UC-NRLF 
 
" o 
 B E r K E I E Y 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OP 
 
 LIBH. 
 
IRVING S COLUMBUS. 
 
 ABRIDGED BY HIMSELF. 
 
 STATE OF NEW YORK, > 
 SECRETARY S OFFICE. $ 
 
 , ALBANY, SOrii MAY, 1833. 
 
 To the Trustees of the several School District* in t)*is state. 
 
 The Legislature, nt thoir late session, adopted the following Resolutions* 
 which, in obedience to the direction contained in them, are communicated 
 for your information. 
 
 STATE OF NEW YORK. ) 
 
 IN SENATK, ..fyrj* ;<>, 1K*3. \ 
 
 Resolved (If the Assembly concur,) That, in the opinion of tlm Legis 
 lature, the work entitled " I ho life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, 
 by Washington Irving, abridged by the sain* 1 .." from tin; national charac 
 ter of the subject., the fidelity and interest of the narrative, and the purity 
 tnd elegance* of the stylo, is eminently fit to be used as a class hook in the 
 Common Schools of this State; and it is hereby recommended to the 
 trustees of the several school districts to take the necessary measures to 
 introduce tne same into the schools under their charge with as little delay 
 as circumstances may permit. 
 
 Resolved (If the Assembly concur,) That the Secretary of State, as 
 Superintendent of Common Schools, be, and he is hereby directed, to ad Iress 
 a circular letter to the trustees of the several school districts within this 
 State, enclosing a certified copy of the preceding Resolution, and sup 
 porting the propriety of the recommendation therein contained, with such 
 observations as he may deem proper. 
 By Order, 
 
 JOHN F. BACON, Citric of the Senate. 
 
 STATE OF NEW YORK, ) 
 IN ASSEMBLY, jtyrd 2), 1KB. s 
 
 Resolved, That this House do concur with the Senate in their said Re 
 solutions. 
 
 By Order, 
 
 FRANCIS SEGER, Clerk of the 
 
 The adoption of these Resolutions constitutes the first exception t" the 
 established policy of the Legislature in abstaining from nil interiert nco, 
 so far as the selection of books is concerned, with the course of instru lion- 
 pursued in the Common Schools. Numerous applications had firoir lime 
 to time been made to procure a Legislative sanction for particular boo ;s, 
 but uniformly without success. The departure in this instance from a 
 
 be has conferred on his native State by. ho production? of nis genius, 
 , we considered as presenting a fit occasion for relaxing tile rule ; and, is 
 
2 IRVINO S COLUMBUS. 
 
 eo doing, it was believed that the precedent could not well be imitated 
 since the same circumstance would not again be likely to occur. 
 
 Mr. IrviHg was among tho first of the natives of this State who have 
 devoted themselves to the pursuits of literature. He commenced his 
 career as an author, in the city of New York, at a time when the impulses 
 to literary distinction found little encouragement in the prevailing spirit 
 of enterprise, and tlie busy habits of society. The character of the 
 country was essentiully commercial ; and neither wealth nor leisure was 
 lent, in any considerable degree, to the cultivation of letters. Notwith 
 standing these unpropitious circumstances, his earliest productions excited 
 a general interest among his countrymen, through the same originality of 
 thought and beauty of expression which so eminently distinguish his later 
 works, and which command the admiration of a 1 who are familiar with 
 our language and literature. In a word, it may bo said, without injustice 
 to any of his ootemporaries, that no native of the United States has con 
 tributed in a greater degree to rescue our literary character from reproach, 
 bj extorting, even from the harsh awards of European criticism, unquali 
 fied testimonials of praise. 
 
 Thn " Life and Vovages of Columbus" were written under circum 
 stances well calculated to secure what the author is universally admitted 
 to huve attained fidelity in historical detail, and in delineations both of 
 national and individual character. Unwilling to trust to the narratives, 
 for the most, part contradictory and ill authenticated, in which the history 
 of the discovery had been transmitted to our own times, Mr. Irving repair 
 ed to MaJrid, and sought the materials for his work in the archives ot that 
 ancient city. He consulted the most authentic sources of intelligence 
 with regard to the man of whose character and actions it was to treat, and 
 with regard to the country and the age with which he is identified : and he 
 composed it amid the living memorials of ancient Spain, with the records 
 of her chivalry, her power, and her magnificence before him. He has pre 
 sented the conflicts of the discoverer with the prejudices of the Old World, 
 and with the seductions and perils of the New, the glorious triumph of his 
 great enterprise, and the termination of his career amid the visitations of 
 neglect and ingratitude, in a strain of chaste and eloquent diction, unsur 
 passed, if not unequalled, by any work of the present day : and he has im 
 bued it deeply with a pure and high-toned morality. 
 
 The abridgment, which the Legislature have recommended in the fore 
 going Resolutions to be used in the Common SchooL as a class-book, pos 
 sesses oH the characteristic merits of the original work, although, rn a 
 composition so full of beauties, many have necessarily been lost in com 
 pressing it into a narrower compass : and the Superintendent does not 
 hesitate to say, that he knows no work better suited to be introduced into 
 tk Common Schools for the use of the higher classes. Independently of the 
 unblemished purity of its style and thought, it exhibits in a minute detail, 
 with which all should be familiar, the discovery and first settlement by 
 civilized men of tne continent in which our own country occupies so con 
 spicuous a place a continent destined, perhaps, at no distant d /, 
 through the influence of the free institutions which have taken root among 
 us, to change the political character of the Old World, by pouring into it, 
 in streams far more precious than the fountains of wealth which were 
 opened by the discovery, the treasures of an enlightened and practical 
 freedom. 
 
 JOHN A. DIX, Superintendent Common Schools. 
 
 [.Extract from the Report of the Committee o/ the Assembly on Colleges, 
 Jlcalcmies, and Common Schools.] 
 
 " Your Committe3 are persuaded that the passage of ine resolutions ii* 
 question will have a direct tendency to raise the standard of education in 
 the common scJioois of the State, and will, at the same time, be applaud 
 ed throughout the Union as a most appropriate tribute on the part of this 
 
IRVING 8 COLUMBUS. 
 
 State to the eminent genius and meritorious labours of one of our native 
 citizens. Your Committee, therefore, have no hesitation in advising that 
 this House concur with the Senate. 
 
 " It is unnecessary that your Committee should dwell on the superior 
 merits, as a literary production, of Washington living s Life and Voyages 
 of Columbus; it has already received the stamp of public approbation. 
 not only in this country, but in every part of the civilized world where 
 English and American literature is known and valued. Some years of 
 tho life of the author were devoted to the preparation of the won ; and, 
 by a irost assiduous study of original and unpublished documents, which, 
 by his personal researches, he discovered in the libraries of Spain, he has 
 been enabled to correct the errors and supply the defects of preceding 
 writers. The production is worthy of the time arid labour that it cost. In 
 the accuracy and fulness of its narrative, the beauty of its varied illustra 
 tions, and the purity and vigour of its style, it is universally admitted to 
 surpass all other works on the same subject; and your Committee are 
 assured that they but repeat the opinion of all competent judges in pro 
 nouncing it the most valuable contribution that has yet been made to the 
 rising literature of our country. 
 
 " The abridgment of tl? : s masterly work by the author preserves in a 
 great measure the excellences of the original : the style is equally anima 
 ted, correct, and flowing ; and, while the substance of the narrative is 
 retained, the interest is rather enhanced than weakened by the comprese d 
 form in which the facts are given. Its peculiar adaptation to the use of 
 common schools will not be denied by any who have perused the work, 
 and are competent to appreciate its extraordinary merits." 
 
 The ollowing notices of this abridgment were extracted from various 
 newspapers within a fortnight after the publication of the work. 
 
 From the JVezc York Evening Post : June, 1829. 
 
 From the JVew York Daily Advertiser : June, 182J. 
 
 u From what we have been able to read, we have reason to believe that 
 the ?iear, chaste, and beautiful style peculiar to our distinguished coun 
 tryman will be found to be preserved, much to the ornament and value of 
 the work ; and we are of the opinion that most persona will rise from the 
 perusal of the abridgment with a more clear acquaintance with the life, 
 character, and discoveries of the great navigator, as time is not given for 
 the interest to flag. To schools, and to youth, this volume will be par 
 ticularly acceptable." , 
 
 From the JV*e/o York American : June, 1829. 
 
 i{ We hope this book may become a standard one in every school in OUT 
 country ; and thus that the history of the first d : scovery of this continent 
 the most magnificent result of enduring courage and noble selr -relianco 
 that ever rewarded the efforts of man -may, in all time hereafter, be 
 taught to its inhabitants through the glowing pages of an America!. 
 
4 IRVING 8 COLUMBUS. 
 
 From the New York Mercantile Advertiser : June, 1829. 
 
 " It is precisely such a book as should bo put into the bane s of the 
 young : there is a vigour in it style that never flags, and an attraction 
 that it not weakened by a reporusal ; added to which, there is a vein of 
 moral sentiment pervading it \vhich must commend it to every instructor.* 
 
 From the Boston Courier : June, 1829. 
 
 " This work has been prepared for the press by the author himself, and 
 may therefore be considered us, in some degree, an original work. It 
 ought to be adopted as a class-book in academies, where it would not 
 only be useful and entertaining as a piece of important history, but might 
 be adopted KS a specimen of rlegant. composition, and worthy of the imi 
 tation of students who need an elegant ami fascinating example of style." 
 
 From the New York Albion : June, 1829. 
 
 "It is quite remarkaMn to observe how fully the spirit of the origina* 
 work is embodied in the abridgment Every fact of importance is pre 
 served, and t!:ere is no risk in asserting, that as a school-book, there it 
 nothing extant that so correctly, and, at the same time, so beautifully pro* 
 acute to the youthful mind the tab of the fate and fortunes of the great 
 Cfrfumbus." 
 
 From the Philadelphia National Gazette : June, 1829. 
 
 " Mr. Irving has done justice to his great work in this elegant nnd auf- 
 fici^it compcud ; and no one but the author could have accompli* hed the 
 task so happily in all respects. Wo feel entitled anJ bound to recom 
 mend it to teachers of youth as a work eminently fit to be read in schools. 
 For that use it possesses all the specific merits, comparative brevity, 
 romantic interest, beauty of diction, and valuable or neeetsaiy infor 
 mation." 
 
 From the New England Galaxy : June. 1829. 
 
 " In its present form, this work canr.ot fail to become popular, in the 
 strictest sense of the word. It is not so large but that all may rea it, and 
 its literary excellence is of so high a character, and the interest attached 
 to the subject is so commanding, that all will read It with delight. In this 
 abridgment nothing of the spirit of an original is wanting : while no mate 
 rial facts are omit ed, the story is condensed ; it is less philosophical, but 
 more animated ; and the style, though less elaborate, is perhaps more 
 vivacious and attractive. 
 
 " We think we have heard, or seen stated somewhere, that Mr. Irving 
 in this abridgment aimed at making a work proper to bo used in schools. 
 It is certainly remarkably well adapted to that use. Some of the principal 
 schools in New York have adopted it, and we hope their example will be 
 folio- ved. The subject of this work, and the admirable manner in which 
 it is treated, alike recommend it, and the sizo aud price now form no 
 objection." 
 
Columbus before the King and Queen. 
 
THE 
 
 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, 
 
 JOHN S. PR ELL 
 
 Qtil & Mechanical Engineer. 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. 
 
 WASHINGTON IRVlNt*. 
 
 ABRIDGED AND ARRANGED BY THE AUTHOR, EXPRESSLY FOR THE USE 
 OF SCHOOLS. 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 
 COLLINS, KEESE & CO., 254 PEARL STREET, 
 
 W. E. DEAN, PRINTER. 
 1838. 
 
. MHOt 
 
 - Jj*>f^>Wp5J areor<;fing4p|aqjppf ^pn^tcss^ ihe^y e^rpn.e thousand 
 ciglil wind red aifid tliirty-fouV, i>y Washington Irving, in 1 the 
 Clerk s office of tlve Southern Diuict of New- York. 
 
 , 
 
 (STPT 
 
t III 
 
 I"? 
 
 EDUC 
 ilBRARY 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 1. WHETHER in old times beyond the reach of history 
 or tradition, there existed an intercourse between the op 
 posite shores of the Atlantic; whether the Egyptian 
 legend concerning the island of Atalantis was indeed no 
 fable, and that such country did actually exist, and was 
 swallowed up by some mighty convulsion of our globe, 
 must ever remain matters of mere speculation. 
 
 2. Certain it is, that at the beginning of the fifteenth 
 century, nothing was known of lands in the western 
 hemisphere. It is true, that articles had floated from time 
 to time to the shores of the old world, giving indications 
 to its wondering inhabitants of land in the west, far 
 beyond their watery horizon, yet no one ventured to spread 
 a sail in quest of it. 
 
 3. The vast waters of the Atlantic were regarded with 
 mysterious awe, seeming to bound the world as with a 
 chaos into which conjecture could not penetrate, and en- 
 terprise feared to adventure. 
 
 4. " The ocean," observes an eminent Arabian geo 
 grapher of the time, * encircles the ultimate bounds of the 
 inhabited earth, and all beyond it is unknown. No one 
 has been able to verify any thing concerning it, on ac 
 count of its difficult and perilous navigation, its great ob. 
 
IV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 scurity, its profound depth, and frequent tempests ; through 
 fear of its mighty fishes, and its haughty winds ; yet there 
 are many islands in it, some of which are peopled, and 
 others uninhabited. 
 
 5. There is no mariner who dares to enter into its 
 deep waters ; or if any have done so, they have merely 
 kept along its coast, fearful of departing from them. The 
 waves of this ocean, although they roll as high as moun 
 tains, yet maintain themselves without breaking ; for if 
 they broke, it would be impossible for a ship to plough 
 them." 
 
 6. It is the object of the following work to relate the 
 deeds and fortunes of the mariner who first had the judg 
 ment to divine, and the intrepidity to brave, the mysteries 
 of this perilous deep ; and who, by his hardy genius, his 
 inflexible constancy, and his heroic courage, brought the 
 ends of the earth into communication with each other. 
 The narrative of his troubled life is the link which connects 
 the history of the old world with that of the new. 
 
CHAPTER 1. 
 
 Birth, parentage, education, and early life of Columbus. 
 
 1. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, or Colorabo, as the namo 
 is written in Italian, was a native of Genoa, and born 
 about the year 1435. He was the oldest of four children, 
 having two brothers, one named Bartholomew, the other 
 Giacomo, or Diego as it is translated into Spanish, and 
 one sister. 
 
 2. His father, Domenico Colombo, was a wool comber, as 
 several of his ancestors had been before him. Attempts 
 have been made, by those who attach value to hereditary 
 rank, to prove Columbus of illustrious descent, and seve 
 ral noble families have laid claim to him since his name 
 has become so renowned as to confer, rather than to re 
 ceive, distinction. His son Fernando thought justly on 
 the subject. " I am of opinion," said he, " that I should 
 derive less dignity from any nobility of ancestry, than 
 from being the son of such a father." 
 
 3. Columbus evinced at a very early age, a decided incli 
 nation for the sea. His father, therefore, endeavoured, 
 as far as his means afforded, to give him such an educa 
 tion as would make him a skilful navigator. He even 
 sent him to the university of Pavia, where he studied 
 geometry, geography, astronomy and navigation, and the 
 Latin tongue. 
 
 4. His father was too poor, however, to keep him longer 
 at the university than was sufficient to acquire the rudi 
 ments of the necessary sciences. The deep insight into 
 them, which he afterwards displayed, was the result of 
 experience and self instruction. Men of strong genius 
 derive an advantage from thus having, at their very out 
 set, to contend with poverty and privations. They learn 
 to depend upon themselves, to improve every casual ad 
 vantage, and to effect great ends by small means. Such 
 a man was Columbus. His own energy and invention 
 supplied every deficiency, and in all his undertakings, 
 the scantiness of his means enhanced the grandeur of his 
 achievements. 
 
 5. His first voyage was made shortly after leaving the 
 
LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 university, when he was about fourteen years of age. 
 The seafaring- life in those days was full of peril and ad 
 venture. The feuds between the Italian states, and the 
 holy wars with the Mahometan powers, filled the seas 
 with cruisers ; some fitted out by sovereign states ; some 
 by powerful nobles ; and some by desperate adventurers. 
 Piracy was almost legalized ; even a commercial voyage 
 partook of a warlike character, and a merchant had often 
 to fight his way from port to port. 
 
 6. Such was the rugged school in which Columbus was 
 first broken into naval discipline ; and he had a teacher 
 as rugged as the school. This was a relative named Co 
 lombo, a hardy old captain of the seas, bold and adven 
 turous, ready to fight in any cause, and to take up a 
 quarrel wherever it might lawfully be found. 
 
 7. With this veteran cruiser Columbus sailed several 
 years, and served in a squadron, of which he was admiral, 
 fitted out in Genoa in 1459, by John of Anjou, Duke of 
 Calabria, to make a descent upon Naples, in the hope of 
 recovering that kingdom for his father, Renato, Count 
 of Provence. In the course of this expedition, Columbus 
 was detached by the old admiral on a daring enterprise, 
 to cut out a galley from the port of Tunis, in which he 
 acquitted himself with great resolution and address. 
 
 8. For several years afterwards, he continued to voyage 
 in the Mediterranean, and up the Levant. Sometimes he 
 was engaged in commercial employ ; sometimes in peri 
 lous cruises with his old fighting relative, or with a no 
 less fighting nephew of the same, named Colombo the 
 younger ; who, we are told, was so terrible for his deeds 
 against the infidels, that the Moorish mothers used to 
 frighten their unruly children with his name. The last 
 anecdote we have of this obscure part of the life of Co 
 lumbus is given by his son Fernando, and relates to a 
 daring cruise with this bold rover. 
 
 9. Colombo the younger, hearing that four Venetian gal 
 leys, richly laden, were returning from Flanders, waylaid 
 and attacked them with his squadron on the Portuguese 
 coast, between Lisbon and Cape St. Vincent. A bloody 
 battle ensued that lasted from morning until evening. 
 The vessels grappled each other, the crews fought 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 7 
 
 hand to hand, and from ship to ship. The vessel com 
 manded by Columbus engaged with a large Venetian 
 galley. 
 
 10. In the fury of the contest they threw hand gre 
 nades and other fiery missiles. The galley took fire, and 
 as the vessels were grappled together and could not be 
 separated, they soon became one flaming mass. The 
 crews threw themselves into the sea. Columbus seized 
 an oar that was floating near him, and swam to shore, 
 which was full two leagues distant. Having recovered 
 from his exhaustion, he repaired to Lisbon, where he 
 found many of his Genoese countrymen, and was induced 
 to take up his residence. 
 
 11. Such is the account given by Fernando Columbus 
 of the first arrival of his father in Portugal. There are 
 grounds for believing, however, that he had resided there 
 some years previous to this battle, and that he was led 
 thither, not by desperate adventure, but by a spirit of 
 liberal curiosity, and in pursuit of honourable fortune. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Portuguese discoveries. Residence of Columbus at Lisbon. 
 
 1. THE career of modern discovery had commenced 
 shortly before the time of Columbus ; but was confined 
 to the western coast of Africa and the adjacent islands. 
 It at length received a new impulse from Prince Henry 
 of Portugal, son of King John the First. 
 
 2. That accomplished prince, by prof bund study of those 
 sciences connected with the maritime arts, became per 
 suaded that Africa was circumnavigable, and that, by keep 
 ing along its shores, a ship might sail from Europe to India. 
 In this way an easier and cheaper channel might be opened 
 for the opulent trade of the east ; which had hitherto 
 been conducted to Europe by an expensive internal route 
 along the Red Sea and the Nile, and had been monopo 
 lized by the Italian merchants. 
 
 3. In seeking to carry this idea into effect, Prince 
 
8 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 Henry had to struggle against the ignorance and pre 
 judices of the age. Navigation was yet in its infancy ; 
 manners feared to venture far from land ; and looked 
 with awe at the vast and unknown expanse of the At 
 lantic. They believed in the old error, that the imagi 
 nary circle called the torrid zone, which girdles the earth 
 at the equator, was a region of impassable heat, com 
 pletely severing the two hemispheres. And they had a 
 superstitious notion, that whoever doubled Cape Bojador 
 would never return. 
 
 4. Prince Henry called in the aid of the most eminent 
 men of science to dispel these errors. He established a 
 naval college and observatory ; introduced tpeat improve 
 ment in maps and charts, and in the use of the mariners* 
 compass, and pushed the discoveries of his nation be 
 yond the region of the tropics, quite to Cape de Verde. 
 
 5. He obtained, also, a bull or ordinance from the Pope, 
 giving the crown of Portugal sovereign authority over all 
 the lands it might discover in the Atlantic, to India 
 inclusive. 
 
 6. Henry died before he had accomplished the great 
 object of his ambition ; but he had lived long enough to 
 behold, through his means, his native country in a grand 
 career of prosperity. He has been well described, as 
 " full of thoughts of lofty enterprise, and acts of generous 
 spirit." He bore for his device the magnanimous motto, 
 " the talent to do good," the only talent worthy the am 
 bition of princes. 
 
 7. The fame of the Portuguese discoveries drew the 
 learned, the curious, and the adventurous, to Lisbon. 
 Amoi/g the rest, Columbus arrived there about the year 
 1470. He was at that time in the full vigour of man 
 hood, and here it may not be improper to draw his por 
 trait, according to the minute descriptions given of him 
 by his contemporaries. 
 
 8. He was tall, well formed, muscular, and of an ele 
 vated and dignified demeanour. His visage was long, 
 and neither full nor meagre ; his complexion fair and 
 freckled, and inclined to ruddy ; his nose aquiline ; his 
 cheek bones were rather high ; his eyes light gray, and 
 apt to enkindle ; his whole countenance had in air of 
 
OP COLUMBUS. 9 
 
 authority. His hair, in his youthful days, was of a light 
 colour, but care and trouble soon turned it gray, and at 
 thirty years of age it was quite white. 
 
 9. His temper was naturally irritable, but he subdued 
 it by the magnanimity of his spirit, so as to conduct 
 himself always with a courteous and gentle gravity. 
 Towards strangers he was engaging and affable, and his 
 amiable manners in domestic life won him the love and 
 devotion of his household. 
 
 10. He was moderate and simple in diet and apparel ; 
 eloquent and animated at times in discourse, but always 
 temperate in language, avoiding oaths and all profane 
 expressions. Throughout his life, he was noted for a 
 strict attention to the offices of religion ; nor did his piety 
 consist in mere forms, but partook of that lefty and 
 solemn enthusiasm with whicli his whole character was 
 strongly tinctured. 
 
 11. While at Lisbon, he was accustomed to attend re 
 ligious service at the chapel of the Convent of All Saints. 
 Here he frequently obtained a sight of a young lady, 
 named Felipa, who resided in the convent. She WPS the 
 daughter of an Italian cavalier, lately deceased, B<\rto- 
 lomeo Moiiis de Palestrello, who had been a distinguish 
 ed navigator in the service of Prince Henry, and had 
 colonized and governed the island of Porto Santo. 
 
 12. A romantic attachment took place between Co 
 lumbus and this young lady, which ended in marriige. 
 It was a match of mere affection, for neither of them 
 could boast of fortune, and Columbus was obliged to em 
 ploy himself in making maps and charts for the support 
 of his family. 
 
 13. This connexion brought him more than ever into 
 the sphere of discovery. His wife s sister was married 
 to Pedro Correo, a navigator of note, between whom, 
 and Columbus, there were frequent conversations about 
 the recent discoveries on the African coast, and the popu 
 lar theme, the discovery of a route by sea to India. His 
 mother-in-law also related to him all that she knew of 
 the voyages and discoveries of her late husband, and put 
 his charts and journals into his possession. 
 
 14. He thus obtained a knowledge of the routes and 
 
10 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 leading ideas of the Portuguese discoverers. Being, 
 moreover, naturalized in Portugal, he was permitted to 
 sail in some of the expeditions to the coast of Guinea ; 
 and at one time resided in the recently colonized island 
 of Porto Santo, where his wife had inherited some little 
 property, and where she gave birth to a son, whom he 
 named Diego. 
 
 15. It was a period of great excitement with all con 
 cerned in maritime affairs. The recent discoveries had 
 inflamed their imaginations, and given birth to rumours 
 of all kinds, concerning unknown islands, hidden in the 
 wastes of the Atlantic, arid casually seen by mariners. 
 Alany of these were mere fables ; many had originated, 
 doubtless, in the self-delusion of sailors, who beheld distant 
 land in those summer clouds which lie along the horizon. 
 
 16. The most singular delusion of the kind, is that re 
 corded of the inhabitants of the Canaries. They ima 
 gined, from time to time, that they beheld a vast island 
 iii the west, with lofty mountains and deep valleys. It 
 made its appearance in the clearest weather, and so dis 
 tinctly, that expeditions were fitted out in search of it. 
 The fancied island, however, faded on their approach, 
 and was never to be found ; yet, it still continued occa 
 sionally to cheat the eye, and is actually laid down in old 
 maps, under the name of St. Bran dan, or St. Borondon. 
 
 17. Columbus participated largely in the excitement 
 of the age. Every tale and rumour, that bore upon the 
 popular theme, was notod down by him with curious care. 
 His voyages along the coast of Guinea ; his residence at 
 Porto Santo and his occupation in making maps and 
 charts, led him more and more to speculate upon the great 
 problem of a route by sea to India. 
 
 18. While others, however, thought only of Reeking it 
 by keeping along the coast of Africa, his daring mind con 
 ceived the idea of turning his prow directly west, leaving 
 the old world behind him, and steering boldly for the 
 shores of Asia across the untraversed waste of the Atlan 
 tic. Having once conceived this idea, it is interesting 
 to notice from what a mass of facts, and fictions, and 
 speculative theories, the grand project^ of discovery was 
 wrought out by the strong workings of his vigorous mind, 
 
OP COLUMBUS. 11 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Grounds on which Columbus founded his theory. 
 
 1. COLUMBUS set it down as a fundamental principle, 
 that the earth was a terraqueous globe ; and that not more 
 than two thirds of its circumference from east to west, 
 had been discovered. The third part, which remained 
 unexplored, he supposed to be filled up by land, to balance 
 the continents in the hemisphere already known. 
 
 2. This land he supposed to be a continuation of the 
 continent of Asia, or India, as it was generally called. 
 The ancients, though they knew little of India beyond 
 the Ganges, had asserted that it stretched on eastward 
 to the distance of four months journey in a straight line. 
 In the fourteenth century, also, one Marco Polo, a Vene 
 tian, travelled to the remotest parts of the east, and gave 
 an account of their extent, that seemed to confirm the 
 assertions of the ancients. 
 
 3. Adopting an opinion of Alfraganus, a learned 
 Arabian, that the circumference of the earth was less 
 than was generally imagined, Columbus concluded, that, 
 if Asia extended as far eastward as was represented, it 
 must approach the western shores of Europe and Africa, 
 and the intervening space of ocean must be of moderate 
 extent. 
 
 4. Several facts tended to confirm this idea. A Por 
 tuguese pilot, who had sailed farther to the west t^an 
 was customary, picked up a piece of wood carved in an 
 unknown fashion, and drifting from that quarter. Re^-ds, 
 also, of an immense size, such as were said to grow mly 
 in India, floated to the Azore islands from the w^st. 
 Above all, a canoe with the dead bodies of two rpen, 
 differing in features and complexion from any known 
 race, had been cast by westerly winds upon those islands. 
 
 5. These and other facts of similar import, strengthen 
 ed his conviction that the shores of India were within a 
 navigable distance, directly west, and might easily be 
 attained by sailing in that direction. 
 
 6. The work of Marco Polo had a powerful effect in 
 producing this conviction, and deserves particular men- 
 
12 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 tion, as furnishing 1 a key to many of his plans and ideas. 
 That traveller gave magnificent accounts of the maritime 
 regions of the extreme east. The province of Mangi 
 near Cathay, and the cities of Cambalu and Kinsay, 
 since found to be maritime provinces of China, but at that 
 time under the dominion of the Grand Khan of Tartary. 
 
 7. He mentioned also an island about fifteen hundred 
 miles at sea, which he- called Cipango, and which is sup 
 posed to be Japan. He described it as abounding in 
 spices and precious stones, and so rich in metals that 
 the palace of the king was covered with plates of gold. 
 
 8. The project of Columbus was to sail directly west 
 for this island of Cipango. There he would pause, re 
 fresh, and refit, and would then prosecute his voyage to 
 the snores of Mangi and Cathay, in the opulent dominions 
 of the Grand Khan. In fact, throughout all his voyages, 
 he was continually in search of those golden regions, and 
 fancying himself on the point of arriving at them. 
 
 9. From this general view of the theory of Columbus, 
 it will be perceived that he was emboldened to his great 
 enterprise by two happy errors : the imaginary extent of 
 Asia to the east, and the supposed smallness of the 
 earth. Had he not been encouraged by such belief, he 
 would hardly have attempted to traverse a waste of wa 
 ters, immeasurable perhaps in extent, and where he might 
 perish before he could reach the opposite shore. 
 
 10. When Columbus had once formed his theory, it be 
 came fixed in his mind with singular firmness. He 
 never spoke in doubt or hesitation, but with as much 
 certainty as if his eyes had beheld the promised land. A 
 deep religious sentiment mingled with his thoughts, and 
 gave them a tinge of superstition, but of a sublime and 
 lofty kind. 
 
 11. He looked upon himself as standing in the hand 
 of heaven, chosen from among men for the accomplish 
 ment of a high purpose ; he read, as he supposed, his 
 contemplated discovery foretold in. Holy Writ, and 
 shadowed forth darkly in the prophecies ; wherein it 
 was declared, that the ends of the earth should be brought 
 together, and all nations, and tongues, and languages, 
 united under the banner of the Redeemer. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 10 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Events in Portugal relative to Discovery. Propositions of 
 Columbus to various courts. 
 
 1. THE project of discovery conceived by Columbus 
 was too important an enterprise for an individual, and 
 required the patronage of some sovereign power. Such, 
 however, was difficult to be obtained. Navigation 
 was still too imperfect for so perilous an undertaking, 
 though the compass had been introduced into general 
 use, yet mariners rarely ventured out of sight of land. 
 A voyage into the unknown wastes of the ocean in 
 search of some imagined land, seemed as extravagant a 
 project then, as it would, at the present day, to launch 
 forth in a balloon into the regions of space in quest ot 
 some distant star. 
 
 2. Several years elapsed, therefore, without any de 
 cided effort on the part of Columbus to carry his design 
 into execution. During this interval he made a voyage 
 into the northern seas, beyond the Ultima Thule of the 
 ancients, penetrated the polar circle, and convinced him 
 self that the frozen zone was habitable. 
 
 3. At this juncture, John II. ascended the throne of 
 Portugal. He was anxious to carry into effect the 
 splendid idea of his grand uncle Prince Henry, to cir 
 cumnavigate Africa, and bear the Portuguese flag into 
 the Indian seas. Under his patronage, the attention of 
 men of science was again directed to the improvement of 
 navigation, and the result of a conference of the most ex 
 perienced astronomers was, the application of the astro 
 labe to maritime purposes. 
 
 4. This instrument possessed the essential advantages 
 of the quadrant, into which it has since been modified. 
 The project of Columbus was thus divested of its most 
 hazardous character, for science had furnished a sure 
 guide for discovery across the trackless ocean. Accord 
 ingly, it was shortly after this event that Columbus was 
 emboldened to seek an audience of the king of Portugal, 
 and lay before him his great scheme of seeking India by 
 a voyage to the west. 
 
 2 
 
14 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 5. King John gave him an attentive hearing, and, be 
 ing struck with his scheme, referred it to a junto of men 
 of science. It was treated by them with contempt, as 
 extravagant and visionary. The king was not satisfied 
 witii their decision. He desired the opinion of his privy 
 counsellors, among whom were some of the most learned 
 men of the kingdom. Their opinion was equally unfa 
 vourable with that of the junto. 
 
 6. Certain of the counsellors, however, seeing that the 
 king still retained an inclination for the enterprise, de 
 vised a plan by which it might, be secretly put to the test, 
 without publicly committing the dignity of the crown, in 
 what they considered a mere fantasy. Procuring from 
 Columbus a detailed plan of his proposed voyage, and the 
 charts by which he intended to shape his course, they 
 privately despatched a caravel, or small vessel, to pursue 
 the designated route. 
 
 7. The caravel took its departure from the Cape de 
 Verde islands, and stood westward for several days. The 
 wea,ther grew stormy ; the pilots, having no zeal to sti 
 mulate them, and seeing nothing but a waste of wild 
 tumbling waves still extending before them, lost ail 
 courage, and returned to Lisbon, ridiculing the project 
 as extravagant and irrational. 
 
 8. When Columbus learnt the unworthy attempt that 
 had been made to defraud him of his enterprise, he re 
 nounced all further negotiation with the crown of Portu 
 gal. The death of his wifr having dissolved the tie which 
 bound him to the land, he took with him his son Diego, 
 then a mere child, and turned his back upon a country 
 which had treated him with so little faith. 
 
 9. He now repaired to his native country Genoa, 
 where he revisited his aged father, and made such ar 
 rangements for his support as his limited purse afforded. 
 And here it ought to be mentioned to his honour, that, 
 during all the time of his residence in Portugal, he had 
 contrived out of his scanty means, to succour his indigent 
 parent, and to educate his younger brothers. 
 
 10. While at Genoa, he made his propositions to the 
 government. The republic, however, was in a state of 
 decline, and embarrassed by ruinous wars. Nations, like 
 
OP COLUMBUS*. 15 
 
 individuals, lose their enterprise, in times of adversity, 
 when it is most needed. Thus Genoa, broken in spirit, 
 rejected a scheme which, if adopted, might have elevated 
 her to tenfold splendour, and perpetuated the golden wand 
 of commerce in the grasp of Italy. 
 
 11. The next application of Columbus was to the re 
 public of Venice, but here he met with no better success. 
 He then engaged his brother Bartholomew to sail for 
 England, to lay his propositions before Henry VII. , whom 
 he had heard extolled for his wisdom and munificence. 
 For himself, he sailed for Spain, where he arrived in great 
 poverty ; thus in a manner begging his way from court 
 to court, to offer to princes the discovery of a world. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 First arrival of Columbus in Spain. Characters of the 
 Spanish Sovereigns. 
 
 1. THE first trace we have of Columbus in Spain, 
 is striking and peculiar. About half a league from the 
 little port of Palos, in Andalusia, on a solitary height 
 overlooking the sea coast, and surrounded by a forest of 
 pine trees, there stood, and stands at the present day, an 
 ancient convent of Franciscan friars, called the convent 
 of Santa Maria de Rabida. 
 
 2. A stranger travel] ing on foot, accompanied by a 
 young boy, stopped one day at the gate, and asked of the- 
 porter a little bread and water for his child. That 
 stranger was Columbus, accompanied by his young son 
 Diego. 
 
 3. While they were partaking of this humble refresh 
 ment, the guardian of the convent, Juan Perez de Mar- 
 chena, happened to pass by. He perceived from the air 
 and accent of Columbus that he was a foreigner, and 
 being interested by his appearance, entered into conver 
 sation with him. 
 
 4. Learning the singular object of his travels, he de 
 tained him as his guest, and invited a scientific friend 
 
LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 Garcia Fernandez, a physician of Palos, and several 
 veteran mariners of the neighbourhood to confer with 
 him. They all became converts to the theory of 
 Columbus. 
 
 5. One Martin Alonzo Pinzon, the head of a wealthy 
 family of experienced navigators in Palos, offered to de 
 fray the expenses of Columbus to court, and, if his enter 
 prise should be adopted by the sovereigns, to engage in it 
 with purse and person. 
 
 6. To ensure him a ready and favourable hearing, the 
 worthy friar Juan Perez, gave him a letter to the queen s 
 confessor, Fernando de Talavera, a priest of great political 
 influence, and promised, in the mean time, to maintain 
 and educate his son Diego at the convent. 
 
 7. Thus aided and encouraged, he set out in the spring 
 of 1486, to seek the countenance of the Spanish sove 
 reigns, who at that time were assembling their forces at 
 Cordova, for a campaign against the Moorish kingdom of 
 Granada. And here it is proper to give a brief descrip 
 tion of these princes, who performed such an important 
 part in the events of this history. 
 
 8. Ferdinand and Isabella had separate claims to 
 sovereignty, and held separate councils, in virtue of their 
 .separate kingdoms of Arragon and Castile. They were 
 said, therefore, to live together, not like man and wife 
 whose estates are in common, under the orders of the 
 husljand, but as two monarchs strictly allied. 
 
 9. So happily united were they, however, by common 
 views and interest, and by a great deference for each 
 other, that this double administration never prevented a 
 unity of purpose and action. All acts of sovereignty 
 were executed in both their names ; all public writings 
 subscribed with both their signatures ; their likenesses 
 were stamped together on the public coin ; and the royal 
 seal displayed the united arms of Castile and Arragon. 
 
 10. Ferdinand possessed a clear and comprehensive 
 genius, and great penetration. He was equable in tem 
 per, indefatigable in business, and a great observer of 
 men. It has been said, however, and apparently with 
 reason, that l?j was bigoted in religion, and craving 
 rather than magnanimous in his ambition ; that he made 
 
OP COLUMBUS. 17 
 
 war less for glory than for mere dominion ; and that his 
 policy was cold, selfish, and artful. 
 
 11. Isabella was of the middle size, and well formed; 
 with a fair complexion, auburn hair, and clear blue eyes. 
 There was a mingled gravity and sweetness in her 
 countenance, and a singular modesty, gracing, as it did, 
 great firmness of purpose and earnestness of spirit. 
 Though strongly attached to her husband, and studious 
 of his fame, yet she always maintained her distinct 
 rights as an allied prince. 
 
 12. She exceeded him in beauty, personal dignity, 
 acuteness of genius, and grandeur of soul. Combining 
 the active and resolute qualities of man with the softer 
 charities of woman, she mingled in the warlike councils 
 of her husband, and, being inspired with a truer idea of 
 glory, infused a more lofty and generous temper into his 
 subtle and calculating policy. 
 
 13. Her fostering and maternal care was continually 
 directed to reform the laws, and heal the ills engendered 
 by a long course of civil wars. She assembled round her 
 the ablest men in literature and science, and directed 
 herself by their councils in encouraging literature and 
 the arts. Such was the noble minded woman, who was 
 destined to acquire immortal renown by her spirited 
 patronage of the discovery of the new world. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Propositions of Columbus to the Court of Spam. 
 
 1* COLUMBUS arrived at Cordova, at a most unpro- 
 pitious moment for his suit. The monarchs were in all 
 the bustle of military preparation. The court was like 
 a camp ; every avenue was crowded by warlike nobles 
 and hardy cavaliers, with their splendid retinues, and 
 household troops. Every body was engrossed by the- 
 opening campaign. 
 
