples were to ally themselves--catholic and warlike austria, germany, dominated by prussian feudalism, russia, mystic and formidable--the whole american continent would be the bulwark of liberty. if germans and latins or latins and anglo-saxtons were to fight between themselves the overseas { } democracies would greatly contribute to the vitality of the latin race. if in a europe dominated by slavs and germans the peoples of the mediterranean were forced to withdraw in painful exodus towards the blue sea peopled by the greek islands and symbols old as the world, it is probable that the ancient myth would be realised anew, and that the torch which bears the ideal of latin civilisation would pass from paris to buenos-ayres or rio de janeiro, as it passed from rome to paris in the modern epoch, or from greece to rome in the classic period. america, to-day desert and divided, would save the culture of france and italy, the heritage of the revolution and the renaissance, and would thus have justified to the utmost the fortunate audacity of christopher columbus. [ ] _essai sur le gouvernement de la nouvelle espagne_, vol. i. [ ] _works_, vol. ii. p. . [ ] _national life and character_, pp. _et seq_. { } index _names in italics are those of literary men, philosophers, &c._ ndx a.b.c., the (federation), - aberdeen, lord, absolutism, _acosta_, african elements in spain, - african race, _see_ negroes agriculture, - _alberdi_, alcantara, president of venezuela, alva, duke of, america, anglo-saxon, , _see_ united states america, south, the conquest of, , ; early constitutions, anarchy, military ( - ); leads to dictatorship, ; spontaneity of, ; in colombia, ; in the tropics, - andes, san martin crosses the, _andrade_, , - antilles, the, arabs in spain, - aranda, _aranha, graça_, arbitration, court of, , argentine, the, , - ; first constitution of, ; ( - ); revolution in, ; early constitutions, ; federation of, ; democracy in, ; constitution of , - artigas, , autocracy, follows revolution, , _avellanada_, ayacucho, _ayagarray_, aztecs, the, , , _balmes_, balmaceda, president of chili, - _barreto_, basques in s. america, belgrano, , _bello_, , - , _bentham_, _bilbao_, - blanco-encalada, bolivar, , - ; youth of, ; as general, ; president, ; downfall of, ; character and principles, - , - , , , - bolivia, , - bonaparte, , _bourget, paul_, boyer, president of hayti, brazil ( - ); revolution in, ; slavery abolished, ; revolution in, buenos ayres, _bunge, c. o._, bustamente, - bureaucracy, - cabildo, the, california, japanese in, canning, - canovas, carabobo, caracas, congress of, _caro_, - carrera (guatemalan), casimiro-ulloa, castes, inimical, , castillo, - castro, general, catholicism in s. america, caudillos, the, , , - , - central america, , - ; confederation of, chamberlain, mr., charrua indians, chibcha indians, chili, , , ( - ); social revolution in, , chivalry, literature of, church, the, in the colonies, - cid, the, cities of spain, , , , civil wars, clemenceau, m., clergy in spain, cochrane, lord, _coolidge, professor_, , colombia ( - ); anarchy in, ; parties, - colonies, the spanish ( - ); life in, - ; revolution, commune in spain, _comte_, - conquest of s. america, conquistadores, the, - , constitutions of chili and venezuela, ; of bolivia, the argentine, and colombia, ; of venezuela, ; of chili, ; of venezuela, ; of colombia, - ; of greater colombia, ; of ecuador, ; of central america, convention, the french, cortez, costa-rica, - creole, the, , , , - cuba ( - ); civil war in, ; purchase mooted, ; racial factors, _dario, ruben_, - decadence of conquerors, , , democracy in spain, - ; in s. america, _diaz, g._, - _diaz, leopoldo_, diaz, president of mexico, , - dictators, the, directory of buenos ayres, don quixote, echenique, president of peru, _echeverria_, economic problems ( - ); loans, , ; foreign capital, ecuador, - ( - ) encyclopædists, the, , england, policy of, ; influence of, , equalitarianism, _estrade, angel de_, falcon, president of venezuela, - faustinas i. of hayti, federation, in spain, ; bolivar's prophecies of, ; _see_ unity feijó, diego, - feudal system, , flores, dictator of uruguay, - flores, j. j., founder of ecuador, , _fombona, blanco_, , _fouillée_, _france, anatole_, france, intellectual influence of, - francia, dr., tyrant of paraguay, - free cities of spain, , , garcia-moreno, president of ecuador, - german capital, - german colonists, - german emperor, the, german peril, the, - gongorism, goths, the, guarani indians, guatemala, guayaquil, _guizot_, _guyau_, guzman-blanco, dictator of venezuela, , - ; policy of reconstruction, - ; return to power, - half-castes, , ; _see_ mestizos hawaii, annexation of ; japanese in, - hayti, - heredity, in the spanish republics, hispaniola, _hostos, e. de_, - _hugo, victor_, , _humboldt_, iberians, - , - ibero-americans, - ideology, political, - ignatius of loyola, incas, the, independence, wars of, , - indians, at conquest, - , ; distribution of, , - individualism, in spain, - ; in s. america, industrialism, rise of, - inquisition, the, , isthmus, states of the, itaborahy, italians in south america, iturbide, emperor of mexico, , , - jacobinism, japan, japanese peril ( - ); emigrants, ; spies, _jaurès_, joão vi., - juarez, mexican dictator, - junin, , juntas, ; colonial, ; revolutionary, king, _see_ monarchy la paz, revolt at, la plata, confederation of, _lamartine_, - lansdowne, lord, _larreta, e. r._, _lastarria_, - latifundia, , latin race, the, ; future of the, ( - ); decadence of, latin spirit, the, ; in s. america, - lavalleja, president of uruguay, - , law, influence of spanish, _lee, gen. homer_, liberators, the, liniers, literature, - lodges, revolutionary, - lopez, argentine _caudillo_, , lopez, tyrants of paraguay, loyola, _lugones_, maia, j. j. de, "maine," sinking of the, _marmol_, - marti, maximilian, emperor of mexico, - mestizos, , - mexico, ; first constitution of, , - ( - ); intervention of the french, militarism, - _mill, james_, _mill, j. s._, - miranda, , , miscegenation, - ; in peru, ; _see_ indians, mestizos, negro, race monagas, j. t. and j. g., presidents of venezuela, - monagas, j. r., president of venezuela, monarchy in spain, - ; its relations at time of revolution with the revolted colonies, - , monks, - monopoly, - monroe doctrine, - , - , _montalvo_, - montezuma, montt, president of chili, - mosquera, president of colombia - _münsterberg, professor_, mystics of spain, _nabuco, j._, nationality, early phases of, negroes, first introduction of, , ; distribution of, , - , - _nervo, a._, new granada, _nietzsche_, north american peril, - nuñez, rafael, president of colombia, , - , _olmedo_, olney, secretary, orbegoso, ordoñez, president of uruguay, oribe, president of uruguay, pacific, confederation of the, paez, president of venezuela, , , , - _palma, r._, panama, ; the canal, - pando, paraguay, - ; the great war in, - _pardo, felipe_, pardo, president of peru, - paz, _pearson, karl_, pedro, dom, i., pedro, dom, ii., - , pelucones, peru, , - ; first constitution, ; - ( - ); war of independence, , philosophy, - picaro, the, in literature, , pierola, president of peru, pitt, plutocracy, rise of, ; future of, poincaré, r., political conflict, the, ; problems, - popham, sir home, portales, president of chili, , , - porto rico, portuguese in s. america, - posadas, _quintana_, , quiroga, general, - quito, race, problems of, - , - regenerators, the, renaissance, the, republics, early s. american, , revolutions, - ; ideology of, - ; _reyles, carlos_, - rio branco, rivadavia, dictator of the argentine, - rivera, president of uruguay, - rocafuerte, president of ecuador, _rodo, j. e._, , , , rome, in spain, roosevelt, theodore, , root, secretary, rosas, argentine tyrant, - _rousseau, j. j._, influence of, _salaverry_, - , salisbury, lord, salvador, san domingo, - san martin, protector of peru, crosses the andes, , - , _san martin, zorilla_, sancho panza, santa-ana, president of mexico, - santa-cruz, president of bolivia, , , santana, dictator of san domingo, santander, president of colombia, , _sarmiento_, - sierra, the, - _silva, j. a._, slavery, ; abolished in brazil, slavs, the, - , soublette, spain, early history of, - ; religion in, ; laws of, in s. america, _spencer, herbert_, , - stoicism, sucre, - , taft, president, tammany hall, , teresa, saint, territorial overlords, - "thirty-three, the," toussaint louverture, - trade, future of, - tyranny, advantages of, _ugarte, manuel_, united states, supremacy of, intervention in south and central america, - ; race troubles in, , ; future influence of, - unity, problems of, - urbina, president of ecuador, ! uruguay, - valencia, convention of, varas, vargas, dr., president of venezuela, velasco, - venezuela, , - , - ; civil war in, ; revolution of , _verlaine_, viceroys, the, _vivanco_, _voltaire_, washington, weyler, wood, general, - yegros, consul of paraguay, zaldua, dr., president of colombia, zambos, - zollverein, - , , endx the gresham press unwin brothers, limited, woking and london the south american series. demy vo, cloth. vol. i.--chile. by g. f. scott elliot, m.a., f.r.g.s., author of "a naturalist in mid-africa." with an introduction by martin hume, a map, and illustrations. "an exhaustive and interesting account, not only of the turbulent history of this country, but of the present conditions and seeming prospects, ... and the characters of the chileno and english and german colonists there."--_westminster gazette_. vol. ii.--peru. by c. reginald enock, f.r.g.s., author of "the andes and the amazon." with an introduction by martin hume, a map, and illustrations. "an important work.... the writer possesses a quick eye and a keen intelligence, is many-sided in his interests, and on certain subjects speaks as an expert. the volume deals fully with the development of the country.... illustrated by a large number of excellent photographs."--_times_. vol. iii.--mexico. by c. reginald enock, f.r.g.s. with an introduction by martin hume, a map, and full-page illustrations. "mr. enock unites to a terse and vivid literary style the commercial instinct and trained observation of a shrewd man of affairs."--_aberdeen free press_. "mr. enock transmutes the hard material of ancient chronicles into gleaming romance; he describes scenery with a poet's skill. full of charm he makes his pages, alluring as a fairy tale, an epic stirring and virile."--_manchester city news_. vol. iv.--argentina. by w. a. hirst. with an introduction by martin hume, a map, and illustrations. "the best and most comprehensive of recent works on the greatest and most progressive of the republics of south america."--_manchester guardian_. "in the treatment of both the main divisions of a complex theme, the historical and descriptive, mr. hirst shows judgment and skill that are decidedly rare.... mr. hirst's exceedingly able and interesting book."--_westminster gazette_. "a very interesting and trustworthy survey of the present conditions and prospects of the country."--_times_. vol. v.--brazil. by pierre denis. with historical chapter by bernard miall, a map, and illustrations. "it is a mine of information, arranged with all the lucidity of a frenchman; and in one case, in the long chapter devoted to the valorization of coffee, the treatment deserves to be called masterly."--_globe_. vol. vi.--uruguay. by w. h. koebel. with a map and illustrations. vol. vii.--guiana: british, french, and dutch. by james rodway. with a map and illustrations. vol. viii.--venezuela. by leonard dalton, f.g.s., f.r.g.s. with a map and illustrations. vol. ix.--latin america: its rise and progress. by f. garcia calderon. with a preface by raymond poincarÉ, prime minister of france, a map, and illustrations. vol. x.--colombia. by p. j. eder. with maps and illustrations. [preparer's notes: ) though the original title does not appear in this version, this is (apart from the preface) a translation of: "brevisima relacion de la destruccíon de las indias", by bartolome de las casas, originally published in seville in . ) the original archaic spelling and punctuation has been retained] popery truly display'd in its bloody colours: or, a faithful narrative of the horrid and unexampled massacres, butcheries, and all manner of cruelties, that hell and malice could invent, committed by the popish _spanish_ party on the inhabitants of _west-india_ together with the devastations of several kingdoms in _america_ by fire and sword, for the space of forty and two years, from the time of its first discovery by them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- _composed first in_ spanish _by_ bartholomew de las casas, _a bishop there, and eye-witness of most of these barbarous cruelties; afterward translated by him into_ latin, _then by other hands, into_ high-dutch, low-dutch, french, _and now taught to speak modern english_. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- _london,_ printed for _r. hewson_ at the _crown in cornhil,_ near the _stocks-market._ . ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- the argument of this narrative by way of preface to the reader. _the reverend author of this compendious summary was_ bartholomaeus de las casas _alias_ casaus, _a pious and religeous person, (as appears by his zealous transports in this narrative for promotion of the christian faith) elevated from a frier of the_ dominican _order to sit in the episcopal chair, who was frequently importuned by good and learned men, particularly historians, to publish this summary, who so prevailed with him, that he collected out of that copious history which might and ought to be written on this subject, the contents of this concise treatise with intention to display unto the world the enormities,_ &c. _the_ spaniards _committed in_ america _during their residence there, to their eternal ignominy; and for the author finding that no admonitions or reprehensions, how mild soever could operate upon or sink into the rocky-hearted tyrants in those occidental parts; he therefore took up a firm resolution, being then about years of age (as he himself declares) to run the hazards and dangers by sea, and the risque of a long voyage into_ spain _there to acquaint and certifie the most illustrious prince_ phillip _the son and heir of his imperial majesty_ charles _the fifth of blessed memory, with the horrid crimes,_ &c. _perpetrated in those countries, part whereof he had seen, and part heard from such as boasted of their wickedness. whereupon his_ caeserean _majesty moved with a tender and christian compassion towards these inhabitants of the countries of_ america, _languishing for want of redress, he called a council at_ valedolid, _anno dom. . consisting of learned and able men, in order to the reformation of the_ west-indian _government, and took such a course, that from that time their tyranny and cruelty against those_ barbarians _was somewhat repressed, and those nations in some measure delivered from that intolerable and more then_ aegyptian _bondage, or at least the_ spaniards _ill usage and treatment of the_ americans _was alleviated and abated. this book mostly_ historical, _part_ typographical, _was published first by the author in_ spanish _at_ sevil, _after that translated into_ latin _by himself; and in process of time into_ high dutch, low dutch, french _and now_ english; _which is the sixth language it has been taught to speak, that anyone of what nation soever might in this narrative contemplate and see as in a mirror the dismal and pernitious fruits, that lacquey and attend unlimited and close fisted avarice, and thereby learn to abhor and detest it,_ cane pejus & angue: _it being the predominant and chiefest motive to the comission of such inexpressible outrages, as here in part are faintly, not fully represented. which sin the pagan_ indians _themselves did exprobate in the_ spaniards _with all detestation, ignominy and disgrace: for when they had taken some of them prisoners (which was rarely) they bound them hand and foot, laid them on the ground, and then pouring melted gold down their throats, cried out and called to them aloud in derision,_ yield, throw up thy gold o christian! vomit and spew out the mettal which hath so inqinated and invenom'd both body and soul, that hath stain'd and infected they mind with desires and contrivances, and thy hands with commission of such matchless enormities. _i will then shut up all this, being but an extract of what is in the prefatory part of the original. i earnestly beg and desire all men to be perswaded, that this summary was not published upon any private design, sinister ends or affection in favor or prejudice of any particular nation; but for the publick emolument and advantage of all true christians and moral men throughout the whole world._ farewell ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- the cruelties of the spaniards committed in america. america was discovered and found out _ann. dom._ , and the year insuing inhabited by the _spaniards_, and afterward a multitude of them travelled thither from _spain_ for the space of nine and forty years. their first attempt was on the _spanish_ island, which indeed is a most fertile soil, and at present in great reputation for its spaciousness and length, containing in circumference six hundred miles: nay it is on all sides surrounded with an almost innumerable number of islands, which we found so well peopled with natives and forreigners, that there is scarce any region in the universe fortified with so many inhabitants: but the main land or continent, distant from this island two hundred and fifty miles and upwards, extends it self above ten thousand miles in length near the sea-shore, which lands are some of them already discover'd, and more may be found out in process of time: and such a multitude of people inhabits these countries, that it seems as if the omnipotent god has assembled and convocated the major part of mankind in this part of the world. now this infinite multitude of men are by the creation of god innocently simple, altogether void of and averse to all manner of craft, subtlety and malice, and most obedient and loyal subjects to their native sovereigns; and behave themselves very patiently, sumissively and quietly towards the _spaniards_, to whom they are subservient and subject; so that finally they live without the least thirst after revenge, laying aside all litigiousness, commotion and hatred. this is a most tender and effeminate people, and so imbecile and unequal-balanced temper, that they are altogether incapable of hard labour, and in few years, by one distemper or other soon expire, so that the very issue of lords and princes, who among us live with great affluence, and fard deliciously, are not more effminate and tender than the children of their husbandmen or labourers: this nation is very necessitous and indigent, masters of very slender possessions, and consequently, neither haughty, nor ambitious. they are parsimonious in their diet, as the holy fathers were in their frugal life in the desert, known by the name of _eremites_. they go naked, having no other covering but what conceals their pudends from publick sight. an hairy plad, or loose coat, about an ell, or a coarse woven cloth at most two ells long serves them for the warmest winter garment. they lye on a coarse rug or matt, and those that have the most plentiful estate or fortunes, the better sort, use net-work, knotted at the four corners in lieu of beds, which the inhabitants of the island of _hispaniola_, in their own proper idiom, term _hammacks_. the men are pregnant and docible. the natives tractable, and capable of morality or goodness, very apt to receive the instill'd principles of catholick religion; nor are they averse to civility and good manners, being not so much discompos'd by variety of obstructions, as the rest of mankind; insomuch, that having suckt in (if i may so express my self) the the very first rudiments of the christian faith, they are so transported with zeal and furvor in the exercise of ecclesiastical sacraments, and divine service, that the very religioso's themselves, stand in need of the greatest and most signal patience to undergo such extream transports. and to conclude, i my self have heard the _spaniards_ themselves (who dare not assume the confidence to deny the good nature praedominant in them) declare, that there was nothing wanting in them for the acquisition of eternal beatitude, but the sole knowledge and understanding of the deity. the _spaniards_ first assaulted the innocent sheep, so qualified by the almighty, as is premention'd, like most cruel tygers, wolves and lions hunger-starv'd, studying nothing, for the space of forty years, after their first landing, but the massacre of these wretches, whom they have so inhumanely and barbarously butcher'd and harass'd with several kinds of torments, never before known, or heard (of which you shall have some account in the following discourse) that of three millions of persons, which lived in _hispaniola_ itself, there is at present but the inconsiderable remnant of scarce three hundred. nay the isle of _cuba_, which extends as far, as _valledolid_ in _spain_ is distant from _rome_, lies now uncultivated, like a desert, and intomb'd in its own ruins. you may also find the isles of st. _john_, and _jamaica_, both large and fruitful places, unpeopled and desolate. the _lucayan_ islands on the north side, adjacent to _hispaniola_ and _cuba_, which are sixty in number, or thereabout, together with with those, vulgarly known by the name of the gigantic isles, and others, the most infertile whereof, exceeds the royal garden of _sevil_ in fruitfulness, a most healthful and pleasant climat, is now laid waste and uninhabited; and whereas, when the _spaniards_ first arriv'd here, about five hundred thousand men dwelt in it, they are now cut off, some by slaughter, and others ravished away by force and violence, to work in the mines of _hispanioloa,_ which was destitute of native inhabitants: for a certain vessel, sailing to this isle, to the end, that the harvest being over (some good christian, moved with piety and pity, undertook this dangerous voyage, to convert souls to christianity) the remaining gleanings might be gathered up, there were only found eleven persons, which i saw with my own eyes. there are other islands thirty in number, and upward bordering upon the isle of st. _john_, totally unpeopled; all which are above two thousand miles in lenght, and yet remain without inhabitants, native, or people. as to the firm land, we are certainly satisfied, and assur'd, that the _spaniards_ by their barbarous and execrable actions have absolutely depopulated ten kingdoms, of greater extent than all _spain_, together with the kingdoms of _arragon_ and _portugal_, that is to say, above one thousand miles, which now lye wast and desolate, and are absolutely ruined, when as formerly no other country whatsoever was more populous. nay we dare boldly affirm, that during the forty years space, wherein they exercised their sanguinary and detestable tyranny in these regions, above twelve millions (computing men, women, and children) have undeservedly perished; nor do i conceive that i should deviate from the truth by saying that above fifty millions in all paid their last debt to nature. those that arriv'd at these islands from the remotest parts of _spain_, and who pride themselves in the name of christians, steer'd two courses principally, in order to the extirpation, and exterminating of this people from the face of the earth. the first whereof was raising an unjust, sanguinolent, cruel war. the other, by putting them to death, who hitherto, thirsted after their liberty, or design'd (which the most potent, strenuous and magnanimous spirits intended) to recover their pristin freedom, and shake off the shackles of so injurious a captivity: for they being taken off in war, none but women and children were permitted to enjoy the benefit of that country-air, in whom they did in succeeding times lay such a heavy yoak, that the very brutes were more happy than they: to which two species of tyranny as subalternate things to the genus, the other innumerable courses they took to extirpate and make this a desolate people, may be reduced and referr'd. now the ultimate end and scope that incited the _spaniards_ to endeavor the extirptaion and desolation of this people, was gold only; that thereby growing opulent in a short time, they might arrive at once at such degrees and dignities, as were no wayes consistent with their persons. finally, in one word, their ambition and avarice, than which the heart of man never entertained greater, and the vast wealth of those regions; the humility and patience of the inhabitants (which made their approach to these lands more facil and easie) did much promote the business: whom they so despicably contemned, that they treated them (i speak of things which i was an eye witness of, without the least fallacy) not as beasts, which i cordially wished they would, but as the most abject dung and filth of the earth; and so sollicitous they were of their life and soul, that the above-mentioned number of people died without understanding the true faith or sacraments. and this also is as really true as the praecendent narration (which the very tyrants and cruel murderers cannot deny without the stigma of a lye) that the _spaniards_ never received any injury from the _indians_, but that they rather reverenced them as persons descended from heaven, until that they were compelled to take up arms, provoked thereunto by repeated injuries, violent torments, and injust butcheries. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- of the island hispaniola. in this isle, which, as we have said, the _spaniards_ first attempted, the bloody slaughter and destruction of men first began: for they violently forced away women and children to make them slaves, and ill-treated them, consuming and wasting their food, which they had purchased with great sweat, toil, and yet remained dissatisfied too, which every one according to his strength and ability, and that was very inconsiderable (for they provided no other food than what was absolutely necessary to support nature without superfluity, freely bestow'd on them, and one individual _spaniard_ consumed more victuals in one day, than would serve to maintain three families a month, every one consisting of ten persons. now being oppressed by such evil usage, and afflicted with such greate torments and violent entertainment they began to understand that such men as those had not their mission from heaven; and therefore some of them conceal'd their provisions and others to their wives and children in lurking holes, but some, to avoid the obdurate and dreadful temper of such a nation, sought their refuge on the craggy tops of mountains; for the _spaniards_ did not only entertain them with cuffs, blows, and wicked cudgelling, but laid violent hands also on the governours of cities; and this arriv'd at length to that height of temerity and impudence, that a certain captain was so audacious as abuse the consort of the most puissant king of the whole isle. from which time they began to consider by what wayes and means they might expel the _spaniards_ out of their countrey, and immediately took up arms. but, good god, what arms, do you imagin? namely such, both offensive and defensive, as resemble reeds wherewith boys sport with one another, more than manly arms and weapons. which the _spaniards_ no sooner perceived, but they, mounted on generous steeds, well weapon'd with lances and swords, begin to exercise their bloody butcheries and strategems, and overrunning their cities and towns, spar'd no age, or sex, nay not so much as women with child, but ripping up their bellies, tore them alive in pieces. they laid wagers among themselves, who should with a sword at one blow cut, or divide a man in two; or which of them should decollate or behead a man, with the greatest dexterity; nay farther, which should sheath his sword in the bowels of a man with the quickest dispatch and expedition. they snatcht young babes from the mothers breasts, and then dasht out the brains of those innocents against the rocks; others they cast into rivers scoffing and jeering them, and call'd upon their bodies when falling with derision, the true testimony of their cruelty, to come to them, and inhumanely exposing others to their merciless swords, together with the mothers that gave them life. they erected certain gibbets, large, but low made, so that their feet almost reacht the ground, every one of which was so order'd as to bear thirteen persons in honour and reverence (as they said blasphemously) of our redeemer and his twelve apostles, under which they made a fire to burn them to ashes whilst hanging on them: but those they intended to preserve alive, they dismiss'd, their hands half cut, and still hanging by the skin, to carry their letters missive to those that fly from us and ly sculking on the mountains, as an exprobation of their flight. the lords and persons of noble extract were usually expos'd to this kind of death; they order'd gridirons to be placed and supported with wooden forks, and putting a small fire under them, these miserable wretches by degrees and with loud shreiks and exquisite torments, at last expir'd. i once saw four or five of their most powerful lords laid on these gridirons, and thereon roasted, and not far off, two or three more over-spread with the same commodity, man's flesh; but the shril clamours which were heard there being offensive to the captain, by hindring his repose, he commanded them to be strangled with a halter. the executioner (whose name and parents at _sevil_ are not unknown to me) prohibited the doing of it; but stopt gags into their mouths to prevent the hearing of the noise (he himself making the fire) till that they dyed, when they had been roasted as long as he thought convenient. i was an eye-witness of these and and innumerable number of other cruelties: and because all men, who could lay hold of the opportunity, sought out lurking holes in the mountains, to avoid as dangerous rocks so brutish and barbarous a people, strangers to all goodness, and the extirpaters and adversaries of men, they bred up such fierce hunting dogs as would devour an _indian_ like a hog, at first sight in less than a moment: now such kind of slaughters and cruelties as these were committed by the curs, and if at any time it hapned, (which was rarely) that the _indians_ irritated upon a just account destroy'd or took away the life of any _spaniard,_ they promulgated and proclaim'd this law among them, that one hundred _indians_ should dye for every individual _spaniard_ that should be slain. _of the kingdoms contained in_ hispaniola. this isle of _hispaniola_ was made up of six of their greatest kingdoms, and as many most puissant kings, to whose empire almost all the other lords, whose number was infinite, did pay their allegiance. one of these kingdoms was called _magua,_ signifying a campaign or open country; which is very observable, if any place in the universe deserves taking notice of, and memorable for the pleasantness of its situation; for it is extended from south to north eighty miles, in breadth five, eight, and in some parts ten miles in length; and is on all sides inclosed with the highest mountains; above thirty thousand rivers, and rivulets water her coasts, twelve of which prodigious number do not yield in all in magnitude to those famous rivers, the _eber, duer,_ and _guadalquivir;_ and all those rivers which have their source or spring from the mountains lying westerly, the number whereof is twenty thousand) are very rich in mines of gold; on which mountain lies the province of rich mines, whence the exquisite gold of twenty four caracts weight, takes denomination. the king and lord of this kingdom was named _guarionex,_ who governed within the compass of his dominions so many vassals and potent lords, that every one of them was able to bring into the field sixteen thousand soldiers for the service of _guarionex_ their supream lord and soverain, when summoned thereunto. some of which i was acquainted with. this was a most obedient prince, endued with great courage and morality, naturally of a pacifick temper, and most devoted to the service of the _castilian_ kings. this king commanded and ordered his subjects, that every one of those lords under his jurisdiction, should present him with a bell full of gold; but in succeeding times, being unable to perform it, they were commanded to cut it in two, and fill one part therewith, for the inhabitants of this isle were altogether inexperienced, and unskilful in mine-works, and the digging gold out of them. this _caiu_ proferred his service to the king of _castile,_ on this condition, that he would take care, that those lands should be cultivated and manur'd, wherein, during the reign of _isabella,_ queen of _castile,_ the _spaniards_ first set footing and fixed their residence, extending in length even to _santo domingo,_ the space of fifty miles. for he declar'd (nor was it a fallacie, but an absolute truth,) that his subjects understood not the practical use of digging in golden mines. to which promises he had readily and voluntarily condescended, to my own certain knowledge, and so by this means, the king would have received the annual revenue of three millions of _spanish_ crowns, and upward, there being at that very time in that island fifty cities more ample and spacious than _sevil_ it self in _spain_. but what returns by way of remuneration and reward did they make this so clement and benign monarch, can you imagine, no other but this? they put the greatest indignity upon him imaginable in the person of his consort who was violated by a _spanish_ captain altogether unworthy of the name of christian. he might indeed probably expect to meet with a convenient time and opportunity of revenging this ingominy so unjuriously thrown upon him by preparing military forces to attaque him, but he rather chose to abscond in the province _de los ciquayos_ (wherein a puissant vassal and subject of his ruled) devested of his estate and kingdom, and there live and dye an exile. but the _spaniards_ receiving certain information, that he had absented himself, connived no longer at his concealment but raised war against him, who had received them with so great humanity and kindness, and having first laid waste and desolate the whole region, at last found, and took him prisoner, who being bound in fetters was convey'd on board of a ship in order to his transfretation to _castile,_ as a captive: but the vessel perished in the voyage, wherewith many _spaniards_ were also lost, as well as a great weight of gold, among which there was a prodigious ingot of gold, resembling a large loaf of bread, weighing crowns; thus it pleased god to revenge their enormous impieties. a second kingdom was named _marien,_ where there is to this day a haven, upon the utmost borders of the plain or open countrey toward the north, more fertil and large than the kingdom of _portugal;_ and really deserving constant and frequent inahbitants: for it abounds with mountains, and is rich in mines of gold and _orichalcum,_ a kind of copper mettal mixt with gold; the kings name of this place was _guacanagari,_ who had many powerful lords (some whereof were not unknown to me) under his subjection. the first that landed in this kingdom when he discovered _america_ was an admiral well stricken in years, who had so hospitable and kind a reception from the aforesaid _gracanagari,_ as well as all those _spaniards_ that accompanied him in that voyage, giving them all imaginable help and assisstance (for the admiral's vessel was sunk on their coasts) that i heard it from his own mouth, he could not possibly have been entertained with greater caresses and civilities from his own parents in his own native country. but this king being forced to fly to avoid the _spanish_ slaughter and cruelty, deprived of all he was master of, died in the mountains; and all the rest of the potentates and nobles, his subjects, perished in that servitude and vassalage; as you shall find in this following treatise. the third kingdom was distinguished by the appellation of _maquana,_ another admirable, healthful and fruitful region, where at present the most refined sugar of the island is made. _caonabo_ then reigned there, who surmounted all the rest in power, state, and the splendid ceremonies of his government. this king beyond all expectation was surpriz'd in his own palace, by the great subtilty and industry of the _spaniards,_ and after carried on board in order to his transportation to _castile,_ but there being at that time six ships riding in the haven, and ready to set sail such an impetuous storm suddenly arose, that they as well as the passengers and ships crew were all lost, together with king _canabao_ loaded with irons; by which judgement the almighty declared that this was as unjust and impious an act as any of the former. this kind had three or four brothers then living, men of strength and valour, who being highly incensed at the captivity of their king and brother, to which he was injuriously reduc'd, having also intelligence of the devastations and butcheries committed by the _spaniards_ in other regions, and not long after hearing of their brothers death, took up arms to revenge themselves of the enemy, whom the _spaniards_ met with, and certain party of horse (which proved very offensive to the _indians_) made such havoc and slaughter among them, that the half of this kingdom was laid waste and depopulated. _xaraqua_ is the fourth kingdom, and as it were the centre and middle of the whole island, and is not to be equalled for fluency of speech and politeness of idiom or dialect by any inhabitants of the other kingdoms, and in policy and morality transcends them all. herein the lords and peers abounded, and the very populace excelled in in stature and habit of body: their king was _behechio_ by name and who had a sister called _anacaona,_ and both the brother as well as sister had loaded the _spaniards_ with benefits and singular acts of civility, and by delivering them from the evident and apparent danger of death, did signal services to the _castilian_ kings. _behechio_ dying the supreme power of the kingdom fell to _anacaona:_ but it hapned one day, that the governour of an island, attended by horse, and foot (now the cavalry was sufficiently able to unpeople not only the isle, but also the whole continent) he summoned about dynasta's, or noblemen to appear before him, and commanded the most powerful of them, being first crouded into a thatcht barn or hovel, to be exposed to the fury of the merciless fire, and the rest to be pierced with lances, and run through with the point of the sword, by a multitude of men: and _anacaona_ her self who (as we said before,) sway'd the imperial scepter, to her greater honor was hanged on a gibbet. and if it fell out that any person instigated by compassion or covetousness, did entertain any _indian_ boys and mount them on horses, to prevent their murder, another was appointed to follow them, who ran them through the back or in the hinder parts, and if they chanced to escape death, and fall to the ground, they immediately cut off his legs; and when any of those _indians,_ that survived these barbarous massacres, betook themselves to an isle eight miles distant, to escape their butcheries, they were then committed to servitude during life. the fifth kingdom was _hiquey,_ over whom queen _hiquanama,_ a superannuated princess, whome the _spaniards_ crucified, did preside and govern. the number of those i saw here burnt, and dismembered, and rackt with various torments, as well as others, the poor remnants of such matchless villanies, who surviving were enslaved, is infinite. but because so much might be said concerning the assassinations and depopulating of these people, as cannot without great difficulty be published in writing (nor do i conceive that one fragile part of that is here contained can be fully displayed) i will only add one remark more of the prementioned wars, in lieu of a corollary or conclusion, and aver upon my conscience, that notwithstanding all the above-named injustice, profligate enormities and other crimes which i omit, (tho sufficiently known to me) the _indians_ did not, nor was it in their power to give any greater occasion for the commission of them, than pious religioso's living in a well regulated monastic life did afford for any sacrilegeous villains to deprive them of their goods and life at the same time, or why they who by flight avoided death should be detain'd in perpetual, not to be ransom'd captivity and slavery. i adde farther, that i really believe, and am satisfied by certain undeniable conjectures, that at the very juncture of time, when all these outrages were commited in this isle, the _indians_ were not so much guilty of one single mortal sin of commission against the _spaniards_, that might deserve from any man revenge or require satisfaction. and as for those sins, the punishment whereof god hath reserved to himself, as the immoderate desire of revenge, hatred, envy or inward rancor of spirit, to which they might be transported against such capital enemies as the _spaniards_ were, i judge that very few of them can justly be accused of them; for their impetuosity and vigor i speak experimentally, was inferior to that of children of ten or twelve years of age: and this i can assure you, that the _indians_ had ever a just cause of raising war against the _spaniards_, and the _spaniards_ on the contrary never raised a just was against them, but what was more injurious and groundless then any undertaken by the worst of tyrants. all which i affirm of all their other transactions and passages in _america_. the warlike engagements being over, and the inhabitants all swept away, they divided among themselves the young men, women, and children reserved promiscuously for that purpose, one obtained thirty, another forty, to this man one hundred were disposed, to the other two hundred, and the more one was in favor with the domineering tyrant (which they styled governor) the more he became master of, upon this pretence, and with this proviso, that he should see them instructed in the catholick religion, when as they themselves to whom they were committed to be taught, and the care of their souls instructed them were, for the major part idiots, cruel, avaritious, infected and stained with all sorts of vices. and this was the great care they had of them, they sent the males to the mines to dig and bring away the gold, which is an intollerable labor; but the women they made use of to manure and till the ground, which is a toil most irksome even to men of the strongest and most robust constitutions, allowing them no other food but herbage, and such kind of unsubstantial nutriment, so that the nursing womens milk was exsiccated and so dryed up, that the young infants lately brought forth, all perished, and females being separated from and debarred cohabitation with men, there was no prolification or raising up issue among them. the men died in mines, hunger starved and oppressed with labor, and the women perished in the fields, harrassed and broken with the like evils and calamities: thus an infinite number of inhabitants that formerly peopled this island were exterminated and dwindled away to nothing by such consumptions. they were compelled to carry burthens of eighty or one hundred pound weight, and that an hundred or two hundred miles compleat: and the _spaniards_ were born by them on the shoulders in a pensil vehicle or carriage, or kind of beds made of net-work by the _indians_; for in truth they made use of them as beasts to carry the burthens and cumbersom baggage of their journeys, insomuch that it frequently happened, that the shoulders and backs of the _indians_ were deeply marked with their scourges and stripes, just as they used to serve a tired jade, accustomed to burthens. and as to those slashes with whips, blows with staves, cuffs and boxes, maledictions and curses, with a thousand of such kind of torments they suffered during the fatigue of their laborious journeys it would require a long tract of time, and many reams of paper to describe them, and when all were done would only create horror and consternation in the reader. but here is is observable, that the desolation of these isles and provinces took beginning since the decease of the most serene queen _isabella_, about the year , for before that time very few of the provinces situated in that island were oppressed or spoiled with unjust wars, or violated with general devastation as after they were, and most if not all these things were concealed and masked from the queens knowledge (whom i hope god hath crowned with eternal glory) for she was transported with fervent and wonderful zeal, nay, almost divine desires for the salvation and preservation of these people, which things so exemplary as these we having seen with our eyes, and felt with our hands, cannot easily be forgotten. take this also for a general rule, that the _spaniards_ upon what _american_ coasts soever they arrived, exercised the same cruelties, slaughters, tyrannies and detestable oppressions on the most innocent _indian_ nation, and diverting themselves with delights in new sorts of torment, did in time improve in barbarism and cruelty; wherewith the omnipotent being incensed suffered them to fail by a more desperate and dangerous lapse into a reprobate state. _of the isles of st._ john _and_ jamaica. in the year , the _spaniards_ sailed to the islands of st. _john_ and _jamaica_ (resembling gardensa and bee-hives) with the same purpose and design they proposed to themselves in the isle of _hispaniola_, perpetrating innumerable robberies and villanies as before; whereunto they added unheard of cruelties by murdering, burning, roasting, and exposing men to be torn to pieces by dogs; and finally by afflicting and harassing them with un-exampled oppressions and torments in the mines, they spoiled and unpeopled this contrey of these innocents. these two isles containing six hundred thousand at least, though at this day there are scarce two hundred men to be found in either of them, the remainder perishing without the knowledge of christian faith or sacrament. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- _of the isle of _cuba. in the year of our lord . they passed over to _cuba_, which contains as much ground in length as there is distance between _valledolid_ and _rome_, well furnished with large and stately provinces and very populous, against whom they proceeded with no more humanity and clemency, or indeed to speak truth with greater savageness and brutality. several memorable transactions worthy observation, passed in this island. a certain _cacic_ a potent peer, named _hathney_, who not long before fled _hispaniola_ to _cuba_ for refuge from death, or captivity during life; and understanding by certain _indians_ that the _spaniards_ intended to steer their course thither, made this oration to all his people assembled together. you are not ignorant that there is a rumor spread abroad among us of the _spaniards_ arrival, and are sensible by woeful experience how such and such (naming them) and _hayti_ (so they term _hispaniola_ in their own language) with their inhabitants have been treated by them, that they design to visit us with equal intentions of committing such acts as they have hitherto been guilty of. but do you not know the cause and reason of their coming? we are altogether ignorant of it, they replied, but sufficiently satisfied that they are cruelly and wickedly inclined: then thus, he said, they adore a certain covetous deity, whose cravings are not to be satisfied by a few moderate offerings, but they may answer his adoration and worship, demand many unreasonable things of us, and use their utmost endeavors to subjugate and afterwards murder us. then taking up a cask or cabinet near at hand, full of gold and gems, he proceeded in this manner: this is the _spaniards_ god, and in honour of him if you think well of it, let us celebrate our _arcytos_ (which are certain kinds of dances and caprings used among them); and by this means his deity being appeas'd, he will impose his commands on the spaniards that they shall not for the future molest us; who all unanimously with one consent in a loud tone made this reply. well said, well said, and thus they continued skipping and dancing before this cabinet, without the least intermission, till they were quite tired and grown weary: then the noble _hathney_ re-assuming his discourse, said, if we worship this deity, till ye be ravished from us, we shall be destroyed, therefore i judge it convenient, upon mature deliberation, that we cast it into the river, which advice was approved of by all without opposition, and the cabinet thrown in to the next river. when the spaniards first touched this island, this _cacic_, who was thoroughly acquainted with them, did avoid and shun them as much as in him lay, and defended himself by force of arms, wherever he met with them, but at length being taken he was burnt alive, for flying from so unjust and cruel a nation, and endeavuoring to secure his life against them, who only thirsted after the blood of himself and his own people. now being bound to the post, in order of his execution a certain holy monk of the _franciscan_ order, discours'd with him concerning god and the articles of our faith, which he never heard of before, and which might be satisfactory and advantagious to him, considering the small time allow'd him by the executioner, promising him eternal glory and repose, if he truly believ'd them, or other wise everlasting torments. after that _hathney_ had been silently pensive sometime, he askt the monk whether the _spaniards_ also were admitted into heaven, and he answering that the gates of heaven were open to all that were good and godly, the _cacic_ replied without further consideration, that he would rather go to hell then heaven, for fear he should cohabit in the same mansion with so sanguinary and bloody a nation. and thus god and the holy catholick faith are praised and reverenced by the practices of the _spaniards_ in _america_. once it so hapned, that the citizens of a famous city, distant ten miles from the place where we then resided, came to meet us with a splendid retinue, to render their visit more honourable, bringing with them delicious viands, and such kind of dainties, with as great a quantity of fish as they could possibly procure, and distributing them among us; but behold on a sudden, some wicked devil possessing the minds of the _spaniards_, agitated them with great fury, that i being present, and without the least pretence or occasion offered, they cut off in cold blood above three thousand men, women and children promiscuously, such inhumanities and barbarisms were committed in my sight, as no age can parallel. some time after i dispatch messengers to all the rulers of the province of _havana_, that they would by no means be terrified, or seek their refuge by absence and flight, but to meet us, and that i would engage (for they understood my authority) that they should not receive the least of injuries; for the whole country was extremely afflicted at the evils and mischiefs already perpetrated, and this i did with the advice of their captain. as soon as we approached the province, two and twenty of their noblemen came forth to meet us, whom the captain contrary to his faith given, would have expos'd to the flames, alledging that it was expedient they should be put to death, who were, at any time, capacitated to use any stratagem against us, but with great difficulty and much adoe, i snatcht them out of the fire. these islanders of _cuba_, being reduc'd to the same vasselage and misery as the inhabitants of _hispaniola_, seeing themselves perish and dy without any redress, fled to the mountains for shelter, but other desperado's, put a period to their days with a halter, and the husband, together with his wife and children, hanging himself, put an end to those calamities. by the ferocity of one _spanish_ tyrant (whom i knew) above two hundred _indians_ hang'd themselves of their own accord; and a multitude of people perished by this kind of death. a certain person here in the same isle constituted to exercise a kind of royal power, hapned to have three hundred _indians_ fall to his share, of which in three months, through excessive labour, one hundred and sixty were destroy'd, insomuch that in a short space there remained but a tenth part alive, namely thirty, but when the number was doubled, they all perisht at the same rate, and all that were bestow'd upon him lost their lives, till at length he paid his last debt to nature and the devil. in three or four months time i being there present, six thousand children and upward were murder'd, because they had lost their parents who labour'd in the mines; nay i was a witness of many other stupendous villanies. but afterward they consulted how to persecute those that lay hid in the mountains, who were miserably massacred, and consequently this isle made desolate, which i saw not long after, and certainly it is a dreadful and depolorable sight to behold it thus unpeopled and laid waste, like a desert. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- _of the_ continent. in the year , a certain unhappy governour landed on the firm land or continent, a most bloody tyrant, destitute of all mercy and prudence, the instrument of god's wrath, with a resolution to people these parts with _spaniards_; and although some tyrants had touched here before him, and cruelty hurried them into the other world by several wayes of slaughter, yet they came no farther than to the sea coast, where they comitted podigious thefts and robberies, but this person exceeded all that ever dwelt in other islands, though execrable and profligate villains: for he did not only ravage and depopulate the sea-coast, but buried the largest regions and most ample kingdoms in their own ruins, sending thousdands to hell by his butcheries. he made incursions for many miles continuance, that is to say, in those countries that are included in the territories of _darien_ and the provinces of _nicaraqua_, where are near five hundred miles of the most fertil land in the world, and the most opulent for gold of all the regions hitherto discover'd. and although _spain_ has bin sufficiently furnished with the purest gold, yet it was dig'd out of the bowels and mines of the said countries by the _indians_, where (as we have said) they perished. this ruler, with his complices found out new inventions to rack, torment, force and extort gold from the _indians_. one of his captains in a certain excursion undertaken by the command of his governeur to make depraedations, destroy'd forty thousand persons and better exposing them to the edge of the sword, fire, dogs and variety of torments; of all which a religious man of the order of st. _francis, franciscus de s. romano_, who was then present was an eye-witness. great and injurious was the blindness of those praesided over the _indians_; as to the conversion and salvation of this people: for they denyed in effect what they in their flourishing discourse pretended to, and declar'd with their tongue what they contradicted in their heart; for it came to this pass, that the _indians_ should be commanded on the penalty of a bloody war, death, and perpetual bondage, to embrace the christian faith, and submit to the obedience of the _spanish_ king; as if the son of god, who suffered death for the redemption of all mankind, had enacted a law, when he pronounced these words, _go and teach all nations_ that infidels, living peaceably and quietly in their hereditary native country, should be impos'd upon pain of confiscation of all their chattels, lands, liberty, wives, children, and death itself, without any precedent instruction to confess and acknowledge the true god, and subject themselves to a king, whom they never saw, or heard mention'd before; and whose messengers behav'd themselves toward them with such inhumanity and cruelty as they had done hitherto. which is certainly a most foppish and absurd way of proceeding, and merits nothing but scandal, derision, nay hell itself. now suppose this notorious and profligate governour had bin impower'd to see the execution of these edicts perform'd, for of themselves they were repugnant both to law and equity; yet he commanded (or they who were to see the execution thereof, did it of their own heads without authority) that when they phansied or proposed to themselves any place, that was well stor'd with gold, to rob and feloniously steal it away from the _indians_ living in their cities and houses, without the least suspicion of any ill act. these wicked _spaniards_, like theives came to any place by stealth, half a mile off of any city, town or village, and there in the night published and proclaim'd the edict among themselves after this manner: you _cacics_ and _indians_ of this continent, the inhabitants of such a place, which they named; we declare or be it known to you all, that there is but one god, one hope, and one king of _castile_, who is lord of these countries; appear forth without delay, and take the oath of allegiance to the _spanish_ king, as his vassals. so about the fourth watch of the night, or three in the morning these poor innocents overwhelm'd with heavy sleep, ran violently on that place they named, set fire to their hovels, which were all thatcht, and so, without notice, burnt men, women and children; kill'd whom they pleas'd upon the spot; but those they preserv'd as captives, were compell'd throughtorments to confess where they had hid the gold, when they found little or none at their houses; but they who liv'd being first stigmatized, were made slaves; yet after the fire was extinguisht, they came hastily in quest of the gold. thus did this wicked man, devoted to all the infernal furies, behave himself with the assistance of profligate christians, whom he had lifted in his service from the th to the . or . year, together with his domestick servants and followers, from whom he received as many portions, besides what he had from his slaves in gold, pearls, and jewels, as the chief governor would have taken, and all that were constituted to execute any kind of kingly office followed in the same footsteps; every one sending as many of his servants as he could spare, to share in the spoil. nay he that came hither as biship first of all did the same also, and at the vory time (as i conjecture) the _spaniards_ did depraedate or rob this kingdom of above ten hundred thousand crowns of gold: yet all these their thefts and felonies, we scarce find upon record that three hundred thousand _castilian_ crowns ever came into the _spanish_ king's coffers; yet there were above eight hundred thousand men slain: the other tyrants who governed this kingdom afterward to the three and thirtieth year, depriv'd all of them of life that remain'd among the inhabitants. among all those flagitious acts committed by this governour while he rul'd this kindom, or by his consent and permission this must by no means be omitted: a certain _casic_, bestowing on him a gift, voluntarily, or (which is more probably) induced thereunto by fear, about the weight of nine thousand crowns, but the _spaniards_ not satisfied with so fast a sum of money, sieze him, fix him to a pole; extended his feet, which being mov'd near the fire, they demanded a larger sum; the _casic_ overcome with torments, sending home, procur'd three thousand more to be brought and presented to them: but the _spaniards_, adding new torments to new rage and fury, when they found he would confer no more upon them, which was because he could not, or otherwize because he would not, they expos'd him for so long to that torture, till by degrees of heat the marrow gusht out of the soles of his feet, and so he dyed; thus they often murder'd the lords and nobles which such torments to extort the gold from them. one time it hapned that a century or party of one hundred _spaniards_ making excursions, came to a mountain, where many people shunning so horrid and pernicious an enemy conceal'd themselves, who immediately rushing on them, putting all to the sword they could meet with, and then secur'd seventy or eighty married women as well as virgins captives; but a great number of _indians_ with a fervent desire of recovering their wives and daughters appear'd in arms against the _spaniards_, and when they drew near the enemy, they unwilling to lose the prey, run the wives and maidens through with their swords. the _indians_ through grief and trouble, smiting their breasts, brake out into these exclamations. o perverse generation of men! o cruel _spaniards_! what do you murder _las iras_? (in their language they call women by the name of _las iras_ as if they had said: to slay women is an act of bloody minded men, worse than brutes and wild beasts. there was the house of a puissant potentate scituated about ten or fifteen miles from _panama_, whose name was _paris_, very rich in gold; and the _spaniards_ gave him a visit, who were entertained with fraternal kindness, and courteously received, and of his own accord, presented the captain with a gift of fifteen thousand crowns; who was of opinion, as well as the rest of the _spaniards_, that he who bestow'd such a quantity of money _gratis_, was the master of vast treasure; whereupon they counterfeit a pretended departure, but returning about the fourth night-watch, and entring the city privily upon a surprize, which they thought was sufficiently secur'd, consecrated it with many citizens to the flames, and robb'd them of fifty or sixty thousand crowns. the _dynast_ or prince escaped with his life, and gathering together as great a number of men as he could possibly at that instant of time, and three or four days being elapsed, pursued the _spaniards_, who had depriv'd him also by violence and rapine of a hundred and thirty or forty thousand crowns, and pouring in upon them, recover'd all his gold with the destruction of fifty _spaniards_, but the remainder of them having receiv'd many wounds in that rencounter betook them to their heels and sav'd themselves by flight: but in few days after the _spaniards_ return, and fall upon the said _casic_ well-arm'd and overthrow him and all his forces, and they who out-liv'd the combat, to their great misfortune, were expos'd to the usual and frequently mention'd bondage. _of the province of_ nicaraqua. the said tyrant _an. dom._ . proceeded farther very unfortunately to the subjugation of conquest of this province. in truth no person can satisfactorily or sufficiently express the fertility, temperateness of the climate, or the multitude of the inhabitants of _nicaraqua_, which was almost infinite and admirable; for this region contain'd some cities that were four miles long; and the abundance of fruits of the earth (which was the cause of such a concourse of people) was highly commendable. the people of this place, because the country was level and plain, destitute of mountains, so very delightful and pleasant, that they could not leave it without great grief, and much dissatisfaction, they were therefore tormented with the greater vexations and persecutions, and forced to bear the _spanish_ tyranny and servitude, which as much patience as they were masters of: add farther that they were peaceable and meek spirited. this tyrant with these complices of his cruelty did afflict this nation (whose advice he made use of in destroying the other kingdoms) with such and so many great dammages, slaughters, injustice, slaver, and barbarisme, that a tongue, though of iron, could not express them all fully. he sent into the province (which is larger than the county of _ruscinia_) fifty horse-men, who put all the people to the edge of the sword, sparing neither age nor sex upon the most trivial and inconsiderable occasion: as for example, if they did not come to them with all possible speed, when called; and bring the imposed burthen of _mahid_ (which signifies corn in their dialect) or if they did not bring the number of _indians_ required to his own, and the service or rather servitude of his associates. and the country being all campaign or level, no person was able to withstand the hellish fury of their horses. he commanded the _spaniards_ to make excursions, that is, to rob other provinces, permitting and granting these theiving rogues leave to take away by force as many of these peacable people as they could, who being iron'd (that they might not sink under the burthen of sixty or eighty pound weight) it frequently hapned, that of four thousand _indians_, six only returned home, and so they dyed by the way; but if any of them chanced to faint, being tired with over-weighty burthens, or through great hunger and thirst should be siezed with a distemper; or too much debility and weakness, that they might not spend time in taking off their fetters, they beheaded them, so the head fell one way, and the body another: the _indians_ when they spied the _spaniards_ making preparations for such journeys, knowing very well, that few, or none returned home alive, just upon their setting out with sighs and tears, burst out into these or the like expressions. those were journeys, which we travelled frequently in the service of christians, and in some tract of time we return'd to our habitations, wives and children: but now there being no hope of a return, we are for ever depriv'd of their sight and conversation. it hapned also, that the same president would dissipate or disperse the _indians de novo_ at his own pleasure, to the end (as it was reported) he might violently force the _indians_ away from such as did infest or molest him; and dispose of them to others; upon which it fell out, that for the space of a year complete, there was no sowing or planting: and when they wanted bread, the _spaniards_ did by force plunder the _indians_ of the whole stock of corn that they had laid up for the support of their families, and by these indirect courses above thirty thousand perished with hunger. nay it fortun'd at one time, that a woman opprest with insufferable hunger, depriv'd her own son of his life to preserve her own. in this province also they brought many to an untimely end, loading their shoulders with heavy planks and pieces of timer, which they were compell'd to carry to a haven forty miles distant, in order to their building of ships; sending them likewise unto the mountains to find out hony and wax, where they were devour'd by tygers; nay they loaded women impregnated with carriage and burthens fit for beasts. but no greater pest was there that could unpeople this province, than the license granted the _spaniards_ by this governour, to demand captives from the _casics_ and potentates of this region; for at the expiration of four or five months, or as often as they obtain'd leave of the governour to demand them, they deliver'd them up fifty servants, and the _spaniards_ terrified them with menaces, that if they did not obey them in answering their unreasonable demands, they should be burnt alive, or baited to death by dogs. now the _indians_ are but slenderly stor'd with servants; for it is much if a _casic_ hath three or four in his retinue, therefore they have recourse to the subjects; and when they had, in the first place, seized the orphans, they required earnestly and instantly one son of the parent, who had but two, and two of him that had but three, and for the lord of the place satisfied the desires of the tyrant, not without the effusion of tears and groans of the people, who (as it seems) were very careful of their children. and this being frequently repeated in the space between the year , and , the kingdom lost all their inhabitants, for in six or seven years time there were constantly five or six ships made ready to be fraighted with _indians_ that were sold in the regions of _panama_ and _perusium_, where they all dyed; for it is by dayly experience prov'd and known, that the _indians_ when transported out of their native country into any other, soon dye; because they are shortned in their allowance of food, and the task impos'd on them no ways dimished, they being only bought for labour. and by this means, there have been taken out of this province five hundred thousand inhabitants and upward, who before were freemen, and made slaves, and in the wars made on them, and the horrid bondage they were reduc'd unto fifty or sixty thousand more have perished, and to this day very many still are destroy'd. now all these slaughters have been committed within the space of fourteen years inclusively, possibly in this province of _nicaraqua_ there remains four or five thousand men who are put to death by ordinary and personal opressions, whereas (according to what is said already) it did exceed other countries of the world in multitude of people. _of new_ spain. new _spain_ was discovered _anno dom._ . and in the detection there was no first or second attempt, but all were exposed to slaughter. the year ensuing those _spaniards_ (who style themselves christians) came thither to rob, kill and slay, though they pretend they undertook this voyage to people the countrey. from this year to the present, _viz._ . the injustice, violence and tyranny of the _spaniards_ came to the highest degree of extremety: for they had shook hands with and bid adieu to all fear of god and the king, unmindful of themselves in this sad and deplorable condition, for the destructions, cruelties, butcheries, devastations, the domolishing of cities, depradations, _&c._ which they perpetrated in so many and such ample kingdoms, are such and so great, and strike the minds of men with so great horror, that all we have related before are inconsiderable comparatively to those which have been acted from the year to , and to this very month of _september_ that we now live to see the most heavy, grievous and detestable things are committed, that the rule we laid down before as a maxim might be induputably verified, to wit, that from the beginning they ran headlong from bad to worse, and were overcome in their diabolical acts and wickedness only by themselves. thus from the first entrance of the _spaniards_ into _new spain_, which hapned on the th day of _april_ in the said month of the year , to , the space of ten whole years, there was no end or period put to the destruction and slaughters committed by the merciless hands of the sanguinary and blood-thirsty spaniard in the continent, or space of miles round about _mexico_, and the adjacent or neighboring parts, which might contain four or five spatious kingdoms, that neither for magnitude or fertility would give _spain_ her self the pre-eminance. this intire region was more populous then _toledo, sevil, valedolid, saragoza,_ and _faventia_; and there is not at this day in all of them so many people, nor when they flourisht in their greatest height and splendor was there such a number, as inhabited that region, which embraceth in its circumference, four hundred and eighty miles. within these twelve years the spaniards have destroyed in the said countinent, by spears, fire and sword, computing men, women, youth, and children above four millions of people in these their acquests or conquests (for under that word they mask their cruel actions) or rather those of the turk himself, which are reported of them, tending to the ruin of the catholick cause, together with their invasions and unjust wars, contrarty to and condemned by divine as well as human laws; nor are they reckoned in this number who perished by their more then _egyptian_ bondage and usual oppressions. there is no tongue, art, or human knowledge can recite the horrid impieties, which these capital enemies to government and all mankind have been guilty of at several times and in several nations; nor can the circumstantial aggravations of some of their wicked acts be unfolded or display'd by any manner of industry, time or writing, but yet i will say somewhat of every individual particular thing, which this protestation and oath, that i conceive i am not able to comprehend one of a thousand. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- _of_ new spain _in particular_. among other slaughters this also they perpetrated in the most spacious city of _cholula_, which consisted of thirty thousand families; all the chief rulers of that region and neighboring places, but first the priests with their high priest going to meet the spaniards in pomp and state, and to the end they might give them a more reverential and honourable reception appointed them to be in the middle of the solemnity, that so being entertained in the appartments of the most powerful and principal noblemen, they might be lodged in the city. the spaniards presently consult about their slaughter or castigation (as they term it) that they might fill every corner of this region by their cruelties and wicked deeds with terror and consternation; for in all the countries that they came they took this course, that immediately at their first arrival they committed some notorious butcheries, which made those innocent sheep tremble for fear. to this purpose therefore they sent to the governours and nobles of the cities, and all places subject unto them, together with their supream lord, that they should appear before them, and no soner did they attend in expectation of some capitulation or discourse with the spanish commander, but they were presently seized upon and detained prisoners before any one could advertise or give them notice of their captivity. they demanded of them six thousand _indians_ to drudge for them in the carriage of their bag and baggage; and as soon as they came the _spaniards_ clapt them into the yards belonging to their houses and there inclosed them all. it was a thing worthy of pity and compassion to behold this wretches people in what a condition they were when they prepared themselves to receive the burthens laid on them by the spaniards. they came to them naked, their privities only vail'd, their shoulders loaden with food; only covered with a net, they laid themselves quietly on the ground, and shrinking in their bodies like poor wretches, exposed themselves to their swords: thus being all gathered together in ther yards, some of the spaniards armed held the doors to drive them away if attempting to approach, and others with lances and swords butcher these innocents so that not one of them escaped, but two or three days after some of them, who hid themselves among the dead bodies, being all over besprinkled with blood and gore, presented themselves to the spaniards, imporing their mercy and the prolongation of their lives with tears in their eyes and all imaginable submission, yet they, not in the least moved with pity or compassion, tore them in pieces: but all the chief governours who were above one hundred in number, were kept bound, whom the captain commanded to be affixed to posts and burnt; yet the king of the whole countrey escaped, and betook himself with a train of thirty or forty gentlemen, to a temple (called in their tongue _quu_) which he made use of as a castle or place of defence, and there defended himself a great part of the day, but the spaniards who suffer none to escape out of their clutches, especially souldiers, setting fire to the temple, burnt all those that were there inclosed, who brake out into these dying words and exclamations. o profligate men, what injury have we done you to occasion our death! go, go to _mexico_, where our supream lord _montencuma_ will revenge our cause upon your persons. and 'tis reported, while the spaniards were engated in this tragedy destroying six or seven thousand men, that their commander with great rejoycing sang this following ayre; _mira_ nero _de_ tarpeia, roma _como se ardia, gritos de_ ninos _y vieyot, y el de nadase dolia._ _from the_ tarpeian _still nero espies_ rome _all in flames with unrelenting eyes,_ _and hears of young and old the dreadful cries._ they also committed a very great butchery in the city _tepeara_, which was larger and better stored with houses than the former; and here they massacred an incredible number with the point of the sword. setting sail from _cholula_, they steer'd their course to _mexico_, whose king sent his nobles and peers with abundance of presents to meet them by the way, testifying by divers sorts of recreations how grateful their arrival was and acceptable to him: but when they came to a steep hill, his brother went forward to meet them accompanied with many noblemen who brought them many gifts in gold, silver, and robes emboidered with gold and at their entrance into the city, the king himself carried in a golden litter, together (with the whole court) attended them to the palace prepared for their reception; and that very day as i was informed by some persons then and there present by a grand piece of treachery, they took the very great king _montencuma_, never so much as dreaming of any such surprize, and put him into the custody of eighty soldiers, and afterward loaded this legs with irons; but all these things being passed over with a light pencil of which much might be said, one thing i will discover acted by them, that may merit your obervation. when the captain arrived at the haven, to fight with a spanish officer, who made war against him, and left another with an hundred soldiers, more or less as a guard to king _montencuma_, it came into their heads, that to act somewhat worth remembrance, that the dread of their cruelty might be more and more apprehended, and greatly increased. in the interim all the nobility and commonality of the city thought of nothing else, but how to exhilarate the spirit of their captive king, and solace him during his confinement with varity of diversions and recreations; and among the rest this was one, _viz._, revellings and dances which they celebrated in all streets and highways, by night and they in their idiom term _mirotes_, as the islanders do _arcytos_; to these masques and nocturnal jigs they usually go with all their riches, costly vestments and robes, together with any thing that is pretious and glorious, being wholly addicted to this humor, nor is there any greater token among them then this of their extraordinary exultation and rejoycing. the nobles in like manner, and princes of the blood royal every one according to his degree exercise these masques and dances, in some place adjoyning to the house where their king and lord is detained prisoner. now there were not far from the palace about young noblemen who were the issue of the greatest potentates of the kingom, and indeed the flower of the whole nobility of king _motencuma_, and a _spanish_ captain went to visit them with some soldiers, and sent others to the rest of the places in the city where these revellings were kept, under pretence only of being spectators of the solemnity. now the captain had commanded, that, at a certain hour appointed they should fall upon these revellers, and he himself approaching the _indians_ very busie at their dancing, said, _san jago_ (that is st. _james_ it seems that was the word) _let us rush in upon them_, which was no sooner heard, but they all began with their naked swords in hand to pierce their tender and naked bodies, and spill their generous and noble blood, till not one of them was left alive on the place, and the rest following his example in other parts, (to their inexpressible stupefaction and grief) seized on all these provinces. nor will the inhabitants till the general conflagration ever discontinue the celebration of these festivals, and the lamentation and singing with certain kind of rhythmes in their _arcytos_, the doleful ditty of the calamity and ruin of this seminary of the antient nobility of the whole kingdom, which was their frequent pride and glory. the _indians_ seeing this not to be exampled cruelty and iniquity executed against such a number of guiltless persons, and also bearing with incredible patience the unjust imprisonment of their king, from whom they had an absolute command not to take up arms against the _spaniard_, the whole city was suddenly up in arms fell on the _spaniards_ and wounded many of them, the rest hardly escaping; but they presenting the point of a sword to the kings breast, threatned him with death unless he out of the window commanded them to desist; but the _indians_ for the present disobeying the kings mandate, proceeded to the election of a generalissimo, or commander in chief over all their forces; and because that the captain, who went to the port returned victor, and brought away a far greater number of _spaniards_ then he took along with him, there was a cessation of arms for three or four days, till he re-entred the city, and then the _indians_ having gatherered together and made up a great army, fought so long and so strenuously, that the _spaniards_ despairing of their safety, called a council of war and therein resolv'd to retreat in the dead time of night and so draw off their forces from the city: which coming to the knowledge of the _indians_ they destroyed a great number retreating on the bridges made over their lakes in this just and holy war, for the causes above-mentioned, deserving the approbation of every upright judge. but afterward the _spaniards_ having recruited and got together in a body, they resolved to take the city and carried it at last, wherein most detestable butcheries were acted, a vast number of the people slain, and their rulers perished in the flames. all these horrid muders being commited in _mexico_ and other cities ten, fifteen and twenty miles distant. this same tyranny and plague in the abstract proceeded to infest and lay desolate _panuco_; a region abounding with inhabitants even to admiration, nor were the slaughters therein perpetrated less stupendous and wonderful. in the same manner they utterly laid wasate the provinces of _futepeca, ipilcingonium_ and _columa_, every one of them being as large as the kingdoms of _leon_, and _castile_. it would be very difficult or rather impossible to relate the cruelties and destruction there made and committed, and prove very nauseous and offensive to the reader. 'tis observable, that they entred upon these dominions and laid waste the _indian_ territories, so populous, that it would have rejoyced the hearts of all true christians to see their number upon no other title or pretense, but only to enslave them; for at their first arrival they compel'd them to swear the oath of obedience and fealty to the king of _spain_, and if they did not condescend to it, they menace them with death and vassalage, and they who did not forthwith appear to satisfie the unequitable mandates, and submit to the will and pleasure of such unjust and cruel men were declared rebels, and accu's of that crime before our lord the king; and blindess or ignorance of those who were set over the _indians_ as rulers did so darken their understanding that they did not apprehend that known and incontrovertible maxim in law, _that no man can be called a rebel, who is not first proved to be a subject_. i omit the injuries and prejudice they do to the king himself, when they spoil and ravage his kingdoms, and as much as in them lies, diminish and impair all his right and title to the _indians_, nay in plain english invalidate and make it null and void. and these are the worthy services which the spaniards do for our kings in those countries, by the injust and colourable pretences aforesaid. this tyrant upon the same pretext sent two other captains, who exceeded him in impiety and cruelty, if possible to the most flourishing and feril (in fruits and men) kingdoms of _guatemala_, situate toward the south, who had also received orders to go to the kingdoms of _naco, hondera_, and _guaymura_, verging upon the north, and are borderers on _mexico_ three hundred miles together. the one was sent by land and the other by sea, and both well furnished with horse and foot. this i declare for a truth, that the outrages committed by these two, particularly by him that went to _guatimala_ (for the other not long after his departure died a violent death) would afford matter sufficient for an entire volume, and when completed he so crouded with slaughters, injuries, butcheries and inhuman desolations, so horrid and detestable as would ague-shake the present as well as future ages with terror. he that put out to sea vexed all the maritime coasts with his cruel incursions; now some inhabitants of the kingdom of _jucatan_ which is seated in the way to the kingdoms of _naco_ and _naymura_, to which places he steered his course, came to meet him with burthens of presents and gifts: and as soon as he approacht them, sent his captains with a party of soldiers to depopulate their land, who committed great spoils and made cruel slaughters among them; and in particular a seditious and rebellious officer who with three hundres soldiers entred a neighboring country to _guatimala_, and there firing the cities and murdering all the inhabitants, violently deprived them of all their goods, which he did designedly, for the space of an hundred and twenty miles; to the end that if his companions should follow them, they might find the country laid wast, and so be destroyed by the _indians_ in revenge for the dammage they had received by him and his forces which hapned accordingly: for the chief commander whose order the abovesaid captain had disobey'd and so became a rebel to him, was there slain. but many other bloody tyrants succeeded him, who from the year to . did unpeople and make a desert of the provinces of _naco_ and _hondura_ (as well as other places) which were lookt upon as the paradise of delights, and better peopled then other regions; insomuch that within the term of these eleven years there fell in those countries above two millions of men, and now there are hardly remaining two thousand, who dayly dye by the severity of their slavery. but to return to that great tyrant, who outdid the former in cruelty (as hinted above) and is equal to those that tyrannize there at present, who travelled to _guatimala_; he from the provinces adjoyning to _mexico_, which according to his prosecuted journey (as he himself writes and testifies with his own hand in letters to the prince of tyrants) are distant from _guatimala_ four hundred miles, did make it to his urgent and dayly business to procure ruin and destruction by slaughter, fire and depopulations, compelling all to submit to the spanish king, whom they lookt upon to be more unjust and cruel then his inhumane and bloodthirsty ministers. _of the kingdom and province of_ guatimala. this tyrant at his first entrance here acted and commanded prodigious slaughters to be perpetrated: notwithstanding which, the chief lord in his chair or sedan attended by many nobles of the city of _ultlatana_, the emporium of the whole kingdom, together with trumpets, drums and great exultation, went out to meet him, and brought with them all sorts of food in great abundance, with such things as he stood in most need of. that night the _spaniards_ spent without the city, for they did not judge themselves secure in such a well-fortified place. the next day he commanded the said lord with many of his peers to come before him, from whom they imperiously challenged a certain quantity of gold; to whom the _indians_ return'd this modest answer, that they could not satisfie his demands, and indeed this region yeilded no golden mines; but they all, by his command, without any other crime laid to their charge, or any legal form of proceeding were burnt alive. the rest of the nobles belonging to other provinces, when they found their chief lords, who had the supreme power were expos'd to the merciless element of fire kindled by a more merciless enemy; for this reason only, becauase they bestow'd not what they could not upon them, _viz._ gold, they fled to the mountains, (their usual refuge) for shelter, commanding their subjects to obey the _spaniards_, as lords, but withal strictly and expressly prohibiting and forbidding them, to inform the _spaniards_ of their flight, or the places of their concealment. and behold a great many of the _indians_ addrest themselves to them, earnestly requesting, they would admit them as subjects, being very willing and ready to serve them: the captain replyed that he would not entertain them in such a capacity, but instead of so doing would put every individual person to death, if they would not discover the receptacles of the fugitive governours. the _indians_ made answer that they were wholly ignorant of the matter, yet that they themselves, their wives and children should serve them; that they were at home, they might come to them and put them to death, or deal with them as they pleas'd. but the _spaniards_, o wonderful! went to the towns and villages, and destroy'd with their lances these poor men, their wives and children, intent upon their labour, and as they thought themselves, secure and free from danger. another large village they made desolate in the space of two hours, sparing neither age, nor sex, putting all to the sword, without mercy. the _indians_ perceiving that this barbarous and hard-hearted people would not be pacified with humility, large gifts, or unexampled patience, but that they were butcher'd without any cause, upon serious consultation took up a resolution of getting together in a body, and fighting for their lives and liberty; for they conceiv'd it was far better, (since death to them was a necessary evil) with sword in hand to be kill'd by taking revenge of the enemy, then be destroy'd by them without satisfaction. but when they grew sensible of their wants of arms, nakedness and debility, and that they were altogether incapable of the management of horses, so as to prevail against such a furious adversary, recollecting themselves, they contriv'd this strategm, to dig ditches and holes in the high-way into which the horses might fall in their passage, and fixing therein purposely sharp and burnt posts, and covering them with loose earth, so that they could not be discern'd by their riders, they might be transfixed or gored by them. the horses fell twice or thrice into those holes, but afterward the _spaniards_ took this course to prevent them for the future; and made this a law, that as many of the _indians_ of what age or sex soever as were taken, should be cast into these ditches that they had made. nay they threw into them women with child, and as many aged men as they laid hold of, till they were all fill'd up with carkasses. it was a sight deserving commiseration, to behold women and children gauncht or run through with these posts, some were taken off by spears and swords, and the remainder expos'd to hungry dogs, kept short of food for that purpose, to be devour'd by them and torn in pieces. they burnt a potent nobleman in a very great fire, saying, _that he was the more honour'd by this kind of death_. all which butcheries continued seven years, from , to . i leave the reader to judge how many might be massacred during that time. among the innumerable flagitious acts done by this tyrant and his co-partners (for they were as barbarous as their principal) in this kingdom, this also occurs worthy of an afterism in the margin. in the province of _cuztatan_ in which s. _saviour's_ city is seated, which country with the neighbouing sea-coasts extends in length forty or fifty miles, as also in the very city of _cuzcatan_, the metropolis of the whole province, he was entertain'd with great applause: for about twenty or thirty thousand _indians_ brought with them hens and other necessary provisions, expecting this coming. he, accepting their gifts, commended every single _spaniard_ to make choice of as many of these people, as he had a mind to, that during their stay there, they might use them as servants, and forced to undergo the most servile offices they should impose on them. every one cull'd out a hundred, or fifty, according as he thought convenient for his peculiar service, and these wretched _indians_ did serve the _spaniards_ with their utmost strength and endeavour; so that there could be nothing wanting in them but adoration. in the mean time this captain requir'd a great sum of gold from their lords (for that was the load-stone attracted them thither) who answered, they were content to deliver him up all the gold they had in possession; and in order thereunto, the _indians_ gathered together a great number of spears gilded with _orichalcum_, (which had the appearance of gold, and in truth some gold in them intermixt) and they were presented to him. the captain ordered them to be toucht, and when he found them to be _orichalcum_ or mixt metal, he spake to the _spaniards_ as followeth. let that nation that is without gold be accursed to the pit of hell. let every man detain those servants he elected, let them be clapt in irons, and stigmatiz'd with the brand of slavery, which was accordingly done, for they were all burnt, who did no excape with the king's mark. i my self saw the impression made on the son of the chiefest person in the city. those that escap'd, with other _indians_, engaged the _spaniards_ by force of arms, but with such ill success, that abundance of them lost their lives in the attempt. after this they return'd to _gautimala_, where they built a city, which god in his judgement with three deluges, the first of water, the second of earth, the third of stones, as big as half a score oxen, all concurring at one and the same time, laid level with its own ashes. now all being slain who were capable of bearing arms against them, the rest were enslav'd, paying so much _per_ head for men and women as a ransom; for they use no other servitude here, and then they were sent into _pecusium_ to be sold, by which means together with their slaughters committed upon the inhabitants, they destroy'd and made a desert of this kingdom, which in breadth as well as length contains one hundred miles; and with his associates and brethren in iniquity, four millions at least in fifteen or sixteen years, that is, from , to were murdered, and dayly continues destroying the small residue of that people with his cruelties and brutishness. it was the usual custom of this tyrant, when he made war with any city or province, to take along with himas many of those _indians_ he had subjugated as he could, that they might fight with their country-men; and when he had in his army twenty, or sometimes thirty thousand of them, and could not afford them sustenance, he permitted them to feed on the flesh of other _indians_ taken prisoners in war; and so kept a shambles of man's flesh in his army, suffered children to be kill'd and roasted before his face. they butcher'd the men for their feet and hands only; for these members were accounted by them dainties, most delicious food. he as the death of many by the intolerable labour of carrying ships by land, causing them to transport those vessels with anchors of a vast weight from the _septentrional_ to the _mediterranean_ sea, which are one hundred and thirty miles distant; as also abundance of great guns of the largest fort, which they carried on their bare, naked shoulders, so that opprest with many great and ponderous burthens, (i say no more than what i saw) they dyed by the way: he separated and divided families, forcing married men from their wives, and maids from their parents, which he bestow'd upon his marriners and soldiers, to gratifie their burning lust. all his ships he freighted with _indians_, where hunger and thirst discharg'd them of their servitude and his cruelty by a welcome death. he had two companies of soldiers who hackt and tore them in pieces, like thunder from heaven speedily. o how many parents has he robb'd of their children, how many wives of their husbands, and children of their parents? how many adulteries, rapes, and what libidinous acts hath he been guilty of? how many hath he enslav'd and opprest with insufferable anguish and unspeakable calamities? how many tears, sighs and groans hath he occasion'd? to how many has he bin the author of desolation, during their peregrination in this, and of damnation in the world to come, not only to _indians_, whose number is numberless, but even to _spaniards_ themselves, by whose help and assistance he committed such detestable butcheries and flagitious crimes? i supplicate almighty god, that he would please to have mercy on his soul, and require no other satisfaction than the violent death, which turn'd him out of this world. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- _a farther discourse of_ new spain: _and some account of_ panuco _and_ xalisco. after the perpetration of all the cruelties rehearsed in _new spain_ and other places, there came another rabid and cruel tyrant to _panuco_, who acted the part of a bloody tragedian as well as the rest, and sent away many ships loaden with these _barbarians_ to be sold for slaves, made this province almost a wilderness, and which was deplorable, eight hundred _indians_, that had rational souls were given in exchange for a burthen-bearing-beast, a mule, or camel. well, he was made governour of the city of _mexico_, and all _new spain_, and with him many other tyrants had the office of auditors confer'd upon them: now they had already made such a progress toward the desolation of this region, that if the _franciscans_ had not vigorously opposed them, and that by (the king's council, the best and greatest encourager of vertue) it had not speedily bin prevented, that which hapned to _hispaniola_ in two years, had bin the fate of _hispania nova_, namely to be unpeopled, deferred, and intomb'd in its own rules. a companion of this governour employed eight thousand _indians_ in erecting a wall to inclose his garden, but they all dyed, having no supplies, nor wages from him, to support themselves, at whose death he was not in the least concern'd. after the first captain before spoken of had absolutely profliaged and ruin'd the _panuconians_, fifteen thousand whereof perished by carrying their bag and baggage: at length he arriv'd at the province of _machuacan_, which is forty miles journey from _mexico_, and as fertile and populous: the king to honour him in the rencounter, with a multiple of people, marcheth toward him, from whom he had received one thousand services and civilities very considerable, who gratefully requited him with captivity, because fame had nois'd it abroad, that he was a most opulent prince in gold and silver; and to the end he might export from, and purge him of his gold, he was cruciated with torments after this manner; his body was extended, hands bound to a post, and his feet put into a pair of stocks, they all the while applying burning coals to his feet at a tormenting distance, where a boy attended, who by little and little sprinkled them with oyl, that his flesh might roast the better: before him there stood a wicked fellow, presenting a bow to his breast charged with a mortal arrow, (if let fly) behind him, another with dogs held in with chains, which he threatned to let loose at him, which if done, he had bin torn to pieces in a moment; and with these kind of torments they racked him to extort a confession, where his treasures lay; till a _franciscan_ monk came and deliver'd him from his torments, but not from death, for he departed this miserable life not long after: and this was the severe fate of many _cacics_ and _indian_ lords, who dyed with the same torments which they were expos'd to by the _spaniards_, in order to the engrossing of their gold and sliver to themselves. at this very time, a certain visiter of purses rather than souls hapned to be here present, who (finding some _indian_ idols which were hid; for they were no better instructed in the knowledge of the true god by reason of the wicked documents and dealings of the _spaniards_) detain'd grandees as slaves, till they had deliver'd him all their idols, for he phancied they were made of gold or silver, but his expectation being frustrated, he chastised them with no less cruelty than injustice; and that he might not depart bubbled out of all his hopes, constrain'd them to redeem their idols with money, that so they might, according to their custom, adore them. these are the fruits of the _spanish_ artifices and juggling tricks among the _indians_, and thus they promoted the honour and worship of god. this tyrant from _mechuacam_ arrives at _xalisco_, a country abounding with people very fruitful, and the glory of the _indians_ in this respect, that it had some towns seven miles long; and among other barbarisms equal to what you have read, which they acted here, this is not to be forgotten, that women big with child, were burthen'd with the luggage of wicked christians, and being unable to go out their usual time, through extremity of toil and hunger, were necessitated to bring them forth in the high-wayes, which was the death of many infants. at a certain time a profligate christian attempted to devirginate a maid, but the mother being present, resisted him, and endeavouring to free her from his intended rape, whereat the _spaniard_ enrag'd, cut off her hand with a short sword, and stab'd the virgin in several places, till she expir'd, because she obstinately opposed and disappointed his inordinate appetite. in this kingdom of _xalisco_ (according to report) they burnt eight hundred towns to ashes, and for this reason the _indians_ growing desperate, beholding the dayly destruction of the remainders of their matchless cruelty, made an insurrection against the _spaniards_, slew several of them justly and deservedly, and afterward fled to the insensible rocks and mountains (yet more tender and kind than the stony-hearted enemy) for sanctuary; where they were miserably massacred by those tyrants who succeeded, and there are now few, or none of the inhabitants to be found. thus the _spaniards_ being blinded with the lustre of their gold, deserted by god, and given over to a reprobate sense, not undrestanding (or at least not willing to do so) that the cause of the _indians_ is most just, as well by the law of nature, as the divine and humane, they by force of arms, destroying them, hacking them in pieces, and turning them out of their own confines and dominions, nor considering how unjust those violences and tyrannies are, wherewith they have afflicted these poor creatures, they still contrive to raise new wars against them: nay they conceive, and by word and writing testifie, that those victories they have obtain'd against those innocents to their ruine, are granted them by god himself, as if their unjust wars were promoted and managed by a just right and title to what they pretend; and with boasting joy return thanks to god for their tyranny, in imitation of those tyrants and robbers, of whom the prophet _zechariah_ part of the forth and fifth verses. _feed the sheep of the slaughter, whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty, and they that sell them say, blessed by the lord, for ye are rich._ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- _of the kingdom of _jucatan. an impious wretch by his fabulous stories and relations to the king of _spain_ was made praefect of the kingdom of _jucatan_, in the year of our lord ; and the other tyrants to this very day have taken the same indirect measures to obtain offices, and screw or wheedle themselves into publick charges or employments, for this praetext, and authority, they had the greater opportunity to commit theft and rapine. this kingdom was very well peopled, and both for temperature of air, and the plenty of food and fruits, in which respect it is more fertile than _mexico_, but chiefly for hony and wax, it exceeds all the _indian_ countries that hath hitherto bin discover'd. it is three hundred miles in compass. the inhabitants of this place do much excel all other _indians_, either in politie or prudence, or in leading a regular life and morality, truly deserving to be instructed in the knowledge of the true god. here the _spaniards_ might have erected many fair cities, and liv'd as it were in a garden of delights, if they had not, through covetousness, stupidity, and the weight of enormous crimes rendred themselves unworthy of so great a benefit. this tyrant, with three hundred men began to make war with these innocent people, living peaceably at home, and doing injury to none, which was the ruine of a great number of them: now because this region affords no gold; and if it did the inhabitants would soon have wrought away their lives by hard working in the mines, that so he might accumulate gold by their bodies and souls, for which christ was crucified: for the generality he made slaves of those whose lives he spared, and sent away such ships as were driven thither by the wind of report, loaden with them, exchanging them for wine, oyl, vinegar, salt pork, garments, pack horses and other commodities, which he thought most necessary and fit for his use. he proposed to them the choice of fifty virgins, and she that was the fairest or best complexioned he bartered for a small cask of wine, oyl, vinegar or some inconsiderable quantity of salt pork, the same exchange he proferred of two or three hundred well-disposed young boys, and one of them who had the mind or presence of a princes son, was given up to them for a cheese, and one hundred more for a horse. thus he continued his flagitious courses from to , inclusively, till there was news brought of the wealth and opulence of the region of _perusia_, whither the _spaniards_ marcht, and so for some time there was a cessation of this tyranny; but in a few days after they returned and acted enormous crimes, robbed, and imprisoned them and committed higher offences against the god of heaven; nor have they ye done, so that now these three hundred miles of land so populous (as i said before) lies now uncultivated and almost deserted. no solifidian can believe the particular narrations of their barbarism, and cruelty in those countreys. i will only relate two or three stories which are fresh in my memory. the _spaniards_ used to trace the steps of the _indians_, both men and women with curst currs, furious dogs; an _indian_ woman that was sick hapned to be in the way in sight, who perceiving that she was not able to avoid being torn in pieces by the dogs, takes a cord that she had and hangs her self upon a beam, tying her child (which she unforunately had with her) to her foot; and no sooner had she done, yet the dogs were at her, tearing the child, but a priest coming that way baptiz'd it before quite dead. when the _spaniards_ left this kingdom, one of them invited the son of some _indian_ governour of a city or province, to go along with him, who told him he would not leave or desert his native countrey, whereupon he threatned to cut off his ears, if he refus'd to follow him: but the youth persisting resolutely, that he would continue in the place of his nativity, he drawing his sword cut off each ear, notwithstanding which he persever'd in his first opinion, and then as if he had only pincht him, smilingly cut off his nose and lips. this rogue did lasciviously boast before a priest, and as if he had merited the greatest applause, commended himself to the very heavens, saying, "he had made it his chief trade or business to impregnate _indian_ women, that when they were sold afterward, he might gain the more money by them." in this kingdom or (i'm certain) in some province of new _spain_, a _spaniard_ hunting and intent on his game, phancyed that his beagles wanted food; and to supply their hunger snatcht a young little babe from the mothers breast, cutting off his arms and legs, cast a part of them to every dog, which they having devour'd, he threw the remainder of the body to them. thus it is plainly manifest how they value these poor creatures, created after the image of god, to cast them to their canibal curs. but that which follows is (if possible) a sin of a deeper dye. i pretermit their unparallel'd impieties, _&c._ and only close all with this one story that follows. those haughty obdurate and execrable tyrants, who departed from this countrey to fish for riches in _perusia_, and four monks of the order of st. _francis_, with father _james_ who travelled thither also to keep the countrey in peace, and attract or mildly perswade by their preaching the remnant of inhabitants, that had outlived a septennial tyranny, to embrace the knowledge of christ. i conceive these are the persons who in the year , travelling by _mexico_ were sollicited by several messengers from the _indians_, to come into their countrey, and inform them in the knowledge of one god, the true god, and lord of the whole world: to this end they appointed assemblies and councils to examine and understand what men they were, who called themselves fathers and friers, what they intended and what difference there was between them and the _spaniards_, by whom they had been so molested and tormented: but they received them at length upon this condition that they should be admitted alone, without any _spaniards_, which the fathers promised; for they had permission, nay an express mandate from the president of new _spain_ to make that promise, and that the _spaniards_ should not do them the least detriment or injury. then they began, to preach the gospel of christ, and to explicate and declare the pious intention of the king of _castile_, of all which they had notice by the _spaniards_ for seven years together, that they had no king nor no other but him, who oppressed them with so much tyranny. the priests continued there but forty days, but behold they bring forth all their idols to be committed to the flames; and then their children which they tendred as the apple of the eye, that they might be instructed. they also erected temples and houses for them and they were desired to come to other provinces and preach the gospel, and introduce them into the knowledge of god, and the great (as they stiled him) king of _castile_: and the priests perswasions wrought so effectually on them, that they condescended to that which was never done in _india_ before (for whatsoever those tyrants who wasted and consumed these large kingdoms and provinces, did misrepresent and falsifie, was only done to bring an odium and disgrace upon the _indians_). for twelve or fifteen princes of spatious and well-peopled regions assembled, every one distinct and separate from the rest, with his own subjects, and by their unanimous consent upon council and advice, of their own accord sumitted themselves to the government of the _castilian_ kings and accepted of them as their prince and protector, obliging themselves to obey and serve them as subjects to their lawful liege lord. in witness whereof i have in my custody, a certain instrument signed and attested by the aforesaid religioso's. thus to the great joy and hope of these priests reducing them to the knowledge of christ they were received by the inhabitants of this kingdom, that surviv'd the heat and rage of the spanish cruelties: but behold eighteen horse and twelve footmen by another way crept in among them, bringing with them many idols, which were of great weight, and taken out of other regions by force. the commander in chief of these _spaniards_ summoned one of the dynasts or rulers of that province which they entred into, to appear before him, and command him to take these idols with him, distribute them through his countrey and exchange every single idol for an _indian_ man or woman, otherwise he would make war against him. the abovesaid lord compelled to it by fear did so accordingly with a command, that his subjects should adore worship and honour them, and in compensation send indians male and female into servitude. the terrified people delivered up their children, and by this means there was an end made of this sacrilegious merchandize, and thus the _casic_ satisfied the greedy desires of the (i dare not say christian) _spaniards_. one of these sacrilegious robbers was _john garcia_ by name, who being very sick and at the point of dath, had several idols hid under his bed, and calling his _indians_ that waited on him, as a nurse, commanded her not to part with those idols at a small rate for they were of the better sort, and that she should not dispose of them without one _indian_, for each idol by way of barter. thus by this his private and nuncupative last will and testament distracted with these carking cares, he gave up the ghost: and who is it that will not fear his being tormented in the darkest and lowest hell? let us now consider what progress in religion the _spaniards_ made, and what examples of christianism they gave, at their first arrival in _america_, how devoutly they honoured god, and what expence of sweat and toil they were at to promote his worship and adoration among the infidels. let it be also taken into serious consideration, whose sin is the greater, either _joroboam's_, who made all _israel_ to sin, and caused two golden calves to be erected, or the _spaniards_ who traffick and trade in idols like _judas_, who was the occasion of such great scandals. these are the good deeds of the spanish _dons_, who often, nay very often to feed their avarice, and accumulate gold have sold and still do sell, denied and still do deny jesus christ our redeemer. the _indians_ now findint the promises of the religious, that the _spaniards_ should not enter into this countrey, null and void; nay that the spaniards brought idols from other places to be put off there; when as they had delivered up their own to the priests to be burnt, that there might be only worship of the true god established among them; they were highly incensed against these friars, and addressed themselves to them in these words following: why have you deceived us, binding your promises with false protestations, that the spaniards shoudl not be admitted to come hither? and why have you burnt our gods, when others are brought from other regions by the spaniards? are the gods of other provinces more sacred than ours? the friers as well as they could (though they had little to return in answer) endevour'd by soft language to appease them; and went to these thirty spaniards, declaring the evil actions they were guilty of, humbly supplicating them to withdraw themselves from that place. which they would by no means condescend to, and what is most flagitious and wicked perswaded the _indians_, that they were introduc'd by those priests; which being made known to them, these _indians_ resolved to be the death of these monks, but having notice thereof by some courteous _indians_, they stole away from thence by night, and fled; but after their departure the truth of the matter and the spanish malice being understood; they sent several messengers who followed them fifty miles distant beseeching them in the name of the _indians_, to return and begging pardon for that ignorant mistake. the priests relying on their words, returned, and were caress'd like angels sent from heaven; and continued with them, (from whom they received a thousand kindnesses) four or five months. but when the spaniards persisted in their resolution not to quit the place, although they vice-roy did use all endeavours and fair means to recall them, they were proclaim'd traitors, guilty of high treason; and because they continued still exercising tyranny and perpetrated nefandous crimes, the priests were sensible they would study revenge, though it might be some considerable time before they put it in execution, fearing that it might fail upon their own heads, and since they could not exercise the function of their ministry securely and undisturbed by reason of the continual incursions and assaults made by the spaniards, they consulted about their departure, and did leave this kingdom accordingly which remain'd destitute of all christian doctrin and these poor souls are at this day involv'd in the obscurity of their former misery and ignorance, they being deprived by these accursed spaniards, of all hopes of remedy, and the irrigatioon of divine knowledge, just like young withering plants for want of water: for in that very juncture of time, when these religioso's took leave, they embraced the doctrine of our faith with the greatest fervency and eagerness imaginable. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- _of the province of st. _martha. the province of st. _martha_ was rich in the neighbouring golden mines, and a fruitful soil, nay the people were very expert and industrious in those mine-works: upon this account, or temptation it was, that from the year , to , abundance of tyrants sailed thither, laying waste the whole country by their depredations, slaughtering the inhabitants at a prodigious and bloody rate; and robbing them of all their gold, who dayly fled to their ships for refuge, moving sometime to one place, and sometime to another. and thus those provinces were laid waste, the greatest outrages being committed on the sea-shore, which lasted till the year , whither the _spaniards_ then came to seat themselves, and fis their intended habitation. and becuase it is a plentiful region and opulent withal; it was subjected to several rulers, who like infernal fiends contended who should obtain the palm, by out-staining the sword of his predecessor in innocent blood; insomuch, that from the year to this very day, they have wasted and spoiled as much good ground as extended five hundred miles, and unpeopled the countrey. if i design'd to enumerate all the impieties, butcheries, desolations, iniquities, violences, destructions and other the piacula and black enormities committed and perpetrated by the _spaniards_ in this province, against god, the king, and these harmless nations; i might compile a voluminous history, and that shall be compleated, if god permit my glass to run longer, in his good time. it may suffice for the present to relate some passages written in a letter to our king and lord by a revernd bishop of these provinces, dated the th of _may, an. dom._ . wherein among other matters he thus words it. i must acquaint your sacred majesty, that the only way to succour and support this tottering region is to free it from the power of a father in law, and marry it to a husband who will treat her as she ought to be, and lovingly entertain her, and that must be done with all possible expedition too, if not, i am certain that she will suddenly decay and come to nothing by the covetous and sordid deportment of the governours, _&c._ and a little after he writes thus, by this means your majesty will plainly know and understand how to depose the prefects or governours of those regions from their office if they deserve it, that so they may be alleviated and eas'd of such burthens; which if not perform'd, in my opinion, the body politick will never recover its health. and this i will make appear to your majesty that they are not christians, but devils; not servants of god and the king, but traitors to the king and laws, who are conversant in those regions. and in reality nothing can be more obstructive to those that live peacably, then inhumane and barbarous usage, which they, who lead a quiet and peacable life, too frequently undergo, and this is so fastidious and nauseous to them, that there can be nothing in the world so odious and detestable among them, as the name of a christian: for they term the christians in their language _yares_, that is, devils; and in truth are not without reason; for the actions of those that reside in these regions, are not such as speak them to be christians or men, gifted with reason, but absolute devils; hence it is, that the _indians_, perceiving these actions committed by the heads as well as members, who are void of all compassion and humanity, do judge the christian laws to be of the same strain and temper, and that their god and king are the authors of such enormities: now to endeavour to work upon them a contrary perswasion is to no purpose; for this would afford them a greater latitude and liberty to deride jesus christ and his laws. now the _indians_ who protect and defend themselves by force of arms, think it more eligible, and far better to dye once, than suffer several and many deaths under the _spanish_ power. this i know experimentally, most invicible _casar_, &c. and he adds farther, your majesty is more powerful in subjects and servants, who frequent these kingdoms, then you can imagin. nor is there one soldier among them all, who does not publickly and openly profess, if he robs, steals, spoils, kills, burns his majesties subjects, 'tis to purchase gold: he will not say that he therein does your majesty great service, for they affirm they do it to obtain their own share and dividend. wherefore, most invincible _casar_, it would be a very prudential act for your majesty to testifie by a rigid correction and severe punishment of some malefactors, that it is disservice to you for your subjects to commit such evil acts, as tend to the disobedience and dishonour of the almighty. what you have read hitherto is the relation of the said bishop of st. _martha_, epitomized and extracted from his letters, whereby it is manifest, how savagely they handle these mild and affable people. they term them warlike _indians_, who betake themselves to the mountains to secure themselves from _spanish_ cruelty; and call them country _indians_, or inhabitants, who by a dreadful massacre are delivered up to tyrannical and horrible servitude, whereby at length they are become depopulated, made desolate, and utterly destroy'd; as appears by the epistle of the praementioned bishop, who only gives us a slight account or essay of their persecution and sufferings. the _indians_ of this country use to break out into such words as these, when they are driven, loaded like brutes through the uncouth wayes in their journeys over the mountains, if they happen to faint through weakness, and miscarry through extremity of labour, (for then they are kicked and cudge'd, their teeth dasht out with the pummels of their swords to raise them up again, when tired and fallen under weighty burthens, and force them to go on without respiration, or time to take breath, and all this with the following increpation, or upbraiding and taunting words, _o what a wicket villain art thou?_) i say they burst out into these expressions, i am absolutely tir'd, kill me, i desire to dye, being weary of my life as well as my burthen and journey: and this not without deep heart-breaking sighs, they being scarce able to draw or breathe out their words, which are the characteristical notes, and infallible of the mind drowned in anguish and sorrow. my it please our merciful god to order the discovery of these crimes to be manifested to those persons, who are able and oblig'd to redress them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- _of the province of_ carthagena. this province is distant fifty miles from the isle of st. _martha_ westward, and situated on the confines of the country of _cenusia_, from whence it extends one hundred miles to the bay of _uraba_, and contains a very long tract of land _southward_. these provinces from the year to this present time were most barbarously us'd, and made desert by murder and slaughter, but that i may the sooner conclude this brief summary. i will not handle the particulars, to the end i may the better give an account of the detestable villanies that ruin'd other regions. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- _of the _pearl-coast, paria, _and_ trinity-isle. the _spaniards_ made great spoils and havock from the _parian_ coast to the bay of _venecuola_, exclusively, which is about two hundred miles. it can hardly be exprest by tongue or pen how many, and how great injuries and injustices, the inhabitants of this sea-shore have endur'd from the year , to this day. i will only relate two or three piacular and criminal acts of the first magnitude, capable of comprehending all other enormities that deserve the sharpest torments, wit and malice can invent, and so make way for a deserved judgment upon them. a nameless pirate of the year , accompanied with a parcel of sixty or seventy, arriv'd at _trinity-island_, which exceeds _sicile_, both in amplitude and fertility, and is contiguous to the continent on that side where it toucheth upon _paria_, whose inhabitants, according to their quality, are more addicted to probity and vertue, than the rest of the _indians_; who immediately published an edict, that all the inhabitants should come and cohabit with them. the _indian_ lords and subjects gave them a debonair and brotherly reception, serving them with wonderful alacrity, furnishing them with dayly provisions in so plentiful a manner, that they might have sufficed a more numerous company; for it is the mode among _indians_ of this new world, to supply the _spaniards_ very bountifuly with all manner of necessaries. a short time after the _spaniards_ built a stately house, which was an appartment for the _indians_, that they might accomplish their praemeditated designs, which was thus effected. when they were to thatch it, and had rais'd it two mens height, they inclos'd several of them there, to expedite the work, as they pretended, but in truth that they who were within, might not see those without; thus part of them surrounded the house with sword in hand that no one should stir out, and part of them entred it, and bound the _indians_, menacing them with death, if they offered to move a foot; and if any one endeavoured to escape, he was presently hackt in pieces; but some of them partly wounded, and partly unwounded getting away, with others who went not into the house, about one hundred and two hundred, betook themselves to another house with bows and arrows; and when they were all there, the _spaniards_ secur'd the doors, throwing in fire at another place, and so they all perished. from hence they set sail to the island of st. _john_ with near upon one hundred and eighty slaves, whom they had bound, where they sold one half of them, and thence to _hispaniola_, where they dispos'd of the rest. now when i taxed this captain with wickedness and treachery in the very isle of st. _john_, he dismist me with this answer; _forbear good sir._ i had this in commission from those who sent me hither, that i should surprize them by the spetious pretense of peace, whom i could not sieze by open force, and in truth this same captain told me with his own mouth, that in _trinity-isle_ alone, he had met with a father and mother in civil usage, which he uttered to his greater confusion and the aggravation of his sins. the monks of our order of st. _dominic_ on a certain time held a consult about sending one of their fraternity into this island, that by their preaching they might instruct them in the christian faith, and teach them the way to be sav'd, of which they were wholly ignorant. and to this end they sent thither a religious and licentiate in theologie, (or doctor in divinity, as we term it among us) a man famous for his vertue and holiness with a _laic_ his associate, to visit the country, converse with the inhabitants, and find out the most convenient places for the erection of monasteries. as soon as they were arriv'd according to custom, they were entertain'd like coelestial messengers, with great affection, joy and respect, as well as they could, for they were ignorant of their tongue, and so made use of signs, for the present. it hapned that after the departure of that vessel that brought these religious men, another came into the port, whose crew according to their hellish custom, fraudulently, and unknown to the religious brought away a prince of that province as captive, who was call'd _alphonsus_, (for they are ambitious of a christian name,) and forthwith desire without farther information, that he would baptize him: but the said lord _alphonsus_ was deceitfully overperswaded to go on board of them with his wife and about seventeen more, pretending that they would give hime a collation; which the prince and they did, for he was confident, that the religious would by no means suffer himo be abus'd, for he had no so much confidence in the _spaniards_; but as soon as they were upon deck, the perfidious rogues, set sail for _hispaniola_, where they were sold as slaves. the whole country being extreamly discompos'd, and understanding that their prince and princess were violently carried away, addressed themselves to these religioso's, who were in great danger of losing their lives: but they being made to understand this unjust action, were extraordinarily afflicted, and 'tis probable would have suffered death, rather than permit the _indians_ to be so injuriously dealt with, which might prove an obstruction to their receiving of, and believing in god's word. yet the _indians_ were sedated by the promises of the religious; for they told them, they would send letters by the first ship that was bound for _hispaniola_, whereby they would procure the restitution and return of their lord and his retinue. it pleased god to send a ship thither forthwith, to the greater confirming of the governours damnation, where in the letters they sent to the religious of _hispaniola_, letters containing repeated exclamations and protestations, and protest against such actions, but those that received them denyed them justice, for that they were partakers of that prey, made of those _indians_ so injustly and impiously captivated. but when the religious, who had engag'd to the inhabitants, that their lord _alphonsus_ should be restor'd within four moneths, and found that neither in four, nor eight moneths he was return'd, they prepar'd themselves for death, and to deliver up their life to christ, to whom they had offer'd it before their departure from _spain_: thus the innocent _indians_ were revenged on the innocent priests; for they were of opinion, that the religious had a hand in the plot, partly, because they found their promises that their lord should return within four moneths, ineffectual, and partly because the inhabitants made no difference between a religious frier and a _spanish_ rogue. at another time it fell out likewise, through the rampant tyrrany and cruel deeds of evil-minded christians, that the _indians_ put to death two _dominican_ friers, of which i am a faithful witness, escaping my self, not without a very great miracle, which transaction i resolve silently to pass over, lest i should terrifie the reader with the horror of the fact. in these provinces, there was a city seated on the bay of _codera_, whose lord was call'd _higueroto_, a name, either proper to persons or common to the rulers of that place. a _cacic_ of such signal clemency, and his subjects of such noted vertue, that the _spaniards_ who came thither, were extraordinarily welcom, furnished with provisions, enjoying peace and comfort, and no refreshment wanting: but a perfidious wretch got many of them on board, and sold them to the islanders of st. _john_. at the same time i landed upon that island, where i obtained a sight of this tyrant, and heard the relation of his actions. he utterly destroy'd that land, which the rest of the _spaniards_ took very unkindly at his hands, who frequently playd the pirate, and rob'd on that shore, detesting it as a wicked thing, because they had lost that place, where they use to be treated with as great hospitality and freedom, as if they had been under their own roof: nay they transported from this place, among them, to the isles of _hispaniola_ and st. _john_ two millions of men and upward, and made the coast a desert. it is most certainly true, that they never ship off a vessel freighted with _indians_, but they pay a third part as tribute to the sea, besides those who are slaughter'd, when found in their own houses. now the soarce and original of all this is the ends they have propos'd to themselves. for there is a necessity of taking with them a great number of _indians_, that they may gain a great sum of mony by their sale, now the ships are very slenderly furnished with provisions and water in small quantity, to satisfie few, left the tyrants, who are term'd owners or proprietors of ships should be at too great expence in victualling their vessels, nay they scarce carry food enough with them to maintain the _spaniards_ that manage the vessel, which is the reason so many _indians_ dye with hunger and thirst, and of necessity they must be thrown over-board: nay one of them told me this for a truth, that there being such a multitude of men thus destroy'd, a ship may sail from the isle of _lucaya_ to _hispaniola_, which is a voyage of twenty leagues and upward, without chart or compass, by the sole direction or observation of dead fluctuating carkasses. but afterward, when arriv'd, and driven up into the isle whither they are brought to be sold, there is no person that is in some small measure compassionate, but would be extreamly mov'd and discompos'd at the sight; _viz._ to spie old men and women, together with naked children half starv'd. then they separate parents from children, wives from their husbands, about ten or twenty in a company, and cast lots for them, that the detestable owners of the ships may have their share; who prepare two or three ships, and equip them as a fleet of pirates, going ashore ravaging and forcing men out of their houses, and then robbing them: but when the lot of any one of them falls upon a parcel, that hath an aged or diseased man; the tyrant, whose allotment he is, usually bursts out, as followeth. let this old fellow be damm'd, why do you bestow him upon me; must i, think you; be at the charge of his burial? and this sickly wretch, how comes he to be one of my alloted portion must i take care for his cure? not i. hence you may guess what estimate and value the _spaniards_ put upon _indians_, and whether they practise and fulful that divine and heavenly precept injoyning mutual love and society. there can be nothing more cruel and detestable then the tyrannical usage of the _spaniards_ towards the _indians_ in their pearl-fishing; for the torments undergone in the unnatural exenteration and tearing out with paracidal hands the richer bowels of our common mother, or the inward cruciating racks of the most profligate, heaven daring _desperado_ can admit of no comparison with these, although the extracting or digging for gold is one of the sharpest subterranean drudgeries, they plunge them down four or five ells deep under water, where swimming about without breathing, they eradicate and pull up oisters, wherein the pearls are engendred. sometimes they rise up to the superfities of the water with nets full of oisters for respiration and air, but if these miserable creatures stay but a little more then is ordinary to rest themselves the hangman is immediately upon them in a _canow_ or small boat, who beating them with many stripes drag them by the hair of the head under water, that they may drudge again at their expilcation or pearl fishing. their food is fish, and the same which contains the pearls and _cassabus_ made of roots with a few _mahids_, the bread of that countrey; in the former there is little or no nutriment or substance, and the other is not made without great trouble, nor for all this have they a sufficient allowance thereof to support nature. their lodging or bed is the earth confined to a pair of stocks, for fear that they should run away: and it frequently happens that they are drown'd with the toil of this kind of fishing and never more seen, for the _tuberoms_ and _maroxi_ (certain marine monsters that devour a complete proportioned man wholly at once) prey upon them under water. you must consider withall, that it is impossible for the strongest constitution to continue long under water without breathing, and they ordinarily dye through the extream rigor of the cold, spitting blood which is occasioned by the too great compression of the breast, procreated by a continued holding breath under water, for by too much cold a profluvium of blood follows. their hair naturally black is changed into a combust, burnt or sun-colour like that of the sea wolves, their shoulders and backs covered, or overspread with a saltish humor that they appear rather like monsters in humane shape then men. they have destroy'd all the _lucayans_ by this intolerable or rather diabolical exercise, for the accustomary emolument or gain of lucre, and by this means gain'd the value of fifty, sometime one hundred crowns of every individual _indian_. they sell them (though it is prohibited) publickly; for the _lucayans_ were excellent swimmers, and several perished in this isle that came from other provinces. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- _of the river_ yuya pari. this river washeth the province arising from its head or fountain in another region, two hundred miles off and better, by this a wretched tyrant entred it and laid waste the land for the space of many miles, and murder'd abundance of them by fire and sword, _&c._ at length he died violently, and all his forces moldred away of themselves, many succeeded him in his iniquity and cruelty and so dayly destroy them, sending to hell the souls redeemed by the blood of the son of god. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- _of the kingdom of _venecuela. our sovereign lord the king in the year , over-perswaded by fallacious appearances (for the _spaniards_ use to conceal from his majesties knowledge the dammages and detriments, which god himself, the souls and state of the _indians_ did suffer) intrusted the kingdom of _venecuela_ longer and larger then the spanish dominions, with its government and absolute jurisdiction to some _german_ merchants, with power to make certain capitulations and conventions, who came into this kingdom with three hundred men, and there found a benign mild and peaceable people, as they were throughout the _indies_ till injured by the _spaniards_. these more cruel then the rest beyond comparison, behav'd themselves more inhumanely then rapacious tygres wolves and lyons, for they had the jurisdiction of this kingdom, and therefore possessing it with the greater freedom from controul; lay in wait and were the more vigilant with greater care and avarice to understand the practical part of heaping up wealth, and robbing the inhabitants of their gold and sliver, surpassing all their predecessors in those indirect ways, rejecting wholly both the fear of their god and king, nay forgetting that they were born men with reasonable faculties. these incarnate devils laid waste and desolate four hundred miles of most fertile land, containing vast and wonderful provinces, most spatious and large valleys surrounded with hills, forty miles in length, and many towns richly abounding in gold and silver. they destroy'd so many and such considerable regions, that there is not one supernumerary witness left to relate the story, unless perchance some that lurkt in the caverns and womb of the earth to evade death by their inhumane swords embrew'd in innocent _indian_ blood, escaped. i judge that they by new invented and unusual torments ruinated four or five millions of souls and sent them all to hell. i will give a taste of two or three of their transactions, that hereby you may guess at the rest. they made the supream lord of the province a slave, to squeeze his gold from him, racking him to extort his confession who escaping fled into the mountains, their common sanctuary, and his subjects lying absconded in the thickets of the woods, were stir'd up to sedition and tumult or mutiny. the _spaniards_ follow and destroy many of them, but those that were taken alive and in their power were all publickly sold for slaves by the common crier. they were in all provinces they came into entertained and welcomed by the _indians_ with songs, dances and rich presents but rewarded very ungratefully with bloodshed and slaughter. the german captain and tyrant caused several of them to be clapt into a thatcht house, and there cut in pieces; but some of them to avoid falling by their bloody and merciless swords, climb'd up to the beams and rafters of the house, and the governour, hearing it (o cruel brute?) commanded fire to be put to it and burnt them all alive, leaving the region desert and desolate. they also came to another stately province, bordering on st. _martha_; whose inhabitants did them many egregious and notable services, bestowing on them innumerable quantities of gold besides many other gifts, but when they were upon departure, in retribution of their civil treating and deportment the german tyrant, commanded that all the indians, with their wives and children if possible, should be taken into custody; inclosed in some large capacious place, and that there it should be signified unto them, whosoever desired to be set at liberty should redeem himself at the will and pleasure (as to price;) of the unjust governour, or at a certain rate imposed upon himself, his wife and every childs head; and to expedite the business prohibited the administration or allowance of any food to them, till the gold required for redemption was paid down to the utmost grain. several of them sent home to discharge the demanded price of their redemption, and procur'd their freedom, as well as they could by one means or other, that so they might return to their livelihood and profession, but not long after he sent other rogues and robbers among them to enslave those that were redeemed. to the same gaol they are brought a second time, being instigated or rather constrained to a speedy redemption by hunger and thirst; thus many of them were twice or thrice taken, captiv'd and redeedmed; but some who were not capable of depositing such a sum, perished there. farthermore this tyrant was big with an itching desire after the discovery of the _perusian_ mines, which he did accomplish. nay should i enumerate the particular cruelties, slaughters, _&c._ committed by him though my discourse would not in the least be contrariant to the truth, yet it would not be beleived and only stupifie and amaze the reader. this course the other tyrants took who set sail from _venecuela_ and st. _martha_ (with the same resolution of detecting the _perusian_ golden, consecrated houses as them they esteemed) who found the fruitful region so desolate, deserted, and wasted by fire and sword, that those cruel tyrants themselves were smitten with wonder and astonishment at the traces and ruins of such prodigious devastations. all these things and many more were prov'd by witness in the _indian_ exchequer, and the records of their testimony were entred in that court, though these execrable tyrants burnt many of them that there might be little or nothing prov'd as a cause of those great devastations and evils perpetrated by them. for the minister of justice who have hitherto lived in _india_, through their obscure and damnable blindness, were not much sollicitous about the punishment of the crimes and butcheries which have been and are still committed by these tyrants, only they may say possibly because such a one, and such a one hath wickedly and barbarously dealt with the _indians_, that is the reason so great a summ of crowns in money is diminished already or retrenched from his majesties annual revenue, and this general and confused proof is sufficient (as they worthily conceive) to purge or repress such great and hainous crimes. and though they are but few, are not verified as they ought to be, nor do they attribute and lay upon them that stress and weight as they ought to do, for if they did perform their duty to god and the king; it could not be made apparent as it may be, that these _german_ tyrants have cheated and rob'd the king of three millions of gold and upward; and thus these enemies to god and the king began to depopulate these regions and destroy them, cheating his majesty of two millions of gold _per annum_, nor can it be expected, that the detriment done to his majesty can possibly be retriev'd, as long as the sun and moon endures, unless god by a miracle should raise as many thousands from death to life, as have bin destroy'd. and these are the temporal dammages the king suffers. it would be also a work worthy the inquiry into, to consider how many cursed sacriledges and indignities god himself hath been affronted with to the dishonour of his name. and what recompence can be made for the loss of so many souls as are now tormented in hell by the cruelty and covetousness of these brutish _german_ tyrants. but i will conclude all their impiety and barbarisme with one example, _viz._ that from the time they entred upon this country to this very day, that is, seventeen years, they have remitted many ships fraighted with _indians_ to be sold as slaves to the isles of st. _martha, hispaniola, jamaica,_ and st. _john_, selling a million of persons at the least, i speak modestly, and still do expose to sale to this very year of our lord , the king's council in this island seeing and knowing it, yet what they find to be manifest and apparent they connive at, permit and countenance, and wink at the horrid impieties and devastations innumerable which are committed on the coasts of this continent, extending four hundred miles in length, and continues still together with _venecuela_ and st. _martha_ under their jurisdiction, which they might easily have remedied and timely prevented. _of the provinces of_ florida three tyrants at several times made their entrance into these provinces since the year , or , to act those crimes which others, and two of these three made it their sole business to do in other regions, to the end, that they might advance themselves to higher dignities and promotions than they could deserve, by the effusion of blood and destruction of these people; but at length they all were cut off by a violent death, and the houses which they formerly built and erected with the cement of human blood, (which i can sufficiently testifie of these three) perished with them, and their memory roten, and as absolutely washed away from off the face of the earth, as if they had never had a being. these men deserted these regions, leaving them in great distraction and confusion, nor were they branded with less notes of infamy, by the certain slaughters they perpetrated, though they were but few in number than the rest. for the just god cut them off before they did much mischief, and reserv'd the castigation and revenge of those evils which i know, and was an eye-witness of, to this very time and place. as to the fourth tyrant, who lately, that is, in the year , came hither well-furnished with men and ammunition, we have received no account these three years last past; but wer are very confident, that he, at his first arrival, acted like a bloody tyrant, even to extasie and madness, if he be still alive with his follower, and did injure, destroy, and consume a vast number of men (for he was branded with infamous cruelty above all those who with their assistants committed crimes and enormities of the first magnitude in these kingdoms and provinces) i conceive, god hath punished him with the same violent death, as he did other tyrants: but because my pen is wearied with relating such execrable and sanguinary deeds (not of men but beasts) i will trouble my self no longer with the dismal and fatal consequences thereof. these people were found by them to be wise, grave, and well dispos'd, though their usual butcheries and cruelties in opressing them like brutes, with heavy burthens, did rack their minds with great terror and anguish. at their entry into a certain village, they were welcomed with great joy and exultation, replenished them with victuals, till they were all satisfied, yielding up to them above six hundred men to carry their bag and baggage, and like grooms to look after their horses: the _spaniards_ departing thence, a captain related to the superiour tyrant returned thither to rob this (no ways diffident or mistrustful) people, and pierced their king through with a lance, of which wound he dyed upon the spot, and committed several other cruelties into the bargain. in another neighboring town, whose inhabitants they thought, were more vigilant and watchful, having had the news of their horrid acts and deeds, they barbarously murdered them all with their lances and swords, destroying all, young and old, great and small, lords and subject without exception. the chief tyrant caused many _indians_ (above two hundred as 'tis noised abroad) whom he summon'd to appear before him out of another town, or else, who came voluntarily to pay their respects to him, to have their noses and lips to the very beard, cut off; and thus in this grievous and wretched condition, the blood gushing out of their wounds, return'd them back, to give an infallible testimony of the works and miracles wrought by these preachers and ministers baptized in the catholick faith. now let all men judge what affection and love they bear to christianity; to what purpose, or upon what account they believe there is a god, whom they preach and boast of to be good and just, and that his law which they profess (and indeed only profess) to be pure and immaculate. the mischiefs acted by these profligate wretches and sons of perdition were of the deepest die. at last this captain devoted to perdition dyed impenitent, nor do we in the least question, but that he is overwhelmed and buried in darkness infernal, unless god according to his infinite mercy and boundless clemency, not his own merits, (he being contaminated and poison'd with execrable deeds,) be pleas'd to compassionate and have mercy upon him. _of the_ plate-river, _that is, the _silver-river. some captains since the year to undertook four or five voyages to the river of plate, which embraceth within its own arms great kingdoms and provinces, and is peopled by rational and well-temper'd inhabitants. in the general we are certified, that they were very injurious and bloody to them; but they being far distant from those _indians_, we frequently discourse of, wer are not able to give you a particular account of their transactions. yet beyond all controversie, they did, and still do go the same way to work, as others in several regions to this present time do, and have done; for they are the same, (and many in number too) _spaniards_ who went thither, that were the wicked instruments of other executions, and all of them aim at one and the same thing, namely to grow rich and wealthy, which they can never be, unless they steer the same course which others have followed, and tread the same paths in murdering, robbing and destroying poor _indians_. after i had committed to writing what i have prementioned, it was told me for a great truth, that they had laid waste in those countreys great kingdoms and provinces, dealing cruelly and bloodily with these harmless people, at a horrid rate, having a greater opportunity and convenience to be more infamous and rigid to them, then others, they being very remote from _spain_, living inordinatly, like debauches, laying aside, and bidding farewel to all manner of justice, which is indeed a stranger in all the _american_ regions, as is manifest by what hath been said already. but among the other numerous wicked acts following this is one that may be read in the _indians_ courts. one of the governours commanded his soldiers to go to a certain village, and if they denyed them provisions, to put all the inhabitants to the sword: by vertue of this authority away they march, and because they would not yield to them above five thousand men as enemies, fearing rather to be seen, then guilty of illiberality, were cut off by the sword. also a certain number of men living in peace and tranquillity proffered their services to him; who, as it fell out, were call'd before the governour, but deferring their appearance a little longer than ordinary, that he might infix their minds with a remark of horrible tyranny, he commanded, they should be deliver'd up, as prisoners to their mortal _indian_ enemies, who beg'd with loud clamours and a deluge of tears, that they might be dispatcht out of this world by their own hands, rather than be given up as a prety to the enemy; yet being resolute, they would not depart out of the house wherein they were, so the _spaniards_ hackt them in pieces limb by limb, who exclaim'd and cryed aloud, "we came to visit and serve you peaceably and quietly, and you murder us; our blood with which these walls are moistned and sprinkled will remain as an everlasting testimony of our unjust slaughter, and your barbarous cruelty. and really this _piaculum_ or horrid crime deserves a commemoration, or rather speak more properly, the commiseration of all persons." _of the vast kingdoms and spatious provinces of _perusia. a notorious tyrant in the year , entred the kingdoms of _perusia_ with his complices, upon the same account, and with the same pretences, and beginning at the same rate as others did; he indeed being one of those who were exercised, and highly concern'd in the slaughters and cruelties committed on the continent ever since the year , he increased and heightned the cruelties, butcheries, and rapine; destroying and laying waste (being a false-hearted faithless person) the towns and villages, and murdering the inhabitants, which occasion'd all those evils, that succeeded in those regions afterward: now to undertake the writing of a narrative of them, and represent them lively and naturally to the readers view, and perusal, is a work altogether impossible, but must lie concealed and unknown until they shall more openly and clearly appear, and be made visible to every eye, at the day of judgement. as for my part, if i should presume to unravel, in some, measure the deformity, quality and circumstances of those enormities, i must ingenuously confess i could by no means perform so burthensom a task, and render it compleat and as it ought to be. at his first admission into these parts, he had laid waste some towers, and rob'd them of a great quantity of gold, this he did in the infancy of his tyrannical attempts, when he arriv'd at _pugna_ a neighbouring isle so called, he had the reception of an angel; but about six months after, when the _spaniards_ had spent all their provisions, they discover'd and opened the _indians_ stores and granaries, which were laid up for the sustenance of themselves, wives and children against a time of dearth and scarcity, brought them forth with tears and weepings, to dispose of at pleasure: but they rewarded them with slaughter, slavery and depopulation as formerly. thence they betook themselves to the isle _tumbala_, scituate on the firm land, where they put to death all they met with. and because the people terrified with their abominable sins of commission, fled from their cruelty, they were accused of rebellion against the _spanish_ king. this tyrant made use of this artifice, he commanded all that he took, or that had bestowed gold, silver and other rich gifts on him, still to load him with other presents, till he found they had exhausted their treasures, and were grown naked and incapable of affording him farther supplies, and then he declared them to be the vassals and subjects of the king of _spain_, flattering them, and proclaiming twice by sound of trumpet, that for the future he would not captivate or molest them any more, looking upon it as lawful to rob, and terrifie them with such messages as he had done, before he admited them under the king's protection, as if from that very time, he had never rob'd, destroy'd or opprest them with tyrannical usage. not long after _ataliba_ the king and supreme emperor of all these kingdoms, leading a great number of naked men, he himself being at the head of them, armed with ridiculous weapons, and wholly ignorant of the goodness of the _spaniards_ bilbo-blades, the mortal dartings of their lances, and the strength of their horse, whose use and service was to him altogether unknown, and never so much as heard of before, and that the _spaniards_ were sufficiently weapon'd to rob the devils themselves of gold, if they had any, came to the place where they then were; saying, where are these _spaniards_? let them appear, i will not stir a foot from hence till they give me satisfaction for my subjects whom they have slain, my towns they have reduc'd to ashes, and my riches they have stoln from me. the _spaniards_ meet him, make a great slaughter of his men, and seize on the person of the king himself, who was carried in a chair or sedan on mens shoulders. there was a treaty had about his redemption, the king engaged to lay down four millions of crowns, as the purchase of his freedom, but fifteen were paid down upon the nail: they promise to set him at liberty, but contrary to all faith and truth according to their common custom (for they always violated their promises with the _indians_) they falsly imposed this upon him, that his people were got together in a body by his command; but the king was made answer, that throughout his dominions, not so much as a leaf upon a tree durst move without his authority and pleasure, and if any were assembled together, they must of necessity believe that it was done without his order, he being a captive, it being in their power to deprive him of his life, if any such thing should be ordered by him: notwithstanding which, they entred into a consultation to have him burnt alive, and a little while after the sentence was agreed upon, but the captain at the intreaty of some persons commanded him first to be strangled, and afterward thrown into the fire. the king understanding the sentence of death past upon him, said; why do you burn me? what fact have i committed deserving death? did you not promise to set me free for a sum of gold. and did i not give you a far larger quantity than i promised? but if it is your pleasure so to do, send me to your king of _spain_, and thus using many words to the same purpose, tending to the confusion and detestation of the _spanish_ injustice, he was burnt to death. and here let us take into serious consideration the right and title they had to make this war, the captivity, sentence, and execution of this prince, and the conscience wherewith these tyrants have possessed themselves of vast treasures, which they have surreptitiously and fraudulently taken away from this king, and a great many more of the rulers of these kingdoms. but as to the great number of their enormities committed by those who stile themselves christians in order to the extirpation of this people, i will hear repeat some of them, which in the very beginning were seen by a _franciscan_, confirm'd by his own letters, and signed with his hand and seal, sending some of them to the _perusian_ provinces, and others to the kingdom of _castile_: a copy whereof i have in my custody, signed with his hand, as i said before; the contents whereof follow. i frier _marcus de xlicia_, of the _franciscan_ order, and praefect of the whole fraternity residing in the perusian provinces, one of the first among the religious, who arriv'd with the _spaniards_ in these parts. i decalre with incontrovertible and undeniable testimony, those transactions, which i saw with my own eyes, and particularly such as relate to the usage of the inhabitants of this region. in the first place i was an eye-witness, and am certainly assur'd, that these _perusians_ are a people, who transcend all other _indians_ in meekness, clemency, and love to _spaniards_; and i have seen the _indians_ bestow very liberally on them gold, silver, and jewels, being very serviceable to them many other wayes. nor did the _indians_ ever betake themselves to their arms in an hostile manner, till by infinite injuries and cruelties they were compell'd thereunto: for on the contrary, they gave the _spaniards_ an amicable and honourable reception in all their towns, and furnished them with provisions, and as many male and female servants as they required. i can also farther testifie, that the _spaniards_, without the least provocation on their part, as soon as they entred upon these territories, did burn at the stake their most potent _caciq ataliba_, prince of the whole country, after they had extorted from him above two millions of gold, and possessed themselves of his province, without the least opposition: and _cochilimaca_, his captain general, who with other rulers, came peaceably into them, follow'd him by the same fiery tryal and death. as also some few days after, the ruler of the province of _quitonia_, who was burnt, without any cause given, or crime laid to his charge. they likewise put _schapera_, prince of the _canaries_ to the same death, and in like manner, burnt the feet of _alvidis_, the greatest of all the _quitonian_ lords, and rackt him with other torments to extract from him a discovery of _ataliba's_ treasure, whereof as appear'd after, he was totally ignorant. thus they treated _cocopaganga_, governour of all the provinces of _quitonia_, who being overcome with the intreaties of _sebastian bernalcarus_, the governours captain, went peaceably to pay them a visit; but because he could not give them as much gold as they demanded, they burnt him with many other _casics_ and chief persons of quality. and as i understnad, did it with this evil intention, that they might not leave one surviving lord or peer in the whole countrey. i also affirm that i saw with these eyes of mine the _spaniards_ for no other reason, but only to gratifie their bloody mindedness, cut off the hands, noses, and ears, both of _indians_ and _indianesses_, and that in so many places and parts, that it would be too prolix and tedious to relate them. nay, i have seen the _spaniards_ let loose their dogs upon the _indians_ to bait and tear them in pieces, and such a number of villages burnt by them as cannot well be discover'd: farther this is a certain truth, that they snatched babes from the mothers embraces, and taking hold of their arms threw them away as far as they would from them: (a pretty kind of barr-tossing recreation.) they committed many other cruelties, which shook me with terror at the very sight of them, and would take up too much time in the relation. i likewise aver, that the _spaniards_ gathered together as many _indians_ as fill'd three houses, to which, for no cause, (or a very inconsiderable one) they set fire, and burnt every one of them: but a presbyter, _ocana_ by name, chanced to snatch a little baby out of the fire, which being observ'd by a _spaniard_, he tore him out of his arms, and threw him into the midst of the flames, where he was with the rest, soon burnt to ashes, which _spaniard_ the same day he committed that fact, returning to his quarters, dyed suddenly by the way, and i advised them not to give him christian burial. farthermore i saw them send to several _casics_ and principal _indians_, promising them a protecting passeport to travel peaceably and securely to them, who, no sooner came, but they were burnt; two of them before my face, one at _andonia_, and the other at _tumbala_, nor could i with all my perswasions and preaching to them prevail so far as to save them from the fire. and this i do maintain according to god and my own conscience, as far as i could possibly learn, that the inhabitants of _perusia_ never promoted or raised any commotion or rebellion, though as it is manifest to all men, they were afflicted with evil dealings and cruel torments: and they, not without cause, the _spaniards_ breaking their faith and word, betraying the truth and tyrannically contrary to all law and justice, destroying them and the whole country, inflicting on them great injuries and losses, were more reay to prepare themselves for death, than still to fall at once into such great and irrecoverable miseries. nay i do declare, according to information from the _indians_ themselves, that there are to this day far greater quantities of gold kept hid and concealed than ever were yet detected or brought to light, which by means of the _spanish_ injustice and cruelty, they would not then, nor ever will discover so long as they are so barbarously treated, but will rather chose to dye with the herd. whereat the lord god is highly offended and the king hath very ill offices done him, for he is hereby defrauded of this region, which was sufficiently able to furnish all _castile_ with necessaries, the recovery whereof can never be expected without great difficulty and vast expenses. thus far i have acquainted you with the very words of this religious _franciscan_, ratified by the bishop of _mexico_, who testifieth that the said frier _marc_ did affirm and maintain what is above-mentioned. here it is to be observ'd what this said frier was an eye-witness of; for he travelled up in this countrey fifty or a hundred miles, for the space of nine or ten years, when as yet, few _spaniards_ had got footing there, but afterward, at the noise of gold to be had there in great plenty, four or five thousand came thither, who spread themselves through those kingdoms and provinces the space of five or six hundred miles, which they made wholly desloate, committing the same, or greater cruelies than are before recited; for in reality they destroyed from that time to these very days, above an hundred thousand poor souls more than he gives an account of, and with less fear of god and the king, nay with less mercy have they destroyed the greatest part of mankind in these kingdoms, above four millions suffering by violent death. a few days after they darted to death with arrows made of reeds a puissant queen, the wife of a potentate, who still sways the imperial scepter of that kingdom, whom the _spaniards_ had a design to take, which instigated him to raise a rebellion, and he still continues a rebel. they seized the queen his consort, and contrary to all law and equity murdered her, as is said before, who was then, as report, big with child, only for this reason, that they might add fresh affliction and grief to her husband. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- _of the new kingdom of_ granada many tyrants there were, who set sail from _venecuela_, st. _martha_, and _carthagena_, hastening to the conquest of _perusia_, anno dom. . and they accompanied with many more going farther from this region, endeavored to penetrate into the heart of this countrey, where they found about three hundred miles from _carthagena_ and st. _martha_, many admirable provinces and most fruitful land, furnished with an even-tempered or meek-spirited people, as they are in other parts of _india_; very rich in gold and those sorts of precious stones known by the name of emralds: to which province they gave the name of _granada_, upon this account, because the tyrant who first arrived in these regions, was born in the kingdom of _granada_ belonging to these parts; now they that spoiled these provinces with their rapine being wicked, cruel, infamous butchers, and delighting in the effusion of humane blood, having practically experimented the piacular and grand enormities perpetrated among the _indians_; and upon this account their diabolical actions are so great, so many in number, and represented so grievously horrid by circumstantial aggravations, that they exceed all the villanies committed by others, nay by themselves in other regions, i will only select and cull out a few out of so great a number which have bene transacted by them within these three years, for my present purpose. a certain governour, because he that went to commit depredations and spoils in the kingdom of _granada_, would not admit him, as a companion in his robberies and cruelties, set up an inquisition, and produced proofs confirmed by great evidence, whereby he palpably lays open, and proves the slaughters and homicides he committed, and persists in to this very day, which were read in the _indian_ courts of judicature, and are there now recorded. in this inquisition the witnesses depose, that when all these kingdoms enjoy'd peace and tranquillity, the _indians_ serv'd the _spaniards_, and got their living by contstnat day-labour in tilling and manuring the ground, bringing them much gold, and many gems, particularly emeralds, and what other commodities they could, and possessed, their cities and dominions being divided among the _spaniards_, to procure which is the chiefest of their care and pains; and these are the proper measures they take to obtain their proposed ends, to wit, heaping and treasuring up of gold and riches. now when all the _indians_ were under their accustomed tyranny: a certain tyrant, and chief commander, took the king and lord of the whole countrey, and detain'd him captive for six or seven moneths, demanding of him, without any reason, store of gold and emeralds. the said king, whose name was _bogoca_, though fear, promised him a house of gold, hoping, in time, to escape out of his clutches, who thus plagu'd him, and sent some _indians_ for gold, who frequently, and at several times, brought him a great quantity of gold, and many jewels; but because the king did not, according to his promise, bestow upon him an apartment made of pure gold, he must therefore forfeit his life. the tyrant commanded himto be brought to tryal before himself, and so they cite and summon to a tryal the greatest king in the whole region; and the tyrant pronounced this sentence, that unless he did perform his golden promise he should be exposed to severe torments. they rackt him, poured boiling soap into his bowels, chain'd his legs to one post, and fastened his neck to another, two men holding his hands, and so applyed the scorching heat of the fire to his feet; the tyrant himself often casting his eye upon him, and threatning him with death, if he did not give him the promised gold; and thus with these kind of horrid torments, the said lord was destroy'd; which while they were doing, god being willing to manifest how displeasing these cruelties are to his divine majesty, the whole city, that was the stage on which they were acted, was consumed by fire; and the rest of the captains following his example, destroy'd all the lords of that region by fire and faggot. once it fell out, that many _indians_ addressed themselves to the _spaniards_ with all humility and simplicity, as they use to do, who thinking themselves safe and secure, behold the captain comes into the city, where they were to do their work, and commands all these _indians_, sleeping and taking their rest, after supper, being wearied with the heavy drudgery of the day, to be slain by the sword: and this stratagem he put in practice, to make a greater impression of fear on all the minds of the inhabitants; and another time a certain captain commanded the _spaniards_ to declare upon oath, how many _casics_ and _indians_ every individual person had in his family at home, who were presently lead to a publick place, and lost their heads; so there perisht, that bout, four or five hundred men. the witnesses depose this of a particular tyrant, that by beating, cutting off the hands and noses of many women as well as men, and destroying several persons in great numbers, he exercised horrid cruelties. then one of the captains sent this bloody tyrant into the province of _bogata_, to inquire who succeeded that prince there, whom he so barbarously and inhumanely murder'd, who traveling many miles in this countrey, took as many _indians_ as he could get, some of which, because they did not tell him who was successor of this deceased prince, had their hands cut off, and others were exposed to hunger- starv'd currs, to be devour'd by them, and as many of them perished miserably. another time about the fourth watch, early in the morning he fell upon several _casics_, noblemen and other _indians_, who lookt upon themselves to be safe enough, (for they had their faith and security given, that none of them should receive any damage or injury) relying upon this, they left the mountains their lurking places, without any suspition or fear, and returned to their cities, but he seized on them all, and commanding them to extend their hands on the ground, cut them off with his own sword, saying, that he punished them after this maner, because they would not inform him what lord it was, that succeeded in that kingdom. the inhabitants of one of these provinces, perceiving that four or five of their governours were sent to the other world in a fiery vehicle or chariot, being terrified therewith, took to the mountains for sanctuary, there being four or five thousand in number, as appears by good evidence; and the aforesaid captain sends a tyrant, more cruel than any of the rest after them. the _spaniards_ ascend the mountains by force (for the _indians_ were naked an unarm'd) proclaiming peace, if they would desist and lay down their arms, which the _indians_ no sooner heard, but quitted their childish weapons; and this was no sooner done but this sanguinary _spaniard_ sent some to possess themselves of the fortifications, and they being secur'd, to attaque the _indians_. thus they, like wolves and lyons, did rush upon this flock of sheep, and were so tired with slaughter, that they were forced to desist for a while and take breath, which done, the captain commands them to fall to it again at the same bloody rate, and precipitate all that survived the butchery, from the top of the mountain, which was of a prodigious height; and that was perform'd accordingly. and the witnesses farther declare upon oath, that they saw the bodies of about seven hundred _indians_ falling from the mount at one time, like a cloud obscuring the air, who were all broken to pieces. this very tyrant came once to the city _cota_, where he surprized abundance of men, together with fifteen or twenty casics of the highest rank and quality, whom he cast to the dogs to be torn limb-meal in pieces, and cut off the hands of several men and women, which being run through with a pole, were exposed to be viewed and gaz'd upon by the _indians_, where you might see at once seventy pair of hands, transfixed with poles; nor is it to be forgotten, that he cut off the noses of many women and children. the witnesses farther depose, that the cruelties and great slaughters committed in the aforesaid new kingdom of _granada_, by this captain, and other tyrants, the destroyers of mankind, who accompany him, and have power still given them by him to exercise the same, are such and so hainous, that if his majesty does not opportunely apply some remedy, for the redress and prevention of such mischiefs for the future, (since the _indians_ are daily slaughtered to accumulate and enrich themselves with gold, which the inhabitants have been so rob'd of, that they are now grown bare, for what they had, they have disposed to the _spaniards_ already) this kingdom will soon decay and be made desolate, and consequently the land being destitute of _indians_, who should manure it, will lye fallow and incultivated. and here is to be noted, how pestilential and inhumane the cruelty of these tyrants hath been, and how violently exercised, when as in two or three years space, they were all slain, and the country wholly desolate and deserted, as those that have been eye-witnesses can testifie; they having acted like merciless men, not having the fear of god and the king before their eyes, but by the instigation of the devil; so that it may well be said and affirmed, not one person will be left alive, unless his majesty does retard, and put a stop to the full career of their cruelties, which i am very apt to believe, for i have seen with these very eyes of mine, many kingdoms laid waste and depopulated in a small time. there are other stately provinces on the confines of the new kindgom of _granada_, as _popayan_ and _cali_, together with three or four more above five hundred miles in length, which they destroyed, in the same manner, as they have done other places, and laid them absolutely waste by the prementioned slaughters, who were very populous, and the soil very fruitful. they who came among us from those regions report, that nothing can be more deplorable or worthy of pity and commiseration, then to behold such large and great cities totally ruinated, and intombed in their own ashes, and that in a city adorn'd with or fabricks, there are hardly now to be seen standing, the rest being utterly demolished, or consum'd and levelled to the ground by fire and in some parts regions of miles in length, (containing spacious cities) are found absolutely destroyed and consumed by fire. finally many great tyrants who came out of the _perusian_ kingdoms by the _quitonians_ travelled to the said new kindgom of _granada_ and _popayan_, and by _carthagena_ and the _urabae_, they directed their course to _calisium_, and several other tyrants of _carthagena_ assault _quito_, who joyn'd themselves in an intire body and wholly depopulated and laid waste that region for the space of miles and upward, with the loss of a prodigious number of poor souls; nor as yet do they treat the small remnant of so great and innocent a people with more humanity then formerly. i desire therefore that the readers who have or shall peruse these passages, would please seriously to consider whether or no, such barbarous, cruel and inhumane acts as these do not transcend and exceed all the impiety and tyrrany, which can enter into the thoughts or imagination of man, and whether these _spaniards_ deserve not the name of devils. for which of these two things is more eligible or desirable whether the _indians_ should be delivered up to the devils themselves to be tormented or the _spaniards_? that is still a question. nor can i here omit one piece of villany, (whether it ought to be postpon'd or come behind the cruelty of brute animals, that i leave to decision). the _spaniards_ who are conversant among the _indians_ bred up curst curs, who are so well instructed and taught that they at first sight, fly upon the inhabitants tearing them limb by limb, and so presently devour them. now let all persons whether christians or not consider, if ever such a thing as this reacht the ears of any man, they carry these dogs with them as companions where ever they go, and kill the fettered _indians_ in multitudes like hogs for their food; thus sharing with them in the butchery. nay they frequently call one to the other, saying, lend me the fourth part of one of your slaves to feed my dogs, and when i kill one, i will repay you, as if they had only borrowed a quarter of a hog or sheep. others, when they go a hunting early in the morning, upon their return, if you ask them what sport had you to day at the game? they will answer, enough, enough, for my dogs have killed and worried or _indian_ vassals. now all these things are plainly prov'd upon those inquisitions and examinations made by one tyrant against another. what i beseech you, can be more horrid or barbarous? but i will desist from writing any longer at this time, till some messenger brings an account of greater and blacker impieties (if greater can be committed) or else till we come to behold them again, as we have done for the space of forty two years with our own eyes. i will only make this small addition to what i have said that the _spaniards_, from the beginning of their first entrance upon _america_ to this present day, were no more sollicitous of promoting the preaching of the gospel of christ to these nations, then if they had been dogs or beasts, but which is worst of all, they expressly prohibited their addresses to the religious, laying many heavy impositions upon them, dayly afflicting and persecuting them, that they might not have so much time and leasure at their own disposal, as to attend their preaching and divine service; for they lookt upon that to be an impediment to their getting gold, and raking up riches which their avarice stimulated them so boundlessly to prosecute. nor do they understand any more of a god, whether he be made of wood, brass or clay, then they did above an hundred years ago, new _spain_ only exempted, which is a small part of _america_, and was visited and instructed by the religious. thus they did formely and still do perish without true faith, or the knowledge and benefit of our religious sacraments. i frier _bartholomeas de las casas_ or _casaus_ of the order of st. _dominick_, who through the mercy of god am arriv'd at the _spanish_ court, cordially wishing the expulsion of hell or these hellish acts out of the _indies_; fearing least those souls redeemed by the pretious blood of christ, should perish eternally, but heartily desiring that they may acknowledge their creator and be saved; as also for the care and compassion that i ever had for my native countrey _castile_, dreading least god should destroy it for the many sins committed by the natives her children, against faith, honour and their neighbours: i have at length upon the request of some persons of great quality in this court, who are fervently zealous of the honour of god, and moved with pitty at the calamities and afflictions of their neighbours (though i long since proposed it within my self, and resolved to accomplish it, but could not, being distracted with the avocations of multiplicity of constant business and employment, have leisure to effect it) i say i have at length finished this treatise and summary at _valencia, decemb._ . _an. dom._ , when they were arrived at the height, and utmost degree of executing violences, oppressions, tyrrany, desolations, torments, and calamities in all the aforesaid regions, inhabited by the _spaniards_ (though they are more cruel in some places than other) yet _mexico_ with its confines were more favourably treated than the rest of the provinces. and indeed no man durst openly and publickly do any injury to the inhabitants; for there some justice, (which is no where else in _india_) though very little is done and practiced; yet they are grievously opprest with intolerable taxes. but i do really believe, and am fully perswaded that our sovereign lord _charles_ the fifth, emperour and king of _spain_, our lord and prince, who begins to be sensible of the wickedness and treacheries, which have been, and still are committed against this miserable nation, and distressed countries contrary to the will and pleasure of god, as well as his majesties that he will in time, (for hitherto the truth hath been concealed and kept from his knowledge, with as great craft, as fraud and malice) totally extirpate and root up all these evils and mischiefs, and apply such proper medicines as may purge the morbifick and peccant humours in the body politick of this new world, committed to his care and government as a lover and promoter of peace and tranquility. god preserve and bless him with renown and a happy life in his imperial state, and prosper him in all his attempts, that he may remedy the distempers of the christian church, and crown him at last with eternal felicity, _amen_. after i had published this treatise, certain laws and constitutions, enacted by his majesty then at _baraclona_ in the month of _december, an. dom._ , promulgated and published the year ensuing in the city of _madera_, whereby it is provided, (as the present necessities requir'd) that a period be put to such great enormities and sins, as were committed against god and our neighbours, and tended to the utter ruine and perdition of this new world. these laws were published by his majesties order, several persons of highest authority, councellors, learned, and conscientious men, being assembled together for that purpose, and many debates made at _valedolid_ about this weighty affair, at length by the unanimous consent and advice of all those who had committed their opinions to writing, they were made publick who traced more closely therein the laws of christ and christianity, and were judged persons pure, free from and innocent of that stain and blemish of depriving the _indians_ of their treasures by theft and rapine, which riches had contaminated and sullied the hands, but much more the souls of those who were enslav'd by those heaps of wealth and covetousness, now this obstinate and hot pursuit after wealth was the original of all those evils committed without the least remorse or check of conscience. these laws being thus promulgated, the _courtiers_ who promoted these tyrants, took care that several copies should be transcribed, (though they were extremely afflicted to see, that there was no farther hopes or means to promote the former depredations and extortions by the tyranny aforesaid) and sent them to several _indian_ provinces. they, who took upon them the trouble and care of extirpating, and oppressing by different ways of cruelty, as they never observed any method or order, but behav'd themselves most inordinately and irregularly, having perused these diplomata or constitutions, before the new made judges, appointed to put them in execution, could arrive or be landed, they by the assistance of those (as 'tis credibly rumour'd, nor is it repugnant to truth) who hitherto favour'd their criminal and violent actions, knowing well that these laws and proclamations must necessarily take effect, began to grow mutinous, and rebel, and when the judges were landed, who were to execute these _mandates_, laying aside all manner of love and fear of god, were so audacious as to contemn and set at nought all the reverence and obedience due to their king, and so became traytors, demeaning themselves like blood-thirsty tyrants, destitute and void of all humanity. more particularly this appear'd in the _perusian_ kingdoms, where _an. dom._ , they acted such horrid and stupendous enormities, that the like were never known or heard in _america_, or throughout the whole world before that time: nor were they only practised upon the _indians_, who were mostly destroy'd, but upon themselves also, god permitting them by his just judgement to be their own executioners, and sheath their swords in one anothers bowels. in like manner the other parts of this new world being moved by the example of these rebels, refused to yield obedience to those laws. the rest pretending to petition his majesty turn rebellious themselves; for they would not voluntarily resign those estates, goods and chattels they have already usurped, nor willingly manumit those _indians_, who were doomed to be their slaves, during life; and where they restrain'd the murdering sword from doing execution, they opprest them gradually with personal vassalage, injust and intolerable burthens; which his majesty could not possibly hitherto avert or hinder, because they are all universally, some publickly and openly, others clancularly and secretly, so naturally addicted to rob, thieve and steal; and thus under pretext of serving the king, they dishonour god, and defraud his imperial majesty. here the author having finished the matter of fact in this compendious history, for confirmation of what he has here written, quotes a tedious and imperfect epistle (as he styles it) beginning and ending anonymous withal, containing the cruelties committed by the _spaniards_, the same in effect as our author has prementioned, now in regard that i judge such reiterated cruelties and repeated barbarisms are offensive to the reader, he having sailed already too long, and too far in an ocean of innocent _indian_ blood: i have omitted all but two or three stories not taken notice of by the author. one of the tyrants, (who followed the steps of _john ampudia_, a notorious villain) gave way to a grat slaughter of sheep the chief food and support of the _spaniards_ as well as _indians_, permitting them to kill two or three hundred at a time, only for their brains, fat, or suet, whose flesh was then altogether useless, and not fit to be eaten; but many _indians_, the _spaniards_ friends and confederates followed them, desiring they might have the hearts to feed upon, whereupon they butchered a great many of them, for this only reason, because they would not eat the other parts of the body. two of their gang in the province of _peru_ kild twenty five sheep, who were sold among the _spaniards_ for twenty five crowns, merely to get the fat and brains out of them: thus the frequent and extraordinary slaughter of their sheep above a hundred thousand head of cattel were destroy'd. and upon this account the region was reduced to great penury and want, and at length perished with hunger. nay the province of _quito_, which abounded with corn beyond expression, by such proceedings as these, was brought to that extremity that a sextarie or small measure or wheat was sold for ten crowns, and a sheep at as dear a rate. this captain taking leave of _quito_ was followed by a poor _indianess_ with loud cries and clamours, begging and beseeching him not to carry away her husband; for she had the charge of three children, and could not possibly supply them with victuals, but they must inevitably dye with hunger, and though the _captain_ repulsed her with an angry brow at the first; yet she approacht him a second time with repeated cries, saying, that her children must perish for want of food; but finding the captain inexorable and altogether unmov'd with her complaints, and her husband not restor'd, through a piquant necessity wedded to despair; she cut off the heads of her children with sharp stones, and so dispatcht them into the other world. then he proceeded farther to another city, and sent some _spaniards_ that very night, to take the _indians_ of the city of _tulilicui_, who next day brought with them above a hundred persons; some of which (whom he lookt upon to be able to carry burthens) he reserved for his own and his soldiers service, and other were chain'd, and perished in their fetters: but the little infants he gave to the _casic_ of _tulilicui_, abovesaid to be eaten up and devoured, whose skins are stuft with ashes and hung up in his house to be seen at this very day. and in the close of this letter he shuts up all with these words, 'tis here very remarkable and never to be forgotten, that this tyrant (being not ignorant of the mischiefs and enormities executed by him) boastingly said of himself, _they who shall travel in these countreys fifty years hence, and hear the things related of me, will have cause to say or declare, that never such a tyrant as i am marched through these regions, and committed the like enormities._ now not to quit the stage without one comical scene or action whereon such cruelties have been lively personated, give me leave to acquaint you with a comical piece of grammatical learning in a reverend religioso of these parts, sent thither to convert the _west-indies_ pagans, which the author mentions among his reasons and replications, and all these i pass by as immaterial to our purpose, many of them being repeated in the narrative before. the weight and burthen of initiating the _indians_ into the christian faith lay solely on the _spaniards_ at first; and therefore _joannes colmenero_ in _santa martha_, a fantastic, ignorant, and foppish fellow, was under examination before us (and he had one of the most spatious cities committed to his charge as well as the care and cure of the souls of the inhabitants) whether he understood how to fortifie himself with the sign of the cross against the wicked and impious, and being interrogated what he taught, and how he instructed the _indians_, whose souls were intrusted to his care and conduct; he return'd this answer, _that if he damn'd them to the devil and furies of hell, it was sufficient to retrieve them, if he pronounced these words,_ per signin sanctin cruces. a fellow fitter to be a hogherd than a shepherd of souls. this deep, bloody _american_ tragedy is now concluded, and my pen choakt up with _indian_ blood and gore. i have no more to say, but pronounce the epilogue made by the author, and leave the reader to judge whether it deserves a plaudite. the _spaniards_ first set sail to _america_, not for the honour of god, or as persons moved and merited thereunto by servent zeal to the true faith, nor to promote the salvation of their neighbours, nor to serve the king, as they falsely boast and pretend to do, but in truth, only stimulated and goaded on by insatiable avarice and ambition, that they might for ever domineer, command, and tyrannize over the _west- indians_, whose kingdoms they hoped to divide and distribute among themselves. which to deal candidly in no more or less intentionally, than by all these indirect wayes to disappoint and expel the kings of _castile_ out of those dominions and territories, that they themselves having usurped the supreme and regal empire, might first challenge it as their right, and then possess and enjoy it. finis. transcriber's note: text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). text enclosed by equal marks is in bold (=bold=). small capital text has been replaced with all capitals. * * * * * spanish america the south american series _demy vo, cloth._ . =chile.= by g. f. scott elliott, f.r.g.s. with an introduction by martin hume, a map, and illustrations. ( th impression.) . =peru.= by c. reginald enock, f.r.g.s. with an introduction by martin hume, a map, and illustrations. ( rd impression.) . =mexico.= by c. reginald enock, f.r.g.s. with an introduction by martin hume, a map, and illustrations. ( rd impression.) . =argentina.= by w. a. hirst. with an introduction by martin hume, a map, and illustrations. ( th impression.) . =brazil.= by pierre denis. with a historical chapter by bernard miall, a map, and illustrations. ( nd impression.) . =uruguay.= by w. h. koebel. with a map and illustrations. . =guiana: british, french, and dutch.= by james rodway. with a map and illustrations. . =venezuela.= by leonard v. dalton, b.sc. (lond.), f.g.s., f.r.g.s. with a map and illustrations. ( nd impression.) . =latin america: its rise and progress.= by f. garcia calderon. with a preface by raymond poincaré, president of france, a map, and illustrations. ( nd impression.) . =colombia.= by phanor james eder, a.b., ll.b. with maps and illustrations. ( nd impression.) . =ecuador.= by c. reginald enock, f.r.g.s. . =bolivia.= by paul walle. with illustrations and maps. . =paraguay.= by w. h. koebel. . =central america.= by w. h. koebel. "the output of the books upon latin america has in recent years been very large, a proof doubtless of the increasing interest that is felt in the subject. of these the south american series edited by mr. martin hume is the most noteworthy."--times. "mr. unwin is doing good service to commercial men and investors by the production of his 'south american series.'"--saturday review. "those who wish to gain some idea of the march of progress in these countries cannot do better than study the admirable 'south american series.'"--chamber of commerce journal. [illustration: colon: statue representing columbus protecting the indians. vol. i. frontispiece.] spanish america its romance, reality and future by c. r. enock, c.e., f.r.g.s. author of "the andes and the amazon," "peru," "mexico," "ecuador," etc. with illustrations vol. i t. fisher unwin ltd london: adelphi terrace _first published in _ (_all rights reserved_) preface the purpose of this work is twofold--to afford a broad survey of the latin american countries, with the colour and interest which so strongly characterizes this half of the new world; and to offer in some degree a detailed study of the region as concerns what (elsewhere) i have ventured to term a "science of humanity" or science of corporate life, whose main factors are topographical, occupational or industrial, and ethical or ethical-economic. new responsibilities are arising in our dealings and contact with foreign lands, especially those whose social affairs are still backward. we must beware how we regard the folk of such lands mainly as hewers of wood and drawers of water, or absorbents of exported goods or producers of dividends, or their lands as mainly reservoirs of raw material. elemental forces are at work in the world to-day, which only justice and constructive intelligence can control. the english-speaking peoples have wide interests and consequent responsibilities in these lands: matters which are discussed in the final chapter. as will be seen, i have embodied many descriptive passages in this book from the various authors of the _south american series_, to which the present work is in a measure auxiliary. c. r. e. froxfield, hants, england. _may ._ contents page preface chapter i. a reconnaissance, and some informal geography ii. a historical outline iii. central america: guatemala, honduras, british honduras, nicaragua, salvador, costa rica, panama iv. ancient and modern mexico v. along the pacific coast: in colombia, ecuador and peru vi. along the pacific coast: in peru, bolivia and chile vii. the cordillera of the andes: in ecuador, peru and bolivia viii. the cordillera of the andes: in bolivia, chile and argentina index illustrations colon: statue representing columbus protecting the indians _frontispiece_ to face page avenida central, rio de janeiro the ancient civilization: stone stelÆ at quirigua, central america the ancient civilization: ruins of mitla, mexico the cathedral, guatemala the city of guatemala a coffee establishment in central america cutting sugar-cane in central america scene on the great plateau, mexico the cathedral, city of mexico cordova and the peak of orizaba, state of vera cruz village on the pacific slope, mexico view on the grijalva and usumacinta rivers, mexico the wharf at guayaquil cultivated lands on the pacific coast of peru the landing stage at valparaiso the malleco river and bridge, chile the approach to quito pizarro, the conquistador in the peruvian andes peru, llamas and alpacas peru: native blanket weaver in the andes the ruined inca fortress of ollantaytambo, peru indian rafts on lake titicaca aconcagua, the highest andine peak, chile spanish america chapter i a reconnaissance and some informal geography who has not felt at some time the lure of spanish america, the attraction of those half-mysterious lands--peru or panama, mexico or brazil, and all that galaxy of far-off states, with the remains of their ancient civilization and their picturesque modern setting--beneath the equatorial sun, beyond the western sea? they drew us in our youth, were it but in the pages of prescott, when with cortes and pizarro the aztec and inca empires lay before us; they draw us even in maturer years. yonder lies the spanish main, glittering in the sun as when we sailed it first--in that long-foundered pirate craft of boyhood; there stretch the tropic shores of wild guiana; there the great andes rears its towering crests, and over golden sands the orinoco and the amazon pour down their mighty floods; whilst, in slumberous and mysterious majesty beyond, wide as the sea of time, the vast pacific echoes on its boundless shores. and for those, who would seek the true el dorado of the west the great sixteenth century has not closed yet, nor ever will; the days of ocean-chivalry are not dead, the elizabethan mariners come and go, for their voyages have no end within those spacious days of history. spanish america, in fact, is enshrouded in an atmosphere of romance and interest which time does not easily dispel, and remains a land of adventure and enterprise. its sunny shores, its picturesque folk with their still semi-mediaeval life, despite their advancing civilization--the great untravelled spaces, the forests, the mountains, the rivers, the plains, and all they contain, the lure and profit of commerce and of trafficking--all these are matters we cannot separate from the new world as peopled by spain and portugal. it is, moreover, peculiarly a world of its own, born in an impressionable period, indelibly stamped with the strong individualism of the iberian people who overcame it, and it remains apart, refusing the hegemony of the commercialistic age--a circumstance for which we may be grateful, in a sense. its future is on the lap of the unknown, offering always the unexpected: geography has everywhere separated it from the old world; temperament keeps the seclusion. whatever be our errand in this new world--erroneously termed "new," for it is old, and had its folk, its toltecs and pre-incas, in the apogee of their ancient culture developed a shipbuilding as they did a temple-building art, they might have come sailing around the world and found us here in britain still "painted savages"; whatever, i say, be our errand there, we shall not understand spanish america and its people, just as they will never understand us, the people of anglo-saxon race. the gulf between us is as deep as the atlantic, as wide as the pacific. the incomprehensible spaniard has added himself to the unfathomable indian, the red-brown man who sprang from the rugged soil of america (perhaps from some remote mongolian ancestry), who, inscrutable as a dweller of the moon, is still sullen and secretive as he was and well might be--after the rapine which followed on the white man's keel and sail upon his shores four centuries ago; the white conqueror, who in his adventurous greed destroyed the egypt and the chaldea of america and trampled their autochthonous civilization in the dust. and as to the spaniards, it is their strong individualism which presents a marked attraction here, though one which may not generally have been put into words: the individualism of nations founded upon historical and geographical bases, as has already been said. we approach here, not a mere united states of spanish america, not a confederation of vast municipalities or provinces whose borders are imaginary parallels or meridians, but a series of independent nations, each stamped with its own character, bearing its own indelible and romantic name, whose frontiers are rivers and mountain ranges. is there any virtue in these things? in the day when prosaic commercialism, when megalomania and money so sway us, there is a refreshing atmosphere about the refusal to conglomerate of these picturesque communities, whose names fall pleasingly on our ears. yet there are penalties too. rugged and difficult of approach--the vulgar gaze may not easily rest upon them by the mere passport of a tourist's ticket--as are these vast territories of forest, desert and cordillera, nature, though grand and spacious, is ill at ease, and the mood might seem to be impressed upon the people of the land that neither is there peace for them. for they have soaked their land with the blood of their own sons, and we might at times despair of self-government here. but we need not despair. the malady is but part of one that afflicts the whole world, whose cure awaits the turning of the next page of human evolution--a page which can be turned whenever slothful humanity desires to do it. spanish america is really one of the most interesting fields of travel in the world, even if it does not make great pretension of its attractions. from the point of view of the holiday-maker it has remained undeveloped. the traveller who requires luxuriance of travel, of hotel and pleasure-resort, such as the playgrounds of europe afford, will not find such here, except perhaps in a few of the more advanced cities. it is a continent which, despite its four centuries of discovery, has so far done little more than present its edge to the forces--and pleasures--of modern life. nature is in her wildest moods: it is an unfinished world; mankind is still plastic. the mountain trail and the horse are more in evidence than the railway and the motor-car; the _fonda_ rather than the hotel. here, moreover, don quixote de la mancha has taken up his abode, and we may find him often, to our pleasure if we like his company, as some of us do. but let us dismount. here are beautiful cities too. a sensitive and developing people, the spanish american folk would resent any aspersion of their civilization. they have all the machinery of culture to their hand. here the parisian toilette rubs shoulders in their streets and _plazas_ with the blanketed and sandalled indian; the man of fashion and the man of the stone age walk the same pavement. here in these pleasing towns--some of them marvels of beauty, some of them in an atmosphere of perpetual spring, some miles above the sea--are palaces of justice, art and science. here are republican kings and plutocrats, rich with the product of the field and mine, here are palms and music, homes of highly cultured folk, speaking their soft castilian: shops stored with all the luxury of europe or the united states. here are streets of quaint colonial architecture, and courteous hosts and hostesses, and damsels of startling beauty in all the elegance of the mode. here, too, are smooth-tongued lawyer statesmen, dominating (as they always do) the senatorial councils. it is true that from time to time there are disturbing elements when rude soldier-politicians break in upon the doctor-politicians with the clatter of a mule-battery, on the pavement, and the sword takes the place of the bauble; it is true that the walls of the streets are pitted here and there with bullet marks, from some whiff of grapeshot, and that there are stains of blood upon the pavements; and it is true that against the white walls of justice, science, art and oratory stands silhouetted the figure of the poor indian, or _peon_, who slinks _humilde_ amid the palms and music--doffing his hat as he passes the cathedral precincts--and that the veneer of civilization, torn aside, reveals at times both the cultured and the uncultured savage. here, too, congregate the merchants and traffickers of all the world, old and new, from all the four corners of the earth to buy and sell. here is the frenchman with his emporium of finery, the spaniard with his groceries, or the italian with his wares, the arab with his little shop, the chinaman with his laundry (and his peculiar affinity with the indian, perhaps of the same mother-race), the german with his hardware, drugs and cheap jewellery and much besides; the english or american with every commodity, and in addition his mining schemes and railways and steamers, or his municipal stocks and bonds. for spanish america is now a peculiarly attractive mecca of the international merchant and pedlar, who does it services both good and ill. here, in this financial and business field, the englishman has been predominant (though that predominance may not always be, for he is closely pressed now and must not muddle on). england, indeed, soon conquered a world commercially which she bungled in overcoming in conquest. she early scorned columbus, or would not help him; at cartagena, callao, rio de janeiro, montevideo, buenos ayres, and elsewhere, her admirals and generals seem to have failed, and she secured but a couple of small footholds on the continent and some rich islands off its coast. perhaps it was destiny; perhaps we would not now have it otherwise, and the spanish american civilization develops more interestingly alone. but interesting too would have been a british indian empire in america, perhaps with possibilities and results of value to the world. but, despite all this, the british name here stands high, and heaven grant it always may. not for all her past misdeeds, nor the present defects arising from them, shall we forget the gifts that spain has made to the new world. to-day it might indeed be said that some of the main problems of colonial empires are but beginning (as witness egypt and india under british rule). spain made nations, even it they afterwards fell from her by misgovernment or from natural causes. she implanted her religion, literature, culture, language, architecture over hundreds of thousands of miles of forbidding desert and cordillera, as we shall see in these pages. over a zone of the earth's territory seven thousand miles long, from the mexican border with the united states, throughout the twenty republics of central and south america, to the tapering end of chile, the spanish language is the medium of communication, a language-area vaster than any in the world. and portugal, the patron of great voyagers and explorers, has left her mark and language upon her half of the new world, the old empire of brazil, with a population greater than that of all her neighbours combined. less dominating than the spaniard in the long run--for portugal has always said of herself that she could conquer but not colonize--portugal has left her own iberian culture in latin america. here, indeed, are the elements of life in the making, of a civilization whose life is before it rather than behind it; often picturesque, often sombre, always, as we have said, a world of its own, and possessed of its own peculiar attractiveness. * * * * * some rather serious doubts have assailed my mind in regard to the succeeding portion of this chapter, as to how far the weighty matters of geography and travel-description may be treated informally. dare we "speak disrespectfully of the equator," or too lightly tread over cancer or capricorn? but the home-returned traveller knows that treatment of geography and travel is generally informal--not to say casual--especially among our good english folk, and at dinner, where white shirt-fronts do gleam, and feminine elegance is displayed, he may have to answer somewhat elemental questions upon the whereabouts of this or that land, region, or locality he has visited, or upon the nature and customs of its particular inhabitants. nor is this confined to society chatter alone at such pleasant moments. in the london board room perhaps some stout and comfortable director of possibly half a dozen companies whose operations are of no meanly distributed geographical range may ask where such and such a country is, with most complacent ignorance of maps and globes; perhaps, also, in a few words doing what it was long since said we could not do, "drawing up an indictment against a whole nation," for doubtless weighty (financial) reasons of his own. as to the general public, it goes on its way careless of where places are--except that, by reason of the great war, it has grown accustomed to looking at the maps so beneficially inserted in the columns of our daily press, and strives to hold the balance between kilometres and miles. the foregoing lack of familiarity with the round world and they that dwell therein is especially true of the lands of spanish america (or latin america, to use that more cumbrous but more accurate term). "where in the world is ecuador, or costa rica, or paraguay?" some one may impatiently exclaim if we mention that we were held up by quarantine in guayaquil on account of yellow fever, or other incident of other spot. "where is bolivia?" is another not infrequent query, but generally made in ignorance of its first and classical utterance, it is reputed, in the anecdote relating to lord palmerston and the president--many years ago--of that republic. some think mexico is in south america, and, no doubt drawing their ideas from their or their parents' study of prescott in the victorian age, ask if the mexicans really wear feathers and carry knives. the position of peru puzzles many good folk, although it is generally believed to be somewhere in south america, which of course is right. chile, again; where does it lie? did not some one once describe chile--if you look at the map--as a country two thousand miles long and two inches wide? again, striving to give an idea of the vast length of chile, one writer of the country has graphically remarked that you may conceive it as a "long, narrow trough of which one end could be placed at queenstown and the other near new york, but along which luggage could not be rolled." no offence is here meant to the enterprising people of that land, who resisted so stoutly the pretensions of their neighbours of argentina in order that this narrow width might not be pared down still closer, a contention finally ended by the arbitration of king edward of britain. for both argentina and brazil seem to have been bent, at one time or another, on carrying out the principle that to him who hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath, for both of them sprawl--geographically that is--across the south american continent and crowd their smaller neighbours into its margins or corners, if crowding be possible here. as for brazil, it must have more political frontiers, one imagines, than any other nation in the world. [illustration: avenida central, rio de janeiro. vol. i. to face p. .] the traveller sometimes finds it necessary to explain that colombia has nothing to do with british columbia. it is a republic quite unassociated with our imperial outpost of british columbia. as for venezuela, only those who have been there can ever be expected to know where it is, notwithstanding that it is the part of south america nearest to europe and was that first sighted by columbus. the guianas are rightly associated by many with demerara sugar, but demerara, it has to be mentioned, is not the whole of british guiana, and there are in addition french and dutch guiana. british guiana and british honduras--which latter, let us remark, is not in south but in central america (location to be explained later)--are the only foothold of the british empire on the mainland of spanish america. guiana, moreover, has nothing to do with guinea, in africa, or new guinea, in asia. few people at home know where these places are or who lives there or what they do. as to the first-named, it is interesting to see that a deputation has recently arrived from the colony in the mother country, to remind that parent of her offspring's existence. both these small places--they are as large as england--are perhaps among the most backward portions of the empire. it is not their fault, or not alone. it is largely due to the stupidity or lack of interest of the home government. it is also due, in general terms, to the stupidity and ignorance of british folk in general, who take little interest in their possessions overseas, and who from one point of view do not deserve to have them. the tropical colonies of britain, and among them are these of south and central america--not to mention the magnificent heritage of the west indies, which of course are geographically part of america--are most valuable charges, most essential elements of the national food supply. they are at least geographical larders, and it is time they were much more fully developed and cared for. it is well to recollect, moreover, politically, that britain has scarcely given an efficient object-lesson of development, social and economic, to the backward states of spanish america in her control of these two crown colonies. but we digress. if the geography of the south american states is nebulous to the ordinary person at home, how much more so is that of central america? in the first place, it may be asked, where or what is central america? many well-informed people do not know. north america and south america are easily realizable as geographical entities, but where can a third america exist? central america is not the centre of the south american continent, as some well-meaning people think, but is that part of america lying between the two continents, and includes no less than six independent republics, together with british honduras. the panama canal cuts through it; the tehuantepec and other railways cross it. thus when we are asked where is costa rica or nicaragua or salvador, honduras or panama, where perhaps the latest revolution has just broken out, or the government have just repudiated a loan, or managed to pay an instalment of the interest due upon a loan, we may reply in central america. and paraguay--ah, paraguay! where is it? and hayti, too? many people in england have relatives in spanish american countries, and it is interesting to be able to inform them where the particular localities are situated, and how to get there, also the distances approximately places are apart. "i have a cousin who is chargé d'affaires in revolutia," says a lady at a reception. "i do trust he has not been injured by that terrible south american earthquake we saw in the paper this morning." we are able to assure the lady that the earthquake was in san volcania, at least two thousand miles from the enterprising republic where her relative carried on his doubtless invaluable diplomatic duties. "have you ever been in ---- (we will call it santa andina)?" says a stout, bald-headed gentleman, who looks like a company promoter (and we afterwards found that he was such), referring to a well-known spanish american capital, adding that he thought of going there, and had heard that no great difficulties attended the journey. he thought oil concessions were to be obtained there. when he learned that you take a river steamer, then a train, then a canoe, then a steamer again, and lastly a mule, his _wanderlust_ seemed somewhat to abate. the story of the lady who had a relative in new york, and hoped he would call one morning on the brother of another person present who lived in buenos ayres has often been told, but i am inclined to regard it as far-fetched. the point is that the lady, knowing that both places were in america, imagined they must be in easy daily radius of each other. the traveller who knows spanish america and speaks the spanish language--which language is a veritable delight when you know it--will often wish that english people would set out to acquire at least a slight knowledge of the pronunciation of spanish words and place-names. he does not like to hear, for example, buenos ayres spoken of as "boners' airs," or callao as "cally-oh"! and the pronunciation of señor as "seenyor" is most offensive. again, why will the english press persist in depriving "señor" and the spanish letter "ñ" generally of its ~, or in using don where señor should be used (as is done even in _the times_), or in the rendering of the spanish (or its italian or french equivalent) _viva!_ as "long live." it does not mean "long live," but "live" or "may he live," and is generally followed by _que viva!