 2. Even the priest, Fernando de Talavera, to whom 
 Columbus brought his letter of recommendation, and 
 on whom he reckoned as a patron and protector was 
 2* 
 
18 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 completely taken up with military concerns. He listened 
 but coldly to Columbus, regarding his plan of discovery 
 as extravagant and impossible. 
 
 3. The campaign opened almost immediately; the 
 king took the field in person ; the queen was part of the 
 time present in the camp, and continually occupied by 
 the hurrying concerns of the war. Under such circum 
 stances, Columbus found it impossible to obtain a hearing. 
 
 4. Humiliation was added to disappointment. He 
 had to endure the ridicule of the light and supercilious. 
 Some scoffed at him as a dreamer, others as an adven 
 turer ; the very children were taught to consider him a 
 madman, and pointed at their foreheads as he passed. 
 
 5. Indeed, the slender interest on which he founded 
 his hopes of royal patronage, merely, " the letter of a 
 gray friar," and the simple and poor apparel in which 
 his indigence compelled him to appear, formed a prepos 
 terous contrast in the eyes of the courtiers, with the 
 magnificence of his speculations. He waited patiently, 
 however, in the hope of a more favourable opportunity to 
 urge his suit, and in the mean time supported himself by 
 making maps and charts. 
 
 6. While thus lingering in Cordova, he became attach 
 ed to a lady of that city, of noble family, named Beatrix 
 Enriquez. Like most of the circumstances of this part 
 of his life, his connexion with her is wrapped in obscu 
 rity, but appears never to have been sanctioned by mar 
 riage. She was the mother of his second son Fernando, 
 who became his historian, and whom he always treated 
 on terms of perfect equality with his legitimate, son 
 Diego. 
 
 7. By degrees the attention of men of reflection began 
 to be drawn to this solitary individual, who, almost un 
 supported, was endeavouring to make his way, with so 
 singular a proposition, to the foot of the throne. Who~ 
 ever conversed with him, was struck with the dignity of 
 his manners, the earnest sincerity of his discourse, and 
 the force of his reasoning. 
 
 8. Among- the warmest of his proselytes was, Alonzo 
 de Quintanilla, comptroller of the finances of Castile, 
 who received him as a guest into his house. Above 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 19 
 
 all, he was fortunate in securing- the countenance of 
 Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza, archbishop of Toledo, 
 and grand cardinal of Spain. This was a man of great 
 talents and endowments, who was consulted by the sove 
 reigns on all occasions of consequence, and possessed 
 such influence over them, as to be facetiously called 
 the third king of Spain." Through the mediation of 
 the grand cardinal, the long sought for audience of the 
 king was at length obtained. 
 
 9. Columbus appeared in the presence of the monarch 
 with modesty, yet self-possession. His mind was eleva 
 ted by the importance of his errand ; for he felt, as he 
 afterwards declared, animated as if by a sacred fire from 
 above, and considered himself an instrument in the hand 
 of heaven to accomplish its grand designs. 
 
 10. Ferdinand was too keen a judge of men not to 
 appreciate his character. He perceived, also, that his 
 scheme had scientific and practical foundations, and 
 might lead to discoveries far exceeding those which 
 had shed such glory upon Portugal. He ordered Fer 
 nando de Talavera, the prior of Prado, to assemble the 
 ablest men of science of the kingdom, to hold a con 
 ference with Columbus, and report their opinion as to 
 the merits of his theory. 
 
 11. Columbus now considered the day of success at 
 hand ; he had been deceived by courtiers, and scoffed at by 
 the vulgar and the ignorant ; but he was now to appear be 
 fore the most learned and enlightened men, elevated, as 
 he supposed, above narrow prejudice and selfish interest. 
 From the dispassionate examination of such a body of 
 eages, he could not but anticipate a triumphant verdict. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Columbus before the Council at Salamanca. 
 
 1. THE interesting conference took place at Sala 
 manca, the great seat of learning in Spain. It was held 
 in the dominican convent of St. Stephen, the most scien- 
 
20 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 tific college in the university. The hall of the old 
 convent presented a striking spectacle ; a simple manner 
 standing forth before an array of collegiate sages, learned 
 friars, and august dignitaries of the church, maintaining 
 a novel theory, by the aid of natural eloquence, and, as it 
 were, pleading the cause of the new world. 
 
 2. The greater part of this learned junto, it would ap 
 pear, earn a preposssssed against him, as men in place 
 and power are too apt to be against poor applicants. 
 There is always a proneness to consider a theorist under 
 examination as a kind of delinquent or impostor, upon 
 trial, who is to be detected and exposed. 
 
 3. Columbus too, was but little fitted to win favour in 
 scholastic eyes ; an obscure navigator, member of no 
 learned institution, destitute of all the trappings, anr 
 titles, and diplomas, which sometimes give oracular au 
 thority to dulness, and depending merely upon the 
 force of natural genius. 
 
 4. Some of the assembly considered him an adventurer.; 
 or, at best, a visionary ; others scornfully observed, that, 
 after so many profound philosophers had occupied them 
 selves in geographical investigations, and so many able 
 navigators had been voyaging about the world for ages, 
 it argued great presumption in an ordinary man to sup- 
 pose there remained so vast a discovery for him to make. 
 
 5. Several of the objections opposed by this learned 
 body will appear glaringly absurd at the present day. 
 Thus the very idea of antipodes, and of the globular form 
 of the earth, was scouted on the authority of one of the 
 ancient fathers of the church. 
 
 6. " How absurd," said he, "to believe that there are 
 people with their feet opposite to ours ; who walk with 
 their heels upward and their heads hanging down ; that 
 there is a part of the world in which all things are topsy 
 turvy ; where the trees grow with their branches down 
 ward, and where it rains, hails, and snows upward ! The 
 idea of the roundness of the earth," he adds, " was the 
 cause of inventing this table ; for when philosophers have 
 once erred, they go on in their absurdities, defending one 
 with another." 
 
 7. These objections, which may excite a smile in the 
 
OP COLUMBUS. 21 
 
 present enlightened age, were excusable at the time, con 
 sidering the imperfect state of knowledge. The rotundi 
 ty of the earth was as yet a mere matter of speculation ; 
 no one could tell whether the ocean was not too vast to 
 be traversed, nor were the laws of specific gravity and of 
 central gravitation ascertained, by which, granting the 
 earth to be a sphere, the possibility of making the circuit 
 of it, and of standing on opposite sides, would be manifest. 
 
 8. But beside these and many other scientific objec 
 tions, others of a graver nature were urged, partaking of 
 the bigotry of the age, and savouring more of the cloister 
 than the college. These went to prove that the theory 
 under discussion was incompatible with the historical 
 foundations of the Christian faith, and in open contradic 
 tion to certain specified passages of the Bible. 
 
 9. Columbus in the outset of the conference had been 
 daunted by the greatness of his task, and the august na 
 ture of his auditory ; but he was sustained by what he 
 considered a divine impulse, and he was of an ardent tem- 
 perament,that became heated in action by its own generous 
 fire. All scientific objections he cooiy combated by his own 
 knowledge and experience, but at the scriptural objections, 
 his visionary spirit took fire. 
 
 10. We are told of his commanding person, his ele 
 vated demeanour, his kindling eye, and the persuasive 
 tones of his voice. How must they have given force 
 to his words, as, casting aside his maps and charts, he 
 met his opponents upon their religious ground, pouring 
 forth those magnificent texts of scripture, and those 
 mysterious predictions of the prophets, which he con 
 sidered types and annunciations of the sublime discovery 
 which he proposed ! 
 
 11. Many of his hearers, in fact, were convinced by his 
 reasoning, and warmed by his eloquence ; the majority, 
 however, with the inert bigotry, and pedantic pride of 
 cloistered life, refused to yield to the demonstrations of an 
 obscure and unlearned foreigner, and, though the board 
 held several subsequent conferences, it came to no 
 decision. 
 
 12. For several years Columbus was kept in suspense^ 
 following the movements of the sovereigns in their ex- 
 
22 LIFE AND VO If AGES 
 
 peditions against the kingdom of Granada, and was thus 
 present at some of the most striking scenes of this wild, 
 rugged, and mountainous war. In one of the severest 
 campaigns, he is said to have distinguished himself by 
 his personal prowess. His expenses, while thus follow 
 ing the court, were defrayed by the sovereigns, and hopes 
 were continually given that his suit would be attended 
 to ; but the tempest of warlike affairs, which hurried the 
 court from place to place, swept away all matters of less 
 immediate importance. 
 
 13. At length, in the winter of 1491, when the sove 
 reigns were about to depart on another campaign, Co 
 lumbus, losing all patience, pressed for a decisive reply. 
 The learned counsel of Salamanca being, in consequence, 
 called upon to report their decision, informed the sove 
 reigns that the majority of their body condemned the 
 scheme as vain and impossible, and considered it unbe 
 coming such great princes to engage in an undertaking 
 of the kind, on such weak grounds as had been advanced. 
 
 14. Notwithstanding this decision, the sovereigns still 
 held out hopes, that, after the war should be concluded, 
 they would be inclined to treat about the matter ; but Co 
 lumbus gave up all hope of countenance from the throne, 
 and turned his back upon Seville, indignant at the 
 delays and disappointments he had experienced. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Columbus seeks patronage amongst the Spanish Grandees. 
 Returns to the convent of La Rabida. Resumes his 
 negotiations with the Sovereigns. [1491.] 
 
 1. COLUMBUS now sought t6 engage the patronage of 
 the Dukes of Medina Sidonia, and Medina Celi. Both 
 were powerful Grandees, whose principalities lay on the 
 sea board, where they had ports, and shipping, and troops, 
 and mariners, at their command. He had many inter 
 views with them severally, and was flattered by both 
 with hopes of success, but "both finally disappointed him. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 23 
 
 2. He then determined to repair to Paris, having 1 
 received a favourable reply to an application which he 
 had made by letter, to the king of France. He departed, 
 therefore, for the convent of La Rabida, to take thence 
 his eldest son Diego, and leave him with his other son at 
 Cordova. 
 
 3. When the worthy Friar Juan Perez beheld him ar- 
 ive once more at the gate of his convent, humble in garb, 
 
 and cast down in spirit, he was greatly moved ; but 
 when he found that he was about to seek the employ of 
 another government, his patriotism took the alarm. 
 
 4. He hud been confessor to the queen ; a sacred office 
 which gives a priest an almost pa.ternal privilege of 
 advising. Availing himself of this, he wrote to Isabella, 
 strongly vindicating the scheme of Columbus, and con 
 juring her not to reject an enterprise so glorious for Spain. 
 
 5. This letter was despatched by an honest pilot of the 
 neighbourhood ; and Columbus was persuaded to await 
 the reply. It arrived in the course of a fortnight, and 
 was extremely encouraging. The queen thanked Juan 
 Perez for his timely services, and requested him to repair 
 immediately to the court, that she might confer with 
 him ; while Columl~ Js should remain at the convent 
 until further order? 
 
 6. Before midnight, trie ^arm hearted friar had saddled 
 lis mule and departed. So v-ffuctual were his intrrces- 
 
 sions, that in a short time, Columbus received a sum 
 mons to court, and money to enable him to appear 
 there in befitting style. He accordingly exchanged his 
 thread-bare garment for one of more courtly t xture, and, 
 purchasing a mule, set out, reanimated with fresh hopes, 
 for the camp at Santa Fd, before Granada. 
 
 7. He arrived in time to witness the memorable sur 
 render of that capital to the Spanish arms. He beheld 
 Boabdil, the last of the Moorish kin-s, sally forth from the 
 Alhainbra, and yield up the keys of that favourite seat of 
 Moslem power ; while the king and queen, with all the 
 chivalry and magnificence of Spain, moved forward in 
 proud and solemn procession, to receive this token of 
 
 Emission. The air resounded with shouts of joy, with 
 ongs of triumph, and hymns of thanksgiving. Oa 
 
24 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 every side were beheld military rejoicings and religions 
 oblations. 
 
 8. During this brilliant and triumphant scene> says an 
 elegant Spanish writer, " A man, obscure and but little 
 known, followed the court. Confounded in the crowd of 
 importunate applicants, and feeding his imagination, in 
 the corners of antechambers, with the pompous project 
 of discovering a world, he was melancholy and dejected 
 in the midst of the general rejoicing, and beheld with in 
 difference, almost with contempt, the conclusion of a 
 conquest which swelled all bosoms with jubilee, and 
 seemed to have reached the utmost bounds of desire. 
 That man was Christopher Columbus." 
 
 9. The moment had now arrived, however, when the 
 monarchs stood pledged to attend to his proposals. They 
 kept their word, and persons of confidence were appoint 
 ed to negotiate with him. At the very outset, how 
 ever, unexpected difficulties arose. Columbus demanded 
 that he should be made Viceroy and Admiral of all the 
 countries he should discover, and receive one tenth of all 
 the gains. 
 
 10. The courtiers were indignant at a demand of such 
 titles and privileges, by one whom they regarded as 
 a needy adventurer. One sneered at him, as devising a 
 selfish bargain, wherein he had every thing to gain and 
 nothing to lose. Upon this Columbus promptly offered 
 to be at one eighth of the cost, provided he were ensured 
 an eighth of the profits. 
 
 11. His terms, however, were pronounced inadmissi 
 ble, and others more moderate were suggested in stead ; 
 but Columbus refused to cede the least point, either of 
 profit or dignity, and the negotiation was broken off. 
 
 12. It is impossible not to admire the great constancy 
 of purpose and loftiness of spirit here displayed by Co 
 lumbus. Though so large a portion of life had worn 
 away in fruitless solicitings, during which he had expe 
 rienced poverty, neglect, ridicule, and disappointment ; 
 though there was no certainty that he would not have to 
 enter upon the same career at any other court ; yet no 
 thing could make him descend to terms which he con 
 sidered beneath the dignity of his enterprise. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 25 
 
 13. Indignant at the repeated disappointments he had 
 experienced in Spain, he now determined to abandon it 
 for ever, and, mounting his mule, sallied forth from Santa 
 Fe, on his way to Cordova, with the intention of imme 
 diately proceeding from thence to France. 
 
 14. The friends of Columbus beheld his departure with 
 despair : two of them, Luis de St. Angel, and Alonzo 
 de Quintanilla, resolved to make one last effort in the 
 cause. Hastening to the queen, they once more vin 
 dicated the enterprise, with the courage and eloquence 
 which honest zeal inspires, and implored her to secure 
 the glorious prize, before it was too late. 
 
 15. The generous spirit of Isabella was roused by this 
 last appeal. She was eager for the enterprise ; but she 
 remembered that king Ferdinand looked coldly upon it, 
 and that the royal treasury was drained by the war. 
 Her suspense was but momentary. " I undertake it," 
 said she, " for my own crown of Castile, and will pledge 
 my jewels to raise the necessary funds." 
 
 16. This was the proudest moment in the life of Isa 
 bella ; it stamped her renown for ever as the patroness 
 of the discovery of the New World. Her generous of 
 fer to pledge her jewels was not claimed ; St. Angel, 
 who was receiver of the church revenues of Arragon, 
 promised to advance the requisite money, as a loan, from 
 his official treasury. 
 
 17. A courier was sent in all haste to call back Colum 
 bus. He was overtaken at the bridge of Pinos, about two 
 leagues from Granada ; but hesitated to return and 
 subject himself to further delays and disappointments. 
 When he understood, however, that Isabella had pledged 
 her word to undertake the enterprise, every doubt was 
 dispelled ; he turned the reins of his mule, and hastened 
 back joyfully to Santa Fe, confiding implicitly in the 
 noble probity of that princess. 
 
26 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Arrangements with the Spanish Sovereigns. Prepares 
 tions for departure. [1492.] 
 
 1. On arriving- at Santa Fe, Columbus was admitted 
 immediately to the presence of Isabella, and the benignity 
 of his reception atoned for all past neglect. Through 
 deference to the zeal she had thus suddenly displayed, 
 the king yielded his tardy concurrence ; but Isabella was 
 the soul of this grand enterprise. 
 
 2. A perfect understanding being now effected with 
 the sovereigns, articles of agreement were drawn up, 
 to the following effect : 
 
 1. That Columbus should have, for himself during his 
 life, and his heirs and successors for ever, the office of 
 high admiral in all the seas, lands, and continents, he 
 might discover, with similar honours and prerogatives 
 to those enjoyed by the high admiral of Castile, in his 
 district. 
 
 2. 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. 
 
 3. That he should be entitled to one tenth of all free 
 profits, arising from the merchandise and productions of 
 the countries within his admiralty. 
 
 4. That he, or his lieutenant, should be the sole judge 
 of all causes and disputes arising out of traffick between 
 those countries and Spain. 
 
 5. That he might then, and at all after times, con 
 tribute an eighth part of the expense of expeditions to 
 sail to the countries he expected to discover, and should 
 receive in consequence an eighth part of the profits. 
 
 3. These capitulations were signed by Ferdinand and 
 Isabella, at the city of Santa Fe, in the vega or plain of 
 Granada, on the 17th of April, 1492. All the royal 
 documents, issued in consequence, bore equally the sig 
 natures of Ferdinand and Isabella, but her separate crown 
 of Castile defrayed all the expense. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 27 
 
 4. One of the great objects held out by Columbus in 
 his undertaking, was the propagation of the Christian 
 faith. He expected to find barbarous and infidel nations 
 in the unknown parts of the east, and to visit the terri 
 tories of the Grand Khan, whose conversion had in for 
 mer times been an object of pious missions. The sove 
 reigns concurred with him in these ideas, and, when he 
 afterwards departed on his voyage, they actually gave 
 him letters addressed to the Grand Khan of Tartary. 
 
 5. Nor did his religious zeal stop here. He earnest 
 ly proposed that the profits which might arise from his 
 discoveries, might be consecrated to a crusade to rescue 
 the holy sepulchre at Jerusalem, from the power of the 
 infidels. In fact, this pious but romantic enterprise was 
 a leading object of his ambition throughout his subsequent 
 life, and he considered his great discovery but as a dis 
 pensation of Providence, to furnish means for the re 
 covery of the Holy Sepulchre. 
 
 6. The agreement with the sovereigns being concluded, 
 Columbus was empowered to fit out three ships for the 
 enterprise. The only restriction put upon his voyage 
 was, that he should avoid the coast of Guinea, and all 
 other places included in the recent discoveries of 
 Portugal. 
 
 7. The port of Palos de Moguer was fixed upon as the 
 place of ernbarcation. The community of that town 
 were under obligations, for some misdemeanour, to serve 
 the crown for one year with two caravels. Columbus 
 received an order upon the authorities of Palos, to fit these 
 caravels for sea within ten days, and to place them and 
 their crews at his disposition. 
 
 8. Orders were issued also, commanding the inhabi 
 tants of the sea-board of Andalusia, to furnish all sup 
 plies and assistance to the expedition, at reasonable 
 rates, and threatening all such as should cause any im 
 pediment with severe penalties. 
 
 9. As a mark of particular favour to Columbus, Isa 
 bella, before his departure from the court, appointed his son 
 Diego page to Prince Juan, the heir apparent, an honour 
 granted only to the sons of persons of distinguished rank 
 Thus gratified in his dearest wishes, Columbus took 
 
28 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 leave of the court on the 12th of May, and set out joyfully 
 for Palos. 
 
 10. Let those who are disposed to faint under dif 
 ficulties in the prosecution of any great and worthy un 
 dertaking remember, that eighteen years elapsed after 
 Columbus conceived his enterprise, before he was en 
 abled to carry it into effect ; that the most of that time 
 was passed in almost hopeless solicitation, amidst pover 
 ty, neglect, and taunting ridicule ; that the prime of his 
 life had wasted away in the struggle ; and that, when his 
 perseverance was finally crowned with success, he was 
 about fifty-six years of age. His example should teach 
 the enterprising never to despair. 
 
 11. Columbus was received with open arms by Juan 
 Perez, at the convent of La Rabida. The zealous friar 
 accompanied him to the parochial church of St. George, 
 in Palos, where the royal order for the caravels was 
 read by a notary public, in presence of the authorities of 
 the place. 
 
 12. Nothing could equal the astonishment and horror 
 of the community, when they learnt the nature of the 
 expedition, in which they were ordered to engage. All 
 the frightful tales and fables with which ignorance 
 and superstition are prone to people obscure and distant 
 regions were conjured up concerning the unknown parts 
 of the deep, and the boldest seamen shrunk from such a 
 wild and chimerical cruise into the wilderness of the ocean. 
 
 13. Repeated mandates were issued by the sovereigns, 
 ordering the magistrates of Palos, and the neighbouring 
 town of Moguer, to press into the service any Spanish 
 vessels and crews they might think proper, and threaten 
 ing severe punishments on all who should prove refrac 
 tory. It was all in vain ; the communities of those 
 places were thrown into complete confusion ; tumults 
 and altercations took place, but nothing of consequence 
 was effected. 
 
 14. At length Martin Alonzo Pinzon, the wealthy and 
 enterprising navigator already mentioned, stepped for 
 ward in the cause. He was joined by his brother Vi 
 cente Yafiez Pinzon, who was likewise an able navigator. 
 They supplied Columbus with funds to pay the eighth 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 29 
 
 part of the expense, which he had engaged to advance ; 
 and furnished two of the vessels required. They, more 
 over, agreed to sail in the expedition. 
 
 15. The example and persuasions of the Pinzons had 
 a wonderful effect ; for they were related to many of the 
 seafaring people of the neighbourhood, and had great in 
 fluence among them. Many of their relations and friends 
 agreed to embark, and the two vessels were ready for 
 sea within a month. 
 
 16. The third vessel was slower in its equipment. It 
 had been pressed into the service against the will of the 
 owners and the crew, who were strongly repugnant to 
 the voyage. These people did all they could to throw 
 obstacles in the way of the voyage, and prevent the sail 
 ing of the ships, so that Columbus had to use harsh and 
 arbitrary measures with them. At length all difficulties 
 were vanquished, and, by the beginning of August, the 
 vessels were ready to sail. 
 
 17. After all the objections made by various courts to 
 undertake this expedition, it is surprising how inconside 
 rable was the armament required. Two of the vessels 
 were light barques, called caravels, not superior to river 
 and coasting craft of modern days. They were built 
 high at the prow and stern, with forecastles and cabins 
 for the crew, but were without deck in the centre. 
 
 18. Only one of the three, called the Santa Maria, was 
 completely decked, on board of which Columbus hoisted 
 his flag. Martin Alonzo Pinzon commanded one of the 
 caravels, called the Pinta, and was accompanied by his 
 brother, Francisco Martin, as mate or pilot. The other, 
 called the Nina,* had latine sails, and was commanded 
 by Vicente Yafiez Pinzon. The whole number of per 
 sons embarked was one hundred and twenty. 
 
 19. The squadron being ready to put to sea, Columbus 
 confessed himself to the Friar Juan Perez, and partook 
 of the communion ; and his example was followed by Cie 
 officers and crews, committing themselves, with devout 
 ceremonials, to the especial guidance and protection of 
 heaven, in this perilous enterprise. 
 
 "* Pronounced Ninya. The fi is always pronounced as if followed by p. 
 
 3* 
 
30 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 20. A deep gloom was spread over the whole commu 
 nity of Palos, for almost eveiy one had some relation or 
 friend on board of the squadron. The spirits of the sea 
 men, already depressed by their own fears, were still 
 more cast down, at beholding- the affliction of those they 
 left behind, who took leave of them with tears and lamen 
 tations, as of men they were never to behold again. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Events of the first Voyage. 
 
 1. IT was early in the morning of Friday the 3d of 
 August, 1492, that Columbus put to sea, steering for the 
 Canary Islands, from whence he intended to strike due 
 west. 
 
 2. As a guide by which to sail, he had a chart, on 
 which the coasts of Europe and Africa were laid down as 
 known to geographers ; and opposite to them were placed 
 the shores of Asia, -according to the description of Marco 
 Polo ; with the intervening island of Cipango, (or Ja 
 pan,) at which Columbus expected first to arrive, as at 
 a resting place. 
 
 3. On the third day after setting sail* the Pin ta made 
 signal of distress, her rudder being broken and unhung. 
 Columbus was much disturbed at the occurrence. He 
 suspected it to have been done through the contrivance 
 of the owners, and feared further difficulties from that 
 quarter. 
 
 4. For three weeks he cruised among the Canary 
 islands, in hopes of finding some other vessel to replace 
 the Pinta ; but not meeting with any, he had her repair 
 ed, and furnished with a new rudder. 
 
 5. While making these repairs, and taking in wood 
 and water, news came that three Portuguese caravels 
 had been seen hovering off the island of Ferro. Colum 
 bus, who was tremblingly alive to any thing that might 
 impede his expedition, feared that those vessels might 
 be sent in pursuit of him by the king of Portugal. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 31 
 
 5. Eager to get far upon the ocean, out of sight 
 either of land or sail, he put to sea early on the morning 
 of the 6th of September, but for three days was tantalized 
 by a profound calm, which detained him within a short 
 distance of the island. At length, on the 9th, a breeze 
 sprung up with the sun, and in the course of the day, the 
 heights of Ferro gradually faded from the horizon. 
 
 7. On losing sight of this last trace of land, the hearts 
 of the crews failed them, for they seemed to have taken 
 leave of the world. Behind them was every thing dear 
 to the heart of man country, family, friends, life itself; 
 before them every thing was chaos, mystery, and peril. 
 Many of the rugged seamen shed tears, and some broke 
 into loud lamentations. 
 
 8. Columbus tried to soothe them by splendid accounts 
 of the countries he expected to discover ; promising them 
 riches, estates, and all manner of delights ; nor were 
 these promises made for purposes of deception, for he 
 certainly believed he would realize them all. 
 
 9. Foreseeing that the vague terrors already awaken 
 ed would increase the farther they thought themselves 
 from land, he determined to keep his crews ignorant of 
 the real distance they advanced. He kept, therefore, 
 two reckonings of the sailing of the ships ; one private 
 and correct, for his own use ; the other open to general 
 inspection, in which a number of leagues was subtracted 
 from each day s progress. 
 
 10. When about one hundred and fifty leagues west 
 of Ferro, they fell in with a part of a mast of a large ves 
 sel, and the crews, easily dismayed by every portent, 
 looked with a rueful eye upon this fragment of a wreck, 
 drifting ominously at the entrance of these unknown seas. 
 
 11. On the 13th of September, in the evening, Co 
 lumbus, for the first time, noticed the variation of the 
 needle, a phenomenon which had never before been re 
 marked. He at first made no mention of it, lest his peo 
 ple should be alarmed ; but it soon attracted the attention 
 of the pilots, arid filled them with consternation. 
 
 12. They apprehended that the compass was about to 
 lose its mysterious virtues ; and, without this guide, what 
 was to become of them in a vast and trackless ocean 1 
 
32 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 Columbus tasked his science and ingenuity for reasons 
 with which to allay their terrors. 
 
 13. He told them that the direction of the needle was 
 not to the polar star, but to some fixed and invisible 
 point. The variation, therefore, was not caused by any 
 fallacy in the compass, but by the movement of the north 
 star itself, which, like the other heavenly bodies, had its 
 changes and revolutions, and every day described a circle 
 round the pole. The high opinion they entertained of 
 Columbus as a profound astronomer gave weight to his 
 theory, and their alarm subsided. 
 
 14. They had now arrived within the influence of the 
 trade wind, which, following the sun, blows steadily from 
 east to west between the tropics, and sweeps over a few 
 adjoining degrees of the ocean. With this propitious 
 breeze directly aft, they were wafted gently but speedily 
 over a tranquil sea, so that for many days they did not 
 shift a sail. 
 
 15. Columbus in his journal perpetually rec-urs to the 
 bland and temperate serenity of the weather, and com 
 pares the pure and balmy mornings to those of April in 
 Andalusia, observing, that the song of the nightingale 
 was alone wanting to complete the illusion. 
 
 16. They now began to see large patches of herbs and 
 weeds all drifting from the west. Some were such as 
 grow about rocks or in rivers, and as green as if recently 
 washed from the land. On one of the patches was a live 
 crab. They saw also a white tropical bird, of a kind 
 which never sleeps upon the sea ; and tunny fish played 
 about the ships. 
 
 17. As they advanced, various other signs gave ani 
 mation to the crews. Many birds were seen flying from 
 the west ; there was a cloudiness in the north, such as 
 often hangs over land ; and at sunset the imagination of 
 the seamen, aided by their desires, would shape those 
 clouds into distant islands. Every one was eager to be 
 the first to behold and announce *the wished-for shore ; 
 for the sovereigns had promised a pension of thirty crowns 
 to whomsoever should first discover land. 
 
 18. Columbus sounded occasionally with a line of two 
 hundred fathoms, but found no bottom. Martin Alonzo 
 
 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 38 
 
 Pmzon, as well as others of his officers, and many of the 
 seamen, were often solicitous for Columbus to alter his 
 course, aad steer in the direction of these favourable 
 signs ; but he persevered in steering 1 to the westward, 
 trusting that, by keeping in one steady direction, he 
 should reach the coast of India, even if he should miss 
 the intervening islands. 
 
 19. Notwithstanding the precaution which had been 
 taken to keep the people ignorant of the distance they 
 sailed, they gradually became uneasy at the length of 
 the voyage. They had advanced much farther to the 
 west than ever man had sailed before, and though already 
 beyond the reach of succour, were still pressing onward 
 and onward into that apparently boundless abyss. 
 
 20. Even the favourable wind, which seemed as if 
 providentially sent to waft them to the new world with 
 bland and gentle breezes, was conjured by their fears into 
 a source of alarm. They feared that the wind in these 
 seas might always prevail from the east, and if so, would 
 never permit their return to Spain. 
 
 21. A few light breezes from the west allayed for a 
 time their last apprehension, and several small birds, 
 such as keep about groves and orchards, came singing in 
 the morning, and flew away at night. Their song was 
 wonderfully cheering to the hearts of the poor mariners, 
 who hailed it as the voice of land. The birds they had 
 hitherto seen had been large and strong of wing ; but 
 such small birds, they observed, were too feeble to fly 
 far, and their singing showed that they were not ex 
 hausted by their flight. 
 
 22. On the following day there was a profound calm. 
 The sea, as far as the eye could reach, was covered with 
 those submarine weeds which are detached by currents 
 from the bottom, of the ocean, so that it had the appear 
 ance of a vast inundated meadow. 
 
 23. The seamen now feared that the sea was growing 
 shallow, or might have snoals, and rocks, and quick 
 sands. They dreaded lest, their vessels should be 
 stranded as it were, in mid-ocean, far out of the track 
 of human aid, and with no shore where the crews could 
 take refuge. Columbus proved the fallacy of this 
 
34 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 alarm, by sounding with a deep sea-line, and finding- no 
 bottom. 
 
 24. For three days there was a continuance of light 
 summer airs, from the southward and westward, and the 
 sea was as smooth as a mirror. The crews now became 
 uneasy at the calmness of the weather. They observed 
 that the contrary winds they experienced were transient 
 and unsteady, and so light as not to ruffle the surface of 
 the sea ; the only winds of constancy and force were 
 from the east, and even those had not power to disturb 
 the torpid stillness of the ocean : there was a risk, there 
 fore, either of perishing amidst shoreless waters, or of 
 being prevented, by contrary winds, from ever returning 
 to their native country. 
 
 25. Columbus continued, with admirable patience, to 
 reason with these absurd fancies, but in vain ; when for 
 tunately there came on a heavy swell of the sea, unac 
 companied by wind, a phenomenon that often occurs in 
 the broad ocean, caused by the impulse of some past gale, 
 or distant current of wind. It was, nevertheless, regard 
 ed with astonishment by the mariners, and dispelled the 
 imaginary terrors occasioned by the calm. 
 
 26. The situation of Columbus was daily becoming 
 more and more critical. The impatience of the seamen 
 rose to absolute mutiny. They exclaimed against him 
 as an ambitious desperado, bent upon doing something 
 extravagant to render himself notorious. 
 
 27. What obligation bound them to continue on ? They 
 had already penetrated into seas where man had never 
 before adventured. Were they to sail on until they should 
 all perish, or return with their frail ships be impossible ] 
 Who would blame them should they consult their own 
 safety ] The admiral was a foreigner, without friends ; 
 his scheme had been condemned by the learned ; there 
 was no party in his favour, and many who would be grati 
 fied by his failure. 
 
 28. Some even went so far as to propose, that they 
 should throw him into the sea, and give out that he had 
 fallen overboard while contemplating the stars with his 
 astronomical instruments. Columbus was not ignorant 
 of these cabals, but he kept a serene and steadfast caiuim 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 35 
 
 tenance, soothing some with gentle words, stimulating 
 the pride or the avarice of others, and openly menacing 
 the most refractory with punishment. 
 
 29. On the 25th of September, new hopes arose to 
 divert the public discontent. Martin Alonzo Pinzon, 
 mounting on the stern of his vessel, shouted, " Land ! 
 land ! Sefior, I claim the reward." There was, indeed, 
 such an appearance of land in the south-west, that Co 
 lumbus himself was persuaded of the fact. 
 
 30. Throwing himself upon his knees, he gave thanks 
 to God, and all the crews joined in chanting Gloria in 
 excelsis. Altering the course of the ships, they stood all 
 night for the promised shore, but the morning light put 
 an end to their hopes as to a dream ; the fancied land 
 proved nothing but an evening cloud, and had vanished 
 in the night. 
 
 31. By the 7th of October, they had come seven hun 
 dred and fifty leagues, the distance at which Columbus 
 had computed to find the island of Cipango. Signs of 
 land had multiplied for several days past. There were 
 now great flights of small field birds to the south-west, 
 which seemed to indicate some neighbouring land in 
 
 hat direction, were they were sure of food and a rest- 
 ing-place. 
 
 32. Yielding to the solicitations of Martin Alonzo 
 Pinzon, and his brothers, Columbus, on the evening of 
 the 7th, altered his course to the west south-west. As 
 he advanced, the signs of land increased ; the birds came 
 singing about the ships ; and herbage floated by as fresh 
 and green as if recently from shore. When, however, 
 on the evening of the third day of this new course, the 
 seamen beheld the sun go down upon a shoreless horizon, 
 they again broke forth into loud clamours, and insisted 
 upon abandoning the voyage. 
 
 33. Columbus endeavoured to pacify them by gentle 
 words and liberal promises ; but, finding these only in 
 creased their violence, he assumed a different tone, and 
 told them it was useless to murmur ; the expedition had 
 been sent by the sovereigns to seek the Indies, and, Imp- 
 pen what might, he was determined to persevere, until, by 
 the blessing of God, he should accomplish the enterprise. 
 
36 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 34. He was now at open defiance with his crew, and 
 his situation would have been desperate, but, fortunately, 
 the manifestations of land on the following day were such 
 as no longer to admit of doubt. A green fish, such as 
 keeps about rocks, swam by the ships ; and a branch of 
 thorn, with berries on it, floated by : they {ticked up, 
 also, a reed, a small board, and, above all, a staff artificial 
 ly carved. All gloom and murmuring was now at an 
 end, and throughout the day each one was on the watch 
 for the long-sought land. 
 
 35. In the evening, when, according to custom, the 
 mariners had sung the vesper hymn to the virgin, Co 
 lumbus made an impressive address to his crew, pointing 
 out the goodness of God in thus conducting them by soft 
 and favouring breezes across a / tranquil ocean to the 
 promised land. 
 
 36. He expressed a strong confidence of making land 
 that very night, and ordered that a vigilant look-out 
 should be kept from the forecastle, promising to whom 
 soever should make the discovery a doublet of velvet, in 
 addition to the pension to be given by the sovereigns. 
 
 37. The breeze had been fresh all day, with more sea 
 than usual ; at sunset they stood again to the west, and 
 were ploughing the waves at a rapid rate, the Pinta 
 keeping the lead from her superior sailing. The 
 greatest animation prevailed throughout the ships ; not 
 an eye was closed that night. As the evening darkened, 
 Columbus took his station on the top of the castle or 
 cabin on the high stern of his vessel, where he maintain 
 ed an intense and unremitting watch. 
 
 38. Suddenly, about ten o clock, bethought he beheld 
 * light glimmering at a distance. Fearing that his eager 
 hopes might deceive him, he called to one of his officers 
 named Pedro Gutierrez, and demanded whether he saw 
 a light in that direction ; the latter replied in the affirma 
 tive. Columbus, yet doubtful whether it might not be 
 some delusion of the fancy, called Rodrigo Sanchez of 
 Segovia, and made the same inquiry. By the time the 
 latter had ascended the round-house, the light had dis 
 appeared. 
 
 39. They saw it once or twice afterwards in sudden 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 37 
 
 and passing gleams, as if it were a torch in the bark of a 
 fisherman, rising and sinking with the waves ; or in the 
 hands of some person on shore, borne up and down as he 
 walked from house to house. So transient and uncer 
 tain were these gleams, that few attached any importance 
 to them; Columbus, however, considered them as 
 certain signs of land, and, moreover, that the land was 
 inhabited. 
 
 40. .They continued on their course until two in the 
 morning, when a gun from the Pinta gave the joyful sig 
 nal of land, which was first descried by a mariner named 
 Rodriguez Bermejo.* It was soon after clearly seen 
 about two leagues distant, whereupon they took in sail, 
 and laid to, waiting impatiently for the dawn. 
 
 41. The thoughts and feelings of Columbus in this 
 little space of time must have been tumultuous and in 
 tense. At length, in spite of every difficulty and danger, 
 he had accomplished his object. The great mystery ot 
 the ocean was revealed ; his theory, which had been the 
 scoff of sages, was triumphantly established ; he had 
 secured to himself a glory which must be as durable as 
 the world itself. 
 
 42. It is difficult even for the imagination to conceive 
 the feelings of such a man, at the moment of so sublime 
 a discovery. What a crowd of conjectures must have 
 thronged upon his mind, as to the land which lay before 
 him, covered with darkness ! That it was fruitful was 
 evident from the vegetables which floated from its shores. 
 He thought, too, that he perceived in the balmy air the 
 fragrance of aromatic groves. The moving light which 
 he had beheld, proved that it was the residence of man. 
 
 43. But what were its inhabitants 1 Were they like 
 those of other parts of the globe ; or were they some 
 strange and monstrous race, such as the imagination in 
 those times was prone to give to all remote and unknown 
 regions ? Had he come upon some wild island, far in the 
 Indian seas ; or was this the famed Cipango itself, the 
 object of his golden fancies 1 
 
 44. A thousand speculations of the kind must have 
 
 * Pronounced Bcrmcho. 
 
 4 
 
38 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 swarmed upon him, as he watched for the night to pass 
 away ; wondering whether the morning light would re 
 veal a savage wilderness, or dawn upon spicy groves, 
 and glittering fanes, and gilded cities, and all the splen 
 dours of oriental civilization. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 First landing of Columbus in the New World. Cruise 
 among the Bahama Islands. Discovery of Cuba and 
 Hispaniola. [1492.] 
 
 1. WHEN the day dawned, Columbus saw before him 
 a level and beautiful island, several leagues in extent, of 
 great freshness and verdure, and covered with trees like 
 a continual orchard. It was evidently populous, for 
 the inhabitants were seen issuing from the woods, 
 and running from all parts to the shore. They were 
 all perfectly naked, and, from their attitudes and ges 
 tures, appeared lost in astonishment at the sight of the 
 ships. 
 
 2. Columbus made signal to cast anchor, and to man 
 the boats. He entered his own boat, richly attired in 
 scarlet, and bearing the royal standard. Martin Alonzo 
 Pinzon, and Vincente Yafiez his brother, likewise put off 
 in their boats, each bearing the banner of the enterprise 
 emblazoned with a green cross, having on each side 
 the letters F and Y, surmounted by crowns, the Span- 
 nish initials of the Castilian monarchs, Fernando and 
 Ysabel. 
 
 3. As they approached the shores, they were delight 
 ed by the beauty and grandeur of the forests ; the variety 
 of unknown fruits on the trees which overhung the 
 shores ; the purity and softness of the atmosphere, and 
 the crystal transparency of the sea. 
 
 4. On landing, Columbus threw himself upon his 
 knees, kissed the earth, and returned thanks to God 
 with tears of joy. Then rising, he drew his sword, dis 
 played the royal standard, and took possession in the 
 
Landing of Columbus. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 39 
 
 names of the Castilian sovereigns, giving the island the 
 name of San Salvador. He then called upon all present 
 to take the oath of obedience to him as admiral and vice 
 roy, and representative of the sovereigns. 
 
 5. His followers now burst forth into the most ex 
 travagant transports, some embracing him, others kissing 
 his hands. Those who had been most mutinous and 
 turbulent, were now most devoted. Some begged favours 
 of him, as of a man who had already wealth and honours 
 in his gift. Many abject spirits, who had outraged him 
 by their insolence, now crouched at his feet, begging his 
 forgiveness, and offering for the future the blindest obe 
 dience to his commands. 
 
 6. The natives, when, at the dawn of day, they had 
 beheld the ships hovering on the coast, had supposed 
 them some monsters, which had issued from the deep 
 during the night. Their veering about, without any 
 apparent effort, and the shifting and furling of their sails, 
 resembling huge wings, filled them with astonishment. 
 
 7. When they beheld the boats approach the shore, 
 and a number of strange beings, clad in glittering steel, 
 or raiment of various colours, landing upon the beach, 
 they fled in affright to the woods. Finding, however, 
 that there was no attempt to pursue or molest them, the} 
 gradually recovered from their terror, and approached 
 the Spaniards with great awe, frequently prostrating 
 themselves, and making signs of adoration. 
 
 8. During the ceremony of taking possession, they 
 remained gazing, in timid admiration, at the complexion, 
 the beards, the shining armour, .and splendid dress of the 
 Spaniards. The admiral particularly attracted their at 
 tention, from his commanding height, his air of authority, 
 his scarlet dress, and the deference paid to him by his 
 companions. 
 
 9. When they had still further recovered from their 
 fears, they approached the Spaniards, touched their 
 beards, and examined their hands and faces, admiring 
 their whiteness. Columbus, pleased with their confiding 
 simplicity and gentleness, submitted to their scrutiny 
 with perfect acquiescence. 
 
 10. The wondering savages were won by this benig- 
 
40 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 ttity ; they now supposed that the ships had sailed out 
 of the crystal firmament which bounded their horizon, 
 or had descended from above, on their ample wings, and 
 that these marvellous beings were natives of the skies. 
 
 11. The people of the island were no less objects of 
 curiosity to the Spaniards, differing, as they did, from 
 any race of men they had ever seen. They were en 
 tirely naked, of a moderate stature, well shaped, of a 
 copper hue, with agreeable features, lofty foreheads, and 
 fine eyes. Their hair was coarse and straight ; they had 
 no beards, and were painted with a variety of colours. 
 
 12. They appeared to be a simple and artless people, 
 and of gentle and friendly dispositions. Their only arms 
 were lances, hardened at the end by fire, or pointed with 
 a flint or the bone of a fish. Columbus distributed among 
 them coloured caps, glass beads, hawk s bells, and other 
 trifles, which they received as inestimable gifts, and, de 
 corating themselves with them, were wonderfully de 
 lighted with their finery. 
 
 13. The island was called by the natives Guanahani, 
 and is one of the Bahama islands. Columbus supposed 
 it to be at the extremity of India, and therefore called 
 the inhabitants Indians, an appellation which has since 
 been extended to all the aboriginals of the new world. 
 
 14. The Spaniards remained all day on shore, refresh 
 ing themselves among the beautiful groves, and returned 
 to their ships late in the evening, delighted with all they 
 had seen. 
 
 15. On the following morning, at daybreak, some of 
 the natives came swimming off to the ships, and others 
 in canoes, formed of a single tree, and capable of holding 
 from one man to the number of forty or fifty. They had 
 little to offer, in return for trinkets, except balls of cotton 
 yarn, domesticated parrots, and cakes of a kind of bread 
 called cassava, made from the yuca root, which consti 
 tuted a principal part of their food. 
 
 16. The avarice of the discoverers was awakened by 
 perceiving small ornaments of gold in the noses of some 
 of the natives. On being asked where this precious 
 metal was procured, they answered by signs, pointing to 
 the south ; and Columbus understood them to say, that 
 
OP COLUMBUS. 41 
 
 a king resided in that quarter, who was served in great 
 vessels of gold. 
 
 17. He interpreted every thing according to his pre 
 vious ideas derived from the work of Marco Polo, and 
 supposed the rich island to the south to be Cipango, and 
 the king who was served out of golden vessels, to be its 
 monarch, whose palace was said to be covered with 
 plates of gold. As soon, therefore, as he had taken in a 
 supply of wood and water, he set sail in quest of this opu 
 lent island ; taking seven of the natives with him to ac 
 quire the Spanish language, and serve as interpreters 
 and guides. 
 
 18. He now beheld a number of beautiful islands, 
 green, level, and fertile, which he supposed to be part of 
 the Archipelago described by Marco Polo as stretching 
 along the coast of ^sia, and abounding with spices and 
 odoriferous trees. 
 
 19. The inhabitants approached the Spaniards with 
 offerings of fruits, and birds, and cotton, regarding them 
 as super-human beings. When they landed in quest of 
 water, they took them to the coolest springs, and sweet 
 est and freshest runs, filling their casks, rolling them to 
 the boats, and seeking in every way to gratify them. 
 
 20. Columbus was enchanted by the lovely scenery of 
 these islands. "I know not," says he, "where first to 
 go, nor are my eyes ever weary of gazing on the beauti 
 ful verdure. The singing of the birds is such, that it 
 seems as if one would never desire to depart hence. 
 There are flocks of parrots that obscure the sun, and 
 other birds of many kinds, large and small, entirely dif 
 ferent from ours. Trees, also, of a thousand species, 
 each having its particular fruit. 
 
 21. The fish also partook of the novelty which char 
 acterized most of the objects in this new world, and 
 rivalled the birds in the brilliancy of their colours. The 
 scales of some glanced back the rays of light like precious 
 stones, and as they sported about the ships, they flashed 
 gleams of gold and silver through the crystal waves. 
 
 22. Columbus was disappointed in his hopes of finding 
 gold or spices in these islands ; but the natives continued 
 to point to the south, and spoke of an island in that di- 
 
 4* 
 
42 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 rection, called Cuba, which, the Spaniards understood 
 them to say, abounded in gold, pearls, and spices, and 
 carried on an extensive commerce, and that large mer 
 chant ships came to trade with the inhabitants. 
 
 23. Columbus concluded this to be the desired Cipan- 
 go, and the merchant ships to be those of the Grand 
 Khan. He set sail in search of it, therefore, and arrived 
 in sight of it on the 28th October. 
 
 24. As he approached this noble island, he was struck 
 with the grandeur of its mountains, its fertile valleys and 
 long sweeping plains, covered by stately forests, and 
 watered by noble rivers. He anchored in a beautiful 
 river, and taking formal possession of the island, gave it 
 the name of Juana, in honour of Prince Juan, and to the 
 river the name of San Salvador. 
 
 25. Columbus spent several days coasting this part of 
 the island, and exploring the fine harbours and rivers 
 with which it abounds. In the sweet smell of the woods, 
 and the odour of the flowers, he fancied he perceived 
 the fragrance of oriental spices, and along the shores he 
 found shells of the oyster which produces pearls. He 
 frequently deceived himself, in fancying that he heart! 
 the song of the nightingale, a bird unknown in these 
 countries. 
 
 26. Ever since his arrival among these islands he had 
 experienced nothing but soft and gentle weather ; and 
 he observed that the grass grew to the very edge of the 
 water, as if never molested by an angry surge. He 
 concluded, therefore, that a perpetual serenity reigned 
 over these seas ; little suspicious of the occasional bursts 
 of fury to w T hich they are liable, and of the tremendous 
 hurricanes which rend and devastate the face of na 
 ture. 
 
 27. While coasting the island, he landed occasionally 
 and visited the villages, the inhabitants of which fled to 
 the woods and mountains. The houses were construct 
 ed of branches of palm-trees, in the shape of pavilions, 
 and were scattered under the spreading trees, like tents 
 in a camp. He found in them rude images, and wooden 
 masks, carved with considerable ingenuity. Finding 
 implements for fishing in all the cabins, he concluded 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 43 
 
 that the coast were inhabited merely by fishermen, who 
 supplied the cities in the interior. 
 
 28. After coasting to the north-west for some distance, 
 Columbus came in sight of a great head-land, to which, 
 from the groves which covered it, he gave the name of 
 the Cape of Palms. 
 
 29. Here, from misunderstanding the Indian names, 
 he fancied himself on the main land of Asia, and sent 
 two Spaniards, one of them a Jew, who understood ori 
 ental languages, to explore the interior and seek the 
 residence^ the sovereign. Two Indians were sent with 
 them as guides, and they were well supplied with beads 
 and other trinkets for travelling expenses. 
 
 30. After penetrating about twelve leagues they came 
 to a large village of about a thousand souls. The In 
 habitants crowded round them, examined their skins and 
 raiment, and kissed their heads and feet in token of ad 
 miration. Provisions were placed before them in the 
 principal house, after which the Indians seated them 
 selves round them on the ground, and waited to hear 
 what they had to say. 
 
 31. The Jew found his oriental languages of no avail, 
 and the ambassadors had to make all their communica- 
 cations through an Indian interpreter. They found that 
 the natives had neither gold nor spices to offer, and knew 
 of no great inland city ; the envoys, therefore, broke up 
 the conference and returned to the ships. 
 
 32. They brought back, however, intelligence of what 
 doubtless appeard to them a strange and savage piece of 
 luxury. They had remarked several Indians with cer 
 tain dried herbs rolled up in a leaf. One end of this they 
 put in their mouths, and lighting the other end with a fire 
 brand, inhaled and puffed out the smoke with great ap 
 parent enjoyment. A roll of this kind they called a to. 
 bacco, a name since transferred to the weed itself. 
 
 33. As fast as one allusion passed away from the mind 
 of Columbus, another succeeded. He was undeceived 
 as to the supposed prince and his inland city, but the 
 Indians now pointing to the eastward, repeated the words 
 Babeque and Bohio, which he understood to be islands or 
 provinces where the people collected gold along the 
 
44 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 river banks by torch light, and wrought it into bars with 
 hammers. 
 
 34. He accordingly ran along the coast of Cuba for 
 two or three days, and then stood out to sea in the direc 
 tion pointed out by the Indians to find Babeque, which 
 he supposed to be some rich and civilized island. The 
 wind, however, came directly ahead, so that, after seve 
 ral attempts to keep on, he was obliged to put back to 
 Cuba. 
 
 35. He made signals for the Pinta to do the same, but 
 they were not attended to by her commander, Martin 
 Alonzo Pinzon. The day closed, but Columbus con 
 tinued to make signals during the night by lights at the 
 mast head. They were equally disregarded. At dawn 
 of day the Pinta was no longer to be seen. 
 
 36. Columbus was disquieted at this. Pinzon had for 
 some time shown impatience at being under his com 
 mand. He was a veteran navigator; and a wealthy 
 man ; and having furnished two of the vessels, and part 
 of the funds for the expedition, seemed to think him 
 self entitled to as much authority and importance as the 
 admiral. 
 
 37. Columbus considered his disappearance a wilful 
 desertion. He feared that he intended to make a cruise 
 by himself, or what was worse, to hasten back to Spain 
 and claim the merit of this grand discovery. These 
 thoughts distracted his mind, and impeded him in the 
 free prosecution of his voyage. 
 
 38. For several days he continued exploring the coast 
 of Cuba, until he reached the eastern end, to which, from 
 supposing it the extreme point of Asia, he gave the name 
 of Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. While 
 steering at large beyond this cape, undetermined what 
 course to take, he "descried high mountains towering 
 above the clear horizon to the south-east, and giving 
 evidence of an island of great extent. He immediately 
 stood for it, to the great consternation of his Indian 
 guides, who assured him by signs that the inhabitants 
 had but one eye, and were fierce and cruel cannibals. 
 
 39. In the transparent atmosphere of the tropics, ob 
 jects are descried at a great distance, and the purity of 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 45 
 
 the air and serenity of the deep-blue sky give a magical 
 charm to scenery. Under these advantages, the beau 
 tiful island of Hayti revealed itself to the eye as they 
 approached. 
 
 40. Its mountains were higher and more rocky than 
 those of the other islands, but the rocks rose from among 
 rich forests. The mountains swept down into luxuriant 
 plains and green savannahs, while the appearance of 
 cultivated fields, with the numerous fires at night, and 
 the columns of smoke which rose in various parts by day, 
 all showed it to be populous. It rose before them in all 
 the splendour of tropical vegetation, one of the most 
 beautiful islands in the world, and doomed to be one of 
 the most unfortunate. 
 
 CHAPTER, XII. 
 
 Coasting of Hispaniola. Shipwreck, and other Occur 
 rences at the Island. [1492.] 
 
 1. ON the evening of the 6th of December, Columbus 
 entered a harbour at the western end of the island, to 
 which he gave the name of St. Nicholas. Not being 
 able to meet with any of the inhabitants, who had fled 
 from their dwellings, he coasted along the northern side 
 of the island to another harbour, which he called 
 Conception. 
 
 2. Here the sailors caught several kinds offish similar 
 to those of their own country ; they heard also the notes 
 of a bird which sings in the night, and which they mis 
 took for the nightingale, and they fancied that the features 
 of the surrounding country resembled those of the more 
 beautiful provinces of Spain : in consequence of this idea, 
 the admiral named the island Espanola, or, as it is com 
 monly written, Hispaniola. 
 
 3. After various attempts to obtain a communication 
 with the natives, three sailors succeeded in overtaking a 
 young and handsome female, who was flying from them, 
 and brought their wild beauty in triumph to the ships. 
 She was treated with the greatest kindness, and dismiss- 
 
46 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 ed finely clothed, and loaded with presents of beads, 
 hawk s bells, and other baubles. 
 
 4. Confident of the favourable impression her treat 
 ment, and the sight of her presents, must produce, Co 
 lumbus, on the following- day, sent nine men, with an in 
 terpreter, to her village which was situated in a fine 
 valley, on the banks of a beautiful river, and contained 
 about a thousand houses. 
 
 5. The natives fled at first, but, being re-assured by 
 the interpreter, came back to the number of two thou 
 sand, and approached the Spaniards with awe and 
 trembling, often pausing and putting their hands upon 
 their heads in token of reverence and submission. 
 
 6. The female also, came borne in triumph on the 
 shoulders of her countrymen, followed by a multitude, 
 and preceded by her husband, who was full of gratitude 
 for the kindness with which she had been treated. The 
 natives conducted the Spaniards to their houses, and set 
 before them cassava bread, fish, roots, and fruits of various 
 kinds ; for a frank hospitality reigned throughout the 
 island, where as yet the passion of avarice was unknown. 
 
 7. The Spaniards returned to the vessels enraptured 
 with the beauty of the country, surpassing, as they said, 
 even the luxuriant valley of Cordova ; all that they com 
 plained of was, that they saw no signs of riches among 
 the natives. 
 
 8. Continuing along the coast, Columbus was visited 
 by a young cacique, apparently of great importance, who 
 came borne on a litter by four men, and attended by two 
 hundred of his subjects. He entered the cabin where 
 the admiral was dining, and took his seat beside him, 
 with a frank unembarrassed air, while two old men, who 
 were his councillors, seated themselves at his feet, 
 watching his lips, as if to catch and communicate his 
 ideas. 
 
 9. If any thing were given him to eat, he merely tast 
 ed it, and sent it to his followers, maintaining an air of 
 great gravity and dignity. After dinner, he presented 
 the admiral with a belt curiously wrought, and two pieces 
 of gold. Columbus made him various presents in return, 
 and showed him a coin bearing the likenesses of Fer- 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 47 
 
 dinand and Isabella, endeavouring to give him an idea of 
 the power and grandeur of those sovereigns.* 
 
 10. The cacique, however, could not be made to be 
 lieve that there was a region on earth which produced 
 such wonderful people and wonderful things, but persist 
 ed in the idea that the Spaniards were more than mortal, 
 and that the country and sovereigns they spoke of must 
 exist somewhere in tho skies. 
 
 11. On the 20th of December, Columbus anchored in 
 a fine harbour, to which he gave the name of St. Tho 
 mas. Here a large canoe visited the ships, bringing 
 messengers from a chieftain named Guacanagari, who 
 resided on the coast a little farther to the eastward, 
 and reigned over all that part of the island. The mes 
 sengers bore a present of a broad be]t, wrought inge 
 niously with coloured beads and bones, and a wooden 
 mask, the eyes, nose, and tongue of which were of gold. 
 
 12. They invited Columbus, in the name of the cacique, 
 to come with his ships opposite to the village where he 
 resided. Adverse winds prevented an immediate com 
 pliance with this invitation ; he therefore sent a boat well 
 armed, with the notary of the squadron, to visit the chief 
 tain. He returned with favourable accounts of the ap 
 pearance of the village, and the hospitality of the cacique. 
 
 13. Early in the morning of the 24th of December, 
 Columbus weighed anchor, with a light wind that scarcely 
 filled the sails. By eleven o clock at night, he was within 
 a league and a half of the residence of the cacique : the 
 sea was calm and smooth, and the ship almost motionless. 
 Having had no sleep the preceding night, he retired to 
 take a little repose. 
 
 14. No sooner had he left the deck, than the steers 
 man gave the helm in charge to one of the ship-boys, 
 and went to sleep. The rest of the mariners on duty 
 followed his example, and in a little while the whole 
 crew was buried in sleep. In the meantime the treach 
 erous currents, which run swiftly along this coast, car 
 ried the ship smoothly, but with great violence, upon a 
 sandbank. The boy, feeling the rudder strike, and hear 
 ing the rushing of the sea, cried out for aid. Columbus 
 was the first to take the alarm, and was soon followed by 
 
48 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 the master of the ship, and his delinquent companions. 
 The admiral ordered them to carry out an anchor astern* 
 that they might warp the vessel off. 
 
 15. They sprang into the boat, but, being confused 
 and seized with a panic, instead of obeying the com 
 mands of Columbus, they rowed off to the other caravel. 
 Vincente Yaiiez Pinzon, who commanded the latter, re 
 proached them with their cowardice, and refused to ad 
 mit them on board ; and, manning his boat, hastened to 
 the assistance of the admiral. 
 
 16. In the mean time, the ship swinging across the 
 stream, was set more and more upon the bank. Efforts 
 were made to lighten her, by cutting away the mast, but 
 in vain. The keel became bedded in the sand ; the 
 seams opened, and the breakers beat against her, until 
 she fell over on one side. Fortunately, the weather con 
 tinued calm, otherwise both ship and crew must have 
 perished. The admiral abandoned the wreck, and took 
 refuge, with his men, on board of the caravel. He lay 
 to until daylight, sending messengers on shore to inform 
 the cacique Guacanagari of his disastrous shipwreck. 
 
 17. When the chieftain heard of the misfortune of his 
 guest, he was so much afflicted as to shed tears ; and 
 never, in civilized country, were the rites of hospitality 
 more scrupulously observed, than by this uncultured 
 savage. He assembled his people, and sent off all his 
 canoes to aid in unloading the wreck. The effects were 
 landed, and deposited near his dwelling, and a guard set 
 over them, until houses could be prepared, in which they 
 could be stored. 
 
 18. There seemed, however, no disposition among the 
 natives to pilfer or conceal the most trifling article. On 
 the contrary, they manifested as deep a concern as if the 
 disaster had happened to themselves, and their only 
 study was how they could administer relief and consola 
 tion. Columbus was greatly affected by this unexpected 
 goodness. " These people," said he, to the sovereigns, 
 " love their neighbours as themselves, their discourse is 
 ever sweet and gentle, and accompanied by a smile. I 
 swear to your majesties there is not in the world a better 
 nation or a better land." 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 49 
 
 19. When the cacique met with Columbus, he was 
 much moved at beholding- his dejection, and offered him 
 every thing he possessed that could be of service to him. 
 He invited him on shore, where a banquet was prepared 
 for his entertainment, consisting- of various kinds of fish 
 and fruit, and an animal called Utia by the natives, which 
 resembled a coney. After the collation, he conducted 
 him to a beautiful grove, where upwards of a thousand of 
 the natives were assembled, all perfectly naked, who per 
 formed several of their games and dances. 
 
 20. When the Indians had finished their games, Co 
 lumbus gave them an entertainment in return, calculated 
 to impress them with a formidable opinion of the military 
 power of the Spaniards. A Castilian, who had served 
 in the wars of Granada, exhibited his skill in shooting- 
 with a Moorish bow, to the great admiration of the ca 
 cique. A cannon and an arquebus were likewise dis 
 charged ; at the sound of which the Indians fell to the 
 ground, as though they had been struck by a thunderbolt. 
 
 21. When they saw the effect of the ball rending and 
 shivering the trees, they were filled with dismay. On 
 being told, however, that the Spaniards would protect 
 them with these arms, against the invasions of their 
 dreaded enemies, the Caribs, their alarm was changed 
 into confident exultation, considering themselves under 
 the protection of the sons of heaven, who had come from 
 the skies, armed with thunder and lightning. 
 
 22. The cacique placed a coronet of gold on the head 
 of Columbus, and hung plates of the same metal round 
 his neck, and dispensed liberal presents among his fol 
 lowers. Whatever trifles were given in return were re 
 garded with reverence as celestial gifts, and were said by 
 the Indians to have come from Turey, or heaven. 
 
 23. When Guacanagari perceived the great value which 
 the admiral attached to gold, he informed him, that there 
 was a place, not far off, where it abounded ; and he pro 
 mised to procure him, from thence, as much as he desired. 
 This golden region, was called Cibao, and lay among 
 high and rugged mountains. The cacique who ruled 
 over it owned many rich mines, and had banners of 
 wrought gold. 
 
 5 
 
50 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 24. Three houses had been given to the shipwrecked 
 crew for their residence. Here, living 1 on shore, and 
 mingling" freely with the natives, they became fascina 
 ted by their easy and idle mode of life. They were go 
 verned by their caciques with an absolute but patriarchal 
 and easy rule, and existed in that state of primitive and 
 savage simplicity which some philosophers have fondly 
 pictured as the most enviable on earth. 
 
 25. " It is certain," says old Peter Martyr, " that the land 
 among these people is as common as the sun and water ; 
 and that mine and thine, the seeds of all mischief, have 
 no place with them. They are content with so little, 
 that, in so large a country, they have rather superfluity 
 than scarceness ; so that they seem to live in a golden 
 world, without toil, in open gardens, neither intrenched, 
 nor shut up by walls or hedges. They deal truly with 
 one another, without laws, or books, or judges." 
 
 26. In fact, they seemed to disquiet themselves about 
 nothing ; a few fields, cultivated almost without labour, 
 furnished roots and vegetables,, their groves were laden 
 with delicious fruit, and the coast and rivers abounded 
 with fish. Softened by the indulgence of nature, a 
 great part of the day was passed by them in indolent re 
 pose, in that luxury of sensation inspired by a serene sky 
 and voluptuous climate, and in the evening they danced 
 in their fragrant groves, to their national songs, or the 
 rude sound of their sylvan drums. 
 
 27. When the Spanish mariners looked back upon 
 their own toilsome and painful life, and reflected upon 
 the cares and hardships that must still be their lot, should 
 they return to Europe, they regarded with a wistful eye 
 the easy and idle existence of the Indians, and many of 
 them, representing to the admiral the difficulty and dan 
 ger of embarking so many persons in one small caravel, 
 entreated permission to remain in the island. 
 
 28. Columbus granted their request, determining to 
 found a colony. The wreck of the caravel would fur 
 nish materials and arms for a fortress ; and the people 
 who should remain in the island could explore it, learn 
 the language of the natives, and collect gold, while the 
 admiral returned to Spain for reinforcements. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 51 
 
 29. Guacanagan was overjoyed at finding that some of 
 these wo-nderful strangers were to remain for the defence 
 of his island, and that the admiral intended to revisit it. 
 He readily gave permission to build the fort, and his 
 subjects eagerly aided in its construction, little dreaming 
 that they were assisting to place on their necks the gall 
 ing yoke of perpetual and toilsome slavery. 
 
 30. In ten days the fortress was completed. It con 
 sisted of a strong wooden tower, with a vault beneath, 
 and the whole was surrounded by a wide ditch. It was 
 supplied with the ammunition and mounted with the 
 cannon saved from the wreck. Columbus gave the 
 fortress and harbour the name of La Navidad, or The 
 Nativity, in memorial of having been preserved from the 
 wreck of his ship on Christmas day. 
 
 31. From the number of volunteers that offered to re- 
 main, he selected thirty-nine of the most trustworthy, 
 putting them under the command of Diego de Arana, 
 notary and alguazil of the armament. In case of his 
 death, Pedro Gutierrez was to take the command, and he, 
 in like case, to be succeeded by Rodrigo de Escobido. 
 
 32. He charged the men to be obedient to their com 
 manders, respectful to Guacanagari and his chieftains, 
 and circumspect and friendly in their intercourse with 
 the natives. As their safety would depend upon their 
 united force, he warned them not to separate nor to stray 
 beyond the territory of the friendly cacique. He enjoined 
 it upon the officers, to employ themselves in gaining a 
 knowledge of the island, in amassing gold and spices, and 
 in searching for a more safe and convenient harbour. 
 
 33. Before his departure, he gave the natives another 
 military exhibition, to increase their awe of the white 
 men. The Spaniards performed skirmishes and mock 
 fights, with swords, bucklers, lances, crossbows, and fire 
 arms. The Indians were astonished at the keenness of 
 the steeled weapons, and the deadly power of the cross 
 bows and muskets : but nothing equalled their awe and 
 admiration when the cannon were discharged from the 
 fortress, wrapping it in smoke, shaking the forests with 
 their thunder, and shivering the stoutest trees. 
 
 34. When Columbus took leave of Guacanagari, the 
 
52 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 kind-hearted cacique shed many tears ; for he had been 
 completely won by the benignity of his manners. The 
 seamen, too, had made many pleasant connexions among 
 the Indians, and they parted with mutual regret. 
 
 35. The sorest parting, however, was with their com 
 rades who remained behind. When the signal gun was 
 fired, they gave a parting cheer to the gallant handful of 
 volunteers thus left in the wilderness of an unknown 
 world, who echoed their cheering as they gazed wistful 
 ly after them from the beach, but who were destined 
 never to welcome their return. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Retwn Voyage. Violent Storms. Arrival at Portu 
 gal. [1493.] 
 
 1. IT was on the 4th of January that Columbus set sail. 
 On the 6th, as he was beating along the coast, with a 
 head wind, a sailor at the mast-head cried out that there 
 was a sail at a distance, standing towards them. To 
 their great joy it proved to be the Pinta, which came 
 sweeping before the wind with flowing canvass. 
 
 2. On joining the admiral, Pinzon endeavoured to excuse 
 his desertion, by saying that he had been separated by 
 stress of weather, and had ever since been seeking him. 
 Columbus listened incredulously to these excuses, but 
 avoided any words that might produce altercations, and 
 disturb the remainder of the voyage. He ascertained, 
 afterwards, that Pinzon had parted company intentional 
 ly, and had steered directly east, in quest of a region 
 where the Indians assured him he would find gold in 
 abundance. 
 
 3. They guided him to Hispaniola, where he had been 
 for some time in a river about fifteen leagues east of La 
 Navidad, trading with the natives. He had collected a 
 large quantity of gold, one half of which he retained as 
 captain, and the rest he divided among his men, to secure 
 their secrecy and fidelity. On leaving the river, he had 
 carried off four Indian men and two girls, as slaves. 
 
OP COLUMBUS. 53 
 
 4. Columbus sailed for this river, to which he gave the 
 name of Rio de Gracia ; but it long continued to be 
 known as the river of Martin Alonzo. Here he ordered 
 the four men and two girls to be dismissed, well clothed, 
 and with many presents, to atone for the wrong they had 
 experienced, and to allay the hostile feeling it might have 
 caused among the natives. This restitution was not made 
 without great unwillingness, and many angry words, on 
 the part of Pinzon. 
 
 5. After standing for some distance further along the 
 coast, they anchored in a vast bay, or rather gulf, three 
 leagues in breadth, extending far inland, and bordered by 
 the mountains of Ciguay. Here they had a sharp skir 
 mish with the natives, in which several of the latter were 
 slain. They were a hardy and warlike race of moun 
 taineers, fierce of aspect, hideously painted, and their 
 heads decorated with feathers. 
 
 6. They fought with war-clubs, bows and arrows, and 
 swords of palm wood, so hard and heavy as to cleave 
 through a helmet to the very brain. Several of the In 
 dians were killed. This was the first contest with ( the 
 people of the New World, and the first time that native 
 blood was shed by white men. From this skirmish the 
 place received the name of the gulf of arrows ;* it is now 
 called the gulf of Samana. 
 
 7. Columbus lamented this conflict, and apprehended 
 further hostilities ; but, to his surprise, the natives on 
 the following day resumed their intercourse as if nothing 
 had happened. The cacique, whose name was Mayona- 
 bex, came on board with only three attendants, and 
 throughout all their subsequent dealings they betrayed 
 no signs of lurking fear or enmity. 
 
 8. This frank and confiding conduct, so indicative of 
 a brave and generous nature, was properly appreciated by 
 Columbus : he entertained the cacique with great distinc 
 tion, and at parting made many presents to him and his 
 attendants. This Mayonabex, in subsequent events of 
 this history, will be found to acquit himself with valour 
 and magnanimity, under the most trying circumstances. 
 
 * El Golfo de las Fleches. 
 
54 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 9. Columbus, on leaving the bay, took four young In 
 dians, to guide him to the Caribbean islands, situated to 
 the east, of which they gave him very interesting ac 
 counts, as well as of the island of Mantinino, said to be 
 inhabited by Amazons. A favourable breeze sprang up, 
 however, for the voyage homewards, and, seeing gloom 
 and impatience in the countenances of his men, at the 
 idea of diverging from their route, he gave up his inten 
 tion of visiting these islands for the present, and made 
 all sail for Spain. 
 
 10. The favourable breeze soon died away ; light winds 
 from the east, and frequent calms, succeeded ; but they had 
 intervals of favourable weather, and by the 12th of Feb 
 ruary they had made such progress as to begin to flatter 
 themselves with the hopes of soon beholding land. The 
 wind now came on to blow violently ; on the following 
 evening there were three flashes of lightning in the 
 north-north-east ; from which signs Columbus predicted 
 an approaching tempest. 
 
 11. It soon burst upon them with frightful violence , 
 their small and crazy vessels were little fitted for the 
 wild storms of the Atlantic ; ah 1 night they were obliged 
 to scud under bare poles at the mercy of the elements. 
 As the morning dawned, there was a transient pause, 
 and they made a little sail ; but the wind rose with re 
 doubled fury from the south, and increased in the night, 
 the vessels labouring terribly in a cross sea, which threat 
 ened at each moment to overwhelm them or dash them 
 to pieces. 
 
 12. The tempest still augmenting, they were obliged 
 again to scud before the wind. The admiral made signal 
 lights for the Pinta to keep in company ; but she was 
 separated by the violence of the storm ; her lights gleam 
 ed more and more distant, until they ceased entirely. 
 When the day dawned, the sea presented a frightful 
 waste of wild broken waves, lashed into fury by the gale ; 
 Columbus looked round anxiously for the Pinta, but she 
 was nowhere to be seen. 
 
 13. Throughout a dreary day the helpless bark was 
 driven along by the tempest. Seeing all human skill 
 baffled and confounded, the admiral endeavoured to pro- 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 55 
 
 pitiate heaven by solemn vows. Lots were cast to per 
 form pilgrimages and penitences, most of which fell 
 upon himself. A vow was also made by the admiral and 
 the whole crew, that if they were spared to reach the 
 land they would walk in procession, barefooted, to offer 
 up thanksgiving in some church dedicated to the Virgin. 
 
 14. The heavens, however, seemed deaf to all their 
 vows ; the storm grew still more furious, and every one 
 gave himself up for lost. The mind of Columbus was a 
 prey to the most distressing anxiety. He was harassed 
 by the repinings of his crew, who cursed the hour of their 
 leaving their country, and their want of resolution in not 
 compelling him to abandon the voyage. He was afflict 
 ed, also, when he thought of his two sons, who would be 
 left destitute by his death. 
 
 15. But he had another source of distress, more in 
 tolerable than death itself. It was highly probable that 
 the Pinta had foundered in the storm. In such case, 
 the history of his discovery would depend upon his own 
 feeble bark ; one surge of the ocean might bury it for 
 ever in oblivion, and his name only remain as that of a 
 desperate adventurer, who had perished in pursuit of a 
 chimera. 
 
 16. To guard against suph a result, he wrote on parch 
 ment a brief account of his discovery, and of his having 
 taken possession of the newly found lands in the name of 
 their Catholic majesties. This he sealed and directed to 
 the king and queen, and superscribed a promise of a 
 thousand ducats to whomsoever should deliver the packet 
 unopened. He then wrapped it in a waxed cloth, which 
 he placed in the centre of a cake of wax, and enclosing 
 the whole in a cask, threw it into the sea. A copy of 
 this memorial he enclosed, in a similar manner, and placed 
 it upon the stern of his vessel, so that, should the caravel 
 sink, the cask might float off and survive. 
 
 17. Happily, these precautions, though wise, were 
 superfluous ; at sunset there was a streak of clear sky in 
 the west, the wind shifted to that quarter, and on the 
 morning of the 15th of February they came in sight of land. 
 
 18. The transports of the crew at once more beholding 
 the old world were almost equal to those they had expe- 
 
56 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 rienced on discovering the new. For two or three days, 
 however, the wind again became contrary, and they re 
 mained hovering in sight of land, of which they only 
 caught glimpses through the mist and rack. At length 
 they came to anchor, at the island of St. Mary s, the 
 most southern of the Azores, and a possession of the 
 crown of Portugal. 
 
 19. An ungenerous reception awaited the poor tem 
 pest-tossed mariners, on their return to the abode of civi 
 lized man, far different from the kindness and hospitality 
 they had experienced among the savages of the new 
 world. Columbus sent one half of the crew on shore, to 
 fulfil the vow of a barefooted procession to a chapel of 
 the Virgin, which stood on a solitary part of the coast, 
 and awaited their return to perform the same ceremony 
 with the remainder. 
 
 20. Scarcely had they begun their prayers, when a 
 party of horse and foot, headed by the governor of the 
 island, surrounded the chapel, and took them all prison 
 ers. The real object of this outrage was to get posses 
 sion of the person of Columbus ; for the king of Portu 
 gal, jealous lest his enterprise might interfere with his 
 own discoveries, had sent orders to his commanders of 
 islands and distant ports to seize and detain him wherever 
 he should be met with. 
 
 21. Having failed in this open attempt, the governor 
 next endeavoured to effect his purpose by stratagem, but 
 was equally unsuccessful. Being thus baffled in his aim, 
 and being threatened with the vengeance of the Spanish 
 sovereigns, he released his prisoners, after two or three 
 days detention, pretending to have acted through doubts 
 of Columbus having a regular commission. 
 
 22. The voyagers again set sail with pleasant weather, 
 but were soon overtaken by a tempest, which rent their 
 sails and threatened instant distruction. The crew were 
 again reduced to despair, and made vows of fastings and 
 pilgrimages. The storm raged for a night and day, and 
 rose to its utmost fury on the night of the 3d of March. 
 The sea was wild, broken, and mountainous, the rain fell 
 in torrents, and lightning flashed, and thunder pealed 
 from various parts of the heavens. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 57 
 
 23. In the first watch of this fearful night, the seamen 
 gave the usually welcome cry of land ; but it only increased 
 the alarm, for they were ignorant of their situation, and 
 dreaded being driven on shore, or dashed upon the rocks. 
 Taking in sail, therefore, they endeavoured to keep to 
 sea as much as possible. At day-break on the 4th of 
 March, they found themselves off the rock of Cintra, at 
 the mouth of the Tagus. 
 
 24. Though distrustful of the good will of Portugal, 
 Columbus had no alternative but to run in for shelter, 
 and he accordingly anchored about three o clock in the 
 river, opposite to Rastello. The inhabitants came off 
 from various parts of the shore, to congratulate him on 
 what they deemed a miraculous preservation, for they 
 had been watching the vessel the whole morning, with 
 great anxiety, and putting up prayers for her safety. 
 
 25. Such were the difficulties and perils with which Co 
 lumbus had to contend on his return to Europe : had one 
 tenth part of them beset his outward voyage, his factious 
 crew would have risen in arms against the enterprise, 
 and he never would have discovered the new world. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Visit of Columbus to the Court of Portugal. Arrival at 
 Palos. [1493.] 
 
 1. The arrival of a bark in the Tagus, freighted with 
 the people and productions of a newly discovered world, 
 rilled all Lisbon with astonishment. For several days 
 the river was covered with barges and boats, bearing 
 visitors to the ship of the most distinguished rank. 
 
 2. All hung with rapt attention on the accounts of the 
 voyage, and gazed with insatiable curiosity upon the 
 plants, and animals, and above all, upon the inhabitants 
 of the new world. The enthusiasm of some, and the 
 avarice of others, was excited ; while many repined at 
 the incredulity of the king and his counsellors, by which 
 so grand a discovery had been for ever lost to Portugal. 
 