_ "let him live." it would be better translated as "hurrah for so-and-so." however, the press does not generally treat spanish america very seriously. there is an _opéra bouffe_ element. the spanish language is perhaps the most beautiful and pleasing in the world, when we take into account its virility and brevity. it says what it means at once, and every letter, except the aspirate, in every word is pronounced. it is a simple language, easily learned. it is spoken over an enormous part of the earth's surface, and there is little variation between the spanish of castile and that of spanish america. when we converse--in their own language--with the educated spanish american folk, we find them full of wise saws and modern instances. they are shrewd and philosophical, and the spanish language abounds with proverbs and aphorisms applicable to the things of everyday life. they are born statesmen and lawyers and orators. they go back to the remote classics for their similes. all this is very delightful in its way, and the englishman, after a course of years of it will come home and think his own countrymen rather stupid and unimaginative; that is if his own common sense does not balance their own more solid qualities against the more surface attainments. what he wishes is that the one race might partake more of the qualities of the other, and vice versa. oratory and theory cannot replace practical politics and justice, but we miss the amenities. mucha tinta y poca justicia! so says the spanish american (or the spaniard), referring to the national power of document-compiling and red tape; that is to say: "much ink and little justice." nor yet can the most delightful spirit of hospitality make amends for the insufferable defects of the _fonda_ and the inn, and de tu casa a la ajena sal con la barriga llena! is the soundest advice in latin america to the traveller in the interior, or, as one would say, "from your own to a stranger's home, go forth with a well-filled belly." the spanish american people, as we have remarked, are of a poetical and sentimental temperament, given to oratory, and they produce many poets, many of which, however, would, if criticism is harsh, be termed versifiers. they are fond of what might be termed descriptive embroidery; what, indeed, one of their own race has termed _desarollos lyricos_ ("lyric developments"). love verses are an absorbing theme, and their small magazines overflow therewith, and even the daily press does not disdain such. it might be said that versifying in spanish in matters amorous may be facile, because _amores_ (love), _flores_ (flowers), _olores_ (perfume), and _dolores_ (grief) all rhyme! one cynical spanish american poet, however, has propounded the following, descriptive of the social and natural ambient: flores sin olor hombres sin honor mujeres sin pudor! that is to say: "flowers without perfume, men without honour, women without modesty." it is true that the flowers in the new world here sometimes lacks perfume, where we might have expected to find such, and that at times men and women lack the cardinal virtues, but the same could be said anywhere, and is merely an epigram. the verse-making of the young poets is often erotic and neurotic, addressed to the object of undying affection, or to the shades of night, or the cruelty of destiny--which tears lovers apart or carries them off to early graves. in this connexion byron is well regarded (but let us say nothing derogatory of byron) and shakespeare appreciated. however, it is to be recollected that these are rather symptoms of youth in a nation, and if the more blasé and practical briton--and the still more practical and less poetical north american--finds their verse hackneyed (if he be able to read it, which is not frequently the case), this sentiment has its valuable psychical attribute. the english, indeed, are regarded by the spanish american as of a romantic temperament, or of having a reputation for romance, and this is possibly due in part to byron. but let it not be forgotten that there are famous latin american poets, to which space here forbids even the barest justice to be done. the spanish americans are great panegyrists, moreover. the most extraordinary adulations of public personages are made and published, such as it might be supposed would cause the object thereof to blush. the late president diaz of mexico was always to his admirers--or those who hoped to gain something by his adulation, and this it is not necessarily unkind to say is often the motive of the panegyric--a "great star in a pleiades or constellation of the first magnitude," and similar matters are found in all the republics. a stroke of ordinary policy becomes thus "_un acto de importancia transcendental_," which sufficiently translates itself; and so forth. of course, it is the case that the spanish language lends itself peculiarly to "lyric developments"; it is expressive and sonorous, and even the uneducated person has in it a far wider range of thought and expression than has the apparently unimaginative and tongue-tied briton, or american of anglo-saxon speech. upon this theme we might greatly enlarge, but we must refrain. as i have already remarked, the general conception of the spanish american people by english folk is a vague one. to such questions or remarks as: "are they mostly indians?" or "i suppose they are not mainly niggers, or at least half black?" in brief terms, the reply is that the spanish american people are a blend of the aboriginal indian race--which possessed an early civilization of its own in certain districts, as in mexico and peru, and has many valuable qualities--and of the spaniard, or in brazil of the portuguese. they are not "half-breeds" now. we might as well, in a sense, call the english half-breeds, because we are a mixture of celt and saxon and norman. the "indians" of mexico and peru--they are, of course, not indian at all in reality, that was an error of columbus--had, before the spaniards destroyed it, a fine culture of their own and practised the most beautiful arts. as to the modern culture, or that of the upper strata, it surprises good cultured english folk to learn that in matters of serious culture, knowledge and social etiquette, and knowledge of the world, they themselves would have difficulty in holding their own. the world, or outlook, of the educated man or woman of mexico, peru, colombia, brazil, argentina, chile, or any other of these states, is a wider one than that of the british middle-class folk: that great respectable body of persons so closely engaged upon their own affairs. some writers have deplored the separate autonomy or absence of "unification" of the latin american states. they would like to see a "united states of south america" or a federation of central america. but this largely arises, perhaps, from the peculiar ideas of hegemony which the last and present century brought to being. we were to have vast empires. weaker nations were to be controlled by stronger. there were to be great commercial units. is this advisable, or will it be possible? the condition of the world after the great war would seem to indicate the negative. it would seem to show that small nations have their own destiny to work out. as regards spanish america, its different states are, in general, better in being separated. both geographical conditions and those of temperament support this. these states, or their capitals and centres of population, are generally divided by nature from each other, often by tremendous barriers of mountain chains, rivers or impenetrable forests. how could a single or centralized government be set up to control either their home or foreign policy? where would it be, and how would it operate? it might be said that similar topographical conditions obtain in the case of the united states, canada, or australia, which prefer to live as federations. but the natural geographical barriers of spanish america are, in reality, much more formidable. again, the present multiplicity of states, each with its complement of president and state officers, gives opportunity for more intensive political training, more pleasing social life and a greater general opportunity for partaking in government by the people than does a centralized government. let us thus refrain from judging too hastily or too harshly the spanish american people. their temperament, their environment is different from ours. they have not chosen or been able to follow the more prosaic, more useful life of england or north america in the commercial age. they had not our inventive, our mechanical gifts. under their warmer skies idealism played a stronger part. they could not agree to live together unless idealistic conditions were to dominate them--conditions which were impossible of course, and they never were able to oil the wheels of life with that spirit of compromise which providence--if it be a providential gift--gave to us. moreover, they have a dreadful history of oppression behind them, and the dead-weight of a great indian bulk of folk who were ruined by the arrogant spaniards, who despised them without a cause. rather let us see that they are endowed with many gifts, and that a different phase of world-development and civilization may give these people an opportunity to display their best qualities, of overcoming their serious errors. the thoughtful traveller will find matter of interest in spanish america wherever he journeys, in the delightful place-names he encounters, which a little trouble will enable him to pronounce, and often whose pleasing origin some study will permit him to understand. here are no duplications of "paris," "berlin," "london"; no monstrosities of "copperville," "petroleumville," "irontown," and so forth, such as in anglo america, the united states and canada, the developers of that part of america in some cases hastily assigned to their places of settlement or industry, either through lack of or laziness of search for original topographical nomenclature. here in spanish america its old and rightful folk had given poetical baptism to their localities. such were often the abiding places of deities or spirits. yonder mountain, for example, was "the home of the wind god" of the quechuas; yonder point the "place of the meeting of the waters" of the aztecs, or the "field of the fruitful," or the "forest of the dark spirits"; and thus is imprinted upon them for all time the poetic fancy of their founders. there rises the "snow-forehead" of the andes, there is the "cañyon of a thousand ripples," there is the "_pompa_ of the holy saints." the names flow liquidly from the lips of the indian, perhaps our harsher tongues can ill articulate them in comparison. moreover, let us remark the wealth of topographical nomenclature, both in the native languages of mexico and peru, and all the sisterhood of states, and in the later spanish tongue. every hill, hill-slope, stream, wood, plain, valley, desert, every kind of hill, feature and topographical change of form is designated. the present chapter, it is seen, is, in some small degree, designed to prime the intending traveller to spanish america--or, if not the traveller, the person athirst for information concerning the region--with such geographical detail as he or she may assimilate without mental indigestion. in accordance with this purpose we may consider a few figures, which are indispensable if we are to gather any intelligent idea of extent and distance. there are twenty independent republics of spanish, or rather latin america, ranging from the enormous brazil, with an area of three and a quarter million square miles, down to little salvador, with only seven thousand two hundred and twenty-five square miles. among these twenty states we include hayti and santo domingo, places which, although often mentioned with a smile when independent republics are spoken of, are nevertheless worthy of geographical respect. [illustration: the ancient civilization: stone stelÆ at quirigua, central america. vol. i. to face p. .] between these great extremes of area mentioned above we have such countries as argentina, with over a million square miles, and mexico, bolivia and peru, with from nearly to over seven hundred thousand square miles, colombia, venezuela and chile, with from over four to under three hundred thousand, ecuador and uruguay with half and a third those areas, and the remaining nine states of from about seventy thousand square miles down to about a tenth thereof. the total area thus covered of this very diversified part of the earth's surface is about eight and a quarter million square miles, with a total population in the neighbourhood of eighty million souls. it is of interest further to recollect that brazil is larger than the united states or canada, or larger than europe without russia. even the little but progressive country of uruguay, crowded by brazil and argentina into a corner of the atlantic coast, is much larger than england.[ ] [ ] the good church of england, in caring for her sons in spanish america, is perforce obliged to have regard to the vast distances she must cover here. thus the bishop of the falkland islands' flock--his diocese--extends over the not inconsiderable territory covering the west coast of south america, including chile, peru, bolivia, ecuador and so forth--a strip some five or six thousand miles long. as i formed one of a committee with the good bishop to endeavour to raise funds among english business men to carry on his work (and incidentally to lecture on the subject), i had the matter brought specially to my notice. again, the bishop of honduras, in a recent letter to _the times_, appealed for funds for a vessel, by means of which he might visit his flock over the vast diocese that included honduras and british honduras, costa rica, salvador, nicaragua and panama. and again, in giving evidence before the select committee of the house of commons to inquire into the putumayo rubber scandals, which i was called upon as a witness to do, concerning the indians of peru, it was necessary to inform the gentlemen of the commission that the easiest way of reaching eastern from western peru was to take steamer up the pacific coast, cross the isthmus of panama, go home across the atlantic to liverpool, and come back again to the amazon and go up that river! it is to be recollected that the areas given to these countries themselves in some cases include territory claimed by their immediate neighbours, for there are unsettled boundaries and frontiers, especially in the amazon valley. they must be regarded as only approximate. the same remark holds good with regard to the population of these states. exact enumeration is impossible, for the reasons both that the inhabitants are often enormously scattered over vast territories and that they often refuse to be numbered, or escape the census, fearing that they are to be taxed, or pressed into military service against their will, which latter condition has been a curse of spanish america all through its history. much of our earlier knowledge of northern south america and mexico was due to humboldt, the famous german savant and traveller. he was born in berlin in , but it would appear that berlin was certainly not his "spiritual home." paris was the only centre congenial to him, and he settled there in , after his travels, in order to be able to secure the needful scientific co-operation for the publication of the results of his work. "the french capital he had long regarded as his true home. there he found not only scientific sympathy, but the social stimulus which his vigorous and healthy mind eagerly craved. he was equally in his element as the lion of the _salons_ and as the savant of the institute and the observatory. the provincialism of his native city was odious to him. he never ceased to rail against the bigotry without religion, aestheticism without culture, and philosophy without common sense, which he found dominant on the banks of the spree. he sought relief from this 'nebulous atmosphere' in paris."[ ] [ ] _vide_ humboldt, _encyc. brit._, eleventh edition, . it was by an accident that humboldt directed his steps to spanish america, for he had hoped, with bonpland, to join bonaparte in egypt, but in madrid he determined to make spanish america the scene of his explorations. he explored the orinoco, crossed the frozen cordillera to quito, investigated the mighty avenue of the ecuadorian volcanoes--the farm he occupied still exists at their foot--and did much else in south america and in mexico, geological, archæological, and botanical. the foregoing glimpse of berlin which humboldt's view of his native city affords is not without interest to-day, when the savagery of the german character--a curious development of that earlier obscure philosophy--has been brought so prominently before the world and has brought germany to moral ruin, and what is in part financial ruin and the loss of her colonies. as has been said, methods of travel here are less inviting to the ordinary tourist than the well-prepared fields of the old world. its hotels--apart, perhaps, from a few here and there--are primitive, its railways are conducted for commercial purposes, there are no planned centres of delight and ease. no roads traverse the countryside whereon the motor-tourist may spend his hours. between the primitive mule-trail or the bypath which the simple indian has found sufficient for his purposes since the world began, and the railway, there is no _via media_. the coaching days of england never had their counterpart in spanish america. the _caballero_, the horseman-gentleman, transplanted from old spain, and all he represented embodied, and still embodies, the philosophy of the road. here no one may walk the countryside, except the necessitous indian. the dust would smother him, the naked rocks would cut his feet, he would lose caste for being on foot. no "local" botanist, antiquarian, nature-lover sallies forth from spanish-american villages. the country squire is unknown, the landed estate is a _hacienda_, a hive of _peones_, dependent body and soul on the will of their masters. there are no week-end cottages; the "picnic," though its english name is not unknown, is a rare event. sport, where it exists, is an institution engrafted from abroad. woman here is much enclosed in the seclusion of her home, save when she ventures to the temple and the priestly mass, or to well-chaperoned and formal events--she dare not traverse the road alone, and, it may be said, with sufficient reason! the spanish american youth, with his patent leather shoes and breadth of cuff and collar, loves not to leave the easy pavements of his towns, or their bars and cafés, for the unknown world beyond, whose beginning is the squalid indian quarter which fringes the place around--unless indeed he may have turned revolutionist, a phase which does not usually take place much before middle age, when the latin american generally takes on his serious political habit. then indeed he must take to the road, unless a fortunate _golpe de estado_[ ] shall complete the uprising within the city plaza. [ ] _coup d'état._ the inland method of travel is the horse or mule: the saddle. unfortunately the horse is not very happy here. in the day of judgment, if the beasts of the field ever bear witness against man, the horse will have a severe indictment to bring against the spanish american people. he and his relative the mule have nowhere perhaps been so dreadfully ill-treated as in these lands of mountains and deserts. in mexico we see him ridden to death by the callous vaquero; his thin and starving body passing like a swift shadow across the wilderness under the stimulus of enormous spurs. or he is gored to death in the bull-ring. in south america he climbs, with enormous loads, the dizzy ridges of the andes, under the blows and curses of the arriero, and, stumbling over the precipice, finds rest at times a thousand feet below, where his mummified carcass remains a warning to his kind. or he passes his life on high uplands where pasture is unknown: his fodder a little dry straw. the fact is that the spanish american lands, in great part, did not seem fitted by nature for the equine race, and there was no horse in america before the europeans introduced the animal there. there was nothing but the llama, the friend of the indian, which is not ridden, but bears a small burden. the indian himself at first displayed great terror of the horse (especially with an armoured iberian on its back). he himself was accustomed to carrying his burdens. when he was told to take a horse he said: "no, horses get tired; we do not." when a spaniard rode across the isthmus of panama upon a jackass he met some indians, and the animal brayed, and the indians fell down in terror and offered up their gold ornaments! yet the latin americans are perhaps the most expert of horsemen, and train and manage their steeds as no one else can. spanish america is not a land for the huntsman, not a land of big game. its zoology is stinted. the lion and the tiger are represented only by some almost insignificant felines, and the other huge quadrupeds of the sportsman's rifle came not to being in the new world, or deserted it by now fallen land bridges before their skilled tormentor appeared upon the earth. there is, relatively, but little game, and the traveller who might think to subsist upon it in his passage through the wilds will do well to ponder the experience of the early conquistadores, some of which have been set down briefly in these pages. thus far the picture of travel here. there are phases on the other side to be considered. it is the explorer, the pioneer, who will find material for his desires in these lands. the geographer, the antiquarian, the naturalist, the ethnologist has before him a field which is the equal of any region, and the engineer, that most practical and valuable of travellers, has work before him in this score of independent states whose magnitude has, so far, no limit. chapter ii a historical outline it would be manifestly impossible, in the present work, to enter in detail upon the wide field of the history of the spanish american states. yet, just as in order to gain an intelligent idea topographically of the region we must refer to its main geographical features and disposition, so must we cast a glance at its historical outlines. those readers who are drawn on to fill in the detail have ample material at hand in the books recently published on the latin american states.[ ] [ ] each volume of the south american series contains such. the beginnings of history and of geography are, of course, inextricably interwoven, and in the case of america this is markedly so. america, in a sense, was discovered by accident, and its first discoverers did not know they had brought to being a new continent. columbus, to his dying day, believed it was india he had reached, which he had set out to reach, and would not be persuaded to the contrary. on the maps of the earlier geographers there was, in fact, no room for america. from the shores of europe and africa to those of cathay--the old, mediaeval, and still the poetical name for china, the great asiatic coast--stretched one sea, the western ocean, broken by some small islands and cipango, or japan. scholars and dreamers, studying isolated passages in cryptic and classic writings, or arguing from general principles, in which the wish was at times father to the thought, believed that by sailing west india could be reached. these dreams of poets and the beliefs of scholars crystallized in the mind of the genoese sailor, columbus, a man of humble origin, and after many disappointments and disillusions, in the interviewing of kings and high personages for aid and patronage (among them the king of england, but england with characteristic lack of imagination would have none of it, and the king of portugal, who tried to cheat him), was enabled to set sail by aid of the queen of spain--women having more imagination than men--in three small vessels, and made his great and memorable landfall in the new world on october , , in the bahamas. these islands columbus and his officers believed to be those described by marco polo, as forming the eastern end of asia; and thus arose the name of "las indias," the indies, which america long retained. as a result of this discovery, a controversy arose between spain and portugal, for, in , the pope had given the portuguese--by what right he himself doubtless best knew--exclusive control of exploration and conquest on the road to the indies, although his bull had in view only the eastern route. now, however, "spheres of influence" might easily clash. the two powers repaired again to the pope, successor of the former, and he, drawing a line across the map of the world from north to south, in a position west of the azores a hundred leagues, awarded spain everything that might lie beyond it. the pope was a spaniard. the portuguese did not think the award fair. (it might have been mentioned that the portuguese king, his "especial friend," had treacherously endeavoured to forestall columbus by dispatching a caravel on his proposed route secretly, instead of helping him, a futile errand, however.) they protested, and by common consent the line was shifted to leagues west of the cape verde islands, corresponding to-day to the th degree of longitude. such a line cuts south america across the mouth of the amazon, and the spaniards claimed the right to exclude all other people and all trade but their own from beyond this line. the subsequent conquest and discovery of america embodies some of the most romantic and stirring episodes in history. in his last voyage columbus explored the west indies and reached south america, landing at the mouth of the orinoco, and he sailed along the coast of the caribbean and central america to nombre de dios--"name of god"--near colon. henry vii of england--who had declined to help columbus--now kindly permitted john cabot to sail, in , who discovered newfoundland and did other valuable exploits. hispaniola was the first spanish settlement, on the island of hayti, and this spread to the mainland. in vasco nuñez de balboa crossed the isthmus of darien and panama and beheld the "south sea," as described in our chapter upon central america. the insistent hope of a "strait" or passage through these lands, giving a way to the spice islands of the indies, was now given up, and when magellan, in , passed through the strait which bears his name, and sailed across the pacific, it was understood that a vast continent and a vast ocean divided the world from asia here, a new world, and that lying mainly within the sphere of influence which the pope had so generously assigned to spain. with regard to this obsession of colombus that westward lay the shortest route to india, and the insistent idea of a strait, have not these been materialized in the panama canal, and are not these ancient mariners vindicated to-day? the new world now belonged to spain. perhaps the first purpose of the spaniards was trade with the indies, but their main object was that of gold, to be gained by slave labour. they could not themselves work in the tropics, even if they had had any desire for manual labour, which they had not. however, they began to introduce european plants and animals into cuba and hispaniola, a service which was of enormous value later to america, which possessed but a meagre range of staple food products and no beasts of burden or bovines. but gold--that was what they wanted. the shallow deposits of the island were soon exhausted, as were the poor willing indians, killed off by forced labour. the barbarous treatment of the aborigines of the new world by the spaniards--and the portuguese--is one of the most dreadful blots on the history of america, indeed of the world. the easily gotten gold being exhausted, it was necessary to go farther afield. the darien settlement was transferred to panama, the coasts of yucatan and the gulf of mexico were explored by cordova and grijalva, from cuba, and in the great conquest of mexico was entered upon by cortes. so far the spaniards had found little difficulty in subduing the indians to their will, the inoffensive islanders, and caribs, which latter became almost exterminated. the indian folk of these islands were generally a simple and credible race, who at first looked upon the white man as a demi-god, but these simple children of the soil were treated with utmost callousness and barbarity. there is an example in the treatment of the natives of watling island in the bahamas, which, as before remarked, was the first point in the new world trodden by columbus. of this land and its folk the explorer wrote to ferdinand and isabella: "these beautiful islands excel all other lands. the natives love their neighbours as themselves, their faces are always smiling, their conversation is the sweetest imaginable, and they are so gentle and affectionate that i swear to your highness there is no better people in the world." but what was the lot of these folk? the spaniards wanted further labour in the mines of hispaniola, and to get these natives there they, trading on a characteristic love of the people for their ancestors and departed relatives, promised to convey them to the heavenly shores, where these were imagined as dwelling; and so, treacherously getting them on board the ships, they were taken away to the mines, where it is said , perished under starvation and the lash. the natives of mexico were people of a different stamp. the aztecs were _pueblo_ or town indians, highly organized as soldiers, skilled in arts and crafts, with a developed civilization and certain intellectuality. they were highland folk, the mexican plateau lying at seven to eight thousand feet above sea level, protected by mountain fastnesses. it was, in fact, an empire of the new world such as, in some respects, might compare with those ancient semi-barbaric empires of the old world, in times more ancient. its conquest by cortes was an affair of great enterprise and toil, entailing heavy loss and suffering on the part of the spaniards, and at one time their defeat, from which only a superhuman rally saved them, at the battle of otumba. there was one specially weak point about the aztec rule. it was a hegemony, exercised over various other mexican races, who hated montezuma, the aztec emperor, and his people. cortes was skilful enough to take advantage of this flaw in the mexican armour, to fan the jealousies of the subject tribes, and enlist them to march against tenochtitlan, the capital of mexico. these allied indians, when the place fell, themselves committed the most unheard-of barbarities on the aztec population, such as shocked the spaniards, who were unable to restrain them. the conquest of mexico was effected by , and the success, the romance, the adventure, and the objects of gold and silver sent by cortes to spain, and the loot of the soldiers, fired the imagination of the spaniards in hispaniola and darien to other quests. the settlers at panama had heard of another empire where gold was to be had for the taking, perhaps richer and greater even than that of the aztecs. this was peru, and francisco pizarro and diego amalgro set sail from panama to explore and conquer that unknown region along the sunset shores of america to the south. this adventure too was an arduous one, not by reason of the opposition of savage natives, for the incas of peru were a gentle and philosophical people, animated by a remarkable social system, and they offered little resistance to the white men and the formidable men-animals, or horsemen, and their guns. it was famine that assailed pizarro and his followers, and insufficient support. also he, like cortes, had to contend with the jealousies and double-dealing of the spanish governor of the indies. as for peru, its coast was barren, as it is to-day, and only after surmounting the dreadful fastness of the andes, amid the inclement climate of a region twelve to fifteen thousand feet above the level of the sea, was the inca empire reached and subdued. here lay cuzco, the mecca of peru, and cajamarca, a more northern capital. the stores of gold recovered seem to have filled these spaniards' expectations, and great renown was the result of this conquest, which was completed by . these exploits were followed by a period of strife among the spaniards, and pizarro was murdered, after founding lima, the capital of peru. but in the regions lying between peru and panama, which to-day we know as ecuador and colombia, were explored and conquered, the first by sebastian de benalcazar, the second by jimenez de quesada. here were dwelling other advanced people or tribes. quito, the capital of ecuador, had been the home of the shiris, a cultured people who were overthrown by the incas before the spanish advent. the city was joined to cuzco, eleven hundred miles to the south, by the famous inca roads, one along the cordillera, the other along the coast. some early spanish historian delighted to speak of these roads as equal to those of the romans, but this was an exaggeration. colombia was the culture-area of the chibchas. the spaniards had heard of a further great empire, a rich el dorado, in this region, and encouraged by the ease with which pizarro had conquered peru, they made their way up the magdalena river from the caribbean sea. a pleasing land and much gold was encountered, after severe hardships, the people being of some considerable degree of civilization, although not of the status of the aztec or the inca. the richest plums, in fact, had fallen. quesada named this region new granada, with its capital at bogota. there still remained the conquest of the huge territory south of peru, known as chile, and this, attempted by almagro in , was carried out by pedro de valdivia, who, however, was checked by the redoubtable araucanian indians. these form one of the chief admixtures of the chileans to-day, a hardy and enterprising nation, in contrast with the peruvians of a more sentimental temperament, with a basis of the quichua indians of the incas. terrible excesses were committed upon the indians on these expeditions. a terrible end was visited upon the spanish leader by the indians. "you have come for gold," said the savage chief who captured him. "you shall have your fill." and he caused _molten_ burning gold to be poured into his mouth. then he was cut to pieces with sharpened oyster shells. from the southern andes, the spaniards, in the following years, descended to the great plains which now form the republics of the river plate, argentine, uruguay and paraguay. the exploration of brazil had been begun in , and the region was traversed by orellana in his descent of the amazon from quito, and it was gradually settled by the portuguese. the lands lying between panama and mexico, which to-day form the central american states, guatemala, costa rica and others, were conquered after the fall of mexico. here were evidences of a splendid past, in the beautiful temples of sculptured stone found in their forests and deserts, ruins even then abandoned. these remains astounded europe, when they were first revealed. thus did all this enormous region of latin america, from tropical mexico--indeed, from california--to the frigid extremity of patagonia, fall into the possession of spain and portugal. in some respects it is a dreadful history. the spaniards overthrew civilizations in mexico and peru which in many respects were superior to their own, civilizations that had developed marvellously without the resources that the old world commanded, for there was neither ox nor horse, nor even iron nor gunpowder. the spaniards destroyed everything that these people had done. for centuries unknown they had evolved their arts and crafts and laws; laws, in the case of the incas of peru, far more beneficial and democratic than anything europe had produced at that period, and millions of these people were most ruthlessly destroyed. to read the accounts of the happenings of those times is enough to break one's heart. to-day, throughout the length and breadth of this vast territory--of which not an acre now belongs to spain--the spirit of the indian has so far remained faithful that there is not a single statue raised to cortes or pizarro. columbus, of course, is commemorated by his monuments in every capital. these great new world territories, by virtue of the papal bull, were held as the peculiar property of the sovereign. the spanish possessions were divided into two "kingdoms," the kingdom of new spain, consisting of mexico and all lands to and including venezuela, and new castile, later called peru. this last viceroyalty was found unwieldy, and new granada and the river plate regions were constituted apart under viceroys. the administrative powers of these functionaries were very great, but they were held in some control by the laws of the indies: measures passed for native protection. even the frightful dominance of the inquisition did not extend to the indians, who were regarded as merely catechumens. queen isabella of spain, by whose imagination and aid discovery of the new world had been rendered possible, would not permit--and her memory should be revered for it--the enslavement of the indians, if she could prevent it, and when columbus returned home with a cargo of natives, whom he proposed to sell as slaves, isabella interfered. let them be set at liberty, she said, and sent back to their homes. columbus has in general been represented as a protector of the indians, and must not necessarily be judged in the light of this incident. in the general condemnation of spain at that period, these facts should be recollected. it was declared by the home government that the indians were to enjoy the privilege of free subjects, and that their native princes were to be upheld in their authority. censure was frequently visited upon the conquerors and governors of mexico and peru, from home, for their displacement or execution of these, as any who will study spanish colonial history may see. some modern writers, in their democratic zeal, have overlooked this. the declaration was opposed by the colonists, as well as the colonial authorities, and indeed by the clergy. some compulsion was necessary, of course, if civilization was to make its way among the indians, for they were often loath to work, and stood sullenly aloof from the white race. the _system of repartimientos and encomiendas_--the assigning of bodies of indians to the industrial charge of colonists--was well meant, but the greed of the colonists and their callous habit as regarded human life offset these influences. another side of the question also presents itself. under philip ii, the colonies were governed not so much in their own interests, as for the enrichment of spain and its predominance. he yearned to injure protestant england, and the colonists were taxed and goaded to produce wealth, and their interests sacrificed in the furtherance of this end. those into whose hands the unfortunate indians had been delivered body and soul, drove the unfortunates into the mines, branded them on the face, flogged them to death, chucked their miserable carcasses aside, when they fell from exhaustion, a prey to the dogs. we know what these things led to. england and other european nations refused to recognize the exclusive control of the american continents by the peninsula powers, and hardy buccaneers and privateers streamed forth to dispute spanish pretensions. drake intercepted the stream of gold with which philip was enabled to equip his armadas and thus performed a marked strategic service for england. moreover, such pretensions would never have been respected, especially under the influence of the renaissance and the reformation. the restrictions upon colonial trade by spain were, we see further, an element in the downfall of the empire. the natural development of south america was seriously hindered. all trade must come via panama, and anything opposed to spanish interests was suppressed. the growing trade between acapulco and china was suppressed; hidalgo's vineyard in mexico was destroyed by the spanish authorities because spain alone must grow grapes. "learn to be silent and obey, and not to discuss politics," ran the proclamation of a mexican viceroy, near the end of the eighteenth century. when--unlawfully--the throne of spain came to be occupied with kings having french sympathies, these short-sighted methods were modified. _audiencias_ or law courts, of which, from the reign of philip iv there were eleven, in santo domingo, mexico, panama, lima, guatemala, guadalajara, bogota, la plata, chile, and buenos ayres, acted as counsel to the governors, with civil and criminal jurisdiction. appeal could be had to the council of the indies, that great colonial body at seville. for centuries the history of spanish america is made up of the deeds and misdeeds of the viceroys. the political and commercial control of the colonies was thus entirely in the hands of the crown. the territories were expected to send quantities of gold and other precious metals home to spain with regularity, and indeed spain later became a mere sieve into which this treasure from the indies was poured. they were also bound to send raw material and to take all their manufactured goods from the mother country. it must be recollected that the ill-treatment meted out to the natives of these lands was mainly the work of the spanish settlers. they generally both despised the indians, and wished to enrich themselves from their labours. they were, for the man of iberian race, inferior creatures, to be used at his will, and the forced labour in the mines was a cause of the reduction of the population. questions have been raised by historians as to whether the dreadful treatment of the american native by the spaniard was worse than that meted out to him by the anglo-saxon settlers in north america. there have been grave abuses in the latter field. the indians in spanish america, however, numbered many millions, as against a few hundred thousand elsewhere. the spanish crown and government certainly did not countenance the excesses carried on by the colonists, but strove to protect the indians. as for the english colonies in america, they enjoyed a greater measure of self-government and had taken firm root under more prosaic but more fruitful form. the same policy, however, on the part of the mother country was enacted in commercial matters; that trade should consist almost exclusively of exchange of colonial raw material for english manufactured articles. french colonies in america were less noteworthy or prosperous, but they played their part in history, for the fall of french control in north america was in reality the beginning of independence for all colonies in the new world; as did the ideas of the french philosophers, which found a ready soil in the spanish american folk. the establishment of the united states was but the precursor to the establishment of the numerous latin american states. the spanish government saw its danger, but was too apathetic to move. however, some reforms were introduced, and it may be said that spanish america was well governed at the time of revolution, and was prosperous. but it has been said that "across the face of all human reform are written the words 'too late,'" and this is in effect what happened in spanish america. the french revolution, and the defeat of british expeditions to buenos ayres by the colonists in and had their effect. the struggle for independence lasted from to , until the flag of spain was entirely ousted from the vast territory of spanish america, upon which she had stamped her individuality, language, laws and all else, with much that was splendid and enduring, and much that in the future development of the world may have a value so far scarcely apparent. the dark pictures of misrule of the century of republican life of the twenty latin republics are interspersed with pages of a more pleasing nature, but it is a chequered history, whose end we cannot yet foresee. among elements making for disorder and bloodshed in spanish america, religion has played a prominent part. many states developed bitter antagonism between clerical and non-clerical parties. some would overthrow the church and the all-pervading priestly power; others would uphold it, whether out of pious conviction, whether because it was a convenient party upon which to hang their own pretensions and ambitions. mexico, peru, colombia, ecuador, central america, chile--in fact, all have as part of their history the deadly struggles between these factions. to-day this very fierceness has flamed out, in the main, to be succeeded by a thinly veiled materialism. what more can be expected of a hemisphere which was cursed by the inquisition? in many instances the "reform" parties of these states having triumphed by force of arms, confiscates all church property--and this often was enormous--which was handed to secular and public purposes, or enriched the pockets of politicians. in mexico, where at one time it was not safe to pass along the street unless seeming to be muttering a prayer, the power of the church was entirely overthrown, and convents, monasteries and other religious establishments were forbidden to exist. in ecuador similar things were brought about, accompanied by massacre and other dreadful deeds. but it would be unjust to pick out any state as over-prominent in these acts. the church, in large degree, brought these troubles upon itself. it sought for too much power, spiritual and temporal. the priests exploited the superstition and needs of the poor, of the indian, and themselves often lived immoral and corrupt lives. but let us do it justice. it protected the poor and oppressed often against the grinding exactions of the civil authorities; its vicars often exposed themselves in humane works. often priests dashed in with upraised crucifix to save the victims of dreadful passionate and sanguinary revolutions, and themselves were torn to pieces. often the devout fathers spent their lives in the most desolate and savage regions of the untamed wilderness, seeking by their piety and devotion to better the lives of the poor indians, the poor, ignorant children of the mountain and the forest. the roman catholic religion ingrafted itself with wonderful strength upon the mind of the aboriginal of spanish america. in some respects it seemed a development of his own earlier superstitious culture, and became blended with it. tawdry images held for them and their miserable lives the hope of eternal joy, of reprieve of sin, of comfort in misery, and to-day we cannot enter a simple church of the remote villages in those boundless cordilleras and deserts without stumbling over the prostrate forms, bent upon the earthern floors, of poor, black-clothed indian women passing their silent hour in supplication and orisons. men are not there: the women, as ever, seem to link the material and the spiritual. may heaven succour these poor indian women-folk, and bring them a happier destiny yet. a glance now at the earlier cultures of these lands and the earlier religions of their people. who, upon beholding the beautiful ruined structures of the early folk of america--for by america here we mean spanish america, where alone these vestiges are found--in the decaying sculptured walls of their temples, or the massive stories of their fortresses and palaces, or of the strange pyramids they raised, has not felt his conception of the new world undergo a change? nay, do we even study the printed page which sets them forth, not having had the privilege of journeying to where they stand, wrapped in the silence of the jungle or stark upon the rocky ranges of the hills, we feel that here is a page in the book of mankind whose turning opens to us a vista little dreamt of. the story of those strange old cultures of mexico and peru has always fascinated us: the aztec and the inca stand forth from the dry lore of archæology with a peculiar charm, which we may not have felt even in contemplating the more wonderful and ancient cultures of the old world. for here we feel that the intellect and art of man sprang unaided from the dust, to write his pathetic story in the stones of a continent unvisited by the jehovah of the israelites, unknown to history, unblessed of christianity, unrecorded and obscure. here the reaction of man from his environment came forth from no recorded eden; no tree of knowledge, of good and evil, opened his eyes; no abraham here walked with god, no pharaoh or nebuchadnezzar brought visions and dreams to these more sombre pages, and no divine wisdom seemed to shed its light within these sculptured walls. there is the credit due to early america, to the ability of her autochthonous cultures, even if they formed no permanent link in the chain of human development, but were too early cut off and faded away like the untimely fruit of a woman, that at least man rose here, in accordance with the divine mandate, arose from the dust, and if he did but build him "fanes of fruitless prayer" to strange idols and savage deities, he had that in common with the majority of the cultures of the old world of asia, africa and india, where men raised temples of the utmost beauty to shelter the most inane rites or bloody religions. before mitla and palenque or teotihuacan and tiahuanako let us mark the skill which carved these intricate walls or raised their terraces and monoliths, the greater wonder because all that has descended from those skilled craftsmen of a bygone age on the american soil are the stolid indian, incapable of squaring stone to stone, ignorant of the bronze chisel, degenerate and fallen. the skill and imagination which would have done credit to the greeks or the chaldeans lies buried in the dust, nor is likely yet to be resuscitated. we have spoken of teotihuacan--the name means in the ancient tongue of mexico the "house of god"--and this, the great pyramid of the sun, the work of the shadowy toltecs, may be seen by the traveller to-day who, taking steamer and train, will convey himself to the high plateau of mexico, a few miles north of the capital. it is a structure of stone and rubble seven hundred feet upon its broadest side and two hundred feet high, and, anciently, upon its summit stood the golden image of tonatiuah, whose breastplate flashed back the rays of the rising sun, what time the attendant priests chanted their savage refrain upon the terraces beneath. restored by the government of the republic under president diaz, the great monument stands up much the same as it did in days of yore. how many centuries have beaten upon it we can scarcely conjecture. it was in ruins when the defeated cortes and his spaniards, after the dreadful experience of the _noche triste_, the sorrowful night passed beneath its shadow and wept thereunder for his fallen comrades and his ruined enterprise. if little we know of teotihuacan, what shall be said of mitla, whose mysterious halls and corridors, scarcely defaced by time, arise from the sands of oaxaca. and the builders of these temples, have they produced no songs of beauty, no enduring psalms? had their dreadful religious rites nothing in common with the idea of a true providence? hear the psalm of nezahual-coyotl, the solomon of mexico. this is what he sang: truly the gods which i adore-- the idols of stone and wood, they speak not nor do they feel, neither could they fashion the beauty of the heavens, nor yet that of the earth and the streams, nor of the trees and the plants which beautify it. some powerful, hidden and unknown god-- he must be the creator of the universe, he alone can console me in my affliction. he alone can still the bitter anguish of this heart. so spake nezahual-coyotl, in what has been termed the golden age of texcoco, whose historians, arts and poets were in their time renowned among the nations of anahuac, on the high mexican plateau. this person was a philosopher and a poet, but the writings of the period--the picture-writings--were perversely destroyed by zumarraga, the first archbishop of mexico after the conquest--an irremediable loss. hear also the inca prayer to the creator, as chanted by the priests and nobles of peru: oh creator: thou art without equal unto the ends of the earth! thou who givest life and strength to mankind, saying, let this be a man and let this be a woman. and as thou sayest, so thou givest life, and vouchsafest that man shall live in health and peace, and free from danger. thou who dwellest in the heights of heaven, in the thunder and in the storm-clouds, hear us. grant us eternal life and have us in thy keeping. [illustration: the ancient civilization: ruins of mitla, mexico. vol. i. to face p. .] this last is from the _rites and laws of the incas_.[ ] it is but one of many similar prayers, which, as regards sentiment and language, might be taken from the bible and church service. [ ] _molina_, hakluyt series, markham translation. these prayers to the unknown god, written by the early people of america, cut off from any contact with the old world, would seem to show that man, in the reaction from his environment, inevitably develops within him the conception of a supreme deity. it now remains for us to choose how we shall approach the spanish american lands. shall we cross the spanish main, and land where cortes did at vera cruz, the city of the true cross, and so enter mexico? or shall we, still crossing the american mediterranean, land on the isthmus of panama and thence, as pizarro did, voyage along the great pacific coast to mysterious peru? or shall we take steamer to the river plate, that more prosaic route to the lands of corn and cattle? or shall we go round the horn? perhaps the middle course is best, and, at the isthmus, we will first explore central america. then we may say with the poet keats: oft have i travelled in the land of gold ... or like stout cortes ... and all his men gazed on the pacific ... silent upon a peak in darien. keats, however, was in error. it was not cortes, but another who gazed from the peak, as presently we shall see. chapter iii central america guatemala, honduras, british honduras, nicaragua, salvador, costa rica, panama on michaelmas day, in the year , a spanish adventurer, surrounded by his followers--they had sailed from hispaniola, or santo domingo, on an expedition of discovery--found himself on the high ridge of the land called darien. his eyes, seeking the horizon, fell, not on an endless expanse of mountain and forest, such as here might have been expected to stretch away into the unknown solitudes, but upon the sheen of waters. a smothered exclamation fell from his lips. "_el mar!_" ("the sea!") he cried, and he and his followers remained a space in the silence of astonishment. the spaniard was vasco nuñez de balboa. it was one of the most dramatic of geographical discoveries. they had but traversed an isthmus, where they had expected a continent--to-day the isthmus of panama. they had discovered an ocean; they realized in that moment much that before had been a mystery. descending to the shore and wading deep into the waters, balboa drew his sword, and waving it thereover took possession of that ocean and whatsoever shores it might wash for the king of spain, naming it the "south seas," for, from the curvature of the isthmus, he was looking towards the south, having crossed from the north. thus was the great pacific ocean first beheld by the white man, as far as history records. we have already seen that balboa's exploit preceded the conquest of mexico. the land of the aztecs, like that of peru, was undreamed of, but the discovery of both followed, as did the passage of the magellan strait by the explorer whose name it bears, and who first crossed the pacific, and from its gentle and favouring gales gave it its name. the discoverer of the isthmus and the great ocean was a _hidalgo_, and had been governor of a province, but to escape his creditors in hispaniola--according to one account--he concealed himself in a barrel on board ship, and so began his voyage. balboa, pressing into his service a train of indians, many of whom, it is said, died under the lash in the task, caused the timbers of two vessels to be dragged across the rugged neck of land and launched upon the south sea, bent upon the discovery of peru, which, later, andagoya attempted, but which, however, the fates had reserved for pizarro. balboa was afterwards treacherously done to death by pedrarias davila, one of the most ruthless of the spanish adventurers of that time. thus did the inhabitants of this region we are now to traverse have their foretaste of the white man's overlordship--a foretaste of the dreadful lot which fate had in store for them, the simple folk of central america, who, with their ancient culture and beautiful arts, akin in some respects to those of the aztec and the inca, were almost stamped out under pedro de alvarado, who invaded guatemala in , and his successors of the early colonial period. seven different states or entities to-day comprise this zone of territory of central america, washed on the one hand by the caribbean and on the other by the pacific, whose people dwell in one of the most beautiful and interesting part of the earth's surface--guatemala, with its coffee plantations and lavish fruits, honduras of the rugged surface, and british honduras, nicaragua with its great lake, costa rica, the one-time "rich coast," salvador, most populous and advanced of all, panama, the land of the famous canal. we may be permitted a brief glance at the ancient inhabitants of this portion of america, prior to the advent of the spaniards. as in the case of north america, in mexico: and south america, in peru and colombia, so in central america was there a ruling caste or culture. here it was that of the quiches, a people of maya stock. these people were most numerous in western guatemala, and at the time of the conquest the most powerful inhabitants of central america. the sacred book of the quiches, known as the _popol vuh_, embodies a mythological cosmogony, in which is a creation story and an account of a flood, after the manner of that of the old testament. (the quiches are not to be confounded with the quechuas of peru.) their capital was utatlan, near where stands the modern santa cruz quiche, and the place was cleverly fortified. their system of government was an elaborate one, as was their religion. indeed, the student remarks with surprise how far these early peoples had gone in the development of social polity and economic order. the quiches, like the aztecs, kept historical records in picture-writing. the incas, we may remark in passing, of peru, kept their histories by means of the _quipos_, a mnemonic system of knotted and coloured cords. the sun god was the chief deity, but there were many lesser objects of adoration. but the religion was of a high order in some respects, although the spanish priests, after the conquest, strove to hide the fact, and, indeed, there was wholesale destruction throughout spanish america of native records and objects, whether it were of the beautiful picture-writings and scrolls of mexico and central america, whether the pillars of stone by which the early peruvian priests skilfully determined the solstices. the jealous priestcraft of the roman catholic religion could not tolerate anything that showed ingenuity or knowledge by their pagan predecessors, and all these things they considered, or affected to consider, "things of the devil," and destroyed them wherever possible. the marvel is that so much has remained, for the benefit of the archæologist to-day. the religion of the quiches, like that of the mexicans, contained horrible practices involving human sacrifices. this was probably absent in peru. repulsive as it was, we may question whether it was as cruel as the dreadful tortures of the inquisition, such as rendered mexico and lima and other places in the new world centres of horror, until the time of independence, when the infuriated populace destroyed the inquisitional centres. we have previously remarked that columbus sailed along the atlantic coast of central america, that of honduras and costa rica, and it was here that, seeing the ornaments of gold on the swarthy bodies of the natives, the voyagers' imagination was freshly aroused to the possibilities of conquest. but the natives of this region were not necessarily as docile as those of hispaniola and the antilles. they mustered on the shore, leaping from the dark forests as the strange sails of the spaniards hove in sight, communicating rapidly with each tribe by those peculiar methods they employed, and made the air resound with the beatings and blasts of their war-drums and bugle-shells, brandishing their clubs and swords of palm-wood. columbus, however, did not generally employ harsh methods against the natives. he is regarded rather as their protector, and a beautiful monument at colon represents him as sheltering an indian who timorously looks up for protection--a contrast, as remarked elsewhere, with the lack of monuments in spanish america to cortes and pizarro. however, under bartholomé columbus, the brother of christopher, great animosity was aroused on the part of the indians in the settlement at veragua, resulting in the death of the spanish colonists. one of the most tragic episodes after the conquest of mexico was the expedition of cortes to central america, following on the expedition he had sent into guatemala under pedro de alvarado. there had been a desperate fight between alvarado's band and the redoubtable quiches of utatlan, and it was only due to the fortunate circumstance of dissension among the different predominant tribes that the conquest of guatemala was so readily carried out. thus was history, as in mexico and indeed in peru, brought about also in central america--fall under dissension, a house divided against itself. in honduras cortes committed a foul deed. suspecting, or pretending to suspect, guahtemoc, the son of montezuma--who after the fall of mexico accompanied the conquerors to central america--of some treacherous design, cortes had the unfortunate young aztec hanged head downwards from a tree. it will be recollected that guahtemoc was the author of the saying, well known in mexico, of "am i, think you, upon some bed of roses?" when, whilst the spaniards were roasting his feet in order to make him reveal the whereabouts of the aztec treasure, he replied to his companions who were also being tortured and were groaning in agony, and who asked if he too suffered. this scene is depicted on a beautiful sculptured monument in the city of mexico--the statue to guahtemoc, in the paseo de la reforma. in the early colonial government of central america the capital was set up by alvarado in the chief town of guatemala. the scenery of the region is striking. great volcanoes overhang the countryside, and these have at times wrought terrible havoc here, and still do so. in fact, the history of the city of guatemala is a record of successive destruction and re-establishment, probably unique in the history of any land, due to the dreadful forces of nature, seismic, tectonic and volcanic, exerted upon this unrestful point of the earth's surface. we may glance briefly at some of these catastrophes. they show the trials which the inhabitants of this part of the world are called upon to bear. the first city was established by alvarado in , on the banks of the rio pensativo, at the foot of the agua volcano, but in this unfriendly mountain threw from its crater a deluge of water that, carrying rocks with it, rushed down the mountain side and bore upon the doomed city, whose destruction was lighted by the terrible fire which simultaneously burst from the angry peak. afterwards the surviving inhabitants removed their city to another site, and for twenty years made solemn annual pilgrimages to the ciudad vieja, as the former place came to be called--the old town about a league from the new. this flourished greatly and became the most populous place in central america, with more than a hundred churches and convents, devoutly administered after the fashion of the catholic priesthood and pious folk of the spanish american lands. but this progress and piety failed to give security from acts of nature. after being many times threatened, this beautifully built town, in the midst of the most romantic scenery, was destroyed by a dreadful earthquake in --earthquake to which was added the horrors of eruption from the volcano fuego (or "fire"), which overlooks it. in vain the people confessed their sins in the open street, in vain priests and people weepingly carried procession of the saints and saintly relics from church to church. the very pavements rose up against them with the undulations of the earthquake; the very heavens rained down showers of stones and ashes upon them, obscuring even the light of the volcano, and morning dawned upon a ruined and broken city with its people crushed beneath the walls of their own dwellings. the city was moved again twenty-seven miles away, and became the seat of government in --the third attempt, though whether it will be the last remains to be seen, for but a short time ago we heard of serious earthquakes in the district. lofty mountains rise on every side, with deep ravines on the edge of the tablelands upon which the city stands. the houses have been kept of one story, as a measure of security. the general beauty and prosperity of guatemala city has earned for it the name of the paris of central america. we may reach it by the railway which, starting from puerto barrios on the atlantic coast, winds upwards to the elevation of , feet, which is that of the plateau on which it stands, miles from the sea, and continues for a further miles to san josé on the pacific. [illustration: the cathedral, guatemala. vol i. to face p. .] guatemala is a land rich in natural resources, with fruitful plains and valleys, and the peculiar volcanic constituents of the soil are specially favourable for the production of coffee, which has been the source of considerable wealth. there are vast plains and extensive lakes, and innumerable rivers and streams. many valuable kinds of wood exist in the forests, and such products as cocoa, sugar-cane, tobacco, bananas, and oranges, with other less common kinds are plentiful. there are some small deposits of gold and other precious and commoner metals. the climate is excellent, except on the coast. but this fruitfulness and bounty of nature is not conducive necessarily to peace among the people of the land. rather the restlessness of nature, as evinced by earthquake unrest, is reflected in the politics and general economy of the republic. the colonial civilization, which was marked by the destruction of the indians and their more or less beneficent old civilization, and the enslavement of many tribes, with total extermination in some cases, was succeeded by a republic in which pretenders and dictators strove with each other, less to advance the interests of the country than to satisfy their own ambitions and fill their own pockets. there were, too, constant embroilments with the neighbouring states, and bloody local wars. some of the presidents, however, did endeavour, side by side with their other activities, to promote education and commerce, and to improve the means of transport and communication--ever a vital matter in spanish america, with its rugged soil and vast extent. we find in guatemala many remains of the ancient folk, in beautifully carved stelæ, in innumerable idols recovered from the soil, and in the native arts, which, evincing the dexterity and love of beauty of the aboriginal, have happily survived both the destructive force of the hispanic domination and, so far, the equally destructive forces of modern commercialism, which ousts their industries with imported goods. in quetzaltenango, the ancient "town of the green feather"--the quetzal was the sacred bird of the quiches--we shall specially remark the native aptitudes in their quaint and pleasing handicrafts. if these quiet and peaceful folk--for the natives themselves are peaceful enough--are from time to time disturbed by the subterranean roarings which precede earthquake shocks in the hills and the tidal waves upon the coast, they soon forget these manifestations of nature, which, after all, are less destructive than those due to the political ambition and ruthless cruelties of mankind itself. the characteristics, natural and human, which we have remarked in the northern part of central america, as represented by the republic of guatemala, are found in varying degree in the sister states extending to the south. the general topography of the isthmian region which central america embodies is that of a long backbone of mountainous highlands extending from tehuantepec for eight hundred miles to the south american mainland. the physiography of the region, however, is associated with that of the antilles rather than the northern and southern land masses, and its belts of volcanoes correspond to those of the west indies. in earlier geological times the region probably consisted of isolated stretches of land and mountains, and before man appeared upon the earth there may have been not one but several isthmian "canals" or apertures, with the waters of the atlantic and pacific intermixing therein. alternately rising and sinking--as evidenced by the "drowned" valley of the chagres, on the site of the panama canal, the land took on its present form, in which, however, it may be that final stability is not yet reached. it is fervently to be hoped, however, that the particular belt traversed by the panama canal will remain immune from any earth movements, for that great work of human ingenuity, carried out at such enormous cost, might otherwise be rendered useless in a single instant. panama, however, forms the extreme south of central america, and we must cast a glance at the sequence of states below guatemala. honduras is a land of considerable area, but among the most backward portions of the region. the efforts of its government to encourage economic and commercial development have not been very well sustained and successful, and there are only two towns in the republic of any size, one of which is the ancient capital tegucigalpa, picturesquely situated upon its river in an amphitheatre of the hills, for honduras is essentially a land of mountains and depths, as its name signifies. the great grassy plain of comayagua, however, which extends across the country, upon which great herds of cattle feed, redeems the land from too broken a condition. the city of comayagua was in earlier times the capital, but it was ruined by the wars of the central american federation, when, after an endeavour to establish some form of political unification quarrels set in. this little-known republic has a long frontage upon the atlantic side, but only a few miles on the pacific, which, however, affords it an outlet of corresponding importance at the picturesque seaport of amapala, on the beautiful bay of fonseca. indeed, this condition, of straddling a continent, as it were, is one enjoyed by all the central american states, with the exception of salvador, which lies between the pacific and the backbone of the highlands. otherwise, honduras is unfortunate in its means of communication: its railways are few and short; its roads are difficult of construction over the broken topography, and in the absence of national funds and private enterprise; and an attempt made of recent years to inaugurate services of motor-cars did not meet with success. however, a railway across from sea to sea should be of national value, and the wealth of the country, both agricultural and mineral, may become more intensively developed. the name of honduras is almost a byword for revolution, which occurs with marked regularity. the colony or possession of british honduras lies in a commanding position between its neighbours of guatemala and mexico on the west and north, facing, on the atlantic ocean--under its local name here of the caribbean sea--towards the important island of jamaica, some miles away. belize, as this foothold of the british empire is otherwise termed, is about the size of wales, and not unhealthy in comparison with the other british possessions of tropical america. it is well endowed with a wide variety of natural resources and potentialities, but it cannot be said that its economic progress is commensurate with its position. one of the neglected offspring of britain, it is, like demerara, an example of british national and governmental supineness. it might have been supposed that a people such as those of the united kingdom, urgently requiring for their teeming millions of folk the things in foodstuffs and material that the tropics produce--things of the grocer's shop and the store cupboard--would have demanded a more vigorous administration and development of this piece of national property, but it is doubtful if one in a hundred would know where or what british honduras is. we cannot here dwell at length upon its possibilities and attractions. approaching the capital, belize, from the sea, we pass the green islands that fringe the coast, and extending along the banks of the river we see the high roofs and wide verandas of the houses and remark the coco-palm's grateful shade. often an invigorating breeze blows from the sea, the same gales that crisp the surf at colon, which the traveller will inevitably note, and this and the high tides wash the fever-bearing mangrove swamps and marshes, rendering them less unhealthy than otherwise would be the case. the inhabitants are grateful for these tonic breezes from the east upon this coastal belt. this belt gives place in the interior to savannas, pasture lands and forests of useful timber, which latter is cut for export; and beyond are the cockscomb mountains, the birthplace of numerous streams. in this interior region of british honduras there lie the remains of an ancient culture area, ruins of buildings such as we see in yucatan, the adjacent part of mexico, and in guatemala on the west. they appear to show the existence of a larger population in pre-colombian times--part of that undoubtedly clever and industrious ancient folk of central america who have so entirely disappeared. to the buccaneers of the spanish main the colony largely owes its origin, and to the logwood cutters. the coloured folk here are some of the most expert woodmen in the world, and we see the results of their labour in the rafts of timber--pine, cedar and dyewood--being piloted down the flood of the belize river. these people are descendants of the buccaneers, people of european blood forming part of the population, the majority of which is composed of a mixture, the descendants of negro slaves, indian and white settlers. there is, of course, a small purely white class, official, colonial and commercial, under colony government from britain. the natural products here most in evidence are the timbers, together with bananas and other characteristic fruits, and coconuts, rubber, coffee, cotton and fibre-producing plants; and gold and other minerals are found and worked in small degree. it might perhaps be said that a description of british honduras is out of place in a book such as the present, treating of spanish america. but geographical considerations would not thus be denied. further, this little outpost of the british empire, if it should always remain such, cannot fail to influence, and to be influenced by, the spanish american civilization around it. it might under better development accomplish much good in this respect, if the policy of drift were abandoned. a north american traveller who had journeyed across the central american republics and had been badgered unceasingly by revolutionary strife there, and by customs-house officers and others of the bureaucracy of those states, once exclaimed that the only peaceful moment of his journey was when he at length entered the confines of a portion of "that hated british monarchy"--british honduras! this may have been an exaggeration, but held something of truth. the little republic of salvador, as already remarked, lies upon the pacific side of this interesting isthmian region of central america, but, small in size, it is the most thickly populated and perhaps the most prosperous and advanced of all this group of states. its capital, san salvador, may be regarded as a fine example of spanish american culture, and, with its buildings and institutions, would compare more than favourably with a european or north american town. the climate and general character of the uplands upon which it is situated, and the social atmosphere of the place, are pleasing. but the pacific littoral is of that low and monotonous character characteristic of the western slope of much of central america, and as a consequence the ports are often difficult of access through shoal water and heavy surf. the interior is gained either from la libertad or acajutla, by railway to the capital, ascending to , feet above the sea. the republic shares with honduras and nicaragua the beautiful bay of fonseca, but this beauty is characteristically associated with natural terrors, for not far inland arises the dreaded san miguel volcano, one of the worst burning mountains of central america, ever threatening the life of the capital. upon this bay lies la union, the chief port of salvador. the republic prides itself, and not unjustly, upon the freedom of its life politically. but it is by no means immune from the inevitable factional strife of central america, the ambition of dictators and the evils brought about by such corruption of self-government. however, many foreigners carry on successful businesses in the capital. the population tends to increase with some rapidity, and we shall remark the much smaller proportion of indians found here; the bulk of the people, the _ladinos_, being a mixture of white and indian, distributed throughout a number of pleasing secondary towns, and, in the country districts, are engaged in the production of coffee, sugar, tobacco and other characteristic resources; whilst the hills afford them those minerals with which the region in general is dowered, with some mining establishments, which, as usual, are controlled by foreigners. the economic life of salvador is too greatly dependent upon european markets and financial centres; upon the export of coffee thereto; upon the elevation or depression of such markets--a condition, of course, common to many spanish american states, but which a better-ordered regimen will seek to rectify. we might wander long through the beautiful scenery of salvador, enjoying the grand and imposing aspect of its volcanoes, the beauty of its valleys and streams, for this part of central america is famed, or rather should be famed, for the beauty of the landscape. quaint towns and curious products, the quiet and in some respects pleasant life of its folk, the budding industries, and a certain promise for the future leave a pleasant impression upon the mind of the traveller in this little state facing the broad pacific. of the republic of nicaragua, which we may approach either from the atlantic or the pacific, and which is the largest of this group of states, many dismal descriptions have been given. it is described as economically and in civic conditions the most backward. yet some of its towns are fine places. leon was described as a splendid city by travellers in , and about that period the very active buccaneer dampier gathered rich booty from it. granada, founded by cordova in , was also one of the richest cities in central america, and it, too, gave up its toll of booty to the corsairs. the cathedral of leon is one of the most noteworthy, massive and ornate of the great stone temples with which the spaniards endowed the new world, typical of the colonial architecture which redeems these centres of life from the prosaic vulgarity of some other lands. [illustration: the city of guatemala. vol. i. to face p. .] we may visit these towns from the line of railway which runs from corinto, the chief seaport on the pacific coast. the capital of the republic, the city of managua, is of less interesting character, and was, in a measure, raised to that position in order to put an end to the rivalry between leon and granada, both of which claimed metropolitan predominance. it is situated upon the great lake of nicaragua, the most prominent topographical feature of this part of central america, and which, it will be recollected, was at one time destined to form part of the waterway of a proposed trans-isthmian canal in place of that of panama. this great lake valley and its adjacent highlands form the most plentifully inhabited part of nicaragua, as the spanish colonial development seized first upon its more fertile soil, watered by the lake and streams. this civilization entered the country from the pacific side, from which we remark the grim and distant ramparts of the central american cordillera, with its volcanoes intervening between the western versant and littoral, and the low, monotonous and swampy region of the east, and the mosquito coast bordering upon the atlantic. the pacific coast here is bold and rocky, with a headland enclosing the bay of fonseca in nicaraguan territory. through the cordillera flows the san juan river, draining this low eastern slope, and here lay the route of the projected nicaraguan canal, whose abandonment caused bitter disappointment to the people of the republic. in places in this wild land we remark the remains of the pre-colombian folk, who have left vestiges of their temples and other structures, and thus we realize once more how a chain of temple and palace-building folk in ancient times was carried down the length of the continents from mexico to peru. if too gloomy a description of the eastern side of nicaragua has been given, this must be tempered by noting that it possesses certain natural advantages which may render it one of the most valuable districts, from an economic point of view, in the whole of central america. its rivers may be navigated by ocean-going steamers, and in the bluefields district the industry of banana production and shipment has risen to very considerable importance. the name of nicaragua comes from that powerful native chief, nicoya, who, when the spaniards first arrived, received davila, their leader, in a friendly spirit, and accepted christian baptism at the hands of the roman catholic priests. but the spaniards overran the country; those who invaded it from the east clashing with their own countrymen who came in from the west, and nicaragua's fine indian chief--pathetic page of native history--could not conserve here anything of independence for the rightful owners of the soil. the spanish rulers of this unhappy land were a dreadful band, of which it has been recorded that "the first had been a murderer, the second a murderer and a rebel, the third murdered the second, the fourth was a forger, the fifth a murderer and a rebel!" in time the indians revolted against intolerable oppression, and, later, rebellion after rebellion took place against the mother country. after independence, the wars of the confederation constantly deluged the soil with blood, and the political government of the state was distinguished by a continuous series of military or civil revolts, during which the land was impoverished, debased and ruined, and from whose effects it has never recovered so far. yet nicaragua is rich in natural products, agricultural, forestal and mineral. famous in local history is the name of the north american filibuster, william walker, who for a space became president, and the doings of this man and his band are stirringly adventurous. the traveller will also recollect the long british protectorate over the mosquito coast. but few remember that nelson, the hero of trafalgar, nearly met his death from fever in nicaragua. the great sailor, sent to report upon the prospect of a canal, stated his intention of occupying lake nicaragua, which in his opinion was "the inland gibraltar of spanish america," whose possession would permanently sunder spanish america into two parts. but nature was against it. nelson and his force ascended the river to the lake and successfully attacked the spanish force. he was wounded by a cannon shot, fired by a sixteen-year-old girl, wife of a spanish officer, and the maid was rewarded for the act by her people. of nelson's army of two hundred men all but ten perished of fever, and left their bones in the soil of nicaragua. in the adjoining states of costa rica and panama we are approaching the narrowing, curving form of the isthmus, whose topography culminates in the famous neck of land which joins the twin continents of america together, and which has been severed to give access between the world's greatest oceans, in the great canal. whence the name of costa rica? their eyes ever sharp to the glint of gold, the spaniards who approached central america from the sea immediately remarked that the swarthy forms of the indians were decorated with trinkets of yellow metal. the savages wore earrings of gold, which dangled invitingly from their scared countenances when the bearded and armoured white warriors approached, and there was little ceremony in the transference of ownership. "this is a rich coast! this is _costa rica_!" the spaniards exclaimed. indeed, it was part of the old culture area of chiriqui, whose folk were clever producers of native jewellery in gold and precious stones. pedro de alvarado called the whole region, including salvador, cuscatan, the native mexican name, meaning "land of precious stones, of treasures and abundance." but here in costa rica the greedy iberians found disappointingly little gold, except for these trinkets. this region was the limit of the maya civilization. to-day costa rica is a flourishing little state, with fertile soil and bright sunshine, with many luscious fruits, with food in plenty, famous for its splendid coffee, special product of the volcanic earth: a land of small peasant owners, upon which is founded some political stability and civic prosperity, an example to other spanish american states, where oligarchies monopolize the countryside, and the labourer dwells in peonage. the pacific coast here displays as we approach it, bold headlands and broad bays, among them the gulf of nicoya, the home of that pious-minded indian chief, who, as before described, gave his name to the adjoining state of nicaragua. studded with richly wooded islands, and famous for its purple-yielding murex (the beautiful ancient dye of the whelk), its pearls and mother-of-pearl, is this bay, from which, leaving our steamer at the port of punta arenas, we may ascend by railway to the pleasing capital of san josé de costa rica, on a plateau between the cordillera at an elevation of nearly , feet above the ocean. here we are in a well-advanced city, the amenities of whose public life are creditable to central america. the line runs on and descends to puerto limon, on the atlantic, thus crossing the isthmus. but, like its neighbours, costa rica stands perennially in awe of the volcanoes which top the summit of the cordillera. turialba, ever hot and angry, and poas are among these, pouring forth smoke and vapour. let us take our stand a moment on irazu, , feet above the sea--we may reach it on horseback--higher than the summit of the pyrenees, and looking east and west remark the vast horizons which unfold below: on the one hand we see the gleaming waters of the atlantic, on the other those of the pacific, whilst, between, the whole expanse of the country unfolds. here, indeed, may the inhabitant of costa rica cast a glance over the whole domain of his _patria_, and let fancy wander over the realms of ocean towards europe and asia. costa rica was peopled largely by spaniards from galicia, but the bulk of the folk are to-day _ladinos_ or _mestizos_, and, where the native tribes have not been exterminated, there are indians still in complete savagery. the land is one of the healthiest in the region we are treading, and its products of fruits and foods, of timber, tortoise-shell, rubber, cedar, mahogany, ebony, and great stores of bananas, give to the land a further claim to the name of the rich coast. and now our vessel floats upon the beautiful bay of panama, studded with verdant isles, and if perchance it be the sunset hour the flashing colour of the sky may light up the towers of the old colonial city near its shore, a romantic haven, whose memories of drake and of the cruel morgan, of nuñez de balboa, of pizarro, and all that gallery of bygone adventurers who made the history of the new world upon these tropic shores. the sun does not rise, however, in the bay of panama, but sets, for the curvature of the isthmus has disoriented us, at panama. [illustration: a coffee establishment in central america. vol. i. to face p. . ] this independent republic of panama threw off its allegiance to colombia, whose heritage the isthmus was, in a grandiloquent manifesto after the--alleged--machinations of the americans, who, wearied of the dilatory tactics of the parent state, laid hands on the isthmus to carry out their cherished plan of making the canal. "just as a son withdraws from his paternal roof, so the isthmian people, in adopting the destiny they have chosen, do so with grief, but in compliance with the supreme and inevitable duty the country owes to itself. upon separating from our brethren of colombia, we do so without hatred and without joy." so ran the manifesto. but the people of bogata, of colombia, consider that an unspeakable outrage was perpetuated upon them, and regard the united states and its then president, roosevelt, as its author--an outrage which time will take long to heal. we shall see something of the doings of the immortal drake in our journey down the great pacific coast of south america, undertaken in another chapter. the panama isthmus was to drake a vantage point, from which he viewed a promised land. after his attack on nombre de dios, a fugitive slave--a _cimarron_--conducted him and his followers to the summit of the isthmian hills. there lay before drake the gleaming waters of the vast pacific, as they had lain before balboa. drake fell on his knees. he prayed to sail those waters in an english ship. it was partly his destined work of "singeing the king of spain's beard." back to england he went. the commission which queen elizabeth had given him to sail the spanish main had been honourably accomplished, even if the spaniards at cartagena and elsewhere did not so regard it. the queen must extend the charter to the pacific. she did it, and drake's exploits there and return home westwards are among the most thrilling annals of those "spacious days." hear a tale now of morgan the buccaneer, and panama, and the dreadful things that befel that city. young morgan, born in wales, kidnapped for a sailor in the streets of bristol, also sailed the spanish main. drake was a gentleman; morgan seems to have been a bloody-minded corsair. at thirty-three years of age he sacked porto bello, committing frightful cruelties and excesses. but at panama he surpassed himself. yet praise must be given him for his bravery and resource. ascending the chagres river from colon in boats, with a dreadful struggle over the hills, morgan and his men, like drake and balboa, beheld the pacific beyond. whether he prayed for success or not history does not record. but there lay the rich city of panama. it must be taken. it was defended by hundreds of spaniards. but morgan had taken chagres and killed three hundred spaniards there, and double his own number at panama did not daunt him. down they went to panama. the enterprise was a tough one, but the result may be seen to-day in the massive ruins of the old city, a sight for sightseers, buried in the jungle some miles from the present city. for within a few hours the buccaneers attacked and slew its defenders and burned the place with fire, leaving but an empty shell, having robbed it of its treasure, excepting that which an escaping plate ship bore safely from his clutches. it has been said in extenuation of morgan's doings here that the place was in reality burned by the indians and the slaves, who were animated by the most bitter hatred of the spaniards, and were quite ready to assist the englishmen. the isthmus resounded for more than a century with the tramp of mules bearing gold and silver from the pacific plate ships; the treasures of peru, of bolivia, the pearls of nicoya and the isles, the gold and silver stripped from the inca temples, the silver bars from potosi, the silver mountain of the andes. along that dreadful trail the mule-trains groaned their way. it was a rough road for horsemen. the trail became, as time went on, one of the world's greatest trade routes, under the development of the spanish colonies. we have seen how the great nelson hoped to split these colonies in two by establishing a "gibraltar" on lake nicaragua. a toll of human life has been paid upon this rugged path for every human movement over it. has it not been said that for every sleeper in the first panama railway a human being died in the terrors of construction? if it is not true, it is true that of the eight hundred chinamen who left the flowery kingdom to build the line--labourers who knew nothing of the horrors that awaited them in this fever death-bed--many committed suicide. crowds of labouring peasantry from ireland found here, too, a more emerald grave, and hordes of negroes filled up with their poor bodies any vacant tombs. punishment fell upon this railway, for, according to an american writer, it degenerated until its rails "became nothing but two streaks of rust." another tale of darien the fateful: listen, ye sons of scotia, to the story of one william paterson, and his new edinburgh. not content with having founded the bank of england, paterson must fight the great east india company, and with another enterprising "interloper" he got over-subscribed, a company with a capital of £ , , and set sail for the isthmus "amid the tears and prayers" of half scotland. the new settlement was "to hold the key of the world's commerce." "universal free trade" with all the world was to be maintained; all differences of race and religion were to be annulled in this utopia. death, fever, loss, the attacks of the spaniards and complete disaster--such was the answer of fate to their enterprise, and of the two thousand trustful souls who left the clyde in the closing year of the seventeenth century for this desired haven of the spanish main, a few hundreds alone returned to tell the tale. paterson's idea was in reality that of a great empire-builder. it was a magnificent scheme, and only lacked the element of success. england might have possessed another india, and in the new world. the scotch were fully alive to the position, but the english were stupid, and lost an enormous opportunity. the making of the panama canal has greatly appealed to the imagination of the world, although its triumph, in a spectacular sense, was interfered with by the rise of the great war. here was a wild isthmus which cut off the atlantic from the pacific, europe from asia to the west. an isthmus which, whilst it formed a barrier between two oceans, did not, nevertheless, serve as a bridge between two continents: those of north and south america. its construction is an epic of engineering, and, be it added, of medical skill, for without the latter the former would have been of no avail. what has been picturesquely described as the "conquest of the mosquito," also the conquest of malaria and yellow fever, enabled this work to be done. formerly the traveller hurried fearfully from his steamer at colon by rail across the neck to panama, and if his journey lay beyond to his steamer at panama, anxious to leave the deadly region as soon as were possible. now no such anxiety marks his journey. the fight against the natural obstacles to the work--those of climate, of inefficient labour, of mountainous cuttings, of floods, of finance and political intrigue, and all else, was brought to an end--or mainly so--in november , four hundred years after balboa's dramatic discovery of the pacific from the "peak in darien"; when a vast concourse of people witnessed the great explosion that blew up the last barrier, and a small steamer, the little french steamboat _louise_, which, twenty-five years before had conveyed de lesseps to turn the first sod, passed completely, on its own keel, across from atlantic to pacific waters--an act of american courtesy to france. several lessons were learned by the construction of the panama canal. one was that corruption and inertia among officials will ruin all effort, as it did with the french--who, however, did very valuable work on the canal. another that, with modern appliances and just methods, even so stupendous a work could be carried to success, even in the face of enormous natural obstacles; that the obstacles raised by nature are less formidable than those man raises himself. another lesson was in the methods of overcoming the dreadful tropical diseases of yellow fever and malaria. the last lesson was in the treatment of labour, in this case that of the negro; a matter of much importance to all tropical lands, which may justify here a few words. a great part of the labour employed on the canal, in fact, the majority of it later, was that of the west indian negro, largely from barbadoes. but it was soon found that this labour was very inefficient. the negro would not or could not "put his back" into the work. in an american commission appointed to investigate conditions, reported upon the impossibility of concluding the job with negro labour. "not only do they seem to be disqualified by lack of actual vitality, but their disposition to labour seems to be as frail as their bodily strength," ran the report. the negro was, in fact, roundly cursed as a lazy or incapable hound. but some, wiser than others, thought there must be a cause below this inertia. such, indeed, was found to be the case. it was shown that the negro either could not afford, or was too idle to prepare, proper food for himself; in short, that he was ill-nourished. a few bananas, and whatever else the difficult conditions of the isthmus afforded, formed his meals. it was then resolved that he must be properly fed and housed. a commissariat was set up, at which the negro was obliged to take his meals, and the bare cost was deducted from his wages. no profit was to be made. the system answered admirably; the actual cost was found to be only thirty cents american money, equal to about one shilling and threepence, for a day's board of good food. the result was that the negro performed entirely satisfactory labour, and he practically built the canal. many writers have sung of the deeds of the canal building, which must always furnish a thrilling story of the triumph of human genius, and we need not enter upon it here. the great war over, the american fleet--which had played a valuable and noble part--accomplished, in july , a spectacular passage of the canal, which brings us to-day again to realize the strategic value of the waterway. some two hundred vessels of war, flying the stars and stripes, including six dreadnoughts, embodying the american pacific fleet, entered the eastern end of the canal as the sun was rising in the spanish main. but before the orb of day had turned its "westering wheel" into the bosom of the pacific, the great procession had passed through the canal and was ruffling the waters of that great sea, thus accomplishing in a few hours, a passage which the battleship _oregon_, during the american war with spain in , had taken nearly two weeks to make, around the south american continent. the americans have fortified the canal, but blockading would be in contravention of the hay-pauncefote treaty with england; and indeed it is to be hoped and believed that the united states will prove a conscientious guardian of her charge and creation. yet the future may have much in store in this region for good or ill. enthusiastic descriptions of the possibility of the canal to commerce have been written, in the shortening of distances, in the "shrinkage of the world," and there is no doubt of its great utility, which it is not, however, needful to exaggerate. since the project was conceived and executed, the world has learned that more than the passage of armaments and argosies of merchandise are requisite for the stability and progress of mankind. a glance now at the general life of the people of these states.[ ] [ ] a full account of all these states will be found in _central america_, koebel, south american series. in the aggregate the population numbers somewhat over five million souls, but they tend to increase more rapidly than others of the spanish american countries, or at least in some of the republics, for the native women are prolific, and mortality is low, due to the comparatively easy conditions of life and the beneficence of nature. in some districts illegitimacy, both among whites and indians, is very marked, and the economic condition in a modern sense is a low one. primary education is generally compulsory, the governments generally making considerable parade of educational intentions, but, withal, only a small proportion of the population can read and write. naturally this is true mainly of the indian and lower class mixed race. as to food, this is mainly such vegetable products as maize, beans and bananas, and at times jerked meat. excessive drinking is a frequent attribute of all spanish american folk of the working classes, and it is not in the financial interests of their masters to stint the supply of liquors, the fiery _aguadientes_ or spirits, which are so remunerative a product of the sugar-cane plantations, possessions of the large landowners frequently. the indians are generally a peaceful folk, however, except when under the influence of liquor, and they have many good qualities, which it is time should now be more beneficently and wisely fostered by those in whose hands their destiny so greatly lies. the central american states are dowered, as regards nature, with almost everything that could make a people happy and prosperous. the varying elevations of their lands above sea-level afford every variety of climate, and consequently of food product and industrial material. they can enjoy their own beef and corn, produced in their highlands, or, descending to the torrid strip of their coasts, gather coffee, cocoa, bananas, oranges, sugar-cane, and a variety of fruits which tempt both the eye and the palate. as for their minerals, the precious metals of gold and silver in the hills could provide sufficient for their uses and to spare, the baser for manufactures. the timber of the forests is rich and varied, the fibrous plants are of innumerable uses. the noble landscapes which open to the view, of wooded mountains and majestic peak, of romantic river valley, and the blue line of the tropic sea, are such as might well bring out those attributes of the poet and the artist which exist in the spanish american mentality. in brief, there are here, in each state, the elements of a quiet and pleasing existence, far, it is true, from the world's more ambitious centres, but nevertheless capable of producing peace and plenty. alas! however, for the unsettled temperament which cannot yet assimilate the bounties of providence in such method as shall ensure their equitable enjoyment. [illustration: cutting sugar-cane in central america. vol. i. to face p. .] to the foreign traveller, central america might afford an extremely pleasing field of travel. there is a charm in the remains of the prehistoric american cultures, the carved walls of the old temples, the buried idols, the ancient industries. restful and quaint are these little towns with the stamp of the spanish colonial architecture. here man and nature soon forget the bloodshed and the enmity of the torn and stained pages of history. the simple folk of the countryside are full of courtesy, the needs of life are cheap and plentiful, for the earth is bountiful. all these are elements which impress themselves upon the mind of the traveller here. this, then, is central america, that region so slightly known to the world outside that, as elsewhere remarked, its very geographical position is often a matter of doubt. but, in the future--it may be distant--it cannot be doubted that, with its advantages, the region must play a more important part in the developing world. three latin american island-republics enclose the caribbean sea and spanish main to the north: those of cuba, hayti, and santo domingo, upon which, however, we cannot here dilate at length. nature has, in general, endowed these regions of the antilles with great beauty, but man, in their past history, has made them the scene of the utmost cruelty, first by the spaniards, in the ill-treatment and extermination of the gentle and harmless natives, and second, in the slave trade. cuba stretches its long, thin bulk from the yucatan strait, off the mexican coast, and the line is continued by the island of hayti, containing the republic of that name, the famous hispaniola of the days of the conquistadores, now a french-speaking negro state, and santo domingo, whose capital, the oldest settlement in the new world, founded in , may be regarded as the most perfect example of a sixteenth-century spanish town. its cathedral contains the reputed burial place of columbus. no countries in the world excel these lands in the variety and richness of their tropical products, and in the beauty of their scenery. havana, the handsome capital of cuba, was the last stronghold of spain in america, the spanish flag flying there until the time of the war between spain and the united states in . the american attitude towards cuba revealed the wisdom and generosity of the great anglo-saxon republic. * * * * * our way now lies to the north, into mexico, that buffer-state between the spanish american and the anglo - american civilizations, which, upon its frontier, roll together but do not mingle. chapter iv ancient and modern mexico of all the lands of the new world, none perhaps has impressed itself more on the imagination than the picturesque and enigmatical land of mexico. it seems to stand, in our thoughts of distant countries, apart from all others, a riddle we cannot read, surrounded by a halo or mist of unreality, a region vague and shadowy as its toltec ancestors. perhaps this view has in part arisen from the description of the conquest by famous writers, which so greatly interested our forbears of the victorian period, and by the romantic story-writers of the same era. but these matters alone would not account for the hazy atmosphere surrounding the old land of the aztecs, which even the prosaic matters of trade and finance do not seem to lift. there are many english and american folk with commercial interests in mexico, who draw perhaps, or in happier times there have drawn, dividends from their investment in mine, or railway, or other enterprise; but even this material standpoint fades into intangibility before the endeavour to form a true mental image of the land. who are the mexicans, where does their country lie, what language do they speak, what dress do they wear? geography and ethnology will furnish us with the most exact replies; the books of travellers will fill in abundant detail, but nevertheless, mexico remains for us an enigma. we shall not hope here successfully to dispel this mystery, even though we may have been there, traversed its varied surface, and lived among its people. to say that mexico is the egypt of the new world, whilst it is not untrue, is to deepen the atmosphere. the sandalled indian creeps across his desert sands and irrigates them with his native torrents as he did in centuries past, lives in his wattle or adobe hut, and, if he no longer worships the sun, at least he stands before its morning rays to embrace its warmth--_el capa de los pobres_ ("the poor man's cloak")--for poverty denies him other comfort. the rich man is clothed in fine textures of european model and may dwell in a palace, but beneath his modernized exterior are traits of the orient, and the blood of the moor, the goth, the vandal, the roman, the celt, the semite, brought hither in the spaniard, is mingled with that of the aztec, who lived upon the great plateau and built his temples of strange and bloody worship. no other american nation constitutes so wide a blending of original races. spain itself was a veritable crucible of languages, peoples and creeds, whilst aboriginal mexico contained a large number of tribes, each with their particular culture, or lack of such.[ ] for mexico, it is to be recollected, was not a land like the united states or canada, which contained, relatively, but a few bands of indians, without any particular form of government or developed institutions. [ ] some of these tribes were unutterably savage and brutal, but it is doubtful if their methods were worse than those of the anglo-saxon who invaded britain, with the repulsive horrors they visited upon the early britains, in wholesale massacre and torture of the celts. the grandees of spain came out to rule this diversified land, and they did not disdain to make it their home. spain gave it of her best often, with capable legislators, laws; the _ley de indias_, enacted for the benefit of the colonies, and erudite professors and devout--over-devout--ecclesiastics; and these often carried out their work with patriotism and fervency. although it is not yet, the student of history will be fain to think that out of this seed a good growth must in the future come to being, and this we may say without any unnecessary apologetics for mexico. but what, we may ask, is the influence here, that throws back this fruitful land from time to time to anarchy, and makes its name a byword? disorder and treachery periodically arises, dictator succeeds dictator, revolution follows revolution, and the country's soil, whether in the streets of its capital, whether upon its desert plains or in its tropic valleys, is drenched with the blood of its own sons. the results of thirty years of a constructive national policy which diaz gave, the hopes and pretensions of a high civilization, laboriously built up, sink down to nought, revert to the conditions of that dreadful half-century that followed upon independence, from which stand forth the names--noble and ignoble--of iturbide, maximilian, juarez, or morelos. what ails this strange land? is it capable of no better life? in reply, mexico is a land following the inevitable law of reaping what it has sown, and both the sowing and the reaping are but exaggerated forms of processes that are affecting the world at large. judgment must not be too heavily passed upon mexico as a whole, for, as i shall later show, a whole nation must not be condemned by reason of some of its nationals. mexico, like all spanish american states, is at the mercy, politically and economically, of certain small sections of the people. government is of an oligarchy in normal times, which often abuses its position. the bulk of the people have neither art nor part in their own governance. the ballot box is too often a delusion and a snare. a turbulent or ambitious element can seize power at any moment by a _golpe de estado_ (a _coup d'état_). the upper and refined class, which, be it said, is the equivalent of and as well-informed often as that in europe, stand aloof from political revolution and disturbance, and would be the last to commit the excesses which bring execration upon the country's name. the educated mexican has all the traditions of the _caballero_, the gentleman; the mexican lady is refined, devout, delicate and tenderhearted. the peon and the indian are not turbulent, but well-meaning and generally industrious. these matters we shall further consider; for the moment let us pass on to survey the land itself, to traverse its wide and diversified surface, with its many elements of beauty, interest and utility. here, then, is a land of vast extent, in which various european countries could be contained; stretching from the borders of central america northward to those of the united states, two thousand miles long upon its major axis, shaped upon the map like a cornucopia, washed on one side by the atlantic, on the other by the pacific, and containing within itself every resource of nature which could make for plenty and progress. its southern half lies within the tropics, but consisting in great part of an elevated tableland, where the diurnal range of temperature--from the heat of the day to the cold of the night--is so considerable that latitude we find is not a reliable guide to climate. this great plateau, whose escarpments, viewed as we approach from either side present the appearance of mountains, is in large part sterile, treeless, and without rivers of importance or navigability. but it is crossed by ranges of steely-blue hills and intersected by fertile valleys, where agriculture is carried on under irrigation--an ancient art by means of canals fed from the intermittent streams. cacti, strange and gaunt, clothe it by nature, but there are large coniferous forests upon the mountain slopes in places. do we approach the country from the north, by the railway lines from the united states border, we traverse deserts among the most dreadful of the new world, deserts yet with a certain cruel beauty of their own, where once the apache roamed--cruellest and most horrible of all the world's savage folk. but nature has disposed along this high plateau, vast, fabulously vast mineral wealth, and from the famous mines of guanajuato, zacatecas, chihuahua, durango, potosi, aguascalientes, pachuca; and places--some of them noble towns, dowered with royal charters before the _mayflower_ sailed for new england--silver and gold poured forth to fill the needy coffers of spain. later, the english shareholder tried his hands upon the "mother-lode" with varying fortune, and copper, iron and other metals also came like magic from the rocks of this great wilderness. on the eastern and western versants of the country, and in the south, we encounter a different landscape. here nature smiles. in places it may be hot and humid, perhaps malarious, with tangled forests. but rich vegetation, gorgeous flora and profuse animal life--bird, insect, reptile--abound. here are fruitful plains and valleys, vast sugar-cane plantations, luscious fruits of kinds unknown to the world outside--among them the _mamey_, the "fruit of the aztec kings," with orange and banana groves, coffee gardens, cocoa-trees, yielding the _chocolatl_ of the aztecs, rubber-trees with elegant foliage, whilst above, the graceful coco-palm rears its stately column and feathery plume high against the azure sky. [illustration: scene on the great plateau, mexico. vol. i. to face p. .] here, indeed, is a region where it might have been supposed that man could dwell in peace and plenty, with a minimum of toil and ambition, of care and evil. the climatic zones of mexico were named by the spaniards in accordance with the condition of their varying temperatures respectively, as, the _tierra caliente_, or hot lands, the _tierra templada_, or temperate lands, and the _tierra fria_, or cold lands: the first lying upon the coast, the second midway up the slopes, and the last the higher regions, reaching an elevation of , to , feet and more above the level of the sea. in this intermediate zone of the tierra templada lies a land which has been not unjustly termed a region of perpetual spring, a truly desirable land, where the fortunate inhabitant lives close to the kindly earth as if in some mortal paradise--as far as nature is concerned. in the high zone, healthful and invigorating, lies the beautiful city of mexico in its enclosed valley; and many a handsome town is found throughout the three zones. this city of mexico was the coveted prize of cortes and his spaniards, and through the varying zones they passed after having, on that good friday in , landed on the shores to which they gave the name of vera cruz--the place of the true cross. across the waters of the gulf as they approached the unknown land was seen the gleaming peak of orizaba, called by the natives citlalteptl, or the mountain of the star, hanging in mid-heaven, its point over thirteen thousand feet above the sea. from the shore, the native runners of montezuma bore swiftly upwards to the mountain city news of the white man's arrival--long expected of old, from the traditions of quetzalcoatl, the mystic god-man of white race. these messengers made curious but faithful "picture-writings," on mexican paper, of the great "water-houses" or caravels swinging in the bay, the dread "men-animals" or horsemen, and the thunderous guns of the spaniards, and hastened thence to warn their master. swiftly they returned from the mountains. "go back," the aztec emperor said, "come not hither, the road is long and difficult," and he sent presents--a huge wheel of gold and beautiful feather work and other objects. but cortes, heeding not the message, burned his boats; the customary mass was rendered by the padre olmedo--the spaniards were always devout, partly in sincerity, partly as a custom--and the adventurers set forth on that remarkable and adventurous journey which forms one of the most thrilling episodes in early american history. let us briefly review it. the spaniards have allied themselves, in the fruitful land of tlascala--the "land of bread" in the native tongue--with the tlascalans, foes at first but friends afterwards, and then began the most stirring events of their march. "the tlascalans were a people who had developed a remarkable civilization and social and military organization, akin to that of the aztecs. on the arrival of the messengers of cortes much dissension had prevailed in their councils, some of the chiefs--the community was ruled by a council of four--maintaining that this was an opportunity for vengeance against their hereditary enemies, the hated aztecs and their prince, montezuma. 'let us ally ourselves with these terrible strangers,' they urged, 'and march against the mexicans.' for the doings of the spaniards had echoed through the land already, with a tale of smitten tribes and broken idols. but the wily old xicotencatl thought otherwise. 'what do we know of their purpose?' was his counsel; so it was agreed that the army of the tlascalans and otomies, who were in force near the frontier, under the command of the fiery young warrior--son of old xicotencatl, and bearing the same name--should attack them. 'if we fail,' the old barbarian urged, 'we will disavow the act of our general; if we win----'! "the stone fortification at the valley's end had been undefended, and with cortes at their head the spaniards entered tlascalan territory. skirmishing was followed by a pitched battle between the christians and the tlascalans, in which the firearms and lances of the spaniards wrought terrible havoc on their antagonists. astounded at the sight of the horses--those extraordinary beings, whether of animal or demoniacal origin they knew not--and appalled by the thundering of the guns, which seemed to have some superhuman source, the tlascalans at first fell back. but they overcame their fears, fell savagely upon the invaders, and were with difficulty repulsed, having managed to kill two of the horses. greatly to cortes's regret was this, for the noble animals were few, and--more serious still--their death removed that semi-superstitious dread regarding them, which the natives held. however, the spaniards afterwards buried them from sight. "night fell, a season when the indians fought not, but on the morrow the messengers which had been sent to the tlascalans arrived--having escaped--with the news that the enemy was approaching in great force. so indeed it befel, and upon the plain in front of the spaniards appeared a mighty host, varyingly estimated between thirty and a hundred thousand warriors. the spaniards with their allies numbered--fearful odds!--about three thousand. 'the god of the christians will bear us through,' said the brave and beautiful marina. a frightful battle now ensued, the issue of which hung in the scale for hours. charging, volleying, borne this way and that by the flood of the enemy's numbers, the gallant band of the spaniards snatched victory from almost certain defeat, their superior weapons and cavalry, together with the bad tactics of the indians, who knew not how to employ their unwieldy army to best advantage, at length decided the day for the christians, who inflicted terrible punishment upon their foes. the tlascalans' policy now showed signs of weakening, but further assaults were necessary, and some treachery, under the guise of friendship, having been discovered on the part of the fifty tlascalan envoys to the spanish camp, cortes barbarously cut off the hands of these and sent them back to tell the tale. "the upshot of these engagements was that the tlascalans capitulated, apologized for their conduct, invited the strangers to take possession of their capital, and assured them that they would now be allies, not enemies, of the white men, who were undoubtedly the representative of the great and long-expected quetzalcoatl. the joy in the spanish camp at this turn of affairs knew no bounds; well did the spaniards know that the continued opposition of the indians would have been their ruin, whilst in their alliance was salvation and the key to the conquest. "behold the war-worn and hungry spaniards, lean and tattered from marching and privations in the inclement uplands, now installed in comfort in the centre of the powerful tlascalan capital. forth had come to greet them young xicotencatl, who, to do him justice, took upon himself the responsibility of the war; and as the spaniards entered the capital the streets were lined with men, women and children, and decorated with garlands of flowers as for a triumphal procession. the old chief who had urged for opposition now changed his tactics, and as cortes entered he embraced him, passing his hand over the face of the spaniard to see what manner of man he was, for the aged tlascalan was blind, having reached, it has been said--probably with exaggeration--a hundred and forty years of age! 'the city is much larger than granada,' wrote cortes to carlos v, with a description of its markets, shops, houses and intelligent and industrious population. "six weeks the spaniards sojourned there, recuperating their energies, living on the best the plentiful land afforded--tlascala signified in the indian tongue 'the land of bread'--taking wives from among the maidens, the chiefs' daughters, and endeavouring, first with the foolish haste of cortes and then with the slow prudence of father olmedo, to instil some tenets of the christian religion into their hosts. but religious fervour had to give way to material necessities, and the tlascalan idols remained unsmitten, although their human sacrifices were somewhat stayed. "rested and mended, the spaniards now set impatient gaze upon the oak- and fir-clad mountain slopes which bounded the valley. above them loomed upward the great malinche, snow-capped queen of the tlascalan mountain fastnesses; and still the friendly tlascalans, stern foes but noble allies, loaded them with every favour and bid them tarry. when, however, they would stay no longer they raised a great body of warriors to accompany them, warning cortes against the wiles of montezuma. 'beware of his presents and his promises; he is false and seeks your destruction,' they urged, and their implacable hatred of the aztecs showed itself in their words and mien. "contrary to the advice of their new allies, the spaniards decided to journey on to mexico through cholula, the land of the great pyramid. embassies had arrived, both from montezuma and from the cholulans, the latter inviting the spaniards to go that way; and the great aztec monarch, swayed now by the shadow of oncoming destiny, offering the spaniards a welcome to his capital. 'trust not the tlascalans, those barbarous foes,' was the burden of his message, 'but come through friendly cholula: a greeting received by the tlascalans with sneers and counter-advice. the purpose of the tlascalans was not a disinterested one. an attack upon montezuma was their desire, and preliminary to this they hoped to embroil the spaniards with the perfidious cholulans. another embassy--and this was an important event--had waited upon cortes. it was from the ixtlilxochitl, one of the rival claimants for the throne of texcoco, which, it will be remembered, was a powerful and advanced community in confederation with the aztecs; and cortes was not slow to fan the flame of disaffection which this indicated, by an encouraging message to the young prince. "a farewell was taken of the staunch tlascalans, the invariable mass was celebrated by father olmedo, and, accompanied by a large body of tlascalan warriors, the spaniards set out for cholula. what befel in this beautiful and populous place--which, bernal diaz wrote, reminded him, form its numerous towers, of valladolid--was of terrible and ruthless import. cholula, with its great _teocalli_, was the mecca of anahuac, and was veritably a land flowing with milk and honey. well-built houses, numerous _teocallis_, or pyramidal temples, well-dressed people with embroidered cloaks, and numbers of censer-swinging priests formed the _ensemble_ which greeted the spaniards' eyes, whilst the intense cultivation of the ground and the fields of _maguey_, _maiz_, and other products, irrigated by canals from the mountain streams, formed the environment of this advanced community. 'not a palm's-breadth of land that is not cultivated,' wrote cortes in his dispatches to castile, 'and the city, as we approached, was more beautiful than the cities of spain.' beautiful and gay doubtless cholula was when the spaniards entered; drenched with the blood of its inhabitants and devastated by fire it lay before they left it! there had been signs of treachery, even on the road thither, work of the cholulans; but, lodged in the city, the spaniards discovered, through the agency of the intelligent marina, a plot to annihilate them later. taking the cholulans unawares as they crowded the streets with--at the moment--harmless curiosity, the spaniards, with cannon, musket and sabre, mowed down the unfortunate and unprotected natives in one bloody massacre, aided by the ferocious tlascalans, who fell upon the cholulans from the rear. the appalling and unnecessary slaughter at cholula has called down upon the heads of cortes and the spaniards the execration of historians. some have endeavoured to excuse or palliate it, but it remains as one of the indelible stains of the spanish _conquistadores_ upon the history they were making. having accomplished this 'punitive' act, an image of the virgin was set up on the summit of the great pyramidal temple, and some order restored. 'they are now your highness's faithful vassals,' wrote cortes to the king of spain! "after this the way seemed clear. far on the horizon loomed the white, snow-capped cones of popocateptl and ixtaccihuatl, beautiful and pure above the deserts, the canyons, and the forests beneath them--the gateway to mexico. from the foremost, above its snow-cap, there belched forth a great column of smoke, for at that period popocateptl was an active volcano. onwards the spaniards pressed with buoyant hearts and eager feet, and when they stood upon the summit of the range their eyes beheld the beautiful valley of mexico, the haven for which they had long toiled and fought, stretched below. there, shimmering in distance, lay the strange, unknown city of the aztecs, like a gem upon the borders of its lakes: its towers and buildings gleaming white in the brilliant sun of the tropic upland beneath the azure firmament and brought to deceptive nearness by the clear atmosphere of that high environment. there at last was their longed-for goal, the mysterious tenochtitlan."[ ] [ ] _mexico_, by the author, south american series. * * * * * the city of mexico, notwithstanding its modern attributes, is stamped with history and tradition, and in this respect is perhaps the most noteworthy metropolis on the american continents. it is, as it were, a mediaeval city, transplanted from the old world to the new. the united states has, naturally, no place which may compare with it, and in happier times mexico city has been a tourist centre for americans, who, escaping from the more materialistic and commercial atmosphere of their own busy towns, and the extremes of heat or cold which alternate therein, have sought the equable and healthful condition of the mexican upland capital--an easy journey comparatively, of a few days in a pullman car, amid landscapes attractive from their novelty. we are in a city of churches and convents. elsewhere i have described some of these remarkable edifices, home of the roman catholic faith, and as we view the city from the pleasing hills surrounding the valley their domes and towers stand up refreshingly. the houses of mexico are of a type unknown to the anglo-saxon american; the social customs, the aspects of the streets, the markets, the flower-market, the old, massive public buildings, the cotton-clad indian folk in the _plazas_ side by side with beautifully dressed señoritas and correctly attired, grave and ceremonious men--statesmen, lawyers, doctors and men of many professions, the _serenatas_ or concerts in the _alamedas_, the lottery ticket vendors thrusting their flimsy wares into one's face, urging you to tempt fortune--for will not the wheel be turned in the public square in half an hour, and may you yourself not be the winner of the sorteo?--all these features catch the traveller's eye as in the genial sunshine, before the midday heat renders the shade of the _patio_ or veranda advisable, we observe the life of the mexican city. in the market-place, at an early hour or in the evening, the odour of the _tortilla_ or the _frijoles_, fried in the open for ready sale, will greet our nostrils, and there are piquant _chiles_--a favourite article of diet--and many luscious and unknown fruits which we cannot resist. [illustration: the cathedral, city of mexico. vol. i. to face p. .] under the shade trees in the plaza or the alameda, escorted by indian maid-servant, or perhaps entering or leaving the temples, are sweet-faced girls of the upper class, pale oval-faced _señoritas_ with dark hair and expressive eyes, with the mantilla drawn over the head, bent on their early-morning orisons: but though their thoughts are at the moment doubtless dwelling upon matters spiritual, there are glances from expressive eyes-- para que te miré, mujer divina? para que contemplé tu faz hermosa? sentiment and love, indeed, play a strong part in the temperament of this southern race, with all its reserve and seclusion. the foreigner in mexico will thus find a varied local colour in the mexican capital and in other cities throughout the republic, such as could long occupy his pen, and indeed his brush, if he wield such. to come into actual touch with the people in their homes is more difficult, but if he is fortunate enough to be the guest in an upper class mexican family, he will experience the most pleasing hospitality. to penetrate such circles, however, there must be the appropriate qualities and circumstances. in this peaceful city there are few signs of revolution, disorder or bloodshed. the walls here and there may be pitted with bullet-marks, but the things which caused them come and go, and the populace lives its life with merely passing notice of them. we may wander somewhat farther afield in the valley: to the suburbs where the palaces of the wealthy lie embowered in flowers and orange-trees; to xochimilco, the field of flowers; to chalpultepec--the aztec "hill of the grasshoppers," where stands the presidential castle; to the shrine of guadalupe, the lourdes of mexico, where the virgin, it is said, appeared in a vision to juan, the poor indian. the great lake of texcoco, a dreary body of water now--it is partly drained by a great canal, to the far greater salubrity of the place--formerly extended to the city, which, indeed, at the time of the conquest, was built upon it and reached by stone causeways--a position which might have been impregnable. the first attempt by cortes and the spaniards upon tenochtitlan ended in disaster. they were enjoying the aztec hospitality, which, however, they outraged. they attacked and massacred a number of the people and took montezuma a prisoner in the stout palace which had been assigned as their quarters. they stormed and carried the great _teocalli_, or pyramid-temple, and threw down the great idol of the mexicans. montezuma was killed, either by a missile from without or treacherously by the spaniards whilst in their power. all seemed lost as a result of the mad act of alvarado in attacking the people. the story of the disaster is a thrilling one. * * * * * "the bridges broken, the savages screaming outside the walls, hope of victory gone, there was now no counsel of war for the spaniards save that of escape. but how? at night and along the great causeway was the only plan. a weird scene it was on the beginning of that _noche triste_--the sorrowful night--which stands forth so unforgettably in the history of the conquest. disorder everywhere; piles of gold and valuables on the floor, each spaniard, whether cavalier or boor, loading himself with what he thought he could carry. 'pocket what you can,' cortes said, 'but recollect that gold is heavy and we have to travel swiftly'--grave advice, the neglect of which cost some their lives upon that awful night. "and then began the retreat along the fatal causeway. it was known that there were three openings in this, and a portable bridge had been made and was borne along to enable passage to be effected. hurrying on in the hope of passing the breaches before alarm might be given, the spaniards entered upon the causeway and placed their portable bridge upon the first breach. was safety to be theirs? no! what was that appalling sound, sonorous and melancholy, which rang over the city and the waters amid the darkness? it was the great drum on the _teocalli_; the _tambor_ of the war-god, sounded by vigilant priests, calling the people to vengeance and battle. and in their myriads the aztecs poured forth and fell upon the christians, raining darts and stones upon them, and making the night hideous with their war-cries. meanwhile cortes and the advance guard had passed over, and reached the second breach. 'bring up the bridge!' was the repeated order, as those behind crowded on. useless; the bridge was stuck fast in the first breach, wedged down by the weight of guns and horses which had passed over it, and as these dread tidings were heard the mass of men upon the narrow causeway lost their presence of mind. those behind crowded on those in front; men and horses rolled into the lake; spaniards and tlascalans fell victims to the aztecs, who crowded the water in their canoes and leapt upon the causeway; the shouts of vengeance and triumph of the savages resounded all along the dyke, silencing the muttered oath or prayer of the christians huddled at the breach. down went horse and man, artillery and treasure, until the bodies of christians and indians and horses, and bales of merchandise and chests of ammunition the breach was almost filled, and a portion of the fugitives passed over. and now the third breach yawns before them--deep and wide. the morning is dawning upon the fatal scene; the salt waters of the lake have closed over many a gallant christian head; the frightful causeway is strewn with wreck of man and merchandise. 'the rear guard perishes!' and 'back and save them!' were the words which rang out then, and cortes and his remaining cavaliers, who were in the lead, rode back, even in that frightful hour--be it recorded to their honour--and, swimming the breach once more, strove to support their comrades. there stood alvarado unhorsed and battling, with the savages pressing upon his rear. escape there seemed none. canoes and spears teemed on every side, and cortes and his companions were forced onward."[ ] [ ] _mexico_, loc. cit. * * * * * the figure of alvarado stood up against the grey sky alone--a moment--and then he measured the breach with his eye. planting his lance on the wreckage in the waters of the breach, after the manner of a leaping-pole, the heroic spaniard, collecting his energies, leapt forward, and passed the chasm at a bound. the aztecs paused in admiration of this feat of the "son of the sun," as they had named alvarado, from his fair hair and ruddy countenance. to-day we may still see the place where this part of the causeway lay, known as the _puente de alvarado_. away off the causeway into the grey dawn passed the remnant of the routed spanish army, wounded, bleeding, starving, their comrades gone, some to death, some to the dreadful sacrifices of the mexican priests, where their hearts would be torn living from their breasts, and annihilation threatening all. baggage and artillery were gone, not a carbine was left, and cortes, seating himself upon the steps of a ruined temple on the shore, wept bitter tears of sorrow for the loss of his comrades and his vanished fortunes. so ended the _noche triste_, and to this day may be seen an ancient tree under which it is said cortes wept. the spaniards, however, were not of such stuff as easily gives in to difficulty and disaster. had it been otherwise, mexico to-day might have had a different destiny. it might have developed a purely aboriginal or indian state. but fate seems not to have willed it that any such nation should exist in the new world. cortes and the remnant of his army--there was no other course for them--returned to their tlascalan allies, fighting their way even here, however, for after passing the ancient pyramid of teotihuacan, even then standing ruined and desolate a few miles north of the city--monument of the shadowy toltecs, who preceded the aztec hegemony, and which, restored by the mexican government under president diaz, is an object of great interest to the traveller--they looked down on the plain of otumba, and beheld the forces of the otomies drawn up in battle array against them. these warriors wore armour of thick quilted cotton, which formed a considerable protection against the rude weapons of the country, and the spaniards were now without firearms. they were so numerous that, it is recorded, the plain "looked as if it were covered with snow," from the white armour. but the christians routed them, and thus the battle of otumba was one of the turning-points in new world history, as elsewhere remarked. reinforced by the tlascalans, cortes returned to the siege of the city. fresh supplies of arms and ammunition had reached the spaniards from the coast, with horses and two hundred spaniards sent from hispaniola. cortes built a number of brigantines, which were carried by the indians to the lake in order to attack tenochtitlan by water as well as land. but the whole enterprise would have been hopeless had not the other mexican tribes, hating the aztecs, joined forces with the white men. the plan was to starve out the city on the lake by laying waste the surroundings, for it was dependent upon these for its food. to the dead montezuma's place had succeeded his nephew guahtemoc, a noble aztec prince, animated by the utmost spirit of patriotism in defending the heritage of his forefathers. * * * * * "a series of severe struggles began then, both by land and water--burning, slaughter and the destruction of the lake towns. the aztecs, with their great number, raining darts and stones upon the invaders at every engagement, attacked them with unparalleled ferocity both by forces on shore and their canoes on the lake. the spaniards took heavy toll of the enemy at every turn, assisted by their allies the tlascalans, as savage and implacable as the aztecs, whom they attacked with a singular and persistent spirit of hatred, the result of long years of oppression by the dominant power of anahuac. cortes, on every occasion when it seemed that the last chance of success might attend it, offered terms to the aztec capital, by no means dishonourable, assuring them their liberty and self-government in return for allegiance to the crown of spain and the renouncing of their abominable system of sacrificial religion. these advances were invariably met by the most implacable negatives. the aztecs, far from offering to yield, swore they would sacrifice, when the day was theirs, every spaniard and tlascalan on the bloody altars of their gods; and as for entering into any treaty, the last man, woman and child would resist the hated invaders until the last drop of blood was shed and the last stone of their city thrown down. this vaunt, as regards the latter part, was almost literally carried out, and to some extent as regards the former. "the siege operations were conducted vigorously both by land and water. again before the eyes of the spaniards stretched that fatal causeway--path of death amid the salt waters of texcoco for so many of their brave comrades upon the _noche triste_ of their terrible flight from tenochtitlan. and there loomed once more that dreaded _teocalli_, whence the war-drum's mournful notes were heard. guarded now by the capable and persistent guatemoc, the city refused an offer of treaty, and invited the destruction which was to fall upon it. from the _azoteas_, or roofs of their buildings and temples, the undaunted mexicans beheld the white-winged brigantines, armed with those belching engines of thunder and death whose sting they well knew: and saw the ruthless hand of devastation laying waste their fair towns of the lake shore, and cutting off their means of life. "but the spaniards had yet to learn to their cost the lengths of aztec tenacity and ferocity. it will be recollected that the city was connected to the lake shores by means of four causeways, built above the surface of the water; engineering structures of stone and mortar and earth, which had from the first aroused the admiration of the spaniards. these causeways, whilst they rendered the city almost impregnable from attack, were a source of weakness in the easy cutting-off of food supplies, which they afforded to the enemy. a simultaneous assault on all these approaches was organized by the spaniards, under sandoval, alvarado and cortes himself, respectively, whilst the brigantines, with their raking artillery, were to support the attack by water, aided by the canoes of the tlascalan and texcocan allies. a series of attacks was made by this method, and at last the various bodies of spaniards advanced along the causeways and gained the city walls. but frightful disaster befel them. the comparative ease with which they entered the city aroused cortes's suspicions; and at that moment, from the summit of the great _teocalli_, rang out a fearful note--the horn of guatemoc, calling for vengeance and a concerted attack. the notes of the horn struck some ominous sense of chill in the spaniards' breasts, and the soldier-penman, bernal diaz, who was fighting valiantly there, says that the noise echoed and re-echoed, and rang in his ears for days afterwards. the spaniards, on this, as on other occasions, had foolishly neglected to secure the breaches in the causeways as they passed, or at least the rash alvarado had not done so with his command, his earlier lesson unheeded; and when the christians were hurled backwards--for their easy entrance into the great square of the city had been in the nature of a decoy--disaster befel them, which at one moment seemed as if it would be a repetition of that of the _noche triste_. 'the moment i reached that fearful bridge,' cortes wrote in his dispatches, 'i saw the spaniards returning in full flight.' remaining to hold the breech if possible, and cover the retreat, the chivalrous cortes almost lost his life from a furious attack by the barbarians in their canoes, and was only saved by the devotion of his own men and indian allies, who gave their lives in his rescue. word, nevertheless, had gone forth among the men that cortes had fallen; and the savages, throwing before the faces of alvarado and sandoval the bloody heads of decapitated spaniards, cried tauntingly the name 'malintzin,' which was that by which cortes was known among the mexicans. men and horses rolled into the lake; dead bodies filled the breaches; the christians and their allies were beaten back, and 'as we were all wounded it was only the help of god which saved us from destruction,' wrote bernal diaz. indeed, both cortes and the spaniards only escaped, on these and other occasions, from the aztec's desire to take them alive for sacrifice. "once more, after disastrous retreats and heavy loss, the bleeding and discouraged spaniards lay in their camp, as evening fell. of dead, wounded and captured, the spaniards missed more than a hundred and twenty of their comrades, and the tlascalans a thousand, whilst valuable artillery, guns and horses were lost. but listen! what is that mournful, penetrating sound which smites the christians' ears? it is the war-god's drum, and even from where the spaniards stand there is visible a procession ascending the steps of the _teocalli_, and, to their horror, the forms of their lost comrades are seen within it: whose hearts are doomed to be torn out living from their breasts to smoke before the shrine of huitzilopochtli, the war-devil of their enemies. from that high and fearful place their comrades' eyes must be gazing with despairing look towards the impotent spanish camp, glazing soon in death as the obsidian knives of the priests performed their fiendish work. the disastrous situation of the spaniards was made worse by the desertion, at this juncture, of the tlascalan and other allies. awed by a prophecy sent out confidently by the aztec priests, that both christians and allies should be delivered into their hands before eight days had passed (prophecy or doom, which the priests said, was from the mouth of the war-god, appeased by the late victory), the superstitious indians of cortes's forces sneaked off in the night. "continued reverses, in the face of long-continued action and desire for the attaining a given end, forges in the finer calibre of mind a spirit of unremitting purpose. blow after blow, which would turn away the ordinary individual from his endeavour, serves to steel the real hero to a dispassionate and persistent patience, and the purpose from its very intensity becomes almost a sacred cause, and seems to obtain from the unseen powers of circumstance success at last. so with cortes and others of the spaniards. the period prescribed by the somewhat rash prophecy of the aztec priests and their infernal oracle having passed without anything remarkable having taken place, the tlascalan and texcocan allies, upbraided and warned by the spaniards' messengers, now sneaked back to resume the attack against the city. the aztecs had sought to cause disaffection in outlying places by sending round the bloody heads of decapitated spaniards and horses, but with little effect. cortes then prepared for a final effort. the plan adopted was to be slower but surer than the former one of simple slaughter. it was determined to raze the city to the ground; to destroy the buildings step by step, fill up the canals, and so lay waste the whole area from the outside, so that unobstructed advance might be maintained. "the execution of this plan was begun. the city ends of the causeways were captured and held; street after street was demolished, and canal after canal filled up amid scenes of incessant fighting and slaughter. day after day the spaniards returned to their work; day after day with admirable tenacity the inhabitants of tenochtitlan disputed the ground inch by inch, watered with the blood of themselves, their women and their children. their supplies cut off, famine and pestilence wrought more terrible havoc among them--crowded as they gradually became into one quarter of the city--than the arms of the spaniards and the tlascalans. at the termination of each day's work the spanish prepared an ambuscade for the enemy, drawing them on by seeming to retire, and massacring them with the artillery and gun-fire and lances, to say nothing of the weapons of their savage allies. on one of these occasions 'the enemy rushed out yelling as if they had gained the greatest victory in the world,' cortes wrote in his dispatches, and 'more than five hundred, all of the bravest and principal men, were killed in this ambush.' he added, and it was a common occurrence, 'our allies'--the indians--'supped well that night, cutting up and eating their captives!' during the days of this terrible siege the famous catapult was made, an extraordinary engine to discharge great stones upon the enemy. this was to enable the spaniards to husband their powder, which was getting low, and the aztecs watched the construction of this machine with certain fear. it was completed and set to work, but the builder, a spanish soldier of inventive faculty, nearly played the part of the engineer hoist with his own petard, for the great stone fired rose, it is true, but went straight up and descended again upon the machine, which was ever afterwards the laughing-stock of the army. "further severe losses were now inflicted upon the beleaguered inhabitants, as more ammunition had been obtained. peace had again been offered by the spaniards, and again refused by the aztecs. an aztec chief of high rank had been captured, and then returned to guatemoc as a peace envoy. the mexicans' reply was to execute and sacrifice the unfortunate emissary, and then collecting their forces they poured out upon the causeways like a furious tide, which seemed as if it would sweep all before it. but the spaniards were prepared. the narrow causeways were commanded by the artillery, which poured such a deadly hail upon the enemy's numbers that they returned fleeing to the city. "and soon the end approaches. the division led by cortes made a fierce assault; and whilst the battle raged the spaniards observed that the summit of one of the _teocallis_ was in flames. it was the work of alvarado's men, who had penetrated already to the plaza. forces were joined, and the inhabitants of the city, driven into one quarter thereof, still made their stubborn and--now--suicidal stand. for the streets were piled up with corpses, the aztecs refraining from throwing the bodies of their slain into the lake, or outside the city, in order not to show their weakness. pestilence and famine had made terrible inroads upon the population. miserable wretches, men, women and children, were encountered wandering about careless of the enemy, only bent upon finding some roots, bark or offal which might appease the hunger at their vitals. the salt waters of the lake, which they had been obliged to drink, for the spaniards had cut the aqueduct which brought the fresh water from chapultepec, had caused many to sicken and die. mothers had devoured their dead children; the bodies of the slain had been eaten, and the bark gnawed from the trunks of trees. in their dire extremity some of the chiefs of the beleaguered city called cortes to the barricade. he went, trusting that capitulation was at hand, for, as both he and his historians record, the slaughter was far from their choosing. 'do but finish your work quickly,' was the burden of their parley. 'let us go and rest in the heaven of our war-god; we are weary of life and suffering. how is it that you, a son of the sun, tarry so long in finishing, when the sun himself makes circuit of the earth in a day, and so accomplishes his work speedily?' "this remarkable appeal struck renewed pity to the heart of cortes, and once more he begged them to surrender and avoid further suffering, and the spaniards drew off their forces for a space. but the inexorable guatemoc, although he sent an embassy to say he would hold parley, and the spaniards waited for him, did not fulfil the promise at the last moment. incensed at this behaviour, the spaniards and the tlascalans renewed the attack with overpowering energy on the one part and barbaric savagery on the other. contrary to the orders of the spaniards, their savage allies gave no quarter, but murdered men, women and children in fiendish exultation. the stench of the dead in the beleaguered city was overpowering; the soil was soaked with blood; the gutters ran as in a rain-storm, say the chroniclers, and, wrote cortes to the king of spain: 'such slaughter was done that day on land and water that killed and prisoners numbered forty thousand; and such were the shrieks and weeping of women and children that there were none of us whose hearts did not break.' he adds that it was impossible to contain the savage killing and torturing by their allies the tlascalans, who practised such cruelty as had never been seen, and 'out of all order of nature.' "at nightfall the attacking forces drew off, leaving the remainder of the inhabitants of the stricken city to consider their position. it is stated that the tlascalans made a great banquet of the flesh of the fallen aztecs, and that on this and other occasions they fished up the bloated bodies of their enemies from the lake and devoured them! at sunrise on the following day cortes and a few followers entered the city, hoping to have a supplication for terms from guatemoc. the army was stationed outside the walls, ready, in the event of a refusal--the signal of which should be a musket-shot--to pour in and strike the final blow. a parley was entered into as before, which lasted several hours. 'do you surrender?' cortes demanded. the final reply of guatemoc was, 'i will not come: i prefer to die where i am: do your worst.' "a musket-shot rang out upon the air; the spaniards and their allies fell on to merciless slaughter: cannons, muskets, arrows, slings, lances--all told their tale upon the huddled mass of panic-stricken people, who, after presenting a feeble and momentary front, poured forth upon the fatal causeways to escape. drowned and suffocated in the waters of the lake, mowed down by the fire from the brigantines, and butchered by the brutal tlascalans, women, children and men struggled and shrieked among that frightful carnage; upon which it were almost impious to dwell further. guatemoc, with his wife and children, strove to escape, and the canoe containing them was already out upon the lake, when a brigantine ran it down and captured him. all resistance was at an end. no sign of life or authority remained among the ruined walls; the fair city by the lake was broken and tenantless, its idols fallen, and its people fled. the homeric struggle was over; the conquest of mexico was accomplished."[ ] [ ] _mexico_, loc. cit. * * * * * under the long rule of the viceroys that followed the conquest, mexico lived her life in a mediaeval but often peaceful and not unhappy state, and had spain but understood her and developed the resources of the land and protected her simple indian folk instead of exploiting them, and at the same time antagonizing the colonists, there is no reason why a magnificent and permanent spanish empire should not have grown to being. we have remarked elsewhere on the abundant mineral wealth of the country. the great silver deposits of guanajuato were discovered as a result of a camp-fire made on the rocks by some muleteers, who found refined silver among the ashes, which the heat had smelted from them. the great "mother lode" here yielded up enormous wealth. the pleasing city of zacatecas to-day grew from another discovery of silver ores, which produced a value, up to the middle of last century, of nearly eight hundred million dollars. the curious archives of these mines, which still exist, show how carefully the spaniards worked them. the pachuca mines, which to-day are still worked, yielded similar wealth, and it was here that the well-known _patio_ or amalgamation process was discovered, with quicksilver from peru. there are other centres, scarcely less important, well known to the mineralogist. the mineral-bearing zone of mexico is sixteen hundred miles long, and yields nearly all the metals known to commerce. coal, however, is not a frequent product. the country has been described as a paradise for the prospector. the mines are innumerable: almost every hill is pierced or perforated by shafts and galleries, ancient or modern; some are enormous tunnels, or _socavones_. [illustration: cordova and the peak of orizaba. state of vera cruz. vol. i. to face p. .] the mexican native miner is, in his way, expert and active, and with rude appliances performs marvels in the work of ore extraction. halt a moment by yonder pit in the rocky slope. look down: a notched pole descends, upon which you would hesitate to venture, giving access to the workings beneath. yet, in a moment, perhaps, a peon, bearing on his back an enormous load of rock in a hide or sack, will ascend from the bowels of the earth, panting and groaning--we shall hear the noise of his breathing before we see him. he will cast his load at our feet, and from it will roll the gleaming quartz and pyrites, with perhaps the red of the _rosicler_, or rich oxide ore of silver, or the yellow ochres of the decomposed gold-bearing sulphides, more readily prepared by nature for treatment and winning of the yellow metal. or he may bear it to the stream-bed, there to treat it in some primitive stone mill. otherwise we may visit huge modern mills where hundreds of stamps are clanging and engines are winding and furnaces are burning, for a host of these exist throughout the land, though disorder and revolution may have suspended their operations. many curious products of the vegetable world attract our eyes. behold yonder stupendous cactus-trees--the organo cactus, whose symmetrical spiny branches like a giant candelabrum, weighing perhaps tons, with their mass of sappy foliage, arise from a single stem, which could be brought down by a stroke of a _machete_, or wood-knife--that formidable implement or weapon (made perhaps in birmingham) which the mexican peon loves to wield or use. look at the marvellous giant leaves of the juicy _maguey_, or agave, as long as a man, and see the peon insert his siphon to the heart of the plant to draw forth its sap, which he blows into the goatskin on his back, and from which he will presently make his _pulque_. this plant, the great american aloe, comes into flower and dies in a few years. it exhausts itself in flowering. in england we call it the century plant, for the exotic lingers long in the unfavourable climate, and with difficulty puts forth its blossoms at all. there, too, are hedges and _circas_ of prickly-pear, or nopal, which yield the delicious wild fig--the cactus familiar to the traveller in the holy land and syria, whence it was taken from mexico. in the coastal lands, as before remarked, the feathery coconut-palm waves over the villages, and the elegant leaves of the banana form refreshing groves, and the _cacao_ yields its stores of chocolate. lovers of this sweetmeat might hear the name of mexico in gratitude indeed, for is not the very name and product of aztec origin--the _chocolatl_ of the early folk here? in the tropic forests and plantations the beautiful rubber, the _castilloa elastica_-tree, rears its stately foliage, and here, again, are we not indebted to mexico? remember it, ye lovers of lawn tennis. for when the early spaniards arrived they found the mexicans playing tennis, with balls of rubber, in those curious courts whose ruins still remain in the jungles of yucatan. again, yonder flies the wild turkey. was he not the progenitor of that noble bird which comes upon our christmas tables? here, too, is the _zenzontl_; or mocking-bird, and a host of gorgeous winged creatures besides. through many a desert range and over many a chain of hills, violet in the distance, alluring and remote; past many a sacred well or hill marked by a cross, hard by the paths worn by the generations of bare or sandalled feet we may pass; and here, perchance, by some spring stands a startled native maid, her _olla_, or great water-pitcher, on her shoulder--stands in classic but unwitting pose. or through the heat a mounted vaquero rides upon his attenuated mule or horse--for the equine race works hard and eats little here, but bit, spur and the bridle are his till the day he leaves his bones upon the trail--and, "buenos dias, señor," with doffed hat the horseman gives us as he passes, with ever-ready mexican courtesy to the foreigner; or he did so until of recent times, when, for reasons we need not here dilate upon, the foreigner has come to be regarded with anything but friendship. there was always a charm about this old land of mexico; there still is, despite its recent turbulent history. small wonder that foreigners in increasing numbers loved to make their life in its quaint towns, to take up land and industry within it. of these towns we cannot speak here; guadalajara, puebla, oaxaca and many another invite us to their pleasing streets and ancient buildings. from the atlantic to the pacific, from north to south, they are dispersed over the wide area of the republic. the southern, or rather easternmost states of mexico are, as regards their landscape and life, often of peculiar interest, mainly by reason of the more tropical surroundings and the large rivers, such as those that flow into the gulf of campeche, in vera cruz and tabasco. typical of these rivers are the grijalva and the usumacinta. in places lined by dark forests, the banks elsewhere open out to permit of plantations of bananas, tobacco, maize, pineapples, rubber and so forth, and an occasional village, its white walls gleaming among the foliage, the roofs thatched with palm, gives the human touch thereto. ascending the river in a slow stern-wheel steamer, we remark an occasional canoe, laden with skins and other produce, or moored inshore whilst its occupants are fishing in the plentifully stocked waters. there are great trees festooned with masses of moss and with trailing lianas, where monkeys play by day and from whence at night their howling falls on the ear. the white heron and aigret, whose snowy plumage is so valuable an article of commerce, startled by the passage of the boat, sail gracefully away to the bends of the river, and flocks of parrots, similarly disturbed, scream their defiance, whilst wild ducks and cranes and birds of the brightest plumage are in sight at every moment. the alligators, large and small, that throng the shoals project their grotesque forms into the water, offering a mark to the gun of the idle huntsman. in the flower world nature is often gorgeously arrayed here. pure white lilies lie at the base of flowering trees that rise in a mass of bloom for forty feet or more, of a profusion and beauty almost inconceivable. the queen of the banks, the stately coco-palm, carries its load of nuts, waiting for nothing but the gatherer of a harvest provided by nature. here, too, is the cinchona-tree, with its bright, smooth red trunk and branches and rich green leaves, offering its virtues of quinine bark. the arnica plant, with its daisy-like yellow flowers, and the morning glory of rich and brilliant hue abound, and the orchids--"not the dwarfed product of a northern hothouse, but huge, entrancing, of the richest browns, the tenderest greens, the most vivid reds and the softest yellow, sometimes as many as half a dozen upon one tree"--decorate the decayed trunks of the trees. there are, too, natural plantations of wild pineapples, and many fruits besides. a good deal of land in these regions is capable of cultivation, and, extremely fertile, yields profitable returns. but means of transport are, of course, defective, although the rivers offer long lines of communication. the indians do not love work, except inasmuch as such may fill their own small requirements, for in so bountiful a region nature supplies them with many things necessary for life, which a very few hours' labour will supplement for a whole year. there is rivalry between the established planters for the available labour, and peonage is largely carried out. in yucatan, the labour system upon the plantations of the mexican millionaire hemp-growers of the peninsula has been described as little more than slavery by some writers. but great wealth and some measure of progress have resulted from this special yucatan industry, and merida, the capital city, shows these elements in marked degree. the yucatan peninsula is a curious limestone plain, originally covered, and still covered in great part, with tropical jungle, riverless, but with underground streams. the water was used by the ancient builders of the maya cities here, whose beautifully sculptured palaces and pyramid temples are among the chief archæological wonders of spanish america. they constructed wells adjacent to the buildings--the curious _cenotes_, or sacred wells. the lore of these silent, buried temples, over-run by the jungle, the haunt now of wild creatures, is fascinating in its mystery. some observers have likened their details of the façades of these structures to hindu temples, others to egyptian, and so forth, whilst others stoutly proclaim them to be of purely autochthonous culture.[ ] this culture area, we have already seen, extended into guatemala. [ ] vide _mexico_, loc. cit. to turn for a moment now to the pacific coast of mexico, this presents its own special points of interest. from hence may have come the toltecs originally, with their wonderful native knowledge and stone-shaping arts, among famous objects of whose handiwork is the famous calendar stone, to be seen in the museum of mexico. this remarkable stone shows the early mexicans to have had a more exact division and calculation of solar time than their contemporaries, the cultured nations of europe. however, the principal toltec remains are not upon the pacific coast, but at tula, on the plateau, which appears to have been their ancient capital. upon the long pacific coastline mexico possesses several important seaports, to some of which access may be gained by railway, and many picturesque places rarely heard of by the outside world, together with vast areas of fruitful land and valuable forests. this littoral, indeed; forms a region which must some day take its place in the economy of the globe. the long peninsula of lower california, forming an isolated part of mexico, is in many respects remarkable, and into the head of the gulf flows the colorado river, with many peculiar characteristics. what we have here said as to the topography of mexico, with its beautiful mountains, rivers, archæological remains, cities and so forth, is little more than an index to a vast field of interest, which, however, must be studied elsewhere. we are now bidden to cast a further glance at the people who have their being upon the diversified surface of the republic. a small proportion only of the mexicans are white--perhaps ten per cent. the remainder are of varying shades of brown. but there is no "colour line," although, naturally, the purest european blood is found among the upper and governing classes. however, the brown race has produced some of the best of mexico's people. the famous juarez, the lawyer-president who preceded diaz, and who was responsible for some of the most important measures of reform, was a pure indian by birth, and diaz himself was proud of his partly aboriginal ancestry. in fact, it cannot be said that there is any dividing line in the composition of the mexicans. the bulk of the people are thus of _mestizo_ or mixed race, but there are various districts where only pure indians are found. the working population of the country, perhaps three-quarters of the total, are peones. peonage is a state of what might be termed debt-bondage. they dwell upon the great landed estates, dependent for their livelihood upon the owners of these, unable to leave them, and are paid their small wage largely in goods under a species of "truck system." they are often purposely kept in debt. their economic condition is a low one. they own nothing of the land upon which they dwell; they carry on occupations which are not profitable to themselves, and are subjected to many abuses in this respect; they dwell in _adobe_, or dried mud huts, generally of the poorest kind; their food is of the most primitive, and often scanty--meat is an article which rarely enters into their diet; if a cow dies on the plain they cut it up for food--but nevertheless they labour hard from sunrise to sunset upon a diet of maize and beans. this class is almost wholly illiterate, although there has been some improvement of late years in this respect. [illustration: village on the pacific slope, mexico. vol. i. to face p. .] it is not to be supposed that this numerous class is an unworthy one. on the contrary, the mexican peon is industrious, faithful, courteous, and deeply religious--religion, however, greatly mixed with superstitions. as an agriculturist he does not lack capabilities, and as a miner the mexican, as we have seen, is an excellent workman in many respects. in brief, the working class of mexico is the most important and homogeneous body of brown labour in the world. the european or american mine or plantation manager (who was until recently plentifully established in the country) may often express very diverse views in this connexion, but from a more detached point of view the above characterization is true. as for the working class mexican woman, she has many good qualities, and is often of pleasing appearance, whilst among some of the indian tribes the girls are handsome. the upper class mexican is generally well educated, often having been sent to europe or the united states for his education. he has the pleasing courtesy of the spanish race, and is frequently a well-informed man of the world. however, it cannot be said that education in the united states is necessarily an improvement. there is something about the association which is not pleasing. he becomes too "smart" and cynical. the educated mexican class earnestly lays claim to a "high civilization," and art, science and literature are, at least in theory, greatly esteemed. there may be, in some respects, an element of superficiality about this refinement, and about life in general, with this class. but to a large extent it has its foundation in reality, and the educated mexican and the upper class man of business has nothing to lose in point of culture in comparison with, for example, the american or other foreign business man. indeed, it is the latter that would often suffer by comparison in this respect, especially the american. the mexican is much less dominated by the money-getting spirit than is the man of the united states, and has, perhaps, a wider vision, both in domestic and international affairs. the upper class mexican woman is justly noted for her beauty and vivacity, and becomes a devoted wife and mother. she is extremely religious. indeed, the influence of the church and the priest enter too strongly into the life of the female population of mexico. the upper class man has often thrown off religion and is acquiring an easy materialism. with a people of the above described characteristics, it might well be asked from what source does the revolutionary element and bloodthirsty soldiery come? from what class do the ambitious "generals," the would-be presidents, the ruthless guerilla bands spring, whose doings have shocked the civilized world? they do not come from the ordinary class of educated mexicans, who are peaceful estate owners, lawyers, business men, and so forth, who, in general, would be very loath to risk their persons or property in the hazards of revolution. as to the young man of this class, he generally loves the ease and luxury of city life too much to adventure himself far from his often effiminate pleasures. nor do they come from the great peon class, which, so far, has asked little more than to pursue its normal life, varied by the not infrequent carousals of feast-days, the _pelea de gallos_, or cock-fight, and the _corrida de toros_, or bull-fight, as his sunday diversions, and to drown his sorrows in draughts of intoxicating _pulque or aguardiente_. the revolutionary element is, in fact, drawn from a comparatively small class of ambitious or disappointed politicians and the idle or dissatisfied military element, in the main. it cannot of course be denied that revolution at times springs to being under patriotic or national motives, to remedy the abuses laid on the country by dishonest or oppressive rulers. in reality, disorder is generally the result of a mixture of both these elements. a revolutionary standard having been raised, and a _pronunciamiento_ made, there are rarely lacking followers. the latent martial spirit of the mexican--a heritage from both his aztec and spanish forbears--breaks out. the prospect of place and office attracts the educated malcontent, of booty and licence the lower element, and of higher pay and free food the peon. political murders and ruthless cruelty attend these operations, and a whole nation is terrorized and its ordinary affairs brought almost to a standstill thereby. often, however, the revolution is little more than a local affair, and is put down or dies out, although it may have damaged the country's reputation abroad in a measure far exceeding its real importance. is there any remedy for this perennial turmoil, and if so, what is the remedy? the reply is that whilst the present economic conditions of mexico exist, stability will never be reached. a small upper class practically monopolizes the wealth, education, land and opportunity of the republic--a republic in little more than name. the main bulk of the people, as has been shown, are poor, landless and illiterate, and in consequence easily throw off their settled habits at the bidding of upstart leaders. they have little to lose and perhaps--they think--the possibility of gain by disorder. the steadying element of a settled middle class grows very slowly to being in mexico. industry is in its infancy. little is manufactured in the country, except cotton, textiles, and even here the wage of the operative is exceedingly low. such manufacturing industry is mainly represented by the well-advanced cotton and textile factories of puebla and elsewhere, works of much importance, generally actuated by water-power plant. this is a highly profitable industry for the mill-owners, who reap dividends often of thirty per cent. manufacturing industry here, as in the other latin american republics, is accompanied in its growth by the rise of the strike habit, which is rapidly increasing. jealousy of the foreign concessionaire--who flourished so markedly under the diaz regimen--is a further element in disorder. the advancement of the masses has been extremely slow. a new spirit is needful if progress is to be made, a recognition of the rights of the mexican "democracy," a better co-ordination of the national resources and a constructive and equitable economic policy, added to disinterested political leadership. mexico in reality offers conditions for prosperous and enlightened life. its natural resources are varied, abundant and well distributed. the country does not, like some other latin american states, draw revenue from any great or special article of export (sooner or later the economic defect of a land), but can be more or less self-contained and self-supplying. innumerable pleasing towns and picturesque villages are scattered over its surface, which normally are centres of peaceful life, and the population is well distributed. there is much of beauty in the architecture of these towns, and of refinement and dignity among the people--elements largely, a heritage of spanish rule, added to the native disposition. the nation is not yet over-commercialized or vulgarized, and if political and economic stability can grow to being without becoming so, mexico might build up for itself a pleasing and durable civilization, and become a permanent leader among the republics of the new world. the traveller who has sojourned in this picturesque and romantic land, who has experienced its pleasing hospitality and has understood the character of its people, cannot but hope that such future awaits it. in the coming settlement of the world mexico has a good deal to offer, but trading must be accompanied in the future by statesmanship, here as elsewhere. mexico, indeed, is a subject for a science of constructive economic biology. the history of mexico after independence shows how resolutely the mexicans threw off the method of governance by royalty, but it is a question whether there might not have been a more sustained and orderly development under that system. at this time, mexico was the third largest empire in the world, and included a large part of what is now the western united states, such as california and texas and the adjoining territories, as well as guatemala. she began her independent history with an emperor--iturbide, who patriotically wished to strive against the "holy alliance" which schemed to bring about the re-domination of spain, but he was executed by mexicans, and fell, serene, and disdainful of his ungrateful compatriots. the ill-fated figure of maximilian stands out in picturesque silhouette in mexican history, well-meaning but weak; as does the pathetic story of the empress carlota, and her appeal to napoleon against his perhaps perfidious withdrawal of french troops from mexico. maximilian was "executed" at queretaro. two faithful mexican officers shared his fate--miramon and mejia. "take you the place of honour in the centre," said the ill-fated hapsburg prince in turn to each of them, as facing the file of soldiers they awaited the volley. but each declined, the carbines rang out, and so passed the dream of empire in mexico. an austrian warship arrived to take his body; the commander asking for the remains of "the emperor of mexico." but he was informed that "no such person had existed," although the body of "maximilian of austria" was delivered to him. in the museum of mexico to-day, all that remains is his gilded coach and some other trappings. the dream of empire in mexico was largely due to the napoleon of the times, and was mainly frustrated by the action of the united states and the monroe doctrine. imperial government was, however, supported by a very large party of upper class mexicans. the mexicans, rightly or wrongly, have retained to this day a certain animosity against the united states by reason of the loss of their huge northern territory of texas, in what they called _la guerra injusta_, the "unjust war," in which they declared that american machinations were displayed in order to deprive them of the land. one phase of this history was in the filling up of texas, in part, by american filibusters, and in the upholding of slavery there by the american government, the mexicans having made a decree forbidding slavery; and this must be recorded to the credit of mexico. black slavery there brought a dreadful fruit, and even in recent--and present--times race riots, including the burning alive of negroes, have been a result. however, this is past history, and these territories developed under american rule in a way that would not have been possible under the mexicans. to-day we hear of constant antagonism across the border. it is urged by some that the united states might enter and control mexico, but it is to be hoped that washington is wiser than to embark upon such an adventure. it might be a difficult and bloody undertaking, and, even if successful militarily, would but perpetuate race-hatred in the new world. the mexicans, a people of nearly twenty millions strong, must work out their own destiny. the history of mexico shows the evils of forced and unnatural episodes and conditions, and this would but add to the series. many a battle has been fought between americans and mexicans since the first conflict in , and both nations have had occasion to test each other's bravery and capacity in war. the mexicans excel in guerilla warfare, and are splendid horsemen, but the more solid tactics of the americans generally prevailed. mexico was invaded more than once by united states forces, and, indeed, occupied. the storming of chapultepec castle, near the city of mexico, was one of the heroic engagements, when a young mexican, rather than see his country's flag fall into the hands of the--to them--"hated yanquis," wrapped it round his body and leapt from the turret, to be dashed to pieces on the stones below. all students of american matters will look for that time when these two countries will dwell in amicable relationship, such as seemed, in the time of diaz, to have been reached, but in which, in reality, jealousy and rancour were but thinly veiled. there is really nothing fundamental between the two people against amicable relations and co-operation in those matters of mutual interest on their continent. * * * * * thus we leave this interesting land of mexico, to make our way into another region, no less attractive, in its own particular field. [illustration: view on the grijalva and usumacinta river, mexico. vol. i. to face p. .] chapter v along the pacific coast in colombia, ecuador and peru an enormous horizon opens to the traveller who essays the voyage along the pacific coast of south america, from panama perhaps to the extremity of the continent; a voyage through every range of climate, from the equator to the frigid south, past verdant tropic shores or barren desert, or beneath eternal snowfields; a voyage redolent of the early heroic history of the new world, with, to-day, a setting of the picturesque modern life of the old viceregal, one-time colonies of spain. we shall touch at innumerable seaports, the outlet of five different countries; those of colombia and ecuador, of peru, bolivia and chile. from panama to cape horn this vast trajectory of some five thousand miles may be roughly divided into six parts of eight hundred miles each; that is, panama to guayaquil, thence to callao, thence to iquique, thence to valparaiso, with the remainder along the southern coast of chile: a voyage equal approximately to one from liverpool to new york and back again. due to the comparative tranquillity of the ocean, the voyage is made in steamers of coasting type, in which the state-rooms are all upon the deck, and open directly therefrom, a pleasing arrangement in comparison with the stuffy hold of trans-atlantic or trans-pacific vessels. behold, then, a sterile coastline, beaten by never-ending surf, broken by rocky promontories, bird-covered perhaps, and seal-haunted, whence the distant roar of breaking rollers at times comes seaward, and, inland, a rising, undulating zone of desert and cañon, brown or tawny or purple in its shadows, stretching away mysteriously for perhaps a hundred miles to where it meets the solemn cordillera, which, grey, faint and serrated, with no form save that of outline--the true test of distance--forms our horizon on the east. above is a deep blue sky, but inclining to greens and opals, for, in the west, with banners of gold and crimson vapours--the colours of spain, whose mariners first beheld it here, the sun is setting, its disc already upon the bosom of the pacific. the sun-god of the incas goes down, and rose-tinted rays shoot across the stark and rugged littoral and touch the edges of the green, refreshing seas, rising between the steamer and the distant surf. it is the coast of peru, and in this romantic hour of sunset yonder deserts might be peopled with the spectral forms of mail-clad spaniards, the gaunt pizarro at their head, heedless of all save empire and el dorado. but not a sail or hull disputes possession of the fast-darkening sea, with the quivering steamer upon whose deck we stand, cleaving its way a thousand miles from panama; and if ghosts there be, why not one of a caravel of drake, hot on the plate ships' track from callao? nor on the seaboard does a single habitation denote the presence of man, for we are passing one of those stretches of desert of which this coast is largely composed. but let us look more closely, and imagine we behold for a moment the forms of the intrepid white men who first broke in upon this desolation. it is the early part of the sixteenth century. upon the seashore there is a band of mail-clad spaniards, at their head a tall bearded man, spare of frame, but full of spirit, that spirit which dares the unknown and dares again, in spite of famine and privation. it is pizarro, the famous _conquistador_, and in his hand is a drawn sword. there has been disaffection in the band, wrought of sufferings and disappointment in that desolate region. "where is the gold we have been promised?" the malcontents exclaim. "what profit is there in fighting famine and miserable savages? let us go back to panama before we all perish!" for reply pizarro drew the point of his sword across the sand. "comrades," he said, "on the south of this line lie perhaps hardship and death; on the north salvation and ease. yet perhaps on the south is peru and untold wealth; on the north panama and poverty. choose you which you will. i go south. who follows?" and thus speaking, he stepped across the line. twelve faithful spirits followed this action, and, later, the thirteen received special reward from the spanish sovereign. others arrived from panama, and the voyage was continued. among the band was a valiant greek of great stature, pedro de candia, and he, on one occasion, contemplating from the ship a distant fertile valley, went ashore alone to traverse it. "resolved i am," he said, "to explore yonder valley or die," and, bearing a great wooden cross in one hand, and his sword and carbine, he broke in upon the astonished indians, returning unharmed with tales of gardens filled with artificial flowers of gold, and other wonders. this was at tumbez. but the conquest of peru was not thus easily to be performed. the spaniards' resources were limited, and they returned to panama. but a few gold and silver toys and some indian sheep--the llamas--which they took back, did not greatly impress the unimaginative governor of that colony, and pizarro was obliged to proceed to spain, where he made a good impression at court. his further expedition was, however, rendered possible mainly by the queen--a woman again furnishing the imagination and means to discover the new world! she it was who rewarded pizarro and his twelve faithful companions, in the _capitulacion_ she caused to be drawn up.[ ] [ ] see the author's _ecuador_, in the south american series; also _peru_, in the same. pizarro and his men returned to brave the hardships of the coast again, but we must leave this interesting history and turn to our topography. the conditions of aridity on this coast, upon which rain never or scarcely ever falls, is a result of the interception by the andes of the trade winds, whose moisture is deposited on the summits, and of the cool peruvian or humboldt current, flowing northwards up the coast, its lower temperature preventing the evaporation of the sea and discharge of the moisture as rain. we shall have noted this peculiar change to aridity soon after passing the equator, as before remarked. the shores of the gulf of guayaquil and part of the ecuadorian coast are vividly green from the dense mangrove thickets and other vegetation, but as soon as the mist zone of the equator is left behind the coastal zone becomes stark and unfruitful, beaten by tearing surges between the few havens. upon leaving panama and its famous canal--whose great works rapidly fade into the haze of distant shore and mountain, reminding us how small the greatest human mark on the face of nature really is--we have passed the pacific coast of colombia, which does not present any very noteworthy features. it is shut off from the interior by the high mountains, and is often unhealthy and but thinly populated, notwithstanding that it affords certain resources and potentialities that in the future should be valuable. at the principal port of buenaventura it is unlikely that our steamer will call. the settled and prosperous colombia--the old viceregal colony of new granada--lies in the highlands, whose means of access are from beyond the isthmus of panama, upon the "spanish main," as we shall see elsewhere. however, buenaventura is the port for the beautiful cauca valley, the garden vale of colombia, with its pleasing town of cali, and a line of railway has painfully made its way up this steep littoral thereto. buenaventura was reached by the first spaniard to sail this sea, andagoya, who named it the port of good fortune, but the great prize of discovery lay in peru, which he did not reach: the prize which fell to the more fortunate and adventurous pizarro. the port has been described as perhaps the most beautiful on the pacific coast, but the traveller who desires in addition material comforts will not prolong his stay thereat. our vessel, pursuing its way, will shortly have sighted the coast of ecuador, and may, if conditions concerning quarantine be favourable, have to enter the great indentation which forms the gulf of guayaquil. the guayas river, with the island of puna at its mouth, is of considerable width, but narrows as the ocean steamer ascends it so much that passage at times is difficult. memories of pizarro centre about the island. the seaport of guayaquil lies over thirty miles upstream, and its aspect on approaching is a striking one; its buildings clustered along the water-front, backed by verdure-clad hills, and the shipping in the harbour, and, at night, the rows of lights of the streets, give an impression of considerable importance to this tropical seaport. the river off guayaquil has been likened to the mississippi at new orleans. in early times the town was frequently sacked by buccaneers--french, english and others, among them the ubiquitous dampier. its dreadful reputation for malaria and yellow-fever has caused travellers to shun the place, but these matters have experienced some improvement of recent years, especially since the building of the panama canal. as the steamer lies in the stream, enterprising indian boatmen bring off certain native wares for sale to the passengers, among them the famous "panama" hats--which are, be it noted, not a product of panama, but of the coastal district north of guayaquil, notably jipijapa and monte cristi. they are also made in colombia. great industry, patience and knowledge are displayed by the indians in making these hats, of which the material is a palm fibre, not a straw or grass. they are a really beautiful and dexterous example of native industry. upon the manabi coast, in the same region, we may see some remarkable vestiges of the ancient folk of ecuador, in the great carved stone armchairs or seats ranged upon a flat hill-top. these seats are unique in early american archæology and form a puzzle to the antiquarian.[ ] [ ] see the author's _ecuador_, loc. cit. six hundred miles to the west, far out of our track here, lie the galapagos islands, a possession of ecuador, the home of the monstrous turtles whose name the archipelago bears. the guayas river and its affluents command our attention and interest by reason both of their beauty and economic importance. they form the only considerable fluvial system on the whole western coast of south america, where, in general, the streams are of small volume and unnavigable. here we may navigate the river and its arms for two hundred miles, and our vessel will convey us past many a flourishing hacienda on the banks, where the famous _cacao_ of ecuador is grown--the chocolate of commerce, of which the region produces, or has been accustomed to produce, a third of the world's supply. this fertility is due to the nature of the alluvial soil, which for ages has collected in what are locally termed _bancos_; areas or deposits specially suitable for the cultivation of the cocoa-trees. many such haciendas flourish upon these rivers, and are sources of much wealth to their proprietors and to the nation. the alluvial mud of such remarkable fertilizing properties is carried along by the waters, which have deposited it in these favoured spots upon the network of streams which fall into the guayas. groups of feathery coco-palms, with their slender columns and graceful foliage, which flourish around the haciendas, form a pleasing picture, which serves to offset the somewhat monotonous appearance of the _sabanas_, or barer stretches of flat land which we overlook from the steamer's deck, and which alternate with the _cacaotales_, _cafetales_ and _cañaverales_, as the coco and coffee plantations and the great cane brakes--of monstrous bamboos, which are a valuable article of construction--are termed. [illustration: the wharf at guayaquil. vol. i. to face p. .] we remark here the curious native rafts, which without other agency than the current ascend and descend the rivers on the flowing and the ebbing tide, reaching guayaquil, and returning thence upstream. continuing our voyage along the coast, the eye may fall upon the white guano-covered headlands, and the attention is suddenly arrested by what appears at first sight to be a low dark cloud moving on the face of the waters. it approaches, and we see that it is not a cloud, but a flight of birds, innumerable, and flying in close formation--at times, indeed, they obscure the sky. these are the guano-producing birds, which haunt the rocky headlands and islets, and whose product has been so considerable a source of wealth and contention on this coast. guano was used by the incas in their intelligent and painstaking agricultural operations, and its misuse or monopoly was prohibited. the incas, vestiges of whose remarkable structures and curious customs we find scattered in profusion throughout the enormous territory--perhaps two thousand miles in length--which formed their empire, upon whose coast we are journeying here, made little use of the sea, except for fishing. by relays of posts, of indian runners, fish was carried in fresh, across the deserts and over the cordillera, for the table of the inca at cuzco, which town, the ancient mecca and capital of the early peruvians, is situated in a valley , feet above sea-level and over two hundred miles inland--a remarkable performance. the incas were not a seafaring people, and their civilization--for it fully merits the name of such--was indeed cut off from the rest of the world both by the ocean and by the enormous rugged chains of the andes, and by the impenetrable forests of the amazon basin on the east. as far as is known, they appear not to have had knowledge even of the contemporaneous cultures of the mayas, the aztecs, and the toltecs of mexico and central america, although all these early american cultures may have had a common origin, in times much nearer the general childhood of the world. was this coast first explored and even settled by the chinese long before columbus sailed? there are reasons for thinking this may have been so. the exploits of pizarro and his followers took place in the neighbourhood of tumbez, near the westernmost point of the south american continent. how, fighting against famine, they made their way along this stark and inhospitable littoral and ascended the andes, where by a combination of intrepidity and treachery they overcame the reigning inca chief and his people, forms one of the most fascinating episodes of early american history. to-day, when we leave our comfortable steamer and follow those same paths, we find little alteration, in many respects, after the lapse of four centuries. we must journey in the saddle over the roughest and often most dangerous of mountain trails. at night it may be that an indifferent _fonda_, or inn, in the poor indian villages on the road will afford some hospitality, but this will be of the meanest description. railways are few and far between along this immense and little-travelled seaboard; food is scarce and life primitive. but the stamp of spain is over all, and there is an atmosphere--attenuated it may be--of the times of don quijote de la mancha in its social regimen. we cannot withhold a tribute to spain, in remarking how she stamped, for all time, her own characteristic culture throughout thousands of miles, east, north and south, of tropic seaboard and rugged cordillera, upon this great continent. but "spanish gentlemen should not soil their hands in trade" ran a decree of the old "laws of the indies," and the spaniards, except for their exploitation of the rich gold, silver and quicksilver mines (at a terrible toll of indian lives), did not reap much commercial profit from their possessions. this great mineral wealth was poured for centuries into the needy coffers of spain--poured as into a sieve, for it was largely squandered. under the viceroys the mines were worked with feverish activity. in one instance an urgent mandate for increased production so worked upon the official in charge of one of the huge mines, those of huancavelica, in yonder mountains--a veritable labyrinth of underground galleries and chambers, among which was a chapel, deep below the surface, with candles ever burning before its shrines--that he ordered the supporting columns of ore to be taken out, with a result that the mine fell in, entombing five hundred miners, whose bones remain in the ruin to this day, it is said. as for commerce, the british are the great phoenicians on this coast; transporting cargo hither and bearing it hence. the german activity became marked before the war, but the _kosmos_ line of steamers stopped, and the teutonic bagsman ceased his assiduous traverse of the interior villages with his wares. mining in peru is not what it was in the time of spain. a wealthy company of united states capitalists, it is true, ships great quantities of copper from the wonderful deposits of cerro de pasco, , feet above sea-level, and there are many smaller concerns of varied nationalities. but thousands of irregular subterranean workings all over the vast cordillera remain waterlogged and abandoned--mines where the visitor is told of fabulous wealth extracted, and which still contain untold riches, awaiting the time when they shall be called upon to surrender their hidden stocks of gold and silver, of copper and a host of other minerals. the glories of potosi have in large measure departed, but the tin mines of bolivia yield annually a large proportion of the world's supply of that metal. enormous coalfields--notwithstanding that south america has been regarded as a coal-less continent--exist in the andes, their upturned strata outcropping in the bleakest regions, in some cases amid the perpetual snow. to-day the cultivators of sugar and cotton in the irrigated valleys of this vast littoral have come into their kingdom, reaping, during the war, fortunes from the shipment of these commodities to britain; their only plaint that of the restriction of carriage. the merchant and the shopkeeper made the same lament, and the fashionable and _simpatica_ dames of latin american society bewailed the impossibility of their enjoyment of the latest parisian modes. away on the slopes and tablelands of the grim cordillera the ancient palaces and temples of the bygone incas look down, unknown, unvisited, save by those whom interest or chance may take that way. once washed by the waves of lake titicaca--that most remarkable of lakes, , feet above the sea, yet whereon we may journey out of sight of land--lie the ruins of that strange temple of tiahuanako, of unknown age, the most ancient handiwork of man in the new world. to-day, all that remains of that epoch are these old stone structures, save that the indian, as evening falls, preserving some sentiment of an ancient state, climbs the lonely hills, and there, alone, makes mournful music with his flute of reeds: notes which fall weirdly upon the ear as we pass beneath, across the wide plateau. the empire of the incas lay principally in peru, bolivia and ecuador, and extended to the northern part of chile, but the incas did not overcome the araucanian indians--fierce and intractable--who dwelt in chile. nor did they, apparently, descend very much beyond the eastern slopes of the andes, into the forests and plains of the amazon and of the plate, though there are some vestiges of their occupation there. they established a line of forts, of blocks of squared stone along the _ceja_, or edge, of the montaña, some of which we may see to-day, doubtless to ward off the attacks of the forest savages. the incas possessed great stores of gold, which they used to make household vessels for the princes and for religious purposes, and the spaniards possessed themselves of this gold. much of it was sent down to the coast for shipment to spain, to fill the needy coffers of the spanish sovereigns. some of it fell into the clutches of drake and other enterprising adventurers into these realms of gold, who disputed the spanish monopoly of the new world. let us imagine, as we pace the deck of the steamer and look over towards the setting sun, touching the bosom of the broad pacific, an early scene upon these waters. here is drake's ship, _golden hind_ or _pelican_, blowing out of callao with every stitch of canvas set. drake has heard that a plate ship, laden with gold and silver, has just set sail for panama, and he is chagrined at having missed it. the spaniards had feared no danger. as far as they had known there were no craft in these waters save those which flew the colours of spain. but now the viceroy of lima, don francisco de toledo, is uneasy. the, to him, unspeakable drake--"_caramba!_ draco, a dragon"--is about! the english ship overhauls the plate ship. but the wind drops and she is still hull down, many a mile of heaving sea between. shall they lose the prize? no; the boats are put out, and for three days the men of devon towed their vessel, straining at their oars as british seamen will, and the sluggish plate ship rises more upon their horizon. away they toil, past the river of guayaquil, above which the gleaming chimborazo rears his distant head, until, six hundred miles to spare from the haven of panama, she is overtaken, off cape san francisco, in what is now ecuador. they board the ship and seize the treasure, which, according to the spanish chroniclers, amounted to nearly a million pounds sterling. the viceroy did not altogether lose hope of recovering this treasure. he prepared a veritable hornets' nest for drake, in the form of an armada, which was ordered to wait at the strait of magellan, which, he imagined, drake must pass in order to get home. but drake was not thus to be entrapped. he sailed on northwards--trying for a strait eastward through america--reaching the spot known now as drake's bay, in california; found, of course, no passage; careened his ship, cleaned it, and turning his prow westward, sailed across the pacific, going completely round the world for england, where he was worthily knighted by queen elizabeth on the quarter-deck of his wave-worn ship. guayaquil is the gateway to ancient quito, in the cordillera, and between that port and callao is salaverry with the quaint and busy peruvian town of trujillo, founded by pizarro. callao, to-day, is the principal seaport upon this vast coast, between panama and valparaiso. the oroya railway running therefrom takes us up to the summit of the andes, nearly , feet above sea-level, first passing through the old viceregal capital, and ascending the valley of the rimac, whose waters, the whispering oracle of the incas, gave their name to lima. lima, the old _ciudad de los reyes_, or "city of the kings," as pizarro, its founder, termed it, in honour of his spanish sovereigns, surrounded by its cultivated lands, irrigated from the rimac, must be regarded as one of the premier cities of the spanish american world, and one of the most quaint and pleasing, with many historical and literary attributes, a legacy of the old viceregal times. a handsome cathedral overlooks the broad, well-planted plaza, and its high towers, rebuilt after the disastrous earthquake of , a sketch of whose terrors i have given later on, dominate the green _campiña_, or countryside. it is a city of many churches and other ecclesiastical buildings, and has something of that mediaeval atmosphere we have remarked in the city of mexico, and some of its public buildings are worthy of note. the gloomy structure which held the inquisition faces upon a small plaza in the midst of which arises a bronze equestrian figure of bolivar, a replica of that at caracas. we remark the carved oak balconies to certain of the ancient houses, former residences of viceroys and nobles. but lima does not love to live upon its past. its people have laid out a magnificent _paseo_, or promenade, named after columbus, and here a gay and fashionable throng parades upon the sabbath day, or in the evenings, listening to the music of the band amid the palms and flowers. here congregate the wealth and beauty of the city, its statesmen and leaders, and all those who customarily throng to these earthly paradises which the spanish americans customarily lay out as adjuncts of their cities. the latest modes are seen, the fashions of paris and london--also the half-naked indian, unlettered and unashamed. lima possesses many educational and scientific bodies and establishments, and has a well-deserved claim to being a centre of culture. its press is one of the best in south america: its people have strong poetical leanings and administrative genius. among the more recent of successful presidents stand forth the names of pardo, pierola, and leguia. the last-named, a capable administrator, lived in london during the great war and went through the experience of air-bombardment, when he returned to peru to take up his second term of office. there is a certain isolation about lima, due to its geographical position. the other large towns of the republic are separated from it by vast stretches of desert and cordillera, and the railways give access to but a few points, whilst any interruption of the steamer lines along the coast cuts it off from the outside world. however, its picturesque watering-places and well-built residential suburbs extend the amenities of lima over a wider zone. the upper-class folk of peru, as we behold them in their capital and other large towns, have the pleasing traits of courtesy and hospitality we are accustomed to associate with their race in marked degree. they are extremely eloquent, and aim at a high standard of civilization--that sensitive characteristic of the spanish american. their women have justly earned a world-wide reputation for their beauty and vivacity, their good breeding and culture, as well as their piety and high standard of family life. if the hand of semi-mediaeval custom still hampers peru in its social customs, this is a matter which time constantly modifies. all parts of spain furnished the ancestors of the peruvians--basque, catalonian, andalusian, galician, and castillian names being encountered among them, and in viceregal days there were many titles of nobility, which fell into disuse on the advent of the republic. nevertheless, it is an amiable weakness of the peruvians--as it is of many other latin american folk--to love titles, as we see by the so frequent use of the doctorate degree. in a peruvian cabinet, it would be rare to discover a minister who is not addressed as "doctor"--of laws or science--for the degree is often taken in latin america largely as conferring some social distinction, and not necessarily with the purpose of practising this or that profession. yet in justice to the peruvians it must be said that they are clever professional men, whether at law, medicine or other, whilst practical science has its outlet also in the engineering profession, a considerable number of whose exponents make a study of the country's agricultural and mineral potentialities. a pleasing feature of the peruvians is their cordial welcome of foreigners, their desire to assimilate the things of the outside world, and strong notions of progress. it is not, however, to be supposed that their houses are readily open to the foreign visitor. like all latin americans they are exclusive; and the traveller must be a _caballero_, a person of refinement, if he is to enter their family circle. the main defect of the country and its governing classes is the neglect of the vast indian and lower-class population, for this upper and enlightened class is but a small proportion of the population. the oligarchical tendencies which we find so strongly marked in chile, in mexico, and, indeed, in every latin american state, are strong in peru. these countries can never truly progress until they take their domestic responsibilities more seriously, thereby improving the economic and social status of the great bulk of poor folk whom providence has delivered to their charge. on the contrary, they are more and more exposed to uprising and anarchy, such as that so terribly exemplified in mexico, and farther afield in russia. if they would preserve their culture they must extend it. it is true that these responsibilities concerning the cholos and indians have of recent years been more widely recognized, but much remains to be done in the field of practice. elsewhere i venture to discuss, in the closing chapters of this book, what would appear to be the lines upon which the solution of this vital question of spanish america should proceed. peru is not yet freed from the revolutionary habit, the game of politics which brings unrest and at times destruction. the sweets of office are always alluring. the game is generally played in peru by but a few, the bulk of the people standing aloof. its incidents are often extremely picturesque and at times operatic. a president may, one day, be in the zenith of his power, surrounded by his admirers and fellow-administrators. the next, arrested by a rival with a handful of soldiers, he may find himself on board a steamer for panama, deported, banished and alone. this method is at least better than that which at earlier times involved political murders, some of which stand forth in the republican history of peru. in justice, however, it must be said that such stains on the pages of the past are not more marked in peru than in the case of some of her neighbours in the new world. moreover, it is useless for the european to pretend to arraign the spanish american for these practices, whilst his own house is, or has so recently been, the scene of such dreadful disorders. from the disorders of man here on the great pacific coast, let us turn to the unrest of nature. during our stay in lima we may have experienced an earthquake shock, slight or considerable, and with others have hastily left our dwelling. upon this coast the scourge of the earthquake and the tidal wave is at times laid heavy upon the dwellers. the destruction of valparaiso is but a recent occurrence, as was that of san francisco, in california. to-morrow, these or any other cities along the unstable edge of this hemisphere might be brought low from the same cause. here is a picture of terror from the middle of the eighteenth century. it was in lima, the beautiful capital of peru, when, on a summer night in october , the folk of the city were leaving the temples after celebrating the _fiestas_ of saint simon and saint jude. rich and noble personages, escorted by their slaves, were exchanging, as was customary, friendly visits. the moon shone brilliantly from a cloudless sky; all was quiet and peaceful: the twang of a guitar or other evening whispers of the city alone broke the serenity. the bells of the convents and the church-tower clocks struck half-past ten. it was bedtime. suddenly a terrific shaking of the earth took place; the foundations of the world seemed loosened, the people were thrown from their beds; the towers of the churches fell; the walls and roofs of the houses crashed in; the most dreadful panic reigned as thousands of persons were smothered in living tombs. it was an earthquake. the shock lasted three minutes, during which the earth was wrenched and torn as if by a giant. in the time it takes to tell the city was destroyed, and the work of over two hundred years brought to ruin. of a city with , souls, not more than twenty-five houses remained. of the two great towers of the cathedral, one fell upon the domed roof and the other on the belfry, destroying the temple in great part--so chronicled a jesuit priest who witnessed it. five magnificent churches were laid in ruins, with sixty convents, chapels and monasteries. the great buildings fell upon the small--all were demolished. the streets were blocked with wreckage: the inhabitants, in all states of dress and undress, striving to flee, were crushed by falling walls. sweet maidens of lima, old hags from the back streets, noble and priest, gallant and beggar, all in their terror jostled each other. those engaged in illicit amours confessed their sins to unheeding ears. the viceroy's palace fell; the triumphal arch with the equestrian statue of philip v fell; the royal university and colleges fell; the tribunal of the inquisition was reduced to fragments. in lima at this time catholicism was in the zenith of its power and splendour and the faith of the people strongest. but no one dare approach the churches, notwithstanding that they were the home of god. the shocks continued--more than two hundred in twenty-four hours--and went on for three days. trenches were opened to bury the dead. the stench of the dead bodies of mules smothered in their stables was unbearable. over six thousand persons perished. whilst the stricken people were seeking their lost relatives, another terror was visited upon them. suddenly, from callao appeared a negro on horseback, his eyes starting from their sockets, shouting in accents of terror: "save yourselves! the sea is coming sweeping in over the coast! it will be upon you!" lima is but a few miles from callao, with a strip of coastal land between. the earthquake had given rise, as it commonly does on that coast, to a tidal-wave, which was now rushing inland. it did not, however, reach lima, falling some distance short, and, it is said, rising to feet above sea-level. but the people already seemed to see themselves overwhelmed. a priest, half naked, wounding his own breast in penitential frenzy, rushed through the streets, ashes on his head, the bit and bridle of a mule in his mouth. "this is the punishment of heaven upon sinners!" he cried, and he beat himself with an iron bar until the blood gushed from his body. at the sight, thousands of persons fell on their knees, imploring pardon from heaven, confessing their crimes, but "as all were sinners, none lent ear to the confession of others, being too much occupied in recounting their own misdeeds." in callao a more dreadful scene was enacted. after the first great shock of the earthquake, the people tried to flee from the town, but the gates had been locked for the night, and whilst they flocked the streets, screaming and praying, endeavouring to avoid the falling walls, a terrible thing was seen. the sea had gone out for more than two miles from the shore, forming mountains of water that seemed to reach the skies. the mountains of water then rushed forward and fell with horrid crash upon the doomed city, submerging the ships in the bay or carrying them in among the houses. the cries for mercy to heaven were vain: there was no mercy shown them, and the people perished. when at length the waters retired, nothing was left of callao but part of the wall and the two great doors of the city.