58 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 3. Immediately on his arrival, Columbus wrote to the 
 king of Portugal, who was at Valparaiso, about nine 
 leagues from Lisbon, informing him of the events of his 
 voyage, and the route he had pursued, lest the king 
 should suppose he had been in the track of the Portu 
 guese discoverers. On the 8th of March, he received a 
 reply, congratulating him on his arrival, and inviting him 
 to court. The king at the same time ordered, that any 
 thing which the admiral required for himself or his vessel 
 should be furnished free of cost. 
 
 4. Columbus set out reluctantly for the court, for he 
 distrusted the good faith of the king. His reception, 
 however, was of the most honourable kind. The prin 
 cipal officers of the royal household came forth to meet 
 him, and conducted him to the palace. The king re 
 quested him to seat himself in his presence, a privilege 
 only granted to persons of royal dignity. He welcomed 
 him to Portugal, and congratulated him on the glorious 
 result of his enterprise ; though secretly, he repined that 
 this splendid enterprise had been offered to himself 
 and refused. 
 
 5. He held repeated conversations with Columbus, 
 and made minute inquiries as to the routes by which he 
 had sailed, and the soil, productions, and people of the 
 countries which he had discovered, seeming to take great 
 pleasure in his replies. 
 
 6. The true object of these inquiries, however, was to 
 ascertain whether the regions in question did not fall 
 within the scope of the papal bull or ordinance, granting 
 to the crown of Portugal all the land it should discover 
 from Cape Non to the Indies. 
 
 7. King John suggested these doubts to his counsel 
 lors, who ea.gerly encouraged them ; for among them 
 were the very persons who had scoffed at Columbus as a 
 dreamer, and his success covered them with confusion. 
 They declared that the natives brought in the caravel 
 answered exactly to the description of the people of that 
 part of India granted to Portugal by the papal bull ; and 
 that the newly discovered land clearly fell within the 
 Portuguese territories. 
 
 8. Some endeavoured to awaken the anger of the king, 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 59 
 
 by declaring that Columbus had talked of his discoveries 
 in an arrogant and vainglorious strain, merely to revenge 
 himself upon the monarch for having rejected his propo 
 sitions. 
 
 9. Others even went so far as to propose, as an effec 
 tual means of impeding the prosecution of these enter 
 prises, that Columbus should be assassinated. It would 
 be an easy matter to take advantage of his lofty deport 
 ment, to pique his pride, provoke him to an altercation, 
 and suddenly despatch him as if in casual and honoura 
 ble encounter. 
 
 10. Happily, the king had too much magnanimity to 
 adopt such wicked and dastardly counsel. Though se 
 cretly grieved and mortified that the rival power of Spain 
 should have won this triumph which he had rejected, yet 
 he did justice to the great merit of Columbus, and hon 
 oured him as a distinguished benefactor to mankind. He 
 felt it his duty, also, as a generous prince, to protect all 
 strangers driven by adverse fortune to his ports. 
 
 11. Columbus, therefore, after being treated with the 
 most honourable attentions, was escorted back to his ship 
 by a numerous train of cavaliers of the court. On the 
 way he paid a visit to the queen at a monastery at Villa 
 Franca, where he was listened to with wonder, as he 
 related the events of his voyage to her majesty and the 
 ladies of her court. 
 
 12. Putting to sea on the 13th of March, he arrived 
 safely at Palos on the 15th ; having taken not quite seven 
 months and a half to accomplish this most momentous of 
 all martitime enterprises. 
 
 13. The people of Palos had remained in the greatest 
 anxiety about the fate of this expedition, in which so 
 many of their friends were embarked. When, therefore, 
 they beheld one of the adventurous vessels furling her 
 sails in their harbour, from the discovery of a world, the 
 whole community broke forth into a transport of joy, the 
 bells were rung, the shops shut, and all business was 
 suspended. 
 
 14. Columbus landed, and walked in procession to the 
 c-hurch of St. George, to return thanks to God. Where 
 ver he passed, the air rang with acclamations, and he 
 
60 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 received such honours as are paid to sovereigns. What 
 a contrast was this to his departure a few months before, 
 followed by murmurs and execrations ! or rather, what a 
 contrast to his first arrival at Palos, a poor pedestrian, cra 
 ving- bread and water for his child at the gate of a convent ! 
 
 15. Having despatched a letter to the sovereigns in 
 forming them of his arrival, he received an answer within 
 a. few days, addressed to him by his titles of admiral and 
 viceroy. They promised him still greater rewards, and 
 urged him to come to them immediately at Barcelona, to 
 concert plans for a second and more extensive expedition. 
 
 16. It is fitting here to speak a word of the fate of 
 Martin Alonzo Pinzon. When separated from Colum 
 bus in the storm, he was driven into the bay of Biscay, 
 and made the port of Bayonne. Doubting whether Co 
 lumbus had survived the tempest, he immediately wrote 
 to the sovereigns, giving an account of the discovery, and 
 requesting permission to come to court and relate the 
 particulars in person. 
 
 17. As soon as the weather was favourable, he again 
 set sail for Palos, and, by a singular coincidence, reached 
 there on the evening of the day on which Columbus had 
 arrived. It is said he feared to meet the admiral, in this 
 hour of his triumph, lest he should put him under arrest 
 for his desertion on the coast of Cuba ; but this is not 
 probable, for he was a man of too much resolution to 
 yield to such a fear. 
 
 18. Whatever may have been his motive, he landed 
 privately in his boat, and kept out of sight until the de 
 parture of the admiral, when he returned to his home, 
 broken in health, and deeply dejected, awaiting the reply 
 of the sovereigns to his letter. The reply at length ar 
 rived, forbidding his coming to court, and severely re 
 proaching him for his conduct. This completed his 
 humiliation ; the wounds of his feelings gave virulence 
 to his bodily malady, and in a few days he died, a victim 
 to grief and repentance. 
 
 19. Let no one, however, indulge in harsh censures 
 over the grave of Pinzon. His merits and services are 
 entitled to the highest praise ; his errors should be re 
 garded with indulgence. He wap one of the first in 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 61 
 
 Spain to appreciate the project of Columbus ; he aided 
 him with his purse when poor and unknown at Palos ; 
 he enabled him to procure and fit out ships, when even 
 the royal mandates were ineffectual ; and finally he em- 
 barked in the expedition with his brothers and his friends, 
 staking life, property, every thing, upon the event. 
 
 20. He had thus entitled himself to participate largely 
 in the glory of this immortal enterprise ; but, unfortu 
 nately, forgetting for a moment the grandeur of the 
 cause, he yielded to the incitements of self-interest, and 
 was guilty of that act of insubordination which has cas* 
 a shade upon his name. 
 
 21. Much may be said, however, in extenuation of hi* 
 fault : his consciousness of having rendered great ser 
 vices to the expedition, and of possessing property in the 
 ships, and his habits of command, which rendered him 
 impatient of control. 
 
 22. That he was a man naturally of generous senti 
 ments and honourable ambition, is evident from the 
 poignancy with which he felt the disgrace drawn upon 
 him by his conduct. A mean man would not have fallen 
 a victim to self-upbraiding for having been convicted of 
 a mean action. His story shows how one lapse from 
 duty may counterbalance the merits of a thousand ser 
 vices ; how one moment of weakness may mar the beauty 
 of a whole life of virtue ; and how important it is for a 
 man, under all circumstances, to be true, not merely to 
 others, but to himself. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Reception of Columbus by the Spanish Sovereigns at 
 Barcelona. [1493.] 
 
 1. THE journey of Columbus to Barcelona was like the 
 progress of a sovereign. Wherever he passed, the country 
 poured forth its inhabitants, who rent the air with accla 
 mations. In the large towns, the streets, windows, and 
 balconies were filled with spectators, eager to gain a 
 6 
 
62 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 sight of him and of the Indians whom he carried with 
 him, who were regarded with as much astonishment as if 
 they had been natives of another planet. 
 
 2. It was about the middle of April that he arrived at 
 Barcelona, and the beauty and serenity of the weather, 
 in that genial season and favoured climate, contributed to 
 give splendour to the memorable ceremony of his recep 
 tion. As he drew near the place, many of the youthful 
 courtiers and cavaliers, followed by a vast concourse of 
 the populace, came forth to meet him. His entrance into 
 this noble city has been compared to one of those tri 
 umphs which the Romans were accustomed to decree to 
 conquerors. 
 
 3. First were paraded the Indians, painted according 
 to their savage fashion, and decorated with their orna 
 ments of gold. After these were borne various kinds of 
 live parrots, together with stuffed birds and animals of 
 unknown species, and rare plants supposed to be of pre 
 cious qualities ; while especial care was taken to display 
 the Indian coronets, bracelets, and other decorations of 
 gold, which might give an idea of the wealth of the new 
 ly discovered regions. After this followed Columbus, on 
 horseback, surrounded by a brilliant cavalcade. 
 
 4. The streets were almost impassable from the multi 
 tude ; the houses, even to the very roofs, were crowded 
 with spectators. It seemed as if the public eye could not 
 be sated with gazing at these trophies of an unknown 
 world, or on the remarkable man by whom it had been 
 discovered. 
 
 5. There was a sublimity in this event that mingled a 
 solemn feeling with the public joy. It was considered a 
 signal dispensation of Providence in reward for the piety 
 of the sovereigns ; and the majestic and venerable ap 
 pearance of the discoverer, so different from the youth 
 and buoyancy that generally accompany roving enter 
 prise, seemed in harmony with the grandeur and dignity 
 of the achievement. 
 
 6. The sovereigns had ordered their throne to be 
 placed in public, under a rich canopy of brocade of gold, 
 where they awaited his arrival, seated in state, with Prince 
 Juan beside them, and surrounded by their nobles. Co- 
 
OF COLUMBUS. Dd 
 
 lumbus arrived in their presence, accompanied by a 
 brilliant crowd of cavaliers, among whom, we are told, 
 he was conspicuous for his stately and commanding 
 person, which, with his venerable gray hairs, gave him 
 the august appearance of a senator of Rome. 
 
 7. A modest smile lighted up his countenance, show 
 ing that he enjoyed the state and glory in which he came ; 
 and certainly nothing could be more deeply moving to a 
 mind inflamed by noble ambition, and conscious of having 
 nobly deserved, than these testimonials of the admiration 
 and gratitude of a nation, or rather of a world. 
 
 8. On his approach, the sovereigns rose, as if receiv 
 ing a person of the highest rank. Bending on his knees, 
 he would have kissed their hands in token of homage, but 
 they raised him in the most gracious manner, and as 
 signed him a seat himself in their presence ; which was con 
 sidered a rare honour in this proud and punctilious court. 
 
 9. He now gave an account of the most striking events 
 of his voyage, and displayed the various productions and 
 the native inhabitants which he had brought from the 
 new world. He assured their majesties that all these 
 were but harbingers of greater discoveries which he had 
 yet to make, which would add realms of incalculable 
 wealth to their donrnwons, and whole nations of prose 
 lytes to the true faith. 
 
 10. When he had finished, the king and queen sank 
 on their knees, raised their hands to heaven, and, with 
 eyes filled with tears of joy and gratitude, poured forth 
 thanks and praises to God. All present followed their 
 example ; a deep and solemn enthusiasm pervaded that 
 splendid assembly, and prevented all common acclama 
 tions of triumph. 
 
 11. The anthem of Te Deum^ chanted by the choir of 
 the royal chapel, with the melodious accompaniments of 
 instruments, rose in a full body of harmony, bearing up, 
 as it were, the feelings and thoughts of the auditors to 
 heaven. Such was the solemn and pious manner in 
 which the brilliant court of Spain celebrated this sublime 
 event ; offering up a grateful tribute of melody and 
 praise, and giving glory to God for the discovery of 
 another world. 
 
04 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 12. While the mind of Columbus was excited by this 
 triumph, his pious scheme for the deliverance of the holy 
 sepulchre was not forgotten. Flushed with the idea of 
 the vast wealth that must accrue to himself from his dis 
 coveries, he made a vow to furnish, within seven years, 
 an army of four thousand horse and fifty thousand foot, 
 for a crusade to the holy land, and a similar force within 
 the five following- years. 
 
 13. It is essential to a full knowledge of the character 
 and motives of this extraordinary man, that this visionary 
 project should be borne in recollection. It shows how 
 much his mind was elevated above selfish and mercenary 
 views, and filled with those devout and heroic schemes 
 which, in the time of the crusades, had inflamed the am- 
 bition of the bravest warriors and most illustrious princes. 
 
 14. During his sojourn at Barcelona, the sovereigns 
 took every occasion to bestow on him the highest marks 
 of personal consideration. He was admitted at all times 
 to the royal presence ; appeared occasionally with the 
 king on horseback ; and the queen delighted to converse 
 familiarly with him on the subject of his voyage. 
 
 15. To perpetuate in his family the glory of his achieve 
 ment, a coat of arms was given him, in which he was 
 allowed to quarter the royal arms, the castle and lion, 
 with those more peculiarly assigned him, which were a 
 group of islands surrounded by waves : to these arms 
 were afterward annexed the motto : 
 
 To Castile and Leon 
 Columbus gave a new world.* 
 
 16. Tha pension of thirty crowns, which had been de 
 creed by the sovereigns to whomsoever should first dis 
 cover land, was adjudged to Columbus, for having first 
 seen the light on the shore. It is said that the seaman 
 who first descried the land was so incensed at being dis 
 appointed of what he deemed his merited reward, that he 
 renounced his country and his faith, and, crossing into 
 Africa, turned Mussulman ; this anecdote, however, rests 
 on rather questionable authority. 
 
 * A CASTILIA Y A LEON 
 NUKVO MUNDO DIO COLON 
 
OP COLUMBUS. 65 
 
 17. There are never wanting base and envious minds 
 to decry the greatest actions. At one of the banquets 
 given to Columbus by the nobility, a shallow courtier, 
 meanly jealous of him as a foreigner, abruptly asked 
 whether he thought that, in case he had not discovered 
 the Indies, there would not have been men in Spain ca 
 pable of the enterprise. 
 
 18. Columbus made no direct reply, but, taking an egg, 
 invited the company to make it stand upon one end. 
 When every one had attempted it in vain, he struck it 
 upon the table, broke one end, and left it standing on the 
 broken part. 
 
 19. In this simple and pleasant manner he reproved 
 the after-sagacity of this conceited courtier ; showing 
 him, that the most perplexing things become the easiest 
 to be done, when we are once shown the way. 
 
 20. The tidings of the great discovery of Columbus 
 soon spread throughout the civilized world, filling every 
 one with astonishment and delight. Men of learning 
 and science shed tears of joy, and those of ardent imagi 
 nations indulged in the most extravagant and delightful 
 dreams. 
 
 21. Notwithstanding all this triumph, however, no one 
 had an idea of the real importance of the discovery. The 
 opinion of Columbus was universally adopted, that Cuba 
 was the end of the Asiatic continent, and that the adja 
 cent islands were in the Indian seas. They were called, 
 therefore, the West Indies, and as the region thus dis 
 covered appeared to be of a vast and indefinite extent, 
 and existing in a state of nature, it received the compre 
 hensive appellation of " the New World." 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Papal Bull of Partition. Preparations for a second Voy* 
 age of Discovery. [1493.] 
 
 1. THE Spanish sovereigns lost no time in taking 
 measures to secure their new acquisitions. A bull was 
 6* 
 
66 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 obtained from the Pope, granting- them dominion over all 
 the lands discovered, or that might be discovered, in the 
 new world, on condition of propagating the Christian 
 religion among the inhabitants. 
 
 2. This was in virtue of a supreme authority over all 
 temporal things, supposed, by the zealous Christians of 
 those days, to be vested in the Pope, as Christ s vicar on 
 earth ; and by which he was empowered to dispose of all 
 heathen lands to such potentates as would undertake to 
 convert or subdue them to the Catholic faith. 
 
 3. Lest the discoveries of the Spanish should interfere 
 with those of the Portuguese, which had likewise been 
 secured by a papal bull, an ideal line was drawn, by or 
 der of the Pope, from the north to the south pole, a hun 
 dred leagues west of the Azores and the Cape de Verde 
 islands. All land discovered to the west of this line was 
 to belong to Spain ; all land discovered in the contrary 
 direction was to belong to Portugal. 
 
 4. The utmost exertions were now made to fit out a 
 second expedition. An office was established at Seville 
 for the despatch of business, which was the germ of the 
 royal India house. Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca, arch 
 deacon of Seville, was appointed superintendent of In 
 dia affairs, Francisco Pinelo treasurer, and Juan de Spria 
 comptroller. No one was permitted to embark for the 
 new world without a license from either the sovereigns, 
 Columbus, or Fonseca. 
 
 5. Labourers and artisans of all kinds were engaged 
 for the projected colony, and every thing provided neces 
 sary for cultivating the soil, working the mines, and tra 
 ding with the natives. 
 
 6. Bernardo Boyle, an able, but crafty, Benedictine 
 monk, was appointed by the pope as his apostolical vicar 
 for the new world. Twelve ecclesiastics were chosen 
 to accompany him, charged with the religious instruction 
 of the Indians, and provided by Isabella with all things 
 necessary for the dignified discharge of their mission. 
 
 7. The queen considered the natives as committed by 
 heaven to her peculiar care, and enjoined that they should 
 be treated with the utmost kindness; and that signal 
 punishment should be inflicted upon all who should wrong 
 
OF COLUMBUS. * 67 
 
 them. Those who had been brought by the admiral to 
 Barcelona, were baptized with great state and solemnity, 
 the king, queen, and prince Juan standing as sponsors. 
 
 8. The magnificent ideas entertained of the new world 
 drew volunteers of all kinds ; men of rank, officers of the 
 royal household, and youthful cavaliers. Some were en 
 listed in the royal service, others engaged at their own 
 risk and expense. Few had any distinct idea of the en 
 terprise in which they were engaging ; but fancied they 
 were about to have glorious adventures and golden gains, 
 in the splendid but semi -barbarous countries of Asia. 
 
 9. Among these adventurers was a young cavalier of 
 good family, named Alonzo de Ojeda.* He was small 
 in stature, but muscular and well made, and of incredible 
 strength and agility. His countenance was dark, hand 
 some, and expressive, with a daring eye. An admira- 
 ble horseman, a master of all kinds of weapons, he was 
 eminently calculated for partisan service. 
 
 10. Bold of heart, free of spirit, open of hand fierce in 
 fight, quick in brawl, but ready to forgive, and prone to 
 forget an injury he was for a long time the idol of the 
 rash youth who flocked to the new world, and became 
 noted for many wild and perilous exploits. 
 
 11. The very first notice we have of him, is a hair- 
 brained feat performed in presence of the queen, on the 
 Moorish tower of the cathedral of Ssville. A great beam 
 projected about twenty feet from the tower, at an im 
 mense height from the ground ; along this beam Ojeda 
 walked briskly with as much confidence as if pacing his 
 chamber. 
 
 12. When arrived at the end, he stood on one leg, 
 with the other elevated in the air ; then turning nimbly, 
 walked back to the tower, placed one foot against it, 
 and threw an orange to the summit ; which could only 
 have been done by one possessed of immense muscular 
 strength. Throughout all this exploit, the least giddi 
 ness, or false step, would have precipitated him to the 
 earth and dashed him to pieces. 
 
 13. During the fitting out of the armament, various 
 
 * Pronounced Oheda. 
 
OS 
 
 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 disputes occurred between Columbus and the newly ap 
 pointed officers of the crown, in regard to the expenses of 
 the expedition, and his own retinue as viceroy. Both 
 Fonseca and Juan de Soria, were reprimanded by the 
 sovereigns, and ordered to comply in every thing with 
 the wishes of Columbus. 
 
 14. They were deeply mortified ; and from this trifling 
 cause arose a bitter hostility in the breast of Fonseca, 
 against the admiral, which every year increased in ran 
 cour, and which his official station enabled him to grati 
 fy in the most invidious manner. This Fonseca main 
 tained a control of Indian affairs for about thirty years, 
 and, in the gratification of his private resentments, heap 
 ed wrongs and sorrows on the heads of the most illus 
 trious of the early discoverers. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Departure of Columbus on his second Voyage of Discovery. 
 Arrival at Hispaniola. [1493.] 
 
 1. THE departure of Columbus on his second voyage 
 of discovery presented a brilliant contrast to his gloomy 
 embarkation at Palos. On the 25th of September, at 
 the dawn of day, the bay of Cadiz was whitened by his 
 fleet. There were three large ships of heavy burden, 
 and fourteen caravels. The number of persons permit 
 ted to embark had originally been limited to one thou 
 sand ; but many volunteers were allowed to enlist without 
 pay, others got on board of the ships by stealth, so that 
 eventually about fifteen hundred set sail in the fleet. 
 
 2. All were full of animation, and took a gay leave of 
 their friends, anticipating a --prosperous voyage and tri 
 umphant return. Instead of being regarded by the popu 
 lace as devoted men, bound upon a dark and desperate 
 enterprise, they were contemplated with envy, as favour 
 ed mortals destined to golden regions and delightful 
 climes, where nothing but wealth, and wonder, and en 
 joyment awaited them. 
 
or COLUMBUS. 69 
 
 3. Columbus moved among the throng accompanied 
 by his sons, Diego and Fernando, the eldest but a strip 
 ling, who had come to witness his departure. Wherever 
 he passed, every eye followed him with admiration, and 
 every tongue extolled and blessed, him. Before sunrise 
 the whole fleet was under weigh; the weather was 
 serene and propitious, and as the populace watched their 
 parting sails, brightening in the morning beams, they 
 looked forward to their joyful return, laden with the 
 treasures of the new world. 
 
 4. Columbus touched at the Canary islands, where he 
 took in wood and water, and procured live stock, plants, 
 and seeds, to be propagated in Hispaniola. On the 13th 
 of October he lost sight of the island cf Ferro, and, 
 favoured by the trade winds, was borne pleasantly along, 
 shaping his course to the south-west, hoping to fall in 
 with the islands of the Caribs, of which tie had received 
 such interesting accounts in his first voyage. At the 
 dawn of day of the 2d of November, a lofty island was 
 descried to the west, to which he gave the name of Do 
 minica, from having discovered it on Sunday. 
 
 5. As the ships moved gently onward, other islands 
 rose to sight, one after another, covered with forests, and 
 enlivened by flights of parrots and other tropical birds, 
 while the whole air was sweetened by the fragrance of the 
 breezes which passed over them. These were a part of 
 that beautiful cluster of islands called the Antilles, which 
 sweep almost in a semicircle from the eastern end of 
 Porto Rico, to the coast of Paria on the southern conti 
 nent, forming a kind of barrier between the main ocean 
 and the Caribbean sea. 
 
 6. In one of those islands, to which they gave the name 
 of Guadaloupe, the Spaniards first mst with the delicious 
 anana, or pine apple. They were struck with horror, 
 however, at the sight of human limbs hanging in the 
 houses, and others broiling or roasting at the fife. Co 
 lumbus now concluded that he had arrived at the islands 
 of the cannibals, or Caribs, and he was confirmed in this 
 belief by several captives taken by his men. 
 
 7. These Caribs were the most ferocious people of 
 these seas ; making roving expeditions in their canoes 
 
70 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 to the distance of one hundred and fifty leagues, invading 1 
 the islands, ravaging the villages, making slaves of the 
 youngest and handsomest females, and carrying off the 
 men to be killed and eaten. 
 
 8. While at this island, a party of eight men, strayed 
 into the woods, and did not return at night to the ships. 
 On the following day, parties were sent in quest of them, 
 each with a trumpeter, to sound calls and signals, and 
 guns were fired from the ships, but all to no purpose. 
 
 9. Alonzo de Ojeda then set off with forty men into 
 the interior of the island, beating up the forests, and 
 making the mountains and valleys resound with trumpets 
 and fire-arms, but with no better success. Their search 
 was rendered excessively toilsome by the closeness and 
 luxuriance of the forests, and by the windings and dou 
 blings of the streams. 
 
 10. Several days elapsed without tidings of the strag 
 glers, and Columbus, giving them up for lost, was on the 
 point of sailing 1 , when they made their way back to the 
 fleet, haggard and exhausted. For several days they 
 had been bewildered in the mazes of a forest so dense as 
 almost to exclude the day. 
 
 11. Some of them had climbed trees in hopes of get 
 ting a sight of the stars by which to govern their course, 
 but the height of the branches shut out all view of the 
 heavens. They were almost reduced to despair, when 
 they fortunately arrived at the sea shore, and keeping 
 along it, came to where the fleet was at anchor. 
 
 12. After leaving Gaudaloupe, Columbus touched at 
 other of the Caribbean islands. At one of them, a ship s 
 boat, sent on shore for water, had an encounter with a 
 canoe, in w r hich were a few Indians, two of whom were 
 females. The women fought as desperately as the men, 
 and plied their bows with such vigour, that one of them 
 sent an arrow through a Spanish buckler, and wounded 
 the soldier who bore it. 
 
 13. The canoe being run down and overset, they con 
 tinued to fight while in the water, gathering themselves 
 occasionally on sunken rocks, and managing their wea 
 pons as dexterously as if they had been on firm ground. 
 It was with the utmost difficulty they could be overpow- 
 
OP COLUMBUS. 71 
 
 ered and taken. When brought on board the ships, the 
 Spaniards could not but admire their unta-med spirit and 
 fierce demeanour. 
 
 14. One of the females, from the reverence with which 
 the rest treated her, appeared to be their queen : she was 
 accompanied by her son, a young man strongly made, 
 with a haughty and frowning brow, who had been wound 
 ed in the combat. One of the Indians had been trans 
 pierced by a lance, and died of the wound ; and one of 
 the Spaniards died a day or two afterwards, of a wound 
 received from a poisoned arrow. 
 
 15. Pursuing his voyage, Columbus passed by a clus 
 ter of small islands, to which he gave the name of The 
 Eleven Thousand Virgins, and arrived one evening in 
 sight of a great island, covered with fine forests, and in 
 dented with havens. It was called by the natives Bori- 
 quen, and is the same since known by the name of Porto 
 Rico. After running along its beautiful coast, he arrived 
 off the eastern extremity of Hayti, or Hispaniola. 
 
 16. Passing by the gulf of Arrows, where the skirmish 
 had occurred with the natives, Columbus set on shore 
 one of the young Indians who had been taken from the 
 neighbourhood, and had accompanied him to Spain. He 
 dismissed him finely apparelled and loaded with trinkets, 
 anticipating favourable effects from the accounts he 
 would be able to give to his countrymen of the power 
 and munificence of the Spaniards, but he never heard 
 any thing of him more. 
 
 17. Only one Indian, of those who had been to Spain, 
 remained in the fleet, a young Lucayan, who had been 
 baptized at Barcelona, and named after the admiral s 
 brother, Diego Colon ; he continued always faithful and 
 devoted to the Spaniards. 
 
 18. Continuing along the coast, Columbus landed in 
 the neighbourhood of a stream said to abound in gold, to 
 which, in his first voyage, he had given the name of Rio 
 del Oro.* Here, as the seamen were ranging the shore, 
 they found the bodies of three men and a boy, one of 
 whom had a rope of Spanish grass about his neck, and 
 another, from having a beard, was evidently a European. 
 
 * River of Gold. 
 
72 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 19. The bodies were in a state of decay, but bore the 
 marks of violence. This spectacle gave rise to many 
 gloomy forebodings, and Columbus hastened forward to 
 La Navidad, full of apprehensions that some disaster had 
 befallen Diego de Arana and his companions. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Fate of the Fortress of La Navidad. Transactions at 
 the Harbour. [1493.] 
 
 1. ON the evening of the 27th of November, Colum 
 bus anchored opposite to the harbour of La Navidad, 
 about a league from the land. As it was too dark to dis 
 tinguish objects, he ordered two signal guns to be fired. 
 The report echoed along the shore, but there was no gun, 
 or light, or friendly shout in reply. Several hours passed 
 away in the most dismal suspense ; about midnight, a 
 number of Indians came off in a canoe, and inquired for 
 the admiral, refusing to come on board until they should 
 see him personally. 
 
 2. Columbus showed himself at the side of his vessel, 
 and a light being held up, his countenance and command 
 ing person were not to be mistaken. The Indians now 
 entered the ship without hesitation. One was a cousin 
 of the cacique Guacanagari, and the bearer of a present 
 from him. 
 
 3. The first inquiry of Columbus was concerning the 
 garrison. He was informed that several of the Spaniards 
 had died of sickness, others had fallen in a quarrel among 
 themselves, and others had removed to a different part of 
 the island ; that Guacanagari had been assailed by Cao- 
 nabo, the fierce cacique of the golden mountains of Cibao, 
 who had wounded him in combat, and burnt his village, 
 and that he remained ill of his wound in a neighbouring 
 hamlet. 
 
 4. Melancholy as were these tidings, they relieved 
 Columbus from the painful suspicion of treachery on the 
 part of the cacique and people, and gave him hopes of 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 73 
 
 finding some of the scattered garrison still alive. The 
 Indians were well entertained, and gratified with presents ; 
 on departing they promised to return in the morning 
 with Guacanagari. 
 
 5. The morning, however, dawned and passed away, 
 and the day declined, without the promised visit from the 
 chieftain. There was a silence and an air of desertion 
 about the whole neighbourhood. Not a canoe appeared 
 in the harbour ; not an Indian hailed them from the land ; 
 nor was there any smoke to be seen rising from among 
 the groves. 
 
 6. Towards the evening, a boat was sent on shore. 
 The crew found the fortress burnt and demolished, the 
 palisadoes beaten down, and the ground strewed with 
 broken chests, and the fragments of European garments. 
 Not an Indian approached them, and if they caught a 
 sight of any lurking among the trees, they vanished on 
 finding themselves perceived. 
 
 7. Columbus himself landed on the following morning, 
 and, repairing to the ruins of the fortress, caused diligent 
 search to be made for the dead bodies of the garrison. 
 Cannon were discharged to summon any survivors that 
 might be in the neighbourhood, but none made their ap 
 pearance. Columbus had ordered Arana and his fellow 
 officers, in case of sudden danger, to bury all the treasure 
 they might possess, or throw it in the well of the fortress. 
 The well was therefore searched, and excavations were 
 made among the ruins, but no gold was to be found. 
 
 8. Not far from the fortress the bodies of eleven Eu 
 ropeans were discovered buried in different places, 
 and they appeared to have been for some time in the 
 ground. In the houses of a neighbouring hamlet were 
 found several European articles, which could not have 
 been procured by barter. This gave suspicions that the 
 fortress had been plundered by the Indians in the vicinity. 
 
 9. At length a communication was effected with some 
 of the natives. It appeared, from their storv, that Co 
 lumbus had scarcely set sail for Spam, when all his coun 
 sels and commands faded from the minds of those who 
 remained behind. Instead of cultivating the good will 
 of the natives, they endeavoured, by all kinds of wrong. 
 
 7 
 
74 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 ful means, to get possession of their golden ornaments 
 and other articles of value, and seduced from them their 
 wives and daughters. 
 
 10. Fierce brawls occurred between themselves, about 
 their ill-gotten spoils, or the favours of the Indian wo 
 men. In vain did Diego de Arana interpose his authori 
 ty ; all order, all subordination, ail unanimity, were at an 
 end. Pedro Gutierrez and Rodrigo de Escobedo, whom 
 Columbus had left as lieutenants to succeed Arana in case 
 of accident, now aspired to an equal share in the authority. 
 
 11. In the quarrels which succeeded, a Spaniard was 
 killed, and Gutierrez and Escobedo, having failed in their 
 object, withdrew from the fortress, with nine of their ad 
 herents and a number of women, and set off for the 
 mountains of Cibao, with the idea of procuring immense 
 wealth from its golden mines. 
 
 12. These mountains were in the territories of the 
 famous Caonabo, called by the Spaniards " the lord of the 
 golden house." He was a Carib by birth, and had come 
 an adventurer to the island, but, possessing the fierce 
 ness and enterprise of his nation, had made himself the 
 most powerful cacique. The wonderful accounts of the 
 white men had reached him among his mountains, and 
 he feared such formidable intruders. 
 
 13. The departure of Columbus had given him hopes 
 that their intrusion would be but temporary ; the discords 
 of those who remained increased his confidence. No soon 
 er, therefore, did Gutierrez and Escobedo, with their 
 companions, appear in his dominions, than he seized 
 them and put them to death. He then assembled his 
 warriors, traversed the forest with profound secrecy, and 
 arrived in the vicinity of La Navidad without being 
 discovered. 
 
 14.. But ten men remained in the fortress with Arana ; 
 the rest were living in careless security in the village. 
 In the dead of the night Caonabo and his warriors burst 
 upon the place with frightful yells, and set fire to the for 
 tress and village. j 
 
 15. The Spaniards were taken by surprise. Eight 
 were driven into the sea, and drowned ; the rest were 
 massacred. Guacanagari and his subjects fought faith- 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 75 
 
 fully in defence of their guests, but were easily routed. 
 The cacique was wounded in the conflict, and his village 
 burnt to the ground. 
 
 16. Satisfied by this account, of the good faith of Gua- 
 canagari, Columbus visited him in a neighbouring village, 
 where he was suffering apparently from a bruise in the 
 leg, received in the battle. He was greatly agitated on 
 seeing the admiral, and deplored with tears the misfor 
 tunes of the garrison. The bandages were removed from 
 his leg by a Spanish surgeon, but no sign of a wound was 
 to be seen, though he shrunk with pain whenever the 
 limb was touched. 
 
 17. Many of the Spaniards looked upon his lameness 
 as feigned, and the whole story of the battle a fabrication 
 to conceal his perfidy. Columbus, however, persisted in 
 believing him innocent, and invited him on board of his 
 ships, where the cacique was greatly astonished at the 
 wonders of art and nature brought from the old world. 
 
 18. What most amazed him was the horses. He had 
 never seen any but the most diminutive quadrupeds, and 
 gazed with awe at the grandeur of these noble animals, 
 their great strength, terrific appearance, yet perfect do 
 cility. The sight of the Carib prisoners also increased 
 his idea of the prowess of the Spaniards, who had the 
 hardihood to invade these terrible beings even in their 
 strong holds, while he could scarcely look upon them 
 without shuddering, though in chains. 
 
 19. On board the ship were several Indian women 
 who had been captives to the Caribs. Among them was 
 one distinguished by a certain loftiness of demeanour ; 
 she had been much noticed and admired by the Spaniards, 
 who had given her the name of Catalina. She particu 
 larly attracted the attention of the cacique, who spoke to 
 her repeatedly, with great gentleness of tone and manner. 
 
 20. A collation was served up, and Columbus endea 
 voured by kindness and hospitality to revive their former 
 cordial intercourse, but the cacique was evidently dis 
 trustful and ill at ease. The suspicions of his guilt grained 
 ground among the Spaniards. Father Boyle, in particu 
 lar, regarded him with an evil eye, and advised the ad 
 miral, now that he had him securely on board of his ship, 
 
76 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 to detain him prisoner ; but Columbus rejected the coun 
 sel of the crafty friar, as contrary to sound policy and 
 honourable faith. 
 
 21. The cacique, accustomed in his former intercourse 
 with the Spaniards to meet on every side with faces 
 beaming with gratitude and friendship, could not but 
 perceive the altered looks of cold suspicion and secret 
 hostility. Notwithstanding the frank and cordial hos 
 pitality of the admiral, therefore, he soon took leave and 
 returned to land. 
 
 22. On the following day there was a mysterious 
 movement and agitation among the natives on shore. 
 The brother of Guacanagari came on board, under pre 
 text of bartering a quantity of gold, but as it afterwards 
 proved to bear a message to Catalina, the Indian female, 
 whose beauty had captivated the heart of the cacique, 
 and whom, with a kind of native gallantry, he wished to 
 deliver from bondage. 
 
 23. At midnight, when the crew were buried in their 
 first sleep, Catalina awakened her female companions, 
 and proposed a bold attempt to gain their liberty. The 
 ship was anchored full three miles from the shore, and 
 the sea was rough ; but these island women were accus 
 tomed to buffet with the waves, and the water was to 
 them almost as their natural element. 
 
 24. Letting themselves down silently from the side of 
 the vessel, they trusted to the strength of their arms, and 
 swam bravely for the shore. They were overheard by 
 the watch, the alarm was given, the boats were manned 
 and gave chase in the direction of a light blazing on the 
 shore, an evident beacon for the fugitives. Such was 
 the vigour of these sea nymphs, however, that they 
 readied the land before they were overtaken. 
 
 25. Four were captured on the beach, but the heroic 
 Catalina, with the rest of her companions, escaped in 
 safety to the forest. Guacanagari disappeared on the 
 same day with all his household and effects, and it was 
 supposed he had taken refuge, with his island beauty, in 
 the interior. His desertion gave redoubled force to the 
 doubts heretofore entertained, and he was generally stig 
 matized as the perfidious destroyer of the garrison. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 77 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Founding of the City of Isabella. Discontents of the 
 People. [1493.] 
 
 1. THE misfortunes which had befallen the Spaniards, 
 in the vicinity of this harbour, threw a gloom over the 
 place, and it was considered as under some baneful in 
 fluence, or malignant star. The situation, too, was un 
 healthy, and there was no stone in the neighbourhood 
 for building. Columbus, therefore, removed to a har 
 bour about ten leagues east of Monte Christi, protected 
 on one side by a natural rampart of rocks, and on the 
 other by an impervious forest, with a fine plain in the 
 vicinity, watered by two rivers. 
 
 2. Here the troops and persons to be employed in the 
 colony were disembarked, together with the stores, arms, 
 ammunition, and live stock. An encampment was formed, 
 and the plan of a town traced out, and commenced, to 
 which Columbus gave the name of Isabella, in honour of 
 his royal patroness. 
 
 3. The public edifices, such as a church, a storehouse, 
 and a residence for the admiral, were constructed of 
 stone ; the rest of wood, plaster, reeds, and such other 
 materials as could be readily procured. 
 
 4. For a time every one exerted himself with zeal ; 
 but maladies soon began to make their appearance. 
 Many had suffered from sea sickness, and the long con 
 finement on board of the ships ; others from the exhala 
 tions of a hot and moist climate, dense natural forests, 
 and a new, rank soil. 
 
 5. The maladies of the mind also mingled with those 
 of the body. Many, as has been shown, had embarked 
 in the enterprise with the most visionary and romantic 
 expectations. What, then, was their surprise at finding 
 themselves surrounded by impracticable forests, doomed 
 to tcil painfully for mere subsistence, and to attain every 
 comfort by the severest exertion ! As to gold, which they 
 uad expected to find readily and in abundance, it was to 
 be procured only in small quantities, and by patient and 
 persevering labour. 
 
 7* 
 
78 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 6. All these disappointments sank deep into their 
 hearts, their spirits flagged as their golden dreams melt 
 ed away, and the gloom of despondency aided the rava 
 ges of disease. Columbus himself was confined to his 
 bed for several weeks by severe illness ; but his ener 
 getic mind rose superior to the maladies of the body, and 
 he continued to give directions about the building of the 
 city, and the general concerns of the expedition. 
 