[ ] [ ] see the author's _the andes and the amazon_. to this day the image of _nuestra señora de los temblores_--our lady of the earthquakes--is carried through the streets of lima, as of other peruvian towns, such as arequipa, which has suffered terribly from earthquakes in its history, whenever the earth trembles, that the heavens may be appeased. a moral effect of these visitations is to be noted by the traveller in peru. it is seen that the women of the labouring class wear very long skirts that often drag in the mud or dust. it was ordained that, the formerly short skirts being immodest and displeasing to heaven, which, it was held, had punished the people by that earthquake, they should henceforth be worn long enough to conceal the ankles! perhaps the devotees of exaggerated feminine fashion in europe to-day might usefully ponder these occurrences! chapter vi along the pacific coast in peru, bolivia and chile our course still lies southward. the steamer, at times approaching sufficiently near the coast or calling at the small seaports to set down passengers or to embark merchandise--of ores, cotton, sugar, cattle and so forth--permits glimpses of the littoral, the long stretches of desert alternating with fruitful vales, irrigated by the rivers descending from the cordillera. here and there the curious _médanos_, or moving sand-dunes, arrest the eye;[ ] here and there are olive-groves and vineyards and other cultivation of southern peru, where excellent wines are produced. soon we shall pass the chilean frontier, and away in the interior lies bolivia, among the distant andes, whose grey and solemn wall looks down eternally upon the seaboard. [ ] their movement is not readily apparent. let us ascend from the coast by one of the railways here, that running from the peruvian port of mollendo, an exceedingly bad and exposed roadstead, in which, at times, it is difficult to gain the shore at all from the heavy surf. [illustration: cultivated lands on the pacific coast of peru. vol. i. to face p. .] the southern railway, ascending the dreadful volcanic wastes, and barren, rocky spurs which mark this region, reaches the pleasing city of arequipa, lying at nearly , feet elevation. it stands at the foot of the misti, a high, snow-covered volcano, whose conical form reveals its geological structure, a prominent landmark in this part of peru, seen far over the surrounding deserts. the tonic breezes and blue sky give to arequipa an invigorating environment. the cathedral, a handsome structure, and the houses, are built of volcanic freestone, which gives an air of solidity and repose to the place. in including arequipa in our survey of the coast we shall be consulting the wishes of the people of the city, who prefer to consider themselves as of the coastal region--with all that such a position conveys--for the coast represents a more advanced culture here, as contrasted with the _sierra_, or cordillera. the fortunate traveller will retain pleasing impressions of arequipa and its society--its bright skies and brighter eyes. the railway, leaving arequipa, passes the main range of the cordillera at an elevation of nearly , feet, and descends to lake titicaca, whence fresh-water navigation on this high inland sea carries the traveller into bolivia. lake titicaca is perhaps the most remarkable lake in the world. a body of fresh water, , feet above the sea, and two hundred miles long, upon which we navigate out of sight of land, is perhaps unique. from the steamer the imposing range of the white cordillera of bolivia is seen, the snow-covered andes, from sorata to illimani, whose crests or peaks rise to over , feet. we remark the craft of the natives, the curious _balsas_ of woven grass, sometimes with mat sails, in which they navigate the lake. titicaca is peculiar in being a hydrographic entity, having no outlet except that the water flows for a few miles along a channel to the adjacent lake poopo. fed by the melting snow of the andes, the waters are kept down solely by the agency of evaporation and some possible seepage. beyond these high lake basins and the mountain crests to the east stretch the illimitable forests of the amazon, partly unexplored, a lure to the traveller. but we must return to the seaboard. we have already remarked that bolivia possesses no ports. she is isolated from the coast, having lost the port of antofagasta in the nitrate war of last century. in passing, it might be remarked that the comity of the south american nations on the coast might be consolidated if this seaport could be restored to bolivia. nothing in the future is likely to cause more enmity than the arbitrary cutting-off of peoples by adjoining nations from access to seas and navigable rivers, whether in america or europe. the nitrate region, which was the scene of the bloody struggle between peru and chile, and in which bolivia took part, stretches like a veritable sahara upon the littoral here, south of tacna and arica. these two last-named provinces were, students of south american polity will recollect, possessions of peru, and are now held by chile. they are still the cause of bitter controversy between the two nations, which periodically threatens to bring about war between them. it is greatly to be lamented that this fruitful source of contention cannot now be settled, and an era of neighbourly feeling brought about, instead of the hypocritical diplomatic expediency and veiled hatred which do duty for international relations on this coast. the matter might well be made the subject of arbitration, with friendly nations (perhaps britain or the united states) as umpires. the sun-baked rocks and sands of this part of south america have been stained with the blood of thousands of chileans and peruvians, and the same events might occur again. yet both these nations have more territory than they can efficiently develop. but the spanish american people have ever much difficulty in settling their quarrels. their traits of pride and over-individualism, inherited from the spaniard, render it difficult to give way. if one performs an act of magnanimity, the other may suspect or accuse it of weakness or cowardice. both wrap themselves in haughty reserve, both invoke the high gods to bear witness to their own truth, both are quixotic and quick-tempered. yet they are people of the same civilization, speech, laws, literature and culture, with splendid qualities and a promising future, and if these quarrels could be composed, the progress of the region would be hastened. the port of iquique (with pisagua), south of arica, is well known to many travellers and other persons interested in the chilean nitrate fields, of which it is the principal shipping centre. the greater share of the business of nitrate production is in british hands. the _oficinas_ are establishments peculiar to northern chile, forming small colonies or localities, whose workers consist of the chilean _rotos_--a hardy and turbulent but industrious folk--headed by english managerial staffs. around these centres of industry, on every hand, broken here and there by small oases where water-springs occur, stretches some of the most dreadful desert land in the world. such, for example, are the desert of tarapaca, and those intervening between the nitrate pampas and the cordillera, where neither man nor animal can live, nor blade of herbage can flourish. nature here, as far as the organic world is concerned, is dead, or has never lived. iquique is a town of wooden houses, overlooked by sand-dunes that threaten it from the wind-swept desert, but it has pleasing features, and the english colony here, with its well-known club--it has a reputation for hospitality, and, incidentally, the consumption of cocktails--has its own marked characteristics. the nitrate railway ascends through high, broken country to the east to the pampa. indeed, the life and thought of the region is largely embodied in the words "nitrate" and "pampa." the deposits of this mineral are unique in geology. there is none other of the same nature on the globe. the mineral lies in horizontal beds a few feet beneath the surface. we may be riding over the flat, absolutely barren _pampa_, or plain, floored with nothing but fragments of clinkstone, eroded by the ever-drifting sand and unrestful wind, gleaming in the metallic sunlight, for no shower of rain ever visits this wilderness, a place where we might think nature has nothing to offer of use or profit. but we should be mistaken. an excavation will reveal the sheet of white salts beneath, deposited in geological ages past by marine or lake action, under conditions not clearly understood--deposits which cover many miles of territory. the material is blasted out in open mining and conveyed to the oficinas--large establishments of elaborate machinery and appliances--where it is boiled, refined, re-crystallized and thence shipped for export. still farther afield through the deserts here are vast areas of salt, the ground presenting the appearance of a suddenly arrested, billowy sea, over which the horseman makes his way like a lost spirit in hades. upon the horizon are the steely andes, upon whose plateaux here, reached by the highest railway in the world, we find rich copper mines, such as those of colhuahuassi, and various deposits of the salts of copper. but to return to the coast. it was upon this melancholy seaboard, the coast of tarapacá, that a sea-fight, classic in the annals of south america, and indeed one of the very earliest of battles between ironclad ships, took place--an engagement which has rendered the names of pratt and grau, the chilean and the peruvian admirals, immortal in the memory of their respective countrymen. peru and chile were engaged in life and death struggle with each other on land and sea. iquique, then a peruvian port, was blockaded by chile. grau, having sailed from callao for arica with the _huascar_ and _independencia_, which vessels practically constituted the peruvian navy, heard of the blockade, and proceeded to iquique to engage the enemy. the day was breaking as the peruvian vessels arrived off the port. the approach was seen by the _esmeralda_ and the _covadonga_, two chilean ships, and captain pratt, on board the _esmeralda_, decided to give battle, notwithstanding that the peruvian vessels were ironclads, whilst his own commands were unarmoured. it was a brave resolution, but the chileans were born sea-fighters. the _huascar_ was a turret-ship, built at birkenhead in , but of only , tons, armed with whitworth and armstrong guns, but with armour-plating incapable of resisting any heavy cannonade. the _independencia_ was an older type ironclad, of , tons, built in london in . the _esmeralda_ was a wooden corvette, and the _covadonga_ a wooden gunboat which had been captured from the spaniards in the expedition sent by spain against chile and peru in . they carried armstrong and nordenfelt guns. the chileans had some powerful ironclads, as we shall see later, but they were investing callao at the moment. thus unequally armed, the contestants began the engagement. the _huascar_ opened fire upon the _covadonga_ and the _independencia_ strove to ram her. the _huascar_ then turned her attention to the _esmeralda_, and so the battle proceeded for a space. at length, the _esmeralda_, feeling the inferiority of her structure, adopted the ruse of steaming into shoal water, hoping to draw her antagonist of greater draught ashore. but ill-fortune frustrated this attempt. there was a loud explosion on board, and it was found that a boiler had burst, crippling her. the _huascar_ rapidly closed in to , yards, and at this range the two vessels continued to bombard each other in a struggle to the death, chilean and peruvian each serving their guns with equal valour. the noise of the cannonade resounded over the crisp waves of the pacific and rumbled far inland over the desolate wastes of tarapacá. fortune was against the chilean. a shell struck her, set her on fire, killing a number of her crew and practically putting her out of action. but the gallant pratt was not of the stuff that surrenders, notwithstanding the condition of his ship--littered with dead and wounded and in imminent danger of sinking. he would not strike his flag, whilst the araucanian blood of his sailors, which never gives way, would first go down to death, and the vessel continued her now enfeebled fire. the _huascar_, protected by her armour, was little injured, and grau, to end the struggle, determined to ram. the ironclad rushed in upon the wooden hull of her victim, ramming her on the port side. seeing that all was lost and determined at least to sell his life dearly, captain pratt leapt from his own craft upon the peruvian's deck. but a single man had time to follow him before the ships separated again, and "surrender! surrender!" the peruvians shouted. for reply, pratt rushed along the deck, attacked all who opposed him, and, engaging a peruvian officer, slew him. but so unequal a contest could not last, and, pierced by a dozen bullets, the gallant pratt fell dead. but the _esmeralda_ refused to strike her flag, the standard of the single star, which still waved proudly from her peak. her second in command swore he would follow the example of his chief, and so it befel. the vessels closed again, the beak of the peruvian ramming the _esmeralda_ on the starboard bow, opening a breach. the waters rushed in, the furnace fires were extinguished, the seamen were killed at their posts, but ere they separated, the commanding officer and a sailor leaped upon the _huascar's_ deck and died fighting, falling as pratt had fallen. again the _huascar_ rammed, simultaneously discharging her guns into the bowels of the doomed corvette. it was the end; the _esmeralda_ went down, carrying with her to a sailor's grave all but fifty of her crew of two hundred souls. as for the _covadonga_, she fled into shoal water, and the _independencia_ following, ran aground on the rocks, a total wreck, and the _covadonga_ opened fire upon her. notwithstanding this loss, grau harassed the enemy for months with his single ironclad, until excitement in chile caused the dispatch of the chilean fleet, which, having been overhauled, was sent to hunt down this brave and persistent unit to the death. a misty morning off the coast of tarapacá. two peruvian war vessels, the _huascar_ and the _union_, are steaming quietly to the north. the mist lifts, and to the east disclosed the sandy desert shore and the far, faint, grey range of the andes. to the west, what? three lines of smoke from as many hostile funnels. the _union_ was an indefensible vessel, and grau signalled her to escape. and now on the north-west three other ominous trails of smoke appear--smoke from the chilean vessels--the _almirante cochrane_, so named after lord cochrane, the englishman famous in chilean history; the _o'higgins_, named after the irish president of chile; and the _loa_. escape was impossible, unless it were by fighting a way through the line, and, against these odds, the brave grau prepared his ship for action. he opened fire, striking the _cochrane_, whose armour, however, was too strong to pierce, and, at a thousand yards, the chilean replied. his shot struck the old hand-worked turret of the _huascar_ so that it ceased to revolve. grau closed in and strove to ram, but the _cochrane_ was a twin-screw steamer, and was manipulated well. the _cochrane's_ armour was thick, her armament heavy, her weight three times that of the old _huascar_. for two hours the unequal fight raged on; shot and shell rained from both vessels, often doing but little damage. grau was in the conning-tower when his end came, directing the action of his ship, calm and collected. suddenly there was a crash, and when the smoke cleared away it was seen that the conning-tower had been struck by a shell. it was blown to pieces, as were the brave peruvian admiral and his officer, nothing remaining of their bodies but a few ghastly fragments. and now the powerful _blanco encalada_, one of the chilean ironclads, closed in. a shell from her guns at six hundred yards took off the head of the _huascar's_ second in command and wounded the third officer. scarcely had the fourth had time to take his place when he was injured by a shell, and the junior lieutenant assumed command of a ship littered with the dead and dying. yet though the guns in the tops were silent and those below disabled, the turret injured, the deck strewn with mutilated bodies, the peruvians kept up the fight, the dying _huascar_ striving at least to ram one of her enemies before she sank. but at length, being utterly disabled, the vessel hauled down her flag.[ ] [ ] see the author's _peru_, in the south american series; also markham's _history of peru_. thus ended this epic sea-fight, and with it went the sea-power of peru. thus, moreover, was the value of the ironclad demonstrated--the armoured vessel, the forbear of the _dreadnought_. the torpedo was also used in this fight, one fired by the _huascar_ turning back upon the vessel itself, where it would have caused disaster earlier had not a sailor jumped overboard and diverted its course. the attack on lima by the chileans and its defence by the peruvians, and other episodes of the war following on the above events, make terrible reading--a history of which, however, we cannot here enter upon. we continue to pass the coasts of the nitrate-bearing lands, whose working and export yield the republic of chile their greatest source of revenue. it was off the chilean coast, it will be recollected, that another and more modern engagement between vessels of war took place, when a weaker british squadron was overpowered by the german pacific fleet--a disaster amply wiped out off the falkland isles, a little later on. the railway that ascends from the port of antofagasta also enters upon the nitrate pampas, and there are copper-bearing districts tributary to the line. at , feet elevation the river loa is crossed, and beyond we approach the ever-smoking, snow-capped cone of san pedro, one of the andean volcanoes here. then the gleaming surface of the borax "lake" of cebollar, the largest borax deposit on the face of the globe, catches the eye. the great snow-clad cordillera, with the giant ollague, , feet, on the border of chile and bolivia, is passed, and the railway reaches the bolivian plateau, the southern portion of the titicaca basin, and passes the town of unini, with its rich silver mines, skirts lake poopo, and reaches the town of oruro, famous for its tin. beyond, this interesting line reaches la paz, the capital of bolivia. the same place is now served by the railway recently built from arica, and thus the interior of the mountainous republic of bolivia is rendered more accessible. recent construction has effected a juncture with the railway system of argentina, thus affording a further transcontinental route. after the tropic of capricorn is passed, the andes approach nearer to the sea, revealing their snowy crests from the steamer's deck, and from valparaiso the fruitful valleys of chile unfold, watered from the mountains--a more temperate zone, where the flowers as of europe may be seen and the culture of the chilean people is displayed. of his native land a chilean poet sings that its bulwarks are the mighty cordillera, its frontiers the sea--a romantically expressed conception of the position of chile which is geographically correct. a zone of territory three thousand miles in length and nowhere broader than two hundred miles, and, in general, only a hundred, confined between the andes and the pacific ocean, the republic has perhaps the most curious form of any country in the world. under his own flag the chilean may journey from the heat of the tropics to the cold of the antarctic by taking steamer up and down his coast or by a more or less arduous land journey along the littoral. such is the topography of this interesting land--interspersed with burning deserts, fruitful valleys and with glimpses of delightful landscape, snowy mountains and profound forests. to have opened a sketch of chile with a reference to a poetical conception is not to argue that the chileans are a dreamy and over-poetical folk. they are, on the contrary, practical, hardy, and courageous--courage which, in their conflicts with their neighbours in the past, and in their own internecine strife and revolution, has at times given way to cruelty and savagery--a condition, however, not confined to these more southern inhabitants of the south american continent. by reason of their more practical ideas and enterprise in commercial matters, their ability--which is largely absent from the spanish american people as a rule--of forming successful joint-stock companies to exploit this or that field of industry or finance, their superior navy and seamanship, and for diverse reasons, the chileans have been termed, or have liked to term themselves, the "english of south america" a soubriquet varied by the appellation of the "americans or _yanquis_ (yankees) of south america." the chilean navy was modelled after that of britain; the army, however, after the german style. the early history of chile, if less picturesque than that of peru, is full of incident--often dreadful--and doughty deeds. bluff old almagro it was who set his eyes upon chile--almagro, the partner of francisco pizarro, partners whose quarrels finally resulted in the death of both. the indians of cuzco had told their conquerors of a land that lay beyond the desert and the mountains to the south, reaching no man knew whither; a land not a great empire, but one of many tribes, and so easily to be subdued, and, moreover, overflowing with gold and silver. this land they called chile. fiery spirits flocked to almagro's standard from panama for another of those "dare-devil heroic marches into the unknown world which only greed and faith could inspire." almagro's band consisted of white men and , indians, and it left cuzco in . "to have descended to the coast and thence march by the lowlands would have been the easiest way, but it was the longer, and the adventurers were as impatient to reach their goal as the pizarros were to see them gone: so almagro marched straight along the inca road, past lake titicaca, across part of bolivia and what is now argentina, and then over the andes. daring and difficult as some of the spanish marches had been, none hitherto had had to encounter the hardships that faced almagro on his andean progress. cold, famine, and toilsome ways killed his followers by thousands, and to the frost and snow of the mountain sides succeeded hundreds of miles of arid deserts, where no living thing grew and no drop of water fell. "at length, with but a small remnant of his host, almagro found himself in a well-defined region, consisting roughly of a vast valley running north and south, the giant chain of the andes enclosing it on the east with foothills and spurs projecting far into, and in some places almost intersecting, the narrow plain, and a lower range of mountains bordering it upon the west, and shutting it off from the sea, except here and there, where a break in the chain occurred. the valley was relatively narrow, so narrow that in many places the hills on either side were clearly visible, but the adventurers as yet knew not that this curious strip of broken plain between two mountain ranges extended with its immense line of coast for well-nigh , miles, and was destined to become, from its natural formation, the first maritime nation of south america. "almagro found the sturdy, skin-clad tribesmen of the mountain slopes and elevated plains far different foemen from the soft, mild slaves of the incas in the tropical north. their very name of chile came from the word meaning cold; and their temperate climate had hardened them and made them robust. gold and silver, it is true, they had in plenty, and held them in no very high esteem, but they fought with a fierceness of which the spaniards had had no experience in america in defence of their liberty and right to live. this, it was clear, was to be no easy conquest, and almagro, learning that the peruvians of the north had risen in a mass against the spanish oppression, abandoned chile, and marched back to peru to fish in troubled waters, and in due time to meet a felon's death at the hands of vengeful pizarro. "but the tales of the rich and fertile land of the south had whetted the greed of the victor, and when old almagro was finally disposed of, pizarro set about adding chile to his own vast domain, held for charles the emperor and king of spain, with the sanction of holy mother church. the news of almagro's formal annexation of chile to the spanish crown, as usual in such cases, set the hungry courtiers of madrid clamouring for a share of the spoil and glory, and an incompetent nonentity called pedro sanchez de la hoz was sent out from spain to complete the conquest of the new domain in the name of the emperor. pizarro knew well how to deal with such folk, and whilst appearing to respect the imperial orders, really stultified them. what he needed to do his work were iron soldiers, dour estremenians, like himself; who knew neither ruth nor fear, and one he found after his own heart in pedro de valdivia, who in the five years since he had joined the chief in peru, had proved that he possessed all the qualities for repeating in chile the success of pizarro in the empire of the incas. sanchez de la hoz, nominally the leader, promptly became the cipher that nature had intended him to be, and valdivia took the lead. "this time, in , the safer way by the coast desert was taken, and with a mere handful of spanish soldiers, but accompanied by a great host of indians, valdivia marched through the interminable valley, carrying with him rapine and oppression for the gold he coveted. a great pitched battle for a time, early in , decided the supremacy of the white men, and valdivia, with superhuman energy and cruelty unexampled, set tens of thousands of indians to work washing auriferous sand, delving in mines, cutting roads that still exist, and clearing the way for the advance of the spaniards southward. in a lovely, fertile, elevated plain, with the eternal snow-capped andes looking down upon it, valdivia founded the capital of his new domain, the city of santiago, on the morrow of his victory in february , and from the height of st. lucia above, upon the spot where the conqueror overlooked the building of his city, his gallant figure in bronze still dominates the fair scene of his prowess. "fighting almost constantly for years, valdivia, with ever-growing forces, pushed farther south. valparaiso was founded in as the main seaport for the capital, and two years afterwards the conqueror crossed the biobio river and entered the fertile agricultural and pastoral country of the araucanians. refined and cultivated as the incas of the north had been, these stalwart indians of the temperate south surpassed them in the sterner virtues and in the arts of war. tales of their lofty stature and mighty strength grew with the telling, and the spaniards acknowledged that at last they had met in america a people who were more than their match. concepcion, talcahuano, imperial, valdivia, one city after the other rose in this land of forests and fighters, to be destroyed again and again, only to be rebuilt. gold in abundance, surpassing the visions even of the spaniards, was to be had for the digging or washing, but the indians would only dig or wash the metal whilst a white man with a harquebus stood over them, and not always then. poison and treachery were common to both sides, and cruelty surpassed itself. in one battle valdivia cut off the hands and noses of hundreds of indian prisoners and sent them back as an object lesson, and the araucanians, with devilish irony, killed the spaniards by pouring molten gold down their throats. "the lands through which the spaniards passed were teeming with fertility, and tilled like a garden, and the sands of the frequent rivers abounded in gold; but the people were hard to enslave, and the leader that at last aroused them for a final successful stand was valdivia's own araucanian serf, lautaro. the christian chief fell into an ambush led by him in , and though valdivia begged and bribed hard for his life, vengeance sated itself upon him. his heart was cut out, and the indian arrows soaked in his blood, the heart itself, divided into morsels, being afterwards eaten by the braves, whilst his bones were turned into fifes to hearten the tribesmen to resist the invaders. "for well-nigh a hundred years the fight went on in the country extending from the biobio to the archipelago of chiloé, and it ended at last in the formal recognition of the independence of this splendid race, who had withstood in turn the inca and the white man. even then the struggle was not over, for the spaniards could ill brook the presence of an independent indian people in their midst as civilization and population grew in south america. but what force and warfare could never compass, time, intermarriage and culture have gradually effected, and in our own times the araucanians have become chilean citizens."[ ] [ ] _chile_, scott elliot (martin hume's introduction), south american series. chile threw off the yoke of spain in . the yoke upon the indies was really falling off itself. spain was too weak to coerce her colonies much longer. but in spain tried again. a half-irish chilean patriot was the hero of this struggle, a patriot who, his ammunition giving out, charged his guns with coin in lieu of grapeshot and cut his way to santiago, and he on land and the englishman cochrane on the sea caused chile to become one of the foremost factors in the final liberation. many travellers have rendered homage to the beauty of the chilean landscape. "the appearance of the andes from the central valley is always imposing, grandiose and magnificent. they are unique: it is worth crossing half the world to see them. the dry, stimulating air and the beautiful cloudless sky in themselves provoke enthusiasm."[ ] [ ] _chile_, loc. cit. elsewhere i have spoken of "the beautiful andes and the death-dealing andes." almagro's terrible march across the chilean andes, as described elsewhere, shows these characteristics of the cordillera vividly. much of the early history of chile is made up of the rebellion of the indians; their attacks upon the coastal towns, such as concepcion and valdivia, which they sacked, massacring the spaniards. the town of concepcion, in , suffered something of the fate that overtook lima and callao in the earthquake and tidal wave, and santiago, too, suffered greatly. with a crash the tower of the cathedral fell, awakening the inhabitants at midnight. there were horrible rumbling noises--those curious subterranean earthquake voices in the andes. "there was scarcely time to pray to god," say the chroniclers. every single church and house was thrown down, and nobody could even stand upright. those who could, flew: they fled to the hills for refuge--refuge from the sea, the dreadful tidal wave. for the ocean retreated, as if mustering force for the deluge. then it returned, not once, but thrice, washing over concepcion as if the day of doom indeed had come. the destruction of valparaiso in august was the last terrible disaster of this nature. "the day had been unusually calm and pleasant. at about p.m. there was a sudden, unexpected shock, immediately followed by another; the whole city seemed to swing backwards and forwards: then there was a horrible jolt, and whole rows of buildings (about thirty blocks of houses, three to five stories high, in the avenida brasil alone) fell with a terrific crash. the gas, electric-light and water mains were at once snapped, and the whole city was plunged in darkness. this, however, did not last long, for, five minutes after the shock, great fires started in the ruined buildings about the plaza del orden, and, aided by a violent storm wind, which began about the same time, spread northwards over the city. between the earthquake and the subsequent fire ninety per cent. of the houses are said to have been destroyed. the arsenal, station, custom-house, hospitals, convents, banks, club-houses and grand hotel were for the most part ruined, for without water, and in the horrible confusion that at first prevailed, it was almost impossible to check the fires.[ ] but the authorities showed no lack of energy and presence of mind. patrols of troops and armed citizens kept watch; thieves and marauders attempting to loot were shot. the fire was, where possible, checked by dynamite. messengers on horseback were sent to santiago and other places, appealing for help, and especially for provisions. the telegraph lines were destroyed; the railways were wrecked for miles--bridges had twisted and tunnels had caved in--but communication with santiago seems to have been re-established within a wonderfully short time. this was all the more creditable, for the shocks continued on friday and saturday, and apparently did not cease until about a.m. on tuesday morning. [ ] the central and south american cable office, built of _tabique_, stood the shock. one telegraph operator seems to have pluckily stuck to his post throughout the confusion. the _mercurio_ newspaper office also stood firm, and indeed this paper was regularly issued. "the condition of the wretched inhabitants was most pitiable. some , were encamped on the barren hills above the town without food or clothing; others took refuge on boats or steamers in the bay, for mercifully there was no tidal wave such as commonly accompanies great earth tremors on that coast, and no damage was done to the shipping in harbour.[ ] the number of people killed has been variously estimated at from to , persons; it is probable that from to , were killed and another , wounded. the damage done was at least £ , , ."[ ] [ ] the disturbance produced a tidal wave feet high at hawaii, mani and hilo. [ ] _chile_, loc. cit. [illustration: the landing stage at valparaiso. vol. i. to face p. . ] from earliest times the history of chile upon this coast has been a tortured one--the barbarities and the sufferings both of the early spanish conquerors, the reprisals of the indians, the bloodthirsty and unsubduable araucanians, the feuds between the spaniards themselves, the toll of earthquakes and tidal waves, the battles between spaniard and colonist and between chilean and peruvian and bolivian, the dreadful pages of revolutionary and civil strife. it is veritably a blood-stained coast, and both man and nature might well cry to heaven for surcease. yet to-day there hangs a menace over it--the feud with peru over tacna and arica: and for the future the savage strikes of the workers against the oligarchies of industry. but we need not dwell too much on this aspect. there are many beautiful and peaceful attributes about the land, much to admire in its people. it has been said that chile seems to rise more vigorous and more enterprising after every disaster. let us turn for a space to view somewhat more in detail the chilean capital, as described by a recent writer: "santiago, 'most noble and most loyal,' is a mixture of paris, madrid and seville. it is far ahead of spanish towns in its electric tramways, broad avenues and brisk movement. but the larger houses are all characteristically spanish. they are built round a central court or patio, which is usually open to the sky above and full of flowers and graceful shrubs. very often there are sparkling fountains and statuary also. in fact, through the great gateway of a large santiago house the most delicious little views of water, flowers and greenery can be gathered in passing. this gateway has heavy wooden doors, carefully locked at night; the windows opening on the street are usually heavily barred, which is by no means a useless precaution. "the design of these houses is a very ancient one. four stone huts, placed so as to enclose a square, and with but one opening to the outside, form a miniature fort; even the mansions of the great santiago families, with four or more stories, and with the street front elaborately decorated, are but a development of this very simple arrangement. "it is in santiago that one discovers what marvellous and gorgeous results can be obtained by the use of stucco. very often it is tinted by rose-pink or terracotta, and it is simple and easy to make corinthian, doric or ionic columns, to model flowers, wreaths, vases, and cupids, and other classical figures by means of this plastic material. "the streets run, as is almost invariably the case in south america, at right angles. the alameda is a delicious avenue planted with trees, and traversed by little streams of running water which give a pleasant, murmuring sound and cool the hot air of midday. amongst the trees are statues such as those of bernardo o'higgins, san martin and many others. "the plaza da armas has colonnades along the sides which are famous in chilean history, but is possibly a little disappointing. most of the other public buildings, though fine and magnificent, do not show any very special distinctive character. it is the enormous size, business-like character and thoroughly business-like tone that distinguish santiago. it is quite obviously a metropolis, and indeed, to the upper classes in chile, it is what paris is to every frenchman. "the quinta normal, with its library, herbarium and zoological gardens, where the niata cattle mentioned by darwin are still maintained, is a sort of jardin d'acclimatation and jardin des plantes in one. "in fact, the french, or rather parisian, instincts of the upper classes in santiago can be noticed at every turn. "it is the fashion of books on chile for the author to wax eloquent on the cerro de santa lucia. this rugged, projecting rock overlooking santiago should remind one vividly of pedro de valdivia, of señora suarez, and of the heroical little band that starved out there the first two momentous years of chilean history. "'in this valley, two leagues from the great cordillera, by the side of the river mapocho, god has planted a mountain of a beautiful aspect and proportion which is like a watch-tower from which the whole plain is discovered with the variety of its culture in arable and meadow.' "that is how ovalle describes the hill of santa lucia in his time. "but what has been done with it? stucco vases, balconies, balustrades, gardens, restaurants, and even a theatre, make it impossible, even for a moment, to remember the conquistadores. the view is, however, still magnificent, and it is from the santa lucia that one can obtain the best possible idea of santiago itself. "in the mornings, one may see the santiago ladies hurrying to the churches. the power of the clergy is perhaps most easily realized from the fact that no woman dares to enter the church in a hat or bonnet. every one, rich or poor, noble or lowly, wears the inevitable manto. this is a sort of black shawl; it is sometimes of very rich and beautiful material, and it is always folded in such a manner that it is as becoming as possible. "in the afternoons there are fine horses and carriages to be seen, and the _jeunesse dorée_ may be observed sauntering through the streets and staring in an open and unabashed manner at every lady that passes. it is not considered bad form; indeed, it is supposed to be the correct thing to make audible remarks on a lady's personal appearance. 'how beautiful is the little one! what sympathetic eyes has the elder lady!' and so on. "the physical appearance of some of these young aristocrats (if they really belong to the highest social circles) is not impressive. one notices everywhere the narrow chest, sloping shoulders and effeminate appearance of the typical parisian _roué_. the corner-boys, even, resemble the _apache_ of the boulevards, and are as dangerous and cowardly as these degenerate types of city life. "perhaps the most characteristic custom of santiago and of all chilean cities is the evening 'paseo,' or promenade. after dinner, in the cool of the evening, people saunter under the trees, very often in some public garden where a good band is playing, and gossip over the events of the day. "there does not seem to be much jealousy or ill-feeling between the upper and lower classes in chile, for the masses keep to a different part of the plaza, and do not intrude upon the pacing-ground of the richer or better-dressed people. "this evening promenade is attended by quite small boys and girls. they do not mix, but keep quite separate paths. yet even the little girls of seven or eight years old are finished coquettes. their eyes languishingly observe every man and boy in the plaza, and they take care that each shall receive a due share of their smiles! "the governing classes of chile are, for the most part, descendants of the spanish conquistadores. they preserve in their own hands not merely all important government posts (civil, military and naval), but also they own most of the large landed estates. a few of them, which is very unusual in spanish american countries, not only own but take some part in the management of nitrate oficinas, banks, mines and other industries. almost all the lawyers and doctors are of chilean birth. there are two universities, which supply, in a very ample and generous manner, advocates, solicitors and medical men. "on the other hand, mercantile business of all kinds, both on the large and on the small scale, is carried on almost invariably by foreigners. the old spanish prejudice against traders is by no means dead. even the small shopkeepers seem to be usually spanish basques and italians. "in the south there are many small farms owned by germans, french, swiss, british, and some danes, swedes and norwegians; even indians own much of the land in the south. but the working-class throughout chile, in the mines, in towns, on the farms, and, indeed, everywhere, are chilenos. chile is not the place for a british or continental workman. "there is a very well-marked difference between the chileno inquilino or peon and the better classes, whether chilean or foreign. but amongst the chilean or santiago aristocracy one finds such names as edwards, simpson, walker, rogers and porter. these, of course, are of british or irish descent. towards the end of the eighteenth century, many exceptionally gifted foreigners drifted to chile. they were educated, business-like and capable people. if one remembers that the first line of steamers to europe only began to run some fifty years ago, it is obvious that such men should have been able to acquire wealth. they were respected, even liked and appreciated, by the chilians of those days. many distinguished themselves in the army and navy. but their descendants are pure chilenos now, and very likely quite unable to read or speak any tongue save spanish. this is not surprising, for one can see the process of assimilation going on even at the present day. "any young foreigner who has business instincts and ordinary common sense will, of course, learn to speak spanish. should he possess the necessary industry and talent, he may find himself early in life in a position of some importance, which involves dealing with the better-class chilenos. he will in all probability marry a chilean señorita. the truth is that it is not very easy to resist a chilean girl when she is inclined to be gracious. "she is not at all an advanced woman; she is not inclined to tyrannize over her husband, but is quite content to leave him to manage his affairs and his house as he pleases. she never dreams of contesting his marital authority. it is true that she is not very energetic, but then, is not that an agreeable change? "our young scotchman's or englishman's children will be entirely chilean in ideals, in aspiration and in training. they may be sent home for education, but a few months after their return to chile no one could distinguish them from the chilean _pur sang_. the father will, no doubt, retain a sentimental regard for the old country, but in chile it is exceedingly unlikely that he would ever desire to return permanently to the rain, snow, slush and fogs of britain, where he will be, not a leading aristocrat, but merely a business man of sorts. "but though the somewhat frenchified chilean aristocracy and cosmopolitan foreigners are of interest, the really important person is the chileno peon, inquilino or huaso of the working class. "there is no country in the world which has so valuable a working class (with the possible exception of japan and china). they are descended from the araucanian indian and the spanish andalusian or the basque. they are hardy, vigorous and excellent workmen, and their endurance and patience are almost indian. of their bravery and determination it is unnecessary to speak, for these qualities appear on every page of the stormy history of chile. generally, they are short, dark-eyed and black-haired people. they are intelligent, and quick to learn anything requiring handiness and craftsmanship. they have, of course, many faults: at intervals they drink to excess when they can, and they are hot-blooded and quarrelsome; knives will be drawn and a fight started on very small provocation. as regards honesty, they are certainly no worse than others of their kind, and in the country districts they are better than most. perhaps, economically speaking, the fact that they live and work contentedly on exceedingly low wages (chiefly on beans) is one of their most important characteristics."[ ] [ ] _chile_, loc. cit. [illustration: the malleco river and bridge, chile. vol. i. to face p. . ] of the vineyards and pastures, the many industries, the famous wines of the country, the cattle, the industrious folk, the forests and the fishing, the great mining enterprises, copper and all ore, the rivers and the railways, the german colony of valdivia and the pleasing towns of the coast we cannot here speak in detail. chile is fortunate, industrially, in her great coalfields at lota and elsewhere in the south, which form the basis of considerable industry. the seams in some cases dip beneath the pacific. chile is a land that offers much by reason of its temperate climate, and these more southern regions may be expected to attain to greater importance in the future. for a thousand miles, perhaps, the littoral still unfolds to the south, with great fiords and forests, terminating in a maze of channels which line the coast of patagonia to magellan strait and cape horn. there is a race of hardy indian boatmen here, a tribe which, it is said, "throw their women overboard in a storm to lighten the canoe." it is a land cold and stormy, with a little-known interior, which the early explorers described as being inhabited by giants or people with big feet--hence the name of patagonia. for hundreds of miles the pacific slope is a thick, continuous forest. nevertheless, in the strait of magellan lies a prosperous chilean colony, where vast flocks of sheep thrive--the colony of punta arenas, the world's southernmost seaport. magellan, the intrepid portuguese navigator of early times, whose name the strait bears, bore bravely out into the great south sea which he named the pacific. his crew were weak with cold and hunger. but he would push on, "even if they had to eat the leather of the rigging." ox-hides, rats and sawdust, indeed, they did eat. on to the west the vessels sailed, across the unknown sea--"almost beyond the grasp of man for vastness"--to circumnavigate the globe for home. magellan himself did not finish the voyage, although he crossed the pacific, for his earthly race was run; he left his bones in the philippines. but the ship and his pilot, sebastian del cano, a spaniard, reached home, and cano was given the arms of nobility, with the device of a ship and globe and the inscription _tu solus circumdedesti me_. * * * * * from the pacific coast we shall now ascend to the great chain of the andes, to follow the same series of countries in that high region. chapter vii the cordillera of the andes in ecuador, peru and bolivia siste, viator; draw rein: your mule will stop willingly; he is stricken with _soroche_ perhaps, the malady of the mountain, which you yourself may suffer if at this elevation, where but half an atmosphere presses upon us and oxygen is scant, you attempt to run or climb. draw rein upon this summit and look beyond. there is a panorama it were worth a journey over a hemisphere to see. range and peak are clothed with perpetual snow, which gleams like porcelain in the sun. heavenward thrown, crumpled, folded, ridged and fractured, with gnomon-fashioned uplifts pointing to the sky, shattered strata and sheer crevasse, natural terrace and grim escarpment, hung over with filmy mist-veils and robed with the white clothing of its snowfields, and, when the windows of heaven are open, drenched with the deluges intercepted from the boundless plains and forests far beyond; the father of the rivers whose floods are borne a thousand leagues away the cordillera crouches, rears and groans upon the western seaboard of the continent. the beautiful andes, the terrible andes, the life-giving andes, the death-dealing andes--so we might apostrophize them--for the cordillera is of many moods, and whatever change of adjectives the traveller may ring, he will fail of truly describing this mighty chain. when the delicate tints of early morning shine on the crested snow in rarest beauty, and the light and tonic air invigorates both man and horse, the leagues pass swiftly by. night falls, or the snow-cloud gathers, or the pelting rain descends; then does the weight of weariness and melancholy descend upon us[ ]--so have i felt it. [ ] the author's _the andes and the amazon_. the name of the andes, to the traveller who has crossed the giddy passes and scaled the high peaks of this stupendous mountain chain, brings back sensations which are a blend of the pleasurable and the painful. in his retrospect the cordillera--for such is its familiar name to the inhabitants of the land it traverses--bulks as a thing of varied and almost indescribable moods. it possesses that individuality--menacing, beautiful by turns--which no doubt is an attribute of all mountains, in the recollection of those who best know them. the andes are no playground, such as some of the mountains of europe have become, nor are they the object or scene of climbing enterprise and exploration such as bring the himalayas so frequently before the geographically interested public. comparatively simple in their structure, it is their enormous length--a wall unbroken, extending for four thousand miles from north to south along the western littoral of their continent--their treeless aridity, their illimitable, dreary, inclement uplands, and, these passed, their chaste snowy peaks, tinged by the rising or the setting sun, that most impress the traveller in those lands they traverse. here in the higher elevations of these remote fastnesses there are no material comforts for man or beast. humanity, as far as it has the hardihood to dwell here, is confined to the indian or the _mestizo_, who has paid nature the homage of being born here, and so can dwell and work in what is his native environment. in the more sheltered valleys it is true that large centres of population flourish; important towns which from their elevation above sea-level--ten thousand or twelve thousand feet--might look down as it were from a dizzy height upon the highest inhabited centres of europe; whilst, did we establish industrious mining communities on the peak of the matterhorn or mont blanc, we should still be far below some of those places of the peruvian and bolivian andes where minerals are won for the marts of europe. the andes consist physiographically of two great parallel chains, forming into three, with lesser parallel undulations, in certain parts of its course; the ranges being joined by _nudos_ or knots, as the transversal ridges are termed; a very well marked structure. in places vast tablelands lie between the high _paramos_ of colombia, the altiplanicies of peru, the _punas_ of bolivia, often studded with lakes, including the enormous lake titicaca. in some cases these high uplands between the enclosing cordilleras are indeed dreary and inclement, sparsely inhabited, and the dweller of the lowlands loves not to sojourn there longer than may be necessary for his purpose. conversely, the highlander fears the enervating climate of the lowlands. between the more easterly paralleling ranges great rivers run, having their birth in the snow-cap and incessant rains, both of which are the result of the deposition from the moisture-laden trade winds which, sweeping across the atlantic and brazil for thousands of miles, are intercepted by the crest of the cordillera, impinging thereon and depositing their moisture. running down the easterly slope, in a thousand rills, the waters gather in the giant channels, all flowing northwards, in the troughs between the ranges, to where, with curious regularity, they break through these ranges in deep cuttings or _pongos_, as they are there termed, like gargantuan mill-races, turning thus east and pouring forth their floods upon the amazon plain, where, after vast courses amid the forests, they reach the main stream of the amazon, and finally empty themselves on the coast of brazil into the atlantic, whence they originally came upon the wings of the wind--a mighty natural hydraulic engine, unceasing in its operations, stupendous in its work. yes; _siste, viator_, draw rein-- hast thou entered the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail? who hath cleft a channel for the water-flood? dost thou know the balancings of the clouds? the imprint of the andes perhaps never fades from the mind of the traveller. when you have braved the tempest and the steep, when your slow and panting beast overcomes the last few rising yards upon the maritime range that shuts off from view the white cordillera, then, as the dark horizon of the foreground rocks gives place, your astonished gaze rests upon that range of white-clothed sentinels beyond, upraised some time since the jurassic or silurian ages. there they mark the eras: there they stand, performing their silent and allotted work; and there, when evening falls, it tints their brows with orange and with carmine, and wraps their bases with the purple pall of finished day. borne upward three to five miles above the level of the ocean arose these mighty guardians of the western shore, carrying some ocean bed from where it lay, where strange creatures of the deep reposed within the ooze--huge ammonites and cephalopods, whose fossil scrolls and circles, now petrified in rigid schools upon the stiffened summits, catch the traveller's eye as his weary mule stumbles over the limestone ridges: and, blurred by the pelting rain of the andine winter and loosened from the stony grasp by frost and sun and earthquake, they, together with the rocky walls that hold them, are again dissolving into particles; a phase within the endless sequence of nature's work; an accident of her ceaseless and inexplicable operations. has this great cordillera produced a high type of humanity? has the clear atmosphere, the nearer approach to the clouds, the purity and example of the heights made man here pure and noble? we shall judge later, after viewing the palimpsest of history here, following on the palimpsest of nature, for the cordillera is a scroll of time, erased, rewritten in the physical and in the human world. the andes have been blood-stained along all their four-thousand-mile course, that we know, ever since the white man trod them. we also know that before his time the cordillera did produce a high human culture, that of the mysterious "andine people," with their successors, the incas. pagan, perhaps, but who, in the long ages, had evolved some comprehension of the "unknown god," and whose social code was more in tune with a true economic philosophy of life than that of their successors. descending now from the clouds, metaphorically and actually, we must glance more particularly at the life of those modern countries which have in part their home in the cordillera, to whom the cordillera is a very real and palpable thing. from north to south, colombia, venezuela, ecuador, peru, bolivia and chile occupy this extensive zone: countries whose general conditions as regards the littoral we have seen in our journey along the pacific coast. excepting bolivia, all these lands have the advantages accruing from the condition that they stretch from the coast across the andes, extending to the amazon plains beyond; thus enjoying zones respectively of coast, mountain and forest, with all their diversity of environment, climate and resource. as we shall see in the chapter devoted to the amazon valley, many navigable streams traverse this forested region, giving access by launch or canoe through thousands of miles of otherwise inaccessible territory, for roads are often impossible and of railways there are none. colombia we shall visit in another chapter. both colombia and venezuela lie in part upon the andes and face upon the spanish main. ecuador is but a small country in comparison with the vaster areas of its neighbours, but nature has rendered it extremely diverse, and has dowered it--it is a terrible gift, however--with some of the most remarkable mountain forms on the face of the globe. nothing can exceed the stupendous grandeur of the great "avenue" of snow-clad volcanoes which arises before us around quito and terminates on the equator. in ecuador nature might seem to have thought to display her powers after the manner of a model, with every grade of climate, topographical form and species of plant and animal life; to have set up, within a measurable compass, an example of her powers in the tropical world. the hot lowlands of the coast, covered in part with the densest and rankest vegetation, intersected by the most fertile of valleys, where ripen the most delicious and valuable fruits, with rivers wherein the curious life of the tropics has its home, from gorgeous insect or bird down to the tortoise and the loathly alligator, slope upwards to the bleakest tablelands, the icy _paramos_, which themselves are crowned with the snow-capped volcanoes, at times belching forth fire and ash, carrying destruction to fruitful field and populous town. beyond lies some of the most broken region on the earth's surface, descending to the forests inhabited by the half-naked and savage indian, still outside the pale of civilization or the influence of christianity, who may receive the incautious traveller with deadly weapons of blow-pipe and poisoned arrows. the uplands of ecuador embody a high tableland, cut up into three _hoyas_ or basins, known as those of quito, ambato and cuenca respectively. "rising from both the eastern and western rims of this elevated plateau are the higher cordilleras, their main summits culminating far above the perpetual snowline, which in ecuador lies at about , feet above sea-level. as before remarked, due to their peculiarly symmetrical arrangement and spectacular appearance, such an assemblage of snow-clad peaks is not found in any other part of the world. not only for their height are the ecuadorian peaks noteworthy, but for their peculiar occurrence in parallel lines, sometimes in pairs facing each other across the 'cyclopean passage' or avenue formed by the long plateau. there are twenty-two of these great peaks, several of which are actual volcanoes, grouped along the central plains almost within sight of each other. built up by subterranean fires, the great mountain edifices of ecuador are sculptured by glacier streams and perpetual snows. the volcanoes of ecuador have rendered the country famous among geologists and travellers of all nationalities. they were the terror of the primitive indian, and objects of awe and worship by the semi-civilized peoples of the land, and have been at various periods terrible scourges and engines of destruction. "the largest number of high peaks and the greatest average elevations occur upon the eastern andes, or cordillera oriental, whilst the western or occidental is distinguished by having the highest individual elevations. the altitudes given by various authorities of these peaks differ somewhat, and the measurements of later investigators vary considerably from those of humboldt in some cases. humboldt was the first to study and measure the ecuadorian volcanoes, and la condamine measured them in . the more modern investigators were drs. reiss and stübel, who spent four years, from to , in the study, and in they were the subject of edward whymper's famous travels. the alleged remarkable condition of the sinking or rising of various of these summits and localities may account, it has been stated, for the variation found in measurements made at different times. it has been estimated that a considerable decrease in the elevation of the ecuadorian andes in the region took place during last century. quito has sunk, it is stated, feet in years, and pichincha feet in the same period. the farm at antisana, where humboldt lived for some time, has sunk feet in sixty-four years. on the other hand, two of the active volcanoes, those of cotopaxi and sangay, have increased in altitude since they were measured by la condamine, it is asserted. underlying seismic disturbances have doubtless been the cause of these movements."[ ] [ ] _ecuador_, loc. cit. the highest of these peaks is chimborazo, , feet, followed by cotopaxi, , feet, antisana and cayambe, both over , feet, with others ranging downwards to about , feet. "the great cotopaxi, with its unrivalled cone, is the most terrible and dangerous in ecuador, and the highest active volcano in the world. from its summit smoke curls upwards unceasingly, and knowledge of its activities begins with south american history after the conquest. the first eruption experienced by the spaniards was in , during the attempted conquest of the ancient native kingdom of quito by alvarado. the indians regarded the terrible outpourings of the volcano, which coincided with this foreign advent, as a manifestation of nature in aid of the invaders and against themselves, and this was a factor in breaking down their opposition. but the rain of ashes from the burning mountain greatly troubled the small army of alvarado for several days, as before described. after this out-burst cotopaxi remained quiescent for more than two hundred years, until , when it broke out with extraordinary force, and became for twenty-six years the scourge of the districts of quito and latacunga. the province of leon and latacunga, which formerly had been among the most beautiful and fertile, became poverty-stricken by reason of the eruptions. these outbreaks generally consisted in a great rain of sand and ash, followed by vast quantities of mud and water, which were thrown over the valleys and plains, destroying whatever lay in the way. between and there were seven great eruptions of this character, and it is noteworthy that none of these were accompanied by earthquakes. the thunderings were heard at honda, in colombia, miles away, it is recorded. cotopaxi then remained quiescent for thirty-five years, until , when humboldt heard the detonations of a new outbreak, like discharges of a battery, from the gulf of guayaquil, where he was on board a vessel for lima. a number of lesser outbreaks occurred during the nineteenth century, but comparatively little record has been kept of them. there were streams of fresh lava, columns of black smoke, and showers of sand sent forth at various periods, and in a further memorable eruption took place, followed by others up to . it would appear that since the volcano of tunguragua entered again into action cotopaxi has been less vigorous. cotopaxi is regarded by various travellers as one of the most beautiful mountain peaks in the world, its symmetry of outline rivalling the famous fuji-yama of japan, which it overtops by more than , feet. this ecuadorian volcano is , feet higher than popocateptl, the "smoking mountain" of mexico, and more than , feet higher than vesuvius, and , higher than teneriffe. it rises in a symmetrical cone, with a slope of ° or °. its height, as before given, is , , according to whymper, and the crater varies from , feet to , feet in diameter, and is , feet deep approximately, bordered by a rim of trachytic rock. the summit of cotopaxi is generally shrouded in cloud masses, and only visible for a few days even in the clearest season of the year."[ ] [ ] _ecuador_, loc. cit. this high region of ecuador is gained by the railway from guayaquil to quito, which ascends amid some remarkable scenery over a difficult route, traversing deep ravines and fertile districts. some of the passages are terrific in character. "riobamba is reached at , feet. the town is lighted from a hydro-electric station in the mountain stream. beyond this point chimborazo bursts upon the view. the great mountain displays a double peak, the snow-clad crests of which are outlined against the upland sky, at those times when the firmament is free from clouds. the plateau of riobamba has a healthy climate, described, on the authority of humboldt, as one of the best in the world. in this region a considerable increase in the production of wheat has followed upon the building of the railway. "between riobamba and ambato the chimborazo pass is crossed, at urbina, the highest point reached, and thence a rapid descent is made to ambato, , feet in the midst of a district producing fruits and foodstuffs abundantly. along the latacunga valley, comparatively flat and some ten miles wide, rich pastures, intersected by irrigation ditches, abound, with numerous bands of cattle and horses. grain, corn, potatoes, alfalfa, apples, peaches, strawberries, etc., are products of this high fertile district, and good cheese and butter are made. beyond the town of latacunga, , feet elevation, the line crosses the base of cotopaxi, whose snowy cone is surmounted by the thin, unceasing smokewreath from its crater, the cloud hanging in the atmosphere. this point of the line is , feet above sea-level, only slightly less than that of the chimborazo pass. beyond cotopaxi lies the fertile valley of machachi, one of the most pleasing districts in ecuador. on either hand is the row of famous volcanoes, a mighty avenue of great peaks, often clothed in green up to the line of perpetual snow. a view is obtained from the railway of the chillo valley, with various cotton and woollen mills, actuated by water power. in these establishments, hydraulically worked from the river, cloths of cheap character for native clothing are made. still descending, the railway approaches and enters the city of quito at , feet elevation. "the construction of this remarkable railway from guayaquil to quito was mainly due to the activity and enterprise of an american financier and railway builder, mr. archer harman, whose work in connection with which began in . the line remains as a worthy monument to this man, whose grave lies at the pretty town of huigra. a strong impulse was given to the progress of ecuador by the building of this railway and by the influence of its builder, and the republic has cause to remember his name with gratitude, as indeed has the traveller. "quito, the capital of ecuador, is not without an atmosphere of interest and even romance. remote and inaccessible as it has been until, in the last few decades, the railway united it with the outer world, quito still conserves its character of a mountain capital, surrounded by lofty snow-clad volcanoes, whose names are bywords in geography. there are many large towns in the andes, throughout peru, colombia, bolivia and venezuela, but both by reason of its history and its topography the capital of ecuador is among the most interesting. the quito valley lies at an elevation of , feet above sea-level. around the upland valley are twenty noble volcanic summits, whose variety of form is remarkable, from the truncated to the perfect cone, from jagged and sunken crests to smooth, snow-covered, gleaming domes, among them the beautiful, if dreaded, cotopaxi. these mountains are fully described in dealing with the peaks and volcanoes. [illustration: the approach to quito. vol. i. to face p. . ] "the historical interest of quito lies in the fact that it was the ancient centre of the shiri empire, formed by the mysterious caras and the quitus, as described in the historical section of this work, whose dynasty fell before the incas under huayna capac, who in their turn gave way to the spaniards. the famous inca road, traversing the cordilleras and tablelands, joined quito with cuzco, passing through the various centres of inca civilization, with their stone-built temples and palaces, flanked by hill fortresses which guarded the heads of the valleys to the east or the west against the attacks of savage tribes. the remains of this road still exist. "as regards the character of the climate and surroundings of quito, opinions differ considerably. it is difficult to comprehend why the shiris and the incas should have built or maintained their capital city upon such a spot, a small, broken _meseta_, or plain, as is that of quito, or why the spaniards perpetuated it upon a site of so little advantage and utility, when near at hand are the flat lands of turubamba and añaquito, and not very far off the spacious and delightful valleys of chillo and tumbaco. of all the towns on the inter-andine _hoyas_ quito is the highest and coldest. the surrounding vegetation is poor and of melancholy aspect, and corresponds with the inclement situation. the position is healthy and even agreeable for those who are acclimatized thereto, but the descriptions lavished by some writers thereon of 'delicious' and of 'eternal spring' are exaggerations, says one observer.[ ] another authority says that 'the traveller is charmed in looking at the carpet of perpetual verdancy on which quito stands. the climate is delightful. it is neither summer nor spring nor winter, but each day of the year offers a singular combination of the three seasons. neither cholera nor yellow fever nor consumption is known there. the mild and healthy temperature which prevails is something admirable. in short, it may be said that the great plateau of quito is a kind of paradise.'[ ] thus extremes of opinion are seen to exist. [ ] wolf. [ ] professor orton of new york. "the annual death-rate of quito is given as about per , ,[ ] but this might undoubtedly be reduced under better sanitary measures. it is a well-known circumstance that the high upland regions and towns of the andes are generally free from pulmonary consumption, and tubercular disease of the lungs, which on the coastal lowlands of tropical america is very frequent, is unknown above , feet. [ ] _bulletin_ of the bureau of american republics, washington. "the aspect of quito, is picturesque. the first impression is that of a white city, relieved by roofs of red tiles, the streets thronged with interesting people. as seen from the slopes of pichincha, which descend to the city on its western side, or from the summit of the panecillo, a small hill standing within the borders of the city, or from other high points near at hand, the city unfolds pleasingly to the view. it may be likened to a city of the third order in europe. in spite of the broken character of the land upon which it is built, the streets are nearly all straight, the principal thoroughfares being wide and paved. it is traversed from west to east by two deep _quebradas_, or ravines, which descend from pichincha and other hills, and one of these is arched over in order to preserve the alignment of the streets. the city follows the general latin american system of town-planning, being laid out mainly in great rectangular squares, the streets at right angles to each other. the architectural type of the houses is that embodying the old spanish or moorish style, well known to the traveller in latin america, from mexico to peru or argentina: the picturesque and often chaste character of façade (although some may term it monotonous), with iron grilles before the windows and high, wide entrance doorway, or _saguan_, admitting a mounted horseman. the main feature of the house of this type is the interior _patio_, or courtyard, upon which the rooms open, often followed by a second _patio_. the material of which the houses are constructed is _adobe_, or sun-dried earthern brick, which in the dwellings of more pretension are generally covered with stucco or plaster, whitened, and at times painted with vivid colours. stone is also used. the use of colour, on the walls of houses in latin american towns gives a picturesque appearance at times even to the meanest _pueblo_, and relieves what might often be an extreme poverty of appearance. the roofs of the quito houses often project over the footpaths, affording protection from rain, and balconies overhang from every window. "the public buildings of quito are of the heavy, square, colonial spanish type. looking upon the great square, or _plaza mayor_, occupying the whole of its southern side, is the cathedral, and on the western side the government palace, with a handsome façade, whose main feature is its long row of columns. on the north side of the _plaza_ is the palace of the archbishop, and on the east the municipal hall. this arrangement, with some modification, is one encountered in nearly all latin american capitals, wherein are grouped upon the _plaza_ the principal edifices of church and state, the former taking the place of honour. the arrangement is generally a pleasing and useful one. the _plaza_ is the pulse of the community, and during those times when the band plays in its garden it forms a meeting-ground for the people and the sexes. there are other smaller _plazas_ and subsidiary squares in the city, including those of san francisco and santo domingo. the many ecclesiastical buildings are an indication of the part which the church has played. the finest building in the city is the jesuits' church, with a façade elaborately carved, and the university occupies part of what formerly was the jesuit college. there are eleven monastic institutions, six of which are nunneries. one of the convents, that of san francisco, covers a whole _cuadra_ or block, and takes its place as one of the largest institutions of this nature in the world. a part of this great building is in ruins, and another part has been used for the purpose of a military barracks by the government. the university has faculties of law, medicine and theology--those three professions which appeal so strongly to the latin american character; but the institution is regarded as backward, and it has been but poorly supported. "the commerce of quito is small: there is little produced in so high a region for export. superior hand-made carpets are woven, and much skill is shown in wood-carving and in gold and silver work. these industries were often characteristic of the ancient people of america, and weaving was essentially a widely practised craft among the andine races. the beautiful textile fabrics of the incas and pre-incas, some of them probably thousands of years old, which have been preserved attest the taste and skill of these people. the native manufactures of quito include _ponchos_, blankets, mattings and coarse woollen carpets, also tanned leather, saddles and shoes. there is a tendency among all the andine people to preserve their interesting home-crafts and cottage industries, which a wise, economic spirit would endeavour to assist. but cheap imports menace them. "the streets of quito are thronged from morning to evening with horses, mules, donkeys and oxen, also llamas, with loads of all kinds, and ladies in victorias drive about, or to the shops, which are replete with merchandise from london, paris, new york, vienna or berlin. officers in regimentals and gentlemen in top-hats and frock-coats are numerous, and indians with red and yellow _ponchos_ and white cotton trousers and hats. but as regards modern conveniences quito is backward, and the lack of hotels and public hygiene is very serious, and the general conditions surrounding public health call for urgent improvement."[ ] [ ] [ ] a recent london traveller summed up his impressions of quito as "a city of seventy churches and one bath." but there has been some improvement since. [ ] _ecuador_, loc. cit. the ecuadorian "orient," as the eastern forested region is termed, is, as has been said, the third natural division of the country, and a maze of rivers flow to it from the _divortia aquaram_ of the cordillera. the boundary-line with peru, ecuador's neighbour on the south, is in dispute, notwithstanding arbitration by the king of spain in recent years. the relations between the two nations have been seriously embittered by reason of this controversy. ecuador is, in point of population, the weaker nation: perhaps her claims have not been considered in a sufficiently generous spirit. the law of _uti possidetis_ alone holds. but an outlet to the great navigable affluents of the amazon is a question of paramount importance in this forested region, cut off as it is from the pacific by the huge rampart of the andes, and--without prejudice to the historical aspects of the boundary question--this matter should receive full consideration. the orient, although an undeveloped and little-travelled region at present, must, in the future, be of great value. peru enjoys a vast territory in the same zone, and could well afford to take a generous outlook upon the wishes of her neighbour, thereby healing ancient quarrels and laying the foundation of future international stability and friendship. we shall tread this region again in the chapter dealing with the amazon. the upland region of the cordillera between ecuador and peru, little known to-day, was the scene of bitter struggles between the incas--under tupac yupanqui and his son huayna capac, both famous princes of the inca dynasty--and the shiris, of the empire or kingdom of quito, which the incas wished to subjugate. cacha duchisela, whose armies had beaten off the inca attacks--he was the fifteenth and last of the shiri kings of quito--was rapidly declining in health. "but his mind did not share the ills of his body, and he formulated careful plans for the organization of his forces, which, under calicuchima, were carried out. amid the snowy heights of azuay the vanguard of the puruhaes detained for long the onward march of the inca forces. but, aided by the cañaris, the peruvians opened a way, and upon the bleak and melancholy _páramos_ of tiocajas, where years before their fathers had fought, battle was again waged, and with the same fatal result for the forces of the shiri. completely defeated, cacha retired upon the fortress of mocha, as his father hualcopo had done; but, still more unfortunate, cacha could not prevent the advance of the incas. having lost almost all his army, not so much by death as by desertion and disaffection, cacha was forced to abandon the provinces of mocha, ambato, latacunga, and quito, which seemed insecure, and to pass to the northern provinces. followed by the inca, he first fortified himself at cochasqui and then at otalvo.[ ] here the valiant caranquis, who had always been the faithful vassals of the shiris, fought with such bravery that from the defensive the army passed to the offensive, and the inca, escaping from an attack, was obliged to raise the siege of the caranqui fortress and to suspend operations. he ordered strongholds to be made at pesillo, and turned back to tomebamba, with the purpose of calling up from cuzco and the other provinces fresh forces of the imperial troops. in the meantime the caranquis attacked and took the pesillo fortress, and killed its garrison, an exploit which was at once answered by huayna capac with a strong detachment of soldiers, under the command of his brother auqui toma. encountering no resistance, this general advanced to otalvo, but he fell in the first attack. discouraged by his death, the peruvians halted. huayna capac then advanced, bent on vengeance, and the attack was renewed, but without result. at length by means of a subterfuge, in which the incas pretended to flee and then made a flank attack, the castle was taken and burnt. the cheated caranquis fell confused before the enemy, and only a captain and a thousand men escaped, taking refuge in the forests. cachi fled to the famed hatuntaqui fortress, the last hope of his remaining vassals, and around this stronghold his troops were concentrated. the shiri king, notwithstanding his wasting infirmity, caused his servants to carry him in his chair to the place of greatest danger in the combat. the inca sent him the last invitation to an honourable surrender, with the hope of avoiding further bloodshed. cacha made reply that the war was not of his seeking, that he was defending the integrity of his people, and that he would die before submitting. the attacks continued, and at first it seemed that the tide of battle might turn in favour of the shiri. but these hopes were vain, for, suddenly struck by a lance, which penetrated his body, the brave shiri fell dead in his chair. disaster followed: the vanquished army gave up its weapons and surrendered, proclaiming, however, at the last moment, upon the stricken field, the right of accession to kingship of paccha, the son of the dead king. but with the battle of hatuntaqui fell the dynasty of the shiris, and on the plain which had formed, he fatal battleground the traveller may observe to-day the numerous tumuli beneath which repose the remains of those who once formed the army of the kingdom of quito. thus was played out in those high regions, overlooked by the andine snows and volcanoes, one of those fateful dramas of early america, analogous in many ways with the historic struggles of old world dynasties. [ ] velasco and cevallos. "an incident of huayna's reign, as concerns ecuador, was the rebellion of the caranquis, who had accepted the inca rulers. it was a long and obstinate conflict to overcome them, but terrible punishment was meted out. the inca caused , [ ] of the rebels to be drowned in a lake, that of yahuar-cocha, whose name means 'the lake of blood,' which it bears to the present time. the number given, other writers remark, was probably that of the combatants who fell on both sides. when the punitive expedition was accomplished huayna returned to quito, greatly troubled by the constant insurrections of the various provinces of the northern empire. there was a shadow upon the mind of the great inca ruler, a portent of some disaster to befall his nation. these forebodings were later to be realized, for the caravels of the white man, although at that moment the inca did not know it, were about to traverse the waters of the pacific upon the coasts of the empire. [ ] according to cieza de leon. "huayna capac doubtless received news of the earlier arrival of the white men on the panama coast of south america, and the matter impressed him strongly. tradition states that supernatural occurrences heralded the fall of the inca empire--flaming comets, earthquakes, and so forth. on his deathbed, according to tradition, huayna recalled a prognostication that had been earlier made, that after twelve incas had reigned--huayna himself was the twelfth--a valorous race would appear, a white, bearded people, who would overcome the empire. 'i go to rest with our father the sun,' he added. but it would appear that the great inca had not always regarded the sun as an infallible power. some years before, at the great feast of raymi, the festival of the sun, at cuzco, the chief priest had observed that the monarch looked up from time to time at the orb with considerable freedom, an action prohibited and considered almost sacrilegious; and he inquired, why the inca did this. huayna replied: 'i tell you that our father the sun must have another lord more powerful than himself; a thing so inquiet and so bound in his course could not be a god.' before he died huayna capac admonished his successor ever to carry on the noble traditions of their dynasty, in fulfilling their title as 'lovers of the poor.' indeed, a civilization and rulers who had so organized the material resources of the realm and the life of the community that none were in want, and where no class oppressed another, as was indisputably the case under the inca empire, well merited such a title, and that the system should have been destroyed by the ruthless individualism of the europeans is one of the most melancholy incidents in history."[ ][ ] [ ] the author at the request of the economic circle of the national liberal club in london lectured before that body on "the land laws and social system of the incas" ( ). [ ] _ecuador_, loc. cit. these same remote uplands were the scene of the strenuous march of the spaniards under alvarado (whose earlier adventures we followed in mexico), who affected to consider quito as outside pizarro's jurisdiction. theirs was a dreadful march. accustomed to warmer lands, men and horses starved with cold and famine in the inclement and foodless cordillera. they were forced to eat the bodies of their horses and to boil herbs in their helmets for food. the march was made in vain, for alvarado had been forestalled by benalcazar, who, with almagro, was the real conqueror of ecuador. ecuador, after the time of independence, in which the famous liberator, bolivar, figured prominently, formed part of the republican incorporation with columbia and venezuela. afterwards it was subject to revolutionary strife and civil wars of the most savage and bloodthirsty nature. among the leaders of the republican period the name of dr. garcia-moreno stands forth. it was a steadfast doctrine of his that political progress could not be secured whilst widespread poverty among the people remained--a doctrine opposed to the merely political ideas of other presidents of the republic, and which indeed is as true to-day in the spanish american republics as it was then.[ ] [ ] for an account of this ruler, see _latin america_, calderon, south american series. the antagonisms of the liberal and clerical elements at this period brought dreadful excesses in political life, with assassination and destruction. the clergy were in a large measure corrupt, their opponents uncompromisingly hostile, and woe fell upon the land, and as late as the year the most dreadful deeds were committed, and the future seems to hold little immunity from similar occurrences. our way lies now into peru. but no highways unite the two republics along the almost inaccessible ranges of the cordillera; no railways traverse this wild and broken region between them, and for a thousand miles the whistle of the locomotive is unheard among the mountains, whose solitudes are traversed only by the difficult mule-trail, over which the hardy _arriero_ pursues his arduous course, or the slow and patient llama, feeding on the scanty herbage as it goes. it was in one of the more northern towns of peru, that of cajamarca, that the principal act of the drama in the downfall of the inca empire took place, and we cannot do less, as we stand in the plaza of the town, than cast a backward glance at this page of early american history, fraught with such changes of destiny to the folk of the cordillera. we have seen elsewhere how pizarro and his followers painfully made their way along the south american coast. on september , , they began their march upon cajamarca, ascending from the hot coastal lands to the cold regions of the andes. stories had reached them of great, populous valleys, high up among the clouds which covered the mountains, of people who had gold in such profusion that they regarded it as a commonplace, and made their household utensils of the yellow metal. the inca empire at that moment was divided against itself. the two sons of the great huayna capac, atahualpa and his brother huascar, were fighting for the inheritance. never had the empire been divided thus, and its dissension was the precursor of its fall. pizarro sent emissaries before him, and they found evidence of a remarkable civilization--in cut-stone buildings, bridges, and intensive agriculture. by torture of the indians, information was extracted concerning the intentions of atahualpa, whose swift messengers had already apprised the inca chief of the white man's arrival on the coast. atahualpa was crafty and laid plans for their destruction, but meantime he sent gifts of llamas and golden cups. however, the arrival was a peaceful one. the spaniards formed camp and arrogantly sent to summon the inca to appear before them. hernando de soto, the emissary, found the chief in the courtyard of his residence--a part of which still stands in cajamarca--and, riding up to him, rudely forced his horse in front of atahualpa, until the animal's breath fanned his very face. but the stoic inca, although he had never beheld these terrible men-animals, as the indians termed the horsemen, before, moved not. he wore the _llauta_, a fringe of crimson wool, the emblem of sovereignty. he vouchsafed no reply at first, but afterwards professed his friendship, and _chicha_, or native beer, in a golden loving-cup, was brought forth for the spaniards' refreshment. thirty thousand soldiers with lances surrounded him. at a word of his the spaniards might have been destroyed, or at least driven off. a careful watch was kept that night in the spanish camp. "they are five hundred to one, comrades," said pizarro; "but if we must fight and die, it shall be like christians, with providence on our side." or such at least is what the historians have recorded of pizarro's address; and, as we have before remarked, the men of spain, on occasion, were devout. the spanish plan was a surprise attack and to seize the person of atahualpa. on the following day the chief was to return the visit. the incas were seen approaching, with bands, dancing, and singing, adorned with gold and silver; and, decked in his regal bravery, reclining in his litter, was the figure of the prince, the last of the incas. whether the intentions of the peruvians were hostile or not is doubtful. but the spaniards saw, or pretended to see, arms concealed beneath the peaceful robes, and they prepared themselves to make a sudden attack--to strike the first blow, after their customarily valiant manner. it was the hand of the church that gave the signal for the onslaught that marked the beginning of the end of the incas. the friar vicente valverde--chroniclers have acclaimed him as "the rascally friar"--advanced, at the instigation of pizarro, with a bible in one hand and a cross in the other, accompanied by an interpreter, to meet atahualpa as he approached, the armed spaniards being concealed by the wall of the plaza. "you must here render tribute and homage to our emperor," exclaimed valverde, "to our pontiff, and to the god of the christians"; and he held forth the bible. the inca chief took the book, in curiosity perhaps, probably not understanding what was said. opening it, he fingered the pages a moment, and then haughtily and impatiently threw the book from him. "christians!" called out the friar--and it is recorded that it was his intention, or that he had instructions, to break the peace under any circumstances--"christians, i call upon you to avenge this insult to the faith!" atahualpa, suspecting a menace, stood up in his litter and ordered his soldiers to prepare. pizarro and his men grasped their arms and rushed forth. the trumpets sounded; the mounted spaniards rode to the charge; the indians, stricken with terror at the sound of the guns, retreated in panic; and the christians, falling upon the inca army, triumphed, massacring the indians like sheep. then they raised their eyes to heaven, giving thanks for this great victory. the conquest of peru was, by this easy victory, already theirs. the inca chief had been taken prisoner in the engagement. he was a man of some thirty years of age, good-looking, fierce, stoic, a good reasoner and speaker, and the spaniards regarded him as a wise man and treated him well at first. probably they felt his superiority over them, these rude knights of the conquest. great chiefs came from all parts of peru to do him homage in his captivity. huascar, his brother, had been murdered, it is said, by atahualpa's orders; and pizarro was wroth at this occurrence. the scene changes again. fearing that, sooner or later, the white men would kill him, atahualpa offered them a princely ransom for his release. "what ransom can you give?" asked pizarro, seeing thereby a means of securing untold gold. "and when and how can you deliver it?" the imprisoned chieftain raised his arm to a white line that ran high around the wall of his chamber or cell. "i will fill this room up to that line with gold," he said--"gold as pots and vases, gold as nuggets and as dust. i will fill this room, also, twice over with silver, in addition. that shall be my ransom, and it shall be completed in two months' time." the offer, naturally, was accepted. "have no fear," said pizarro. the inca sent swift messengers to cuzco, the capital, hundreds of miles to the south, along the rugged cordillera, with orders that two thousand indians should bring the golden vessels from the temples and the palaces. one of the remarkable institutions of the inca empire was the system of posts, established along the famous roads. relays of postmen or runners were kept stationed at the _tambos_ or post-houses. when a message was despatched, the runner ran his section at full speed, shouting out the message to the next waiting postman, who immediately proceeded to cover his stage in the same way; and thus the message was conveyed with the utmost speed for hundreds of miles. stores of gold began to arrive--vases, jars, pots, some weighing as much as twenty-five pounds each of the precious metal. the spaniards one day saw a remarkable spectacle upon the precipitous mountain track, on the farther side of the valley--a line of golden pots, borne on llamas, gleaming in the sun, coming to cajamarca for the royal ransom. the promise of the inca was fulfilled. the ransom was made good. did the spaniards fulfil their part? for the answer we may point to the final scene, when atahualpa, at first condemned by his captors--especially the priest--to be burnt to death, was strangled, after a mock trial in the plaza--infamously done to death, on what was probably a trumped-up charge of intended treachery. the only bright spot on this foul page of spanish history is in the circumstance that twelve of the spaniards, among them hernando de soto, protested vigorously against the deed. but pizarro and the false friar valverde, and others, were resolved upon it, and nothing moved them. [illustration: pizarro, the conquistador. vol. i. to face p. . ] possibly pizarro, on the day of his own assassination, nine years afterwards, recalled this hour. he was killed, whilst at dinner on sunday, by the follower of his partner almagro--because he did not keep his promises. peru has always appealed to the imagination by reason of its natural wealth, added to its mysteries and remoteness. humboldt spoke of it as "a beggar sitting upon a heap of gold," an aphorism designed to convey the idea of undeveloped riches. there is scarcely any valuable or useful product of nature in the mineral and vegetable world which we may not find in one or other of the wide zones of littoral, mountain and forest of this land; scarcely any potentiality of life is lacking among her people, could they but make their way to its enjoyment. since humboldt wrote, much has been done, it is true, but it is little more than a beginning, in some respects. if on the coastal zone we remark great tracts of territory capable of cultivation under irrigation, so do we find the agricultural resources of the uplands still calling for development, and mineral resources still lying unworked in many districts; whilst in the great montaña, or region to the east of the andes, which occupies the greater part of the republic, settlement and cultivation are in the nature only of a few scattered oases in what is a rich and fertile wilderness. the uplands of the andes in peru contain some of the most thickly-populated parts of the country, notwithstanding their considerable elevation. here we find capital cities or towns of the various departments or states at elevation ranging from , to , feet above the sea, whilst populous mining centres, such as cerro de pasco and others, are at heights up to , feet. "the people of pure spanish blood in these upland communities are few, relatively, for in the course of time they have become so intermingled with the original inhabitants that they now form the real mestizos, or people of mixed race. but they are, to all intents and purposes, as much spanish americans as the dwellers of the littoral provinces, their language being spanish, and their customs principally of similar origin. they are a well-meaning class, desirous of progress and betterment, but kept backward by the isolation of their position, and the poverty of the country, and low standard of living consequent thereon. "but the main bulk of the population of these regions is formed by the original people who constituted the communities of the inca empire--the quechuas and aymaras. whilst in general terminology these are called indians, they must not be confounded with the savage tribes of the forest, from which they are distinct in every respect. they merge into the cholos, with an admixture of spaniard. they have, of course, absolutely nothing in common with the imported negroes of the coast, and are not necessarily dark-skinned--their complexion sometimes being relatively light--although they are beardless. the hair is worn in a queue. they are strong and hardy in constitution, and are much sought after as mining labourers, having a natural aptitude for this work. the mining regions, in some cases, are situated at very high elevations, from , to , feet, or more, and in the greatly rarefied air of such altitudes none but the actual sons of the soil--who have paid nature the homage of being born there--can endure the hard physical exertion which mining demands. "the history of these people is a chequered and terrible one. at the time of the inca empire they lived in a condition of happy and contented enjoyment of the fruits of their toil--a quiet, pastoral life, ruled by beneficent laws and monarchs who had their welfare at heart in a manner such as has never been carried out among the subjects or citizens of any christian nation. they inhabited their glorious uplands, wresting from nature, with pleasurable toil, the means of their simple existence, until--in the inexplicable plan of nature, which ever demands strife and change--spaniards came sailing round the world, and substituted for that peaceful regime battle and bloodshed, and long and terrible oppression. a resulting fear of the invading white man inspired the distrust which to-day is one of their dominant characteristics--spain's legacy in the andes. this has induced a feeling of despair, which is imprinted on their melancholy countenances, and in the passive resistance which has become their habitual attitude towards progress and the administration of the republic. but it would not be fair to cast the onus of this distrust upon the spaniards alone, for the cholos have been abused and oppressed by the peruvians of the republic, almost up to the present day. in times of revolutionary war their goods have been commandeered, and themselves made to serve as soldiers in strife in which they had no interest, whilst in times of peace they have been considered an easy subject for spoliation by the petty authorities and the wealthier mestizo class. "the population of these regions in prehispanic days was very considerable. the destroying tendency of the spanish rule is indicated by the fact that the viceroy toledo, in , numbered eight million indians, exclusive of the savages of the forests, whilst at the close of the spanish regime the whole population of the country only numbered about a million and a quarter. at present it is calculated that the number of the cholo-indians of the andine regions is something under two millions. none of these calculations is quite reliable, but the fact remains that the country was well-populated in pre-colombian times, and that great destruction took place during the epoch of pizarro and the viceroys, whilst internal feuds and the chilean war accounted for a great many more deaths. high mortality, moreover, was brought about from misery and privation consequent upon wars. to-day the population tends slowly to increase, but infant mortality among the cholos is very heavy, due to the wretched and insanitary condition of their life, added to the rigours of the climate on the high plateaux; which latter, however, would not be an evil were the standard of life higher. "the poor cholo has retained one fortunate condition from the civilization of his inca forbears--he is an independent landholder. the small holding, or _chacara_, which he has wrested from nature's chaos of rocks and ravines on the andine slopes is his own; no one can dispossess him of it, and it affords him sufficient crop of _maiz_, potatoes, and, in places, _alfalfa_, to keep him and those dependent upon him. he is often, in addition, the owner of herds of _llamas_, _alpacas_, or sheep and goats, and from their wool he and his woman spin, and weave with their primitive looms, the 'tweeds'--for of this nature is the native cloth--and felt hat, which are his garments. these small holdings have been made in the most inaccessible places in many cases, by clearing away rocks and banking up the ground on the lower side in a similar way to that in which the _andenes_, or old cultivated terraces of the inca period, were formed, and which still remain and excite the traveller's notice throughout the whole andine region. "indeed, to the rough, topographical conditions and difficult environment of these small holdings is due the cholos' undisputed possession, in the first instance, thereof. had they existed in more favourable situations they would have been annexed long ago, first by the spanish landholders, and then by the owners of large _haciendas_ under the republic, or taken by the petty authorities under one or another pretext. it is again an instance of nature protecting her progeny against the ravages of their own kind. the laws of the republic now forbid these small holdings to be alienated from the cholos; a wise measure, tending to preserve this useful peasant class. "the _andenes_, as the terraced fields which cover the hill-slopes of the andine region are termed, are worthy of detailed description. they exist in almost every valley, extending upwards from the coast and the foothills to elevations of , feet, and even , feet or more, covering the slopes even in the most inaccessible situations and rigorous altitudes. from some high saddle or summit whence the surrounding horizon is visible, the observer notes a curious chequered or rippled appearance upon the flanks of the ridges, as far as the eye can reach, from the floor of the valleys up to the precipitous rock escarpments. they are the _andenes_; small terraces, one after the other, embanked on the lower sides with stone walls, like a series of irregular steps, where the soil has been collected and cultivated. the great number of these small holdings in every direction throughout the peruvian sierra has given rise to the supposition that a numerous population inhabited the andes in prehistoric times--estimates even of ninety million inhabitants having been made. but this is fabulous, although it is evident that a numerous people must have formed and cultivated these remarkable terraces, of whom the present population are only a residue. "adjacent to these valleys, especially in certain districts, as upon the upper marañon,[ ] are groups of extensive ruins of habitations, as well as of burying-places, known as _huacas_--often containing mummies--and of castles and fortresses. these latter often command the heads of valleys and defiles, and they go to show that the former inhabitants must have dwelt as separate groups or communities under the leadership of some chief--probably in pre-inca times. these _andenes_, as the spaniards termed the terraces when they conquered peru, may have given rise, it has been surmised, to the name of the andes; but this probably is not correct, the real derivation undoubtedly coming from the name of the _antis_--a tribe which inhabited the snow-covered cordillera region, which was termed by the incas _ant-isuyu_. this name, in quechua, signifies 'copper-bearing,' and copper was extensively used by the incas. [ ] visited by the author and described before the royal geographical society. "the cholo, then, provides for his wants, and he is quite independent--when allowed to be so--of the governing race. he asks nothing from civilization, and indeed this has, so far, brought him mainly two things--the superstitious part of the roman catholic religion, and alcohol! the one has partly improved his mind--the other tends to ruin his body. "at fair times, and on the numerous church feast-days, the cholos and their women flock into the towns to buy, sell, drink and indulge in religious exercises. with their bright-hued blankets and _ponchos_--generally made by themselves--they lend colour and interest to the scene. and the priests--ha! the priests!--this is the time of their harvest, and the cholos are the inexhaustible supply whence they draw fees, tithes and offerings. for the cholo nature has been most susceptible to the rites and representations with which roman catholicism is interpreted among them. they all bear spanish names--christian and surname--and each has his patron saint: and they must be considered a civilized race. "as stated, these people are the descendants of the incas, or rather of the quechuas and aymaras, who formed the population of the inca empire, for of the inca line there are no descendants whatever left. the incas were a royal line, and whilst their members were more or less numerous, owing to the polygamy customary to them, the irregular descendants were not recognized as legitimate incas, the real line of succession having been preserved by the progeny of the marriage of the reigning inca with his own sister. the illegitimate offspring naturally intermarried with the common people, and were merged into these again. elsewhere some particulars of the past history and conditions of the incas, and the population under their rule, have been described, as also their structures--temples, palaces and habitations--the ruins of which are encountered to-day along these vast uplands, where the cholo feeds his flock, and lives his remote and melancholy existence. in marked contrast are some of these beautiful ruins to the wretched habitations of the present occupiers of the land. "the cholo-indians of the uplands are, then, miners, shepherds and agriculturists. in tending their flocks, and in the breeding and domestication of the _llama_, they are remarkably expert, and their patience and endurance arouse the interest of the traveller who sojourns among them. they have many good qualities, which have been unable yet to expand. the true policy of the administrations which govern them must be towards bettering them and causing them to multiply, for, apart from motives of humanity, they are one of the country's most valuable human assets. if they fail, and become exterminated, a large part of the uplands and higher valleys of the andes would become an uninhabited desert, for it is doubtful if any other race could ever occupy their place, or perform manual labour at the great elevations which form their habitat. "let us now glance at the conditions of life in some of the principal towns of this region of the sierra. as is but natural, the farther these communities are removed from the coast, the more primitive does their mode of life become. when the only means of communication with the outside world are by difficult and sometimes dangerous mule-roads, journeys are undertaken but rarely, and new influences, objects and appliances are not easily forthcoming. yet in some cases demand is met by supply, and in spite of the difficulty of conveyance of heavy goods; pianos, billiard-tables and such things are constantly met with in the houses and restaurants of the large towns in the inter-andine region. but books, pictures and other essentials of refined life are scarce. "what is the aspect of these towns? imagine yourself astride your mule upon the summit of the range which bounds one of these andine valleys. you have toiled on all day, saddle-galled and weary, and you gladly direct your gaze to where the town lies spread below--a bird's-eye view. the streets run at right angles, with a central _plaza_ containing the cathedral or church, and official buildings; the hotel--if there be one at this particular place--and various shops and houses. the cultivated plain surrounds it--the 'flat place' which nature has provided, and which, together with the river which intersects it, is the reason of man's habitation there at all. for it is early impressed upon the traveller in the andes that 'flat places' are a prime requisite for humanity's existence. you begin the descent, having seen that the crupper of your mule is in place, in order that you may not journey upon the animal's neck; whilst your _arriero_ tightens the pack-mule's girths. small _chacaras_, or holdings, with little tumble-down stone huts, grass-roofed, straggle up the hillside, and bare-legged, unwashed children rush out among your animal's legs--the progeny of unkempt cholo peasant women, at work within upon the preparation of some primitive meal. the little holdings are surrounded by rude stone walls, or hedges of prickly-pear, or _maguey_ (agave). still you descend. the huts give place to adobe houses, with whitewashed walls and red-tiled or grass-thatched roofs; the straggling trail forms itself more into the semblance of a street; your beast's hoofs rattle over the cobble pavement; some few inhabitants stand at their doors to stare and remark at the advent of a stranger; and in a moment you have entered the _plaza_. [illustration: in the peruvian andes. vol. i. to face p. . ] "the condition of the _plaza_, in spanish american cities, is an index of the prosperity and enterprise of the particular community. in the more wealthy and advanced towns it is well paved, and planted with shrubs and flowers, and a band, during several evenings of the week, discourses music therein, to the delight of the populace. here pretty girls and amorous youths promenade--the only means of exercise the former are permitted, and the only general meeting-ground of the two sexes. in the interior towns of peru the _plaza_ is often grass-grown and unpaved. it seems to reflect the poverty of its inhabitants, and to impress upon the foreigner that the country is but slowly recovering from the misfortunes of its troubled history. the traveller, accustomed to the movement and modernness of the cities of other lands, will observe the _triste_ aspect of the place with dismay, and wish he might turn his horse's head again without delay towards the coast and civilization. but the more leisurely observer will not fail to find much that is interesting even here. the buildings are quaint; the air of mediaeval times which shrouds the grass-grown _plaza_ and the half-ruined church, together with the strange garb of the indians who slink through the streets, and the struggling evidences of modern civilization--in shop sign or municipal notice--are almost pathetic. whatever it is, it is peaceful; the climate is bracing, the cost of living--to foreign eyes--_nil_; and do not the surrounding hills and valleys contain unknown possibilities of mineral and industrial wealth? "the society of these places consists of the official element--the prefect and other functionaries, and few professional men; the few storekeepers, and the chief landowners of the neighbourhood. there is but little social life--an occasional _baile_, a few political meetings, and the sunday morning mass. at the latter, the young men of the place foregather at the church door, what time the devout _señoritas_ come forth, and pass review of soft faces and flashing eyes, beneath shady mantillas. there is probably a club with billiard-tables, brought with difficulty over mountain roads, as before mentioned, and newspapers of somewhat remote date. but the chief centres for gossip-mongers are the stores, and shops where _copitas_ of brandy and native spirits are sold. "the great merry-making period of the year is that of the three days' carnival celebration. during this time business is entirely suspended, and the whole population--whether in lima and other coast cities, the towns of the andes, or the remote hamlets of the plateaux--give themselves over to frenzied play. this consists principally in bombarding each other from the balconies of the houses with _globos_, or india-rubber bladders full of water; squirts, scents, powder and other matters. it is impossible to pass along the streets during these three days' riotous play without being soaked or covered with flour or powder from above, and the only method is either to enter into the sport, or else lie low at home until it is over. the usual reserve between the sexes is much broken down at this time, and the warm-blooded peruvian girl enters with much zest into the temporary licence of carnival. "the houses of the upland towns are generally built of adobe or _tapiales_--that is, of bricks or concrete made of wet earth, sun-dried and whitened--the roofs being covered with red pantiles, or thatched with grass. through the wide entrance door access is gained to the _patio_, or interior paved yard, after the usual spanish american style, upon which the various rooms look and open. the windows upon the street are all securely barred with iron _rejas_, or grilles, and the whole aspect is quaint and mediaeval, though the arrangement lacks in comfort from the foreigner's point of view; whilst the interior _ménage_ is naturally of a nature more primitive than that of communities in european towns. but in general, the peoples of these regions dwell in sufficiency, and that acute poverty, as among the lower strata of foreign cities, does not exist in peru. "the ultimate and irrevocable line of caste distinction in these places is that between the coat and the _poncho_. from the prefect and the lawyer and the doctor, down to the shop assistant, the dress is the coat of the ordinary european form. be there but the smallest recognized strain of european blood in the individual, it will be sheltered by the coat, but below this all is ignorance and the _poncho_. this useful but uncivilized garment consists of a species of blanket with an opening in the centre by which it is slipped over the head. we must, however, temper this 'clothes--philosophy' by remarking that the _poncho_ is used even by _caballeros_ on certain occasions, especially on horseback, when, in the form of a thin white material, it wards off the sun's rays and protects the horseman from dust, whilst as a thick woollen garment it shields him from the bitter blasts and keen air of the mountain uplands. the _ponchos_ woven of _vicuña_ wool by the cholos are of the most exquisite texture, and practically, waterproof. but the ordinary blanket _poncho_ is the poor indian's greatest possession. it shelters him by day from the sun or rain, and at night it forms his bed. "the advent of a foreigner in these more remote places is a matter of interest to the inhabitants, and--especially if he be a person bent upon some scientific or exploratory work--he is well and hospitably received, and all facilities afforded to him. keen interest is taken in anything pertaining to the outside world, for these people, cut off as they are by natural barriers from its happenings, are far from being apathetic, or indifferent of events. indeed it is this eager interest and avidity for knowledge of the modern world which most greatly touches the sympathy of the traveller, and which is the element which must redeem the people of these remote places from stagnation and decadence. "peruvian hospitality is proverbial, and nowhere is it stronger than among the peoples of the upper class in the sierra. the traveller soon becomes the centre of a group who press their not unwelcome attentions upon him; and they provide the best their houses afford for his refreshment and entertainment, as a rule accepting nothing in payment. this pleasing quality, in addition to being born of their native kindness, is motived partly from the desire to be considered civilized, and this is not without a note of pathos. the traveller, moreover, will not fail to recollect that he has sojourned in other--business--communities, whose higher civilization certainly does not necessarily include hospitality. these sierra people of peru, whilst they possess pleasing traits of the above nature, have also others less happy. they, as a class, are sometimes unscrupulous in their business dealings, and agreements are not always to be relied upon--a defect of the spanish american generally, which at times overshadows his better qualities."[ ] [ ] _peru_, enock, in the south american series. we have already remarked on the mineral resources of the andine region of peru. it may be that, in the future, attention will be more widely directed thereto, and travellers with technical knowledge of mining are increasingly making their way here, and some notes on this score are of interest. little, however, seems possible in this field without the use of foreign capital. in a land so famous for its gold as was that of old peru, it is remarkable that so little gold is produced at the present time--an insignificant annual amount of little over £ , . yet there are many gold-bearing deposits scattered over the vast upland region, from auriferous quartz-seams: to vast gravel deposits. there do not appear to be any huge ore-bodies of the nature of south africa, with low-grade but abundant material. the seams, however, in many cases offer "payable propositions." there are rock ledges of great length and depth, capable of being worked economically by adits rather than shafts, and sometimes with water-power available and with "cheap mining labour" (that attractive item of the company-promoter's prospectus) at hand, with immediate areas of fertile land for the needful foodstuffs. a difficult feature sometimes is the matter of transport, for, from the coast, the cordillera must be surmounted. the enormous gold-bearing alluvial deposits are generally situated on the most westerly side or summits of the cordillera, and in the montaña, and are difficult of access at present in the absence of railways. various enterprises have been set on foot to win the gold from these in recent years--whether by the method of dredging, whether after the californian "hydraulic" system--but it is doubtful if they have proved a success, from a variety of causes. there, however, is the gold, awaiting recovery. the reputation for fabulous wealth of silver in the peruvian mountains has passed into a proverb. great wealth has been recovered, and the ores are often extremely rich. myriads of old workings exist, which were abandoned because the more primitive appliances of a past age did not permit the drainage of the mines, which became filled with water; but they are capable of being pumped out. romantic tales are told of the enrichment of miners who persevered in their labours in some lonely mine and won great fortune. in the many examinations i made here of gold and silver mines in peru there were found conditions that should well repay modern mining enterprise. there is, of course, a good deal of work being carried on. the great wealth of copper, lead, zinc, quicksilver, iron and coal also present their attractions, and there are rarer metals whose use commerce urgently requires. but foreign capital does not flow very freely to peru, and peruvian capital does not seem to have the organizing faculty to develop the mineral wealth of the country for itself. the mining laws of peru offer considerable privileges to the foreigner, whom the government is ever desirous of encouraging. the indian, the native miner, has his own methods of winning the gold from the rocks and gravels, or the gold-bearing streams of the montaña, or the auriferous earths of the high pampas. in the streams he selects a suitable spot and paves it with large stones. then, when the floods pass over the prepared surface of rude "riffles," the gold carried down by the waters from the auriferous rocks lodges in the interstices, and, removing the stones, he recovers the precious nuggets and dust. or, by laborious panning in a _batea_, or wooden bowl, hollowed out of a block of wood, he washes the gravel from the rich banks of sediment, and the gold lies at the bottom. in the case of the gold-bearing ores, he digs shallow pits in the surface of the ledge, where nature, under the oxidation of the pyrites, has transformed the gold into a form recoverable by the simple method of amalgamation with quicksilver, after crushing the friable quartz under a primitive rocking-stone. indeed, in many places, it would seem that nature has placed the gold here in a form such that recovery will remunerate the natural son of the soil, when a more greedy and better-equipped "company" would be unable to pay its way. the stores of gold possessed by the incas of peru were won by such primitive methods; large bodies of indians being employed upon the work, and evidences of their operations remain to the present time. the ancient folk of the andes had as their greatest food products maiz, millet and potatoes, together with the numerous tropical fruits of the lowlands. they gave europe the potato--surely no inconsiderable gift--having developed it in ecuador, peru and chile, from the wild, bitter variety; and europe gave them wheat and other cereals, and, of course, the domestic animals--ox, cow, sheep, horse and pig. the llama was their only beast of burden here--this curious, hoofed, ruminating quadruped of the camel tribe, with its long neck and timid face. in our journeys along these bleak uplands we shall meet large droves of the llamas, bearing loads of merchandise, in weight up to a hundred pounds. these animals are sagacious in their way, and if overloaded refuse to move. their services, their wool, their flesh, are all extremely valuable adjuncts of indian life. the creature costs little or nothing to keep: it requires no shelter, and it feeds itself as it goes along, at a rate of about four miles an hour. the llama indeed was--and is--an outstanding figure in the native economics of the peruvian and bolivian andes. its cousin the alpaca is also to be seen in large bands. up to the limit of the temperate zone in the peruvian andes, about , feet, we shall remark some of the familiar flora of england, such as ferns, nettles, buttercups, violets and stitchwort, together with wild geraniums and pelargoniums. apples, pears, cherries and strawberries also grow, under desultory cultivation. trees are scant in the almost treeless andes, and we find little beyond the groves of stunted _quinua_ and other native shrubs, which, however, are valuable for fuel. the _ichu_ grass--_stipa incana_--which also serves for "thatching" the indian huts, is the predominant herbage. as we ascend, the vegetation becomes even more humble. at , feet the potato will not grow; the hardy barley will not yield. only a few thorny shrubs and some curious cacti are to be seen. higher still we reach the limit of the perpetual snow, where little but the lichens and a few cryptogams appear, except a few cold-resisting flowers having medicinal properties. above, all is bare, the inorganic world asserts its kingdom--except for the condor of the andes circling around the summit of some ice-covered volcano. here in these high, inclement uplands, i have pitched my tent, and my indians are now preparing a meal around the camp-fire, made of the dry grass or some scanty _leña_ or firewood, or possibly we may have come across a "colony" of the curious _yareta_, a huge mushroom-like woody growth, perhaps three feet in diameter, full of resin, which burns fiercely: a product only of the peruvian and bolivian heights. failing these matters, the fire must be of dry llama dung, or _taquia_, a useful fuel in the andes, from which even the ores of silver, in places, are smelted. [illustration: peru: llamas and alpacas.] [illustration: peru: native blanket weaver in the andes. vol. i. to face p. . ] here on the roof of the world we mark the rays of the setting sun tinting a rosy red the eternal pinnacles of the andes, and the last glow gone, we must seek the tent and draw the ponchos about us; the indians throwing themselves upon the ground outside. simple and faithful souls are these children of the uplands, full of gratitude to the _patron_ who treats them fairly; resourceful and industrious. and the _ingles_, of course, treat them well and justly. is not an englishman's word his bond? further, are not his pockets invariably lined with silver! months have i spent in these wilds, without any other companions than the quechua indians and the cholos, our only language spanish and what smattering of quechua it was possible for me to acquire. or perhaps i have formed camp in some abandoned inca ruins, and the evening meal has been cooked in the ruined stone fireplace of folk departed these many centuries: my seat a cube of stone neatly fashioned--one of those which strew the ground around--by some ancient mason. there one may ponder upon the strange folk, who built massive temples and megalithic walls--in a region where there is no timber and where corn does not grow. why did these folk establish themselves in these high places? are there any other mountains in the world where nature brought forth a dominating culture so near the clouds as that whose progenitors went forth, as we are told, from the mysterious island of titicaca? or again, night has overtaken us on the edge of the montaña, and, below, we overlook the tree-filled valleys, part of the forest which stretches unbroken for thousands of miles across the amazon plains of brazil. the valley may be filled with mist, and the effect is remarkable, as a weird transformation scene. the sun sets; it still tinges the western sky with its beauteous and indescribable tints. the palest saffron fades into the pearly-green of the zenith, and the last, orange rays, calm and cold, flash faintly and expiringly upwards. in the deep cañons the fleecy masses of pearly vapour slowly pour--"slow, lingering up the hills like living things." so soft and pure are they that they might be the couch spread for some invisible god-traveller! no eye but mine beholds them. the indians are busy at the camp-fire. then the mist masses arise as if to engulf the lonely headland on which we stand, like awful billows. but the light fades, except that of a single jewelled planet, which gleams softly and protectingly down from its gathering height. the indians sustain themselves at times on their journeys by chewing the leaves of the _coca_ shrub, which are a valued possession among them. this shrub, peculiar to peru and bolivia--although it has now been transplanted to ceylon--is that which gives us the cocaine of the pharmacopoeia. for the invaluable quinine, we may also be grateful to peru and to the memory of that viceroy's lady, the countess of chinchon, who, sick of a fever--it was _tercianas_ or tertial malaria--was cured by an indian woman with doses of the steeped bark of the quinine shrub, which bears her name to this day. the most ancient and remarkable town of the cordillera is cuzco, the one-time inca capital. it lies in a valley, overlooked by lofty mountains; and on its northern side stands the famous fortress of sacsaihuaman, the cyclopean fortress of the early peruvians--the incas and their predecessors. here we may stand upon the great walls of what is one of the most remarkable of prehistoric structures, forming terraces along the hillside of great stone blocks, built in the form of revetments and salients, some of the stones being nearly twenty feet high. many of the walls of the cuzco streets still retain their inca stone construction, a monument to the clever masonry of these people, which has excited the interest and admiration of many archæologists and travellers. here was the temple of the sun, and indeed part of its beautifully moulded walls still remains. the town is the centre of one of the most popular districts of peru, labouring indians mainly; and it has a number of interesting spanish colonial buildings, with some textile and other industries. we may reach cuzco now by rail from arequipa and the coast at mollendo. not far away are others of the remarkable remains of early peruvian civilization, including the inca "astronomical observatory" of intihuatana, where the priests determine the solstices by means of the shadow cast by a stone column, a portion of which still exists. also ollanta. cuzco witnessed the final overthrow of the incas after the scene at cajamarca, and many excesses were committed here by the spaniards, in their purpose of stamping out the early peruvian civilization--a sad and pathetic page of history indeed. if on these high and often dreary uplands it was destined that the power of the inca empire should pass away in so melancholy a fashion, it would seem that fate had here a similar end for the empire of its conquerors in store. for are not the fateful names of junin and ayacucho stamped upon the face of this cordillera region? here the royalists of spain made their last stand. we cannot enter upon the details of spain's downfall. from its history stand out the famous names of san martin, with his march across the andes from argentine into chile; bolivar, and his equally or more renowned march across the northern andes; cochrane, the english admiral, and his operations on the coast; sucre, la serna, and others. at the battle of junin the royalist leader of the spanish forces was defeated. cuzco, the last stronghold of spain in south america, fell. then came the historic battle of ayacucho. the patriots--peruvians, chileans and some argentines--numbered some six thousand; the royalists nine thousand. the royalists were utterly routed, fifteen hundred were slain: the viceroy, his generals, officers and army were captured. it was hailed as a providential victory for freedom; a new life after three hundred years of spanish domination, and the colours of iberia flew no more upon the cordillera. [illustration: the ruined inca fortress of ollantaytambo, peru. vol. i. to face p. . ] chapter viii the cordillera of the andes in bolivia, chile and argentina still threading the high region of the andes, our journey takes us into bolivia, that comparatively little-known republic. neither topographically nor historically is there any marked change from peru to bolivia. both countries occupy the "roof of the world" here, the chain and uplands of the cordillera, although, if such were possible, the _punas_, or steppes, of bolivia are even more inclement than the corresponding _antiplanicies_ of peru. bolivia has, indeed, been termed the tibet of america, where the yak is replaced by the llama. but it would be unjust to compare the one with the other as regards the human element, for the andine republic is peopled, or at least administered and animated, by the sensitive and progressive spanish american civilization, and is not an old or decadent land, but, on the contrary, has all its life before it. the highlands, we have said, are a continuation of those of peru. in both countries, as well as in northern chile, we shall remark on our mountain expedition the herds of beautiful vicuña, fleet as the wind, living where nothing else will live, yielding a soft, tawny fur or skin, a boa of which is indeed a comforter around one's neck as a protection against the keen air of the heights. in the ramparts of the rocks myriads of _viscachas_ squirrels, or rather conies, have their home, and it is a swift shot that will secure one for the evening meal. of the stupendous snowy peaks of bolivia we have already spoken. there arise sorata and illimani, highest--with huascaran and coropuna, in peru, and aconcagua, in chile, all near or over , feet--on the american continent. few travellers approach or ascend these mountains, whose beauties the inhabitants themselves generally prefer to contemplate from afar. bolivia is generally regarded as a "mountain republic," remote, inaccessible, backward. such a concept requires some modification. it is true that the country, deprived of its seaboard, has its population and centres of life mainly upon the andes, that its population is relatively small in comparison with those of its neighbours, and consists to a larger degree of the indian element. but it is not all mountain, nor all indian folk. a considerable area of the republic extends to the lowlands of the amazon valley (and to the plate), including those delightful sub-valleys and hill-slopes which nature, by reason of climate and vegetation, has rendered of the most pleasant. as for the people, we find here the same spanish american civilization, among the cultured class that is, with the traits and gifts common to their race. as for the indian--that is their social problem. la paz, the capital of bolivia, to which we may have ascended by rail from the coast, is approached almost unawares. there is nothing to foretell, as we cross the barren plains from viacha, that so important a place will shortly be displayed to the view. suddenly we reach the alto, or "height," and there, far below, is la paz, reposing in the mighty amphitheatre of its abrupt valley. before the train descends from the verge it is well to look again upon illimani, huayna-potosi, and another giant, mururata, whose snowy peaks reflect the colour of the sunset, bathed in an atmosphere so limpid that their distant slopes are brought to deceptive nearness. the valley of la paz has the aspect of a vast crater, its floor lying over , feet above sea-level. its buildings and institutions merit the traveller's attention. its pleasing alameda and other planted or cultivated areas are a relief after the dreary and forbidding aspect of the valley around, with its scarred and precipitous sides. who could have founded a city here, and why? la paz was founded by alonzo de mendoza in , and first named to commemorate the temporary reconciliation between pizarro and almagro, who had grievously quarrelled. the cathedral was begun in the seventeenth century, when the famous mines of potosi were at their height of productiveness. some of the streets are of the most winding character possible, and many of them reflect the poverty of their indian dwellers. others are full of animation, constantly threaded by caravans of llamas, asses and mules, and thronged by a many-hued population of pure-blooded indians, with garments negligent but picturesque; cholas, or half-breed women, often extremely pretty, dressed in vivid colours, coquettish, wearing their home-made hats of white felt; and townsmen of white race, ladies of la paz, and european folk: in brief, all the elements we shall have seen in the upland towns of spanish america, where rich and poor do congregate together. on sundays the animation increases, for this is the day of markets, and piles of wares and fruits and other products interest and attract. the streets are electrically lit. in the new part of the city are many handsome residences and evidences of wealth. the inevitable band in the plaza discourses its music, and the churches command their usual congregations. the museums--mining and archæological--show a regard for science here. la paz is now becoming a comparatively cosmopolitan centre, and its interest and importance most undoubtedly increase. the republic of bolivia took its name, as a token of gratitude, from bolivar, the great liberator. since his time, from to , it has had seventy-one different presidents, an average of a little over one per annum, an indication either of an experimental outlook towards self-government or of chronic unrest, whichever way we may prefer to view it. it is difficult for a european to comprehend the disabilities and difficulties of such a community, and criticism is easy. but we may again reflect that their future lies before these remote states, and that their human vitality and natural resource are storehouses for the future, not depleted or derelict. to the observant foreigner perhaps the most interesting human element in the andes is that of the indians. they are the true children of the soil, nature's product unadulterated, the specimen of her human handiwork in this special environment. they hide nothing, they expect nothing from her. but if the future lies before them they are nevertheless obsessed with their past. they are a _raza conquistada_ as their masters term them--a conquered race. they may not always be so. different writers take different views of them. in peru the natives of these uplands are the quechuas; in bolivia, the quechuas and the aymaras. these two differ somewhat in their habits and temperament. there are, in addition, a number of savage tribes, mostly in the forested regions. "the aymaras, one of the principal ethnical elements of the bolivian nation, are found in the north, as far as peruvian territory, on the banks, islands and peninsulas of lake titicaca, and on the plateau as far south as oruro. the quechuas occupy the south and the north of the argentine. "between these two races there is a difference of type and a greater difference of character. the aymara is a little above the average height, has the chest strongly developed, the calves powerful, and the feet small. the features are not on the whole attractive; they are prominent, and indicative neither of intelligence nor goodwill. the head is large, the neck short and thick, the cheeks wide, the nose massive; the eyes are small, the mouth wide, and the lips thick. the colour is coppery or an olive-brown, varying with the altitude. the hair is black, thick and strong, but the beard is absolutely lacking. "while the quechua is docile, submissive and obedient, the aymara is hard, vindictive, bellicose, rebellious, egotistical, cruel and jealous of his liberty; he is always ready to resort to force. in times of disturbance the factions have always recruited the bulk of their fighters from the aymaras. yet they seem lacking in will, except the will to hate all that is unlike themselves. the aymara is also fanatical, and his is not the fanaticism of religion, but of vanity; he wants to cut a figure in the religious fêtes, which are not unlike orgies of idolatry, and are marked by alcoholic and moral excesses of every kind. "the plateaux are always cool, so the aymara wears a comparatively warm costume, consisting of a thick woollen shirt and a poncho of many colours, with dark, narrow breeches coming just below the knee. the legs are bare, and the feet equally so, or are shod with sandals of raw hide. the aymara, like the tibetan, another dweller in plateaux, is insensible to cold; he sleeps bare-footed in the hardest frosts, and walks through freezing water or over ice without apparent inconvenience. on days of festival the aymara replaces the poncho by a sort of tight-fitting tunic. the head is well covered with a large woollen bonnet, which protects the neck and ears. the women also wear a shirt or chemise of thick wool or cotton, over which they throw a mantle of coarse, heavy wool, striped with bright colours, and retained on the chest by a sort of spoon of silver or copper, the slender handle serving as a pin. a heavy woolle petticoat, pleated in front, and usually dyed a dark blue, covers the lower part of the body to the ankles. the aymara woman wears several of these petticoats superimposed, which gives her a very bulky look about the hips. a somewhat unattractive hat completes the costume. men and women alike having a perfect contempt for hygiene, all parts of the body are coated with a respectable layer of dirt. their clothes, which they never put off, even to sleep, are worn until they fall into tatters, and usually give off a disagreeable ammoniacal odour. "the aymara tongue differs from the quechua; it is a harsh, guttural idiom, rather formless, but having conjugations. it is forcible and concise. the peoples conquered by the quechuas learned the language of their conquerors; but the aymaras retained theirs, and when the spaniards conquered the country, the aymaras, who had long been a subject race, were decadent and diminishing in numbers. "by the innumerable vestiges of building and the tombs near lake titicaca we may judge that this country was once thickly populated. but the plains afforded no refuge, and the inhabitants could not escape the forced recruiting which supplied the mining centres. at the time of tupac-amaru's insurrection the aymaras, happy to reconquer their liberty, or perhaps merely to effect a change of masters and to satisfy their bellicose instincts, threw themselves into the revolt; whereupon war, sickness and famine considerably reduced their numbers. to-day they are estimated to be about , strong. "the aymaras are divided into six tribes, according to the regions they inhabit. these are the omasuyos, the pacasas, the sicasicas, the larecajas, the carangas, and the yungas. the aymaras of the provinces of yungas, larecaja, and muñecas are lighter in tint, cleaner, more intelligent and less uncouth than the rest. "the quechua race, whose numbers are greater, are found in many regions of bolivia. the quechua is lighter and yellower than the aymara, and more of a mongolian type. the features are irregular, the eyes black, the cheek-bones prominent; the narrow forehead is slightly protuberant, and the skull oblong; the mouth is wide and the nose massive. the stature is rather below the average, but there are tall individuals, who as a rule resemble the aymara type. solidly built, the quechua looks a powerful and muscular man; but as from childhood both sexes are used to carrying extremely heavy burdens on the back they are not really very strong in the limbs, although the shoulders are very powerful. the indian is an extraordinary walker; his legs of steel enable him to travel long distances in mountainous regions without the least fatigue. the women are even stronger than the men, their work being heavier, although they live practically the same life. "the quechua costume consists of a coloured poncho, a tight woollen vest, and breeches rarely falling below the knee; the feet are shod with _ojotas_, or rawhide sandals, which take the shape of the foot. the woman wears a small woollen vest, cut low on the bosom; the skirt is the same as that worn by the aymara women; and on a feast-day the quechua woman wears all the petticoats she possesses, one over another. as they are all of equal length, each shows the edge of that below it, whence a gamut of various colours. the quechua women are distinguished from the aymaras chiefly by their hats, which are flatter. "the quechua idiom is extremely rich and has been studied grammatically. "the indian race has never been assimilated; as it was at the moment of conquest, so it is now; with the same language, the same customs, and the same miserable dwellings, hardly fit to shelter beasts. isolated and solitary, or gathered into hamlets of a few cabins, they are merely conical huts of unbaked bricks, covered with thatch or reeds, and consisting of one small chamber, in which all the members of the family live in the completest promiscuity. these huts, in which the most wretched poverty and uncleanliness reign supreme, contain nothing that we should call furniture; as a rule there is no bed but the hardened soil or a few coverings of ragged sheepskin."[ ] [ ] see _bolivia_, wallé, south american series. [illustration: indian rafts on lake titicaca. vol. i. to face p. . ] the principal vice of the indian is drink, both with men and women. perhaps it drowns reflection--race-sorrow. but, as in the case of the mexicans and all others of the brown race, this excess is not the fault alone of the drinker. the producing of alcohol is, in many cases, a lucrative trade for those above him, the large growers of cane or other alcohol-yielding plants. legislation, moreover, against the evil, if it be necessary in other lands--for example, the united states or britain--is surely necessary with the ignorant indian. the indian is, as has been said, melancholy. he rarely laughs, except when he is drunk. perhaps this is partly due to the melancholy environment of the cordillera; perhaps the result of his practical enslavement and the downfall of his race. melancholy and music are here akin. the indians of peru and bolivia have always been lovers of their national music--veritably the music of the andes. they have many curious musical instruments, many weird songs and musical laments. reed flutes or pipes and a species of guitar are among the principal of these instruments. the bolivian indian has a good ear for music, and, it is said, will execute any piece of classical music with precision. the military bands of bolivia are mostly composed of indians. "the bolivian indian is also remarkable for his ability to execute long passages on wind instruments. even while dancing he can blow the _quena_ or the _zampona_, which shows the vigour of his lungs, a quality due to the altitudes in which he lives. few inhabitants of ordinary altitudes could endure such a test. "native music is usually soft, plaintive and naïve; its tremulous notes, often repeated five or six times in a minor key, swell and die in a monotonous rhythm which, to european ears, becomes tedious. never do the instruments or the songs of the indian suggest an idea of gaiety, but always a profound melancholy, the idea of extreme unhappiness and the wretchedness of a disordered mind. "however, for one reason or another the indians are now rather improving their music; and in many parts one notes unmistakable efforts to imitate and adapt the foreign conceptions of music and to mingle them with their favourite native airs. the latter do not lose their melancholy, but are even more affecting. "despite these improvements, which are not general, the traveller is always greatly impressed when, as he journeys through the mountainous regions, surrounded on every hand by gloomy masses without horizon, he hears, suddenly, at the fall of night, rising near at hand in the midst of a profound silence, the long mournful notes of the _quena_, like a long and profound complaint, which echo repeats in distant sobs. sometimes the flute is accompanied by the measured taps of a drum or tambourine, and sometimes it accompanies a song, monotonous and guttural as the songs of the arabs; sounds inspiring sombre thoughts and provoking a shudder of melancholy in the stranger who hears them for the first time. the _quena_, indeed, produces sounds of a sinister melancholy; one manner of playing it consists of introducing it into a great crock of earthenware pierced with a hole on either side so that the hands may be introduced; and when so played it yields notes of sepulchral sonority. in all the arsenal of human music it would perhaps be impossible to discover more doleful sounds. "when this primitive music seeks to interpret a comparatively calm and cheerful frame of mind it is certainly a little more inspiriting, but some of its notes are still like the moans of a stricken soul. "the native dances are for the most part common to both aymaras and quechuas. the most ridiculous and grotesque of these, on account of the extravagant costumes worn by the dancers, are the _danzantes_, the _huacas-tocoris_, the _pacoches_, the _morenos_, the _tundiques_ and others yet, such as the _sicuris_ and the _chiriguano_. "this last is a war-dance; the dancers wear each the skin of a jaguar, or something resembling one; each carries a heavy stick; the music is harsh and warlike. the _sicuri_ is danced by a group of fourteen indians, wearing petticoats of white cotton cloth; on the head of each is a hat adorned with long feathers, the whole having the shape of an umbrella; they wear tambourines at their girdles and play the _zampona_, using two instruments. the _huaca-tocoris_ or _toros danzantes_ is performed during the fêtes of corpus. a wooden framework covered with hide vaguely represents a bull; in the back of the beast is a hole through which the dancer introduces his body; his face smeared with soot, and clad in the following costume: white breeches, an old coat, a red poncho, and a hat bearing a semicircular crown of feathers. to imitate a bull-fighter another dancer brandishes a wooden sword in one hand and waves a handkerchief with the other. "the commonest dance among the indians is a slow, almost automatic _rondo_, the head continually rising and falling and turning from side to side. in another dance the dancers form couples, keeping their ground, and facing one another, accelerating their steps only at the end of each figure. "during lent the majority of the natives do not employ any instrumental music, but, on the other hand, they attend nocturnal gatherings known as _chochus_, at which young people of both sexes dance round a cross and sing psalms. there is absolutely nothing edifying about these functions, those taking part in them displaying a most disconcerting cynicism. on easter day the indians wear their gala costumes, and ornament their hats with flowers and ribbons; they make up for their forty days' silence, and fill the air with the sound of _quenas_, _sicus_ and tambourines. but even while dancing they are never gay; their sombre natures unbend only under the influence of drink. "among the strange and savage customs of the natives, we must not forget to mention the fights with whips which take place in certain provinces on good friday. on the occasion of the procession of the sepulchre the indians build altars along the route of the procession. the latter takes place always at night. once it is over the altars are demolished by two separate groups--the huarcas and the incas, who at once begin to strive for victory. the two groups then assemble in the public place or square, and lash one another with implacable ardour. triumph or failure is a good or bad omen for the year's harvest. "poetical songs, accompanied on the _quechua_, are known as _yaravis_. they are greatly appreciated by the natives. the quechua _yaravis_ have been to some extent improved by the modern bolivians. they are usually a species of round, with a good deal of repetition; each stanza has four to ten lines. these songs reflect the dreamy and sombre character of the race. love is always their subject; a melancholy, plaintive and monotonous passion. "the bolivian indian usually provides for his modest needs in his own way; ignorant of the advantages of the division of labour, he weaves the cloth of his own garments--mantle, breeches, or vest--and makes his hat and sandals himself. his chief occupations are agriculture and stockraising; but he is indolent, thriftless, imprudent and, above all, an obstinate conservative; so he confines himself to growing a few potatoes, a little barley, _quinua_, or _oca_, just as much as he needs to keep him alive. the land, cultivated by the most primitive of means--for the indian will never accept any innovation, however practical and excellent--is generally very limited in extent, unless the neighbourhood of a city of a mine calls for a greater production than usual. moreover, thousands of indians are taken away from' their fields by all manner of tasks--by the necessity of transporting merchandise, provisions, machinery, etc., on the backs of mules, asses, llamas and even men, in countries innocent of other means of transport, to the mines and factories established in barren and uncultivated regions. "both the aymaras and the quechuas keep little herds of llamas, alpacas or sheep whenever possible, as their care calls; for less labour than the raising of crops. a few fowls and other birds give them eggs, a few pigs furnish leather, meat and fat; they have the wool of their llamas and sheep, and they utilize even the excrement of the former as a combustible, as the tibetans do that of the yak. a mule or a donkey grazes round the indian's hut. from the age of four or five years the indian guards the little herd of swine belonging to his parents; a little later he grazes their sheep among the mountains, where by means of his _quena_, _zampona_ or _cicus_ he learns to play melancholy airs. "on the produce of his crops and his herds he lives in poverty, leaving the mountains or the plain only to exchange some of his products for coca or brandy. the woman is rarely idle; whether in the market, or loitering over her household tasks, or even as she walks, one sees her always spinning the wool of the llama or the sheep of which her garments are made. "the bolivian indian in general excels in carrying loads, in spite of the lack of tolerable highways, covering daily stages of twenty to thirty miles. the average load is to lb. with his shoulders free his speed and endurance are amazing; he will cover fifty miles a day for several days on end, and without feeling exhausted, unless for some reason he wishes to seem so. we have seen indians follow or accompany the coach or the mule which bore us, at the trot, shouting or blowing a pan-pipe; and at night they seemed less eager to rest than our mules or ourselves. "the indian is to-day little better off than he was under spanish rule. since the proclamation of bolivar, which declared him capable of holding property, many governments have passed laws intended to protect the indian; but they have either remained ineffective or they have been overlooked and violated by the very officials whose duty it was to apply them."[ ] [ ] _bolivia_, loc. cit. the cholo, or half-breed, race of the cordillera--or indeed the lowlands--is, after the indian, the most numerous element in the population. these folk unite the qualities of the spaniard and the aboriginal. "the cholos of bolivia possess excellent qualities. they are robust and well-built physically; they are courteous and intelligent, rapidly acquiring all sorts of knowledge; they are, as a rule, proud and courageous, and, like the indians, make excellent soldiers. they are good industrial workers; many become foremen and artisans. but they are also, like the indian race from which they have sprung, avid of pleasure, with a strong inclination to idleness and alcohol. they profoundly despise the indians, whose worst enemies they are; and they have always retained the indian's timidity or servility toward the white man. like the indians, they are often lacking in energy, will-power and commercial or agricultural initiative. "the cholos, except in the poor and backward classes of society, are in no wise distinguishable, as to costume, from the white inhabitants. the women, or cholas, many of whom are extremely pretty, are generally well made, with small hands and feet; their costume is conspicuous and characteristic. the cholas of the more well-to-do classes are always extremely well shod, wearing high-laced boots with high heels, made of leather soft as a glove and of a light shade. these boots show off the foot and a shapely leg, clad in well-fitting stockings. the head is protected by a round hat of whitish felt, two black tresses falling down the back. on the shoulders they wear light shawls, white or of some other bright colour, of silk or other material, which covers a low-cut bodice worn over a short white pleated skirt, beneath which is a white petticoat edged with lace, which is slightly longer than the skirt. as the skirt is gathered on the hips, which are thus enlarged, and the bottom of the skirt is weighted, it sways as the wearer walks like the skirt of a dancer. the whole costume has a rather pleasing effect. "the cholas of the lower classes wear the same hat, the same coiffure, and a skirt of heavy woollen stuff, gathered on the hips, but no laced petticoat. the legs are bare and the feet are shod with sandals or cheap shoes. "hygiene is not always respected by the half-breeds of the lower classes, who are very superstitious. they bathe, it seems, only on odd dates, and more particularly on the th, th or st, otherwise they would be ill the rest of the year; and one must never take more than twenty-one baths in the year, or the same results would follow. "the cholos are in the minority in the country districts, but live, as a rule, in the towns and cantons. since they have participated directly and ardently in politics, they profess to live, if not for, at least by the state, and have a perfect passion for bureaucracy. in the towns and capitals the cholos more especially enter the army and the church, and lately have also become schoolmasters. there are very distinguished men among the half-breeds, whose degree of education varies. at all times this class has furnished really remarkable statesmen and writers of talent. "on account of the many crossings which have taken place, and are still taking place, it is not always possible, without great perspicacity, to distinguish a member of the white race from one of the superior classes of half-breeds. all bolivians are very much alike physically, and the singular yellowish tint to be observed in the cornea of the mixed race, a noticeable and tenacious characteristic of the indian, and one that often persists to the third and fourth generation, at last entirely disappears. the colour of the skin is not a certain indication, for it depends upon the local conditions. "we are of opinion, and many agree with us, that the future of the half-breed race is henceforth assured; that in years to come, when it is still further improved by the admixture of fresh blood, it will play a very prominent and active part in the national life. already the half-breeds, who are more numerous than the whites, and almost as numerous as the indians, are beginning to accumulate capital and to fill important posts in commercial houses. a half-breed aristocracy is in process of formation, which, when it is more numerous and more wealthy, when it has lost a little of its indolence and timidity, and has acquired greater initiative and a more serious education, will no longer be content to take a secondary place. little by little--and examples already exist--it will assume the direction of the great industrial and commercial undertakings, and we shall see it consolidating its numerical and financial superiority by assuming the political direction of the country, to the detriment of the whites."[ ] [ ] _bolivia_, loc. cit. i have dwelt thus lengthily upon the indian races of the cordillera for the reason that they have been comparatively little studied, and are indeed almost unknown to the outside world in general. they are in reality a valuable folk, mainly because they alone can perform sustained labour in the cordillera, due to the condition of climate and atmosphere. if they disappear--and they do not appear to be increasing--these vast uplands might become uninhabited wildernesses. they are not likely to increase until the economic condition of their lives is improved, and, as a consequence, the heavy mortality among infants arrested. to suppose that the indians of the cordillera are incapable, or even will be incapable, of receiving a higher civilization is to fall into a sociological error. the governing classes of these republics often assert this, however. but it will depend very much how "civilization" is applied to them. they are capable of becoming good mechanics and craftsmen, they are extremely careful and painstaking, as the intricacy and exquisite finish often of their native arts show; they imitate perhaps better than they initiate, but they nevertheless display considerable resource. they will not be herded into factories, if civilization consists in that. they are independent, and prefer to work for themselves. as to their numbers, if we take the combined population of colombia, ecuador, peru and bolivia at, say, twelve to thirteen million people, and deduct ten to twenty per cent. for the whites and mestizos, we shall obtain approximately the number of these real sons and daughters of the soil to-day, mainly upon the cordillera. the cordillera of the andes is, we might fancifully say, the great banker of the west, the great guardian of gold and sliver, the father of minerals, and the progenitor of the treasure of the rocks. we have seen that peru is a land fabulous for its mineral wealth; colombia, far to the north, has only lesser stores of metals, precious or base; ecuador has been but little favoured in this respect, but nevertheless has a famed old gold mine; chile is markedly rich in almost every mineral. but bolivia perhaps surpasses all these. there was a famous peruvian scientist and traveller, of italian extraction--raimondi--who described the plateau of bolivia as "a table of silver supported by a column of gold." the same might be said of peru. in the cordillera generally we find gold in the lower districts, silver in the higher. it would almost seem that the metals have some affinity with the climate. at least the native peruvian miner says that "the gold looks for the warmth, the silver for the cold." thus in the cold and the bleakness of the high hills do we find the white metal in bolivia: we find, indeed, two white metals verging upon the regions of perpetual snow--silver and tin. the tin mines, indeed, were first worked for silver, and the tin ores thrown away. for the lore of silver-mining let us ascend to potosi, the silver mountain. its summit rises in perfect sugar-loaf form to over , feet above the level of the sea. upon the slopes of this wonderful mountain, some , or , feet lower down, stands a city, founded in by the adventurous spaniards, with their keen _olfato_, or instinct for gold and silver, and fifty years later , folk had their habitations there. for lodes and seams of the richest silver ore lay here--native silver and others; and the shell of the mountain quickly became honeycombed with shafts and galleries. of five thousand such, a thousand may be seen to-day. all classes of adventurers flocked to potosi. there were bankrupt spanish nobles, thinking by a lucky stroke, or with their name and prestige, to recoup themselves; there were merchants, anxious to obtain sudden wealth; gamblers, thieves, _demi-mondaines_ and all else, and potosi became a centre of prodigality, romantic adventure, revelry and often disorder. here spanish _hidalgos_ vied with each other in squandering fortunes in pleasure and ostentation, matters which caused faction-strife among the bands into which the people of the place were divided. the old chronicles of potosi are very interesting, revealing as they do the custom of those times, the superstition, the chivalry and all else, which not even the high and solemn environment of the cordillera could dampen. to-day an english mining company works upon the mountain, striving to earn dividends for its shareholders. the silver is far from being exhausted, but methods of recovery fell back; and the low value of silver and the high rate of wage demanded by the miner were other factors in decadence. the potosi mountain was not a possession of the spaniard alone. it has a metallurgical interest more remote. a traveller in the cordillera before the time of the conquest might have seen, as he approached the spot at night, a number of twinkling lights upon the slopes. they were the fires of the little furnaces in which the indians, of the incas, smelted the simpler silver ores, the winds of the cordillera furnishing the needful blast; and these furnaces were called in quechua guayras, which word means "the wind." it is said that at one time more than , of these little furnaces were to be seen upon the silver mountain, which reared its desolate slopes to heaven, but was a treasure-house of nature. [illustration: aconcagua, the highest andine peak, chile. vol. i. to face p. . ] it would not be possible here to dwell on the other great mines of bolivia.[ ] the mines of huanchaca, with their great installation and considerable population, form a community of themselves, and have produced literally thousands of tons of silver. in winter, buried in snow, the place looks like a town of northern europe or canada. the ores are first sorted by women, who are expert sorters of the grey argentiferous copper ores of the main lode. at times of late years nearly half a million pounds sterling have been distributed among the european shareholders of this important concern. sometimes in a single month as much as seven tons of silver have been produced. [ ] an excellent account will be found in _bolivia_, loc. cit. silver to-day is less important than tin, however, which has become the principal article of bolivian export, wrested from the bleakest places here in the andes, as is the copper of chile. we have visited, in the cordillera of south america, the highest inhabited places on the face of the globe. but south of bolivia the andes no longer offers a place for the homes of mankind, for towns and populations, such as nature has provided in those vast regions we have traversed. the cordillera becomes a single chain or ridge, without intermediate valleys or plateaux, and so continues for an enormous distance, lowering its elevation by degrees towards the frigid regions of the southern extremity of the continent, where its glaciers veritably run down into the bosom of the ocean. perhaps the cordillera has sunk here, as its "drowned" valleys--the fiords of the south seem to indicate--sunk, split and shattered as if nature had done enough in this vast range running half across the globe. if, however, the chilean cordillera does not offer an abiding place for man, it nevertheless is the source of his comfort and wealth, for the streams which flow from its summits irrigate the fields and vineyards of chile's fruitful vales and argentina's productive plains, bringing to being corn, wine and oil, and other things which make glad the heart of man. the andes form the dividing-line between chile and argentina. the water-parting was adopted as the boundary under the arbitration of king edward of britain. a remarkable monument has been erected in uspallata pass, a token that these two nations will enter into conflict no more; a great bronze statue of christ, on a huge pedestal--el cristo de los andes--standing solitary and majestic amid the eternal snows, looking out over the high places of the mighty cordillera. index aguascalientes, alligators, almagro, , alvarado, , amazon, , americans, , , , , , andagoya, _andenes_, andes, , , , antofagasta, apaches, araucanians, archæology, , , , , , areas, arequipa, argentina, arica, armchairs, stone, ancient, arnica plant, arts, native, atahualpa, ayacucho, aymaras, , aztecs, , , , , bahamas, , balboa, bamboos, bananas, , , belize, birds, , , , bogata, bolivar, , bolivia, , borax lake, brazil, , british guiana, , british honduras, , brown labour , _see also_ indians buenaventura, bull-fights, _cacao_, _see_ chocolate cacti, , cajamarca, calendar stone, mexican, cali, california, , , callao, , , campeche, carlota, empress, carnival time, cathay, cathedrals, cauca valley, central america, cerro de pasco, chihuahua, chile, , , , , chimborazo, , chinese, chocolate, , , cholos, , , cholula, christ, statue of, church of england, church, roman catholic, , coal, , , cochrane, admiral, , coconuts, , , , , coffee, , , colluahuassi, colombia, , , , , colour line, columbus, concepcion, concessionaries, foreign, condor, conquest of peru, copper, cordillera, , , _see_ andes corinto, cortes, costa rica, cotopaxi, cotton, , , creation story, cuba, cuzco, , , dances, indian, darien, davila, demerara, diaz, , doctorate, love of the, don quixote, drake, dress and morals, dress, native, , drink evil, durango, dyewood, earthquakes, , , ecuador, , , edward, king, elizabeth, queen, , english in, - , , , , , , , fibres, fishing, foreigners in, , , , , forests, _see_ timber fossils, galapagos islands, game, garcia-moreno, germans, , gold, , , , , , , etc. golden utensils, government, grau, guadalajara, guadalupe, guahtemoc, , guanajuato, , guano, guatemala, , guayaquil, , guayaquil-quito railway, guayas river, , guianas, hayti, holy alliance, honduras, , , _see_ british honduras horse, the, houses, native, , , , , huacas, huancavelica, huanchaca, _huascar_, huayna capac, humboldt, , inca roads, incas of peru, , , , , indian folk, , , , , , , , , , , , , inquisition, , iquique, , irrigation, isabella, queen, , iturbide, ixtaccihuatl, juarez, _kosmos_ line, labour, native, _see_ indian folk, _also_ peonage la condamine, la paz, leguia, president of peru, lima, llamas, , lower california, magellan, , _maguey_, malaria, manabi, mangroves, maximilian, mayas, , , melancholy, indian, merida, mexico, , , - mexico, city of, mining, , , , , , , , misti, mitla, monroe doctrine, montezuma, morgan, music, native, , natives, _see_ indians negroes, nelson, admiral, nezahualcoyotl, nicaragua, nicoya, nitrate, _noche triste_, oaxaca, _oficinas_, nitrate, o'higgins, , oligarchies, olives, ollague, mountain, orchids, orizaba, oroya railway, oruro, otumba, battle of, pachuca, , pacific ocean, , , - pampa, panama, , , , , , , panama canal, _see_ panama panama hats, pardo, ex-president, patagonia, paterson, pedro de candia, peonage, , peru, , , - peruvians, the, philip ii, picture-writing, pierola, ex-president, pineapples, pizarro, , , poetry, indian, poetry, native, poetry, spanish american, ponchos, popocateptl, population, , portugal, potosi, , , , prat, proletariat, puebla, , putumayo, quechuas, , quesada, quetzalcoatl, quiches, quicksilver, quinine, quipos, quito, , , rafts, native, revolution, , roosevelt, president, _rotos_, chilean, rubber, , , , sacsaihuaman, salvador, sand-dunes, san martin, santiago, , santo domingo, seals, shiris, , silver, , , slavery, sorata, _soroche_, southern railway of peru, spain, fall of, spanish language, stelae, strikes, sugar, , tabasco, tarapaca, tehuantepec, tennis, aboriginal, tenochtitlan, teotihuacan, , terrace-farming, texas, , texcoco, textiles, native, tiahuanako, tidal waves, timber, , tin, , titicaca lake, , tlascala, toltecs, , , travel methods, , , trujillo, tumbez, turkey, original home of the, united states, see americans unknown god, , uynini, valdivia, , valparaiso, , , venezuela, volcanoes, walker, american filibuster, water power, whymper, wine, , women, status of, , , , , , , , , , , yareta, yellow fever, yucatan, zacatecas, , the anglo-south american bank, limited an international institution the bank has branches in-- great britain france spain united states argentina chile uruguay peru & mexico and it is represented in brazil and throughout central america by its affiliated institutions, the british bank of south america, ltd. and the commercial bank of spanish america, ltd. [illustration: bank advertisement first half] [illustration: bank advertisement second half] the anglo-south american bank limited _head office: old broad street, london, e.c. _ the capital and reserves exceed £ , , ¶ current accounts opened at head office on the usual terms of london bankers; at branches on customary local conditions. ¶ deposit accounts may be arranged for long or short periods, and interest allowed thereon at rates ascertainable on application. ¶ foreign exchange business is made a speciality, and particular attention is given to the negotiation of forward exchange contracts, under which insurance may be effected against commercial loss resulting from exchange fluctuations. ¶ drafts and letters of credit are issued on all of the principal commercial centres of the world. ¶ the collection of cheques and bills is undertaken in all parts of the world. ¶ the purchase and sale of securities and the collection of coupons, drawn bonds, dividends, etc., are undertaken on the usual terms. _printed in great britain by_ unwin brothers, limited woking and london * * * * * transcriber's note: minor typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected without note. irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed. the illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up paragraphs, thus the page number of the illustration might not match the page number in the list of illustrations. mismatched quotes are not fixed if it's not sufficiently clear where the missing quote should be placed. the cover for the ebook version of this book was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain. page : the transcriber has changed chalpulepec to chalpultepec. page : for ease of reading, the transcriber inserted a new paragraph break where there was none, to begin a block quote. 'was rapidly declining in health. "but his mind did not share the ills' note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original maps. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h.zip) the united states and latin america by john holladay latanÉ ph. d., ll. d. professor of american history and dean of the college faculty in the johns hopkins university author of "from isolation to leadership," "america as a world power," etc. [illustration] garden city new york doubleday, page & company copyright, , by doubleday, page & company all rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, including the scandinavian [illustration: south america] to the memory of my father whose daily comments on public questions were my first lessons in the study of politics and to my mother who imparted to me a love of history and whose approval is still the richest reward of my efforts preface this book is based on a smaller volume issued by the johns hopkins press in under the title "the diplomatic relations of the united states and spanish america," which contained the first series of albert shaw lectures on diplomatic history. that volume has been out of print for several years, but calls for it are still coming in, with increasing frequency of late. in response to this demand and in view of the widespread interest in our relations with our southern neighbors i have revised and enlarged the original volume, omitting much that was of special interest at the time it was written, and adding a large amount of new matter relating to the events of the past twenty years. chapters i, ii and v are reprinted with only minor changes; iii, iv and vi have been rewritten and brought down to date; vii, viii and ix are wholly new. j. h. l. baltimore, may , . contents chapter page i the revolt of the spanish colonies ii the recognition of the spanish-american republics iii the diplomacy of the united states in regard to cuba iv the diplomatic history of the panama canal v french intervention in mexico vi the two venezuelan episodes vii the advance of the united states in the caribbean viii pan americanism ix the monroe doctrine index maps south america _frontispiece_ the caribbean _facing page _ the united states and latin america the united states and latin america chapter i the revolt of the spanish colonies the english colonies of north america renounced allegiance to their sovereign more through fear of future oppression than on account of burdens actually imposed. the colonies of spain in the southern hemisphere, on the other hand, labored for generations under the burden of one of the most irrational and oppressive economic systems to which any portion of the human race has ever been subjected, and remained without serious attempt at revolution until the dethronement of their sovereign by napoleon left them to drift gradually, _in spite of themselves_, as chateaubriand expressed it, into the republican form of government. to carry the contrast a step further, when the conditions were ripe for independence, the english colonies offered a united resistance, while the action of the spanish colonies was spasmodic and disconcerted. the north american revolution gave birth to a federal republic, that of the south to a number of separate and independent republics, whose relations with one another have at times been far from amicable. the causes for these striking differences are to be explained not alone by race psychology, but by a comparison of the english and spanish colonial systems and of the two revolutions as well. the history of the english colonies and of their revolt has been pretty well exploited, but information in regard to the spanish-american revolution and its causes, although the sources are abundant, is not easily accessible to english-speaking people. by virtue of the celebrated bull of pope alexander vi, the spanish-american colonies were looked upon as possessions of the crown, and not as colonies of spain. their affairs were regulated by the king, with the assistance of a board called the council of the indies. this council, which was on a footing of equality with the council of castile, was established by ferdinand as early as , and was modified by charles v in . it was to take cognizance of all ecclesiastical, civil, military, and commercial affairs relating to the colonies. from it proceeded the so-called laws of the indies, and all colonial offices in the gift of the crown were conferred by it. in the course of time, however, the personnel of this council became merged with that of castile, and for all practical purposes the colonies became dependencies of the spanish nation. there were from the first establishment of spanish rule in america, two viceroyalties on the continent. the viceroy of new spain ruled over mexico and central america, whilst all south america subject to spanish control was for about two centuries under the viceroy of peru. in regions too remote to be under his immediate control, _audiencias_, or courts of justice, were established, the president of the _audiencia_ being known by the title of captain-general. thus _audiencias_ were established at quito in , at charcas (in modern bolivia) in , in new granada in , in chile in , and later at caracas and at buenos aires. in , new granada was raised to the rank of a viceroyalty, with its capital at bogota; and in the same dignity was conferred on buenos aires. there were thus on the southern continent three viceroyalties widely separated: one on the main, one on the atlantic, and one on the pacific. the powers of the viceroy, or captain-general, as the case might be, were limited only by the _audiencia_, consisting of from three to five members, always of spanish birth, whose functions were largely advisory, but who had the privilege of corresponding directly with the council of the indies, and who in case of emergency sometimes went so far as to depose the viceroy. it should be borne in mind that in spanish america the native indian races were not driven beyond the frontier of civilization, as they were by the english settlers, but became, and remain to this day, an integral part of the population. there was thus in the spanish colonies an unusual admixture of races. there were ( ) european spaniards; ( ) creoles, or children born in america of spanish parents; ( ) indians, the indigenous race; ( ) negroes of african race; ( ) mestizos, children of whites and indians; ( ) mulattoes, children of whites and negroes; and ( ) zambos, children of indians and negroes. the maladministration of spain's colonies may be summarized under two heads: ( ) acts of oppression against the native indian race, and ( ) regulations of a commercial and political character, which acted in restraint of the economic and social development of her own offspring in america. under the first head may be mentioned the _mita_, or forced labor in mines, farms, and factories, and the _repartimiento_, or _encomienda_, which was an allotment to spaniards of territory including the native inhabitants as peons or vassals. in spite of humane restrictions placed by law upon them, these institutions degenerated into systems of fearful oppression, which led, in , to the heroic but unsuccessful efforts of tupac amaru, the last of the incas, to free the land of his fathers from the cruel rule of the spaniard. so deep-seated was the dissatisfaction and so formidable the revolt, that it was not suppressed for more than two years. the unfortunate inca and most of his family were cruelly put to death. the economic and commercial restrictions imposed upon the colonies require fuller notice. the whole object of spain's colonial policy was to extract gold and silver from america and to force spanish manufactures and products upon that country. commerce was confined to spain and to spanish vessels. no south american could own a ship, nor could a cargo be consigned to him; no foreigner was allowed to reside in the country unless born in spain; and no capital, not spanish, was permitted in any shape to be employed in the colonies. orders were given that no foreign vessel, on any pretence whatever, should touch at a south american port. even ships in distress were not to be received with common hospitality, but were ordered to be seized as prizes, and the crews imprisoned.[ ] as late as , when the united states protested against the blockade established by general morillo, as contrary to international law, m. onis, the spanish minister, replied that the object of the blockade was to maintain the laws of the indies, which during the napoleonic wars had been somewhat relaxed, adding: you are aware that, agreeably to those laws, no foreign vessel was allowed to trade with the dominions of his majesty on that continent without a special license, and that vessels found near or evidently shaping a course towards them were liable to confiscation as interlopers. when, later in the year, a united states commissioner was sent to cartagena to reclaim american vessels so seized, the spanish viceroy gave him to understand that he did not pretend to be acquainted with the law of nations.[ ] not only were the colonists prohibited from engaging in manufactures which interfered with those of spain, but restrictions were even placed on agriculture in the interests of the spanish producer. thus the cultivation of flax, hemp, and saffron was forbidden under severe penalty; the cultivation of tobacco was not allowed; and grapes and olives could be raised only for table use, so that oil and wine had to be imported from spain. upon one occasion (in ) orders were sent "to root up all the vines in certain provinces, because the cadiz merchants complained of a diminution in the consumption of spanish wines."[ ] the carrying out of this commercial system in all its details was entrusted to the _casa de contratacion_, or house of trade, which was located at seville until , when it was transferred to cadiz. the india house, as it was called, was established by warrant of queen joanna in .[ ] to this house were to be brought all merchandise for the colonies and all products from them of whatever character. the colonial trade was thus limited to one spanish port. the affairs of the house were in charge of three commissioners or judges, who had jurisdiction, civil and criminal, over all cases arising out of the trade with america. their authority was subordinated to no other court or council but that of the indies. not only were no foreigners allowed to go to the spanish colonies, but careful restrictions were placed on the movement of spaniards to and from america. in king ferdinand had by a special order permitted all subjects of spain without distinction to go over to the indies upon entering their names at the india house; but in the years , , , and several orders were passed "that no person reconciled, or newly converted to our holy catholic faith, from judaism or mahometanism, nor the children of such, nor the children or grandsons of any that had worn the st. andrew's cross of the inquisition, or been burnt or condemned as heretics, or for any heretical crime, either by male or female line, might go over to the indies, upon pain of forfeiting all their goods, of an hundred lashes, perpetual banishment from the indies, and their bodies to be at the king's disposition."[ ] the commissioners might "grant passes to merchants to go over, or return if they came from thence, including married merchants, provided they have leave from their wives, and give , ducats security to return within three years."[ ] there were also strict rules about passing from one province in america to another. this could not be done without special leave from the king.[ ] "the inhabitants of the indies may not come to spain without leave from the viceroys, presidents or governors of the places of their habitation, in which they are to express the causes of their coming, and whether it is to stay here or return."[ ] "in the indies, the magistrates are directed to apprehend any persons they find are gone over without leave, to imprison them till they can send them back into spain, upon pain of losing their employments."[ ] in and it was decreed that persons going over without leave should be sent to the galleys for four years. in king philip iv decreed that a person simply going aboard a ship bound for the indies without leave should be immediately sent to the galleys for eight years.[ ] other decrees equally severe were issued from time to time. in order to keep the trade strictly under control and to properly protect it, intercourse with the colonies was held only once a year. two squadrons, consisting of merchant ships and convoys under command of an admiral and vice-admiral, made the trip each year. the fleet for new spain (mexico) sailed in the spring, and that for the mainland in the early fall. the first touched at some of the islands and then went to vera cruz; the latter touched first at cartagena and passed on thence to porto bello, where the fair was held about the middle of march. this fair was the great event of the year, and lasted forty days from the time of the arrival of the fleet. from this point goods were distributed by way of panama to peru, chile, and even across the continent to buenos aires. the gold bullion was sent in turn to this point by the viceroy of peru. it came in fifteen days from potosi to arica, thence by sea in eight days to callao, and in twenty days from callao to panama. the viceroy of peru was to take care to have the plate at panama by the middle of march. at porto bello it was taken aboard the galleons. about the middle of june the galleons met the fleet from new spain at havana, and from that point the two fleets with their convoys proceeded in greater safety to spain. thus for two centuries all intercourse between spain and her colonies at one end of the line was limited at first to seville, and then to cadiz; and at the other to vera cruz and porto bello.[ ] at a later period this arrangement was modified to some extent, and buenos aires was made a port of entry. the reason for not permitting trade with buenos aires during the earlier period was the fear that the british and dutch would smuggle through that port. while the relations of the colonies with spain were kept under the strictest control, intercourse with foreign nations, although absolutely prohibited under the severest penalties, could not be entirely prevented. in speaking of spain's restrictive policy, a british naval officer, who was on the south american station during the revolution, says: unfortunately, however, for that system, the south americans, notwithstanding the network of chains by which they were enveloped, had still some sparks of humanity left, and, in spite of all their degradation, longed earnestly for the enjoyments suitable to their nature; and finding that the spaniards neither could nor would furnish them with an adequate supply, they invited the assistance of other nations. to this call the other nations were not slow to listen; and, in process of time, there was established one of the most extraordinary systems of organized smuggling which the world ever saw. this was known under the name of the contraband or forced trade, and was carried on in armed vessels, well manned, and prepared to fight their way to the coast, and to resist, as they often did with effect, the _guarda costas_, or coast blockades of spain. this singular system of warlike commerce was conducted by the dutch, portuguese, french, english, and latterly by the north americans. in this way goods to an immense value were distributed over south america; and although the prices were necessarily high, and the supply precarious, that taste for the comforts and luxuries of european invention was first encouraged, which afterwards operated so powerfully in giving a steady and intelligible motive to the efforts of the patriots in their struggle with the mother-country. along with the goods which the contraband trade forced into the colonies, no small portion of knowledge found entrance, in spite of the increased exertions of the inquisition and church influence, aided by the redoubled vigilance of government, who enforced every penalty with the utmost rigor. many foreigners, too, by means of bribes and other arts, succeeded in getting into the country, so that the progress of intelligence was gradually encouraged, to the utter despair of the spaniards, who knew no other method of governing the colonies but that of mere brute force, unsupported by the least shadow of opinion, or of good will.[ ] the trade carried on by foreign interlopers grew to such alarming proportions that before the middle of the eighteenth century spain found it necessary to relax the restrictions upon the private trade of her own subjects. this led, about , to the discontinuance of the annual fleets or galleon trade. the political administration of the country was absolutely in the hands of spaniards, who as a rule were not allowed to marry, acquire property, or form any permanent ties in america. in the summary of charges against spain appearing in the argentine manifesto of , one of the specifications is, that of one hundred and sixty viceroys who had governed in america, four natives of the country alone were numbered; and of six hundred and two captains-general, all but fourteen had been spaniards. the monopoly of spanish trade in south america was partially surrendered by the treaty of utrecht, signed in , at the close of the war of the spanish succession. by this treaty england agreed to recognize philip v as king of spain and the indies, and in turn was granted the _assiento_, or contract for supplying the spanish colonies with african slaves.[ ] the importation of negroes into the spanish possessions had been carried on under contract from the very first. the _assiento_, which had been previously granted to spanish subjects, was, in , granted to the portuguese company of guinea, and in to the royal guinea company of france; but in england secured this lucrative monopoly and became the great slave-trading power of the world. the _assiento_ of , which was very carefully drawn up in articles, granted to an english company the sole right of supplying slaves to the spanish west indies and to south america for the period of thirty years from may , . by it the queen of england undertook to see that the company chartered by her should introduce into the spanish west indies, including south america, , negroes of both sexes and all ages within thirty years, at the rate of , a year. the company was to pay a duty of - / pieces of eight (dollars) for each negro imported. in addition to the , a year, other negroes might be imported at a duty of - / dollars each, thus encouraging larger importations. the negroes could be brought in either spanish or english vessels, manned with english or spanish sailors, provided only no cause of offense be given to the catholic religion. the majority of the negroes were to be taken to cuba and porto rico, and to the ports on the main; but of the , , the company had the right to take , to buenos aires, to be sold there and to be carried to the provinces up the plata and to the kingdom of chile. they were also allowed to carry negroes across the isthmus from porto bello to panama, and there re-ship them to peru. either englishmen or spaniards could be employed in the business, provided that there were not more than four or six englishmen in any port, and that these should be amenable to the laws in all respects as spanish subjects. by no means the least remarkable provision of this treaty was that their british and catholic majesties were each to receive one-fourth of the profits of this traffic. ships engaged in this trade were to be searched on arrival at port, and all merchandise found on board was to be confiscated and heavy penalties inflicted. on condition, however, that the company should not attempt any unlawful trade, his catholic majesty granted them the privilege, during thirty years, of sending annually a ship of tons to the fair at porto bello. the spanish king was to be concerned one-fourth in the profits.[ ] it seems that the company stretched this privilege to the utmost. the ship always stopped at jamaica, took on all the goods she could, and carried along with her five or six smaller vessels laden with goods. when she got near porto bello, all her provisions were put in the tenders and the goods these bore taken aboard. she then entered the harbor laden down to the water's edge. thus this single ship was made to carry more than five or six of the largest galleons.[ ] thirty years before the spanish colonies began their war of independence, the british government had entertained the idea of revolutionizing and separating them from spain. this idea seems to have arisen in , during the administration of lord north, when spain joined france in the alliance with the american colonies against great britain.[ ] it was suggested at first, no doubt, as a measure of retaliation, but was frequently agitated in later years with the avowed object of opening up south america to british commerce. the same idea was the basis of miranda's scheme for the liberation of his native land. francisco de miranda[ ] ( - ), a native of caracas, venezuela, was the first spanish-american patriot. he was with the american army for a time during the revolutionary war, but in what capacity is not quite settled. it is stated by some writers that he held a commission under lafayette. the success of our war inspired him with the hope of freeing his own country from spanish control. he confided his views to his friends in the united states, particularly to alexander hamilton, "upon whom he fixed his eyes as a coadjutor in the great purpose of his life." shortly after miranda had returned to his native land his schemes were discovered. he fled to the united states, and later to england, where he had repeated conferences with pitt. finding no help for his revolutionary schemes in england, he went to the continent and traveled through france, germany, turkey, and russia. at the russian court he was warmly received, but was soon dismissed at the demand of the spanish minister. at news of the dispute between england and spain about nootka sound in , he hastened to england and communicated his scheme to the british ministry. pitt lent a ready ear to his views as long as the dispute lasted, with the intention of making use of him in the event of a rupture with spain. but when the dispute was peaceably settled, miranda's hopes fell to the ground and he left england. his scheme was only temporarily abandoned, however. he considered himself to have been ill-used by pitt on this occasion, as he subsequently stated to rufus king, the american minister to england. the french revolution was now well under way, and the wars upon which the republic was entering offered an attractive field for a soldier of republican ideas. in april, , miranda went to paris with introductions to pétion and the leading girondists, hoping that the revolutionary party might help him in his plans. he was given a commission as brigadier-general in the french army, and served in responsible posts under dumouriez on the eastern frontier. he conducted the siege of maestricht and commanded the left wing of the french army at the disastrous battle of neerwinden, march, , in which belgium was reconquered by the austrians. dumouriez now declared against the convention, but his troops having refused to follow him, he went over to the austrians in company with the duke of chartres, louis philippe. miranda fell under suspicion of treason and was forced to undergo a court-martial, but was acquitted. for some unexplained reason he was shortly after thrown into prison. he soon secured his release, but for several years disappears from public view. his services in behalf of the republic received in time due recognition. his name appears on the arc de triomphe in paris in the list of the heroes of the revolution. in january, , miranda returned to england. as spain was now the close ally of france, he hoped to secure the coöperation of great britain in his scheme. he also hoped to secure aid from the united states. the people of kentucky and tennessee were far from satisfied with the provisions of the spanish treaty of in regard to the navigation of the mississippi river. then, too, just at this time, war between the united states and france seemed inevitable, on account of the resentment by france of the jay treaty and her treatment of the american representatives. washington had been called from his retirement at mt. vernon to assume the post of commander-in-chief of the army, while the active command was to be given to hamilton. hamilton had expressed great interest in miranda's projects and was a man of known ambition. his appointment, therefore, as the virtual commander-in-chief of the american army made miranda hopeful of his coöperation. mr. king, the american minister at london, entered heartily into the plans of general miranda, and his correspondence on that subject, during the year , with his government and with hamilton is quite voluminous.[ ] for a time it seemed as if great britain and the united states would coöperate for the purpose of revolutionizing spanish america. the plan, as entertained by miranda and hamilton, was for england to supply the naval force and the united states the land forces. miranda believed that six or eight vessels of the line and four or five thousand troops would be sufficient,[ ] though hamilton thought it would require ten thousand troops. england's participation in the scheme depended upon the relations between france and spain. mr. king wrote to his government, february , : two points have within a fortnight been settled in the english cabinet respecting south america. if spain is able to prevent the overthrow of her present government and to escape being brought under the entire control of france, england (between whom and spain, notwithstanding the war, a certain understanding appears to exist) will at present engage in no scheme to deprive spain of her possessions in south america. but if, as appears probable, the army destined against portugal, and which will march through spain, or any other means which may be employed by france, shall overthrow the spanish government, and thereby place the resources of spain and of her colonies at the disposal of france, england will immediately commence the execution of a plan long since digested and prepared for the complete independence of south america. if england engages in this plan, she will at philadelphia propose to the united states to coöperate in its execution, miranda will be detained here, under one pretense or another, until events shall decide the conduct of england.[ ] england's policy in regard to south america for the next twenty years substantially confirmed the interpretation of her motives here given by mr. king. during the summer of mr. king had several conferences with the british ministry in regard to the spanish-american question, but it was always understood that they were personal and wholly unauthorized. what occurred at these interviews was, of course, always communicated to the american government, but as they were unofficial and communicated merely in the nature of information, the state department preferred to keep the matter on the same basis and did not refer to the matter in its dispatches to mr. king. this caused him no little annoyance.[ ] in the same way no notice was taken of general miranda's letter to president adams. hamilton, however, was very frank in the expression of his views both to general miranda and to mr. king. under date of august , , he wrote to the latter: i have received several letters from general miranda. i have written answers to some of them, which i send you to deliver or not, according to your estimate of what is passing in the scenes where you are. should you deem it expedient to suppress my letter, you may do it and say as much as you think fit on my part in the nature of a communication through you. with regard to the enterprise in question, i wish it much to be undertaken, but i should be glad that the principal agency was in the united states--they to furnish the whole land force necessary. the command in this case would very naturally fall upon me, and i hope i should disappoint no favorable anticipation. the united states, however, succeeded in coming to an understanding with france, while england was unwilling to deal such a serious blow to spain as long as there was a chance of arraying her against napoleon. the communication of the views of the british government at philadelphia, to which mr. king referred as a preliminary, was never made. miranda's hopes finally fell through at the reëstablishment of peace in europe by the treaty of amiens, which lasted until . he lingered in europe some time longer, until, wearied out by years of fruitless negotiation with the british government, he, for the time being, gave up all hope of success in that quarter and returned once more to the united states. arriving in new york from england in november, , miranda proceeded to lay his cause once more before mr. king, who had so warmly befriended him in london, and to solicit his coöperation in fitting out an expedition for south america. while expressing his full sympathy with the cause, mr. king stated emphatically that he could render him no assistance, nor could any individuals safely do so, without the countenance of the government. he, therefore, advised miranda to go to washington and lay his plans before the administration. this miranda did. he was admitted to informal conferences both with president jefferson and secretary of state madison. upon his return to new york he represented to those interested in his schemes that he had secured from the government a secret sanction of his project, and that the administration, though unwilling to take the initiative, would support the undertaking so soon as the standard of revolution should once have been raised on the spanish main. miranda's chief supporter was colonel smith, surveyor of the port of new york, whose influence as a public official in close touch with the administration was decisive in persuading many adventurous spirits to join the expedition with the belief that it was really secretly backed by the government of the united states. miranda left new york in the early part of february, , in the _leander_, with an imperfectly equipped force of about men, most of whom were commissioned as officers and promised commands in the south american army, which was expected to spring from the soil at the magic touch of miranda's step upon the shores of his native land. the ship proceeded to jacquemel, san domingo, where miranda expected to get the necessary supplies and reinforcements. here disappointments awaited him, disputes with the ship's captain ensued, and over a month was fruitlessly spent, while the spanish authorities on the main had time to put themselves on the alert. it was not until the last of april that the expedition, reinforced by two schooners, appeared off the coast of venezuela near porto cabello. they were attacked by two spanish vessels, which captured the schooners with about sixty men and large stores, while the _leander_ ignominiously took to flight. miranda then sailed for barbados, where he solicited aid from the british admiral, lord cochrane, in command on the west indian station. lord cochrane, without definite instructions from his government, but acquainted with its general policy in regard to south america, and knowing of the close relations in which miranda had stood for years with the british ministry, decided to assist him in landing. with this understanding he signed with miranda an agreement to the effect that in the event of the success of the expedition, great britain should always be held on a footing with the most favored nation, and that british ships should receive a deduction of ten per cent. upon duties paid by all other nations, except the united states.[ ] on the twentieth of june, the expedition left barbados under convoy of a part of admiral cochrane's squadron, and on august , , effected a landing near coro, venezuela. they easily took possession of the town, the unarmed inhabitants fleeing before them. here miranda remained about ten days, issuing proclamations and vainly waiting for the natives to join him. his position, meanwhile, was becoming unsafe, so he abandoned it and took possession of the little island of aruba off the coast. lord cochrane, seeing that the expedition was a failure, and not wishing further to compromise his government, sent no reinforcements and finally ordered the withdrawal of the ships that had accompanied the expedition. miranda was offered a convoy back to trinidad, which he accepted, leaving aruba, september , . at trinidad the members of the expedition dispersed.[ ] the americans who had taken part in the expedition and survived were prosecuted in the united states courts for violation of the neutrality laws. they claimed that they had enlisted in the undertaking with the connivance of the government at washington. jefferson's enemies made great political capital of the affair. members of the cabinet were summoned as witnesses, but refused to appear. privately jefferson and madison both denied most emphatically having in any way committed the government to miranda's undertaking, or having acted in any way in disregard of our obligations to spain.[ ] aside from accomplishing nothing, the expedition of was a great injury to miranda's cause. he himself lost prestige as a military leader and brought his character into question as having misrepresented his connection both with the british and united states governments. however, upon the occupation of spain by napoleon in , miranda again hastened to england and urged upon the ministry the claims of his country, in whose interests he had now been laboring incessantly as an exile for more than twenty years. we cannot but admire his tenacity of purpose in the face of the most disheartening failures. not only did the british government lend its encouragement, through lord cochrane, to the filibustering expedition from the united states with which miranda hoped to revolutionize venezuela, but about the same time it sent an expedition against the provinces of the plate. this attack, like the assistance given to miranda, was ill-timed and not properly followed up. the policy seems to have been outlined by pitt, but was put into execution after his death by the short-lived ministry of grenville and fox. the government of the duke of portland, which succeeded after a few months, and in which castlereagh and canning were the most conspicuous figures, did not deem it expedient to follow up the undertaking.[ ] in fact, the fate of the expedition was already sealed when portland came into power. the victory of trafalgar had given the english control of the atlantic. a force of some , men was dispatched to the south atlantic without its destination being known. it proceeded to rio janeiro, portugal then being in alliance with england. the viceroy of the plate became alarmed and prepared to defend montevideo, which he thought would be the first point of attack. the expedition, however, passed by and proceeded to the cape of good hope, which it wrested from the dutch. in a dash was made from the cape for the river plate. sir home popham commanded the fleet, and general beresford the land force, which amounted to , men. on june the squadron arrived at the mouth of the plate. the ships had some difficulty in ascending the river, but on the th they came to anchor at a point fifteen miles below buenos aires. the city was captured with little or no resistance, the inhabitants having been led to believe that the british had come to liberate them. the contents of the public treasury were handed over to the invaders. the inhabitants were required to swear allegiance to george iii, private property was respected, the free exercise of their religion was allowed, and all officials who took the oath were continued in office. when beresford refused to proclaim the independence of the province, or to give any assurance for their future independence, the inhabitants, who had now learned how insignificant the invading force really was, began to prepare for resistance. a leader was readily found in the person of jacques liniers, a frenchman, who had been for thirty years in the service of spain. he and juan martin de puyrredon began an organized movement for the expulsion of the english. on the th of august, beresford, who had remained all this time without reinforcements, was compelled to surrender. troops ordered to his support from the cape did not arrive until later. sobremonte, the viceroy, had deserted buenos aires and established himself at montevideo. the people of buenos aires, therefore, deposed him and chose liniers in his place. during the fall other english reinforcements arrived, and in january, , montevideo was taken by assault. as soon as the defeat of beresford was known, general whitelocke was sent to take command of the united english forces of the plate, now some twelve thousand in number. he arrived in the spring. the reconquest of buenos aires now seemed an easy matter. it had been taken in the first instance by sixteen hundred men; there were now ten thousand available. on june the british landed at the small port of enseñada, forty-eight miles below buenos aires. the fighting continued on the outskirts of the city in a desultory manner and without any decisive action for several days. but finally, owing to the bad generalship and incompetency of whitelocke, his troops got into such a muddle that half the force was captured or disabled. on july , liniers decided to send a flag of truce with the proposal to surrender all the english prisoners, including those taken with beresford, provided whitelocke would evacuate the territory of buenos aires. one of liniers' associates, alzaga, insisted that the terms of surrender should include montevideo. this demand seemed preposterous, but the clause was finally inserted, and to their surprise agreed to, so complete was the demoralization of the english. on july the terms of capitulation were signed.[ ] thus through a lack of decision in the cabinet and a display of incapacity in the field, without parallel in british annals, the empire of the plate was lost.[ ] with napoleon's invasion of spain in , the spanish-american question came to the front once more. miranda returned to london and was detained there by the cabinet, as before by pitt, with a view to using him if occasion should require. at the same time castlereagh, now foreign secretary, had other solutions of the question in view. it was proposed, and the matter seriously discussed in the cabinet, to alienate the colonies from spain, if possible, without revolution; and, instead of establishing republics according to miranda's plans, to unite them all under a prince of the house of bourbon. louis philippe, duke of orleans, was suggested as the most suitable person for the new crown. some thirty years prior to this, immediately upon the recognition by spain of the independence of the united states, count de aranda had advised charles iii to forestall the movement for independence, which must inevitably come in his own provinces, by establishing among them three great empires--one in mexico, one in peru, and one on the main--each to be ruled by a prince of the royal family of spain.[ ] chateaubriand brought forward a similar plan several years later at the congress of verona. the present scheme was suggested by general dumouriez in the interests of his friend, the duke of orleans. several memorials on the subject, both by dumouriez and the duke, were presented to the british government in and .[ ] napoleon's invasion of spain constitutes at once the most contemptible and the most disastrous chapter in his career. in , under the terms of an agreement with godoy, the unworthy favorite of the queen and the virtual ruler of spain, a french army was introduced into the kingdom for the nominal purpose of punishing portugal for her refusal to join the continental system. the portuguese royal family, fully appreciating the danger in which they stood, fled to america and founded the empire of brazil, which in was declared independent of portugal. the spanish rulers attempted to follow their example, but their intended flight became known and they were prevented by the populace from leaving the capital. in the meantime a disgraceful quarrel having arisen between the old king, charles iv, and prince ferdinand, napoleon, whose troops were now firmly established in spain, stepped in as arbiter between father and son and summoned them both to meet him on the northern frontier. having purposely lingered in france beyond the appointed time, he succeeded in enticing them over the border to bayonne, where he compelled both to renounce forever the crown of spain and the indies, which he forthwith bestowed upon his brother joseph. when the truth dawned upon them, the spanish nation rose to a man. napoleon had unwittingly aroused the latent principle of nationality; he had put into action a force which was new and one which the statesmen of europe had hitherto left out of account, but which was to prove the most potent factor in the new epoch of political history introduced by the french revolution. provisional juntas were rapidly organized in the various provinces of the kingdom of spain and affairs administered in the name of ferdinand vii. the junta, or as it is better known, the regency of cadiz, rapidly gained a position of national importance and became the chief executive body of the spanish nation. the american provinces, which had long been restive under spanish rule, now claimed the same right of self-government that the provinces of the peninsula had assumed, and began to depose the spanish governors and to set up juntas of their own, still acting in the name of ferdinand vii. the americans claimed that they were not politically a part of spain, but connected only through the sovereign, and that with the removal of the sovereign the connection ceased. the regency of cadiz, on the other hand, maintained that the colonies were integral parts of spain, and claimed, therefore, the right to govern them in the absence of the sovereign. the first throes of revolution were felt in , almost simultaneously in upper peru, quito, and mexico. these movements were quickly suppressed with great cruelty. in the year the revolution opened upon a vast scale. all the spanish colonies on the mainland, with the exception of lower peru, revolted at the same time and proclaimed their independence of spain, although still professing allegiance to ferdinand vii, the dethroned king. the colonial authorities were deposed in most cases by force of public opinion and without violence. the revolution was municipal in character, that is to say, the _cabildos_, or town councils, the only popularly constituted political bodies in the colonies, assumed the initiative in the work of revolution and named the juntas. the junta of the capital city in each province was usually recognized as the chief executive body for that province, and assumed for the time being all the functions of government. national conventions were then called in many cases to decide upon the form of government. these in most cases entrusted the executive power to regencies or triumvirates, almost all of which rapidly gave way to military dictatorships. the regency of cadiz had anticipated trouble from the colonies and had recognized their rights as freemen by inviting them to send deputies to the national cortes, but at the same time had abridged those rights by allowing them only a very limited representation, absurdly out of proportion to their population and commercial importance. upon the establishment of the provisional governments or juntas in the colonies, the regency refused them the freedom of trade that had been promised, declined the proffered mediation of england, and proceeded to stigmatize the americans as rebels and to declare them guilty of high treason, although they had been guilty only of the same conduct that the spaniards themselves were pursuing at home. venezuela then ( ) declared herself independent of both the spanish nation and of the spanish monarch, and adopted a republican constitution. the promulgation of the spanish constitution of further encouraged the spirit of independence in the colonies, but when ferdinand was restored in , the colonies were still governed in his name, for the revolution of venezuela, which alone had declared for independence, had been crushed out. had ferdinand acted with any moderation or judgment, his american possessions would have been saved to his crown. but the refusal of the colonies, which had now enjoyed practical self-government for several years, to take upon them without conditions the yoke of absolute authority, was met with the proclamation of a war of reconquest. reconciliation was thereafter no longer possible, and independence only a question of time. by the close of the revolution had been put down in all the provinces except la plata. there it was never suppressed. for this reason we shall first trace rapidly the course of the revolution in the south, of which san martin was the directing power. josé de san martin was born in in paraguay, his father being the governor of misiones. when eight years of age, his family went to spain and he was entered as a pupil in the seminary of nobles at madrid. at the age of twelve, he joined a regiment as cadet and saw his first service in africa. he served in the spanish army for more than twenty years, and won promotion as well as special distinction for bravery. in the battle of baylen, where a detachment of napoleon's disciplined troops was beaten by an army of recruits inspired by patriotism, san martin, then a captain, won a gold medal and a commission as lieutenant-colonel for his conduct. hearing of the struggle for liberty in his native land, he resigned his commission and returned to america. he was almost unknown personally, but his reputation as a brave soldier and a skilful tactician procured for him immediate employment. at this time the argentine republic had two armies in the field, the one operating near at home against the portuguese in uruguay and the spanish in montevideo, and the other in upper peru (bolivia) against the forces sent by the viceroy of peru to suppress the argentine revolution. san martin was soon given the command of this army in the north, succeeding general belgrano. he soon placed his army in an excellent state of discipline and put a check to the advances of the peruvian army.[ ] on may , , the argentine naval force, under command of an irishman named brown, defeated and almost entirely destroyed the spanish squadron stationed at montevideo, and that city soon after surrendered to the besieging army of alvear, san martin's old comrade in the spanish army. alvear, whose political influence was much greater than san martin's, now aspired to the conquest of peru, and therefore desired the command in the north. this san martin willingly relinquished to him. he had other plans in mind, and the state of his health demanded rest. upper peru had been the high-road from peru to buenos aires in times of peace, and was, therefore, naturally looked upon as the line of advance for the liberating army. san martin, however, after a careful study of the question, had become convinced that this was not the strategic line of approach, that the argentine republic would never succeed in conquering peru from this quarter. his idea was to carry the war to the west, to cross the andes, occupy chile, and, having secured a naval base there, to attack peru from the coast, continuing military operations in the north merely as a diversion. the success of this plan depended upon the performance of two apparently impossible tasks--the passage of the andes and the creation of a navy on the pacific. san martin was by far too shrewd a man to advocate such an undertaking before maturing his plans. he, therefore, confided it only to a few of his intimate friends, and, taking advantage of his ill health, asked, as a favor for himself, the government of the obscure province of cuyo, where from its capital of mendoza he could place himself in communication with the chilean patriots. on august , , san martin was appointed governor of cuyo, and at once devoted himself to the development of the plans which led to the emancipation of half a continent and gave him his place in the world's history. the revolutionary movement in chile had just been crushed out. it was begun in and the general course of events had been somewhat similar to the argentine movement, but it had fallen a victim first to disputes between the patriot leaders and finally to the troops of the viceroy of peru. it would require more space than we can give to trace the varying fortunes of the cause in chile through the stirring events that marked the leadership of dr. rosas, of the carrera brothers, and of bernardo o'higgins. after the final collapse, o'higgins, with a number of other patriots, fled over the andes to mendoza and readily entered into the plans of san martin. it took the latter two years to organize and equip an army and to convince the government of buenos aires of the practicability of his plan. at length, on january , , he began the passage of the andes with about , men, , horses, and , mules, the latter carrying the field artillery, ammunition, and provisions. the summit of the uspallata pass is , feet above the sea-level, , feet higher than the great st. bernard, by which napoleon led his army over the alps. in many other respects san martin's achievement was more remarkable. each piece of artillery had to be carried suspended on a pole between two mules, or, where the road was particularly dangerous, dragged by ropes. there were chasms that could be crossed only by cable bridges. the march over the andes occupied three weeks. both men and animals suffered greatly from _soroche_, the illness caused by rarefied atmosphere. at the foot of the mountain, at chacabuco, the vanguard of san martin's army defeated a body of , royalists, and thus opened the road to santiago, which san martin entered february , . the chileans chose him supreme director of their government, but he declined the office, and o'higgins was chosen. san martin's great object was to crush the colonial power of spain in its stronghold, peru. having by the successful passage of the andes and the victory of chacabuco in a measure justified his plan of campaign, he returned to buenos aires for reinforcements. the royalists meanwhile retreated to the south. on february , , the independence of chile was proclaimed. a month later the patriots were surprised at cancha-rayada and almost routed, but within two weeks the army was again ready for action, and on april , , encountered the royalists at maipo. this battle was a complete victory for the patriots and decided the fate of chile. only one or two fortresses in the south were now held for spain. five days after the battle of maipo, san martin returned once more to buenos aires and began organizing an expedition for the liberation of peru. puyrredon, now supreme director, supported his undertaking. while san martin was soliciting aid from the argentine republic, the chileans were not idle. they saw that the only way of insuring their independence was by the creation of a navy. through its agent in london, the chilean government secured the services of lord cochrane, an english naval officer of great distinction and remarkable talents, who by a curious turn of fortune had been brought into unmerited disgrace and dismissed from the british service.