 7. The greater part of the ships were ready to return 
 to Spain, but he had no treasure to send with them. It 
 was necessary to do something, however, before the ves 
 sels sailed, to keep up the reputation of his discoveries. 
 The region of the mines lay at a distance of but three or 
 four days journey, directly in the interior ; he determin 
 ed to send an expedition to explore it. 
 
 8. The person chosen for this enterprise was Alonzo 
 de Ojeda, who delighted in all service of an adventurous 
 nature. He set out, from the harbour early in January, 
 accompanied by a small number of welt-armed men, 
 several of them young and spirited cavaliers like himself. 
 They crossed the first range of mountains by a narrow 
 and winding Indian path, and descended into a vast 
 plain, covered with noble forests, and studded with vil 
 lages and hamlets. 
 
 9. The inhabitants overwhelmed them with hospital 
 ity, and delayed them in their journey by their kindness. 
 They had to ford many rivers also, so that they were six 
 days in reaching the chain of mountains, which locked 
 up, as it were, the golden region of Cibao. 
 
 10. Here they saw ample signs of natural wealth. 
 The sands of the mountain streams contained particles 
 of gold ; in some places they picked up large specimens* 
 of virgin ore, and stones streaked and richly impregnated 
 with it. Ojeda himself found a mass of rude gold in one 
 of the brooks weighing nine ounces. 
 
 11. The little band returned to the harbour, with en 
 thusiastic accounts of the golden promise of these moun 
 tains. A young cavalier, named Gorvalan, who had 
 been sent to explore a different tract of country, returned 
 with similar reports. Encouraged by these good tidings, 
 Columbus lost no time in despatching- twelve of the ships* 
 
OF COLUMBUS. . 79 
 
 under the command of Antonio de Torres, retaining 1 only 
 five for the service of the colony. 
 
 12. By these ships he sent home specimens of gold, 
 and of fruits and plants of unknown and valuable species, 
 together with the Carib captives, to be instructed in the 
 Spanish language and the Christian faith, that they might 
 serve as interpreters, and aid in the conversion of their 
 countrymen. He wrote also a sanguine account of the 
 two expeditions into the interior, and expressed a confi 
 dent expectation of making abundant shipments of gold, 
 spices, and valuable drugs. 
 
 13. He extolled the fertility of the soil, evinced in the 
 luxuriant growth of the sugar-cane, and of various Eu 
 ropean grains and vegetables ; but entreated supplies of 
 provisions for the immediate wants of the colony, as their 
 stores were nearly exhausted, and they could not accus 
 tom themselves to the diet of the natives. 
 
 14. In his anxiety to lighten the expenses of the colo 
 ny, and procure revenue to the crown, he recommended 
 that the natives of the Caribbean islands, being cannibals 
 and ferocious invaders of their peaceful neighbours, 
 should be captured and sold as slaves, or exchanged with 
 merchants for live stock and other necessary supplies. 
 He observed, that, by transmitting these infidels to Eu 
 rope, where they would have the benefits of Christian 
 instruction, there would be so many souls snatched from 
 perdition, and so many converts gained to the faith. 
 
 15. Such is the strange sophistry by which upright 
 men may deceive themselves, and think they are obey 
 ing the dictates of their conscience, when, in fact, they 
 are but listening to the incitements of their interest. It 
 is but just to add, that the sovereigns did not accord with 
 him in his ideas, but ordered that the Caribs should be 
 treated like the rest of the islanders ; a command which 
 emanated from the merciful heart of Isabella, who ever 
 showed herself the benign protectress of the Indians. 
 
 16. When the fleet arrived in Europe, though it 
 brought no gold, yet the tidings from Columbus and his 
 companions kept up the popular excitement. There 
 was something wonderfully grand in the idea of building 
 cities, extending colonies, and sowing the seeds of civil- 
 
80 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 ization and of enlightened empire in this beautiful but 
 savage world. 
 
 17. It struck the minds of learned and classical men 
 with admiration, filling them with pleasant dreams and 
 reveries, and seeming to realize the poetical pictures of 
 the dden time ; when Saturn, Ceres, and Triptolemus 
 travelled about the earth to spread new inventions among 
 mankind. 
 
 18. But while sanguine anticipations were indulged 
 in Europe, murmuring and sedition began, to prevail 
 among the co]onists. Disappointed in their hopes of 
 wealth, disgusted with the labours imposed upon them, 
 and appalled by the prevalent maladies, they looked with 
 horror upon the surrounding wilderness, and became im 
 patient to return to Spain. 
 
 19. Their discontents were increased by one Firmin 
 Cado, who had come out as assayer and purifier of metals, 
 but whose ignorance in his art equalled his obstinacy of 
 opinion. He insisted that there was scarcely any gold 
 in the island, and that all the specimens brought by the 
 natives had been accumulated in the course of several 
 generations, and been handed down from father to son 
 in their families. 
 
 20. At length a conspiracy was formed, headed by 
 Bernal Diaz de Pisa, the comptroller, to take advantage 
 of the illness of Columbus, to seize upon the ships re 
 maining in the harbour, and to return to Spain. Fortu 
 nately Columbus received information in time, and ar 
 rested the ringleaders. Bernal Diaz was confined on 
 board of one of the ships, to be sent to Spain for trial ; 
 and several of the inferior mutineers were punished, but 
 not with the severity their offence deserved. 
 
 21. This was the first time Columbus exercised the 
 right of punishing delinquents in his new government, 
 and it immediately caused a great clamour against him. 
 Already the disadvantage of being a foreigner was clearly 
 manifested. He had no natural friends to rally round 
 him ; whereas the mutineers had connexions in Spain, 
 friends in the colony) and met with sympathy in every 
 discontented mind. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 81 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Expedition of Columbus into the Interior of Hispaniola. 
 [1494.] 
 
 1. To quiet the murmurs and rouse the spirits of his 
 people, Columbus, as soon as his health permitted, made 
 an expedition to the mountains of Cibao, leaving- his 
 brother Diego in command at Isabella. He departed, on 
 the 12th of March, at the head of four hundred men, 
 armed with helmets and corslets, with arquebuses, lances, 
 swords, and crossbows, and followed by labourers and 
 miners, and a multitude of the neighbouring Indians. 
 
 2. After traversing a plain, and fording two rivers, 
 they encamped in the evening at the foot of a wild pass of 
 the mountains, up which there was nothing but an Indian 
 foot-path winding among rocks and precipices, and thick 
 forests. A number of high spirited young cavaliers threw 
 themselves in the advance, and by aiding the pioneers, 
 and stimulating them with promises, they soon construct 
 ed the first road formed by Europeans in the new world, 
 which, in commemoration of their generous zeal, was 
 called the Pass of the Gentlemen.* 
 
 3. On the following day the army toiled up this steep 
 defile, and arrived where the gorge of the mountain open 
 ed into the interior. Here a glorious prospect burst upon 
 their view. Below lay a vast and delicious plain, enam 
 elled with all the rich variety of tropical vegetation. 
 The magnificent forests presented that mingled beauty 
 and majesty of vegetable forms peculiar to these generous 
 climates. 
 
 4. Palms of prodigious height, and spreading maho 
 gany trees, towered from amid a wilderness of variegated 
 foliage. Universal freshness and verdure were main 
 tained by numerous streams which meandered gleaming 
 through the deep bosom of the woodland, while various 
 villages and hamlets seen among the trees, and the smoke 
 of others rising out of the forests, gave signs of a nume 
 rous population. 
 
 * El Puerto de los Hidalgos. 
 
82 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 5. 1%e luxuriant landscape extended as far as the eye 
 could reach, until it appeared to melt away and mingle 
 with the horizon. The Spaniards gazed with rapture 
 upon this soft voluptuous country, which seemed to 
 realize their ideas of a terrestrial paradise ; and Colum 
 bus, struck with its vast extent, gave it the name of the 
 Vega Real, or Royal Plain. 
 
 6. When the Indians beheld this band of warriors, 
 emerging from the mountains with prancing steeds and 
 floating banners, and glittering armour, and heard, for 
 the first time, their rocks and forests echoing to the din 
 of drum and trumpet, they were bewildered with astonish 
 ment. The horses, especially, excited their terror and 
 admiration. They at first supposed the rider and his 
 steed to be one animal, and nothing could exceed their 
 surprise on seeing the horseman dismount. 
 
 7. On the approach of the Spaniards, the Indians ge 
 nerally fled with terror, but their fears were soon dispelled ; 
 they then absolutely retarded the march of the army by 
 their hospitality ; nor did they appear to have any idea of 
 receiving a recompense for the provisions they furnished 
 hi abundance. The untutored savage, in almost every 
 part of the world, scorns to make a traffic k of hospitality. 
 
 8. After marching for two or three days across this 
 noble plain, they arrived at a chain of lofty and rugged 
 mountains, amidst which lay the golden region of Cibao. 
 On entering this vaunted country, the whole character of 
 the scenery changed, as if nature delighted in contra 
 rieties, and displayed a miser-like poverty of exterior, 
 when teeming with hidden treasures. 
 
 9. Nothing was to be seen but chains of rocky and 
 sterile mountains, scantily clothed with pines. The very 
 name of the country bespoke the nature of the soil ; Ci 
 bao, in the language of the natives, signifying a stone. 
 But what consoled the Spaniards for the asperity of the 
 soil, was to observe particles of gold among the sands of 
 the streams, washed down, no doubt, from the mines of the 
 mountains. 
 
 10. Choosing a situation in a neighbourhood that 
 seemed to abound in mines, Columbus began to build a 
 fortress, to which he gave the name of St. Thomas. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 83 
 
 While thus occupied, a young cavalier, named Juan 
 de Luxan, with a small band of armed men, explored 
 the province, and returned, after a few days, with the 
 most satisfactory accounts. The forests appeared to 
 abound with spices ; the trees were overrun with vines 
 bearing clusters of grapes of pleasant flavour ; while 
 every valley and glen had its stream, yielding more or 
 less gold dust. 
 
 11. The natives of the surrounding country likewise 
 flocked to the fortress of St. Thomas, bringing gold to 
 exchange for European trinkets, and telling of regions 
 where it was to be found in large masses. As usual, 
 however, these golden tracts were always in some re 
 mote valley, or along some rugged and sequestered 
 stream ; and the wealthiest spot was sure* to lie at the 
 greatest distance, for the land of promise is ever beyond 
 the mountain. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Customs and Characteristics of the Natives. 
 
 1. THE fortress of St. Thomas being nearly completed, 
 Columbus left it in command of Pedro Margarite, with a 
 garrison of fifty-six men, and set out on his return to 
 Isabella. He paused for a time in the vega to establish 
 routes between the fortress and the harbour ; during 
 which time he sojourned in the villages, that his men 
 might become accustomed to the food of the natives, and 
 that a mutual good will might grow up between them. 
 
 2. Columbus had already discovered the error of one 
 of his opinions concerning these islanders formed during 
 his first voyage. They were not so entirely pacific, nor 
 so ignorant of warlike arts, as he had imagined ; general 
 ly speaking, however, they were mild and gentle : and 
 here a few particulars concerning them may be acceptable. 
 
 3. They believed in one Supreme Bein^f, immortal, 
 omnipotent, and invisible, inhabiting the ~sky. They 
 never addressed their worship directly to him, but to in- 
 
84 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 ferior deities, called zemes, or mediators. Each cacique, 
 each family, and each indivdual, had a particular zemi 
 as a tutelary or protecting genius ; whose image, gene 
 rally of a hideous form, was placed about their nouses, 
 carved on their furniture, and sometimes bound to their 
 foreheads when they went to battle. 
 
 4. They believed, that these zemes presided over every 
 object in nature. Some had sway over the elements, 
 causing sterile or abundant years, sending whirlwinds 
 and tempests of rain and thunder, or sweet and temperate 
 breezes, and prolific showers. Some governed the seas 
 and forests, the springs and fountains. They gave 
 success in hunting and fishing ; they guided the moun 
 tain streams into safe channels, leading them to meander 
 peacefully through the plains ; or, caused them to burst 
 forth into floods and torrents, inundating and laying 
 waste the valleys. 
 
 5. The Indians were well acquainted with the medi 
 cinal properties of plants. Their priests acted as phy 
 sicians, curing diseases with simples, but making use of 
 many mysterious rites ; chanting and burning a light in 
 the chamber of the patient, and pretending to exorcise 
 the malady, and tp send it to the sea or to the mountain 
 They practised also many deceptions, making the idols 
 to speak with oracular voice, to enforce the orders of the 
 caciques. 
 
 6. Once a year each cacique held a festival in honour 
 of his zemi, when his subjects formed a procession to the 
 temple, arrayed with their most precious ornaments ; 
 the young females, carrying baskets of cakes, decorated 
 with flowers, and singing as they advanced, while the 
 cacique beat time on an Indian drum. 
 
 7. After the cakes had been offered to the zemi they 
 were broken and distributed among the people, to be pre 
 served in their houses as charms against all adverse ac 
 cidents. The young females then danced to the cadence 
 of songs in praise of their deities, and of the heroic ac 
 tions of their ancient caciques ; and the whole ceremony 
 concluded by a grand invocation to the zemi to watch 
 over and protect the nation. 
 
 8. The natives believed their island of Hayti to be the 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 85 
 
 earliest part of creation, and that the sun and moon is 
 sued out of one of its caverns to give light to the universe. 
 This cavern was consecrated as a temple ; two idols 
 were placed in it, and the walls were decorated with 
 green branches. In times of great drought the natives 
 made pilgrimages and processions to it, with songs and 
 dances, and offerings of fruit and flowers. 
 
 9. They ascribed to another cavern the origin of the 
 human race. The large men, they said, issued from a 
 great aperture ; the little men, from a little cranny. For 
 a long time they dared venture from the cavern only in 
 the night, for the sight of the sun was fatal to them, pro 
 ducing wonderful transformations. 
 
 10. One of their number having lingered on a river s 
 bank, where he was fishing, until the sun had risen, was 
 turned into a bird of melodious note, which yearly, about 
 the time of his transformation, is heard singing plain 
 tively in the night, bewailing his misfortune. This is the 
 same bird which Columbus mistook for a nightingale. 
 
 11. When the human race at length emerged from 
 the cave, they wandered about disconsolately without 
 females, until coming near a small lake, they beheld cer 
 tain animals among the branches of the trees, which 
 proved to be women. On attempting to catch them, 
 however, they were found to be as slippery as eels, so 
 that it was with great difficulty they succeeded in se 
 curing four of them ; and from these slippery females the 
 world was peopled. 
 
 12. Like most savage nations, they had a tradition 
 concerning the deluge. There once lived in the island, 
 said they, a mighty cacique, who had but one son. De 
 tecting his son in a conspiracy against his life, he slew 
 him, but treasured up his bones in a gourd, as was the 
 custom of the island. 
 
 13. Some time afterwards, the cacique and his wife 
 opened the gourd to mourn over the remains of their 
 son, when, to their surprise, several fish leaped out. 
 Upon this the discreet cacique closed the gourd, and 
 placed it on the top of his hut ; boasting that he had the 
 sea shut up within it, and could have fish whenever he 
 pleased. 
 
 8 
 
86 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 14. This boast unluckily excited the curiosity of five 
 brothers, children of the same birth, prying, meddlesome 
 fellows. Watching their opportunity when the cacique 
 was absent, they came and took down the gourd to peep 
 into it. 
 
 15. In their hurry they let it fall, and it was dashed 
 to pieces ; when lo ! to their astonishment and dismay, 
 there issued forth a mighty flood, with dolphins and 
 sharks, and tumbling porpoises, and great spouting 
 whales ; and the water spread until it overflowed the 
 earth, and formed the ocean, leaving only the tops of the 
 mountains uncovered, which are the present islands. 
 
 16. They had singular modes of treating the dying 
 and the dead. When the life of a cacique was despaired 
 of, they strangled him out of a principle of respect, ra 
 ther than suffer him to die like the vulgar. Common 
 people, in like situation, were extended in their ham 
 mocks, bread and water placed beside them, and they 
 were then abandoned to die in solitude. 
 
 17. Sometimes they were carried to the cacique, and 
 if he permitted them the distinction, they were strangled. 
 The body of the deceased was sometimes consumed with 
 fire in his habitation ; sometimes the bones were retain 
 ed, or the head, or a limb, and treasured up among the 
 family relics. After the death of a cacique, his body was 
 opened, dried at a fire, and preserved. 
 
 18. They had confused notions of the existence of the 
 soul when separated from the body, and believed in ap 
 paritions of the deceased. They had an idea that the 
 spirits of good men after death were reunited to the spi 
 rits of their ancestors and of those they had most loved, 
 and were transported to a happy region, generally sup 
 posed to be near a lake, in the beautiful province of Xa- 
 ragua, in the western part of the island. Here they lived 
 in shady and bloomy bowers, with lovely females, and 
 banqueted on delicious fruits. 
 
 19. The dances to which the natives were so addicted 
 were often of a religious and mystic nature. In these 
 were typified their historical events and their projected 
 enterprises, whether of war or hunting. They were per 
 formed to the chant of ballads handed down from gene- 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 87 
 
 ration to generation ; some containing their notions of 
 theology and their religious fables ; others rehearsing 
 the deeds of their ancestors. These rhymes they called 
 areytos, and sang them to the accompaniment of rude 
 timbrels made of the shells of certain fishes, or to the 
 sound of a drum made of a hollow tree. 
 
 20. The natives appeared to the Spaniards to be an 
 idle and improvident race. They were impatient of all 
 kinds of labour, scarcely giving themselves the trouble 
 to cultivate the yuca root, the maize, and the sweet po 
 tato, which formed their main articles of food. They 
 loitered away existence under the shade of their trees, 
 amusing themselves occasionally with games and dances. 
 
 21. In fact, they were destitute of all powerful motives 
 to toil, being free from most of those wants which doom 
 mankind, in civilized life, and in less genial climes, to 
 incessant labour. In the soft region of the vega, the 
 circling seasons brought each its store of fruits, and while 
 some were gathered in full maturity, others were ripening 
 on the boughs, and buds and blossoms gave promise of 
 still succeeding abundance. 
 
 22. What need was there of garnering up and anx 
 iously providing for coming days, to men who lived amid 
 a perpetual harvest ] What need, too, of toilfully spin 
 ning or labouring at the loom, where a genial tempera 
 ture prevailed throughout the year, and neither nature 
 nor custom prescribed the necessity of clothing? 
 
 23. The hospitality which characterizes men in such 
 a simple and easy mode of existence was evinced towards 
 Columbus and his followers, during their sojourn in the 
 vega. Wherever they went, it was a continual scene of 
 festivity and rejoicing ; and the natives hastened from 
 all parts to lay the treasures of their groves, and streams, 
 and mountains, at the feet of beings whom they still con 
 sidered as descended from the skies, to bring blessings 
 to their island. 
 
 24. As we accompany Columbus, in imagination, ou 
 his return over the rocky height from whence the vega 
 first broke upon his eye, we cannot but cast back a look 
 of mingled pity and admiration over this beautiful but 
 devoted region. The dream of natural liberty and igno- 
 
88 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 rant content was as yet unbroken, but the fiat had gone 
 forth ; the white man had penetrated into the land ; ava 
 rice, and pride, and ambition, and sordid care, and pining 
 labour, were soon to follow, and the indolent paradise of 
 the Indian was about to disappear for ever. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Sickness and Discontent at tlie Settlement of Isabella. Pre 
 parations of Columbus for a Voyage to Cuba. [1494. J 
 
 1. SCARCELY had Columbus returned to the harbour, 
 when he received tidings from Pedro Margarite, that 
 Caonabo was preparing to attack fort St. Thomas. From 
 what he had seen of the natives, however, and of their 
 fear of the white men and their horses, he felt little un 
 easiness, and contented himself with sending twenty men 
 to the fortress, and thirty more to open a road between 
 it and the harbour. 
 
 2. His chief anxiety was about the settlement. Sick 
 ness prevailed there, and the stock of medicine was ex 
 hausted. Provisions grew scanty, and all hands, without 
 exception, were put upon allowance. This caused loud 
 murmurs, in which many in office took a part, who ought 
 to have been foremost in supporting measures for the 
 common safety. Among these was Friar Boyle, the 
 Pope s Vicar, who could not brook being put on the same 
 allowance with the commonalty. 
 
 3. Further measures of safety increased the public 
 irritation. The flour was exhausted ; a mill must be im 
 mediately erected to grind the corn. Most of the work 
 men were ill. In this emergency every one in health, 
 without distinction of persons, was called upon to work. 
 Numbers, who prided themselves upon their rank, refused 
 to comply, but were rigorously compelled. 
 
 4. This gave deep and lasting umbrage to the proud 
 cavaliers in the colony, and their relatives in Spain. Co 
 lumbus was inveighed against as an upstart foreigner, 
 inflated with sudden authority, and eager for wealth, who, 
 
OF COLUMBUS. Ob 
 
 in the pursuit of his own ends, trampled upon the dignity 
 of Spanish gentlemen, and insulted the honour of the 
 nation. 
 
 5. The fate, in truth, of many of the young cavaliers 
 who had come out in this expedition, deluded by roman 
 tic dreams, was lamentable in the extreme. Some of 
 them had been brought up in ease and indulgence, and 
 were little calculated to endure the hardships of the 
 wilderness. 
 
 6. If they fell ill, their case soon became incurable. 
 They suffered under the irritation of wounded pride, and 
 the morbid melancholy of disappointed hope ; their sick 
 bed was destitute of the tender care and soothing atten 
 tion to which they had been accustomed, and they sank 
 into the grave in all the sullenness of despair, cursing the 
 day that they had left their country. 
 
 7. So strong an effect had the untimely and dreary 
 death of these cavaliers upon the public mind, that many 
 years afterwards, when the settlement of Isabella was 
 abandoned, and had fallen to ruins, its deserted streets 
 were said to be haunted by their spectres, walking about 
 
 in ancient Spanish dresses, with long rapiers and broad 
 hats, saluting the wayfarer in stately and mournful 
 silence, and vanishing on being accosted. Their melan 
 choly story was insidiously made use of by the enemies 
 of the admiral ; for it was said that they had been seduced 
 from their homes by his delusive promises, and sacrificed 
 by him to his private interests. 
 
 8. Columbus was desirous of departing on a voyage 
 to explore the coast of Cuba, but it was indispensable, be 
 fore sailing, to place the affairs of the island in a state 
 of tranquillity. For this purpose he determined to send 
 all the men that could be spared into the interior, where 
 they could subsist among the natives, and become accus 
 tomed to their diet, while their force would overawe any 
 hostile cacique. 
 
 9. A little army was accordingly mustered of about 
 four hundred men, among whom were sixteen horsemen. 
 These were to be commanded by Pedro Margarite ; who 
 was to go from province to province, take note of the soil, 
 climate, and productions, preserve strict order among his 
 
90 LIFE AND VOYAGE? 
 
 troops, and treat the natives with the utmost kindness 
 and justice. 
 
 10. Ojeda set off to conduct this force to the fortress 
 of St. Thomas, where he was to suoceed Margarite in 
 the command. On his way he learnt that three Span 
 iards had been robbed of their effects by five Indians, who 
 had undertaken to carry them across a river, and that 
 the delinquents had been sheltered by their cacique, who 
 shared the booty. . 
 
 11. Ojeda was a quick soldier, and had a summary 
 mode of dispensing justice. He seized one of the thieves, 
 ordered his ears to be cut off in the public square of the 
 village, and sent the cacique, with his son and nephew, 
 in chains to the admiral. 
 
 12. Columbus thought it necessary to make an exam 
 ple of these men, to deter the natives in future from mo 
 lesting the Spaniards that might be scattered about the 
 island. He ordered, therefore, that they should be taken 
 to the public square, their crime proclaimed by the crier, 
 and their heads struck off. At the place of execution, a 
 neighbouring cacique, friendly to the parties, interceded 
 for the prisoners, pledging himself that the offence should 
 not be repeated. 
 
 13. At this juncture a horseman rode into the town. 
 He came from the fortress, and, in passing through the 
 village of the captive cacique, had found five Spaniards 
 in the power of four hundred Indians. He charged upon 
 the multitude, put them to flight, wounded several with 
 his lance, and brought off his countrymen in triumph. 
 
 14. Satisfied by this circumstance, that nothing was 
 to be feared from this timid people, provided the Span 
 iards conformed to the orders he had given ; and thinking 
 the Indians had been already sufficiently punished, Co 
 lumbus made a merit of yielding to the entreaties of the 
 friendly cacique, and released the prisoners. 
 
 15. He now formed a junto to govern the island du 
 ring his absence. It consisted of his brother Don Diego 
 as president, and Father Boyle, Pedro Fernandez Coro 
 nal, Alonzo Sanchez Caravajal, and Juan de Luxan, as 
 counsellors. 
 
 16. Leaving in the harbour two of the largest ships, 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 91 
 
 he took with him three small vessels, fit to run into the 
 shallow water of coasts arid rivers, and with these he set 
 sail on the 24th of April. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Cruise of Columbus along the Southern Coast of Cuba. 
 [1494.] 
 
 1. THE plan of the present expedition of Columbus 
 was to revisit Cuba at the point where he had abandoned 
 it on his first voyage, and thence to explore it on the 
 southern side. As has already been observed, he sup 
 posed it to be a continent, and the extreme end of Asia ; 
 and by following 1 its shores trusted to arrive at Mangi, 
 and Cathay, and other rich countries, forming part of the 
 territories of the Grand Khan, described by Marco Polo. 
 
 2. Having arrived at the eastern end of Cuba, he 
 sailed along the southern coast, touching once or twice 
 in the harbours. The natives crowded to the shores, 
 gazing with astonishment at the ships as they glided 
 gently along at no great distance. They held up fruits 
 .and other provisions, to tempt the Spaniards to land ; 
 while others came off in canoes, offering various refresh 
 ments, not in barter, but as free gifts. On inquiring of 
 them for gold, they uniformly pointed to the south, inti 
 mating that a great island lay in that direction, where it 
 was to be found in abundance. 
 
 3. On the 3d of May, therefore, Columbus turned his 
 prow directly south. He had not sailed many leagues 
 before the blue summits of Jamaica began to rise above 
 the horizon. It was two days and a night, however, be 
 fore he reached it, filled with admiration, as he gradual 
 ly drew near, at its vast extent, the beauty of its moun 
 tains, the majesty of its forests, and the great number of 
 villages which animated the whole face of the country. 
 
 4. He coasted the island from about the centre to the 
 western end. The natives appeared to be more ingenious 
 as well as more warlike than those of Cuba and Hayti. 
 
92 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 Their canoes were constructed with more art, and orna- 
 mei ited at the bow and stern with carving and painting. 
 Ma ay were of great size, hollowed from trunks of the 
 ma logany and other magnificent trees, which rise like 
 verdant towers amidst the rich forests of the tropics. 
 Every cacique had a large state canoe of the kind. One 
 measured ninety-six feet in length, and eight feet in 
 breadth, formed of a single tree. 
 
 5. ]Jeing disappointed in his hopes of finding gold in 
 Jamaica, Columbus determined to return to Cuba. AB 
 he was about to leo.ve the island, a young Indian came 
 off to the ship, and begged that the Spaniards would take 
 him with them to their country. He was followed by 
 his relatives and friends, supplicating him to abandon his 
 purpose. For some time he was distracted between con 
 cern for their distress, and an ardent desire to see the 
 home of the wonderful strangers. 
 
 6. Curiosity, and the youthful propensity to rove, at 
 length prevailed ; he tore himself from the embraces of 
 his friends, and took refuge in a secret part of the ship, 
 from the tears a.nd entreaties of his sisters. Touched by 
 this scene of natural affection, and pleased with the con 
 fiding spirit of the youth, Columbus ordered that he 
 should be treated with especial kindness. 
 
 7. Having steered again for Cuba, Columbus, on the 
 18th of May, arrived at a great cape, to which he gave 
 the name of Cabo de la Cruz, which it still retains. 
 Coasting to the west, he soon got entangled in a labyrinth 
 of small islands and keys ; some of them were low, 
 naked, and sandy, others covered with verdure, and 
 others tufted with lofty and beautiful forests. 
 
 8. As the ships glided along the smooth and glassy 
 channels which separated the islands, the magnificence 
 of their vegetation, the soft odours wafted from flowers, 
 and blossoms, and aromatic shrubs, the splendid plumage 
 of scarlet cranes, flamingoes, and other tropical birds, and 
 the gaudy clouds of butterflies, all resembled what is de 
 scribed of oriental climes. He persuaded himself, there 
 fore, that these were the islands mentioned by Marco 
 Polo, as fringing the coast of Asia, and he gave the clus 
 ter the name of the Queen s Garden. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 93 
 
 9. Emerging from this labyrinth, Columbus pursued 
 his voyage with a prosperous breeze along that part of 
 the southern side of Cuba, where, for nearly thirty-five 
 leagues, the navigation is free from banks and islands : 
 to his left was the broad and open sea, whose dark-blue 
 colour gave token of ample depth ; to his right extended 
 a richly wooded country, called Ornofay, with noble 
 mountains, frequent streams, and numerous villages. 
 
 10. The appearance of the ships spread wonder and 
 joy along the coast. The natives came off swimming, or 
 in canoes, to offer fruits and other presents. After the 
 usual evening shower, when the breeze blew from the 
 shore, arid brought off the sweetness of the land, it bore 
 with it also the distant songs of the natives, and the sound 
 of their rude music, as they were probably celebrating, 
 with their national chants and dances, the arrival of these 
 wonderful strangers on their coasts. 
 
 11. Animated by the delusions of his fancy, Colum 
 bus continued to follow up this supposed continent of 
 Asia; plunging into another wilderness of keys and 
 islets towards the western end of Cuba, and exploring 
 that perplexed and lonely coast, whose intricate channels 
 are seldom visited, even at the present day, except by 
 the lurking bark of the smuggler and the pirate. 
 
 12. In this navigation he had to contend with almost 
 incredible difficulties and perils ; his vessels having to 
 be warped through narrow and shallow passages, where 
 they frequently ran aground. He was encouraged to 
 proceed by information which he received, or fancied he 
 received, from the natives, concerning a country farther 
 on called Mangon, where the people wore clothing, and 
 which he supposed must be Mangi, the rich Asiatic pro 
 vince described by Marco Polo. 
 
 13. His crews seem to have partaken of his delusion. 
 One day while a party on shore was employed m cutting 
 wood arid filling water casks, an archer strayed into the 
 forest, with his crossbow, in search of game, but soon 
 returned, flying in breathless terror. 
 
 14. He declared that he had seen through an opening 
 glade a man dressed in long white robes, like a friar of 
 the order of Mercy, so that at first he took him for the 
 
94 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 chaplain of the admiral. He was followed by two others 
 dressed in white tunics reaching to their knees, and all 
 these had complexions as fair as Europeans. Behind 
 them were others, to the number of thirty, armed with 
 clubs and lances. 
 
 15. Two parties were despatched, well armed, on the 
 following morning, in quest of these people in white : the 
 first returned unsuccessful ; the other brought word of 
 having tracked the footprints of some large animal with 
 claws, supposed by them to have been either a lion or a 
 griffin ; but which most probably was an alligator. Dis 
 mayed at the sight, they hastened back to the sea side. 
 
 16. As no tribe of Indians wearing clothing was ever 
 discovered in Cuba, it is probable the men in white were 
 nothing else than a flock of cranes, magnified by the 
 fears of the wandering archer. These birds, like the 
 flamingoes, feed in company, with one stationed at a dis 
 tance as a sentinel. When seen through an opening of 
 the woodlands, standing in rows in a shallow glassy pool, 
 their height arid erectness give them, at first glance, the 
 semblance of human figures. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Return Voyage. 
 
 1. FIRMLY convinced that he was coasting the shores 
 of Asia, Columbus hoped by continuing on to arrive at 
 tb.e Aurea Chersonesus of the ancients, doubling which, 
 he might return to Europe by the way of the Red sea ; 
 or, circumnavigating Africa, he might pass by the Por 
 tuguese as they were groping along tho coast of Guinea, 
 and, after having navigated round the globe, furl his ad 
 venturous sails at the pillars of Hercules, the ne plus ultra 
 of the ancient world ! 
 
 2. But, though his fellow voyagers shared his opinion 
 that they were coasting the continent of Asia, they shrunk 
 from the increasing perils of the voyage. The ships 
 were strained and crazed ; the cables and rigging much 
 worn ; the provisions nearly exhausted ; and the crews 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 95 
 
 worn out by incessant labour. The admiral, therefore, 
 was finally persuaded to abandon all further prosecution 
 of the voyage. 
 
 3. Before he turned back, however, he obliged the offi 
 cers and seamen to sign a deposition, declaring their 
 perfect conviction that Cuba was a continent, the begin 
 ning and the end of India. This singular instrument 
 was signed near that deep bay called by some the bay of 
 Philipina, by others, of Cortes. 
 
 4. At this very time, a ship-boy from the mast-head 
 might have overlooked the group of islands to the south, 
 and have beheld the open sea beyond. Had Columbus 
 continued on for two or three days longer, he would have 
 passed round the extremity of Cuba ; his illusion would 
 have been dispelled, and an entirely different course might 
 have been given to his subsequent discoveries. 
 
 5. Returning now towards the east, the crew^s suffered 
 greatly from fatigue and scarcity of provisions, until they 
 anchored one day in the mouth of a fine river, in an abun 
 dant country, where the natives soon supplied their wants. 
 
 6. Here Columbus landed one Sunday morning to erect 
 a cross, as was his custom in all remarkable places, in 
 token of having brought the country under the dominion 
 of the Catholic church. He was met by the cacique and 
 by a venerable Indian fourscore years of age, who pre 
 sented him with a string of their mystic beads, and a 
 calibash filled with delicate fruit. 
 
 7. They then walked with him, hand in hand, to a 
 stately grove on the river bank, where he had ordered 
 grand mass to be performed. The assembled natives 
 looked on with great reverence. When the ceremony 
 was ended, the old man of fourscore approached Colum 
 bus, and thus addressed him : 
 
 8. I am told that thou hast come to these lands with a 
 mighty force, arid hast subdued many countries, spread 
 ing great fear among the people. Be not, however, 
 vainglorious. Know that the souls of men have two 
 journeys to perform after they have departed from the 
 body ; one to a place dismal, foul, and covered with dark 
 ness, prepared for such as have been unjust and cruel to 
 their fellow men ; the other full of delight, for such as 
 
96 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 have promoted peace on earth. If, then, thou art mortal, 
 and dost expect to die, beware that thou hurt no man 
 wrongfully, neither do harm to those who have done no 
 harm to thee. 
 
 9. This speech being- interpreted to Columbus, he was 
 moved by the simple eloquence of the savage, and re 
 joiced to hear his doctrine of the future state of the soul, 
 having supposed that no belief of the kind existed among 
 the inhabitants of these countries. He assured the old 
 man that he had been sent by his sovereigns to teach 
 them the true religion, to protect them from harm, and 
 to subdue their enemies the Caribs. 
 
 10. The venerable Indian was astonished to learn that 
 the admiral, whom he had considered so great and pow 
 erful, was yet but a subject ; and when he was told of the 
 grandeur of the Spanish monarchs, and of the wonders 
 of their kingdom, a sudden desire seized him to see this 
 marvellous country, and it was with difficulty the tears 
 and remonstrances of his wife and children could dis 
 suade him from embarking. 
 
 11. After leaving this river, Columbus stood over to 
 Jamaica, and for nearly a month continued beating along 
 its southern coast. Anchoring one evening in a great 
 bay, he was visited by a cacique, who remained until a 
 late hour conversing with the Indian interpreter, about 
 the Spaniards and their country, and their prowess in 
 vanquishing the Caribs. 
 
 12. On the following morning, when the ships were 
 under weigh, three canoes issued from among the islands 
 of the bay. In the centre one, which was large, and 
 handsomely carved and painted, were seated the cacique 
 and his family, consisting of two daughters, young and 
 beautiful, two sons, and five brothers. They were all 
 arrayed in their jewels, and attended by officers deco 
 rated with plumes and mantles of variegated feathers. 
 
 13. The standard-bearer stood in the prow with a 
 fluttering white banner, while other Indians, fancifully 
 painted, beat upon tabors, or sounded trumpets of fine 
 black wood ingeniously carved. The cacique, entering 
 on board of the ship, distributed presents among the 
 crew, and thus addressed the admiral : 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 97 
 
 14. " I have heard of the irresistible power of thy sove 
 reigns, and of the many nations thou hast subdued in 
 their name. Thou hast destroyed the dwellings of the 
 Caribs, slaying 1 their warriors, and carrying their wives 
 and children into captivity. All the islands are in dread 
 of thee, for who can withstand thee, now that thou know- 
 est the secrets of the land, and the weakness of the peo 
 ple ? Rather, therefore, than thou shouldst take away my 
 dominions, I will embark with all my household in thy 
 ships, and will go to render homage to thy king and queen, 
 and behold thy country, of which I hear such wonders." 
 
 15. When, however, Columbus beheld the wife, the sons 
 and daughters of the cacique, and considered to what ills 
 they would be exposed, he was touched with compassion, 
 and determined not to take them from their native land. 
 He received the cacique under his protection, as a vassal 
 of his sovereigns, but dismissed him for the present, pro 
 mising that at some future time he would return and 
 gratify his wishes. 
 
 16. After leaving Jamaica, he coasted the whole of the 
 southern side of Hayti, and experienced great hardships 
 in a storm, which raged for several days. The weather 
 having moderated, he set sail eastward, with the inten 
 tion of completing the discovery of the Caribbee islands. 
 
 17. The fatigue, however, which he had suffered, both 
 in mind and body, throughout this voyage, had secretly 
 preyed upon his health ; and the late tempest had kept 
 him in a fever of anxiety. He had shared the hardships 
 of the commonest sailor ; nay more, for the sailor, after 
 the labours of his watch, slept soundly, while the anxious 
 commander had to maintain a constant vigil, through 
 long stormy nights. 
 
 18. The moment he was relieved from all solicitude, 
 and found himself in a tranquil sea, both mind and body 
 sank exhausted by almost superhuman exertions. He 
 fell into a deep lethargy, resembling death itself. His 
 crew feared that death was really at hand. They aban 
 doned, therefore, all farther prosecution of the voyage, 
 and spreading their sails to a favourable breeze from the 
 east, bore Columbus back, in a state of complete insensi 
 bility, to the harbour of Isabella. 
 
 9 
 
98 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Events in Hispaniola. Insurrections of the Natives. 
 Expedition of Ojeda against Caonabo. [1494.] 
 
 1. A JOYFUL and heartfelt surprise awaited Columbus 
 on his arrival, in finding, at his bedside, his brother Bar 
 tholomew, from whom he had been separated for several 
 years. It will be recollected, that about the time of the 
 admiral s departure for Portugal, he sent his brother to 
 offer his project of discovery to the court of England. 
 
 2. On his way thither, Bartholomew was captured by 
 a corsair, and met with many hardships, so that years 
 elapsed bofore he was able to lay the proposition before 
 king Henry VII. That monarch promptly agreed to 
 patronise the enterprise, and Bartholomew returned to 
 Spain in quest of his brother ; but, in the interim, Co 
 lumbus had made his discovery, and departed on his 
 second voyage. 
 
 3. Bartholomew was honourably entertained by the 
 Spanish sovereigns, and despatched with three ships, 
 freighted with supplies to rejoin his brother. He again 
 arrived too ]ate, Columbus having departed on his cruise 
 along the coast of Cuba. He had, therefore, awaited his 
 return at Isabella. 
 
 4. It was an inexpressible relief to the admiral to be 
 rejoined by this brother. His chief dependence had 
 hitherto been upon his other brother, Diego ; but lie was 
 mild, peaceable, and yielding, ar.d but little calculated to 
 manage a factious colony ; Bartholomew was made of 
 sterner stuff. 
 
 5. He was tall, muscular, and vigorous, with a com 
 manding air, and a prompt, active, decided, and fearless 
 spirit. He had at times an asperity of temper, and 
 abruptness of manners, that made him many enemies ; 
 yet, he was generous and just, free from arrogance or 
 malevolence, and as placable as he was brave. 
 
 6. He was a thorough seaman, both in theory and 
 practice, having been formed, in a great measure, under 
 the eye of the admiral. He does not appear to have been 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 99 
 
 highly educated ; his knowledge, like that of his brother, 
 being chiefly derived from a long course of varied expe 
 rience and attentive observation, aided by the studies of 
 maturer years. Equally vigorous and penetrating in in 
 tellect with the admiral, but less enthusiastic in spirit 
 and soaring in imagination, he surpassed him in the 
 adroit management of business, and had more of that 
 worldly wisdom which is so important in the ordinary 
 concerns of life. 
 
 7. Columbus immediately invested his brother with the 
 title and authority of Adelantado, an office equivalent to 
 that of lieutenant-governor. He felt the importance of 
 his assistance in the present critical state of the colony ; 
 for, during the few months that he had been absent, the 
 whole island had become a scene of violence and discord. 
 A brief retrospect is here necessary to explain the cause 
 of this confusion. 
 
 8. Pedro Margarite, who had been left in command of 
 the greater part of the forces, instead of proceeding, as 
 ordered, on a military tour of the island, lingered among 
 the villages of the vega, where he and his soldiery, by 
 their licentious and oppressive conduct, soon roused the 
 indignation of the natives. 
 
 9. Don Diego Columbus, with the concurrence of the 
 council, wrote to Margarite, reprehending his conduct, 
 and ordering him to depart on his tour. Margarite re 
 plied in an arrogant tone, pretending to consider himself 
 above all responsibility to Don Diego, or his council. 
 He was supported in his tone of defiance by a kind of 
 aristocrat] cal party composed of the idle cavaliers of the 
 colony, who affected to consider Columbus and his bro 
 thers mere mercenary and upstart foreigners. 
 
 10. In addition to these partisans, Margarite had a 
 powerful ally in Friar Boyle, an intriguing man, who had 
 conceived a violent hostility against the admiral, and had 
 become disgusted with his mission to the wilderness. A 
 cabal was soon formed. Margarite and Friar Boyle 
 acted as if possessed of paramount authority ; and, taking 
 possession of certain ships in the harbour, set sail for 
 Spain, with their adherents. 
 
 11. The army being left without a head, the soldiers 
 
100 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 roved about in bands, or singly, according to their caprice, 
 indulging in all kinds of excess. At length the Indians 
 were roused to resentment, and, from confiding and hos 
 pitable hosts, were converted into vindictive enemies. 
 
 12. They slew the Spaniards wherever they could 
 surprise them ; and Guatiguana, cacique of a large town 
 on the Grand River, put to death ton soldiers who were 
 quartered in his town, set fire to a house in which forty 
 sick Spaniards were lodged, and even held a small for 
 tress called Magdalena, recently built in the vega, in a 
 state of siege. 
 
 13. The most formidable enemy of the Spaniards was 
 Caonabo, the Carib cacique of the mountains. Enraged 
 at seeing the fortress of St. Thomas erected in the very 
 centre of his dominions ; and finding by his spies that 
 the garrison was reduced to but fifty men, and the army 
 of Margarite dismembered, he thought to strike a signal 
 blow, and to repeat the horrors which he had wreaked 
 upon La Navidad. 
 
 14. The wily cacique, however, had an able enemy to 
 deal with in Alonzo de Ojeda. In addition to what has 
 already been said of this daring cavalier, it is worthy of 
 note, that he had been schooled in Moorish warfare, and 
 was versed in all kinds of military stratagems. His 
 courage was heightened by superstition. Having never 
 received a wound in his numerous quarrels and encoun 
 ters, he considered himself under the special protection 
 of the holy Virgin, and that no weapon had power to 
 harm him. 
 
 15. He had a small painting of the Virgin, which he 
 carried constantly in his knapsack, and would often take 
 it out, fix it against a tree, and address his prayers to his 
 military patroness. In a word, he swore by the Virgin ; 
 he invoked the Virgin either in brawl or battle ; and 
 under favour of the Virgin he was ready for any enter 
 prise or adventure. Such was Alonzo de Ojeda, bigoted 
 in devotion, reckless in life, fearless in spirit, like many 
 of the roving Spanish cavaliers of those days. 
 
 16. Having assembled ten thousand warriors, Caonabo 
 led them secretly through the forest, thinking to surprise 
 Ojeda ; but he "found him warily drawn up within his 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 101 
 
 fortress, which was built upon a hill, and nearly surround 
 ed by a river. 
 
 17. He then held the fortress in siege for thirty days, 
 and reduced it to great distress. He lost many of his 
 bravest warriors, however, by the impetuous sallies of 
 Ojeda ; others grew weary of the siege, and returned 
 home. He at length relinquished the attempt, and re 
 tired, filled with admiration of the prowess of Ojeda. He 
 now urged the principal caciques to unite their forces, 
 surprise the settlement of Isabella, and massacre the 
 Spaniards wherever they could be found. To explain 
 this combination, it is necessary to state the internal dis 
 tribution of the island. 
 
 18. It was divided into five domains, each governed 
 by a sovereign "cacique, having many inferior caciques 
 tributary to him. The most important domain comprised 
 the middle part of the royal vega, and was governed by 
 Guarionex. The second was Marion, under the sway 
 of Guacanagari, on whose coast Columbus had been 
 wrecked. 
 
 19. The third was Maguana, which included the gold 
 mines of Cibao, and was under the sway of Caonabo. 
 The fourth was Xaragua, at the western end of the 
 island, the most populous and extensive of all. The 
 sovereign was named Behechio. The fifth domain was 
 Higuey, and occupied the whole eastern part of the 
 island, but had not as yet been visited by the Spaniards. 
 The name of the cacique was Cotabanama. 
 
 20. Three ofthese sovereign caciques readily entered 
 into the league with Caonabo ; but he met with unex 
 pected opposition from the fifth cacique, Guacanagari. 
 He not merely refused to join the conspiracy, but enter 
 tained a hundred Spaniards in his territory, supplying 
 all their wants with his accustomed generosity. His 
 refusal prevented the conspiracy from being carried into 
 immediate effect ; but it drew upon him the hatred and 
 hostility of his fellow caciflues.. 
 
 21. Such was the critical state to which the affairs of 
 the island had been reduced, during the absence of Co^ 
 lumbus. Immediately on his return, Guacanagari visited 
 him, and revealed the designs of the confederate caciques, 
 
 9* 
 
102 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 offering to lead his subjects to the field, and to fight by 
 the side of the Spaniards. Columbus was rejoiced to 
 have all suspicion of his good faith thus effectually dis 
 pelled. Their former amicable intercourse was renewed, 
 and the chieftain ever continued to evince an affectionate 
 reverence for the admiral. 
 
 22. Columbus trusted that the plans of the caciques 
 might easily be disconcerted. He immediately sent a 
 small force, who drove Guatiguana from before Fort 
 Magdalena, ravaged his country, and slew many of his 
 warriors, but the chieftain made his escape. 
 
 23. As he was tributary to Guarionex, the sovereign 
 of the royal vega, care was taken to explain to that pow 
 erful cacique, that this was an act of individual punish 
 ment, not of general hostility. Guarionex was easily 
 soothed and won to friendship ; and Columbus prevailed 
 upon him to give his daughter in marriage to the Indian 
 who had been baptized in Spain by the name of Diego 
 Colon, and who was devoted to the Spaniards. Pie gain 
 ed permission from him also to erect a fortress in the 
 midst of his territories, which he named Fort Con 
 ception. 
 
 24. The most formidable enemy remained to be dis 
 posed of, which was Caonabo; to make war upon this 
 fierce and subtle chieftain in his wild woodland territory, 
 and among the fastnesses of his mountains, would be a 
 work of time and peril. Yet the settlements would never 
 be safe from his daring enterprises, nor could the mines 
 be worked with security, as they lay in his neighbour 
 hood. While perplexed on this subject, Columbus was 
 relieved by a proposition of Alonzo de Ojeda, who un 
 dertook to bring the Carib chieftain either a friend or 
 captive to the settlement. 
 
 25. Choosing ten bold and haray followers, well arm 
 ed and well mounted, Ojeda plunged into the forest, and 
 making his way above sixty leagues into the wild terri 
 tories of Caonabo, appeared fearlessly before the cacique 
 in one of his most populous towns, professing to come on 
 an amicable embassy from the admiral. He was well 
 received by Caonabo, who had tried him in battle, and 
 had conceived a warrior s admiration of him. 
 
OP COLUMBUS. 103 
 
 26. His dauntless deportment, great personal strength 
 and agility, and surprising adroitness in all manly and 
 warlike exercises, were calculated to charm a savage, 
 and soon made him a favourite with Caonabo. He used 
 all his influence to prevail upon the cacique to repair to 
 Isabella, and enter into a treaty with Columbus, offering 
 him, as an inducement, the befl of the chapel at the har. 
 bour. 
 
 27. This bell was the wonder of the island. When its 
 melody sounded through the forests, the Indians noticed 
 that the Spaniards hastened from all parts to the chapel. 
 At other times, when it gave the vesper peal, they be 
 held the Spaniards pause in the midst of their labours or 
 amusements, and, taking off their hats, repeat a prayer 
 with great devotion. 
 
 28. They imagined, therefore, that this bell had some 
 mysterious power ; that it had come from " Turey," or 
 the skies, and was the zemi of the white men ; that it 
 talked to them, and they obeyed its orders. Caonabo 
 longed to see this bell, and when it was proffered to him 
 as a present of peace, he found it impossible to resist the 
 temptation. 
 
 29. He agreed to visit the admiral at the harbour ; but 
 when the time came to depart, Ojeda beheld with sur 
 prise a powerful army ready to march. He remonstrated 
 on taking such a force on a mere friendly visit ; to which 
 the cacique proudly replied, " that it was not befitting a 
 great prince like him to go forth scantily guarded ." Oje 
 da feared some sinister design, and resolved to outwit 
 the cacique. 
 
 30. As the army had halted one day near a river, he 
 produced a set of manacles of* polished steel, which he 
 pretended were ornaments worn by the Castilian mon- 
 archs on high festivities. He proposed that Caonabo 
 should be decorated with them, mounted on the horse of 
 Ojeda, and conducted back in state to astonish his 
 subjects. 
 
 31. The cacique was dazzled with the splendour of the 
 shackles, and pleased with the idea of bestriding cne of 
 those tremendous animals so dreaded by his countrymen. 
 After bathing in the river, he mounted behind Ojeda, and 
 
104 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 the shackles were adjusted. The Spaniards then pran 
 ced among the astonished savages, and made a wide 
 sweep into the forest, until the trees concealed them from 
 sight. Then drawing their swords, and closing round 
 Caonabo, they threatened him with instant death, if he 
 made the least noise or resistance. 
 
 32. Having bound him with cords to Ojeda, to prevent 
 his falling or effecting an escape, they put spurs to their 
 horses, dashed across the river, and made off through the 
 woods with their prize. After a long, rugged, and per 
 ilous journey, they entered Isabella in triumph; Ojeda 
 bringing the wild Indian chieftain bound behind him. 
 
 33. The haughty Carib met Columbus with a lofty 
 and unsubdued air, nor could he ever be brought to show 
 him any submission. If the admiral entered his prison, 
 though every one else rose to salute him, the cacique 
 remained seated. On the contrary, if Ojeda entered, 
 though small in stature and destitute of state, he rose 
 and paid him the greatest reverence. 
 
 34. Being asked the reason of this, seeing that Colum 
 bus was the commander and Ojeda but an inferior, he 
 replied scornfully, that Columbus had not dared to meet 
 him in the field, but had employed Ojeda. The latter, 
 therefore, was the warrior, and had made him prisoner : 
 to him alone would he pay homage. 
 
 35. He never showed the least animosity against Ojeda 
 for the artifice he had used. On the contrary, he looked 
 upon it as the exploit of a master spirit, to pounce upon 
 him and bear him off in this hawk like manner from the 
 midst of his warriors ; for there is nothing an Indian more 
 admires in warfare, than a deep laid and well executed 
 stratagem. 
 
 36. Columbus, though struck with the natural heroism 
 of this savage, considered him too dangerous an enemy 
 to be left at large. He maintained him, therefore, a 
 close prisoner in a part of his own dwelling, until he 
 could be shipped to Spain, but treated him with great 
 kindness and respect, 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 105 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Battle of the Vega. Imposition of Tribute. [1494.] 
 
 1. THE colony about this time was greatly relieved by 
 the arrival of four ships commanded by Antonio Torres, 
 bringing out medical aid and provisions, with various 
 artisans and husbandmen. By the same arrival Colum 
 bus received letters from the sovereigns, approving of all 
 that he had done. They informed him, that their diffe 
 rences with Portugal had been amicably adjusted, and 
 invited him to return to Spain, or to send some able per 
 son in his place, to attend a convention for settling the 
 dividing line of discovery between the two powers. 
 
 2. Columbus hastened the return of the ships, and 
 sent his brother Diego to attend the convention. He re 
 mitted, at the same time, all the gold he could collect, 
 with specimens of fruits and valuable plants. He also 
 sent five hundred Indian captives, to be sold as slaves in 
 Seville. 
 
 3. It is painful to find the glory of Columbus sullied 
 by such violations of the laws of humanity, but the cus 
 toms of the times must plead his apology. In the recent 
 discoveries along the coast of Africa, the traffick in slaves 
 had formed one of the greatest sources of profit ; and in 
 the wars with the enlightened and highly civilized Moors 
 of Granada, the Spaniards were accustomed to make 
 slaves of their prisoners. 
 
 4. Tidings were now brought to the harbour that the 
 allied caciques, headed by Manicaotex, the brother of 
 Caonabo, had assembled their forces in the vega, to make 
 a grand assault upon the settlement. Columbus had 
 now recovered his health, and determined to take the 
 field. All the efficient force he could muster, was two 
 hundred and twenty men ; but of these twenty were 
 horsemen. 
 
 5. There were twenty bloodhounds, also, animals 
 scarcely less terrible to the Indians than horses, and in 
 finitely more destructive. With this force he sallied 
 forth from Isabella, accompanied by his brother, the Ade- 
 
106 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 lantado. Guacanagari, also, joined him with his people ; 
 but both he and his subjects were of an unwarlike 
 character. 
 
 6. They found the enemy assembled in great force in 
 the vega, within two days march of Isabella. The 
 number is said to have amounted to one hundred thou 
 sand, but this is probably an exaggeration. They were 
 armed as usual, with clubs, stones, bows and arrows, and 
 lances. 
 
 7. The Adelantado arranged the mode of attack. 
 The infantry, divided into small detachments, advanced 
 suddenly from various quarters, with great din of drums 
 and trumpets, and a destructive discharge of fire-arms. 
 The Indians were struck with panic. An army seemed 
 pressing upon them from every direction. 
 
 8. In the height of their confusion, Alonzo de Ojeda 
 charged with his cavalry, bearing down and trampling 
 them under foot, and dealing deadly blows with lance 
 and sword. The bloodhounds, too, were let loose, and 
 rushed upon the naked savages, seizing them by the 
 throat, dragging them to the earth, and tearing out their 
 bowels. 
 
 9. The battle, if such it might be called, was of short 
 duration. The Indians fled in every direction, with yells 
 and howiings. Some clambered to the tops of rocks and 
 precipices, from whence they made piteous supplications 
 and promises of submission. Many were slain, many 
 made prisoners, and the confederacy was, for the time, 
 completely broken up. 
 
 10. Guacanagari was little more than a spectator of 
 the battle. His participation in the hostilities of the 
 white men, however, was never forgiven by the other 
 caciques ; and he returned to his dominions, hated and 
 execrated by his countrymen. 
 
 11. Columbus followed up his victory by marching 
 through various parts of the island, and reducing them to 
 subjection. He then exercised what he considered the 
 right of a conqueror, and imposed tributes on the van 
 quished provinces. In those which possessed mines, 
 each individual, above the age of fourteen years, was 
 obliged to render, every three months, the measure of a 
 
OP COLUMBUS. 107 
 
 Flemish hawk s bell of gold dust.* The caciques had 
 to pay a much larger amount for their personal tribute. 
 
 12. In other provinces, each individual was obliged to 
 furnish twenty-five pounds of cotton every three months. 
 A copper medal, suspended about the neck, was a proof 
 that an Indian had paid his tribute ; any one found with 
 out such certificate was liable to arrest and punishment, 
 Various fortresses were erected in the most important 
 places, so as to keep the Indians in complete subjection. 
 In this way the yoke of servitude was completely fixed 
 upon the island. 
 
 13. Deep despair now fell upon the natives. Weak 
 and indolent by nature, and brought up in the untasked 
 idleness of their soft climate and their fruitful groves, 
 death itself seemed preferable to a life of toil and anxiety. 
 They saw no end to this harassing evil, which had so sud 
 denly fallen upon them ; no prospect of return to that 
 roving independence and ample leisure, so dear to the 
 wild inhabitant of the forest. 
 
 14. The pleasant life of the island was at an end ; 
 the dream in the shade by day ; the slumber, during the 
 sultry noon-tide heat, by the fountain or the stream, or 
 under the spreading palm tree ; and the song, the dance, 
 and the game in the mellow evening, when summoned to 
 their simple amusements by the rude Indian drum. 
 
 15. Or, if they occasionally indulged in a national 
 dance, after a day of painful toil, the ballads to which they 
 kept time were of a melancholy and plaintive character. 
 They spoke of the times that were past, before the white 
 men had introduced sorrow, and slavery, and weary 
 labour among them. 
 
 16. Sometimes they rehearsed pretended prophecies 
 of days of old, foretelling that strangers should come into 
 their island, with swords capable of cleaving a man 
 asunder at a blow, under whose yoke their race should 
 be suddued and pass away. These ballads, or areytos, 
 they sung with mournful tunes and doleful voices, bewail 
 ing the loss of their liberty and their painful servitude. 
 
 17. They had flattered themselves, for a time, that the 
 visit of the strangers would be but temporary, and that, 
 
 * Equal in value to fifteen dollars of the present time. 
 
108 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 spreading their ample sails, their ships would soon waft 
 them back to their home in the sky. In their simplicity 
 they had repeatedly inquired of the Spaniards when they 
 intended to return to Turey, or the heavens. 
 
 18. All such hope was now at an end ; and, finding- 
 how vain was every attempt to deliver themselves from 
 th^ir invaders by warlike means, they now endeavoured 
 to produce a famine. For this purpose, they destroyed 
 their fields of maize, stripped the trees of their fruit, pull 
 ed up the yuca and other nutritious roots, and then 
 fled to the mountains. 
 
 19. The Spaniards were indeed reduced to much dis 
 tress, but were partially relieved by supplies from Spain. 
 They pursued the natives to their mountain retreats, and 
 hunted them from one fastness to another, until thou 
 sands perished in dens and caverns of famine and sick 
 ness, and the survivors submitted humbly to the yoke 
 So deep an awe did they conceive of their conquerors, 
 that it is said a Spaniard might go singly and securely 
 all over the island, and the natives would even trans 
 port him from place to place on their shoulders. 
 
 20. Before passing on to other events, it may be pro 
 per here to notice the fate of Guacanagari, as he makes 
 no further appearance in the course of this history. His 
 friendship for the Spaniards severed him from his coun 
 trymen, but it did not exempt him from the general 
 woes of the island. At a time when Columbus was ab 
 sent, the Spaniards exacted a tribute from him, which 
 his people found it difficult and distressing to pay. 
 
 21. Unable to bear the murmurs of his subjects, the 
 hostilities of his fellow caciques, the extortions of 
 his ungrateful allies, and the sight of the various 
 miseries which he felt as if he had invoked upon his 
 race, he retired to the mountains, where it is said he 
 died obscurely and in misery. 
 
 22. An attempt has been made oy a Spanish historian 
 to defame the character of this Indian prince ; but it is 
 not for Spaniards to excuse their own ingratitude by 
 casting a stigma upon his name. He appears to have 
 always manifested towards them that true friendship 
 which shines brightest in the dark days of adversity. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 109 
 
 23. He might have acted a nobler part, in making a 
 stand, with his brother caciques, to drive those intruders 
 from his native soil ; but he appears to have been blind 
 ed by his admiration of them, and his personal attachment 
 to Columbus. He was bountiful, hospitable, affectionate, 
 and kind-hearted ; competent to rule a gentle and un- 
 warlike people in the happier days of the island, but un 
 fitted, through the mildness of his nature, for the stern 
 turmoil which followed the arrival of the white men. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Arrival of the Commissioner Aguado. Discovery of the 
 Gold Mines of Hayna. [1495.] 
 
 1. WHILE Columbus was endeavouring to remedy the 
 evils produced by the misconduct of Margarite and his 
 followers, that recreant commander, and Friar Boyle, 
 were busily undermining his reputation in the court of 
 Spain. They accused him of deceiving the sovereigns 
 and the public by extravagant descriptions of the coun 
 tries he had discovered ; of tyranny and oppression to 
 wards the colonists, and indignities towards Spanish 
 gentlemen of rank. 
 
 2. These representations, being supported by many- 
 factious idlers who had returned from the colony, and 
 enforced by people of rank connected with the cavaliers, 
 had a baneful effect upon the popularity of Columbus, 
 and his favour with the sovereigns. 
 
 3. The arrival of the ships commanded by Torres, 
 cringing accounts of the voyage along the southern. 
 coasts of Cuba, and specimens of the gold, and the vege 
 table and animal productions of the country, weakened 
 in some degree these unfavourable impressions. Still it 
 was determined to send out a commissioner to inquire 
 into the alleged distresses of the colony, and the conduct 
 of Columbus. 
 
 4. One Juan Aguado was appointed for the purpose. 
 He had already been to Hispaniola, and, on returning 
 
 10 
 
110 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 had been strongly recommended to royal favour by Colum 
 bus. In appointing a person, therefore*, for whom the 
 admiral appeared fco have a regard, and who was under 
 obligations to him, the sovereigns thought, perhaps, to 
 soften the harshness of the measure. 
 
 5. As to the five hundred slaves sent home in the ships 
 of Torres, Isabella ordered a consultation of the clergy 
 to determine whether, having tx-en taken in warfare, 
 their sale as slaves would be justifiable in the sight of 
 God. Much difference of opin on arose among the 
 divines on this important question , whereupon the queen 
 decided it according to the dictates of her conscience 
 and her heart, and ordered that the Indians should be 
 taken back to their native country. 
 
 6. Juan de Aguado set sail from Spain towards the 
 end of August with four caravels freighted with supplies, 
 and Don Diego Cclurnbus returned in this squadron to 
 Hispaniola. Aguado was ono of those weak men whose 
 heads are turned by the least elevation. At the time of 
 his arrival, the admiral was absent in the interior of the 
 island, and the Adelantado commanded in his place. 
 
 7. Aguado treated the latter with great insolence and 
 contempt, refusing to show him the commission under 
 which he acted, and conducting himself as if the govern 
 ment had been transferred into his hands. Proclaiming 
 his letter of credence by sound of trumpet, he arrested 
 various public officers, and invited every one to come for 
 ward boldly and state his wrongs and grievances. 
 
 8. He even intimated that the admiral was keeping at 
 a distance through consciousness of guilt, and threaten 
 ed to set off at the head of a body of horse to arrest him. 
 The whole community was in confusion : the downfall 
 of the famil y of Columbus was predicted : some thought 
 the admiral would lose his head. 
 
 9. The news of the arrival, and of the insolent con 
 duct of Aguado, reached Columbus in the interior of the 
 island, and he immediately hastened to Isahella to give 
 him a meeting. As every one knew the lofty spirit of 
 the admiral, and his jealous maintenance of official dig 
 nity, a violent explosion was anticipated at the interview. 
 
 10. The natural heat and impetuosity of Columbus, 
 
OF COLUMBUS. Ill 
 
 however, had been subdued by a life of trials, and he had 
 learnt to bring his passions into subjection to his judg 
 ment ; he had too true an estimate of his own dignity to 
 enter into a contest with a shallow boaster like Aguado : 
 above all, he had a profound reverence for the authority 
 of his sovereigns. 
 
 11. He received Aguado, therefore, with the most 
 grave and punctilious courtesy, ordered his letter of cre 
 dence to be again proclaimed by sound of trumpet, and 
 assured him of his readiness to acquiesce in whatever 
 might be the pleasure of his sovereigns. 
 
 1*2. The moderation of Columbus was regarded by 
 many, and by Aguado himself, as a proof of his loss of 
 moral courage. Every dastard spirit who had any lurk 
 ing ill will, now hastened to give it utterance ; every one 
 who ha.d by negligence or crime incurred the wholesome 
 penalties of the laws, was loud in his clamours of oppres 
 sion ; and all the ills of the colony, however produced, 
 were ascribed to the mal-administration of the admiral. 
 
 13. Aguado listened to every accusation with ready 
 credulity, and having collected information sufficient, as 
 he thought, to ensure the ruin of the admiral and his bro 
 thers, prepared to return to Spain. Columbus resolved 
 to do the same ; for he felt that it was time to appear at 
 court, and vindicate his conduct from the misrepresenta 
 tions of his enemies. 
 
 14. When the ships were ready to depart, the island 
 was swept by one of those awful whirlwinds which occa 
 sionally rage within the tropics, and which were called 
 hurricanes by the Indians, a name which they still retain. 
 Three of the ships at anchor in the harbour were sunk, 
 with all who were on board ; others were dashed against 
 each other, and driven mere wrecks upon the shore. 
 
 15. The Indians were overwhelmed with dismay, for 
 never in their memory, or in the traditions of their ances 
 tors, had there been known so tremendous a storm. They 
 believed that the Deity had sent it in punishment of the 
 cruelties and crimes of the white men, and declared that 
 this people moved the very air, the water, and the earth, 
 to disturb their tranquil life, and to desolate their is and. 
 
 16. The departure of Columbus, and of Aguado, was 
 
112 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 delayed until one of the shattered vessels could be re 
 paired, and another constructed out of the fragments of 
 the wrecks. In the mean time, an important event oc 
 curred. 
 
 17. A young Arragonian, named Miguel Diaz, in the 
 service of the Adelantado, having wounded a companion 
 in a quarrel, fled from the settlement, accompanied by 
 five or six comrades. Wandering about the island, they 
 carne to an Indian village, on the banks of the Ozema, 
 where the city of San Domingo is at present situated. 
 
 18. The village was governed by a female cacique, 
 who conceived a strong affection for the young Arrago 
 nian, and they lived for some time very happily together. 
 At length the remembrance of his country and his friends 
 began to haunt the mind of the Spaniard ; he longed to 
 return to the settlement, but dreaded the austere justice 
 of the Adelantado. 
 
 19. His Indian bride observing him frequently lost in 
 gloomy thought, drew from him the cause of his melan 
 choly. Fearful that he would abandon her, and knowing 
 the influence of gold over the white men, she informed 
 him of certain rich mines in the neighbourhood, and urged 
 him to persuade his countrymen to remove to the fertile 
 banks of the Ozema, promising that they should be hospi 
 tably received by her nation. 
 
 20. Diaz hastened with this intelligence to the settle 
 ment, flattering himself that it would make his peace 
 with his commanders. He waG not mistaken. iVo tidings 
 could have come more opportunely, for if true, they would 
 furnish the admiral with the best means of re-establishing 
 himself in the favour of his sovereigns. 
 
 21. The Adelantado was immediately despatched with 
 Diaz and his Indian guides, to ascertain the truth. He 
 soon returned with rich specimens of gold, which he had 
 found in great quantities on .the banks of a river called 
 the Hayna ; and he told of excavations where it appear 
 ed as if mines had been worked in ancient tim^s. 
 
 22. Columbus was overjoyed at the sight of the speci 
 mens, and surprised to hear of the excavations, as the 
 Indians possessed no knowledge of mining, and merely 
 picked up the gold from the surface of the soil, or the 
 
OP COLUMBUS. 
 
 113 
 
 beds of the rivers. The circumstance gave rise to one 
 of his usual veins of visionary speculation. 
 
 23. He had already surmised that Hispaniola might 
 be the ancient Ophir ; he now fancied he had discovered 
 the identical mines from whence King Solomon had pro 
 cured his great supplies of gold for the building of the 
 temple of Jerusalem. He gave orders that a fortress 
 should be immediately erected in the vicinity of the 
 mines, and that they should be diligently worked ; and 
 he now looked forward with confidence to his return to 
 Spain, the bearer of such golden tidings. 
 
 24. It may not be uninteresting to mention, that Mi 
 guel Diaz remained faithful to his Indian bride, who was 
 baptized by the name of Catalina. They were regularly 
 married, and had two children. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Return of Columbus to Spain. Preparations for a third 
 Voyage. [1496.] 
 
 1. THE new caravel being finished, and the shattered 
 one repaired, Columbus embarked in one, and Aguado 
 in the other. Don Bartholomew remained in command 
 of the island, with the title of Adelantado. The vessels 
 were crowded with two hundred and twenty -five passen 
 gers, the sick, the idle, the profligate and factious of the 
 colony. Never did a more miserable and disappointed 
 crew return from a land of promise. 
 
 2. There were thirty Indians also on board, and among 
 them the once redoubtable Caonabo, together with one 
 of his brothers, and a nephew. The admiral had pro 
 mised to restore them to their country and their power, 
 after having presented them to the sovereigns ; trusting 
 by kind treatment, and a display of the wonders of Spain, 
 to conquer their hostility, and convert them into impor 
 tant instruments for the quiet subjugation of the island. 
 
 3. Being as yet but little experienced in the naviga 
 tion of these seas, Columbus, instead of working up to 
 
 10* 
 
114 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 the northward, so as to fall in with the track of westerly 
 winds, took an easterly course on leaving the island. 
 His voyage, in consequence, became a toilsome and te 
 dious struggle against the trade winds and calms which 
 prevail between the tropics. Though he sailed on the 
 10th of March, yet on the 6th of April he was stilHn the 
 vicinity of the Caribbee islands, and had to touch at 
 Gaudaloupe to procure provisions. 
 
 4. Here skirmishes occurred with the fierce natives, 
 both male and female ; for the women were perfect 
 amazons, of large and powerful frame and great agility. 
 Several of the latter were taken prisoners. Among them 
 was the wife of a cacique, a woman, of a proud and reso 
 lute spirit. 
 
 5. On the approach of the Spaniards she fled with an 
 agility that soon distanced all pursuers, excepting a na 
 tive of the Canary islands, noted for swiftness of foot. 
 She would have escaped even from him, but perceiving 
 that he was alone, and far from his companions, she sud 
 denly turned upon him, seized him by the throat, and 
 would have strangled him, had not the Spaniards arrived 
 and taken her, entangled like a hawk with her prey. 
 
 6. When Columbus departed from the island, he dis 
 missed all the prisoners with presents. The female 
 cacique alone refused to go on shore. She had conceived 
 a passion for Caonabo, having found out that he was a 
 Carib, and she had been won by the story, gathered from 
 the other Indians, of his great valour and his misfortunes. 
 In the course of the voyage, however, the unfortunate 
 Caonabo expired. 
 
 7. The fate of this savage chieftain affords, in a nar 
 row scale, a picture of the fallacy of human greatness. 
 When the Spaniards first arrived on the coast of Hayti, 
 their imaginations were inflamed by rumours, representing 
 him as a magnificent prince among the mountains, the 
 lord of the golden house, the sovereign of the mines of 
 Cibao ; but a short time had elapsed, and he was a naked 
 and moody prisoner on the deck of one of their caravels, 
 with none but one of his own wild native heroines to 
 sympathize in his misfortunes. 
 
 8. All his importance vanished with his freedom; 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 115 
 
 scarce any mention is made of him during 1 his captivity ; 
 and with innate qualities of a high and heroic nature, he 
 perished with the obscurity of one of the vulgar. He 
 maintained, however, his haughty nature to the last, for 
 his o^ath is principally ascribed to the morbid melancholy 
 of a proud and broken spirit. 
 
 9. Columbus left Guadaloupe on the 20th of April, 
 still working his way against the whole current of the 
 trade winds. By the 20th of May, every one was put on 
 an allowance of six ounces of bread, and a pint and a half 
 of water. By the beginning of June there was an ab 
 solute famine on board, and some proposed that they 
 should kill and eat their Indian prisoners, or throw them 
 into the sea as so many useless mouths. Nothing but 
 the absolute authority of Columbus prevented this last 
 counsel from being adopted. 
 
 10. On the llth of June the vessels anchored in the 
 bay of Cadiz. The populace crowded to witness the 
 landing of the gay and bold adventurers, who had sailed 
 from this very port animated by the -most sanguine 
 expectations. 
 
 11. Instead, however, of a joyous crew, bounding on 
 shore, flushed with success, and rich with the spoils of 
 the golden Indies, a feeble train of wretched men crawled 
 forth ; who carried in their yellow countenances, says an 
 old writer, a mockery of that gold which had been the 
 object of. their search ; and who had nothing to relate of 
 the new world but tales of sickness, poverty, and dis 
 appointment. 
 
 12. The appearance of Columbus himself was a kind 
 of comment on his fortunes. Either considering himself 
 in disgrace with the sovereigns, or having made some 
 penitential vow, he was clad in the habit of a Francis 
 can monk, girded with a cord, and he had suffered his 
 beard to grow like the friars of that order. 
 
 13. But however humble he might be in his own per 
 sonal appearance, he endeavoured to keep alive the pub 
 lic interest in his discoveries. On his way to Burgos to 
 to meet the sovereigns, he made a studious display of the 
 coronets, collars, bracelets, and other ornaments of gold, 
 which he had brought from the new world. He carried 
 
116 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 with him, also, several Indians, decorated with glittering- 
 ornaments, and among them the brother of Caonabo, on 
 whom he put a massive collar and chain of gold, as 
 cacique of the golden country of Cibao. 
 
 14. The reception of Columbus by the sovereigns was 
 different from what he had anticipated, for he was treated 
 with distinguished favour ; nor was any mention made 
 either of the complaints of Margarite and Boyle, or the 
 judicial inquiries conducted by Aguado. The sovereigns 
 were too conscious of his great deserts, and of the ex 
 traordinary difficulties of his situation, not to tolerate 
 what they may have considered errors on his part. 
 
 15. Encouraged bv the interest with which they listen 
 ed to his account of his recent voyages, Columbus now 
 proposed a further enterprise, by which he promised to 
 make yet more extensive discoveries. All he asked was 
 eight ships, two to be despatched to Hispaniola with 
 supplies, the remaining six to be put under his command 
 for the voyage. 
 
 16. The sovereigns readily promised to comply with 
 his request ; but the resources of Spain at this moment 
 were tasked to the utmost by widely extended operations, 
 both of war and amity, which drained the treasury and 
 engrossed the thoughts of the sovereigns. 
 
 17. It was not until the spring of 1497 that Isabella 
 could find leisure to enter fully into the concerns of the 
 
 new world. She then took them up with a spirit that 
 showed she was determined to place them upon a sub 
 stantial foundation. 
 
 18. As the expenses of the expeditions had hitherto 
 exceeded the returns, Columbus was relieved of his eighth 
 part of the cost of the past enterprises, and allowed an 
 eighth of the gross proceeds for the next three years, and 
 a tenth of the net profits. 
 
 19. He was* allowed also to establish a mayorazgo in 
 his family, that is to say, a hereditary estate, devolving 
 to the eldest son. In availing himself of this privilege, 
 he enjoined it upon his hereditary successors never to 
 use any other title in signature than simply "The 
 Admiral." 
 
 20. The titles and prerogatives of Adelantado were 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 117 
 
 likewise conferred upon Don Bartholemew, though the 
 king had at first been displeased with Columbus for in 
 vesting his brother with dignities which were only in the 
 gift of the sovereign. 
 
 21. The precise number of persons was fixed who 
 were to be sent to Hispaniola, among whom were seve 
 ral females ; regulations were made for their payment 
 and support, and for the distribution of lands among- 
 them. The greatest care was enjoined, likewise, by Isa 
 bella, in the religious instruction of the natives, and the 
 utmost lenity in collecting the tributes impodod upon 
 them. With respect to the government of tLe colony, 
 also, it was generally recommended that there should be 
 a disposition to indulgent and easy rule. 
 
 22. When every intention was thus shown on the 
 part of the crown to despatch the expedition, unexpected 
 difficulties arose on the part of the public. The charm 
 was dispelled, which had once made every adventurer 
 crowd into the service of Columbus"; the new world, in 
 stead of a region of wealth and enjoyment, was now con 
 sidered a land of poverty and disaster. 
 
 23. To supply the want of voluntary recruits, there 
 fore, Columbus proposed to transport to Hispaniola, for a 
 limited term of years, all criminals condemned to banish 
 ment or the galleys, excepting such as had committed 
 crimes of an atrocious nature ; a pernicious measure, 
 which proved a fruitful source of misery and disaster to 
 the colony. 
 
 24. Notwithstanding all these expedients, it was not 
 until the beginning of 1498 that the two ships were de 
 spatched to Hispaniola, under the command of Pedro 
 Fernandez Coronal. A still further delay occurred in 
 fitting out the six ships that were to bear Columbus on 
 his voyage of discovery. 
 
 25. His cold-blooded enemy Fonseca, who was now 
 bishop of Badajoz, having the superintendence of Indian 
 affairs, was enabled to impede and retard all his plans. 
 The various officers and agents employed in the concerns 
 of the armament, were most of them dependents and 
 minions of the bishop, and sought to gratify him, by 
 throwing all kinds of difficulties in the way of Columbus, 
 
118 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 26. The insolence of these worthless men harassed 
 him to the last moment of his sojourn in Spain, and fol 
 lowed him to the water s edge. The most noisy and 
 presuming was one Ximeno de Breviesca, treasurer of 
 Fonseca, a converted Jew or Moor, and a man of impu 
 dent front and unbridled tongue. 
 