[ ] he reached valparaiso in november and hoisted his flag on board the _o'higgins_, december , . during the course of the next year, cochrane made two attempts to take callao, the seaport of peru, but without success beyond harassing the enemy in some of the smaller coast towns. in february, , by a brilliant move, he captured valdivia, a strongly fortified town still held by the spaniards in southern chile. san martin returned to chile in january, , and began to assemble at valparaiso the army destined for the invasion of peru. of the , men, two-thirds were from buenos aires, while nearly all of the officers were argentine or european volunteers. of foreign officers, were british and were from the united states. there were, besides, english officers in the chilean navy. the expedition sailed on august , , on board the fleet commanded by cochrane. san martin landed his army at pisco, to the south of lima, and sent an expedition into the interior under general arenales, who had served the patriots for years in upper peru. in october, san martin reëmbarked his troops and landed them again at huacho, a point seventy miles north of lima. meanwhile the spanish squadron, completely demoralized by the appearance on the pacific of lord cochrane, whose daring exploits were well known, was lying under the guns of callao castle. on the night of november , , lord cochrane led a force of volunteers, consisting of seamen and marines, in open boats right under the batteries of callao, surprised and overpowered the crew of the _esmeralda_, the largest spanish frigate, and, cutting her loose, carried her off to his own squadron. after cochrane's exploit at callao, the moral effect of which was very great, he urged upon san martin an immediate advance upon lima, but san martin had two campaigns before him, the one military, the other political. on first landing at pisco he had issued an order to his army in which he said, "remember that you are come not to conquer, but to liberate a people; the peruvians are our brothers." and in spite of the impatience and restlessness of his officers, he steadily adhered to his plan, to the no small loss of his military prestige and ultimately to his retirement from the scene of activity. his purpose was by the presence of the liberating army to give the people of peru a chance to rise and throw off the yoke of spain. to this end he scattered proclamations and addresses of a revolutionary character broadcast through the land and quietly awaited results. the contest in peru, he said, was not a war of conquest and glory, but entirely of opinion; it was a war of new and liberal principles against prejudice, bigotry, and tyranny. people ask why i don't march to lima at once; so i might, and instantly would, were it suitable to my views, which it is not. i do not want military renown; i have no ambition to be the conqueror of peru; i want solely to liberate the country from oppression. of what use would lima be to me if the inhabitants were hostile in political sentiment? how could the cause of independence be advanced by my holding lima, or even the whole country, in military possession? far different are my views. i wish to have all men thinking with me, and do not choose to advance a step beyond the gradual march of public opinion. the capital is now ripe for declaring its sentiments, and i shall give them the opportunity to do so in safety. it was in sure expectation of this movement that i have hitherto deferred advancing; and to those who know the full extent of the means which have been put in action, a sufficient explanation is afforded of all the delays that have taken place. i have been gaining, indeed, day by day, fresh allies in the hearts of the people, the only certain allies in such a war. in the secondary point of military strength, i have been, from the same causes, equally successful in augmenting and improving the liberating army; while that of the spaniards has been wasted by want and desertion. the country has now become sensible of its true interests, and it is right the inhabitants should have the means of expressing what they think. public opinion is an engine newly introduced into this country; the spaniards, who are utterly incapable of directing it, have prohibited its use; but they shall now experience its strength and importance.[ ] the campaign of arenales in the interior was successful. in the presence of the liberating army, the people everywhere rose in revolt. san martin's method of conducting the campaign was the correct one. public opinion was soon aroused in the capital itself, and the royalists finally decided to evacuate lima. the viceroy retired with his forces to cuzco in the highlands. in response to an invitation from the city authorities, the patriots entered lima july , . san martin himself entered without ceremony after dark a few days later. the independence of peru was proclaimed july with imposing ceremonies in the great square of lima. san martin was proclaimed protector of peru. he proceeded to organize a civil government, and established the celebrated _order of the sun_, distinctively aristocratic in character. san martin had played a great part thus far, but he had reached the zenith of his influence and power. dissensions soon arose. the task he had undertaken was difficult in the extreme. it was much easier to acquire power than to use it. at the time of the evacuation of lima by the spaniards, he said to captain hall: for the last ten years i have been unremittingly employed against the spaniards; or rather in favor of this country, for i am not against any one who is not hostile to the cause of independence. all i wish is that this country should be managed by itself, and by itself alone. as to the manner in which it is to be governed, that belongs not at all to me. i propose simply to give the people the means of declaring themselves independent, and of establishing a suitable form of government; after which i shall consider i have done enough and leave them.[ ] when the time came he kept his word. while san martin was leading the army of liberation from the argentine republic to chile, and from chile to peru, simon bolivar, the liberator of the north, was pursuing his chequered career in venezuela and colombia, unfurling the standard of revolution wherever he could get a foothold. he was a man, in every respect, the opposite of san martin, fiery, impetuous, wholly given over to personal ambition, neither a statesman nor a soldier, but one of the greatest revolutionary leaders of any age or country. his ignorance of military affairs led him into undertakings from which an experienced soldier would have held back, but his indomitable pluck carried him safely through all calamities, and his wonderful enthusiasm fired his followers even in the midst of disaster. this remarkable man, whose reputation in the new world stands second to that of washington alone, was, like miranda, a native of caracas. sprung from a family of wealth and influence he had, like most young south americans of his class, received his education abroad, and had for several years led a dissipated life in paris. at first he held himself aloof from the revolutionary leaders, but after the accomplishment of the revolution of caracas, april , , he was persuaded to join the patriot cause, and was sent to london to solicit assistance from great britain.[ ] the junta of caracas, like those subsequently formed in the south, professed to act in the name of ferdinand vii, and fearing the influence of miranda, then in london, whose advocacy of absolute independence had been open and avowed, they instructed bolivar and their other agents not to allow him to come to venezuela. miranda came in spite of them, however, under an assumed name, and was everywhere received with enthusiasm. under his influence a congress was elected which, on july , , declared venezuela a republic, free and independent of all foreign dominion. miranda was appointed director. this was the first south american declaration of independence. the formal independence of the argentine republic was not declared until july , , although the country had been self-governing for several years. the patriot cause was ruined, however, by the earthquake of march , , which almost destroyed the city of caracas and several towns of importance. twenty thousand people are supposed to have perished. as the disaster occurred on holy thursday, the clergy were not slow to turn it to political account and to persuade the people that it was a direct chastisement of heaven upon them for their rebellion against spain. the cause of the patriots steadily lost ground until the fall of porto cabello, through the inefficiency of bolivar, caused its complete collapse. miranda was forced to sign with monteverde the treaty of vittoria, july , , on the basis of complete submission and a general amnesty. it is hardly necessary to add that the spanish general did not abide by the terms of the capitulation. miranda himself was detained by bolivar, as he was on the point of embarking for england, accused of having received bribes from the spaniards and of being unwilling to share the fate of his followers, and treacherously handed over to the spaniards. he was sent to spain and after languishing for three years in a dungeon at cadiz, died july , . his fate was a sad blot upon the reputation of bolivar. the revolution in new granada, which had been inaugurated july , , was still holding out and thither bolivar proceeded to offer his services to the patriots of that province. as soon as he had firmly established himself in influence and power, he persuaded the government that their only safety lay in the reconquest of venezuela. he was provided with troops, and in may, crossed the frontier and took several important cities. he now assumed a new attitude and became a self-appointed dictator. he proclaimed a war of extermination against spaniards and adopted a new system of dates: " d year of independence and st of the war to the death." he entered caracas in triumph august , . he proclaimed himself dictator with the title of liberator. meanwhile marino, another patriot leader, had landed in the eastern part of venezuela near cumana and declared himself dictator. there were thus two dictators and no cordiality between them. before they could come to an agreement the enemy had recovered their position. in december, , the last patriot force was defeated. bolivar and marino retired once more to new granada. bolivar was made captain-general of the forces of new granada, his title of liberator was recognized, and another, that of illustrious pacificator, bestowed upon him. a second time he undertook the conquest of venezuela from the west. dissensions soon arose between bolivar and the other leaders. he was refused reinforcements and foolishly marched against the patriot garrison of cartagena. he was now forced to give up his command, and embarked for jamaica, may, . meanwhile ferdinand had been restored to the throne of spain, and an army of , men, commanded by marshal morillo, the ablest spanish general of the time, had been sent to reduce the provinces on the main. this expedition reached cumana in april, , and before the end of the year all the colonies, with the exception of the provinces of the river plate, were reduced to submission. far from giving up hope, however, bolivar proceeded to haiti, and from that island, in may, , made a descent upon the eastern part of venezuela, but was routed by the spaniards in july, and soon returned to haiti. a few of the patriots still kept the field, and towards the close of the year bolivar's partisans secured his recall. on december he left haiti with a second expedition for the relief of his native land. he determined now to direct all his efforts, not as hitherto, to the support of the patriot cause in the capital, but to the holding of the great plains of the orinoco. with this territory as a base, he carried on, during the year , in conjunction with the llanero horsemen of general paez, a desperate struggle with the spaniards. when the rainy season of began, bolivar's army had been cut almost to pieces, he had lost prestige as a general, and his civil authority amounted to nothing. only the cavalry of paez maintained the patriot cause. still the position of the spaniards was not much better. morillo had , men scattered about, but neither money, arms, nor supplies. he reported to the viceroy of peru: "twelve pitched battles, in which the best officers and troops of the enemy have fallen, have not lowered their pride or lessened the vigor of their attacks upon us." in february, , the second congress of venezuela convened at angostura. the dictator resigned, but was unanimously elected president and given absolute power in all provinces which were the actual theater of war. the army was reorganized by the accession of foreign troops, in particular the british legion, consisting of , well equipped men, which achieved much of the success of the next year. bolivar now conceived the idea of crossing the cordillera and reconquering new granada. general paez was to attract the attention of morillo on the plains in front, and a demonstration was to be made on the coast near caracas, while bolivar marched to the west. this movement changed the whole face of affairs and had a similar effect to the passage of the andes by san martin. new granada was won by the battle of boyaca, august , . morillo was now isolated in venezuela. in december, , a congress of delegates from venezuela and new granada met and decreed the union of the two provinces in the republic of colombia. bolivar was named provisional president. an armistice was signed by bolivar and morillo in november, , which gave the patriots breathing time. the spanish troops remaining in venezuela were defeated by bolivar in the battle of carabobo, june , . only a few fortresses on the coast were still held by the spaniards. bolivar entered caracas once more in triumph and tendered his resignation, an act always considered by him necessary for giving the proper dramatic setting to such occasions. congress took no notice of it, but drew up a constitution providing for a limited presidential term of four years. the liberator, "as he feared," was elected president. he repeated his resignation, but added that he would yield if congress persisted. congress did persist. after the battle of boyaca, bolivar had sent general sucre by sea to guayaquil, nominally to aid the new state against the royalists, but in reality to induce it to join the republic of colombia. sucre met with reverses, and had to call on san martin for assistance from peru. meanwhile bolivar was advancing by land. on july , , he entered guayaquil in triumph, and two days later, on his own responsibility, announced its incorporation with colombia. the junta resigned and took refuge on board the peruvian squadron in the harbor. on the th san martin arrived by sea, and bolivar sent two of his aides to welcome him "on colombian soil." on the following day san martin went ashore and he and bolivar met for the first and last time. they had two private interviews, after which san martin sent his baggage aboard his ship and announced that he would sail after attending the ball to be given that night in his honor. at the public banquet that evening bolivar rose and proposed a toast: "to the two greatest men of south america--general san martin and myself." san martin also proposed a toast: "to the speedy conclusion of the war; to the organization of the different republics of the continent; and to the health of the liberator of colombia"--words which well contrasted the personal and political aims of the two men. san martin and bolivar had been unable to agree upon any plan for the expulsion of the spaniards from the highlands of peru. the self-denying patriot gave way before the man of ambition. to o'higgins he wrote: "the liberator is not the man we took him to be." upon his return to peru, san martin wrote to bolivar: "my decision is irrevocable. i have convened the first congress of peru; the day after its installation i shall leave for chile, convinced that my presence is the only obstacle which keeps you from coming to peru with your army." on the th of september, , he laid his resignation before the congress, and issued an address to the nation. "the presence of a fortunate soldier," he said, "however disinterested he may be, is dangerous to a newly founded state. i have proclaimed the independence of peru. i have ceased to be a public man." these words, whether intentionally so or not, were prophetic of bolivar's subsequent career. san martin wrote to o'higgins: "i am tired of hearing them call me tyrant, that i wish to make myself king, emperor, the devil. on the other hand, my health is broken, this climate is killing me. my youth was sacrificed to the service of spain; my manhood to my own country. i think i have now the right to dispose of my old age." bolivar's jealousy of san martin prolonged the war, which might have been brought to a close in a few months, for nearly three years. after the withdrawal of san martin, bolivar became dictator of peru. on december , , was fought the last battle for south american independence. on the little plain of ayacucho, , feet above the sea, general sucre defeated and captured the forces of the viceroy. upper peru was organized as a separate republic, with the name of bolivia. bolivar had been proclaimed president of peru for life, but the unpopularity of this measure led him to leave the country in , never to return. that same year he summoned the congress of panama, but his plans for the union of south america in one republic failed. san martin's idea finally triumphed. in venezuela separated itself from colombia and passed a decree of perpetual banishment against bolivar. in april, , through pressure of public opinion, bolivar resigned the presidency of colombia and retired into private life. congress voted him an annual pension of $ , . a month later quito and guayaquil separated from colombia and formed the independent state of ecuador. even the name colombia was dropped by the remaining state, and the old name of new granada adopted. in the name colombia was assumed once more. bolivar died in a small house near santa martha, december , , having witnessed the failure of his most cherished plans. san martin had retired to europe in with his only child, a daughter named mercedes. they lived a retired life in brussels. once only, in , he returned to his native land, but was received with such denunciation by the press of buenos aires that he quickly turned his face towards europe again. he died at boulogne, august , . thirty years later the argentine people had his remains brought back to his native land. in may, , with imposing ceremonies, they were laid to rest in the cathedral of buenos aires. mexico was twice revolutionized. the first struggle began in and , and was carried on spasmodically until . the second revolution broke out in on receipt of the news from spain of the revolution of march, , and the re-adoption of the constitution of . the old revolutionists demanded the proclamation of this constitution in mexico, but the viceroy apodaca opposed them. augustin de iturbide, a native mexican, who in the first revolution had steadfastly adhered to the cause of the king, now defected to the popular side with a large body of troops which the viceroy had entrusted to his command. on february , , he issued the celebrated document known as the plan of iguala, from the town of that name. in it he proposed the maintenance of the roman catholic religion to the exclusion of all others, the independence of mexico from spain, and the establishment of a limited monarchy. the imperial crown of mexico was to be offered first to ferdinand vii; in the event of his declining, to the younger princes of his house; and in the event of their refusal, the duty of naming an emperor was to fall to the representative assembly of mexico. the personal and property rights of spaniards in mexico were carefully guaranteed. in securing the interests of spaniards and of the clergy, those who had most to lose, this plan differed essentially from the revolutionary policy of the other spanish colonies. on the other hand, the creole element was satisfied with the promise of independence and a representative government. the revolutionary army became known as "the army of the three guarantees," these being ( ) the maintenance of the religious establishment in its present form, ( ) independence, and ( ) the union of americans and spaniards.[ ] this ingenious document received immediately the widest approval. the viceroy apodaca had practically abdicated when his successor, general o'donaju, arrived from spain. as the latter had come without troops, there was nothing left but for him to recognize the revolution as an accomplished fact and make the best terms for his country he could. accordingly he met iturbide in conference at cordova, and after a brief discussion signed the treaty bearing that name, august , . it was agreed that a provisional junta should be appointed, that o'donaju should be a member, and that the junta should proceed to carry into effect the plan of iguala. o'donaju then persuaded the royalists to open the gates of the capital, and on september , , iturbide entered. shortly thereafter o'donaju died from the yellow fever, thus leaving iturbide free to carry out his plans. the spanish government, of course, repudiated the treaty of cordova. the congress, which assembled in pursuance of the program of iguala, was divided between imperialists and republicans. in spite of the opposition of the latter, iturbide had himself proclaimed emperor and his family ennobled. congress soon fell into disputes with the emperor, who finally, in october, , dissolved it by force. a few months later santa anna inaugurated a counter-revolution from vera cruz, which resulted in the abdication of the emperor. iturbide was allowed to leave the country. he retired to italy, where he resided until toward the close of , when he went to london. in may, , at the solicitation of certain of his partisans, he sailed again for mexico,[ ] ignorant of the decree of perpetual banishment passed against him by the congress a few weeks before. he landed at tampico july , but was seized and executed a few days later. the new assembly then in session adopted a constitution, and the republic of mexico was launched upon what was to prove, for years to come, a career of turbulence and anarchy. footnotes: [ ] hall's "journal on chili, peru, and mexico," vols. edinburgh, , vol. i, p. . [ ] am. st. pap., for. rel., vol. iv, pp. - . [ ] hall's "journal," vol. i, p. . see also rodney's report on south america, in vol. iv, am. st. pap., for. rel. [ ] a full history of the india house and an account of its regulations is given by veitia linage in his "norte de la contratacion," seville, ; translated into english by captain john stevens under the title, "spanish rule of trade to the west indies," london, . linage was for a number of years treasurer and comptroller of the india house. a good summary of the history and regulations of the house is given by prof. bernard moses in his "casa de contratacion" in the papers of the am. hist. ass. for , and in the third chapter of his "establishment of spanish rule in america." [ ] linage, "norte de la contratacion," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] linage, "norte de la contratacion," pp. - . [ ] hall's "journal," vol. i, pp. - . [ ] "the assiento; or contract for allowing to the subjects of great britain the liberty of importing negroes into the spanish america." printed by john baskett, london, . [ ] "the assiento; or contract for allowing to the subjects of great britain the liberty of importing negroes into the spanish america." london, . [ ] ulloa, "voyage to south america." english translation, london, , vol. i, p. . [ ] "letters and despatches of castlereagh," vol. vii, p. ff. this volume is rich in information in regard to england's spanish-american policy. [ ] w. s. robertson, "francisco de miranda and the revolutionizing of spanish america" ( ). [ ] "life and correspondence of rufus king," new york, , vol. ii, app. . for further information regarding his relations with miranda, see extracts from his memorandum book, in vol. iii, app. . [ ] see miranda's letter to president adams, march , . "life and corresp. of king," vol. ii, p. . [ ] "life and corresp. of king," vol. ii, p. . [ ] see king's letter to hamilton, march , . "life and corresp.," p. . [ ] "letters and despatches of castlereagh," vol. vii. [ ] see sherman, "general account of miranda's expedition," n. y., . [ ] h. a. washington, "writings of thomas jefferson," vol. v, p. ; "madison's writings," vol. ii, pp. , . [ ] "letters and despatches of castlereagh," vol. vii, p. ff. [ ] see watson, "spanish and portuguese south america." vols. london, , vol. ii, p. ff. [ ] see "letters and despatches of castlereagh," vol. vii, p. ff. [ ] romero, "mexico and the united states," putnam, , p. . [ ] "letters and despatches of castlereagh," vol. vii. [ ] mitre, "the emancipation of south america." translated by pilling. london, . [ ] see cochrane (earl dundonald), "service in chili." vols. london, . [ ] hall's "journal," vol. i, p. . report of conversation with san martin in callao roads. [ ] hall's "journal," vol. i, p. . [ ] holstein, "life of bolivar." boston, . [ ] hall's "journal," vol. ii, p. . [ ] see the statement of iturbide in regard to his political life published in the _pamphleteer_, london, . chapter ii the recognition of the spanish-american republics the struggle of the south american peoples for independence was viewed from the first with feelings of profound satisfaction and sympathy in the united states. from the commencement of the revolution south american vessels were admitted into the ports of the united states under whatever flag they bore. it does not appear that any formal declaration according belligerent rights to the said provinces was ever made, though a resolution to that effect was introduced into the house by committee as early as december , .[ ] such formal action was apparently not deemed necessary and, as there was no spanish minister resident in the united states at that time to protest, our ports were probably thrown open, as a matter of course.[ ] the fact that they were accorded full belligerent rights from the first was afterwards stated by president monroe in his annual messages of and and in his special message of march , .[ ] at an early date of the revolution commissioners arrived in washington seeking recognition of independence, and agents were forthwith dispatched to south america to obtain information in regard to the state of the revolutionary governments and to watch the movements of england and other european powers. joel r. poinsett was sent to buenos aires in , and the following year alexander scott was sent to venezuela.[ ] in cæsar a. rodney, theodorick bland, and john graham were dispatched as special commissioners to south america. they proceeded to buenos aires, where they arrived in february, , and remained until the last of april. rodney and graham then returned to the united states while bland proceeded across the continent to chile. their reports were transmitted to congress november , .[ ] in messrs. j. b. prevost and john m. forbes were sent as commercial agents to chile and buenos aires. reports from them on the state of the revolutions were transmitted to congress, march and april , .[ ] in the meantime a strong sentiment in favor of the recognition of south american independence had arisen in the united states. the struggling colonies found a ready champion in henry clay, who, for a period of ten years labored almost incessantly in their behalf, pleading for their recognition first with his own countrymen and then, as secretary of state under the adams administration, with the governments of europe. his name became a household word in south america and his speeches were translated and read before the patriot armies. in spite of the fact that our own political interests were so closely identified with the struggling republics, the president realized the necessity of following a neutral course, and in view of the aid the colonies were receiving from citizens of the united states, called upon congress for the enactment of a more stringent neutrality law. clay delivered a vigorous speech in opposition to this measure in january, . his greatest effort in behalf of south america, however, was his speech of march , , on the general appropriation bill. he moved an amendment appropriating $ , for the outfit and year's salary of a minister to the united provinces of the plate. without waiting to hear the report of the three commissioners who had been sent to inquire into the state of the revolutionary governments, he urged that a minister be regularly accredited to buenos aires at once. in a speech, three hours in length, he concluded the arguments he had begun the day before. painting with even more than his usual fire and enthusiasm the beauties and resources of the southern continent, he said: within this vast region, we behold the most sublime and interesting objects of creation; the loftiest mountains, the most majestic rivers in the world; the richest mines of the precious metals; and the choicest productions of the earth. we behold there a spectacle still more interesting and sublime--the glorious spectacle of eighteen millions of people struggling to burst their chains and be free.[ ] he went on to say that in the establishment of the independence of the south american states the united states had the deepest interest. he had no hesitation in asserting his firm belief that there was no question in the foreign policy of this country, which had ever arisen, or which he could conceive as ever occurring, in the decision of which we had so much at stake. this interest concerned our politics, our commerce, our navigation. there could be no doubt that spanish america, once independent, whatever might be the form of the governments established in its several parts, those governments would be animated by an american feeling and guided by an american policy. they would obey the laws of the system of the new world, of which they would compose a part, in contradistinction to that of europe.[ ] the house turned a deaf ear to his brilliant rhetoric. the motion was defeated by a vote of to , but clay did not abandon the cause of south america. two years later he reopened the question in a direct attack on the policy of the administration, which greatly disturbed president monroe. on may , , he again introduced a resolution declaring it expedient to send ministers to the "governments in south america which have established and are maintaining their independence of spain." his arraignment of the administration became more violent than ever: if lord castlereagh says we may recognize, we do; if not, we do not. a single expression of the british minister to the present secretary of state, then our minister abroad, i am ashamed to say, has molded the policy of our government toward south america. a charge of dependence upon great britain in affairs of diplomacy was as effective a weapon then as it has been since in matters financial. clay's resolution passed the house by a vote of to , but still the executive arm of the government did not move. in and the question of south american independence was continually before the cabinet for discussion. president monroe seemed strongly inclined toward recognition, but in this he was opposed by adams and calhoun, who were unwilling to act in the matter without some understanding with england, and if possible with france. our relations with spain in regard to the indian troubles in florida were in a very strained condition and any action taken at that time in recognition of south america would have involved us in war with spain and almost inevitably with other european powers. the president, therefore, as a matter of expediency postponed the action which his sympathy prompted, and, in his annual message of november , , expressed his satisfaction at the course the government had hitherto pursued and his intention of adhering to it for the time being.[ ] under the president's direction, however, efforts were made to secure the coöperation of great britain and france in promoting the independence of south america.[ ] in an amicable adjustment of our differences with spain seemed to have been reached by the negotiation of a treaty providing for the cession of the floridas to the united states and the settlement of long-standing claims of american citizens against spain. an unforeseen difficulty arose, however, which proved embarrassing to the administration. the spanish monarch very shrewdly delayed ratifying the treaty for two years and thus practically tied the hands of the administration during that time as far as the south american question was concerned. in spite of the awkward position in which the administration found itself, clay, who was opposed to the treaty on account of its unwarranted surrender of our claims to texas, continued to plead the cause of south america. early in the year, , a declaration of interest in the south american struggle, introduced by him, was carried by an overwhelming majority ( to ), but the administration held back another year until the _de facto_ independence of the colonies no longer admitted of reasonable doubt. meanwhile the florida treaty had been ratified. on march , , president monroe, in a special message to congress, expressed the opinion that the time had come for recognition and asked for the appropriations necessary for carrying it into effect. the president's recommendation was received with approval, and in due course the sum of $ , was appropriated for "such missions to the independent nations on the american continent as the president of the united states may deem proper." in accordance with this act mr. r. c. anderson of kentucky was appointed minister to colombia, mr. c. a. rodney of new jersey to the argentine republic, and mr. h. allen of vermont to chile, in , and mr. joel r. poinsett of south carolina to mexico in . while the united states government was concerning itself with the political interests of the spanish provinces, great britain was quietly reaping all the commercial advantages to be derived from the situation and was apparently well satisfied to let things follow the drift they had taken. by the destruction of the combined fleets of france and spain at trafalgar, in , nelson had won for great britain undisputed control of the atlantic and laid open the route to south america. ever since the _assiento_ of had placed the slave trade in her hands, great britain had realized the possibilities of south american commerce, and the intercourse, which had been kept up with that country after the termination of the slave monopoly by smugglers, now that the danger was removed, became more regular and profitable. during the changes of ministry that followed the death of pitt, the policy of england in regard to south america was weak and vacillating. we have already called attention to the political indecision that marked the attack upon the provinces of the plate. with napoleon's invasion of spain and the national uprising it occasioned, british policy became once more intelligible. it was wisely deemed of more importance to spare the colonies and to win spain over to the european alliance against napoleon, than to take her colonies at the cost of driving her permanently into the arms of france. meanwhile british commerce with the south american states was steadily growing and that too with the connivance of spain. at the close of the napoleonic wars, spain, fearing that england, through her desire to keep this trade, would secretly furnish aid to the colonies in their struggle for independence, proposed to the british government to bind itself to a strict neutrality. this england agreed to, and when the treaty was signed, there was, according to canning, "a distinct understanding with spain that our commercial intercourse with the colonies was not to be deemed a breach of its stipulations."[ ] notwithstanding this tacit compact, british commerce suffered greatly at the hands of spanish privateers and even spanish war vessels. numbers of british merchantmen were captured by spanish ships, carried into the few ports left to spain on the main, and condemned as prizes for trading with the insurgent colonies. thus at the time of the acknowledgment of south american independence by the united states, a long list of grievances had accumulated in the hands of the british ambassador at madrid, and in spite of urgent and repeated remonstrances, remained unredressed. canning was deterred from making final demands upon the government of madrid by the consideration that he did not wish to hamper the constitutional government of spain, which had come into being by the revolution of march, , and against which the other powers of europe were preparing to act. the condition of affairs on the spanish main was, however, critical and demanded instant redress. he decided, therefore, to take matters into his own hands without harassing the government of spain, and to dispatch a squadron to the west indies to make reprisals. in a memorandum to the cabinet on this subject, november , , in which he outlines his policy, he commends the course of the united states in recognizing the _de facto_ independence of the colonies, claiming a right to trade with them and avenging the attempted interruption of that right by making reprisals, as a more straightforward and intelligible course than that of great britain, forbearing for the sake of spain to recognize the colonies, trading with them in faith of the connivance of spain and suffering depredations without taking redress. it was not necessary, he thought, to declare war against spain, for "she has perhaps as little direct and available power over the colonies which she nominally retains as she has over those which have thrown off her yoke. let us apply, therefore, a local remedy to a local grievance, and make the ships and harbors of cuba, porto rico, and porto cabello answerable for the injuries which have been inflicted by those ships, and the perpetrators of which have found shelter in those harbors." in conclusion, he says that the tacit compact, which subsisted for years, by which spain was to forbear from interrupting british trade with the south american colonies having been renounced by spain, and the old colonial system having been revived in as full vigor as if she had still a practical hold over her colonies and a navy to enforce her pretensions, "no man will say that under such circumstances our recognition of those states can be indefinitely postponed."[ ] while great britain was thus considering the expediency of following the example of the united states in the recognition of spain's revolted colonies, the powers of central europe had taken upon them the task of solving the difficulties of that unfortunate country both at home and in america. the restored rule of the bourbons in spain had been far from satisfactory to the great mass of the people. in march, , the army which ferdinand had assembled at cadiz to be sent against the rebellious colonies, suddenly turned against the government, refused to embark, and demanded the restoration of the constitution of . the action of the army was everywhere approved and sustained by the mass of the people, and the king was forced to proclaim the constitution and to swear to uphold it. the march revolution in spain was followed in july by a constitutional movement in naples, and in august of the same year by a similar movement in portugal; while the next year saw the outbreak of the greek struggle for independence. thus in all three of the peninsulas of southern europe the people were struggling for the right of self-government. the movement in greece was, it is true, of an altogether different character from the others, but it was a revolt against constituted authority and therefore incurred the ill-will of the so-called legitimists. the powers of europe at once took alarm at the rapid spread of revolutionary ideas and proceeded to adopt measures for the suppression of the movements to which these ideas gave rise. the principle of joint intervention on the part of allied governments in the internal affairs of european states had been developed in the years immediately following the overthrow of napoleon and was the outcome of the wholly anomalous condition in which he had left the politics of europe. in the hands of prince metternich, the genius of reaction against french revolutionary ideas, this principle had become the most powerful weapon of absolutism and now threatened the subversion of popular institutions throughout europe. the rapid development of this doctrine of intervention in the seven years immediately following the second fall of napoleon not only seriously menaced the liberties of europe, but also threatened to control the destiny of the new world. at the congress of vienna austria, france, great britain, prussia, and russia had formed a close union and had signed the treaty upon which the peace of europe rested for the next half century. the agreement made at vienna was reaffirmed with some minor changes, after the second overthrow of napoleon, at paris, november , . france was now practically excluded from the alliance. this treaty undertook especially to guard against any further disturbance of the peace of europe by napoleon or france. one of the most significant features of the treaty, or what was to prove so, was the agreement definitely laid down in the sixth article, providing for meetings of the powers at fixed periods. the first conference held in accordance with this understanding was that at aix-la-chapelle in october, . france was readmitted as a member of the alliance and her territory evacuated by the allied armies. the quintuple alliance thus formed declared that it had no other object than the maintenance of peace; that the repose of the world was its motive and its end. the language of the declaration had been in a large measure neutralized to suit the views of the british government. lord liverpool had said to castlereagh before the meeting of the conference: "the russian must be made to feel that we have a parliament and a public, to which we are responsible, and that we cannot permit ourselves to be drawn into views of policy which are wholly incompatible with the spirit of our government." the members of the british cabinet, except canning, did not object seriously to the system of congresses at fixed intervals, but to the declarations publicly set forth by them. canning, on the other hand, objected to the declarations and to the conferences themselves, "meetings for the government of the world," as he somewhat contemptuously termed them. it had been generally supposed that the question of the spanish colonies would come up for discussion at aix-la-chapelle. castlereagh assured the united states, through bagot, the british minister at washington, that while england would act with the allied powers at aix-la-chapelle in mediation between spain and her colonies, her mediation would be limited entirely to the employment of her influence and good offices and that she would not take any measures that might assume a character of force.[ ] the revolutions that took place in spain, naples, and portugal in presented an occasion for another meeting of the allies. in november the representatives of austria, russia, and prussia met in conference at troppau, and issued a circular setting forth what they had already done for europe in overthrowing the military tyranny of napoleon and expressing the determination "to put a curb on a force no less tyrannical and no less detestable, that of revolt and crime." the conference then adjourned to laybach, where they could, with greater dispatch, order the movements they had decided to take against the revolutionists of naples. austria, being more intimately concerned with the political condition of the italian peninsula than either of the other two powers, was entrusted with the task of suppressing the neapolitan revolution. the austrian army entered naples march , , overthrew the constitutional government that had been inaugurated, and restored ferdinand ii to absolute power. the revolution which had broken out in piedmont was also suppressed by a detachment of the austrian army. england held aloof from all participation in the proceedings at troppau and laybach--though sir charles stuart was present to watch the proceedings. in a circular dispatch of january , , the british government expressed its dissent from the principles set forth in the troppau circular. the next meeting of the allied powers was arranged for october, , at verona. here the affairs of greece, italy, and, in particular, spain came up for consideration. at this congress all five powers of the alliance were represented. france was uneasy about the condition of spain, and england had to send a delegate out of self-defense, as her interests were largely involved. castlereagh was preparing to depart for the congress, when his mind gave way under the stress of work and more remotely of dissipation, and he committed suicide. canning then became secretary for foreign affairs, and wellington was sent to verona. the congress which now assembled at verona was devoted largely to a discussion of spanish affairs. wellington had been instructed to use all his influence against the adoption of measures of intervention in spain. when he found that the other powers were bent upon this step and that his protest would be unheeded, he withdrew from the congress. the four remaining powers signed the secret treaty of verona, november , , as a revision, so they declared in the preamble, of the "treaty of the holy alliance." this treaty of the holy alliance, signed at paris, september , , by austria, russia, and prussia, is one of the most remarkable political documents extant. it sprang from the erratic brain of the czar alexander under the influence of madame crudner, who was both an adventuress and a religious enthusiast. its object was to uphold the divine right of kings and to counteract the spirit of french revolutionary ideas by introducing "the precepts of justice, of charity, and of peace" into the internal affairs of states and into their relations with one another. no one had taken it seriously except the czar himself and it had been without influence upon the politics of europe. the agreement reached at verona gave retrospective importance to the holy alliance, and revived the name, so that it became the usual designation of the combined powers. the following alleged text of the secret treaty of verona soon became current in the press of europe and america. although it has never been officially acknowledged and its authenticity has been called in question, it states pretty accurately the motives and aims of the powers. the first four articles are as follows: the undersigned, specially authorized to make some additions to the treaty of the holy alliance, after having exchanged their respective credentials, have agreed as follows: article i. the high contracting parties being convinced that the system of representative government is equally incompatible with the monarchical principles as the maxim of the sovereignty of the people with the divine right, engage mutually, and in the most solemn manner, to use all their efforts to _put an end_ to the system of _representative_ _governments_, in whatever country it may exist in europe, and to prevent its being introduced in those countries where it is not yet known. art. ii. as it cannot be doubted that the _liberty of the press_ is the most powerful means used by the pretended supporters of the rights of nations, to the detriment of those of princes, the high contracting parties promise reciprocally to adopt all proper measures to suppress it not only in their own states, but also, in the rest of europe. art. iii. convinced that the principles of religion contribute most powerfully to keep nations in the state of passive obedience which they owe to their princes, the high contracting parties declare it to be their intention to sustain, in their respective states, those measures which the clergy may adopt, with the aim of ameliorating their own interests, so intimately connected with the preservation of the authority of princes; and the contracting powers join in offering their thanks to the pope, for what he has already done for them, and solicit his constant coöperation in their views of submitting the nations. art. iv. the situation of spain and portugal unites unhappily all the circumstances to which this treaty has particular reference. the high contracting parties, in confiding to france the care of putting an end to them, engage to assist her in the manner which may the least compromise them with their own people and the people of france, by means of a subsidy on the part of the two empires, of twenty millions of francs every year, from the date of the signature of this treaty to the end of the war. signed by metternich for austria, chateaubriand for france, bernstet for prussia, and nesselrode for russia.[ ] such was the code of absolutism against which england protested and against which president monroe delivered his declaration. the congress broke up about the middle of december, and the following april, the duc d'angoulême led a french army across the pyrenees. by october the constitutional party had been overthrown and absolutism reigned supreme once more in western europe. in england alone was there still any semblance of constitutional government. the congress of verona was the last of the joint-meetings of the powers for the discussion of the internal affairs of states. it marked the final withdrawal of england from the european alliance. henceforth she took up a position distinctly hostile to the principles advocated by her former allies and her policy in relation to spanish america practically coincided with that of the united states. the great majority of the english people sympathized deeply with the constitutional movement in spain and were ready to take up arms in support of the spanish people. the protest of england having been disregarded by the powers at verona, it became necessary for the cabinet, in view of the preparations going on in france for the invasion of the peninsula, to say what they contemplated doing. in february, , lord liverpool circulated among his colleagues a minute prepared by canning, which gave at length the reasons, military and other, why it would be unwise for england to undertake the defense of spain. in the first place, the war against spain was unpopular in france, and if great britain should take part in the war, the french government would avail itself of the fact to convert it into an english war and thus render it popular. second, england would have to undertake the defense of spain against invasion by land, and her naval superiority would not materially aid the spaniards or baffle the french. third, the continental powers were committed to the support of france. fourth, there was a possibility that the invasion of spain would be unsuccessful. fifth, on the other hand, it might meet with success, in which event france might assist spain to recover her american colonies. here, he says, england's naval superiority would tell, "and i should have no difficulty in deciding that we ought to prevent, by every means in our power, perhaps spain from sending a single spanish regiment to south america, after the supposed termination of the war in spain, but certainly france from affording to spain any aid or assistance for that purpose." sixth, in case of the invasion of portugal by france and spain, he thought england would be in honor bound to defend her, in case she asked for aid. the military defense of portugal would not be so difficult as a land war in spain.[ ] in accordance with this determination canning dispatched a letter to sir charles stuart, british ambassador at paris, march , , in which he spoke of recognition of the colonies as a matter to be determined by time and circumstances, and, disclaiming all designs on the part of the british government on the late spanish provinces, intimated that england, although abstaining from interference in spain, would not allow france to acquire any of the colonies by conquest or cession. to this note the french government made no reply and england took this silence as a tacit agreement not to interfere with the colonies. the british government continued, however, to watch closely the movements of france.[ ] as the invasion of spain drew near to a successful termination, the british government had reason to suspect that the allied powers would next direct their attention to the spanish colonies with a view to forcing them back to their allegiance or of otherwise disposing of them, that is, by cession to some other european power. it was already in contemplation to call another european congress for the discussion and settlement of this question. as this was a subject of vital interest to the united states, canning invited the american minister, mr. rush, to a conference, august , , in which he suggested the expediency of an understanding on this question between england and the united states. he communicated to mr. rush the substance of his dispatch of march to sir charles stuart. mr. rush said he understood the import of this note to be that england would not remain passive to any attempt on the part of france to acquire territory in spanish america. mr. canning then asked what the united states would say to going hand in hand with england in such a policy. mr. rush replied that his instructions did not authorize him to give an answer, but that he would communicate the suggestion informally to his government. at the same time he requested to be enlightened as to england's policy in the matter of recognizing the independence of the colonies. mr. canning replied that england had taken no steps in the matter of recognition whatever, but was considering the question of sending commissioners to the colonies to inquire into the condition of affairs. for the present these commissioners would be sent to mexico alone.[ ] mr. stapleton in his "life of canning" simply says that as mr. rush was not authorized to enter into any formal agreement, canning thought the delay of communicating with washington would render such proceeding of no effect, and so the matter was dropped.[ ] this, however, we learn from mr. rush's dispatches, is not the whole truth. several communications passed between them after the conversation above given, which throw a totally different light upon the affair. in an unofficial and confidential letter to mr. rush, dated august , , canning asked again if the moment had not arrived when the two governments might come to an understanding in regard to the spanish-american colonies. he stated the views of england as follows: ( ) that the recovery of the colonies by spain was hopeless; ( ) that the question of their recognition as independent states was one of time and circumstances; ( ) that england was not disposed, however, to throw any obstacle in the way of an arrangement between the colonies and the mother-country by amicable negotiation; ( ) that she aimed at the possession of no portion of the colonies for herself; and ( ) that she could not see the transfer of any portion of them to any other power with indifference. he added "that if the united states acceded to such views, a declaration to that effect on their part, concurrently with england, would be the most effectual and least offensive mode of making known their joint disapprobation of contrary projects; that it would at the same time put an end to all jealousies of spain as to her remaining colonies, and to the agitation prevailing in the colonies themselves by showing that england and the united states were determined not to profit by encouraging it."[ ] prior to the formal recognition of south america, the united states had repeatedly expressed the wish to proceed in the matter hand in hand with great britain,[ ] but that act placed the united states on an altogether different footing from england. canning seemed to forget in the wording of his proposal that the united states had already, in the most formal manner, acknowledged the independence of the spanish colonies. in reply mr. rush reminded him of this fact and of the desire of the united states to see the colonies recognized by england. in other respects, he believed that the views unfolded by mr. canning in his note were shared by the united states, but he added that he had no authority to avow these principles publicly in the manner suggested. as soon as rush's first dispatch was received president monroe realized fully the magnitude of the issue presented by the proposal of an anglo-american alliance. before submitting the matter to his cabinet he transmitted copies of the dispatch to ex-presidents jefferson and madison and the following interesting correspondence took place. in his letter to jefferson of october th, the president said: i transmit to you two despatches which were receiv'd from mr. rush, while i was lately in washington, which involve interests of the highest importance. they contain two letters from mr. canning, suggesting designs of the holy alliance, against the independence of so. america, & proposing a co-operation, between g. britain & the u states, in support of it, against the members of that alliance. the project aims, in the first instance, at a mere expression of opinion, somewhat in the abstract, but which, it is expected by mr. canning, will have a great political effect, by defeating the combination. by mr. rush's answers, which are also enclosed, you will see the light in which he views the subject, & the extent to which he may have gone. many important considerations are involved in this proposition. st shall we entangle ourselves, at all, in european politicks, & wars, on the side of any power, against others, presuming that a concert, by agreement, of the kind proposed, may lead to that result? d if a case can exist in which a sound maxim may, & ought to be departed from, is not the present instance, precisely that case? d has not the epoch arriv'd when g. britain must take her stand, either on the side of the monarchs of europe, or of the u states, & in consequence, either in favor of despotism or of liberty & may it not be presum'd that, aware of that necessity, her government has seiz'd on the present occurrence, as that, which it deems, the most suitable, to announce & mark the commenc'ment of that career. my own impression is that we ought to meet the proposal of the british govt. & to make it known, that we would view an interference on the part of the european powers, and especially an attack on the colonies, by them, as an attack on ourselves, presuming that, if they succeeded with them, they would extend it to us. i am sensible however of the extent & difficulty of the question, & shall be happy to have yours, & mr. madison's opinions on it.[ ] jefferson's reply dated monticello, october th, displays not only a profound insight into the international situation, but a wide vision of the possibilities involved. he said: the question presented by the letters you have sent me, is the most momentous which has ever been offered to my contemplation since that of independence. that made us a nation, this sets our compass and points the course which we are to steer through the ocean of time opening on us. and never could we embark on it under circumstances more auspicious. our first and fundamental maxim should be, never to entangle ourselves in the broils of europe. our second, never to suffer europe to intermeddle with cis-atlantic affairs. america, north and south, has a set of interests distinct from those of europe, and peculiarly her own. she should therefore have a system of her own, separate and apart from that of europe. while the last is laboring to become the domicil of despotism, our endeavor should surely be, to make our hemisphere that of freedom. one nation, most of all, could disturb us in this pursuit; she now offers to lead, aid, and accompany us in it. by acceding to her proposition, we detach her from the bands, bring her mighty weight into the scale of free government, and emancipate a continent at one stroke, which might otherwise linger long in doubt and difficulty. great britain is the nation which can do us the most harm of any one, or all on earth; and with her on our side we need not fear the whole world. with her then, we should most sedulously cherish a cordial friendship; and nothing would tend more to knit our affections than to be fighting once more, side by side, in the same cause. not that i would purchase even her amity at the price of taking part in her wars. but the war in which the present proposition might engage us, should that be its consequence, is not her war, but ours. its object is to introduce and establish the american system, of keeping out of our land all foreign powers, of never permitting those of europe to intermeddle with the affairs of our nations. it is to maintain our own principle, not to depart from it. and if, to facilitate this, we can effect a division in the body of the european powers, and draw over to our side its most powerful member, surely we should do it. but i am clearly of mr. canning's opinion, that it will prevent instead of provoking war. with great britain withdrawn from their scale and shifted into that of our two continents, all europe combined would not undertake such a war. for how would they propose to get at either enemy without superior fleets? nor is the occasion to be slighted which this proposition offers, of declaring our protest against the atrocious violations of the rights of nations, by the interference of any one in the internal affairs of another, so flagitiously begun by bonaparte, and now continued by the equally lawless alliance, calling itself holy.[ ] madison not only agreed with jefferson as to the wisdom of accepting the british proposal of some form of joint action, but he went even further and suggested that the declaration should not be limited to the american republics, but that it should express disapproval of the late invasion of spain and of any interference with the greeks, who were then struggling for independence from turkey.[ ] monroe, it appears, was strongly inclined to act on madison's suggestion, but his cabinet took a different view of the situation. from the diary of john quincy adams, monroe's secretary of state, it appears that almost the whole of november was taken up by cabinet discussions on canning's proposals and on russia's aggressions in the northwest. adams stoutly opposed any alliance or joint declaration with great britain. the composition of the president's message remained in doubt until the st, when the more conservative views of adams were, according to his own statement of the case, adopted. he advocated an independent course of action on the part of the united states, without direct reference to canning's proposals, though substantially in accord with them. adams defined his position as follows: "the ground that i wish to take is that of earnest remonstrance against the interference of the european powers by force with south america, but to disclaim all interference on our part with europe; to make an american cause and adhere inflexibly to that."[ ] adams's dissent from monroe's position was, it is claimed, due partly to the influence of clay, who advocated a pan american system, partly to the fact that the proposed coöperation with great britain would bind the united states not to acquire some of the coveted parts of the spanish possessions, and partly to the fear that the united states as the ally of great britain would be compelled to play a secondary part. he probably carried his point by showing that the same ends could be accomplished by an independent declaration, since it was evident that the sea power of great britain would be used to prevent the reconquest of south america by the european powers. monroe, as we have seen, thought that the exigencies of the situation justified a departure from the sound maxim of political isolation, and in this opinion he was supported by his two predecessors in the presidency. the opinions of monroe, jefferson, and madison in favor of an alliance with great britain and a broad declaration against the intervention of the great powers in the affairs of weaker states in any part of the world, have been severely criticised by some historians and ridiculed by others, but time and circumstances often bring about a complete change in our point of view. since our entrance into the great world conflict several writers have raised the question as to whether the three elder statesmen were not right and adams and clay wrong.[ ] if the united states and england had come out in favor of a general declaration against intervention in the concerns of small states and established it as a world-wide principle, the course of human history during the next century might have been very different, but adams's diary does not tell the whole story. on his own statement of the case he might be justly censured by posterity for persuading the president to take a narrow american view of a question which was world-wide in its bearing. an important element in the situation, however, was canning's change of attitude between the time of his conference with rush in august and the formulation of the president's message. two days after the delivery of his now famous message monroe wrote to jefferson in explanation of the form the declaration had taken: "mr. canning's zeal has much abated of late." it appears from rush's correspondence that the only thing which stood in the way of joint action by the two powers was canning's unwillingness to extend immediate recognition to the south american republics. on august th, rush stated to canning that it would greatly facilitate joint action if england would acknowledge at once the full independence of the south american colonies. in communicating the account of this interview to his government mr. rush concluded: should i be asked by mr. canning, whether, in case the recognition be made by great britain without more delay, i am on my part prepared to make a declaration, in the name of my government, that it will not remain inactive under an attack upon the independence of those states by the holy alliance, the present determination of my judgment is that i will make such a declaration explicitly, and avow it before the world.[ ] about three weeks later canning, who was growing restless at the delay in hearing from washington, again urged rush to act without waiting for specific instructions from his government. he tried to show that the proposed joint declaration would not conflict with the american policy of avoiding entangling alliances, for the question at issue was american as much as european, if not more. rush then indicated his willingness to act provided england would "immediately and unequivocally acknowledge the independence of the new states." canning did not care to extend full recognition to the south american states until he could do so without giving unnecessary offense to spain and the allies, and he asked if mr. rush could not give his assent to the proposal on a promise of future recognition. mr. rush refused to accede to anything but immediate acknowledgment of independence and so the matter ended.[ ] as canning could not come to a formal understanding with the united states, he determined to make a frank avowal of the views of the british cabinet to france and to this end he had an interview with prince polignac, the french ambassador at london, october , , in which he declared that great britain had no desire to hasten recognition, but that any foreign interference, by force, or by menace, would be a motive for immediate recognition; that england "could not go into a joint deliberation upon the subject of spanish america upon an equal footing with other powers, whose opinions were less formed upon that question." this declaration drew from polignac the admission that he considered the reduction of the colonies by spain as hopeless and that france "abjured in any case, any design of acting against the colonies by force of arms."[ ] this admission was a distinct victory for canning, in that it prepared the way for ultimate recognition by england, and an account of the interview was communicated without delay to the allied courts. the interview was not communicated to rush until the latter part of november, and therefore had no influence upon the formation of monroe's message of december .[ ] before the close of the year the british government appointed consuls to the south american states, and about the time of their departure, an invitation was sent to the courts of st. petersburg, paris, and vienna to a conference to be held at paris to "aid spain in adjusting the affairs of the revolted colonies." a copy of this invitation was also handed to the british ambassador at madrid, but in such a form as to leave him in doubt as to whether his government was invited to the conference or not.[ ] while the discussion as to the proposed conference was going on and before canning had announced what action his government would take in the matter, president monroe's message arrived in europe. spanish america was not the only part of the western continent threatened at this time by european aggression. on the th of september, , the emperor of russia had issued an ukase, in which he claimed the northwestern coast of north america down to the st degree. this claim was incompatible with the pretensions of both england and the united states, and was stoutly opposed by them. this was a part of the territory known as the oregon country, which continued in dispute between england and the united states until . in july, , adams declared to baron tuyll, the russian minister to the united states, "that we should contest the right of russia to any territorial establishment on this continent, and that we should assume distinctly the principle that the american continents are no longer subjects for any new european colonial establishments." this language was incorporated substantially in the president's message. the monroe doctrine is comprised in two widely separated paragraphs that occur in the message of december , . the first, relating to russia's encroachments on the northwest coast, and occurring near the beginning of the message, was an assertion to the effect that the american continents had assumed an independent condition and were no longer open to european colonization. this may be regarded as a statement of fact. no part of the continent at that time remained unclaimed. the second paragraph relating to spanish america and occurring near the close of the message, was a declaration against the extension to the american continents of the system of intervention adopted by the holy alliance for the suppression of popular government in europe. the language used by president monroe is as follows: . at the proposal of the russian imperial government, made through the minister of the emperor residing here, a full power and instructions have been transmitted to the minister of the united states at st. petersburg to arrange by amicable negotiation the respective rights and interests of the two nations on the northwest coast of this continent. a similar proposal had been made by his imperial majesty to the government of great britain, which has likewise been acceded to. the government of the united states has been desirous by this friendly proceeding of manifesting the great value which they have invariably attached to the friendship of the emperor and their solicitude to cultivate the best understanding with his government. in the discussions to which this interest has given rise and in the arrangements by which they may terminate, the occasion has been judged proper for asserting, as a principle in which the rights and interests of the united states are involved, that the american continents, by the free and independent condition which they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any european powers.[ ] . in the wars of the european powers in matters relating to themselves we have never taken any part, nor does it comport with our policy so to do. it is only when our rights are invaded or seriously menaced that we resent injuries or make preparation for our defense. with the movements in this hemisphere we are of necessity more immediately connected, and by causes which must be obvious to all enlightened and impartial observers. the political system of the allied powers is essentially different in this respect from that of america. this difference proceeds from that which exists in their respective governments; and to the defense of our own, which has been achieved by the loss of so much blood and treasure, and matured by the wisdom of their most enlightened citizens, and under which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, this whole nation is devoted. we owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the united states and those powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. with the existing colonies or dependencies of any european power we have not interfered and shall not interfere. but with the governments who have declared their independence and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration and on just principles, acknowledged, we could not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any european power in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the united states. in the war between those new governments and spain we declared our neutrality at the time of their recognition, and to this we have adhered, and shall continue to adhere, provided no change shall occur which, in the judgment of the competent authorities of this government, shall make a corresponding change on the part of the united states indispensable to their security.[ ] the president's message reached england while the discussion in regard to the proposed congress at paris was still going on. it was received with enthusiasm by the liberal members of parliament. lord brougham said: the question with regard to south america is now, i believe, disposed of, or nearly so; for an event has recently happened than which none has ever dispersed greater joy, exultation, and gratitude over all the free men of europe; that event, which is decisive on the subject, is the language held with respect to spanish america in the message of the president of the united states. sir james mackintosh said: this coincidence of the two great english commonwealths (for so i delight to call them; and i heartily pray that they may be forever united in the cause of justice and liberty) cannot be contemplated without the utmost pleasure by every enlightened citizen of the earth.[ ] they evidently had reference to the second clause alone, the one relating to spanish america. the other clause, the one against european colonization in america, seems not to have attracted much attention. canning, however, saw the bearing of it and objected to the principle it set forth, which was directed against england as much as against the allies. he was evidently a little taken aback at the turn his proposal had taken. the president's message really settled the question before canning had announced what action his government would take. some little chagrin is apparent in the tone of his letter to sir william à court, british minister at madrid, december , . while i was yet hesitating [he says], what shape to give to the declaration and protest which ultimately was conveyed in my conference with p. de polignac, and while i was more doubtful as to the effect of that protest and declaration, i sounded mr. rush (the american minister here) as to his powers and disposition to join in any step which we might take to prevent a hostile enterprise on the part of the european powers against spanish america. he had no powers; but he would have taken upon himself to join with us if we would have begun by recognizing the spanish-american states. this we could not do, and so we went on without. but i have no doubt that his report to his government of this _sounding_, which he probably represented as an overture, had a great share in producing the explicit declaration of the president.[ ] the conference with prince polignac here referred to was that of october th quoted above. it was not until after the receipt of president monroe's message in europe that canning framed his answer to the spanish communication informing him of the proposed meeting in paris for the discussion of the south american question. in that reply he stated to the spanish government very fully his views upon the question at issue. he said that while england did not wish to precede spain in the matter of recognition, yet she reserved to herself the privilege of recognizing the colonies when she deemed it best for her interests and right to them. he said that these views had been communicated fully from time to time to the powers invited to the congress and he concluded with the statement: "it does not appear to the british cabinet at all necessary to declare that opinion anew, even if it were perfectly clear (from the tenor of m. ofalia's instruction) that great britain was in fact included in the invitation to the conference at paris."[ ] while canning and monroe acted independently of each other, the expression that each gave to the views of his government was rendered more emphatic and of more effect by the knowledge of the other's attitude in the matter. another point to be noted is that monroe's message was made public, while canning's answer was for some time known only to the diplomatic corps. the determination of both england and the united states to oppose the intervention of the allies in south america had the desired effect. conferences in answer to the invitation of spain were held in paris, but they were participated in only by the ordinary representatives of the powers invited, resident in that capital, and their only result was to advise spain not to listen to the counsels of england. all further discussion that took place between england and spain in reference to recognition of the colonies by great britain was confined to the status of the revolutionary governments, and upon this point their views were so divergent that canning finally announced to the spanish government that, "his majesty would, at his own time, take such steps as he might think proper in respect to the several states of spanish america without further reference to the court of madrid; but at the same time without any feeling of alienation towards that court, or of hostility towards the real interests of spain."[ ] the french troops continuing to occupy spain after the time stipulated by treaty, canning sought an explanation from france, but without satisfactory results. he therefore determined at a cabinet meeting held december , , to recognize mexico and colombia forthwith. on january , , after the ministers had left england with instructions and full powers, the fact of recognition was communicated officially to the diplomatic corps and two days later it was made public. that this recognition was a retaliatory measure to compensate england for the french occupation of spain was understood at the time and was distinctly avowed by canning two years later.[ ] in a speech delivered december , , in defense of his position in not having arrested the french invasion of spain, he said: i looked another way--i sought for compensation in another hemisphere. contemplating spain, such as our ancestors had known her, i resolved that, if france had spain, it should not be spain _with the indies_. i called the new world into existence to redress the balance of the old. in spite of the great indebtedness of south america to canning, this boast falls somewhat flat when we remember that the spanish colonies had won their independence by their own valor and had been recognized as independent governments by the united states two years before great britain acted in the matter. mr. stapleton, canning's private secretary and biographer, says that the recognition of spanish-american independence was, perhaps, the most important measure adopted by the british cabinet while canning was at the head of the foreign office. he sums up the reasons and results of the act as follows: first, it was a measure essentially advantageous to british interests; being especially calculated to benefit our commerce. next, it enabled this country to remain at peace, since it compensated us for the continued occupation of spain by a french force, a disparagement to which, otherwise, it would not have become us to submit. lastly, it maintained the balance between conflicting principles; since it gave just so much of a triumph to popular rights and privileges, as was sufficient to soothe the irritation felt by their advocates at the victory, which absolute principles had obtained by the overthrow of the constitutions of spain, portugal, and naples; and it dealt a death-blow to the holy alliance, by disabusing its members of the strange fancy, with which they were prepossessed, that the differences between them and the british ministers (where they did differ) were merely feints on the part of the latter to avoid a conflict with public opinion.[ ] the united states government did not relax its efforts in behalf of the south american states with the recognition of england, but continued to exert itself in order to secure the acknowledgment of their independence by the other powers of europe, particularly spain.[ ] mr. clay tried to get the other members of the alliance, especially the emperor of russia, to use their good offices with spain for the purpose of inducing her to recognize her late colonies, but the emperor of russia, the head of the alliance, continued to preach to spain "not only no recognition of their independence, but active war for their subjugation." to the request of the united states he replied that, out of respect for "the indisputable titles of sovereignty," he could not prejudge or anticipate the determination of the king of spain.[ ] it was some ten years before spain could be persuaded to renounce her ancient claims. footnotes: [ ] am. st. papers, for. rel., vol. iii, p. . [ ] wharton's digest, sec. , and moore's digest of int. law, vol. i, p. . [ ] "messages and papers of the presidents," vol. ii, pp. , , and . [ ] lyman, "diplomacy of the united states." vols. boston, , vol. ii, p. . romero, "mexico and the united states." [ ] given in full in am. st. papers, for. rel., vol. iv, pp. - . [ ] am. st. papers, for. rel., vol. iv, pp. - . [ ] benton's "abridgment," vol. vi, p. . [ ] benton's "abridgment," vol. vi, p. . [ ] "messages and papers of the presidents," vol. ii, p. . [ ] "adams's diary," september, , to december, . "letters and despatches of castlereagh," vol. xi, pp. and . [ ] stapleton, "political life of canning," vol. ii, p. . [ ] stapleton, "official correspondence of canning," vol. i, p. ff. [ ] bagot to castlereagh, october , . mem. of a conversation with adams. "letters and despatches of castlereagh," vol. xii, p. . [ ] for the congresses of aix-la-chapelle, troppau, laybach, and verona, see "letters and despatches of castlereagh," vol. xii; "life of lord liverpool," vol. iii; "political life and official correspondence of canning"; chateaubriand's "congrès de verone," and w. a. phillips, "the confederation of europe. - ." the text of the treaty of verona is published in niles' register, august , , vol. , p. , and in elliot's "american diplomatic code," vol. ii, p. . [ ] "life of lord liverpool," vol. iii, p. . "official correspondence of canning," vol. i, p. . [ ] stapleton, "political life of canning," vol. ii, p. . [ ] rush's "residence at the court of london," p. . [ ] "political life of canning," vol. ii, p. . [ ] rush's "residence at the court of london," p. . [ ] "letters and despatches of castlereagh," vol. xi, p. . bagot's reports of interviews with adams. [ ] hamilton, "writings of james monroe," vol. vi, pp. - . [ ] ford, "writings of thomas jefferson," vol. x, pp. - . [ ] hamilton, "writings of james madison," vol. ix, pp. - . [ ] w. c. ford, "genesis of the monroe doctrine," in mass. hist. soc. _proceedings_, second series, vol. xv, p. . [ ] see especially g. l. beer, "the english-speaking peoples," p. . [ ] rush's "residence at the court of london," p. . [ ] _ibid._, pp. , . [ ] "political life of canning," vol. ii, p. . [ ] rush's "residence at the court of london," p. . [ ] "political life of canning," vol. ii, p. . [ ] "messages and papers of the presidents," vol. ii, p. . [ ] "messages and papers of the presidents," vol. ii, p. . [ ] "wharton's digest," sec. , vol. i, p. . [ ] "wharton's digest," sec. , vol. i, p. . [ ] "political life of canning," vol. ii, p. . [ ] "political life of canning," vol. ii, p. . [ ] "official corresp. of canning," vol. ii, p. . letter to granville. on the general question of recognition, see "life of lord liverpool," vol. iii, pp. - . [ ] "political life of canning," vol. ii, p. . [ ] am. st. papers, for. rel., vol. v, pp. - , and vol. vi, pp. - . [ ] am. st. papers, for. rel., vol. v, p. ff. chapter iii the diplomacy of the united states in regard to cuba the cuban question had its origin in the series of events that have been narrated in the two preceding chapters--the napoleonic invasion of spain and the resulting paralysis of spanish power in america. the declaration of president monroe, enforced by the well-known attitude of england, dealt the death-blow to spanish hopes of recovering the southern continent. hence the islands of cuba and porto rico, which had remained loyal to the king, were clung to with all the greater tenacity as the sole remains of the imperial possessions over which the successors of ferdinand and isabella had ruled for three centuries. the "ever-faithful island of cuba" was rewarded for her loyalty by the concession of certain liberties of trade and invited to send representatives to the spanish cortes--a privilege which was subsequently withdrawn. spain was now too weak to protect her two west indian dependencies--the remains of her former glory, but her very weakness secured their possession to her. the naval and commercial importance of cuba, "the pearl of the antilles," made it a prize too valuable to be acquired by any one of the great maritime powers without exciting the jealousy and opposition of the others. henceforth, to borrow the figure of a contemporary journalist, cuba was to be the trans-atlantic turkey, trembling to its fall, but sustained by the jealousies of those who were eager to share the spoils. the strategic importance of cuba, commanding to a large extent the commerce of the west indies and of the central american states, and, what was of vital interest to us, the traffic of the mississippi valley, attracted at an early period the attention of american as well as of european statesmen. in a letter to president madison in , jefferson, in speaking of napoleon's policy in regard to the spanish-american colonies, said: that he would give up the floridas to withhold intercourse with the residue of those colonies cannot be doubted. but that is no price; because they are ours in the first moment of the first war; and until a war they are of no particular necessity to us. but, although with difficulty, he will consent to our receiving cuba into our union, to prevent our aid to mexico and the other provinces. that would be a price, and i would immediately erect a column on the southern-most limit of cuba, and inscribe on it a _ne plus ultra_ as to us in that direction.[ ] president madison expressed his views on the cuban question in a letter to william pinkney, october , : the position of cuba gives the united states so deep an interest in the destiny, even, of that island, that although they might be an inactive, they could not be a satisfied spectator at its falling under any european government, which might make a fulcrum of that position against the commerce and security of the united states.[ ] this was the first statement in the evolution of a cuban policy consistently adhered to by the united states until the successes of the mexican war super-induced larger ideas of the mission and destiny of the union. as early as fears as to the fate of cuba were raised in the minds of the american public by newspaper reports to the effect that england had proposed a relinquishment of her claim against spain for the maintenance of the british army during the peninsular campaign, amounting to £ , , , in return for the cession of the island.[ ] reports of this nature were circulated for several months on both sides of the atlantic, but the question did not assume any very great importance until , when the treaty for the cession of the floridas to the united states was being negotiated with spain. it was then insisted by the british press that the acquisition of the floridas would give the united states such a preponderating influence in west indian affairs as to render necessary the occupation of cuba by great britain as the natural and only offset.[ ] the florida treaty was ratified after some delay, which, however, does not appear to have been caused by the british government, as was supposed at the time. the british papers, nevertheless, continued to condemn in strong terms the treaty as well as the inaction of their government in not making it a pretext for the seizure of cuba. as the preparations of france for the invasion of spain in progressed the fate of cuba became a question of absorbing interest in america. there was little hope that the island would continue a dependency of spain. it was rumored that great britain had engaged to supply the constitutional government of spain with money in her struggle with france and would occupy cuba as a pledge for its repayment. both spanish and french journals spoke of british occupation of cuba as a matter no longer to be doubted, and the presence in the west indies of a large british squadron, sent nominally for the purpose of suppressing piracy, seemed to lend color to the reports.[ ] the british press was clamoring for the acquisition of cuba. the _packet_ declared: "the question then comes to this, shall england occupy cuba, or by permitting its acquisition by the united states (which they have long desired) sacrifice her whole west india trade? there can be no hesitation as to the answer." the british government, however, officially disclaimed all designs upon cuba, but this disclaimer did not fully reassure the american government, and our representatives abroad were instructed to exercise a close scrutiny upon all negotiations between spain and england. in the spring of mr. forsyth was succeeded by mr. nelson at the court of madrid. in his instructions to the new minister, which went much beyond the usual length and were occupied almost exclusively with a discussion of the cuban question, john quincy adams used the following remarkable words: "in looking forward to the probable course of events for the short period of half a century, it seems scarcely possible to resist the conviction that the annexation of cuba to our federal republic will be indispensable to the continuance and integrity of the union itself." we were not then prepared for annexation, he continued, "but there are laws of political as well as physical gravitation; and if an apple, severed by the tempest from its native tree, cannot choose but fall to the ground, cuba, forcibly disjoined from its own unnatural connection with spain, and incapable of self-support, can gravitate only towards the north american union, which, by the same law of nature, cannot cast her off from its bosom."[ ] president monroe consulted jefferson on the subject of spanish-american affairs and the entanglements with european powers likely to arise therefrom. jefferson replied, june , : cuba alone seems at present to hold up a speck of war to us. its possession by great britain would indeed be a great calamity to us. could we induce her to join us in guaranteeing its independence against all the world, except spain, it would be nearly as valuable as if it were our own. but should she take it, i would not immediately go to war for it; because the first war on other accounts will give it to us, or the island will give itself to us when able to do so.[ ] during the summer of a large french squadron visited the west indies and hovered for several weeks about the coasts of cuba. this action on the part of the french government, without explanation, excited the alarm of both england and the united states and drew forth strong protests from mr. canning and from mr. clay. canning wrote to granville, the british minister at paris, that he could not consent to the occupation of havana by france, even as a measure of protection against possible attacks from mexico and colombia.[ ] again some two months later he wrote: as to cuba you cannot too soon nor too amicably, of course, represent to villèle the impossibility of our allowing france (or france us, i presume) to meddle in the internal affairs of that colony. we sincerely wish it to remain with the mother-country. next to that i wish it independent, either singly or in connection with mexico. but what cannot or must not be, is that any great maritime power should get possession of it. the americans (yankees, i mean) think of this matter just as i do.[ ] the expressions of the united states, as to the designs of france, were as emphatic as those of england. mr. clay declared "that we could not consent to the occupation of those islands by any other european power than spain under any contingency whatever."[ ] in this connection canning wished to bring about the signature, by england, france, and the united states, of "ministerial notes, one between france and the united states, and one between france and great britain, or one tripartite note signed by all, disclaiming each for themselves, any intention to occupy cuba, and protesting against such occupation by either of the others."[ ] the government of the united states held this proposal under advisement, but on france declining, it was dropped.[ ] in when an attack upon portugal was feared canning advised, in case of such an attack, the immediate seizure of cuba by great britain as more effective than half a dozen peninsular campaigns.[ ] the cuban question was involved in the long debate on the proposal of the executive of the united states to send delegates to the congress of spanish-american republics assembled at panama in . this debate occupied the attention of congress during the winter and spring of , and was engaged in with great earnestness. one of the chief objections to the proposed mission was the fact that the question of cuba and porto rico would come up and that the united states government had already committed itself to the foreign powers on that subject. the report of the senate committee on foreign relations declared that, the very situation of cuba and porto rico furnishes the strongest inducement to the united states not to take a place at the contemplated congress, since, by so doing, they must be considered as changing the attitude in which they hitherto have stood as impartial spectators of the passing scenes, and identifying themselves with the new republics.[ ] the southern members were united in their opposition to the panama mission, and in fact to any closer alliance with the new republics, for the reason that the latter had adopted the principle of emancipation and any further extension of their influence would jeopardize the institution of slavery in the united states. for the same reason they were opposed to the transfer of cuba to any other european power. if a change from its connection with spain were necessary they favored annexation by the united states, and meantime they were strongly opposed to the government entering into any engagement with foreign powers or in any way committing itself on the cuban question.[ ] the declaration of mr. clay against the interference of england and france in the affairs of cuba was consistently adhered to under the administrations of jackson and van buren. in - , the british government dispatched special commissioners to cuba and porto rico to report on the condition of the slave trade. the presence of these agents in cuba gave rise to reports that great britain contemplated revolutionizing the island, or at least occupying it for the purpose of suppressing the slave trade. the united states gave spain to understand that we would not consent to british control in whatever way it might be brought about. mr. forsyth wrote to mr. vail, our representative at madrid, july , : you are authorized to assure the spanish government, that in case of any attempt, from whatever quarter, to wrest from her this portion of her territory, she may securely depend upon the military and naval resources of the united states to aid her in preserving or recovering it.[ ] again, mr. webster in january, , wrote to mr. campbell, united states consul at havana: the spanish government has long been in possession of the policy and wishes of this government in regard to cuba, which have never changed, and has repeatedly been told that the united states never would permit the occupation of that island by british agents or forces upon any pretext whatever; and that in the event of any attempt to wrest it from her, she might securely rely upon the whole naval and military resources of this country to aid her in preserving or recovering it.[ ] a copy of this letter was also sent to washington irving, our representative at madrid to make such use of as circumstances might require.[ ] during the first period of our cuban diplomacy the efforts of this government were directed toward preventing the acquisition of the island, or the establishment of a protectorate over it, by great britain or france. with the mexican war, however, and the growing conviction of "manifest destiny," our foreign policy assumed a much bolder and more aggressive character, and during the next fifteen years all manner of schemes for the southward extension of our territory were suggested and many of them actually undertaken. cuba became an object of desire, not only in the eyes of the slave-holding population of the south as an acquisition to slave territory, but of a large part of the nation, because of its strategic importance in relation to the inter-oceanic transit routes of central america, which seemed the only feasible line of communication with our rapidly developing interests in california. consequently various attempts were made to annex the island to the united states, both by purchase from spain and forcibly by filibustering expeditions. in june, , under the administration of president polk, mr. buchanan, secretary of state, wrote to our minister at madrid, directing him to open negotiations with the spanish government for the purchase of cuba. after referring to the dangers of british occupation and to the advantages of annexation, he said: "desirable, however, as this island may be to the united states, we would not acquire it except by the free will of spain. any acquisition not sanctioned by justice and honor would be too dearly purchased." he stated that the president would stipulate for the payment of $ , , , as a maximum price.[ ] this offer was rejected by the spanish government. the minister of state after several months' delay finally replied "that it was more than any minister dare to entertain any such proposition; that he believed such to be the feeling of the country, that sooner than see the island transferred to any power, they would prefer seeing it sunk in the ocean." under the whig administration of taylor and fillmore no effort was made for the purchase of cuba. on august , , mr. clayton wrote to mr. barringer that the government did not desire to renew the negotiation for the purchase of cuba made by the late administration, since the proposition had been considered by the spanish government as a national indignity; that should spain desire to part with cuba, the proposal must come from her. about this time active preparations were going on for the invasion of cuba by an armed expedition under the cuban patriot narciso lopez. on august , , president taylor issued a proclamation warning all citizens of the united states against taking part in such expedition and saying, "no such persons must expect the interference of this government in any form on their behalf, no matter to what extremities they may be reduced in consequence of their conduct."[ ] a few days later the entire force of lopez was arrested by the united states marshal just as it was on the point of leaving new york. nothing daunted, lopez traveled through the southern and southwestern states secretly enlisting men and making arrangements for their transportation to cuba. many men of prominence at the south were in open and avowed sympathy with the enterprise. in the spring of , lopez called upon gen. john a. quitman, governor of mississippi, who had served with great distinction in the mexican war, and offered him, in the name of his compatriots, the leadership of the revolution and the supreme command of the army. quitman's sympathies were thoroughly enlisted in the movement, but he declined the honor on account of the serious aspect of political affairs, particularly what he considered the encroachments of the federal government upon the rights of the states. he made liberal contributions of money, however, and gave lopez sound advice about his undertaking, insisting that he must have an advance column of at least , men to maintain a footing on the island until reinforcements could go to their aid.[ ] unfortunately for lopez he did not follow the advice of quitman. a company of volunteers altogether inadequate for the successful accomplishment of the enterprise was collected at new orleans. there lopez chartered a steamer, the _creole_, and two barks, the _georgiana_ and the _susan loud_. three-fourths of the volunteers had served in the mexican war. the first detachment comprising men left new orleans in the bark _georgiana_, april , , under the command of col. theodore o'hara. they proceeded to the island of contoy off the coast of yucatan in the territory of mexico. there they were joined three weeks later by lopez and followers in the _creole_. the entire command, with the exception of the crews of the two barks and a few others to guard the stores, embarked in the _creole_ and effected a landing at cardenas, but the natives did not come to the aid of lopez and after holding the town for twelve hours he reluctantly reëmbarked and headed for key west. the _creole_ was pursued by the _pizarro_, a spanish war vessel, which steamed into the harbor just as she cast anchor. for a few moments the spaniards seemed to be on the point of preparing to open fire on the _creole_, but when they saw the united states custom-house officers take possession of her they changed their minds and left the harbor. the two barks, which had been left with a small guard at the island of contoy, were captured by spanish warships, taken to havana, condemned as prizes and the men put on trial for participation in the lopez expedition. as these men had committed no act of hostility against spain, and had, moreover, been seized on neutral territory, the united states government at once issued its protest and demanded their release. the spanish government replied that these men had been described as pirates by the president of the united states in his proclamation warning citizens against joining the expedition and were, therefore, beyond the pale of the protection of the united states. after heated negotiations which lasted several months and seriously threatened the peace of the two countries, the prisoners were released, but it was declared to be an act of grace on the part of the queen and not a concession to the demands of the united states.[ ] lopez was prosecuted by the united states government for violation of the neutrality laws, but escaped conviction and at once set about organizing another expedition. on august , , the third and last expedition of lopez, consisting of over men, left new orleans. after touching at key west the steamer proceeded to the coast of cuba and landed the expedition at bahia honda. the main body under lopez proceeded into the country where they had been led to expect a general uprising of the cubans. col. w. s. crittenden, who had served with bravery in the mexican war, was left in command of a smaller body to bring up the baggage. this detachment was attacked on the th and forced to retreat to the place where they had landed, where about fifty of them obtained boats and tried to escape. they were, however, intercepted off the coast, taken to havana, sentenced before a military court, and executed on the th. the main body under lopez was overcome and dispersed by spanish troops on the th. lopez was taken prisoner, tried, and executed. many of his followers were killed or died of hunger and fatigue and the rest made prisoners. upon receipt of this news commodore parker was at once ordered to proceed in a frigate to havana to inquire into the charges against the prisoners executed, and the circumstances of their capture, trial, and sentence. to these inquiries the captain-general replied that he considered those executed as pirates, that they had been so denounced by the president of the united states in his proclamation, that he was not at liberty to furnish a copy of the court records, but would send them to madrid and to the spanish minister at washington.[ ] when the news of the executions at havana reached new orleans the excitement was intense. the office of the spanish consul was broken into, portraits of the queen and captain-general of cuba defaced, the spanish flag torn in pieces, and the consul burned in effigy in lafayette square. the consul had to flee from the city for safety and the property of certain spaniards residing in new orleans was destroyed. a long correspondence ensued between the two governments. the united states agreed to pay an indemnity for injuries to the public property of spain, but not for the destruction of property belonging to spanish residents, who were entitled only to the same protection afforded our own citizens.[ ] a few weeks after the last lopez expedition the british and french representatives at washington notified our government that orders had been issued to their squadrons in the west indies to repel by force any attempts at the invasion of cuba from any quarter. our government replied that such action on the part of england and france could "not but be regarded by the united states with grave disapproval, as involving on the part of european sovereigns combined action of protectorship over american waters."[ ] in order to allay the uneasiness caused by the attempts of filibusters, supposed to be encouraged or at least connived at by the government of the united states, the spanish government requested great britain and france, in january, , to secure the signature by the american government in conjunction with them of an abnegatory declaration with respect to cuba.[ ] accordingly in april, , the british and french ministers at washington brought the subject to the attention of this government in notes of the same date, suggesting a tripartite convention for the guarantee of cuba to spain.[ ] to this proposal mr. webster replied in part as follows: it has been stated and often repeated to the government of spain by this government, under various administrations, not only that the united states have no design upon cuba themselves, but that, if spain should refrain from a voluntary cession of the island to any other european power, she might rely on the countenance and friendship of the united states to assist her in the defense and preservation of that island. at the same time it has always been declared to spain that the government of the united states could not be expected to acquiesce in the cession of cuba to an european power. he reminded them, furthermore, that "the policy of the united states has uniformly been to avoid, as far as possible, alliances or agreements with other states, and to keep itself free from national obligations, except such as affect directly the interests of the united states themselves."[ ] the matter was again urged upon the united states by the british and french governments in notes to mr. webster, dated july , , in which the indefensibility of the spanish title to the island and its bearings upon the neutrality of the proposed central american canals were dwelt upon. the death of mr. webster postponed for some time the answer of the united states, but the proposal was finally rejected in a notable dispatch prepared by webster's successor, edward everett. with the growth of the slavery conflict, which had now become paramount to all other questions, the annexation of cuba had become a party issue, and the return of the democratic party to power, in , was hailed by the southern extremists as a signal for the acquisition of the long coveted prize. this expectation was further heightened by the declaration of president pierce, in his inaugural address, that the policy of his administration would "not be controlled by any timid forebodings of evil from expansion," and that the acquisition of certain possessions not within our jurisdiction was "eminently important for our protection, if not in the future essential for the preservation of the rights of commerce and the peace of the world." william l. marcy, of new york, was appointed secretary of state and for the mission to spain the president selected pierre soulé of louisiana, a frenchman by birth and education, who had been exiled for political reasons. his appointment under the circumstances created unfavorable comment both in this country and in europe, and his sojourn of several days at paris on the way to his post at madrid caused the french government some annoyance. louis napoleon advised the court of madrid not to receive him, as his views on the cuban question were well known to be of a radical character. in his instructions to mr. soulé, july , , mr. marcy emphasized the importance of our relations with spain in view of the rumors of contemplated changes in the internal affairs of cuba and of the recent interposition of england and france. he directed him to try to negotiate a commercial treaty with spain favorable to our trade with cuba, and pointed out the urgent necessity of allowing a "qualified diplomatic intercourse between the captain-general of that island and our consul at havana, in order to prevent difficulties and preserve a good understanding between the two countries."[ ] the difficulty of settling disputes arising in cuba had been the subject of frequent remonstrances on the part of the united states. the captain-general was clothed with almost "unlimited powers for aggression, but with none for reparation." he exercised no diplomatic functions and was in no way subject to the authority of the spanish minister at washington. upon the arrival of mr. soulé in spain, he found that mr. calderon, the head of the cabinet, was strongly opposed to any commercial treaty or agreement which would promote intercourse between the united states and the dependencies of spain, and equally averse to allowing the captain-general any diplomatic powers.[ ] mr. soulé was by nature hot-headed and impetuous and could suffer anything sooner than enforced inactivity. whatever may have been the intentions of the executive in sending him, he had come to madrid for the purpose of consummating the long cherished scheme of acquiring cuba. accordingly, on february , , he wrote to mr. marcy that the affairs of the spanish government were about to reach a crisis, that a change of ministry was imminent, and that contingencies involving the fate of cuba were likely to arise which might be of great interest to the united states. he, therefore, asked for definite instructions. relying upon these representations and upon mr. soulé's judgment, mr. marcy transmitted in due time the necessary powers, authorizing him to negotiate with spain for the purchase of cuba, or for its independence, if such an arrangement would be more agreeable to spanish pride, in which event the united states would be willing to contribute substantial aid to the result. in the meantime, however, the _black warrior_ affair had strained the relations of the two countries almost to the point of rupture. this case, involving the seizure of an american steamer by spanish officials at havana for an unintentional violation or neglect of custom-house regulations, was of an unusually exasperating character. as soon as the department at washington was fully informed of this outrage, mr. marcy forwarded all the documents in the case to mr. soulé and directed him to demand of the spanish government a prompt disavowal of the act and the payment of an indemnity to the owners of the vessel and of the cargo, the extent of the injury being estimated at $ , . on april mr. soulé presented a formal demand on the part of his government. no answer to this note having been received, on the th he repeated his demands much more emphatically, calling for an indemnity of $ , , insisting that all persons, whatever their rank or importance, who were concerned in the perpetration of the wrong, be dismissed from her majesty's service, and finally declaring that non-compliance with these demands within forty-eight hours would be considered by the government of the united states as equivalent to a declaration that her majesty's government was determined to uphold the conduct of its officers. mr. calderon replied, on the th, that whenever her majesty's government should have before it the authentic and complete data, which it then lacked, a reply would be given to the demand of the united states conformable to justice and right; that the peremptory tone of mr. soulé's note suggested to the government of her majesty "a suspicion that it was not so much the manifestation of a lively interest in the defense of pretended injuries, as an incomprehensible pretext for exciting estrangement, if not a quarrel between two friendly powers." to this note mr. soulé replied that the suggestion made as to the motives of the united states in seeking redress was "but little creditable to the candor of her catholic majesty's government, and comes in very bad grace from one who, like your excellency, cannot but be aware that the records of this legation, as well as those of her catholic majesty's department of state, are loaded with reclamations bearing on grievances most flagrant, which have never been earnestly attended to and were met at their inception with precisely the same dilatory excuses through which the present one is sought to be evaded." meanwhile the aspects of the case were altogether changed by a private agreement between the havana officials and the owners of the _black warrior_, by which the ship and her cargo were released. mr. soulé continued, however, according to instructions from washington, to demand compensation for the damages sustained by the owners and passengers not compensated for by the return of the ship and cargo, and also reparation for the insult to the united states flag. the spanish government, however, refused to recognize any ground for reparation after the restitution of the ship and cargo, and persisted in contradicting, without the support of any evidence whatever, the facts as presented by the united states, although they were all certified to in proper legal form. on june mr. marcy wrote that the president was far from satisfied with the manner in which our demands were treated by the spanish government, but that before resorting to extreme measures he was determined to make a final appeal to spain for the adjustment of past difficulties and for the guarantee of more friendly relations in the future. although satisfied with the spirited manner in which mr. soulé had performed the duties of his mission, the president was considering the expediency of reinforcing the demands of the united states by the appointment of an extraordinary commission of two distinguished citizens to act in conjunction with him. he instructed him, therefore, not to press the affair of the _black warrior_, but to wait until the question of the special commission could be laid before congress. during the summer there was a change of ministry in the spanish government, which, as was not infrequently the case, was attended with more or less serious disorders. in august mr. marcy wrote that in view of the unsettled condition of affairs in spain and for other reasons not stated, the purpose of sending a special mission had, for the present at least, been abandoned. without pressing matters mr. soulé was, nevertheless, to avail himself of any opportunity which might be presented, of settling the affairs in dispute and of negotiating for the purchase of cuba. under the same date he proposed to mr. soulé the plan of consulting with mr. mason and mr. buchanan, our ministers at paris and london, for the purpose of overcoming any obstacles that england and france might interpose. this suggestion led to the celebrated meeting at ostend and the so-called manifesto. in accordance with the instructions of the president, messrs. soulé, mason, and buchanan proceeded to make arrangements for the proposed conference, which was held at ostend, in belgium, october , , , . they then adjourned to aix-la-chapelle for a week, where the reports of their proceedings were prepared. the greater part of the report is taken up with an enumeration of the advantages that would accrue to the united states from the acquisition of cuba, and an elaborate exposition of the ways in which the interests of spain would be promoted by the sale. the only specific recommendation of the report was that a proposal should be made through the proper diplomatic channel to the supreme constituent cortes about to assemble, to purchase cuba from spain, the maximum price to be $ , , . the report then proceeds to discuss the question, what ought to be the course of the american government should spain refuse to sell cuba? the ministers declared: after we shall have offered spain a price for cuba far beyond its present value, and this shall have been refused, it will then be time to consider the question, does cuba, in the possession of spain, seriously endanger our internal peace and the existence of our cherished union? should this question be answered in the affirmative, then, by every law, human and divine, we shall be justified in wresting it from spain if we possess the power; and this upon the very same principle that would justify an individual in tearing down the burning house of his neighbor if there were no other means of preventing the flames from destroying his own home. the report also recommended that all proceedings in reference to the negotiations with spain "ought to be open, frank, and public." this recommendation, together with the general character of the report, indicates that its authors were rather bent on making political capital of the affair at home than on seriously furthering negotiations at madrid. as a matter of fact the ostend manifesto made buchanan an acceptable presidential candidate to the southern wing of the democratic party and played no small part in securing for him the nomination in .[ ] the objectionable features of the report were politely but firmly repudiated by the administration in marcy's reply to soulé and soulé promptly resigned his mission. this fact was generally overlooked at the time, while the unfortunate publicity given to the proceedings at ostend brought endless censure upon president pierce and secretary marcy. in spite of the "jingo" policy attributed to the pierce administration, the complications arising out of the seizure of the _black warrior_ were not made a _casus belli_, as might easily have been done. after mr. soulé's return to the united states the negotiations were continued by his successor. the conduct of the officials concerned in the seizure was disavowed, and the indemnity claimed by the american citizens concerned was paid. the administration closed on terms of comparative friendship with spain, although there were numbers of claims still unadjusted. the cuban question figured conspicuously in the campaign of . the platform of the democratic party was strongly in favor of acquisition, while the new republican platform stigmatized the ostend manifesto as the highwayman's plea. until the buchanan administration all negotiations for the purchase of cuba had been undertaken on the authority of the executive alone. an effort was now made to get the two houses of congress to concur in an appropriation for this purpose. it was thought that united action on the part of the legislative and executive branches of the government would produce some impression on spain. accordingly, in his second, third and fourth annual messages, president buchanan brought the matter to the attention of congress, but his appeal met with little encouragement. in january, , senator slidell, the chairman of the senate committee on foreign relations, reported a bill carrying $ , , , to be placed at the disposal of the president as a preliminary sum for the purchase of cuba.[ ] this report created violent opposition, and in february the bill was withdrawn by mr. slidell at the urgent request of his friends. the annexationist and filibustering schemes of the decade immediately preceding the war of secession were prompted by two motives. the one was the extension of slave territory, or at least the thwarting of the schemes of emancipation for cuba which great britain was urging upon the spanish government. the other was to secure, by the occupation of this strong strategic position, undisputed control over the proposed interoceanic canal routes of central america and communication by this means with the new states on the pacific coast. these motives for annexation were removed, the one by the abolition of slavery in the united states, and the other by the construction of the great transcontinental railroads which established direct overland communication with the pacific states. during the period following the civil war, therefore, our policy was mainly concerned in urging upon the spanish government the abolition of slavery in cuba, the establishment of a more liberal form of government through independence or autonomy, and the promotion of more untrammelled commercial intercourse with the united states. the abolition of slavery in the southern states left the spanish antilles in the enjoyment of a monopoly of slave labor, which in the production of sugar, especially, gave them advantages which overcame all competition. this led to the formation of a strong spanish party, for whom the cause of slavery and that of spanish dominion were identical. these were known as peninsulars or spanish immigrants. they were the official class, the wealthy planters and slave-owners and the real rulers of cuba. on the other hand there was a party composed of creoles, or native cubans, whose cry was "cuba for the cubans!" and who hoped to effect the complete separation of the island from spain, either through their own efforts or through the assistance of the united states. not infrequently in the same family, the father, born and brought up in the peninsula, was an ardent loyalist, while the son, born in cuba, was an insurgent at heart, if not actually enlisted in the ranks. the spanish revolution of september, , was the signal for an uprising of the native or creole party in the eastern part of the island. this movement was not at first ostensibly for independence, but for the revolution in spain, the cries being "hurrah for prim!" "hurrah for the revolution!" its real character was, however, apparent from the first and its supporters continued for a period of ten years, without regard to the numerous vicissitudes through which the spanish government passed--the provisional government, the regency, the elective monarchy, the republic, and the restored bourbon dynasty--to wage a dogged, though desultory warfare against the constituted authorities of the island. this struggle was almost coterminous with president grant's administration of eight years. at an early stage of the contest the spanish authorities conceived it to be necessary to issue certain decrees which were contrary to public law and, in so far as they affected citizens of the united states, in violation of treaty obligations. on march , , the captain-general issued a decree authorizing the capture on the high seas of vessels carrying men, arms, munitions, or effects in aid of the insurgents, and declaring that "all persons captured in such vessels without regard to their number will be immediately executed."[ ] by another decree the estates of american citizens suspected of sympathy with the insurgents were confiscated.[ ] secretary hamilton fish protested against these decrees so far as they affected citizens of the united states, as they were in violation of the provisions of the treaty of . on july , , the captain-general issued another decree closing certain ports, declaring voyages with arms, ammunition, or crew for the insurgents illegal, and directing cruisers on the high seas to bring into port all vessels found to be enemies. on july mr. fish called the attention of the spanish minister to this decree, saying that it assumed powers over the commerce of the united states that could be permitted only in time of war; that the united states would not yield the right to carry contraband of war in time of peace, and would not permit their vessels to be interfered with on the high seas except in time of war; that if spain was at war she should give notice to the united states to that effect, and that a continuance of the decree or any attempt to enforce it would be regarded as a recognition by spain of a state of war in cuba. this declaration produced a prompt modification of the decree so far as it concerned the search of vessels on the high seas. as our commercial interests at large, as well as the interests of individual citizens, were deeply affected by the condition of the island, president grant determined at the beginning of his administration to offer to mediate between spain and the insurgents. general daniel e. sickles was appointed minister to spain and his instructions, under date of june , , directed him to offer to the cabinet at madrid the good offices of the united states for the purpose of bringing to a close the civil war then ravaging the island and establishing the independence of cuba. mr. fish instructed general sickles to explain to the spanish government that he used the term civil war advisedly, not as implying any public recognition of belligerent rights, but a condition of affairs that might not justify withholding much longer those rights from the insurgents.[ ] in reply spain agreed to accept the good offices of the united states, but on conditions that were impracticable and unsatisfactory. at the same time the spanish government allowed the purport of general sickles's note tendering the good offices of the united states to get out, and it was accepted by the press as indicating the purpose of the united states to recognize the cubans as belligerents if its offer of mediation were refused. no spanish cabinet could possibly endure the odium of having made a concession to the cubans under a threat from an outside power. the spanish government therefore requested the withdrawal of the american note. after the rejection of the offer of mediation president grant decided to recognize the cuban insurgents and in august, , while on his way from new york to new england on the fall river boat he signed a proclamation of cuban belligerency which he forwarded to washington with a note to secretary fish, requesting him to sign, seal, and issue it. mr. fish disapproved of this step, and while he affixed the seal and signed the document, he did not issue it, but kept it in a safe place to await further developments. grant's attention was diverted by wall street speculations in gold and the crisis that followed on "black friday." he failed to notice at the time that the secretary of state did not carry out his instructions, and later he thanked mr. fish for having saved him from a serious mistake.[ ] for some time the united states had been urging upon spain the importance of abolishing slavery in cuba as a necessary condition to the complete pacification of the island. during the fall of spain gave repeated assurances to the united states of her readiness to effect emancipation in cuba as soon as hostilities should cease, but the spanish government could never be brought to enter into any definite engagement on the subject. in fact as regarded the slavery question the cabinet of madrid found itself unable to choose between the horns of the dilemma. the united states and great britain were urging the immediate abolition of slavery, while the most influential upholders of spanish rule in porto rico as well as in cuba were the slaveholders themselves. the insurgents on the other hand had abolished slavery by a decree of the assembly of february , , promising indemnity to the owners in due time and providing for the enrolment of liberated slaves in the army.[ ] on january , , mr. fish wrote to general sickles: it becomes more apparent every day that this contest cannot terminate without the abolition of slavery. this government regards the government at madrid as committed to that result.... you will, therefore, if it shall appear that the insurrection is regarded as suppressed, frankly state that this government, relying upon the assurances so often given, will expect steps to be taken for the emancipation of the slaves in the spanish colonies. the british representative at madrid, mr. layard, was instructed to second the suggestions of the united states minister in regard to the abolition of slavery in the spanish colonies. from the outbreak of the insurrection the cuban patriots had the sympathy of the great mass of the american people, and that of the administration, although the latter was kept within the bounds of public law and treaty obligation, so as to avoid giving offense to spain. the government did all that treaty obligations demanded of it to prevent the violation of the neutrality laws. numbers of filibustering expeditions did, however, escape from american ports, and those that were arrested at the instance of the spanish government through its representatives in this country usually escaped conviction in our courts for want of evidence. in june, , the question of granting belligerent rights to the cubans was brought before congress in the form of a joint resolution introduced into the house. personally general grant sympathized with the cubans and was disposed to grant them the rights of belligerents, but his judgment was again overruled by the counsels of mr. fish. on june , during the heat of the debate on the question of belligerency, the president sent to congress a message embodying the views of the executive. at mr. fish's instance the message took the ground that the facts did not justify the recognition of a state of war, although mr. fish himself had made use of the term civil war in his instructions to general sickles. the secretary had almost to force the president to sign this message, though general grant was afterwards satisfied as to the wisdom of the measure.[ ] the message said in part: the question of belligerency is one of fact not to be decided by sympathies with or prejudices against either party. the relations between the parent state and the insurgents must amount, in fact, to war in the sense of international law. fighting, though fierce and protracted, does not alone constitute war; there must be military forces acting in accordance with the rules and customs of war--flags of truce, cartels, exchange of prisoners, etc.,--and to justify belligerency there must be, above all, a _de facto_ political organization of the insurgents sufficient in character and resources to constitute it, if left to itself, a state among nations capable of discharging the duties of a state, and of meeting the just responsibilities it may incur as such toward other powers in the discharge of its international duties. this message provoked a long and animated discussion in the house next day and sharp criticism on the part of the cuban sympathizers of the president's conduct in thus "intruding himself into the house for the purpose of controlling their deliberations." the debate continued until june , when the resolution passed the house by a vote of to .[ ] it was taken up by the senate, discussed and amended, but finally lost. the conclusion of an agreement on february , , for the submission to a mixed commission of claims of american citizens arising in cuba,[ ] took away all our pressing grievances against spain and for more than two years our diplomatic relations were on a comparatively friendly basis. good feeling between the two countries was further promoted by the proclamation of the spanish republic in and by the prompt action of general sickles in extending to it the recognition of the united states. after striving in vain for more than two years to reconcile and unite the contending factions of spain, king amadeus on february , , abdicated the royal authority and returned to the nation the powers with which he had been intrusted. the cortes at once proclaimed a republic. general sickles had on january telegraphed to washington for instructions in case the republicans should succeed in their efforts. on the day after the abdication, he received directions to recognize the republican government when it was fully established and in possession of the power of the nation. three days later, in the uniform of a major-general of the united states army he was given an audience by the president of the assembly and formally recognized the republic. on march , congress by joint resolution, in behalf of the american people, tendered its congratulations to the people of spain. it seemed at last as if our relations with spain were on a good footing. general sickles urged upon the new republican government the abolition of slavery and the concession of self-government to cuba. but such cordial relations did not long continue. on october , , the steamer _virginius_, sailing under american colors and carrying a united states registry, was captured on the high seas by the _tornado_, a spanish war vessel, and on the afternoon of the first of november taken into the port of santiago de cuba. the men and supplies she bore were bound for the insurgents, but the capture did not occur in cuban waters. general burriel, the commandant of the city, summoned a court-martial, and in spite of the protests of the american consul, condemned to death at the first sitting four of the passengers, general w. a. c. ryan, an irish patriot and three cubans. they were shot on the morning of november . on the th twelve other passengers were executed and on the th, captain fry and his entire crew, numbering thirty-six, making the total number of executions fifty-three. as soon as news of the capture reached madrid, general sickles called upon president castelar and represented to him the difficulties that might arise in case the ship had been taken on the high seas bearing united states colors. upon general sickles's suggestion the president of the spanish republic at once telegraphed to the captain-general to await orders before taking any steps in regard to the captured vessel and crew. in accordance with instructions from mr. fish, general sickles on november protested by note against the executions as brutal and barbarous and stated that ample reparation would be demanded. the next day he received from the minister of state an ill-tempered reply, rejecting the protest as inadmissible when neither the cabinet at washington nor that of madrid had sufficient data upon which to ground a complaint. on the day this reply was received general sickles, following out telegraphic instructions from washington, made a formal demand by note for the restoration of the _virginius_, the surrender of the survivors, a salute to the united states flag, and the punishment of the guilty officials. in case of a refusal of satisfactory reparation within twelve days, general sickles was instructed by his government, at the expiration of that period, to close the legation and leave madrid. the formal reply to general sickles's demand for reparation was received november . the spanish government declared that it would make no reparation until satisfied that an offense had been committed against the flag of the united states, and that when so convinced through her own sources of information or by the showing of the united states, due reparation would be made. the representations made at washington by the spanish minister were of a much more satisfactory character than those made to general sickles at madrid. mr. fish, therefore, instructed general sickles to remain at his post until the th, and if no accommodation were reached by that time he could demand his passports. by the time this dispatch reached madrid general sickles had already asked for his passports, but had not received the reply of the spanish government. on the th he received a note from the spanish minister asking for a postponement to december and promising that if by that time spain could not show that she had the right on her side--i.e., that the _virginius_ was not entitled to sail under the united states flag--she would comply with the demands of the united states. general sickles replied that he could not accept such a proposal, but that he would inform his government of it and take the responsibility of deferring his departure. meanwhile the spanish minister at washington had proposed arbitration, but mr. fish declined to submit to arbitration the question of an indignity to the united states flag. the minister then asked for a delay, but mr. fish told him that delay was impossible in view of the approaching meeting of congress. unless settled beforehand the question would have to be referred to congress. this firm stand brought the spanish minister to time and on november a proposition was submitted and accepted by mr. fish, by the terms of which spain stipulated to restore the vessel forthwith, to surrender the survivors of her passengers and crew, and on the th of december to salute the flag of the united states. if, however, before that date spain should prove to the satisfaction of the united states that the _virginius_ was not entitled to carry the flag of the united states, the salute should be dispensed with, but in such case the united states would expect a disclaimer of intent of indignity to its flag. the spanish envoy submitted to the state department a large number of documents and depositions to show that the _virginius_ had no right to sail under the united states flag. these were referred to the attorney-general, and on december he gave his opinion that the evidence was conclusive that the _virginius_, although registered in new york on september , , in the name of one patterson, who made oath as required by law that he was the owner, was in fact the property of certain cubans and was controlled by them. in conclusion the attorney-general said: spain, no doubt, has a right to capture a vessel, with an american register, and carrying the american flag, found in her own waters assisting, or endeavoring to assist, the insurrection in cuba, but she has no right to capture such a vessel on the high seas upon an apprehension that, in violation of the neutrality or navigation laws of the united states, she was on her way to assist said rebellion. spain may defend her territory and people from the hostile attacks of what is, or appears to be, an american vessel; but she has no jurisdiction whatever over the question as to whether or not such vessel is on the high seas in violation of any law of the united states. spain cannot rightfully raise that question as to the _virginius_, but the united states may, and, as i understand the protocol, they have agreed to do it, and, governed by that agreement and without admitting that spain would otherwise have any interest in the question, i decide that the _virginius_, at the time of her capture, was without right, and improperly carrying the american flag.[ ] this decision was communicated to the spanish authorities and, according to the agreement, the salute to the united states flag was dispensed with, and on january , , the spanish minister, on behalf of his government, expressed a disclaimer of an intent of indignity to the flag of the united states. spain later paid indemnities to great britain and the united states for the families of those who had been executed. meanwhile general sickles offered his resignation by cable in consequence of certain reports that his conduct had been disapproved. mr. fish replied that such reports were unauthorized, that no dissatisfaction had been expressed or intimated and that it was deemed important that he remain at his post. ten days later, general sickles requested that the telegram tendering his resignation and the reply be published. mr. fish declined to do so, as the resignation was hypothetical. on december , general sickles again tendered his resignation and it was accepted. after the settlement of the _virginius_ affair the government of the united states addressed itself once more to the task of forcing a settlement of the cuban question in general. in his instructions to mr. cushing, who succeeded general sickles, secretary fish expressed the policy of the administration at considerable length. after reviewing the main facts of the insurrection which had then lasted more than five years, with little or no change in the military situation, and after referring to the rejection by spain of the offers of mediation made by the united states at an early day of the trouble, he said: in these circumstances, the question what decision the united states shall take is a serious and difficult one, not to be determined without careful consideration of its complex elements of domestic and foreign policy, but the determination of which may at any moment be forced upon us by occurrences either in spain or in cuba. withal the president cannot but regard independence, and emancipation, of course, as the only certain, and even the necessary, solution of the question of cuba. and, in his mind, all incidental questions are quite subordinate to those, the larger objects of the united states in this respect. it requires to be borne in mind that, in so far as we may contribute to the solution of these questions, this government is not actuated by any selfish or interested motive. the president does not meditate or desire the annexation of cuba to the united states, but its elevation into an independent republic of freemen, in harmony with ourselves and with the other republics of america.[ ] for some months mr. cushing was occupied with the settlement of the indemnities in the _virginius_ case. after nearly two years had elapsed since the instructions above quoted, the grant administration determined, in view of the unchanged condition of the cuban struggle, to bring matters to an issue and to force, if need be, the hand of the spanish government. on november , , mr. fish addressed a long letter of instruction to mr. cushing. after reviewing the course of the insurrection, the interests of the united states affected thereby, the numerous claims arising therefrom, many of them still unsettled, the persistent refusal of spain to redress these grievances and the general neglect on her part of treaty obligations, he concluded: in the absence of any prospect of a termination of the war, or of any change in the manner in which it has been conducted on either side, he (the president) feels that the time is at hand when it may be the duty of other governments to intervene, solely with a view to bringing to an end a disastrous and destructive conflict, and of restoring peace in the island of cuba. no government is more deeply interested in the order and peaceful administration of this island than is that of the united states, and none has suffered as the united states from the condition which has obtained there during the past six or seven years. he will, therefore, feel it his duty at an early day to submit the subject in this light, and accompanied by an expression of the views above presented, for the consideration of congress. mr. cushing was instructed to read this note to the spanish minister of state. at the same time a copy was sent to general robert c. schenck, united states minister at london, with instructions to read the same to lord derby, and to suggest to him that it would be agreeable to the united states if the british government would support by its influence the position assumed by the grant administration. in the course of a few days copies of this note were sent to our representatives at paris, berlin, vienna, rome, lisbon, and st. petersburg, with instructions to communicate its purport orally, or by reading the note, to the governments to which they were accredited and to ask their intervention with spain in the interests of terminating the state of affairs existing in cuba. as the result of mr. cushing's friendly representations and in view of the president's message discountenancing recognition of either independence or belligerency, the spanish minister, mr. calderon, received the communication of november threatening intervention, in good part, and expressed his intention of answering it after he should have had time to consider it carefully. the reply of great britain was given to general schenck in an interview with lord derby on january , . it was in substance that he was convinced that spain would not listen to mediation, and that the british government was not prepared to bring pressure to bear upon her in case she refused; that the spanish government hoped to finish the carlist war in the spring and would then be in a position to put forth its whole military strength for the reduction of cuba; in conclusion, therefore, lord derby thought "that if nothing were contemplated beyond an amicable interposition, having peace for its object, the time was ill-chosen and the move premature." the answers of the other powers were unsatisfactory or evasive, none of them being willing to bring pressure to bear upon the government of young alfonso, while the carlist war was on his hands. the answer of spain was finally given in the form of a note dated february , , addressed to the representatives of spain in other countries, including the united states, communicated to mr. cushing february . this answer, written by mr. calderon was in good temper. he stated that the insurrection was supported and carried on largely by negroes, mulattoes, chinese, deserters, and adventurers; that they carried on a guerrilla warfare from their mountain retreats, that spain had sufficient forces in the island to defeat them in the field; that the triumph of spain would soon be followed by the total abolition of slavery and the introduction of administrative reforms. the number of vessels of war and troops in cuba was enumerated to show that spain was putting forth a reasonable effort to bring the rebellion to a close, and statistics were quoted to show that the trade between cuba and the united states, as well as the general trade of the island, had actually increased largely since the outbreak of the insurrection. finally he declared that while individual foreigners had suffered, spain had done justice to all claims presented. in conversation with mr. cushing, mr. calderon intimated that spain, although she would resist to the uttermost armed intervention, might be willing under certain circumstances to accept the mediation of the united states in cuba, and he invited a frank statement of what the united states would advise or wish spain to do with regard to cuba. in reply to this suggestion, mr. fish, after disclaiming on the part of the united states all intention of annexing cuba, stated the following points as the wish of his government: ( ) the mutual and reciprocal observance of treaty obligations, and a full, friendly, and liberal understanding and interpretation of all doubtful treaty provisions, wherever doubt or question might exist. ( ) peace, order, and good government in cuba, which involved prompt and effective measures to restore peace, and the establishment of a government suited to the spirit and necessities of the age. ( ) gradual but effectual emancipation of slaves. ( ) improvement of commercial facilities and the removal of the obstructions then existing in the way of trade and commerce. in reply to these suggestions mr. calderon handed mr. cushing a note, dated april , , in which he represented that his majesty's government was in full accord with mr. fish's suggestions. this assurance on the part of the spanish government completely thwarted mr. fish's plans, and, together with lord derby's reply, put all further attempts at intervention out of the question. the substance of mr. fish's note threatening intervention appeared unofficially in the press of europe and america in december, , and attracted such general attention that in january the house asked for the correspondence. in reply mr. fish submitted to the president for transmission the note of november , together with a few carefully chosen extracts from the correspondence between himself and mr. cushing,[ ] but nothing was given that might indicate that the united states had appealed to the powers of europe to countenance intervention. as rumors to this effect had, however, appeared in the press, the house called the next day for whatever correspondence had taken place with foreign powers in regard to cuba. mr. fish replied that "no correspondence has taken place during the past year with any european government, other than spain, in regard to the island of cuba," but that the note of november had been orally communicated to several european governments by reading the same.[ ] this was putting a very strict and a very unusual construction upon the term "correspondence," to say the least. the dispatches, notes, and telegrams that pass between a government and its representatives abroad are the generally recognized means of communicating with foreign powers, and are always spoken of as the correspondence with those powers. the whole affair reveals a curious lack of candor and of courage on the part of mr. fish. he was trying to shield either the administration or himself, and did not wish the american public to know that he had reversed the time-honored policy of the state department by appealing to the powers of europe to intervene in what had been uniformly treated, from the days of john quincy adams and henry clay, as a purely american question. this correspondence was suppressed for twenty years. on march , , the senate called for "copies of all dispatches, notes, and telegrams in the department of state, from and after the note from secretary fish to mr. cushing of november , , and including that note, until the pacification of cuba in , which relate to mediation or intervention by the united states in the affairs of that island, together with all correspondence with foreign governments relating to the same topic." on april president cleveland transmitted the "correspondence" called for, which forms a document of pages.[ ] the cuban struggle continued for two years longer. in october, , several leaders surrendered to the spanish authorities and undertook the task of bringing over the few remaining ones. some of these paid for their efforts with their lives, being taken and condemned by court-martial by order of the commander of the cuban forces. finally, in february, , the terms of pacification were made known. they embraced representation in the spanish cortes, oblivion of the past in respect of political offenses committed since the year , and the freedom of slaves in the insurgent ranks.[ ] in practice, however, the cuban deputies were never truly representative, but were men of spanish birth designated usually by the captain-general. by gradual emancipation slavery ceased to exist in the island in . the powers of the captain-general, the most objectionable feature of spanish rule, continued uncurtailed. in february, , the final insurrection against spanish rule in cuba began, and soon developed the same features as the "ten years' war." the policy of maximo gomez, the insurrectionary chief, was to fight no pitched battles but to keep up incessant skirmishes, to destroy sugar plantations and every other source of revenue with the end in view of either exhausting spain or forcing the intervention of the united states. with the opening of the second year of the struggle, general weyler arrived in havana as governor and captain-general, and immediately inaugurated his famous "reconcentration" policy. the inhabitants of the island were directed by proclamation to assemble within a week in the towns occupied by spanish troops under penalty, if they refused, of being treated as rebels. the majority of those who obeyed the proclamation were women and children who, as a result of being cooped up in crowded villages under miserable sanitary conditions and without adequate food, died by the thousands.[ ] in the province of havana alone , perished. public opinion in the united states was thoroughly aroused by the execution of policies which not only excited sympathy for the unfortunate inhabitants of cuba, but which paralyzed the industries of the island and destroyed its commerce. american citizens owned at least fifty millions of property in the island, and american commerce at the beginning of the insurrection amounted to one hundred millions annually. furthermore, numbers of persons claiming american citizenship were thrown into prison by weyler's orders. some of them were native americans, but the majority were cubans who had sought naturalization in the united states in order to return to cuba and claim american protection. other cubans, including many who were still spanish subjects, established themselves in american ports and furnished the insurgents with arms and supplies. on june , , president cleveland issued a proclamation calling attention to the cuban insurrection and warning all persons within the jurisdiction of the united states against doing any of the acts prohibited by the american neutrality laws. notwithstanding all the efforts of the administration, illegal expeditions were continually being fitted out in the united states, and while the great majority of them were stopped by port officials or intercepted by the navy, some of them succeeded in reaching the coasts of cuba. president cleveland's proclamation recognized insurgency as a status distinct from belligerency. it merely put into effect the neutrality laws of the united states. it did not recognize a state of belligerency and therefore did not bring into operation any of the rules of neutrality under international law. president cleveland consistently refused to recognize the cubans as belligerents. in february, , congress passed a joint resolution, by a vote of to in the senate and to in the house, recognizing a state of war in cuba, and offering spain the good offices of the united states for the establishment of cuban independence. notwithstanding the overwhelming majority which this resolution had received, the president ignored it, for it is a well recognized principle that congress has no right to force the hand of the president in a matter of this kind. it amounted merely to an expression of opinion by congress. in april, , secretary olney addressed a note to the spanish minister in which the united states offered to mediate between spain and the insurgents for the restoration of peace on the basis of autonomy. spain rejected this offer, claiming that cuba already enjoyed "one of the most liberal political systems in the world," and suggesting that the united states could contribute greatly to the pacification of the island by prosecuting "the unlawful expeditions of some of its citizens to cuba with more vigor than in the past."[ ] in his last annual message to congress, president cleveland reviewed the cuban situation at length and, in conclusion, declared: when the inability of spain to deal successfully with the insurgents has become manifest and it is demonstrated that her sovereignty is extinct in cuba for all purposes of its rightful existence, and when a hopeless struggle for its reëstablishment has degenerated into a strife which means nothing more than the useless sacrifice of human life and the utter destruction of the very subject-matter of the conflict, a situation will be presented in which our obligations to the sovereignty of spain will be superseded by higher obligations, which we can hardly hesitate to recognize and discharge. the mckinley administration, which began march , , soon directed its attention to the cuban question. it was unfortunate that with this question rapidly approaching a crisis the state department was in feeble hands. john sherman, the veteran senator from ohio, was appointed secretary of state by mckinley in order to make a place in the senate for mark hanna, who had so successfully conducted mckinley's campaign. general woodford was sent to madrid to succeed hannis taylor, and he was instructed to tender again the good offices of the united states, to remind spain of the resolution passed by the previous congress, and to warn her that another congress was soon to assemble.[ ] six days after the receipt of general woodford's note the spanish ministry resigned, and on october the liberal ministry of sagasta assumed office. its first act was to recall general weyler, and to appoint general blanco to succeed him as governor and captain-general of cuba. the new ministry promised to grant autonomy to cuba, and president mckinley in his message of december , , declared his intention of allowing time for the new policy to be tested. it was soon evident that the grant of autonomy had come too late. the cubans would no longer be satisfied with anything short of independence. on january , , there was serious rioting in havana, deliberately planned as a demonstration against the autonomy scheme, and consul-general fitzhugh lee cabled his government that it was evident that autonomy would prove a failure, that he doubted whether blanco could control the situation, and that it might be necessary to send warships for the protection of americans in havana. the suggestion as to warships met with a prompter response than general lee had expected. the united states battleship _maine_ was immediately dispatched to havana, where she arrived january and was assigned an anchorage by the port officials.[ ] while she was lying quietly at anchor in havana harbor, attention was suddenly diverted from cuba to washington by the dupuy de lôme incident. on february , , the new york _journal_ published in facsimile a letter from the spanish minister at washington to a friend in cuba which severely criticized president mckinley's policy and referred to him as "a would-be politician who tries to leave a door open behind him while keeping on good terms with the jingoes of his party." the letter was genuine, though surreptitiously acquired, and was of such a character that it could not be overlooked. when called on for an explanation, señor de lôme admitted having written the letter but questioned the accuracy of the translation. he claimed that the language which he had used was permissible under the seal of private correspondence. when general woodford, acting under instructions from washington, informed the spanish minister of foreign affairs that the president expected the immediate recall of señor de lôme, he was informed that the latter's resignation had already been accepted by cable.[ ] before the excitement over this incident had subsided, the battleship _maine_ was suddenly blown up in havana harbor on the night of february , and two of her officers and two hundred and fifty-eight of her crew were killed. after a careful examination of witnesses and of the wreck, an american naval court of inquiry reported that the destruction of the ship was due to a submarine mine.[ ] a spanish board of inquiry, after examining a number of witnesses who had seen or heard the explosion, made a brief report the following day to the effect that the ship had been destroyed by an explosion in the forward magazine. it is generally admitted that the american report was correct, but the responsibility for the mine has never been disclosed. as soon as the report of the court of inquiry was made public, the american people, who had displayed great self-control, threw aside all restraint and the country witnessed an outburst of patriotic fervor such as had not been seen since . "remember the _maine_" became a watchword, and the demand for war was overwhelming. president mckinley decided, however, to make one more effort at a diplomatic settlement. he proposed an armistice between spain and the insurgents pending negotiations for a permanent adjustment through the friendly offices of the president of the united states. in reply the spanish government made counter-propositions to the effect that the questions arising out of the destruction of the _maine_ be submitted to arbitration and that the pacification of the island be left to a cuban parliament. meanwhile, the governor-general would be authorized to accept a suspension of hostilities, provided the insurgents should ask for it and agree to disarm. this was simply an invitation to the insurgents to submit, in which case spain would consider what degree of autonomy was needed or practicable. the president considered the spanish reply as a rejection of his proposal and determined to submit the entire question to congress.[ ] this meant war, for public feeling in america was at the highest pitch of excitement, the "yellow" press was clamoring for war, and it was with the greatest difficulty that the president, who really wanted peace, had held congress in check. the message to congress was held back a few days in consequence of a telegram from general lee, who urged that he be given time to get americans safely out of havana. during this period of delay the representatives of germany, austria-hungary, france, great britain, italy, and russia made a formal appeal to the president for peace, and the pope persuaded the queen of spain to authorize general blanco to suspend hostilities. this concession did not meet fully the american ultimatum and seemed too much like another play for time. the spanish minister was, therefore, simply informed that the president would notify congress of this latest communication. president mckinley was later severely criticized for not giving greater consideration to this note and for merely alluding to it in his message instead of transmitting it in full. had he given it greater consideration, war might have been delayed a few months, but it would not have been averted, for spain was not willing to make concessions that the cubans at this late date would have regarded as satisfactory. in his message to congress of april , , president mckinley referred to the _maine_ only incidentally as "a patent and impressive proof of a state of things in cuba that is intolerable." he suggested forcible intervention as the only solution of the question and declared that it was justified, not only on grounds of humanity, but as a measure for the protection of the lives and property of american citizens in cuba, and for the purpose of putting a stop to a conflict which was a constant menace to our peace.[ ] two days later the house passed a resolution by vote of to , directing the president to intervene at once to stop the war in cuba with the purpose of "establishing by the free action of the people thereof a stable and independent government of their own in the island." on the same day the senate committee on foreign relations reported a resolution demanding the immediate withdrawal of spain from the island of cuba, but the minority report urging in addition the immediate recognition of the cuban republic as then organized was at first embodied in the senate resolution by a vote of to . it was feared by members of the senate that if we liberated cuba without first recognizing the so-called republic of cuba, the island would inevitably be annexed by the united states. after two days of hot debate, the senate reconsidered, and the house resolution prevailed. on april , the anniversary of the battle of lexington and of the first bloodshed of the civil war in the streets of baltimore, the fateful resolutions were adopted in the following terms: resolved by the senate and house of representatives of the united states in congress assembled, _first_, that the people of the island of cuba are, and of right ought to be, free and independent. _second_, that it is the duty of the united states to demand, and the government of the united states does hereby demand, that the government of spain at once relinquish its authority and government in the island of cuba, and withdraw its land and naval forces from cuban waters. _third_, that the president of the united states be, and he hereby is, directed and empowered to use the entire land and naval forces of the united states, and to call into the actual service of the united states the militia of the several states to such extent as may be necessary to carry these resolutions into effect. _fourth_, that the united states hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is accomplished, to leave the government and control of the island to its people.[ ] as soon as these resolutions were approved by the president, the spanish minister asked for his passports, thus severing diplomatic relations, and woodford was directed to leave madrid. the north atlantic squadron, then at key west under command of rear-admiral william t. sampson, was immediately ordered to blockade the northern coast of cuba, and commodore george dewey was ordered from hong kong to manila bay for the purpose of capturing or destroying the spanish fleet. during the war that followed, foreign public opinion, outside of england, was decidedly hostile to the united states, but in the face of the victories of santiago and manila bay this sentiment underwent a marked change, and spain abandoned whatever hopes she had cherished of european intervention. by the end of july, , the american as well as the european press was beginning to ask why the war should not be brought to a close. after the surrender of santiago general miles embarked for porto rico with a force of , men, and in a two-weeks' campaign overran most of that island with the loss of three killed and forty wounded. a large number of troops had also been sent to the philippines. it was evident, therefore, that while the war had been undertaken for the liberation of cuba, the united states did not feel under any obligation to confine its military operations to that island. having met all the demands of honor, spain asked the french government to authorize the french ambassador at washington to arrange with the president of the united states the preliminary terms of peace. the negotiations begun on july resulted in the protocol of august , in which spain agreed to the following demands: first, the immediate evacuation of cuba and the relinquishment of spanish sovereignty; second, the cession of porto rico and one of the ladrones by way of indemnity; and third, the occupation by the united states of "the city, bay and harbor of manila pending the conclusion of a treaty of peace which shall determine the control, disposition, and government of the philippines."[ ] by the terms of the protocol paris was selected as the place of meeting for the peace commissioners, and here negotiations were opened on october . the united states delegation was composed of william r. day, who resigned the office of secretary of state to head the mission; cushman k. davis, chairman of the senate committee on foreign relations; william p. frye, president _pro tem_ of the senate; senator george gray of delaware; and whitelaw reid, editor of the new york _tribune_; with john bassett moore, assistant secretary of state, as secretary. an entire month was taken up with the cuban question, the spanish commissioners striving in vain to saddle the cuban debt either on the united states or on the people of cuba. the philippine question occupied most of the next month. when the commissioners were appointed, president mckinley had not fully made up his mind on this important question. his first intention seems to have been to retain the bay and city of manila as a naval base and a part or possibly the whole of luzon. public sentiment in the united states in favor of acquiring the whole group made rapid headway, and after an extended trip through the south and west, during which he sounded opinion on this question, the president instructed the commissioners to demand the entire group. the commissioners were later authorized to offer $ , , for the cession. this offer, which was recognized by the spanish commissioners as an ultimatum, was finally accepted under protest. on other points the united states secured what had been demanded in the protocol, and the treaty was signed december , .[ ] the treaty was submitted to the senate january , , and precipitated a memorable debate which lasted until february . the principal opposition came from senator hoar of massachusetts, who declared that the proposal to acquire and govern the philippine islands was in violation of the declaration of independence, the constitution, and the whole spirit of american institutions. the treaty could not be ratified without the aid of democrats, and the result was in doubt when bryan went to washington and advised his friends in the senate to vote for ratification, saying that the status of the philippines could be determined in the next presidential campaign. the outbreak of hostilities between the filipinos and the american troops occupying manila put an end to the debate, and on february the treaty was ratified. when the united states demanded the withdrawal of spain from cuba, it was with the declaration that "the united states hereby disclaims any disposition or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control over said island except for the pacification thereof, and asserts its determination, when that is accomplished, to leave the government and control of the island to its people." never has a pledge made by a nation under such circumstances been more faithfully carried out. the administration of cuba during the period of american military occupation was a model of its kind. general leonard wood, the military governor, and his associates found the cities and towns crowded with refugees and reconcentrados, and governmental affairs in a state of the utmost confusion. they established order, relieved distress, organized hospitals and charitable institutions, undertook extensive public works, reorganized the system of public schools, and put havana, santiago, and other cities in a sanitary condition. in a hospital near havana major walter reed, a surgeon in the united states army, demonstrated the fact that yellow fever is transmitted by the bite of a mosquito. this discovery was at once put to the test in havana, and the city was rendered free from yellow fever for the first time in one hundred and forty years.[ ] in the organization of a government for the island, the first step was to take a census of the inhabitants, determine the proper basis of suffrage, and hold municipal elections for the purpose of organizing local government. this work having been successfully accomplished, a constitutional convention, summoned by general wood, convened in the city of havana, november , . by february , , the convention had agreed upon a constitution modelled in general after that of the united states. the new constitution provided for the recognition of the public debts contracted by the insurgent government, but was silent on the subject of future relations with the united states. this subject had been brought to the attention of the convention early in february by general wood, who had submitted for incorporation in the constitution certain provisions which had been drafted in washington. the convention objected to these proposals on the ground that they impaired the independence and sovereignty of the island, and that it was their duty to make cuba "independent of every other nation, the great and noble american nation included." the united states, however, had no intention of withdrawing from the island until this matter was satisfactorily adjusted. a provision, known as the platt amendment, was therefore inserted in the army appropriation bill of march , , directing the president to leave the control of the island to its people so soon as a government should be established under a constitution which defined the future relations with the united states substantially as follows: i. that the government of cuba shall never enter into any treaty or other compact with any foreign power or powers which will impair or tend to impair the independence of cuba, nor in any manner authorize or permit any foreign power or powers to obtain by colonization or for military or naval purposes or otherwise, lodgment in or control over any portion of said island. ii. that said government shall not assume or contract any public debt, to pay the interest upon which, and to make reasonable sinking fund provision for the ultimate discharge of which, the ordinary revenues of the island, after defraying the current expenses of government shall be inadequate. iii. that the government of cuba consents that the united states may exercise the right to intervene for the preservation of cuban independence, the maintenance of a government adequate for the protection of life, property, and individual liberty, and for discharging the obligations with respect to cuba imposed by the treaty of paris on the united states, now to be assumed and undertaken by the government of cuba. iv. that all acts of the united states in cuba during its military occupancy thereof are ratified and validated, and all lawful rights acquired thereunder shall be maintained and protected. v. that the government of cuba will execute, and as far as necessary extend, the plans already devised or other plans to be mutually agreed upon, for the sanitation of the cities of the island.... vi. that the isle of pines shall be omitted from the proposed constitutional boundaries of cuba, the title thereto being left to future adjustment by treaty. vii. that to enable the united states to maintain the independence of cuba, and to protect the people thereof, as well as for its own defense, the government of cuba will sell or lease to the united states lands necessary for coaling or naval stations at certain specified points, to be agreed upon with the president of the united states. viii. that by way of further assurance the government of cuba will embody the foregoing provisions in a permanent treaty with the united states.[ ] these articles, with the exception of the fifth, which was proposed by general leonard wood, were carefully drafted by elihu root, at that time secretary of war, discussed at length by president mckinley's cabinet, and entrusted to senator platt of connecticut, who offered them as an amendment to the army appropriation bill. in order to allay doubts expressed by members of the convention in regard to the third article, general wood was authorized by secretary root to state officially that the intervention described in this article did not mean intermeddling in the affairs of the cuban government, but formal action on the part of the united states, based upon just and substantial grounds. with this assurance the convention adopted the platt amendment june , , and added it as an appendix to the constitution. on may , , tomas estrada palma was inaugurated as first president of the republic of cuba, and general wood handed over to him the government of the island.[ ] the americans left a substantial balance in the cuban treasury. the total receipts for the entire period were $ , , . , and the expenditures $ , , . . the customs service, which furnished the principal part of the revenues during the period of military occupation, was ably administered by general tasker h. bliss.[ ] while the platt amendment determined the political relations that were to exist between cuba and the united states, there had been no agreement on the subject of commercial relations. the sugar industry, which had been almost destroyed by the insurrection, was dependent upon the willingness of the united states to arrange for a reduction of its tariff in favor of the cuban product. otherwise cuban sugar could not compete with the bounty-fed beet sugar of europe or with the sugars of porto rico and hawaii, which were now admitted to the american market free of duty. president roosevelt had hoped to settle this question before the withdrawal of american troops, and he had urged upon congress the expediency of providing for a substantial reduction in tariff duties on cuban imports into the united states, but a powerful opposition, composed of the beet-sugar growers of the north and west and of the cane-sugar planters of louisiana, succeeded in thwarting for two years the efforts of the administration to do justice to cuba. all attempts to get a bill through congress failed.[ ] in the meantime a reciprocity convention was agreed upon in the ordinary diplomatic way december , , under which cuban products were to be admitted to the united states at a reduction of twenty per cent. as the senate failed to act on this treaty before the th of march, , president roosevelt convened an extra session of the senate which ratified the treaty with amendments, and with the very unusual provision that it should not go into effect until approved by congress. as the house was not then in session, this meant that the treaty had to go over until the fall. the cuban situation grew so bad that the president finally convened congress in extra session november , . in a special message he urged prompt action on the treaty on the ground that the platt amendment had brought the island of cuba within our system of international policy, and that it necessarily followed that it must also to a certain degree come within the lines of our economic policy. the house passed the bill approving the treaty november by the overwhelming vote of to , but the senate, although it had already ratified the treaty, permitted the extra session to expire without passing the measure which was to give the treaty effect. when the new session began december , the cuban treaty bill was made the special order in the senate until december , when the final vote was taken and it passed. under the reciprocity treaty commercial relations with cuba were established on a firm basis and the volume of trade increased rapidly. in august, , president palma was reëlected for another term, but the cubans had not learned the primary lesson of democracy, submission to the will of the majority, and his opponents at once began an insurrectionary movement which had for its object the overthrow of his government. about the middle of september president roosevelt sent secretary taft to havana for the purpose of reconciling the contending factions, but mr. taft's efforts proved unavailing and president palma resigned. when the cuban congress assembled, it was found impossible to command a quorum. under these circumstances secretary taft assumed control of affairs on september and proclaimed a provisional government for the restoration of order and the protection of life and property. a body of united states troops under command of general franklin bell was sent to cuba to preserve order and to uphold the provisional government. on october , , secretary taft was relieved of the duties of provisional governor in order that he might resume his duties in washington, and charles e. magoon was appointed to take his place at havana.[ ] in his message to congress december , , president roosevelt declared that while the united states had no desire to annex cuba, it was "absolutely out of the question that the island should continue independent" if the "insurrectionary habit" should become "confirmed." the second period of american occupation lasted a little over two years, when the control of the government was again restored to the people of the island and the american troops were withdrawn. footnotes: [ ] h. a. washington, "writings of thomas jefferson," vol. v, p. . [ ] "madison's works," vol. ii, p. . [ ] niles's "register," under date november , . [ ] for a full discussion of the question see the pamphlet by j. freeman rattenbury, entitled, "the cession of the floridas to the united states of america and the necessity of acquiring the island of cuba by great britain." london, . [ ] niles's "register," march and april, . [ ] h. ex. doc. no. , thirty-second cong., first sess.; also brit. and for. st. pap., vol. xliv, pp. - . [ ] h. a. washington, "writings of jefferson," vol. vii, p. . [ ] "official corresp. of canning," vol. i, p. . [ ] _ibid._, vol. i, p. . [ ] am. st. pap., for. rel., vol. v, p. . also "wharton's digest," sec. . [ ] stapleton, "political life of canning," vol. iii, p. . [ ] mr. clay to mr. king, october , "wharton's digest," sec. . [ ] canning to earl of liverpool, october , . [ ] am. st. pap., for. rel., vol. v, p. . [ ] benton's "abridgment," vol. viii, pp. , , and vol. ix, pp. , . [ ] h. ex. doc. no. , thirty-second cong., first sess.; also "wharton's digest," sec. . [ ] "wharton's digest," sec. . [ ] mr. upshur, who succeeded mr. webster as secretary of state, wrote to mr. irving to the same effect, october , . [ ] mr. buchanan to mr. saunders, june , . h. ex. doc. no. , thirty-second cong., first sess.; also brit. and for. st. pap., vol. xxvi. [ ] "messages and papers of the presidents," vol. v, p. . [ ] j. f. h. claiborne, "life and corresp. of john a. quitman," vol. ii. pp. - , and appendix, p. . in june the grand jury of the united states circuit court at new orleans found a bill against john a. quitman, john henderson, governor of louisiana, and others, for setting on foot the invasion of cuba. quitman's view of state sovereignty did not admit the right of the united states courts to proceed against the chief executive of a sovereign state. he sought the advice of friends throughout the south as to what course he should pursue. none of them admitted the right of the united states courts to indict him and several of them advised him that it was his duty to assert the principle of state sovereignty even to the point of calling out the state militia to protect him against arrest. others advised him to submit under protest so as to avoid an open breach. this course was finally adopted, and when the united states marshal appeared on the rd of february, , to take him into custody, he yielded, causing at the same time an address to be issued to the people of mississippi, in which he resigned the office of governor. after proceedings which lasted two months, henderson was acquitted and the charges against quitman and the others dismissed. [ ] sen. ex. doc. no. , thirty-first cong., second sess. [ ] h. ex. doc. no. , thirty-second cong., first sess.; also d annual message of fillmore, december , . "messages and papers of the presidents" vol. v, p. . [ ] h. ex. doc. no. , thirty-second cong., first sess. [ ] mr. crittenden to comte de sartiges, october , . see also pres. fillmore to mr. webster and mr. webster's reply. curtis's "life of webster," p. . [ ] brit. and for. st. pap., vol. xliv, lord howden to earl granville, january , . [ ] comte de sartiges to mr. webster, april , . sen. ex. doc. no. , thirty-second cong., second sess. [ ] mr. webster to comte de sartiges, april , . to mr. crampton, same date, to same effect. [ ] h. ex. doc. no. , thirty-third cong., second sess., p. . [ ] mr. soulé to mr. marcy, november , and december , , and january , . [ ] the correspondence relating to the _black warrior_ case and to the ostend conference is contained in h. ex. doc. no. , thirty-third cong., second sess. [ ] sen. report no. , thirty-fifth cong., second sess., vol. i. [ ] sen. ex. doc. no. , forty-first cong., second sess. [ ] _ibid._ [ ] house ex. doc. no. , forty-first cong., second sess. [ ] c. f. adams, "the treaty of washington," in "lee at appomattox and other papers," p. . [ ] sen. ex. doc. no. , forty-first cong., second sess. [ ] private journal of mr. fish, quoted by prof. j. b. moore in the _forum_, may, . [ ] congressional globe, forty-first cong., second sess., p. . [ ] "treaties and conventions of the united states" (malloy's ed.), vol. ii, p. . [ ] the correspondence relating to the case of the _virginius_ is in foreign relations for the years , , and . [ ] foreign relations, - , p. . [ ] house ex. doc. no. , forty-fourth cong., first sess. [ ] house ex. doc. no. , forty-fourth cong., first sess. [ ] sen. ex. doc. no. , fifty-fourth cong., first sess. [ ] sen. ex. doc. no. , forty-fifth cong., second sess. [ ] sen. doc. no. , p. , fifty-eighth cong., second sess. [ ] spanish dipl. corresp. and docs. (translation, washington, ), pp. , . [ ] foreign relations, , p. . [ ] foreign relations, , p. . [ ] foreign relations, , pp. - . [ ] sen. doc. no. , fifty-fifth cong., second sess. [ ] foreign relations, , p. . [ ] richardson, "messages and papers of the presidents," vol. x, p. . [ ] "u. s. statutes at large," vol. xxx, p. . [ ] spanish dipl. corresp. and docs., p. ; foreign relations, , p. . [ ] senate doc. no. , fifty-fifth cong., third sess. [ ] report of the military governor of cuba, vols., . [ ] u. s. statues at large, vol. xxxi, p. . [ ] documentary history of the inauguration of the cuban government, in annual report of the secretary of war, , appendix a. [ ] documentary history of the inauguration of the cuban government, in annual report of the secretary of war, , appendix b. [ ] senate docs. nos. and , fifty-seventh cong., first sess. [ ] secretary taft's report on the cuban situation was sent to congress december , . chapter iv the diplomatic history of the panama canal the cutting of the isthmus between north and south america was the dream of navigators and engineers from the time when the first discoverers ascertained that nature had neglected to provide a passage. yet the new continent which so unexpectedly blocked the way of columbus in his search for the indies opposed for centuries an insurmountable barrier to the commerce of the east and the west. the piercing of the isthmus always seemed a perfectly feasible undertaking, but the difficulties in the way proved greater than at first sight appeared. there were ( ) the physical or engineering problems to be solved, and ( ) the diplomatic complications regarding the control of the canal in peace and its use in war. the weakness of the spanish-american states, whose territories embraced the available routes, and their recognized inability either to construct or protect a canal made what might otherwise have been merely a question of domestic economy one of grave international import. in this respect, as in others, the problem presented the same features as the suez canal. to meet these difficulties three plans were successively developed during the nineteenth century: ( ) a canal constructed by a private corporation under international control, ( ) a canal constructed by a private corporation under the exclusive control of the united states, and ( ) a canal constructed, owned, operated, and controlled by the united states as a government enterprise. the clayton-bulwer treaty provided for the construction of a canal in accordance with the first plan; several unsuccessful attempts were made to raise the necessary capital under the second plan; while the third plan was the one under which the gigantic task was actually accomplished. the comparative merits of the nicaragua and panama routes long divided the opinion of experts. american engineers generally favored that through nicaragua. the length of the nicaragua route, from greytown on the atlantic to brito on the pacific by way of the san juan river and through lake nicaragua, is about miles. the elevation of the lake above the sea is about feet. its western shore is only twelve miles from the pacific, with an intervening divide feet above the sea. from the southeast corner of the lake flows the san juan river, miles to the atlantic, with an average fall of about inches to the mile. the serious objections to this route are: ( ) the lack of harbors at the terminals, brito being a mere indentation on the coast, rendering the construction of immense breakwaters necessary, while at greytown the san juan broadens out into a delta that would require extensive dredging; and ( ) the enormous rainfall at greytown, exceeding that known anywhere else on the western continent--nearly feet. the panama route from colon on the atlantic to panama on the pacific is about miles in length, with a natural elevation nearly double that of nicaragua. there are natural harbors at each end which are capacious and able to accommodate the heaviest shipping. the panama railroad, built along the line of the proposed canal, in - , gave this route an additional advantage. there were, however, certain disadvantages: ( ) the unhealthfulness of the vicinity, rendering labor scarce and inefficient; ( ) the heavy rainfall, to feet at colon; and ( ) the treacherous character of the geologic structure, due to its volcanic origin, through which the cut had to be made. the impossibility of making even approximate estimates of the cost of the work in such a deadly climate and through such an uncertain geologic formation was one of the greatest difficulties to be overcome. the de lesseps plan provided for an open cut throughout at the sea-level, at an estimated cost of $ , , . the work was begun in and prosecuted until , when the gigantic scheme collapsed, after the company had expended about $ , , and accomplished less than one-third of the work. great as the engineering problems of the various canal schemes have been shown to be, the importance to the world's commerce of the object in view would, in all probability, have led to their solution and to the construction of a canal long before the united states undertook the panama enterprise, had it not been for difficulties of an altogether different character, complications arising out of the question as to the status of the canal in international law. the diplomatic difficulties in the case of an interoceanic canal are very great. it cannot be regarded as a natural strait, like the dardanelles, the danish belts, or the straits of magellan, which were for a long time held under exclusive jurisdiction, but are now free to all nations. nor, on the other hand, could an isthmian canal be compared to the kiel canal, which is within the territory of germany, and which, although open to commerce, was specially designed to meet the needs of the german navy. such canals as this are built by the capital of the country through which they pass, and are protected and controlled by its government. no one of the republics to the south of us, through whose territory it was proposed to build a canal, could raise the capital for its construction or insure its protection when completed. no company chartered by one of these governments could have raised the necessary capital without some further guarantee. hence it was that all companies organized for this purpose had to secure their charters from some more powerful nation, such as the united states or france, and their concessions from one of the central american states. this rendered necessary a treaty between the state granting the concession or right to construct a canal through its territory and the state chartering the company. the claims of other states to equality of treatment in the use of such a canal constituted another element that had to be considered. with the establishment of the independence of the spanish-american republics the question of the construction of a ship canal across the isthmus became a matter of general interest, and it was one of the proposed subjects of discussion at the congress of american republics summoned by bolivar to meet at panama in . in the instructions to the united states commissioners to that congress, mr. clay authorized them to enter into the consideration of that subject, suggesting that the best routes would likely be found in the territory of mexico or of the central republic. as to the diplomatic status of the canal, he said: if the work should ever be executed so as to admit of the passage of sea vessels from ocean to ocean, the benefits of it ought not to be exclusively appropriated to any one nation, but should be extended to all parts of the globe upon the payment of a just compensation or reasonable tolls.[ ] in , and again in , the united states senate passed resolutions authorizing the president to enter into negotiations with other nations, particularly central america and new granada, for the purpose of protecting by treaty either individuals or companies who might undertake to open communication between the two oceans, and of insuring "the free and equal navigation of the canal by all nations." presidents jackson and van buren both commissioned agents with a view to carrying out these resolutions, but without success. while a prisoner at ham in , prince louis napoleon bonaparte secured from the government of nicaragua a concession granting him power to organize a company for the construction of a waterway to be known as "le canale napoléon de nicaragua." after his escape from ham, he published in london a pamphlet entitled "the canal of nicaragua, or a project for the junction of the atlantic and pacific oceans by means of a canal."[ ] although the united states government was a party to endless negotiations in regard to an inter-oceanic canal, there were only three treaties of any practical importance prior to the close of the nineteenth century, by which it acquired rights and assumed obligations on that account.[ ] these were ( ) the treaty with new granada (colombia) of ; ( ) the clayton-bulwer treaty with england of ; and ( ) the treaty with nicaragua of . we shall proceed to examine these in detail. the treaty with new granada was signed at bogota, december , , and ratified by both governments in . it did not differ materially from the general draft of treaties, except in the thirty-fifth article, which was of a special character and related to the isthmus of panama. by this article "the government of new granada guarantees to the government of the united states that the right-of-way or transit across the isthmus of panama, upon any modes of communication that now exist or that may be hereafter constructed, shall be open and free to the government and citizens of the united states," for the transportation of all articles of lawful commerce upon the same terms enjoyed by the citizens of new granada. and in order to secure to themselves the tranquil and constant enjoyment of these advantages, and for the favors they have acquired by the th, th, and th articles of this treaty, the united states guarantee positively and efficaciously to new granada, by the present stipulation, the perfect neutrality of the before-mentioned isthmus, with the view that the free transit from the one to the other sea may not be interrupted or embarrassed in any future time while this treaty exists; and, in consequence, the united states also guarantee, in the same manner, the rights of sovereignty and property which new granada has and possesses over the said territory.[ ] this treaty was to remain in force for twenty years, and then, if neither party gave notice of intended termination, it was to continue in force, terminable by either party at twelve months' notice. this treaty was in full force when the panama revolution of took place. under the protection of this treaty the panama railroad company, composed mainly of citizens of the united states, secured a charter from new granada, and between and constructed a railroad across the isthmus along the line of the proposed panama canal. in consequence of the riot at panama in , efforts were made by the united states to modify this treaty so as to give the united states greater control and power to protect the means of transit, but without success.[ ] other attempts to modify it in and likewise failed.[ ] in the granadian government, through its representative at washington, notified the united states that a revolutionary chief, who was then trying to subvert the granadian confederation, had sent an armed force to occupy the isthmus of panama, and the government of granada called upon the united states to enforce its guarantee. simultaneously the same information was received from the united states consul at panama, and the president instructed the united states naval commander at that port to protect at all hazards and at whatever cost the safety of the railroad transit across the isthmus. the granadian government, however, was not satisfied with this action, and urged the united states to land a body of troops at panama, suggesting that it consist of cavalry. under the circumstances, president lincoln hesitated to take such action without consulting great britain and france, and mr. seward instructed our representatives at london and paris to seek an understanding with those governments in regard to the matter. he declared: this government has no interest in the matter different from that of other maritime powers. it is willing to interpose its aid in execution of its treaty and for the benefit of all nations. but if it should do so it would incur some hazard of becoming involved in the revolutionary strife which is going on in that country. it would also incur danger of misapprehension of its object by other maritime powers if it should act without previous consultation with them.[ ] in a conference between mr. adams and lord john russell, the latter declared that he did not consider that the contingency had arisen which called for intervention; that so far as he could learn, no attempt had been made to obstruct the free transit across the isthmus. the french government took substantially the same view.[ ] in questions of a similar nature that arose later, the attorney-general of the united states expressed the opinion that the guarantee by the united states of granadian sovereignty and property in the territory of the isthmus was only against foreign governments, and did not authorize the united states to take sides with one or the other party in the intestine troubles of that nation. in april, , the colombian government, which was embarrassed by civil war, called upon the united states for the fulfillment of the treaty of , to secure the neutrality and sovereignty of the isthmus. president cleveland at once sent a body of troops to the isthmus with instructions to confine their action to preventing the transit and its accessories from being interrupted or embarrassed. as soon as peace was reëstablished, the troops of the united states were withdrawn.[ ] four years after the signature of the above treaty with colombia, and two years after its ratification by the senate, the united states and great britain executed what is popularly known as the clayton-bulwer treaty. it is of great importance to understand clearly the circumstances under which this treaty was negotiated. for very obvious reasons, the isthmus of panama was for many years the objective point of all canal schemes, but as the engineering difficulties of this route began to be fully appreciated, attention was directed more and more to that through nicaragua. the occupation by great britain, under the assumption of a protectorate, of the territory about the mouth of the san juan river, which belonged to nicaragua and costa rica, and in which the atlantic terminus of the canal would fall, was a source of no little uneasiness and perplexity to the united states. in june, , mr. hise, chargé d'affaires of the united states in central america, negotiated without the authorization or knowledge of his government, a treaty with nicaragua which gave the united states exclusive rights in the construction of a canal through the territory of that state.[ ] this treaty was not submitted to the senate, but was made use of in the negotiations that were opened shortly thereafter with great britain for the purpose of ousting her from her position of control over the mouth of the san juan. a few months later, september , , mr. squier signed with honduras a treaty which ceded tiger island, in the bay of fonseca, to the united states, thus giving us a naval station on the pacific side of the isthmus. this treaty, like that negotiated by mr. hise, was unauthorized and never submitted to the senate.[ ] both treaties were used, however, in bringing england to the signature of the clayton-bulwer treaty. this activity in treaty-making was occasioned by the acquisition of california and the rush to the gold fields by way of the isthmus. during the period that elapsed between mr. bancroft's withdrawal from london and mr. lawrence's arrival as the representative of the united states, mr. clayton instructed mr. rives, who was on his way to paris, to stop in london and hold a conference with lord palmerston on the central american question. at this date the united states was striving simply for equal rights in any waterway that might be opened through the isthmus and not for any exclusive rights. mr. rives declared to lord palmerston "that citizens of the united states had entered into a contract with the state of nicaragua to open, on certain conditions, a communication between the atlantic and pacific oceans by the river san juan and the nicaragua lake; that the government of the united states, after the most careful investigation of the subject, had come undoubtedly to the conclusion that upon both legal and historical grounds the state of nicaragua was the true territorial sovereign of the river san juan as well as of the nicaragua lake, and that it was, therefore, bound to give its countenance and support, by all proper and reasonable means, to rights lawfully derived by their citizens under a grant from that sovereign." he further said: that the united states would not, if they could, obtain any exclusive right or privilege in a great highway, which naturally belonged to all mankind, for they well knew that the possession of any such privilege would expose them to inevitable jealousies and probable controversies which would make it infinitely more costly than advantageous; that while they aimed at no exclusive privilege for themselves, they could never consent to see so important a communication fall under the exclusive control of any other great commercial power; that we were far from imputing to her britannic majesty's government any views of that kind, but mosquito possession at the mouth of the san juan could be considered in no other light than british possession, and his lordship would readily comprehend that such a state of things, so long as it was continued, must necessarily give rise to dissatisfaction and distrust on the part of other commercial powers.[ ] the negotiations thus opened by mr. rives were continued by mr. lawrence upon his arrival in england, but were shortly thereafter transferred to washington, where mr. clayton succeeded in arranging with sir henry lytton bulwer the terms of a convention which was signed april , . the intention of the two governments, as declared in the preamble, was to set forth "their views and intentions with reference to any means of communication by ship canal which may be constructed between the atlantic and pacific oceans by the way of the river san juan de nicaragua, and either or both of the lakes of nicaragua or managua, to any port or place on the pacific ocean." by the first article great britain and the united states bound themselves never to obtain or maintain any exclusive control over the said ship canal; never to erect or maintain any fortifications commanding the same or in the vicinity thereof, or to colonize or exercise dominion over nicaragua, costa rica, the mosquito coast, or any part of central america; and never to make use of any alliance, connection or influence with any of these states to obtain any unequal advantages in regard to commerce or navigation through the said canal. the second article provided for the neutralization of the canal in the event of war between the contracting parties. the third guaranteed protection for the persons and property of the parties legally undertaking the construction of the canal. the fourth related to gaining the consent of the states whose territory the canal should traverse. the fifth article provided for the neutralization and protection of the canal so long as it was managed without discrimination against either of the contracting parties, and stipulated that neither of them would withdraw its protection without giving the other six months' notice. in the sixth article the contracting parties promised to invite every state with which they were on terms of friendly intercourse to accede to this convention. in the seventh article the contracting parties agreed to lend their support and encouragement to the first company offering to construct the canal in accordance with the spirit and intention of this convention. the eighth article was of special importance. it declared that "the governments of the united states and great britain having not only desired, in entering into this convention, to accomplish a particular object, but also to establish a general principle, they hereby agree to extend their protection, by treaty stipulations, to any other practicable communication, whether by canal or railway, across the isthmus which connects north and south america, and especially to the interoceanic communications, should the same prove practicable, whether by canal or railway, which are now proposed to be established by the way of tehuantepec or panama."[ ] such are the main stipulations of the celebrated clayton-bulwer treaty, which remained in force until , and which during that period probably called forth more discussion than any treaty which the united states had ever signed. in after years a large number of people on this side of the atlantic, forgetting the object and aim of the treaty and the circumstances under which it was negotiated, thought that the united states conceded too much and violated the principle of the monroe doctrine in giving england a position and interest in america which she did not before possess. this opinion was held by some prominent statesmen at the time the treaty was negotiated, notably by buchanan, who poured forth severe criticism and ridicule upon it. while it was before the senate for ratification, he wrote to a friend: if sir henry bulwer can succeed in having the two first provisions of this treaty ratified by the senate, he will deserve a british peerage. the consideration for our concessions is the relinquishment of the claim to the protectorate of the mosquito shore--so absurd and unfounded that it has been ridiculed even by the london _times_. truly sir henry has brought this claim to a good market when he found a purchaser in mr. clayton. the treaty altogether reverses the monroe doctrine, and establishes it against ourselves rather than european governments.[ ] let us see what the interests of the two signatory powers were at that time in central america. the united states had recently acquired california by the treaty of guadalupe hidalgo, and the rapid development of the pacific states made the canal a question of greater importance to the united states than ever before. the great transcontinental railroads, which some fifteen years later established direct overland communication with the pacific states, were then hardly thought of. england's interest in the canal, on the other hand, was rather a prospective one, but farsighted as usual, she had provided for future contingencies by occupying several years before, under the guise of a protectorate over the mosquito indians, greytown at the mouth of the san juan river, the atlantic terminus of the canal. in addition to the mosquito coast, england at this time held the bay islands and belize, or british honduras. the united states, it is true, had never recognized the claims of great britain to dominion over the mosquito coast. these claims, which dated back to the eighteenth century, when british wood-cutters in search of mahogany, and smugglers entered the territory occupied by the mosquito indians and established cordial relations with them, had been abandoned by the treaty of with spain, but were revived in , when a ship of war was sent to san juan del norte to announce the protection of england over the lands of the mosquito king and to raise the mosquito flag.[ ] in the english and indians drove the nicaraguans out of the town and changed the name to greytown. the united states uniformly denied the rights of the mosquito king to sovereignty over the district, and consequently the pretensions of the inhabitants of greytown to political organization or power derived in any way from the mosquitos. in his instructions to mr. hise soon after the occupation of greytown, secretary buchanan said: the object of great britain in this seizure is evident from the policy which she has uniformly pursued throughout her history, of seizing upon every available commercial point in the world whenever circumstances have placed it in her power. her purpose probably is to obtain control of the route for a railroad or canal between the atlantic and pacific oceans by way of lake nicaragua.... the government of the united states has not yet determined what course it will pursue in regard to the encroachment of the british government.... the independence as well as the interests of the nations on this continent require that they should maintain an american system of policy entirely distinct from that which prevails in europe. to suffer any interference on the part of the european governments with the domestic concerns of the american republics, and to permit them to establish new colonies upon this continent, would be to jeopard their independence and ruin their interests. these truths ought everywhere throughout this continent to be impressed upon the public mind; but what can the united states do to resist such european interference whilst the spanish-american republics continue to weaken themselves by civil divisions and civil war, and deprive themselves of doing anything for their own protection. whatever the rights of the case, great britain was in actual possession of the atlantic terminus of the proposed canal, and the united states was not prepared forcibly to oust her, even if such a course had been deemed advisable. the united states had no rights in the case at this time by treaty with nicaragua or otherwise, none of the statesmen of that day having been broad enough in their views or bold enough to consider the territory of nicaragua as "a part of the coast-line of the united states." all that could be opposed to england's _de facto_ possession was the monroe doctrine, and england held that her claim antedated the declaration of that principle of american diplomacy. mr. clayton cannot, therefore, be justly charged with a violation of the monroe doctrine, for the effect of the treaty was to leave england weaker territorially on this continent than she was before. the clayton-bulwer treaty left open several minor questions that required adjustment before the canal enterprise could be pushed forward with success. chief among these were the dispute between nicaragua and costa rica in regard to their boundary line and the controversy between great britain and nicaragua in regard to the territory claimed by the mosquito indians. in april, , mr. webster and sir john crampton agreed upon a basis for the settlement of central american affairs, and drew up and signed a proposal to be submitted to nicaragua and costa rica.[ ] this proposed basis for a treaty was rejected by nicaragua, which left the questions involved in the same unsettled position. a much more serious obstacle to the accomplishment of the objects of the clayton-bulwer treaty than the failure of the above proposal arose from the wide divergence of opinion between the british and american governments in regard to its interpretation. the discussion involved two principal points: ( ) whether the abnegatory clauses of the first article were merely prospective in character and directed against future acquisitions in central america, or whether they required great britain to abandon her protectorate over the mosquito coast at once; and ( ) whether the bay islands came within the purview of the treaty. it was expressly stipulated that belize or british honduras was not included in central america and therefore not affected by the treaty one way or the other. a declaration to this effect was filed at the state department by the british minister, sir henry bulwer. in reply, mr. clayton, after conference with the chairman of the senate committee on foreign relations, acknowledged that british honduras did not come within the scope of the treaty, but at the same time carefully refrained from affirming or denying the british title to that settlement or its alleged dependencies.[ ] this left open the question as to whether the bay islands were dependencies of belize or of the republic of honduras. shortly after the failure of the crampton-webster proposals, great britain took advantage of the uncertainty that existed in regard to the status of the bay islands and by a formal proclamation, issued july , , converted her settlements on those islands into "the colony of the bay islands." when the united states government expressed its surprise at this proceeding, the british government replied that the bay islands were dependencies of her majesty's settlement at belize and therefore, by explicit agreement, not within the scope of the clayton-bulwer treaty.[ ] in an effort was made to terminate the difficulties arising out of the different constructions put upon the clayton-bulwer treaty by the negotiation of a supplementary convention. on october of that year a treaty was signed in london by the american minister and lord clarendon, known as the dallas-clarendon treaty. it provided ( ) for the withdrawal of the british protectorate over the mosquito indians; ( ) it regulated the boundaries of the belize settlements on the basis of a compromise; and ( ) it provided for a cession of the bay islands to honduras, upon condition of the ratification of a treaty already negotiated between great britain and honduras, which virtually erected an independent state of the islands, exempt in many particulars from the sovereignty of honduras, and under the protectorate of great britain. the first two clauses were acceptable to the united states senate, but it was deemed proper to amend the third by striking out all that part of it which contemplated the concurrence of the united states in the british treaty with honduras, and simply to provide for a recognition by the two governments of the sovereignty of honduras over the islands in question.[ ] great britain rejected this amendment and the dallas-clarendon treaty fell through. great britain and the united states were thus thrown back upon the clayton-bulwer treaty with its conflicting interpretations. in october, , the president was notified informally that the british government had decided to dispatch sir wm. ouseley, a diplomatist of well-recognized authority and experience, to central america to make a definite settlement of all matters in dispute between the united states and england; that the efforts of the new plenipotentiary would be directed to those objects which had been dealt with in the dallas-clarendon treaty of , viz., the cession of the bay islands to honduras, the substitution of the sovereignty of nicaragua for the protectorate of england over the mosquitos and the regulation of the frontiers of belize; that it was the intention of her majesty's government to carry the clayton-bulwer treaty into execution according to the general tenor of the interpretation put upon it by the united states, but to do so by separate negotiation with the central american republics, in lieu of a direct engagement with the federal government.[ ] president buchanan replied that he would be satisfied with this course and that upon receiving an official assurance to that effect, he would change the character of the message he had already prepared for congress. on the th of november, , the british government submitted to the united states the alternative of referring the clayton-bulwer treaty to the arbitration of any european power which the united states might prefer to select or of adjusting matters by negotiations with the central american republics, as already outlined in sir william ouseley's prospective mission.[ ] at this stage of the negotiations matters were further complicated ( ) by the negotiation of the cass-yrissari treaty of november , , between the united states and nicaragua for protection of the transit route and ( ) by the invasion of nicaraguan territory by a band of filibusters under general walker, bent on the subversion of the lawful government of the country. the treaty was not ratified, however, and the walker expedition was arrested by the interposition of the united states navy. the united states government not having given any definite answer to the british proposal to submit the treaty to arbitration, the british government delayed dispatching sir william ouseley on his mission. in the negotiations which took place during this delay the question of the abrogation of the clayton-bulwer treaty was discussed between the two governments. in his message of december , , president buchanan had suggested the abrogation of the treaty by mutual consent as the wisest course that could be pursued in view of the increasing complications to which the varying constructions of it were giving rise. the british government took up this suggestion and expressed its willingness to concur in such a course, but also expressed the opinion that the initiative should be taken by the government which was dissatisfied with its provisions. the british minister was, however, directed by his government to make it perfectly clear to the government of the united states, that to abrogate the treaty was to return to the _status quo ante_ its conclusion in ; that great britain had no kind of jealousy respecting american colonization in central america, and did not ask or wish for any exclusive privileges whatever in that quarter.[ ] finally, sir william ouseley was dispatched on his mission and during the years and succeeded in negotiating treaties with guatemala, honduras, and nicaragua, the provisions of which were in substantial accord with the rejected dallas-clarendon treaty.[ ] the treaty with nicaragua signed at managua, january , , though restoring to that republic nominal sovereignty over the mosquito territory, reserved to the indians the right of retaining their own customs, assigned boundaries to that reservation in all probability greatly beyond its true limits, and confirmed grants of land previously made in that territory. notwithstanding these facts, in his annual message of december , , president buchanan declared that the united states government was satisfied with the final settlement. his words were: the discordant constructions of the clayton-bulwer treaty between the two governments, which at different periods of the discussion bore a threatening aspect, have resulted in a final settlement entirely satisfactory to this government.[ ] the clayton-bulwer treaty was negotiated with the expectation that the construction of a ship canal would rapidly follow, but the unfortunate entanglements that grew out of the variant constructions put upon that treaty by the contracting powers deferred to an indefinite period the accomplishment of the object it was designed to promote. by the time these differences were adjusted the attention of the american public was centered upon the first throes of the gigantic struggle of the war of secession and the canal question was for several years completely overshadowed. the government of the united states emerged from that struggle with larger ideas of its position among the powers of the world and with broader views of national policy. mr. seward gave expression to that feeling in the purchase of alaska, in his interposition in mexico and in his efforts to secure a position for the united states in the west indies. in order to strengthen the position of the united states he wished to purchase tiger island, a possession of honduras in fonseca bay on the pacific coast. as this island lay in central america, mr. seward could not take any steps in the matter without the consent of great britain, on account of the renunciatory clause with respect to that territory in the clayton-bulwer treaty. he, therefore, directed mr. adams, april , , to sound lord clarendon as to the disposition of the british government toward the united states acquiring a coaling station in central america. in this dispatch we find the first suggestion of a repudiation of the clayton-bulwer treaty on the ground that it was a special and not a general contract, and that the work for which it had been negotiated had never been undertaken. mr. seward uses these words: at the time the treaty was concluded there was every prospect that that work would not only soon be begun, but that it would be carried to a successful conclusion. for reasons, however, which it is not necessary to specify, it never was even commenced, and at present there does not appear to be a likelihood of its being undertaken. it may be a question, therefore, supposing that the canal should never be begun, whether the renunciatory clauses of the treaty are to have perpetual operation. technically speaking, this question might be decided in the negative. still, so long as it should remain a question, it would not comport with good faith for either party to do anything which might be deemed contrary to even the spirit of the treaty.[ ] the subject was brought to the attention of lord clarendon in a casual way by mr. adams, but it was not pressed and mr. seward refrained from disregarding the renunciatory clause of the treaty. in , a treaty between the united states and nicaragua, covering the case of an interoceanic canal, was negotiated and ratified by both parties. it granted to the united states the right of transit between the atlantic and pacific oceans on any lines of communication, natural or artificial, by land or by water, then existing, or that might thereafter be constructed, upon equal terms with the citizens of nicaragua, and the united states agreed to extend its protection to all such routes of communication, and "to guarantee the neutrality and innocent use of the same." the united states further agreed to employ its influence with other nations to induce them to guarantee such neutrality and protection.[ ] this treaty, like the treaty with colombia of and the clayton-bulwer treaty, contemplated the neutralization of the canal. it in no way infringed our engagements with england under the clayton-bulwer treaty, but in providing for the joint guarantee of other powers, was in accord with the provisions of that treaty. in , mr. hamilton fish directed general schenck to remonstrate, if upon investigation he found it to be necessary, against british encroachments upon the territory of guatemala as an infringement of the clayton-bulwer treaty.[ ] in spite of the doubts expressed by mr. seward in the dispatch to mr. adams above quoted, as to the perpetual character of the obligations imposed by the clayton-bulwer treaty, the obligatory force of that instrument after the readjustment of was not seriously questioned until interest in the canal question was suddenly aroused anew by the concession granted by colombia to lieutenant wyse in , and the subsequent organization of a french construction company under the presidency of ferdinand de lesseps, the promoter of the suez canal. the prospect of the speedy construction of a canal under french control, for which de lesseps' name seemed a sufficient guarantee, produced a sudden and radical change of policy on the part of the united states. in a special message to congress, march , , president hayes made the following statement of what he conceived to be the true policy of this country in regard to a central american canal: the policy of this country is a canal under american control. the united states cannot consent to the surrender of this control to any european power, or to any combination of european powers. if existing treaties between the united states and other nations, or if the rights of sovereignty or property of other nations stand in the way of this policy--a contingency which is not apprehended--suitable steps should be taken by just and liberal negotiations to promote and establish the american policy on this subject, consistently with the rights of the nations to be affected by it. the capital invested by corporations or citizens of other countries in such an enterprise must, in a great degree, look for protection to one or more of the great powers of the world. no european power can intervene for such protection without adopting measures on this continent which the united states would deem wholly inadmissible. if the protection of the united states is relied upon, the united states must exercise such control as will enable this country to protect its national interests and maintain the rights of those whose private capital is embarked in the work. an interoceanic canal across the american isthmus will essentially change the geographical relations between the atlantic and pacific coasts of the united states, and between the united states and the rest of the world. it will be the great ocean thoroughfare between our atlantic and our pacific shores, and virtually a part of the coast-line of the united states. our merely commercial interest in it is greater than that of all other countries, while its relation to our power and prosperity as a nation, to our means of defense, our unity, peace, and safety, are matters of paramount concern to the people of the united states. no other great power would, under similar circumstances, fail to assert a rightful control over a work so closely and vitally affecting its interests and welfare. without urging further the grounds of my opinion, i repeat, in conclusion, that it is the right and the duty of the united states to assert and maintain such supervision and authority over any interoceanic canal across the isthmus that connects north and south america as will protect our national interests. this i am quite sure will be found not only compatible with, but promotive of, the widest and most permanent advantage to commerce and civilization.[ ] the message itself was accompanied by a report from the secretary of state, mr. evarts, in which he called attention to the mutual engagements entered into between the united states and colombia by the treaty of in reference to a transit route across the isthmus and declared that the guarantee of the neutrality of the isthmus and of the sovereignty of colombia over the same would be a very different thing when the isthmus should be opened to the interests and ambitions of the great commercial nations.[ ] president garfield, in his inaugural address, approved the position taken by his predecessor on the canal question,[ ] and very soon after assuming the portfolio of state, mr. blaine outlined the new policy to our representatives in europe, cautioning them, however, against representing it as the development of a new policy and affirming that it was "nothing more than the pronounced adherence of the united states to principles long since enunciated by the highest authority of the government." this dispatch of mr. blaine is remarkable for several reasons, but chiefly for the fact that it completely ignores the existence of the clayton-bulwer treaty, there being no allusion to that celebrated convention either open or implied. aside from this there are three points to be noted. in the first place mr. blaine calls attention to the rights and duties devolving upon the united states from the treaty with colombia of , and states that in the judgment of the president the guarantee there given by the united states requires no reënforcement, or accession, or assent from any other power; that the united states in more than one instance had been called upon to vindicate the neutrality thus guaranteed; and that there was no contingency, then foreseen or apprehended, in which such vindication would not be within the power of the nation. in the second place, mr. blaine declared with emphasis that during any war to which the united states of america or the united states of colombia might be a party, the passage of armed vessels of a hostile nation through the canal of panama would be no more admissible than would the passage of the armed forces of a hostile nation over the railway lines joining the atlantic and pacific shores of the united states, or of colombia. this declaration was in direct opposition to the second article of the clayton-bulwer treaty. mr. blaine then proceeded to expatiate upon the remarkable development of our pacific slope and the importance of the canal in facilitating communication between our atlantic and pacific states, alluding to the canal in this connection, in the very apt phrase of president hayes, as forming a part of the _coast-line_ of the united states. it does not appear to have occurred to mr. blaine that the same arguments applied with equal force to great britain's american possessions to the north of us, which likewise extended from the atlantic to the pacific, and were likewise entering upon a period of unusual development. the third point to be noted in the dispatch is the statement that the united states would object to any concerted action of the european powers for the purpose of guaranteeing the canal or determining its status.[ ] this declaration was supposed to be nothing more than a reaffirmation of the monroe doctrine. a copy of this document was left by mr. lowell at the british foreign office on the th of july, . no formal notice of the dispatch was taken by the british government until november, when lord granville replied that, as mr. blaine had made the statement that the government of the united states had no intention of initiating any discussion upon this subject, he did not propose to enter into a detailed argument in reply to mr. blaine's observations. he wished, however, merely to point out that the position of great britain and the united states with reference to the canal, irrespective of the magnitude of the commercial relations of the former power, was determined by a convention signed between them at washington on the th of april, , commonly known as the clayton-bulwer treaty, and her majesty's government relied with confidence upon the observance of all the engagements of that treaty.[ ] before this reply reached washington, mr. blaine had again taken up the question of the canal in a special dispatch of november , . in this dispatch he addressed himself specifically to a consideration of the clayton-bulwer treaty, and urged upon the consideration of the british government modifications of such a radical character as to amount to a complete abrogation of the treaty. the grounds of objection to the treaty were stated in full. in the first place it was declared that the treaty had been made more than thirty years before under exceptional and extraordinary conditions, which were at least temporary in their nature and had long since ceased to exist. the remarkable development of the united states on the pacific coast since that time had created new duties and responsibilities for the american government which required, in the judgment of the president, some essential modifications in the treaty. the objections to the perpetuity of the treaty were then stated in full. first and foremost was the objection that the treaty by forbidding the military fortification of the proposed canal practically conceded its control to great britain by reason of her naval superiority. the military power of the united states in any conflict on the american continent was irresistible, yet the united states was restrained from using this power for the protection of the canal, while no restrictions could be placed upon the natural advantages that england enjoyed in this regard as a great naval power. a more serious objection to the treaty, however, was urged in the statement that it embodied a misconception of the relative positions of great britain and the united states with respect to interests on this continent. the united states would not consent to perpetuate any treaty that impeached "our right and long-established claim to priority on the american continent." in the third place, at the time the convention was agreed upon, great britain and the united states were the only nations prominent in the commerce of central and south america. since that time other nations not bound by the prohibitions of that treaty had become interested in central america, and the republic of france had become sponsor for a new canal scheme. yet by the treaty with england the united states was prevented from asserting its rights and the privileges acquired through treaty with colombia anterior to the clayton-bulwer treaty. in the fourth place, the treaty had been made with the implied understanding that british capital would be available for the construction of a canal. that expectation had never been realized, and the united states was now able to construct a canal without aid from outside resources. in conclusion, mr. blaine proposed several modifications of the treaty which would leave the united states free to fortify the canal and to hold political control of it in conjunction with the country in which it might be located.[ ] a few days after the dispatch was written, lord granville's answer to mr. blaine's first dispatch reached washington, and on the th of november, mr. blaine wrote a second dispatch equally voluminous with the one of november . in this he reviewed the discussions which had taken place between and in regard to the treaty with a view to showing that it had never been satisfactory to the united states and had been the cause of serious misunderstanding. he failed, however, to make mention of the settlement of and the declaration of president buchanan that the united states was satisfied with that adjustment. the full reply of the british government to mr. blaine's arguments was given in two dispatches dated respectively january and , . lord granville took exception to certain conclusions which mr. blaine had sought to establish by analogy with the conduct of great britain in regard to the suez canal. his lordship fully concurred in what mr. blaine had said as to the unexampled development of the united states on the pacific coast, but reminded him that the development of her majesty's possessions to the north of the united states, while less rapid, had been, nevertheless, on a scale that bore some relation even to that of the pacific states. in the view of her majesty's government, the changes desired by the united states would not improve the situation as regarded the canal, while the declaration that the united states would always treat the waterway connecting the two oceans "as part of her coast-line" threatened the independence of the territory lying between that waterway and the united states. her majesty's government believed that the only way to relieve the situation was to extend the invitation to all maritime states to participate in an agreement based on the stipulations of the convention of .[ ] the task of replying to lord granville's two dispatches fell upon mr. blaine's successor in the state department, mr. frelinghuysen. mr. frelinghuysen's voluminous dispatch of may , , reiterated in the main the arguments advanced by mr. blaine. he adduced evidence at great length to try to show that the clayton-bulwer treaty was a special contract for the accomplishment of a specific object, which had never been achieved, and was no longer binding; that great britain had violated the treaty by converting her _settlement_ of british honduras into a _possession_ without ever receiving the assent of the united states, and that such act would entitle the united states to renounce the treaty. the dispatch was further characterized by a direct appeal to the monroe doctrine in these words: the president believes that the formation of a protectorate by european nations over the isthmus transit would be in conflict with a doctrine which has been for many years asserted by the united states. this sentiment is properly termed a doctrine, as it has no prescribed sanction and its assertion is left to the exigency which may invoke it. it has been repeatedly announced by the executive department of this government, and through the utterances of distinguished citizens; it is cherished by the american people, and has been approved by the government of great britain. after quoting a part of president monroe's message of december , , and reviewing the circumstances under which it was delivered, mr. frelinghuysen said: thus the doctrine of non-intervention by european powers in american affairs arose from complications in south america, and was announced by mr. monroe on the suggestion of the official representative of great britain.[ ] in his reply of december , , lord granville proved conclusively that article viii. of the treaty was understood by the american government during the discussions of - as establishing a general principle applicable to all waterways connecting the two oceans. in answer to the second point, lord granville adduced the notes exchanged between mr. clayton and sir henry bulwer in july, , which made it perfectly clear that, in the understanding of both governments at that time, the claims of great britain to belize or british honduras were not affected one way or the other by the treaty.[ ] in a later dispatch, august , , lord granville briefly touched upon mr. frelinghuysen's appeal to the monroe doctrine, reminding him very pertinently that neither the american administration which negotiated the treaty nor the senate which ratified it considered that they were precluded by the utterances of president monroe from entering into such a treaty with one or more of the european powers.[ ] the correspondence on the treaty closed with mr. frelinghuysen's dispatch of november , , in which he reiterated with no small degree of bluntness and pertinacity the arguments of his earlier dispatches. the clayton-bulwer treaty was designed at the time of its execution to establish a permanent principle of control over interoceanic communication in central america. no provision was made, as in most treaties, for its abrogation, and the american government could not terminate it without the consent of great britain for fear that she would return to her position of vantage at the time the treaty was made. for this reason, while mr. frelinghuysen claimed that the treaty was voidable, he did not actually declare it void. mr. blaine's efforts to secure a modification were the result of the development of a new policy by the united states and the arguments presented by mr. blaine and mr. frelinghuysen in support of this policy were disingenuous and flimsy. it may be safely said that no state papers have ever emanated from our government on so serious a question equally lacking in logical consistency and moral force. the result was that great britain refused to consent to a modification of the treaty and the united states saw before her the alternative of abiding by the terms of the treaty or ultimately resorting to war with england. in december, , mr. frelinghuysen negotiated a treaty with nicaragua providing for the construction of a canal by the united states to be under the joint ownership and protection of the united states and nicaragua. the united states also guaranteed the integrity of the territory of nicaragua. when mr. cleveland became president this treaty was still before the senate for consideration. mr. cleveland withdrew the treaty, and in his first annual message, december , , reverted to our traditional policy. he declared himself opposed to entangling alliances with foreign states and declared: whatever highway may be constructed across the barrier dividing the two greatest maritime areas of the world, must be for the world's benefit, a trust for mankind, to be removed from the chance of domination by any single power, nor become a point of invitation for hostilities or a prize for warlike ambition.[ ] no discussion as to the validity of the clayton-bulwer treaty took place between the two governments after the close of president arthur's administration. mr. cleveland's message above quoted was accepted as a reaffirmation of the treaty on the part of the american government. upon two occasions subsequently questions arose between the two governments involving the stipulations of the treaty. in , and again in , the united states felt called upon to protest against british interference in the affairs of the mosquito coast.[ ] the ground of interposition on the part of great britain was alleged to be found in the treaty of managua, signed between great britain and nicaragua on the th of january, . this convention, it will be remembered, was one of the three treaties entered into by great britain with central american republics with a view to removing the causes of dispute in the construction of the clayton-bulwer treaty. the treaty of managua assigned a district to the mosquito indians within the limits of the republic of nicaragua. the sovereignty of nicaragua over the district was recognized, but the indians were secured in the possession and enjoyment of their own domestic customs and regulations. it was agreed, however, that nothing in the treaty should prevent the mosquitos at any subsequent date from voluntarily agreeing to absolute incorporation with the republic of nicaragua. by the terms of the treaty the protectorate of great britain over the mosquito coast was to cease three months after the exchange of ratifications. in reply to the protest of , lord salisbury said that her majesty's government had no intention to assert a protectorate in substance or in form over the mosquito nation, but that according to the convention with nicaragua of , great britain undertook "to secure certain rights and privileges to the mosquito indians, and in the event, which has arisen, of the mosquito indians complaining that their rights are infringed by nicaragua, by whom is remonstrance to be made to nicaragua unless by great britain, with whom she has concluded the convention in question?"[ ] in the spring of , yet more serious trouble arose. the mosquito territory was invaded by the troops of nicaragua and bluefields was surrounded. the british consul at that point protested against this act as contrary to the treaty of managua. the protest being unheeded, a force of troops was landed from the british ship _cleopatra_ and on march , the nicaraguans were forced to retire. mr. bayard was instructed by telegraph "to ascertain and report fully by cable the occasion for this action." the british government disavowed all intention of violating the clayton-bulwer treaty, which it recognized "as extant and in full force." in july, , united states marines were landed at bluefields to protect american interests and to restore order. later the british government assured mr. bayard that its action had been wholly unconnected with any political or conventional question touching the mosquito reservation, but simply to protect british interests. by a convention signed november , , the mosquito indians surrendered their rights under the treaty of and were incorporated with nicaragua. this voluntary incorporation took away all further occasion for interposition on the part of great britain, and mr. bayard reported that it was received with "the most open expression of satisfaction at the foreign office."[ ] the attempts of blaine and frelinghuysen to bring about a modification of the clayton-bulwer treaty were, as we have seen, unsuccessful. in fact, their only effect was to strengthen the british government for the time being in the determination to hold us more strictly to the terms of that convention. in secretary olney in a review of the situation declared: upon every principle which governs the relations to each other, either of nations or of individuals, the united states is completely estopped from denying that the treaty is in full force and vigor. if changed conditions now make stipulations, which were once deemed advantageous, either inapplicable or injurious, the true remedy is not in ingenious attempts to deny the existence of the treaty or to explain away its provisions, but in a direct and straightforward application to great britain for a reconsideration of the whole matter.[ ] it was precisely in this spirit that secretary hay undertook in to negotiate a new treaty with england. the original draft of the hay-pauncefote treaty, signed february , , provided for a neutralized canal and drafted for its control rules substantially in accord with the constantinople convention of , providing for the regulation of the suez canal. the most important provision of the new treaty was that authorizing the united states to construct and to assume the management of an isthmian canal, either directly or through a company. the united states senate, however, amended the treaty in three important particulars: ( ) by declaring that the clayton-bulwer treaty was thereby superseded; ( ) by providing that the restrictions in the regulations governing the use of the canal should not apply to measures which the united states might adopt for its own defense and for the maintenance of public order along the canal; and ( ) by cutting out entirely the article providing for the adherence of other powers. the british government refused to accept these amendments, and a year elapsed before an agreement was finally reached.[ ] the revised treaty which was ratified by the senate december , , was a compromise between the original draft and the senate amendments. the new treaty abrogated in express terms the clayton-bulwer convention, and provided that the united states might construct a canal under its direct auspices, to be under its exclusive management. the principle of neutralization was nominally retained, but under the sole guarantee of the united states, with power to police the canal, and the clause of the first draft forbidding fortifications was omitted.[ ] this convention removed the principal diplomatic obstacles which stood in the way of constructing a canal through the isthmus. for several years the united states had been investigating the cost of constructing a canal through nicaragua, that route being the one which had always been considered most feasible by the great majority of american engineers. two commissions, one in and another in , had reported favorably on the practicability of that route. a third commission, headed by admiral john g. walker, was appointed under act of march , , which authorized an expenditure of $ , , for the purpose of making a thorough investigation of all available routes. while the walker commission was carrying on investigations in nicaragua, at panama, and along the atrato river, the various financial interests concerned in the choice of routes were actively at work in washington, each trying to influence congress in favor of its particular project. the new panama canal company had secured, at the time of the reorganization, an extension of its concession to october, , and subsequently another concession to october, , but the validity of the latter arrangement was in doubt. the company could not raise the necessary funds to continue the work at panama and was therefore threatened with the forfeiture of its franchise and property. it concluded, therefore, that its only hope lay in transferring its concession and property to the american government. with this end in view, an active lobby was maintained at washington for the purpose of influencing public opinion in favor of the panama route. but the panama company had a powerful rival in the maritime canal company, which held a charter from congress and had secured a concession from nicaragua. this company had started work at greytown in , but having been forced from lack of funds to stop work in , was now urging congress to make its enterprise a national one. it found a ready champion in senator morgan of alabama, who had for years taken a lively interest in the canal question and who had strong convictions as to the superiority of the nicaragua route. in nicaragua declared the concession of the maritime canal company null and void, and granted a new concession to a group of new york capitalists known as the grace-eyre-cragin syndicate. the maritime canal company, however, refused to abandon its claims, and a contest between the two concerns was carried to the lobbies of congress. the opposition of the transcontinental railroads to a canal at either point brought into play another set of powerful interests, usually arrayed against the plan which appeared for the time being most likely to succeed.[ ] on november , , the walker commission after a thorough investigation of the nicaragua and panama routes made its report. it estimated the cost of construction of the nicaragua canal at $ , , , and the cost of completing the panama canal at $ , , . to this latter sum had to be added the cost of acquiring the rights and property of the french company, which had stated to the commission that it estimated its interests at $ , , , making the total cost of the panama canal $ , , . the commission expressed the opinion that the interests of the french company were not worth over $ , , . in conclusion the report stated: after considering all the facts developed by the investigations made by the commission and the actual situation as it now stands, and having in view the terms offered by the new panama company, this commission is of the opinion that the most practicable and feasible route for an isthmian canal, to be under the control, management, and ownership of the united states, is that known as the nicaragua route.[ ] a bill was promptly introduced into the house of representatives by mr. hepburn providing for the construction of the canal through nicaragua, and on january , , this bill passed the house by the almost unanimous vote of to . the report of the commission had meanwhile created great consternation among the stockholders of the new panama canal company, and on january , , a definite offer to sell out to the united states at $ , , was made to the commission by cable. on january , the commission filed a supplementary report which recommended the adoption of the panama route instead of that through nicaragua. when the hepburn bill came up for discussion in the senate, the situation had thus been radically changed, and a long debate ensued as to the relative merits of the two routes. senator morgan continued to fight for nicaragua as the traditional american route, declaring that the panama company could not give a valid transfer of its property and interests. but this objection was cleverly met by senator spooner, who offered an amendment, which was virtually a substitute, authorizing the president to acquire the rights and property of the french company at a cost not exceeding $ , , ; to acquire from the republic of colombia, upon such terms as he might deem reasonable, perpetual control of a strip of land, not less than six miles in width, extending from the caribbean sea to the pacific ocean, with jurisdiction over said strip; and to proceed as soon as these rights were acquired, to construct a canal. but should the president be unable to obtain a satisfactory title to the property of the french company and the control of the necessary strip of land from the republic of colombia "within a reasonable time and upon reasonable terms," then he was instructed to secure control of the necessary strip through nicaragua and to proceed to construct a canal there. the bill as amended passed the senate june , , by a vote of to . the house at first refused to concur in the spooner amendment, but after a conference it finally gave way and the measure was adopted by a vote of to . the act was signed by president roosevelt june .[ ] attorney-general knox was sent to paris to make a thorough investigation of the affairs of the panama company. he reported that it could give a clear title. the next step was to secure a right of way through colombia. after considerable delay secretary hay and mr. herran, the colombian chargé d'affaires, signed, january , , a canal convention, by the terms of which the united states agreed to pay colombia $ , , in cash and an annuity of $ , for the lease of a strip of land six miles wide across the isthmus. objection was raised to this treaty because it failed to secure for the united states full governmental control over the canal zone, but it was considered the best that could be gotten and it was ratified by the united states senate march , . the colombian senate, however, did not regard the treaty with favor. they felt that panama was their greatest national asset, and they knew perfectly well that in spite of threats to the contrary president roosevelt was determined not to adopt the alternative of the spooner amendment and go to nicaragua. after discussing the treaty for nearly two months, they finally rejected it august by the unanimous vote of all the senators present.[ ] they probably thought that they could get better terms from the united states and particularly that they might reserve a fuller measure of sovereignty over the isthmus. president roosevelt declared that the action of the colombian senate was due to an "anti-social spirit" and to the cupidity of the government leaders, who merely wished to wait until they could confiscate the $ , , worth of property belonging to the french company and then sell out to the united states. this view is not borne out by the dispatches of mr. beaupré, the american minister, who repeatedly warned secretary hay that there was a "tremendous tide of public opinion against the canal treaty," which even the colombian government could not ignore. the charge of bad faith against colombia does not come in good grace from a country whose constitution also requires the ratification of treaties by the senate. as soon as the hay-herran convention was rejected by the colombian senate, the advocates of the nicaragua route began to take courage and to demand that as the "reasonable time" allowed in the spooner act for the president to acquire the right of way through panama had expired, it was now his duty to adopt the nicaragua route. the directors of the french company were again in a state of consternation. if they could not sell to the united states they would have to sacrifice their property entirely, or sell to some other purchaser at a lower figure. it was rumored that germany was willing to buy their interests. the directors of the company were so completely demoralized that william nelson cromwell, their american attorney, hastened to paris to dissuade them from taking any rash step. the rejection of the hay-herran treaty was a great disappointment to the inhabitants of the isthmus, who considered this action a sacrifice of their interests, and some of the foremost citizens conferred with the american agent of the panama railroad company as to the advisability of organizing a revolution. before taking any step in this direction, it was considered advisable to send one of their number to the united states, and dr. amador was selected for this mission. he had conferences with william nelson cromwell and with secretary hay. the latter merely outlined what he considered the rights and duties of the united states under the treaty of , but refused of course to commit the government to a definite support of the revolutionary project. amador was somewhat discouraged at the result of his conference with hay, but his hopes were revived by the sudden arrival of philippe bunau-varilla, the former chief engineer of the french company, who entered with enthusiasm into the revolutionary scheme.[ ] the colombian congress adjourned october without any reconsideration of the treaty, and president roosevelt at once ordered the _boston_, _dixie_, _atlanta_, and _nashville_ to proceed within easy reach of the isthmus. their commanders received orders to keep the transit open and to "prevent the landing of any armed force with hostile intent, either government or insurgent, at any point within fifty miles of panama." the _nashville_ arrived off colon november . it can hardly be denied that these measures created a situation very favorable to revolution.[ ] the revolutionists had been greatly disappointed at dr. amador's failure to get a definite promise of support from the american government, but their spirits revived when they learned of the presence of american war vessels. still they were slow in taking advantage of their opportunities and the government at washington was growing impatient. at . p. m. november the following dispatch was sent to the american consuls at panama and colon: "uprising on isthmus reported. keep department promptly and fully informed. loomis, acting." at . a reply was received from the consul at panama: "no uprising yet. reported will be in the night. situation is critical." at p. m. a second dispatch was received from the same source: "uprising occurred to-night, ; no bloodshed. army and navy officials taken prisoners. government will be organized to-night."[ ] before the _nashville_ received the order to prevent the landing of armed forces, colombian troops arrived at colon. the principal officers were provided with a special train to take them across the isthmus to panama. when they arrived they were seized by the revolutionary leaders and locked up for safe-keeping, while the railroad officials saw to it that there were no trains for their troops to use. the next day commander hubbard landed fifty marines from the _nashville_ at colon, and a day later the officer in charge of the colombian forces was persuaded by a generous bribe to reëmbark his troops and leave. events continued to follow one another with startling rapidity. on the th the _de facto_ government was recognized and a week later bunau-varilla was received by president roosevelt as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary of the republic of panama. such hasty recognition of a new government was of course without precedent in the annals of american diplomacy, and it naturally confirmed the rumor that the whole affair had been prearranged. on october president roosevelt had written a personal letter to dr. albert shaw, editor of the _review of reviews_, who was a strong advocate of the panama route, in which he said: privately, i freely say to you that i should be delighted if panama were an independent state, or if it made itself so at this moment; but for me to say so publicly would amount to an instigation of a revolt, and therefore i cannot say it.[ ] this letter throws an interesting light on an article in the _review of reviews_ for november of the same year in which dr. shaw discussed the question, "what if panama should revolt?" and outlined with remarkable prophetic insight the future course of events. in his annual message of december , , the president discussed the panama revolution and undertook to justify his course under the treaty of . this message failed to allay public criticism, and on january , , he sent a special message to congress in defense of his action. he held that colombia was not entitled "to bar the transit of the world's traffic across the isthmus," and that the intervention of the united states was justified, ( ) by our treaty rights, ( ) by our international interests, and ( ) by the interests of "collective civilization." the "legal" argument in this message, if we may dignify it by that name, is reported to have been prepared by root and knox, both at that time members of the cabinet. several years later, after mr. roosevelt had retired from the presidency, he expressed the real truth in a public speech when he said: if i had followed traditional conservative methods i should have submitted a dignified state paper of probably two hundred pages to the congress and the debate would be going on yet, but i took the canal zone and let congress debate, and while the debate goes on the canal does also. the reason why the president did not wish the matter to go before congress again was that he had decided upon the panama route, and he knew that when congress convened in december, the situation remaining unchanged, action would be taken to compel him to adopt the alternative of the spooner amendment and go to the nicaragua route. his object in the hasty recognition of the panama revolution was therefore to make the panama route an accomplished fact before congress should meet. this was the attitude definitely assumed in the message of january , , in the course of which he said: the only question now before us is that of the ratification of the treaty. for it is to be remembered that a failure to ratify the treaty will not undo what has been done, will not restore panama to colombia, and will not alter our obligation to keep the transit open across the isthmus, and to prevent any outside power from menacing this transit. the treaty referred to was the convention with panama which had been signed november , , and which was ratified by the senate february , , by a vote of to . by the terms of this agreement the united states guaranteed the independence of the panama republic, and agreed to pay the panama republic a sum of $ , , upon the exchange of ratifications and an annual rental of $ , a year beginning nine years thereafter. panama on her part granted to the united states in perpetuity a zone of land ten miles wide for the construction of a canal, the united states receiving as full power and authority over this strip and the waters adjacent as if it were the sovereign of the said territory.[ ] the construction of the canal was at once undertaken and the work was carried through successfully by general goethals and a corps of army engineers. it was opened to commerce august , , though it was not completed at that time and traffic was subsequently interrupted by landslides. colombia naturally felt aggrieved at the course pursued by president roosevelt and refused to recognize the republic of panama. she objected to his interpretation of the convention of . in this convention the united states pledged itself to keep the isthmian transit open and guaranteed colombia's sovereignty over the same. this treaty established an obligation to colombia alone, and it is difficult to accept the president's view that it established an obligation to the world at large against colombia. colombia demanded that the whole question be submitted to arbitration. as the united states had always held the ground that disputes arising out of the interpretation of treaties should be settled by arbitration, it was inconsistent for the united states to refuse to arbitrate. but president roosevelt did refuse. the panama episode created strained relations with colombia and made a very bad impression throughout latin america. the united states has since been eyed with suspicion by its weaker southern neighbors. the taft and wilson administrations both tried to appease colombia by a money payment, but this subject will be discussed in a subsequent chapter. footnotes: [ ] report of international american conference, vol. iv (hist. app.), p. . [ ] snow: "treaties and topics in american diplomacy," p. . [ ] our treaties with mexico and honduras, although covering the case of canal constructions, were of no practical importance, as the routes through these countries were not feasible. [ ] correspondence in relation to the proposed interoceanic canal, the clayton-bulwer treaty, and the monroe doctrine. government printing office, , p. . referred to hereafter as "collected correspondence." [ ] _ibid._, pp. - . [ ] _ibid._, pp. and . [ ] seward to adams, july , . [ ] "collected correspondence," pp. and . [ ] mr. scruggs to mr. bayard, april , , for. rel., also "messages and papers of the presidents," vol. viii, p. . [ ] "collected correspondence," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] "collected correspondence," pp. and . [ ] "collected correspondence," p. . [ ] mr. buchanan to hon. john a. mcclernand, april , , "american hist. rev.," oct., . [ ] "wharton's digest," sec. . [ ] "collected correspondence," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. , also wharton's digest, vol. ii, p. . [ ] "collected correspondence," p. . [ ] "collected correspondence," p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. - . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] "collected correspondence," p. . [ ] _ibid._, pp. - . [ ] "messages and papers of the presidents," vol. v, p. . [ ] "collected correspondence," p. . [ ] "collected correspondence," p. . [ ] _ibid._, pp. - . [ ] "messages and papers of the presidents," vol. vii, p. . [ ] "collected correspondence," p. . [ ] "messages and papers of the presidents," vol. viii, p. . [ ] "collected correspondence," pp. - . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] "collected correspondence," pp. - . [ ] "collected correspondence," pp. - . [ ] "collected correspondence," pp. - . [ ] "collected correspondence," pp. - . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] "messages and papers of the presidents," vol. viii, p. . [ ] see mr. bayard to mr. phelps, nov. , . for. rel., , pt. i, pp. - . [ ] for. rel., , p. . [ ] see foreign relations, , app. . "affairs at bluefields," pp. - . [ ] senate doc. no. , fifty-sixth cong., first sess. [ ] moore, "digest of int. law," vol. iii, p. . [ ] foreign relations, , p. . [ ] johnson, "four centuries of the panama canal," chap. viii. [ ] report of the isthmian canal commission (sen. doc. no. , fifty-seventh cong., first sess.). [ ] u. s. statutes at large, vol. xxxii, pt. i, p. . [ ] senate doc. no. , fifty-eighth cong., second sess., p. . [ ] johnson, "four centuries of the panama canal," pp. - . [ ] senate doc. no. , fifty-eighth cong., second sess. [ ] house doc. no. , fifty-eighth cong., first sess. [ ] _literary digest_, october , . [ ] foreign relations, , p. . chapter v french intervention in mexico the attempt of louis napoleon to establish a european monarchy in mexico under the tutelage of france was the most serious menace that republican institutions in the new world have had to face since the schemes of the holy alliance were checked by monroe and canning. the thwarting of that attempt may be accounted one of the greatest triumphs of american diplomacy. the internal disorders common to south and central american republics have always been a fruitful source of embarrassment to the united states, on account of the liability to european intervention to which these governments continually subject themselves in such periods by their open and flagrant disregard of international obligations. of no country is this statement truer than of mexico, where the well-nigh interminable strife of parties gave rise between the years and to thirty-six different governments. in a favorable change occurred in the affairs of the republic. a constituent congress, elected by the people of the different states, framed and adopted a republican constitution which promised better things for the future. under the provisions of this constitution an election was held in july ( ) and general comonfort chosen president almost without opposition. his term of office was to begin december , , and to continue four years. within one brief month, however, president comonfort was driven from the capital, and ultimately from the country, by an uprising headed by general zuloaga. as soon as comonfort abandoned the presidency, general benito juarez, the president of the supreme court of justice, became according to the constitution, the president _de jure_ of the republic for the remainder of the unexpired term, that is, until december , . general zuloaga had, however, assumed the name of president, with indefinite powers, and the entire diplomatic corps, including the minister of the united states, had recognized his government. but zuloaga was speedily expelled, and the supreme power seized by general miramon, the head of the church party, whom the diplomatic corps likewise recognized. meanwhile juarez, the constitutional president, had proceeded to vera cruz, where he put his administration into successful operation. for several months, mr. john forsyth, the american minister, continued at the city of mexico in the discharge of his duties. in june, , however, he suspended his diplomatic connection with the miramon government. our relations, which had been bad under former governments, were now rendered almost intolerable under that of miramon by outrages towards american citizens and personal indignities to mr. forsyth himself. his action was approved by president buchanan, and he was directed to return to the united states. all diplomatic intercourse was thus terminated with the government of miramon, but as yet none was established with the juarez government. the ultimate success of the latter became, however, so probable that the following year the president sent a confidential agent to mexico to inquire into and report upon the actual condition of the belligerents, and in consequence of his report, mr. robert m. mclane was dispatched to mexico, march , , "with discretionary authority to recognize the government of president juarez, if on his arrival in mexico he should find it entitled to such recognition according to the established practice of the united states." on the th of april, mr. mclane presented his credentials to president juarez, having no hesitation, he said, "in pronouncing the government of juarez to be the only existing government of the republic." he was cordially received by the authorities at vera cruz, and during all the vicissitudes of the next eight years the united states government continued to extend its sympathy and moral support to the government of juarez as the only one entitled to the allegiance of the people of mexico. juarez thus came forward, in the rôle of reformer, as the champion of constitutionalism and the supremacy of the state against the overreaching power, influence, and wealth of the church party. he was a full-blooded indian, without the slightest admixture of spanish blood. in december, , he finally succeeded in overthrowing the party of miramon and driving the latter into exile. immediately, on reoccupying the city of mexico, the constitutionalists proceeded to execute with severity the decree issued at vera cruz nationalizing or sequestrating the property of the church. the most difficult question which the new government had to face was that of international obligations recklessly contracted by the various revolutionary leaders who had successively been recognized as constituting the government of mexico. in consequence of debts contracted and outrages and enormities perpetrated, for the most part during the régime of miramon and the church party, the governments of england, france, and spain determined to intervene in mexico. the grievances of the british government were based on the following facts: non-settlement of claims of british bondholders; the murder of the british vice-consul at tasco; the breaking into the british legation and the carrying off £ , in bonds belonging to british subjects, besides numerous other outrages committed on the persons and property of individuals.[ ] the claims of the british bondholders referred to had been recognized by the pakenham convention of october , , and formed into a consolidated fund of $ , , which was to be paid off, principal and interest, by a percentage on import duties at the custom-houses of vera cruz and tampico. this convention was not carried out by the mexican government, and on december , , mr. doyle signed on behalf of great britain a new convention, in which not only the claims under the pakenham convention, but others, recognized by both governments, were likewise formed into a consolidated fund, on which the mexican government bound itself to pay five per cent. as a sinking fund and three per cent. as interest until the debt should be paid off. this five and three per cent. were to be met by a percentage of customs receipts. in the sinking fund was to be raised to six per cent. and the interest to four per cent. two days after the signing of this doyle convention the spanish minister in mexico also signed a convention on behalf of some philippine missionaries, known as the "padre moran" convention, on almost the same basis as the british. the consolidated fund in this case was $ , , the sinking fund five per cent., and the interest three per cent. the interest was paid on both funds in almost the whole amount, but the sinking fund was not kept up. succeeding agreements were made in , in , and in , by which the custom-house assignments to satisfy both conventions (british and spanish) were raised from twelve per cent. in , to twenty-nine per cent. in .[ ] it will thus be seen that the british and spanish claims were perfectly legitimate. the french claims, however, were of a somewhat different character. during miramon's administration arrangements were made through the agency of jecker, a swiss banker, by which $ , were to be raised through an issue of $ , , of bonds. these bonds fell into the hands of jecker's french creditors and were pressed by the french government, which thus demanded the repayment of twenty times the original sum advanced. a claim was made also for $ , , for torts on french subjects.[ ] when the liberal party came into power again in , they were unable to meet the situation and showed a disposition to question the obligatory force of engagements entered into by their various revolutionary predecessors. the british government had undertaken to provide against this contingency upon the occasion of extending recognition to the juarez administration. under date of march , , lord john russell wrote to sir charles wyke, recently appointed minister to mexico, as follows: the instructions addressed to mr. mathew, both before and since the final triumph of the liberal party, made the recognition by great britain of the constitutional government contingent upon the acknowledgment by that government of the liability of mexico for the claims of british subjects who, either in their persons or in their property, for a long series of years, can be proved to have suffered wrong at the hands of successive governments in mexico.[ ] and further on in the same communication the attitude of the british government is expressed yet more strongly: her majesty's government will not admit as an excuse for hesitation in this respect the plea that the robbery was committed by the late government. for, as regards this, as indeed all other claims, her majesty's government cannot admit that the party who committed the wrong is alone responsible. great britain does not recognize any party as constituting the republic in its dealing with foreign nations, but holds the entire republic, by whatever party the government of it may from time to time be administered, to be responsible for wrongs done to british subjects by any party or persons at any time administering the powers of government. mexico, however, was slow to admit this principle of international law. in a letter to lord john russell, june , , and in other communications, sir charles wyke urged the necessity of a naval demonstration against mexico. his plan was to take possession of the custom-houses of vera cruz, tampico, and matamoros on the atlantic, and of one or two on the pacific, lower the duties so as to attract the great bulk of trade from other ports, and pay themselves by the percentage to which they were entitled by treaty stipulation. on the th of july, , president juarez brought matters to a crisis by the publication of a decree, the first article of which declared that "all payments are suspended for two years, including the assignments for the loan made in london and for the foreign conventions."[ ] on the rd, sir charles wyke, the british minister, demanded the repeal of this law within forty-eight hours. on the th, the french minister demanded its repeal within twenty-four hours. these demands were not complied with and diplomatic relations were immediately broken off by the british and french representatives. the spanish government had acted somewhat in advance of the other governments and was already preparing to back its claims by an armed expedition against mexico. the rupture with the british and french governments very naturally pointed to joint action with spain as the best means of securing their interests. the united states government, which had just entered upon one of the greatest struggles of modern times and had its hands practically tied as far as mexico was concerned, regarded the contemplated intervention of european powers in mexico with grave apprehension, not to say suspicion. so great was the uneasiness occasioned in the united states by the measures in contemplation and so strong was the desire to ward off the threatened danger to republican institutions on this continent, that mr. seward authorized (september , ) the negotiation of a treaty with mexico for the assumption by the united states of the payment of the interest, at three per cent., upon the funded debt of mexico (the principal of which was about $ , , ) for the term of five years from the date of the decree of the mexican government suspending such payment, "provided that the government of mexico will pledge to the united states its faith for the reimbursement of the money so to be paid, with six per cent. interest thereon, to be secured by a specific lien upon all the public lands and mineral rights in the several mexican states of lower california, chihuahua, sonora, and sinaloa, the property so pledged to become absolute in the united states at the expiration of the term of six years from the time when the treaty shall go into effect, if such reimbursement shall not have been made before that time."[ ] all this, of course, was subject to the confirmation of the senate. this step was communicated informally to the british and french governments, and the validity of the convention was to be conditioned upon those governments engaging not to take any measures against mexico to enforce the payment of the interest of the loan until time should have been given to submit the convention to the ratification of the united states senate at its approaching session. it was also to be a condition that, if the convention should be ratified, great britain and france should engage, on their part, not to make any demand upon mexico for the interest, except upon its failing to be punctually paid by the united states.[ ] grave objections to mr. seward's plan of paying the interest on the mexican debt were entertained both in paris and in london. the french minister of state, m. thouvenel, said to the british minister at paris: it might not be possible to prevent the united states offering money to mexico, or to prevent mexico receiving money from the united states, but neither england nor france ought in any way to recognize the transaction.[ ] lord lyons declared to mr. seward: that her majesty's government were as apprehensive as mr. seward himself could be, of an attempt to build upon a foundation of debts due, and injuries inflicted, by mexico, a pretension to establish a new government in that country. her majesty's government thought, however, that the most effectual mode of guarding against this danger would be for great britain, the united states, and france to join spain in a course of action, the objects and limits of which should be distinctly defined beforehand. this certainly appeared more prudent than to allow spain to act alone now, and afterwards to oppose the results of her operations, if she should go too far.[ ] the british government avoided beforehand the necessity of a point-blank refusal of the plan of mr. seward, in case the treaty should go through, by declaring that the interest on the funded debt was not the only cause of complaint, but that there remained over and above that the outrages perpetrated upon british subjects still unredressed. mr. charles francis adams, the united states minister to england, did not approve the plan of guaranteeing the mexican interest, and in his dispatch to mr. seward of november , , he expressed his opinion rather more frankly than is usual for a minister to do in discussing an instruction from the state department. you will permit me here, however, to make a single remark in this connection upon the importance of appearing to divest the united states of any personal and selfish interest in the action it may think proper to adopt. the view customarily taken in europe is that their government is disposed to resist all foreign intervention in mexico, not upon any principle, but simply because it is itself expecting, in due course of time, to absorb the whole country for its own benefit. hence any proposal like that which i had the honor to receive, based upon the mortgage of portions of mexican territory as security for engagements entered into by the united states, naturally becomes the ground of an outcry that this is but the preliminary to an entry for inevitable foreclosure. and then follows the argument that if this process be legitimate in one case, why not equally in all. as against great britain and france, it would be difficult to oppose to this the abstract principle contained in what has been denominated the monroe doctrine, however just in substance.[ ] while mr. corwin was still in negotiation with the mexican government in reference to some method of releasing mexico from her complications with the allied governments of europe, the united states senate, in reply to two successive messages of the president, passed a resolution, february , , declaring the opinion "that it is not advisable to negotiate a treaty that will require the united states to assume any portion of the principle or interest of the debt of mexico, or that will require the concurrence of european powers." this effectually put an end to mr. seward's plan. meanwhile sir charles wyke had reopened negotiations with the mexican government and negotiated a treaty which might have satisfied british claims, but the treaty was thrown out by the mexican congress by a large majority, and also disapproved by the british government in view of an agreement entered into with france and spain unknown to sir charles wyke.[ ] the agreement referred to was the convention signed at london, october , , between spain, france, and great britain, in reference to the situation of affairs in mexico and looking to armed intervention for the purpose of securing their rights. the preamble of the convention recites that the three contracting parties "being placed by the arbitrary and vexatious conduct of the authorities of the republic of mexico under the necessity of exacting from those authorities a more efficient protection for the persons and property of their subjects, as well as the performance of the obligations contracted toward them by the republic of mexico, have arranged to conclude a convention between each other for the purpose of combining their common action." the most important article of the convention in view of its subsequent violation by the emperor napoleon, was the second, which declared that: the high contracting parties bind themselves not to seek for themselves, in the employment of coercive measures foreseen by the present convention, any acquisition of territory, or any peculiar advantage, and not to exercise in the subsequent affairs of mexico any influence of a character to impair the right of the mexican nation to choose and freely to constitute the form of its own government. the fourth article, recognizing that the united states also had claims against mexico, provided: that immediately after the signing of the present convention, a copy of it shall be communicated to the government of the united states, that that government shall be invited to accede to it.... but, as the high contracting parties would expose themselves, in making any delay in carrying into effect articles one and two of the present convention, to fail in the end which they wish to attain, they have agreed not to defer, with a view of obtaining the accession of the government of the united states, the commencement of the above-mentioned operations beyond the period at which their combined forces may be united in the vicinity of vera cruz.[ ] the advisability of inviting the coöperation of the united states had been the subject of considerable discussion and difference of opinion among the three european governments. england and france had urged the coöperation of the united states, while spain had opposed it. in compliance with the fourth article the convention was submitted to the government of the united states by a note dated november , , signed jointly by the representatives of spain, france, and great britain at washington. mr. seward's reply conveying the declination of the united states to the invitation to coöperate with the three allied european powers in the demonstration against mexico was dated december , . after reviewing the substance of the convention, he said: first. as the undersigned has heretofore had the honor to inform each of the plenipotentiaries now addressed, the president does not feel himself at liberty to question, and he does not question, that the sovereigns represented have undoubted right to decide for themselves the fact whether they have sustained grievances, and to resort to war against mexico for the redress thereof, and have a right also to levy the war severally or jointly. in the second place, mr. seward expressed the satisfaction of his government that the allied powers had clearly repudiated in the convention all idea of carrying on the war for their own ambitious ends and all intention of exercising in the subsequent affairs of mexico any influence of a character to impair the right of the mexican people to choose and freely to constitute the form of their own government. it is true, as the high contracting parties assume, that the united states have, on their part, claims to urge against mexico. upon due consideration, however, the president is of opinion that it would be inexpedient to seek satisfaction of their claims at this time through an act of accession to the convention. among the reasons for this decision which the undersigned is authorized to assign, are, first, that the united states, so far as it is practicable, prefer to adhere to a traditional policy recommended to them by the father of their country and confirmed by a happy experience, which forbids them from making alliances with foreign nations; second, mexico being a neighbor of the united states on this continent, and possessing a system of government similar to our own in many of its important features, the united states habitually cherish a decided good-will toward that republic, and a lively interest in its security, prosperity, and welfare. animated by these sentiments, the united states do not feel inclined to resort to forcible remedies for their claims at the present moment, when the government of mexico is deeply disturbed by factions within, and exposed to war with foreign nations. and of course, the same sentiments render them still more disinclined to allied war against mexico, than to war to be waged against her by themselves alone. in conclusion, mr. seward referred to the fact that the united states government had authorized their representative in mexico to enter into a treaty conceding to the mexican government material aid, which might, he hoped, enable that government to satisfy the just claims and demands of the allied sovereigns and so to avert the war which they have agreed among each other to levy against mexico.[ ] as already related, the efforts of the executive in this direction were not approved by the senate and the negotiations in regard to guaranteeing the interest on the mexican loan were broken off. the treaty negotiated by mr. corwin was in fact never submitted to the senate, for by the time it was ready the french forces occupied a part of mexican territory, and it was feared that a loan to mexico under such conditions would be considered a breach of neutrality. in pursuance of the london convention, vera cruz was occupied in the early part of by a spanish force of , men under command of marshal prim; a french force of , , which was largely reinforced soon afterward; and a force of british marines. the first intimation of the real purposes of the emperor louis napoleon was given in the letter of instructions of m. thouvenel to the admiral commanding the french expedition to mexico, dated november , . he said that in case of the withdrawal of the mexican forces from the coast into the interior of the country, an advance upon the capital might become necessary. he reminded the admiral of the self-abnegatory character of the second article of the convention, but continued: there are, however, certain hypotheses which present themselves to our foresight and which it was our duty to examine. it might happen that the pressure of the allied forces upon the soil of mexico might induce the sane portion of the people, tired of anarchy, anxious for order and repose, to attempt an effort to constitute in the country a government presenting the guarantees of strength and stability which have been wanting to all those which have succeeded each other since the emancipation. to such efforts the admiral was expressly told that he was not to refuse his encouragement.[ ] in view of this order, the british government at once instructed its agent, sir charles wyke, that, while there was nothing to be said against the reasoning of the french government in reference to the probable necessity of marching against the city of mexico, he was to decline to take part in the advance into the interior, and that the fact, that the whole available british force was only marines, would be sufficient reason for declining.[ ] the seriousness of the situation was fully appreciated by the united states government. shortly after the occupation of vera cruz by the spanish forces and the announcement of the outfit of a french force to follow up the advantage, mr. charles francis adams wrote to his government from london: it is no longer concealed that the intention is to advance to the capital, and to establish a firm government, _with the consent of the people_, at that place. but who are meant by that term does not appear. this issue is by no means palatable to the government here, though it is difficult to imagine that they could have been blind to it. feeble murmurs of discontent are heard, but they will scarcely be likely to count for much in the face of the obligation under which the action of the emperor in the trent case has placed them. the military occupation will go on, and will not cease with the limits now assigned to it. it is not difficult to understand the nature of the fulcrum thus obtained for operations in a new and a different quarter, should the occasion be made to use it. the expedition to the city of mexico may not stop until it shows itself in the heart of the louisiana purchase.[ ] about this time reports began to be circulated that the archduke ferdinand maximilian of austria would be invited by a large body of mexicans to place himself on the throne of mexico, and that the mexican people would gladly hail such a change. to whatever extent such reports might be credited, the united states could not call into question the good faith of the parties to the london convention. the british government, as the issue showed, acted with perfect sincerity in the matter; and the spanish government, whatever may have been its original intentions, followed the lead of great britain. when the reports in regard to maximilian were first circulated, the british government declared to its agent, sir charles wyke, that: if the mexican people, by a spontaneous movement, place the austrian archduke on the throne of mexico, there is nothing in the convention to prevent it. on the other hand, we could be no parties to a forcible intervention for this purpose. the mexicans must consult their own interests.[ ] at the time, however, the attitude of the british government was not at all understood. mr. adams wrote: great britain occupies the post of holding the door, whilst her two associates, with her knowledge, go in, fully prepared, if they can, to perpetrate the act which she, at the outset, made them denounce, at the same time that she disavowed every idea of being made to participate in it.[ ] in the face of armed invasion, the mexican government assumed a more reasonable attitude, and on the th day of february, , the plenipotentiaries of spain, great britain, and france signed, at soledad, with the secretary of state of the mexican government a preliminary agreement or convention, in which they recognized the constitutional government as then organized. declaring that they had "no designs against the independence, sovereignty and integrity of the mexican republic," they agreed to open negotiations for the settlement of all the demands which they had to make at orizaba. during the negotiations the forces of the allies were to be allowed to leave the unhealthy locality of vera cruz and occupy the three towns of cordova, orizaba, and tehuacan, with their natural approaches. in the event of negotiations being broken off, the allies agreed to abandon the towns above named before reopening hostilities.[ ] the convention of soledad proved, however, of short duration. on the th of april, , the representatives of the allies announced in a formal note to the mexican government, "that not having been able to agree about the interpretation which ought to be given in the present circumstances to the convention of the st of october, (the convention of london), they have resolved to adopt for the future an entirely separate and independent line of action. in consequence, the commander of the spanish forces will immediately take the necessary measures to reimbark his troops. the french army will concentrate in paso aucho as soon as the spanish troops have passed from this position, that is to say, probably about the th of april, thereupon beginning their operations."[ ] according to instructions already alluded to, the british force, which was limited to marines, had declined to advance into the interior, and hence was not present when the breach occurred. in spite of all appearances to the contrary, the french government still persisted in disavowing to the united states government, in the most emphatic terms, all designs upon the independence of the mexican republic. even after the rupture at orizaba, m. thouvenel assured mr. dayton, the united states minister at paris, that all that france wanted was that there should be a stable government in mexico, not an anarchy with which other nations could have no relations. that if the people of that country chose to establish a republic it was all well; france would make no objection. if they chose to establish a monarchy, as that was the form of government here, it would be charming (charmant), but they did not mean to do anything to induce such a course of action. that all the rumors that france intended to establish the archduke maximilian on the throne of mexico were utterly without foundation.[ ] m. thouvenel's disclaimer to the british government was equally emphatic.[ ] to return to the situation of affairs at orizaba, the disagreement between the allies requires some explanation. the immediate cause of the rupture and of the withdrawal from the convention of london was the protection extended by the french agents to general almonte, padre miranda, and other leading men of the reactionary or church party who had been banished from the country and who now from the french camp maintained an active correspondence with marquez, cobos, and other notorious chiefs of the armed bands then in open rebellion against the constituted government of the country. almonte and his associates openly favored the scheme of placing maximilian on the throne. the mexican government demanded the removal of general almonte and his associates from the camp of the allies, and in this demand the british and spanish representatives concurred. a somewhat stormy conference was held between the commissioners of the allied powers at orizaba, april , , at which the french agents virtually said that they did not regard the convention of london or the preliminaries of soledad as binding upon them. specifically then the two causes of the rupture were ( ) the persistency of the french commissioners in opposing the removal of the mexican exiles, and ( ) their refusal to take part in the conferences which had been arranged by the convention of soledad to be held with the juarez government at orizaba, april , . the british government heartily approved of the action of its agent, sir charles wyke, in breaking up the conference and putting an end to the joint action of the three powers.[ ] the policy of spain was completely in accord with that of england. the french government was not satisfied with the convention of soledad, but did not dispute its validity, and declared that if the negotiations should be broken off, its provisions in regard to the withdrawal of the troops from their vantage ground must be observed. the french government further assumed that, when negotiations with the mexican government should be broken off, the allied forces would proceed to act jointly under the convention of london.[ ] the british and spanish governments, however, having become convinced of the duplicity of the french government in the matter, terminated the london convention without further discussion and ordered the immediate withdrawal of their forces and agents from mexican territory. the government of louis napoleon, thus left to its own devices by the withdrawal of great britain and spain, and by the helpless condition, for the time being, to which the war of secession had reduced the government of the united states, greatly reinforced its mexican expedition and placed general forey in command. soon after the withdrawal of the british and spanish contingents, general almonte instituted a government in the territory occupied by the french and assumed the title of "supreme chief of the nation," but it soon became evident, as mr. dayton expressed it, that instead of the emperor having availed himself of the services of general almonte, almonte had availed himself of the services of the emperor. accordingly, shortly after general forey assumed command, he issued an order dissolving the ministry of almonte, depriving him of his title and limiting him thereafter "in the most exact manner to the instructions of the emperor, which are to proceed as far as possible, with other mexican generals placed under the protection of our flag, to the organization of the mexican army." the misfortunes which had overtaken mexico and the dangers that threatened the permanence of her republican institutions, had now thoroughly alarmed her sister republics of central and south america, and a correspondence began between them relative to organizing an international american conference to oppose european aggression. during the remarkable series of events that took place in mexico in the spring of , mr. seward consistently held to the opinion well expressed in a dispatch to mr. dayton, june , : france has a right to make war against mexico, and to determine for herself the cause. we have a right and interest to insist that france shall not improve the war she makes to raise up in mexico an anti-republican and anti-american government, or to maintain such a government there. france has disclaimed such designs, and we, besides reposing faith in the assurances given in a frank, honorable manner, would, in any case, be bound to wait for, and not anticipate a violation of them.[ ] for some months the french troops gradually extended their military operations and occupied a greater extent of territory without, however, any material change in the situation. the juarez government still held the capital. in the spring of , however, military operations were pushed forward with greater activity, and in june, general forey organized a junta of government composed of thirty-five mexican citizens designated by decree of the french emperor's minister. the members of this supreme junta were to associate with them two hundred and fifteen citizens of mexico to form an assembly of two hundred and fifty notables. this assembly was to occupy itself with the form of the permanent government of mexico. the junta appointed an executive body of three, of whom general almonte was the head. on the th of july, , the capital of mexico was occupied by the french army, and on the following day the assembly of notables declared: . the mexican nation adopts as its form of government a limited hereditary monarchy, with a catholic prince. . the sovereign shall take the title of emperor of mexico. . the imperial crown of mexico is offered to his imperial and royal highness the prince ferdinand maximilian, archduke of austria, for himself and his descendants. . if, under circumstances which cannot be foreseen, the archduke of austria, ferdinand maximilian, should not take possession of the throne which is offered to him, the mexican nation relies on the good will of his majesty, napoleon iii, emperor of the french, to indicate for it another catholic prince.[ ] the crown of mexico was formally offered to maximilian by a deputation of mexicans headed by señor estrada, october , ; but maximilian replied that he could not accept the proffered throne until the whole nation should "confirm by a free manifestation of its will the wishes of the capital." this was a wise decision, had it been given in good faith and had it been wisely adhered to, but the sequel shows that the archduke was either not sincere in his protestations or else was woefully deceived by representations subsequently made to him. six months later he accepted the crown without the question having been submitted to the wishes of any but a very small portion of the mexican people. in spite of the declaration of the mexican assembly, which showed so unmistakably the hand of napoleon, the french government continued to repudiate the designs imputed to it against the independence of mexico, and mr. seward continued to express, officially at least, the satisfaction of the american government at the explanations vouchsafed by france. september , , he stated the case as follows: when france made war against mexico, we asked of france explanations of her objects and purposes. she answered, that it was a war for the redress of grievances; that she did not intend to permanently occupy or dominate in mexico, and that she should leave to the people of mexico a free choice of institutions of government. under these circumstances the united states adopted, and they have since maintained entire neutrality between the belligerents, in harmony with the traditional policy in regard to foreign wars. the war has continued longer than was anticipated. at different stages of it france has, in her intercourse with us, renewed the explanations before mentioned. the french army has now captured pueblo and the capital, while the mexican government, with its principal forces, is understood to have retired to san luis potosi, and a provisional government has been instituted under french auspices in the city of mexico, which being supported by arms, divides the actual dominion of the country with the mexican government, also maintained by armed power. that provisional government has neither made nor sought to make any communication to the government of the united states, nor has it been in any way recognized by this government. france has made no communication to the united states concerning the provisional government which has been established in mexico, nor has she announced any actual or intended departure from the policy in regard to that country which her before-mentioned explanations have authorized us to expect her to pursue.[ ] the probable acceptance of the crown by maximilian was, however, the subject of frequent communications between the governments of france and the united states. in the course of a somewhat familiar conversation with m. drouyn de lhuys, the french minister of state, in august, , mr. dayton expressed the fear that in quitting mexico france might leave a _puppet_ behind her. de lhuys replied: "no; the strings would be too long to work." the chances of maximilian's success in mexico had been from the first deliberately calculated on the basis of the probable success of the southern confederacy; and, therefore, the cause of the juarez government and the cause of the union were considered the same. the active sympathy of the unionists with the mexican republic made it difficult for the administration to maintain neutrality. this difficulty was further enhanced by the doubt entertained in the united states as to the intentions of france. in this connection mr. seward wrote to mr. dayton, september , , as follows: the president thinks it desirable that you should seek an opportunity to mention these facts to mr. drouyn de lhuys, and to suggest to him that the interests of the united states, and, as it seems to us, the interests of france herself, require that a solution of the present complications in mexico be made, as early as may be convenient, upon the basis of the unity and independence of mexico.[ ] in reply, the french minister declared that the question of the establishment of maximilian on the mexican throne was to be decided by a majority vote of the entire nation; that the dangers of the government of the archduke would come principally from the united states, and the sooner the united states showed itself satisfied, and manifested a willingness to enter into peaceful relations with that government, the sooner would france be ready to leave mexico and the new government to take care of itself, which france would, in any event, do as soon as she with propriety could; but that she would not lead or tempt the archduke into difficulty, and then desert him before his government was settled. he said that the early acknowledgment of that government by the united states would tend to shorten, or perhaps to end, all the troublesome complications of france in that country; that they would thereupon quit mexico.[ ] to this communication, mr. seward replied that the french government had not been left uninformed of the opinion of the united states that the permanent establishment of a foreign and monarchical government in mexico would be found neither easy nor desirable; that the united states could not anticipate the action of the mexican people; and that the united states still regarded mexico as the scene of a war which had not yet ended in the subversion of the government long existing there, with which the united states remained in the relation of peace and friendship.[ ] before formally accepting the crown, the archduke visited england with a view to securing a promise of recognition for his new position. he was, of course, to pass through paris, and in view of his approaching visit, mr. dayton asked for instructions as to his conduct on the occasion. mr. seward replied, february , : i have taken the president's direction upon the question. if the archduke maximilian appears in paris only in his character as an imperial prince of the house of hapsburg, you will be expected to be neither demonstrative nor reserved in your deportment toward him. if he appears there with any assumption of political authority or title in mexico, you will entirely refrain from intercourse with him. should your proceeding be a subject of inquiry or remark, you will be at liberty, in the exercise of your own discretion, to say that this government, in view of its rights and duties in the present conjuncture of its affairs, has prescribed fixed rules to be observed, not only by this department, but by its representatives in foreign countries. we acknowledge revolutions only by direction of the president, upon full and mature consideration.[ ] the archduke visited london in company with his father-in-law, leopold of belgium. the british government declined to act on the subject at that juncture, "but gave them reason to hope that, so soon as the action in mexico would appear to justify it, they would acknowledge him."[ ] spain and belgium were ready to follow in the wake of france. about the time of this visit of maximilian to england, mr. mcdougall, of california, introduced in the senate a resolution declaring "that the movements of the government of france, and the threatened movement of an emperor, improvised by the emperor of france, demand by this republic, if insisted upon, war." this resolution was not carried, but some days later, on the th of april, , the house of representatives passed by a unanimous vote a resolution declaring its opposition to the recognition of a monarchy in mexico. mr. seward, fearing a rupture with france on this account, took pains to inform the government of that country, through mr. dayton, that this action of the house was in no way binding on the executive, even if concurred in by the senate. the formal acceptance of the crown of mexico by maximilian took place april , , at miramar, the palace he had built near trieste, in the presence of the mexican deputation. the next day the emperor and empress of mexico, as they styled themselves, set out for their new dominions by way of rome, where they received the blessing of the pope. before leaving europe maximilian signed with the emperor of the french a convention in the following terms: the french troops in mexico were to be reduced as soon as possible to , men. the french troops were to evacuate mexico in proportion as the emperor of mexico could organize troops to replace them. the "foreign legion," composed of , men, was to remain in mexico six years after all the other french troops should have been recalled. the expenses of the french expedition to mexico, to be paid by the mexican government, were fixed at the sum of two hundred and seventy million francs for the whole duration of the expedition down to july , . from july st all expenses of the mexican army were to be met by mexico.[ ] the resolution of the house referred to above came very near producing the rupture that mr. seward was striving to avert, or at least to postpone, during the continuance of the war of secession. when mr. dayton visited m. drouyn de lhuys just after the resolution reached europe, the remark which greeted mr. dayton when he entered the room was: "do you bring us peace, or bring us war?" mr. dayton replied that he did not think france had a right to think that the united states was about to make war against her on account of anything contained in that resolution; that it embodied nothing more than the principles which the united states had constantly held out to france from the beginning. the confederate agents were taking advantage of the resolution to stir up trouble between the united states and france. in fact they had long caused reports to be spread in europe, and had succeeded in gaining credence for them, to the effect that the united states government was only awaiting the termination of domestic troubles to drive the french from mexico. the french naturally concluded that if they were to have trouble with the united states, it was safest for them to choose their own time.[ ] napoleon was all the while coquetting with the confederate government, and holding above mr. seward's head a veiled threat of recognition of confederate independence. the confederate government quickly caught at the suggestion of an alliance between maximilian and the south with the power of france to back them. a confederate agent was actually accredited to the government of maximilian, but did not reach his destination. although napoleon's calculations were based on the overthrow of the union, and although he had assumed at the outset, with england and spain, an attitude decidedly unfriendly to the federal government, nevertheless he was not willing to go the full length of recognizing the confederacy as an independent power while the issue of the conflict was still in doubt. in speaking of slidell's movements in europe and the encouragement given him in france, mr. bigelow wrote to mr. seward, february , : i am strongly impressed with the conviction that, but for the mexican entanglement, the insurgents would receive very little further countenance from the imperial government, and that a reconciliation of the national policies of the two countries on that question would speedily dispose of all other sources of dissatisfaction. as the war of secession seemed nearing its end, the french papers became uneasy in view of possible intervention in mexico by the united states on the ground of the monroe doctrine. this principle of american diplomacy, which was likened to the sword of damocles suspended over the head of maximilian, was discussed in all its bearings on the present case by the journals of europe.[ ] throughout all this period of turmoil, the united states recognized no authority in mexico but that of the juarez government. in april, , the french minister at washington complained that serious complications with france were likely to arise out of grants of land made by "ex-president juarez" in sonora to emigrants from california. the french government regarded these grants as illegal and proposed to send forces there to prevent the parties from taking "illicit possession." in may, , the french government sought explanations in regard to a club formed in new orleans, called the "d. m. d.," defenders of the monroe doctrine. mr. seward replied that the object of the club, so far as the government had been able to ascertain, was to bring moral influences to bear upon the government of the united states in favor of a maintenance of the monroe doctrine, but not to act in violation of the law, or of the well-understood governmental policy of neutrality in the war which existed between france and mexico. members of the association did, however, actually start on an expedition to brownsville, but the steamer was taken possession of by united states officials. during the year constant complaint was made by the french government of shipments of arms to the juarez government from california and from various points along the rio grande, particularly brownsville, in violation of american neutrality. shortly after the surrender of general lee, several confederate officers of high position and influence went to mexico and identified themselves with the government of maximilian. dr. wm. m. gwin, a former united states senator from california, organized a plan for colonizing the states of northern mexico with ex-confederates. this scheme was the subject of several representations to the french government on the part of mr. seward. he reminded them that the sympathies of the american people were already considerably excited in favor of the republic of mexico; that they were disposed to regard with impatience the continued intervention of france in that country; and that any favor shown to the proceedings of dr. gwin by the titular emperor of mexico or by the imperial government of france would tend greatly to increase the popular impatience. he further requested an assurance that the pretenses of dr. gwin and his associates were destitute of any sanction from the emperor of france. among the most prominent confederates connected with this scheme were matthew f. maury, the distinguished geographer and naval officer, who became a naturalized mexican citizen and was appointed imperial commissioner of immigration and an honorary councillor of state; and general john b. magruder, who was charged with the supervision of the survey of lands for colonization. it was hoped that the prominence of these men and the high rank they had held under the confederate government would, in the general uncertainty that prevailed as to the treatment of the south by the victorious union party, induce many persons to emigrate to mexico. maximilian issued a special decree, september , , regarding colonization with a view to inducing southern planters to emigrate to mexico with their slaves--the latter to be reduced to a state of _peonage_, regular slavery being prohibited by the laws of the empire. this scheme was altogether impracticable. in july, , maximilian finally made an effort to secure recognition of his government by the united states. on the th of july, the marquis de montholon, the french minister at washington, called at the department of state and informed mr. seward that a special agent had arrived at washington, bearing a letter signed by maximilian and addressed to the president of the united states, a copy of which the marquis presented to the secretary of state. on the th, mr. seward delivered back the copy of the letter to the marquis de montholon, and said that, as the united states were on friendly relations with the republican government of mexico, the president declined to receive the letter or to hold any intercourse with the agent who brought it. the french government expressed to its representative at washington its annoyance and embarrassment at this step, and said that maximilian should have taken measures to learn the disposition of the united states before sending the agent.[ ] mr. tucker, in his book on the monroe doctrine, makes the statement that mr. bigelow, who succeeded mr. dayton as minister to france, announced to the french government that the united states would recognize the empire of maximilian upon the immediate withdrawal of the french troops from the territory of mexico, but that this statement, made upon the envoy's own authority, was disavowed by the president. this is hardly a correct version of the case. it seems that mr. bigelow, in the course of a conversation with m. drouyn de lhuys, asked him, "in his own name, and without prejudicing the opinion of his government, if he did not think that the recognition of maximilian by the united states would facilitate and hasten the recall of the french troops."[ ] on the rd of october, , maximilian issued a decree at the city of mexico, the first article of which declared: all persons belonging to armed bands or corps, not legally authorized, whether they proclaim or not any political principles, and whatever be the number of those who compose the said bands, their organization, character and denomination shall be tried militarily by the courts-martial; and if found guilty even of the only fact of belonging to the band, they shall be condemned to capital punishment, within the twenty-four hours following the sentence.[ ] the united states, through mr. bigelow, protested to france against this decree, as repugnant to the sentiments of modern civilization and the instincts of humanity. m. drouyn de lhuys replied with a touch of sarcasm: why do you not go to president juarez? we are not the government of mexico and you do us too much honor to treat us as such. we had to go to mexico with an army to secure certain important interests, but we are not responsible for maximilian or his government. he is accountable to you, as to any other government, if he violated its rights, and you have the same remedies there that we had.[ ] the american government was now relieved from the burden of civil war, and for several months the correspondence of mr. seward had been assuming a more decided tone. on september , , he reminded the french government that the attention of the country was now no longer occupied by the civil war, and that henceforth both the congress and the people of the united states might be expected to give a very large share of their attention to questions of foreign policy, chief among which was likely to be that of their relations with france in regard to mexico. about this time major general schofield was sent to paris on a mission, the precise object of which was long a matter of mystery. it appears from john bigelow's memoirs that grant, schofield, and a number of other army officers were bringing great pressure to bear upon the government to intervene by force and drive maximilian from mexico. seward, with his usual political sagacity, concluded that the best method of holding grant and his followers in check was to send schofield to paris on an informal mission. according to the latter, seward said to him: "i want you to get your legs under napoleon's mahogany and tell him he must get out of mexico." seward knew perfectly well that schofield would not be as belligerent in the presence of the emperor as he was in washington, and above all he had confidence in bigelow's tact and ability to handle schofield when he arrived in paris. the plan worked beautifully. neither bigelow nor schofield reported just what took place at the interview with the emperor, but we may be sure that schofield did not say in paris what he had intended to say when he left washington. after bigelow returned from paris in , he had a conversation with seward in which the latter said: i sent general schofield to paris to parry a letter brought to us from grant insisting that the french be driven head over heels and at once out of mexico. it answered my purpose. it gave schofield something to do, and converted him to the policy of the department by convincing him that the french were going as fast as they could. that pacified grant and made everything easy.[ ] on november seward wrote: the presence and operations of a french army in mexico, and its maintenance of an authority there, resting upon force and not the free will of the people of mexico, is a cause of serious concern to the people of the united states.... they still regard the effort to establish permanently a foreign and imperial government in mexico as disallowable and impracticable. for these reasons they could not now agree to compromise the position they have hitherto assumed. they are not prepared to recognize any political institutions in mexico which are in opposition to the republican government with which we have so long and so constantly maintained relations of amity and friendship. finally, on december , , seward addressed what was practically an ultimatum to france. he pointed out the likelihood that congress, then in session, would direct by law the action of the executive on this important subject, and stated that: it has been the president's purpose that france should be respectfully informed upon two points, namely: first, that the united states earnestly desire to continue and to cultivate sincere friendship with france. second, that this policy would be brought into imminent jeopardy, unless france could deem it consistent with her interest and honor to desist from the prosecution of armed intervention in mexico, to overthrow the domestic republican government existing there, and to establish upon its ruins the foreign monarchy which has been attempted to be inaugurated in the capital of that country. in conclusion he added: it remains now only to make known to m. drouyn de lhuys my profound regret that he has thought it his duty to leave the subject, in his conversation with you, in a condition that does not authorize an expectation on our part that a satisfactory adjustment of the case can be effected on any basis that thus far has been discussed. as late as november , , the french government, through the marquis de montholon, still insisted on recognition of maximilian by the united states as the only basis for an arrangement for the recall of the french troops.[ ] the formal reply to mr. seward's note of december was received through the marquis de montholon, january , . m. drouyn de lhuys still insisted that the french expedition had in it nothing hostile to the institutions of the new world, and assuredly still less to those of the united states. he called attention to the fact that the united states had acknowledged the right of france to make war on mexico, and continued: "on the other part, we admit, as they do, the principle of non-intervention; this double postulate includes, as it seems to me, the elements of an agreement." he also contended that the right to make war implied the right to secure the results of war; that they had to demand guarantees, and these guarantees they could not look for from a government whose bad faith they had proven on so many occasions; that they found themselves engaged in the establishment of a regular government, which showed itself disposed to keep its engagements; that the mexican people had spoken, and that the emperor maximilian had been called to the throne by the will of the people of the country.[ ] mr. seward's counter-reply was dated february , . he declared that the proceedings in mexico were regarded in the united states as having been taken without the authority, and prosecuted against the will and opinions of the mexican people; that the united states had not seen any satisfactory evidence that the people of mexico had spoken and called into being or accepted the so-called empire, and that the withdrawal of the french troops was deemed necessary to allow such a proceeding to be taken. he added, however, that: france need not for a moment delay her proposed withdrawal of military forces from mexico, and her putting the principle of non-intervention into full and complete practice in regard to mexico through any apprehension that the united states will prove unfaithful to the principles and policy in that respect which, on their behalf, it has been my duty to maintain in this now very lengthened correspondence.[ ] he concluded with a virtual ultimatum: we shall be gratified when the emperor shall give to us ... definite information of the time when french military operations may be expected to cease in mexico. napoleon finally decided that, in view of the european situation, he could not risk a war with the united states, and in the issue of april , , the _moniteur_ announced that the emperor had decided that the french troops should evacuate mexico in three detachments: the first to leave in november, ; the second in march, ; and the third in november, . in the course of a conversation with mr. bigelow the day following m. drouyn de lhuys acknowledged that this statement was official.[ ] the decision of the emperor was officially made known to the united states in a note of april , . seward had very fortunately left a loophole in his dispatch of february , in the statement that the united states would continue to pursue its policy of neutrality after the french evacuation. de lhuys said: we receive this assurance with entire confidence and we find therein a sufficient guarantee not any longer to delay the adoption of measures intended to prepare for the return of our army.[ ] american historians have usually attributed napoleon's backdown to seward's diplomacy supported by the military power of the united states, which was, of course, greater then than at any other time in our history. all this undoubtedly had its effect on napoleon's mind, but it appears that conditions in europe just at that particular moment had an even greater influence in causing him to abandon his mexican scheme. within a few days of the receipt of seward's ultimatum napoleon was informed of bismarck's determination to force a war with austria over the schleswig-holstein controversy. napoleon realized that the territorial aggrandizement of prussia, without any corresponding gains by france, would be a serious blow to his prestige and in fact endanger his throne. he at once entered upon a long and hazardous diplomatic game in which bismarck outplayed him and eventually forced him into war. in order to have a free hand to meet the european situation he decided to yield to the american demands. about the time that the french government announced its intention of withdrawing its forces from mexico, it was found that troops were being enlisted in austria for the mexican "foreign legion." the united states government at once took measures to prevent the french troops from being replaced by austrians by declaring to the austrian government through mr. motley, "that in the event of hostilities being carried on hereafter in mexico by austrian subjects, under the command or with the sanction of the government of vienna, the united states will feel themselves at liberty to regard those hostilities as constituting a state of war by austria against the republic of mexico; and in regard to such war, waged at this time and under existing circumstances, the united states could not engage to remain as silent and neutral spectators."[ ] mr. motley seems to have been somewhat surprised and puzzled at the sudden and emphatic change of tone in the instructions of his government, and failed to carry them out in the spirit intended by mr. seward. this brought forth a sharp reprimand. mr. seward expressed his strong disapproval of the position taken by mr. motley in his communication of the instructions of the department to the austrian government, and directed him to carry out his instructions according to the strict letter, adding: i refrain from discussing the question you have raised, "whether the recent instructions of this department harmonize entirely with the policy which it pursued at an earlier period of the european intervention in mexico." mr. motley was instructed to withdraw from vienna in case troops were sent from austria to mexico. the embarkation of troops for this purpose was stopped. austria was in a great state of excitement over the approaching war with prussia, and, besides needing all her available troops at home, did not care to antagonize the united states. it was now a question of great interest in this country and in europe, whether maximilian would withdraw from mexico with the french troops or attempt to maintain himself there without foreign support. napoleon sent one of his aides to mexico to make known his intentions to maximilian. this fact was communicated to the united states government, october , : mr. de castelnau has for his mission to make it well understood that the limit of our sacrifices is reached and that if the emperor maximilian, thinking to find in the country itself a point of sufficient support, may wish to endeavor to maintain himself there, he cannot for the future count on any succor on the part of france. but it may happen that, deeming it impossible to triumph through his own resources over the difficulties which surround him, this sovereign may determine to abdicate. we will do nothing to dissuade him from this, and we think that on this hypothesis there would be ground to proceed, by way of election, in the establishment of a new government.[ ] when the time came for the withdrawal of the first contingent of french troops, no action to that end was taken by the french government, and the united states had once more to seek an explanation. the emperor assured the american government, however, that he had decided from military considerations to withdraw all his troops in the spring in a body, as the recent successes of the insurgents would render any large reduction of his forces perilous to those who remained. he further stated that he had counselled maximilian to abdicate.[ ] to the surprise of everyone, however, maximilian seemed to think that honor demanded that he should remain in mexico and share the fate of his supporters. after the withdrawal of mr. corwin, owing to the unsettled state of affairs in mexico, the united states had no one accredited to that government until may, , when mr. lewis d. campbell, of ohio, was appointed. he left new york for his post in november, , accompanied by lieutenant general william t. sherman of the army. they proceeded in the u. s. s. _susquehanna_ by way of havana, but as they found the principal mexican ports on the atlantic still occupied by the french, they proceeded to new orleans, from which point mr. campbell tried to establish regular communication with president juarez. the president had first decided to dispatch general grant with mr. campbell, in the hope "that some disposition might be made of the land and naval forces of the united states without interfering within the jurisdiction of mexico, or violating the laws of neutrality, which would be useful in favoring the restoration of law, order and republican government in that country." this demonstration was intended to insure the withdrawal of the french army according to the promises of the emperor. a hitch occurred through some question raised by general grant and general sherman was substituted.[ ] the french army was withdrawn in the spring of , and it very soon became evident that maximilian's cause would speedily collapse. in view of the almost inevitable capture of maximilian, mr. seward telegraphed to mr. campbell at new orleans, april , : you will communicate to president juarez, promptly and by effectual means, the desire of this government, that in case of capture, the prince and his supporters may receive the humane treatment accorded by civilized nations to prisoners of war. some of the prisoners already taken had been summarily executed. mr. campbell at once dispatched a special messenger, who succeeded in getting through to the headquarters of juarez, and who returned with an answer from the mexican government, dated april , . this answer not only undertook to defend the execution of prisoners above referred to, but also intimated that similar severity would be practiced on maximilian and his leading associates, if captured, on the ground that, by his harsh decrees, he had placed himself beyond the pale of the law of nations.[ ] maximilian and his chief supporters were taken prisoners, may , . this information was received in the united states toward the last of the month, and along with it a report, not well authenticated and which afterward proved to be false, that they had been executed on the th. as soon as these rumors reached washington, mr. seward telegraphed to mr. campbell, then at new orleans, june , , directing him to proceed at once to the residence of the president of mexico and enter on his mission, and if necessary to urge clemency to maximilian and the other prisoners of war. mr. campbell failed to act under these instructions. he requested first that a public vessel of the united states should be detailed to carry him to mexico. when it was found that no ship was available for this purpose, he was ordered to proceed to havana and thence by the british or french line of steamers to vera cruz. he replied that under the circumstances he did not think it becoming the dignity of the representative of the united states to return to mexico under the flag of a nation which had shown such hostility to that country. he thus remained at new orleans from the first to the fifteenth of june. he was then ordered peremptorily to proceed at once according to instructions. he replied that he was ill and was afraid to go by way of havana, where yellow fever was raging; that he would resign, if desired. the same day mr. seward telegraphed him that his resignation would be accepted. mr. seward then informed mr. romero, the mexican minister at washington, that austria, france, and great britain had appealed to the united states to use its good offices to avert the execution of prince maximilian. he strongly recommended clemency to president juarez, as good policy, and requested mr. romero to make the same known to his government at once. this was june , the same day that mr. campbell's resignation was accepted. on the st, mr. seward requested mr. romero to inform president juarez that the emperor of austria would restore maximilian to all his rights of succession upon his release and renouncing forever all projects in mexico.[ ] meanwhile maximilian of hapsburg, miguel miramon, and tomas mejia had been tried by court-martial and sentenced to death, june . the sentence was confirmed by the government on the th, and the execution fixed for the th, but at the request of maximilian's counsel, it was suspended by order of president juarez until the th, in order to allow the prince to arrange certain business affairs of a private character. at seven o'clock on the morning of june the prisoners were shot. footnotes: [ ] brit. and for. st. pap., - , vol. lii. also house exec. doc. no. , thirty-seventh cong., second sess. [ ] brit. and for. st. pap., vol. lii, p. . [ ] wharton's digest, sec. , vol. i, p. . [ ] brit. and for. st. pap., vol. lii, p. . [ ] brit. and for. st. pap., vol. lii, p. . [ ] mr. seward to mr. corwin, sept. , . house exec. doc. no. , p. , thirty-seventh cong., second sess. [ ] brit. and for. st. pap., vol. lii, p. . [ ] earl cowley to earl russell, sept. , . brit. and for. st. pap., vol. lii, p. . [ ] earl lyons to earl russell, oct. , . brit. and for. st. pap., vol lii, p. . [ ] thirty-seventh cong., second sess., house exec. doc. no. , p. . [ ] sir c. wyke to earl russell, nov. , . brit. and for. st. pap., vol. lii, p. . [ ] thirty-seventh cong., second sess., house exec. doc. no. , pp. - . [ ] house exec. doc. no. , pp. - , thirty-seventh cong., second sess. brit. and for. st. pap., vol. lii. p. . [ ] house exec. doc. no. , p. , thirty-seventh cong., second sess. [ ] brit. and for. st. pap., vol. lii, p. . [ ] adams to seward, january , . house ex. doc. no. p. , thirty-seventh cong., second sess. [ ] brit. and for. st. pap., vol. lii, p. . [ ] h. ex. doc. no. , p. , thirty-seventh cong., second sess. [ ] h. ex. doc no. , p. , thirty-seventh cong., third sess. [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] dayton to seward, april , . [ ] earl cowley to earl russell, may , , h. ex. doc. no. , p. , thirty-seventh cong., third sess. [ ] earl russell to sir c. wyke, may , . [ ] earl cowley to earl russell, april , , h. ex. doc. no. , p. , thirty-seventh cong., third sess. [ ] h. ex. doc. no. , p. , thirty-seventh cong., third sess. [ ] sen. ex. doc. no. , pp. - , thirty-eighth cong., first sess. [ ] seward to motley, sept. , , dipl. corr., ; sen. ex. doc. no. , p. , thirty-eighth cong., first sess. [ ] sen. ex. doc. no. , p. , thirty-eighth cong., first sess. [ ] dayton to seward, oct. , , sen. ex. doc. no. , p. , thirty-eighth cong., first sess. [ ] seward to dayton, oct. , . _ibid._ [ ] dip. corr., . [ ] adams to seward, march , . [ ] dipl. corr., , part iii, pp. - . [ ] dipl. corr., ; also sen. ex. doc. no. , thirty-eighth cong., first sess. [ ] dipl. corr., , part iii, pp. - . [ ] dipl. corr. , part iii. [ ] tucker, p. ; dipl. corr., , part iii. [ ] sen. ex. doc. no. , p. . thirty-ninth cong., first sess. [ ] mr. bigelow to mr. seward, nov. , , sen. ex. doc. no. , thirty-ninth cong., first sess. [ ] bigelow, "retrospections of an active life," vol. iv, p. ; bancroft, "life of seward," vol. ii, p. . [ ] sen. ex. doc. no. , p. , thirty-ninth cong., first sess. [ ] house ex. doc. no. , thirty-ninth cong., first sess. [ ] dipl. corr., , part iii; also h. ex. doc. no. , thirty-ninth cong., first sess. [ ] h. ex. doc. no. , p. , thirty-ninth cong., first sess. [ ] _ibid._ [ ] wharton's digest, sec. , vol. i, p. . [ ] dipl. corr., , part i, p. . [ ] h. ex. doc. no. , fortieth cong., first sess. [ ] dipl. corr., , part iii. [ ] dipl. corr., , part iii. [ ] sen. ex. doc. no. , fortieth cong., first sess. chapter vi the two venezuelan episodes as a result of blaine's unsuccessful attempt to force great britain to relinquish her rights under the clayton-bulwer treaty the monroe doctrine had fallen somewhat into disrepute when in it was suddenly revived in a striking and sensational way by president cleveland's intervention in the venezuelan boundary controversy. the dispute between great britain and venezuela in regard to the boundary line between the latter and british guiana was of long standing. in , by treaty with the netherlands, great britain acquired "the establishments of demerara, essequibo, and berbice," now known as british guiana. from that time on the boundary line between british guiana and venezuela was a matter of dispute. venezuela always claimed the line of the essequibo river. in , sir robert schomburgk, acting under the instructions of the british government, established a line some distance to the west of the essequibo river and marked it by monuments on the face of the country. venezuela at once protested. the british government explained that the line was only tentative and the monuments set up by schomburgk were removed. various other lines were from time to time claimed by great britain, each one extending the frontier of british guiana farther and farther to the west. the _british colonial office list_, a government publication, in the issue for , put the area of british guiana at about , square miles. in the issue of the same list for the same statement occurs in reference to british guiana with the change of area to "about , square miles." here was a gain of , square miles without any statement whatever in explanation of how this additional territory had been acquired. after the failure of repeated efforts on the part of venezuela to secure an adjustment with england, she finally came to the conclusion in that the only course open to her was arbitration of the controversy. she persistently urged arbitration, but great britain refused to submit to arbitration any but a comparatively small part of the territory in dispute. in venezuela suspended diplomatic relations with great britain, protesting "before her british majesty's government, before all civilized nations, and before the world in general, against the acts of spoliation committed to her detriment by the government of great britain, which she at no time and on no account will recognize as capable of altering in the least the rights which she has inherited from spain and respecting which she will ever be willing to submit to the decision of a third power." after repeated efforts to promote the reëstablishment of diplomatic relations between venezuela and great britain and after repeated offers of its good offices for the purpose of bringing about an adjustment of the controversy, president cleveland finally determined to intervene in a more positive manner with a view to forcing, if need be, a settlement of the controversy. this resolution on the part of the american executive, with a full statement of its views on the general principles involved in the dispute, was forwarded to mr. bayard for transmission to the british government in mr. olney's dispatch of july , .[ ] after reviewing the history of the controversy mr. olney stated in the following concise form what he considered the important features of the situation as it then existed: . the title to territory of indefinite but confessedly very large extent is in dispute between great britain on the one hand and the south american republic of venezuela on the other. . the disparity in the strength of the claimants is such that venezuela can hope to establish her claim only through peaceful methods--through an agreement with her adversary either upon the subject itself or upon an arbitration. . the controversy, with varying claims on the part of great britain, has existed for more than half a century, during which period many earnest and persistent efforts of venezuela to establish a boundary by agreement have proved unsuccessful. . the futility of the endeavor to obtain a conventional line being recognized, venezuela for a quarter of a century has asked and striven for arbitration. . great britain, however, has always and continuously refused to arbitrate, except upon the condition of a renunciation of a large part of the venezuelan claim and of a concession to herself of a large share of the territory in controversy. . by the frequent interposition of its good offices at the instance of venezuela, by constantly urging and promoting the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries, by pressing for arbitration of the disputed boundary, by offering to act as arbitrator, by expressing its grave concern whenever new alleged instances of british aggression upon venezuelan territory have been brought to its notice, the government of the united states has made it clear to great britain and to the world that the controversy is one in which both its honor and its interests are involved and the continuance of which it cannot regard with indifference. the greater part of the dispatch was taken up with a discussion of the bearing of the monroe doctrine upon the case and the most striking feature of it was that the monroe doctrine was appealed to by name. mr. olney's statement of the monroe doctrine is worthy of the most careful consideration as it was the fullest and most definite official construction of its meaning and scope that had been given to the world. he said: that america is in no part open to colonization, though the proposition was not universally admitted at the time of its first enunciation, has long been universally conceded. we are now concerned, therefore, only with that other practical application of the monroe doctrine the disregard of which by an european power is to be deemed an act of unfriendliness towards the united states. the precise scope and limitations of this rule cannot be too clearly apprehended. it does not establish any general protectorate by the united states over other american states. it does not relieve any american state from its obligations as fixed by international law, nor prevent any european power directly interested from enforcing such obligations or from inflicting merited punishment for the breach of them. it does not contemplate any interference in the internal affairs of any american state or in the relations between it and other american states. it does not justify any attempt on our part to change the established form of government of any american state or to prevent the people of such state from altering that form according to their own will and pleasure. the rule in question has but a single purpose and object. it is that no european power or combination of european powers shall forcibly deprive an american state of the right and power of self-government and of shaping for itself its own political fortunes and destinies. lord salisbury's reply to mr. olney was given in two dispatches of the same date, november , , the one devoted to a discussion of the monroe doctrine, the other to a discussion of the rights of the controversy as between great britain and venezuela. in the first dispatch lord salisbury argued that mr. olney's views went far beyond the scope of the monroe doctrine, that no attempt at colonization was being made, and that no political system was being imposed upon any state of south america. he also denied that the monroe doctrine was a part of international law, since it had not received the consent of other nations, and he utterly repudiated mr. olney's principle that "american questions are for american discussion." in the second dispatch of the same date lord salisbury enters fully into the rights of the controversy between great britain and venezuela, controverting the arguments of the earlier part of mr. olney's dispatch, which he characterizes as _ex parte_. in view of the very positive character of mr. olney's dispatch and of the assertion that the honor and interests of the united states were concerned, the refusal of great britain to arbitrate placed the relations of the two countries in a very critical position. the american executive, however, had intervened for the purpose of settling the controversy, peaceably if possible, forcibly if need be, and president cleveland did not now shrink from the logic of events. in a message to congress, december , ,[ ] he laid before that body mr. olney's dispatch of july , together with lord salisbury's reply. he not only reaffirmed the soundness of the monroe doctrine and its application to the case in question, but claimed for that principle of american diplomacy a place in the code of international law. in regard to the applicability of the monroe doctrine to the venezuelan boundary dispute mr. cleveland declared: if a european power by an extension of its boundaries takes possession of the territory of one of our neighboring republics against its will and in derogation of its rights, it is difficult to see why to that extent such european power does not thereby attempt to extend its system of government to that portion of this continent which is thus taken. this is the precise action which president monroe declared to be "dangerous to our peace and safety," and it can make no difference whether the european system is extended by an advance of frontier or otherwise. in regard to the right of the united states to demand the observance of this principle by other nations, mr. cleveland said: practically the principle for which we contend has peculiar, if not exclusive, relation to the united states. it may not have been admitted in so many words to the code of international law, but since in international councils every nation is entitled to the rights belonging to it, if the enforcement of the monroe doctrine is something we may justly claim, it has its place in the code of international law as certainly and as securely as if it were specifically mentioned; and when the united states is a suitor before the high tribunal that administers international law the question to be determined is whether or not we present claims which the justice of that code of law can find to be right and valid. the monroe doctrine finds its recognition in those principles of international law which are based upon the theory that every nation shall have its rights protected and its just claims enforced. mr. cleveland concluded that the dispute had reached such a stage as to make it incumbent upon the united states to take measures to determine with sufficient certainty for its justification what was the true divisional line between the republic of venezuela and british guiana. he therefore recommended that congress make an appropriation for the expenses of a commission, to be appointed by the executive, which should make the necessary investigations and report upon the matter with the least possible delay. "when such report is made and accepted," he continued, "it will, in my opinion, be the duty of the united states to resist by every means in its power, as a willful aggression upon its rights and interests, the appropriation by great britain of any lands or the exercise of governmental jurisdiction over any territory which after investigation we have determined of right belongs to venezuela." "in making these recommendations," he added, "i am fully alive to the responsibility incurred and keenly realize all the consequences that may follow." the publication of this message and the accompanying dispatches created the greatest excitement both in the united states and in england, and called forth the severest criticism of the president's course. the main grounds of this criticism were the contentions: ( ) that the monroe doctrine was not a part of international law and therefore its observance as such could not be urged upon other nations. ( ) that it was not even an established principle of american diplomacy, since the original declaration was merely a protest against apprehended aggression on the part of a combination of european powers which had long since ceased to threaten this continent. ( ) that even granting that the monroe doctrine was a declaration of american policy, it was merely a policy and imposed no obligation on the government to enforce it except where our interests were directly concerned. ( ) that the occupation of a few thousand acres of uninhabited territory by great britain, even if it did rightfully belong to venezuela, was not a matter that affected the interests of the united states one way or the other or that threatened the permanence or stability of american institutions. ( ) that granting the wisdom and correctness of the president's position, the language of his message and of mr. olney's dispatch was indiscreet at best and unnecessarily offensive to british pride. it may be well to consider these objections in detail. in regard to the first point it may be said that neither president cleveland nor mr. olney asserted or maintained that the monroe doctrine was a part of international law by virtue of its assertion by president monroe and succeeding presidents. the position they took was that the monroe doctrine was an american statement of a well recognized principle of international law, viz., the right of a state to intervene in a controversy between other states, when it deems its own interests threatened. mr. cleveland declared: "the monroe doctrine finds its recognition in those principles of international law which are based upon the theory that every nation shall have its rights protected and its just claims enforced." mr. olney's analysis of the doctrine was clearer and more specific. he said: "that there are circumstances under which a nation may justly intervene in a controversy to which two or more other nations are the direct and immediate parties is an admitted canon of international law." after discussing the general principle of intervention, he adds: "we are concerned at this time, however, not so much with the general rule as with a form of it which is peculiarly and distinctively american."[ ] in answer to the second objection it is only necessary to refer to accepted works on public law and to the official correspondence of the state department to show that the monroe doctrine had for three-quarters of a century been the cardinal principle of american diplomacy.[ ] the third point, namely as to the expediency of enforcing the monroe doctrine in all cases of european aggression on this continent, raises an important question. if, however, the monroe doctrine is a wise principle and one which it is our interest to maintain, it is right that it should be asserted on every occasion of its violation. the force of precedent is so great that in the present state of international law, it would be dangerous to do otherwise. in the fourth place while it was perfectly true that the occupation of the disputed territory by great britain could not in itself conceivably endanger the peace and integrity of the united states, yet as the open violation of a principle upon which we had laid so much stress we could not in honor and dignity have overlooked it. as to the tone of mr. olney's dispatch and of mr. cleveland's message, it must be acknowledged that while the positions assumed were in the main correct, the language was in some cases unfortunate, either from vagueness or generalization. thus mr. olney's statement, that " , miles of intervening ocean make any permanent political union between a european and an american state unnatural and inexpedient,"--whatever he may have meant by it--appears in view of great britain's connection with canada, to have been both untrue and calculated to give offense. likewise mr. cleveland's reference to "the high tribunal that administers international law" was too rhetorical a figure for a state paper. it has, indeed, been suggested that president cleveland and mr. olney deliberately undertook to play a bluff game in order to browbeat the british government. in any case, it should be remembered that the test of a diplomatic move is its success, and judged from this standpoint mr. cleveland's venezuelan policy was vindicated by the results. the british government at once adopted the most friendly attitude and placed valuable information in its archives at the disposal of the commissioners appointed by president cleveland to determine the true boundary line. on november , , before the final report of this commission was made, a complete accord was reached between great britain and the united states by which the terms of a treaty to be ratified by great britain and venezuela were agreed on, the provisions of which embraced a full arbitration of the whole controversy. lord salisbury's sudden change of front has been the subject of much interesting speculation. how far he was influenced by the south african situation has never been revealed, but it undoubtedly had its effect. president cleveland's message was sent to congress december . before the end of the month came dr. jameson's raid into the transvaal, and on the rd of january the german kaiser sent his famous telegram to paul kruger. the attention of england was thus diverted from america to germany, and lord salisbury doubtless thought it prudent to avoid a rupture with the united states in order to be free to deal with the situation in south africa. the anglo-venezuelan treaty provided that an arbitral tribunal should be immediately appointed to determine the true boundary line between venezuela and british guiana. this tribunal was to consist of two members nominated by the judges of the supreme court of the united states and two members nominated by the british supreme court of justice and of a fifth selected by the four persons so nominated, or in the event of their failure to agree within three months of their appointment, selected by the king of sweden and norway. the person so selected was to be president of the tribunal, and it was expressly stipulated that the persons nominated by the supreme court of the united states and england respectively might be members of said courts. certain general rules were also laid down for the guidance of the tribunal.[ ] a treaty embodying substantially these proposals was signed by the british and venezuelan representatives at washington, february , . the decision of the tribunal which met in paris gave a large part of the disputed area to great britain and this occasioned further criticism of president cleveland's action in bringing the united states and england to the verge of war on what was termed an academic issue. the award was a matter of secondary importance. the principle for which the united states contended was vindicated when great britain agreed to arbitrate. it was a great triumph of american diplomacy to force great britain just at this time to recognize in fact, if not in words, the monroe doctrine, for it was not long before germany showed a disposition to question that principle of american policy, and the fact that we had upheld it against england made it easier to deal with germany. the attention of europe and america was drawn to venezuela a second time in when germany made a carefully planned and determined effort to test out the monroe doctrine and see whether we would fight for it. in that year germany, england, and italy made a naval demonstration against venezuela for the purpose of forcing her to recognize the validity of certain claims of their subjects which she had persistently refused to settle. how england was led into the trap is still a mystery, but the kaiser thought that he had her thoroughly committed and that if she once started in with him she could not turn against him. but he had evidently not profited by the experience of napoleon iii in mexico forty years earlier under very similar circumstances. in the case of germany, though the facts were somewhat obscured, the real purpose of the intervention was to collect claims which originated in contract between german subjects and the government of venezuela. one claim was for the recovery of interest seven years in arrears on five per cent. bonds, for which venezuelan customs were pledged as security. another was for seven per cent. dividends guaranteed by the venezuelan government on the capital stock of a railroad built by german subjects at a cost of nearly $ , , . there were still other claims amounting to about $ , for forced loans and military requisitions.[ ] these claims were brought to the attention of the united states government by the german ambassador on december , . their dubious character, regarded from the standpoint of international law, led germany to make what purported to be a frank avowal of her intentions to the united states, and to secure for her action the acquiescence of that government. her ambassador declared that the german government had "no purpose or intention to make even the smallest acquisition of territory on the south american continent or the islands adjacent." this precaution was taken in order to prevent a subsequent assertion of the monroe doctrine. in conclusion the german ambassador stated that his government had decided to "ask the venezuelan government to make a declaration immediately, that it recognizes in principle the correctness of these demands, and is willing to accept the decision of a mixed commission, with the object of having them determined and assured in all their details." at the same time the british government demanded a settlement of claims for the destruction of property and for the ill-treatment and imprisonment of british subjects in the recent civil wars, as well as a settlement of the foreign debt. on december , , mr. hay replied to the german note, thanking the german government for its voluntary and frank declaration, and stating that he did not consider it necessary to discuss the claims in question; but he called attention to the following reference to the monroe doctrine in president roosevelt's message of december , : this doctrine has nothing to do with the commercial relations of any american power, save that it in truth allows each of them to form such as it desires. in other words, it is really a guarantee of the commercial independence of the americas. we do not ask under this doctrine for any exclusive commercial dealings with any other american state. we do not guarantee any state against punishment if it misconducts itself, provided that punishment does not take the form of the acquisition of territory by any non-american power. a year later, after fruitless negotiations, the german government announced to the united states that it proposed, in conjunction with great britain and italy, to establish a pacific blockade of venezuelan harbors. the united states replied that it did not recognize a pacific blockade which adversely affected the rights of third parties as a valid proceeding. the powers then proposed to establish a "warlike blockade," but "without any declaration of war." this device was resorted to at the suggestion of the german government, in order to avoid a formal declaration of war, which could not be made without the consent of the bundesrath. meanwhile, venezuela's gunboats had been seized and her ports blockaded, acts which mr. balfour admitted on the floor of the house of commons constituted a state of war; and on december a formal blockade was announced in accordance with the law of nations, which created a status of belligerency.[ ] the hostilities thus commenced were brought to a close by the diplomatic intervention of the united states. acting under instructions from washington, the american minister herbert w. bowen succeeded in persuading venezuela to recognize in principle the claims of the foreign powers and to refer them to mixed commissions for the purpose of determining the amounts.[ ] great britain and italy agreed to this arrangement, but the german kaiser remained for a time obdurate. what followed germany's refusal to arbitrate is described in thayer's "life and letters of john hay" in the following words: one day, when the crisis was at its height, [president roosevelt] summoned to the white house dr. holleben, the german ambassador, and told him that unless germany consented to arbitrate, the american squadron under admiral dewey would be given orders, by noon ten days later, to proceed to the venezuelan coast and prevent any taking possession of venezuelan territory. dr. holleben began to protest that his imperial master, having once refused to arbitrate, could not change his mind. the president said that he was not arguing the question, because arguments had already been gone over until no useful purpose would be served by repeating them; he was simply giving information which the ambassador might think it important to transmit to berlin. a week passed in silence. then dr. holleben again called on the president, but said nothing of the venezuelan matter. when he rose to go, the president asked him about it, and when he stated that he had received nothing from his government, the president informed him in substance that, in view of this fact, admiral dewey would be instructed to sail a day earlier than the day he, the president, had originally mentioned. much perturbed, the ambassador protested; the president informed him that not a stroke of a pen had been put on paper; that if the emperor would agree to arbitrate, he, the president, would heartily praise him for such action, and would treat it as taken on german initiative; but that within forty-eight hours there must be an offer to arbitrate or dewey would sail with the orders indicated. within thirty-six hours dr. holleben returned to the white house and announced to president roosevelt that a dispatch had just come from berlin, saying that the kaiser would arbitrate. neither admiral dewey (who with an american fleet was then manoeuvering in the west indies) nor any one else knew of the step that was to be taken; the naval authorities were merely required to be in readiness, but were not told what for. on the announcement that germany had consented to arbitrate, the president publicly complimented the kaiser on being so stanch an advocate of arbitration. the humor of this was probably relished more in the white house than in the palace at berlin.[ ] the holleben incident, as narrated for the first time by thayer, was immediately called in question. it will be noted that thayer does not in any way quote hay in the matter, and in the three volumes of "diaries and letters" of john hay, privately printed by mrs. hay in , there is no reference of any kind to the incident. it is evident that thayer got his report of the interview directly from roosevelt himself. it is said on good authority that while colonel roosevelt had no documentary evidence to support his statements at the time that he gave them to thayer, such evidence came to hand in an interesting way shortly after the appearance of the book. two german-americans who had been intimate friends of holleben promptly wrote to colonel roosevelt protesting, not against the facts as stated, but against the use that was made of them. both correspondents stated that they had been told of the interview at the time by holleben. admiral dewey confirmed the statement as to the preparedness of the fleet in a letter dated may , , which was published four days later in the new york _times_. in it he said: i was at culebra, porto rico, at the time in command of a fleet consisting of over fifty ships, including every battleship and every torpedo-boat we had, with orders from washington to hold the fleet in hand and be ready to move at a moment's notice. fortunately, however, the whole matter was amicably adjusted and there was no need for action. in a speech delivered to several thousand republican "pilgrims" at oyster bay, may , colonel roosevelt made the following interesting comments on dewey's letter: just today i was very glad to see published in the papers the letter of admiral dewey describing an incident that took place while i was president. when we were menaced with trouble i acted up to my theory that the proper way of handling international relations was by speaking softly and carrying a big stick. and in that particular case dewey and the american fleet represented the big stick. i asked, on behalf of the nation, the things to which we were entitled. i was as courteous as possible. i not only acted with justice, but with courtesy toward them. i put every battleship and every torpedo-boat on the sea under the american flag and dewey, with instructions to hold himself ready in entire preparedness to sail at a moment's notice. that didn't mean that we were to have war. dewey was the greatest possible provocative of peace.[ ] after the agreement to arbitrate had been made, the situation was further complicated by the demands of the blockading powers that the sums ascertained by the mixed commissions to be due them should be paid in full before anything was paid upon the claims of the peace powers. venezuela insisted that all her creditors should be treated alike. the kaiser, from what motives it is not quite clear, suggested that this question should be referred to president roosevelt, but as the united states was an interested party, secretary hay did not think it would be proper for the president to act, and it was finally agreed that the demands for preferential treatment should be submitted to the hague court. during the summer of ten mixed commissions sat at caracas to adjudicate upon the claims of as many nations against venezuela. these commissions simply determined the amount of the claims in each case. the awards of these commissions are very instructive, as they show the injustice of resorting to measures of coercion for the collection of pecuniary claims which have not been submitted to arbitration. belgian claimants demanded , , bolivars and were awarded , , ; british claimants demanded , , and were awarded , , ; german claimants demanded , , and were awarded , , ; italian claimants demanded , , and were awarded , , ; spanish claimants demanded , , and were awarded , , ; united states claimants demanded , , and were awarded , , .[ ] the decision of the hague court, which was rendered february , , held that the three allied powers were entitled to preferential treatment; that venezuela had recognized in principle the justice of their claims while she had not recognized in principle the justice of the claims of the pacific powers; that the neutral powers had profited to some extent by the operations of the allies, and that their rights remained for the future absolutely intact.[ ] this decision, emanating from a peace court, and indorsing the principle of armed coercion, was received with no small degree of criticism. during the discussions on the venezuelan situation that took place in parliament in december, , the members of the government repeatedly repudiated the charge of the opposition that they were engaged in a debt-collecting expedition, and tried to make it appear that they were protecting the lives and liberties of british subjects. lord cranborne declared: i can frankly tell the house that it is not the claims of the bondholders that bulk largest in the estimation of the government. i do not believe the government would ever have taken the strong measures to which they have been driven if it had not been for the attacks by venezuela upon the lives, the liberty, and the property of british subjects. during the same discussion, mr. norman said: this idea of the british fleet being employed to collect the debts of foreign bondholders is assuredly a mistaken one. it was said by wellington once that the british army did not exist for the purpose of collecting certain debts. it is still more true of the british fleet that it does not exist for the purpose of collecting debts of bondholders. people who lend money to south american republics know what the security is and what they are likely to get in return, and they ought not to have the british fleet at their backs. to this mr. balfour, the prime minister, replied: i do not deny--in fact, i freely admit--that bondholders may occupy an international position which may require international action; but i look upon such international action with the gravest doubt and suspicion, and i doubt whether we have in the past ever gone to war for the bondholders, for those of our countrymen who have lent money to a foreign government; and i confess that i should be very sorry to see that made a practice in this country. against president roosevelt's contention that the coercion of an american state was not contrary to the monroe doctrine, provided that it did "not take the form of acquisition of territory by any non-american power," signor drago, minister of foreign relations of the argentine republic, vigorously protested in a note dated december , .[ ] this note contained a restatement of the "calvo doctrine," which takes its name from a celebrated argentine publicist. in his well-known book on international law, calvo contends that a state has no right to resort to armed intervention for the purpose of collecting the private claims of its citizens against another state. this doctrine, which has received the indorsement of most of the latin-american states, was applied to public bonds in the note above referred to and is now usually known as the "drago doctrine." signor drago held, first, "that the capitalist who lends his money to a foreign state always takes into account the resources of the country and the probability, greater or less, that the obligations contracted will be fulfilled without delay. all governments thus enjoy different credit according to their degree of civilization and culture, and their conduct in business transactions," and these conditions are measured before making loans. second, a fundamental principle of international law is the entity and equality of all states. both the acknowledgment of the debt and the payment must be left to the nation concerned "without diminution of its inherent rights as a sovereign entity." he said further: as these are the sentiments of justice, loyalty, and honor which animate the argentine people and have always inspired its policy, your excellency will understand that it has felt alarm at the knowledge that the failure of venezuela to meet the payment of its public debt is given as one of the determining causes of the capture of its fleet, the bombardment of one of its ports and the establishment of a rigorous blockade along its shores. if such proceedings were to be definitely adopted they would establish a precedent dangerous to the security and the peace of the nations of this part of america. the collection of loans by military means implies territorial occupation to make them effective, and territorial occupation signifies a suppression or subordination of the governments of the countries on which it is imposed. the doctrine so ably expounded by dr. drago attracted much attention during the next few years and was given a place on the program of the third pan american conference held at rio de janeiro in july, . dr. drago had made his proposal as "a statement of policy" for the states of the american continents to adopt. after full discussion the rio conference decided to recommend to the governments represented "that they consider the point of inviting the second peace conference at the hague to consider the question of the compulsory collection of public debts; and, in general, means tending to diminish between nations conflicts having an exclusively pecuniary origin."[ ] as a result of this action the united states modified the regular program prepared by russia for the second hague conference by reserving the right to introduce the question of an "agreement to observe certain limitations in the use of force in collecting public debts accruing from contracts." general horace porter presented to the hague conference a resolution providing that the use of force for the collection of contract debts should not be permitted until the justice of the claim and the amount of the debt should have been determined by arbitration. a large number of reservations were introduced, but the following resolutions were finally adopted by the votes of thirty-nine states, with five states abstaining from voting: the contracting powers agree not to have recourse to armed force for the recovery of contract debts claimed from the government of one country by the government of another country as being due to its nationals. this undertaking is, however, not applicable when the debtor state refuses or neglects to reply to an offer of arbitration, or, after accepting the offer, prevents any "compromis" from being agreed on, or, after the arbitration, fails to submit to the award.[ ] footnotes: [ ] for. rel., - , part i, p. . [ ] "messages and papers of the presidents," vol. ix, p. . [ ] olney to bayard, july , . [ ] moore's "digest of int. law," vol. vi, pp. - , especially mr. fish's report on relations with the spanish-american republics of july , , pp. - . [ ] foreign relations, , p. . [ ] foreign relations, , p. ; , p. . [ ] foreign relations, , pp. , ; moore, "digest of int. law," vol. vii. p. . [ ] moore, "digest of int. law," vol. vi, p. . [ ] thayer, "life and letters of john hay," vol. ii, pp. - . [ ] washington _post_, may , . [ ] venezuelan arbitrations of (sen. doc. no. , fifty-eighth cong., second sess.); foreign relations, , p. . [ ] foreign relations, , p. . for a full report of the case see sen. doc. no. , fifty-eighth cong., third sess. [ ] foreign relations, , p. . [ ] _am. journal of int. law_, vol. ii, p. . [ ] _am. journal of int. law_, vol. ii, supplement, p. . chapter vii the advance of the united states in the caribbean at the beginning of the nineteenth century spain was still in possession of all the shores of the caribbean sea and the gulf of mexico, but the downfall of her vast colonial empire was rapidly approaching. by the secret treaty of san ildefonso she agreed to cede louisiana back to france, and in napoleon sold the entire province to the united states. this was our first acquisition of territory on the gulf of mexico, and it insured a free outlet for the vast region of the mississippi valley. the boundaries of the province were indefinite, and there ensued a long controversy with spain as to whether louisiana included west florida on the one hand and texas on the other. these questions were finally adjusted by the florida treaty of , which ceded both east and west florida to the united states and fixed the western boundary of louisiana on the gulf at the sabine river. by this treaty the united states gained undisputed possession of the region extending from mobile bay to the mississippi, but abandoned the claim to texas. [illustration: the caribbean] it was not many years before american settlers began pouring into texas and came into conflict with the government of mexico, which had by this time become independent of spain. there followed the war of independence and the establishment of the republic of texas in . texas promptly applied for admission to the united states, but mainly through the opposition of the abolitionists she was kept waiting for nine years. the new republic was recognized by the united states and by the principal powers of europe, but mexico refused to concede independence. texas was thus in constant danger of attack from mexico and unable to secure admission to the american union. in april, , a treaty providing for the annexation of texas was submitted to the senate by president tyler, but it was rejected by that body. under these circumstances the public men of texas lent a ready ear to british and french intrigues. great britain wished to encourage the development of texas as a cotton-growing country from which she could draw a large enough supply to make her independent of the united states. if texas should thus devote herself to the production of cotton as her chief export crop, she would naturally adopt a free trade policy and thus create a considerable market for british goods. great britain, therefore, consistently opposed the annexation of texas by the united states and entered into negotiations with france, mexico, and the republic of texas for the express purpose of preventing it. lord aberdeen proposed that the four powers just mentioned should sign a diplomatic act, or perpetual treaty, securing to texas recognition from mexico and peace, but preventing her from ever acquiring territory beyond the rio grande or joining the american union. while the united states would be invited to unite in this act, it was not expected that the government of that country would agree to it. despairing of being received into the american union, texas was apparently ready to accept the british proposal, but lord aberdeen's plan was defeated by the refusal of mexico to recognize under any conditions the independence of texas. aberdeen was willing to coerce mexico and, if need be, to fight the united states, but louis philippe was not willing to go that far. meanwhile the texas question had become the leading political issue in the united states. the democratic platform of demanded "the reannexation of texas at the earliest practicable period," and on this platform polk was elected president. tyler, however, did not wait for his successor to carry out this mandate of the american people, but in the last days of his administration pushed through congress a joint resolution providing for the admission of texas.[ ] mexico promptly severed diplomatic relations with the united states. as mexico had never recognized the independence of texas, she had of course never agreed upon any boundary with the new republic. this was a matter which had to be adjusted and there were also a number of private claims of american citizens against the government of mexico which that government refused to settle. president polk took up both questions with characteristic vigor, and on the refusal of mexico to receive a special minister sent by him for the purpose of discussing these questions, he ordered general taylor to occupy the disputed area between the nueces river and the rio grande. thus began the mexican war, which established the boundary of the united states on the rio grande and added the vast region of new mexico and california to the union. here the tide of american expansion to the south was stayed for a full half century. with the decline of the spanish power great britain had succeeded to naval supremacy in the caribbean. as has been related in previous chapters, the united states and great britain long regarded cuba with jealous eyes and had a controversy lasting for half a century over the control of the proposed isthmian canal. secretary seward at the close of the civil war sought to strengthen the position of the united states in the caribbean by the acquisition of santo domingo and the danish west indies. in a treaty was concluded with denmark providing for the cession of the islands of st. thomas and st. john for $ , , , on condition that the inhabitants should by popular vote give their consent. in undertaking these negotiations the united states was influenced on the one hand by the desire to acquire a naval base, and on the other by the fear that these islands might fall into the hands of one of the greater european powers. the plebiscite in st. john and st. thomas was overwhelmingly in favor of the cession, and the treaty was promptly ratified by the danish rigsdag, but the senate of the united states took no action until march, , when senator sumner presented an adverse report from the committee on foreign relations and the treaty was rejected. in admiral porter and mr. f. w. seward, the assistant secretary of state, were sent to santo domingo for the purpose of securing the lease of samana bay as a naval station. their mission was not successful, but the following year the president of the dominican republic sent an agent to washington proposing annexation and requesting the united states to occupy samana bay at once. in his annual message of december , , president johnson advocated the annexation of santo domingo and a joint resolution to that effect was introduced into the house, but it was tabled without debate by an overwhelming vote. president grant became much interested in this scheme, and soon after entering the white house he sent one of his private secretaries, colonel babcock, to the island to report on the condition of affairs. babcock negotiated a treaty for the annexation of the dominican republic, and another for the lease of samana bay. as colonel babcock was without diplomatic authority of any kind, the cabinet received the treaties in silent amazement, and hamilton fish, who was secretary of state, spoke of resigning, but grant persuaded him to remain in office. the annexation treaty was submitted to the senate in january, , but encountered violent opposition, especially from sumner, chairman of the committee on foreign relations. it was finally rejected june by vote of to . the advance of the united states into the caribbean was thus delayed until the spanish war. as a result of that conflict the united states acquired porto rico and a protectorate over cuba. the real turning-point in the recent history of the west indies was the hay-pauncefote treaty of , under the terms of which great britain relinquished her claim to an equal voice with the united states in the control of an isthmian canal on which she had insisted for half a century. while the hay-pauncefote treaty was limited in terms to the canal question, it was in reality of much wider significance. it amounted in effect to the transference of naval supremacy in the west indies to the united states, for since its signature great britain has withdrawn her squadron from this important strategic area. so marked was great britain's change of attitude toward the united states at this time that some writers have concluded that a secret treaty of alliance was made between the two countries in . the absurdity of such a statement was pointed out by senator lodge several years ago. england's change of attitude is not difficult to understand. for one hundred years after the battle of trafalgar england had pursued the policy of maintaining a navy large enough to meet all comers. with the rapid growth of the navies of russia, japan, and germany during the closing years of the nineteenth century, england realized that she could no longer pursue a policy of isolation. our acquisition of the philippines, the hawaiian islands, and porto rico and our determination to build an isthmian canal made a large american navy inevitable. great britain realized, therefore, that she would have to cast about for future allies. it was on considerations of this kind that she signed the hay-pauncefote treaty with the united states in , and the defensive alliance with japan in . in view of the fact that the united states was bent on carrying out the long deferred canal scheme, great britain realized that a further insistence on her rights under the clayton-bulwer treaty would lead to friction and possible conflict. she wisely decided, therefore, to recede from the position which she had held for half a century and to give us a free hand in the acquisition and control of the canal at whatever point we might choose to build it. in signing the hay-pauncefote treaty she gracefully recognized the fact that the united states had paramount interests in the caribbean which it was unwise for her to contest. since the signature of that treaty american supremacy in this area has not been seriously questioned. the determination to build a canal not only rendered inevitable the adoption of a policy of naval supremacy in the caribbean sea, but led to the formulation of new political policies to be applied in the zone of the caribbean--what admiral chester calls the larger panama canal zone--that is, the west indies, mexico and central america, colombia and venezuela. the policies referred to included the establishment of protectorates, the supervision of finances, the control of all naval routes, the acquisition of naval stations, and the policing and administration of disorderly countries. the advance of the united states in the caribbean since the spanish war has been rapid. the acquisition of porto rico and the establishment of a protectorate over cuba were the natural outcome of that struggle. in we acquired the canal zone under circumstances already described. the following year president roosevelt established financial supervision over the dominican republic. in the united states landed marines in haiti and a treaty was soon drafted under which we assumed financial supervision and administrative control over the affairs of that country. in we acquired by treaty from nicaragua an exclusive right of way for a canal through her territory and the lease of a naval station on fonseca bay, and in we acquired by treaty from denmark her holdings in the west indies known as the virgin islands. these successive steps will be considered in detail. the methods employed by president roosevelt in the acquisition of the panama canal zone described in a previous chapter caused indignation and alarm throughout latin america and created strained relations with colombia. the colombian government refused to recognize the independence of the republic of panama and demanded that her claim to panama as well as her interests in the canal should be submitted to arbitration. colombia claimed that president roosevelt had misinterpreted the treaty of , which established mutual obligations between the united states and colombia with reference to the isthmus, by construing its provisions as obligations to the world at large against colombia. as the united states had always advocated the submission to arbitration of questions involving the construction of treaties, the demand of colombia proved embarrassing, but both secretary hay and his successor, secretary root, rejected the demand for arbitration on the ground that the questions involved were of a political nature.[ ] in january, , shortly before the close of the roosevelt administration, secretary root undertook to reëstablish friendly relations with colombia through the negotiation in the city of washington of three treaties, one between the united states and the republic of colombia, one between the united states and the republic of panama, and one between colombia and panama. in the treaty between colombia and panama the republic of colombia recognized fully the independence of panama, and the republic of panama made an assignment to colombia of the first ten installments of $ , , the amount due annually to the republic of panama from the united states as rental for the canal. according to the treaty between the united states and the republic of panama, concluded november , , the payment of this annual sum was to begin nine years from date. it was now agreed that the first annual payment should be regarded as due four years from the exchange of ratifications of the said treaty, so that of the $ , , to be paid to colombia, half would be paid by the united states and half by panama. in the new treaty between the united states and panama the necessary modification of the treaty of was made so as to permit of this assignment of the first ten installments to colombia. in the treaty between the united states and colombia the most important provision was as follows: the republic of colombia shall have liberty at all times to convey through the ship canal now in course of construction by the united states across the isthmus of panama the troops, materials for war, and ships of war of the republic of colombia, without paying any duty to the united states; even in the case of an international war between colombia and another country. it was further provided that the products of the soil and industry of colombia should be admitted to the canal zone subject only to such duty as would be payable on similar products of the united states under similar conditions, and colombian mails were to have free passage through the canal zone on payment of such duties or charges as were laid on the mails of the united states.[ ] these tripartite treaties were of course to stand or fall together. the united states and panama promptly ratified the agreements to which they were parties, but colombia rejected the arrangement with indignation. in fact, when the terms of the settlement were made public, the colombian administration that urged their acceptance was overthrown, and the colombian envoy who participated in the negotiation of the treaties was forced to flee from the country with an indignant mob at his heels. colombia was not to be appeased by the paltry sum of $ , , . the taft administration made repeated efforts to placate colombia, but without success. on september , , mr. du bois, the american minister to colombia, submitted to secretary knox an interesting review of the whole question in the course of which, after referring to the friendly relations that had so long subsisted between the two countries, he said: nine years ago this was changed suddenly and unexpectedly when president roosevelt denied to colombia the right to land her troops upon her own soil to suppress a threatened revolt and maintain a sovereignty guaranteed by treaty stipulations. the breach came and it has been growing wider since that hour. by refusing to allow colombia to uphold her sovereign rights over a territory where she had held dominion for eighty years, the friendship of nearly a century disappeared, the indignation of every colombian, and millions of other latin-americans, was aroused and is still most intensely alive. the confidence and trust in the justice and fairness of the united states, so long manifested, has completely vanished, and the maleficent influence of this condition is permeating public opinion in all latin-american countries, a condition which, if remedial measures are not invoked, will work inestimable harm throughout the western hemisphere.[ ] mr. du bois reported that on inquiry of prominent colombians of the causes of the rejection of the root proposals he received replies to the following effect: five years after president roosevelt had taken panama from us with rank injustice, your government, still under his chief magistracy, offered us a paltry $ , , if colombia would recognize the independence of her revolted province, fix our frontier at a further loss of territory, open all our ports free to the refuge of vessels employed in the canal enterprise, and exempt them from anchorage or tonnage dues, renounce our rights to all of our contracts and concessions relating to the construction and operation of the canal or railroad across the isthmus, release panama from obligation for the payment of any part of our external debt, much of which was incurred in the interest of panama, and enter into negotiations for the revision of the treaty of , which five years before had been openly violated by the united states in their failure to help maintain the sovereignty over the rebellious province which they had solemnly guaranteed. the reply was to this, banishment of our minister who negotiated the treaty, and all south america applauded our attitude.[ ] mr. du bois then proceeded to state at length colombia's claims which he summarized as follows: "panama railroad annuities, $ , , ; value of railroad, $ , , ; panama canal rights, $ , , ; cost of costa rican boundary arbitration, $ , ; total, $ , , . [the total should be $ , , .] besides this sum, colombia has lost the province of panama, whose value cannot be readily estimated."[ ] in conclusion he urged the importance of a speedy adjustment of the differences with colombia in the following words: south america is advancing along commercial lines with giant strides. the character of the future relations of the united states with that country will be of signal importance. friendly intercourse with all latin america should be carefully developed and maintained, and especially is this important with colombia, which borders the isthmus, has fine ports on both oceans, and is destined to become an influential factor in the political and commercial life of south america, especially in all countries bordering on the caribbean sea. to approach colombia in a conciliatory spirit and seek a renewal of her ancient friendship would not only be a wise and just move on the part of the united states, but as colombia and all south and central america firmly believe that the government of the united states was unjust in the panama incident, from which has come infinite distress to colombia, it would be a benevolent and fraternal act, and the time to move is the present, before the canal opens and while the public sentiment of both countries is in harmony with the movement.[ ] at the time that the above report on relations with colombia was prepared by mr. du bois he was in this country, having come home to confer with the department of state as to the program to be followed in the settlement of the differences with colombia. on his return to bogota, mr. du bois submitted the following proposals to the colombian government: ( ) ratification of the root treaties, involving the payment to colombia of the first ten installments of the annual rental of the canal zone amounting to $ , , ; ( ) the payment of $ , , by the united states to colombia for the right to build an interoceanic canal by the atrato route and for the lease of the islands of old providence and st. andrews as coaling stations; ( ) the good offices of the united states on behalf of colombia in bringing about an adjustment of the boundary line between colombia and panama; ( ) the submission to arbitration of the claims of colombia to reversionary rights in the panama railroad assumed by the united states under article xxii of the treaty of between the united states and panama, estimated by mr. taft's secretary of war at over $ , , ; and ( ) the granting of preferential rights to colombia in the use of the panama canal. the colombian government promptly rejected these proposals and in reply demanded "arbitration of the whole question of panama or a direct proposition on the part of the united states to give colombia compensation for all the moral, physical, and financial losses which she sustained as a result of the separation of panama." the colombian minister declared: should colombia grant any territorial privileges to the united states after the wrong that country has inflicted upon this republic, it would result in intense agitation and possible revolution. it seems as though your people have never fully realized the enormity of the wrong the united states has perpetrated against the colombian people. mr. du bois then asked whether colombia would accept $ , , , the good offices of the united states in settling the differences with panama, arbitration of the reversionary rights in the panama railroad, and preferential rights in the canal, without granting to the united states any privileges or concessions whatever. receiving a negative reply to this proposal, mr. du bois, acting on his own responsibility, then inquired informally whether $ , , without options of any kind would satisfy colombia. the answer was that colombia would accept nothing but the arbitration of the whole panama question. mr. du bois was instructed february , , to stop negotiations. in reporting the matter to the president, secretary knox said that colombia seemed determined to treat with the incoming democratic administration.[ ] when the wilson administration came in, secretary bryan took up the negotiations with colombia where knox dropped them, and concluded a treaty according to the terms of which the united states was to express "sincere regret that anything should have occurred to interrupt or to mar the relations of cordial friendship that had so long subsisted between the two nations," and to pay colombia $ , , . the treaty further granted colombia the same preferential rights in the use of the canal which the taft administration had proposed, and in return colombia agreed to recognize the independence of panama and to accept a boundary line laid down in the treaty. this treaty was submitted to the senate june , . as soon as its terms were made public ex-president roosevelt denounced it as blackmail, and wrote a letter to the chairman of the senate committee on foreign affairs requesting to be heard before any action was taken on the treaty. during the first session of the sixty-sixth congress in the colombian treaty was reported from the committee on foreign relations with important amendments. article i, containing expressions of regret on the part of the united states for the events that had taken place on the isthmus, was entirely stricken out. the clause giving colombia the right to transport through the canal its troops, materials of war, and ships of war, "even in case of war between colombia and another country," was amended by the elimination of the words in quotations. the sum of $ , , , instead of being paid in cash, was to be paid in five annual installments. the senate refused, however, to give its consent to the ratification of the treaty even in this form, and it is understood that it was proposed to cut the payment to colombia down to $ , , . a great nation like the united states, which has always professed to be guided in international questions by high standards of justice and morality, cannot afford to delay indefinitely the settlement of a dispute of this kind with a weak nation like colombia. president roosevelt's action in the panama matter made a bad impression throughout latin america and caused our policy in the caribbean to be regarded with grave suspicion. as to colombia's rights in the matter, secretary bryan made the following statement in his argument before the senate committee on foreign relations in support of the treaty: it is contended by some that the action taken by the united states was based upon the necessities of the case, and those necessities, as stated by those who take this position are, that colombia was not able to build the canal herself and was not willing to sell to the united states upon reasonable terms the right to build the canal. those who take this position put the united states in the attitude of exercising the right of eminent domain in the interest of the world's commerce; but the exercise of the right of eminent domain does not relieve those who exercise it of liability for actual damages suffered. take, for illustration, the condemning of a block of ground for a public building. suppose that every lot owner excepting one is willing to sell his land to the government at its market value, but that one of the lot owners, whose lot is necessary to the erection of the building, asks more than the land is worth. the government proceeds to condemn the property, but it does not attempt to escape from paying what the land is actually worth, and the actual value of the property is not reduced one dollar by any effort that the owner may make to obtain for it more than it is worth. if it is contended that the price offered by the united states prior to panama's separation was a reasonable one, and that colombia ought to have accepted it, that valuation cannot be reduced merely because colombia was not willing to accept the offer. this illustration is based upon the theory adopted by those who say that colombia was entirely in the wrong in refusing to accept the offer made by the united states, but this theory, it will be remembered, is disputed by the people of colombia, who defend the position their government then took and, as has been said before, they have ever since asked that the controversy be arbitrated by some impartial tribunal.[ ] in president roosevelt made a radical departure from the traditional policy of the united states in proposing that we should assume the financial administration of the dominican republic in order to prevent certain european powers from resorting to the forcible collection of debts due their subjects. on september , , minister dawson reported to the state department that the debt of santo domingo was $ , , , the estimated revenues from customs receipts $ , , , and the proposed budget for current expenses $ , , , leaving only $ , with which to meet payments of interest, then accruing and in arrears, amounting to $ , , . about $ , , of this debt was due to european creditors. most of this indebtedness had been incurred by revolutionary leaders who had at various times taken forcible possession of the government and hastened to raise all the money they could by the sale of bonds, leaving the responsibility with their successors. the european creditors of santo domingo were pressing for the recognition of their claims. germany seemed especially determined to force a settlement of her demands, and it was well known that germany had for years regarded the monroe doctrine as the main hindrance in the way of her acquiring a foothold in latin america. the only effective method of collecting the interest on the foreign debt appeared to be the seizure and administration of the dominican custom-houses by some foreign power or group of foreign powers. president roosevelt foresaw that such an occupation of the custom-houses would, in view of the large debt, constitute the occupation of american territory by european powers for an indefinite period of time, and would therefore be a violation of the monroe doctrine. he had before him also the results of a somewhat similar financial administration of egypt undertaken jointly by england and france in , and after arabi's revolt continued by england alone, with the result that egypt soon became a possession of the british crown to almost as great a degree as if it had been formally annexed. president roosevelt concluded, therefore, that where it was necessary to place a bankrupt american republic in the hands of a receiver, the united states must undertake to act as receiver and take over the administration of its finances. the policy that he was about to adopt was stated as follows in his annual message of december , : any country whose people conduct themselves well can count upon our hearty friendship. if a nation shows that it knows how to act with reasonable efficiency and decency in social and political matters, if it keeps order and pays its obligations, it need fear no interference from the united states. chronic wrongdoing, or an impotence which results in a general loosening of the ties of civilized society, may in america, as elsewhere, ultimately require intervention by some civilized nation, and in the western hemisphere, the adherence of the united states to the monroe doctrine may force the united states, however reluctantly, in flagrant cases of such wrongdoing or impotence, to the exercise of an international police power. about the same time minister dawson was directed by secretary hay to suggest to the dominican government that it request the united states to take charge of its customs. as the dominican government saw no other way out of its difficulties, it responded to this suggestion, and on february , , a protocol was signed by mr. dawson and the dominican foreign minister which provided that the united states should guarantee the territorial integrity of the dominican republic, take charge of its custom-houses, administer its finances, and settle its obligations, foreign as well as domestic. in calling the new agreement a "protocol" instead of a "treaty," the president had probably not intended to submit it to the senate, but the proposal to depart so radically from our past policy created so much criticism that the senate was finally asked to ratify the protocol in regular form. this they failed to do, but the president did not propose to be thwarted in this way. as the senate would not sanction his appointment of a receiver of customs for santo domingo, he drafted a _modus vivendi_, under the terms of which the president of the dominican republic appointed a receiver of customs named unofficially by president roosevelt, who proceeded to administer the affairs of the republic under the protection of the united states navy, whose ships the president could as commander-in-chief order wherever he pleased. the president's course met with determined opposition both in and out of congress, but as he was bent on having his way and continued to carry out his policy without the sanction of the senate, that body finally decided that it would be best to give the arrangement a definite legal status. on february , , the senate agreed to the ratification of a revised treaty which omitted the territorial-guarantee clause, but provided that the president of the united states should appoint a general receiver of dominican customs and such assistants as he might deem necessary; that the government of the united states should afford them such protection as might be necessary for the performance of their duties; and that until the bonded debt should be paid in full, the dominican government would not increase its debt except with the consent of the united states. in the meantime, under the _interim_ arrangement, conditions in santo domingo had greatly improved, the customs receipts had nearly doubled, and the creditors had agreed to compromise their claims, so that the total debt at the time the above treaty was ratified amounted to not more than $ , , .[ ] in spite of the criticism that president roosevelt's policy encountered, the taft administration not only continued it in santo domingo, but tried to extend it to nicaragua and honduras. the five republics of central america had been for years in a state of political and economic disorder as the result of wars and revolutions. in there was a war between guatemala and salvador, in which honduras became involved as the ally of salvador. president roosevelt invited president diaz of mexico to unite with him in an offer of mediation, which resulted in a peace conference held aboard the u. s. s. _marblehead_. at this conference the belligerents agreed to suspend hostilities and to attend another conference for the purpose of drafting a general treaty of peace. the second conference was held at san josé, costa rica, but president zelaya of nicaragua declined to send a representative because he was unwilling to recognize the right of the united states to intervene in central american affairs. at this time zelaya was systematically interfering in the internal affairs of the other central american states, and exercised such complete control over the government of honduras that guatemala and salvador were endeavoring to stir up revolutions against him in that state and in nicaragua. war was about to break out in the summer of when president roosevelt and president diaz again intervened diplomatically and persuaded the central american governments to suspend warlike preparations and to attend a conference in the city of washington. in november the delegates of the five central american states met in the bureau of american republics and were addressed by secretary root and the mexican ambassador. the delegates adopted a general treaty of peace, providing for the settlement of existing differences and for the establishment of a central american court of justice composed of five judges, one to be elected by the legislature of each state. the five republics agreed to submit to this tribunal all controversies of whatever nature that might arise between them which could not be settled through ordinary diplomatic channels. but president zelaya of nicaragua, who still controlled honduras, continued his interference in the affairs of the other republics by encouraging revolutionary movements and sending out filibustering expeditions. he was also hostile to the central american court of justice, and it became evident that there was little chance of permanent peace as long as zelaya remained in power. when, therefore, in october, , members of the conservative party started a revolution at bluefields against zelaya's government, the movement was regarded with sympathy in the other central american republics and in washington. conditions became so intolerable that many people in nicaragua and honduras appealed to the united states to intervene for the purpose of restoring order. president diaz of mexico was friendly to zelaya and informed the united states that he did not care to take any further action. this brought to an end the coöperative efforts of the two governments and thereafter the united states had to act alone. nothing was done, however, until two americans were executed by zelaya's order in november, . as a result of these executions, which were without legal excuse and attended by barbarous cruelties, president taft promptly severed diplomatic relations with zelaya's government. in a dispatch to the nicaraguan chargé, december , , secretary knox said: since the washington conventions of , it is notorious that president zelaya has almost continuously kept central america in tension or turmoil; that he has repeatedly and flagrantly violated the provisions of the conventions, and, by a baleful influence upon honduras, whose neutrality the conventions were to assure, has sought to discredit those sacred international obligations, to the great detriment of costa rica, el salvador, and guatemala, whose governments meanwhile appear to have been able patiently to strive for the loyal support of the engagements so solemnly undertaken at washington under the auspices of the united states and mexico. he added that under the régime of president zelaya republican institutions had ceased to exist in nicaragua except in name, that public opinion and the press had been throttled, and that prison had been the reward of any tendency to real patriotism. the government of the united states was convinced, he said, "that the revolution represents the ideals and the will of a majority of the nicaraguan people more faithfully than does the government of president zelaya."[ ] this note caused the speedy downfall of zelaya's government. he tried to perpetuate his party in power by resigning the presidency to dr. madriz, but president taft refused to recognize the madriz government, and a few months later it was overthrown and the revolutionary party came into power, first under the presidency of estrada and then under that of adolfo diaz. the revolution had paralyzed agriculture and commerce and thrown the country into financial chaos. in october, , the united states government sent thomas c. dawson to managua to investigate conditions and to straighten out the political and financial affairs of nicaragua. while he was engaged in this task, secretary knox negotiated at washington two treaties, one between the united states and honduras, signed january , , and a similar treaty between the united states and nicaragua, signed june . these treaties were intended to place the two countries concerned under the financial supervision of the united states. they provided for the appointment in each case of a collector of customs approved by the president of the united states, and made the customs receipts responsible for loans to be advanced by american bankers. the collectorship of customs was immediately established in nicaragua without waiting for the ratification of the treaty by the senate, and through the efforts of the state department american bankers made preliminary loans to the nicaraguan government. when the senate rejected the treaty, the bankers refused to make further loans, and the situation was almost as bad as ever. in october, , general mena, minister of war and head of a faction of his own, was elected by the assembly president of the republic, but as this was contrary to an agreement which had been made with dawson, it did not meet with the approval of the united states, and president diaz removed mena from office and forced him to flee from the capital. shortly afterwards mena was taken seriously ill, and the opposition to president diaz fell again under the control of zelaya's followers. as president diaz was unable to guarantee protection to the life and property of foreigners, he asked the united states for assistance. in answer to this request american marines were landed at corinto and assumed control of the national railway which connected that port with the capital and the principal cities. the american minister made a public announcement to the effect that the united states intended to keep open the routes of communication and to protect american life and property. this announcement was a great blow to the revolutionists. some of their leaders surrendered voluntarily to the american marines, while others were attacked and forced to surrender positions along the railroad which they insisted upon holding. in these operations seven american marines lost their lives. since a legation guard of one hundred marines has been maintained at the capital of nicaragua and a warship has been stationed at corinto. after the revolutionary movement was thus overthrown, secretary knox negotiated a new treaty for the purpose of helping the nicaraguan government out of the financial straits in which it found itself. great britain was threatening to force the payment of its claims and certain german interests, which were operating banana plantations in costa rica, were trying to secure from the nicaraguan government a concession for the construction of a canal from the great lake to the atlantic along the san juan river. according to the terms of the knox treaty the united states was to pay nicaragua $ , , in return for an exclusive right of way for a canal through her territory, a naval base on the gulf of fonseca, and the lease for ninety-nine years of the great corn and little corn islands in the caribbean. this treaty was submitted to the senate february , , but the close of the taft administration was then at hand, and no action was taken. the wilson administration followed the same policy, however, and in july, , secretary bryan submitted a third treaty with nicaragua containing the provisions of the second knox treaty and in addition certain provisions of the platt amendment which defines our protectorate over cuba. this treaty aroused strong opposition in the other central american states, and costa rica, salvador, and honduras filed formal protests with the united states government against its ratification on the ground that it would convert nicaragua into a protectorate of the united states and thus defeat the long-cherished plan for a union of the central american republics. they also claimed that the treaty infringed their own rights. in costa rica had been granted perpetual rights of free navigation in the lower part of the san juan river, and nicaragua had agreed to consult her before granting any concessions for the construction of an interoceanic canal. salvador and honduras objected to the establishment of a naval base in the gulf of fonseca in close proximity to their coasts. they also asserted proprietary rights in the gulf of fonseca, claiming that salvador, honduras, and nicaragua, as successors of the old central american federation, exercised joint ownership over the gulf. efforts were made by the united states to arrive at a settlement with costa rica and salvador on the basis of a money payment, but without success. moreover, the senate of the united states objected to the protectorate feature of the treaty and refused to ratify it, but the negotiations were renewed, and on august , , a new treaty, which omits the provisions of the platt amendment, was signed at washington. this treaty, which was finally ratified by the senate, february , , grants to the united states in perpetuity the exclusive right to construct a canal by way of the san juan river and lake nicaragua, and leases to the united states for ninety-nine years a naval base on the gulf of fonseca, and also the great corn and little corn islands as coaling stations. the consideration for these favors was the sum of $ , , to be expended, with the approval of the secretary of state of the united states, in paying the public debt of nicaragua, and for other purposes to be agreed on by the two contracting parties. in consenting to the ratification of the treaty the senate, in order to meet the objections raised by costa rica, salvador, and honduras, attached to their resolution of ratification the proviso "that nothing in said convention is intended to affect any existing right of any of the said states." this reservation did not satisfy costa rica and salvador, who took their cases to the central american court of justice, requesting that nicaragua be enjoined from carrying out the provisions of the treaty. nicaragua refused to be a party to the action, but the court nevertheless assumed jurisdiction. its decision in the case of costa rica was announced september , . it declared that nicaragua had violated costa rica's rights, but, as the court had no jurisdiction over the united states, it declined to declare the treaty void. a similar decision in the case of salvador was handed down on march , .[ ] neither nicaragua nor the united states has paid any attention to the decision of the central american court of justice, which was set up under such favorable auspices by the washington conventions. as a matter of fact, the court had not fulfilled the expectations of those who had been interested in its establishment, but it was unfortunate that it should have received its _coup de grâce_ from the united states. furthermore, it has been charged that the state department, under the knox régime, exploited the situation in central america for the benefit of american capitalists, and that the wilson administration has for years maintained a minority party in power through the presence of a body of american marines at the capital and a warship at corinto. on the other hand, it cannot be denied that as a result of american policy, central america has been freer from wars and revolutions for a longer period than at any other time in its history. the better element of the population appears to be satisfied with the situation.[ ] the treaty with the negro republic of haiti, ratified by the senate february , , carries the new caribbean policies of the united states to the farthest limits short of actual annexation. shortly before the outbreak of the european war, haitian finances were in such bad shape as the result of internal disorders that there was grave danger of european intervention, and the united states was considering the question of acquiring supervision over the finances of the republic. in june, , a crisis in the internal affairs of haiti seemed imminent and, at the request of the state department, rear-admiral caperton was ordered to haitian waters. towards the latter part of july the government of president guillaume was overthrown, and he and members of his cabinet took refuge in the french and dominican legations. these buildings were entered by a mob, president guillaume was slain at the gate of the french legation, his body cut in pieces, and dragged about the town. admiral caperton at once landed a force of marines at port au prince in order to protect the lives and property of foreigners. an additional force was brought from guantanamo and the total number raised to two thousand and placed under the command of colonel waller. there was but slight resistance to the landing of the marines, but a few days later a conflict occurred in which two americans were killed.[ ] on august a new president was elected who coöperated with the american forces in their efforts to establish peace and order, and on september a treaty with the united states was signed at port au prince. this treaty provides for the establishment of a receivership of haitian customs under the control of the united states similar in most respects to that established over the dominican republic. it also provides for the appointment, on the nomination of the president of the united states, of a financial adviser, who shall assist in the settlement of the foreign debt and direct expenditures of the surplus for the development of the agricultural, mineral, and commercial resources of the republic. it provides further for a native constabulary under american officers appointed by the president of haiti upon nomination of the president of the united states. and it extends to haiti the main provisions of the platt amendment. by controlling the internal financial administration of the government the united states hopes to remove all incentives for those revolutions which have in the past had for their object a raid on the public treasury, and by controlling the customs and maintaining order the united states hopes to avoid all possibility of foreign intervention. the treaty is to remain in force for a period of ten years and for another period of ten years if either party presents specific reasons for continuing it on the ground that its purpose has not been fully accomplished. the latest acquisition of the united states in the caribbean is that of the danish west indies, or virgin islands. reference has already been made to the treaty negotiated by secretary seward in for the purchase of these islands, which was unfortunately rejected by the senate. another attempt at purchase was made by president roosevelt in . a treaty providing for the cession of the group to the united states was signed at washington on january of that year and approved by the senate february , but this time the danish rigsdag refused to give its approval. president roosevelt was moved by the consideration that the danish islands were of great strategic importance in connection with the problem of guarding the approaches to the panama canal. the commercial value of the islands is also great. moreover, the united states was confronted by the possibility of their falling under the control of germany or some other european power, which might use them as a naval base. had germany been successful in the recent war, she might have forced denmark to sell or cede the islands to her. in view of this possibility, negotiations were taken up again with denmark in , and on august secretary lansing concluded a treaty by which the united states acquired the islands of st. thomas, st. john, and st. croix, together with some adjacent small islands and rocks, for the sum of $ , , . this treaty was duly ratified by the senate and the ratifications were exchanged january , . the rapid advance of the united states in the caribbean, described in the preceding pages, naturally aroused the fears of the smaller latin-american states and lent color to the charge that the united states had converted the monroe doctrine from a policy of benevolent protection to one of imperialistic aggression. as a matter of fact, the monroe doctrine has never been regarded by the united states as in any sense a self-denying declaration. president monroe said that we should consider any attempt on the part of the european powers "to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety." the primary object of the policy outlined by president monroe was, therefore, the peace and safety of the united states. the protection of latin-american states against european intervention was merely a means of protecting ourselves. while the united states thus undertook to prevent the encroachment of european powers in latin america, it has never admitted any limitation upon the possibility of its own expansion in this region. the silence of the monroe doctrine on this question has been remedied to some extent by president wilson, who, at the outset of his administration, gave the assurance that "the united states will never again seek one additional foot of territory by conquest." this declaration, followed by his refusal to be forced into war with mexico, has done much to remove the suspicion with which our recent policies in the caribbean have been regarded by our southern neighbors. his sincerity was further attested by his ready acceptance of the proffered mediation of the a b c powers in the mexican embroglio and by the encouragement which he has given to the pan american movement. footnotes: [ ] e. d. adams, "british interests and activities in texas, - " ( ); justin h. smith, "the annexation of texas" ( ) and "the war with mexico," vols. ( ); diplomatic correspondence of the republic of texas, edited by g. p. garrison (annual reports, am. hist. ass'n, , ). [ ] house doc. no. , sixty-second cong., third sess., pp. , ; sen. ex. doc. no. , sixty-fifth cong., special sess., pp. , . [ ] sen. ex. doc. no. , sixty-fifth cong., special sess., pp. - . [ ] sen. ex. doc. no. , sixty-fifth cong., special sess., p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] sen. ex. doc. no. , sixty-fifth cong., special sess., p. . [ ] _ibid._ [ ] sen. ex. doc. no. , sixty-fifth cong., special sess., pp. - . [ ] sen. ex. doc. no. , sixty-fifth cong., special sess., pp. - . [ ] foreign relations, , p. ; moore, "digest of int. law," vol. vi, pp. - ; _am. journal of int. law_, vol. i, p. , and documentary supplement, p. . [ ] foreign relations, , p. . [ ] d. g. munro, "the five republics of central america," p. . [ ] for recent and authoritative information on central american affairs, see the volume by dana g. munro, "the five republics of central america." (carnegie endowment for international peace, .) [ ] secretary of the navy, annual report , pp. - . chapter viii pan americanism the pan american movement, which has for its object the promotion of closer social, economic, financial, and political relations between the independent republics of the western hemisphere, has attracted much attention in recent years. the pan american ideal is an old one, dating back, in fact, to the panama congress of . the object of this congress was not very definitely stated in the call which was issued by simon bolivar, but his purpose was to secure the independence and peace of the new spanish-american republics either through a permanent confederation or through a series of diplomatic congresses. henry clay, who was secretary of state at the time, was enthusiastically in favor of accepting the invitation extended to the united states to participate in the congress. president adams agreed, therefore, to the acceptance of the invitation, but the matter was debated at great length in both house and senate. in the senate the debate was particularly acrimonious. the policy of the administration was denounced as dangerous, and it was asserted that a participation in the congress at panama could be of no benefit to the united states and might be the means of involving us in international complications. one of the topics proposed for discussion was "the manner in which all colonization of european powers on the american continent shall be restricted." the senate committee on foreign affairs objected strenuously to the united states in any way committing itself to guaranteeing the territory of any other american state. the slavery question also projected itself into the debate, mainly because the negro republic of haiti was to be represented and because most of the other states had proclaimed the emancipation of slaves. the senate finally agreed to the nomination of richard c. anderson, of kentucky, and john sergeant, of pennsylvania, as envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary to the assembly of american nations at panama, and congress made the necessary appropriation. the delay proved fatal to the plan, however, for the american delegates did not reach panama until after the congress had adjourned. in view of the opposition which the plan encountered in congress, the instructions to the american delegates were very carefully drawn by secretary clay and their powers were strictly limited. they were cautioned against committing their government in any way to the establishment of "an amphictyonic council, invested with power finally to decide controversies between the american states or to regulate in any respect their conduct. such a council might have been well enough adapted to a number of small contracted states, whose united territory would fall short of the extent of that of the smallest of the american powers. the complicated and various interests which appertain to the nations of this vast continent cannot be safely confided to the superintendence of one legislative authority. we should almost as soon expect to see an amphictyonic council to regulate the affairs of the whole globe. but even if it were desirable to establish such a tribunal, it is beyond the competency of the government of the united states voluntarily to assent to it, without a previous change of their actual constitution." the delegates were also instructed to oppose the formation of an offensive and defensive alliance between the american powers, for, as mr. clay pointed out, the holy alliance had abandoned all idea of assisting spain in the conquest of her late colonies. continuing, he said: other reasons concur to dissuade the united states from entering into such an alliance. from the first establishment of their present constitution, their illustrious statesmen have inculcated the avoidance of foreign alliances as a leading maxim of their foreign policy. it is true, that in its adoption, their attention was directed to europe, which having a system of connections and of interests remote and different from ours, it was thought most advisable that we should not mix ourselves up with them. and it is also true, that long since the origin of the maxim, the new american powers have arisen, to which, if at all, it is less applicable. without, therefore, asserting that an exigency may not occur in which an alliance of the most intimate kind between the united states and the other american republics would be highly proper and expedient, it may be safely said that the occasion which would warrant a departure from that established maxim ought to be one of great urgency, and that none such is believed now to exist. among the objections to such alliances, those which at all times have great weight are, first, the difficulty of a just and equal arrangement of the contributions of force and of other means between the respective parties to the attainment of the common object; and secondly, that of providing beforehand, and determining with perfect precision, when the _casus foederis_ arises, and thereby guarding against all controversies about it. there is less necessity for any such alliance at this juncture on the part of the united states, because no compact, by whatever solemnities it might be attended, or whatever name or character it might assume, could be more obligatory upon them than the irresistible motive of self-preservation, which would be instantly called into operation, and stimulate them to the utmost exertion in the supposed contingency of an european attack upon the liberties of america.[ ] the british government sent a special envoy to reside near the congress and to place himself in frank and friendly communication with the delegates. canning's private instructions to this envoy declared that, any project for putting the u. s. of north america at the head of an american confederacy, as against europe, would be highly displeasing to your government. it would be felt as an ill return for the service which has been rendered to those states, and the dangers which have been averted from them, by the countenance and friendship, and public declarations of great britain; and it would probably, at no distant period, endanger the peace both of america and of europe. the panama congress was without practical results, and it possesses merely an historical interest. as a matter of fact, only four republics, colombia, central america, peru, and mexico, were represented. several treaties and conventions were drafted with the view mainly of combined defense against spain, but ratification was withheld by all of the states except colombia, which gave only a partial approval to what had been done. before adjourning, the congress of panama decided to meet again at the town of tacubaya, near the city of mexico, and to continue its sessions at stated intervals. but as the result of the failure of the states represented at the congress to ratify the agreements arrived at, and as the result of internal disorders, the plan was not carried out, although mexico issued invitations for another congress in , , , and . in the republics of bolivia, chile, ecuador, new granada, and peru held a so-called "american congress" at lima, which drafted a treaty of confederation, one of commerce and navigation, a consular convention, and a postal convention. these treaties were not ratified and, therefore, the congress was without practical results. the preamble of the proposed treaty of confederation referred to the nations assembled as being "bound to each other by the ties of a common origin, a common language, a common religion, common customs, and the common cause for which they have struggled, as well as by their geographical position, the similarity of their institutions, and their analogous ancestors and reciprocal interests." it is evident, therefore, that this particular congress was spanish-american rather than pan american.