 27. As Columbus was on the point of embarking, he was 
 assailed by the insolence of this Ximeno. Forgetting, 
 in the hurry and indignation of the moment, his usual 
 self-command, he struck the despicable minion to the 
 earth, and spurned him with his foot, venting in this un 
 guarded paroxysm the accumulated griefs and vexations 
 which had long rankled in his heart. 
 
 28. This transport of passion, so unusual in his well- 
 go vurned temper, was artfully adduced by Fonseca, and 
 others of his enemies, as a flagrant instance of vindictive 
 temper, and a corroboration of the charges of cruelty and 
 oppression sent home from the colony. 
 
 29. Columbus himself foresaw the invidious use that 
 would be made of it. It would be difficult to make, with 
 equal brevity, a more direct and affecting appeal than 
 that contained in one of his letters, wherein he alludes to 
 this affair. He entreats the sovereigns not to let it be 
 wrested to his injury in their opinion ; but to remember, 
 when any thing should be said to his disparagement, that 
 he was " absent, envied, and a stranger." 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Discovery of Trinidad and the Coast of Pdria. Arrival 
 at San Domingo. [1498.] 
 
 1. ON the 30th of May, Columbus set sail from the 
 port of San Lucar de Barrameda, with a squadron of six 
 vessels, on his third voyage of discovery. From various 
 considerations, he was induced to take a different route 
 from that pursued in his former expeditions. He had 
 been assured by persons who had traded to the east, 
 that the rarest objects of commerce, such as gold, pre- 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 119 
 
 cious stones, drugs, and spices, were chiefly to be found 
 in the regions about, the equator, where the inhabitants 
 were black, or darkly coloured ; and that, until he arrived 
 among people of such complexions, it was not probable 
 he would find those articles in great abundance. 
 
 2. Columbus recollected that the natives of Hispaniola 
 had spoken of black men who had once come to their 
 island from the south, the heads of whose javelins were 
 of guanin, or adulterated gold. The natives of the Ca- 
 ribbee islands, also, had informed him that a great tract 
 of the main land lay to the south ; and in his preceding 
 voyage he had remarked that Cuba, which he supposed to 
 be the continent of Asia, swept off in that direction. 
 
 3. He proposed, therefore, to take his departure from 
 the Cape de Verde islands, sailing to the south-west until 
 he should come under the equinoctial line, then to steer 
 directly westward, with the favour of the trade winds. 
 
 4. Having touched at the islands of Porto Santo and 
 Madeira, to take in wood and water, he continued his 
 course to the Canary islands, from whence he despatched 
 three of his ships direct for Hispaniola, with supplies for 
 the colony. With the remaining three he prosecuted 
 his voyage towards the Cape de Verde islands. The 
 ship in which he sailed was decked, the other two were 
 merchant caravels. 
 
 5. On the 5th of July, he took his departure from the 
 Cape de Verde islands, and steered to the south-west 
 until he arrived, according to his observations, in the fifth 
 degree of north latitude. Here the wind suddenly fell, 
 and a dead sultry calm succeeded. The air was like a 
 furnace, the tar melted from the sides of the ships, the 
 seams yawned, the salt meat became putrid, some of the 
 wine and water casks burst, and the mariners lost aD 
 strength and spirits. 
 
 6. For a part of the time, the heavens became over 
 cast, and there were drizzling showers, but the atmos 
 phere was close and stifling. A continuation of this 
 Weather, together with the remonstrances of his crew, 
 and his extreme suffering from the gout, ultimately in 
 duced Columbus to alter his route, and stand to the 
 north-west, in hopes of falling in with the Caribbee 
 
120 LIFE AND VOYAGE 
 
 islands, where he might repair his ships, and obtain wa 
 ter and provisions. 
 
 7. After sailing- some distance in this direction, the 
 ships all at once emerged into a genial atmosphere ; a 
 pleasant cooling breeze played over the sea, and gently 
 filled their sails ; the sky became serene and clear, and 
 the sun shone forth with all its splendour, but no longer 
 with a burning heat. 
 
 8. On the 31st of July, when there was not above a 
 cask of water remaining in each ship, a mariner, named 
 Alonzo Perez, descried, from the mast-head, three moun 
 tains rising above the horizon : as the ships drew nearer, 
 these mountains proved to be united at the base. Co 
 lumbus, therefore, from a religious association of ideas, 
 gave this island the name of La Trinidad, (or the Trini 
 ty,) which it continues to bear at the present day. 
 
 9. Shaping his course for this island, he coasted along 
 the southern shore, and beheld land to the south, stretch 
 ing to the distance of more than twenty leagues. It was 
 that low tract of coast intersected by the numerous 
 branches of the Orinoco ; but the admiral, supposing it 
 to be an island, gave it the name of La Isla Santa ; little 
 imagining that he now, for the first time, beheld the main 
 land which had been the object of his earnest search. 
 
 10. For several days he coasted the island of Trinidad, 
 and explored the great gulf of Paria, which lies behind 
 it, fancying himself among islands, and that he must find 
 a passage to the open ocean, by keeping to the bottom 
 of the gulf. During this time, he was nearly swept from 
 his anchors and thrown on shore by a sudden rush and 
 swell of the sea, near Point Arenal, caused, as is sup 
 posed, by the swelling of one of the rivers which flow 
 into the gulf. He landed on the inside of the long pro 
 montory of Paria, which he mistook for an island, and 
 had various interviews with the natives, from whom he 
 procured great quantities of pearls, many of a fine size 
 and quality. 
 
 11. There were several phenomena that surprised and 
 perplexed Columbus in the course of his voyage along 
 this coast, and which gave rise to speculations, some in 
 genious and others fanciful. He was astonished at the 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 121 
 
 vast body of fresh water continually flowing- into the gulf 
 of Paria, so as apparently to sweeten the whole surround 
 ing 1 sea, and at the constant current which set through 
 it, which he supposed to be produced by some great river. 
 -12. He remarked, with wondering, also the difference 
 between the climate, vegetation, and people of these 
 coasts, and those of the same parallel in Africa. There 
 the heat was insupportable, and the land parched and 
 sterile ; the inhabitants were black, with crisped wool, 
 ill shapen, and of dull and brutal natures. 
 
 13. Here, on the contrary, although the sun was in 
 Leo, he found the noon-tide heat moderate, the mornings 
 and evenings fresh and cool, the country green and fruit- 
 ful, covered with beautiful forests, and watered by innu 
 merable streams and fountains ; the people fairer than 
 even those in the lands he had discovered further north, 
 with long hair, well proportioned and graceful forms, 
 lively minds, and courageous spirits. 
 
 14. In respect to the vast body of fresh water, he 
 made one of his simple and great conclusions. Such a 
 mighty stream could not be produced by an island ; it 
 must be the outpouring of a continent. He now suppo 
 sed that the various tacts of land which he had beheld 
 about the gulf were connected together, and continued 
 to an immense distance to the south, far beyond the? 
 equator, into that hemisphere hitherto unknown to civ 
 ilized man. 
 
 15. As to the mild temperature of the climate, tho 
 fresh verdure of the country, and the comparative fair 
 ness of the inhabitants, in a parallel so near to the equa 
 tor, he attributed it to the superior elevation of this part 
 of the globe ; for, from a variety of circumstances, inge 
 niously but erroneously reasoned upon, he inferred, tiiat 
 philosophers had been mistaken in the form of the earth, 
 which, instead of being a perfect sphere, he now con 
 cluded to be shaped like a pear, one part more elevated 
 than the rest, rising into the purer regions of the air, above 
 the heats, and frosts, and storms of the lower parts of 
 the earth. 
 
 16. He imagined this apex to be situated about the 
 equinoctial line, in the interior of this vast continent, 
 
 11 
 
122 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 which he considered the extremity of the east ; that on 
 this summit, as it were, of the earth, was situated the 
 terrestrial paradise ; and that the vast stream of fresh 
 water, which poured into the gulf of Paria, issued from 
 the fountain of the tree of life, in the midst of the garden 
 of Eden. 
 
 17. Extravagant as this speculation may seem at the 
 present day, it was grounded on the writings of the most 
 sage and learned men of those times, among whom the 
 situation of the terrestrial paradise had long been a sub 
 ject of discussion and controversy, and by several of 
 whom it was supposed to be on a vast mountain, in the 
 remote parts of the east. 
 
 18. Columbus would gladly have followed up his dis 
 covery, not doubting but that the country would increase 
 in the valae of its productions as he approached the equa 
 tor. The sea-stores of his ships, however, were almost 
 exhausted, and the various supplies with which they were 
 freighted for the colony were in danger of spoiling. 
 
 19. He was suffering also extremely in his health. 
 Besides the gout, which had rendered him a cripple for 
 the greater part of the voyage, he was afflicted by a com 
 plaint in his eyes, caused by fatigue and overwatching, 
 which almost deprived him of sight. He determined, 
 therefore, "to hasten to Hispamola, intending to repose 
 there from his fatigues, and recruit his health, while he 
 should send his brother, the Adelantado, to complete this 
 important discovery. 
 
 20. On the 14th of August, therefore, he left the gulf, 
 by a narrow strait between the promontory of Paria 
 and the island of Trinidad. This strait is beset with 
 small islands, where the current is so compressed as to 
 cause a turbulent sea, with great foaming and roaring, as 
 if rushing over rocks and shoals. The admiral conceiv 
 ed himself in imminent danger of shipwreck, when pass 
 ing through this strait, and gave it the name of La Boca 
 del Drago, or the Mouth of the Dragon. 
 
 21. After reconnoitering the coast to the westward, 
 and convincing himself of its being a continent, he bore 
 away for Hispaniola, for the river Ozema, where he had 
 instructed his brother to form a settlement in the neigh- 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 123 
 
 bourhood of the mines. He arrived, haggard, emaciated, 
 and almost blind, and was received with open arms by 
 the Adelantado. 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 Administration of the Adelantado. 
 
 1. COLUMBUS had anticipated a temporary repose from 
 his toils on arriving at Hispaniola ; but a new scene of 
 trouble and anxiety opened upon him, which was destined 
 to affect all his future fortunes. To explain this, it is 
 necessary to state the occurrences of the island during his 
 long detention in Spain. 
 
 2. When he sailed for Europe in March, 1496, his bro 
 ther, Don Bartholomew, immediately proceeded to ex 
 ecute his instructions with respect to the gold mines of 
 Hayna. He built a fortress in the neighbourhood, which 
 he named St. Cristoval, and another not far off , on the 
 eastern bank of the Ozema. This last fortress was called 
 San Domingo, and was the origin of the city which still 
 bears that name. 
 
 3. Having garrisoned these fortresses and made ar 
 rangements for working the mines, the indefatigable 
 Adelantado set out to visit the dominions of Behechio, 
 which had not as yet been reduced to obedience. This 
 cacique, as has been mentioned, reigned over Xaragua, a 
 province comprising almost the whole of the west end of 
 the island, including Cape Tiburon. It was one of the 
 most populous and fertile districts. 
 
 4. The inhabitants were finely formed, and had a noble 
 air, a more agreeable elocution, and more soft and grace 
 ful manners, than the natives of the other part of the 
 island. The Indians of Hayti generally pkced their 
 elysium, or paradise of happy spirits, in the delightful 
 valleys that bordered the great lake of Xaragua. 
 
 5. With Behechio resided his sister, the widow of the 
 late formidable Caonabo, one of the most beautiful females 
 in the island, of great natural grace and dignity, and su- 
 
124 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 perior intelligence. Her name was Anacaona, which in 
 the Indian language signified Golden Flower. She had 
 taken refuge with her brother, after the capture and ruin 
 of her husband, but appears never to have entertained 
 any vindictive feelings against the Spaniards. On the 
 contrary, she counselled her brother, over whom she had 
 great influence, to take warning by the fate of her hus 
 band, and to conciliate their friendship. 
 
 6. Don Bartholomew entered the province of Xaragua 
 at the head of an armed band, putting his cavalry in the 
 advance, and marching with banners displayed, and the 
 sound of drum and trumpet. Behechio met him with a 
 numerous force, but being assured that he came merely 
 on a friendly visit, he dismissed his army, and conducted 
 the Adelantado to his residence in a large town, near the 
 deep bay called at present the Bight of Leagon. 
 
 7. Thirty young females, of the cacique s household, 
 beautifully formed, came forth to meet them, waving palm 
 branches, and dancing and singing their areytos or tra 
 ditionary ballads. When they came before Don Bar 
 tholomew, they knelt and laid their palm branches at 
 his feet. 
 
 8. After these came the beautiful Anacaona, reclining 
 on a litter, borne by six Indians. She was lightly clad 
 in a robe of various coloured cotton, with a garland of red 
 and white flowers round her head, and wreaths of the 
 same round her neck and arms. She received the Ade 
 lantado with that natural grace and courtesy for which 
 she was celebrated. 
 
 9. For several days Don Bartholomew was entertained 
 by the cacique and his sister with banquets, national 
 games and dances, and other festivities ; then, having 
 arranged for a periodical tribute to be paid in cotton, 
 hemp, and cassava bread, he took a friendly leave, and 
 set out with his little army for Isabella. 
 
 10. He found the settlement in a sickly state, and suf 
 fering from a scarcity of provisions ; he distributed, 
 therefore, all that were too feeble to labour or bear arms 
 into the interior, where they might have better air and 
 more abundant food ; and at the same time he established 
 a chain of fortresses between Isabella and San Domingo. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 125 
 
 11. Insurrections broke out among the natives of the 
 vega, caused by their impatience of tribute, by the out 
 rages of some of the Spaniards, and by a severe punish 
 ment inflicted on certain Indians for the alleged viola 
 tion of a chapel. Guarionex, a man naturally moderate 
 and pacific, was persuaded by his brother caciques to 
 take up arms, and a combination was formed among 
 them to rise suddenly upon the Spaniards, massacre 
 them, and destroy Fort Conception, which was situated 
 in the vega. 
 
 12. By some means the garrison received intimation 
 of the conspiracy. They immediately wrote a letter to 
 the Adelantado imploring prompt assistance. How to 
 convey the letter in safety was an anxious question, for 
 the natives had discovered that these letters had a won 
 derful power of communicating intelligence, and fancied 
 that they could talk. 
 
 13. An Indian undertook to be the bearer of it. He 
 enclosed it in a staff, and set out on his journey. Being 
 intercepted, he pretended to be dumb and lame, leaning on 
 his staff for support. He was suffered to depart, and limp 
 ed forward until out of sight, when he resumed his speed, 
 and bore the letter safely to San Domingo. 
 
 14. The Adelantado, with his accustomed promptness, 
 set out with a body of troops for the fortress. By a 
 rapid and well concerted stratagem he surprised the 
 leaders in the night, in a village in which they were 
 sleeping, and carried them all off captive, seizing upon 
 Guarionex with his own hand. He punished two 
 caciques, the principal conspirators, with death, and 
 pardoned all the rest. Finding, moreover, that Guario 
 nex had been chiefly incited to hostility by an outrage 
 committed by a Spaniard on his favourite wife, he inflict 
 ed punishment on the offender. 
 
 15. The heart of Guarionex was subdued by the unex 
 pected clemency of the Adelantado, and he made a 
 speech to his subjects in praise of the Spaniards. They 
 listened to him with attention, and when he had con 
 cluded, bore him off on their shoulders with songs and 
 shouts of joy, and for some time the tranquillity of the 
 vega was restored. 
 
 11* 
 
126 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 16. About this time, receiving information from Be- 
 hechio, cacique of Xaragua, that his tribute in cotton and 
 provisions was ready for delivery, the Adelantado march 
 ed there, at the head of his forces, to receive it. So 
 large a quantity of cotton and cassava bread was collect 
 ed together, that Don Bartholomew had to send to the 
 settlement of Isabella for a caravel to be freighted with it. 
 
 17. In the mean time, the .utmost kindness was lavish 
 ed upon their guests by these gentle and generous peo 
 ple. The troubles which distracted the other parts of 
 devoted Hayti had not yet reached this pleasant region ; 
 and when the Spaniards regarded the fertility and sweet 
 ness of the country, bordering on a tranquil sea, the 
 kindness of the inhabitants, and the beauty of the women, 
 they pronounced it a perfect paradise. 
 
 18. When the caravel arrived, it was regarded by An- 
 acaona and her brother with awe arid wonder. Behechio 
 visited it with his canoes ; but his sister, with her female 
 attendants, were conveyed on board in the boat of the 
 Adelantado. As they approached, the caravel fired a 
 salute. At the sound of the cannon, and the sight of 
 volumes of smoke, bursting from the sides of the ship 
 and rolling along the sea, Anacaona, overcome with dis 
 may, fell into the arms of the Adelantado, and her at 
 tendants would have leaped overboard, but were reassured 
 by the cheerful words of Don Bartholomew. 
 
 19. As they drew nearer the vessel, several instruments 
 of martial music struck up, with which they were greatly 
 delighted. Their admiration increased on entering on 
 board ; but when the anchor was weighed, the sails filled 
 by a gentle breeze, and they beheld this vast mass veer 
 ing from side to side, . apparently by its own will, and 
 playing like a huge monster on the deep, the brother and 
 sister remained gazing at each other in mute astonish 
 ment. Nothing seems ever to have filled the mind of the 
 savage with more wonder than that beautiful triumph of 
 human ingenuity a ship under sail. 
 
 20. While the Adelantado was thus absent quelling 
 insurrections, and making skilful arrangements for the 
 prosperity of the colony, new mischiefs were fermenting 
 :n the factious settlement of Isabella. The prime mover 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 127 
 
 was Francisco Roldan, a man who had been raised by 
 Columbus from poverty and obscurity, and appointed 
 alcalde mayor, or chief judge of the island. 
 
 21. He was an uneducated man, but of strong natural 
 talents, great assiduity, and intrepid impudence. He 
 had seen his benefactor return to Spain, apparently un 
 der a cloud of disgrace, and, considering him a fallen 
 man, began to devise how he might profit by his down 
 fall. He was intrusted with an office inferior only to 
 that of the Adelantado ; the brothers of Columbus were 
 highly unpopular ; he imagined it possible to ruin them, 
 both with the colonists and with the government at home, 
 and by dexterous management to work his way into a 
 command of the colony. 
 
 22. For this purpose he mingled among the common 
 people, threw out suggestions that the admiral w r as in 
 disgrace, and would never return ; railed at the Ade 
 lantado and Don Diego as foreigners, who took no in 
 terest in their welfare, but used them merely as slaves 
 to build houses and fortresses for them, or to swell their 
 state, and secure their power, as they marched about 
 the island, enriching themselves with the spoils of the 
 caciques. 
 
 23. By these seditious insinuations, he exasperated 
 their feelings to such a degree, that they at one time 
 formed a conspiracy to assassinate the Adelantado, but 
 it was happily disconcerted by accident. 
 
 24. When the caravel returned from Xaragua, laden 
 with provisions, it was dismantled by order of Don Diego, 
 and drawn up on the beach. Roldan immediately seized 
 upon this circumstance to awaken new suspicions. He 
 said the true reason for dismantling the caravel was to 
 prevent any one from returning in it to Spain, to repre 
 sent the oppressions under which they suffered. He ad 
 vised them to launch and take possession of the vessel, 
 as the only means of regaining their independence. 
 
 25. Don Diego, who was of a pacific nature, and defi 
 cient in energy, endeavoured to divert Roldan from his 
 schemes by sending him with a small force to overawe 
 the Indians of the vega ; but it was only putting weapons 
 in the hands of rebellion. 
 
128 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 26. Roldan found himself at the head of seventy well 
 armed and resolute men, disposed to go all lengths wit i 
 him. He made friends and partisans also among the 
 discontented caciques, and then, throwing off the mask, 
 openly set the Adelantado and Don Diego at defiance. 
 
 27. They had no authority, he said, from the crown, 
 but had been appointed by their brother, the admiral, who 
 was himself in disgrace. For his own part, he always 
 pretended to act in his official capacity, and from loyal 
 motives. Having endeavoured repeatedly to launch the 
 caravel, but in vain, he broke open the royal stores and 
 supplied his followers with arms, .clothing, and provi 
 sions ; every outrageous act of the kind being accompa 
 nied with shouts of " Long live the King." 
 
 28. He now marched off to the vega, and attempted 
 to surprise and get possession of Fort Conception. He 
 was happily foiled by its commander, Miguel Ballester, 
 a stanch old soldier, both resolute and wary, who kept 
 Roldan at bay, and sent tidings of his danger to Don 
 Bartholomew. 
 
 29. The Adelantado threw himself with what forces 
 he could collect, into the fortress, where he was held in 
 a state of siege by Roldan, who had gained popularity 
 among the Indians and the dissolute Spaniards, by re 
 presenting himself as the redresser of wrongs, and cham 
 pion of the injured. 
 
 30. The affairs of the island were now in a lamenta 
 ble situation. The Indians ceased to send in their tri 
 butes, and threw off allegiance to the government. Rol- 
 dan s band daily gained strength, and ranged insolently 
 about the country ; while the Spaniards, who remained 
 loyal, fearing conspiracies among the natives, kept under 
 shelter of the forts. Munitions of all kinds were rapidly 
 wasting, and the spirits of the well-affected were sinking 
 into despondency. The Adelantado himself remained 
 shut up in Fort Conception, doubtful of the fidelity of his 
 own garrison, and secretly informed of plots to capture 
 or destroy him, should he venture abroad. 
 
 31. At this critical juncture, the arrival of two ships, 
 under command of Pedro Hernandez Coronal, at the port 
 of San Domingo, with troops and provisions, strengthen. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 129 
 
 ed the hands of Don Bartholomew. The royal confir 
 mation of his title and authority of Adelantado at once 
 put an end to all question of the legitimacy of his power, 
 and secured the fidelity of his soldiers ; and the tidings 
 that the admiral was in high favour at court, and on the 
 point of coming out with a powerful squadron, struck 
 consternation into the rebels. 
 
 32. The Adelantado immediately hastened to San Do 
 mingo, nor was there any attempt made to molest him 
 on his march. When he found himself once more secure, 
 his magnanimity prevailed over his indignation, and he 
 sent Pedro Hernandez Coronal, to offer Roldan and his 
 band amnesty for all offences, on condition of instant 
 obedience. 
 
 33. When Coronal approached the encampment of 
 the rebels, he was opposed in a narrow pass by a body of 
 archers with their crossbows levelled. " Halt there, trai 
 tor!" cried Roldan, "had you arrived eight days later, 
 we should all have been united." It was in vain that 
 Coronal endeavoured to win this turbulent man from his 
 career. He professed to oppose only the tyranny and 
 misrule of the Adelantado, but to be ready to submit to 
 the admiral on his arrival, and he and his principal con 
 federates wrote letters to that effect to their friends in 
 San Domingo. 
 
 34. When Coronal returned with accounts of Rol dan s 
 contumacy, the Adelantado proclaimed him and his fol 
 lowers traitors. That shrewd rebel, however, did not 
 suffer his men to remain within the reach either of pro 
 mise or menace. He proposed to them to march off, and 
 establish themselves in the remote province of Xaragua. 
 
 35. In this delightful region, emancipated from the 
 iron rule of the Adelantado, and relieved from the ne 
 cessity of irksome labour, they might lead, he said, a life 
 of perfect freedom and indulgence, with a world of 
 beauty at their command. In short, Roldan drew a 
 picture of loose sensual enjoyment, such as he knew to 
 be irresistible with men of idle and dissolute habits. His 
 followers acceded with joy to his proposition ; so, putting 
 himself at their head, he marched away for Xaragua, 
 where he was kindly received by the natives. 
 
130 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 36. Scarcely had the rebels departed, when fresh in* 
 eurrections broke out among- the Indians of the vega. 
 The cacique Guarionex, moved by the instigations of 
 Roldan, entered into a new league to destroy the Span 
 iards. The plot exploded before its time, and was de 
 feated ; and Guarionex fled to the mountains of Ciguay, 
 with his family, and a small band of faithful followers. 
 
 37. The inhabitants of these mountains were the most 
 robust and hardy tribe of the island, and the same who 
 had skirmished with the Spaniards in the Gulf of Sama- 
 na, in the course of the first voyage of Columbus. The 
 reader may remember the frank and confiding faith with 
 which their cacique trusted himself on board of the cara 
 vel of the admiral, the day after the skirmish. It was to 
 this same cacique, named Mayonabex, that the fugitive 
 chieftain of the vega applied for refuge, and he received 
 a promise of protection. 
 
 38. Indignant at finding his former clemency of no 
 avail, the Adelantado pursued Guarionex to the moun 
 tains at the head of ninety men, a few cavalry, and a body 
 of Indians. They had to climb rocks, wade rivers, and 
 make their way through tangled forests, almost imper 
 vious to men, encumbered with targets, crossbows, and 
 lances. Ambushes of Indians, also, would rush forth 
 with furious yells, discharge their weapons, and take re 
 fuge again among rocks and thickets, where it was in 
 vain to follow them. 
 
 39. Don Bartholomew arrived, at length, in the neigh 
 bourhood of the residence of Mayonabex, and sent a mes 
 senger, demanding the surrender of Guarionex, promising 
 friendship in case of compliance, but threatening fire 
 and sword, in case of refusal. 
 
 40. " Tell the Spaniards," said the cacique, in reply, 
 "that they are tyrants, usurpers, and shedders of inno 
 cent blood, and I desire not their friendship. Guarionex 
 is a good man, and my friend. He has fled to me for 
 refuge ; I have promised him protection, and I will keep 
 my word." 
 
 41. The cacique adhered to his promise with admira 
 ble faith. His villages were burnt, his territories were 
 ravaged, himself and his family driven to dens and caves 
 
OP COLUMBUS. 131 
 
 of the mountains, and his subjects assailed him with 
 clamours, urging him to give up the fugitive, who was 
 bringing such ruin upon their tribe. It was all in vain. 
 He was ready, he declared, to abide all evils, rather than 
 it should ever be said Mayonabex betrayed his guest. 
 
 42. For three months the Adelantado hunted these 
 caciques among the mountains, during which time he 
 and his soldiers were almost worn out with toil and hun 
 ger, and exposures of all kinds. The retreat of Mayoim- 
 bex was at length discovered. Twelve Spaniards, dis 
 guising themselves as Indians, and wrapping their 
 swords in palm leaves, came upon him secretly, and sur 
 prised and captured him, with his wife and children, and 
 a few attendants. 
 
 43. The Adelantado returned, with his prisoners, to 
 Fort Conception, where he afterwards released them all, 
 excepting the cacique, whom he detained as a hostage 
 for the submission of his tribe. 
 
 44. The unfortunate Guarionex still lurked among the 
 caverns of the mountains, but was driven, by hunger, to 
 venture down occasionally into the plain, in quest of food. 
 His haunts were discovered, he was waylaid and cap 
 tured by a party of Spaniards, and brought in chains to 
 Fort Conception, where he anticipated death from the 
 vengeance of the Adelantado. 
 
 45. Don Bartholomew, however, though stern in his 
 policy, was neither vindictive nor cruel ; he contented 
 himself with detaining him a prisoner, to ensure the tran 
 quillity of the vega ; and then returned to San Domingo, 
 where, shortly afterwards, he had the happiness of wel 
 coming the arrival of his brother, the admiral, after a 
 separation of nearly two years and a half. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Rebellion of Roldan. [1498.] 
 
 1. ONE of the first measures of Columbus, on his arri 
 val, was to issue a proclamation, approving all the mea- 
 
132 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 sures of the Adelantado, and denouncing- Roldan and his 
 associates. A circumstance had occurred to add to the 
 party and resources of that turbulent man. 
 
 2. The three caravels freighted with supplies, which 
 had been detached by Columbus when at the Canary 
 Islands, having 1 been carried far west of their reckoning 
 by the currents, arrived on the coast of Xaragua. Rol- 
 dan went on board, and, pretending to be in command 
 at that end of the island, succeeded in procuring a supply 
 of arms and military stores : numbers of the crews, also, 
 on being landed, deserted to the rebels, who received 
 them with shouts of exultation. 
 
 3. Discovering, though too late, the real character of 
 these men, and fearing further desertions, the comman 
 ders of the ships immediately put to sea. One alone, 
 named Carvajal, remained behind, and passed some days 
 with the rebels, endeavouring to recal them to their alle 
 giance. He represented to them that Columbus was 
 on his way from Spain with additional forces, and 
 would have the means of punishing them for their past 
 conduct. 
 
 4. His representations had their effect. Roldan pro 
 mised to repair to the neighbourhood of San Domingo, 
 the moment he heard of the arrival of Columbus, that he 
 might be at hand to state his grievances, and effect an 
 amicable arrangement. He kept this promise, and Co 
 lumbus had scarcely arrived, before the rebels began to 
 assemble in the village of Bonao, about twenty leagues 
 from San Domingo, -making their head quarters at the 
 house of one of the ringleaders, named Pedro Reguelme. 
 
 5. The admiral immediately sent an offer, of full par 
 don to Roldan, on condition of his return to duty ; and 
 proclaimed a free passage to all who wished to return to 
 Spain, in five ships ready to put to sea. His offer of 
 pardon was treated with contempt, and demands were 
 made of the most arrogant nature. 
 
 6. The admiral was disposed to march at once against 
 the rebels, and bring them to obedience by force of arms. 
 On mustering the men of San Domingo, however, not 
 above seventy appeared ; and of these above thirty ex 
 cused themselves from serving, under various pretexts. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 133 
 
 The true reason was, that most of them had relatives or 
 friends among the rebels. 
 
 7. Columbus now hastened to despatch the five ships 
 to Spain, in which he gave free passage to all who were 
 discontented and wished to return home. By these ships 
 he informed the sovereigns of the rebellion ; and, as 
 Roldan pretended that it was only a quarrel between him 
 and the Adelantado, Columbus begged that the matter 
 might be investigated by impartial persons. He also en 
 treated, that a man learned in the law might be appoint 
 ed as judge over the island. Roldan and his friends also 
 wrote by these ships, endeavouring to justify their con 
 duct by charging Columbus and his brothers with injus 
 tice, oppression, and various abuses. 
 
 8. The ships being despatched, Columbus resumed 
 his negotiations with the rebels. The burden of their 
 complaint having been the rigorous rtile of his brother, 
 he tried the alternative of lenient conduct. He wrote in 
 conciliating terms to Roldan, reminding him of past kind 
 nesses, and entreating him, for the sake of his own repu 
 tation, which stood well with the sovereigns, to return to 
 his duty. He, moreover, invited him and his companions 
 to come and treat with him at San Domingo, pledging 
 his word for their security. 
 
 9. Meetings took place, but without beneficial result. 
 Agreements were made and faithlessly broken by the 
 rebels, who felt their power, and increased in the inso 
 lence of their demands. 
 
 10. In the midst of his perplexities, Columbus receiv 
 ed from Spain a reply to the letter he had written on the 
 subject of the rebellion. It was penned by his invidious 
 enemy the Bishop Fonseca, and was of the most ungra 
 cious tenor, informing him that the matter must remain in 
 suspense until it could be investigated by the sovereigns. 
 
 11. This cold reply had a disheartening effect upon 
 Columbus, while it increased the confidence of the rebels, 
 who saw that his complaints had little weight with the 
 government. In their subsequent negotiations, Roldan 
 conducted more like a conqueror exacting terms, than a 
 delinquent seeking pardon. 
 
 12. The mind grows wearied with recording, and the 
 
 12 
 
134 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 generous heart must burn with indignation in perusing", 
 the story of this ineffectual struggle of a man like Co 
 lumbus in the toils of contemptible miscreants. 
 
 13. Surrounded by doubt and danger, a foreigner among 
 a jealous people, an unpopular commander in a mutinous 
 island, distrusted and slighted by the government he was 
 seeking to serve, he knew not where to look for faithful 
 advice, efficient aid, or candid judgment. He was fear 
 ful, too, of seditions among his own people, who talked 
 of following the example of the rebels, and seizing upon 
 the province of Higuey. 
 
 14. Thus critically situated, he was gradually con 
 strained to sign a humiliating capitulation with the 
 rebels ; giving them portions of land in different parts of 
 the island, and Indian slaves taken in the wars. 
 
 15. He made an arrangement, also, by which the ca 
 ciques in their vicinity, instead of paying tribute, should 
 furnish parties of their subjects, at stated times, to assist 
 them in cultivating their lands. These levies of free 
 Indians, as labourers, were called repariimientos, and 
 were afterwards generally adopted and shamefully abused 
 throughout the Spanish colonies, to the great oppression 
 and misery of the natives. 
 
 16. Several of the partisans of Roldan returned to 
 Spain in two caravels that were subsequently fitted out. 
 Some of them took home a number of the Indian slaves 
 that had been granted them by capitulation; oilers se 
 cretly carried away the daughters of caciques, whom 
 they had beguiled from their homes and families. These 
 misdeeds of profligate men, it will be found, wern after 
 wards wrested to matters of accusation against Columbus. 
 
 17. If Roldan was careful to obtain extravagant terms 
 for his followers, he was not more modest in his demands 
 for himself. His first stipulation was, that he should be 
 reinstated in the office of alcalde mayor, or chief judge. 
 His next, that certain lands in the vicinity of Isabella 
 should be restored to him. Then, that he should have 
 grants of a royal farm situated in the vega, and extensive 
 tracts of land in Xaragua, with cattle and live stock be 
 longing to the crown, and repartimientos of Indians. 
 
 18. One of the first measures of Roldan as alcalde 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 135 
 
 mayor, was to appoint his active confederate Pedro Re- 
 g-uelme alcalde of Bonao. Columbus was highly dis 
 pleased at this assumption of a power not vested in his 
 office. His suspicions were aroused, too, on hearing 
 that Reguelme, under pretext of erecting a farm house, 
 was building a strong edifice on a hill, capable of being 
 converted into a fortress ; and he sent peremptory orders 
 for him to desist from the construction of it. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Visit of Ojeda to the West End of the Island. Conspi 
 racy of Moxica. [1499.} 
 
 1. ABOUT this time reports were brought to Columbus 
 that four ships had anchored at the western part of the 
 island, a little below Jacquemel, apparently with the de 
 sign of cutting dye woods, and carrying off the natives 
 for slaves. They were commanded by Alonzo de Ojeda, 
 the same cavalier who had distinguished himself by the 
 capture of Caonabo. 
 
 2. Knowing the daring and adventurous spirit of this 
 man, the admiral was disturbed at his visiting the island 
 in this clandestine manner. To call him to account, 
 however, required a man of spirit and address. No one 
 seemed fitter for the purpose than Roldan. He was as 
 daring as Ojeda, and of a more crafty character. An 
 expedition of this kind would occupy the attention of 
 himself and his partisans, and divert them from any 
 schemes of mischief. 
 
 3. Roldan gladly undertook the enterprise. He set 
 sail with two caravels, anchored in the neighbourhood of 
 Ojeda, and, landing secretly with four and twenty reso 
 lute followers, surprised that cavalier at an Indian village 
 several leagues from his ships. He demanded a sight 
 of his commission, and his reason for visiting that remote 
 part of the island, and cutting dye wood, without first 
 reporting himself to the admiral. 
 
 4. Ojeda replied, that his commission was on board of 
 
136 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 his ship ; that he had been on a voyage of discovery, and 
 had put in there in distress to repair his ships and obtain 
 provisions ; but that as soon as these matters were ac 
 complished, he should pay his homage to the admiral. 
 With this reply Roldan was satisfied, and, after visiting 
 the ships, returned to San Domingo. 
 
 5. The truth was, that Alonzo de Ojeda had been at 
 court when the despatches arrived from Columbus giving 
 account of his discoveries on the coast of Paria. Being 
 a favourite of Bishop Fonseca, who was always more 
 prone to patronize loose adventurers than high minded 
 discoverers, and who was disposed to do any thing that 
 might impair the glory of Columbus, he easily obtain 
 ed copies of the charts and maps sent home by the 
 admiral. 
 
 6. Being thus acquainted with the route he had pur 
 sued in his last voyage, he thought to follow it out, to 
 explore the pearl coast, and finish what Columbus had 
 begun. The bishop readily granted him the requisite 
 license. This document was never signed by the sove 
 reigns, and was in violation of their express agreement 
 with the admiral. 
 
 7. In this expedition sailed Americus Vesputius,* a 
 Florentine merchant, who afterwards published an ac 
 count of his voyages. By the pretension of this man, 
 or the errors or frauds of others, his name has been given 
 to the whole of the new world : an honour which was 
 due alone to Columbus. 
 
 8. Ojeda had ranged along the southern continent 
 from two hundred leagues east of the Oronoco to the 
 Gulf of Paria. He had visited the coasts and islands in 
 the vicinity, and trafficked with the natives for pearls 
 and gold. He had touched at the Caribbee islands, 
 fought with the natives, and brought away many cap 
 tives to be sold as slaves in Spain, He had then sailed 
 for Hispaniola to obtain provisions, and had there met 
 with Roldan. as has been mentioned. 
 
 9. When the ships of Ojeda were again ready for sea, 
 instead of sailing for San Domingo, as he had promised, 
 
 * This name in Italian is written Amerigo Vespucci. The latter word 
 is pronounced Vespuchy. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 137 
 
 he steered for the coast of Xaragua. His arrival pro 
 duced brawls arid tumults among many of the late rebels, 
 who were quartered in that province. Some of them 
 were for placing Ojeda at their head, and marching 
 against Columl.us, to compel the redress of pretended 
 grievances. Others demurred, and quarrels took place 
 in which several were killed. 
 
 10. In the midst of this confusion, Roldan arrived in 
 the neighbourhood with a band of resolute followers. 
 Some of the residents joined him. A long course of 
 maneuvering took place between these well matched 
 adversaries, each wary of the other. Ojeda was at 
 length obliged to abandon the coast, and made sail for 
 some other island, to complete a cargo of Indian slaves. 
 
 11. The followers of Roldan took great merit to them 
 selves for their unwonted loyalty in driving Ojeda from 
 the island ; and, like all reformed knaves, expected that 
 their good conduct would be amply rewarded. Looking 
 upon their leader as having every thing in his gift, they 
 requested him to share among them the fine province of 
 Cahay, adjoining to Xaragua. 
 
 12. Roldan, who was now anxious to establish a cha 
 racter of adherence to the law, declined acceding to their 
 wishes, until sanctioned by the admiral ; but, to soothe 
 their rapacity, he shared among them the lands which 
 had been granted to him in Xaragua. While he was re 
 maining in this neighbourhood, other troubles broke out, 
 and from somewhat of a romantic cause. 
 
 13. A young cavalier of noble family, but headstrong 
 passions, named Hernando de Guevara, cousin to Adrian 
 de Mosica, one of the ringleaders of the late rebellion, 
 was banished from San Domingo for licentious conduct, 
 and s;nt to Xaragua, to embark in the ships of Ojeda, 
 but arrived after their departure. 
 