[ ] in the republics of peru, chile, and ecuador signed at santiago a treaty of confederation, known as "the continental treaty," for the purpose of "cementing upon substantial foundations the union which exists between them, as members of the great american family, which are bound together by the ties of a common origin, similar institutions, and many other signs of fraternity." this treaty was not ratified. it seems to have been dictated by a spirit of hostility to the united states as the result of the filibustering enterprise of william walker in central america. the question of a "continental" league was discussed between costa rica and colombia in . after stating that, "there are not always at the head of the great republic moderate, just, and upright men as those who form the administration of president lincoln," costa rica continued: if our republics could have the guaranty that they have nothing to fear from the united states of north america, it is indubitable that no other nation could be more useful and favorable to us. under the shelter of her powerful eagles, under the influence of her wise institutions, and under the spur of her astonishing progress our newly-born nationalities should receive the impulse which they now need, and would be permitted to march with firm step, without experiencing the troubles and difficulties with which they have had to struggle.... in view of the above considerations, the idea has occurred to my government that a new compact might be draughted by which the united states of north america should bind themselves solemnly to respect, and cause others to respect, the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of the sister republics of this continent; not to annex to their territory, either by purchase or by any other means, any part of the territory of the said republics; not to allow filibustering expeditions to be fitted up against the said nations, or to permit the rights of the latter to be in any way abridged or ignored.[ ] in january, , the government of peru issued invitations to all the governments of the spanish nations of america to join in a congress to be held at lima. the objects of the meeting as stated in the invitation were "to declare that the american nations represented in this congress form one single family," to improve postal facilities, to exchange statistical data, to provide for the settlement of all boundary disputes, and "to irrevocably abolish war, superseding it by arbitration, as the only means of compromising all misunderstandings and causes for disagreements between any of the south american republics." in accepting the invitation to the congress colombia expressed the opinion that "the united states ought not to be invited, because their policy is adverse to all kind of alliances, and because the natural preponderance which a first-class power, as they are, has to exercise in the deliberations, might embarrass the action of the congress." so far as definite results were concerned, this congress at lima was of no greater importance than its predecessors. the french invasion of mexico and the war between spain and the republics on the west coast of south america in - brought about a realization of their danger on the part of the spanish-american republics and a fuller appreciation of the friendship of the united states. in the war between spain on the one hand and the allied republics of peru, chile, bolivia, and ecuador on the other, the united states declared its neutrality as usual, but at an early period of the struggle secretary seward offered to mediate between the warring nations. spain refused to accept this offer, and the war dragged on in a state of "technical continuance" merely. the offer of mediation was again renewed by secretary fish, with the result that a conference was held at the state department in attended by the representatives of spain, peru, chile, and ecuador. while it was found impossible to conclude a formal peace, the delegates signed an armistice april , , by which the de facto suspension of hostilities was converted into an armistice which was to continue indefinitely and could not be broken by any of the belligerents without three years' notice, given through the government of the united states, of intention to renew hostilities.[ ] within ten years of the signature of this perpetual armistice, war broke out between chile, on the one hand, and peru and bolivia, on the other ( - ). the subject of dispute was the nitrate deposits of northern chile. in chile signed with colombia an arbitration treaty which provided that in case the two parties should be unable in any given case to agree upon an arbitrator, the matter should be referred to the president of the united states. article iii of this treaty was as follows: the united states of colombia and the republic of chile will endeavor, at the earliest opportunity, to conclude with the other american nations conventions like unto the present, to the end that the settlement by arbitration of each and every international controversy shall become a principle of american public law. a few weeks later, without waiting for the ratification of this treaty, colombia issued invitations to the other spanish-american republics to attend a conference at panama for the purpose of securing their adherence to the treaty. the failure to include the united states in the invitation to the conference was explained by our minister to colombia as being due "to the reason that the position assigned to the government of the united states by the proposed treaty is to maintain and exercise a friendly and judicial impartiality in the differences which may arise between the powers of spanish america."[ ] the continuance of the war between chile and peru led to the indefinite postponement of the conference. on november , , secretary elaine extended "to all the independent countries of north and south america an earnest invitation to participate in a general congress, to be held in the city of washington on the th day of november, , for the purpose of considering and discussing the methods of preventing war between the nations of america." he expressed the desire that the attention of the congress should be strictly confined to this one great object, and he expressed the hope that in setting a day for the assembling of the congress so far ahead, the war that was then in progress on the south pacific coast would be ended, and the nations engaged would be able to take part in the proceedings.[ ] in this expectation mr. blaine was disappointed. the war between chile and peru continued, and the invitations to the conference were withdrawn. toward the close of president cleveland's first administration, the congress of the united states passed an act authorizing the president to invite the republics of mexico, central and south america, haiti, santo domingo, and the empire of brazil, to join the united states in a conference at washington on october , . among the subjects proposed for discussion were the adoption of a customs union, the improvement of the means of communication between the various countries, uniform customs regulations, a uniform system of weights and measures, laws for the protection of patents and copyrights, extradition, the adoption of a common silver coin, and the formulation of a definite plan for the arbitration of international disputes of every character. when the conference assembled, mr. blaine was again secretary of state, and presided over its opening sessions. the conference formulated a plan for international arbitration and declared that this means of settling disputes was "a principle of american international law." unfortunately this treaty was not ratified by the governments whose representatives adopted it. the most lasting achievement of the conference was the establishment of the bureau of american republics in washington. while the conference was in session brazil went through a bloodless revolution, which converted the empire into a republic. thus disappeared the only independent monarchy of european origin which ever existed on american soil. scarcely had the washington conference adjourned, when the united states and chile got into an ugly wrangle and were brought to the verge of war over an attack on american sailors on shore leave at valparaiso. during the civil war between president balmaceda and the congressional party, the american minister, mr. egan, admitted to the american legation certain adherents of the president. the people of chile resented the action of the american minister, and were further aroused against the united states by the detention of the _itata_, a vessel which left san diego, california, with a cargo of arms for the congressional party and was overhauled by an american warship. the united states cruiser _baltimore_ was lying in the harbor of valparaiso when news of this incident was received. members of her crew who happened to be on shore leave were attacked by the populace and several of them killed. as this attack upon american sailors appeared to be due to resentment against the official acts of their government, an apology was immediately demanded, but refused. after considerable delay, president harrison had just laid the matter before congress when a belated apology from chile arrived, and war was fortunately averted. the charge that the united states had interfered in behalf of one of the parties in a civil strife created an unfavorable impression throughout latin america and counteracted, to a considerable extent, the good effects of the washington conference. the second international american conference was held in the city of mexico - . this conference arranged for all latin-american states to become parties to the hague convention of for the pacific settlement of international disputes, and drafted a treaty for the compulsory arbitration of pecuniary claims, the first article of which was as follows: the high contracting parties agree to submit to arbitration all claims for pecuniary loss or damage which may be presented by their respective citizens, and which cannot be amicably adjusted through diplomatic channels and when said claims are of sufficient importance to warrant the expenses of arbitration. this treaty was signed by the delegates of seventeen states, including the united states of america.[ ] the third international american conference was held at rio de janeiro in . among other things it extended the pecuniary claims convention drafted by the previous conference for another period of five years, and recommended to the governments represented that they invite the second hague conference, which had been called for , "to examine the question of the compulsory collection of public debts, and, in general, means tending to diminish between nations conflicts having an exclusively pecuniary origin."[ ] added significance was given to the rio conference by the presence of secretary root who, although not a delegate, made it the occasion of a special mission to south america. the series of notable addresses which he delivered on this mission gave a new impetus to the pan american movement. the fourth international american conference was held at buenos aires in . it drafted treaties relating to patents, trade-marks, and copyrights. it extended the pecuniary claims convention for an indefinite period. and finally, it enlarged the scope of the bureau of american republics and changed its name to the pan american union.[ ] a fifth conference was called to meet at santiago, chile, in , but was postponed on account of the european war. the conferences above described were political or diplomatic in character. besides these there have been held two pan american scientific congresses in which the united states participated, one at santiago, chile, in , and one at washington, december, , to january, . there have also been held two pan american financial conferences in the city of washington, the first in may, , and the second in january, . these conferences have accomplished a great deal in the way of promoting friendly feeling and the advancement of science and commerce among the republics of the western hemisphere. the first financial conference recommended the establishment of an international high commission, to be composed of not more than nine members resident in each country appointed by the minister of finance of such country for the purpose of carrying on the work of the conference. this recommendation was adopted by the various countries, and the congress of the united states, by act of february , , authorized the establishment of a section in this country. the international high commission carries on its labors largely through the various national sections. its first general meeting was held at buenos aires in april, . the american institute of international law, organized at washington in october, , is a body which is likely to have great influence in promoting the peace and welfare of this hemisphere. the institute is composed of five representatives from the national society of international law in each of the twenty-one american republics. at the suggestion of secretary lansing the institute at a session held in the city of washington, january , , adopted a declaration of the rights and duties of nations, which was as follows: i. every nation has the right to exist and to protect and to conserve its existence; but this right neither implies the right nor justifies the act of the state to protect itself or to conserve its existence by the commission of unlawful acts against innocent and unoffending states. ii. every nation has the right to independence in the sense that it has a right to the pursuit of happiness and is free to develop itself without interference or control from other states, provided that in so doing it does not interfere with or violate the rights of other states. iii. every nation is in law and before law the equal of every other nation belonging to the society of nations, and all nations have the right to claim and, according to the declaration of independence of the united states, "to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's god entitle them." iv. every nation has the right to territory within defined boundaries, and to exercise exclusive jurisdiction over its territory, and all persons whether native or foreign found therein. v. every nation entitled to a right by the law of nations is entitled to have that right respected and protected by all other nations, for right and duty are correlative, and the right of one is the duty of all to observe. vi. international law is at one and the same time both national and international; national in the sense that it is the law of the land and applicable as such to the decision of all questions involving its principles; international in the sense that it is the law of the society of nations and applicable as such to all questions between and among the members of the society of nations involving its principles.[ ] this declaration has been criticized as being too altruistic for a world in which diplomacy has been occupied with selfish aims. on the same day that the above declaration was made public, president wilson delivered a notable address before the second pan american scientific conference then in session at washington. in the course of this address he said: the monroe doctrine was proclaimed by the united states on her own authority. it has always been maintained, and always will be maintained, upon her own responsibility. but the monroe doctrine demanded merely that european governments should not attempt to extend their political systems to this side of the atlantic. it did not disclose the use which the united states intended to make of her power on this side of the atlantic. it was a hand held up in warning, but there was no promise in it of what america was going to do with the implied and partial protectorate which she apparently was trying to set up on this side of the water, and i believe you will sustain me in the statement that it has been fears and suspicions on this score which have hitherto prevented the greater intimacy and confidence and trust between the americas. the states of america have not been certain what the united states would do with her power. that doubt must be removed. and latterly there has been a very frank interchange of views between the authorities in washington and those who represent the other states of this hemisphere, an interchange of views charming and hopeful, because based upon an increasingly sure appreciation of the spirit in which they were undertaken. these gentlemen have seen that, if america is to come into her own, into her legitimate own, in a world of peace and order, she must establish the foundations of amity, so that no one will hereafter doubt them. i hope and i believe that this can be accomplished. these conferences have enabled me to foresee how it will be accomplished. it will be accomplished, in the first place, by the states of america uniting in guaranteeing to each other absolute political independence and territorial integrity. in the second place, and as a necessary corollary to that, guaranteeing the agreement to settle all pending boundary disputes as soon as possible and by amicable process; by agreeing that all disputes among themselves, should they unhappily arise, will be handled by patient, impartial investigation and settled by arbitration; and the agreement necessary to the peace of the americas, that no state of either continent will permit revolutionary expeditions against another state to be fitted out in its territory, and that they will prohibit the exportation of the munitions of war for the purpose of supplying revolutionists against neighboring governments. president wilson's pan americanism went further than some of the latin-american states were willing to go. a treaty embodying the above proposals was actually drafted, but some of the states held back through the fear that, though equal in terms, it would in fact give the united states a plausible pretext for supervising the affairs of weaker states.[ ] president wilson has not hesitated to depart from many of the fundamental ideas which have hitherto guided so-called practical statesmen. his handling of the mexican situation, although denounced as weak and vacillating, has been in full accord with his new latin-american policy. on february , , francisco madero was seized and imprisoned as the result of a conspiracy formed by one of his generals, victoriano huerta, who forthwith proclaimed himself dictator. four days later madero was murdered while in the custody of huerta's troops. henry lane wilson, the american ambassador, promptly urged his government to recognize huerta, but president taft, whose term was rapidly drawing to a close, took no action and left the question to his successor. president wilson thus had a very disagreeable situation to face when he assumed control of affairs at washington. he refused to recognize huerta whose authority was contested by insurrectionary chiefs in various parts of the country. it was claimed by the critics of the administration that the refusal to recognize huerta was a direct violation of the well known american policy of recognizing _de facto_ governments without undertaking to pass upon the rights involved. it is perfectly true that the united states has consistently followed the policy of recognizing _de facto_ governments as soon as it is evident in each case that the new government rests on popular approval and is likely to be permanent. this doctrine of recognition is distinctively an american doctrine. it was first laid down by thomas jefferson when he was secretary of state as an offset to the european doctrine of divine right, and it was the natural outgrowth of that other jeffersonian doctrine that all governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed. huerta could lay no claim to authority derived from a majority or anything like a majority of the mexican people. he was a self-constituted dictator, whose authority rested solely on military force. president wilson and secretary bryan were fully justified in refusing to recognize his usurpation of power, though they probably made a mistake in announcing that they would never recognize him and in demanding his elimination from the presidential contest. this announcement made him deaf to advice from washington and utterly indifferent to the destruction of american life and property. the next step in the president's course with reference to mexico was the occupation of vera cruz. on april , , the president asked congress for authority to employ the armed forces of the united states in demanding redress for the arbitrary arrest of american marines at vera cruz, and the next day admiral fletcher was ordered to seize the custom house at that port. this he did after a sharp fight with huerta's troops in which nineteen americans were killed and seventy wounded. the american chargé d'affaires, nelson o'shaughnessy, was at once handed his passports, and all diplomatic relations between the united states and mexico were severed. a few days later the representatives of the so-called a b c powers, argentina, brazil, and chile, tendered their good offices for a peaceful settlement of the conflict and president wilson promptly accepted their mediation. the resulting conference at niagara, may , was not successful in its immediate object, but it resulted in the elimination of huerta who resigned july , . on august , general venustiano carranza, head of one of the revolutionary factions, assumed control of affairs at the capital, but his authority was disputed by general francisco villa, another insurrectionary chief. on carranza's promise to respect the lives and property of american citizens the united states forces were withdrawn from vera cruz in november, . in august, , at the request of president wilson the six ranking representatives of latin america at washington made an unsuccessful effort to reconcile the contending factions of mexico. on their advice, however, president wilson decided in october to recognize the government of carranza, who now controlled three-fourths of the territory of mexico. as a result of this action villa began a series of attacks on american citizens and raids across the border, which in march, , compelled the president to send a punitive expedition into mexico and later to dispatch most of the regular army and large bodies of militia to the border.[ ] the raids of villa created a very awkward situation. carranza not only made no real effort to suppress villa, but he vigorously opposed the steps taken by the united states to protect its own citizens along the border, and even assumed a threatening attitude. there was a loud and persistent demand in the united states for war against mexico. american investments in land, mines, rubber plantations, and other enterprises were very large, and these financial interests were particularly outraged at the president's policy of "watchful waiting." the president remained deaf to this clamor. no country had been so shamelessly exploited by foreign capital as mexico. furthermore it was suspected and very generally believed that the recent revolutions had been financed by american capital. president wilson was determined to give the mexican people an opportunity to reorganize their national life on a better basis and to lend them every assistance in the task. war with mexico would have been a very serious undertaking and even a successful war would have meant the military occupation of mexico for an indefinite period. president wilson's refusal to become involved in war with mexico convinced the world of his sincerity and gave him a hearing during the great war such as no political leader of any nation ever before commanded. it has been charged that there was a lack of consistency between the president's mexican policy and his haitian policy. the difference between the two cases, however, was that the haitian situation, if taken in time, could be handled without bloodshed, while the same method applied to mexico would have led to a long and bloody conflict. it would be easy enough to go into mexico, but exceedingly difficult to get out. the most novel feature of the president's mexican policy was his acceptance of the mediation of the a b c powers and his subsequent consultation with the leading representatives of latin america. this action has brought the pan american ideal to the point of realization. it has been received with enthusiasm and it has placed our relations with latin america on a better footing than they have been for years. it has been suggested by more than one critic of american foreign policy that if we are to undertake to set the world right, we must come before the bar of public opinion with clean hands, that before we denounce the imperialistic policies of europe, we must abandon imperialistic policies at home. the main features of president wilson's latin-american policy, if we may draw a general conclusion, have been to pledge the weaker american republics not to do anything which would invite european intervention, and to secure by treaty the right of the united states to intervene for the protection of life, liberty, and property, and for the establishment of self-government. the test of such a policy is the degree of unselfishness with which it is carried out. the loyalty of the latin-american states to the principles of pan americanism was put to a severe test when the united states entered the great war. when president wilson announced to congress the severance of relations with germany and declared his intention of protecting our commerce on the high seas, he expressed the confident hope that all neutral governments would pursue the same course. he probably had especially in mind our latin-american neighbors, but if so, his expectation was not fully realized. only eight of the twenty latin-american republics eventually entered the war: brazil, costa rica, cuba, guatemala, haiti, honduras, nicaragua, and panama. five others broke off relations with germany: bolivia, peru, the dominican republic, ecuador, and uruguay. seven remained neutral: argentina, chile, colombia, mexico, salvador, venezuela, and paraguay.[ ] only two latin-american states, brazil and cuba, took an active part in the war. at the request of the british government in december, , brazil sent two cruisers and four destroyers to european waters to coöperate with the british navy, and a few months later a group of brazilian aviators took their place on the western front. a number of physicians and several red cross units from brazil also coöperated with the allies. cuba turned over to the united states several german steamships interned in her waters. a compulsory military service law was passed and a number of training camps established. in october, , the cuban government announced that it had , troops ready to send to france, but the armistice was signed before arrangements could be made for their transportation. the only active service rendered by cubans was in the field of aviation, where several individuals won high distinction. of the a b c powers argentina and chile remained neutral. so also did mexico. brazil was thus the only one of the larger states that actually entered the war. the relations between brazil and the united states have almost always been peculiarly close and friendly. from the outbreak of the european war strong sympathy for the allied cause was manifested in brazil, and a league for aiding the allies through the agency of the red cross was organized under the presidency of ruy barbosa, the most distinguished statesman of brazil and one of the most brilliant orators of latin america. brazil's experience during the period of neutrality was very similar to that of the united states. her commerce was interfered with and her ships were sunk by german submarines. a few weeks after the united states entered the war, brazil severed relations with germany and seized the forty-six german ships interned in brazilian harbors. in a circular note of june the brazilian government declared to the world that it had taken this step because the republic of brazil was bound to the united states "by a traditional friendship and by a similarity of political opinion in the defense of the vital interests of america and the principles accepted by international law," and because it wished to give to its foreign policy, in this critical moment of the world's history, "a practical form of continental solidarity--a policy indeed which was that of the old régime on every occasion on which any of the other friendly sister nations of the american continent were in jeopardy." president wilson's reply to this note expressed the deep appreciation of the united states and the hope that the act of the brazilian congress was "the forerunner of the attitude to be assumed by the rest of the american states." on october , , on the receipt of the news of the torpedoing of another brazilian ship by a german submarine, a resolution recognizing "the state of war initiated by the german empire against brazil" was adopted by the unanimous vote of the brazilian senate and by a vote of to in the chamber of deputies.[ ] brazil's enthusiastic support of the united states and of the allied cause has been recognized by those powers in giving her representation on the council of the league of nations. in fact at the first meeting of the council in london in february, , brazil was the sole american power represented. argentina, the largest and most important of the states of spanish origin, remained neutral throughout the war, notwithstanding the fact that a large part of the population and some of the leading newspapers were strongly pro-ally. when the united states declared war, señor drago, the former minister of foreign affairs and author of the doctrine that bears his name, issued a statement in which he said: the war between germany and america is a struggle of democracy _versus_ absolutism, and no american nation can remain neutral without denying its past and compromising its future. about the same time a note was sent through ambassador naón stating that "in view of the causes which have prompted the united states to declare war against the government of the german empire," the argentine government recognizes "the justice of that decision." but german propaganda, which had its headquarters in buenos aires, and the attitude of president irrigoyen kept the country out of the war. popular indignation was aroused by the luxburg disclosures, which revealed the fact that the german representative, after coming to an understanding with the president, had advised his government that two argentine ships then approaching the french coast "be spared if possible, or else sunk without a trace being left" (_spurlos versenkt_). the senate and chamber of deputies passed by large majorities a resolution severing relations with germany, but to the surprise of everybody president irrigoyen expressed himself as satisfied with germany's disavowal of luxburg's conduct and continued his policy of neutrality. chile was so far removed from the scene of the war in europe and had so few ships engaged in european trade that her government did not have the same provocation that others had. furthermore, german propaganda had made great headway in chile and the chilean army, trained by german officers, was strongly pro-german. in the navy, on the other hand, sentiment was strongly in favor of the allies. this was a matter of tradition, for since the days of lord cochrane, whose exploits have been described in an earlier chapter of this book, the chilean navy has followed english ideals. under these circumstances chile remained neutral, though before the end of the war public sentiment had shifted to the side of the allies.[ ] peru, ecuador, bolivia, and uruguay in severing relations with germany proclaimed their adherence to the principle of american solidarity. paraguay's neutrality was due to her isolation. colombia, still smarting under the loss of the isthmus, was not disposed to take sides with the united states. in venezuela most of the government officials were under german influence. panama and four of the five central american republics declared war on germany, salvador alone remaining neutral. cuba and haiti also declared war on germany, while the dominican republic severed consular relations. mexico proclaimed its neutrality, but permitted its soil to become a hot-bed of german intrigue and president carranza exhibited at times a spirit of hostility to the united states which tended to increase the tension that already existed between the two countries. in an article on "the european war and pan americanism"[ ] ambassador naón of the argentine republic draws the following interesting conclusions, conclusions that are all the more interesting because his country was not one of those that took the course to which he gives his approval. he says: "the political action developed by the different governments of the continent in the presence of the european conflict, especially since the breaking out of hostilities between the united states and germany, has not been either the best advised or the most propitious for achieving the consolidation of pan americanism." the situation created by the european war, he continues, "affected the entire continent in the same manner and with the same political and economic intensity as the united states, and both self-interest and moral obligations ought to have counseled the consummating of solidarity, here and now, by making common cause and endorsing the attitude of the united states to the extreme limit, until the disturbing force should be overcome. the political action of america did not take this direction, however. some of the most important governments of the continent, going counter to the political aspirations and doubtless to the political interests of their own countries, adhered to the policy of neutrality. in america this was equivalent to a policy of isolation, and thus the solidarity of the continent was broken, with consequent prejudice to pan americanism. yet even if in those countries, the action of the governments could not be counted upon, nevertheless, the sentiment, expressed in eloquent manifestations of public opinion and in complete disagreement with that attitude of the governments, persisted throughout the crisis. thus the _spirit_ of pan americanism was saved, and we are justified in believing that there will come a reaction which will restore the disturbed equilibrium and save the mighty interests involved." ambassador naón believes, however, that pan americanism has many obstacles in the way of its complete realization. among them he mentions "the recognition of politico-intellectual inferiorities" by the peace conference at paris in the classification of nations as great powers and small powers. the fundamental principle of pan americanism he believes to be the doctrine of equality. he further points out that as long as american states remain, whether as the result of their own shortcomings or not, in these conditions of inferiority in world politics, "there will continue to exist for the united states the causes that gave rise to the monroe doctrine and consequently all its objections will continue to exist." finally he says that "the idea of solidarity is being weakened or thwarted by another idea, the unwholesome one of latin americanism, which is a teutonic idea in its tendencies, and which is trying to replace it, basing itself upon supposed antagonisms of interests and ideals between the other countries of america and the united states. this purpose, which is anarchical, might cause american solidarity to fail if, in virtue of neglecting to foster this tendency, it should succeed, by pandering to paltry prejudices and flattering national vanities, in gaining a footing in the thought of the other governments of the continent to the extent of constituting itself a political force, capable of replacing the system of solidarity which pan americanism seeks, by a system of a continental equilibrium: a system which has just failed in the european conflict." this summary of the views of the distinguished argentine statesman is sufficient to show that his analysis of the situation is correct. the weakness and backwardness of certain states, specifically those in the zone of the caribbean, lies at the heart of the difficulty. as long as they remain in their present condition the united states must continue to protect them against european intervention and, when occasion arises, supervise their affairs in order to prevent them from provoking such intervention. as long as it is necessary to pursue this course the united states will have to rest under the suspicion of having imperialistic designs on its weaker neighbors, and it is this suspicion which perpetuates the spirit of latin americanism which in turn must be overcome before we can fully realize the ideal of pan americanism. footnotes: [ ] international american conference, vol. iv (historical appendix), p. . washington: government printing office, . [ ] international american conference, vol. iv (historical appendix), p. . [ ] international american conference, vol. iv (historical appendix) p. . [ ] moore, "digest of international law," vol. vii, pp. - . [ ] international american conference, vol. iv (historical appendix), p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] second international american conference, english text (mexico, government printing office, ), p. . [ ] third international american conference, minutes, resolutions, documents (rio de janeiro, imprensa nacional. ), p. . [ ] bulletin of the pan american union, vol. , p. . [ ] _am. journal of international law_, vol. , p. . [ ] john bassett moore, "principles of american diplomacy," pp. - . [ ] "affairs in mexico," sixty-fourth cong., first sess., sen. doc. no. . the world peace foundation has issued two pamphlets containing documents on mexico under the title of "the new pan americanism," parts i and ii (february and april, ). [ ] percy a. martin, "latin america and the war" (issued by the world peace foundation, august, ). [ ] martin, "latin america and the war," pp. - . [ ] enrique rocuant, "the neutrality of chile and the grounds that prompted and justified it," (valparaiso, ). [ ] reprinted in international conciliation, inter-american division, bulletin no. (april, ). chapter ix the monroe doctrine in the foregoing chapters we have discussed the origin and the more important applications of the monroe doctrine. there remain, however, certain general aspects of the subject which require special consideration. in any discussion of the monroe doctrine it is important to bear in mind that it was in its origin and has always remained purely an executive policy. neither house of congress has ever expressly sanctioned the language of president monroe or attempted to formulate a new definition of the policy. on january , , a few weeks after monroe's famous message, henry clay made an effort to get congress to endorse the policy announced by the executive, but his resolution was tabled.[ ] in senator clayton, who as secretary of state had negotiated the clayton-bulwer treaty, declared that he would be willing to vote to assert the monroe doctrine and maintain it, but that he would "not expect to be sustained in such a vote by both branches of congress. whenever the attempt has been made to assert the monroe doctrine in either branch of congress, it has failed." and he added, "you cannot prevail on a majority, and i will venture to say that you cannot prevail on one-third, of either house of congress to sustain it."[ ] in fact, the monroe doctrine never received anything approaching legislative sanction until , when, in response to president cleveland's message on the venezuelan boundary dispute, congress appropriated $ , to pay the expenses of the commission which he proposed to appoint. for nearly a hundred years we have successfully upheld the monroe doctrine without resort to force. the policy has never been favorably regarded by the powers of continental europe. bismarck described it as "an international impertinence." in recent years it has stirred up rather intense opposition in certain parts of latin america. until recently no american writers appear to have considered the real nature of the sanction on which the doctrine rested. how is it that without an army and until recent years without a navy of any size we have been able to uphold a policy which has been described as an impertinence to latin america and a standing defiance to europe? americans generally seem to think that the monroe doctrine has in it an inherent sanctity which prevents other nations from violating it. in view of the general disregard of sanctities, inherent or acquired, during the past few years, this explanation will not hold good and some other must be sought. americans have been so little concerned with international affairs that they have failed to see any connection between the monroe doctrine and the balance of power in europe. the existence of a european balance of power is the only explanation of our having been able to uphold the monroe doctrine for so long a time without a resort to force. some one or more of the european powers would long ago have stepped in and called our bluff, that is, forced us to repudiate the monroe doctrine or fight for it, had it not been for the well-grounded fear that as soon as they became engaged with us some other european power would attack them in the rear. what other satisfactory explanation is there for louis napoleon's withdrawal from mexico, for great britain's backdown in the venezuelan boundary dispute, and for the withdrawal of the german fleet from venezuela in ? while england has from time to time objected to some of the corollaries deduced from the monroe doctrine, she has on the whole been not unfavorably disposed toward the essential features of that policy. the reason for this is that the monroe doctrine has been an open-door policy, and has thus been in general accord with the british policy of free trade. the united states has not used the monroe doctrine for the establishment of exclusive trade relations with our southern neighbors. in fact, we have largely neglected the south american countries as a field for the development of american commerce. the failure to cultivate this field has not been due wholly to neglect, however, but to the fact that we have had employment for all our capital at home and consequently have not been in a position to aid in the industrial development of the latin-american states, and to the further fact that our exports have been so largely the same and hence the trade of north and south america has been mainly with europe. there has, therefore, been little rivalry between the united states and the powers of europe in the field of south american commerce. our interest has been political rather than commercial. we have prevented the establishment of spheres of influence and preserved the open door. this situation has been in full accord with british policy. had great britain adopted a high tariff policy and been compelled to demand commercial concessions from latin america by force, the monroe doctrine would long since have gone by the board and been forgotten. americans should not forget the fact, moreover, that at any time during the past twenty years great britain could have settled all her outstanding difficulties with germany by agreeing to sacrifice the monroe doctrine and give her rival a free hand in south america. in the face of such a combination our navy would have been of little avail. contrary to a widely prevailing opinion the monroe doctrine has undergone very little change since the original declaration, and the official statements of the doctrine have on the whole been very consistent. the only important extension was made less than two years after the original declaration, when, in october, , secretary clay, acting under the direction of president john quincy adams, who assisted in formulating the doctrine, notified the french government that we could not consent to the occupation of cuba and porto rico "by any other european power than spain under any contingency whatever." similar declarations were made to the other european powers, the occasion being the fear that spain would transfer her sovereignty over these islands to some other government. president monroe had declared that the american continents were closed to colonization from europe, meaning by colonization very probably, as professor john bassett moore says, "the acquisition of title to territory by original occupation and settlement."[ ] he had made no declaration against the transfer of sovereignty in america from one european power to another. in fact he positively renounced any such idea, when he said: "with the existing colonies or dependencies of any european power we have not interfered, and shall not interfere." here, then, within two years we have a distinct advance upon the position taken by president monroe. yet this advanced ground was held by succeeding administrations, until president grant could say in the case of the same islands in his first annual message: these dependencies are no longer regarded as subject to transfer from one european power to another. when the present relation of colonies ceases, they are to become independent powers, exercising the right of choice and of self-control in the determination of their future condition and relations with other powers.[ ] and secretary hamilton fish said a few months later that the president had but followed "the teachings of all our history" when he made this statement.[ ] the failure of blaine and frelinghuysen to oust great britain from her interests in the canal under the clayton-bulwer treaty by an appeal to the monroe doctrine and the successful enforcement of the doctrine by president cleveland and secretary olney in have been discussed at sufficient length in previous chapters. while the policy of cleveland and olney was vehemently denounced at the time, it is now generally approved by american writers of authority on international law and diplomacy. when president mckinley decided to demand from spain the cession of the philippine islands, the opposition that the step encountered was based to some extent on the fear that it would amount to a repudiation of the monroe doctrine, that if we invaded the eastern hemisphere we could not expect to keep europe out of the western. the use of the term hemispheres in connection with the monroe doctrine has, of course, been merely a figure of speech. the monroe doctrine dealt with the relations between europe and america, and eastern asia never came within its purview. as a matter of fact, the monroe doctrine has been more fully and more frequently asserted since the acquisition of the philippines than ever before. the participation of the united states in the first peace conference at the hague was taken by many americans to mark the end of the old order and the introduction of a new era in american diplomacy, but, contrary to their expectations, this meeting was made the occasion for an emphatic and effective declaration before the assembled body of european nations of our adherence to the monroe doctrine. before the convention for the pacific settlements of international disputes was adopted, the following declaration was read before the conference and the treaty was signed by the american delegates under this reservation: nothing contained in this convention shall be so construed as to require the united states of america to depart from its traditional policy of not intruding upon, interfering with, or entangling itself in the political questions or policy or internal administration of any foreign state; nor shall anything contained in the said convention be construed to imply a relinquishment by the united states of america of its traditional attitude toward purely american questions.[ ] prior to the roosevelt administration the monroe doctrine was regarded by the latin-american states as solely a protective policy. the united states did not undertake to control the financial administration or the foreign policy of any of these republics. it was only after their misconduct had gotten them into difficulty and some foreign power, or group of foreign powers, was on the point of demanding reparation by force that the united states stepped in and undertook to see to it that foreign intervention did not take the form of occupation of territory or interference in internal politics. the monroe doctrine has always been in principle a policy of american intervention for the purpose of preventing european intervention, but american intervention always awaited the threat of immediate action on the part of some european power. president roosevelt concluded that it would be wiser to restrain the reckless conduct of the smaller american republics before disorders or public debts should reach a point which gave european powers an excuse for intervening. he held that since we could not permit european powers to restrain or punish american states in cases of wrongdoing, we must ourselves undertake that task. as long as the monroe doctrine was merely a policy of benevolent protection, which latin-american states could invoke after their unwise or evil conduct had brought european powers to the point of demanding just retribution, it was regarded with favor and no objection was raised to it; but the roosevelt declaration, that if we were to continue to protect latin-american states against european intervention, we had a right to demand that they should refrain from conduct which was likely to provoke such intervention, was quite a different thing, and raised a storm of criticism and opposition. the roosevelt interpretation of the monroe doctrine was undoubtedly a perfectly logical step. it was endorsed by the taft administration and has been extended by the wilson administration and made one of our most important policies in the zone of the caribbean. president roosevelt was right in drawing the conclusion that we had arrived at a point where we had either to abandon the monroe doctrine or to extend its application so as to cover the constantly increasing number of disputes arising from the reckless creation of public debts and loose financial administration. it was absurd for us to stand quietly by and witness the utterly irresponsible creation of financial obligations that would inevitably lead to european intervention and then undertake to fix the bounds and limits of that intervention. it is interesting to note that president wilson has not hesitated to carry the new policy to its logical conclusion, and he has gone so far as to warn latin-american countries against granting to foreign corporations concessions which, on account of their extended character, would be certain to give rise to foreign claims which would, in turn, give an excuse for european intervention. in discussing our latin-american policy shortly after the beginning of his administration, president wilson said: you hear of concessions to foreign capitalists in latin america. you do not hear of concessions to foreign capitalists in the united states. they are not granted concessions. they are invited to make investments. the work is ours, though they are welcome to invest in it. we do not ask them to supply the capital and do the work. it is an invitation, not a privilege, and the states that are obliged because their territory does not lie within the main field of modern enterprise and action, to grant concessions are in this condition, that foreign interests are apt to dominate their domestic affairs--a condition of affairs always dangerous and apt to become intolerable.... what these states are going to seek, therefore, is an emancipation from the subordination which has been inevitable to foreign enterprise and an assertion of the splendid character which, in spite of these difficulties, they have again and again been able to demonstrate. these remarks probably had reference to the oil concession which pearson & son of london had arranged with the president of colombia. this concession is said to have covered extensive oil interests in colombia, and carried with it the right to improve harbors and dig canals in the country. however, before the meeting of the colombian congress in november, , which was expected to confirm the concession, lord cowdray, the president of pearson & son, withdrew the contract, alleging as his reason the opposition of the united states. prior to the great war, which has upset all calculations, it seemed highly probable that the platt amendment would in time be extended to all the weaker states within the zone of the caribbean. if the united states is to exercise a protectorate over such states, the right to intervene and the conditions of intervention should be clearly defined and publicly proclaimed. hitherto whatever action we have taken in latin america has been taken under the monroe doctrine,--a policy of doubtful legal sanction,--which an international court might not recognize. action under a treaty would have the advantage of legality. in other words, the recent treaties with caribbean states have converted american policy into law. the imperialistic tendencies of our caribbean policy, whether they be regarded as logical deductions from the monroe doctrine or not, have undoubtedly aroused the jealousies and fears of our southern neighbors. one of the results has been the formation of the so-called a b c alliance, based on treaties between argentina, brazil, and chile, the exact provisions of which have not been made public. this alliance doubtless serves a useful purpose in promoting friendly relations between the three great states of south america, and since the acceptance of the mediation of these powers in mexico by president wilson there is no reason to regard it as in any sense hostile to the united states. while the united states may very properly accept the mediation of other american states in disputes like that arising out of the mexican situation, the united states would not feel under any obligation to consult other american states or accept their advice on any question involving the enforcement of the monroe doctrine. the united states has always maintained the monroe doctrine as a principle of self-defense, and, consequently, on its own authority. in the brazilian government proposed that the united states should enter into an alliance with it in order to maintain the independence of brazil in case portugal should be assisted by any foreign power in her efforts to reconquer brazil. secretary clay replied that while president adams adhered to the principles set forth by his predecessor, the prospect of peace between portugal and brazil rendered such an alliance unnecessary.[ ] in recent years the proposal has been more than once made that the monroe doctrine be pan americanized. this proposal was discussed by mr. root in his address before the american society of international law in in the course of which he said: since the monroe doctrine is a declaration based upon this nation's right of self-protection, it cannot be transmuted into a joint or common declaration by american states or any number of them. if chile or argentina or brazil were to contribute the weight of its influence toward a similar end, the right upon which that nation would rest its declaration would be its own safety, not the safety of the united states. chile would declare what was necessary for the safety of chile. argentina would declare what was necessary for the safety of argentina. brazil, what was necessary for the safety of brazil. each nation would act for itself and in its own right and it would be impossible to go beyond that except by more or less offensive and defensive alliances. of course such alliances are not to be considered.[ ] president wilson in his address before the second pan american scientific congress in agreed in part with this when he said: "the monroe doctrine was proclaimed by the united states on her own authority. it has always been maintained, and always will be maintained, upon her own responsibility." the relation of the monroe doctrine to the declaration of rights and duties of nations, drafted by the american institute of international law, was discussed by mr. root in his address before the american society of international law in . he said in part: whether the united states will soon have occasion or will long have the ability or the will to maintain the monroe doctrine lies in the uncertain future. whether it will be necessary for her to act in defense of the doctrine or abandon it, may well be determined by the issue of the present war. whether when the occasion comes she will prove to have the ability and the will to maintain the doctrine, depends upon the spirit of her people, their capacity for patriotic sacrifice, the foresight and character of those to whose initiative in foreign affairs the interests of the people are entrusted. whether the broader doctrine affirmed by the american institute of international law is to be made effective for the protection of justice and liberty throughout the world depends upon whether the vision of the nations shall have been so clarified by the terrible lessons of these years that they can rise above small struggles for advantage in international affairs, and realize that correlative to each nation's individual right is that nation's duty to insist upon the observance of the principles of public right throughout the community of nations.[ ] it is not probable that our participation in the great war will result in any weakening of the monroe doctrine. that principle has been fully justified by a century of experience. it has saved south america from the kind of exploitation to which the continents of africa and asia have, during the past generation, fallen a prey. it would be strange indeed if the united states, having insisted on the non-interference of european powers in america when it was itself a weak power from the military point of view, should now in the plenitude of its power relax what has been for so many years the cardinal principle of its foreign policy. the abandonment of our policy of neutrality and isolation does not by any means mean the abandonment of the monroe doctrine. president wilson made this quite clear in his address to the senate on january , , when he said: i am proposing, as it were, that the nations should with one accord adopt the doctrine of president monroe as the doctrine of the world; that no nation should seek to extend its polity over any other nation or people, but that every people should be left free to determine its own polity, its own way of development, unhindered, unthreatened, unafraid, the little along with the great and powerful. i am proposing that all nations henceforth avoid entangling alliances which would draw them into competitions of power, catch them in a net of intrigue and selfish rivalry, and disturb their own affairs with influences intruded from without. there is no entangling alliance in a concert of power. the policy of isolation or the avoidance of entangling alliances, which so many americans confuse with the monroe doctrine, is in principle quite distinct from it and is in fact utterly inconsistent with the position and importance of the united states as a world power. the difference in principle between the two policies can perhaps be best illustrated by the following supposition. if the united states were to sign a permanent treaty with england placing our navy at her disposal in the event of attack from some european power, on condition that england would unite with us in opposing the intervention of any european power in latin america, such a treaty would not be a violation of the monroe doctrine, but a distinct recognition of that principle. such a treaty would, however, be a departure from our traditional policy of isolation, originally announced by washington and jefferson. the participation of the united states in the league of nations would, if that league be considered an entangling alliance, be a departure from the policy of isolation but not a violation of the monroe doctrine. in order to allay the fears of americans on this point, president wilson caused to be inserted in the constitution of the league of nations the following clause: nothing in this covenant shall be deemed to affect the validity of international engagements, such as treaties of arbitration or regional understandings like the monroe doctrine, for securing the maintenance of peace. this clause did not serve the purpose for which it was intended, and a heated controversy at once arose as to the meaning of the language employed. when the treaty came before the senate this clause was the object of attack, and senator lodge included among the fourteen reservations which he proposed the following one on the monroe doctrine: the united states will not submit to arbitration or to inquiry by the assembly or by the council of the league of nations, provided for in said treaty of peace, any questions which in the judgment of the united states depend upon or relate to its long-established policy, commonly known as the monroe doctrine; said doctrine is to be interpreted by the united states alone and is hereby declared to be wholly outside the jurisdiction of said league of nations and entirely unaffected by any provision contained in the said treaty of peace with germany. the recognition of the monroe doctrine by the league of nations, taken in connection with the senate's assertion of the exclusive right to interpret its meaning, has caused some of the latin-american countries to delay joining the league until the monroe doctrine is clearly defined. in february, , salvador brought this subject to the attention of the united states in a formal note in which she argued that, as the monroe doctrine was so variously interpreted by prominent thinkers and public men even in the united states, it should be officially defined.[ ] in reply salvador was referred to what president wilson had said on the subject of the monroe doctrine in his address of january , , before the pan american scientific congress at washington.[ ] these remarks have already been quoted in chapter viii.[ ] salvador was informed that no further definition was deemed necessary. the speech referred to may, therefore, be considered the latest official interpretation of the monroe doctrine. footnotes: [ ] moore, "digest of international law," vol. vi, p. . [ ] _ibid._, p. . [ ] _political science quarterly_, vol. xi. p. . [ ] "messages and papers of the presidents," vol. vii, p. . [ ] foreign relations, , pp. - ; moore, "digest of international law," vol. vi, p. . [ ] "treaties and conventions of the united states" (compiled by w. m. malloy), vol. ii, p. . [ ] moore, "digest of international law," vol. vi, p. . [ ] "addresses on international subjects," elihu root, p. . [ ] "addresses on international subjects," by elihu root, p. . [ ] the new york _times_, february , . [ ] the new york _times_, march , . [ ] ante, pp. - . the end index a b c alliance, offers to mediate in mexican crisis, ; divided in great war, ; attitude towards united states, . aberdeen, lord, tries to prevent annexation of texas by united states, , . abolitionists, oppose admission of texas, . adams, c. f., minister to england, views on the mexican situation, ; warns his government against designs of louis napoleon on mexico, ; on mexican policy of great britain, . adams, john quincy, opposes joint action with england, , ; influence on monroe's message of december , , ; informs russia that american continents are no longer open to european colonization, ; views on cuba, ; appoints delegates to panama congress, , . aix-la-chapelle, conference of , , . alexander i, czar of russia, and holy alliance, . american institute of international law, ; adopts declaration of rights and duties of nations, - . anglo-japanese alliance, . arbitration, international, of venezuelan boundary dispute, , ; of pecuniary claims against venezuela, , . argentina, british invasion of, - ; beginnings of revolution in, ; remains neutral in great war, , . _assiento_, contract for supplying slaves to spanish colonies, - . _audiencia_, in spanish colonies, , . austria, suppresses revolution in naples and in piedmont, , ; warned not to send troops to assistance of maximilian in mexico, , . balfour, a. j., on forcible collection of pecuniary claims, . _baltimore_, u. s. cruiser, members of crew attacked by chileans, . barbosa, ruy, brazilian statesman, . bay islands, british claims to, , , . beaupré, a. m., minister to colombia, . belize, british claims to, , , . bell, j. franklin, in cuba, . belligerent rights, accorded to spanish colonies, ; withheld from cubans, - ; house resolution, ; joint resolution of congress, . bigelow, john, minister to france, , , . bismarck, prince, on monroe doctrine, . "black friday," . _black warrior_, case of, - . blaine, j. g., outlines new canal policy, - ; proposes modifications of clayton-bulwer treaty, - ; calls international american conference at washington, ; presides at opening session, . blanco, ramon, governor of cuba, . bliss, tasker h., in charge of cuban customs, . bolivar, simon, character, ; joins patriot cause, ; career in venezuela and colombia, - ; in ecuador and peru, , ; interest in isthmian canal, ; summons panama congress, . bonaparte, louis napoleon, interest in isthmian canal, ; designs on mexico, ; places maximilian on the throne, - ; forced to withdraw troops, - . bonaparte, napoleon, invasion of spain, - ; cedes louisiana to united states, . bowen, herbert w., minister to venezuela, . brazil, becomes a republic, ; stands by united states in war with germany, - . british guiana, dispute over boundary of, - . british honduras. see belize. brougham, lord, on monroe's message of december , , . bryan, william j., favors ratification of spanish treaty, ; tries to adjust differences with colombia resulting from panama revolution, - ; negotiates treaties with nicaragua, , ; refuses to recognize huerta, . buchanan, james, proposes purchase of cuba, ; connection with ostend manifesto, , ; recommends congressional action on cuban question, ; criticises clayton-bulwer treaty, ; suggests abrogation of, ; by prior usage announces satisfactory adjustment of disputes growing out of, . buenos aires, captured by the british, . bulwer, sir henry lytton, signs canal treaty, . bunau-varilla, philippe, and panama revolution, ; first minister from republic of panama, . bureau of american republics, , . california, acquisition of, . campbell, l. d., minister to mexico, - . canal. see panama canal, nicaragua canal. canning, george, on commercial relations with spanish colonies, - ; on recognition of, - ; on european congresses, , ; on french intervention in spain, , ; conferences with rush on schemes of the holy alliance, - , ; interviews with prince polignac on spanish-american situation, , ; comments on monroe's message of december , , , ; decides to recognize mexico and colombia, , ; opposes french occupation of cuba, . caribbean sea, naval supremacy in, , - ; new american policies in, . carranza, venustiano, succeeds huerta, ; recognized by united states, ; permits german intrigue, . _casa de contratacion_, . castelar, emilio, president of the spanish republic, . central american court of justice, - . chile, liberation of, , ; war with spain, ; with peru, - ; quarrel with united states, , ; remains neutral in great war, , . claims. see pecuniary claims. clay, henry, advocates recognition of south american independence, - , ; cuban policy of, ; views on isthmian canal, ; and panama congress, - ; applies monroe doctrine to cuba and porto rico, . clayton, j. m., secretary of state, signs canal treaty, ; criticised by buchanan, ; on refusal of congress to endorse monroe doctrine, . clayton-bulwer treaty, - ; disputes arising out of, - ; attempts of blaine and frelinghuysen to secure modifications of, - ; alleged british violation of, - ; abrogated, . cleveland, grover, transmits to congress correspondence of secretary fish on cuba, ; recognizes state of insurgency in cuba, ; ignores resolution of congress recognizing belligerency, ; message on cuba, ; canal policy of, ; asserts monroe doctrine in venezuelan boundary dispute, - . cochrane, lord (earl dundonald), commander of chilean navy, , . colombia (new granada), war of liberation, - ; signs canal treaty of , , ; rejects hay-herran convention, ; demands arbitration of panama question, ; strained relations with united states arising out of panama revolution, - ; remains neutral in the great war, , . commerce, british, with spanish colonies, - . conference. see international american. convention of london of , providing for joint intervention in mexico, . costa rica, protests against protectorate over nicaragua, - . cromwell, w. n., attorney for french panama canal company, . cuba, british or french acquisition opposed by united states, - ; annexation schemes, - ; "ten years' war" in, - ; insurrection of , - ; intervention of the united states in, - ; american occupation of, - ; reciprocity with, - ; second period of american occupation, , ; enters war against germany, , . cushing, caleb, mission to spain, - . dallas-clarendon treaty, amended by senate and rejected by great britain, , . danish west indies, annexation proposed by seward, ; purchased by united states, , . davis, cushman k., commissioner to negotiate peace with spain, . dawson, t. c., minister to dominican republic, negotiates treaty establishing financial supervision, - . day, w. r., commissioner to negotiate peace with spain, . dayton, w. l., minister to france, , , , . de lesseps, ferdinand, begins construction of panama canal, ; effect on canal policy of united states, - . de lhuys, drouyn, french minister of state, , , , . dewey, george, at manila bay, ; prepared to arrest german action against venezuela, , . diaz, porfirio, president of mexico, joint mediator with president roosevelt in central american affairs, - . dominican republic, under financial supervision of united states, - . drago, l. m., argentine minister, on war between germany and united states, , . drago doctrine, - . dubois, j. t., minister to colombia, efforts to settle differences arising out of panama revolution, - . evarts, w. m., report on obligations of united states with respect to isthmus of panama, . ferdinand vii, of spain, dethroned by napoleon, ; restoration of, ; attempts to recover american colonies, . filibusters, cuban, - . financial supervision, over dominican republic, - ; over nicaragua, ; over haiti, . fish, hamilton, secretary of state, cuban policy of, - ; on british infringement of clayton-bulwer treaty, ; acts as mediator in war between spain and republics on west coast of south america, , . florida treaty, , , . fonseca bay, naval base on, offered to united states by honduras, ; leased from nicaragua, . forsyth, john, secretary of state, ; minister to mexico, . france, interest in cuba, , , ; claims against mexico, ; severs diplomatic relations with juarez government, ; decides on joint intervention in mexico, ; supports maximilian on mexican throne, - . frelinghuysen, f. t., correspondence with lord granville on clayton-bulwer treaty, , ; signs canal treaty with nicaragua, . frye, w. p., commissioner to negotiate peace with spain, . garfield, j. a., canal policy of, . germany, intervention in venezuela, - ; forced to withdraw, - . goethals, g. w., in charge of construction of panama canal, . gomez, maximo, leader of cuban insurrection, . grace-eyre-cragin syndicate, secures concession for canal through nicaragua, . grant, ulysses s., cuban policy of, - ; favors driving french from mexico, ; proposes annexation of santo domingo, ; on monroe doctrine, . gray, george, commissioner to negotiate peace with spain, . great britain, secures monopoly of slave trade, - ; entertains idea of revolutionizing spanish america, - , ; sends expedition to the plate, - ; commercial relations with spanish america, - ; attitude towards holy alliance, , ; recognizes independence of mexico and colombia, ; attitude towards cuba, , , , ; signs clayton-bulwer treaty, ; disagrees with united states as to interpretation of the treaty, - ; refuses to relinquish rights under treaty, ; interferes in affairs of mosquito indians, - ; claims against mexico, ; severs diplomatic relations with juarez government, ; decides on joint intervention in mexico, ; grows suspicious of france, - ; withdraws troops from mexico, , ; controversy with venezuela over boundary of british guiana, - ; intervenes in venezuela for collection of claims, - ; opposes annexation of texas by united states, - ; attitude towards monroe doctrine, , . greytown, british occupation of, - . guiana. see british guiana. gwin, w. m., plan for colonizing ex-confederates in mexico, . hague conference of , resolutions on forcible collection of contract debts, - . hague court, decision in venezuelan case, . haiti, occupied by u. s. marines, ; agrees to american financial supervision, ; declares war on germany, . hamilton, alexander, interested in miranda's projects, - . harrison, benjamin, dispute with chile, . hay, john, secretary of state, negotiates new canal treaty with england, , ; negotiates canal treaty with colombia, ; calls germany's attention to monroe doctrine, ; advises submission of venezuelan case to hague court, . hay-herran convention, signed, ; rejected by colombia, , . hay-pauncefote treaty, provisions, , ; practical recognition of american supremacy in caribbean, - . hayes, r. b., announces new canal policy, . hepburn bill, . hoar, g. f., on acquisition of the philippines, . holleben incident, - . holy alliance, treaty of the, . honduras, knox treaty establishing financial supervision over, ; protests against protectorate over nicaragua, . huerta, victoriano, mexican dictator, - . india house, . indies, council of the, , ; laws of the, . international american conference, at washington, , ; at mexico, ; at rio de janeiro, ; at buenos aires, . international high commission, . intervention, european doctrine of, . isthmian canal, difficulties of, ; comparative merits of panama and nicaragua routes, , ; international questions involved in, , . italy, intervention in venezuela, - . _itata_, case of the, . iturbide, augustin de, leads revolution against spain in mexico, , ; proclaims himself emperor, . jefferson, thomas, interview with miranda, ; letter to president monroe on canning's proposals, - ; views on cuba, , ; on recognition of _de facto_ governments, . juarez, benito, president of mexico, ; recognized by united states, ; suspends payment on foreign debt, ; driven from capital by the french, , ; urged by united states to spare maximilian's life, ; orders his execution, . king, rufus, correspondence with miranda, - . knox, p. c., investigates title of panama canal company, ; tries to settle differences with colombia resulting from panama revolution, - ; central american policy, - . lansing, robert, secretary of state, negotiates treaty for purchase of danish west indies, ; suggests adoption of declaration of rights and duties of nations, . latin america, and the great war, - . laybach, conference of powers at, . league of nations, and monroe doctrine, , . lee, fitzhugh, consul-general at havana, . lincoln, abraham, views on panama canal, . liverpool, lord, on conference at aix-la-chapelle, ; on french intervention in spain, . lodge, h. c., on alleged secret alliance with england, ; reservation of monroe doctrine, . lôme, enrique dupuy de, incident and recall, , . loomis, f. b., acting secretary of state, . lopez, narciso, cuban patriot, - . louis napoleon. see bonaparte. louis philippe, suggested as possible ruler for spanish america, ; and annexation of texas, , . louisiana, ceded to united states, . mckinley, william, cuban policy of, - ; demands cession of philippine islands, . mclane, r. m., minister to mexico, . mackintosh, sir james, on monroe's message of december , , . madero, francisco, murder of, . madison, james, receives miranda informally, ; favors joint action with england against intervention of powers in spanish america, ; views on cuba, . magoon, c. e., provisional governor of cuba, . magruder, j. b., accepts office under maximilian in mexico, . _maine_, u. s. battleship, sent to havana, ; blown up, . marcy, william l., secretary of state, cuban policy of, - . maritime canal company, secures concessions from nicaragua, . mason, john y., connection with ostend manifesto, . maury, m. f., accepts office under maximilian in mexico, . maximilian, archduke ferdinand, suggested for mexican throne, - ; offered the position of emperor of mexico, ; not recognized by the united states, , ; career in mexico, - ; death, . mexico, becomes independent of spain, - ; frequent changes of government in, ; claims of foreigners against, ; joint intervention of england, france, and spain, - ; war with united states, , ; relations with united states under huerta, - ; under carranza, - ; hot-bed of german intrigue, . miles, nelson a., occupies porto rico, . miranda, francisco de, plans for revolutionizing spanish america, - ; organizes expedition in new york, ; attempts to land in venezuela, , ; takes part in venezuelan revolution, ; imprisonment and death, . monroe, james, attitude toward south american struggle for independence, , ; letter to jefferson on canning's proposals, , ; message of december , , , . monroe doctrine, text of message of december , , - ; and clayton-bulwer treaty, , , , ; and french intervention in mexico, , ; asserted by president cleveland in venezuelan boundary dispute, - ; tested by germany, - ; imperialistic tendencies of, , , ; president wilson's statement of, before pan american scientific conference, - ; an executive policy, ; relation to european balance of power, , ; attitude of england toward, ; consistently interpreted, ; does not permit transfer of american colonies from one european power to another, , ; reservation of, at hague conference, , ; as applied by president roosevelt, , ; proposals to pan americanize, ; probable effects of great war on, , ; distinct from policy of isolation, , ; recognized in covenant of league of nations, ; lodge reservation, ; definition of, demanded by salvador, . moore, john bassett, secretary of commission to negotiate peace with spain, ; on monroe doctrine, . morgan, j. t., advocates nicaragua canal route, . mosquito coast, great britain's claims to, - ; british interference in, - . motley, j. l., minister to austria, , . naón, r. s., argentine ambassador to the united states, on "european war and pan americanism," - . napoleon. see bonaparte. new granada. see colombia. nicaragua, signs canal treaty of with united states, ; canal treaty of withdrawn from senate by cleveland, ; sovereignty over mosquito coast, - ; relations with united states under roosevelt, , ; under taft, - ; under wilson, - ; treaty of , . nicaragua canal, comparative merits of nicaragua and panama routes, , ; draft of treaty for construction of canal, , ; route investigated by walker commission, . o'higgins, bernardo, chilean patriot, , . olney, richard, secretary of state, on cuba, ; on clayton-bulwer treaty, ; interpretation of monroe doctrine in venezuelan boundary dispute, . ostend manifesto, , . ouseley, sir william, mission to central america, - . palma, t. e., first president of cuba, , . panama, republic of, recognized by president roosevelt, ; leases canal zone to united states, . panama canal, comparative merits of panama and nicaragua routes, , ; treaty of with colombia, ; opened to commerce, . panama canal company, organized by de lesseps, ; reorganization and extension of concession, ; offers to sell to united states, , . panama congress, - . panama railroad, , . panama revolution, - . pan american financial conferences, . pan american scientific conferences, . pan american union, . pan americanism, definition of, ; promoted by president wilson's mexican policy, , ; put to test in the great war, - . pecuniary claims, against mexico, , ; british policy in regard to, ; attempt to collect by force from venezuela, - ; resolutions of second hague conference, , ; considered by international american conferences, , . peru, liberation of, - ; war with spain, ; war with chile, , ; severs relations with germany, . philippine islands, ceded to united states, , . pierce, franklin, cuban policy of, - . platt amendment, text of, - ; treaty with nicaragua embodying, defeated by senate, , ; applied in part to haiti, . poinsett, joel r., , . polk, j. k., and mexican war, , . porter, horace, presents resolution to hague conference of on forcible collection of pecuniary claims, . porto rico, cession of, demanded by united states, . quitman, john a., relations with lopez, - . recognition, withheld from huerta, . see belligerent rights. reed, walter, yellow-fever investigations, . reid, whitelaw, commissioner to negotiate peace with spain, . roosevelt, theodore, and cuban reciprocity, - ; signs canal bill, ; denounces colombia's rejection of hay-herran convention, ; recognizes republic of panama, ; on acquisition of canal zone, ; creates strained relations with colombia, ; on monroe doctrine, ; interview with holleben on german intervention in venezuela, - ; refuses to arbitrate panama question, ; denounces bryan treaty with colombia as blackmail, ; establishes financial supervision over dominican republic, - ; central american policy, , ; attempts to purchase danish west indies, ; interpretation of monroe doctrine, , . root, elihu, author of platt amendment, ; attempts to settle differences with colombia, - ; visits south america, ; on monroe doctrine, , . rush, richard, minister to england, conferences with canning on schemes of holy alliance, - , , . russia, claims to northwestern coast of america, . sagasta, p. m., spanish minister, cuban policy of, . salisbury, lord, reply to olney's dispatch on venezuelan boundary dispute, ; agrees to arbitration of the boundary dispute, . salvador, protests against protectorate over nicaragua, - ; requests official definition of monroe doctrine, . sampson, w. t., blockades cuba, . san ildefonso, secret treaty of, . san martin, josé de, takes part in argentine revolution, - ; liberates chile, , ; liberates peru, - ; relations with bolivar, , ; death, . santo domingo, annexation proposed by seward, ; annexation proposed by grant, . see dominican republic. schenck, robert c., minister to england, . schofield, j. m., informal mission to france, . seward, w. h., views on panama canal, ; favors expansion, ; raises question as to binding force of clayton-bulwer treaty, ; proposes to assume payment of interest on foreign debt of mexico, ; declines to unite with european powers in measures against mexico, , ; attitude towards french in mexico, - ; efforts to annex santo domingo and danish west indies, , . shaw, albert, and panama revolution, . sherman, john, secretary of state, . sherman, w. t., selected for special mission to mexico, , . sickles, daniel e., mission to spain, - . slave trade, - . slavery, in cuba, , , , , . slidell, john, introduces bill for purchase of cuba, . smuggling, in spanish colonies, . soulé, pierre, mission to spain, - . spain, colonial policy of, - ; revolution of , , suppressed by french army, ; revolution of , ; republic proclaimed in, ; treaty of with united states, ; claims against mexico, ; decides on joint intervention in mexico, ; withdraws troops from mexico, , ; extent of colonial empire at beginning of nineteenth century, ; war with chile, peru, bolivia, and ecuador, , . spanish-american republics, accorded belligerent rights, ; recognized as independent by united states, , by england, . spanish colonies, revolt of, . spooner, j. c., offers amendment to canal bill, . sucre, antonio josé de, venezuelan general, - . suez canal convention, and hay-pauncefote treaty, . sumner, charles, opposes annexation of danish west indies and santo domingo, , . taft, w. h., proclaims provisional government in cuba, ; tries to settle differences with colombia resulting from panama revolution, - ; relations with nicaragua and honduras, - ; and huerta revolution, . taylor, hannis, minister to spain, . taylor, zachary, issues proclamation warning americans against aiding lopez expedition against cuba, ; and mexican war, . texas, claim to, abandoned by the united states, ; establishment of independence of, ; admitted to union, . thayer, w. r., version of holleben incident, - . trade, with spanish colonies, monopoly of, - . troppau, conference of , . tupac amaru, last of the incas, . tyler, john, and annexation of texas, , . utrecht, treaty of, . venezuela, declares independence, ; war of liberation, - ; dispute with great britain over boundary of british guiana, - ; intervention of germany, england, and italy in, - ; neutral in great war, , . vera cruz, landing of american marines at, . verona, congress of, - . viceroy, office of, in spanish colonies, , , . vienna, congress of, . villa, francisco, mexican insurrectionary chief, , . virgin islands. see danish west indies. _virginius_, case of the, - . walker, j. g., head of commission to investigate canal routes, ; report of, , . walker, william, invasion of central america, . webster, daniel, cuban policy of, , . wellington, duke of, withdraws from congress of verona, . weyler, valeriano, captain-general of cuba, , , . william ii, emperor of germany, intervention in venezuela, - ; forced to withdraw, - . wilson, henry lane, ambassador to mexico, . wilson, woodrow, submits treaty with colombia adjusting differences resulting from panama revolution, , ; central american policy, - ; haitian policy, , ; relations with latin america, ; interpretation of monroe doctrine, , ; mexican policy of, - ; latin-american policy, , ; opposes concessions to foreign capitalists in latin america, ; proposes to extend monroe doctrine to the world, . wood, leonard, military governor of cuba, - . woodford, s. l., minister to spain, , , . wyke, sir charles, british minister to mexico, , , , . wyse, l. n. b., secures concession for panama canal, . zelaya, president of nicaragua, - . +------------------------------------------------------+ | transcriber's note: | | | | inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the | | original document have been preserved. | | | | typographical errors corrected in the text: | | | | page maner changed to manner | | page indefeasibility changed to indefensibility | | page transmited changed to transmitted | | page on changed to or | | page clayon changed to clayton | | page adminstration changed to administration | | page supress changed to suppress | | page read changed to rear | +------------------------------------------------------+ produced from scanned images of public domain material from the google print project.) the coast of adventure by the same author alton of somasco lorimer of the northwest thurston of orchard valley winston of the prairie the gold trail sydney carteret, rancher a prairie courtship vane of the timberlands the long portage ranching for sylvia prescott of saskatchewan the dust of conflict the greater power masters of the wheatlands delilah of the snows by right of purchase the cattle baron's daughter thrice armed for jacinta the intriguers the league of the leopard for the allinson honor the secret of the reef harding of allenwood the coast of adventure [illustration: "dropping his chin upon the stock, he stiffened his arms and held his breath as he squeezed the trigger"--page .] the coast of adventure by harold bindloss author of "prescott of saskatchewan," "ranching for sylvia," "for the allinson honor," "the secret or the reef," etc. _with frontispiece in color_ [illustration] frederick a. stokes company publishers new york copyright, , by frederick a. stokes company published in england under the title "a risky game" all rights reserved contents chapter page i. father agustin's sheep ii. the adventures begin iii. high stakes iv. the "enchantress" v. the call of the unknown vi. on the spanish main vii. mangrove creek viii. the traitor ix. stranded x. the peon pilot xi. a modern don quixote xii. baiting the smugglers xiii. the emerald ring xiv. smooth water xv. the tornado xvi. the ruse xvii. eluding the gunboat xviii. the test of love xix. the cuban spy xx. the arrest of castillo xxi. a half-breed's trick xxii. held for ransom xxiii. the intercepted note xxiv. in the camp of the hillsmen xxv. a trial of speed xxvi. trapped xxvii. hands down xxviii. the president's despatches xxix. the presidio xxx. the escape xxxi. the american trader xxxii. love's vision xxxiii. the hero of rio frio xxxiv. the coming dawn the coast of adventure chapter i father agustin's sheep high on the sun-scorched hillside above the steamy littoral of the caribbean sea the spanish-indian town of rio frio lay sweltering in the heat of afternoon. the flat-topped, white houses surrounding the plaza reflected a dazzling glare, and the heat shimmered mercilessly upon the rough paving-stones. flakes of plaster had fallen from the buildings; a few of them were mere ruins, relics of a past age; for the town had been built when _conquistadores_ from spain first plunged into the tropic forest to search for el dorado. here and there dilapidated green lattices shaded upper windows, and nearer the ground narrow openings were guarded by rusty iron bars; but some of the houses showed blank outer walls, and the plaza had rather an eastern than an american look. spain has set upon the new world the stamp the moors impressed on her. at one end of the plaza stood the café four nations, a low, open-sided room, with a row of decaying pillars dividing it from the pavement. it was filled with flies, which stuck in black clusters to the papers hanging from the tarnished lamps and crawled about the dusty tables. the hot air was tainted with aniseed, picadura tobacco, and the curious musky smell which is a characteristic of ancient spanish towns. on the right-hand side of the square rose the twin towers of the church of san sebastian. wide steps led up to the patch of shadow where a leather curtain left uncovered part of the door, and a niche above sheltered an image of the martyr with an arrow in his breast. the figure was well modeled and grimly realistic. opposite the café, the _calle mercedes_ cut a cool, dark gap through the dazzling town. on its outskirts, the hillside fell sharply to a wide, green level. beyond this a silver gleam indicated the sea. the café was in shadow, and at its inner end a number of citizens lounged, half asleep, in low cane chairs. the hour of the siesta had slipped away, but it was not yet time for dinner, and, having read the newspaper and guardedly discussed politics, the leading inhabitants of rio frio had nothing else to do. they were men with formal manners, a few dressed in rusty black, and some in white cotton, but all were not of pure european blood. one or two, indeed, plainly showed their negro descent; others the melancholy of the indian aboriginal. near the front pillars, a priest and two men of lighter color were seated at a table. father agustin wore a threadbare cassock and clumsy rawhide shoes, but he had an air of quiet dignity, and his sharply cut features were of the gothic type, which is not uncommon in spain. his accent was also clean peninsular. james grahame, who sat opposite across the chessboard, wore the same vague but recognizable stamp of breeding, though his duck suit was getting ragged and his red silk sash was obviously cheap. he had steady gray eyes, and light hair, a rather prominent nose and a firm mouth. he looked older than his thirty years. the lines on his forehead hinted at stern experience, and his alertness was partly masked by an easy self-control. walthew was younger, and dressed with scrupulous neatness in duck, with smart tan shoes. his face was mobile, his glance quick but open, and his mouth sensitive; he had the look of an aristocratic american. father agustin made a deprecatory gesture as his thin, long-nailed hand moved across the board, and grahame smiled. "yes," he said, filling the tiny glass before the priest, "it is mate this time, _padre_. when you had made a few moves i foresaw defeat, but while the candle burns one plays out the game." "it is so, but not with all," father agustin replied in his fine castilian. "the losing game needs courage." "experience helps. getting beaten does not hurt so much when one grows used to it." "ah!" said the priest, "that is the way to the greatest victory man can win. but i am your guest, and will not moralize. i must compliment you on the game you play. it is bold and well thought out, but perhaps somewhat lacking in finesse." "i am afraid finesse is not a virtue of mine," grahame smiled. father agustin studied him quietly. when the briton spoke he lost something of his reserve. his glance got keen, and his eyes had a curious hawk-like look. the priest could imagine him as swift and determined in action; quick to seize an advantage, but not a good plotter. "for all that, it is a quality that is useful when one deals with the latins, at rio frio, or elsewhere," the priest said. "with apologies, _padre_, that is certainly true," walthew agreed. "so you have some business here? perhaps, like the others, you seek a mineral concession." "no. our host, don martin, is of course out of office and doesn't deal in them." "he never will," the priest said quietly. "the natural wealth of this country belongs to its people, but it is stolen from them, piece by piece, and given to foreigners." "the foreigners pay for what they get." "yes," said the priest; "but where does the money go? if it were spent on the development of the country, one would not complain; but it is gamblers and courtezans who benefit. those who hold office here fill their pockets from the public purse, and what is left when they are satisfied is needed to keep the government in power." "then, why do you not reform your administration and put in straight men?" father agustin indicated the drowsy group at the back of the café. "these are our politicians! they meet every day and ruminate over the affairs of the nation. think of it!" "well," said walthew, "they do not look busy; but things do happen here now and then." "it is true. a clique breaks up, there is a new coalition, and those who plotted each other's downfall are united again. we latins have seldom a continuous policy. sometimes there is a tumult in the streets and disaffection among the troops; then the man who rules us uses the whip. one hears of no trial, but a malcontent is missing, an officer's duty takes him to the fever jungles, where he cannot live. sometimes, before the morning mist has lifted, one is wakened by a volley in the ditch behind the citadel." "you are a patient race," grahame remarked. "not so," said father agustin. "we often dream when we should act, but sometimes we act too soon. it is our misfortune that we do not know how to wait for the right moment." he paused and indicated the thinned-out ranks of pawns on the chessboard. "it is like that in the game of politics! the fight is between the greater pieces, but these others fall." grahame lighted a cigarette and glanced about the square, for rio frio was waking up. here and there a woman of mixed blood crouched beside a cast-iron pot, fanning the handful of charcoal in it, ready for cooking the evening meal. a team of mules hauled a heavy load across the hot paving stones, a gaunt, dark-faced man in ragged cotton walking at the leaders' heads. then came a pack train, with jingling bells, a cloud of flies following the burdened animals, and dusty, barefooted peasants plodding by their side. a group of women appeared from the mouth of a narrow street, their faces wet with perspiration and straps across their foreheads supporting the big cane baskets on their backs. after them came a negro with a great tray of fruit upon his head. next, three or four lean, barefooted fellows with ragged palm-leaf hats seated themselves on the pavement in a strip of shadow. they sat there, silent and motionless, contemplating the scene with listless eyes. the crowd looked dully apathetic, there was languor in the air they breathed; but, after all, they claimed descent from spanish stock and grahame thought they could be roused. it does not need much fanning to wake the smoldering fire in the iberian's veins. "my sheep!" said father agustin. "but they have other shepherds, who do not always lead them well." "shear the flock instead of guarding it? one would imagine that there is not much wool." "none is so poor that he has nothing to give; if not goods, his voice, his sullen clamor and savage rage. the unthinking passion of the mob is terrible, but it is used by those who must answer for the deed some day. my people have their wrongs, but one cannot build the state on foundations of revenge and cruelty." "but you have some honest men who hate the present government." "it is possible that their honesty lessens their influence. at rio frio one does not follow the ideal. it is remote and elusive; the feet get weary, and many things that please the eye lie nearer to hand." father agustin rose and bowed with grave courtesy. "and now i have talked enough and have some duties. i thank you and take my leave." they watched him cross the plaza in his rusty cassock. "guess we've struck the wrong place," walthew said. "we're more likely to find trouble than money here. well, there's a prospect of new experiences and a little excitement; and, anyway, we can't go back on our bargain with don martin." "i never quite understood what led you to join me," grahame remarked. "you know the risk we run. if the government catches us, we'll be hanged or shot--whichever suits their fancy." walthew laughed. "that's the attraction. but we won't be caught. i guess my yankee ingenuity will count for something. if these sleepy-looking dagoes should trap us, we can find a way to give 'em the slip." "optimism is a great asset," grahame smiled; "but in this country it must have a handmaiden--a convenient revolver." walthew leaned forward on the table. "we've gone into a risky business together. i know nothing about you except that you seem to understand these dagoes and are a handy man to have around when they pull their knives. you know almost nothing about me." he paused and smiled, and grahame stirred uneasily. walthew looked so boyish when he smiled like that. would he have that carefree look in, say, two months? at times, grahame regretted letting the boy join him in a venture that might try the heart of even a very strong man. "i say, old chap, you aren't listening!" walthew expostulated. "i'm telling you that the pater's a money-making machine. when i left harvard he was for working me up into a partnership in the walthew factory. but i couldn't stand it--too monotonous. i took ten thousand dollars, instead, on condition that if i hadn't made good in my own way when two years were up, i'd go back and start as clerk." "well," grahame returned with a smile, "i haven't much to tell. i have no family business to fall back on. as my means were not large enough to let me live as i liked at home, i went abroad to increase them. so far i haven't succeeded; but, on the whole, i've had a pretty good time, and i don't see much reason for grumbling about my luck." this was correct, so far as it went, for grahame did not think it worth while to explain that the fiery blood of the borderers ran in his veins and his people had been soldiers and explorers until economic changes impoverished the family. nor could he add that, because his name still counted for something in the north, he had left home to avoid being skilfully led into a marriage his friends thought suitable. he had, indeed, run away from a well-born girl with money, who, he suspected, was relieved to see him go. since then he had known trouble, and it had hardened him. yet he was honest and was marked by some polish. at first sight, and by contrast with his comrade, walthew looked callow, but he improved on acquaintance. it was not for nothing that he was the son of a shrewd manufacturer, who had built up a great business from a humble beginning. walthew was cool in a crisis, and though outwardly careless, he was capable of looking ahead. so far, his talents were undeveloped, but grahame suspected them. while they sat talking, the scene in the square gained animation. groups of men, moving quickly, emerged from the side streets; there was a murmur of voices; and a crowd began to gather. women called from the flat housetops; doors were opened and naked, dark-skinned children dragged in from the pavement. the concourse thickened about the steps of the church; gesticulating men chattered in the native patois. grahame's eyes grew keen. "something's going to happen," he said quietly. then he pressed his comrade's arm as a man appeared on the highest step of the church, and the murmur of the crowd swelled into a roar: "_viva castillo! viva el libertador!_" the tall figure bowed and held up a hand, and for a moment there was silence; then a clear voice rang out, and grahame tried to catch the sonorous castilian words. he was too far off, and some escaped him, but he heard enough to gather that it was a grim indictment of the rulers of the country. the man spoke with fire and passion, using lavish gestures, and the cries that answered showed that he could work upon the feelings of the crowd. the café had emptied, and its stout proprietor lounged, napkin in hand, near grahame's table. "sounds pretty drastic, if i heard him right," walthew remarked. "it's obvious that the authorities don't use half-measures. did he say they had the deputation arrested and its leader shot?" "so i understood," said grahame. "how did you come to learn castilian?" "a notion of the old man's; he made me study languages. it's his ambition to ship the walthew manufactures all over the world, and he got a footing in cuba some time ago." they were silent for a few minutes, and then grahame turned to the landlord. "are these things true?" "it is possible," the other answered cautiously. "then are you not afraid of a revolution?" "no, señor; why should i fear? when there is a revolution the wine trade is good." "but suppose your customers get killed?" the landlord smiled. "they are philosophic politicians, señor. it is the untaught rabble that fights. these others drink their wine and argue over the newspapers. besides, there will be no revolution yet. some talk, perhaps; possibly a supporter of the government stabbed in the dark." "and that will be all?" grahame asked with a keen glance. "there will be nothing more. the president waits and watches until he knows his enemies. then he gives an order and there is an end of them." the man turned away, and when, shortly afterward, the plaza rang with fierce applause, a voice was raised in alarm. others joined in, the crowd began to stream back from the steps, and the orator disappeared. then the mass broke into running groups, and through the patter of their feet there came a steady, measured tread. it drew nearer; short, swarthy men in dirty white uniforms marched into the plaza, the strong light gleaming on their rifles. they wheeled and stopped in ranks extended across the square, and the rifles went up to their shoulders. warning shouts fell from the roofs, the patter of feet grew faster, the shadowy streets were choked with fugitives, and the place was empty except for the line of quiet men. then an officer laughed and called out, and the rifles came down with a clang. "i suspect that we're up against a big man in the president," walthew remarked. "perhaps we'd better light out before these fellows ask us questions." chapter ii the adventures begin a half moon hung over the flat roofs and the air was very still. walthew and grahame sat on a balcony surrounding the patio of don martin sarmiento's house. the lattice windows that opened onto the balcony had old but artistic hinges of bronze, and the crumbling hardwood rails showed traces of skilful carving. below, a small fountain splashed in a marble basin surrounded by palmettos, and a creeper covered a trellis with trails of dusky purple. a faint smell of decay mingled with the more pungent odors of garlic and olive oil from the kitchen in the courtyard, where a clatter was going on, but no sound from outside broke the silence. rio frio was very quiet now. cups of black coffee and a plate of fruit stood on a table in front of the men, and the señorita blanca sarmiento sat in a low chair opposite, with her duenna a few yards away. blanca was then nineteen, and walthew, watching her with unobtrusive admiration, wondered how it was that her relatives had not already arranged a marriage for her, unless, perhaps, her father's political opinions stood in the way. one ran a risk in opposing the government at rio frio. the girl was attractive, with a finely molded figure, the grace of which was displayed by her languid pose. her hair was dark and coiled in heavy masses on a small, well-shaped head; her lips were full and very red, but her eyes were a deep blue and her skin fairer than that of the spanish-american women walthew hitherto had met. nor did she use the powder they lavishly employ. with a crimson rose in her hair, and a fine black-lace mantilla draped about her shoulders and emphasizing the whiteness of her neck and half-covered arms, she reminded walthew of carmen. she had something of the latter's allurement, but he thought it was an unconscious attraction that she exercised. the art of the coquette was missing; the girl had a certain dignity, and there was no hint of sensuality in her beauty. she had, no doubt, spanish fire in her blood, but the lad thought it burned with a clear and pure flame. "how do you come to speak english so charmingly?" he asked, in the hope of satisfying his curiosity about her. "do i speak it charmingly?" she laughed prettily. "well, the explanation is that it was my mother's tongue. she was irish, you must know." "ah!" said walthew. "now i understand." blanca gave him a glance of languid amusement. "your interest is flattering, señor; but what is it you understand?" "that's an awkward question," walthew answered, grinning frankly. "still, there's something about you that i haven't noticed in spanish-american girls, charming as they are." "i'm afraid you're evasive. do you know many of my countrywomen?" "i'd like to know more. but i believe i'm good at reading character. it is a gift i inherited. my father was never mistaken about a man, and he has made use of a good many." blanca studied him. he had a smooth, fresh face, and looked very young, but while she thought he was direct and perhaps impulsive, something suggested that he was shrewd. "women are supposed to be more puzzling," she answered. "then the sarmientos come from andalusia, and the peninsulares are complex people. on the surface, we are often cheerfully inconsequent, but underneath there's a strain of melancholy. we live in the shadow of a fatalism we got from the moors." she glanced at grahame. "i think you can understand." grahame made a sign of assent. sitting thoughtfully silent, his lean but powerful frame displayed by the thin white duck, and his strong, brown face impassive, he had a somber look. the man was reckless and sparkled with gay humor now and then, but it was the passing brightness of the north. "yes," he said, "i understand. but the irish are optimists, and you are irish too." "then perhaps that's why i keep hopeful. it is not always easy at rio frio, and life was not very joyous when we were exiles in america." "you know my country?" walthew broke in. "i know your southern states. we lived there in poverty, wandering up and down. my father is what his friends call a patriot, and his enemies a dangerous agitator. he had to choose between ruin and acquiescence in corrupt tyranny, and his course was plain. but the seed he had sown sprouted, the dictator was driven out, and we came back to our own. then, for a time, there was rest and safety, until the new ruler began to follow the old. he tried to bribe my father, who had helped to put him in power; but our honor was not for sale, and we had to leave the capital. there are men who trust my father, and look to him for help.... but i think you know something of this." "yes," said grahame. "this afternoon we heard castillo speak in the plaza." the girl's eyes flashed angrily. "castillo is a fool! he pulls down what others have carefully built up." "tries to fire the mine before things are ready?" walthew suggested. "a premature explosion's apt to blow up the men who prepared it." blanca gave him a keen glance. "that is what nearly happened this afternoon. i believe you are to be trusted, señores?" grahame bowed. "i am an adventurer, not a patriot, and my partner is out for money, but we made a bargain with don martin and we keep our word." "then," said the girl quietly, "castillo is hiding here." "in the _casa sarmiento_! isn't that dangerous? won't the president's friends suspect?" "i think they do, but they are afraid of my father's hold on the people; and there is only a handful of troops. when it is late they may make a search, but castillo will leave soon. it is possible that you are in some danger." walthew laughed. "that makes things interesting; i've never been in serious danger yet. but i suppose you have don martin's permission to be frank with us?" "you are shrewd," she answered, smiling. "he has some confidence in my judgment. i spent the years that should have been happiest in poverty and loneliness. are you surprised that i'm a conspirator? if you value your safety, you will beware of me." "you might prove dangerous to your enemies, but i believe you'd be very staunch to your friends." "_gracias, señor._ i'm sure i can at least hate well." a mulatto boy came out on to the balcony, and the girl's stout duenna, who had been sitting silent and apparently half asleep, rose and approached the table. "don martin is disengaged," she said to blanca; and when the girl waited a moment grahame imagined that something had been left for her to decide. he did not see any sign exchanged, but he thought with some amusement that he and his companion had passed a test when the duenna said to them: "don martin would speak with you." walthew turned to blanca, saying in castilian: "until our next meeting! i kiss your hands, señorita." the girl rose with a grave curtsy and there was a touch of stateliness in her manner. "may you go in safety, señores! we expect much from you." the mulatto led them away, and, passing through the house, they found their host and another man sitting by a dim lamp in a room with the shutters carefully closed. don martin sarmiento wore an alpaca jacket, a white shirt, and a black silk sash round the waist of his duck trousers. he was dark-haired and sallow, lightly built and thin, but his expression was eager and his eyes were penetrating. one could have imagined that his fiery spirit had worn down the flesh. the other man was of coarser type. his skin was very dark, his face hot and fleshy, and grahame noticed that his hands were wet with perspiration. his glance was restless and he had a rather truculent air, though there was something in it that hinted at uneasiness. grahame thought that while he might show a rash boldness now and then, his nerve was not very good. "with your permission, i present my comrade, señor castillo," said don martin. "should any disaster overtake me, señor castillo, or another whom he appoints, will carry out our contract. our funds are in safe hands; the rifles will be paid for." "they will be delivered," grahame answered quietly. "good! the word of a gentleman is sufficient. and now there is something more to be said. my house is my friend's, particularly if he is in trouble, but one has higher duties than hospitality." "yes," agreed grahame, turning to castillo. "the interests of one's country come first. there are only three of us, and don martin is the head of an important organization." "it was not for my personal safety that i came here," castillo broke in hotly. "i carried papers; lists of names, compromising details. it was unthinkable that they should fall into the president's hands. they must be made safe, and then it does not matter what happens to me--though i may, perhaps, claim to have been of some help to the cause of freedom." grahame saw his host's half-impatient smile. "and so you gave them to don martin!" he remarked dryly. "he is not watched as i am," castillo answered. "i am hunted among the sierras, i hide in the fever swamps; but where i pass i leave a spark that tyranny cannot trample out. it burns and spreads; by and by there comes the purging conflagration." "yes," said grahame. "i'm told, however, that your president has a keen scent for smoke, and i don't mean to scatter more sparks than i can help." he turned to don martin. "since our business is finished, we can leave rio frio in an hour." "i, too!" exclaimed castillo. "it is not good for the cause that the soldiers find me. but there are difficulties; the house may be watched." don martin looked thoughtful, but not disturbed; and grahame saw that he could calmly take a risk. danger and his host obviously were old acquaintances. "it is better that you go," he answered. "sometimes i entertain an american traveler, and englishmen now and then visit rio frio. i do not think you are suspected yet, and you may be able to help us by drawing off the watchers' attention when you leave. we will see what can be done, but it would be safer for señor castillo not to come with us." he took the others to the roof, where he walked to the edge and looked over the low parapet. a narrow, dark street divided sarmiento's house from the next, but a lattice in a high wall was open, and grahame imagined that he made out a man's head, which was, however, promptly withdrawn. "once or twice a guest of mine has reached the _calle_ by a rope, but the president's friends take precautions to-night," don martin remarked. "there remain the windows on the other side, but castillo is heavy and fat. i think the door into the plaza would suit him best." "wouldn't the small one at the back be safer?" walthew suggested. "that will be watched, but it might be of some help if you went that way. possibly you would not mind wearing a sombrero and a spanish cloak." "not at all," grahame assured him. "still, there are two of us." "that is an advantage. if one leaves shortly after the other, those who keep watch and expect a single man will be puzzled." walthew chuckled. "good! i'd a hankering after adventures, and now it looks as if i'd be gratified. but you had better not give us clothes with a name on them." "in this country, people out of favor with the government are modest about their names," don martin rejoined. ten minutes later grahame, wearing a wide black hat and a dark spanish cloak, stepped quietly out into the shadowy street. he had seen that his automatic pistol was ready to his hand, having had more than one experience of the half-breed's dexterity with the silent knife. for all that, his hurried, stealthy gait was assumed and not natural to the man, whose heart beat calmly, though he cast quick glances about. the houses were high, and the street seemed to get narrower and darker as he went on. then he imagined he heard soft steps behind him. walking faster, he stopped at a corner and listened. somebody was certainly following him. grahame's first impulse was to hide in a dark doorway and wait for his pursuer, but he reflected that this would not fall in with his host's plan, and he went on, keeping in the shadow while he made for the hotel at which he had left his mules. there were, he imagined, two men following him now. a few moments afterward he reached the end of the dark street, and the empty plaza lay before him. the moon shed a faint light upon the stones and the high, white walls, and grahame was glad of this. now, if it were needful, he could defend himself: the walk through the shadow had been trying. still, he must not hurry, for he never promised more than he meant to perform, and he knew that don martin relied upon his playing out his part. perhaps he overdid it when he stopped to light a cigarette, for, looking up as he dropped the match, he saw two dark figures stop at the corner he had left. then there was a low whistle, and one of them disappeared. grahame smiled, because he knew that walthew had divided the attention of the spies. the remaining man, however, walked quickly after him, and when grahame was half way across the plaza he waited. his pursuer seemed to hesitate, for he came on more slowly, and stopped a few yards off. "the american!" he exclaimed. "english," said grahame calmly. "the difference is, no doubt, not important." the man looked hard at him, and grahame carelessly dropped his hand upon his pistol. "i am going to the _fonda_; if you are going that way, i would rather you walked in front. one is careful at night, my friend." though the fellow had a sinister look, he smiled and went off with an apology, and grahame, going on to the hotel, waited outside until walthew came up. the boy looked hot and breathless, but grahame noticed that he had a flower in his hand. "i've been followed," walthew laughed. "the fellows dropped back soon after i came into the moonlight. guess they saw they were after the wrong man." "very possibly. it happened to me. i wonder whether castillo got away?" they listened, but the town was quiet. one or two citizens crossed the plaza, but no sound that indicated anything unusual going on rose from the shadowy streets. "it seems likely," walthew replied. "i don't think they could have arrested him without some disturbance. why didn't they search sarmiento's house?" "perhaps they were afraid of starting a riot that would spread. the president seems to be a capable man, and don martin obviously enjoys the confidence of the citizens. on the whole, i think he deserves it." "so do i," walthew agreed. "what do you think of the other fellow?" "i wouldn't trust him. he's no doubt sincere, but i'm not sure of his nerve. but where did you get the rose?" "on the pavement outside the _casa sarmiento_," walthew answered with some embarrassment. "mmm! dropped from a window. such things happen in spanish-american towns, and it's possible that the president's spies have noted it against you. however, you'll be too busy to think of the señorita when we get back to the coast." grahame paused and added: "it might be wise to remember that you're engaged in a dangerous business, and can't run the risk of any complications. neither of us can indulge in philandering until this job's finished." "i'll take no risk that could get us into difficulties, but that's all i'll promise," walthew said quietly. grahame gave him a steady glance. "well, i suppose i must be satisfied." they entered the hotel, and half an hour later they left rio frio and rode down the hillside toward the misty swamps that fringed the coast. chapter iii high stakes the green shutters were half closed to keep the dazzling sunshine out of henry cliffe's private sitting-room at the smart florida hotel, but the fresh sea breeze swept in and tempered the heat. the scent of flowers mingled with a delicate perfume such as fastidious women use, but mrs. cliffe was enjoying an afternoon nap and her daughter had gone out, so that cliffe and robinson had the room to themselves. they sat, opposite each other, at a small table on which stood a bottle and a cigar box, but there was only iced water in the tall glass at cliffe's hand. he had lunched sparingly, as usual, and now leaned back in his chair, looking thoughtful. his hair was turning gray, and his face was thin and lined, but there was a hint of quiet force about him. his dress was plain but in excellent taste, and he looked, what he was, a good type of the american business man, who had, however, as sometimes happens to his kind, sacrificed his health to commercial success. he was a financier and a floater of companies which generally paid. robinson was tall, with a high color, a prominent, hooked nose, and a face of jewish cast. his clothes were well cut, but their adherence to the latest fashion was rather pronounced, and he wore expensive jewelry. he was favorably known on wall street and sometimes heard of when a corner was being manipulated in the chicago wheat pit. cliffe had proposed a joint venture, because he knew that robinson did not fear a risk and he had learned that a jew can generally be relied upon when the reckoning comes. "well," said robinson, "i see a chance of trouble. if president altiera goes down, we lose our money." "a sure thing," cliffe agreed. "it will be our business to keep him on his feet, and it may cost us something. in a way, that's an advantage. he must have our help, and is willing to bid high for it." "the revolutionaries may beat him." "if he's left alone; but a little money goes a long way in his country, and the dissatisfied politicians would rather take some as a gift than risk their lives by fighting for it. altiera can buy up most of them if he has the means; and he's capable of quieting the rest in a more drastic way." cliffe smiled as he continued: "it's not my habit to plan a deal without carefully considering what i may get up against." "then it's your honest opinion the thing's a good business chance?" "i call it that. one gets nothing for nothing. if you expect a prize, you must put up the stakes." "very well. suppose you get the concession? is there gold worth mining in the country?" "i can't tell," cliffe answered frankly. "the spaniards found a good deal three hundred years ago, and now and then a half-breed brings some out of the bush. guess we could get enough to use as a draw in the prospectus." "you'd have to make the prospectus good," robinson said with a thoughtful air. "not an invariable rule, of course, but our names stand for something with the investing public." "i generally do make good. if we don't strike gold, there's rubber, and the soil will grow high-grade cane and coffee. give me the concession and i'll make it pay." robinson nodded. cliffe's business talent was particularly marked in the development of virgin territory, though he never undertook the work in person. he knew where to find the right men, and how far to trust them. "i suppose we won't be required to meddle with dago politics?" robinson suggested. "certainly not; that's altiera's affair, and he's capable of looking after it. a number of his people are getting tired of him, but so long as he can pay his soldiers up to time and buy support where he can't use force, he'll keep control." "a bit of a brute, i've heard." "he's not a humanitarian," cliffe agreed. "still, countries like his need a firm hand." "guess that's so," said robinson. he and cliffe were respected in business circles. they met their obligations and kept the rules that govern financial dealings. that they might now be lending their support to tyrannical oppression, and helping to stifle the patriotic aspirations of a downtrodden people, did not enter their minds. that was not their affair; they were out for money, and their responsibility ended with the payment of dividends to those who bought their stock. they would fulfill this duty if the thing were possible; although their standard of morality was not of the highest, they had prosperous rivals who fell short of it. "i'll stand in," robinson decided after a few moments' silence. "you can let me know how much you will need to carry you through when you get your plans worked out." "very well. it's over the first payments we take a risk. the money will, so to speak, vanish. we'll have nothing to show for it except the good will of the men in power. some of it may even get into the wrong hands." robinson made a sign of comprehension. he knew something about official graft, for he now and then found it needful to smooth the way for a new venture by judicious bribery. "there'll be no trouble after we've bought the concession," cliffe continued. "the cash will then go to the treasury, and whichever party gets control will have to stand to the bargain. and now i guess we can let the matter drop until i fix things up." they went out to a seat on the veranda, which looked across a row of dusty palmettos and a strip of arid lawn that the glistening showers from the sprinklers could not keep green. an inlet of blue water ran up to its edge, and beyond the curve of sheltering beach the long atlantic swell rolled into the bay flecked with incandescent foam, for the sunshine was dazzling and the breeze was fresh. two or three miles away there was a stretch of calmer water behind a long point on which the surf beat, and in the midst of this a small steamer gently rolled at anchor. nearer the inlet, a little sailing-boat stood out to sea, her varnished deck and snowy canvas gleaming in the strong light. "miss cliffe's boat, isn't it?" robinson remarked. "looks very small; i s'pose she's safe?" "new york canoe club model," cliffe replied. "had her brought down on a freight-car. evelyn's fond of sailing and smart at the helm. she's all right--though the breeze does seem pretty fresh." while they talked about other matters, evelyn cliffe sat in the stern of the tiny sloop, enjoying the sense of control the grasp of the tiller gave her, and the swift rush of the polished hull through the sparkling foam. there was also some satisfaction in displaying her nerve and skill to the loungers on the beach, who were, for the most part, fashionable people from the northern states. among these was a young man upon whom evelyn knew her mother looked with approval. though he had much to recommend him, and had shown a marked preference for her society, evelyn had come to no decision about reginald gore, but she was willing that he should admire her seamanship, and it was, perhaps, in the expectation of meeting him afterward that she had dressed herself carefully. she wore well-cut blue serge that emphasized her fine pink-and-white color, and matched her eyes; and the small blue cap did not hide her red-gold hair. as the breeze freshened, she forgot the spectators, and began to wish she had taken a reef in the mainsail before starting. hitherto she had had somebody with her when it was necessary to shorten canvas; but it was unlike a sport to turn back because of a little wind. she would stand on until she had weathered the point and was out on the open atlantic, and then run home. the strain on the helm got heavier, the foam crept level with the lee deck, and sometimes sluiced along it when the boat dipped her bows in a sea. then the spray began to beat upon the slanted canvas, and whipped evelyn's face as she braced herself against the tiller. the boat was sailing very fast, plunging through the sparkling ridges of water; there was something strangely exhilarating in her speed and the way the foam swirled past. evelyn had an adventurous temperament, and, being then twenty-three, was young enough to find a keen relish in outdoor sport. now she was matching her strength and skill against the blue atlantic combers, which were getting steeper and frothing on their crests. the point was falling to leeward; it would be a fair wind home, and she determined to stand on a little longer. casting a quick glance astern, she saw that the figures on the beach had grown indistinct and small. she felt alone with the sea at last, and the situation had its charm; but when she fixed her eyes ahead she wished that the rollers were not quite so large. she had to ease the boat over them; sometimes let the sheet run in the harder gusts, and then it was not easy to get the wet rope in. when the point shut off the beach, she saw she must come round, and, after waiting for a patch of smooth water, put up the helm to jibe. the strain on the sheet was heavier than she thought; the rope bruised her fingers as it ran through them. the boat rolled wildly, and then the big sail swung over with a crash. evelyn saw with alarm that the gaff along its head had stopped at an unusual angle to the canvas. something had gone wrong. but her nerve was good. she could lower the mainsail and run home under the jib. when she left the helm the boat shot up into the wind, with the long boom banging to and fro and the spray flying across her. evelyn loosed the halyards, but found that the gaff would not come down. its end worked upon a brass slide on the mast, and the grips had bent and jambed. things now looked awkward. it was blowing moderately fresh, the sea was getting up, and the sail she could not shorten might capsize the boat. with difficulty, she got the sloop round, but, as the gaff was jambed, she would not steer a course that would take her to the inlet, and evelyn remembered with alarm that there was some surf on the beach. she could swim, but she shrank from the thought of struggling ashore from the wrecked craft through broken water. still, it was some comfort to see the point drop astern and the beach get nearer; she was on the way to land, there were boats on the inlet, and somebody might notice that she was in difficulties. no boat came off, however, and she realized that from a distance nothing might appear to be wrong with the sloop. when she was near enough to signal for help it would be too late. a small steamer lurched at anchor not far away; but evelyn could not reach her: the sloop was like a bird with a broken wing and could only blunder clumsily, in danger of capsizing, before the freshening wind. in another quarter of an hour she would be in the surf, which now looked dangerously heavy. while she was trying to nerve herself for the struggle to land, she saw a boat leave the steamer's side. it was a very small dinghy, and there was only one man on board, but he waved his hand as if he understood her peril, and then rowed steadily to intercept her. this needed judgment: if he miscalculated the distance it would be impossible for him to overtake the sloop. and evelyn could do nothing to help. she must concentrate her attention upon keeping her craft before the wind. if she jibed, bringing the big sail violently over with its head held fast would result in a capsize. five minutes later she risked a glance. the dinghy was close at hand, lurching up and down, lost from sight at intervals among the combers. the man, coatless and hatless, seemed to be handling her with caution, easing her when a roller with a foaming crest bore down on him, but evelyn thought he would not miss her boat. her heart beat fast as she put the helm hard down. the sloop swung round, slackening speed as she came head to wind, there was a thud alongside, and the man jumped on board with a rope in his hand. then things began to happen so rapidly that the girl could not remember exactly what was done; but the man showed a purposeful activity. he scrambled along the narrow deck, got a few feet up the mast, and the sail came down; then he sprang aft to the helm, and the sloop headed for the steamer, with his dinghy in tow and only the jib set. they were alongside in a few minutes, and he seized a rope that some one threw him. "our gig's hauled up on the beach for painting, and i'm afraid we couldn't reach the landing in the dinghy, now the sea's getting up," he said. "you'd better come on board, and i'll see if macallister can put your gaff right." evelyn hesitated, for she suspected that it would take some time to mend the damaged spar. it was not an adventure her mother would approve of, but as she could see no way of reaching land, she let the man help her through the gangway. chapter iv the "enchantress" on reaching the steamer's deck, evelyn glanced with curiosity at her rescuer. he was a tall, lightly built man, dressed in an old blue shirt, paint-stained duck trousers, and ragged canvas shoes, but he had an easy manner that was not in harmony with his rough clothes. evelyn liked his brown face. it had a hint of force in it; though now he was watching her with a half-amused smile. he fell short of being handsome, but, on the whole, his appearance made a good impression on the girl. then she looked about the vessel. the deck, finely laid with narrow planks, was littered with odd spars, rusty chain, coal bags, and pieces of greasy machinery, as if repairs and refitting were going on. she was a very small, two-masted steamer, carrying some sail, for smoke-grimed canvas was furled along the booms, and evelyn thought she had been built for a yacht. her narrow beam, her graceful sweep of teakwood rail, and the long, tapering counter suggested speed. a low, lead-gray funnel stood just forward of the mainmast, and a teak house, rising three or four feet above the deck, occupied part of her length. the brass boss of the steering wheel bore the name _enchantress_. the after end of the house, however, was built of iron, with raised lights in the top, and the hammering and the pointed remarks that came up indicated that somebody below was grappling with refractory metal. after one exclamation, evelyn's companion walked to the skylights. "mack," he said in a warning tone, "there's a lady on board." "one o' they half-dressed hussies from the hotel? man, i thought ye had mair taste," a hoarse voice replied. evelyn was glad that her boating costume was not in the extreme of fashion, for sleeves and skirts were severely curtailed then, but she waited with some amusement. "come up and don't talk!" said the man who had brought her on board. "here's a job for you." "that's one thing i'll never die for the want of," the voice below went on. "i've got jobs enough already, and no help wi' them. ye cannot make a mechanic out o' a dago muleteer, and the gangrel son o' a rich american is no' much better. they're wrecking the bonny mill and when i had them strike at a bit forging the weariful deevils smashed my finger. i telt them----" "it won't stand for repeating. let up; you've the voice of a bull," somebody broke in. "grahame's waiting with a lady. can't you get a move on?" "what's the lady wanting--is it her watch mending?" the scot asked with a hint of eagerness. a passion for tampering with the works of watches not infrequently characterizes the marine engineer. "come and see!" called evelyn's companion; and a few moments later the mechanic appeared. he was big, rather gaunt, and very dirty; but he carried himself well, and had obviously just put on a smart blue jacket with brass buttons that bore the crest of an english mail line. evelyn thought his age was between forty and fifty, but his eyes had a humorous twinkle and his air was rakish. behind him came a much younger man in greasy overalls. the engineer bowed to evelyn with some grace. "ye'll be miss cliffe; i ken ye by sight," he said. "they telt me who ye were in the bar at the hotel." "do they talk about me in such places?" evelyn asked with a touch of haughtiness. "what would ye expect? when ye're born good-looking, ye must take the consequences. but, as grahame has nae manners, i'll present myself--andrew macallister, extra chief's ticket, and noo, through speaking my mind to a director, engineer o' this barge." he indicated his greasy companion. "mr. walthew, who, though ye might not think it by his look, was taught at harvard. if my temper stands the strain, i may make a useful greaser o' him yet. the other ye nae doot ken." "no," said evelyn, half amused. "he kindly came to my help when i was in trouble with my boat." "then he's skipper. they call him grahame, and it's a good scottish name. but i was hoping ye had maybe some difficulty with your watch." "why did you hope so?" evelyn asked, laughing. "on no account let him have it," walthew interposed. "he brought back the last watch a confiding visitor left him with the gold case badly crushed. 'i had to screw her in the vice, but a bit rub with a file will smooth her off,' he told the owner." "he was a fastidious beast o' a custom house grafter," macallister explained. "but if it's no' a watch, what way can i serve ye?" grahame took him to the sloop and showed him the gaff, and a few minutes later he came back with the bent jaws. "it's no' a bad piece o' work; your people have an eye for design, but they make things too light," he said. "noo i'll cut ye a new grip out o' solid brass, but it will take an hour." "i suppose i must wait; there's no other way of getting back," evelyn answered dubiously. macallister went below, and grahame put a deck chair for evelyn under the awning in the stern, where he sat down on a coil of rope, while walthew leaned against the rail near by. the girl felt interested in them all. she had heard that walthew had been to harvard, and his appearance suggested that he belonged to her own world. if so, what was he doing in the _enchantress's_ engine room? then, macallister's random talk had some piquancy. his manners were not polished, but they were good in their way. "the steamer is yours, i suppose?" she remarked. "yes," said grahame. "we bought her cheap, and are getting her ready for sea. as i dare say you have noticed, she needs refitting." "but wouldn't that have been easier at new orleans or galveston?" "perhaps, if we were able to hire professional assistance, but we have to do the work ourselves, and this place is quiet, and clean for painting." "aren't you painting her an unusual color? white would have been prettier than this dingy gray." "white's conspicuous," walthew answered, and evelyn noticed grahame's warning glance. "a neutral tint stands better, and doesn't show the dirt. you see, we have to think of our pockets." "then it isn't to be a pleasure trip. where are you going?" "up the gulf stream. to cuba first, and then south and west; wherever there's a chance of trade." "but the boat is very small. what do you think of trading in?" "anything that comes along," walthew answered with a thoughtful air. "we might catch turtles, for example." "one understands that turtles are now farmed for the market." "it would be cheaper to catch them. we might get mahogany." "but mahogany logs are big. you couldn't carry many." "we could tow them in a raft. then the english and american tourists who come out in the mail boats might charter us for trips." "i'm afraid you'd find them exacting. they'd expect nice berths and a good table. do you carry a good cook?" grahame chuckled and walthew grinned. "modesty prevents my answering, because my partners leave me to put up the hash. i'll admit it might be better; but our passengers wouldn't find that out until we got them away at sea." evelyn was frankly amused. she could not imagine his cooking very well, but she liked his humorous candor. "your plans seem rather vague," she said. "they are, but one doesn't want a cut and dried program for a cruise about the spanish main. one takes what comes along; in the old days it used to be rich plate ships and windfalls of that kind, and i guess there's still something to be picked up when you get off the liners' track. one expects to find adventures on the seas that drake and frobisher sailed." evelyn mused. she was shrewd enough to perceive that the men were hiding something, and they roused her curiosity, but she thought walthew was right. romance was not dead, and the spanish main was a name to conjure with. it brought one visions of desolate keys where treasure was hidden, the rush of the lukewarm gulf stream over coral reefs, of palm-fringed inlets up which the pinnaces had crept to cut out spanish galleons, and of old white cities that the buccaneers had sacked. tragic and heroic memories haunted that blue sea, and although luxurious mail boats plowed it now, the passions of the old desperados still burned in the hearts of men. walthew was smooth-faced, somewhat ingenuous, and marked by boyish humor, but evelyn had noticed his athletic form, and thought he could be determined. he was no doubt proficient in sports that demanded strength and nerve. for all that, it was grahame and his hawk-like look that her thoughts dwelt most upon, for something about him suggested that he had already found the adventures his comrade was seeking. he was a soldier of fortune, who had taken wounds and perhaps still bore their scars. she remembered the cool judgment he had shown when he came to her rescue. walthew disturbed her reflections. "it will be some time before andrew fixes your gaff, and there's no use in trying to hurry him," he said. "he's an artist in metal, and never lets up until he's satisfied with a job. so, as you must wait and we have a kettle on the forge below, i can offer you some tea and i'd like your opinion of the biscuit i've been baking for supper." evelyn felt doubtful. she was spending the afternoon in a way her mother would certainly not approve of, but she could not get ashore until the gaff was mended. besides, it was pleasant to sit under the awning with the fresh sea breeze on her face and listen to the splash of the combers on the bows. then she was interested in her companions. they were different from the rather vapid loungers she would have been talking to had she stayed at the hotel. she let walthew go and then turned to grahame. "have you known your partner long?" she asked. "no; i met him for the first time in new orleans a few months ago." "i asked because he's a type that i'm well acquainted with," evelyn explained. "and you would not have expected to find him cooking and cleaning engines on a boat like this?" "no; they're rather unusual occupations for a conventionally brought up young american." grahame smiled. "i understand that walthew might have enjoyed all the comforts your civilization has to offer, but he preferred the sea. perhaps i'm prejudiced, but i don't blame him. there's a charm in freedom and the wide horizon." "yes," she agreed thoughtfully, looking across the blue water; "i suppose that's true. if a man has the courage to break away, he can follow his bent. it's different with women. we're securely fenced in; our corral walls are high." "they keep trouble out. hardship and danger aren't pleasant things, and after a time the romance of the free-lance's life wears off. one sometimes looks longingly at the sheltered nooks that men with settled habits occupy." "and yet you follow your star!" "star's too idealistic; my bent is better. what's born in one must have its way. this is perhaps most convenient when it's an inherited genius for making money." "it's useful to oneself and others," evelyn agreed. "but do these talents run in the blood?" "it seems so," grahame answered, and was quiet for a time, languidly watching the girl and wondering how far his statement was true. it might be argued that the strongest family strains must be weakened by marriage, and their salient characteristics disappear in a few generations, but he felt strangely akin to the mosstroopers of his name who scourged the scottish border long ago. their restlessness and lust of adventure were his. this, however, was not a matter of much consequence. chance had thrown him into the company of a pretty and intelligent girl, and he must try to entertain her. "you're fond of the sea and adventurous, or you wouldn't have driven that little sloop so far out under full sail," he said. "oh," she admitted, smiling, "that was partly because i wanted to show my skill and was ashamed to turn back when the breeze freshened." grahame laughed. he liked her frankness. "after all," he said, "it's a feeling that drives a good many of us on. a weakness, perhaps, but it may be better than excessive caution." "a matter of opinion. of course, if you determine never to do anything foolish, you're apt to do nothing at all. but i'm afraid i can't throw much light upon these subjects.... here comes our tea." it was drinkable, but evelyn thought the biscuit could undoubtedly have been better. for all that, she enjoyed the meal, and when it was over macallister appeared with the mended gaff. "i'm thinking yon will never bend or jamb," he said, indicating the beautifully finished pieces of brass-work. evelyn thanked him, and soon afterward grahame helped her into the boat and hoisted the reefed sail. the wind was still fresh, but the sloop ran shoreward safely, with the sparkling seas ranging up on her quarter, and grahame admired the grace of the neat, blue-clad figure at the helm. the rushing breeze and the flying spray had brought a fine color into the girl's face and a brightness to her eyes. as they neared the beach, a gasolene launch came plunging out to meet them, and evelyn laughed as she turned to grahame. "i've been missed at last," she said. "that's my father coming to look for me." the launch swung round close alongside and grahame recognized that he was being subjected to a keen scrutiny by a man on board. the broken water, however, made explanations impossible, and the launch followed the sloop to the inlet, where evelyn neatly brought the craft up to the landing. on getting ashore, she spoke to cliffe, and he thanked grahame and invited him to the hotel. grahame politely declined, but agreed to borrow the launch to take him on board. as he was leaving, evelyn held out her hand. "it was fortunate that my difficulties began when i was near your boat, and i don't altogether regret them. i have spent a pleasant afternoon," she said. grahame bowed and turned away; but somewhat to his surprise, he found his thoughts return to his guest as the launch carried him back to the steamer. the girl was cultured and intelligent, perhaps a little romantic, and unspoiled by luxury; but this was nothing to him. there were times when he felt lonely and outcast from his kind, for until he met walthew his comrades had generally been rough and broken men. some years ago he had been a favorite with well-bred women; but he never met them on terms of friendship now. he was poor, and would no doubt remain so, since he had not the gift of making money; but an untrammeled, wandering life had its advantages. with a smile at his brief relapse into sentiment, he resolved to forget miss cliffe; but he found it strangely difficult to occupy his mind with calculations about stores for the coming voyage. evelyn related her adventure to her mother, who listened with strong disapproval. mrs. cliffe was a thin, keen-eyed woman, with social ambitions and some skill in realizing them. "if you hadn't been so rash as to go out alone, this wouldn't have happened," she remarked. "you must really be more careful." "i couldn't prevent the gaff's jambing," evelyn replied. "that is not what i meant. after all, nobody in the hotel knows much about the matter, and there is, of course, no need to do more than bow to the men if you meet them at the landing, though it would be better to avoid this, if possible. a small favor of the kind they did you does not justify their claiming your acquaintance." "father wanted to bring one of them here." "your father is a man of business, and has very little discretion in social matters," mrs. cliffe replied. "if reggie cannot go with you, take the hotel boatman when you next go sailing." evelyn did not answer, but she disagreed with the views her mother had expressed, and she resolved to leave reggie ashore. for one thing, he was not of much use in a boat. yet it was curious that she had once been pleased to take him out. chapter v the call of the unknown the sea breeze had fallen, and the air was hot and still. a full moon rested low in the eastern sky, and against its light the tops of the royal palms cut in feathery silhouette. evelyn was sitting in the hotel garden with reginald gore. a dusky rose arbor hid them from the veranda, where a number of the guests had gathered, but evelyn imagined that one or two of the women knew where she was and envied her. this once would have afforded her some satisfaction, but it did not matter now, and although the spot seemed made for confidential talk, she listened quietly to the rollers breaking on the beach. the roar of the surf had a disturbing effect; she felt that it called, urging her to follow her star and launch out on the deep. her companion was silent, and she wondered what he was thinking about, or if, as seemed more likely, his mind was vacant. she found him irritating to-night. gore was the finished product of a luxurious age: well-bred, well-taught, and tastefully dressed. his father had made a fortune out of railroad stock, and although reginald had not the ability to increase it, he spent it with prudence. he had a good figure, and a pleasant face, but evelyn suspected that his highest ambition was to lounge through life gracefully. evelyn knew her mother's plans regarding him, and had, to some extent, fallen in with them. reggie had much that she valued to offer, but she now and then found him tiresome. he stood for the luxurious, but, in a sense, artificial life, with which she was growing dissatisfied. she felt that she wanted stirring, and must get into touch with the real things. "you're not talkative," she remarked, watching the lights of the _enchantress_ that swung and blinked with the tossing swell. "no," he agreed good-humoredly. "doesn't seem to be much to talk about." there was silence for a few moments; then evelyn put into words a train of thoughts that was forming indistinctly in her mind. "you have never done anything very strenuous in life. you have had all the pleasure money can provide one. are you content?" "on the whole, yes. aren't you?" "no," said evelyn thoughtfully. "i believe i haven't really been content for a long time, but i didn't know it. the mind can be doped, but the effect wears off and you feel rather startled when you come to yourself." gore nodded. "i know! doesn't last, but it's disturbing. when i feel like that, i take a soothing drink." evelyn laughed, for his answer was characteristic. he understood, to some extent, but she did not expect him to sympathize with the restlessness that had seized her. reggie would never do anything rash or unconventional. hitherto she had approved his caution. she had enjoyed the comfortable security of her station, had shared her mother's ambitions, and looked upon marriage as a means of rising in the social scale. her adventurous temperament had found some scope in exciting sports and in an occasional flirtation that she did not carry far; but she was now beginning to feel that life had strange and wonderful things to offer those who had the courage to seize them. she had never experienced passion--perhaps because her training had taught her to dread it; but her imagination was now awake. her visit to the _enchantress_ had perhaps had something to do with these disturbing feelings, but not, she argued, because she was sentimentally attracted by her rescuer. it was the mystery in which grahame's plans were wrapped that was interesting. he was obviously the leader of the party and about to engage in some rash adventure on seas the buccaneers had sailed. this, of course, was nothing to her; but thinking of him led her to wonder whether she might not miss much by clinging too cautiously to what she knew was safe. with a soft laugh she turned to gore. "tell me about the dance they're getting up. i hear you are one of the stewards," she said. it was a congenial topic, and as she listened to her companion's talk evelyn felt that she was being drawn back to secure, familiar ground. cliffe, in the meanwhile, had come out in search of her and, seeing how she was engaged, had strolled into the hotel bar. a tall, big-boned man, dressed in blue serge with brass buttons on his jacket, was talking at large, and cliffe, stopping to listen, thought the tales he told with dry scottish humor were good. "you are the engineer who mended the gaff of my daughter's boat," cliffe said. "i must thank you for that; it was a first-rate job." "it might have been worse," macallister modestly replied. "are ye a mechanic then?" "no; but i know good work when i see it." "i'm thinking that's a gift, though ye may not use it much. it's no' good work the world's looking for." "true," agreed cliffe; "perhaps we're too keen on what will pay." "ye mean what will pay the first user. an honest job is bound to pay somebody in the end." "well, i guess that's so. you're a philosopher." macallister grinned. "i have been called worse names, and maybe with some cause. consistency gets monotonous. it's better to be a bit of everything, as the humor takes ye." "what kind of engines has your boat?" cliffe asked. he was more at home when talking practical matters. "as fine a set o' triples as i've clapped my eyes upon, though they have been shamefully neglectit." "and what speed can you get out of her?" "a matter o' coal," macallister answered with a twinkle. "a seven-knot bat will suit our purse best." cliffe saw that further questions on this point would be injudicious, but the man interested him, and he noted the flag on his buttons. "well," he said, "the _enchantress_ must be a change from the liners you have sailed in." "i find that. but there's aye some compensation. i have tools a man can work with, and oil that will keep her running smooth. ye'll maybe ken there's a difference in engine stores." "i've heard my manufacturing friends say something of the kind." cliffe ordered refreshment, and quietly studied his companion. the man had not the reserve he associated with the scot, but a dash and a reckless humor, which are, nevertheless, essentially scottish too. cliffe wondered curiously what enterprise he and his companions were engaged upon, but he did not think macallister would tell him. if the others were like this fellow, he imagined that they would carry out their plans, for he read resolution as well as daring in the scot's character; besides, he had been favorably impressed by grahame. after some further talk, macallister left, and cliffe joined his wife and daughter. the next morning, evelyn, getting up before most of the other guests, went out on the balcony in front of her room and looked across the bay. the sun was not yet hot, and a fresh breeze flecked the blue water with feathery streaks of white, while the wet beach glistened dazzlingly. there was a refreshing, salty smell, and for a few minutes the girl enjoyed the grateful coolness; then she felt that something was missing from the scene, and noticed that the _enchantress_ had vanished. the adventurers had sailed in the night. on the whole she was conscious of relief. they had gone and she could now get rid of the restlessness that their presence had caused. after all, there was peril in the longing for change; it was wiser to be satisfied with the security and solid comfort which surrounded her. looking down at a footstep, she saw gore strolling about the lawn, faultlessly dressed in light flannel, with a panama hat. there was not a crease in his clothes that was out of place; the color scheme was excellent--even his necktie was exactly the right shade. he stood for all her mother had taught her to value: wealth, leisure, and cultivated taste. reggie was a man of her own kind; she had nothing in common with the bronzed, tar-stained grahame, whose hawk-like look had for the moment stirred her imagination. "you look like the morning," gore called up to her. "won't you come down and walk to the beach? the sun and breeze are delightful, and we'll have them all to ourselves." evelyn noticed the hint of intimacy, but it did not jar upon her mood, and she smiled as she answered that she would join him. a few minutes later, they walked along the hard, white sand, breathing the keen freshness of the spray. "what made you get up so soon?" evelyn asked. "it's not hard to guess. i was waiting for my opportunity. you're in the habit of rising in good time." "well," she said with a bantering air, "i think waiting for opportunities is a habit of yours. of course, you have some excuse for this." gore looked puzzled for a moment and then laughed. "i see what you mean. as a rule, the opportunities come to me." "don't they? i wonder whether you're much happier than the men who have to make, or look for, them." "i can't say, because i haven't tried that plan. i can't see why i should look for anything, when i don't have to. anyway, i guess i'm a pretty cheerful person and easy to get on with. it's the strivers who're always getting after something out of reach that give you jars." "you're certainly not a striver," evelyn agreed. "however, you seem to have all a man could want." "not quite," he answered. "i'll confess that i'm not satisfied yet, but i try to make the most of the good things that come along--and i'm glad i got up early. it's a glorious morning!" evelyn understood. reggie was not precipitate and feared a rebuff. she believed that she could have him when she liked, but he would look for some tactful sign of her approval before venturing too far. the trouble was that she did not know if she wanted him. she changed the subject, and they paced the beach, engaged in good-humored banter, until the breakfast gong called them back to the hotel. in the afternoon, however, evelyn's mood changed again. the breeze died away and it was very hot. everybody was languid, and she found her friends dull. although gore tried to be amusing, his conversation was unsatisfactory; and the girls about the hotel seemed more frivolous and shallow than usual. none of these people ever did anything really worth while! evelyn did not know what she wished to do, but she felt that the life she led was unbearably stale. when dark fell and the deep rumble of the surf filled the air, she sat with her father in a quiet corner of the garden. "didn't you say you might make a short business trip to the west indies?" she asked him. "yes; i may have to spend a week in havana." "then i wish you would take me." "it might be arranged," said cliffe. he seldom refused her anything. "your mother wouldn't come, but she has plenty of engagements at home. why do you want to go?" evelyn found this hard to answer, but she tried to formulate her thoughts. "cuba is, of course, a new country to me, and i suppose we all feel a mysterious attraction toward what is strange. had you never a longing for something different, something out of the usual run?" "i had when i was young." "but you don't feel it now?" "one learns to keep such fancies in their place when business demands it," cliffe answered with a dry smile. "i can remember times when i wanted to go off camping in the canadian rockies and join a canoe trip on labrador rivers. now and then in the hot weather the traffic in the markets and the dusty offices make me tired. i'll confess that i've felt the snow-peaks and the rapids call." "we went to banff once," said evelyn. "it was very nice." "but not the real thing! you saw the high peaks from the hotel garden and the passes from an observation car. then we made one or two excursions with pack-horses, guides, and people like ourselves, where it was quite safe to go. that was as much as your mother could stand for. she'd no sympathy with my hankering after the lone trail." evelyn could see his face in the moonlight, and she gave him a quick look. her father, it seemed, had feelings she had never suspected in him. "but if you like the mountains, couldn't you enjoy them now?" "no," he said, rather grimly. "the grip of my business grows tighter all the time. it costs a good deal to live as we do, and i must keep to the beaten tracks that lead to places where money is made." "i sometimes think we are too extravagant and perhaps more ostentatious than we need be," evelyn said in a diffident tone. "we do what our friends expect and your mother has been accustomed to. then it's my pleasure to give my daughter every advantage i can and, when the time for her to leave us comes, to see she starts fair." evelyn was silent for a few moments, feeling touched. she had formed a new conception of her father, who, she had thought, loved the making of money for its own sake. now it was rather startling to find that in order to give her mother and herself all they could desire, he had held one side of his nature in subjection and cheerfully borne a life of monotonous toil. "i don't want to leave you," she said in a gentle voice. he looked at her keenly, and she saw that her mother had been speaking to him about gore. "well," he responded, "i want to keep you as long as possible, but when you want to go i must face my loss and make the best of it. in the meanwhile, we'll go to cuba if your mother consents." evelyn put her hand affectionately on his arm. "whatever happens," she said softly, "you won't fail me. i'm often frivolous and selfish, but it's nice to know i have somebody i can trust." chapter vi on the spanish main there had been wind, but it had fallen toward evening, and the _enchantress_ rolled in a flat calm when her engines stopped. as she swung with the smooth undulations, blocks clattered, booms groaned, and the water in her bilges swirled noisily to and fro. it was difficult to move about the slanted deck, and two dark-skinned, barefooted seamen were seated forward with their backs against the rail. a comrade below was watching the engine fires and, with the exception of her spanish helmsman, this was all the paid crew the _enchantress_ carried. she drifted east with the gulf stream. around her there hung a muggy atmosphere pervaded with a curious, hothouse smell. grahame stood in the channels, heaving the lead. he found deep water, but white patches on the northern horizon, where the expanse of sea was broken by spouts of foam, marked a chain of reefs and keys that rose a foot or two above the surface. a larger streak of white was fading into the haze astern, but grahame had carefully taken its compass bearings, because dusk, which comes suddenly in the bahama channel, was not far away. he dropped the lead on deck, and joined macallister, who stood in the engine-room doorway rubbing his hands with cotton waste. "no sign o' that steamboat yet?" the scot asked. "it's hazy to the east," said grahame. "we mightn't see her until she's close if they're not making much smoke. still, she ought to have turned up last night." "she'll come. a tornado wouldna' stop her skipper when he had freight to collect; but ye were wise in no' paying it in advance." "you haven't seen the fellow." "i've seen his employers," macallister replied with a chuckle. "weel i ken what sort o' man would suit them. gang canny when ye meet him, and see ye get the goods before ye sign the bill o' lading." "i mean to take precautions. no first-class firm would touch our business." "verra true. and when ye find men who're no' particular about one thing, ye cannot expect them to be fastidious about another. when i deal wi' yon kind, i keep my een open." "where's walthew?" macallister grinned. "asleep below, wi' his hair full o' coal-dust, looking more like a nigger than the son o' a rich american. human nature's a verra curious thing, but if he can stand another month, i'll hae hope o' him." "i think the lad's right. he wants to run his life on his own lines, and he is willing to pay for testing them by experience." grahame, glancing forward, suddenly became intent, for in one spot a dingy smear thickened the haze. it slowly grew more distinct, and he gave a seaman a quick order before he turned to his companion. "that must be the _miranda_. you can start your mill as soon as we have launched the dinghy." by the time the boat was in the water the steamer had crept out of the mist. she came on fast: a small, two-masted vessel, with a white wave beneath her full bows and a cloud of brown smoke trailing across the sea astern. she was light, floating high above the water, which washed up and down her wet side as she rolled. a few heads projected over the iron bulwark near the break of the forecastle, and two men in duck stood on the bridge. studying them through the glasses, grahame saw they had an unkempt appearance, and he was not prepossessed in favor of the one whom he took to be the captain. he rang the telegraph, and when the engines stopped he jumped into the dinghy with walthew and one of the seamen. five minutes later, they ceased rowing close to the steamer's side, which towered high above them, red with rust along the water-line. the black paint was scarred and peeling higher up, the white deckhouses and boats had grown dingy, and there was about her a poverty-stricken look. the boat swung sharply up and down a few lengths away, for the sea broke about the descending rows of iron plates as the vessel rolled. "_enchantress_, ahoy!" shouted one of the men on her bridge. "this is the _miranda_. s'pose you're ready for us?" "we've been ready for you since last night," grahame replied. "then you might have got your gig over. we can't dump the stuff into that cockleshell." "you can't," grahame agreed. "the gig's hardly big enough either, and i won't risk her alongside in the swell that's running." "then what do you expect me to do? wait until it's smooth?" "no," said grahame; "we'll have wind soon. you'll have to take her in behind the reef, as your owners arranged. it's not far off and you'll find good anchorage in six fathoms." "and lose a day! what do you think your few cases are worth to us?" "the freight agreed upon," grahame answered coolly. "you can't collect it until you hand our cargo over. i'll take you in behind the reef and bring you out in three or four hours. there'll be a good moon." the skipper seemed to consult with the man beside him, and then waved his hand. "all right! go ahead with your steamer and show us the way." "i'd better come on board," grahame answered. "it's an awkward place to get into, but i know it well." a colored seaman threw them down a rope ladder, and, pulling in cautiously, grahame waited until the rolling hull steadied, when he jumped. walthew followed, and in a few moments they stood on the _miranda's_ deck. walthew had been wakened when the boat was launched, and he had not had much time to dress, but he wore a fairly clean duck jacket over his coaly shirt. his bare feet were thrust into greasy slippers, and smears of oil darkened the hollows round his eyes. one or two slouching deckhands watched the new arrivals with dull curiosity, and a few more were busy forward opening the hatch. grahame thought the vessel a rather unfavorable specimen of the small, cheaply run tramp, but when he reached the hatch the skipper came up. he was a little man with a bluff manner, a hard face, and cunning eyes. "they'll have the cover off in a minute and you can see your stuff," he said, and called to a man with a lantern: "stand by with the light!" when the tarpaulin was rolled back, grahame went down with a mate and counted the wooden cases pointed out to him. after this, he examined their marks and numbers and, going up, declared himself satisfied. "now," said the skipper, "you can take us in; the sooner the better, because it will be dark before long. would you like a drink before you start?" grahame said that he would wait until he had finished his work. he followed the skipper to the bridge, and rang the telegraph. the _miranda_ went ahead, her propeller hurling up the foam as it flapped round with half the blades out of the water, while the _enchantress_ crept slowly up her froth-streaked wake. grahame, standing at the wheel-house door, was glad that walthew had come with him, although this reduced his vessel's crew. macallister, however, was capable of managing his engines without assistance, for a time, and could be trusted to take charge of the _enchantress_ if necessary, for grahame did not think the hands would give him trouble. one was a canary spaniard, whom they had picked up at matanzas, a very simple and, grahame thought, honest fellow; the other three were stupid but apparently good-humored half-breeds. grahame would have preferred white seamen but for the danger of their getting into trouble in parts where wine was cheap and perhaps betraying the object of the voyage in drunken boasts. his business would not bear talking about--and that was why he distrusted the _miranda's_ captain. the moon rose before the short twilight had changed to dark, and the steamer moved on across the dimly glittering sea, until a long white line grew plainer ahead. as they drew near, the line could be seen to waver, gaining breadth and distinctness and then fading, while a dull roar which had a regular beat in it mingled with the thud of the engines. though the _miranda_ rolled and plunged, the surface of the water was smooth as oil, and in the deep calm the clamor of the surf had an ominous sound. then another white patch appeared to starboard, and a few moments later, a third to port. the captain was pacing up and down his bridge. "it's a puzzling light," he said, stopping near grahame with a frown. "i suppose you do know the place?" "oh, yes," said grahame carelessly. "we made a rough survey and took soundings. but slow her down and use your lead if you like." "that's what i mean to do," the captain replied. he rang the telegraph, and when the beat of engines slackened a man stood on a footboard outside the bridge, where a broad canvas belt was fastened round his waist. whirling the heavy plummet round his head, he let it shoot forward to the break of the forecastle, and steadied the line a moment when it ran vertically up and down. "by the deep, eight!" he called. "starboard!" said grahame, and there was silence except for the rumble of the surf, while the quartermaster turned his wheel in the glass-fronted house. in a few minutes the lead plunged down again. "by the mark, seven!" was announced. the captain gave grahame a quick glance, and then looked ahead, where there was something to occupy him, for at regular intervals the sea was torn apart and a spout of foam and a cloud of spray shot up. moreover, the vessel was heading directly toward the dangerous spot. it was not needful for grahame to take her so close as he meant to do, but he had reasons for letting the nearness of the reef appeal to the captain's imagination. "and a quarter six!" the leadsman called. the captain grasped the telegraph. "if you mean to go any closer, i'll stop her and back out!" he said. "then you can tranship your goods outside or i'll take them on, as you like." "we can let her come round now," grahame answered, and beckoned to the quartermaster. "starboard. steady at that!" the _miranda_ swung until the frothy confusion on the reef, where the swell broke in cascades of phosphorescent flame, bore abeam, and then a similar troubled patch grew plain on the opposite bow. there was, however, a smooth, dark strip between, and she followed it, shouldering off a spangled wash, with the propeller beating slow. ahead, a low, hazy blur rose out of the sea, and when grahame spoke to the captain the windlass began to clank and indistinct figures became busy on the forecastle. then a gray strip of sand came into sight, and grahame nodded to the anxious captain. "you can let go here, but don't give her much cable." the anchor splashed from the bows, there was a roar of running chain, the throb of the screw slowly turning astern, and a screaming of startled birds. she brought up, the noise died away, and the silence was emphasized by the clamor of the surf on the opposite shore of the key. the captain looked about with a frown, for the desolation of the spot and the nearness of the reefs had their effect on him. "hail them to get your gig over at once, and then we'll have a drink," he said. macallister answered grahame's shout, for the _enchantress_ had anchored close astern, and the boat was hanging from her davits when he followed the captain into his room. the vessels rolled lazily and the swell broke with a languid splash upon the beach, for the bight was sheltered by the reefs. the small room was lighted by an oil lamp and was very hot. a pilot coat, damp with salt, and a suit of oilskins swung to and fro across the bulkhead, and a pair of knee-boots stood in a corner. two or three bad photographic portraits were tacked against the teakwood paneling, but except for these, all that the room contained suggested stern utility. unlocking a cupboard, the captain took a bottle and some glasses from a rack, and walthew coughed as he tasted the fiery spirit. "that's powerful stuff, but the flavor's good," he said with an attempt at politeness. a big, greasy man who the captain informed the others was mr. james, his chief engineer, came in. he sat down with his feet on the locker, and helped himself liberally to the spirits. in the meanwhile the captain put an inkstand on the small folding table. "you have the bill of lading; endorse it that you've got delivery, and i'll give you a receipt for the freight." grahame glanced at walthew, who sat nearest the door, and the lad looked out. "the gig's alongside, ready for the cases," he said. "we'll heave them up as soon as we've finished this business," the captain replied. grahame wrote a check and put it on the table with some american paper currency. "your owners have satisfied themselves that this will be met; i thought i'd better keep the other amount separate." "that's all right," the captain returned; "but you're a hundred dollars short." "i guess you're mistaken," walthew said. "we've paid the freight, and a bonus to yourself, as we promised because it was an awkward job. what else do you want?" "a bonus for the engineer," the greasy mechanic answered with a grin. "precisely," said the captain. "then i'm afraid you'll be disappointed," grahame said, and walthew picked up the check, which still lay on the table. there was silence for a few moments while the _miranda's_ officers looked hard at their visitors. grahame's face was impassive, but there was a gleam of amusement in walthew's eyes. "now, you listen to me," said the captain. "mr. james is entitled to his share, and he means to get it. you don't suppose he'd take a hand in a risky job like this entirely for the benefit of the owners?" "mr. james," said walthew, "runs no risk that i can see. however, if you think he has a right to something, you can divide with him." "no, sir! what you have given me is mine. but there's another point you've overlooked. the crew expect a few dollars, and it might be wise to satisfy them." grahame smiled. "they certainly struck me as a hard crowd; but seamen don't rob cargo-shippers nowadays. then it's difficult to imagine that you told them what's in the cases. in fact, the way they obeyed your mate suggested that there's not much liking between men and officers on board this packet. if there was any trouble, i don't know that they'd take your side." the captain frowned; and james drained his glass again and then struck the table. "think something of yourselves, i reckon, but we've come out on top with smarter folks than you. put down your money like gentlemen, and say no more." "it's good advice," the captain added meaningly. "guess we disagree," walthew said, putting the check into his pocket. "you haven't got your freight payment yet." "do you think you can keep that check?" "well," said walthew coolly, "we could cable the bank to stop payment from the nearest port. for that matter, i'm not certain that you could take it back." "we're willing to try," the big engineer scowled. "and you don't get the goods until we're satisfied," the captain added. "may i ask what you would do with the cases? they're consigned to us, and you'd have some trouble in passing them through a foreign customs house. they open things and inspect the contents when the duty's high." "we could dump them overboard. better do the fair thing by us and get delivery." "i don't think we're unfair," walthew replied. "we engaged with your owners to pay a stipulated freight, and added a bonus for the skipper. now we put down the money and want our goods." "the winch that heaves them up doesn't start without my order," james said with an ugly laugh. grahame turned to the captain with a gesture of weariness. "we don't seem to get much farther! i suspect you've forgotten something. how much a day does it cost you to run this ship?" "what has that got to do with it?" the captain asked curtly. "well," said grahame coolly, "there's a risk of your stopping here for some time. it's an awkward place to get out of unless you know it well; particularly when it's blowing fresh. the northers hardly reach so far, but they unsettle the weather, and when the wind's from seaward a strong eddy stream runs through the bight. perhaps you may have noticed that the glass is falling fast." the captain looked disturbed; but he was not to be beaten so easily. "you don't get back on board your boat until you've taken us out!" he threatened. "i can take you out to-night, but if you miss your chance and have to wait we can afford it best. our expenses aren't heavy, but you'll have to account to your owners for the delay that won't cost us much. besides, you'd be forced to keep steam up in case she dragged; it's bad holding ground." there was silence for a few moments, and then the captain made a sign of surly acquiescence. "very well; we won't argue about the bonus. give me the check." "i think we'll wait until the cases are transhipped," walthew said with a smile. "give them steam for the winch, mr. james," the captain ordered; and the engineer slouched away. the winch began to rattle and an hour or two later grahame went up to the bridge while the anchor was broken out. when the men were stowing it the engines throbbed and the _miranda_ turned her head toward open water. in another half hour the propeller stopped and the captain turned to his guests with a grin as the _enchantress's_ gig came alongside. "i expect the dagoes you're shipping those rifles for will find you hard to beat," he said. chapter vii mangrove creek there was not a ripple on the sea when the _enchantress_, steaming slowly, closed with the coast. the glittering water broke with a drowsy murmur at her bows and turned from silver to a deep blue in the shadow of the hull; her wake was marked by silky whirls on the back of the swell. it was four o'clock in the afternoon, the sea flung back a dazzling light, and grahame's eyes ached as he searched the approaching land with his glasses. far back, blue mountains loomed through haze and the foreground was blurred and dim. one could not tell where the low expanse began or ended, though a broad, dark fringe, which grahame knew was forest, conveyed some idea of distance. in one or two spots, a streak of white indicated surf upon a point, but the picture was flooded with a glare in which separate objects lost distinctness. blue and gray and silver melted into one another without form or salient line. grahame put down the glasses and turned to the seaman near him. miguel was getting old, but his tall figure was strong, and he stood, finely posed, with a brown hand on the wheel. his face was rugged, but he had clear, blue eyes that met one with a curious child-like gaze. he was barefooted and his thin cotton trousers and canvas jacket were spotlessly clean, though grahame imagined he had made the latter out of a piece of old awning they had meant to throw away. "you come from the canaries, don't you, miguel?" grahame asked in castilian. "it is not so hot there." "from san sebastian, señor, where the trade-breeze blows and the date-palms grow. my house stands among the tuna-figs beside the mule-track to the mountains." "then you have a house? who takes care of it while you are away?" "my señora. she packs the tomatoes they send to england. it is hard work and one earns a peseta a day." "then why did you leave her?" grahame asked, for he knew that a peseta, which is equal to about twenty cents, will not buy much of the coarse maize-flour the canary peasants live upon. "there came a great tempest, and when my three boats were wrecked something must be done. my sons were drawn for the navy; they had no money to send. for years, señor, i was captain of a schooner fishing _bacalao_ on the african coast, and when i came home to catch tunny for the italian factory things went very well. then the gale swept down from the peaks one night and in the morning the boats were matchwood on the reef." "ah!" said grahame. he could sympathize, for he too had faced what at the time had seemed to be overwhelming disaster. "so you sailed to look for better fortune somewhere else? you hope to go back to san sebastian some day?" "if my saint is kind. but perhaps it is well that he is a very great angel, for fortune is not always found when one looks for it at sea." there was no irony in miguel's answer; his manner was quietly dignified. indeed, though he had been taught nothing except rudimentary seamanship, he had the bearing of a fine gentleman. "wages are good in english and american ships," grahame resumed, feeling that he was guilty of impertinence. "sometimes you are able to send the señora a few dollars?" "i send all but a little to buy clothes when i go where it is cold, and my señora buries the money to buy another boat if it is permitted that i return. once or twice a year comes a letter, written by the priest, and i keep it until i find a man who can read it to me." grahame was touched. there was something pathetic in the thought of this untaught exile's patiently carrying the precious letters until he met somebody who could read his language. "well," he said, "if things go well with us, you will get a bonus besides your wages, which should make it easier for you to go home. but you understand there is danger in what we may have to do." miguel smiled. "señor, there is always danger on the sea." grahame turned and saw walthew standing in the engine-room door. he wore dirty overalls and a singlet torn open at the neck, there was a smear of oil across his face, and his hands were black and scarred. "what on earth have you been doing?" grahame asked. "lying on my back for two hours, trying to put a new packing in the gland of a pump." "well, who would have predicted a year ago that you would be amusing yourself this way now!" walthew laughed. "do you know where we are?" he asked. "i imagine we're not far off the creek; in fact, we might risk making the signal smoke. it will be dark enough to head inshore in a few hours." "then we'll get to work with the fires," said walthew, promptly disappearing below. soon afterward, a dense black cloud rose from the funnel and, trailing away behind the _enchantress_, spread across the sky. grahame knew that it might be seen by unfriendly watchers, but other steamers sometimes passed the point for which he was steering. after a while he signaled for less steam, and only a faint, widening ripple marked the _enchantress's_ passage through the water as she closed obliquely with the land. it was still blurred, and in an hour grahame stopped the engines and took a cast of the lead. dark would come before long, when, if they had reached the right spot, signals would be made. in the meanwhile it would be imprudent to venture nearer. walthew and one of the seamen set out a meal on deck and when it was eaten they lounged on the stern grating, smoking and waiting. there was dangerous work before them; and, to make things worse, it must be done in the dark, because the moon now shone in the daytime. it was very hot, and a steamy, spicy smell drifted off the coast, which grew less distinct as the darkness settled down. a faint rumble of surf reached them from an unseen beach, rising and falling with a rhythm in it. the black smoke had been stopped and thin gray vapor rose straight up from the funnel. the quietness and the suspense began to react upon the men's nerves; they felt impatient and highly strung, but they talked as carelessly as they could. then in the quietness the roar of the sea on sandy shoals reached them ominously clear. grahame glanced shoreward, but could see nothing, for the sun had gone and a thin mist was spreading across the low littoral. "we're drifting inshore," he said. "as soon as i get four fathoms we'll steam out. try a cast of the lead." walthew swung the plummet and they heard it strike the sea. "half a fathom to the good," he called as he coiled up the wet line. then he stopped, looking toward the land. "what's that?" he said. "yonder, abreast of the mast?" a twinkling light appeared in the mist and grew brighter. "a fire, i think," grahame answered quietly. "still, one's not enough." a second light began to glimmer, and soon another farther on. macallister chuckled. "ye're a navigator. our friends are ready. i've seen many a worse landfall made by highly-trained gentlemen with a big mail company's buttons." "a lucky shot; but you had better stand by below. start her easy." he blew three blasts on the whistle, and the fires went out while the _enchantress_ moved slowly shoreward through the gloom. miguel held the wheel and grahame stood near by, watching the half-breed who swung the lead. presently another light twinkled, and, listening hard, grahame heard the splash of paddles. stopping the engines, he waited until a low, gray object crept out of the mist and slid toward the steamer's side. ropes were thrown and when the canoe was made fast the first of the men who came up ceremoniously saluted grahame. "you bring the goods all right?" he asked. "they're ready. if it makes no difference, i'd rather wait until to-morrow before delivering them. i understand the beach is mostly mangrove swamp, and it's a dark night to take the steamer up the creek." "to-morrow she be seen; the coast is watch by spy," said the other in his quaint english; then indicated his companion. "dese man he takes her anywhere." grahame hesitated. secrecy was essential, and if he waited for daylight and was seen by watchers who had noticed the smoke in the afternoon he might not have an opportunity for landing another cargo. for all that, knowing nothing about his pilot's skill, he imagined he ran some risk of grounding if he took the steamer in. risks, however, could not be avoided. "very well," he decided. "send him to the wheel." he kept the lead going as the _enchantress_ crept forward, and was relieved to find that the water got no shallower. it looked as if the pilot were following a channel, for the wash of the sea on hidden shoals began to rise from both sides. except for this and the measured throb of the engines, there was deep silence, but after a while the vessel, which had been rolling gently, grew steady, and grahame thought he could hear the water she threw off splash upon a beach. he looked about eagerly, but there was nothing to be seen. this creeping past invisible dangers was daunting, but he felt comforted as he glanced at the motionless, dark figure at the helm. the fellow showed no hesitation; it was obvious that he knew his business. through the darkness low trees loomed up ahead, and shortly afterward another clump abeam. mist clung about them, there was not much space between, and the absence of any gurgle at the bows indicated that the _enchantress_ was steaming up the inlet with the tide. the lead showed sufficient water, but grahame had misgivings, for the creek seemed to be getting narrower. it was, however, too late to turn back; he must go on and trust to luck. some time later a light appeared among the trees, and the pilot ordered the engines to be stopped. then he pulled the helm over and waved his hand as the _enchantress_ swung inshore. "_la ancla!_" he cried. "let her go!" there was a splash and a sharp rattle of chain, and when the _enchantress_ stopped the beat of paddles came out of the gloom. then the cargo-lamp was lighted and in a few minutes a group of men climbed on board. some were dusky half-breeds, but two or three seemed to be of pure spanish extraction. grahame took these below, where they carefully examined the cases. when they were satisfied they followed him to the deck-cabin, and walthew brought them some wine. one man gave grahame a check on an american bank, and shortly afterward the work of getting up the cargo began. everybody became suddenly busy. shadowy figures dragged the cases about the shallow hold and fixed the slings. dark-skinned men, dripping with perspiration, slackened guys and swung the derrick-boom while canoes crept into the light of the cargo-lamp and vanished, loaded, into the dark. the stir lasted for some time, and then, after the cases had all been hoisted over the side, the white men among the shore party shook hands with their hosts. "it is all right," said the spokesman. "we are ready for the next lot when you get back." "i suppose your man will be here in the morning to take us out?" grahame asked, because he had been told that it was too late to leave the creek that tide. "if nothing is happen, he certainly come." the visitors got on board their canoe, and it slid off into the mist. when the splash of paddles died away, an oppressive silence settled down on the vessel, and the darkness seemed very thick, for the big cargo-lamp had been put out. after the keen activity a reaction had set in: the men were tired and felt the heat. "it's lonesome," macallister remarked, and sniffed disgustedly. "like a hothouse in a botanic garden when they've full steam on, with a dash o' glasgow sewer thrown in. in fact, ye might call the atmosphere a wee bit high." "i don't suppose you found it very fresh in west africa," walthew replied. "i did not. that's maybe the reason the ague grips me noo and then. ye'll learn something about handling engines when it takes me bad. this is a verra insidious smell." "the mosquitos are worse," grahame said. "i wonder whether there are many of them about? anyway, i'd like a warp taken out and made fast to the trees. there's not much room to swing, and though the flood generally runs harder than the ebb in these places, one can't count on that." walthew got into the boat with miguel and one of the crew, and came back half an hour later, smeared with mire and wet to the waist. "we've made the rope fast, but this creek has no beach," he said. "the trees grow out of the water, and you slip off their roots into holes filled with slime. couldn't feel any bottom in one or two, and i was mighty glad i caught a branch. in fact, we've had a rather harrowing experience." "get your wet clothes off and take some quinine before you go to sleep," grahame advised; and when walthew left him he watched the men heave the warp tight. soon afterward the crew went below, except for one who kept anchor-watch. the ebb tide was running strong, and grahame was not quite satisfied about the way the vessel was moored. it was, however, impossible to make her more secure in the dark, and, getting sleepy presently, he left his seat on the stern grating and went to his berth. chapter viii the traitor grahame was awakened by a crash. springing half asleep from his berth, he scrambled out on deck. thick darkness enveloped the steamer and at first he could see nothing. then as his eyes grew accustomed to the gloom, he made out indistinct black trees in the mist. they were sliding past and he knew the warp had broken and the _enchantress_ would swing inshore before her cable brought her up. this must be prevented, if possible, for the creek was narrow and shoal. jumping on the stern grating he gave his orders, and they were obeyed. he saw macallister, in pajamas, dive into the engine-room, and the screw began to throb; then barefooted men sprang into the boat alongside, and a heavy rope ran out across the rail. there was nothing more to be done for a few moments and, lashing the wheel, grahame hurriedly lighted a pyrotechnic flare. the strong blue radiance drove back the gloom, and the water glittered among cakes of floating scum. then the bright beam picked out the boat, with walthew toiling, half-naked, at an oar, and miguel's tall figure bending to and fro as he sculled astern. another man was rowing forward, and his tense pose told of determined effort, but he vanished as the light moved on. the rope the crew were taking out fixed grahame's attention. it crawled through the water in heavy coils, like a snake, holding the boat back while the stream swept her sideways. he did not think she could reach the opposite bank, though the _enchantress_ was sheering that way to help her. then the light forced up a patch of greasy mud in which crawling things wriggled, and, passing on, picked out foul, dark caves among the mangrove roots. after that, it touched the rows of slender trunks and was lost in impenetrable gloom. a few moments later the flare, burning low, scorched grahame's fingers and he flung it over the rail. it fell with a hiss into the creek and bewildering darkness shut down. there was now no guide but the strain on the helm, and grahame began to be afraid of breaking out the anchor. for a time the splash of oars continued, telling of the tense struggle that went on in the gloom, but it stopped suddenly and he knew the men were beaten. ringing off the engines, he ran forward with a deckhand to drop the kedge anchor. it was heavy, an arm was foul of something, and they could not drag it clear, until a dim object appeared close by. "heave!" cried a breathless voice. "handy, noo! away she goes!" there was a splash and a rattle as the chain ran out, a thud as the returning boat came alongside, and then the vessel quivered, listed down on one side, and became motionless. "i'm thinking she's hard and fast, but we'll try to shake her off," macallister said and vanished, and soon the engines began to turn. the _enchantress_ trembled, straining hard and rattling, but when somebody lighted the cargo-lamp, which still hung from a boom, it could not be seen that she moved. the light showed a narrow stretch of water, sliding past, blotched with foul brown foam. then it fell upon the boat's crew, who had come on board, and grahame saw that walthew was gasping for breath. his flushed face was wet and drawn with effort, and his bare arms and neck were marked by small red spots. "sorry we couldn't manage to reach the bank," he panted. "warp kept getting across her and the stream was running fast. but i'd better help mack." "sit still a minute," grahame said. "what are those marks on your neck?" "mosquito bites, i guess. hadn't time to swat the brutes; they were pretty fierce." the deck was now slanting steeply, and grahame, looking over the rail, saw a wet strip a foot broad between the dry planks and the water. "you can tell mack to shut off steam," he said. "she's here until next tide and i'm not certain we can float her then." the engines stopped, there was by contrast a curious stillness, and the men went below; but grahame spent some time studying a chart of the coast and a nautical almanac before he went to sleep. * * * * * when the cases had been safely landed, the little group of spaniards and half-breeds separated, some following the coastline going south, others finding a narrow path that led through the jungle beyond the mangrove-trees. bio, the peon pilot, lingered behind. there was no moon, but the night was not really dark, for the sky was jeweled with stars which covered the earth with a soft, mystic radiance. when the footsteps of the others had died away and the night was quiet, bio started slowly down the jungle path. it opened out into a flat stretch of sandy land and then was lost in a plantation of coffee-trees. beyond the coffee plantation was an uncultivated space known to the natives as _la colina del sol_ (the hill of the sun) because of the many broad rocks upon which the sun beat down in all its intensity. here and there a wild date-palm grew, and an occasional clump of bananas; but except for that the hill was covered with low shrubbery and a blanket of trailing vines, which now were wet with the dew. bio went directly to one of the rocks and stood upon it looking upward at the stars. the warmth that still remained in the rock was pleasant to his damp, bare feet. the air about him was filled with the soft flutter of moths and other honey-seekers; the heavy perfume of a white jasmine came to him, mingled with the sweet odor of the night-blooming cereus. at his side an insect chirped, and above him a whistling frog gave answer. these wild night sounds found quick response in bio's indian blood. with an odd little smile of content, he stretched out on the rock to listen--and to sleep. at high tide he would have to return to take the boat out of mangrove creek; what better place to wait than _la colina del sol_? he awakened shortly after daybreak, very hungry; but he knew where he could get a pleasant breakfast before returning to the boat. with a comfortable yawn and stretch, he left the rock and pattered off down the hill to a path that led to the main road. a half mile down this stood a little adobe house owned by a spaniard who was suspected of sympathizing with the revolutionists although he had many friends among the _rurales_. when bio reached the house he gave his customary signal--a stick drawn harshly across the iron gratings at the window; and the door was soon opened by filodomo himself. a hasty conversation followed, and bio went back to the kitchen while filodomo aroused his daughter. and when the black-eyed rosita came tripping out, with the flush of sleep still on her, bio all but forgot the _yanqui_ señores and their boat which waited in mangrove creek. he was enjoying his breakfast so much, indeed, that he did not hear filodomo talking loudly in the front room. rosita was more alert. she paused a moment to listen, and then the laughter in her eyes changed to quick alarm. "_los rurales!_" she whispered. bio was on his feet instantly. the _rurales_ had several counts against him, and he knew what his life would be worth if he were caught. rosita, too, seemed to know. she led him quickly to the low window and pointed to a narrow path that led through a field of cane. bio lost no time. as he disappeared among the green stalks, the girl gave a sigh of relief; and then hurried into the front room to put the _rurales_ off his path. bio made his way quickly but cautiously through the cane-field, meaning to double back to _la colina del sol_; but as he left the cane and rounded a gigantic calabash-tree he ran directly into the arms of two young _rurales_. "not so fast, my friend," said one of them, grabbing him. "bio!" exclaimed the other. and bio knew there was no hope of escape. the _rurales_ were only too eager for the credit of capturing him and taking him to headquarters. four days later he found himself in a military camp and was led at once to the officer in charge. during all the questions of the _rurales_ he had maintained a sullen silence; but now he was forced to speak. "we are told that the revolutionists are getting rifles from a little boat that lands them at impossible places," the officer said. "only a pilot with your knowledge of the coast could bring in such a boat. tell us what you know!" bio did not answer. the officer leaned forward threateningly. "we have enough charges against you to warrant our shooting you on the spot," he said. "you will never see another sunrise, unless you tell us--and tell us quickly, and truthfully!" a gleam of hope crept into bio's eyes. "and if i tell you--all?" "then, if i believe you, you will be set at liberty." there was a sneer in the conditional clause that made bio's blood run cold for an instant; but it seemed his only chance of escape, and he began haltingly but in a tone that they could not doubt was the truth. "i left the boat far up in mangrove creek," he ended. "i think the _yanqui_ señores cannot take her out." "tell morales to have the mules ready at once!" the officer ordered. "the quickest road?" he asked bio. the pilot answered without faltering. the road he told them was twice as far as over _la colina del sol_ and through the jungle path. the officer consulted a few moments with the _rurales_ who had brought bio in, and then gave his decision. "my men will not need you. you will be held in camp for one day and then set at liberty. i am a man of my word!" bio could hardly believe his good luck, although he frowned anxiously at that one day's detention. silently he followed his guards; but, as he expected, he found them very lax after the first hour or two. long before midnight he was snaking his way noiselessly through the underbrush that surrounded the camp. and in the meantime the _rurales_ were riding furiously along the road that led to mangrove creek. chapter ix stranded the sun was high above the mangroves when walthew joined grahame and macallister at breakfast the morning after they landed the rifles. no wind entered the gap in the forest, the smoke went straight up from the slanted funnel, and the air was still and sour. the steamer lay nearly dry among banks of mire, though a narrow strip of dazzling water sluggishly flowed inland past her. fifty yards outshore, there was a broader channel and beyond it the dingy, pale-stemmed mangroves rose like a wall. some were strangely spotted, and walthew glanced at them with disgust as he drank his coffee. "i guess i've never seen such repulsive trees," he said. "this place takes away one's appetite. even the coffee's bitter; you've been doctoring it." "it's weel to take precautions," macallister replied. "ye got a few nibbles last night from a dangerous bit beastie they ca' _anopheles_." "i suppose it doesn't manufacture the malaria germ, and from the looks of the place one wouldn't imagine there was anybody else about for it to bite." "that's what we're hoping. we're no' anxious for visitors, but when ye meet a smell like what we noo enjoy, ye take quinine till it makes ye hear church bells ringing in your head." walthew turned to grahame. "can you get her off?" "we'll try. the sooner we get out the better; but the tides are falling." "do you reckon the half-breed pilot meant to pile her up?" "no," said grahame thoughtfully. "for one thing, it would be a dangerous game, because his employers wouldn't hesitate about knifing him. they gave us a check which i've reason to believe will be honored and they wouldn't have wasted their money if they'd meant treachery. i imagine they're all too deep in the plot to turn informer." "do you think the pilot will turn up to take us out then?" "i believe he'll be here at high-water, unless he's prevented." "what could prevent him?" "it's possible that our friends have been followed by the opposition's spies. the man who rules this country is not a fool." "then it seems to me we must do our best to heave the boat off this tide." "mack and i agree with you," grahame said meaningly. breakfast was soon finished, for nobody had much appetite, and they sat, smoking, in the thin shade while the water got deeper in the creek. when the _enchantress_ slowly rose upright, macallister went down to stir the fires; but though the others listened anxiously no splash of paddles broke the silence. "our pilot's not coming," grahame said at last. "i'll try to take her out if we can get her afloat." "what's likely to happen to him if he's been corralled by the dictator's rural-guards?" "on the whole," said grahame, "i'd rather not speculate. they have a drastic way of dealing with rebels here." an hour later the screw shook the vessel, while the windlass strained at the cable. once or twice a few links of chain ran in and she moved, but the mud had a firm hold and she stuck fast again. then the water began to fall and grahame reluctantly told macallister to draw the fires. "we're here for the next six days," he said. "it's to be hoped the government's spies don't find us out before we get her off," walthew remarked. "we could put the coal and heavier stores ashore, if ye can find a bit dry beach to land them on," macallister suggested. "it would lighten her." "i thought of that," grahame answered. "on the other hand, it might be safer to keep them on board as long as possible. we could strip her and land everything in a day." macallister agreed, and for four days they lounged in such shade as they could find. it was fiercely hot, not a breath of wind touched the dazzling creek, and the sun burned through the awning. the pitch bubbled up from the deck-seams, the water in the tanks was warm, and innumerable flies came off from the mangroves and bit the panting men. to make things worse, there was no coolness after sunset, when steamy mist wrapped the vessel in its folds, bloodthirsty mosquitos came down in swarms, buzzing insects dimmed the lamps, and the smell of festering mire grew nauseating. sleep was out of the question, and when the mosquitos drove them off the deck the men lay in their stifling berths and waited drearily for another day of misery to begin. among other discomforts, walthew, who was not seasoned to the climate, was troubled by a bad headache and pains in his limbs, but he said nothing about this and accompanied grahame when the latter took the soundings in the dinghy. at last they rose at daybreak one morning to lighten the vessel, and although he felt shaky and suffered from a burning thirst, walthew took charge of the gig, which was to be used for landing coal. the work was hard, for when they reached a sand bar up the creek they were forced to wade some distance through mud and shallow water with the heavy bags on their backs, while the perspiration soaked their thin clothes and the black dust worked through to their skin. at noon they stopped for half an hour and walthew lay in the stern-sheets of the gig where there was a patch of shade. he could not eat, and after drinking some tea tried to smoke, but the tobacco tasted rank and he put his pipe away. up to the present his life had been luxurious. he had been indulged and waited on, and had exerted himself only in outdoor sports. now he felt very sick and worn out, but knew that he must make good. having declined to enter his father's business, he must prove his capacity for the career he had chosen. moreover, he suspected that macallister and grahame were watching him. when the clatter of the winch began again he hid the effort it cost him to resume his task and stubbornly pulled his oar as the gig floated up the creek with her gunwale near awash. his back hurt him almost unbearably when he lifted a heavy bag, and it was hard to keep upon his feet while he floundered through the mire. sometimes his head reeled and he could scarcely see. the blisters on his hands had worked into bleeding sores. this, however, did not matter much by comparison with the pain in his head. after the coal was landed they loaded loose ironwork and towed heavy spars ashore, and walthew held out somehow until darkness fell, when he paddled back to the _enchantress_ with a swarm of mosquitos buzzing round his face. he could not eat when they sat down to a frugal meal, and afterward lay in his berth unable to sleep, and yet not quite awake, lost in confused thoughts that broke off and left him conscious of intolerable heat and pain. when he went languidly on deck the next morning grahame looked hard at him. "you had better lie down in the shade," he said. "i may let up when we reach open water," walthew answered with a feeble smile. "there's not much enjoyment to be got out of a lay-off here." grahame reluctantly agreed. he knew something about malaria and walthew did not look fit for work; but every man was needed, and this foul swamp was no place to be ill. the sooner they got out the better. steam was up when the _enchantress_ rose with the tide, and shortly afterward the engines began to throb. muddy foam leaped about the whirling screw, flame mingled with the smoke that poured from her funnel, and steam roared from the blow-off pipe. then the clatter of winch and windlass joined in, and grahame stood, tense and anxious, holding a rope that slipped round the spinning drum. the winch could not shorten it, though the vessel was shaking and working in her muddy bed. it was high-water, the tide would soon begin to fall, and the sweat of suspense and strain dripped from the man as, at the risk of breaking the warp, he tightened the turns on the drum. it gripped; to his surprise, a little slack came off, and he nodded to walthew, who was watching him eagerly from the windlass. "give her all, if you burst the chain!" he cried. the windlass clanked for a few moments, stopped, and clanked again; the _enchantress_ trembled and crept a foot or two ahead. then she stuck while the cable rose from the water, rigid as a bar, and the messenger-chain that drove the windlass creaked and strained at breaking tension. while grahame expected to see links and gear-wheels fly, there was a long shiver through the vessel's frame, a mad rattle of liberated machinery, and she leaped ahead. five minutes later walthew walked shakily aft, scarcely seeing where he went because a confused sense of triumph had brought a mist into his dazzled eyes. this was the first big thing in which he had taken a leading part. he had made good and played the man; but there was still much to be done and he pulled himself together as he stopped near grahame. "she's moored where she won't ground again, but perhaps you had better see that the chain-compressors and warp fastenings are right." "if you're satisfied, it's enough," said grahame. "then i'll take the gig and get the coal on board." "if you feel equal to it," grahame answered. walthew got into the boat with a sense of elation. his eyes had met grahame's while they spoke, and a pledge of mutual respect and trust had passed between them. but this was not quite all. he felt he had won official recognition from a leader he admired; he was no longer on trial but accepted as a comrade and equal. the thought sustained him through a day of murderous toil, during which his worn-out muscles needed constant spurring by the unconquered mind. it was not dainty and, in a sense, not heroic work in which he was engaged, but it must be done, and he dimly saw that human nature rose highest in a grapple with obstacles that seemed too great to overcome. whatever the odds against him were, he must not be beaten. the heat was pitiless in the afternoon, but walthew pulled his oar and carried the hundred-pound coal bags across a stretch of mire that grew broader as the tide ebbed. he could scarcely pull his feet out and keep the load upon his aching back, and he sometimes sank knee-deep in the softer spots. the air was heavy with exhalations from the swamps; he had thrown off his jacket and the coal wore holes in his shirt and rubbed raw places on his skin. he was wet from the waist downward and black above, while the gritty dust filled his eyes and nostrils. still he held out until the work was finished, when the _enchantress's_ cargo-light began to twinkle through the dusk; and then, losing his balance, he fell forward into the boat with his last heavy load. miguel pushed her off, and with oars splashing slackly she moved downstream. when she ran alongside the steamer, grahame saw a limp, black figure lying huddled on the floorings. the others lifted it gently, but walthew did not speak when he was laid on deck, and macallister, bending over him, looked up at grahame. "fever and exhaustion! i allow that ye were right about the lad. but we must do the best we can for him." they washed off the coal-dust, and when walthew, wrapped in thick blankets, lay unconscious in his berth, they debated earnestly over the medicine chest before administering a dose that experience in the unhealthy swamps of the tropics alone justified. they forced it, drop by drop, between his clenched teeth, and then macallister waited with a grimy finger on his pulse, while grahame sat down limply on the edge of the berth. his hands were bruised, his thin clothes were torn, and he felt the reaction after the day's strain. he had now an hour or two in which to rest, and then he must pull himself together to take the vessel down the creek. when at last macallister nodded, as if satisfied, grahame went wearily up on deck. except for a faint hiss of steam, everything was quiet. tired men lay motionless about the deck, and the mist that clung to the mangroves did not stir. after a while the lap of the flood-tide against the planks made itself heard, and the moon, which was getting large, rose above the trees. grahame, sitting limply on the grating, half dozing while he waited, suddenly jumped to his feet, startled. out of the semi-darkness came distinctly the splash of oars, faint at first and then nearer. miguel lay nearest him. the spaniard, quickly grasping the danger, shook his men awake while grahame ran below to macallister. "the government spies!" he said briefly. "our pilot's turned traitor!" chapter x the peon pilot grahame and macallister stood on deck, peering into the moonlit jungle of mangroves. so far as they could judge, there was only one pair of oars making the splashes that had aroused them; but they could hear the blades dig deep into the water with an intense effort that could mean only haste on the part of the boatsman. they waited; and presently the small boat appeared in the moonlight and they saw a single figure, who dropped one oar and crossed himself religiously. "_gracias a dios!_" he said. "the pilot!" macallister gasped. grahame waited, tense and alert, until the pilot climbed on board. the instant the half-breed touched the deck he began gesticulating wildly and talking so rapidly that grahame had difficulty in grasping his meaning. miguel, who was more at home in the peon spanish, explained--in english, for macallister's sake. "the government men catch him; make him tell; he escape; take short path--indian _senda_; get here first. _soldados_ coming. we hurry!" miguel had worked himself up to a state of great excitement, and when he finished, his bare feet went pattering off across the deck almost before grahame could give the order. tired as the men were, they realized the necessity for haste, and they lost no time in getting under way. there was a clatter in the stokehold as the fires were cleaned, the dinghy crept across the creek, and half-seen men forward hurriedly coiled in a wet rope. then the boat came back and the windlass rattled while the propeller floundered slowly round. the anchor rose to the bows and the _enchantress_ moved away against the flood tide. the pilot took the wheel while grahame stood beside him. there were broad, light patches where the water dazzled grahame's eyes, and then belts of gloom in which the mangroves faded to a formless blur. still, they did not touch bottom; miry points round which the tide swirled, rotting logs on mud-banks, and misty trees crept astern, and at last they heard the rumble of the swell on beaten sand. she glided on, lifting now and then with a louder gurgle about her planks. when a white beach gleamed in the moonlight where the trees broke off, the _enchantress_ stopped to land the faithful pilot, who had first betrayed and then saved them. "it was a risky thing he did," grahame said, as the half-breed, standing easily in his boat, swaying with the rhythm of his oars, rowed off into the moonlight. "suppose they had caught him coming to us--or with us!" "i'm thinking yon pilot's a bit of a hero," macallister responded laconically. "albeit a coward first!" "oh, it was all for don martin's sake that he risked his own hide to warn us. don martin has a wonderful hold on those peons. they'd go through fire and water for him." the _enchantress_ skirted a point where two sentinel cedar-trees stood out blackly against the sky; then the spray leaped about the bows as she dipped to the swell, and the throb of engines quickened as she left the shore behind. * * * * * two weeks later the _enchantress_ was steaming across a sea that was flecked with purple shadow and lighted by incandescent foam. macallister lounged in the engine-room doorway, grahame sat smoking on a coil of rope, and walthew, wrapped in a dirty blanket, lay under the awning. his face was hollow, his hair damp and lank, and his hands, with which he was clumsily rolling a cigarette, were very thin. the deck was piled with a load of dyewood, which they had bought rather with the object of accounting for their cruise than for the profit that might be made on it. "it's good to feel alive on a day like this, but i suspect it was doubtful for a time whether i'd have that satisfaction," walthew remarked languidly. "guess i owe you both a good deal." they had stubbornly fought the fever that was wasting him away, and had felt that they must be beaten, but macallister grinned. "i'll no' deny that ye were an interesting case and gave us a chance o' making two or three experiments. as ye seem none the worse for them, ye must be tougher than ye look." "i thought tampering with other people's watches was your specialty." "what's a watch compared with the human body?" macallister asked. "you do know something about springs and wheels, but it's different with drugs. i expect you gave way to an unholy curiosity to see how they would work." "maybe there's something in the notion. an engineer canna help wanting to find out how things act. it's a matter o' temperament, and there's no' a great difference between watching the effect o' a new oil on your piston-rings and seeing what happens when a patient swallows your prescription. i'll say this for ye: ye were docile." "i've survived," said walthew. "from my point of view, that's the most important thing." "and now you had better think about the future," grahame interposed. "some people are practically immune from malaria; others get it moderately now and then, and some it breaks down for good. at first it's difficult to tell which class one belongs to, but you have had a sharp attack. there's some risk of your spending the rest of your life as an ague-stricken invalid if you stick to us." "how heavy is the risk?" "nobody can tell you that, but it's to be reckoned with. i understand that your father would take you back?" "he'd be glad to do so, on his terms," said walthew thoughtfully. "still, it's hard to admit that you're beaten, and i suspect the old man would have a feeling that i might have made a better show. he wants me to give in and yet he'd be sorry if i did." "suppose you go home in twelve months with a profit on the money he gave you?" grahame suggested. "then i'm inclined to think he'd welcome me on any terms i cared to make." "think it over well and leave us out of the question," grahame said. "you can't be left out," walthew answered with a gleam in his eyes. "but i'll wait until i feel better. i may see my way then." they left him and he lighted his cigarette, though the tobacco did not taste good. hardship and toil had not daunted him, the risk of shipwreck and capture had given the game a zest, but the foul mangrove quagmires, where the fever lurks in the tainted air, had brought him a shrinking dread. one could take one's chance of being suddenly cut off, but to go home with permanently broken health or perhaps, as sometimes happened, with a disordered brain, was a different thing. since he took malaria badly, the matter demanded careful thought. in the meanwhile, it was enough to lie in the shade and feel his strength come back. a few days later they reached havana, where they sold the dyewood and had arranged to meet don martin sarmiento, whose affairs occasionally necessitated a visit to cuba. one evening soon after his arrival, grahame stood in the _patio_ of the hotel international. the international had been built by some long-forgotten spanish _hidalgo_, and still bore traces of ancient art. the basin in the courtyard with the stone lions guarding its empty fountain was moorish, the balconies round the house had beautiful bronze balustrades cast three hundred years ago, and the pillars supporting them were delicately light. the building had, however, been modernized, for part of the _patio_ was roofed with glass, and wide steps, tiled in harsh colors, led to a lounge through which one entered the dining-room, where everything was arranged on the latest american plan. there was a glaring café in the front of the building, and an archway at the back led to the uncovered end of the _patio_, where porters, pedlers, and the like importuned the guests. just then this space was occupied by a group of chinamen, half-breeds, and negroes, and grahame was watching them carelessly when he heard a step behind him. turning abruptly, he stood facing evelyn cliffe. he imagined that she looked disturbed, but she frankly gave him her hand. "you!" she exclaimed. "this is something of a surprise." "that's what i felt," he answered. "i hope the pleasure's also mutual. but you see, i get my meals here and walthew has a room. he has been down with fever and isn't quite better yet." "and i've just arrived with my father, who has some business in the town," evelyn said and laughed. "i nearly missed meeting you, because i thought you were a stranger and i meant to slip past, but you were too quick. do you generally swing round in that alert manner when you hear somebody behind you?" "i admit it's a habit of mine--though i must have been clumsy if you noticed it. a number of people go barefooted in these countries, and the business i'm engaged in demands some caution." "then it's lucky you have self-control, because you might run a risk of injuring a harmless friend by mistake." "one does not mistake one's friends. they're not too plentiful," he replied, smiling. "but what is the business that makes you so careful?" "i think i could best call myself a general adventurer, but at present i'm engaged in trade. in fact, i'm living rather extravagantly after selling a cargo." evelyn gave him a quick glance. his manner was humorous, but she imagined he wished to remind her that he did not belong to her world. this jarred, because there was an imperious strain in her, and she felt that she could choose her acquaintances as she liked. besides, it was mocking her intelligence to suggest that the man was not her equal by birth and education. for all that, she had been disconcerted to find him in the hotel. he had exerted a disturbing influence when they first met, and she had had some trouble in getting free from it. that the influence was unintentional made things no better, because evelyn did not want her thoughts to center on a man who made no attempt to please her. yet she felt a strange pleasure in his society. "i suppose you are waiting for dinner now?" she said. "yes," he answered. "shall we look for a seat here? a fellow who sings rather well sometimes comes in." he led her to a bench near the marble basin under the broad leaves of a palm. evelyn noticed that the spot was sufficiently public to offer no hint of privacy, and she admired his tact. it got dark while they engaged in casual talk, and colored servants lighted lamps among the plants and flowers. then the soft tinkle of a guitar and a clear voice, trilling on the higher notes with the spanish tremolo, came out of the shadow. one or two others joined in, and evelyn listened with enjoyment. "the _campanadas_," grahame said. "it's a favorite of mine. the refrain states that grapes eaten in pleasant company taste like honey." "isn't that a free translation? i'm not a spanish scholar, but i imagine it means something more personal than company in general." "yes," said grahame slowly. "it really means--with you." the music changed to a plaintive strain, which had something seductive and passionate in its melancholy. "_las aves marinas_," said evelyn. "that means the sea-birds, doesn't it? what is the rest?" "i won't paraphrase this time. the song declares that although the sea-birds fly far across the waves they cannot escape the pains of love. these people are a sentimental lot, but the idea's poetical." "i wonder whether it's true," evelyn said with a smile. "perhaps you ought to know." "the sea-birds are fierce wild things that live by prey. one associates them with elemental strife--the white tide-surge across desolate sands and the pounding of the combers on weedy reefs--and not with domestic peace. that's the lot of the tame land-birds that haunt the sheltered copse." "and cannot one have sympathy with these?" "oh, yes. i've often stopped to listen while a speckled thrush sang its love-song among the bare ash-boughs in our rain-swept north. the joyful trilling goes straight to one's heart." "and lingers there?" "where our thrushes sing, you can, if you listen, hear the distant roar of the sea. it's a more insistent call than the other." "but only if you listen! cannot you close your ears?" "that might be wiser. it depends upon your temperament." evelyn was silent for the next minute or two, and grahame mused. he had felt the charm of the girl's beauty, and suspected in her a spirit akin to his. she had courage, originality, and, he thought, a longing, hitherto curbed by careful social training, to venture beyond the borders of a tame, conventional life. it was possible that he might strengthen it; but this would not be playing a straight game. for all that, he was tempted, and he smiled as he recalled that in earlier days his ancestors had stolen their brides. "why are you amused?" evelyn asked. "an idle thought came into my mind," he said awkwardly. evelyn smiled. "my father has come to look for me; but i shall see you again. you will be here some time?" "a few days." he watched her join cliffe in the archway that led from the _patio_, and then he sat down again on the bench under the palm-tree. but he no longer heard the strum of the guitars nor the tinkle of the mandolins: he was thinking of evelyn. there seemed to be some peculiar bond of sympathy between them; he felt that she understood him even when nothing much was said. "mooning all alone?" came walthew's voice. grahame laughed, and joined his comrade and macallister, who had entered the _patio_ with don martin and blanca. chapter xi a modern don quixote the dining-room of the international hotel was modern, but while noisy, power-driven fans stirred the heavy air and the decoration was profuse, traces of more austere ancient art remained. stone pillars and the fretted arch at one end had an eastern grace and lightness; among the gaudy modern lamps hung one or two finely-modeled in copper and burning scented oil. the glass and nickeled knives were american, but curious old carafes filled with red and yellow wine stood among the flowers and fruit on the long table. evelyn, looking down the room from its opposite end, was conscious of faint displeasure when grahame entered with a very attractive girl. the feeling could not be jealousy, but she studied blanca with a curiosity that was half hostile. the girl was dressed in parisian fashion, but she walked with a grace that only spanish women show. there was no fault to be found with her supple figure, but her black hair was rather coarse and her blue eyes too languishing. yet she was well bred, and the man in dark clothes who followed and was, no doubt, her father had an air of dignity. grahame seemed to be on friendly terms with them, for they talked and laughed when they sat down and evelyn noticed that the girl sometimes touched him coquettishly with her fan. walthew sat opposite with a thoughtful expression; and soon macallister joined in the talk. it was obvious that he was amusing, for evelyn saw those who sat near smile and then hearty laughter rose from his end of the table. the spanish girl and grahame no longer spoke to each other, and the engineer's voice came up through the clink of glass and the hum of conversation, sometimes in broad scots and sometimes in stumbling and uncouth castilian. when the guests were leaving the dining-room grahame met cliffe in the corridor. "glad to see you. i didn't expect to find you in havana," the american said cordially. "i want a smoke. will you come along?" they found a seat in the _patio_, and cliffe gave grahame a cigar. "how's business?" he asked. "we can't complain, so far," grahame answered cautiously. "the boat, of course, does not carry much, but her light draught allows her to get into harbors that larger vessels can only enter on big tides, and we sold our last cargo at a satisfactory price. just now i'm looking out for a few passengers to kingston; there's no boat across for some time." "i might go with you, if you have two good rooms to spare. there's a fruit-growing estate i want to look at in jamaica." the suggestion was welcome to grahame. he promised to give cliffe part of the deckhouse, and they afterward talked of something else. in the meanwhile, walthew was sitting with blanca sarmiento. he was quiet, for he still felt languid and the _patio_ was hot; but he was conscious of his companion's charm. indeed, he had thought of her often since he left rio frio, and she had had a place in the fantastic dreams the fever brought him. "you do not speak much, but you have been ill," she said presently, with a sympathetic glance. "it was a grief to us to hear it; but you have suffered in a good cause." "i'm not sure of that," walthew answered. "you see i was out for money." "and that was all!" blanca exclaimed in a half-contemptuous tone. "i think so," walthew admitted. "my people are traders and i suppose money-making runs in the family. still, i might claim to be a soldier of fortune, if you like that better. it's more romantic, anyhow." "ah!" she said with a sparkle in her eyes. "there were great soldiers of fortune among the liberators; one thinks of bolivar, lafayette, and garibaldi. but the brave italian had wounds and prison, not money, for his reward." "these fellows are too near the top notch for me to follow. i know my limits," walthew modestly owned. "one should follow the highest, and chivalry is not dead; even commerce cannot kill it. there are still knights errant, who see visions and leave everything, to right the wrong and help the downtrodden. it has been my good fortune to meet one or two." "your cervantes wrote about one such. seems to me that although he meant well, don quixote did more harm than good." "ah, the sad, sad book! but you think like cervantes? you sneer at romance?" "i'm young, señorita, but i try to keep my head." he gave her a steady glance. "sometimes i find it difficult." she laughed with a sparkle of coquetry, and touched him with her fan. "then there is hope for you, and we will labor for your conversion. the man who always keeps his head never does anything great; the power that moves the world comes from the heart." lowering her voice, she went on: "our cause is just, señor, but we need trustworthy friends, even if they are not idealists. quixote failed because he used rusty armor and the lance; we will use rifles." walthew was trying to be cautious, but was swept away. he had been attracted by the girl at their first meeting, though he had then felt something of the anglo-saxon's prejudice against the southern races, which is not unmarked in the united states. this had gone, however, and he now wondered whether blanca meant to use him only to further her father's objects, or if she had any personal interest in him. her patriotism was, he thought, a burning flame, and she would not stick at trifles where she saw a chance of serving her country. still, it would be his fault if she were willing to get rid of him when he had done his work. "i wonder why you thought i could be trusted?" he said. "it is difficult to explain, señor, but one can tell, perhaps by instinct, when a man rings true." "it would hurt to find you had been deceived?" "it might be so," she answered slowly. walthew wondered if this were mere flirtation, designed to gain an end. blanca was playing with her fan, which lay in her lap. he could not see her eyes. he felt that he had been given an opportunity, however, and he meant to seize it. leaning forward toward her, he waited until she raised her eyes to his, and then he spoke in a low, tense voice. "when i was leaving rio frio, i found a crimson rose on the pavement. i picked it up because i ventured to think it was meant for me." blanca was again playing with her fan, opening and shutting it slowly. "señor, it is possible the flower was dropped by mistake," she said, giving him a sidewise glance that made his heart beat fast. "how--if it was really meant for me?" she hesitated a moment, and then, raising her head, she met his insistent look with a curious smile. "it was given because i thought you were perhaps, in a way, and as far as it was possible for you, like the great soldiers of fortune we talked about." walthew made her a ceremonious bow. "you set me a pretty big task, señorita, but, as far as it's possible for me, i will try to make good." he was thrilled by the look she gave him as she rose and held out her hand. "your conversion begins," she said, with a strange, new note in her voice. "it is a chivalrous resolve, and--you will live up to it, señor." when she left him, walthew found grahame alone in the hotel lounge. "i promised to let you know whether the malaria would send me home or not," he said. "i've made up my mind to see the business through." grahame grasped his hand cordially. "i don't know that you are wise, old man; but i am glad to have you, just the same." he gave walthew a whimsical look. "haven't you come to a decision rather suddenly?" "that doesn't matter," said walthew, "i mean to stick to it." chapter xii baiting the smugglers it was late, and the dew was heavy. macallister's thin clothes were getting damp as he walked impatiently up and down the mole. the _enchantress's_ gig lay near the steps, but her crew had not arrived, although macallister had waited half an hour for them. this by no means pleased him, because, while not a tyrant, he expected his orders to be obeyed. besides, he resented the ingratitude of the men. he had agreed with grahame that it was prudent to moor the _enchantress_ out in the harbor and keep the crew short of money. they had behaved well, and during the afternoon macallister had given them a few pesetas and allowed them a run ashore, although he imagined he had kept within a limit that would ensure their sobriety. they had, however, not returned, and he felt disturbed as he watched the twinkling anchor-lights and the ripples flash in the silvery track the moon cast across the water. boats were coming and going, and when one approached the landing macallister drew back into the shadow. he had made the acquaintance of the captain and the engineer of the vessel from which the boat came, and he did not want to be found waiting for his unpunctual crew. the footsteps of those who landed were growing faint when he heard singing farther up the mole. the voice was unsteady, and the patter of bare feet that accompanied it suggestively uneven. macallister knew the song, and was not surprised that his men, who were obviously coming back the worse for liquor, should show a taste for good music, for this is common among spanish-americans. it was, however, difficult to understand how they had made the money he had given them go so far. "where kept ye, ye drunken swine?" he asked when they lurched into sight. "no savvy," answered his fireman, pepe, and macallister explained what he thought of them in the most virulent epithets used along the clyde. this relieved his feelings and satisfied his sense of discipline, but he did not think it wise to translate his remarks: spanish half-breeds have fiery tempers and carry knives. "get into the boat before i kick ye off the mole!" he concluded when he was breathless, and the men clumsily obeyed, though one came near to falling into the water. they had some trouble in getting out the oars, but at last they rowed away. macallister noted that one man placed a small cane basket under a thwart, and he suspected what was inside. when they reached the _enchantress_ he was first on deck, but he waited by the gangway until the man who carried the basket climbed up. macallister held out his hand for the basket, and when the fellow gave it to him confidingly he hurried aft to examine it by the engine lamp. it contained two bottles of _anisado_, a spirit flavored with aniseed in favor in spanish countries. he felt tempted to throw them overboard, but refrained because such waste went against the grain, and the liquor might be doled out when the men had been forced to work unusually hard. he imagined they had forgotten the matter, and was lighting his pipe when he heard them coming, and stepped out of the engine-room to meet them. "there was a small basket, señor," one said civilly, though his voice was thick. "it is possible you dropped it overboard," macallister suggested in his best castilian--which was very bad. "no, señor. one does not drop such baskets over." "what was in it, then?" the man was obviously not sober, but it looked as if he had not lost his senses. "a small present to me and the others, don andres. you will give it back to us." "no," said macallister sternly. "presents of that kind are not allowed on board this ship." he watched them while they murmured together. they were active, wiry fellows, obedient as a rule, but liable to passionate outbreaks, like most of their mixed race. now they looked drunkenly determined, and he knew the strength of his fireman, pepe. "the basket is ours," said one. "we will take it." "i think not," said macallister shortly. "stand back!" their half-respectful mood changed in a flash and they came at him with a rush. they could wrestle and use the knife, and macallister knew that pepe, who came first, must be stopped. he supposed that miguel, whom he had left on board, was asleep; but to summon help would be subversive of authority and the affair would be over before miguel arrived. lunging forward, he put the weight of his body into his blow, and pepe reeled when it landed on his jaw. before he could recover, macallister sprang upon him, and with a strenuous effort flung him backward through the gangway. there was a splash in the water and the others stopped, daunted by the vigor of the attack; but pepe did not strike out for the gig as macallister expected. indeed, for there was shadow along the vessel's side, he did not seem to come up, and after a moment's pause macallister jumped into the sea. the water closed above him, but when he rose a white-clad figure was struggling feebly near by and he seized it. pepe seemed unable to swim, and macallister had some trouble in dragging him to the gig, into which the others had jumped. they pulled both men out of the water, and in another few minutes macallister stood, dripping, on board the _enchantress_, sternly regarding his fireman. the shock had apparently sobered him, and the others, with the instability of their kind, had become suddenly docile. "now," said macallister, "where did you get the _anisado_?" "a gentleman gave it to us in a café." macallister shook his head. "try again! a gentleman does not give drunken sailors bottles of liquor." "we were not drunk then," one of them answered naïvely. "and he was a gentleman: he spoke castilian like the peninsulares." "ah," said macallister thoughtfully, for the use of good peninsular spanish indicates a man of education. "so he gave you all some wine and put the bottles in the basket!" "it was so, don andres," another answered with a readiness that invited belief. "but why?" "who can tell?" pepe rejoined. "perhaps the señor was generous; then he said he liked sailors and tales of the sea." "you told him some, no doubt," macallister remarked dryly. "we did, don andres. herman told him of the great shark that bites off the fishermen's oars at punta anagan, and i about the ghost _caravela_ that beats to windward in jaurez strait." "and what else?" pepe shook his head. "then there was some cognac and afterward--i do not remember." "get below, except the anchor-watch!" macallister said sternly. "we'll consider what's to be done with you to-morrow." they slouched away, and while macallister was talking to miguel a splash of oars grew louder, and presently grahame clambered up from a shore boat. he heard what had happened and then, sitting down, thoughtfully lighted his pipe. "you must see what this points to," he remarked. "it's no' difficult. somebody has made the wasters drunk, and i ken what sea stories he would start them telling. a _gran señor_, they said!" "one of president altiera's spies! but why do you think he gave them the _anisado_ afterward?" "he might have wanted them to make trouble, so we'd put them ashore and he could get hold o' them again. then it's possible it would have suited him if they'd knifed you or me." "there may be something in that. anyhow, your going overboard after pepe ended the matter well. they're not ungrateful; it gives us a hold on them." "i see that noo, but i did no' stop to think before i jumped," macallister modestly admitted. "it was what ye might call a stroke o' natural genius. then, ye see, i threw him in." grahame laughed. "well, we must keep our eyes open, and get away as soon as we can. i expect to finish with don martin to-morrow." * * * * * on the following evening cliffe was sitting with evelyn in his private room at the international when a mulatto boy brought him in a card. "señor gomez!" he remarked. "the fellow has kept me hanging round three days, and i'd made up my mind to sail with grahame to-morrow, whether he came or not." "who is señor gomez?" evelyn asked. "i understand his official title is _secretario general_, and he's next in power to the president of the country i'm trying to do business with. my opinion is that they're both slippery rascals." he broke off as the door opened and a dark-skinned gentleman came in. gomez bowed ceremoniously to evelyn and cliffe, and then waited with his hat in his hand. he was dressed all in black except for his spotless linen. he wore a number of valuable rings, and evelyn noticed that his nails were unusually curved and long. she shrank from the glance of bold admiration he gave her, but resentment and half-instinctive dislike conquered this feeling, and she returned his greeting politely when cliffe presented him. she thought no better of him when she withdrew after some general talk. "now," cliffe said when evelyn had left them, "we'll get down to business. i've been waiting three days for you, and am not sure the deal is worth it." gomez spread out his hands with a deprecatory air. "it was impossible to come sooner; affairs of state, you understand! may i suggest that the concessions we offer you are valuable?" "so it seems!" cliffe rejoined bluntly. "the price you asked was high enough, and now, when we have half fixed things, you want to raise your terms." gomez looked pained. he was rather stout and greasy, but his dress and manners were unexceptionable. "señor, that is a grief to us, but the affairs of my country necessitate the change. we only ask for a little more money in advance. it is to the advantage of all parties that you agree." "i can't see how it is to my advantage to part with money i can make a good use of," cliffe replied. "i must speak frankly, señor." gomez's manner became confidential. "these concessions have already cost you something, and there are dissatisfied people who are anxious to rob the president of his power." "i've heard that some of them are anxious to shoot him; but that's not my business." "with your pardon, señor, we must disagree. if the president loses office before the papers are signed, the concessions go. i imagined you understood this." "i suppose i did understand something of the kind," cliffe admitted. "still, if the revolutionists prove too strong for you, i'll lose any additional money i may let you have." gomez smiled, a slow and rather cruel smile. "if we can get the money there will be an end of the discontent; we know how to deal with it. and now, with apologies, i must remark that while we give you the first opportunity, there are others----" "ah!" said cliffe sharply. "i'd thought this business wouldn't have much attraction for my rivals. whom am i up against?" gomez gave him a letter from a german syndicate, and cliffe examined it closely. he knew the principal, and recognized the signature. "i see; they're bolder than i thought," he said. "if i don't come up to the line, you'll make the deal with them." "we should be forced. the political situation demands it." "you mean you must have the money. well, you have got a good deal of mine already. what becomes of it if the thing falls through?" "it was a gift," gomez answered with an apologetic smile. "your generosity will be gratefully remembered." cliffe was silent for a few minutes. he had not been tricked, because he had known that when one negotiates a transaction of that sort with a spanish-american country, a certain amount of money must first be spent in clearing the ground, and this, going into the pockets of venal officials, offers no direct return. gomez and his master had, however, been smarter than cliffe thought, for, after exacting all they could from him, they had opened negotiations with another party, and would force him to come up to his rival's bid. they could do so, because if he drew back he would lose the money he had already put in. he distrusted them, but he thought he would be safe when he secured the concessions. "i guess i'll have to meet you," he said, "but we'll get everything fixed up now." half an hour afterward he lighted a fresh cigar, and put some papers into his pocket. he was not altogether satisfied, and neither was gomez, but they had by mutual compromise arrived at a workable arrangement and each had some respect for the other's astuteness. "how will you get across to jamaica?" gomez asked. "a little boat sails in the morning." "the very small, lead-colored steamer? the señorita may find the accommodation rude. why not wait for a passenger boat?" "it's fine weather, and the man who owns her is a friend of mine." gomez was puzzled. he was suspicious of the _enchantress_, and had taken trouble to find out something about her. it surprised him to learn that her owner and cliffe were friends. "then he is in havana?" "he's in this hotel. i noticed him sitting, half asleep, in the far corner of the lounge just before you came in. do you want to see him?" "oh, no," gomez said in a careless tone, for he feared he had been incautious. "i imagined you meant he was somebody you knew in america." he made an excuse for leaving, but cliffe, noticing his interest, was not satisfied, and went out to the landing with him. gomez, however, did not go straight to the lounge. he was afraid of rousing cliffe's curiosity, and men of his stamp are seldom direct in their methods. it seemed wiser to spend a while sauntering about the _patio_, where cliffe could see him. but grahame in the meantime came up the stairs, and cliffe beckoned him. "do you know señor gomez?" he asked. "no," said grahame, immediately on his guard. "i've heard about him. clever politician, but a bit of a rogue, i believe." cliffe gave him a keen glance. "i thought he was interested in you, but i may have been mistaken. anyway, i told him you were taking a _siesta_ in a corner of the lounge." grahame smiled carelessly. "inquisitiveness becomes a habit with fellows like gomez, and i dare say it's needful. the cafés in these ports are full of political refugees and intriguers." seeing macallister in the hall below, grahame went down to him and told him what he had learned. "weel," said the engineer, dryly, "after that present o' _anisado_ to the men, i'm thinking it would no' be desirable that ye should meet señor gomez. for a' that, i would not have him disappointed, and i'll daunder along to the lounge." "it would be almost as bad if he saw you." macallister chuckled. "he'll have hard work to recognize me afterward. come away to the hat-rack." grahame followed him, feeling puzzled but suspecting that his comrade had some ingenious plan. seeing nobody about, macallister borrowed one or two articles from the rack; but neither he nor grahame noticed that miss cliffe watched the proceedings with interest from a shadowy passage. shortly afterward, gomez entered the lounge and saw only one person there, but this individual's appearance surprised him. as the light was not good, he strolled toward the drowsy gentleman who lay negligently in a big chair with a newspaper dangling from his hand. he wore a soft hat, pulled down upon his forehead as if to shade his eyes, and a loose dark cloak hung over his shoulder. he looked like a cuban and although gomez noticed that his nails were short and broken, this might be accounted for by his having something to do with sugar-making machinery. "perhaps you are not using the _diario_?" gomez said. the man did not look up, but held out the paper with a drowsy grunt. gomez was too clever to make a poor excuse for starting a conversation with a man who obviously did not wish to be disturbed, and, taking the paper, he moved away. after a few minutes he put it down and strolled out of the room. when he had gone, macallister left by another door, and, replacing the things he had borrowed, rejoined grahame in the _patio_. "it worked," he said, chuckling. "if señor gomez was on our track, he's weel off it noo. but it's fortunate we sail the morn." "he mustn't meet don martin," grahame answered thoughtfully. "i'll go to his room and warn him." he found that sarmiento was out, and none of the hotel servants knew where he had gone. grahame felt disturbed by this; but there was nothing he could do. chapter xiii the emerald ring grahame went in to dinner feeling anxious. sarmiento had not returned, but he would probably come in before the meal was over, and gomez was sitting by cliffe near the head of the table. blanca sat opposite walthew, and grahame found a place next to evelyn, who had not joined cliffe because she disliked gomez. though his manners were polished, there was something sinister about him, a hint of craft and cruelty, and she did not approve of his association with her father. "have you met the gentleman yonder?" she asked grahame. "señor gomez? i know who he is, but have not spoken to him." "that's curious, because he has been looking at you as if he were interested." this confirmed grahame's suspicion, and he felt uneasy. he did not want gomez to study him, and he would not have come in to dinner only that he must warn sarmiento. if he and his friends were to succeed in their undertaking, their connection with don martin must remain unknown; for it would not be difficult to catch them landing arms should their object be suspected. he wondered where macallister was, for the engineer could be trusted in an emergency, and presently he saw him coming in. there was no vacant place near grahame, and macallister sat down some distance off. "you may have been mistaken, miss cliffe," grahame suggested. "somehow, i imagine that gomez is not a favorite of yours." "that's true, though i hardly know him," she answered with a smile. "one is now and then seized by a quick prejudice, and i think the reason i mentioned the man was because i wanted your opinion." "did you think it worth having?" "i can't judge. perhaps i really wanted to be agreed with. when you have no good ground for making up your mind about a thing, it's pleasant to find your conclusions confirmed." "well, i believe you can trust your feelings. gomez can't be a nice man if all one hears is true. but what turned you against him--the dash of dark blood?" "no, not altogether. i felt repelled, as one feels repelled by a snake or a toad." grahame made a sign of understanding. there was, he thought, something very refined in the girl's character; an instinctive fastidiousness. she walked in the light and shrank from all that lurked in the shadow. it was her inner self that had recoiled from the swarthy politician and reason had nothing to do with the matter. "your father seems to be on good terms with the fellow," he remarked. "yes; it puzzles me. however, i suppose he is forced to deal with all kinds of people----" she paused, and grahame changed the subject. he might have obtained some information by judicious questions, but he could not take advantage of the girl's frankness by leading her to reveal anything she knew about her father's affairs. this would taint their friendship, which he valued. after a time, she looked at him with a twinkle of amusement. "i watched a little comedy shortly before dinner." "did you?" said grahame. "comedies are not unusual when one knows how to look for them, but they don't catch everybody's eye." "this one was rather obvious; i mean the transformation of a staid scottish engineer into a cuban sugar-planter of convivial habits." "mack isn't really staid. it looks as if you didn't quite understand the scottish character. under its surface sobriety one's apt to find a very reckless humor. i'm a borderer, and rather proud of it, you know. but how did the beginning of the first act strike you?" "it seized my interest. the plot was not unusual; confused identity is a favorite theme, but i noticed some histrionic cleverness. the rake of the _sombrero_ and the hang of the big cloak were good. they carried a hint of mild dissipation; one recognizes artistic talent in these light touches." grahame laughed. "i'm not sure it was all art; experience may have had something to do with it. mack's not an ascetic." "but how did the play go off?" "it was a success, i think." "in one act?" "no," said grahame thoughtfully. "i imagine it isn't played out yet, and the other acts may not be in so light a vein." "as you didn't expect an audience, perhaps i'd better promise not to talk about your play. you may have felt some diffidence about asking that." "thank you," said grahame quietly. "you're very quick." evelyn smiled. there was something about the man which appealed to her. perhaps it was the mystery that seemed to shroud him and the _enchantress_. she noticed now that he was casting furtive glances about the dining-room. as a matter of fact, grahame was worried about don martin. the flowers, plates of fruit, and tall wine carafes obstructed his view, but he could see that sarmiento had not come in. gomez was talking to cliffe, but his eyes wandered about the table. for a moment they rested on blanca, and grahame felt angry, as if the fellow's glance were an insult to the girl. then it was fixed observantly upon himself, and he hid his antagonism. dinner was a lengthy function, but the last course was served, and some of the guests were smoking and some leaving their places to speak to their friends, when sarmiento came in. he walked toward grahame, who was glad of the general movement, which might help him to deal with the situation. looking round quickly, he noted that gomez had turned to cliffe; and then, getting up carelessly, he stood between the secretary and don martin. he faced sarmiento, and the latter stopped when he saw grahame's frown. a life of political intrigue had made him keen-witted, and with a negligent movement he turned and went back, speaking to a waiter as he passed. evelyn rose and waited by her chair. something she did not understand was going on, and the hint of intrigue excited her. she trusted grahame, and she thought his object was good. moreover, she guessed that it had something to do with thwarting gomez, and she meant to help him if she had an opportunity. the secretary suddenly pushed back his chair, and grahame felt his heart beat. sarmiento was not far from the door, and his back was toward his enemy, but he would have to turn at the end of the table, and that would bring his profile into view. it seemed that he recognized the danger, though grahame did not think he had seen gomez, for he bent down, turning his head as he tightened his sash. his face was still hidden when he reached the door, but grahame, looking round, saw gomez walk quickly down the room. other people were now leaving, and grahame joined them, hoping that he might get out before his antagonist. he was unaware that evelyn, who guessed his intention, was close behind him. there was more room on gomez's side of the table, and grahame was delayed by several ladies whom he could not push aside. he would have risked some apparent rudeness, but dared not make a disturbance. gomez had almost reached the door when a man collided with him and barred the way, and grahame smiled as he heard an apology in bad castilian, for he saw that macallister had given sarmiento a few more seconds' start. evelyn had slipped round the group of women while grahame was trying to avoid one of them, and she was now in front of gomez, who was hurrying along the passage. the man was close to her when she stopped and bent down with a warning cry. "take care, señor! i have dropped a ring." gomez could not get past her, and his eyes blazed with fury. his polish was superficial, and evelyn saw something of the savagery beneath. she flinched, but plucked up her courage. "it is a valuable ring, and will break if you tread on it," she said. "move then!" gomez commanded harshly; and when she stepped back her dress uncovered the ring. its setting was of small emeralds and diamonds, and might easily have been crushed. gomez picked up the ring and gave it to her with a bow. then he hurried on; but when he reached the _patio_ it was empty, and grahame, standing at the other end of the passage, heard his ugly exclamation. the next moment evelyn passed him, coming back, but her manner indicated that she did not wish to speak. after a time grahame strolled out from the front of the hotel, and looked round as he turned a corner. nobody followed him; and, as he expected, he found sarmiento waiting in the shadow some distance farther on. "what was the danger?" the spaniard asked. "gomez was in the dining-room." "ah!" said sarmiento. "did he recognize me?" "i don't think so, but i can't be sure. he was suspicious. but it's hardly prudent to stand talking in the street." they entered a shabby café, and, choosing a quiet corner, ordered wine. "if our friend's suspicions are aroused, he'll lose no time in following them up," sarmiento said; and grahame noticed that although the café was almost empty he avoided the secretary's name. "a pinillo boat sails at daybreak and passengers go on board to-night. it seems to me that i'd better embark." "but the pinillo liners don't call at your port!" grahame said. sarmiento smiled. "it may puzzle our friend if he watches the mole. when i have been on board i will return quietly, but not to the hotel. i know this city, where i have trustworthy acquaintances. i may be able to learn the business that has brought him here." "but what about your daughter?" "i do not think our friend knows her, and our name is not on the hotel book. there is a cuban lady i can leave her with." "one would imagine that watching the fellow might be dangerous. there are half-breed rascals in the port who wouldn't hesitate about sandbagging or stabbing you for a few dollars. but, after all, you run some risk at rio frio." "i am safe there, for a time," said sarmiento. "the opposition dare not arrest me, and the citizens would have to be satisfied if i disappeared. there would be a riot, and the government is not ready to use force yet." "i see," said grahame. "it's evident that you are popular; but the leaders of movements like yours are sometimes willing to sacrifice a comrade for the good of the cause. it might not suit them to have their hand forced by a tumult." "such things happen. but my hold is on the people. they would not be appeased." "may i ask how you got that hold?" "i will tell you, señor. my family is of some importance, and at first i was not an active liberator. the peons on my father's estate were, in a sense, his subjects: ignorant, superstitious people with childish passions; but they trusted him, and it was our tradition that they should be treated well. as i grew up, however, i saw that much had not been done. they wasted effort, suffered needless pains, and died of diseases that might be stamped out. in my inexperience i resolved that i would teach them to live healthily and well." "i dare say you found it hard." sarmiento smiled. "that is very true. i was young and an enthusiast, and it hurts to be misunderstood. even the poor i tried to benefit regarded me with suspicion; but this was not the worst. one is not supposed to be disinterested in my country; the man who works for others is a dangerous person. his aim is to gain power, and those who have it watch him with a jealous eye. well, i found my schemes thwarted by corrupt officials, money one could do much good with must be spent in bribes, and at last i saw that before improvement was possible our government must be reformed. i am not naturally a politician, señor; i was forced to become one." grahame made a sign of agreement. "i think i understand," he said. "it was uphill work, but the peasants i had helped began to trust me, thoughtful men gave me their support, and some joined because they hated all in authority. i was becoming an influence, and it was supposed i could be bought. petty honors were offered and an official post. when it was found that these things did not tempt me, i became a danger to the state." "and the president tried a different plan!" "sometimes i feared for my liberty, and sometimes for my life. i have had to take refuge in cuba and the united states; much of my money has been spent. but the determination to win freedom and good government spreads. we are growing strong, and soon the reckoning with our oppressors will come." "will things be very much better afterward?" sarmiento spread out his hands. "who can tell? one strives and hopes for the best. it is all that is possible. some day, perhaps, comes a small instalment of what one fights for." grahame did not answer, and his companion sank into the melancholy that often characterized him. he was engaged in an arduous struggle, and grahame suspected that disappointment would meet him even in hardly won victory. the man was sincere, and had sacrificed much for his country's sake; but he could not work alone, and it might happen that his helpers, tasting power, would restore the abuses he had destroyed. it looked as if he knew this, but did not let it daunt him. after a long silence sarmiento took out his watch. "i think i had better go on board the pinillo boat now," he said. "our business is done, and it is well that you sail to-morrow. when we are ready for the next cargo, you will hear from us." pulling down his hat, he left the café with his cloak thrown loosely over his shoulder, but grahame noticed that he was careful to keep his right hand free. chapter xiv smooth water there was no wind except the draught the steamer made as she lurched across the dazzling swell. cuba floated like a high, blue cloud over the port hand, cut off from the water by a blaze of reflected light, and the broad yucatan channel, glimmering like silver, stretched ahead. the deck had been holystoned and well sluiced before sunrise and was not quite dry, and there was a slight coolness in the air where evelyn cliffe sat under the awning. macallister leaned on the rail near by, wearing a white cap with a mail company's badge, and a blue jacket over his greasy duck. he had given his dress some thought since the passengers came on board. miguel stood at the wheel, barefooted, tall, and picturesque in spotless white, with a red cap and a red sash round his waist. a few big logs of hardwood that gave out an aromatic smell were made fast amidships. "i suppose that lumber's valuable," evelyn remarked. "it depends upon whether ye want to buy or sell," macallister replied. "they telt us good logs were scarce in cuba, but i doubt we'll find demand is slack when we come to part wi' them." "then the trade can't be very profitable." "it's just changing a shilling. sometimes ye get a ha'penny over." evelyn laughed. "which one of you looks after business matters?" "i'm thinking it will have to be walthew. the lad shows a natural ability." "but he's younger than mr. grahame--and probably has not had as much experience." macallister gave her a half-amused glance. "the skipper's no' a fool, but when he makes a bargain he's frank and quick. states the fair price and sticks to it. he will not spend time in scheming how he can screw a few more dollars out o' the other man. yon's a gift ye must be born with." "do you mean mr. grahame rather despises money-making?" "no' that exactly," macallister replied in a confidential tone. "but, ye see, he's a grahame o' calder ha'." "oh! is that a great distinction?" "it depends on how ye look at things. his branch o' the family is maybe no' o' much importance noo, but in the old wild days the lairds o' calder ha' were chiefs on the border. they guarded the moss roads, they kept the fords, and the kings at stirling and westminster noo bought their goodwill with presents and noo hanged a few o' the clan." "and calder hall? is it one of the rude stone towers you see pictures of?" macallister smiled. "calder ha's bonny. the old tower stands, with the coat o' arms above the door, but a low, gray house with stone-ribbed windows runs back where was once the bailly wall. below's a bit ragged orchard, the bent trees gray with fog, and then the lawn dropping to the waterside. nae soft southern beauty yonder; but ye feel the charm o' the cold, rugged north." he paused, and resumed with a reminiscent air: "i mind how i went to calder ha' when i was a young and romantic laddie fired by scott and him who taught the wandering winds to sing; the tales o' the ettrick shepherd were thought good reading then. after a bit plain speaking to the foreman o' a clydeside engine shop, i was fitting spinning gear in a new woolen mill, and i left the narrow border town on a holiday dawn. "there was mist along the alders and a smell o' wet dust where the white road followed the waterside, but as the sun came ower the hills i took to the moor. red it was like crimson velvet with the light upon the ling, rolling on to cheviot-foot, with the brown grouse crying and the clear sky above. at noon i came down a bit water that tumbled in a linn, where rowans grew among the stones and the eddies were amber with the seeping from the peat. the burn got wider, the bare hills closed in; and then i came on calder ha' at a turning o' the glen. black firs behind it, standing stiff like sentinels; the house with the tower in the middle on the breast o' the brae, and the lawn running doon to a pool. then i kent why the grahames loved it and would never sell, though many a rich man would have bought the place from them." "did you tell mr. grahame this?" evelyn asked. "maybe it makes things easier that he thinks i dinna ken," said macallister. evelyn agreed, for she saw that his reticence was caused by tactful sympathy. afterward she was silent for a time. the scot's admiration for the old border house appealed to her. he had shown a taste and a half-poetical imagination that she had not suspected when they first met; but it was not of macallister she was thinking. after all, it must be something to belong to a family with such traditions as clung about calder hall; but she must not dwell too much on this. "aren't we going slowly?" she asked. "coal's dear in the west indies, and the slower ye go the less ye use. but if ye are tiring o' the trip, i might drive her a bit faster." evelyn glanced across the long undulations that were deep-blue in the hollows, and touched upon their summits with brilliant light. she liked to feel the easy lift as the _enchantress_ shouldered off the swell; the drowsy murmur at the bows and the rhythmical throb of engines were soothing. then there was a pleasant serenity in the wide expanse. but she was honest with herself, and she knew that the beauty of the calm sea did not quite account for the absence of any wish to shorten the voyage. "oh," she said, "please don't burn more coal than is necessary. i'm quite content. i love the sunshine and the smooth water." macallister strolled away, but she saw his twinkling smile and wondered whether he was satisfied with her excuse. evelyn lay back in her steamer-chair, looking out over the glistening water and idly watching the white-caps far out at sea. she felt, rather than saw, grahame approach. when she turned to him, smiling, he was close beside her, leaning against the rail. his pose was virile, and his expression marked by the quiet alertness she had learned to know. it suggested resolution, self-reliance, and power of command. these qualities were not obtrusively indicated, but evelyn recognized them and wondered how much he owed to his being a grahame of calder hall. hereditary influences must be reckoned on. "this is the first chance i've had to see you alone," he said. "i want to thank you for your help at the international." "was it useful?" "very useful. your quickness and resourcefulness were surprising." "that's a doubtful compliment," she laughed. "to me the affair was quite exciting. to feel that you're engaged in a conspiracy gives you a pleasant thrill." "i wonder!" grahame remarked rather grimly. "but may i ask----" "oh, i can't dissect the impulses that prompted me. no doubt, the hint of intrigue was attractive--and perhaps friendship counted too." "and you took the excellence of my intentions on trust?" "well, there really was no time to question you, and judge if they were good. as a matter of fact, i'm no wiser now." "no," he said. "on the whole, i think it's better that you shouldn't know." "it looks as if i'm more confiding than you." grahame, studying her face, suspected disappointed curiosity and a touch of pique. "your confidence is yours, to give or withhold as you think best. mine, however, belongs to others." "then there are a number of people in the plot!" grahame laughed. "if it's any comfort for you to know, when you came to our rescue that night in havana you helped a man who has made many sacrifices for a good cause." "as you're too modest to mean yourself, you must be speaking of the gentleman with the pretty daughter." "yes, doña blanca is pretty; but i prefer the anglo-saxon type. there's a charm in tropical languor, but one misses the bracing keenness of the north." he quoted with a smile, "oh, dark and true and tender----" "we may be true; one likes to think so. but i'm not sure that tenderness is a characteristic of ours." "it's not lightly given, but it goes deep and lasts," grahame answered. when he left her a few minutes afterward, evelyn sat thinking languidly. she found him elusive. he was frank, in a way, but avoided personal topics. then, remembering the scrap of verse he had quoted, she reflected that he was certainly a northerner in feeling; but was truth, after all, an essential feature of the type? to be really true, one must be loyal to one's inner self and follow one's heart. but this was risky. it might mean sacrificing things one valued and renouncing advantages to be gained. prudence suggested taking the safe, conventional course that would meet with the approval of one's friends; but romance stood, veiled and mysterious, beckoning her, and she thrilled with an instinctive response. now, however, she felt that she was getting on to dangerous ground, and she joined cliffe, who sat in the shade of the deckhouse, talking to walthew; but they did not help her to banish her thoughts. her father was a practical business man, and walthew had enjoyed a training very similar to hers. it was strange that he should now seek adventures instead of riches, and stranger still that her father should show some sympathy with him. an hour later grahame found macallister leaning on the rail, contentedly smoking his pipe. "she's only making seven knots; you're letting steam down," he said. "weel," rejoined macallister, "we're saving coal, and we'll be in kingston soon enough. then, miss cliffe's no' in a hurry. she's enjoying the smooth water; she telt me so." grahame looked hard at him. "you have a dangerous love of meddling, mack," he said. "i'll no' deny it. for a' that, i've had thickheaded friends who've been grateful to me noo and then. what ye have no' is the sense to ken an opportunity." "what do you mean by that?" macallister's manner grew confidential. "she's thinking about ye and when a lassie goes so far----" grahame stopped him with a frown. "i'd sooner you dropped this nonsense. it's a poor joke." "weel, if ye have no ambition! selling guns to revolutionists is no' a remarkably profitable business, particularly if ye're caught, and i was thinking ye might do better. the girl's no' bad to look at; i've seen ye watching her." "not bad to look at!" grahame checked himself. "we'll talk about something else." "as ye like!" macallister took out a small, tapered piece of steel. "this, ye ken, is a cotter, and the dago from the foundry put it in. he was a good fitter, but the pin's a sixty-fourth too small for the slot. maybe it was carelessness; but there would have been trouble when the cotter shook out if walthew hadna' heard her knocking. yon lad has the makings o' an engineer." grahame looked thoughtful. "gomez was in havana, and i dare say he has his agents and spies. still, if he suspected anything, it would have been a better stroke to have watched and seized us when we had the arms on board. i'd expect him to see it." "weel," said macallister grimly, "if i meet yon dago another time, i'll maybe find out something before i throw him off the mole. a good engine's nearer life than anything man has made, and wrecking her is as bad as murder." "i don't think our opponents would stick at that," grahame replied as he turned away. toward evening the barometer fell, and it grew very hot. there was no wind, the sky was cloudless, and the sea rolled back to the horizon without a ripple. for all that, there was a curious tension in the atmosphere, and evelyn noticed that soon after macallister came up for a few minutes and looked carefully about, thick smoke rose from the funnel. the girl's head felt heavy, and her skin prickly; and she saw that grahame's hawk look was more noticeable than usual. he was, however, not fidgety, and after dinner he sat talking to her and cliffe under the awning. the air was oppressively still, and a half-moon hung like a great lamp low above the sea. about nine o'clock cliffe went to his cabin to look for a cigar, and evelyn and grahame sat silent for a while, wrapped in the mystery of the night. evelyn was the first to speak. "i suppose you don't expect this calm to last?" she asked in a hushed voice. "i'd like it to last while you're with us. but i can't promise that," grahame answered. "if we do get a breeze it will probably soon blow itself out." evelyn glanced at the sea. "it doesn't look as if it could ever be ruffled," she said. "one likes smooth water--but it's apt to get monotonous." "that's a matter of temperament, or perhaps experience. when you've had to battle with headwinds, you appreciate a calm." "i don't know. so far, i've had only sunshine and fine weather, but then i've always clung to the sheltered coast. it's nice to feel safe, but one sometimes wonders what there is farther out." "breaking seas and icy gales that drive you off your course. now and then islands of mystic beauty, but more often surf-beaten reefs. on the whole, it's wiser to keep in smooth water." "perhaps," evelyn said skeptically. "still, there's a fascination in adventure, if it's only as a test of courage, and one feels tempted to take a risk." she rose with a laugh. "i don't know why i talk like this! i'm really a very practical girl--not a sentimentalist." she moved away, and grahame, calling one of the men to furl the awning, went into the deckhouse and deliberately pored over a chart. there were times when it was not safe to permit himself to think of evelyn. chapter xv the tornado evelyn was wakened by a peal of thunder, and as she drowsily lifted her head a blaze of lightning filled the narrow room. it vanished and there was another deafening crash. the darkness was now impenetrable, but the startled girl had seen that the deck was sharply slanted and her clothes hung at a wide angle to the paneling of the bulkhead. it was obvious that the _enchantress_ was listed down nearly on her beam ends. a confused uproar was going on, and evelyn thought she could distinguish the beating of heavy rain upon the deckhouse. this, however, was only for a few moments, because the other noises swelled into an overwhelming din. dropping from her berth, she began to dress in the dark, but found it difficult to keep her footing on the slanted deck, which lurched and threw her against the lockers, while the planking worked and shook with the throb of engines. evelyn could not hear them, but the strong vibration showed that they were running fast. it cost her an effort to refrain from rushing out on deck. buttons baffled her nervous fingers, the pins she tried to use instead doubled up, but she persevered. she would not leave her room until she was ready: if the worst came, she could not make an open-boat voyage in a disheveled state. that this should seem of importance did not strike her as curious then, but she afterward blushed as she remembered her determination to look as well as possible. at last she opened the door and stepped out, ankle-deep in water. she was to lee of the deckhouse, and, seizing the hand-rail, tried to look about. the rain did not seem so heavy now, and the house sheltered her, although clouds of spray were flying across its top. a few feet away, the low bulwark was faintly distinguishable, but outside this there was only a dim glimmer of foam in the dark. the _enchantress_ had the wind and sea on her broadside. this surprised evelyn, because it was not a safe position if the gale were as bad as it seemed. then a shower of sparks leaped from the funnel and by the momentary light they gave she saw a white streak, cleanly cut off and slanting downward, at the crown of the escape pipe. evidently, macallister had raised more steam than he could use. wondering why grahame had not brought the vessel head to wind, she moved aft cautiously, clinging to the rail, until she saw that the awning had broken loose from its lashings. part of it thrashed about the deck, making a furious noise, but the rest, blown forward, had fouled the foresail boom, and was stretched tight, but distended like a half-filled balloon. acting as a sail, it prevented the steamer from answering her helm. one or two very indistinct figures struggled with the canvas, but they seemed unable to master it, and evelyn crept on until she could look through the skylight into the engine-room. it was here the real battle must be fought, for the cylinders that strained under top pressure were the vitals of the ship. she could see them shake, as if about to burst their fastening bolts and leap from the columns, as the big cross-heads banged up and down. the iron room was well lighted, though the lamps hung at an alarming angle to the beams, and there was a confused glimmer of steel that flashed through the light and plunged into shadow. a half-naked man lay on a narrow grating, leaning down and touching a ponderous mass of metal as it swept past. in the momentary intervals before it came back he rubbed the bright slide it traveled on with a greasy swab, and the girl knew how important it was that nothing should get hot. the work was dangerous, because the least clumsiness might cost him his arm. when he stopped and turned sideways on the grating the light touched his face, and evelyn started as she recognized walthew. he had enjoyed all the comforts and refinements to which she was accustomed, and it was from choice and not necessity that he was doing this rough, hazardous work. there were obviously people who did not attach an undue value to the ease that wealth could buy; this boy, for example, had left the safe, beaten track, and now, when still weak from fever, was taking the consequences without dismay. it looked as if there might be something wrong with her mother's philosophy; but she could think of this better when there was less risk of the steamer's foundering. a man came along the deckhouse and put his arm round her waist as the ship gave a wild lurch. evelyn laughed as she recognized her father. for a moment she had thought it was grahame. holding her tight, cliffe moved on a yard or two, and then stopped at the corner of the house, where they could see something of what was going on. it was lighter now that the rain had stopped, and presently a ray of moonlight traveled across the sea and touched the laboring vessel. hove down by the pressure of the wind on deckhouse and awning, she had buried her lee bulwarks and lifted her weather side. sheets of water blew across her, and the sea looked white as snow. it was not running high: the heavy rain had beaten down the swell; but it would soon rise, and unless the vessel could be brought head to wind the combers would sweep her deck. as the beam of moonlight widened, the figures of the toiling men grew clear. one was clinging to the top of a tall stanchion in a grotesque monkey-like attitude, trying to cut loose the awning, for a knife sparkled in his hand. another crouched on the deck with folds of the canvas in his arms. miguel was bent over the wheel. the tenseness of his pose and his hard-set face suggested heavy muscular strain. grahame stood near by, his hand on a stay, swaying with the movement of the steamer. he was bareheaded and the spray lashed his face, but there was something that reassured the girl in his tranquillity. it was useless to speak. the voice would have been drowned by the roar of the gale, while wire-shroud and chain-guy shrilled in wild harmonies. evelyn stood fascinated, watching the quick, tense movements of the crew. presently grahame turned his head, and, seeing them against the deckhouse, pointed toward the sea. following his gesture, evelyn saw a blurred object leap out of the dark. it grew suddenly into definite form as it drove across the belt of moonlight: a small wooden barque with a deck-load of timber, staggering before the hurricane. fluttering rags showed where her maintopsail had blown from the ropes; curved ribands, held fast at head and foot, marked what was left of her fore-course, and puny figures dotted the yards, struggling futilely with clewed-up canvas that bulged out as if inflated hard. she had a torn jib and topsails set--strips of sail that looked absurdly small by comparison with the foam-lapped hull, but they were bearing her on at tremendous speed. caught, no doubt lightly manned, by the sudden gale, they had had no time to shorten sail and bring her head to sea. she must run with what canvas was left her until the tornado broke, unless she broached to and her heavy deckload rolled her over. so far, evelyn had not felt much fear. there was something in the mad fury of the elements that, for a time, banished thought of personal danger. she was overwhelmed and yet conscious of a strange excitement; but the sight of the helpless ship had a daunting effect. belted with leaping foam, bows up, poop down, the dripping hull drove by, plowing a snowy furrow through the tormented sea. when she plunged into the dark evelyn was glad that she had gone. she wondered what could be done in this wild weather if the _enchantress_ would not come round. but she had confidence in grahame. as she looked at him he commandingly raised his hand. two men scrambled forward and a dark patch rose at the bows. it swelled and emptied, but the canvas held, and grahame struggled forward to help the others. the sail might stand if they could hoist it before it split. it ran higher up the stay; the _enchantress_ slowly fell off before the wind, and then leaped ahead with her bows lifted out of the foam. evelyn drew a deep breath of relief, for the immediate danger was over, and the vessel might run out of the worst of the storm. cliffe nodded when she looked at him, and with some trouble they made their way into the house, where, with the door shut, they could hear themselves speak. evelyn was wet with spray, but there was a high color in her face and her eyes shone. as she sat down, the house shook beneath a blow, and there was a savage flapping on the roof. then something seemed driven across it, and they could hear only the wind and the sea again. "the awning!" cliffe said. "they've managed to cut it loose now that she's before the wind. i guess grahame would rather have brought her head-on, but he won't have much trouble if they can keep her from broaching to. were you scared?" "no," evelyn answered thoughtfully. "i suppose it was so appalling that i couldn't realize the danger. i really feel that i'd be sorry if i'd missed it." cliffe made a sign of comprehension. "well, this is the first time you've seen men hard up against a big thing. it's an illuminating experience; though a large number of people never get it. some of them seem to imagine things go right of themselves, and there's no call now for strength and nerve. anyhow, i was glad to feel that grahame knew his business." evelyn was silent for a few moments. her clothes were wet and ought to be changed, but the tension on her nerves had not slackened much, and she felt restless and unwilling to be alone. besides, there was a mild satisfaction in doing something imprudent, and she thought the storm had roused her father into a talkative mood. while indulgent to her, he was often marked by a certain reserve, which she had noticed her mother never tried to penetrate. "i wonder why you decided to cross in this little boat, when we could have gone by one of the big passenger liners?" she said. "saved waiting, for one thing," cliffe answered in a deprecatory tone. "then i'll confess that i felt i'd like to do something that wasn't quite usual." evelyn laughed. "it isn't a wish one would suspect you of." "well," cliffe said with a twinkle, "i guess it was boyish, but we all have our weaknesses, though i don't often indulge mine. i find it doesn't pay. i'm a sober business man, but there's a streak of foolishness in me. sometimes it works out and i feel that i want a frolic, for a change." "then you must have exercised some self-control." "when i was a young man, i found my job square in front of me. i had to sit tight in the office, straighten out a business that had got rather complicated, and expand it if possible. it wasn't quite all i wanted to do, but i'd a notion that i could make my pile and then let myself go. it took me some years to get things straight, the pile was harder to make than i reckoned, and your mother had a use for all the money i could raise. her ambition was to put the family high up in the social scale--and she's done it." "so you stifled your longings and went on making money that we might have every advantage!" evelyn said with a guilty feeling. "i feel ashamed when i realize it." "i've been repaid," cliffe replied. "then, after a time, my job became congenial and got hold of me. the work became a habit; i didn't really want to break away." he paused and resumed with a humorous air: "it's only at odd moments i play with the notion that i'd like something different. i know it would jar me if i got it; and i'm getting old." evelyn mused. her father's story had its pathetic side. though they had not much in common, he had been her mother's willing slave: toiling in the city to further plans which evelyn suspected he would not have made. in a sense, his life had been bare and monotonous; there was something he had missed. evelyn thought that he recognized this, though not with regret. she started as grahame came in. salt water dripped from him and gathered in a pool on the floor, but he turned to them with a smile. "the wind is dropping fast, and the sea hadn't time to get up. we had some trouble at first when the awning blew out of its lashings and stopped her coming round, but she steered all right as soon as we got her before the sea." "we were on deck most of the time," evelyn said. grahame laughed as he recalled their conversation in the early evening. "after what you must have seen," he asked, "don't you agree that there are advantages in keeping in smooth water?" "oh, one can't deny it. for all that, my experience to-night strengthens my belief that there's something very exhilarating in taking a risk." she went out on deck and stood for a minute or two, holding on by a shroud. there was now no fury in the wind, and the moon was bright. the swell had gathered itself up into tumbling combers that shook their crests about the rail as the _enchantress_ lurched over them. a few torn clouds drove across the southern sky, but the rest of the wide sweep was clear and the scene was steeped in harmonies of silver and dusky blue. by daybreak the vessel would be steaming on an even keel, but evelyn knew that she would not again be content with glassy calm and languorous tranquillity. the turmoil of the storm had made a subtle change in her; it was as if she had heard a call in the elemental clamor and her heart had answered. chapter xvi the ruse cliffe and his daughter were landed at kingston, and three weeks later grahame put into a central-american port. the propeller was not running well, and macallister, suspecting it was working loose on the shaft, declared that he must put the vessel on a beach where she would dry at low-water. grahame had a few days to spare, for he could not land his cargo before the time don martin had fixed; but as the arms were on board he would have preferred to wait at sea, outside the regular steamers' track. it happened that there was no repair-shop in the town, but while macallister thought over the difficulty a tramp steamer dropped anchor, and he went off to her, remarking that he might find a friend on board. in an hour or two the gig came back, and grahame, hearing _my boat rocks at the pier o' leith_ sung discordantly, saw that macallister's expectations had been fulfilled. this did not surprise him, for the scots engineer is ubiquitous and to have "wrought" at clydebank or fairfield is a passport to his affection. macallister's face was flushed and his air jaunty, but the tall, gaunt man who accompanied him looked woodenly solemn. he began by emptying a basket of greasy tools on the _enchantress's_ white deck with the disregard for the navigating officers' feelings which the engine-room mechanic often displays. after this, he went down a rope and sat on the sand under the boat's counter, studying the loose screw while he smoked several pipes of rank tobacco, but without making any remark. then he got up and slowly stretched his lanky frame. "weel," he said, "we'll make a start." it was eleven o'clock on a very hot morning when he and macallister lighted a blow-lamp, the flame of which showed faint and blue in the strong sunshine, and they labored on until dusk fell between six and seven in the evening. offers of food and refreshment were uncivilly declined, and watson ignored grahame's invitation to spend the evening on board. "i'll be back the morn," was all he said as he was rowed away. "a new type!" grahame laughed. "he's unique," walthew agreed. "only addressed me twice, and then in a very personal strain. but the fellow's an artist in his way. spent two hours softening and filing up a taper key, but it fitted air-tight when we drove it in. something roman about that man; means his work to last forever." operations were resumed the next morning, and grahame had no doubt of the excellence of the job when the scots seemed satisfied late in the afternoon. then watson said he would come back to dine when he had cleaned himself and would bring his skipper, and grahame dubiously inspected his small stock of wine. he imagined it had not sufficient bite to please his guests. the tramp skipper presently arrived: a short, stout man, with a humorous eye. when dinner was over and the wine finished, the party adjourned to the café bolívar, but grahame went with misgivings. he knew something about the habits of tramp captains, and had seen trouble result from the eccentricities of scotch engineers. the garrison band was playing in the plaza they crossed, and citizens promenaded up and down with their wives and daughters. the clear moonlight fell upon gayly-colored dresses and faces of various shades, while here and there a jingling officer, lavishly decorated with gold-lace, added an extra touch of brightness. nobody, however, showed a friendly interest in grahame's party, for americans and english were not just then regarded with much favor in the ports of the spanish main. indeed, grahame fancied that a group of slouching soldiers meant to get into his way, but as a brawl was not desirable, he tactfully avoided them. the café was situated at the end of the square, and the party, sitting at a small table among the pillars that divided its open front from the pavement, could look down upon the moonlit harbor. the inlet was long and shallow, with an old spanish fort among the sands at its outer end and another commanding it from a height behind the town. a cathedral stood opposite the café; and narrow, dark streets, radiating from the plaza, pierced the square blocks of houses. walthew and grahame drank black coffee; but this had no attraction for the rest. the tramp captain, soon becoming genial, put his feet on a chair and beamed upon his neighbors, while macallister, as usual, entered into talk with them. he discoursed at random in very bad castilian, but his remarks were humorous and in spite of the citizens' prejudices, laughter followed them. watson sat stonily quiet, drinking fiery _caña_ and frowning at the crowd. "ye were aye a dumb stirk at clydebank," macallister said to him. "can ye no' talk instead o' glowering like a death's-head?" "i can when i'm roused," watson replied. "maybe ye'll hear something frae me when i'm through wi' this bottle." "it's the nature o' the man," macallister informed the others and then, addressing the company, asked if anybody could sing. no one offered to do so, and, beckoning a dark-complexioned lounger who had a guitar hung round his neck, he brought him to their table and gave him wine. then he borrowed the guitar, and, somewhat to grahame's surprise, began a passable rendering of a spanish song. the captain beat time with a bottle, some of the company sang the refrain, and, after finishing amidst applause, macallister tried the music of his native land. in this he was less successful, for the wild airs, written for the bagpipes, did not go well upon the melancholy guitar. "it's no' the thing at all," watson remarked. "ye're just plodding through it like a seven-knot tramp against the tide. can ye no' open the throttle and give her steam?" before macallister could answer, a neatly dressed gentleman brought a bottle of vermouth from a neighboring table and joined the group. "you like a drink?" he asked politely. watson nodded, and, taking the small bottle, emptied half of the liqueur into his glass. "yon's no' so bad," he commented when he had drained the glass. the stranger smiled as he poured out the rest of the vermouth for watson. "you mend the steamboat screw?" he asked carelessly. "yes, my friend," watson replied, regarding the stranger out of sleepy looking eyes. "how it come loose?" "tail-nut slacked up when the engines ran away in heavy weather." "you get bad weather, then?" "bad enough," watson answered. grahame gave him a cautious glance, but his face was expressionless. it was obvious that the stranger had mistaken him for the _enchantress's_ engineer. watson must have realized this, but he had given the fellow misleading answers, and grahame thought he need not run the risk of trying to warn him. he wondered, though, how far macallister had taken watson into his confidence. "small boat," said the stranger; "you find her wet when it blow. what you load?" "mahogany and dyewood, when it's to be got." "then you go to manzanillo; perhaps to honduras. but she not carry much; not room for big logs below." "the big ones sit on deck," said watson stolidly. the man ordered some cognac, but grahame imagined that he was wasting his hospitality. though the scot's legs might grow unsteady, his head would remain clear. "there is cargo that pay better than wood," his companion suggested with a meaning smile. "maybe," agreed watson. "but ye run a risk in carrying it." "ver' true. and when you go to sea?" "i canna' tell. the high-press' piston must come up. she's loosened a ring." the stranger made a few general remarks and then strolled away. he had learned, at the cost of a bottle of vermouth and some brandy, that watson was the _enchantress's_ engineer, and the vessel would not sail for a day or two. grahame chuckled. he meant to leave port the next morning. having spent some time at the café, he felt that he could now leave his guests. they might, perhaps, indulge in boisterous amusements but he did not think they would come to harm. indeed, if anybody were hurt in a row it would more likely be the citizens who came into collision with them. "all right; i've had enough," walthew said when grahame touched him. "mack's going to sing again, and i can't stand for that." the moon had sunk behind the white houses as they crossed the plaza, and grahame kept down the middle, avoiding the crowd near the bandstand and the narrow mouths of the streets. "who was that fellow talking to watson?" walthew asked. "i don't know, but he was interested in our affairs. they have a good secret service in these countries, and we're open to suspicion. we're obviously not yachtsmen, and the boat's too small for a regular trader." "do you think the man's an agent of the government we're up against?" "i don't know. i'd hardly expect them to send their spies along the coast; but, then, these states may keep each other informed about the movements of dangerous people. anyway, there'd be an excuse for trouble if they searched us and found the rifles." "sure," said walthew thoughtfully. "it's fortunate we light out to-morrow." he looked round as they reached the end of the plaza. the band had stopped, and the ring of lights round its stand was broken as the lamps went out, but a broad, illuminated track extended from the front of the café. the thinning crowd moved across it: a stream of black figures silhouetted against the light. everything else was dark, and except for the soft patter of feet the city was quiet; but it had a sinister look, and walthew instinctively kept away from the trees in the small _alameda_ they skirted. he was an anglo-saxon, and would not shrink from a danger that could be faced in daylight, but he hated the stealthy attack in the dark and the hidden intrigues the latin half-breeds delight in. when they reached the beach he stumbled over a small anvil lying near high-water mark, and after another few steps trod upon a hammer. "they have left all their tools about," he said. "shall we call the boys and put the truck on board?" "i think not," grahame replied. "it's the marine engineer's privilege to make as much mess as he likes, and he generally resents its being cleaned up without his permission. besides, their leaving the things suggests that the job's not finished." they pushed off the dinghy and boarded the steamer. the tide had flowed round her, but she would not float for an hour or two, and walthew, sitting on the rail, glanced down the harbor. it was now very dark, but the water had a phosphorescent gleam. the _enchantress's_ cable was marked by lambent spangles, and there was a flicker of green fire along the tramp's dark side. her riding-lights tossed as she swung with the languid swell, and away at the harbor mouth two bright specks pierced the dark. a small gunboat had anchored at dusk, and as the fort had fired a salute she was evidently a foreigner. walthew felt curious about her nationality, and wondered why she lay where she commanded the entrance instead of mooring near the town. grahame, however, did not seem disturbed, and they presently sat down to a game of chess in the saloon. although the ports were open, it was very hot, and when the kerosene lamp flickered in the draughts an unpleasant smell filled the room. the men felt languid and their attention wandered from the dragging game. at last walthew threw the pieces roughly into the box. "you'd have seen what i was getting after with the bishop if you hadn't been thinking of something else," he said. "it's been a mighty long game; mack ought to have come back." grahame nodded agreement, and they went out on deck. the town was quiet, and, so far as they could see, only one light burned in it, between the plaza and the _alameda_. then an uproar broke out, the clamor reaching them distinctly over the night water. grahame, running to the engine-room, shook the drowsy half-breed on watch and ordered him to stir the fires, which had been lighted and damped. then he dropped over the rail into the dinghy with walthew, and as soon as they jumped ashore they started for the plaza on a run. "sounds like a _jamboree_," walthew said. "when things begin to hum you'll find mack somewhere around; and that tramp captain looked as if he could get on a jag." "he had a wicked eye," grahame breathlessly agreed. as they entered the plaza, a noisy crowd, which seemed to be getting larger rapidly, surged toward them. in the background the café bolívar was still lighted, and close at hand a lamp burned at the top of a tall pole. for all that, it was difficult to make out anything except a mass of people pressing about a smaller group, and grahame roughly flung two or three excited citizens aside before he could see what was going on. then he was not surprised to note a party of three britons retreating in good order before an obviously hostile mob. the tramp captain had lost his hat and his jacket was torn, but he carried a champagne bottle like a club, and his hot, red face had a pugnacious look. macallister trailed the leg of a broken iron chair, and watson seemed to have armed himself with part of the chair's back. he was hurling virulent epithets at the throng, while macallister sang a sentimental ballad in an unsteady voice. as grahame and walthew drew nearer, the crowd closed in as if to cut off the others' retreat, but a shout from watson dominated the growing uproar. "oot o' the way, ye dirt! drap yon deevil wi' the knife!" macallister, still singing, swung the leg of the chair and a man went down upon the stones, the knife he held flying from his hand. there was a thud as the captain's champagne bottle descended on somebody's head; and watson sprang forward, whirling the broken casting. the crowd gave back before his rush and then scattered as grahame and walthew appeared in the gap. the fugitives stopped; and during the moment's breathing space grahame noticed that a smashed guitar, adorned with gaudy ribbons, hung round macallister's neck. "it was yon fool thing made the trouble," watson explained. "he racked her till she buckled, but she would not keep the tune, and we had to pit her owner below the table. then an officer wi' a sword would interfere and when he got a bit tap wi' a bottle we were mobbed by the roomful o' swine." he paused as somebody threw a stone at him, and then addressed the crowd in warning: "we'll no' be responsible for what may happen til ye if we lose our tempers!" the mob had been closing in again, but it fell back when two white-uniformed rural guards with pistols drawn pushed through. grahame spoke to them in castilian, and they stopped. while they asked him questions, another man, whom they saluted with respect, joined them. "it is not permitted to make a disturbance in this city," the official said to grahame. "we will inquire into the matter to-morrow. you will go on board your vessel now." "i'm no' going," watson declared when grahame translated the order. "took a room at hotel sevillana, and i want to see the dago who would pit me oot." "better humor him," advised the captain. "obstinate beast when he gets a notion into his head. if he's not on board in the morning, i'll send a boatful of deckhands for him." grahame explained that the engineer wished to spend the night ashore, and the official looked thoughtful. "very well," he said. "one of the guards will see him to his hotel. it is necessary for him to go now." "ye can tell him i'm ready," watson replied, and added in a low voice as he passed grahame: "get away to sea as soon as she floats!" he went off with his escort and the official said something aside to the remaining guard, who saluted and told the others to follow him. the crowd had scattered, and nobody interfered with the party on their way to the harbor. "i will wait until i see you go on board," the guard said when they reached the beach. "you will be called upon some time to-morrow." "they'd have been wiser if they had begun their investigations now," grahame remarked as they launched the dinghy. "she'll be afloat in half an hour. do you feel up to running the engine, mack? if not, walthew must do the best he can." "i could take her oot if i was drunk and i'm far frae that," macallister declared. "looks as if ye had no' allooed for the steadiness o' the scottish head. noo, there's watson, and i'll no' say he was quite sober, but he could spoil yon dago's game. maybe ye're beginning to understand why he would sleep ashore. they think ye canna' get away withoot him." "i see that," said grahame. "better send your fireman to collect your tools when miguel looses the stern mooring. and try to restrain your feelings if things are not quite right below. it's important that we should get away quietly." they reached the _enchantress_, and preparations for departure were silently begun. they must first slip past the watching fort, and then elude the foreign gunboat. they knew the consequences if they were caught. chapter xvii eluding the gunboat the night was very dark. here and there a lone star peeped out bravely, but it could shine but faintly through the heavy mist that was settling down over the _enchantress_. grahame, the leadline in his hand, leaned anxiously on the rail, watching the foam boil about the vessel's side. her keel stirred in the sand and the propeller was beating hard; but she did not move. to make things worse, the disturbed water broke noisily on the beach and the thud of engines could be heard at some distance. grahame had not complied with the formalities required before leaving port, but he carried a dangerous cargo and he feared that he might be detained unless he got away at once. the _enchantress_, however, was not yet afloat, and he reluctantly signaled for steam to be shut off. walthew came up when the engines stopped, and grahame sat down on the ledge of the door. it was very quiet when the splash of water died away, and the darkness and silence reacted upon the men's tense nerves. they found inaction singularly hard. "you have got to take her out the minute she's off the ground," walthew said. "to be caught getting ready to leave would give us away." "sure thing! the port captain's guard watches the beach; they've sentries at the fort and a wire to the town; and there's a gunboat in the entrance. our job doesn't look easy." "ye have quarter o' an hour yet, but that's all," macallister said as he joined them. "if i canna' give the engines steam then, she'll blow off and rouse the town." they waited anxiously, grahame glancing at his watch and walking to the rail, where he felt the leadline; but the water rose with exasperating slowness. then suddenly a jet of steam broke with a muffled throb from the escape-pipe, and macallister jumped up. "ye have got to start her noo!" he said. walthew followed him below; the engines clanked; the propeller spun; and grahame hauled the lead in with a breath of relief, for the line grew taut as the vessel moved. then he stood in the main rigging, where he could see better and where miguel, at the helm, could watch his signaling hand. with screw throbbing gently, the _enchantress_ crept away into the dark. her gray hull would be invisible from the shore, but phosphorescence blazed about her bows and her wake was a trail of fire. the tramp steamer rode not far ahead, a mysterious shadowy bulk, with the gleam of her anchor-lights on the water, but as the _enchantress_ stole past a voice called out to her: "good luck!" grahame did not answer, but he was grateful. the tramp captain understood why his engineer had stayed ashore. macallister's friends were staunch; the scots stood by one another. the light in the plaza grew dim astern, and the blurred, dark beach was rapidly slipping by. there was a lift on the water as they drew near the harbor mouth; but the fort had yet to be passed, and grahame searched the shore with his glasses. little by little he made out a formless mound, which grew more distinct. there was no light in the building, but he knew that sentries were supposititiously keeping watch beside the guns. one or two of these were modern and no vessel was allowed to leave port at night without official permission and a notification to the commandant. if the steamer were seen, refusal to stop would be followed by the roar of a gun. but grahame did not mean to stop so long as she was not struck. for the next few minutes he felt his nerves tingle, but the fort was dark and silent and only the soft splash along the beach broke the stillness. the shadowy building dropped astern and he turned his glasses upon the harbor mouth. two lights showed where the gunboat lay, and, some distance beyond them, a dim, pulsating radiance glimmered. this marked where the open water swell broke upon the shoals. grahame hoped that it would cover the _enchantress's_ luminous wake; besides, the roar of the surf might drown the thud of engines, which carries far on a calm night. jumping down from the rigging, he rapped sharply on the engine-hatch, and walthew ran quickly up the ladder. "throttle her down," grahame said. "if i knock once, stop her; if twice, give her all the steam you can." walthew nodded to show that he understood, for it might be dangerous to use the telegraph gong; and then he disappeared below while grahame stood still, steadying the glasses on the deckhouse top. with screw spinning slowly, the _enchantress_ glided on, and the gunboat's hull grew into shape against the sky. grahame was glad that he had the land behind him and his vessel was small, but he beckoned miguel to let her swing inshore. there was a shoal on that side, marked by a line of foam; but he must take the risk of going too close. a phosphorescent flicker played about the vague blackness of the gunboat's bows; the light from the lamp on her forestay showed part of the deck, and then receded as she rolled. grahame could make out an anchor hanging ready to let go and a man standing by her rail, until the light reeled and the figure was lost in gloom. it seemed to him that the _enchantress_ must be seen, and he wondered whether the other vessel had her boats in the water. he suspected that she belonged to the government which don martin meant to overthrow, and it would be difficult to get away from her if she had steam up. she was now abreast of him, but there was no sign of activity on board. the _enchantress_ crept on. the gunboat dropped back to her quarter. then there was a sudden harsh rattle, and grahame gasped. but a splash relieved the tension, because he knew it was only the ash-hoist bringing up furnace cinders. she drew further aft and began to fade; but grahame now saw danger ahead. the _enchantress_ was throwing fiery spray about her bows and rolling as she forged slowly through broken water. the shoal was close ahead and, taking a sounding, he found scarcely a fathom under the keel. this was enough, however, and, beckoning to miguel, he let her go until the darkness astern was broken only by the gunboat's lights. then, finding deeper water, he struck the engine-hatch. "we're clear!" he called down in an exultant voice. "drive her, but make no sparks!" the _enchantress_ began to tremble, and a few moments later loose stanchions rattled and deck-planks shook as she leaped through the long swell with green fire blazing in the wake of her thudding screw. grahame laughed softly, and sat down to light a cigarette. he imagined that when morning came there would be several badly disappointed intriguers in the port he had left. he thought it best, however, not to proceed directly to his destination, and it was three days later when he ran in behind a point, and anchored in shallow water. it was daylight, but the _enchantress's_ gray hull and slender spars would be hard to see against the land, and there was no sign of habitation on the sweep of desolate coast. a cliff rose behind the steamer, and then for some miles the dazzling sea broke in a fringe of lace-like foam on a beach of yellow sand. on the landward side of this, glossy-green jungle rolled away and merged into taller forest that was presently lost in haze. no smoke streaked the horizon, and there was not a boat on the beach, but while grahame carefully watched, two appeared from behind a reef, and he put down his glasses with a smile. "our friends!" he said to walthew. "you might get the winch ready while we take the hatches off." an hour later a small party sat in the shade of the new stern awning. the boats had gone away loaded, but they had left don martin and three companions on board. father agustin, whose rusty black cassock jarred upon the blaze of light and color, leaned back in a canvas chair with a wineglass in his olive-tinted hand. "i'm surprised to find you in such company, father," grahame said to him. the priest's eyes twinkled. "it is not only the rich and respected we are sent out to seek, though i think they need us as much as the others." "you might find their help useful," walthew suggested. "true, if one could buy it! as a rule, they do not give, but sell, and the price they ask is often high." "some bribes are hard to resist when they are offered in the name of charity; for example, hospitals founded and new churches built," grahame interposed. "these are things you can make good use of." father agustin looked at him steadily. "an honest man does not take a bribe, as you, my son, should know," he said. "ah!" grahame returned carelessly. "i did not think you had heard of--a certain affair." walthew gave him a surprised glance, but father agustin smiled. "i hear many curious things. besides, my companions take precautions. sometimes they find them needed." "i suppose if i had done what i was asked and pocketed the reward, i should have met with an accident shortly afterward?" grahame suggested. "one does not talk of such matters, señor, among trusted friends," one of the men interposed. "your intelligence department seems to be well organized, but there's ground for believing the opposition's is quite as good," grahame said, and related what had happened at their last port. "care will be needed after this," said don martin. "now that they know your boat, it is fortunate we changed the landing place; but you are safe here. this coast is low and unhealthy; the president's friends are prosperous and do not live in the swampy jungle." "one can understand that," grahame responded. "your appeal is to those who must live how and where they can. no doubt, they suffer now and then for helping you." "ah!" exclaimed one of the spaniards, "_how_ they suffer! if you give me leave, señores, i can tell you startling things." they listened with quickening interest, and he kept his promise well, for there is in southern peoples, contaminated by darker blood, a vein of sensual cruelty that sometimes leads to the perpetration of unutterable horrors. grahame's face grew quietly stern, walthew's hot and flushed, and macallister clenched his hand, for the tales they heard fired their blood. "you have told us enough," walthew said at last. "i went into this business because i was looking for adventure and wanted to make some money--but i mean to see it through if it costs me all i have!" he turned to his comrades. "how do you feel about it?" "much as you do," grahame answered quietly, and macallister put his hand on sarmiento's arm. "i'm with ye, if ye mean to make a clean sweep o' yon brutes." "i believe their reckoning will come, but our bargain stands," said don martin. "we need arms, and will pay for all you bring. still, i am glad your hearts are with us. it is sentiment that carries one farthest." "how have you been getting on since we last met?" walthew asked. "we make progress, though there are difficulties. one must fight with the purse as well as the sword, and the dictator's purse is longer than ours. of late, he has been getting money and spending it with a free hand." "do you know where he gets it?" grahame asked thoughtfully. "so far, we have not found out. but it is foreign money, and he must give what belongs to the country in exchange." "an easy plan!" walthew said. "makes the country pay for keeping him in power. i guess you'll have to meet the bill when you get in." "that is so," don martin agreed. "it forces our hand. we must get in before he leaves us no resources at all." grahame thought of cliffe, and wondered about his business with gomez; but he decided to say nothing of this. "is castillo still at liberty?" he asked. "he is watched, but we have been able to protect him. a man of passion and fervor who will rouse the people when the right time comes." "but perhaps not a good plotter?" father agustin gave grahame a shrewd glance. "we do not all possess your northern self-restraint, though one admits its value. señor castillo follows a poetical ideal." "so i imagined. cold conviction sometimes leads one farther." they were silent for a minute or two, and then one said: "we have been anxious about castillo. it is not that we doubt his sincerity." "you doubt his staying power?" father agustin made an assenting gesture. "our friend is ardent, but a fierce fire soon burns out. the danger is that when warmth is needed there may be no fuel left." "i think you should try to guard him from pressure he is unfit to stand," grahame suggested. "one cannot always choose one's tools, but if you are careful he may last until his work is done." "it is so," father agustin agreed. "one loves the ring of fine, true steel, but it is fortunate that metal of softer temper has its use, though it sometimes needs skillful handling." "he kens!" exclaimed macallister. "ye may rake stuff that will serve ye weel from the scrap heap o' humanity, and there's times when it's a comfort to remember that. but i'm surprised to find ye meddling with politics." "i am not a politician; it is not permitted. but i may hate injustice, and there is no canon that bids me support what is evil. i came here as your guest with other friends, and if they honor me with their confidence i cannot refuse; nor do i think it a grave offense to give them a word of advice." "good advice may prove more dangerous to their enemies than rifles," grahame said. father agustin mused for a few moments. "our friends' real task begins with their triumph," he said gravely; "for that, at best, can but mean a clearing of the ground. man builds slowly, but to destroy is easy, and many see no farther." "but when the building is tottering and rotten?" "sometimes it may be repaired, piece by piece, but that is not your plan." father agustin spread out his hands. "if you build on a sound foundation, your new work will stand; but the edifice of the state cannot be cemented with hatred and envy. this responsibility is yours and not your enemies'. but one looks to the future with hope as well as doubt." they then discussed the landing of the next cargo, and the general course of operations, but while they plotted with spanish astuteness grahame imagined that the quiet priest was the brain of the party. after a time, the boats came back for another load, and when sunset streaked the water with a lurid glow the guests took their leave and the _enchantress_ steamed out to sea. chapter xviii the test of love the hot summer day was over and the light beginning to fade when evelyn came down the steps of a country house in northern maine. banner's post stood at the foot of a hillside among the dark pines, and the murmur of running water echoed about its walls. it belonged to mrs. willans, mrs. cliffe's sister, for willans, who had bought the house at his wife's command, seldom came there and did not count. mrs. willans wanted a peaceful retreat where she and her friends, when jaded by social activities, could rest and recuperate in the silence of the woods. she had many interests and what she called duties, but she had of late felt called upon, with her sister's full approval, to arrange a suitable marriage for her niece. henry cliffe was not really rich. evelyn was dressed in the latest summer fashion, and the thin, light clothes became her. the keen mountain breezes had given her a fine color, and she looked very fresh and young by contrast with the jaded business man at her side. cliffe wore an old gray suit that evelyn had never seen and shabby leggings. a creel hung round his shoulders, and he carried a fishing-rod. his face was lined and pale, but when they left the garden and entered the woods evelyn was surprised to note that his thin figure harmonized with the scattered boulders and the ragged pines. to some extent, this might be accounted for by the neutral tint of his clothes, but he somehow looked at home in the wilderness. though he had once or twice gone off with an old friend on a shooting trip, she had never thought of her father as a sport. "it is curious that you make me feel you belong to the bush," she said. "i used to go fishing when i was a boy," cliffe replied with a deprecatory smile. "i've never had much time for it since; but there's nothing i'm fonder of." evelyn found something pathetic in his answer. he had very few opportunities for indulging in the pastimes he liked, and now he was going out to fish with a keen eagerness that showed how scarce such pleasures were. his enjoyment was essentially natural; her friends' enthusiasm for the amusements mrs. willans got up was artificial and forced. they had too much, and her father not enough. "i hope the trout will rise well," she said. "we were surprised to hear that you were coming down." "i found i could get away for the week-end. have you been having a good time?" "yes, in a way. i have everything i ought to like; something amusing to do from morning to night, the kind of people i've been used to about me, and aunt margaret sees that nobody is dull." she had had more than she mentioned, for gore was staying at banner's post, and had devoted himself to her entertainment with a frank assiduity that had roused the envy of other guests. evelyn admitted feeling flattered, for gore had many advantages, and his marked preference had given her an importance she had not always enjoyed. "and yet you're not quite satisfied?" cliffe suggested with a shrewd glance. "perhaps i'm not, but i don't know. is one ever satisfied?" "one ought to be now and then when one is young. make the most of the pleasures you can get, but aim at the best." evelyn mused for a few minutes. she could treat her father with confidence. he understood her, as her mother seldom did. "what is the best?" she asked. "to some extent, it depends on your temperament; but it goes deeper than that. there's success that palls and gratification that doesn't last. one soon gets old and the values of things change; you don't want to feel, when it's too late, that there's something big and real you might have had and missed." "have you felt this?" "no," cliffe answered quietly; "i get tired of the city now and then and long for old clothes, a boat, and a fishing-rod, but these are things it doesn't hurt a man to go without. i have a home to rest in and a wife and daughter to work for. an object of that kind helps you through life." "my trouble is that i don't seem to have any object at all. i used to have a number, but i'm beginning now to doubt whether they were worth much. but i'm afraid you have made a sacrifice for our sakes." cliffe looked at her thoughtfully. "my belief is that you always have to make some sacrifice for anything that's worth while." he laughed. "but right now fishing is more in my line than philosophy!" he followed the little path that led to the stream, and evelyn turned back slowly through the quiet woods. her father's remarks had led her into familiar but distasteful thought. it was perhaps true that one must make some sacrifice to gain what was best worth having; but she had been taught to seize advantages and not to give things up. now she could have wealth, a high position, and social influence, which were of value in her world, and in order to gain them she had only to overcome certain vague longings and the rebellious promptings of her heart. gore wanted her, and she had been pleasantly thrilled to realize it; perhaps she had, to some extent, tried to attract him. it was foolish to hesitate when the prize was in her reach; but she did not feel elated as she went back to the house. she lingered among the last of the trees. they lifted their black spires against the sky, the air was filled with their resinous scent, and faint, elfin music fell from their tops. far above, the bald summit of long mountain shone a deep purple, though trails of mist that looked like lace were drawn about its shoulders. then the pines rolled down, straggling at first, but growing thicker and taller until they merged into the dark forest that hid the giant's feet. the wild beauty of the scene and the calm of the evening reacted upon the girl; she felt it was a trivial life that she and her friends led. rousing herself with an effort, she left the woods and entered the well-kept garden. it had an exotic look; the bright-colored borders that edged the lawn jarred upon the austere beauty of the wilderness. banner's post was tamely pretty, and nature had meant the spot to be grand. still, the nickeled sprinklers that flung glistening showers across the smooth grass, and the big gasolene mower, belonged to her world, in which nature was kept in her place by civilized art. she saw gore at the bottom of the steps in the midst of a group which included two attractive girls, and she was conscious of some satisfaction when he left his companions and came toward her. "luck has been against me all day," he said when he came up. "it seemed impossible to find you except in the center of what was going on. now we'll run away for a little while." his manner suggested a right to her society, and he turned toward the woods without waiting for her consent, but evelyn thought he would have acted more wisely had he chosen a quiet nook on the veranda. reggie was a product of his luxurious age; he was in his right place in a comfortable chair or moving gracefully about a polished floor with smartly dressed people in the background. though not wholly artificial, and having some force of character, he failed to harmonize with the note of primitive grandeur struck by the rugged pines. it was different with evelyn when they sat down on a boulder. her dress was in the latest fashion, but she had the gift of revealing something of her real personality through her attire. its blue-gray tint matched the soft coloring of the lichened rock, and the lines of her tall figure were marked by a classical severity of grace. then, her eyes were grave and her face was calm. it was her misfortune that she had not yet realized herself, but had accepted without much question the manners of her caste and the character mrs. cliffe had, so to speak, superimposed upon her. "it's good to be quiet for a change," gore said. "when i'm with you i feel that i needn't talk unless i want to. that's a relief, because it's when i feel least that i talk the most. you're tranquilizing." "i'm not sure you're complimentary. nowadays a girl is expected to be bright if she can't be brilliant." "that's not your real line. brilliance is often shallow, a cold, reflected sparkle. one has to get beneath the surface to understand you." "perhaps it's true of everybody," evelyn answered with a smile. "still, we're not taught to cultivate virtues that can't be seen." "you can't cultivate the best of them; they've got to be an inherent, natural part of you. but i'm getting off the track--i do now and then." evelyn guessed what he meant to say, but although it would mark a turning-point in her life, and she did not know her answer, she was very calm. while she had, for the most part, allowed her mother to direct her actions, she had inherited cliffe's independence of thought and force of will. so far, she had not exerted them, but she meant to do so now. looking up, she saw long mountain's towering crest cut in lonely grandeur against the fading green and saffron of the sky. the mist upon its shoulders shone faintly white against blue shadows; the pines had grown taller and blacker, and the sound of running water alone broke the silence. the resinous smells were keener, and there was a strange repose in the long ranks of stately trees. nature had filled the stony wilds with stern beauty, and evelyn instinctively felt the call of the strong, fruitful earth. one must be real and, in a sense, primitive, here. "this," she said, indicating the shadowy landscape, "is very grand. we don't give much thought to it, but it has its influence." "i guess it's all quite fine," gore agreed absently. "it would make a great summer-resort if they ran in a branch-railroad. in fact, i've imagined that willans had something of the kind in view; he has a genius for developing real estate." "an unthinkable desecration!" evelyn exclaimed. "well," he said in a quiet voice, "if it would please you, i'd buy banner's post and all the land back to the lake, and nobody but my game-wardens should disturb it except when you let me come up here with you. then you could teach me to appreciate the things you like." the girl was touched, for he belonged to the cities, and had nothing in common with the rocky wilds, but she knew that he would keep his word and indulge her generously. nor was she offended by the touch of commercial spirit, though she would rather he had offered something that would cost him effort of body or mind. "i'm afraid you wouldn't find me worth the sacrifice you would have to make," she said. "your tastes don't lie that way." he made a gesture of dissent. "none of them are very strong, and i know that you go farther in everything than i can. you're elusive, but i've felt, for a long time, that if i could reach and win you, you'd help me along. that's my strongest argument and what i really meant to say. surely, you have seen that i wanted you." evelyn felt guilty, because she had seen this and had not repulsed him. she did not love the man, but love was not thought essential in her circle and she had never been stirred by passion. "i felt that i couldn't get hold of you," he went on; "you were not ready. we were friends and that was something, but i was looking for a change in you, some hint of warmth and gentleness." "and do you think i am ready now?" "no; i only hoped so. i feared i might be wrong. but i began to find holding myself back was getting too hard, and i was afraid somebody else might come along who had the power to rouse you. i believe you can be roused." "i wonder!" she said in a curious tone. "you make people love you," he broke out. "that's a proof that when the time comes you're capable of loving. but i only ask to be near you and surround you with what you like best. there's a rare aloofness in you, but you're flesh and blood. when you have learned how i love you, you can't hold out." evelyn was silent, hesitating, with a troubled face. she liked him; he was such a man as her mother meant her to marry and, until the last few weeks, she had acquiesced in her obvious fate. now, however, something prompted her to rebel, although prudence and ambition urged her to yield. as he watched her in keen suspense, gore suddenly lost his head. the next moment his arm was round her and he drew her forward until she was pressed against him with her face crushed against his. at first she did not struggle, and he thought she was about to yield, until he felt her tremble and her face was suddenly turned away. then she put her hand on his shoulder and firmly held him back while she slipped from his relaxing grasp. gore knew that he had blundered. letting his arms drop, he waited until she turned to him, without anger, although her eyes were very bright and her color was high. "i'm sorry, reggie, but it's impossible for me to marry you." "you are sure?" he asked rather grimly. "this is important to me, you know." "yes," she said with signs of strain; "i am sure. i think i wish it had been possible, but it isn't. you have convinced me." he was silent for a moment. "it cuts pretty deep," he said slowly. "i've been afraid all along that even if you took me you'd never be really within my reach. i guess i've got to bear it and let you go." he rose and stood looking at her irresolutely, and then, with a gesture of acquiescence, abruptly turned away. when he had gone, evelyn sat still in the gathering dusk. she had, at first, submitted to his embrace, because she wished to find in any emotion he was capable of arousing an excuse for marrying him. but she had felt nothing except repulsion. then in a flash the truth was plain; any closer relationship than that of friend would make her loathe the man she in some ways admired. this was disturbing, but little by little she began to realize that his touch had a strange after-effect. it had stirred her to warmth, but not toward him. longings she had not thought herself capable of awoke within her; she was conscious of a craving for love and of a curious tenderness. only, reggie was not the man. he had roused her, but she did not know whether she ought to be grateful for that. she blushed as she struggled with her rebellious feelings, and then resolutely pulled herself together. her mother must be told. mrs. cliffe was resting before dinner when evelyn entered her room and sat down without speaking. "what is the matter?" mrs. cliffe asked with a premonition that something had gone wrong. "why do you come in, in this dramatic way?" "i didn't mean to be dramatic," evelyn answered quietly. "still, perhaps i was rather highly strung. reggie asked me to marry him, and i told him i could not." mrs. cliffe sat up suddenly, and there was an angry sparkle in her eyes. "then i think you must be mad! what led you to this absurd conclusion?" "it's hard to explain," evelyn answered with a faint smile. "i suppose i couldn't give you any very logical reasons." "then it may not be too late to put things right!" mrs. cliffe saw a ray of hope. "i'm afraid it is. i think reggie knows that--he was very considerate. there is no use in your trying to do anything; i must have my own way in this." mrs. cliffe was painfully surprised. the girl had suddenly developed and revealed unsuspected capacities. she had grown like her father, who, for all his patience, was sometimes immovable. there was inflexibility in evelyn's attitude; her face was hard and determined. "very well," she acquiesced. "your father must be told, and i don't know what he will do about it." "i would rather tell him myself," evelyn said. this was not what mrs. cliffe wanted, but the girl moved to the door as she finished speaking, and her mother sat down, burning with indignation. her authority had been outraged, she felt overcome, and did not leave her room all evening. evelyn found cliffe on the veranda, and took him down the steps before she told him what she had done. he listened without surprise; indeed, she thought his manner was rather curiously sympathetic. "well," he said, "in a way i'm sorry. reggie's a good fellow as far as he goes. but i imagined you liked him. why did you refuse?" "it isn't very plain," evelyn answered. "i felt i had to. perhaps long mountain had something to do with it." cliffe smiled, but not with amusement, and evelyn saw that he understood. somehow she had expected him to do so and she was touched when he gently pressed her arm. "after all, you're the person most interested, and you must please yourself--though your mother will be badly disappointed," he said. "it's possible we're wiser in the woods than in the city. one sees the things that matter more clearly away from the turmoil." chapter xix the cuban spy gore left banner's post abruptly, to evelyn's relief, and on the morning after his departure she and cliffe stood on the steps before the other guests had come down to breakfast. it had rained all night, the mist hung low about long mountain's side, and a fresh wind woke waves of sound from the rustling pines. a creel hung round cliffe's shoulders, and he contemplated the dripping woods with a smile of half-apologetic satisfaction. "the fishing should be great to-day!" he exclaimed. "but i feel that i'm playing truant. i ought to be back at the office. guess the trout i catch will cost me high; but the temptation is pretty strong when i see the water rise." "i'm glad you have been rash for once," evelyn replied. "besides, you have an office full of people who can look after things for you." cliffe shook his head. "that's the excuse i tried to make, but it won't quite work. if you want to be a successful operator, you have to sit tight with your finger on the pulse of the market. a beat or two more or less makes a big difference. finance soon gets feverish." "and you are one of the doctors who send its temperature up or down." "no; that's a wrong idea. once on a time the big men did something of the kind, but now the dollar's a world-force that's grown too strong for them. we gave it a power we can't control; it drives us into combines and mergers we didn't plan. it's a blind force that rolls along undirected, over our bodies if we get in its way. all we can do is to try to guess its drift. the successful man is the one who does so first." "i wonder whether you're to be pitied or envied. the work must be absorbing, and it's simple, in a way." "simple!" cliffe exclaimed. "well, you have an object; your aims are definite and you know, more or less, how to carry them out. we others, who have no purpose in life, spend our time in amusements that leave us dissatisfied. when we stop to think, we feel that we might do something better, but we don't know what it is. the outlook is blank." cliffe gave her a sharp glance. evelyn had changed in the last few months, and she had been strangely quiet since her refusal of gore. seeing his interest, she laughed. "i'm not asking for sympathy; and i mustn't keep you from the trout. go and catch as many as you can. it must be nice to feel that you have only to pick up a fishing-rod and be young again." she walked to the gate with him, but cliffe stopped when they reached it, for a big automobile was lurching down the uneven road. the mud splashed about the car indicated distance traveled at furious speed, but it slowed at the bend near the gate, and cliffe sighed as he recognized robinson. "i guess this stops my fishing," he said in a resigned tone. dropping his rod and creel, he jumped on to the footboard as the driver cautiously took the gate, and evelyn smiled as the car rolled up the drive. she was sorry that her father had lost his favorite sport, but his prompt surrender of it was characteristic. he was first of all a man of business. "wired for an auto' to meet me when i left the train," robinson told him. "it was raining pretty hard, and they don't do much grading on these mountain roads, but i made the fellow rush her along as fast as he could." he took some letters from his wallet. "read these and think them over while i get breakfast." half an hour afterward they sat in a corner of the veranda, where mrs. willans' guests left them alone. these quiet, intent men of affairs obviously did not belong to their world. "well?" robinson said. "one of two things has got to be done; there's no middle course." robinson nodded. "that's true. middle courses generally lead to nothing." "very well. we can cut out our deal with president altiera, lose the money we have spent, and let the concessions go; or we can pay up again, hang on, and put the matter through." "what's your opinion? the fellow asks for more." "do you mean to be guided by me?" "yes," robinson said. "take which you think is the right line; i'll stand in." "it's pretty hard to see. we'll make good if we get the concessions; but the president's up against a bigger thing than he thought. it's going to cost him and us some money to head off the revolutionists, but if we don't drop out right now, we've got to brace up and put it over. well, as i'm fixed, it's a big risk. my money's making good interest, and if i go on, i've got to sell out stock i meant to hold. a set-back would be a serious thing for me. i want a few minutes to think it over." robinson had confidence in cliffe's integrity and judgment. "an hour, if you like," he said; "then we'll have to pull out, whatever you decide." for a long while cliffe sat silent with knitted brows. his wife made claims upon his means that he sometimes found it hard to satisfy; and it was his ambition that his daughter should be rich. after carefully pondering the letters, he saw that he might be involved in a conflict with forces whose strength he could not estimate, and defeat would cost him the fruit of several years' labor. yet the prize to be won was tempting, and he could take a risk. besides, they already had put a good deal of money into it. "well," he said at last, "i've made up my mind." "to hold on, i guess," robinson suggested with a smile. "that's so," cliffe answered in a quiet voice. "what's more, i'm going out to look into things myself. we can talk it over on the way to town. i'll be ready as soon as i've told my wife." robinson took out his watch. "give you half an hour if we're to catch the train," he said. cliffe met evelyn in the broad hall, and told her that he would have to go south at once. "take me with you, won't you?" she begged. "i want to get away from banner's post." cliffe hesitated a moment. "why, yes," he then said; "i see no reason why you shouldn't go--particularly as your mother means to stay with margaret willans." when, a half hour later, the car started from the bottom of the steps and mrs. cliffe turned away with a wave of her hand, evelyn stood in the drive, asking herself bluntly why she wished to accompany her father. a longing for change had something to do with it; she was getting tired of an aimless and, in a sense, uneventful life, for it was true that occupations that had once been full of pleasurable excitement had begun to pall. but this was not her only object. grahame was somewhere on the coast she meant to visit, and she might meet him. evelyn admitted with a blush that she would like to do so. the next morning a telegram arrived from cliffe, directing her to join him in town, and ten days later she stood, at evening, on a balcony of the hotel international, in havana. it was getting dark, but a few lamps were lighted in the _patio_, and the moonlight touched one white wall. the air was hot and heavy, and filled with exotic smells, and the sound of alien voices gave evelyn the sense of change and contrast she had sought. yet she knew that, so far, the trip had been a failure. it had not banished her restlessness; havana was as stale as new york. she remembered with regret how different it had been on her first visit. grahame and his companion had been with her then, and she knew that she missed them. she turned as a man came out on the balcony that ran along the end of the house. he did not look like a cuban, and she started when the moonlight fell upon him, for she saw that it was grahame. he was making for the stairs at the corner where the two balconies joined and did not notice her. evelyn realized that, as she wore a white dress, her figure would be indistinct against the wall, and, if she did not move in the next few moments, he would go down the stairs and disappear among the people in the _patio_. if he had meant to enter the hotel, he would not have come that way. she felt that if she let him go they might not meet again. after all, this might be wiser. yet her heart beat fast, and she thrilled with a strange excitement as she stood irresolute, knowing that the choice she had to make would be momentous. grahame reached the top of the stairs without turning, and was going down when she leaned over the balustrade. she did not consciously decide upon the action; it was as if something had driven her into making it. "mr. grahame!" she called softly. he looked up with the moonlight on his face and she saw the gleam she had expected in his eyes. then he came swiftly toward her, and her indecision vanished when she gave him her hand. "this is a remarkably pleasant surprise, but i didn't see you until you spoke," he said. "have you just come out of one of the rooms?" "no; i've been here some time. i saw you as soon as you appeared on the balcony." grahame gave her a quick look, and she knew he was wondering why she had waited until the last moment. he was shrewd enough to see that the delay had some significance, but this did not matter. "well," he said, "i'm glad you didn't let me pass, because i was going out into the street, and it's doubtful if i'd have come back." "yes," said evelyn; "i seemed to know that." he was silent for a moment, but his expression was intent and a faint glow of color showed in his brown face. evelyn let him make what he liked of her admission. she had not been influenced by coquetry, but by a feeling that it was a time for candor. "i was thinking about an interview i'd just finished--that is why i didn't look round," he explained. "i came from matanzas this afternoon." "then the _enchantress_ isn't here?" "no; she's at matanzas, but i can't get back to-night. will you be here long?" "a day or two, waiting for a boat. i wonder whether you would stay and dine with us this evening?" then a thought struck evelyn, and she added: "that is, if it isn't undesirable for you to be seen here." she had not expected him to hesitate and was prepared for his reckless twinkle. "of course i'll stay! but did you mean--if it was not unsafe?" "i suppose i did," she admitted with a smile. "you know i helped you in a mysterious plot the last time i was here. now it would be selfish of me to ask you to wait if you think you'd better not." "there's no risk worth counting, and i'd take it if there was. when you have a temperament like mine it's hard to deny yourself a pleasure." "i shouldn't have thought you self-indulgent," evelyn smiled. "well," he said, "one's fortitude has its limits. i suppose it depends upon the strength of the temptation." he had answered in a light vein, and evelyn followed his lead. "it's a relief to know you mean to stay. my father will be pleased to see you; but he may not have finished his business when dinner is ready, and i rather shrink from going down alone." they talked about matters of no importance for a time, and then went through the _patio_ to the dining-room. it was not full, and evelyn imagined that grahame was glad there were several unoccupied chairs between them and the rest of the company. she noticed, moreover, that when people came in he glanced up quietly, as if he did not want her to notice his action, and she had a guilty feeling that she had made him take a risk that was greater than he would own. yet she was glad that he had taken it. "where are you going when you leave havana?" he asked presently. "to valverde, and afterward perhaps to rio frio." grahame looked thoughtful, and evelyn quietly studied him. her training had made her quick at guessing what lay behind the reserve of people who were not quite frank with her, and she saw that he was disturbed. "why should i not go there?" she asked. "i don't know any good reason if your father's willing to take you, but the country's in a rather unsettled state just now." grahame paused for a moment and added earnestly: "don't trust gomez." "do you think we shall meet him?" "yes," he said with a dry smile; "i think it very likely." "then you must know something about my father's business, and what is going on in the country." "i believe i know more about the country than your father does. in fact, i'd like to warn him against gomez, only that i imagine he's a good judge of character and already knows his man." grahame wrote an address on a leaf of a small notebook and, tearing it out, put it on her plate. "i'm going to ask a favor. if you should meet with any difficulty at rio frio, will you send me a message through the man whose name i've written down? i might, perhaps, be of some use." "do you expect us to get into any difficulty?" "no; but one can't tell--trouble might arise." "and, if it did, you could help us?" "well," he said gravely, "i'd do my best." evelyn's eyes sparkled. "i know you could be trusted! but all this mystery gives the trip an extra interest. then, you have made it obvious that the _enchantress_ will be on the coast." "may i hope that this adds to your satisfaction?" grahame said, smiling. "now you're frivolous, and i was pleasantly excited! however, i'll promise that if anything very alarming seems to threaten us i'll send you word." grahame looked up. an elderly cuban gentleman, three or four places off, had once or twice glanced at them carelessly and then resumed his conversation with a lady beside him, but grahame noticed that he stopped when evelyn spoke. "am i to tell my father what i have promised?" she asked. "you must use your own judgment about that." evelyn understood him. he would not ask her to keep a secret from her father, and she liked his delicacy; but he looked thoughtful. she did not know that the cuban gentleman engaged his attention. "well," she said, "i'll tell him if it seems necessary; that is, if there's any reason for sending you word. otherwise, of course, there would be no need to mention it." "no," he agreed with a smile that seemed to draw them closer because it hinted at mutual understanding. "one doesn't feel forced to explain things to you," evelyn said impulsively. "that's an advantage. explanations are a nuisance, and sometimes dangerous when they're important. i find them easiest when they don't matter." cliffe came in and greeted grahame cordially; and grahame, glancing down the table without turning his head, saw the cuban studying them. something in the man's manner suggested that cliffe's friendliness had surprised him. he made a few hasty pencil marks on the back of an old letter and then, looking up suddenly, caught grahame watching him curiously. the cuban pushed back his chair and left the room, although grahame suspected that his dinner was not more than half finished. evelyn, surprising the alert look on grahame's face, was now more disturbed than ever on his account. evidently there was danger for him here. her fears would have been increased had she known the few words the spy wrote on his envelope. chapter xx the arrest of castillo on a hot evening not long after he left havana, cliffe sat in a room of the old spanish _presidio_ at valverde. the building was in harmony with the decayed town, for it had been begun in more prosperous times, and its lower courses were solidly laid with stone. molded doors and windows spoke of vanished art, and the gallery round the central _patio_ was raised on finely carved pillars, but valverde had fallen on evil days and the _presidio_ had been finished with adobe mud. it had served at different times as the seat of the government, the barracks, and the jail, and now, when part had fallen down, the rest had been rudely repaired, and gomez was quartered there when he visited the port. outside, the ruinous building still retained a certain dignity, but this was not so within, where degenerate taste was shown in the tawdry decoration, and gomez's sitting-room frankly offended cliffe with its suggestion of effeminate luxury. gaudy silk hangings hid the old adobe walls, a silver lamp with a smoked chimney hung from the ceiling by tarnished chains, and highly colored rugs were spread upon the dirty floor. there were inartistic but heavily gilded french clocks and mirrors; and over all a sickening scent of perfume. cliffe found it more pleasant to look out through the open window at the town, which lay beneath him, bathed in moonlight. the close-massed, square-fronted houses glimmered white and pink and yellow, with narrow gaps between them where a few lights burned; a break, from which dusky foliage rose, marked the _alameda_. in front ran a curving beach where wet sand glistened below a bank of shingle and a fringe of surf broke with a drowsy roar. though it was not late, there was no stir in the streets; an air of languorous depression brooded over the town. gomez seemed to feel that it needed an explanation. "our trade," he said, "is prosperous, but we do not encourage the people to gather in the plaza, and the cafés are watched. they are the storm centers: it is there the busybodies talk. the man who stays at home and minds his business is seldom a danger to the state. he dislikes change, and has no time to waste on idealistic theories." "i guess that's true, up to a point," cliffe agreed. "the industrious citizen will stand for a good deal, but he's a man to reckon with when things get too bad. he doesn't talk, like the others; he's been trained to act, and there are developments when he makes up his mind about what he wants. however, this is not what we're here to discuss." "no; but the state of the country has something to do with the matter. we admit that there have been manifestations of discontent, and disturbances caused by mischievous persons who love disorder, and we must enforce quietness and respect for authority. this, you will understand, costs some money." "i've subscribed a good deal," cliffe reminded him. "i'm anxious to learn when i'm going to get it back." "the wish is natural. may i point out that in generously offering help you threw in your lot with the government and made our interests yours?" "i see that pretty clearly," cliffe replied with a touch of grimness, for he recognized the skill with which he had been led on until he could not draw back without a heavy loss. "anyway, as you seem to have weathered the storm, i want my reward. in short, i've come to find out when your president means to sign the concessions." "it will be as soon as possible; there is a small difficulty. we have an elective legislature; an encumbrance, señor, which hampers the administration, but in times of discontent it has some influence. our people are jealous of foreigners, and there are interested persons ready to work upon their feelings. this is why the president hesitates about granting fresh concessions until he has found a way of silencing his enemies among the representatives. you perceive that i am frank with you." "it's what i like; but you haven't told me yet what i want to know. now, unless i can find out exactly when i may expect the papers signed, i'll feel compelled to shut off supplies. i'd rather cut my loss than go on enlarging it." gomez looked pained. "i must remind you, with some diffidence, that others have offered their help," he said. "they offered it; they haven't paid up. i expect you'll find they'll insist on knowing when you mean to deliver the goods. that's my position; i stand firm on it." "very well. before answering, i must inform the president." "you needn't. i'm going to take this matter to headquarters." "unfortunately, the president has gone to villa paz for a short rest. i fear he would not like to be disturbed." "he will see me; he has to," cliffe declared. "after all, it is possible, but i see a difficulty. there is no inn at villa paz where the señorita could find accommodation and the president is, like myself, a bachelor. he could receive you, but not the señorita. our conventions are antiquated, but they must be considered. it is this which prevents me from offering my hospitality." cliffe pondered for a few moments. the conventions gomez mentioned were justified, because women are not treated in his country as they are in the united states, and cliffe could not leave evelyn alone in the valverde hotel. for all that, he must see the president, and he imagined that although gomez had made some difficulties the fellow was willing that he should go. gomez was a clever rogue, but cliffe thought he could be trusted so long as their interests did not clash. he looked up sharply, for there was a sudden stir in the town. cliffe was conscious of no definite sound, but he felt that the quietness had been broken and he saw that gomez was listening. the man's fleshy face was intent; the stamp of indulgence had gone and given place to a look of fierce cruelty. he had become alert and resolute; this struck cliffe as significant, as there was, so far, nothing to cause alarm. in a few moments a murmur broke out, and swelled while gomez walked to the open window. the streets were suddenly filled with the patter of hurrying feet, and the confused outcry became a menacing roar. cliffe jumped up. he had heard something like it when a mob of desperate strikers drove the police through an american manufacturing town; and now his daughter was alone at the hotel. "what is it?" he asked. "a tumult," gomez answered. "i do not think it will be serious. we have placed a guard about the hotel, so the señorita is safe. but you will excuse me for a few minutes." he went into an adjoining room, and cliffe, standing by the window, heard a telephone call. after this, all sounds inside the house were drowned by the growing uproar outside. cliffe could see nothing of the riot, but he thought he could locate it in one of the dark gaps that pierced a block of houses some distance off. the clamor gained in effect from the mystery that surrounded its cause. two pistol shots rang out and there was a wild shouting, but the note of fury had changed to alarm. cliffe thought he could hear men running, and he pictured the mob pouring down the narrow street in flight, for the cries grew less frequent and receded. at last they died away, and a group of men moving in regular order came out of the mouth of a street. they seemed to have a prisoner in their midst, and four peons plodded behind, carrying something on a shutter. then they all vanished into the gloom, and when their measured steps were getting faint gomez returned with an unpleasant smile. "it is nothing," he said. "we had planned the arrest of a troublesome person called castillo, who is a favorite with the mob. there was some excitement, and a few stones were thrown, but only one attempt at a rescue, the leader of which was shot by the rural guards. as he was a man we suspected of sedition, this has saved us some trouble." cliffe looked at him, as one who might study a new species of animal or some rare and ugly plant. gomez spread out his hands. "it is worth noting that the affair proves our strength," he said gloatingly. "we have seized a popular leader of the discontented, and there was no determined resistance. one may consider it an encouraging sign." cliffe nodded agreement, and gomez changed the subject. "i have been thinking," he said. "if you are resolved to see the president, señora herrero, wife of the _alcalde_, whom you have met, would take care of the señorita while you are away. they are people of some importance, and she would be safe with them." this struck cliffe as a good suggestion, and when gomez accompanied him to the _alcalde's_ house the matter was arranged with evelyn's consent. the next morning cliffe set off with a relay of mules and three or four days later was received by the president at a little town among the hills. nothing was said about business until he had rested and dined, and then he sat with his host on a veranda half hidden by bougainvillea, looking down on the dim littoral that ran back to the sea. president altiera differed from his secretary. he looked more of an autocratic soldier than a diplomatist. there was a hint of brutality about him, and cliffe thought he would rather use force than guile. the man had a coarse, strong face, and his eyes were stern, but he was rather reserved than truculent. "señor," he said, "since i understand you were determined to see me, it is an honor to welcome you, and my house and self are at your command. i imagine, however, that neither of us often wastes much time on compliments." "my excuse is that i find one does best by going to headquarters when any difficulties arise. it seemed possible that your secretary might smooth down my remarks before transmitting them." "and you do not wish them smoothed down," altiera dryly suggested. "i think it best that we should understand each other." "that is so. what do you wish to understand?" "when i may expect the sealed grant of the concessions." "in two months, provided that my enemies do not kill me first, which i think is hardly probable." "one hopes not, but there is another risk; not large, perhaps, but to be reckoned with." altiera laughed. "that the people may choose another president? no, señor. i rule this country. when i cease to do so it will be because i am dead. let us be candid. your concessions depend upon the luck that may attend some assassin's attempt, and i take precautions." cliffe thought this was true. altiera carried a pistol, and could use it remarkably well, and two armed guards were posted outside the veranda. "there is a condition," altiera said. "the concessions will be yours in two months, but payment of the money my secretary asked for must be made in a fortnight, or, if this is impossible, as soon as you get home." "it would suit me better to take the concessions in a fortnight and pay in two months," cliffe retorted coolly. "i am not a trader, señor; i do not dispute and haggle over a bargain." "neither do i," said cliffe. "still, it's necessary for a trader to state his terms." there was silence for a few moments, and cliffe, studying his antagonist's face, thought his statement justified. the man might use brutal means to gain his end, but he would not contend about a small advantage. "very well," the president conceded. "though it will cause me some embarrassment, i make another offer. you shall have the grant in a month." "a month is too long to wait." altiera rose and stood with his brown hand clenched upon the back of his chair and his brows knitted. it seemed to cost him an effort to maintain his self-control, and cliffe saw that he had pressed him hard. for all that, he did not mean to yield. he had gone farther than was prudent, and knew when to stop. "you understand what you risk by your exactions?" altiera asked menacingly. "señor gomez made that plain. i have no security for the money already paid, except your honor." altiera bowed. "though the situation is difficult and you make it worse, i believe your confidence is not misplaced. well, since one or two of my ministers must be consulted, i cannot give you an answer for a week; but the country is healthful in this neighborhood, and you may be interested in studying its resources. my house is at your disposal, and your comfort will be provided for while i see what can be done." it took cliffe a minute or two to make up his mind. he would rather have gone back to valverde at once; but he felt that he must finish his business before returning. although he had some misgivings, he agreed to stay. in reaching his decision he thought evelyn safe with the _alcalde_; but he had not reckoned on the cunning of secretary gomez. chapter xxi a half-breed's trick evelyn found the time pass heavily at valverde. the town was hot and uninteresting, although she did not see much of it, for it was only when the glaring sunshine had faded off the narrow streets that she was allowed a leisurely stroll in company with the _alcalde's_ wife. señora herrero, who was stout and placid, and always dressed in black, spoke no english, and only a few words of french. after an hour's superintendence of her half-breed servants' work, she spent most of the day in sleep. yet she was careful of her guest's comfort, and in this respect evelyn had no cause for complaint. it was the monotony the girl found trying. after the ten o'clock breakfast there was nothing to be done until dinner was served at four. the adobe house was very quiet and was darkened by lattices pulled across the narrow windows; and there was no stir in the town between noon and early evening. evelyn patiently tried to grasp the plot of a spanish novel, and when she got tired of this sat in the coolest spot she could find, listening to the drowsy rumble of the surf. hitherto her time had been occupied by strenuous amusements, and the lethargic inaction jarred. it was better when the shadows lengthened, because there were then voices and footsteps in the streets. one could watch the languid traffic; but when night came valverde, instead of wakening to a few hours' joyous life, was silent again. sometimes a group of people went by laughing, and now and then a few gathered round a singer with a guitar, but there was no noisy talk in the cafés and no band played in the _alameda_. an ominous quietness brooded over the town. all this reacted on evelyn's nerves, and one hot afternoon she felt ready to welcome any change as she sat in a shaded room. her hands were wet with perspiration, the flies that buzzed about her face exasperated her, and she found the musky smell that filled the house intolerable. señora herrero lay in a big cane chair, looking strangely bulky and shapeless in her tight black dress, with her eyes half closed and no sign of intelligence in her heavily powdered face. evelyn longed to wake her and make her talk. then there were steps outside and gomez came in. he bowed, and señora herrero grew suddenly alert. indeed, it struck evelyn that her hostess felt disturbed, but she paid no attention to this. she was glad of a break in the monotony, and it was not until afterward her mind dwelt upon what took place. "señor cliffe's business with the president will keep him longer than he thought. he may be detained for a fortnight," gomez said. evelyn had no reason for being on her guard, and her disappointment was obvious. "i was looking forward to his return in a day or two," she answered. "the señor cliffe is to be envied for having a dutiful daughter," gomez smiled. "still, i need not offer my sympathy, because it is his wish that you should go to him." "when?" evelyn asked eagerly. "as soon as you are ready. i have ordered the mules, and you can bring what you think needful. we could start after dinner, and i offer myself as escort for part of the way." "but this is impossible!" señora herrero exclaimed in horrified protest. gomez spread out his hands deprecatingly. "with apologies, señora, i think not. my plan is that you should go with your guest until i can place her in some other lady's hands." "but it is years since i have ridden a mule, and exercise makes me ill! besides, i cannot leave my husband and my household." evelyn remembered afterward that her hostess's indignant expression suddenly changed, as if gomez had given her a warning look; but he answered good-humoredly: "i have seen don josé. he feels desolated at the thought of losing you for two or three days, but he agrees that we must do all we can to suit the wishes of our american friends. besides, you can travel to galdo, where we stay the night, in a coach. i will see that one is sent, but it may take an hour or two to find mules." "they must be good," said the señora. "i am heavy, and the road is bad." "we will pick the best; but until you overtake us the señorita cliffe will, no doubt, be satisfied with my escort. we should reach galdo soon after dark. the señora romanez will receive us there, and we start early the next morning on our journey to the hills." gomez turned to evelyn. "this meets with your approval?" he asked suavely. "oh, yes," she agreed; though she afterward realized that there was no obvious reason why she should not have waited for the coach, and that it was curious her hostess did not suggest this. gomez returned after dinner before evelyn was quite ready, and she was somewhat surprised that he made no remark about the luggage she wished to take. it was skilfully lashed on the broad pack-saddles, and they set off when she mounted a handsome mule. there were two baggage animals, driven by dark-skinned peons, and two mounted men brought up the rear. gomez said this explained the delay in getting mules for the coach, but added that the girl would find the journey pleasanter in the saddle. evelyn agreed with him as they rode down the roughly paved street. it was a relief to be moving, and the air had got pleasantly cool. half-breed women with black shawls round their heads looked up at her from beside their tiny charcoal cooking fires, and she saw dark eyes flash with hostility as her escort passed. here and there a woman of pure spanish blood stood on a balcony and glanced down with shocked prudery at the bold american, but evelyn smiled at this. she distrusted gomez, who obviously was not a favorite with the poorer citizens, but as a traveling companion she did not find much fault with him. after a while they left the houses behind and turned into a dusty, rutted track. the murmur of the sea followed them until they reached a belt of forest where the sound was cut off, and evelyn felt as if she had lost a friend. the measured beat of the surf and the gleam of spray were familiar things; the forest was mysterious, and oppressively silent. in places a red glow shone among the massive trunks, but, for the most part, they were hung with creepers and all below was wrapped in shade. the track grew soft and wet; the air was steamy and filled with exotic smells. evelyn felt her skin get damp, and the mules fell into a labored pace. strange noises began to fill the gathering gloom; the air throbbed with a humming that rose and fell. deep undertones and shrill pipings that it was hard to believe were made by frogs and insects pierced the stagnant air. specks of phosphorescent light twinkled among the leaves, but the fireflies were familiar and evelyn welcomed them. she felt suddenly homesick, and wished they were not leaving the coast; but she remembered that her father had sent for her, and brushed her uneasiness away. after a time, gomez stopped. "we have not gone fast, and the señora ought to overtake us soon," he said. "will you get down and wait for her?" the forest, with the thin mist drifting through it, had a forbidding look, and, for the first time that she could recollect, evelyn felt afraid of the dark. "let us go on," she said. gomez hesitated a moment and then acquiesced. the road got steep and the mist thicker. drooping creepers brushed them as they passed, and now and then evelyn was struck by a projecting branch. her mule, however, needed no guidance, and she sank into a dreamy lethargy. there was something enervating and soporific in the steamy atmosphere. at last the gloom began to lighten and they came out into the luminous clearness of the tropic night. in front lay a few flat blocks of houses, surrounded by fields of cane, and here and there a patch of broad-leafed bananas. passing through the silent village they reached a long building which gomez said was the romanez _hacienda_. lights gleamed in the windows, but they knocked twice before a strong, arched door was unfastened, and they rode through into the _patio_. it was obvious that they were expected. a gentleman dressed in white, his stout wife in black, and a girl who wore a thin, yellow dress, came down to welcome them. they were hospitable, but evelyn, speaking only a few words of castilian, and feeling very tired, was glad when her hostess showed her to her room. she soon went to sleep, and, wakening early, felt invigorated by the cool air that flowed in through the open window and the sight of the blue hills that rose, clean-cut, against the morning sky. then she had a drowsy recollection of something being wrong, and presently remembered that the señora herrero had not arrived. this, however, was not important, because gomez could no doubt arrange for her hostess to accompany them on the next stage of their journey. evelyn found gomez apologetic when they met at breakfast. he was much vexed with the _alcalde's_ wife, but the señorita romanez and her duenna would take her place, and he expected to put evelyn in her father's care in two more days. this, he added, would afford him a satisfaction that would be tempered by regret. they started after breakfast, but evelyn did not feel drawn to her new companion. luisa romanez was handsome in a voluptuous style, with dark hair, a powdered face, and languishing black eyes, but so far as she could make her meaning clear, she banteringly complimented evelyn on having won the admiration of a distinguished man. evelyn declared that this was a mistake, and gomez had offered his escort as a duty, to which doña luisa returned a mocking smile. her amusement annoyed evelyn. on the whole, she was glad that conversation was difficult. the sour, elderly duenna who rode behind them said nothing at all. after traveling all day, they stopped at a lonely _hacienda_, where evelyn soon retired to rest. she slept well, and, wakening rather late the next morning, found that doña luisa and her duenna had left an hour before. this was embarrassing, because evelyn knew something about spanish conventions; but, after all, she was an american, and they did not apply to her. gomez appeared annoyed and extremely apologetic. "there has been a misunderstanding," he explained. "i thought the señorita romanez would go with us to rio frio, but she told me last night that she must return early this morning. i expostulated and implored, but the señorita was firm. she declared she had not promised to come farther than the _hacienda_. you see my unfortunate position. one cannot compel a lady to do what she does not wish." "when shall we reach rio frio?" evelyn asked. "if all goes well, late this afternoon." evelyn thought for a moment. she was vexed and vaguely alarmed, but her father was waiting for her at rio frio. "then let us start as soon as possible," she said. gomez bowed. "when breakfast is over. i go to give my men their orders." leaving the _hacienda_, they rode by rough, steep tracks that wound through belts of forest and crossed sun-scorched slopes. although it was hot, the air was clear, and evelyn was pleased to see that gomez kept the mules at a steady pace. at noon they reached a cluster of poverty-stricken mud houses, and gomez called one of the ragged, half-breed peons. they talked for some time in a low voice, and then gomez turned to evelyn. "i am afraid we shall have to wait here for two or three hours," he said. "it might be dangerous to go any farther now." "but i must get on!" evelyn answered sharply. "your wishes would be a command, only that i must think of your safety first. there is an inn in the village, and while you rest i will explain why we cannot go forward." evelyn found the small _fonda_ indescribably dirty, but it offered shelter from the sun. openings in its bare walls let in puffs of breeze, and decaying lattices kept out the glare, but the room was full of flies, and rustling sounds showed that other insects lurked in the crevices. the place reeked with the smell of _caña_ and kerosene, and evelyn had to force herself to eat a little of the greasy mess that was set before her in rude, sun-baked crockery. when the meal was over gomez began his explanation. "you have heard that the country is disturbed. there are turbulent people who want a revolution, and i am not popular with them." evelyn smiled, for she had learned something about the country's politics and she thought he had expressed the feeling of its discontented citizens very mildly. she distrusted him, but, so far, his conduct had been irreproachable. "i see you understand," he resumed. "the worst is that you too are an object of suspicion; it is known that your father is a friend of the president and has business with him. well, i have been warned that some of our enemies are in the neighborhood, and they might rouse the peons to attack us. they will know when we left the _hacienda_ and watch for us, but we can outwit them by waiting a while and then taking another road." this was plausible, and evelyn agreed to the delay, although she did not feel quite satisfied when gomez left her. the dirty room was very hot and its atmosphere unspeakably foul, but she could not sit outside in the sun, and, taking up a soiled newspaper, she tried to read. her knowledge of castilian did not carry her far, but she made out that the government was being urged to deal severely with a man named sarmiento. evelyn put down the paper, feeling that she ought to know the name. sarmiento had some connection with grahame and his friends; perhaps they had spoken of him. this led her to think of them. it looked as if grahame were interested in the country's politics. remembering the promise she had made, she wondered whether the _enchantress_ was then on the coast. as he seemed to be opposing gomez, he must be helping the revolutionaries, while her father had business with the president. this was puzzling, and she sat thinking about it for some time; and then looked up with a start as gomez came in. "so you have been reading the _diario_!" he remarked. "i don't understand very much; but who is don martin sarmiento?" "a dangerous person who goes about making trouble." "it's curious, but i think i have met him." gomez gave her a searching glance and then smiled. "he is not worth remembering, but you did meet him at havana." "ah!" said evelyn sharply. gomez laughed. "must i remind you, señorita, of a little affair at the hotel international?" evelyn remembered it well and guessed that it was sarmiento whom gomez had been pursuing when she stopped him by dropping her ring. she could now understand his look of baffled rage, and she recalled her shrinking from the savagery it displayed. "one imagines that you did not know don martin," gomez said lightly, although there was a keen look in his narrowed eyes. "no," evelyn answered; "i only saw him at dinner." "then perhaps you have heard your father speak of him?" "i am not sure; i have heard his name somewhere; but i don't think my father ever met him." "well, i don't know that it is of much importance. i came to tell you that i think we can start." they set off and reached rio frio without trouble some time after dark. people in the streets turned and gazed at them, and although some saluted gomez, evelyn thought that, for the most part, they watched the party with unfriendly curiosity. she was eager to meet her father, but when they dismounted in the _patio_ of a large white house she got a shock. a dark-skinned woman and several half-breed servants came down from a gallery to welcome them, but cliffe was not there. chapter xxii held for ransom gomez once more apologized. the señor cliffe had not yet arrived from villa paz, he explained, but was expected in the morning. in the meantime the good señora garcia would look after the señorita's comfort. evelyn had to be content with that. indeed, she was too tired to feel much disturbed. on getting up the next morning, however, she was troubled by unpleasant suspicions. it had been a shock to find cliffe absent, and she began to review the misadventures which had marked her journey. to begin with, it now seemed curious that her father had not written instead of sending a message; then, the señora herrero had not kept her promise to overtake them, and luisa romanez had unexpectedly gone back. while she wondered whether all this had any sinister meaning, evelyn felt for a packet of paper currency which she had, at her father's advice, sewn into her dress. she found that it was gone. a hurried search showed that the stitches had been neatly cut. for a few moments she felt unnerved, and then resolutely pulled herself together. this was no time for hysteria. it was obvious that she had been duped. the lost sum was not large, but with the exception of a few coins it was all she had, and it had not been stolen by a common thief. somebody had searched her clothes while she slept and taken the money with the object of embarrassing her. going to the window, she looked out at the town. it had a mean, dilapidated air; the few inhabitants she saw slowly moving about looked poverty-stricken and furtive. their harsh voices jarred; one could expect no sympathy or help from these foreigners. hitherto she had been indulged and carefully protected, but she was now alone and in danger, and the novel experience was daunting. still, she saw that it was unwise to give her imagination rein. she must keep her head and try to grapple with the situation. she finished dressing and without waiting for the morning chocolate found her way to the room in which she had been received on the previous evening. it stretched across one end of the house on the second floor and was furnished in rather barbarous taste. although there was a profusion of colored silk and a hint of sensual luxury, it was obviously a man's room, and evelyn studied the woman who joined her when the majordomo brought in breakfast. señora garcia was coarsely handsome, but she had not the easy manners of a lady of rank and her dark color hinted at indian blood. her expression was arrogant, and evelyn felt that she was hostile. besides, she spoke an uncouth spanish that the girl could not understand at all. breakfast was a trial of nerve, but evelyn knew that she must eat and hide her fears. when breakfast was over she would have a talk with gomez. he soon came in, and dismissed the señora garcia with a commanding glance. her servile obedience was significant. "_buenos días, señorita_," he greeted evelyn smilingly. "when do you expect my father?" she asked bluntly. "i regret that i cannot answer positively. it may be a week before he comes--perhaps longer." "but you brought me here to meet him!" gomez smiled, and spread out his hands in a way that always irritated evelyn. "it now appears that the señor cliffe's business with the president is not finished," he said. "it would not prevent his coming to meet me if he had promised." "you should know best," gomez answered with a shrug. "still, it looks as if the señor cliffe put his business first and is not very anxious about you." "that is not true!" evelyn said vehemently. "if he had any cause to be anxious, he would let no business stand in the way!" "ah! i admit i find this interesting." gomez looked so satisfied that evelyn feared she had blundered, though she could not see how. her heart beat fast and her nerves were tensely strung, but she knew that she must be calm. the man was her antagonist and she was fighting in the dark. "well," she said, "since my father has not arrived, i will go to him." "i am afraid that is impossible. it is a long way to villa paz and the country is disturbed." "do you mean to prevent my going?" "far from it, señorita. you are at liberty to do what you wish; but unfortunately, i cannot provide mules and an escort. there are some dangerous revolutionaries among the hills. then, i must remind you that our people dislike foreigners, and a lady cannot travel alone and without money." evelyn felt trapped. "how do you _know_ i haven't money? because it was stolen in this house! you must lend me some--my father will repay it." "your pardon, señorita, but you are mistaken; i can answer for the honesty of my servants. i would lend you money, only that i cannot permit you to make a journey i know is dangerous." the girl sat still and there was silence for a few moments while she tried to brace herself. she felt that she was at the man's mercy, for there was something threatening behind his suave politeness, and his smile indicated that he was amused by her futile struggles. for all that, she must keep up the fight. "then what is to be done?" she asked. "i suggest that you write to the señor cliffe and tell him where you are. if you add that you do not feel safe, he will, no doubt, join you as soon as possible. although it may reflect upon our care of you, we will see that he gets the letter." it seemed a simple course, but evelyn was on her guard. she must match her wits against the man's, and he had shown a hint of eagerness that she thought suspicious. having brought her to rio frio by trickery, why did he wish her father to know that she felt alarmed? "i should be glad to write to him, but i do not see why i should make him uneasy on my account," she said. there was something in gomez's expression which indicated that he felt baffled, and she knew it might be dangerous to provoke him; but he exercised self-control. "that is for you to judge, but are you not inconsistent, señorita? you show some anger and alarm when you do not find your father here, and now when i suggest an easy way of bringing him, you will not take it." "do you want him to come here?" evelyn asked bluntly. gomez gave her a steady, thoughtful look. "on the whole, that would suit us." he paused and added in a meaning tone: "it would facilitate your return to the coast." evelyn knew she had been given a hint that was half a threat and it cost her something to refuse it, although she felt that to do what the man wished might not be the safest plan. "after all, it might interfere with his business if i made him leave villa paz before he is ready." watching gomez closely she thought his calm was forced, but he bowed. "as you wish, señorita, but you will think over it. and now i must leave you." for some minutes after he had gone evelyn sat with relaxed muscles and vacant mind, for the strain had told; then by degrees her courage came back. she was an american and must show no weakness to an antagonist of alien and, she felt, baser blood. besides, it looked as if she had won the first encounter and she had resources which should prove useful. she had inherited her father's intelligence, and her social training had given her restraint and the power to conceal her thoughts, while a woman's quick, instinctive perception was an advantage. all this, however, was not directly to the point. she had been decoyed to rio frio for some purpose. she shrank as she remembered luisa romanez's hints; still, she did not think gomez was in love with her. the fellow was a sensualist, but he had some advantage in view, and she had already suspected what it was. now she began to understand the matter more clearly. gomez and the president meant to use her as a means of getting her father into their power. she did not think his personal safety was threatened, but they would insist on his agreeing to their terms as the price of restoring her to him, and it was plain that she would play into their hands by writing a letter that would cause him anxiety. evelyn determined that they should not have her help, but although she sat for some time with brows knitted and hands clenched, she could make no better plan than to remain quietly obstinate. it was impossible to reach villa paz without money, and although she shrank from being left in the power of a man like gomez, she thought his self-interest would secure her safety. she might, perhaps, get some one to carry a message to grahame if he were on the coast, but she was reluctant to do so unless the need were urgent. after a while she got up and went out into the plaza. people gazed at her curiously; some smiled at one another as she passed, and a number of the women looked suspicious and hostile. for all that, she was neither molested nor followed, and when the sun got hot she returned to the house, where she spent the day drearily improving her knowledge of castilian. it promised to become useful, but the fine language jarred her long afterward. the week that followed tried her courage. she was, in reality, a prisoner, though subject to no open restraint and treated well, except that the señora garcia regarded her with badly disguised hatred. now and then she saw gomez, but he was suavely courteous and said nothing of importance. she got nervous and lost her color and her appetite, but there was nothing to do but wait until gomez, who apparently meant to wear her out, made some fresh demand. one evening he came into the room where she sat and after a ceremonious greeting stood with his head slightly bent in an attitude of respect. he was dressed in a white uniform which emphasized his stoutness and the dark color of his greasy skin. "you look tired, señorita," he remarked. "i am very tired of rio frio. have you come to tell me that i can go away?" "that you should be eager to do so grieves me, but i can, perhaps, make it possible. there is a proposal i wish to make." "yes?" evelyn answered as carelessly as she could. "you may find what i propose surprising; but i must beg you to think over it and you will see that it is not so strange as it seems. i have the honor to ask you to be my wife." evelyn shrank back in horror, as if he had struck her, and then with an effort recovered her self-control. "this is impossible, señor; indeed, it is absurd." "your pardon," he said with ominous grimness; "i cannot agree. it is, i think, the best way out of an embarrassing situation, but this is an argument i do not wish to use. i would rather speak of the charm you exercise and my respectful admiration." "we can leave that out. i do not value nor desire it." the man's dark eyes flashed, and evelyn knew the danger of rousing him. his spanish polish was only skin-deep, and the savage lurked beneath. for all that, she was desperate and meant to force the conflict. "very well," he said; "i must take another course. to begin with, it looks as if your father did not care what became of you. it is now some time since he left you at valverde and he has not troubled to inquire if you are safe." "i do not believe that!" "well, we will let it go. the rest is more important. it is known in valverde that you did me the honor to run away with me." evelyn jumped up, with the color rushing to her face and her hands clenched. the prudence she tried to exercise had given place to imperious anger. "you scoundrel!" she cried. "do you think it matters to me what your black-blooded countrymen and women think! your moorish customs may be necessary for them, but i am an american!" gomez chuckled. "there were two american _comisionistas_ at valverde and they must have heard the story in the cafés. it is, you understand, a romantic episode: the daughter of a well-known financier elopes with a foreign soldier. the _comisionistas_ talk about it when they return and your newspapers make the most of the tale. some of them are not reserved or fastidious. it is possible they print your portrait. one can imagine the astonishment of your friends, but the story would be incomplete if it did not end with a romantic wedding." the girl drew back in horror. if the tale reached home, the shock would break her mother down; but it was possible that gomez was lying. she had heard of no american drummers in the town. he gave her no time to recover. "then i must show you how what followed our flight from valverde fits in. we arrive together at rio frio after dark; you find shelter in my house." evelyn started, for this was worse. "your house!" she exclaimed. "then who is señora garcia?" gomez smirked in an ugly manner. "a woman of the town who comes at my bidding." the jealous hatred of the coarse but handsome woman was now explained and evelyn grew hot with humiliation as she saw that the señora garcia regarded her as a favored rival. it was unendurable; but in spite of her anger she was getting calm. besides, there was some hope in the thought that gomez could not be moved by passion. he was a sensual brute, and her beauty had perhaps caught his roving eye, but it was some material advantage he sought. "it was a clever plot; one that only a mind like yours could conceive," she said with quiet scorn. "the important thing is that it succeeded. but may i ask why you object to me? i am a man of influence--in reality, the second in power. the country is disturbed and discontented; before long i may be first." "your hopes would probably come to a sudden end, if your master guessed them," evelyn answered with a mocking smile. she saw that she had touched him, for he cast a quick glance at the door, as if to make sure that nobody had heard his boast. as he did so, evelyn thought she heard a faint movement outside, but she knew she might be mistaken, and gomez did not seem to notice anything. to distract his attention, she flung another jibe at him. "señor," she said, "though you think i am in your power, i will never marry you. it is an insult to suggest it. even if you were not repulsive in person and character, you are not a white man." the blood rushed to his face and his eyes flashed. "you are rash, señorita, in trying to provoke me, but you may take a wiser course before i have finished with you. it pains me deeply to be compelled to remind you that you are in my house, in my power. i repeat to you my offer, señorita; i give you one more chance to marry me _of your own free will_. and now i leave you to think it over." before evelyn could more than gasp he was gone. she fell limply into a chair and dropped her head into her hands. she must think, _think_; but the strain had been unbearable and the reaction threatened to overwhelm her. chapter xxiii the intercepted note when she was able to think calmly, evelyn found herself confronted by familiar troubles. she was not a prisoner and yet she could not run away, because she had no money and could not understand the barbarous castilian spoken among the hills. moreover, she could not appeal, even by signs, for help, for it was generally believed that she had eloped with gomez. his friends would, no doubt, send her back to him. his enemies would treat her with rude contempt. sooner than be forced to marry him, she would steal away and starve; but she had a conviction that things would not come to the worst. it would suit gomez best to break down her resistance by moral pressure. she was young, but not altogether inexperienced, and during the past week her mental powers had suddenly developed; besides, she was supported by a deep-rooted national pride. it was a privilege to be an american, or, as her countrymen sometimes expressed it, to be white. the sentiment might not be quite free from prejudice, but it was founded on truth and carried an obligation. one must respect one's birthright and never submit to be trampled on by a foreigner. it was, however, obvious that she must seek outside help, and in her need she thought of grahame. he would come if she sent for him, and she knew now that he would be welcome if he came as her lover. he was a white man; it was an unspeakable relief to dwell upon his fine, athletic symmetry and his strong, brown face with its stamp of semi-ascetic restraint, after the tainted grossness of her persecutor. she had thought of him often, and had indeed found it hard not to do so oftener, but the turning-point had come and, flinging aside ambition, she opened her heart to the love that had been waiting. this was not because she was in danger, although danger had hastened the crisis. for a time she forgot gomez, and listened vacantly to the patter of feet in the hot streets while she sat quietly in a corner of the shaded room, lost in alluring dreams. then she roused herself, and going to her apartment wrote a short message, stating that she needed help. she could not find an envelope and dare not ask for one, so she folded the note and wrote across it the address grahame had given her. then she stole from the house. no one interfered with her as she went up a street that led to the outskirts of the town, where she was less likely to be watched. the unsealed note could not be posted, because it would no doubt be given to gomez, but she might find somebody who would arrange for its conveyance by hand. it would be better if the person were a revolutionary, but she imagined that the president's enemies would not make themselves conspicuous. some risk must be taken, but, after all, very few people could read english. after a time she met a peon and showed him the note. he seemed surprised to see the spanish name on the back, and at first vigorously shook his head, but when evelyn held out two or three coins he began to ponder, and presently made a sign of understanding and took the note. evelyn felt reckless as he moved away, for she had given him all her money and had no resource left. returning by a different way, she entered the house. gomez did not seem to be about, but the building was large and she seldom saw him except when he paid her a formal visit. the man was a ruffian, but it was her money he wanted, and he would act discreetly. his boast had thrown some light upon his treacherous schemes: he meant to make himself president, if he could compel her father to provide the necessary funds. the peon carrying the note set out on foot for the next village, where he had a friend who sometimes went to the coast. the friend, however, was not at home, and evelyn's messenger, being tired and in possession of more money than usual, entered a little wine-shop and ordered refreshment. the _caña_ was strong and after drinking more than was good for him he forgot his caution when one of the villagers asked what had brought him there. to satisfy the fellow's curiosity, he produced the note, and the loungers in the wine-shop grew interested, for the man to whom it was addressed was known as an enemy of the government. one tried to take it from the peon, another interfered, and as both political parties were represented, a tumult broke out. it was stopped by the arrival of two rural guards, the note was seized, and one of the guards set off for rio frio at dawn the next morning. gomez started when he was given the note, for evelyn had made an unexpected move; but he saw the importance of what it implied and lighted a cigarette while he thought the matter out. he had suspected the _enchantress_ for some time and knew that grahame was her owner. since the _yanqui_ was in communication with a dangerous revolutionist, he must be engaged in smuggling arms, and if he had landed many, the rebels would be ready to fight. for all that, gomez was puzzled. grahame was a friend of the señorita cliffe's--perhaps even her lover--and he was helping the rebels, while her father had spent a good deal of money to support the president. this suggested that cliffe might be playing a crooked game, and bore out some suspicions gomez had entertained. the president must be informed at once; but in the meantime gomez saw how the note could be made use of. after some thought, he summoned a confidential clerk who had learned english in the united states, and gave him the note. "it seems that the señorita does not like rio frio and means to leave us," he remarked. the clerk discreetly contented himself with a sign of agreement. "well," gomez resumed, "i think we will let her message go." "would that be wise?" the other ventured. "we do not know when and which way the englishman will come, and he may be joined by some of sarmiento's followers." gomez smiled. "the señorita cliffe is artless and has made a mistake. her note covers only half the paper and leaves room for something to be added underneath." "ah!" the clerk was a skillful penman and had once or twice successfully imitated the signatures of hostile politicians. "you understand!" said gomez. "the writing must not look different and you must use the same kind of pencil. now give me some paper." he smoked a cigarette before he began to write, for the space at the foot of evelyn's note was limited. grahame probably knew the girl's hand, but would be deceived by a clever imitation of it in the form of a postscript under her signature. the note was dated at rio frio and left it to be understood that evelyn expected him there, but the postscript directed him to land on the beach near valverde, where a guide would look out for him for several nights. "there are two words we had better alter; the americans do not often use them," said the clerk cautiously, and gomez agreed to the change. "you will have it sent off and make arrangements for the englishman to be met," he added with a smile. "and now i must start for villa paz to tell the president." half an hour later he mounted in the _patio_, and evelyn, hearing the clatter of hoofs, looked out through the half-opened lattice and watched him ride away. as he had an armed escort and a spare mule, she imagined he meant to make a long journey, and grahame might arrive before he returned. soon after the party had gone, the señora garcia came in and stood looking at the girl as if she had something to say. her air of sullen dislike was less marked than usual, and evelyn, remembering the sound she had heard during her interview with gomez, suspected that she had listened at the door. now the woman looked anxious and embarrassed, and while she hesitated evelyn studied her. the señora must have possessed unusual beauty and was handsome yet, although she was getting stout and losing her freshness, as women of spanish blood do at an early age in hot climates. her skin had been spoiled by cosmetics and her face was clumsily touched with paint and powder. evelyn felt a half contemptuous pity; there was something pathetic in her crude attempts to preserve her vanishing charm. the señora made signs which evelyn supposed to mean that gomez had gone away, and then she took out some silver and paper currency. putting it into the girl's hand, she pointed to the door. evelyn started, for the hint was plain; the señora was anxious to get rid of her rival. evelyn grasped at the chance to go. the money could be repaid; it might be some time before grahame arrived, and the woman could be trusted to convey a note to him, because she could not give it to gomez without betraying her complicity in the girl's escape. for a time they struggled to grasp each other's meaning, but at last the señora garcia showed she understood that she was to deliver a note to an englishman who would come in search of the girl. evelyn was to find a peon who lived outside the town and would put her on the way to villa paz. it would, no doubt, prove a difficult journey, but she was determined to make it. she was soon ready, and walked carelessly across the plaza as if she had no object. the townspeople knew her, and she met with no troublesome curiosity. after a time, she entered a shady street, where she stopped once or twice to look into a shop. leaving it at the other end, she came out into a hot, stony waste, dotted with tall aloes and clumps of cactus, and presently reached a dilapidated adobe hut. as she stood, hesitating, before it a man came out to meet her and she felt her heart beat fast, for she was now confronted by her first danger. the fellow might rob her or perhaps take her back. his white clothes were threadbare, but they were clean, and on the whole she liked his look; and the sight of a woman peeping through the door was somehow reassuring. it was not easy to make him understand what she wanted, but he looked thoughtful when she repeated a word the señora garcia had taught her. then he went in, apparently to consult the woman, and, returning, signified that he would do what she wished. she must, however, go on alone to a village some distance off; on the way he would overtake her with a mule. evelyn thought it curious that he had not asked for money, but as he seemed anxious that she should not delay she set off. so far, her escape had proved easier than she had imagined. the sun was at its highest, and it was very hot; the road was a rough track where loose stones lay among the heavy dust. where water ran down the hillside in artificial channels, there were palms and belts of foliage; elsewhere outcropping rock and stones flung up a dazzling brightness. in the background, rugged peaks rose against a sky of intense blue, and far off on the opposite hand a misty gleam indicated the sea. evelyn soon began to get tired, and she found her thin shoes badly suited to the roughness of the ground. the dust that rose about her gathered on her skin; she got hot and thirsty; but the water she tried to drink was slimy and she toiled on. it seemed wiser to press forward while she could, for there was nobody at work in the scattered fields. her eyes ached with the glare and her feet were sore, but the peon did not come, and when she looked back the road wound along the hillside, white and empty. here and there tall trees filled the hollows among the rocks, but the country seemed deserted and she could not see a house anywhere. at last, when the sun was low and the shadows were long and cool, she saw a cluster of small white patches shining amid a belt of green ahead, and supposed this was the _aldea_ the peon had meant. limping on wearily, she came within half a mile of it, and then, finding a place where she was hidden by a clump of cactus, she sat down to watch the road. she might run some risk of being robbed or stopped if she entered the village alone, for it was obvious that a well-dressed foreigner traveling on foot could not hope to escape notice, and the hill peasants would probably not understand her few words of castilian. the shadows lengthened until they covered the hillside, and the air got cool, but her guide did not come, and evelyn began to wonder what had delayed him. he had seemed willing to assist in her escape, and she suspected that he must sympathize with the revolutionaries; but, if so, it was strange that the señora garcia should have known the password which had apparently decided him. she had, however, been told that these people were fond of intrigue, and that a general plot was often accompanied by minor conspiracies, so to speak, one inside the other. the señora garcia had perhaps some object of her own to serve; but this did not matter--it was more important that the peon did not arrive. it began to get dark. the dew soaked evelyn's thin dress, and she felt hungry and achingly tired. then a light or two twinkled among the trees and some one began to sing to a guitar. the lights and the music, with their suggestions of home and rest after the day's toil, troubled the girl. she was alone and apparently deserted, with enemies behind her and the way ahead unknown. for a few minutes her courage failed and she was in danger of breaking down; then, with a determined effort, she recovered her calm and roused herself to listen. the music had grown plainer, and she recognized an air she had heard when she sat with grahame in the _patio_ of the international. the contrast was too great, and brought her poignant memories. she was no longer a person of consequence, indulged in every wish, but a homeless fugitive. then she thought of grahame, who had translated the song they were singing, for the plaintive refrain of _las aves marinas_ carried clearly through the cooling air. had the wild sea-hawk got her message, and was he already coming to her rescue? but even this was not of first consequence. what about the peon? had he betrayed her? everything was silent upon the hillside, but a faint breeze was getting up and sighed among the stones. there was a splash of water in the distance, but no sound came from the road. it ran back, a dim white streak, into the deepening gloom, and then faded out of sight upon the shoulder of a hill. there was no movement on it as far as the girl could see. she waited what seemed an interminable time, and then a faint drumming caught her attention, and grew into a welcome beat of hoofs. some one was coming along the road. she watched eagerly, straining her eyes to catch a glimpse of the rider. at last an object emerged from the shadow, and as it drew nearer she could see that it was a man riding a mule. with her nerves at high tension and her heart beating fast, evelyn left her hiding place in the cacti and stepped out into the middle of the road. the man must see her now, and she had involved herself in fresh difficulties if he were not the peon she expected. he came on fast; he had caught sight of her and was urging his mule. when he pulled up beside her and dropped from the animal, muttering exclamations in an unknown tongue, evelyn staggered. it was an indian from the hills. chapter xxiv in the camp of the hillsmen evelyn instinctively drew back a few paces. through her brain was beating insistently the admonition that had helped her much in the past few days: "_keep calm! don't let him think you are afraid!_" her first thought had been flight, to the village; but reason told her that was impossible. here alone on the silent hillside, in the early night, a white woman with this strange indian, there came over her again a pride in her american blood. she felt that she was a match for him, in wits if not in strength. and with the thought came courage. she pointed to the mule, then to herself, then to the village; and explained in spanish. the indian shook his head, and stood stolidly beside his mount. after his first exclamations he had remained silent, watching evelyn intently; but she felt reassured when he made no move to approach her. as a matter of fact, his mind at that moment was a chaos of conjectures and possibilities; and while he hesitated evelyn gasped with relief. down the road, carrying distinctly over the night air, came the sound of furious riding--faint at first and then growing nearer, quickly nearer. even if it were not the peon, at least two strangers would be safer than one. with a guttural grunt that might have meant anything, the indian jumped upon his mule and started off toward the village, urging the animal along; and evelyn stepped farther back into the shadow of the cacti. she felt that she had reached the breaking-point. yet she must nerve herself this once more, for without her guide she could not go on. the hoof-beats drew near; in a minute they would pass and the rider be swallowed up in the gloom beyond. evelyn opened her mouth and tried to call to him; but her voice failed her. her worn-out body and her overtaxed nerves were holding her powerless to move or cry. she could only stand, helpless, and watch him sweep past. but the peon's keen eyes had caught sight of the white dress fluttering against the dark outline of the cacti, and even as he passed he reined in his mule. a few moments later he was beside her, holding his battered hat in his hand. "your servant, señorita," he said courteously. evelyn never could remember distinctly what happened after that. she had only a hazy recollection of climbing upon the mule and trying to cling there, while the man trotted beside her carrying a long, iron-pointed staff. somewhere near the village they had turned off the main road and followed a rough path that led up into the hills. and there they had stopped at a small _hacienda_, where evelyn was hospitably received. when she woke the next morning, in a clean little adobe room, and found a neat-looking spanish woman smiling upon her, evelyn smiled in return. every muscle in her body ached, and the soles of her feet were blistered, but, for the first time in many days, she felt a sense of perfect security. still smiling, she murmured the password of the revolutionaries. it meant much to her now. "_confianza!_" * * * * * they had a hasty breakfast and started again, but rested for some time in a belt of forest during the heat of the day. in the early evening they approached a white _aldea_ perched high upon the edge of a ravine. evelyn's guide made her understand that they might not be allowed to pass. he implied that she was in no danger, but it was with some anxiety that she rode toward the village. they skirted the side of the ravine, which was fretted with tumbling cataracts. steep rocks ran up from the edge of the trail and were lost in climbing forest a hundred feet above, but after a time the chasm began to widen, and small, square houses straggled about its slopes. a barricade of logs, however, closed the road, and as evelyn approached two men stepped out from behind it. they were ragged and unkempt, but they carried good modern rifles. "halt!" ordered one of them. "_confianza!_" the guide answered, smiling, and they let him pass. beyond the barricade, the guide stopped in front of an adobe building that seemed to be an inn, for a number of saddled mules were tied around it. men were entering and leaving and a hum of voices came from the shadowy interior, but the peon motioned to evelyn that she must get down and wait. finding a stone bench where she was left undisturbed, she sat there for half an hour while it grew dark, and then a man came up and beckoned her to enter. she went with some misgivings, and was shown into a room with rough mud walls, where a man sat under a smoky lamp at a table upon which a map and a number of papers were spread. he wore plain, white clothes, with a wide red sash; and two others, dressed in the same way, stood near, as if awaiting his orders. evelyn knew the man, for she had seen him at the international. "_confianza!_" she said. "i believe you are don martin sarmiento." he gave her a quick glance, and answered in good english: "it is a surprise to receive a visit from miss cliffe. but i must ask who gave you the password?" "señora garcia at rio frio." "that sounds strange. but sit down. there is something we must talk about." he waited until one of the men brought her a chair. "i understand you were going to villa paz," he then said. "yes; i am anxious to join my father." "i am not sure that will be possible; but we will speak of it again. first of all, i must know why you left valverde." sarmiento indicated the others. "these are officers of mine, but they do not speak english, and it is not necessary that you should know their names. you have nothing to fear from us, but i must urge you to be frank." evelyn tried to think calmly. she was in the man's power, and he wore the stamp of command, but she liked his look and did not feel afraid of him. it might be wiser to be candid; but she had an embarrassing story to tell and she began with some hesitation. sarmiento helped her, now with a nod of comprehension as she slurred over an awkward passage, and now with a look of sympathy, while the others stood silent with expressionless faces. "gomez is, of course, a scoundrel, and you were wise to run away," he commented when she stopped. "there are, however, matters i do not quite understand. for example, it would not be to the president's interest that he should quarrel with your father; nor do i think altiera would approve of an alliance between his secretary and you." evelyn blushed and tried to meet the man's searching look. "i cannot explain these things. i have told you what happened, and i came to you with--confidence." sarmiento bowed. "we respect our password. you are safe with us; but you cannot continue your journey. the roads will be closed before you get through, and there will be fighting in the next few days. when it seems less dangerous, we must try to send you on, but in the meantime i must put you into my daughter's hands." he gave one of the officers some instructions, and the man beckoned evelyn, but she hesitated. "i must pay my guide and send him back." "we will give him the money, but he will not go back. we shall, no doubt, find a use for him." sarmiento smiled meaningly as he added: "it looks as if he could be trusted." evelyn followed the officer to the back of the house where creepers trailed about a rude pergola. a sheet of cotton had been stretched among the poles, making a tent in which a light burned. her companion, saying a few words in castilian, motioned to evelyn to go in. she did so, and then stopped abruptly. the lamp was small and the light was dim; loops of vines falling about it cast puzzling shadows, but evelyn knew the girl who rose to meet her. she had seen her talking confidentially to grahame at the international, and was seized by jealous suspicion. a stout, elderly lady in a black dress, who was apparently the girl's duenna, sat farther back in the shadow. blanca gave evelyn a friendly smile of recognition, but it cost her an effort to respond. the spanish girl seemed to understand that something was wrong, and there was an awkward silence while they stood with their eyes fixed on each other. then blanca said with a touch of haughtiness: "i have been told to make you as comfortable as possible, but i am sorry there is not much comfort here. one cannot expect it in a camp." she presented evelyn to her duenna, and the señora morales indicated a folding chair. "you come at a bad time," she remarked in awkward french, languidly opening a fan. "it seems we are to have more fighting; it is the way of men." "they must fight," said blanca. "the cause is good." the señora morales waved her fan. she wore a black silk mantilla fastened tightly round her head like a cowl, and her dark, fleshy face was thickly smeared with powder. her eyes were lazily contemptuous. "there are two causes, _niña_, and it is hard to see how both can be right. but, since men quarrel about them, it is not impossible that both may be wrong." evelyn smiled. the duenna's remarks saved the situation from becoming strained; the woman was obviously shrewd in spite of her heavy face. "they are always quarreling in this country," the señora continued. "those who will not pay their taxes call themselves liberators; those who expect favors from the president are patriots. if he does not give them enough, they conspire with the others to turn him out. since everybody cannot be satisfied, there is always trouble." "but our friends are not fighting for rewards!" blanca objected indignantly. "a few are disinterested," the señora conceded. she paused, and turned to evelyn with an authoritative air. "you must tell me why you ran away from rio frio. i can guess something, but want to know the rest." after a moment's hesitation, evelyn thought it prudent to comply, and the señora seemed to listen with sympathy. "to run away was the simplest plan, but sometimes the simplest plan is not the best," she said. "did you think of nothing else?" "i sent a message to mr. grahame of the _enchantress_, telling him i was in difficulties," evelyn replied, watching blanca. the girl looked up with quick interest, but there was no hint of jealousy in her expression. "you thought he would come to help you?" "i knew he would come if it was possible," evelyn answered. blanca looked her in the face with a smile of understanding, and evelyn saw that her suspicions had been unfounded. grahame was nothing to the girl. "my father must know this at once!" she said, and hurried away. don martin came back with her and questioned evelyn, and then he stood thoughtfully silent for some moments. "it is fortunate i heard this news," he said. "your message may be intercepted, and we must try to warn grahame that you are in our hands." he gave evelyn a steady look. "i believe he will be satisfied with that." "you can tell him that i feel safe," evelyn answered. don martin left her with a bow, and shortly afterward they heard somebody riding hard along the edge of the ravine. when the beat of hoofs died away blanca touched evelyn's arm. "there will be some supper after a while, but let us walk a little way up the path." they went out into the dark, passing slowly between shadowy rows of bushes which evelyn thought were young coffee plants. she waited, believing that her companion meant to take her into her confidence. "you were rash in sending for mr. grahame," blanca began. "we must hope our messenger arrives in time to stop him, but for all that----" "do you wish him to come?" evelyn asked. blanca smiled. "in a sense, it does not matter to me whether he comes or not, though i would not wish him to run into danger. but he would not come alone." evelyn started. it was not grahame, but walthew, in whom blanca was interested. somehow she had not thought of that. "of course, you met mr. walthew in havana," she said. "and at rio frio!" there was a hint of triumphant coquetry and something deeper in blanca's voice. "indeed, mr. grahame should be grateful to me, because it was i who kept him his companion. mr. walthew had been dangerously ill, and was thinking of going home--though of course he did not tell me this----" "but if he did not tell you!" "how did i know?" blanca laughed. "_cariña mia_, how do we know such things? is a man's face a mask? have we no guide except what he says?" evelyn thought of carmen, for blanca had something of the great coquette's allurement and power. it was not an unconscious attraction she exercised, but the skill with which it was directed was primitive and instinctive rather than intelligent. "and you persuaded mr. walthew to stay!" she said. "did you find it hard?" "hard? oh, no! it is not hard to persuade a young man, unless one is a fool. a word or two is enough, and i told him he might become a great _libertador_ like bolívar and garibaldi." evelyn laughed. she liked walthew, but he was a very modern american, and the thought of his emulating garibaldi tickled her. then, although it was dark, she was aware of a change in her companion's mood. blanca's pose was different, it had somehow hardened, and her head was lifted high. "you find this amusing?" she asked in a haughty tone. "i suppose i do, in a way," evelyn admitted deprecatingly. "you see, i know my countrymen, and we're not romantic, as a rule." "then it is clear you do not know mr. walthew. he is young, but he has the spirit of these others, the great _libertadores_." "i've no doubt that's true," evelyn agreed, putting her hand on blanca's arm. "indeed, i like and admire him very much." they turned back to the house presently, on friendly terms, for the spaniard's anger flares up quickly but soon burns down. evelyn, however, saw that matters had gone farther than she thought, and she imagined that walthew would have some trouble with his relatives when he went home. "but how did you and your father come to meet mr. walthew, and what is the _enchantress_ doing on the coast?" she asked. "you do not know?" there was a hint of gratified superiority in the girl's tone. "she is bringing us the rifles that we need." evelyn asked no more questions, because her talk with blanca had given her much to think about, and when supper was over she sat outside the tent alone. the moon was rising above the tall sierra that ran in a rugged line across the sky. the air was warm and still, and she could hear water splashing down in the bottom of the ravine. now and then there was a clatter of hoofs as a messenger rode up, and sometimes an order was followed by a patter of feet. then for a time everything was silent except for a murmur of voices in the inn. the girl noticed this vacantly, for her mind was busy, and she was filled with a strange excitement. for the last week or two she had borne a heavy strain, and her thoughts had been concentrated on finding a means of escape. now they were free to dwell upon a greater matter. the struggle that began when she boarded the _enchantress_ was ended, and she could rejoice in her own defeat, as she had not been quite able to do when, on first surrendering, she had written her note at rio frio. prudence, ambition, and self-interest were driven from the field; love had utterly routed them. she loved grahame, and she knew that he loved her, though he had not avowed it yet. blanca had spoken truly: words were not needed: it was easy to read a man's heart. evelyn knew what he thought. he was a poor adventurer, and she was rich. she blushed with shame, remembering how this had once weighed with her. now it did not matter at all. nothing mattered except that he belonged to her; but while this had never been so plain, it had not dawned on her with a sudden flash. the light had been steadily creeping in for a long time, while she stubbornly tried to shut it out, until she abandoned her futile efforts and let the warming brightness flood her. then she thought of grahame's danger. don martin had not received the note. suppose it had fallen into gomez's hands. what use might not that half-breed make of it! evelyn shuddered, and breathed a half-conscious prayer that don martin's messenger might reach her lover in time. chapter xxv a trial of speed night was falling over the troubled water, and there were threats of a tropical storm. the _enchantress_, with her anchor down, rolled uneasily on the broken swell. a sandy point ran out to windward, but the combers that beat upon its seaward side with a thunderous roar swirled in a white turmoil round its end and filled the lagoon with an angry heave. the palms on the landward shore bent in the wind and the dense green jungle behind them rolled in tossing waves of green. to the north, the sky was barred by leaden clouds and the sea-tops cut against it, lividly white. a trail of smoke whirled about the funnel, now streaming out to lee, now eddying down, for a quantity of ammunition and contraband material had just been landed, and grahame was ready to go to sea again. there was some danger in remaining, but the weather was bad, and he half expected fresh instructions from don martin. while he sat smoking in the lee of the deck-house and walthew leaned against the rail, macallister looked out of the engine-room door. "i can give ye steam enough to take her out at half an hour's notice, but if ye're no' likely to need it, i'll bank my fires," he said. "we won't heave anchor unless we're forced to; it's not an enticing night," grahame replied, and walthew nodded, as in the pause that followed he heard the rumble of the surf upon the shoals. "what do you reckon has been going on inland?" he asked. "the fellows who took the guns ashore didn't seem to have much news, but they believed you were right in thinking this might be the last important cargo we'd have to run." "the government has arrested castillo, and no doubt brought pretty strong pressure to bear on him. i'm afraid he couldn't stand up against it, and has given his fellow conspirators away. the president seems no fool, and gomez is a cunning rascal, but i'm not sure they could keep their plans dark because the opposition have their spies and sympathizers everywhere. the consequence is that both parties may be driven into prompt action instead of quietly finishing their preparations." "i expect that's so," said walthew thoughtfully. "i wish i knew, because i must see don martin and make a trip to rio frio before we leave the coast for good." "you know best; but i imagine it means trouble with your people when you go home." "it may, for a time," walthew answered with a dogged look. "still, they'll come round, and i'm glad to think that, considering this job as a business proposition, we have done pretty well. that will appeal to the old man. gun-running's not the line he wanted me to take, but he'll be tickled when he sees that i've made good at it." "i wouldna' say but he might like miss sarmiento as weel as yin o' they hussies at the florida hotel," macallister remarked encouragingly. "there was yin in blue, but no' much o' it, with a flagpole in her hat, that gave me what i've heard ye call the googly eye----" walthew chuckled. "that girl has roomsful of money." "then she might hae bought some clothes," the scotsman retorted. they were silent for a few minutes, and through the quietness they heard the splash of canoe paddles. "we may get some news," walthew said. the canoe ran alongside, and a half-breed handed up a dirty note. grahame opened it, and his jaws set and a curious glint came into his eyes when he read evelyn's message. "where did this come from?" he called sharply to the waiting half-breed. in his anxiety he had spoken in english. the messenger shook his head. "_no entiendo._" grahame repeated the question in spanish, and added: "tell me quickly!" "a man brought it down from the hills a half-hour ago. that's all i know," the half-breed explained. "all right; you may go." grahame turned to walthew and macallister and showed them the crumpled note. "i don't think our partnership agreement covers a risky private undertaking of this kind, and you can turn me out, if you like, but i'm going," he said. "and i'm coming with you," walthew replied cheerfully. "i've some business of my own at rio frio." "you can't come! how is mack to run the boat alone?" "weel," said macallister, "i'm thinking that's no' impossible. onyway, ye'll take him. we'll quarrel about who's to command her if ye leave him on board." grahame saw they were both determined; his comrades meant to stand by him, if it cost them the vessel. he was touched, but there was no time to indulge in sentiment. "we'll talk of it later. start the windlass and stir the fires. i'll want all the steam you can give me." "ye'll get it," macallister replied, and vanished below, while grahame went forward when the windlass began to clank and the cable tightened. speed was urgently needed. it was several days since the note had been written, and he dared not speculate about what might have happened in the meanwhile. evelyn was not easily frightened; she would not have sent for him unless the danger was imminent. then, the postscript stated that a guide would look out for him between midnight and three o'clock in the morning, at a place mentioned, and the _enchantress_ must be driven hard to get there in time. if she arrived too late, he must steam out to sea before dawn broke and wait for another night. the windlass rattled faster, the chain ran in as the anchor left the ground, and, seeing miguel ready with the tackle at the cathead, grahame went aft to the wheel. the gong clanged the signal "full ahead," and the screw began to throb. there was a crash forward as the swinging anchor struck the bow, but miguel had men enough to stow it, and grahame fixed his eyes ahead as he turned his wheel. rolling across the broken swell, the _enchantress_ stemmed the strong flood-tide; bending palms and shadowy beach were sliding past, and the turmoil on the shoals drew nearer. ahead was a narrow channel with about a fathom of water to the good, but the leading marks were obscured and grahame doubted if he could find it. if the boat struck, she would be washed up, badly damaged, among the sands; but the tide was rising, and before long macallister would have raised full steam. it was unthinkable that they should lose time, and grahame meant to take his chance. spray flew about her forward; as the swell got steeper she dipped to the knightheads, and miguel, running aft, began to use the lead. grahame did not stop him, although sounding was a matter of form, because she would drive aground before he could bring her head round if he missed the narrow deep. she crept past the point, rolling wildly and lifting out her screw, while the air got thick with spray and the thud of engines was drowned by the turmoil of the sea. some distance off, white ridges leaped out of the gathering dark, but nearer at hand they were broken by the shoals and raged in foaming confusion. the _enchantress_ must cross this belt without much steam to help her, but it was obvious that macallister was hard at work below, for thick smoke with fiery sparks in it poured from the funnel. miguel's white-clad figure, swaying in the channels, cut against the gloom, but grahame could not hear his hail. though he glanced at the compass now and then, he was feeling his way rather by instinct than definite guidance, and so far the upward sweep of the bows showed there was sufficient water under the vessel. sometimes a sea came on board and poured aft in a frothing flood, but she was steadily forging ahead, and a few minutes would take her across the worst of the shoals. suddenly she stopped with a crash, lurched sideways, and lay still while a foam-tipped mass of water rolled up ahead. it broke on board, burying her forward half, and the next moment grahame was wet to the waist; but she lifted as the roller surged by; and then struck the shoal again. a few more blows of that kind would crush in her bilge, but grahame set his teeth and clung grimly to his wheel. there was nothing to be done but wait; the crash would warn macallister what was required of him, and if he could not drive her off, they must cut the boats adrift and leave her to her fate. another sea came tumbling in, but while its crest broke across the rail it picked her up and she moved on slowly with the water sluicing aft down her inclined deck. for a few seconds grahame held his breath, waiting for the shock; but she went on, and lifted her head buoyantly as the next comber rolled up. when she had lurched over it and the spray had blown away, he saw that the sea was more regular and the worst of the turmoil lay astern. five minutes afterward, she reeled out into open water, and macallister came on deck. "we've started the bilge-pump, but it's no' drawing much," he said. "i dinna think she's the waur for the knocks she got." "that's satisfactory. you know what you have to do." macallister smiled with quiet enjoyment. "we've no' had the need to drive her yet, but noo i'll let ye see." he went below, and grahame gave miguel an order, for in swinging round after leaving the lagoon the _enchantress_ had brought the wind on her quarter, and she carried a good spread of sail. he would not, however, luff her off her course to make the work easier; the crew must hoist the canvas as best they could, and there was a furious banging and clatter of flying blocks as fore-staysail, foresail, and mainsail went up. then she listed down with her rail in the white surges that boiled up to lee, while tall, hollow-fronted combers ranged up astern and sped after her. wire shrouds, strung to the breaking-point, shrieked in wild harmonies as the blasts struck them; chain funnel-guys roared in deeper tones, and there was a confused groaning of masts and booms. spray swept her, lashing grahame's back and blowing past his head in clouds, and now and then a sea-top broke on board; but she drove on furiously before the wind. after a while grahame called miguel to the helm and stood in the lee of the deckhouse, pipe in mouth, for he had now time to think. he could make no plans until he landed, but it was plain that he must go to rio frio; and, if possible, he must leave walthew behind. he could not allow the lad to run the risk, and macallister would need him. some help might be had from the revolutionaries, and he must try to find don martin. if he failed to do so, much would have to be left to chance. grahame looked at another side of the matter. suppose he rescued miss cliffe, what then? though the gun-running had been profitable, he was an adventurer with very limited means. he could not trade upon cliffe's gratitude, though he loved the girl. he did not know when he began to love her, but he had for some time made stern efforts to drive the thought of her out of his mind. perhaps he might have succeeded had nothing unusual happened, for he knew his disadvantages; but now his determination suddenly had been swept away. evelyn was in danger; somehow this made clear the strength of the feelings with which he had grappled. the future was clouded; there were difficulties to be faced; but he felt that if she had any love for him he could not give her up. the gale freshened; but grahame would not shorten sail. there was not much time to spare, and the gear was standing well. he could trust the helm to miguel and might have slept, but, although he imagined his strength might be severely taxed during the next few days, it was impossible for him to rest. in spite of his anxiety, he was sensible of an exultant excitement. the girl he loved was in danger, but she had sent for him. then, the adventure he was embarking on had a fascination of its own, and he smiled as he remembered that his ancestors had often in past days ridden across the dark marches, leading the border spears. it was not for nothing the hot blood of the old mosstroopers ran in his veins. swept by the seas on her quarter, the _enchantress_ drove on, and grahame lurched about the slanted deck and stood amidst the spray that whirled across her stern. she was going fast; his glances at the recording log astonished him, for he had not believed her capable of the speed it showed. his fierce impatience seemed to have inspired thudding engines and quivering hull, and he thrilled when a great, white-topped comber rolled up and swept her on. flame blew from the funnel, wet canvas, straining in black curves, reeled through the dark, and the sea sped back, snowy white, toward the plunging bows. at last, however, lights shone in the gloom, and grahame ordered the canvas to be lowered. it cost the crew an arduous struggle, but they made all fast, and grahame, ringing for half-speed, took the wheel. there was a point a short distance from the town that would break the sea, and by steaming in behind it he might get a boat away. landing would be difficult, and it was important that he should find the right spot. he watched the beach with his glasses as the _enchantress_ swung inshore, and when presently the combers changed to a steep, troubled swell that ended in a white band of surf, he stopped the engines and told miguel to hoist out the gig. the navigation lights had been extinguished, but he thought that anybody carefully watching for the steamer could see her. the men had some trouble in lowering the boat, but as soon as she was in the water grahame jumped on board and told the men to push off. then, as they got out their oars, a dark figure leaped from the steamer's rail and walthew, alighting in the sternsheets, turned to his comrade with a grin. "i'm here, and you'll smash the boat if you try to send me back," he said. "you see, i suspected what you were getting after when you put me at a job it was awkward to leave." "well, i did my best, anyway," grahame laughed. walthew took an oar, for the swell was high enough to make progress difficult, but they found smoother water near the land, and stopped pulling just outside the fringe of surf. waiting for a slacker interval in the shoreward rush of hissing rollers, they drove her in as fast as she could go, and jumped overboard when she touched the sand. a wave broke into her, but they ran her up safely, and grahame turned to walthew after they had emptied the water out. "i don't think i'm straining my authority by telling you to go off with miguel," he said. "anyhow, i'm not going," walthew replied doggedly. "our association is a partnership, and i mean to come along. i don't know that i'll be of much help to you, but the job you've undertaken is too big for one." grahame saw that objections would be useless, and, feeling that his pistol was loose, he walked up the beach, with walthew following a few yards behind. chapter xxvi trapped for a few minutes the men toiled silently across loose, wet sand, and then, on reaching a belt of shingle near high-water mark, stopped to look about. lights gleamed in the town across the bay, but except for that it was very dark. a clump of trees that fringed the end of a ridge of higher ground could barely be distinguished, but grahame decided that this must be the spot evelyn had mentioned in her note. though the shingle rolled beneath his feet, the sound it made was lost in the roar of the surf upon the point. dry sand blew past, pricking his face, and when he turned toward the sea he saw a group of indistinct objects still standing about the boat. "what are they waiting for?" he asked. "i told them to push off." "i guess old miguel takes an interest in us and wants to see we're all right. he knows something about these fellows' tricks, and may not share our confidence." "well, i guess those are the trees where we should meet our guide." "the fellow might have come down to the beach," walthew remarked. "i was busy helping mack during the run and hadn't much time to think, but it now strikes me as curious that miss cliffe was able to send the note and arrange for a guide when she was a prisoner." "she must have got into touch with some of don martin's spies, and his friends would be ready to help. but we had better get on." they crossed the shingle, seeing nothing that suggested there was anybody about, but walthew grew uneasy as they approached the trees. the belt of timber was wrapped in gloom, and rolled back up the rising ground in shadowy masses that rustled in the wind. it had somehow a forbidding look, and the nearer he got the less he liked it. he was not daunted, and meant to go on, but his nerves were highly strung and his glances suspicious as he tried to pierce the dark. they found a trail through tall grass and reeds, and followed it across a patch of boggy soil until it led them to an opening in the trees. here a shadowy object rose out of the gloom, and walthew instinctively felt for his pistol. the abrupt movement dislodged a small bundle of clothes which he carried by a strap across his shoulder, and it fell to the ground. then he saw the man come forward, waving his hand. "this way, señor!" he called to grahame, who was some yards in front. walthew felt tempted to leave the bundle. he wanted to watch the man; but there was a packet of cartridges among the clothes he had dropped, and he thought they might prove useful. stooping down, he felt among the grass, but had to move once or twice before he found the bundle; then, springing to his feet, he saw that grahame and the other had vanished. the next moment his comrade's voice reached him, hoarse and breathless: "run!" that grahame said nothing more was ominous; but walthew did not run back to the boat. drawing his pistol, he plunged in among the trees, but as he reached them he felt a stunning blow on his head. he staggered and fell into a thicket, blinded by blood that ran into his eyes. a struggle seemed to be going on near by, and, getting upon his knees, he fired at random. he thought a man ran toward him, and he fired again, but his mind was confused and he could hardly see. for all that, he got upon his feet and stumbled forward, dazed but determined to rescue his comrade. a few moments afterward it dawned on him that he was going the wrong way, for he seemed to have come out on the beach. two or three men were hurrying toward him, but the pistol would not go off. stumbling on with his hand clenched on the barrel, ready to use the butt, he tripped and fell among the rattling shingle. then his senses left him. the next thing of which he was conscious was a cool splash on his face, and while he wondered what it was, he felt that he lay upon something that moved in an erratic manner. it was not shingle, for it was smooth when he touched it, but a minute or two passed before he realized that he was lying in the sternsheets of the gig. she was plunging sharply, the spray flew aft in showers, and when he wiped his eyes he saw that the men were pulling hard. with some trouble he got to his knees, and the top of a wave that washed across the gunwale struck his face. "where is the señor grahame?" he asked faintly. "who knows!" somebody answered. "it seems the _rurales_ have him. we came too late." walthew groaned, for his head was getting clearer. his comrade had fallen into a trap. "pull her round," he said. "we're going back!" for a moment or two nobody replied. the gig lurched wildly, and a sea-top broke on board. walthew dimly saw the men swing to and fro at the oars. their blurred figures cut the sky as the bow went up, and then stood out against white foam as the craft plunged into a hollow. "it is not possible, señor," miguel said breathlessly. walthew scrambled to his feet, and stood swaying awkwardly with the violent motion, in danger of going overboard. the sea had got worse, and the savage wind lashed his wet face. it was blowing very hard, and the turn of the tide had brought broken water nearer inshore; he could hear the roar of the surf upon the beach. it would now be dangerous to land; but he must try to rescue his comrade. he seized the oar the man nearest to him pulled. the fellow pushed him back and, losing his balance as the boat plunged over a comber, he fell heavily upon the floorings. "we will smash the boat if we land, and there are _rurales_ on the beach," he heard miguel say. "the sea is bad; perhaps we cannot reach the steamer." walthew realized that miguel was right. the men were unarmed, except for their knives, and something had gone wrong with his pistol. even if they escaped being swamped by the surf, it would be impossible to cross the beach in face of a hostile force. he lay still with a groan. he felt faint, his head ached excruciatingly, and blood still trickled into his eyes. he had not seen the _enchantress_ when he stood up, and the desperate way the men were rowing showed that they found it hard to drive the boat offshore. after a while, however, a hail came out of the dark, the men pulled furiously, and then threw down their oars. there was a crash and a rope fell into the boat, which surged violently forward, grinding against the steamer's side. walthew did not know how he got on board, and he imagined that he fainted soon afterward, for the next thing he remembered was trying to get up from the top grating in the engine-room, where macallister sat beside him, holding a rag and a can of hot water. "keep still while i tie up the cut," he said. "but they've got grahame!" walthew exclaimed, trying to rise. macallister gently pushed him back. "i ken. a bad job, but we might have lost ye both." then he took up a piece of linen. "it's lucky ye'll no' need stitching, but maybe this will nip." walthew's head smarted intolerably after the bandage was applied, but the dazed feeling left him when macallister gave him something to drink, and he began to ask questions. "miguel heard a shot and ran back up the beach with the others," macallister told him. "they found ye reeling aboot and brought ye down to the gig, with two or three _rurales_ no' far behind; the rest must have gone off with grahame before our men came up. they had just time to launch her before the _rurales_ began to shoot, but nobody was hit. looks as if ye had been knocked oot with a carbine butt." "where are we now?" walthew asked. "steaming back to the lagoon as fast as i can drive her, and that's aboot four knots against the gale. the best thing we can do is to send don martin word, but ye'll go to sleep in the meanwhile. i canna' look after ye; i hae my hands full." the clanging of hard-driven engines, which quickened to a furious rattle when the screw swung out, made the need for watchfulness plain, and walthew crept away to his berth. he wanted to help, but knew that to attempt this would probably result in his falling among the machinery. dazed by the blow on his head, he soon fell asleep, and when he wakened the vessel was at rest. there was no pounding of engines, and the water no longer gurgled along her side, but he heard voices behind the bulkhead. scrambling awkwardly out of the berth, he made his way on deck with some difficulty. the fresh air revived him, and he saw that the _enchantress_ was anchored in the lagoon, but he opened a door close by instead of stopping to look about. two or three of the revolutionaries whom he knew were sitting round a table in the saloon, and as walthew came in, white-faced, with staring eyes and a red bandage round his head, one of them threw up his hands. "_ave maria!_" he exclaimed. walthew sat down with a jerk and nodded to macallister. "i'm better." then he turned to the others. "what are we going to do?" "nothing, until to-night," said one. "we must wait for dark before it is safe to move. they will not keep your comrade at valverde, and we must try to find out where they have taken him." "i'll be quite well in a few hours," walthew declared. "but what is likely to happen to grahame?" the man shrugged. "who knows! the regular course would be to try him for smuggling arms, but i do not think the president will follow that plan. they may send him to rio frio, because it is some distance from the coast, and it is possible he will be given a chance of escaping on the way." "do you mean that they may let him go?" walthew asked eagerly. "he would not go very far. you must understand that the _rurales_ have authority to shoot a prisoner who tries to escape, and the government finds this useful. sometimes they arrest a man whom they think the court could not convict, and an excuse is found for not watching him very closely when he is being taken to the nearest jail; perhaps a guard is called away when they stop for food. there is cover near, and the prisoner makes a dash for freedom; then the guard, who has been hiding, fires and the administration is rid of an enemy. sometimes the _rurales_ break into the house of an obnoxious person and, taken by surprise, he gets angry. a threatening movement is enough; he is shot down. it is simpler than taking him before a judge who may be bribed to let him go." "a gang o' bloodthirsty scoundrels! i'm thinking it's time ye turned on them," macallister said, while walthew sat silent with a tense face and fury in his eyes. "but, so far as we ken, they havena' shot mr. grahame." "no, señor," said another. "i think he is safe, for a time. he might prove too useful for them to shoot, at least, not until they have tried other means." "if ye believe they can frighten or buy him----" macallister began savagely; but the man waved his hand. "señor, i only think we must set him free as soon as possible, and you will agree about the need for that." "i'm coming with you," said walthew grimly. "if i'm not satisfied with your plans, i'll do the thing in my own way." macallister gave him a sharp glance. walthew did not look fit to travel, but macallister knew that objections would be futile. the boy had grown older and sterner in a night. the revolutionaries began to talk about what had better be done, and it was decided that macallister must remain in charge of the vessel, which he would hide in a creek, so as to provide a means of escape, if this should be needed. the others would start for rio frio as soon as it was dark and, if they could gather a strong enough force, try to overtake and attack grahame's escort on the march. failing this, they would follow the _rurales_ to rio frio, and be guided by circumstances when they got there. walthew took no part in the discussion, but when it was finished he got up and stood looking at the others sternly. "we are going to save my partner, and not to do something that may help you in your political schemes," he said. "it may save trouble if you bear this in mind." they assured him that grahame's rescue was a matter of importance to them; and when, shortly afterward they left the ship, walthew went to his berth and slept until the afternoon. he was getting better, for it was not the cut but the jar on his skull that had dazed him, and the effect of this was passing. when the evening mist began to creep across the lagoon a canoe came off and a half-breed stood up in her as she approached the gangway. "the señores are waiting," he announced. walthew shook hands with macallister. "i'll either bring him back or stop with him," he said grimly. "your business is to be ready to take us off." "good luck to ye!" returned macallister in a rather hoarse voice. "if ye're long aboot it, i'll come after ye myself!" when walthew got into the canoe and vanished in the haze, macallister went down to his engine-room and fiercely set about some work that might as well have been left undone. chapter xxvii hands down cliffe had spent some time at villa paz when president altiera sent for him one morning. it was with mixed feelings that cliffe obeyed the summons, for his business had proved longer and more difficult than he expected, and he was anxious about evelyn. indeed, he wondered whether he should let the concessions go and return to the coast; but he determined to be guided by what took place during the interview. it was getting hot when altiera received him, and a glare of reflected light shone through the unshuttered window. cliffe, looking out over the little town, thought there was an ominous quiet. an hour earlier he had watched a company of slouching, dusty soldiers, equipped as if for service, march through the narrow streets; but there was now no one about. it struck him as significant that all the green shutters were closed and the entrances to the _patios_ barred. this might have some bearing on his business, but it was not of the first importance, and he turned to the president and studied him closely. there was a subtle change in altiera since their last meeting. his manner was somehow less cordial, and suspicion seemed to lurk in his dark eyes. when he had indicated a chair he looked at cliffe steadily. "you have, no doubt, thought over the matter we talked about not long ago," he began. "it is necessary that i should know when we may expect the loan." "that, as i think you understand, depends on when i may expect the concessions." "i cannot sign the papers yet. it would provoke a storm of indignation that i cannot risk. my enemies have taught the people that i am robbing them when i make a grant to foreigners." "in short, you mean to put down the rebels before you conclude the deal with me." "you have guessed right. there will be no complaints when i have shown that i have the upper hand." "if i had known your plans at the beginning, i'd have acted differently," cliffe said. altiera gave him a piercing glance. "señor, i do not think you are justified in charging us with a want of candor, because there is evidence that you have not been quite honest with us. our most dangerous enemy is martin sarmiento, and we find him staying at your hotel in havana, where the señorita cliffe helps him in an attempt to escape observation." "i do not know the man," cliffe protested with a puzzled air. "then it is strange that we should have caught a messenger bringing you a note from him," altiera answered. "i think we shall gain nothing by fencing, señor." cliffe frowned. "i've just got to say that i've never, to my knowledge, met don martin. what was the note about?" "we will talk of that later. in the meanwhile, i understand you have decided not to let me have the money that we need?" "not without a written promise that the papers will be signed and handed to me in a fortnight. unless you consent, i must start for valverde at once." altiera pondered for a few moments, knitting his brows. "you are, no doubt, anxious to rejoin your daughter," he said slowly. "perhaps i had better tell you that she is not at valverde." "not at valverde!" cliffe exclaimed. "then where has she gone?" "i cannot tell you." cliffe clenched his hand, but would not let his alarm master him. he suspected treachery and knew that he must be cool. "your secretary assured me that miss cliffe would be safe with the _alcalde's_ wife; i shall hold him responsible. why did she leave valverde?" "it seems the señorita got tired of waiting, and set off to rejoin you. this is most likely, but it is said in the cafés that she ran away with the señor gomez." cliffe looked up with his face set and an ominous sparkle in his eyes. "that is a lie!" "personally, i think so; but having some knowledge of the sex, i would not care to predict what a romantic young woman might do." "get on with your tale!" altiera regarded cliffe calmly. "the señorita had my secretary's escort, but, finding the road dangerous, he made for rio frio, where he put her in safe hands. her liberty was not interfered with and one morning she left the house and did not come back." cliffe got up and advanced a yard or two across the floor. "you mean she ran away? why did she do so?" "your pardon, señor!" altiera spread out his hands with a mocking smile. "there is no reason to believe she had any cause to run away; but, not knowing your daughter's character, i cannot tell you why she went." "very well," said cliffe, restraining himself with an effort. "i must ask you for an armed escort to rio frio, where i will make inquiries. i want the men at once!" "i am afraid that is impossible. we have news that there are rebels in the mountains. if i gave you a guard, the peons might be incited to attack you, and the trouble would spread before we are ready to deal with it. as president of this country, it is my business to think of its welfare first." "i understand," cliffe said very dryly. "if i promised to let you have the money you want, you might see your duty differently." altiera looked at him with thoughtful eyes. the american was shrewd, but did not seem as eager as he had expected. "señor, the need of funds that would ensure the maintenance of order and firm government justifies a risk one would not take without such a reason. i will give you a guard and send soldiers to make a thorough search for the señorita if we can agree about the loan." "this means you really do not know where my daughter is. i was not sure of it until now." altiera saw he had blundered in admitting that the girl was no longer in his hands; but while he considered how his mistake could be covered cliffe resumed: "it was a cunning plot, but you put it through clumsily, and you're going to find that kidnapping an american woman is a dangerous game for the president of a third-rate republic." "one must make allowances for the excited imagination of an anxious father," altiera answered with an indulgent smile. "i deny the plot. there is no need for one. we have a charming young lady left alone in a foreign town who finds waiting tedious and determines to join her relative. this is a simple and satisfactory explanation, without the other that she forms a romantic attachment for an officer of rank. we provide an escort because the country is disturbed, and part of the journey is accomplished. it is not safe for her to go farther, but she is rash, and, disregarding our advice, ventures too far from the house. then she loses her way and is perhaps seized by the rebels, with the object of embarrassing the government. we cannot be held responsible, but we are willing to attempt her rescue when we see an opportunity." the explanation was plausible, and could not be disproved until cliffe heard his daughter's account. but what he wanted was to find her. "the opportunity is now, before the rebels begin to move," he said. "you refuse to seize it?" "you understand why it is impossible. i cannot do anything that might plunge my country into a conflict, unless you show me some reason that would justify the risk." "i cannot give you such a reason." altiera shrugged. "it is for you to decide! we come to a deadlock; our negotiations break off." "very well," said cliffe. "i leave villa paz in an hour, and it wouldn't be wise of you to interfere with my movements. my business with you is known to people who have some political influence in the united states, and if i don't turn up in good time, inquiries will be made." he turned abruptly and went out. it seemed safer to move quickly, though he imagined the hint he had given altiera would prevent any attempt to stop him. the president had found a plausible excuse for evelyn's disappearance, but he would hesitate about detaining an american citizen whose friends could bring pressure to bear at washington. this supposition was borne out when cliffe found no trouble in hiring a guide and mules; but while he made the arrangements his brain was working. he would willingly have met the demand for money, only that altiera had incautiously admitted that he did not know where evelyn was. cliffe had acted on impulse in refusing to submit to further exaction, but calm reflection justified the course. having a deep distrust of the man, he thought he might take the money and then not undertake the search for the girl. cliffe determined to set about it himself and make a bid for the help of the revolutionaries. this would involve him in a serious loss, but that did not count. he must rescue his daughter, whatever it cost. then he remembered that the president had admitted having intercepted a message to him from the rebel leader. he had meant to insist on learning what it was about, but had somehow omitted to do so, and it was now too late to reopen the matter. there was, however, a ray of hope in the thought that sarmiento had tried to communicate with him. when his baggage had been strapped on a pack-mule, he mounted and rode out of villa paz as if making for valverde, but as soon as they had left the last of the houses behind he pulled up and quietly studied his guide. he was a sturdy, brown-faced peon, dressed in ragged white cotton, with raw-hide sandals and a colored blanket strapped round his shoulders, but he looked trustworthy. moreover, cliffe thought his willingness to assist a foreigner who was leaving the president's house without an escort, which must have shown that he had lost the autocrat's favor, had some significance. it was unfortunate that he could not speak much castilian, but he knew that money talks in a language that is generally understood. "i have changed my mind; we will not go to the coast," he said, stumbling over the words and helping out his meaning by pointing to the mountains. the peon nodded. "to me it is equal where the señor goes, so long as i am paid for the days we spend upon the road." "very well," said cliffe, taking out a handful of silver. "do you know don martin sarmiento?" the peon looked doubtful, and cliffe saw that, as he had suspected, the fellow had some dealings with the president's enemies. "don martin is known to many," he replied cautiously. cliffe jingled the silver and awkwardly explained that he was no longer a friend of the president's and wished to see sarmiento as soon as he could. for a time the muleteer did not speak; then he looked up with an air of decision. "it may be difficult, señor, but we will try," he said, and jerking the pack-mule's bridle abruptly left the road. they passed through a coffee plantation and a field of sugar-cane, and then as they reached thick forest the muleteer stopped and indicated the road that wound in loops down the hillside. "it is well the president should think we have gone that way," he remarked with a smile. "he has, no doubt, been told how we left the town." cliffe looked back across the wide sweep of sun-scorched country to the shining streak on the horizon. his path led into the mountains and he longed for the sea. then he thought of grahame and wondered where he was. cliffe felt sure the man would help him if he knew his need. he was beginning to suspect what business grahame had on the coast. he asked his guide about the _enchantress_, but the fellow did not seem to understand, and it was obvious that he had not heard of grahame. then cliffe urged his mule on and plunged into the steamy shade. two days later they rode into a deep gorge filled with giant, creeper-festooned trees, and the guide moved forward slowly, glancing into the shadow that shut in the winding track. it appeared that his caution was justified, for presently a hoarse voice bade them halt, and as they pulled up two men with rifles stepped out into the sunlight. for some time the muleteer disputed with them, using emphatic gestures and pointing to cliffe; and then he went on with one while the other sat down watching the american, with his rifle across his knees. it was very hot, for the sun struck down through an opening in the branches, but although the perspiration dripped from him cliffe did not think it wise to move. indeed, he was glad that his mule stood quiet, whisking off the flies. at last some one called in the forest and cliffe's guard told him to ride on, though the man followed at a short distance, as if to prevent his escape. a few hundred yards farther on, the gorge widened into a level hollow, and cliffe saw that he was in a camp. it was not marked by military order. men of various shades of color lay about, smoking cigarettes. some were barefooted, and most were poorly dressed, but all wore red sashes, and good rifles lay ready to their hands. they looked more like brigands than soldiers, and it was hard to imagine they had been drilled, but while their attitudes were slackly negligent, their faces were resolute. in the background, climbing forest, choked with fallen trees and trailing vines, rolled up the steep hillside. it was very hot, and the hum of insects mingled with the sound of drowsy voices. two men, better dressed than the others, came forward, and cliffe dismounted and followed them to a seat in the shadow, where they gave him some cigarettes. "now, señor, you will tell us why you came here," said one. cliffe had not expected to be addressed in good english, and he looked at the man with surprise. the spaniard smiled. "with us, the consequences of trying to serve one's country is that one finds it safer to live somewhere else. but we will keep to the point." "i am looking for don martin sarmiento," cliffe said. "i expect you know where he is." "that is so, but it would be difficult to reach him, and we leave this place to-night. in fact, it is hard to see what we ought to do with you, but it might help if you told us what your business is with don martin." "i guess you're surprised i should want to see him," cliffe remarked with some dryness. "it is natural," said the other. "we know you are a friend of the president's, and we suspect that you have been financing him. the money you gave him would be used to put us down." cliffe thought for a few moments. the man seemed a person of some consequence, and apparently commanded the band of rebels. his permission must be obtained before cliffe could proceed, and since he meant to ask don martin's help there was, perhaps, no cause for reticence. "very well," he said. "i will tell you why i am going to your leader." he related what had led to his quarrel with the president, and when he had finished, the man translated the narrative to his comrade. "it is fortunate, señor, you refused the loan, because you will never get the concessions; altiera's rule will be over in a day or two. but you believed him when he said he did not know where your daughter is?" "yes. he seemed to speak without thinking, and was sorry afterward." "then, as the señorita is not in his hands, she is probably in ours, but our forces are scattered, and at present we cannot make inquiries. however, i imagine you will find her quickest by remaining with us--and you will excuse my saying that it would not suit us to let you go. if you were seized by the president's soldiers, he might make some use of you. have i your promise that you will not try to escape?" although the man was courteous, cliffe thought an attempt to run away would lead to trouble, but this was not what decided him to stay. he had been bred to business, but now deep-rooted impulses were stirring. the president and gomez had cheated him, and he felt very sore about it, but they had, moreover, carried off and, no doubt, terrorized evelyn. the thought of this filled him with a fierce desire to get even with them. "señores," he said grimly, "you not only have my word not to attempt to escape but you have my pledge to help you in every way i can." "we start for rio frio to-night," the rebel answered in a significant tone. "good!" cliffe said, and glanced about at the little groups of determined looking men. "i'll confess i'm curious to know how you got such good rifles," he added. the rebel studied him keenly for a moment; and seemed satisfied. "a countryman of yours bought and landed them for us in small quantities." "grahame!" cliffe exclaimed, and laughed, for he found the situation ironically humorous. he liked grahame, and suspected that evelyn was interested in him; and now it was obvious that the man had helped the revolutionaries to ruin his plans. "i know him," he said. "as a matter of fact, he's an englishman." "at present he is gomez's prisoner. that is one reason we strike the first blow at rio frio." "ah! well, if you mean to rescue him, you can rely on my doing the best i can." the rebel changed the subject, but cliffe imagined he had gained his confidence. he was invited to the officers' frugal four o'clock dinner, and afterward sat talking with them while the shadows filled the hollow. although still anxious about evelyn, he felt less disturbed, and was sensible of a strange but pleasant thrill. feelings he thought he had long grown out of were reawakening; there would be no more trucking with the rogues who had cheated him and carried off his daughter. when they next met, he would demand satisfaction with a rifle in his hands. cliffe admitted that there was something rather absurd and barbarous in the pleasure the thought of the meeting afforded him, but, for all that, the adventure he was embarking on had a strong attraction. chapter xxviii the president's despatches the sun had set when walthew urged his worn-out mule up a narrow track that twisted along the hillside through thick timber. the evening was very dark, and thin mist drifted among the giant trees. creepers streamed down from their interlacing boughs, damp brush projected from the sides of the trail, and walthew growled savagely when he was buffeted by clusters of dewy leaves. his head ached, the perspiration dripped from his hot face, and he was sore in every limb, while he found the steamy atmosphere almost unbreathable. the cut on his head was healing, but after a long, forced march from the coast, he had at sunrise left the camp where he and the revolutionaries had spent the night. the country ahead was reported to be watched by the president's soldiers, and as the party was not strong enough to fight, they had separated, hoping to slip past the pickets singly and meet at a rendezvous agreed upon. walthew reached the spot without being molested, but although he waited for an hour nobody else arrived. it seemed possible, however, that he had mistaken the place, and he determined to push on to rio frio, trusting that his companions would rejoin him there. he had been told that as the president had dealings with foreigners he might be allowed to pass by any soldiers he fell in with when they saw he was an american. he was, however, still a long way from rio frio, his mule was exhausted, and he doubted if he were going the right way. there was nothing to be seen but shadowy trunks that loomed through the mist a yard or two off, and faint specks of phosphorescent light where the fireflies twinkled. rocking in his saddle with a painful jar, walthew thought that if the jaded beast stumbled again as badly it would come down, and he half decided to dismount. he felt that he would be safer on his feet; but the mule, recovering, turned abruptly without his guiding it, and a few moments later the darkness grew thinner. the trees now rose on one side in a dense, black mass, the ground was more level, and walthew saw that the animal had struck into a road that led through a clearing. he followed it, in the hope that there was a _hacienda_ near, and soon a light shone in the distance. the mule now needed no urging, and in a few minutes a building of some size loomed against the sky. walthew rode up to it, and as he reached the arched entrance to the _patio_ a man appeared, while another man moved softly behind him as if to cut off his retreat. "can i get a fresh mule here and perhaps something to eat?" he asked as carelessly as he could. "certainly, señor," said the man. "if you will get down, we will put the beast in the stable." walthew hesitated. there was no obvious reason why he should distrust the fellow, but he imagined that he had been watching for somebody coming down the road. the mule, however, was worn out, and he did not think he had much chance of escaping if treachery was intended. "very well," he said, dismounting, and when another man came up, he stumbled after the first into the passage. "you have ridden far, señor, and will enjoy a rest," his guide remarked. "one does not lose time by stopping for food on a long journey." walthew felt more suspicious. they were now near a lamp that hung in the arch, and although his companion was dressed like a peon his voice suggested some education. the feeling that his arrival had been expected was stronger, but it was too late to turn back and he went on, surreptitiously making sure that his automatic pistol was loose. he was taken across the _patio_, up an outside staircase, and along a balcony, where his guide opened a door. "the house is at your disposal," he said with spanish politeness, bowing to walthew to enter. the door was closed sharply and walthew wondered if he had been trapped as he cast a quick glance about. the room was large, badly lighted, and scantily furnished. two of its windows were open, but he remembered that they must be some distance from the ground. there seemed, however, to be no reason for alarm. at the far end of the room a table was laid for supper, and a girl and a priest sat near it. they rose as he came forward. walthew gasped. "_blanca!_" the girl seemed equally astonished. "señor walthew!" she exclaimed, and her tone indicated both perplexity and concern. walthew's clothes were gray with dust, his pose was slack with fatigue, and a dirty bandage covered his forehead. "you seem surprised," he managed to say; "i guess _i_ am." the gleam in his eyes showed the pleasure he felt. "i didn't expect to find you here." "but where do you come from?" "from the san lucar lagoon; traveled as fast as i could, but lost my companions in the bush. they belong to your party." the priest came forward and walthew recognized father agustin. "there has been a mistake," the priest said to blanca, and bowed to walthew. "you will excuse me; i have an order to give." walthew thought it had something to do with his arrival. he was no longer suspicious, but puzzled. he was among friends, but they had received him in a curious manner. he turned to blanca with a smile. "it looks as if i'm intruding, but i hope you won't turn me out." "oh, no," she said with a compassionate glance that thrilled him. "you seem ill and tired. are you hurt?" "not much; a scratch on my head. but are you safe here? they told us the woods were full of the president's soldiers." "we shall be gone at daybreak, and we have a guard." blanca paused and resumed with an air of relief: "it was fortunate you did not pass the house." "that's a sure thing," walthew agreed. "however, i guess i know what you mean. when i pulled up i fancied your friends were watching for me, and i'd have found the road blocked if i'd gone on. don't you think you had better tell me what it's all about?" blanca hesitated with some color in her face, but just then father agustin returned. "i have warned the men," he informed the girl. "señor walthew wishes to know what is going on," she said. "it might be better that he should know, and he is to be trusted; but you must decide whether you will tell him or not." blanca was silent for a moment, and then began in a rather strained voice: "we have a spy in the president's household, and word was sent us that a man would leave villa paz with some important despatches for gomez. we believe they contain instructions about what he must do when the fighting begins, but, to avoid suspicion, altiera is sending a foreign trader to whom he has given some privileges. we expect him to stop and change mules here, because the _hacienda_ belongs to one of the president's supporters." "i see!" said walthew. "he would not have carried the despatches past this house. but where is its owner?" "hiding at a _hacienda_ some distance off. he is a timid man, and we had him warned that the rebels were coming to burn the place. an hour after he left with his family we took possession." "but why did don martin send you?" walthew asked sharply. "hasn't he men enough?" blanca blushed and looked embarrassed, but the next moment she lifted her head with an air of pride. there was a sparkle in her deep blue eyes. "i am a patriot, señor, and ready to make a sacrifice for my country. we must seize the despatches, but we do not wish to use force on a foreigner, because this might lead to trouble. our plan was to change the papers for others and send the messenger on without his knowing that he had lost them. it would not be an easy matter----" "in short," father agustin interposed with some dryness, "the señorita thought she might succeed where a man would fail." the blood rushed to walthew's face, for he understood. blanca meant to use her personal charm to trick and rob the messenger. it seemed to him an outrage; but she fixed her eyes on him, and they had a haughty, challenging look. she was daring him to deny that the course she meant to take was warranted. he was furiously angry, but he tried to be just, and he knew that she would not go too far. "it seems you do not approve!" she said. walthew felt a thrill. in a sense, she had admitted that his good opinion was worth something; but he saw that he must be careful. she was proud and had the fiery spanish temperament. he might lose her by a hint of doubt. "no," he said, "i don't approve; but i can conquer my prejudices, as you must have done. it is hateful to think of a woman's doing such work, but one must admire the courage that has helped you to undertake it. i dare say the cause demands the sacrifice." the girl's expression softened, and she smiled as she turned to the priest. "do you not think señor walthew has answered well?" "it is obvious that he has tact, and i think he has feeling," said father agustin. "but has he not some news for us, perhaps?" "i have," said walthew. "i want your help." he began with the arrival of evelyn's message, and blanca started as if about to speak, but father agustin stopped her by a sign. her face grew intent as walthew told how they had driven the _enchantress_ before the gale, and her eyes sparkled when he deprecatingly related the struggle on the beach. "i think you have no reason to apologize," she said. "they must have sent a strong guard, and you tried to rescue your friend alone. miguel was right; there was nothing to be done by two or three men with knives." then she paused with a thoughtful look. "it seems you do not know that miss cliffe is safe with us." "it is a relief to learn that," walthew said with feeling. "since she was at rio frio when she sent the note, it is plain that gomez added the few lines that led you into the trap. but we must think how we can rescue mr. grahame. you suggest that the men who came with you from san lucar have no plans?" "no. they expected to gather a force on the way, but the peons had already gone off to join don martin. we meant to steal into rio frio and then see what could be done. all i know is that i'm not going back without my partner." "we may find a way to set him free, but it will need some thought," father agustin remarked. "when a thing looks difficult, force is not always the best means." "it doesn't seem likely to be of much use now," walthew gloomily agreed. "i'd six of your countrymen with me until i lost them, and we were told that gomez was filling rio frio with soldiers.... but how did you come to take a part in this affair?" father agustin's eyes twinkled. "i came as duenna. you were surprised when you heard what the señorita had undertaken, but it appeared that my presence might be something of a protection and, perhaps, a guarantee. one concludes that this did not strike you." walthew looked embarrassed, but father agustin smiled. "you look as if you need refreshment," he said. "we will have our supper now." when the meal was finished, father agustin kept walthew talking while blanca leaned back silently in her chair. her look was strained, and once walthew surprised her cautious glance at the clock. "i had forgotten the despatch-carrier," he said with some sharpness. "he doesn't seem to be coming." "there is another road; longer and at present dangerous," explained father agustin. "we have had it watched, but this is the obvious way for a messenger to take." "for all that," said walthew steadily, "i hope the fellow will choose the other." neither of them answered. blanca lay back in her chair; the priest sat with one elbow on the table, his cheek resting on his upturned palm. he was very tired. walthew studied him for a moment and then put his thoughts into words. "it is curious, father agustin, that whenever i have met you things began to happen." "it is possible. perhaps a priest is most needed where there is trouble, and my mission is not always peace. one looks forward to the time when lust and greed and cruelty shall no longer rule the hearts of men, but it has not come yet." walthew lighted the cigarette his host passed over to him. though father agustin had told him nothing new and his manner was by no means dramatic, he felt impressed. the quiet priest in his shabby cassock and clumsy, raw-hide shoes, had somehow a dominating personality. it was hard to tell what part he took in the revolution, but even if it were not directly active, walthew thought him a moral force that must be reckoned with. for a time nothing was said. there was no sound in the room except the ticking of the clock, and it seemed to walthew that the house had a deserted feeling; he imagined that there was nobody in it except themselves. he grew angry and pitiful by turns as he glanced at blanca. it was a hateful task she had been given, but he saw that she meant to carry it out. he wanted to get on, because grahame might be in danger, but he could not leave until the despatch-carrier came. one could trust father agustin, but walthew felt that he must be on hand. it got cooler, and a faint, earthy smell crept in through the windows. now and then the lamp flickered in a passing draught, and once or twice they forced themselves to talk, but the effort was obvious and the voices presently died away. after this the quietness became oppressive, and by degrees walthew grew drowsy. rousing himself, he felt ashamed as he glanced at the girl. she did not move, but her pose was tense, and he knew that she was watchful. he resented the craving for sleep when she was bearing a heavy strain, but he had traveled fast since he left the lagoon and his exhausted body demanded rest. he would not give in, and at last he started as a faint throbbing sound reached him from outside. it came from a long way off, but grew plainer, and he saw father agustin lean forward. then blanca stood up with a tinge of color in her face and a tightening of her lips. somebody was riding hard down the road. there was a shout and a sharp answer. for a few moments the three stood waiting with forced calm, and then a man hurriedly entered. "pepe is here, señor," he announced. "ah!" said father agustin quietly. "bring him in." he turned to walthew. "it is one of our men who watched the other road. something has gone wrong." walthew saw blanca's expression change. although she had meant to get the despatches, he knew she felt relieved. pepe entered. his face was wet with perspiration and he spoke with a breathless quickness that prevented walthew's following what he said. still, it was plain that his news was bad, for his manner was apologetic, and father agustin looked thoughtful. "wait outside; we may want you," he said and turned to walthew after dismissing the fellow. "the messenger must have been suspicious and our men have blundered. it was very dark and he came upon them suddenly. one was shot as he seized the mule and the messenger escaped before they could mount, but he was forced to turn back." "could he pass them by making a round?" "it is not likely. there is this road and the other, with thick forest between, and both are guarded. the man must wait for daylight, and i do not think he will reach rio frio. we may turn this to your advantage, but it needs thought." he sat down and lighted a cigarette, and walthew waited in silence until he looked up. "it is possible that gomez will offer your comrade his liberty in exchange for information he can use against don martin." "grahame will give him none," walthew answered emphatically. "then i imagine he is in some danger. you would take a risk to rescue him?" "of course!" "very well. gomez is waiting for instructions and probably knows that the messenger is a foreigner. i suggest that you impersonate him. the guards will let you pass, and gomez will, no doubt, receive you alone. then you must try to extort an order for your friend's release." "i'm a pretty good shot," said walthew meaningly. "i might get him covered before i begin." father agustin made a sign of impatience. "your best argument will be this--if you are detained for more than a few minutes, there will be a tumult in the town. gomez will hesitate about forcing a rising before he gets his orders. then as soon as you enter the house some of our people will find an excuse for loitering about the door. the soldiers are not well drilled; it might not be difficult to surprise and disarm the sentry, and then the house could be seized. for all that, there is a risk. success will depend upon your nerve and coolness." "i can't think of any better plan," said walthew. blanca gave him a quick glance, and he thrilled as he saw a hint of trouble in her face. he thought she was unwilling that he should run into danger, but the next moment her eyes sparkled. "it will work!" she said. "i am coming to help!" walthew made a sign of protest, but she would not let him speak. "i promised to get the despatches, and the messenger may arrive while you are with gomez. then somebody must make arrangements for the door to be watched, and i am known in rio frio. i can find trustworthy men." she raised her hand imperiously. "you need not object, señor. i am going!" walthew was forced to acquiesce, and an hour afterward they left the _hacienda_ and rode through the dark bush with two well-armed men behind them. chapter xxix the presidio the sun hung low in the western sky, with a peak of the black cordillera cutting its lower edge, and rio frio shone in the glaring light. seen from the road across the valley, the town had an ethereal look, for the tiers of square, white houses rose from a gulf of shadow and clustered upon the hillside, glimmering with a pearly luster, picked out by clumps of green. behind were barren slopes, deepening in color to dusky purple as they ran back to the foot of the mountain wall. walthew pulled up his mule and sat gazing at the town. he had been riding beside blanca, while father agustin and two others followed at some distance. "five minutes ago you could hardly see the place against the background and now it glows as if it were lighted up inside," he remarked. "looks more like an enchanted palace than a collection of adobe houses. one could imagine that some magician had suddenly conjured it up." "i'm afraid there's not much enchantment in rio frio," blanca answered. "it's very prosaic and rather dirty." "well, i don't know," said walthew, looking boldly at her. "i'm not given to romantic sentiment, but something very strange happened to me one night in your town. must have been glamour in the air, for i've been a changed man ever since. you wouldn't expect a matter-of-fact american, who was on the hunt for money, to trail round the country trying to act like garibaldi, unless he was bewitched." blanca smiled prettily. "you have, at least, chosen to follow a great example, señor." "i don't think i chose him," walthew returned dryly. "i'd have looked for somebody easier." "but you were free to give up the part if you found it too hard for you." "no; that's the trouble. i wasn't free." the girl knew that he was not talking at random to hide nervousness. there was an underlying gravity in his manner and she secretly thrilled to it. although he still wore the dirty bandage and was dusty and unkempt, she thought he had a very gallant air. his eyes were bright and intent, and his thin face was very resolute. the faint smile with which he regarded her somehow emphasized his determined, highstrung look. "señor," she said, "it is better to aim high. achievement is not everything; the effort counts, and it is a generous errand you go upon to-night. but we will talk of something else. look; there is the house where i spent the only happy years i can remember, until my father heard the call of duty once more and obeyed. higher up, you can see the green gap of the _alameda_; beyond it the church of san sebastian." she paused for a moment with a shiver. "the white line beneath it is the top of the _presidio_, where gomez lives. but the light fades quickly, and now, see--everything has gone." the sun had sunk behind the cordillera, and the white town, changing suddenly to gray, melted out of sight as the shadows rolled up the hillside. "you must see that it's enchanted," walthew remarked. "the magician has waved his wand and blotted it out." "it will shine again to-morrow," blanca answered in a quiet voice. "the shadows have long rested on this country of ours, but one looks for the dawn." the others were close behind them, but the party was smaller than it had been. ragged men with dark, determined faces had been picked up on the way, but it would excite suspicion if they entered rio frio in a body, and they had separated during the last hour. walthew did not know what their orders were, but he thought they would act upon some plan already made if he failed to secure grahame's release; and blanca presently bore this conclusion out. "you will not be left unsupported, but it will be better if you can make gomez set your comrade free without our help," she said. "we do not wish to strike the first blow to-night, but if it is needful, the _presidio_ will be attacked. gomez's position is like ours: he is not quite ready to force a conflict. you see how that strengthens your hand. he cannot altogether trust his soldiers, and a shot would rouse the town." her voice sounded rather strained as she concluded: "but if you are careful, the shot will not be fired. gomez is cruel, but he is a coward, and will give way if you use moral force." "it's a big thing," walthew answered thoughtfully. "still, i must put it over somehow. i have to get my partner out." darkness fell before they reached rio frio, and blanca stopped her mule on the outskirts of the town. "we must separate here," she said. "i do not think the entrance is carefully guarded, because it is not gomez's policy to admit that an attack is possible, but there may be spies, and a _rural_ or two on watch." she paused and held out her hand. "i wish you good fortune, señor, and i do not think your nerve will fail, but if the worst comes, we will not leave you in gomez's power." walthew, bending down, kissed her hand and then lifted his hat. "until i see you again, señorita," he said and quietly rode on. there was no moon and the air was still. the town rose before him, vague and shadowy, with a faint musky smell drifting out from it. as he reached the first of the houses, a wave of heat, rising from the rough pavement, surrounded him. the walls looked blank, for there were no lights behind the lattices, but a ray of brightness fell across the street a short distance in front. as he crossed the illuminated strip a man in white uniform stepped forward and seized his bridle. "who comes?" he asked, looking hard at walthew's face. "a messenger for the _secretario_." "pass, friend," said the other, letting go the bridle. walthew rode on, but checked the mule as soon as he was out of sight. it looked as if he had been expected, but he had been warned that he must give the revolutionaries time to communicate with their friends in the city. they might have some trouble in entering it, although he believed they meant to do so through the house of some sympathizer on the outskirts. when he turned a corner he stopped to listen, but heard nothing behind him, and the street in front was quiet. it seemed that nobody had been sent to announce his arrival, and he could proceed slowly without rousing suspicion. leaving the direct line, he wound in and out through narrow streets, the mule's shoes clanging on the hot stones. he passed one or two dimly lighted cafés where men, roused by the clatter, looked up, their figures showing indistinct about the small tables between the pillars. farther on, shadowy groups were sitting close together on the pavement, and though their voices were quiet they had somehow an air of excitement. men appeared and vanished in the gloom, moving softly and quickly, as if afraid of loitering. there was a mysterious hint of tension about all that walthew saw, and he felt his heart beat as he rode on. crossing the plaza, he dismounted at the hotel he had previously visited, and sent for the majordomo when the hostler grumbled something about the stable's being full. "you will remember me," he said. "i want to leave my mule here and perhaps spend the night." "i am sorry, but we have no room; there are a number of strangers in the town. they are not so full at the golden fleece." "i'd rather stay here if i have to wait until to-morrow," walthew answered. "you take care of the mules well, and i may have a long ride. then one puts up at a place one knows, with more--confidence." the majordomo looked hard at him. "we must try to make room, señor, since you have--confidence." "exactly," said walthew, smiling. "now i want the mule fed but not unsaddled. i may perhaps need it in an hour, and it would be an advantage if you could find me another." "it might be possible," the majordomo replied in a thoughtful tone. "still, there are spies about and they may watch this house. with permission, i will send the mule to ramon silva in the _calle pinastro_. he is a carrier, and it is known that he buys pack-animals; he will have both mules ready, if you ask for them with confidence." walthew thanked the man and set off for the _presidio_. it was a long, square-fronted building with a sentry-box at the entrance, and an untidy soldier sat smoking outside. another stood a little farther on in a slouching attitude, a rifle raking across his shoulder and his _kepis_ tilted to one side. discipline is seldom marked among spanish-american soldiers, but walthew was somewhat surprised to note that the fellow was bantering a group of loiterers. they were dressed like peons, and one carried a tray of sweetmeats and another a quantity of cigarettes, apparently for sale. as walthew passed, the former hurriedly moved his tray, as if to prevent its being upset. "be careful, señor!" he exclaimed, giving walthew a warning glance. walthew understood it. the men were not there by accident, and he saw that one was within leaping distance of the sentry. he knew that the spanish knife is almost as dangerous as the rifle at close quarters; and can, moreover, be thrown a short distance with effect. "i have a message for the _secretario_," he told the sentry with a careless air. the man let him pass, and he saw that he was expected when a dusky steward met him at the door. since the despatch-carrier was known to be a foreigner, it was easy to enter the _presidio_, but he wondered what would happen before he left. now that the dangerous game was about to begin, he clearly recognized the risk he ran. for all that, it looked as if he held the trump cards, and he hoped that he had nerve enough to play them well. pulling himself together, he followed his guide across the _patio_ and up an outer stair, until the man stopped and knocked at a door. "the messenger, señor," he announced. walthew held his breath until he heard the door shut behind him; then he turned to gomez, who had risen from his seat at a table. it was a small room and the table stood between the men. walthew felt his nerves tingle and his skin grow damp with perspiration as gomez looked at him. there was surprise in the secretary's face and he seemed puzzled, as if he were trying to revive a memory. "you are not the man we were told would come, but i think i have seen you somewhere," he said. walthew stood still, his hand in his jacket pocket, as if about to take the despatches from it. "the other messenger was detained, but we have met. i once dined at your table at the international, in havana." gomez gave him a quick, suspicious glance. "then there is something i do not understand, but it is not important now. you bring the president's orders?" "no; i bring this." he took his hand from his pocket and the barrel of an automatic pistol glinted in the light. gomez flinched, but recovered his calm with a quickness that showed walthew he had a dangerous antagonist. "push your chair back from that open drawer and then keep still!" he ordered. gomez obeyed, and walthew sat down on the edge of the table, where, if necessary, he could spring up more quickly than from a chair. besides, the position helped him to keep both gomez and the door in sight. "you are uselessly dramatic, señor," gomez remarked with a forced sneer. "you dare not use the pistol, and i am not to be frightened by so cheap a trick." walthew did not put down the weapon. "rather stale, but it has served its purpose by stopping you from calling out, and that's all i wanted to begin with. now i'm going to show you how we stand." "your position strikes me as very weak." "well," said walthew coolly, "i don't know. there are some chances in my favor." "not many, i think. a shot or a call from me would lead to your immediate arrest." walthew lowered the pistol. "i'm not going to shoot and you won't call. one of your sentries is smoking cigarettes, with a wiry liberator ready to put his knife into him, and something would happen to the other before he could throw up his rifle. then, a number of my friends are waiting to seize the gate." "what would they gain? they could not hold the building. in a few minutes the soldiers would arrive." "just so. still, they'd have a few minutes, and there's reason for believing they're not fond of you. then, i don't mean to be made a prisoner and, if i'm forced to, i'll shoot straight." this was not an idle threat. walthew's nerves were steady, and he felt a rancorous hatred of the man. he had been guilty of unspeakable cruelties, he had carried off an american girl, and he now had grahame in his power. walthew's face was pale, but his lips were firmly set, and there was an ominous gleam in his eyes. gomez began to grow uneasy. "however," walthew went on, "the important point is that the first shot starts the revolution. my friends won't have much trouble with the sentries at the door, but if your soldiers try to break in afterward, it will rouse the town. you may take this for granted, because you must see that i'd make sure of being supported outside before i ventured here." gomez pondered. the american's position was certainly strong. the lad was not a rash fool, and his having made the venture proved his statement about the likelihood of a revolution to be correct; moreover, gomez had other reasons for not questioning it. as he looked up, walthew made a warning gesture and gomez heard footsteps outside. "don't move!" said walthew in a low, tense voice. "if that fellow comes in it will make trouble for both of us. you'd better think how you're going to keep him out!" the secretary's lips twitched, but he sat motionless. the steps drew nearer, echoing down the passage; in another moment the man outside would reach the door. walthew held his breath; but the steps continued and passed. then they grew fainter, and walthew saw his antagonist's pose relax; the strain had told on him. gomez was weakening and the game was nearly won. "what do you want?" the secretary asked. "an order for grahame's release." "impossible! my signature would make me responsible to the president." "you'll take a bigger responsibility if you refuse; the men i left waiting will begin the trouble if i'm not outside very soon. you haven't got your master's orders yet, and the liberators have headed his messenger off. i guess you'll have to answer for it if you spoil his plans. remember you'll have to face a revolution unless you let grahame out." gomez was silent for a few moments and then made a sign of acquiescence. "very well," he said, and pulling his chair to the table began to write. then he gave walthew the paper. "are you satisfied?" "not quite," said walthew, glancing over the message. "ring for one of your men and send it off with this note." he handed both papers to gomez. "order him to deliver them at once!" when the man came in, walthew was sitting carelessly in a chair, as if nothing unusual had been going on. his right hand, however, was gripping the pistol in his jacket pocket. "i'll wait here for five minutes to give him a start. seems to me that would be safer," he said when the orderly had left them. he was relieved when he thought he could get up, for the strain had been heavy, and he was feeling rather limp, but he walked steadily to the door and did not quicken his steps until he reached the stairs. it was with tingling nerves that he came to the outer gate; but the sentries let him pass, and when he had gone a short distance, three or four peons who were hanging about turned and followed him. he was outside in the friendly darkness, but he had still to leave the town. chapter xxx the escape walthew waited for the peons, and then turned toward _calle pinastro_, where he had arranged to meet grahame. he had now three companions whom he thought he could trust, but they were unarmed, except for their knives. gomez had sent the order for grahame's release, but if he could rearrest him and seize walthew without causing a tumult, he would do so. they had only five or six minutes' start. it did not look as if they could get out of the town in time, and walthew felt fiercely impatient. for all that, he stopped at the corner of a street when one of the others touched him. there was a lighted café near by, and a girl stood on the pavement near its open front. she was dressed very plainly in white, with a dark shawl fastened round her head, like a peasant girl, but he felt a sudden thrill as she turned toward him. although he could not see her very well, he knew it was blanca. when he cautiously crossed the street she drew him back into the shadow, but he saw her look of relief. "you have succeeded!" she said softly. "where is mr. grahame?" "i am to meet him at ramon silva's." "you cannot go this way; there are two _rurales_ farther on. but it would be dangerous to turn back now." she put her hand on his arm, as if to detain him while she considered what to do, and walthew looked about, knowing that he could trust her knowledge of the town. the street was narrow and dark except where the light from the café shone across it. a few citizens sat round the small tables, and several shadowy figures loitered in the gloom outside. walthew thought they had come with the girl, but there was nothing in their attitude to suggest that they had any particular business in the neighborhood, and his own followers had stopped at the corner. suddenly a clatter of hoofs broke out. some one was riding fast toward them. walthew felt blanca's hand tighten warningly on his arm as she drew back a pace or two. the sound grew louder; there was a hoarse shout like a sentry's challenge, and an answer which walthew imagined satisfied the _rurales_ on guard; and then a mounted man rode into the stream of light. the mule was foul with sweat and dust, and a trickle of blood ran down its shoulder; the rider's face was pale and set. walthew's eyes rested on him for only a second, but he knew the fellow was english or american. there was an angry cry in the background, and a stealthy figure, outlined against a blank, white wall, crossed the street. the mounted man was obviously the president's messenger; but walthew, having seen his grim, tired look, and the way he drove the worn-out mule furiously down the street, felt a touch of half-admiring sympathy. after all, the fellow was white, and was gallantly doing what he had undertaken. a moment more and walthew saw something glisten in the hand of the stealthy figure that seemed ready to spring. he was only a yard away and, acting on impulse, he stumbled as if by accident and fell against the man. the knife dropped with a jingle, and the messenger dashed past, throwing walthew a quick glance as he went. an angry murmur broke out, and several of the loiterers closed in on walthew, while men left the café to see what was going on, and there were quick footsteps farther off in the gloom. remembering the need for haste and that grahame might be in danger, walthew half regretted his rashness, but as he wondered what to do blanca ran to his side. "the _rurales_ are coming!" she shouted; and the men about them vanished as she led him away. they turned a corner into a lane between dark houses. "why did you interfere?" she asked breathlessly. "i don't know. felt i had to," walthew answered with some embarrassment. "but you know who he is!" "yes; he's carrying the despatches. still, he looked played out and he had got through." "through your friends!" "i suppose so. it didn't seem to make much difference. guess i've been foolish." "you were generous, but generosity of that kind must be paid for," blanca answered in a hard tone. "it will cost our people something, and, now that gomez has got his orders, i don't know that we can leave the town." "grahame and i must find a way. but you'd be safer without us. i can't let you run into needless danger." blanca laughed. "do you think i would leave you to get into fresh difficulties? with a temperament like yours, you're not to be trusted alone." "i handled gomez pretty well," walthew boasted. "and you still wear the bandage he saw you with! is it safe to take it off?" "i'd forgotten it," he admitted. he threw the bandage into the lane with some annoyance, for the girl seemed amused, but she made no remark until they reached a quiet street. "well," she said, "perhaps i can excuse you to the others, who haven't deserted us. but we turn down here and you had better go a few yards in front." following the directions she gave him, he presently crossed a square and entered a street where a dim light burned. a man stood near it in a careless pose, smoking a cigarette, and walthew's heart beat fast as he saw him. "grahame!" he said; and the next moment he was shaking his comrade's hand. "got your note," said grahame. "thought i'd better wait here. silva can't let us have the mules." walthew understood his brevity: there was no time for questions and explanations. grahame took off his hat as blanca joined them. "i must see silva. wait in the shadow," she said, and moved quickly away. the men stood silent. they had much to say, but it would keep, and the means of escaping from the town occupied their minds. the street was deserted and seemed strangely quiet after the girl's footsteps died away, but indistinct cries came across the flat roofs as if something were happening. walthew looked about sharply in tense impatience, but could see nothing, and blanca did not return. at last, however, she came silently toward them through the gloom. "it is impossible for silva to give us the mules," she said. "the government has seized all he has, and two _rurales_ guard the stable." "then we must try to get away on foot," grahame replied. "would you be safer, señorita, if you got some of your friends to hide you?" "no," she said; "i must take my father some news i have picked up, and gomez will leave no place unsearched when he learns that i have been here. i think we shall be out of danger if we can reach a house i know." they went down the street, quickly but silently, and as they turned the corner a man sprang out from the gloom beside a wall and immediately afterward disappeared. a few moments later they heard a whistle, and blanca led the men into a narrow lane. "it is off our way, and we must run!" she said. she shook off walthew when he tried to take her arm; and they had gone some distance before they heard footsteps behind them. the pursuers did not seem to gain much ground, but when they slipped round a corner somebody shouted, and the girl sped across the square they had entered. a little farther on, they heard a heavier tread on the uneven stones. "_rurales!_" grahame whispered. blanca turned off quickly and led them through an archway into a street where there was a café, which, to walthew's surprise, she made for. the pursuers had not come out from the archway yet, and the party, falling into a slower pace before they reached the café, went in and sat down calmly at one of the tables. as usual, the front of the café was open to the pavement, separated from it by only a row of pillars. a few men sat inside and glanced curiously at the newcomers, but they made no remark. "a bottle of vermouth, as soon as you can!" grahame said to the landlord. the fellow gave him a quick glance, and then his eyes rested for a moment on the girl; but he did not delay, and was coming back with some glasses when several barefooted men and two others in uniform ran down the street. grahame had taken up a newspaper, but he watched them over it without turning his head; walthew pushed his chair back carelessly into the shadow; and blanca played with a gaudy fan. the men did not look into the café, but the landlord, after quietly filling the glasses, put down the bottle with a meaning smile. "they may come back," he said, and moved away. walthew was about to get up, but blanca coquettishly tapped him with her fan and, taking the hint, he sat still; they must drink some of the vermouth before they left. he drained his glass, and insisted on refilling the girl's. blanca protested laughingly, but grahame saw that she held her fan so that it hid her face from the other customers. she was playing her part well. still, he thought that walthew, knowing less of spanish conventions, did not understand how daring she was. when grahame's eyes rested on her she blushed and quickly turned her head. "it seems you have a number of supporters in the town," he remarked in a low voice. "yes," she said; "you are thinking of the landlord's hint. we hope at least half the people are on our side.... but we can venture out in a minute or two." she raised her glass, smiling at walthew, and then hummed a song until she got up and, standing in front of a dirty mirror, began to arrange the black mantilla that covered her head. her pose and movements were marked by rakish coquetry, and grahame saw they had deceived the loungers; but he noticed with a touch of dry amusement that walthew looked puzzled and not quite pleased. "now, señores," she said loudly in castilian, "you have had wine enough and must not keep me waiting." she went out in front of them, flaunting her fan, but when they reached the pavement her manner changed, and her voice was strained as she whispered: "follow me close, but quickly! there is no time to lose!" they were not molested as they crossed the town, but when they neared its outskirts, blanca left the road that led to the open country and plunged into a network of narrow streets. at last she stopped in front of a large but dilapidated looking house and, knocking twice, waited a few moments until her summons was answered. there was no light inside, and she exchanged a word with a half-seen person at the door before the party was admitted. the door was shut and bolted, and they were led into an inner room where a small lamp burned, and a woman with a frightened face confronted them. "the road is stopped, and you must go at once before the house is searched!" she said excitedly. "where are the others?" blanca asked. "they lost you and have gone on. you know where they will wait." blanca nodded and beckoned her companions; and they followed her and the woman to a window at the back. grahame tactfully sprang out first and was relieved to find himself outside the town, with a grove of trees that promised safe concealment not far ahead. he made his way toward them without looking round. walthew got out next, but as soon as he reached the ground he turned and held up his arms to blanca, who was sitting on the ledge. as she sprang down he caught her, and holding her fast kissed her ardently. his feeling of triumph banished all thought of their danger when he found that she did not resist. her eyes shone a deep, mystic blue, and she smiled as she slipped her arm round his neck for a moment before he set her down. without speaking, they hurried on after grahame. "we have about a mile to go," blanca said, when they reached him. she struck into a path that led them past clumps of trees, rows of neatly planted bushes, and fields of cane. it was a still, dark night on which a sound would carry far, but they heard no pursuit, and the town seemed quiet. at last a small building loomed up ahead, and blanca stopped beside it. "we should find the others here," she whispered. "but you wait. it would be better for them to see me first." they let her go, knowing that she would be easily recognized; but she came back a few moments later. "there is nobody about. perhaps they have gone on, because they had news from people in the town, or something may have happened to make them change their plans." sitting down outside the building, they began to consider what must be done. "we must go on without our mules," blanca said. "i have information that my father must get as soon as possible; but we may not be able to join him until to-morrow night. the road is the nearest way, but now that gomez has his orders he may have sent out soldiers to stop all travelers. besides, there are _rurales_ about." "then we'll take to the mountains," said walthew. he did not mean her to run a risk. "i guess they've disarmed grahame, and with one pistol among us we couldn't put up much of a fight." "there's another," blanca returned quietly. "i might let mr. grahame have it, if he is a good shot, but he must give it back to me; and, as time is important, we will take the road." she silenced walthew's objections and they set off, striking into a broad track some distance farther on. for a time, it wound, deep with dust that clung about their feet heavy with the dew, across a belt of cultivated land where indistinct, orderly rows of coffee bushes ran back from its edge. then it plunged into thick forest, where the soil was soft and the darkness impenetrable, and they stumbled along blindly, trying to feel their way. for all that, grahame was conscious of keen satisfaction as he breathed the warm, night air. heavy as it was, it seemed strangely invigorating after the foul atmosphere of the _carcel_ where he had been imprisoned, and it was something to walk at large again. walthew, however, felt anxious and limp. he had been highly strung for several hours, and he held himself responsible for the safety of the girl he loved. listening for sounds of pursuit, he tried to pierce the darkness in front, and started when a leaf rustled or some animal moved stealthily through the forest. he thought his footsteps rang down the branch-arched track alarmingly loud. they came out into barren, rolling country, where clumps of cactus and euphorbia grew in fantastic shapes. the track led upward, and it was obvious that blanca was getting tired. unless they are the wives of peons, spanish-american women do not lead an active life and, as a rule, limit their walks to an evening stroll in the plaza. for a while blanca leaned on walthew's arm, and he winced as he felt her limping movements, but at last she stopped. "i cannot go much farther, but there is a house near here," she said. "we can rest when we reach it." the house proved to be empty and in some disorder, suggesting that its occupants had hurriedly fled, but on searching it with a light they found some food, a little charcoal, and an iron cooking pot. blanca and walthew had made a long journey after their last meal and grahame had eaten nothing since his very plain breakfast at ten o'clock. following the girl's instructions, he lighted the charcoal and set the pot near the door while she prepared the food, but walthew lay down in the dust outside. he was physically tired, and now, when he imagined they were comparatively safe, he felt very slack and his mind was dull. for all that, he lay where he could see the road, and only moved his eyes from it when he glanced into the small adobe building. the charcoal made a faint red glow that forced up the face of the stooping girl out of the darkness and touched her skin with a coppery gleam. grahame knelt beside her, a dark, vaguely outlined figure, fanning the fire, and walthew felt half jealous that he should help. then he found himself getting drowsy, and, lighting a cigarette, he fixed his eyes resolutely on the road. all was very quiet, and there was not a movement anywhere. but blanca was not out of danger yet. chapter xxxi the american trader walthew was almost dozing, when he was startled by a sound that came out of the darkness. it was some distance off, but it had a regular beat in it, and when it grew louder he could not doubt that some one was riding fast up the road. "move the fire back--there's somebody coming!" he called quickly. "blanca, will you give grahame your pistol?" he used her name for the first time, and it thrilled him, but he had other things to think about. the faint glow of the charcoal vanished, and grahame came out and stood listening. "stay where you are and guard the door!" he said. "i'll drop behind that bush, and then if the fellow gets down we'll have him between us." throwing away a cigarette he was smoking, he vanished into the gloom, and walthew lay still with his heart beating fast. the drumming of hoofs grew slower as the rider climbed the hill before the house, but walthew could not see him until he dismounted and came up the path, leading his mule. it was some comfort to realize that they had only one man to deal with, but if he was a spy of the president's, he must not get away. walthew, lying at full length, quickly worked his elbow into the dust to steady his pistol hand. when the stranger was three or four yards away he stopped and looped the bridle round his arm. then he put his hand into his pocket, and walthew, with his nerves a-tingle, supposed that the man was searching for a match. in another moment he might have to shoot, and he held his breath as his finger tightened on the trigger. he heard the match scrape, a tiny flame flickered between the stranger's hands, and walthew started as he saw his face. it was the man who had carried the president's orders into rio frio. the light spread, falling on walthew's recumbent figure and sparkling on his pistol, but the messenger did not throw it down as the american had half expected. instead, he coolly held it up. "i see you have me covered," he said. "though it's a surprise to find you here, i'm not going to run away." walthew lowered his pistol. "very well. leave your mule and go into the house. will you tie up the animal, grahame?" "so there are two of you!" the man did as he was told, and walthew, following him, asked blanca to get a light. the girl had found a lamp which she placed on the ground, and the stranger looked at her sharply as she bent over it. nobody spoke until grahame came in. "are you alone?" he asked the messenger. "quite." "what's your name and business?" "carson, agent for the trading firm, henniker and gillatly." "where were you going and why did you come here?" carson turned to walthew, who had been wondering whether he recognized him. "i imagine this gentleman knows my business," he said. "he did me a service in rio frio which i'm glad to acknowledge. as a matter of fact, i stopped here to look for something to eat; the owner of this house is on the president's side. it's pretty plain, though, that he has cleared out. taking it all round, i haven't had much luck this trip." "who warned you not to call at the _hacienda_ perez?" blanca asked. "i don't know his name--he stopped me for a moment in the dark. i'm sorry i had to put one of your friends out of action, señorita, but i hadn't much choice, because he struck at me with his knife. for all that, i hope the man's not badly hurt." "we expect him to recover." "you seem to know this lady," walthew broke in. carson smiled. "i haven't had the pleasure of being presented, but i've seen miss sarmiento once or twice, and it would be strange if i forgot her." his easy good-humor disarmed walthew. "did you deliver the president's despatches?" he asked. "yes. to tell the truth, i was glad to get rid of them--and i imagine miss sarmiento acted wisely in leaving the town. now, however, i'm naturally curious to know what you mean to do with me." "will you give us your word not to tell any of the president's supporters that you have met us?" "i'll promise with pleasure. i feel that i've done enough in carrying his despatches." "very well," said grahame. "that clears the ground; but we must talk it over together." "thanks," carson said coolly. "i'm not pressed for time--and i notice that you have been cooking. i wonder if i might ask for some supper?" "all we have is at your service, señor," blanca answered with spanish politeness. "but we'd better put out the light." she extinguished the lamp, and they gathered round the cooking pot, the men sitting on the earth floor with the red glow of the burning charcoal on their faces. it could not be seen many yards away, and grahame's view commanded the path to the door. blanca divided the omelette she had made, and afterward gave them some black coffee and a bundle of cigarettes. "these are habaneros and should be good," she said. "as they belong to a friend of the president's we need not hesitate about using them." she sat down beside walthew, and they smoked in silence for a while. blanca was studying carson's face as it was lighted by the glow from the charcoal. "why did you help altiera?" she asked him suddenly. "commercial interest. he has given us one or two trading privileges. and he seemed to think i had a pretty good chance of getting through." "do you know what his orders to gomez were?" grahame had wondered when she meant to ask this, and had left it to her, feeling that she was more likely to catch the messenger off his guard. carson laughed. "honestly, i don't know; altiera isn't the man to take an outsider into his confidence." "still, you know something." "well," carson said quietly, "i'm sorry i must refuse to tell you my surmises. no doubt you'll understand my obstinacy." "aren't you rash, señor?" blanca asked in a meaning tone. "on the whole, i think not. of course, i'm in your hands, but as i've promised not to give you away, i expect these gentlemen won't take an unfair advantage of me. then, from what i know about don martin, i feel that i can trust his daughter." blanca smiled. "well," she said, "i suppose we must let you go. you are at liberty to leave us when you wish." grahame and walthew agreed, and carson shook hands with them. "it's evident that your only reason for stopping near rio frio is that miss sarmiento finds it impossible to walk any farther," he remarked. "she's welcome to my mule. gomez requisitioned it from a man called silva, who's suspected of sympathizing with your party. i believe i know where to find another animal." they thanked him and let him go; and soon after he vanished into the darkness, blanca mounted the mule and they set off again. pushing on until dawn, they found a small, deserted _hacienda_ standing back from the road, and as tall forest grew close up to it, offering a line of retreat, they decided to rest there. the mule looked jaded. blanca admitted that she could not go much farther, and walthew was obviously worn out. they could find nothing to eat; but there was some furniture in the house, and blanca found a place to sleep in one of the rooms, while the men lay down on a rug outside. the sun was now rising above the high cordillera and, wet with the dew as they were, they enjoyed the warmth. a few lizards crept about the wall in front of them, and an archway near by commanded a view of the road. the building was in good order, and had apparently been abandoned on the approach of the president's soldiers. "these people know what to expect; they must have been ready to light out," walthew remarked. "i rather liked that fellow carson, but it's curious he didn't ask us anything about our business." "he'd take it for granted that we had an active part in the revolution." "no doubt the señorita's being with us would suggest something of the kind, but he seemed surprised at first," walthew replied with a thoughtful air. "for all that, i can't quite see----" "no," said grahame; "i don't think you altogether understand the situation yet. i suppose you mean to marry miss sarmiento?" "certainly, if she'll have me," walthew answered with firmness, though he looked at his comrade as if he expected something more. grahame smiled. "then you're to be congratulated, because you won't have much trouble in getting your wish." "what do you mean?" walthew's tone was sharp, but he remembered an incident during his escape from the town. "i'll admit i wasn't quite hopeless, but we were both in danger----" he broke off, and grahame regarded him with a friendly laugh. "you're modest--and you're more ignorant of spanish customs than i thought. however, i'd better explain, so you'll know how don martin will look at it. to begin with, a well-brought-up girl is never permitted to meet a man unless she is suitably escorted by an older member of the family, and you have been wandering about with miss sarmiento for two or three days. now you can understand why carson was surprised, and i noticed he was uncertain how to address miss sarmiento at first. she noticed his hesitation, though you did not." for some moments walthew was silent, his brows knitted. "no, i never thought of it," he admitted. "but we'll say no more about it until i've seen don martin. besides, there's another matter. a fellow who joined us at the lagoon gave me a letter for you. sorry i forgot it until now, but i had a good deal to think about." "i don't suppose it's important," grahame replied, and lighted a cigarette before opening the envelope with an english stamp. then his expression changed, and a few moments afterward he let the letter drop and sat very still. the cigarette went out, the hot sun shone upon his uncovered head, and a lizard ran across his leg; but he did not move. he seemed lost in thought. walthew, watching with puzzled sympathy, waited for him to speak. "this letter has been a long time on the way," he explained at last. "it probably had to wait at our havana address, and then don martin's people had no opportunity to deliver it." "but what's the news?" walthew asked. grahame answered with a strained laugh. "in a sense, it's rather a grim joke. while i've been risking my life for a few dollars' profit on smuggled guns, and practicing the sternest self-denial, it seems i've been the owner of an old border estate." "ah!" said walthew. "then calder hall now belongs to you?" "what do you know about calder hall?" "i've known all about it for some time, and i'm very glad. but i understand that you didn't expect to inherit the estate." "no; it seemed impossible. i won't trouble you with family particulars, but two deaths have occurred in a very short time. the last owner was no older than i am and married, but his only child is a girl, and he was killed while hunting. although he was my cousin, i've rarely seen him." he was silent again for some minutes, his mind busy with alluring visions. he had long struggled with poverty, and had wandered about the world engaging in reckless adventures, but he had inherited a love for the old home of his race; and now it was his. but this, while counting for much, was not the main thing. he had been strongly attracted by evelyn cliffe, but, recognizing his disadvantages, he had tried hard to hold in check the love for her which grew in spite of him. the obstacles that had bulked so large were now removed. he was free to win her if he could, and it was comforting to remember that in her urgent need she had sent for him. but he had work to finish first. "i suppose you mean to start home as soon as you can?" walthew suggested. "no," grahame answered quietly, "i'm not going yet. for one thing, we have taken don martin's money, and now that he has to meet a crisis we can't leave him in the lurch. besides, one day at san lucar, we promised some of the leaders of the movement that we'd see them through." it was a good reason. grahame was not the man to do a shabby thing, but walthew, remembering that evelyn was with the rebels, thought his comrade had a stronger motive for staying. "well," he agreed, "i guess that's so. anyway, the game can't last much longer; they'll have to use our guns in the next few days." "yes; and as we don't know what part we'll have in it, you'd better get some rest. i'll keep watch a while." walthew was glad of the opportunity to sleep; and grahame, moving back into the shadow as the sun got hot, sat still, with his mind busy and his eyes fixed upon the road. at noon blanca came out of the house and stood looking down at walthew with a compassionate gentleness that she did not try to hide. the half-healed cut showed plainly on his forehead, his brown face looked worn, and he lay in an attitude of deep weariness. "it is a pity to wake him, but we must start," she said, and indicated the scar. "i suppose you can guess that he has borne something, and he got that wound for you." "i'm not likely to forget it," grahame answered quietly. "no," blanca said with a curious smile. "you do not make many protestations, you men of the north, but one can trust you." she stooped and touched walthew gently. "it is noon and we must go." her voice was quiet, but walthew seemed to know it in his sleep, for he sprang to his feet with a half-ashamed air. "i didn't mean to sleep so long," he said, and looked at blanca anxiously. "have you rested enough? are you quite fit to travel?" blanca smiled; and when walthew brought up the mule and helped her to mount she noticed something new in his manner. hitherto, it had been marked by a certain diffidence, but now this had gone. he was assiduously careful of her, but with a hint of proprietary right. something had happened since she had last seen him to account for the change. she gave grahame a searching glance, but his face was impassive. they set off, walthew walking beside the mule, but it was to grahame that the girl spoke as they moved slowly forward in the scorching heat. he thought he understood, and his eyes twinkled with amusement when she was not looking. blanca suspected him, and she did not mean walthew to take too much for granted. chapter xxxii love's vision it was late when walthew led blanca's mule through the rebel camp to the table under a tree where don martin sat writing. there was a half moon in the sky, and as they passed between the rows of motionless, dark figures stretched on the ground, here and there an upturned face caught the light and shone a livid white. in places a sentry's form was silhouetted, vague and black, against the sky, but except for this all was wrapped in puzzling shadow, and silence brooded over the camp. one of don martin's staff sat beside the table, smoking a cigarette, another lay asleep near by, but a small lamp burned steadily near the leader's hand, lighting up his grave face against the gloom. he put down his pen and waited when walthew stopped the mule and helped the girl to dismount. "i have had the honor of escorting the señorita from rio frio, where with her help i got my partner out of the _carcel_," he said. "yes," don martin returned in a quiet voice, "i have heard something of this. i am told that you met my daughter at the _hacienda_ perez. was it by accident?" walthew, remembering grahame's remarks on the subject, felt embarrassed, for the steadiness of don martin's glance was significant. "certainly!" he answered. "i had never heard of the _hacienda_ before i reached it. for all that, i would not have kept away if i had known the señorita was there." "one must acknowledge your frankness," don martin remarked. "well, what happened afterward?" walthew looked at blanca, but she seemed to be smiling as she unfolded her fan, and he began a brief account of their adventures. "and your comrade is with you?" asked don martin. "i was told of his escape, but you have been some time on the way. our friends who lost you in rio frio arrived this morning." blanca laughed. "i cannot walk like a peon," she explained. "but you came on a mule!" "we had gone some distance when carson, the trader, lent it to us." walthew had not mentioned their meeting with the president's messenger, and don martin looked surprised. "carson!" he exclaimed. "if i did not believe mr. grahame was a man of honor, i should not know what to think." "mr. walthew also is a man of honor," blanca retorted in a meaning tone. "but i have news which you must hear at once." don martin turned to walthew. "you will give me a few minutes; then i will see you again." taking this as a dismissal, walthew went back to where grahame was waiting and smoked a cigarette with him. soon after he had finished it, a drowsy soldier beckoned him and he returned to sarmiento. when he reached the table blanca had gone. "señor," he said, "i have a favor to ask; but the accident that i was thrown into miss sarmiento's company at the _hacienda_ and rio frio has nothing to do with it. you must understand that. i want your consent to my marriage to your daughter." "ah!" said don martin. "you have learned that she is willing?" walthew felt half guilty when he thought of the kiss beneath the window-sill, but he looked at don martin steadily. "i thought it better to follow your customs," he explained. "blanca does not know i meant to ask you. but i want to say that my mind has been made up for some time. it was for her sake that i determined to stay on the coast and give you all the help i could." there was a gleam of amusement in don martin's eyes. "then my daughter gained us a useful ally. but, so far, you have spoken for yourself. what about your parents? blanca sarmiento is not an american." walthew hesitated for a moment. "they may feel some surprise, but i believe it will vanish when they have seen her; and i choose my wife to please myself. i think i have means enough to make my way without any help, though i haven't a great deal." "how much?" sarmiento nodded when walthew told him. "it is enough; you would be thought a rich man in this country. still, i would prefer to have your father's consent. it is our custom that a marriage should be arranged with the approval of both families." "but you are a progressive and don't count much on customs. i understand that you mean to cut out all those that stop your people from going ahead." "it is true to some extent," don martin admitted with a smile. "for all that, one may believe in progress in the abstract, and yet hesitate about making risky experiments that touch one's own family. however, if blanca is willing, i can trust her to you." "i'll try to deserve your confidence," walthew answered, and added with a naïvely thoughtful air: "my people will come round; the only thing they'll insist on is that i enter the family business, and that's going to be easier than i thought." "why did you refuse in the beginning?" "it's rather hard to explain. i wanted to get into touch with realities, to learn what i was good for and find my proper level." sarmiento made a sign of comprehension. "and in searching for what you call realities, you have found yourself." walthew recognized the truth of this. it was not that in facing danger and hardship he had gained steadiness and self-control, because he had never lacked courage, but he had acquired a clearer conception of essential things. he would no longer be content to accept thoughtlessly the conventional view. his comrade had taught him much by his coolness in time of strain and his stubborn tenacity when things went wrong. it was not for nothing that grahame had hawk-like eyes: he had the gift of seeing what must be done. but, after all, it was from hardship itself that walthew had learned most, and in the light of that knowledge he determined to go home. the work he was best fitted for was waiting in the smoky, industrial town; it was not the task he had longed for, but it was his, and he would be content now. don martin smiled. "you may try to persuade blanca to go with you to your country, if you wish. i want a talk with your comrade now. will you send him to me?" walthew left him with a light heart, and shortly afterward grahame joined don martin. "señor," said the leader, "you have kept your agreement with us faithfully, and i do not know that we have any further claim, but i understand that you do not mean to leave us yet." "no," grahame replied quietly; "i shall see you through." "good! another body of our friends is gathering at a village to which i will send you with a guide. they are well armed and determined. i offer you command." "where is the señorita cliffe?" grahame wanted to know. "at a _hacienda_ two or three hours' ride back. she is in good hands, and at daybreak my daughter leaves to join her." grahame was sensible of keen disappointment. "when do you wish me to start?" he asked. "as soon as possible; but you'd better take an hour's rest." "i'm ready now if you will give me my orders." when, a few minutes later, he rode away with the guide, walthew and blanca left the camp and followed a path that led through a field of rustling sugar-cane. "we must not go far," blanca protested. "this is quite against my people's idea of what is correct." "it's a sign of the change you're going to make for me. you might have been something like a princess here, and you'll be the wife of a plain american citizen, instead." "i never wanted to be a princess," she said; "and certainly not a conspirator. all i really hoped for was one faithful subject." "you have one whose loyalty won't change. but you mustn't expect too much, because i'm giving up my adventurous career and turning business man. men like bolivar and the other fellow you wanted me to copy aren't born every day--and i'm not sure we'd appreciate them if they were." blanca laughed. "you are a pessimist, but i will tell you a secret. it needs courage to be the wife of a great soldier and i am not brave enough." her voice fell to a low, caressing note. "one's heart shrinks from sending the man one loves into danger." walthew stopped in the path and faced the girl. she was smiling. the half-moon, now high overhead, shed its beams down in a weird light that lay over everything like a mantle of blue silver. all about them the tall cane whispered in the wind. walthew opened his arms, and blanca cuddled to him. "it is so wonderful!" he breathed, after the first long kiss. "so wonderful that you are really going back to the states with me!" "you are not going back the same," she smiled up at him; and he stooped and kissed the smile. "----you have seen the vision," she finished; "romance has touched you." "it was you who opened my eyes. perhaps now they are dazzled; but we will never let the vision quite fade. romance shall spread her bright wings above the home i'm going to build you on the river bluff----" again he found her mouth, and drank deep. the silence was broken by a rattle of leather and a jingle of steel that startled them, and as they turned quickly and walked up the path a dark figure rose out of the gloom ahead and stood before them, sinister and threatening. when walthew had answered the sentry's challenge, blanca shivered. "i had forgotten for a few minutes," she said. "rio frio is not taken yet, and you must fight for us." "for two or three days, if all goes well. it can't be a long struggle. rio frio is bound to fall." blanca clung closer to him. "i cannot keep you," she said; "but how i wish the days were over! there is nothing of the princess in me; i am only an anxious girl." chapter xxxiii the hero of rio frio day was breaking when cliffe saw rio frio loom out above low-lying mist. there was no perceptible light in the sky, but the scattered clumps of trees were growing blacker and more distinct, and the town began to stand out against a dusky background. it had an unsubstantial look, as if it might suddenly fade away, and cliffe felt that he was doing something fantastic and unreal as he watched the blurred forms of his companions move on. to some extent, want of sleep and weariness accounted for this, because he had marched all night, but the silence with which the rebels advanced helped the illusion. a number of them were barefooted and the raw-hide sandals of the others made no sound in the thick dust. cliffe marched near the head of the straggling battalion, a cartridge-belt round his waist and a rifle on his shoulder. his light clothes were damp and stained with soil. his costly panama hat hung, crumpled and shapeless, about his head, and he did not differ much in external appearance from the men around him. they were a picturesque, undisciplined band, but cliffe knew that they meant business. he recognized that there was something humorous about his marching with them. he belonged to the orderly cities, where he had been treated as a man of importance, but now he was swayed by primitive impulses and had cast off the habits of civilization. the rebel leader had promised to make inquiries about evelyn, but had learned nothing. cliffe imagined that the man, having other things to think about, had not been very diligent. he held gomez accountable for the distress he felt. the rogue had cheated him and stolen his daughter. cliffe sternly determined that he should pay for it. gomez, however, was in rio frio and, since he could not be reached by other means, cliffe was ready to fight his way into the town. the curious thing was that instead of finding the prospect disagreeable he was conscious of a certain fierce satisfaction. the commander of the detachment had treated him well, but his limited knowledge of castilian had made it necessary that he should take his place in the ranks. the leading files halted, and from their disjointed remarks cliffe gathered that a picket of the enemy's had been surprised by the scouts. he had heard no shots, but he could imagine the dark-skinned men, many of whom had indian blood in them, crawling silently through the long grass with unsheathed knives. it was not a pleasant picture; but the road was clear. the light was growing when they went on, moving faster. the need for haste was obvious. as they were not numerous, they must enter the town while darkness covered their approach, and they were late. another detachment should have met them, but it had not arrived. on the whole, cliffe did not think their chances good, but that did not daunt him, and he trudged on with the rest, the dust rolling like a fog about his head. after a while the advance split up into two streams of hurrying men, and, going with one body, cliffe saw the flat-topped houses near ahead. stumbling among small bushes, and gazing between the shoulders of the men in front, he made out a shadowy opening in the line of buildings. a few minutes later the clatter of sandals rose from slippery stones, there were blank walls about him, and he was in the town. it was hard to believe they had entered unopposed, without a shot being fired, but he supposed the guard had been surprised and overpowered by friends inside. the backs of the leading files obstructed his view, but now that they were moving down a narrow lane the air throbbed with the sound of their advance. rifle slings rattled, feet fell with a rapid beat, and now and then an order broke through the jingle of steel. then a shot rang out and the men began to run, two or three falling out here and there, with the intention, cliffe supposed, of occupying friendly houses. a little later, the advance guard swung out into a wider street, and a group of men began tearing up the pavement; it had been loosened beforehand, and the stones came up easily. another group were throwing furniture out of the houses. they worked frantically, though they were fired at, and cliffe could hear the bullets splash upon the stones. for the most part, the men were wiry peons, some toiling half naked, but there were a number who looked like prosperous citizens. the light, however, was dim and they were hard to distinguish as they flitted to and fro with their loads or plied the shovel. a barricade was rising fast, but the alarm had spread. detached shouts and a confused uproar rolled across the town, the call of bugles joined in, and the sharp clang of the rifles grew more frequent. cliffe could see no smoke, but he imagined that the roofs farther on were occupied by the troops gomez was no doubt hurrying into action. the attack had obviously been well timed and arranged with the coöperation of revolutionaries in the town, but while the rebels had gained an entrance, they seemed unable to follow up their success, and it remained to be seen if they could hold their ground until reënforcements arrived. finding no opportunity for doing anything useful, cliffe sat down on the pavement and lighted a cigarette. he did not feel the nervousness he had expected, but he was tired and hungry. it was four o'clock on the previous afternoon when he shared the officers' frugal dinner, and he had eaten nothing since. there was no use in speculating about what was likely to happen in the next few hours, but he meant to have a reckoning with gomez if he came through alive. then, as he watched the blurred figures swarming like ants about the barricade, he broke into a dry smile, for the situation had an ironically humorous side. he had thought himself a sober, business man; and now he was helping a horde of frenzied rebels to overthrow the government he had supported with large sums of money. this was a novelty in the way of finance. moreover, it was strange that he should derive a quiet satisfaction from the touch of the rifle balanced across his knees. he was better used to the scatter-gun, and did not altogether understand the sights, but he was determined to shoot as well as he could. an opportunity was soon offered him. some one gave an order, and after some pushing and jostling he squeezed himself between the legs of a table on the top of the barricade. a ragged desperado, who scowled furiously and used what seemed to be violently abusive language, had contested the position with him, and it struck cliffe as remarkable that he should have taken so much trouble to secure a post where he might get shot. he was there, however, and thought he could make pretty good shooting up to a couple hundred yards. he had got comfortably settled, with his left elbow braced against a ledge to support the rifle, when a body of men in white uniform appeared at the other end of the street. an officer with sword drawn marched at their head, but they did not seem anxious to press forward, or to be moving in very regular order. the distances were uneven, and some of the men straggled toward the side of the street, where it was darker close to the walls. cliffe sympathized with them, although he felt steadier than he had thought possible. a rifle flashed on a roof and others answered from the barricade, but only a thin streak of gray vapor that vanished almost immediately marked the firing. it looked as if the rebels had obtained good powder. after a few moments cliffe heard a shrill humming close above his head, and there was a crash as a man behind him fell backward. then he felt his rifle jump and jar his shoulder, though he was not otherwise conscious that he had fired. he must have pulled the trigger by instinct, but he did not try to ascertain the result of his shot. he had not come to that yet. there was a sharp patter on the front of the barricade and splinters sprang from the table legs. some one near cliffe cried out, and the patter went on. raising his head cautiously, he saw that a number of soldiers were firing from the roofs, while the rest ran steadily up the street. they must be stopped. dropping his chin upon the stock, he stiffened his arms and held his breath as he squeezed the trigger. after this, he was too busy to retain a clear impression of what happened. his rifle jumped and jarred until it got hot, his shoulder felt sore, and he found he must pull round his cartridge-belt because the nearer clips were empty. he did not know how the fight was going; the separate advancing figures he gazed at through the notch of the rear sight monopolized his attention, but there was thin smoke and dust about, and he could not see them well. it seemed curious that they had not reached the barricade, and he felt angry with them for keeping him in suspense. then the firing gradually slackened and died away. everything seemed strangely quiet, except that men were running back down the street in disorder. the rebels had held their ground; the attack had failed. after a few moments, he noticed that the sun shone down between the houses and it was getting hot. he felt thirsty, and the glare hurt his eyes, which smarted with the dust and acrid vapor that hung about the spot. all the soldiers, however, had not gone back; several lay in strange, slack attitudes near the front of the barricade, and a rebel who sprang down, perhaps with the object of securing fresh cartridges, suddenly dropped. the rest lay close and left the fallen alone. then a tall priest in threadbare cassock and clumsy raw-hide shoes came out of a house and with the help of two or three others carried the victims inside. cliffe heard somebody say that it was father agustin. soon afterward a man near cliffe gave him a cigarette, and he smoked it, although his mouth was dry and the tobacco had a bitter taste. the heat was getting worse and his head began to ache, but he was busy wondering what would happen next. gomez must have more troops than the handful he had sent; the rebels could not hold the position against a strong force, and their supports had not arrived. he hoped gomez had no machine-guns. suddenly the attack recommenced. there were more soldiers, and a rattle of firing that broke out farther up the street suggested that the revolutionaries were being attacked in flank. some of the men seemed to hesitate and began to look behind them, but they got steadier when an officer called out; and cliffe understood that a detachment had been sent back to protect their rear. in the meantime, the soldiers in front were coming on. they were slouching, untidy fellows, but their brown faces were savage, and cliffe knew they meant to get in. it was, however, his business to keep them out, and he fired as fast as he could load. when the barrel got so hot that he could hardly touch it, he paused to cool the open breach and anxiously looked about. the street seemed filled with white figures, but they had opened out, and in the gaps he could see the dazzling stones over which the hot air danced. there was a gleam of bright steel in the sun, and he noticed that the walls were scarred. raw spots marked where the chipped whitewash had fallen off and the adobe showed through. but there was no time to observe these things; the foremost men were dangerously near. finding he could now hold his rifle, cliffe snapped in a cartridge and closed the breach. then he spent a few tense minutes. the enemy reached the foot of the barrier and climbed up. rifles flashed from roofs and windows, streaks of flame rippled along the top of the barricade, and one or two of the defenders, perhaps stung by smarting wounds or maddened by excitement, leaped down with clubbed weapons and disappeared. cliffe kept his place between the table legs and pulled round his cartridge-belt. the tension could not last. flesh and blood could not stand it. he understood why the men had leaped down, courting death. he hoped his own nerve was normally good, but if the struggle was not decided soon, he could not answer for himself. he must escape from the strain somehow, if he had to charge the attackers with an empty rifle. there was a sudden change. the climbing white figures seemed to melt away, and though the rifles still clanged from roofs and windows the firing slackened along the barricade. the troops were going back, running not retiring, and trying to break into houses from which men with rude weapons thrust them out. it looked as if the inhabitants were all insurgents now. soon the priest reappeared, and cliffe left his post and sat down where there was a strip of shade. he had helped to beat off two attacks, but he was doubtful about the third. while he rested, a fat, swarthy woman brought him a cup of _caña_, and he was surprised when he saw how much of the fiery spirit he had drunk. the woman smiled, and went on to the next man with the cup. cliffe wondered how long he had been fighting, for he found his watch had stopped; but the sun was not high yet. after all, the reënforcements he had begun to despair of might arrive in time. while he comforted himself with this reflection, some of the other men dug a trench behind the barricade, and citizens, loading the earth into baskets, carried it off. cliffe did not know what this was for, but he supposed the baskets would be used to strengthen defenses somewhere else. it was a long time since he had handled a spade, but if they needed his help he could dig. pulling himself up with an effort, he took a tool from a breathless man and set to work. after a time a citizen appeared with a bundle of papers and a white flag. an officer signed him to come forward, and taking the papers from him threw them among the men. cliffe got one, and finding a man who spoke a little english, asked him what the notice meant. the man said it was a proclamation by gomez, stating that, as the people had serious ground for dissatisfaction with the president's administration and were determined to end it, he must accede to the wish of the leading citizens, who had urged him to form a provisional government. he promised a general amnesty for past offenses and the prompt redress of all grievances. "so the dog turns on his master!" the translator remarked with bitter scorn. "altiera was a tyrant, but this rogue would be worse!" the insurgent leader, standing on top of the barricade, read the proclamation in a loud, ironical voice, and when he tore it up with a dramatic gesture, the roar of mocking laughter that rang down the street showed what all who heard it thought of gomez's claim. then people ran out of the houses and pelted the messenger with stones as he hurriedly retired, until a few shots from a roof cleared the street. "the dog has bought the soldiers! altiera should have been his own paymaster," the man whom cliffe had questioned remarked. for the next half hour everything was quiet, but cliffe felt uneasy. one could not tell what gomez was doing, but it was plain that he must make a resolute attempt to crush the rebels before he turned his forces against the president. he must have felt reasonably sure of his ground when he made his last daring move. as his terms had been scornfully rejected, the country would soon be devastated by three hostile factions, which would make evelyn's danger very grave. cliffe forgot that he was thirsty and there was a pain in his left side brought on by want of food. if help did not come by sunset, his friends would be overwhelmed by numbers when it was too dark to shoot straight. then he saw that they were threatened by a more urgent danger. the end of the street opened into the plaza, which had been deserted. the houses on its opposite side were shuttered, and the sun burned down into the dazzling square, except for a strip of shadow beneath one white wall. now, however, a body of men appeared, carrying something across the uneven pavement. when they stopped and began to put the separate parts together, cliffe saw that it was a machine-gun. he wondered why gomez had not made use of it earlier, unless, perhaps, it had formed the main defense of the _presidio_. the barrel, thickened by its water jacket, gleamed ominously in front of the steel shield as the men got the gun into position; but it was unthinkable that they should be left to do so undisturbed, and cliffe scrambled back to his post when an order rang out. he felt that he hated the venomous machine, which had perhaps been bought with his money. steadying his rifle, he fired as fast as he could. though the smoke was thin, it hung about the rebels' position, making it hard to see, and cliffe feared their shots were going wide, but after a few moments the barricade trembled, and there was a curious, whirring sound above his head. dust and splinters of stone were flung up, and large flakes fell from the neighboring walls. all this seemed to happen at once, before he was conscious of a measured thudding like a big hammer falling very fast which drowned the reports of the rifles and dominated everything. the flimsy defenses were pierced. gaps began to open here and there, and men dropped back into the trench. then a fierce yell rang across the city, and although cliffe heard no order the rebel fire slackened. peering through the vapor, he saw the soldiers were frantically dragging the gun into a new position; the shield no longer hid the men at the breach, but cliffe did not shoot. he felt paralyzed as he watched to see what was happening. the hammering began again, and flashes that looked pale in the sunshine leapt about the muzzle of the gun. soldiers lying down behind it were using their rifles, and another detachment hurriedly came up. cliffe's view of the plaza was limited. he could not see one side of it, where an attack was evidently being made, but presently a mob of running men swept into sight. a few dropped upon the pavement and began to fire, but the main body ran straight for the gun, and he noticed with a thrill that they were led by a light-skinned man. some of them fell, but the rest went on, and the rebels behind the barricade began to shout. the eagerly expected reënforcements had arrived. the man with the fair skin was the first to reach the gun. cliffe saw his pistol flash; but the struggle did not last. gomez's men fell back and the others swung round the gun. then, as flame blazed from its muzzle, a triumphant yell rose from the barricade, and cliffe, springing up on the table, waved his hat and shouted with the rest. grahame, with his handful of peons, had saved the day. in a few seconds cliffe felt dizzy. his head was unsteady, his knees seemed weak, and as he tried to get down he lost his balance. falling from the top of the barricade, he plunged heavily into the trench, where his senses left him. it was some time afterward when he came to himself, and, looking round in a half-dazed manner, wondered where he was. the big room in which he lay was shadowy and cool, and he did not feel much the worse except that his head ached and his eyes were dazzled. a tumult seemed to be going on outside, but the room was quiet, and a girl in a white dress sat near by. he thought he ought to know her, although he could not see her face until she heard him move and came toward him. "evelyn!" he gasped. "yes," she answered, smiling. "how do you feel?" "dizzy," said cliffe. "but this is rio frio, isn't it? how did you get here?" "you mustn't talk," she said firmly, and he saw that she had a glass in her hand. "drink this and go to sleep again." cliffe did not mean to go to sleep, although he drained the glass because he was thirsty. there was much he wanted to know; but he found it difficult to talk, and evelyn would not answer. after a futile effort to shake it off, he succumbed to the drowsiness that was overpowering him. chapter xxxiv the coming dawn it was getting dark when cliffe wakened. the windows were open, and a flickering red glow shone into the room. footsteps and voices rose from the street below, as if the city were astir, but this did not interest him much. evelyn was standing near, and a man whom he could not see well sat in the shadow. "you must have something to tell me," cliffe said to the girl. "we seem to be in safe quarters; but how did we get here?" evelyn knelt down beside his couch and put her hand on his hot forehead. it felt pleasantly cool, and cliffe lay still with a sigh of satisfaction. "father agustin brought you in here several hours ago," she explained; "but that was before i arrived. i was worried, but the doctor says we needn't be alarmed." "that's a sure thing," cliffe replied. "i'm feeling pretty well, but thirsty. what's the matter with me, anyhow?" "exhaustion, and perhaps slight sunstroke and shock. you must have had a bad fall, because you are bruised." "i certainly fell, right down to the bottom of the trench; but that's not what i want to talk about. it is a big relief to see you safe, but where have you been?" "it will take some time to tell." evelyn bent closer over him as she began an account of her adventures in a low voice, and cliffe dully imagined that she did not want the other occupant of the room to hear. the fellow was no doubt a doctor. "i had no difficulty after i reached don martin's camp," she finished. "his daughter, the pretty girl we saw at the international, was with him most of the time, and afterward her duenna treated me very well. when the rebels advanced on rio frio, don martin thought it safer for blanca and me to go with them, but they left us outside with a guard until the town was taken. then i was told that a priest had picked you up badly hurt and they brought me here. the house belongs to a merchant who took some part in the revolution. you can imagine how anxious i was until father agustin sent a doctor." "i hate to think of the danger you were in," he said; "though you seem to have shown surprising grit." evelyn laughed and patted his shoulder. "then i must have inherited it. i'm told that you and the others held the barricade stubbornly for two hours. don martin admits that he might not have taken rio frio if it hadn't been for the stand you made." "he wouldn't have taken it, and there'd have been very few of us left, if grahame hadn't rushed the gun. but i've something else to thank him for. it seems from your story that he got himself into trouble by going to your help." "yes," said evelyn quietly. "you can thank him now, if you like." she beckoned the man across the room. "come and join us, dear." the red glow from outside fell on her face as cliffe gave her a surprised look, and he noticed that she blushed. then he held out his hand to grahame, because he thought he understood. "it seems i owe you a good deal," he said. "well," grahame returned, smiling, "i suppose my intentions were good, but i didn't accomplish much, and my partner had to run a serious risk to get me out of trouble." "the way you rushed that gun was great." "it might have been better if we had taken the fellows in the rear, but we were told that they were making things hot for you, and there was no time to get round." "when we met in havana i'd no idea that you were up against me," cliffe said with a laugh. "curious, isn't it, that we should make friends while i was backing the president and you the rebels!" he turned to the window. "what's the fire outside?" "the _presidio_ burning. gomez used it as headquarters and made his last stand there." "ah! then your friends have finished him?" grahame nodded. "a rather grim business. he had much to answer for, but although half his troops deserted, he made a gallant end." "where's your partner, and what are the rebel bosses doing now?" "walthew was patrolling the streets with a company of brigands when i last saw him; he promised to meet me here as soon as he was relieved. the others are busy forming a provisional government. don martin said he'd call on you soon." "i owe him some thanks, but i mean to cut my connection with this country's affairs. no more political speculations; i've had enough." grahame laughed. "i can imagine that. these people are an unstable lot, and it's not certain that don martin, who's much the best man they have, will be the next president.... but we were told to keep you quiet, and evelyn is tired. she had to follow the rebels' march all night, but wouldn't rest until she was satisfied about you." "how long have you called her evelyn?" cliffe demanded, looking hard at him. "he will tell you about that to-morrow," evelyn answered with a blush. "you must lie still and go to sleep again if you can, but if you give trouble, we'll leave the señora rocas, who is deaf and very clumsy, to look after you." when cliffe fell asleep, evelyn and grahame went out on to the balcony and watched the moonlight creep across the town. there were lights in the cafés, and excited citizens gathered in the streets. now and then a few angry cries broke out, but for the most part the scraps of news that spread among the crowd were received with exultant cheers. the next day cliffe was much better, and after breakfast grahame found him sitting in the shady _patio_. he listened to the younger man quietly, and then held out his hand. "i'm glad i can agree," he said. "i'll miss her, but i feel that she'll be safe with you." ten minutes later grahame met walthew, who looked disturbed and indignant. "what are they doing at the council?" grahame asked. "fooling!" said walthew fiercely. "seems to me they're mad! last night they were solid for don martin, but now a faction that means to make castillo president is gaining ground." "a number of them must know he gave their plans away to save his skin." "they know, all right. one fellow urged that castillo did so as a matter of policy, because he meant to force altiera's hand. guess the crowd who want him would believe anything that suited them!" "well," grahame said thoughtfully, "i've had my doubts whether they'd get on with don martin. his code of political morality's rather high; they want a man who won't expect too much. i dare say they feel that after turning out altiera they're entitled to a few opportunities for graft themselves and for finding their friends official jobs. i'm sorry for sarmiento, though. what does he say?" "haven't seen him this morning. father agustin believes he'll respect the wish of the majority, although the fellows who did the fighting are all on his side." grahame went to look for evelyn, and it was noon when walthew met him again. "after a glorious row, they've chosen castillo--and i wish them joy of him!" he said. "don martin withdraws his claim, and wants to leave to-morrow. he's going to live in cuba, and if cliffe's fit to travel, we may as well all clear out. i'm sick of this place. anyway, i'd like to take blanca and her father across in the _enchantress_." "there will be no difficulty about that. i think we can sell the boat at new orleans. have you made any plans?" "sure. i'm going to marry blanca at havana and then take her home. she seemed to think she ought to stay with her father, but don martin convinced her this wasn't necessary. guess it hurt him, but he told me the girl had had a pretty rough time wandering about in exile, and he means to give her a chance of a brighter life." "why did you fix on havana for the wedding?" walthew laughed. "my people will see there is no use in kicking when i take my wife home; and they've only to give blanca a fair show to get fond of her. then there are a number of americans in havana, and i can get the thing properly registered and fixed up by our consul. don martin agreed." he paused a minute and added: "don martin's going to address the citizens in the plaza at six o'clock, and i think he'd like you and cliffe to be there." grahame promised to ask cliffe; and soon after dinner he found that a place had been kept for his party on the broad steps of the church of san sebastian. the air was cooling and dusk was near, but the light had not gone, and the square was packed with an expectant crowd, except where a space was kept. the lower steps were occupied by officials and leading citizens, but the two highest were empty. for a few minutes there was deep silence, and nobody moved in the crowded plaza. then a murmur rose as the leather curtain across the door was drawn back and don martin came out, with three priests in their robes behind him. he stood bareheaded on the second step, very straight and soldierlike, but plainly dressed in white, with no sash or badge of office; the priests standing above, with father agustin's tall figure in the middle. as he turned his face toward the crowd a great shout went up: "_viva sarmiento! viva el libertador!_" don martin bowed, but did not speak; and a bugle call rang across the square and was followed by a measured tramp of feet. men marching in loose fours swung out of a shadowy opening and advanced upon the church. a red sash round the waist with the ends left hanging loose was the only uniform they wore, and grahame felt a curious, emotional quiver as he recognized the detachment he had led. he understood that the best of them had been enrolled for a time as a national guard. their brown faces were impassive as they filled the open space, but after they swung into double line, instead of the conventional salute, they waved their ragged hats, and a roar broke out: "_viva sarmiento! viva el maestro!_" then some of the group looked anxious, and there was a stir in the crowd as an officer approached the steps. he had his pistol drawn, but he lowered it, and stood opposite don martin with his hat off. "your comrades salute you, señor," he said. "you have led us to victory, and if you have fresh orders for us, we obey you still." he spoke clearly, in a meaning tone, and there was an applauding murmur from the crowd that gathered strength and filled the square. everybody seemed to feel a sudden tension, and grahame imagined that the superseded leader had only to give the signal for a counter revolution to begin; but he saw that father agustin wore a quiet smile. don martin raised his hand. "i thank you, and i know your loyalty; but it belongs to your country, of which i am a private citizen. i can give no orders, but i ask you to serve the new government as well as you have served me." the officer went back to his men with a moody air, and don martin turned to the crowd. "in a national crisis, it is a citizen's duty to devote himself to his country's service, and this i have done; but it is a duty that carries no claim for reward. many of you have helped me with effort and money, and some have given their lives; but the rough work is done and the crisis is past. now that i am no longer needed, i lay down my authority, and it is better in several ways that i should go. but you who remain have still much to do. it is harder to build than to pull down, and your task is to establish justice, freedom, and prosperity. the best foundation is obedience to the new leader the nation has chosen." he moved back into the gloom, for darkness was gathering fast, and after a few words of grave advice father agustin blessed the people. then the national guard marched away and the crowd broke up; but grahame and his party waited, with don martin standing behind them by the door of the church. a smell of incense floated out, and dim lights twinkled in the building. no one spoke until the measured tramp of feet had died away. then grahame put his hand on don martin's arm. "the sacrifice you have made to-night must have cost you something," he said in a sympathetic voice. "it is seldom easy to do what is best," don martin answered, smiling sadly. "and now, with your permission, i should like to be alone. we will start for valverde early to-morrow." they left him in the deserted plaza. "what a man that is!" cliffe remarked. "if they were all like him in congress, there'd be a big improvement in our politics--and i guess you'd have some use for a few of his kind at westminster." "that's true," grahame agreed. "i can't say that such men are scarce, but as a rule they don't come to the top. they do what's demanded of them, and then quietly fall out of sight." * * * * * the next morning they set out for the coast. the _enchantress_ was in the roadstead when they reached the port, and they went straight on board. macallister met them at the gangway, and there was deep feeling in his face as he shook hands with his comrades; but a few moments later he surveyed the group with a grin. walthew had helped evelyn on board, and blanca stood near grahame. "i'm thinking ye're no' sorted right," he said; and when evelyn blushed he resumed with a chuckle: "ye need no' tell me; i kenned what would happen, and i wish ye all happiness." he turned with a flourish to don martin. "we'd ha' dressed the ship for ye, señor, only our flags are a bit ragged, and i couldna' find the one ye have served so weel." "thank you," said don martin. "we hope our flag will be better known before long." macallister hurried below to raise steam, but it was some time before they got a working pressure, and dusk was falling when the windlass hauled in the rattling cable and grahame rang the telegraph. the propeller churned the phosphorescent sea, the _enchantress_ forged ahead, and the white town began to fade into the haze astern. don martin leaned upon the taffrail, watching the dim littoral, until it melted from his sight and only the black cordillera in the background cut against the sky. then he joined the group about the deck-house and lighted a cigarette. "another act finished and the curtain dropped, but one looks forward to the next with confidence," he said. "it might have opened better if you had kept the leading part," grahame replied, and added meaningly: "you could have kept it." "that is possible," don martin agreed. "but it might not have been wise. i fought for peace, and i was satisfied when it was secured." "still, i don't see why you left," cliffe interposed. "is castillo strong enough to rule your people?" "we must give him an opportunity; if he has some failings, his intentions are good. no rule is free from faults, and when it is autocratic a possible claimant for the chief post is a danger to the state. all who love change and turmoil fix their hopes on him." "do you mean to live in cuba?" "yes. i have some skill in organization and a little money left, and friends wish me to help in the development of a new sugar estate. it is not very far from valverde, and one hears what is going on." don martin paused and spread out his hands. "if all goes well, i shall grow sugar, but if it happens that my country needs me i will go back again." walthew changed the subject, and presently evelyn and grahame strolled forward to the bow. there was moonlight on the water, and the _enchantress_ steamed smoothly up the glittering track while the foam that curled about her stern shone with phosphorescent flame. "i wonder where that path is leading us?" evelyn said. "toward the dawn," grahame answered. "there's glamour in moonlight and mystery in the dark, but we're moving on to meet the sunshine." the end transcriber's note: the following typographical errors present in the original edition have been corrected. in chapter vii, "creeeping past invisible dangers" was changed to "creeping past invisible dangers". in chapter xv, "ouside this there was only a dim glimmer of foam" was changed to "outside this there was only a dim glimmer of foam". hyphenation of the words "deckhouse", "deckload", "rawhide", and "sternsheets", and the use of an accent in the word "bolivar", was inconsistent in the original text. a syllabus of hispanic-american history by william whatley pierson, jr., ph. d. professor of history in the university of north carolina [illustration: printer logo] (third edition) price cents published by the university of north carolina copyright, , by the university of north carolina (revised and reprinted) introductory note "in the establishment of the independence of spanish america the united states have the deepest interest. i have no hesitation in asserting my firm belief that there is no question in the foreign policy of this country, which has ever arisen, or which i can conceive as ever occurring, in the decision of which we have had or can have so much at stake."--henry clay, _the emancipation of south america_. this syllabus is designed primarily for the use of students of the university of north carolina as a guide to the introductory study of hispanic-american history. in it an effort has been made to provide for as general and comprehensive a study of hispanic-american civilization as the time limits of a single one year's course would permit. in such a process, of course, selection and rejection of data were necessary. the student seeking to specialize will, therefore, find it possible and easy to elaborate and amplify each of the chapters and sections into which the outline has been divided. despite such comprehensiveness as was mentioned, the writer has endeavored to emphasize the institutional and economic aspects. the necessity of elimination and the effort at emphasis have resulted in the relegation of political history, particularly that of the colonial period, to a position of comparatively less prominence and significance than some might expect. for this the writer must plead necessity. in view of the great contemporary interest in hispanic america no case for the study of its history need be made--if such, indeed, is required for any field of history. that interest in the united states has been in part due to the construction of the panama canal and to the increasing importance in diplomacy of the caribbean area, and in part it may be ascribed to the exigencies and effects of the world war which have made people conscious of trade opportunities formerly non-existent or, if existent, not fully recognized; and many have thus concluded that the diplomatic, political, and economic importance of hispanic america has made of prime necessity a thorough study and a sympathetic understanding of its past history and institutions. these facts and this new consciousness may indicate the opening of another period in the history of the western hemisphere, which will doubtless have a distinctly inter-american emphasis. the field of hispanic-american history has until recent years been little known to and too often neglected by the undergraduate student in the universities,--if, indeed, courses in such history have been offered. it is, in the opinion of the writer, however, a field not lacking in comparative importance, interest, and cultural value with those better known. it is hoped and confidently expected that the interest in the history and institutions of the hispanic-american countries recently engendered by the consciousness that these countries have become potent economic and political factors in the modern world will be abiding. hispanic-american history as a standard course will have much justification, for the part which the peoples of the southern republics will play in the future, as viscount bryce recently said, "must henceforth be one of growing significance for the old world as well as for the new." the course as outlined in this syllabus provides for the study of the history, geography, political and social institutions, and the economic development and possibilities of hispanic-american countries. a careful analysis and investigation will thus be made of the spanish and portuguese colonial systems and colonial experience in order to explain the wars of independence and the existing political and social conditions. attention will then be directed to the development of republics, the struggle for political stability, and the exploitation of resources. the course will also include some study of the international relations--political and economic--and diplomatic problems which have arisen in recent hispanic-american history. at the outset the prospective student is warned that as yet there exists no single text-book devoted to the hispanic-american republics which satisfactorily and adequately presents their history, describes their present conditions and discusses their institutions. this absence, of necessity, determines that the course will be based largely upon material to be found only in a number of books, public documents, and scientific reports. an effort has been made in this syllabus to meet this difficult situation. lectures following the outline of the syllabus and explanatory of it, and recitations based on assigned readings, will constitute the class work. on these lectures and readings the students will be expected to take notes. in addition, they will be required to make certain class reports and at least once during the year to prepare, after consultation with the instructor, an essay on some topic of the syllabus or allied phase of the work. students will be required to provide themselves individually with a copy of this syllabus and with w. r. shepherd's _latin america_ (holt & company). it is strongly recommended that they purchase also f. garcia calderon's _latin america: its rise and progress_ (scribners). for the general student and reader the following list of books, written in english, may be found useful: for description, geography, travel, peoples and social conditions: james bryce, _south america: observations and impressions_. (macmillan). g. e. church, _aborigines of south america_. (chapman and hall.) c. r. enock, _the republics of central and south america_. (dent & sons). a. h. keane, _stanford's compendium of geography and travel: central and south america_. ( vols., lippincott.) _atlas america latina_, (english, spanish, portuguese; general drafting co.). r. reyes, _the two americas_. (stokes.) a. ruhl, _the other americans_. (scribners.) h. bingham, _across south america_. (houghton mifflin co.) for history: t. c. dawson, _the south american republics_. ( vols., putnam.) a. h. noll, _a short history of mexico_. (mcclurg.) f. palmer, _central america and its problems_. (moffat, yard & co.) for institutions and history: e. g. bourne, _spain in america_. (american nation series, harpers.) b. moses, _the establishment of spanish rule in america_. (putnam.) ----, _south america on the eve of emancipation_. (putnam.) ----, _spanish dependencies in south america_. (harpers.) f. l. paxson, _the independence of the south american republics_. ( nd ed., ferris and leach.) w. s. robertson, _the rise of the spanish american republics_. (appleton.) w. r. shepherd, _hispanic nations of the new world; a chronicle of our southern neighbors_. (yale press.) for literature: alfred coester, _the literary history of spanish america_. (macmillan.) isaac goldberg, _studies in spanish american literature_. (brentano.) for trade relations: w. e. aughinbaugh, _selling latin america_. (small, maynard & company.) e. b. filsinger, _exporting to latin america_. (appleton.) a. h. verrill, _south and central american trade conditions of today_. (dodd, mead & company.) for individual countries: p. denis, _brazil_. (scribners.) p. j. eder, _columbia_. (unwin or scribners.) g. f. s. elliott, _chile_. (scribners.) c. r. enock, _mexico_. (scribners.) w. a. hirst, _argentina_. (scribners.) w. h. koebel, _argentina, past and present_. (dodd, mead & co.) ----, _paraguay_. (scribners.) ----, _uruguay_. (scribners.) ----, _central america_. (scribners.) w. l. scruggs, _the colombian and venezuelan republics_. (little, brown & co.) m. r. wright's books on _bolivia_; _brazil_; _chile_; and _peru_. (cazenove & son.) the monthly _bulletin_ and other publications of the pan-american union (washington, d. c.), offer excellent and reliable information respecting all of these divisions, and are recommended. students wishing to make a more detailed study than this brief list would provide for can easily find extensive bibliographies on the subject in english, portuguese and spanish which are of great value. they will do well to consult p. h. goldsmith, _a brief bibliography_ (macmillan), although it is admittedly incomplete in its list of books and contemptuously harsh in its judgment of many of those included. more comprehensive and valuable are the _bibliographie hispanique_ (annual, new york) published by the hispanic society of america, and the lists and catalogues of books, pamphlets, periodicals, and maps prepared by the pan-american union and printed by the united states government,--first, the list relating to central america by p. lee phillips, ; secondly, the catalogue of books, periodicals, etc., in the columbus library, which appeared successively in , , , and . many lists respecting individual hispanic-american countries have been published, including argentina, brazil, chile, costa rica, cuba, ecuador, colombia, mexico, peru, and paraguay. reference also must necessarily be made to the exhaustive and scholarly _biblioteca hispano-americana_ and other compilations of josé toribio medina, the great bibliographer of chile. _the hispanic american historical review_ is commended to the student not only for its own articles and reviews, but for the great service rendered to the bibliography of this subject by publishing with each issue a list of books and articles pertaining to the field which have recently appeared. the writer would anticipate the criticism that the list of books specified in the syllabus for reading is incomplete. since these readings are designed for class purposes and are selected as being practicable, the incompleteness was scarcely avoidable. the specialist will again find it easy to enlarge. in the list of readings, in order to conserve space, the author's name and full title of the book are stated when the first reference is made; thereafter only the author's name is employed, except in such cases in which the author has written more than one book or in which clearness seems to demand complete or partial repetition. the author wishes to make acknowledgment of his indebtedness to professor william r. shepherd, of columbia university, whose advice and inspiration have been of incalculable service to him. professor shepherd generously made suggestions for this edition of the syllabus. chapel hill, n. c., june, . a syllabus of hispanic-american history introduction =i. the political situation in europe at opening of the th century.= . the national states: england, france, spain and portugal. . the holy roman empire. . the city states of italy. . other european states. readings: hayes, _a political and social history of modern europe_, vol. i, - . =ii. scientific and intellectual progress.= . medieval travels; the crusades. . the renaissance. . invention of the compass and improvement of the astrolabe. . improvement and increase of maps. readings: cheyney, _european background of american history_, - . =iii. european commerce at the opening of the th century.= . trade and trade routes between europe and the far east. . the mediterranean and the italian cities. . conquests of the ottoman turks; closing of old routes. . decline of the italian cities. . need of new routes; battle of the nile, . readings: cheyney, - ; shepherd, _historical atlas_, - , - ; hayes, i, - . =iv. the commercial revolution.= . the geographic position of spain and portugal. . the circumnavigation of africa: prince henry the navigator; diaz; vasco da gama. . the western passage; sought by spain. . the commercial revolution; effects. . creation of trade companies; new methods of commerce. . expansion and colonization; motives. readings: bourne, _spain in america_, - ; cheyney, - ; hayes, i, - . =v. spain and portugal at the opening of the th century.= a. background of spanish history. spanish society: . geographic influences in spanish history. . the evolution of the spanish nationality: a. the earliest historic inhabitants of the iberian peninsula. b. the invasions: phoenician; carthaginian; roman; visigothic; vandal; moorish. c. immigration of jews and berbers. d. contact and conflict with the moors, - . e. expulsion of the moors and the jews. f. establishment of union and central government. . the individualism of the people. . militarist spirit engendered by long wars. . evolution of types. . governmental system: a. the king and his powers. b. the executive and advisory councils. c. the spanish cortes. d. legal codes and other systems of law. e. administrative machinery. f. local and municipal government. g. system of taxation. h. efforts of ferdinand and isabella to unify spain and centralize powers of government. . the church and morals: a. the spanish clergy. b. inquisition. c. influences of moors and jews upon church and faith. . industries and agriculture; attitude toward labor: the _mesta_; wheat, vine, and olive culture. . condition of social classes. . intellectual development in spain: a. formative influences on languages and literature. b. contributions of the moors. c. ecclesiastical and philosophical writings. . motives of colonization. required readings: chapman, _the history of spain_, - ; hume, _spain, its greatness and decay_, - , - ; _the spanish people_, - ; cheyney, - ; ellis, _the soul of spain_, - . additional readings: lea, _history of the inquisition in spain_; ----, _the moriscos of spain_; ----, _history of sarcedotal celibacy_, - ; - ; milman, _history of the jews_, vol. iii, - ; altamira, _historia de españa y de la civilizacion española_; colmeiro, _derecho administrativo español_; plunkett, _isabel of castile_; sempere, _histoire des cortes d' espagne_; lowery, _the spanish settlements in the united states_, vol. i, - ; walton, _civil law in spain and spanish america_; lane-poole, _the story of the moors in spain_; scott, _history of the moorish empire in europe_; danvila y collado, _el poder civil en españa_; lafuente and valera, _historia general de españa_; salazar, _monarchia de españa_, vol. i; sacristian y martinez, _municipalidades de castilla y leon_; merriman, _the rise of the spanish empire in the old world and in the new_, vols. i and ii. b. background of portuguese history. portuguese society: . general characteristics. . influence of climate in portugal. . position as european power in the th century. . portugal as a national state. . political institutions. . motives of colonization. required readings: cheyney, - ; stephens, _the story of portugal_. additional readings: busk, _history of spain and portugal_; martins, _the golden age of prince henry the navigator_; ----, _historia de portugal_; jayne, _vasco da gama and his successors_; major, _life of prince henry the navigator_; hakluyt society publications. =chapter i. the period of discovery.= a. tracing the coast line by spanish navigators. . the achievement of columbus. . achievements of: hojeda, cosa, vespucci, pinzon, piñeda, bastidas, grijalva, balboa, magellan and elcano, guevara, and saavedra. readings: shepherd, _historical atlas_, - ; morris, _history of colonization_, i, - ; bourne, _spain in america_, - ; payne, _european colonies_, - ; ----, _history of america_, vol. i; helps, _spanish conquest in america_; koebel, _south america_; thacher, _columbus_; vignaud, _historie critique de la grande entreprise de christopher colomb_; guillemard, _magellan_; bancroft, _central mexico_, vol. i; brittain, _discovery and exploration_, - ; benzoni, _history of the new world_ (hakluyt society pub.); zahm, _up the orinoco and down the magdelena_; ----, _along the andes and down the amazon_. b. internal exploration and settlement. . achievements of: cortes; pizarro; cabeza de vaca; almagro; orellana; ursúa; mendoza; ayolas; irala, and others. . explorations of portuguese in brazil. . settlement of the west indies. . settlement of mexico and central america. . settlement of spanish south america. readings: to those of section a, add _cambridge modern history_, i, ch. xv.; prescott, _conquest of mexico_; bancroft, _history of mexico_; macnutt, _fernando cortes and the conquest of mexico_; solis, _historia de la conquista de mexico_; bandelier, _contributions to the history of the southwestern portions of the united states_; de lannoy and van der linden, _historie de l'expansion coloniale des peuples europeens_ (portugal et espagne); bolton, _spanish exploration in the southwest_; daenell, _die spanier in nord amerika_; altamira, _the share of spain in the history of the pacific ocean_, (_pacific ocean in history_, - ); groat, _historia de la nueva granada_; wright, _the early history of cuba_; amunategui, _descubrimientos_; _conquista de chile_; ojeda, _los conquistadores de chile_ ( v.) c. relations of spain and portugal in th century. . rivalry for trade supremacy. . appeal to the pope. line of demarcation, . . the treaty of tordesillas, . . boundary commissions and disputes. . treaty of saragossa, . . mid-century relations. . union of portugal and spain, . . attitude of europe toward spanish and portuguese claims of monopoly. . new doctrines relative to the control of the seas and the ownership of territory. required readings: shepherd, _latin america_, - ; chapman, - ; bourne, - ; - ; ----, _essays in historical criticism_, - ; keller, _colonization_, - ; - ; merriman, ii, - . additional readings: altamira, _historia de españa_. =chapter ii. the spanish colonial system.= a. imperial control. . early methods of colonization. spanish inexperience; government aid and activities; private enterprize; rapid evolution of a system. . the _capitulation_; that of columbus compared with later ones. . the _casa de contratacion_. . the council of the indies: a. organization; powers; duties; methods of administration; accomplishments. b. notable members. . control of emigration: a. laws of restriction. b. inducements offered approved immigrants. . exclusion of foreign influences from colonies; spanish mercantilism. . interference in colonial affairs. . means of control; special commissions; the _visitador_; the _residencia_; recall. . difficulties of administration: a. distance between colonies and home government. b. defective means of communication. . decline of the system; changes effected in the th century; red tape and routine. . comparison of the spanish system of colonization with the systems of other colonizing countries. . influences of the colonial empire upon spain. required readings: shepherd, - ; bourne, - ; morris, - ; keller, - ; - ; bancroft, _history of central america_, i, _et seq._; roscher, _the spanish colonial system_; moses, _establishment of spanish rule in america_; _cambridge modern history_, vol x, et. seq.; robertson, _rise of the spanish american republics_, introduction. additional readings: root, _spain and its colonies_; zimmerman, _die kolonialpolitik portugal und spaniens_; leroy-beaulieu, _de la colonisation chez les peuples modernes_, - ; puente y olea, _los trabajos geographicos de la casa de contratacion_; colmeiro, _historia de la economia politica en españa_, vol. ii; cappa, _estudios criticos acerca de la dominacion española en america_; _recopilacion de leyes de los reinos de las indias_, (a collection of legislation respecting the colonies made first in ). b. spanish administrative system in the colonies. . no distinct separation of powers; the executive, legislative, judicial, and ecclesiastical powers of government. . office of _viceroy_ in spanish america. a. history of the office. b. appointment; powers in the various departments of the government; dignity of office; perquisites and reward. . offices of _adelantado_; _gobernador_; _captain-general_; minor officials. . the _audiencia_; _presidencia_. . the system of intendants instituted; its effects. . local government: the _alcalde_; the _cabildo_; _ayuntamiento_. . extraordinary political bodies in the colonies: the _cabildo abierto_. . minor courts of law; position of lawyers. . conduct of government. . operation of the system; discretionary powers as to enforcement or non-enforcement of laws--"se obedece pero no se ejecuta"; opportunities of local officials to evade imperial restrictions. . relations of officials with the home government. required readings: shepherd, - ; moses, _establishment of spanish rule_; ----, _spanish dependencies of south america_, - ; morris, i, - ; smith, _the viceroy of new spain_, - ; bourne, - ; ----, _a trained colonial civil service_, (north american review, vol. , _et seq._); southwestern historical quarterly, vol. xix; hill, _office of adelantado_, (political science quarterly, vol. xxviii); roscher, _the spanish colonial system_; humboldt, _political essay on new spain_; cunningham, _the audiencia in the spanish colonies_; ----, _institutional background of spanish-american history_ (hisp. am. hist. rev. ). additional readings: bancroft, _central america_, vol. i, chapter v; cambridge modern history, vol. x, _et seq._; desdevises du dezert, _l'espagne de l'ancien régime_ (les institutions) - ; solorzano, _politica indiana_, vol. ii; haebler, _amerika_ (helmolt's _weltgeschichte_, vol. i) , _et seq._ c. the church. _real patronato._ . royal control of the church in oversea dominions. a. bull of alexander vi, . b. the bull of julius ii, . c. the system as perfected. . the clergy in the colonies. . the priest as a colonizer. . jesuits and other clerical orders. . relations of church and state. . the church and education. . the right of sanctuary in the colonies. . the mission system; the church and the indian. . the inquisition in spanish america. . the church in spanish and portuguese colonies compared. . some notable priests and monks; las casas, zumarraga; cardenas, etc. . expulsion of jesuits, , (portugal, ). required readings: shepherd, - ; bourne, - ; keller, - ; ayme, _ancient temples and cities of the new world_; moses, _establishment of spanish rule_, chap. iv; ----, _south america on the eve of emancipation_, - ; ----, _spanish dependencies in south america_, vol. i, - ; - ; vol. ii, - ; - ; smith, - . additional readings: acosta, _the natural and moral history of the indies_, vol. ii; lea, _the inquisition in the spanish dependencies_; graham, _a vanished arcadia_; koebel, _in jesuit land_; escriche, _diccionario razonado de legislacion_; palma, _anales de la inquisicion de lima_; lowery, _spanish settlements in the united states_, vol. i, - ; calle, _memorial y noticias sacras_; chapman, _the founding of spanish california_ (cf. index, "religious conquest"); medina, _historia de tribunal del santo oficio de la inquisicion en mexico_; _cambridge modern history_, vol. x, , _et seq._ d. the indians and the labor system. . the aborigines: tribes; number. a. most important families: araucanians; arawak; aymara; aztec; carib; charrua; chibcha; coconuco; guarani; inca; maya; mojos; puelche; quechua; tapuya; tupi, etc. . indian civilization: a. the aztecs of mexico. b. the incas of peru. . treatment of indians by the spanish; comparison of this treatment with that by other nations. . reputation of spaniards for cruelty. . laws of spain relative to indians: a. early regulations; instructions to columbus; laws of burgos, ; laws of . b. the "new laws," . c. labor laws and customs: . _encomienda._ . _repartimiento._ . _mita._ . office of _corregidor_. d. indian slavery; service in _obrages_ and _trapiches_; effect of labor system on indians. e. law and practice. . taxation of indians. . work of las casas, nobrega, and anchieta. . indian resistance against spanish system; tupac-amaru, ii, - . . importation of negro slaves: a. the spanish theory. b. the asiento. c. laws governing negro slave labor. required readings: shepherd, - ; morris, i, - ; - ; keller, - ; moses, _south america on the eve of emancipation_, - ; ----, _spanish dependencies_, vol. i, - ; barros arana, _compendio de historia de america_, part i; watson, _spanish and portuguese south america_, vol. i, - ; - ; means, _the rebellion of tupac-amaru_ ii, - , (his. am. hist. rev., ); church, _the aborigines of south america_; hrdlicka, _early man in south america_; nordenskiold, _indianerleben_. additional readings: gage, _new survey of the west indies_; macnutt, _bartholomew de las casas_; prescott, _conquest of mexico_; ----, _conquest of peru_; robertson, _history of america_, book viii; helps, _spanish conquest in america_; saco, _revista de cuba_; markham, _the incas of peru_; spinden, _ancient civilizations of mexico and central america_. e. social classes and colonial society. . spanish types in the colonies: basque; gallego; catalan; andalusian. . classes and race distinctions: chapeton (gachupines); creole; mestizo; mulatto; zambo. . classes and the government; the _divide et impera_ policy. . legacy of class distinction. . spanish recognition of creoles and natives; numbers ennobled. . colonial society; diversions; pursuits; occupations. . the towns; _pueblos_; the cercados. required readings: shepherd, - ; morris, - ; garcia calderon, _latin america: its rise and progress_, - ; bourne, - ; keller, - ; moses, _establishment of spanish rule_, chapter ii; ----, _south america on the eve of emancipation_, - . additional readings: humboldt, _personal narrative of travels_; reclus, _the earth and its inhabitants--south america_; frezier, _voyage a la mer de sud_; ulloa, _a voyage to south america_. f. colonial agriculture, manufacturing, and mining. . the land system: a. primogeniture, entails, and mortmain. b. spanish _repartimientos_ and _encomiendas_; portuguese _capitanias_ and _prazos_. . methods of acquiring real estate. . attitude of home government toward colonial manufactures. . stock raising; the mesta; agricultural products introduced by the spanish. . mines and mining in south and north america. readings: bourne, - ; payne, _history of america_, vol. i, - ; shepherd, - ; moses, _south america on the eve of emancipation_, - ; keller, - . g. trade system and means of transportation. . the spanish trade regulations; mercantilism; the staple cities. . trade routes; oceanic; inland. . convoys and fleet system; taxes levied; concessions of . . depots and staple cities; fairs. . means of transportation in colonial spanish america. . the _consulado_; guilds; _cofradias_. . trade companies: the guipuzcoa company, - . . the war of spanish succession; treaty of utrecht. . the anglo-spanish relations at porto bello. . obstacles to success of system: a. smuggling. b. buccaneers, pirates, and public enemies. . final changes in system, , , , ; work of charles iii, aranda, and galvez. . portuguese trade regulations. required readings: shepherd, - ; bourne, - ; morris, - ; moses, _spanish dependencies_, vol. ii, - ; cambridge modern history, vol. x, - ; keller, - ; - ; smith, - ; priestley, _reforms of jose de galvez in new spain_ (the pacific ocean in history); mimms, _colbert's west india policy_; koebel, _british exploits in south america_, - ; haring, _the buccaneers in the west indies in the seventeenth century_; colmeiro, ii, - ; alberdi, _estudios economicos_, - . additional readings: blackmar, _spanish institutions in the southwest_; stevens, _spanish rule of trade in the west indies_; esquemeling, _history of the buccaneers_; rubalcava, _tratado historico politico y legal del commercio_; walton, _spanish colonies_, vol. ii, - . h. the colonial taxation system. . the sources of revenue. . taxes: _alcabala_; _armada_ and _armadilla_; _media anata_; royal ninths; indian tribute; taxes on: salt; mineral products; tobacco. . sale of offices. readings: moses, _south america on the eve of emancipation_, - . i. education and thought. . the universities. institutions established at lima, mexico city, bogota, cordoba, cuzco, caracas, santiago de chile, quito, etc. . the clergy and education. . colonial literature: a. clerical influences. b. early tendencies and schools. c. writers: zumarraga, las casas, ercilla, balbuena, juana ines de la cruz, espejo. . the press. . transplantation of european civilization: language; customs; education; religion; political theories and institutions. . cultural influence of colonies upon spain and europe. required readings: shepherd, - ; moses, _south america on the eve of emancipation_, - ; coester, _the literary history of spanish america_, - . additional readings: humboldt, _personal narrative of travels_; ingenieros, _la revolucion_, - ; bunge, _nuestra america_. j. political history. . diplomatic relations of spain and portugal in th and th centuries. . the viceroyalties: a. new spain, . b. peru, . c. new granada, . d. la plata, . . indian wars and political insurrections. . the favored and the neglected colonies. . colonial defence--military and naval. readings: keller, - ; watson, _spanish and portuguese south america_; moses, _the spanish dependencies in south america_. =chapter iii. settlement of brazil and portuguese institutions.= . the voyage of cabral; portuguese claims; correia, coelho, de souza. . early settlements; attitude of portuguese toward brazil; founding of cities. . portuguese system of colonization in brazil. a. the captaincies. b. the "desembargo do paco." c. theory and practice; frequent changes in the administrative service. d. comparison with portuguese colonial system in the east indies. e. the church in colonial brazil; the _aldeias_; work of anchieta, nobrega, vieyra. . treatment of the natives; intermarriage; regulations as to labor system. . importation of negro slaves, ; slave trade; the _companhia do grao para_; slave codes. . the portuguese commercial system: a. the "india house" and the "guinea house." b. mercantilism and monopoly. c. participation of the english in the portuguese trade. d. colonial products of brazil. . beginning of westward movement in brazil. a. settlement of sao paulo. b. government of the frontier; the _paulistas_; _mamelucos_. c. discovery of gold, ; diamonds, . . society and thought in brazil. . conflict with the french and dutch. . relations of brazil and portugal. required readings: denis, _brazil_, - ; morris, i, - ; keller, - ; watson, vol. ii, - ; rio branco, _esquisse de l'histoire du brésil_, - . additional readings: de lannoy and van der linden, - ; - ; - ; merivale, _lectures_, _et seq._; pinheiro, _historia do brazil_; southey, _history of brazil_; varnhagen, _historia geral do brazil_, vol. i. =chapter iv. geography and resources of hispanic america.= . geographic situation of south america. . area of states in comparison with that of the united states and europe. . climate. a. seasons and temperature. b. rainfall. . mountain ranges; rivers; water power. . harbors. . forests; commercial value of forest products. . mineral deposits. . animal life; introduction of animals and plants by spanish. . drugs and medicines. . agricultural possibilities. products in general: fruits; rubber; coffee; cacao; yerba; sugar; grasses; tobacco. required readings: shepherd, - ; _atlas america latina_; koebel, _the south americans_, - ; bryce, _south america_, - ; books on individual countries listed in chapter viii; keane, _stanford's compendium of geography and travel--central and south america_; boero, _geografia de america_. additional readings: tschudi, _travels in peru_; whymper, _travels amongst the great andes of the equator_; schanz, _quer durch sud-america_; darwin, _journal of researches_--(voyage of the _beagle_); zahm's works. =chapter v. the struggle for independence, - .= . sources and elements of discontent in latin america; political and economic. . influence of the american war of independence; new economic doctrines, french revolution; english political philosophy. . pre-revolutionary revolts; foreign stimulation. . diffusion of new ideas; decline in effectiveness of the spanish policy of exclusion; the expedition of miranda, ; representative hispanic-americans in europe and united states; english expeditions against buenos aires and montevideo, - . . invasion of spain by napoleon; overthrow of the legitimate government; establishment of the napoleonic government and of spanish _juntas_. . disturbance in the colonies; attitude of the cities; caracas, buenos aires, bogota, cordoba, santiago de chile, etc. . the interregnum; development of local _juntas_; manifestations of loyalty to spain; theories applied to the relations with spain. . gradual growth of desire and formation of plans for independence; refusal of spanish terms; character of the revolutionary movement. . the revolution in the north, - : a. formation of _juntas_; collaboration of miranda and bolivar. b. general character of the struggle; atrocities and reprisals; monteverde, boves, and morillo; the fate of miranda, the campaigns. c. the constitution of angostura. d. the crossing of the andes and the battle of boyaca. e. services of santander, paez, sucre, and others. f. altered character of the war after the spanish revolution of . g. battle of carabobo; the invasion of ecuador. h. bolivar as organizer, military leader, liberator. . attitude of foreign countries; aid of great britain: a. englishmen and irish in the war. b. citizens of the united states in the northern campaigns. . the revolution in the south, - : a. conditions in buenos aires and the south which produced revolution; political services of mariano moreno, castelli, belgrano, pueyrredon, rivadavia, monteagudo, etc. b. campaigns: belgrano at tucuman; revolutionizing of paraguay; artigas in uruguay. c. san martin as soldier in argentina and as governor of cuyo; preparation for the campaign in chile; crossing of the andes. d. liberation of chile; battles of chacabuco and maipu; work of o'higgins and lord cochrane; foreigners in san martin's service. e. campaign for peru--naval and military. . relations of bolivar and san martin; political theories of each; the conference at guayaquil; retirement of san martin. . final stages in the war of independence, - : a. bolivar's invasion of peru; relations with political leaders. b. battles of junin and ayacucho. c. the campaign in upper peru; the bolivian constitution. d. surrender of callao. . the part of the indians in the wars; the part of the loyalists, their treatment; emigration of loyalists. . early evidences of national aspiration on the part of various communities. . prosperity; free trade; interest of england and the united states. . unity versus sectionalism. . the confederation of new granada; bolivar as an executive and political theorist; revolutionary legislation. . political theories and conflicting ambitions of the generals; radicalism and conservatism in the revolution. . establishment of states. . revolutionary society in south america. . comparison of the revolutions in south america with that in the united states. . mexico and central america: a. hidalgo, morelos, mina, guerrero. b. iturbide and the plan of iguala. c. part of the church; the land issue; social questions. d. revolutionizing of central america. . saint domingue: toussaint l'ouverture. required readings: shepherd, - ; garcia calderon, - ; bryce, - ; _cambridge modern history_, vol. x, - ; herrera, _la revolution francesa y sud america_; robertson, _francisco de miranda and the revolutionising of spanish-america_ (amer. hist. assn. reports, ); _rise of spanish-american republics_; moses, _spain's declining power in south america, - _. additional readings: bancroft, _mexico_; pilling, _the emancipation of south america_; paxson, _the independence of south american republics_; moses, _south america on the eve of emancipation_; filisola, _la cooperacion de mexico en la independencia de centro america_; mitre, _the emancipation of south america_; petre, _bolivar_; mancini, _bolivar et l'emancipation des colonies espagnoles_; decoudray-holstein, _memoirs of simon bolivar_; rene-moreno, _ultimas dias coloniales en el alto peru_; ingenieros, _la evolucion de las ideas argentinas: la revolucion_; calvo, _annales historiques de la revolution de l'amerique latine_; torrente, _historia de la revolucion hispano-americana_; chandler, _inter-american acquaintances_; walton, _present state of the spanish colonies_. =chapter vi. early relations of hispanic america with the united states; the monroe doctrine.= . diffusion of revolutionary ideas and political opinions in south america. . part of spanish-americans in the american war of independence. . part of the united states in the hispanic-american wars of independence; diplomatic relations of united states and the _de facto_ governments and people of hispanic america. . early ideas as to american concert. . jefferson and john adams on south america. . early statements of the monroe doctrine. . evolution of monroe doctrine during the revolutionary war; the part of hispanic america. . attitude of european states toward hispanic america after the congress of vienna. a. effects of revolutionary wars upon european politics and diplomacy. b. the policy of intervention. c. the holy alliance and the concert of europe. d. applications of policy of intervention. e. the congress of verona. f. the position of england. . recognition by the united states. . the canning-rush-adams correspondence. . the monroe message. . reception of monroe doctrine in south america and in europe. . the monroe doctrine, - . . recognition by great britain, spain, and other european states. required readings: edgington, _history of the monroe doctrine_; bingham, _the monroe doctrine, an obsolete shibboleth_; garcia calderon, - ; bryce, - ; koebel, _british exploits_, - ; shepherd, _bolivar and the united states_ (hisp. am. hist. rev. ); moore, _digest of international law_ (sections on monroe doctrine); the new international encyclopaedia; _annals of the american academy of political science_, july, ; robertson, _reception of the monroe doctrine_ (political science quarterly, ); manning, _early diplomatic relations between the united states and mexico_. additional readings: gilman, _james monroe_; bigelow, _american policy_; coolidge, _united states as a world power_; hart, _the monroe doctrine_; torres, _an exposition of the commerce of south america_; chadwick, _the relations of spain and the united states_. =chapter vii. political theories and early republican institutions.= . the monarchical idea _versus_ the republican; opinions of the revolutionary leaders: bolivar, san martin, rivadavia, belgrano, etc. . early political parties or groups and their theories: a. unitary; federalist; conservative; and radical. b. liberal and conservative writers on politics: lastarria, bilbao, echeverria, montalvo, vigil, sarmiento; bello, alberdi, herrera, acosta. c. influence of france upon political theorists. . political factions: military; clerical; civilian; and lay. . party methods and politics. . ballot and elections; restrictions of the suffrage. . popular apathy in political affairs; personal politics. . character of governments: federal and unitary. . early constitutions; separation of powers. . the office of executive. a. constitutional powers in various countries. b. prestige and dignity of office. c. early types of executives: tyrants; dictators; liberators; restorers; caudillos. . character and powers of congress; congress _versus_ president; experiments with unicameral legislatures. . influence of english and french cabinet systems of government. . the judiciary in latin america: a. constitutional powers and position in administration. b. judicial review of legislation. . early conventions and platforms. . municipal government: a. general characteristics. b. police systems. c. public service. d. prisons. readings: shepherd, - ; garcia calderon, - ; crichfield, _american supremacy_; alberdi, _bases ..._; ----, _estudios economicos_; ----, _del gobierno en sud america_; sarmiento, _el facundo_; lastarria, _lecciones de politica positiva en la academia de bellas letras_; balbin de unquera, _andres bello, su epoca y sus obras_; books on individual countries. =chapter viii. political history, - ; political heritage of colonial times.= . the three phases: a. - , age of dictators. b. - , struggle for stability. c. ----, rise of great states and economic progress. . typical dictators: a. garcia moreno,--ecuador. b. ramon castilla,--peru. c. rosas,--argentina. d. paez and guzman blanco,--venezuela. e. santa anna and diaz,--mexico. . progressive states of south america: a. argentina: . the presidency of rivadavia; war with brazil; conflict between buenos aires and provinces. . rosas and urquiza. . mitre and sarmiento. . political program and stability; president roca. . economic development and growth of population. . the southward movement in argentina. . contemporary government and politics. suggested readings: koebel, _argentina, past and present_; ----, _the south americans_; hirst, _argentina_; hammerton, _the real argentine_; chandler, _the argentine southward movement_, (bulletin pan. am. un., ). additional readings: martinez and lewandowski, _argentina in the twentieth century_; merou, _historia de la republica argentina_; v. f. lopez, _historia de la republica argentina_ (vols ix and x). b. brazil. . brazil and portugal, - . . the empire: pedro i and pedro ii. . economic development; international relations. . emancipation of slaves. . the republic: early disorders; progress toward stability. . the westward movement in brazil. . colonization experiments--state and national. . contemporary government and politics. readings: denis, _brasil_; watson, vol. ii, - ; _cambridge modern history_, vol. x, - ; vol. xii, - ; varnhagen, vol. ii; pinheiro, _historia do brasil_; bennett, _forty years in brazil_; buley, _north brazil_; ----, _south brasil_; winter, _brazil and her people of today_; domville-fife, _the united states of brasil_; grossi, _storia della colonizazione europea al brasile_. c. chile: . dictatorship of o'higgins. . work of portales and the _pelucones_. . the conservative regime; ten year presidents. . war with spain. . the problem of the araucanians. . war with peru and bolivia. . balmaceda and the congress. . relations with the united states; with argentina; the "christ of the andes." . contemporary government and politics. a. operation of the cabinet system in chile. b. contemporary political parties. c. local government. readings: elliot, _chile_; garcia calderon, - ; hancock, _a history of chile_; amunategui and vicuña mackenna, _la dictadura de o'higgins_; bulnes, _las causas de la guerra entre chile y peru_; markham, _the war between peru and chile_; olivares, _historia de chile_; guiterez, _la guerra de _; barros arana, _la guerre du pacifique_; ----, _historia general de chile_; egaña, _the tacna and arica question_; macy and gannaway, _comparative free government_, - ; reinsch, _parliamentary government in chile_ (am. pol. science rev., iii, , _et seq._) d. uruguay. . relations with argentina, brazil, and paraguay. . political organization and progress. . economic, educational, and religious developments. . contemporary government and politics. readings: koebel, _uruguay_; roxlo, _uruguay en _; acevedo, _historia de la republica oriental del uruguay_; zorilla de san martin, _la epopeya de artigas_. . less progressive and backward states of south america. a. venezuela: . revolutions and tyrants: guzman blanco; castro. . foreign relations. . contemporary government and politics. readings: dalton, _venezuela_; scruggs, _the colombian and venezuelan republics_. b. colombia: . political record. . foreign relations. readings: scruggs, _the colombian and venezuelan republics_; levine, _colombia_; eder, _columbia_; arboleda, _historia contemporanea de colombia_. c. ecuador. readings: enock, _ecuador_; mejia, _ecuador_; cevalles, _compendio de la historia del ecuador_. d. peru. . political record. . foreign relations. . contemporary government and politics. readings: enock, _peru_; wright, _peru_; markham, _a history of peru_; llorente, _historia de peru_. e. bolivia. . presidency of sucre and dictatorship of santa cruz. . political disorder. . foreign relations; part of bolivia in war, - . . constitution of . readings: wright, _bolivia_; walle, _bolivia_; valdes, _estudio historico de bolivia_. f. paraguay. . period of francia. . the lopez group. . war with brazil, argentina, and uruguay. . contemporary government and politics. readings: washburn, _history of paraguay_; hardy, _paraguay_; decoud, _paraguay_; funes, _historia civil del paraguay_; mitre, _guerra del paraguay_; yubero, _el paraguay moderno_. . mexico. a. empire and early republic: iturbide and santa anna. b. relations with texas. c. the war with the united states. d. struggle with the church: juarez. e. maximilian. f. the diaz regime; economic development. g. contemporary period: the revolution. madero; huerta; carranza; villa; obregon. h. relations with the united states; with japan; with germany. i. constitution and politics. suggested readings: enock, _mexico_; noll, _from empire to republic_; ----, _history of mexico_; fortier and ficklen, _central america and mexico_; bancroft, _history of mexico_; rives, _relations of mexico and the united states_; bancroft, _porfirio diaz_; pinchon and de lara, _mexico_; stevenson, _maximilian in mexico_; martin, _maximilian_; ----, _mexico of the xxth century_; prida, _from despotism to anarchy_; fornaro, _carranza and mexico_; trowbridge, _mexico today and tomorrow_. additional readings: alaman, _historia de mexico_; esquivel, _democracia y personalismo_; estrada, _la revolution y francisco i. madero_; gonzalez, _la revolucion y sus heroes_; zamacois, _historia de mexico_; planchet, _la cuestion religiosa en mexico_. . the central american states: first class: costa rica and guatemala. second class: honduras, salvador, and nicaragua. . race distribution. . projects of union: - ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; . . the peace conference of ; the court. . political and economic conditions. . foreign relations. readings: villafranca, _costa rica_; winter, _guatemala_; guardia, _costa rica_; squier, _states of central america_; palmer, _central america_; fortier and ficklen, _central america and mexico_; martin, _salvador_; koebel, _central america_; munro, _the five central american republics_; shepherd, _central and south america_. . the insular republics. a. cuba. . cuba in the early part of the th century. . plans made in south america for the revolutionizing of cuba. . cuba in diplomacy; attitude of the united states and europe. . slavery in cuba. . filibusters. . the ten year war; the problem of reform. . the spanish-american war; status of cuba after the peace. . american occupation; the platt amendment. . republican government in cuba; interventions by the united states; diplomatic and economic relations with the united states. readings: callahan, _cuba and international relations_; leroy-beaulieu, - ; cabrera, _cuba and the cubans_; porter, _industrial cuba_; lindsay, _cuba and her people of today_; quesada, _the war in cuba_; guiteras, _historia de la isla de cuba_; ramon de la sagra, _historia de la isla de cuba_ ( t); canini, _four centuries of spanish rule in cuba_; johnson, _the history of cuba_ ( v); hill, _cuba and porto rico_. b. haiti and santo domingo: . monarchy and republicanism in haiti and santo domingo. . social and racial problems. . political disorders. . international relations: a. financial conditions; foreign claims. b. interventions. c. relations of santo domingo and the united states. d. haiti and the united states. . attitude toward the united states. . contemporary government and politics. readings: fiske, _west indies_; eves, _west indies_; st. john, _haiti, the black republic_; schoenrich, _santo domingo_; hazard, _santo domingo, past and present_; hollander, _report on the debt of santo domingo_ (sen. ex. document, th cong.); garcia, _compendio de la historia de santo domingo_. . panama: a. secessionist tendencies in panama. b. the revolution. c. the republic. d. relations with colombia and the united states. required readings: bishop, _panama, past and present_; gause and carr, _the story of panama_; bunau-varilla, _panama; the creation, destruction and resurrection_; villegas, _the republic of panama_. readings in general for political history: dawson, _the south american republics_; akers, _history of south america_; dodd, _modern constitutions_; rodriguez, _american constitutions_; sweet, _history of latin america_; koebel, _south america_; garcia calderon, _latin-america_, - ; _cambridge modern history_, xii, - ; domville-fife, _great states of south america_; enock, _the republics of central and south america_; porter, _the ten republics_; colmo, _los paises de la america latina_; amunategui, _ensayos biographicos_ ( v); shepherd, _hispanic nations of the new world_. =chapter ix. relations with one another and with europe.= . boundary disputes and commissions; the principle of _uti possedetis_. . filibustering expeditions and reprisals. . the status of uruguay. . the war against paraguay. . the chile-peru-bolivia war; the tacna-arica question. . international standing of latin america. . the problem of unity: a. proposals for a league of states of spanish origin. b. proposals for inclusion of brazil in this league. c. congresses of hispanic-american countries: panama ( ), lima ( , , ), santiago de chile ( ). d. programmes of arbitration; proposals for codification of international law for the americas. e. congresses for health and sanitations conventions: rio de janiero ( , ), lima ( ), washington ( , ), mexico city ( ), san jose de costa rica ( ). f. scientific congresses: buenos aires ( ), montevideo, ( ), rio de janiero ( ), santiago de chile, ( ), washington, ( ). g. control of river commerce; the international rivers. . central american affairs; arbitration agreement. . the so-called a. b. c. alliance. . relations with europe: diplomatic; economic; cultural. . european interventions in latin american affairs: examples of european intervention: france and great britain at buenos aires and montevideo; spain and france in mexico; france, great britain and spain in mexico; spain in santo domingo and peru; great britain at corinto; germany, great britain and italy in venezuela. readings: shepherd, - ; koebel, _the south americans_, - ; garcia calderon, - ; _cambridge modern history_, vol. xii, - ; moore, _brazil and peru boundary question_; posada, _en america una compaña_; helio lobo, _o tribunal arbitral brasiliero-boliviano_; alvarez, _le droit international americain_; quesada, _la evolution del panamericanismo_. =chapter x. later diplomatic and political relations with the united states.= . development and extension of the monroe doctrine: a. the jackson-van buren attitude. b. polk's revival, interpretation, and restriction. c. monroe doctrine in the fifties: . connection with slavery issue. . paraguay, - . d. the maximilian episode. e. the united states and the chilean war with spain. f. grant and the nationalization of the doctrine. g. the santos claim in ecuador; alsop claim in chile. h. cleveland-olney extension. i. monroe doctrine and imperialism. j. roosevelt-taft period. k. wilson doctrine. l. monroe doctrine and claims against hispanic-american countries: . contractual,--alsop, cerutti, landreau. . tortuous,--case of moreno; benton case; renton case. m. the monroe doctrine and the world war. readings: appropriate sections of edgington, bingham, hart, bigelow; reddaway, _monroe doctrine_; american state papers; moore, _a digest of international law_, vol. vi, - ; - ; ----, _principles of american diplomacy_, - ; minister dudley's report, u. s. for. rel., ; vicuña mackenna, _historia de la administracion montt_; ----, _historia de chile_; new international encyclopedia; bonilla, _wilson doctrine_; barrett, _latin-america of today and its relation to the united states_; helio lobo, _de monroe a rio-branco_; saenz peña, _derecho publico americano_. . hispanic-american attitude toward the united states. a. in politics and diplomacy. b. in commerce. readings: ugarte, _el porvenir de la america latina_; sotolongo, _el imperialismo norte americano_; merlos, _america latina ante el peligro_; weyl, _american world policies_, chapter xv; gondra, _los estados unidos y las naciones americanas_. . efforts at coöperation and friendship: a. evolution of pan americanism. b. the pan american union: . organization and purposes. . control and accomplishments. c. pan american congresses: washington, ( ); mexico city,( ); rio de janiero, ( ); buenos aires, ( ). d. inter-american financial congresses: washington, ( ); buenos aires, ( ). e. the peace and arbitration treaties. f. cultural inter-relations; scientific conferences, increase of trade and travel; exchange of teachers and college professors. g. proposals of an inter-american league of nations. . the drago doctrine and the porter doctrine. . latin america at the second hague conference. readings: hull, _the united states and latin america at the hague_; quesada, _la doctrina drago_ (rev. de la univ., b.a., ). . the platt amendment: a. relations with cuba; interventions. . caribbean interests of the united states: . political and economic conditions in the caribbean area; effects and influences of the spanish-american war. . strategic importance; united states as a caribbean power. a. porto rico as a dependency. b. territorial government; the insular cases; the question of citizenship. c. the virgin islands. . dominant position of the united states: a. in commerce. b. financial agreements with santo domingo, haiti, nicaragua. c. the panama canal as a factor in the problem; status of the republic of panama with respect to the united states. d. naval bases of the united states; lease of the corn islands. e. interventions of the united states. . relations of the united states and venezuela, colombia, central america. . attitude of caribbean peoples toward the united states; problem of self-determination. . contemporary tendencies. readings: jones, _caribbean interests of the united states_; bonsal, _the american mediterranean_; westergaard, _the danish west indies_, - ; de booy and faris, _the virgin islands_. . the panama canal: a. treaties and plans for construction. b. the french enterprise. c. relations of columbia and the united states. d. secession and independence of panama. e. hay-bunau-varilla treaty. f. construction of canal. g. possible economic and political effects. h. the columbian grievance against the united states; diplomatic developments. . wilson administration: a. hispanic-american policy. b. relations with mexico. c. achievements and criticism. required readings: senate doc., no. , st cong., rd session; _annals of american academy of pol. science_, july, ; bryce, - ; garcia calderon, - ; latane, _america as a world power_, - ; ----, _diplomatic relations of the united states with spanish america_; williams, _anglo-american isthmian diplomacy_; _the new pan americanism_, parts i, ii and iii (world peace foundation). additional readings: flack, _spanish american diplomatic relations preceding the war of _; chandler, _inter-american acquaintances_; moore, _principles of american diplomacy_, - ; maurtua, _la idea pan americana y la cuestion del arbitraje_; usher, _pan-americanism_; gause and carr, _the story of panama_; bishop, _panama, past and present_. =chapter xi. trade relations of hispanic america and the united states.= . origins of trade. . development of trade during the th century: a. comparative predominance of united states to about . b. disruption of trade during war of secession. c. increased european competition after franco-prussian war. . history of trade in the th century. . volume of contemporary trade, export and import, with united states; with europe. . character of the trade: a. standard articles imported and exported. b. non-competitive goods and raw products. c. competitive goods. . purchasing power of hispanic american countries. . misconceptions, current in united states, as to hispanic-american habits of business. . obstacles in the way of trade: a. lack of merchant marine. b. established habits and traditions of trade. c. ignorance of market and the accepted methods of trade: . market demands. . transportation problems. . tariff administrations. d. long term credits. e. lack of organization to secure the trade. . methods for improvement. . the webb-pomerene act. . effects of the european war of ; construction of the panama canal. . increase of american business interests in hispanic america. readings: _atlas america latina_; verrill, _south and central american trade conditions of today_, - ; u. s. sen. doc. no. , th cong., d sess., (fisher, _ethnography and commercial importance of latin america and the west indies_); house doc., no. , cong., d sess.; aughinbaugh, _selling latin america_; babson, _the future of south america_; bonsal, _the american mediterranean_; chandler, _inter-american acquaintances_; hough, _practical exporting_; shepherd, - ; ----, _our south american trade_ (pol. science quart., dec., ); filsinger, _exporting to latin america_; savay, _the science of foreign trade_; pepper, _american foreign trade_; cooper, _understanding south america_; wilson, _south america as an export field_, (sp. agt. ser. no. , , dept. of com.); south american supplement, london _times_; u. s. consular reports; reports of the department of commerce and labor (now department of commerce). =chapter xii. hispanic america and the world war.= . economic and political influences of the war. . hispanic-american products necessary in the prosecution of the war. . efforts to secure sympathy for one or the other group of belligerents; policies of neutrality; cultural factors in the situation: germany as a menace. . improvement in the financial situation; development of pan americanism: the financial congresses. . growth of anti-german sentiment in certain countries; ruy barbosa's indictment of germany; the luxburg and zimmermann dispatches. . effect of the entrance of the united states into the war. . hispanic america in the war: a. nations which declared war: brazil, costa rica, cuba, guatemala, haiti, honduras, nicaragua, panama. b. nations which severed relations with germany: bolivia, ecuador, peru, santo domingo, uruguay. c. the neutral countries: argentina, chile, colombia, mexico, salvador, venezuela, paraguay. d. services of brazil and cuba. . hispanic america and the peace conference; the prominent part played by brazil. . the tacna-arica question in a new phase. . attitude toward the league of nations; brazil as a member of the supreme council; the states which joined the league. . the monroe doctrine during the war; projects for an inter-american league of states. . economic results of the war upon hispanic america. readings: martin, _latin america and the war_, (league of nations, ii, no. ); kirkpatrick, _south america and the war_; rowe, _early effects of the war upon finance, commerce, and industry of peru_; ferrara, _la doctrine de monroe y la liga de las naciones_; galliard, _amerique latine et europe occidentale_; wagner, _l'allemagne et l'amerique latine_; quesada, el "peligro aleman" en sud america; yearbooks and periodicals. =chapter xiii. contemporary history, problems, and achievements of hispanic america.= . political: a. political and governmental stability. b. politics in practice and principle. c. modern conventions, platforms, and elections. d. restrictions of the ballot. e. professional men in politics. f. absence of political experience by the masses. g. necessity of developing public interest in politics and political philosophy. h. appearance of new political issues. i. electoral reform: argentina. j. civil service in hispanic america. k. state or church control over education. l. municipal government: . history of progress. . public utilities; fire departments; police system; water works; public sanitation; municipal ownership. m. social legislation. n. passing of the south american type of revolution. readings: garcia calderon, - , - ; shepherd, - ; scruggs, _the colombian and venezuelan republics; vera y gonzalez, elementos de historia contemporanea de america_; heredia, _memorias sobre las revoluciones de venezuela_; books on individual countries. . social and religious: a. social: . population: a. census statistics available. b. population and resources. . social types: spanish; immigrant; indian, savage and civilized; mixed races; negro. . laboring classes and types: _"vaquero;" "gaucho;" "llanero;"_ industrial laborers. . labor system and laws. a. peonage: . feudal status of labor in colonies. . origin of peonage; inheritance of debt. . the "inquilino" and "colono"; "cholo." . ignorance, wages, and living conditions. . peon in government and politics. . peonage in mexico; in south america. b. labor regulations in general. c. labor organizations. d. dearth of labor in certain countries. e. strikes; radicalism; labor conditions in argentina, brazil and mexico. . aristocratic and professional society. . language. . position of woman: a. in society. b. family life. c. the matter of divorce. . amusements and social customs: a. sports and games. b. carnivals and festivals. c. dress and etiquette. d. gambling and lotteries. e. social customs in business. . influence of the basques in latin america. readings: shepherd, - ; ----, _psychology of the latin american_ (jour. of race devel. ); garcia calderon, - ; bryce, , - ; romero, _mexico and the united states_; bingham, _across south america_; books on individual countries and on travel; bunge, _nuestra america_; colmo, _america latina_. b. religious: . prevalence of roman catholic church. . church and state; tendency toward separation. . clericalism in politics. . the work of the church. . toleration in hispanic america. . protestant missionary activities. . foreign opinion of hispanic-american morality. required readings: shepherd, ; koebel, _the south americans_ - , - , - . additional readings: speer, _south american problems_; brown, _latin america_; neely, _south america: its missionary problem_; planchet, _la cuestion religiosa en mexico_. . immigration: a. history of immigration in the th century: . causes of scarcity before ; colonial exclusion; revolutions; greater inducements of the united states; economic reasons. . increase since . ideas of alberdi and sarmiento on immigration. . drift toward the southern republics. . immigration in the north american republics. b. political and economic effects of immigration. c. effects on society. d. spanish, italian, german, russian and polish, english, french, portuguese, oriental, turkish and assyrian immigration. e. favorite occupations of aliens. f. the question of assimilation and citizenship. required readings: shepherd, - , - , ; koebel, _the south americans_, - ; garcia calderon, - , - . additional readings: _atlas america latina_; koebel, _british exploits_, - ; mulhall, _the english in south america_; wintzer, _die deutschen im tropischen amerika_. . financial: a. monetary systems in hispanic america. . standards and values. . paper currency. . fluctuations. b. capital and banking: . number of banks. . domestic and foreign control of banking. . branch banks: a. european. b. united states. . scarcity of capital. c. hispanic-american finance. . credits, exchange, solvency. . stock exchanges. . bond issues. . public debts. . sinking funds. . insurance. . trusts and corporations. d. foreign influences upon financial policies. e. business enterprises: . habits of business. . buying and selling; advertising. f. tariff systems: . tariff for revenue. . rates: specific rather than _ad valorem_. . variations and complexity. g. taxation: . on personal property. . on lands and real estate. . on industries. . licenses and concessions. h. internal improvements and public works. . history of internal improvements in latin america. . public works; postal service; parcel post. i. movement for single, pan-american monetary standard. j. movement for a pan-american, standardized tariff system. readings: shepherd, , , - , ; wolfe, _foreign credits_, (sp. agts. ser. no. , , department of commerce); hurley, _banking and credit in argentina, brazil, chile, and peru_, (sp. agts. ser. no. , , ibid.); verrill, aughinbaugh, and babson; crosby, _latin american monetary system and exchange conditions_; the south american year-book; consular reports; reports of the board of trade (eng.); books on individual countries; roper, _the postal service and the latin american trade_. . industrial: a. the most important industries: . mining: a. areas of ore fields. b. facilities. c. acquisition of mining properties. d. labor supply. e. gold, silver, diamonds, copper, tin, nitrate, coal, and other mines. . stock-raising: a. areas adapted. b. cattle, horse, sheep ranches. c. stock-yards and slaughter-houses. d. wool and hides. readings: whelpley, _trade development in argentina_, (sp. agts. ser. no. , , dept. of commerce and labor); _atlas america latina_. . rubber: a. areas of growth. b. processes employed. c. labor supply; labor scandals; "black gold." . agriculture: a. arable lands and climatic conditions. b. agriculture in connection with stock-raising. c. ownership of land. d. the agrarian situation in hispanic america. e. the "haciendas," "fazendas;" the "chacras" and "potreros." f. agricultural products: coffee, cacao yerba, foodstuffs. . manufacturing: a. general characteristics: domestic and factory methods. b. connection with other industries. c. obstacles in the way. d. products: foodstuffs, textiles, machinery. b. european and american capital invested in industries. c. occupations of foreigners in hispanic america. readings: koebel, _the south americans_, - , - ; books on individual countries; pearson, _the rubber country of the amazon_; gemmingen, _die entwickelung der fabrikindustrie im lateinischen amerika_. . commercial: a. history of hispanic-american commerce. b. exports and imports: . character and value. . destination. c. commercial enterprises. d. trade marks and their use. e. customs regulations. f. modern transportation and communication. . development of transportation facilities. . survival of colonial methods in certain areas. . pack-trains, stage routes, llama trains. . roads and highways. . land transportation: a. railroads: trunk lines; short lines. b. international and transcontinental lines. c. projected lines. d. horse cars and trolleys; subways. e. mileage and rates. f. freight rates. g. capital and ownership. . water transportation: a. river steamers and barges. b. oceanic lines. c. harbor facilities. d. rates. g. communication: . telegraph lines. . cable lines. . postal service; international service. h. the metric system of weights and measures. i. concessions and monopolies: . procedure in obtaining them. . policies of various countries in relation thereto. . attitude of the united states toward them. readings: shepherd, - ; koebel, _the south americans_, - ; domville-fife, _great states of south america; atlas america latina; sheridan, transportation rates to the west coast of south america_ (sp. agts. report, ser. , . bur. of for. and dom. commerce); gueydan, _transportation facilities of colombia and venezuela_ (_ibid._); _trade mark registration in latin america_ (tariff series, no. , _ibid._); verrill, aughinbaugh, and babson; reports of bureau of trade relations of the state department; report of the bureau of foreign and domestic commerce of the commerce department; u. s. federal trade com. rep. on trade and tariffs in brazil, uruguay, argentina, chile, bolivia, and peru; _tariff systems of south american countries_. (bur. of for and dom. com.) . educational and cultural: a. educational: . general characteristics. . percentages of illiterates in various countries. . educational progress. . obstacles to popular education. . foreign influences in education. a. european teachers in hispanic-america. b. american teachers in argentina in ; educational reforms of sarmiento. c. influence of united states at present. . administration of schools. . elementary and secondary education. . higher education in hispanic-america. a. universities: . faculties, courses, and equipment. . libraries and publications. . students. b. scientific pursuits. . observatories and other establishments for study of geography, ethnology, and zoology. . schools of medicine and surgery. c. industrial and technical education. . urban and rural education. . popular interest in education. . non-official efforts for promotion of education: a. congresses and teachers' associations. b. private schools and institutions. c. publications and lectures. . educational reforms needed. b. cultural achievements in general: . public charity: a. control and sources of revenue. b. societies and institutions for social service. . public libraries. . journalism: a. status of the press in various countries. b. notable newspapers. c. recent development. d. magazines and periodicals. . literature: a. general characteristics. b. european and particularly french influence. c. representative literary men and their works. . novelists, essayists, poets: ricardo palma, rodo, alencar, gonzalvez diaz, san martin, echeverria, sarmiento, ruben dario, chocano, blanco fombona, etc. . historians: alaman, the amunategui, barros arana, icazbalceta, vicuña mackenna, mitre, jose toribio medina, oliviera lima, zamacois, etc. . jurists: bello, calvo, velez sarsfield, ambrosio montt, etc. . arts: a. general characteristics. b. achievements in music; the drama; architecture; painting; and sculpture. readings: for education: shepherd, - ; ----, _education in south america_, (review of reviews, may, ); ----, _higher education in south america_, (columbia university quart., dec., ); koebel, _the south americans_, - ; brandon, _latin-american universities and special schools_; blakslee, _latin-america_, - ; monroe, _an encyclopedia of education_ (see discussion under the names of each country); see also, walle, _bolivia_, chap. ; eder, _colombia_, chap. ; hirst, _argentina_, chap. ; and wright's books on bolivia, chile, and peru; bravo mejia, _organizacion de las escuelas rurales_; amunategui, _discursos parliamentarios_. for cultural problems: shepherd, - ; _la literatura y el periodismo_; garcia calderon, _latin-america_, - ; warner, _library of the world's best literature_, vol. ; blakslee, _latin-america_, - ; koebel, _the south americans_, - ; goldberg, _studies in spanish american literature_; umphrey, _spanish american poets of today and yesterday_ (hispania, ); coester, _the literary history of spanish america_; starr, _readings from modern mexican authors_; lamborn, _mexican paintings and painters_; zanelli lopez, _mujeres chilenos de letras_; amunategui, la _alborada, poetica in chile_. university of kansas publications museum of natural history volume , no. , pp. - september , the genera of phyllomedusine frogs (anura: hylidae) by william e. duellman university of kansas lawrence university of kansas publications, museum of natural history editors of this number: frank b. cross, philip s. humphrey, j. knox jones, jr. volume , no. , pp. - published september , university of kansas lawrence, kansas printed by robert r. (bob) sanders, state printer topeka, kansas - the genera of phyllomedusine frogs (anura: hylidae) by william e. duellman one of the most distinctive phyletic lines among the diverse neotropical hylid frogs is composed of a group of species placed in the genus _phyllomedusa_ (funkhouser, ) or in two or three different genera (goin, ; lutz, ). these species differ from all other neotropical hylids by possessing a vertical, instead of horizontal, pupil. the only other hylids having a vertical pupil belong to the papuan genus _nyctimystes_. goin ( ) erroneously stated that _nyctimantis_ and _triprion_ have vertical pupils. although limited information is available on the cytotaxonomy of hylids, the data show that phyllomedusine species have _n_= ( _n_= ) chromosomes. _acris_ has _n_= ( _n_= ) (cole, ). members of the _hyla leucophyllata_, _microcephala_, and _parviceps_ groups have _n_= ( _n_= ), _gastrotheca ceratophrys_ has a haploid number of , the papuan hylid genus _nyctimystes_ and all but one of the australo-papuan _hyla_ for which the numbers are known have a haploid number of , and all other new world hylids studied have _n_= ( _n_= ) (duellman and cole, ; duellman, ). cei ( ) and cei and erspamer ( ) noted that phyllomedusine frogs differ notably from other neotropical hylids on the basis of the amines and polypeptides in the skin. all species of phyllomedusines deposit their eggs in a gelatinous mass on leaves or branches above water. although this type of egg deposition is characteristic of some rhacophorines and apparently all centrolenids, it is known among hylids only in the phyllomedusines and in two species of _hyla_. the distinctive combination of morphological, physiological, chromosomal, and behavioral characteristics is strongly suggestive that these frogs represent an early phyletic divergence within the hylidae. günther ( ) proposed the familial name phyllomedusidae for _phyllomedusa bicolor_ (boddaert). i suggest the recognition of the group as a subfamily. the following classification of the phyllomedusines is based on my own knowledge of the middle american and some south american species and on evidence from the literature on those south american species with which i am not personally familiar. subfamily phyllomedusinae günther, phyllomedusidae günther [type genus, _phyllomedusa_ wagler, ]. _definition._--moderately small to large hylids having vertical pupils, _n_= ( _n_= ) chromosomes, skin containing large amounts of powerful bradykinin-like and physalaemin-like polypeptides, eggs suspended from vegetation above water, and tadpoles have a ventral spiracle sinistral to midline. _range._--low and moderate elevations in south and middle america, including trinidad, from northern argentina and northwestern ecuador to veracruz and southern sonora, méxico. _content._--three genera, one of which probably is composite. genus =agalychnis= cope, . _agalychnis_ cope, [type species, _hyla moreletii_ duméril, , by subsequent designation]. _definition._--fingers and toes at least half webbed; terminal discs large; first toe shorter than second and not opposable to others; skin smooth, lacking osteoderms; parotoid glands, if present, poorly developed and diffuse; palpebral membrane reticulate (except in _a. calcarifer_); iris red or yellow; skull shallow, depth less than per cent of length; nasals large; frontoparietal fontanelle large; quadratojugals reduced; prevomerine teeth present. _range._--central veracruz and northern oaxaca, méxico, southeastward through central america to northwestern ecuador; one species disjunct in amazonian ecuador. _content._--eight species [synonyms in brackets]: _annae_ (duellman, ); _calcarifer_ boulenger, ; _callidryas_ (cope, ) [_helenae_ cope, ; _callidryas taylori_ (funkhouser, )]; _craspedopus_ (funkhouser, ); _litodryas_ (duellman and trueb, ); _moreleti_ (duméril, ) [_holochroa_ (salvin, )]; _saltator_ taylor, ; _spurrelli_ boulenger, . _remarks._--savage and heyer ( ) provided evidence that _a. callidryas taylori_ (funkhouser) and _a. helenae_ cope were junior synonyms of _a. callidryas_ (cope). genus =pachymedusa=, new genus type species, _agalychnis dacnicolor_ cope, . _definition._--fingers and toes having basal webs and lateral fringes; terminal discs large; first toe shorter than second and not opposable to others; skin smooth or shagreened, lacking osteoderms; paratoid glands present, diffuse; palpebral membrane reticulate; iris golden yellow with black reticulations; skull deep, depth more than per cent of length; nasals large; frontoparietal fontanelle moderately large; quadratojugal robust; prevomerine teeth present. _range._--pacific slopes and lowlands from southern sonora to the isthmus of tehuantepec, méxico. _content._--monotypic: _dacnicolor_ cope, [_alcorni_ taylor, ]. _remarks._--the generic name is derived from the greek _pachy_ meaning thick and the greek _medousa_ (latin, _medusa_) in reference to _phyllomedusa_; the sense implied is the heavy body of _pachymedusa dacnicolor_. genus =phyllomedusa= wagler, _phyllomedusa_ wagler, [type species, _rana bicolor_ boddaert, ]. _pithecopus_ cope, [type species, _phyllomedusa azurea_ cope, (=_phyllomedusa hypochondrialis_ daudin, ), by original designation]. _hylomantis_ peters, [type species _hylomantis aspera_ peters, , by monotypy]. _phrynomedusa_ miranda-ribeiro, [type species, _phrynomedusa fimbriata_ miranda-ribeiro, , by subsequent designation]. _bradymedusa_ miranda-ribeiro, [type species, _bradymedusa moschada_ miranda-ribeiro, (=_phyllomedusa rohdei_ mertens, ) by subsequent designation]. _definition._--fingers and toes having greatly reduced webbing or lacking webs; terminal discs small; first toe shorter than, equal to, or longer than second, opposable or not; skin smooth or rugose having osteoderms or not; parotoid glands present, in most species, usually distinct and elevated; palpebral membrane not reticulate; iris uniformly silvery white to orange-bronze with black reticulations; skull moderate to deep, depth more than per cent of length; nasals moderately small; frontoparietal fontanelle present, variable in size; quadratojugal reduced in some species; prevomerine teeth present or absent. _range._--low and moderate elevations in south america east of the andes from the caribbean (including trinidad) to northern argentina; costa rica and panamá in central america. _content._--thirty-one species [synonyms in brackets]: _aspera_ (peters, ); _ayeaye_ (b. lutz, ); _bahiana_ a. lutz, ; _bicolor_ (boddaert, ) [_scleroderma_ cope, ]; _blombergi_ funkhouser, ; _boliviana_ boulenger, ; _buckleyi_ boulenger, ; _burmeisteri burmeisteri_ boulenger, ; _burmeisteri distincta_ b. lutz, ; _centralis_ bokermann, ; _cochranae_ bokermann, ; _coelestis_ (cope, ); _edentula_ andersson, ; _feltoni_ shreve, ; _fimbriata_ (miranda-ribeiro, ) [_appendiculata_ a. lutz, ]; _guttata_ a. lutz, ; _hypochondrialis_ (daudin, ) [_azurea_ cope, ; _megacephala_ (miranda-ribeiro, )]; _iheringi_ boulenger, ; _lemur_ boulenger, ; _loris_ boulenger, ; _medinae_ funkhouser, ; _nicefori_ barbour, ; _orcesi_ funkhouser, ; _pailona_ shreve, ; _perlata_ boulenger, ; _rohdei_ mertens, [_moschada_ (miranda-ribeiro, )]; _sauvagei_ boulenger, [_rickettsii_ günther, ]; _tarsius_ (cope, ); _tomopterna_ (cope, ) [_palliata_ peters, ]; _trinitatis_ mertens, , _vaillanti_ boulenger, , _venusta_ duellmann and trueb, . _remarks._--_phyllomedusa_ includes ) a series of large species (_bicolor-burmeisteri_) showing progressive specialization of the feet; ) a series of small species having grasping feet (_ayeaye_, _centralis_, _cochranae_, _guttata_, _hypochondrialis_, and _rohdei_); ) a series of small, relatively unspecialized species (_lemur_, _loris_, and _medinae_); and ) several other species of questionable affinities. lutz ( ) resurrected cope's ( ) _pithecopus_ for species (_ayeaye_, _boliviana_, _burmeisteri_, _coelestis_, _hypochondrialis_, _nicefori_, _rohdei_, _sauvagei_, _tarsius_, _tomopterna_, _trinitatis_, and _vaillanti_). adequate material is not available for detailed study of all south american species; consequently, a firm classification cannot be established at this time. nevertheless, it is obvious that lutz's arrangement is unnatural. if subsequent investigations show, as seems likely, that the small specialized phyllomedusines are a natural phyletic unit, the generic name _pithecopus_ is available. however, species such as _boliviana_, _burmeisteri_, _nicefori_, and _trinitatis_ do not belong in _pithecopus_. as noted by funkhouser ( ), the small, relatively unspecialized species (_lemur_, _loris_, and _medinae_) form a natural group; possibly this group should be accorded generic recognition. until more evidence on the interspecific relationships is acquired, the maintenance of the current classification is desirable. discussion noble ( ) considered the species of _phyllomedusa_ having opposable digits, reduced terminal discs, and no webbing to be advanced and such species as _agalychnis moreleti_, _calcarifer_, and _spurrelli_ to be primitive. funkhouser ( ) followed noble's suggestion and attempted to explain the evolution of the species of _phyllomedusa_ (_sensu lato_) by assuming that they evolved from an advanced _hyla_-like ancestor. therefore, she placed those species having large, fully webbed hands and feet near the base of her phylogenetic scheme and hypothesized that evolutionary sequences involved stages of reduction and eventual loss of webbing, followed by the development of grasping toes. such an evolutionary history is highly unlikely. the _agalychnis_ phyletic line has one kind of specialization for an arboreal existence. it is contrary to evolutionary theory that a specialized group would evolve into a generalized form and then evolve new kinds of specializations to meet the needs imposed by the same environmental conditions affecting the earlier specialized group. a more reasonable hypothesis is that the evolution of opposable digits took place in a phyletic line that had as its ancestral stock a frog with generalized hands and feet. if this assumption is correct, _phyllomedusa_ and _agalychnis_ represent different phyletic lines; each exhibits divergent modes of adaptation for arboreal habits, whereas _pachymedusa_ probably remains relatively little changed from the basic phyllomedusine stock. on the basis of modern distribution and areas of diversification alone (no fossils are known), it is evident that _phyllomedusa_ underwent its adaptive radiation in south america, _agalychnis_ evolved in central america, and _pachymedusa_ ended up in western méxico. if we follow the matthewsian concepts of the american herpetofauna outlined by dunn ( ) and modified by schmidt ( ) and stuart ( ), _pachymedusa_ represents a "hanging-relict" of a group that moved southward. according to savage's ( ) interpretation of the origins and history of the american herpetofauna, _agalychnis_ and _pachymedusa_ are members of the mesoamerican fauna, and _phyllomedusa_ is part of the neotropical fauna. perhaps the phyllomedusines arose in south america; from there a primitive stock spread northward and survived as _pachymedusa_ in méxico, whereas the stock in central america and south america evolved into _agalychnis_ and _phyllomedusa_, respectively. evidently the primitive phyllomedusines evolved the habit of arboreal egg deposition and a walking gait; the latter is best developed in the small, highly specialized species of _phyllomedusa_ (lutz, ). probably the other divergent arboreal adaptations resulted from environmental stresses and competition. the generalized _pachymedusa_ inhabits relatively dry areas characterized by low forest. throughout its range it coexists with no more than five other arboreal hylids. the species of _agalychnis_ live in rain forests and humid montane forests. in any given area one species of _agalychnis_ occurs sympatrically with no more than a dozen other arboreal hylids. with few exceptions the species of _agalychnis_ are more arboreal in their habits than are other hylids. the species of _phyllomedusa_ live in the same kinds of habitats as do those of _agalychnis_, but throughout the ranges of most of the species of _phyllomedusa_ the diversity of arboreal hylids is much greater than in central america. in the upper amazon basin as many as hylids occur sympatrically. many groups of _hyla_ in this area (for example, the _hyla boans_ and _hyla marmorata_ groups) are equally as arboreal in their habits as are the species of _agalychnis_ in central america. conceivably, competition within this array of tree frogs resulted in selection for modification of the extremities, thereby bringing about a different mode of climbing in _phyllomedusa_. the walking gait already present in phyllomedusines provided a source for further modification, which resulted in the development of opposable digits and the associated lemuroid manner of climbing. the known life histories of most species of _phyllomedusa_, all species of _agalychnis_, and that of _pachymedusa_ are similar. characteristically the tadpoles are generalized pelagic types that develop in ponds, but at least some of the small specialized _phyllomedusa_ in southeastern brazil have stream-adapted tadpoles with funnel-shaped mouths (cochran, ; 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