 14. He was favourably received at the house of the 
 female cacique Anacaona ; and became enamoured of 
 her daughter Higuenamota, who was just grown up, and 
 greatly admired for her beauty. Guevara possessed an 
 agreeable person, and winning manners, and his endear 
 ments soon won the heart of the simple Indian girl. 
 
 15. Ariacaoria favoured his attachment ; especially as 
 
 12* 
 
138 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 he sought her daughter in marriage. Roldan was him 
 self attached to the young Indian beauty, and jealous of 
 her preference of his rival. He exerted his authority to 
 separate the lovers, and banished Guevara to the province 
 ofCahay. 
 
 16. The latter soon returned, concealed himself in 
 the dwelling of Anacaona, and fomented a conspiracy 
 among the old comrades of Roldan, who detested as a 
 magistrate the man they had idolized as a leader. It was 
 concerted to rise suddenly upon him, and either to kill 
 him or put out his eyes. The plot was discovered ; 
 Guevara with seven of his accomplices were arrested, 
 and sent to the fortress of San Domingo. 
 
 17. When Adrian de Moxica heard that his cousin 
 Guevara was arrested, and that too by his former con 
 federate Roldan, he was highly exasperated. He hasten 
 ed to the old haunt of rebellion at Bonao, where he was 
 seconded by Pedro Reguelme, the newly appointed al 
 calde. They went round among their late fellow rebels, 
 and soon mustered a daring body of men, ready with 
 horse and weapon for any desperate enterprise. Moxica, 
 in his fury, meditated not merely the rescue of his cousin, 
 but the death of Roldan and the admiral. 
 
 18. Columbus was at Fort Conception, with an incon 
 siderable force, when he heard of this dangerous plot. 
 He saw that his safety depended upon prompt and vigor 
 ous measures. Taking with him but six or seven trusty 
 servants, and three esquires, all well armed, he came sud 
 denly upon the conspirators in the night, seized Moxica 
 and several of his principal confederates, and bore them 
 off to Fort Conception. 
 
 19. Resolving to set an example that should strike 
 terror into the factious, he ordered that Moxica should 
 be hanged on the top of the fortress. The latter entreat 
 ed to be allowed a confessor. A priest was sent for. 
 
 20. The miserable culprit, who had been so daring in 
 rebellion, lost all courage at the near approach of death. 
 He delayed, and hesitated in his confession, as if hoping 
 by whiling away time to give a chance for rescue. In 
 stead of confessing his own sins, he began to accuse 
 others, until Columbus, losing all patience, i^ his min- 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 139 
 
 gled indignation and scorn, ordered the dastard wretch to 
 be flung from the battlements. 
 
 21. This act of severity was promptly followed up. 
 Pedro Reguelme was taken with several of his compeers, 
 in his ruffian den at Bonao, and conveyed to the fortress 
 of San Domingo. The conspirators fled for the most 
 part to Xaragua, where they were pursued by the Ade- 
 lantado, seconded by Roldan, and hunted out of ah 1 their 
 old retreats. 
 
 22. Thus in a little while the power of faction was 
 completely subdued. The troubles and dangers which 
 had surrounded Columbus seemed breaking away, and or 
 der coming out of confusion. He now looked forward 
 to the prosecution of his grand enterprises, the exploring 
 the coast of Paria, and the establishment of a pearl fishery 
 in its waters. 
 
 23. How illusive were his hopes ! at this very ron. 
 ment events were maturing that were to overwhelm him 
 with distress, strip him of his honours, and render him 
 comparatively a wreck for the remainder of his days. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 Intrigues against Columbus in the Spanish Court. Ap 
 pointment of Bobadilla as commissioner. His arrival 
 at San Domingo. [1500.] 
 
 1. WHILE Columbus was involved in a series of dif 
 ficulties in Hispaniola, his enemies were but too success 
 ful in undermining his reputation in the court of Spain. 
 The bishop Fonseca, and others, who had frequent access 
 to the sovereigns, were enabled to place every thing urged 
 against him in the strongest light, while they destroyed 
 the force of his vindications. 
 
 2. Every vessel from the new world carne freighted 
 with complaints and calumnies ; it was even alleged, 
 that Columbus intended to cast off allegiance to Spain, 
 and either make himself sovereign of the countries he 
 had discovered, or yield them into the hands of some 
 
140 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 other power ; a slander, which, however extravagant, 
 was calculated to startle the jealous mind of Ferdi 
 nand. 
 
 3. Every repining man who returned from the colony 
 with real or fancied claims for arrears of pay, or losses 
 sustained, was secretly instigated to beset the king in 
 person. A gang of disorderly ruffians, who had been 
 shipped off to free the island from their seditions, found 
 their way to the court at Granada. They followed the 
 king when he appeared in public, clamouring for their 
 pay. 
 
 4. About fifty of them assembled one day in the main 
 court of the Albambra, whining and complaining under 
 the windows of the royal apartments, and holding up 
 bunches of grapes as the faieag;re diet to which they 
 were reduced by the cruel deceits of Columbus. The 
 two sons of the admiral, who were pages to the queen, 
 happening to pass by at the time, they followed them 
 with imprecations. " There go," cried they, "the whelps 
 of him who discovered the land of vanity and delusion ; 
 the grave of Spanish cavaliers !" 
 
 5. The incessant repetition of falsehood will gradually 
 wear its way into the most candid mind. Isabella her 
 self began at length to doubt. Columbus and his bro 
 thers, though upright, might be injudicious, and mis 
 chief is oftener produced in government through error of 
 judgment than iniquity of design. Isabella doubted, but 
 the jealous Ferdinand felt convinced. 
 
 6. He had never regarded Columbus with real cordiali 
 ty ; and, ever since he had ascertained the importance 
 of his discoveries, had regretted the extensive powers he 
 had vested in his hands. He now resolved to send out 
 some person to investigate the affairs of the colony, and, 
 if necessary for its safety, to assume the command. 
 
 7. At this juncture arrived the two caravels with 
 some of the late followers of Roldan. Beside the slaves 
 which Columbus had been obliged to grant them by the 
 articles of capitulation, several of them, as has been re 
 lated, had secretly brought off the daughters of caciques 
 whom they had seduced from their homes. Some of 
 these were in a state of pregnancy, others had new born 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 141 
 
 infants. These wrongs were said to -have been all au 
 thorized by Columbus. 
 
 8. The sensibility of Isabella as a woman, and her 
 dignity as a queen, were instantly in arms. " What 
 right," exclaimed she, indignantly, " has the admiral to 
 give away my vassals V She immediately ordered all 
 the Indians to be restored to their homes ; nay, more, 
 she commanded that those which had formerly been sent 
 to Spain by the admiral, should be sought out and reship- 
 ped to Hispaniola. 
 
 9. Unfortunately for Columbus, at this very juncture, 
 in one of his letters, he advised the continuance of In 
 dian slavery for some time longer, as a measure impor 
 tant to the welfare of the colony. This contributed to 
 heighten the indignation of Isabella, and induced her no 
 longer to oppose the sending out a commissioner to in 
 vestigate his conduct, and, if necessary, to supersede 
 him in command. 
 
 10. The person chosen for this most momentous of- 
 fice was Don Francisco de BobadiUa, an officer of the 
 royal household, and commander of the military and re 
 ligious order of Calatrava. He is represented by some 
 as a very honest and religious man ; by others, and with 
 apparent justice, as needy, passionate, and ambitious 
 three powerful objections to his acting as judge in a 
 case where the utmost caution and candour were re 
 quired, and where he was to derive wealth and power 
 from the conviction of one of the parties. 
 
 11. Bobadilla arrived at San Domingo on the 23d of 
 August, 1500. Before entering the harbour, he learnt 
 that the admiral and the Adelantado were absent in the 
 interior of the island, and Don Diego in command. He 
 was told of the recent insurrection of Moxica, and the 
 punishments which had followed. Seven of the rebels 
 had been hanged that week, and five more were in the 
 fortress of San Domingo, condemned to suffer the same 
 fate. 
 
 12. Among these were Pedro Reguelme, the factious 
 alcalde of Bonao, and Fernando de Guevara, the young- 
 cavalier, whose passion for the daughter of Anacaona 
 had been the original cause of the rebellion. As the ves* 
 
142 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 sels entered the river, Bobadilla beheld on either bank a 
 gibbet, with the body of a Spaniard hanging on it. He 
 considered all these circumstances as conclusive proofs 
 of the alleged cruelty of Columbus. < 
 
 13. The report had already circulated in the city, that 
 a commissioner had arrived to make inquisition into the 
 late troubles. Many hastened on board the ship to pay 
 early court to this public censor, and to have the first 
 telling of their story ; and their accounts, of course, were 
 generally unfavourable to the admiral. In fact, before 
 Bobadilla landed, if not before he arrived, the culpability 
 of Columbus was decided in his mind. 
 
 14. He acted accordingly. He made proclamations 
 at the church door, in presence of Don Diego and the 
 other persons in authority, of his letters patent, authori 
 zing him to investigate the rebellion ; and demanded that 
 Guevara, Reguelme, and the other prisoners, should be 
 delivered up to him, with the depositions taken in their 
 cases. 
 
 15. Don Diego declared he could do nothing of the 
 kind without the authority of the admiral, and requested 
 a copy of the letters patent, tlmt he might send it to his 
 brother. This Bobadilla refused, and added, that since 
 the office he proclaimed appeared to have no weight, he 
 would try what efficacy there was in the name of governor. 
 
 16. On the following day, therefore, he caused another 
 royal patent to be read, investing him with the govern 
 ment of the islands, and of Terra Firma ; an authority 
 which he was only to have assumed on absolute proof of 
 the delinquency of Columbus. This letter being read, 
 he again demanded the prisoners, and was again refused ; 
 Don Dieo-o observing, that they were held in obedience 
 to the admiral, to whom the sovereigns had granted let 
 ters of a higher nature. 
 
 17. Bobadilla now produced a mandate from the crown, 
 ordering Columbus and his brothers to deliver up all for 
 tresses, ships, and other royal property ; and another, 
 ordering that the arrears of wages due to all persons in 
 the royal service should be immediately paid, and the 
 admiral compelled to pay the arrears of those to whom 
 he was individually accountable. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 143 
 
 18. This last document was received with shouts by 
 the multitude, to many of whom long arrears were due, 
 in consequence of the poverty of the treasury. Flushed 
 with his growing popularity, Bobadilla again demanded 
 the prisoners, and receiving the same reply, he proceed 
 ed to the fortress, and made a formal demand of them of 
 the Alcayde Miguel Diaz. The latter refued to surren 
 der them to any one but the admiral. 
 
 19. Upon this, Bobadilla assembled the sailors of the 
 ships, and the rabble of the place, marched them to the 
 prison, broke open the door, which readily gave way, 
 while some of his myrmidons put up ladders to scale the 
 walls. The fortress, having no garrison, was easily car 
 ried, and the prisoners wore borne off in triumph, and 
 given in custody to an algiiazil. 
 
 20. Such was the entrance into office of Francisco de 
 Bobadilla, and he continued his career in the same spirit. 
 He took up his residence in the house of Columbus, 
 seized upon his arms, gold, piate, jewels, horses, books, 
 and most secret papers ; paying out of the property thus 
 seized the wages of those to whom the admiral was in 
 arrears, and disposing of the rest as if already confiscated 
 to the crown. 
 
 21. He even hinted that he was empowered to send 
 Columbus home in chains, and declared that neither he, 
 nor any of his lineage, would ever again be permitted to 
 govern the island. To increase his favour with the peo 
 ple, he proclaimed a general license for twenty years, to 
 seek for gold, paying merely an eleventh *o government, 
 instead of a third, as formerly. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 Columbus arrested and sent to Spain. 
 
 1. COLUMBUS was at Fort Conception in the Vega 
 when he heard of the high handed proceedings of Boba 
 dilla. He at first considered him some rash adventurer 
 like Ojeda, but rinding that he acted under royal au- 
 
144 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 thority, he supposed him some person in commission, 
 like Aguado, who was transcending his powers. He 
 wrote a temperate letter to him, therefore, cautioning 
 him against his precipitate measures, and issued counter 
 proclamations^ nullify those which were disturbing 
 the island. 
 
 2. Bobadilla, in reply, sent him a copy of the royal 
 letter of credence, commanding his implicit obedience 
 to whatever he should enact, and, in virtue of this docu 
 ment, commanded him to appear before him immediately 
 at San Domingo. 
 
 3. A vulgar rumour circulated among the populace 
 that Columbus intended to resist his authority, and was 
 enlisting the caciques of the vega under his banner. 
 Bobadilla believed, or affected to believe this rumour, 
 He mustered the troops, and made a bustle of military 
 preparation ; then arresting Don Diego, he threw him 
 in irons and confined him on board of a caravel, without 
 assigning any reason for such treatment. 
 
 4. In the mean time Columbus, with his wonted loy 
 alty, yielded implicit obedience to the cruel letter of 
 his sovereigns, though it struck at once at the root of his 
 well earned dignity and power, and put him under the 
 control of Bobadilla. Without hesitation or demur, 
 he obeyed the summons of this shallow man, and ap 
 peared almost unattended at the gates of San Domingo. 
 No sooner did Bobadilla hear of his arrival, than he gave 
 orders to put him also in irons, and to confine him in the 
 fortress. 
 
 5. This outrage to a person of such venerable appear 
 ance, and eminent merit, seemed for a time to shock 
 even his enemies. When the irons were brought, every 
 one present shrunk from the task of putting them on him, 
 either out of a sentiment of compassion at so great a re 
 verse of fortune, or out of habitual reverence for his per 
 son. To fill the measure of ingratitude meted out to 
 him, it was one of his own servants that volunteered to 
 rivet his fetters. 
 
 6. Columbus conducted himself with characteristic 
 magnanimity under the injuries heaped upon him. There 
 is a noble scorn which swells and supports the heart, and 
 
Columbus in Chains. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 145 
 
 silences the tongue of the truly great, when enduring the 
 insults of the unworthy. Columbus could not stoop to 
 deprecate the arrogance of a weak and violent man like 
 Bobadilla. 
 
 7. He looked beyond this shallow agent, and all his 
 petty tyranny, to the sovereigns who had employed him. 
 It was their injustice and ingratitude alone that could 
 wound his spirit ; and he felt assured that when the 
 truth came to be known, they would blush to find how 
 greatly they had wronged him. With this proud assu 
 rance, he bore all present indignities in silence. 
 
 8. He even wrote a letter to the Adelantado, who was 
 still in Xaragua, at the head of an armed force, exhorting 
 him to submit quietly to the will of the sovereigns. Don 
 Bartholomew immediately complied, and hastened peace- 
 full v to San Domingo, where he experienced the same 
 treatment with his brothers, being put in irons, and con 
 fined on board of a caravel. 
 
 9. They were kept separate from each other, and no 
 communication permitted between them. Bobadilla did 
 not see them himself, nor did he allow others to visit 
 them ; and they were kept in total ignorance of the 
 crimes with which they were charged, and the proceed 
 ings that were instituted against them. 
 
 10. The scenes of the time of Aguado were now re 
 newed, with tenfold virulence. All the old charges were 
 revived, and others added, still more extravagant. Even 
 the late tumults were turned into matters of accusation, 
 and the rebels admitted as evidence. 
 
 11. The well-merited punishments inflicted upon cer 
 tain of ths ringleaders were cited as proofs of a cruel and 
 sevengeful disposition, and a secret hatred of Spaniards. 
 Guevara, Reguelme, and their fellow convicts, were dis 
 charged almost without the form of a triaJ. Roldan, 
 from the very first, had been treated with confidence by 
 Bobadilla ; all the others, whose conduct had rendered 
 them liable to justice, received either a special acquittal 
 or a general pardon. 
 
 12. San Domingo now swarmed with miscreants, just 
 delivered from the dungeon and the gibbet. Every base 
 spirit which had been overawed by Columbus and his 
 
 13 
 
146 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 brothers when in power, now hastened to revenge itself 
 upon them when in chains. The most injurious slanders 
 were loudly proclaimed in the streets, libels were posted 
 up at the corners, and horns blown in the neighbourhood 
 of their prisons, to taunt them with the exultings of the 
 rabble. 
 
 13. Bobadilla had now collected testimony sufficient, 
 as he thought, to ensure the condemnation of the prison* 
 ers, and his own continuance in command. He deter, 
 mined, therefore, to send home the admiral and his 
 brothers in chains, in the vessels which were ready for 
 sea, with the inquest taken in their case, and private 
 letters enforcing the charges made against them. 
 
 14. The charge of conducting the prisoners to Spain 
 was given to Alonzo de Villejo,* an officer in the employ 
 of Bishop Fonseca, who is supposed to have been the 
 secret instigator of all these violent proceedings. 
 
 15. Villejo, however, was a man of honourable charac 
 ter, and generous feelings, and showed himself superior 
 to the low malignity of his patron. When he arrived 
 with a guard to conduct the admiral from the prison to 
 the ship, he found him in chains, in a state of deep de 
 spondency, fearing that he should be sacrificed without a 
 hearing, and that his name would go down to posterity 
 sullied with imputed crimes. 
 
 16. Seeing the officer enter with the guard, he thought 
 it was to conduct him to the scaffold. " Villejo," said 
 he mournfully, " whither are you taking me V " To the 
 ship, your excellency, to embark," replied the other. 
 " To embark !" echoed the admiral. " Villejo, do you 
 speak the truth ]" " By the life of your excellency," re 
 plied the honest officer, " it is true !" With these words 
 the admiral was comforted, and felt as one restored from 
 death to life. 
 
 17. The caravels set sail early in October, bearing off 
 Columbus shackled like the vilest of culprits, amidst the 
 scoffs and shouts of a miscreant rabble, who took a brutal 
 joy in heaping insults on his venerable head, and sent 
 curses after him from the island he had so recently added 
 to the civilized world. 
 
 * Pronounced VUlebo. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 147 
 
 18. Fortunately the voyage was favourable and of 
 moderate duration, and was rendered less irksome to 
 Columbus, by the conduct of those to whom he was 
 given in custody. The worthy Villejo, as well as An 
 dreas Martin, the master of the caravel, always treated 
 him with profound respect and assiduous attention. They 
 would have taken off his irons, but to this he would not 
 consent. 
 
 19. " No," said he, proudly, "their majesties command 
 ed me by letter to submit to whatever Bobadilla should 
 order in their name ; by their authority he has put upon 
 me these chains ; I will wear them until they shall or 
 der them to be taken off, and I will afterwards preserve 
 them as relics and memorials of the reward of my 
 services." 
 
 20. " He did so," adds his son Fernando, in his his 
 tory ; " I saw them always hanging in his cabinet, and 
 he requested that when he died they might be buried 
 with him !" 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 Arrival of Columbus in Spain. His Interview with the 
 Sovereigns. Appointment of Ovando to the Government 
 of Hispaniola. [1500.] 
 
 1. THE arrival of Columbus, a prisoner, and in chains, 
 produced a general burst of indignation in Cadiz, which 
 was echoed throughout Spain. No one stopped to rea 
 son on the subject. It was sufficient to be told that Co 
 lumbus was brought home in chains from the world he 
 had discovered. 
 
 2. On the arrival of the ships at Cadiz, Columbus sent 
 off privately by express a long letter, to a lady of the 
 court, high in favour with the queen. It contained an 
 ample vindication of his conduct, couched in eloquent, 
 and dignified, and touching language. When it was 
 read to the noble-minded Isabella, her heart was filled 
 with mingled sympathy and indignation. 
 
148 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 3. Ferdinand joined with his generous queen, in rep- 
 rebating the treatment of the admiral. Without wait 
 ing to receive any documents from Bobadilla, they sent 
 orders that the prisoners should be instantly set at liberty, 
 and treated with all distinction ; and that two thousand 
 ducats should be advanced to Columbus to defray the 
 expenses of his journey to court. They wrote him a 
 ietter at the same time, expressing their grief at all that 
 he had suffered, and inviting him to Granada. 
 
 4. Columbus appeared at court, not as a man ruined 
 and disgraced, but richly dressed, and with an honoura 
 ble retinue. He was received with unqualified favour 
 and distinction. When the queen beheld this venerable 
 man approach, and thought on all he had deserved, ana 
 all that he had suffered, she was moved to tears. 
 
 5. Columbus had endured with lofty scorn the in- 
 iuries and insults of ignoble men ; but, when he found 
 himself thus kindly received, and beheld tears in the be 
 nign eyes of Isabella, his long suppressed feelings burst 
 forth ; he threw himself upon his knees, and for some 
 time could not utter a word for tears and sobbings. Fer 
 dinand and Isabella raised him from the ground, and en 
 deavoured to encourage him by the most gracious ex 
 pressions. 
 
 6. As soon as he regained his self-possession, he en 
 tered into an eloquent and high minded vindication of 
 his conduct : but there was no need of vindication on his 
 part. He stood in the presence of his sovereigns a deeply 
 injured man, and it remained for them to vindicate them 
 selves to the world, from the charge of ingratitude to 
 wards their most deserving subject. 
 
 7. They expressed their indignation at the proceedings 
 of Bobadilla, which they disavowed, as contrary to his 
 instructions ; and they promised that he should be im 
 mediately dismissed from his command, and the admiral 
 reinstated in all his privileges and dignities, and indem 
 nified for the losses he had sustained. 
 
 8. Columbus now expected, of course, to be immedi 
 ately sent back in triumph to San Domingo, as viceroy 
 and admiral of the Indies ; but in this he was doomed to 
 experience disappointment. Ferdinand, however he 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 149 
 
 might have disapproved of the violence of Bobadilla, was 
 secretly well pleased with its effects. It had produced 
 a temporary exclusion of Columbus from his high offices, 
 and the politic monarch determined, in his heart, that he 
 should never be restored to them. 
 
 9. He had long repented having vested such great 
 powers and prerogatives in any subject, particularly in a 
 foreigner ; but at the time of granting them, he had no 
 idea of the magnitude of the countries over which they 
 would be exercised. Recent discoveries, made by various 
 individuals, put it beyond a doubt that these countries 
 must be inexhaustible in wealth, as they appeared to be 
 boundless in extent. 
 
 10. Yet over all these Columbus was to be viceroy, 
 with a share in their productions, and in the profits of 
 their trade, that must yield him an incalculable revenue. 
 The selfish monarch appeared almost to consider himself 
 outwitted in the arrangement he had made ; and every 
 new discovery, instead of increasing his feeling of grati 
 tude to Columbus, seemed only to make him repine at 
 the growing magnitude of his reward. 
 
 11. Another grand consideration with the monarcn 
 was, that Columbus was no longer indispensable to him. 
 He had made his great discovery ; he had struck out the 
 route to the new world, and now any one could follow it. 
 A number of able navigators had sprung up under his 
 auspices, who were daily besieging the throne with offers 
 to fit out expeditions at their own cost, and to yield a 
 share of the profits to the crown. Why should he, there 
 fore, confer princely dignities and prerogatives for that 
 which men were daily offering to perform gratuitously ? 
 
 12. Such, from his after conduct, appears to have been 
 the jealous and selfish policy which actuated Ferdinand 
 in forbearing to reinstate Columbus. Plausible reasons, 
 however, were given for delaying his re-appointment. 
 
 13. It was observed that the elements of those factions 
 which had recently been in arms yet existed in the island, 
 and might produce fresh troubles should Columbus return 
 immediately. It was represented as advisable, therefore, 
 to send some officer of talent and discretion to supersede 
 Bobadilla, and to hold the government for two years, by 
 
 13* 
 
150 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 which time all angry passions would be allayed, and tur 
 bulent individuals removed. Columbus might then re 
 sume the command, with comfort to himself, and advan 
 tage to the crown. With this arrangement the admiral 
 was obliged to content himself. 
 
 14. The person chosen to supersede Bobadilla was 
 Don Nicholas de Ovando, commander of Lares, of the 
 order of Alcantara. He is described as being of the 
 middle size, with a fair complexion, a red beard, a mo 
 dest look, yet a tone of authority ; fluent in speech, cour 
 teous in manners, prudent, just, temperate, and of great 
 humility. 
 
 15. He appears, from his actions, however, to have 
 been plausible and subtle, as well as fluent and courteous ; 
 his humility concealed a great love of command ; he was 
 a merciless scourge to the Indians, and in his dealings 
 with Columbus he was both ungenerous and unjust. 
 
 16. While the departure of Ovando was delayed by 
 various circumstances, every arrival brought intelligence 
 of the disastrous state o/ the island, under the adminis 
 tration of Bobadilla. The latter was not so much a bad, 
 as an imprudent and a weak man. Imagining rigorous 
 rule to be the rock on which his predecessors had split, 
 he had, at the very outset, relaxed the reins of justice 
 and morality, and, of course, had lost all command over 
 the community. 
 
 17. One dangerous indulgence called for another, and 
 each was ceded in its turn. He sold the farms and es 
 tates of the crown at low prices, and granted universal 
 permission to work the mines, on paying only an eleventh 
 of the produce to government. 
 
 18. To prevent any diminution in the revenues, it be 
 came necessary to increase the quantity of gold collect 
 ed. He enforced, therefore, the regulations by which 
 the caciques were obliged to furnish parties of their sub 
 jects to \vork for the Spaniards in the field and in the 
 mine. To carry these into more complete effect, he 
 made an enumeration of the natives of the island, reduced 
 them into classes, and distributed them, according to his 
 favour or caprice, among the colonists. 
 
 19. His constant exhortation to the Spaniards was, to 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 151 
 
 produce large quantities of gold. " Make the most of 
 your time," he would say, " there is no knowing how 
 long it will last ;" alluding to the possibility of his being 
 speedily recalled. The colonists acted up to his advice, 
 and so hard did they drive the poor natives, that the 
 eleventh yielded more revenue than had fiver been pro 
 duced by the third, under the government of Columbus. 
 
 20. In the mean time, the unhappy Indians sunk under 
 the toils imposed upon them, arid the severities by which 
 they were enforced. A capricious tyranny was exercised 
 over them by worthless men, numbers of whom had been 
 transported convicts from the dungeons of Castile. These 
 wretches assumed the tone of grand cavaliers, and in 
 sisted upon being attended by trains of servants : they 
 took the daughters and female relatives of caciques for 
 their servants or their concubines. 
 
 21. In travelling, they obliged the natives to transport 
 them on their shoulders in litters or hammocks, while 
 others held umbrellas of palm leaves over their heads, 
 and cooled them with fans of feathers. Sometimes the 
 backs and shoulders of the unfortunate Indians who bore 
 the litters were raw and bleeding from the task. 
 
 22. When these arrogant upstarts arrived at an Indian 
 village, they capriciously seized upon and lavished the 
 provisions of the inhabitants, and obliged the cacique 
 and his subjects to dance for their amusement. They 
 never addressed the natives but in the most degrading 
 terms ; and for the least offence, or in a mere freak of 
 ill humour, they would inflict blows and lashes, and even 
 death itself. 
 
 23. The tidings of these abuses, and of the wrongs of 
 the natives, grieved the spirit of Isabella, and induced 
 her to urge the departure of Ovando. He was empow 
 ered to assume the command immediately on his arrival, 
 and to send home Bobadilla by the return of the fleet. 
 Hispaniola was to be the metropolis of the colonial gov 
 ernment, which was to extend over the islands and 
 Terra Firma. 
 
 24. Ovando was to correct the late abases, to revoke 
 the improper licenses granted by Bobadilla, to lighten 
 the burdens imposed upon the Indians, and to promote 
 
162 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 their religious instruction. He was, at the same time, 
 to ascertain the injury sustained by Columbus in his late 
 arrest and imprisonment, and the arrears of revenue that 
 were due to him, that he might receive ample redress 
 and compensation. The admiral was allowed a resident 
 agent in the island, to attend to his affairs, to which office 
 he immediately appointed Alonzo Sanchez de Carvajal. 
 
 25. Among various decrees on this occasion, we find 
 the first trace of negro slavery in the new world. Permis 
 sion was given to transport to the colony negro slaves born 
 in Spain, the children and descendants of natives brought 
 from Guinea, where the slave trade had for some tune 
 been carried on by the Spaniards and Portuguese. 
 
 26. The fleet appointed to convey Ovando to his go 
 vernment, was the largest that had yet sailed to Ihe new 
 world, consisting of thirty sail, of various sizes, provided 
 with all kinds of supplies for the colony. Twenty-five 
 hundred souls embarked, many of them persons of rank, 
 with their families. 
 
 27. Ovando was allowed a brilliant retinue, a body 
 guard of horsemen, and the use of silks, brocades, and 
 
 Erecious stones, at that time forbidden by the sumptuary 
 LWS of Spam. Such was the style in which a favourite 
 of Ferdinand, a native subject of rank, was fitted out to 
 enter upon the government withheld from Columbus. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 Propositions of Columbus for a Crusade. His prepara 
 tions for a fourth Voyage. [15001501.] 
 
 1. COLUMBUS remained in the city of Granada up 
 wards of nine months, endeavouring to retrieve his af 
 fairs from the confusion into which they had been thrown. 
 During this period, he called to mind his vow to furnish, 
 within seven years from the time of his discovery of the 
 new world, an army of fifty thousand foot and five thou 
 sand horse, for the recovery of the holy sepulchre. 
 
 2. The time had elapsed, the vow remained unfulfilled 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 153 
 
 and the expected treasures that were to pay the army 
 had never been realized. Destitute, therefore, of the 
 means of accomplishing his pious purpose, he considered 
 it his duty to incite the sovereigns to the enterprise. He 
 set to work, therefore, with his accustomed zeal, to pre 
 pare arguments for the purpose. 
 
 3. Aided by a Carthusian friar, he collected into a 
 manuscript volume all the passages in the sacred scrip 
 tures and in the writings of the fathers, which he conceiv 
 ed to contain mystic portents and prophecies of the dis 
 covery of the new world, the conversion of the gentiles, 
 and the recovery of the holy sepulchre ; three great 
 events which he considered as destined to succeed each 
 other, and to be accomplished through his agency. 
 
 4. He prepared, at the same time, a long letter to the 
 sovereigns, written with his usual fervour of spirit and 
 simplicity of heart, urging them to set on foot a crusade 
 for the conquest of Jerusalem. It is a singular compo 
 sition, which lays open the visionary part of his charac 
 ter, and shows the mystic and speculative reading with 
 which he was accustomed to nurture his solemn and soar 
 ing imagination. 
 
 5. At length his thoughts suddenly returned, with re 
 newed ardour, to their wonted channels, and he conceived 
 a leading object for another enterprise of discovery. 
 
 6. Vasco de Garna had recently accomplished the long 
 attempted navigation to India by the Cape of Good Hope, 
 and Pedro Alvarez Cabral, following in his track, had 
 returned with his vessels laden with the precious mer 
 chandise of the east. The riches of Calicut were now 
 the theme of every tongue. The discoveries of the 
 savage regions of the new world had as yet brought but 
 little revenue to Spain, but this route to the East Indies 
 was pouring in immediate wealth upon Portugal. 
 
 7. Columbus was roused to emulation, and trusted he 
 could discover a route to those oriental regions more easy 
 and direct than that of Vasco de Gama. According to 
 his own observations, and the reports of other navigators, 
 the coast of Terra Firma stretched far to the westward. 
 The southern coast of Cuba, which he considered a part 
 of the Asiatic continent, stretched onward towards the 
 
154 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 same point. The currents of the Caribbean sea must 
 pass between these lands. 
 
 8. He was persuaded, therefore, that a strait must exist 
 somewhere thereabout, opening into the Indian sea. 
 The situation in which he placed his conjectural strait 
 was somewhere about what is at present calldd the Isth 
 mus of Darien. Could he but discover such a passage, 
 and^thus link the new world he had discovered with the 
 opulent oriental countries of the old, he felt that he 
 should make a magnificent close to his labours. 
 
 9. He unfolded his plan to the sovereigns, and, though 
 it met with some opposition on the part of certain of the 
 royal counsellors, it was promptly adopted, and he was 
 empowered to fit out an armament to carry it into effect. 
 He accordingly departed for Seville in the autumn, to 
 make the necessary preparations ; but such were the 
 delays caused by the artifices of Fonseca and his agents, 
 that it was not until the following month of May that he 
 was able to put to sea. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 Columbus sails on his fourth Voyage. Events at the 
 Island of Hispaniola. His search after an imaginary 
 Strait. [1502.] 
 
 1. AGE was rapidly making its advances upon Colum 
 bus, when he undertook his fourth voyage of discovery. 
 He was now about sixty-six years old. His constitu 
 tion, originally vigorous in the extreme, had been impair 
 ed by hardships in every clime, and by the mental suf 
 ferings he had undergone. 
 
 2. His intellectual powers alone retained their wonted 
 energy, prompting him, at a period of life when most 
 men seek repose, to sally forth, with youthful ardour, on 
 the most toilsome and adventurous of enterprises. In 
 this arduous voyage he was accompanied by his brother 
 Don Bartholomew, who commanded one of the vessels, 
 and by his son Fernando, then in his fourteenth year. 
 
OP COLUMBUS. 155 
 
 3. Columbus sailed from Cadiz on the 9th of May. 
 His squadron consisted of four caravels, the largest of 
 but seventy tons burden, the smallest of fifty ; the crews 
 amounted in all to one hundred and fifty men. With 
 this little armament, and these slender barks, he under 
 took the search after a strait, which, if found, must con 
 duct him into the most remote seas, and lead to a com 
 plete circumnavigation of the globe. 
 
 4. After touching at the Canaries, he had a prosperous 
 voyage to the Caribbee islands, arriving on the 15th of 
 June at Mantinino, at present called Martinique. One 
 of his vessels proving a dull sailer, he bore away for His- 
 paniola, to exchange it for one of the fleet which had re 
 cently taken >ut Ovando. 
 
 5. He arrived off the harbour of San Domingo at an 
 unpropitious moment. The place was filled with the 
 most virulent of hi* enemies. The fleet which had 
 brought out Ovando lay in the harbour ready to put to 
 sea, and was to take out Roldan, and many of his late 
 adherents, some of whom were under arrest, and to be 
 tried in Spain. 
 
 6. Bobadilla was to embark in the principal ship, on 
 board of which he had put an immense amount of gold, 
 collected for the government during his administration, 
 and which he confidently expected would atone for all his 
 faults. Among the presents he intended for the sove 
 reigns was one mass of virgin gold, which is famous in 
 the old Spanish chronicles. It was said to weigh three 
 thousand six hundred castillanos. Large quantities of 
 gold had also been shipped by the followers of Roldan, 
 and other adventurers , the wealth gained by the suffer 
 ings of the unhappy natives. 
 
 7. On arriving at the mouth of the river, Columbus 
 sent an officer on shore to explain the purpose of his visit, 
 and request permission to shelter his squadron in the 
 river, as he apprehended an approaching storm. His 
 request was refused by Ovando. 
 
 8. He then sent a second message, entreating that the 
 sailing of the fleet might be delayed, as there were in 
 dubitable signs of an approaching tempest. This request 
 was as fruitless as the preceding ; the weather, to an 
 
156 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 inexperienced eye, was fair and tranquil, and the warn- 
 ing of the admiral was treated with ridicule, as the pre 
 diction of a false prophet, 
 
 9. Columbus retired from the river, indignant at being 
 refused shelter in the very island which he had discover 
 ed. Feeling confident that a storm was at hand, he kept 
 close to shore, thinking to shelter himself in some wild 
 bay or river of the island. 
 
 10. In the mean time, the fleet of Bobadilla stood out 
 confidently to sea. Within two days the predictions of 
 Columbus were verified. One of the tremendous storms 
 which sweep those latitudes, gathered up and began to 
 blow. The little squadron of Columbus remained for a 
 time tolerably well sheltered by the land ; but the tem 
 pest increasing, and the night coming on with unusual 
 darkness, the ships lost sight of each other, and were 
 separated. 
 
 11. The admiral still kept close to the shore, and sus 
 tained no damage. The three other vessels ran out for 
 sea room, and for several days were driven about at the 
 mercy of wind and wave, fearful each moment of ship 
 wreck, and giving up each other as lost. The Adelan- 
 tado, who commanded the worst vessel of the squadron, 
 ran the most imminent hazard, and nothing but his con 
 summate seamanship enabled him to keep her afloat. 
 At length, after various vicissitudes, they all arrived safe 
 at Port Hermoso, to the west of San Domingo. 
 
 12. A different fate befell the other armament. The 
 ship on board of which were Bobadilla, Roldan, and a 
 number of the most inveterate enemies of Columbus, was 
 swallowed up with all its crew, and with the celebrated 
 mass of gold, and the principal part of the ill-gotten trea 
 sure gained by the miseries of the Indians. Many of 
 the other ships were entirely lost, some returned to San 
 Domingo in shattered condition, and only one was en 
 abled to continue her voyage to Spain. 
 
 13. That one, it is said, was the weakest of the fleet, 
 and had on board of it four thousand pieces of gold, the 
 property of the admiral, remitted to Spain by his agent. 
 
 14. Both Fernando Columbus and the venerable his 
 torian Las Casas looked upon this event as one of those 
 
OP COLUMBUS. 157 
 
 awful judgments which seem ? at times, to deal forth tem 
 poral retribution. They notice the circumstance, that, 
 while the enemies of the admiral were thus, as it were 
 before his eyes, swallowed up in the raging sea, the only 
 ship enabled to pursue her voyage, was the frail bark 
 freighted with his property. 
 
 15. Many of the superstitious seamen, who, from the 
 sagacity displayed by Columbus, in judging of the signs 
 of the elements, and his variety of scientific knowledge, 
 looked upon him as endowed with supernatural powers, 
 fancied he had conjured up this storm by magic spells, 
 for the destruction of his enemies. 
 
 16. The evils, however, in this, as in most of the cases 
 called temporal judgments, overwhelmed the innocent 
 with the guilty. In the same ship with Bobadilla and 
 Roldan, perished the captive Guarionex, the unfortunate 
 cacique of the vega. 
 
 17. After repairing the damages sustained by his ships 
 in the storm, Columbus steered for Terra Firma, and on 
 the 30th July arrived at the island of Guanaga, on the 
 coast of Honduras. Here he met with a canoe of im 
 mense size, paddled by twenty-five Indians, on board of 
 which sat a cacique, with his wives and children, under 
 an awning of palm leaves. 
 
 18. In the canoe were hatchets and other utensils of 
 copper, with a kind of crucible for the melting of that 
 metal ; various vessels neatly formed of clay, marble, and 
 hard wood ; mantles of cotton, worked and dyed with 
 various colours ; and many other articles which indicated 
 u superior degree of art and civilization than had hitherto 
 been discovered in the new world. The Indians inform 
 ed the admiral that they had come from a rich, cultiva 
 ted, and industrious country, situated to the west, and 
 urged him to steer in that direction. 
 
 19. Well would it have been for Columbus had he 
 followed their advice. Within a day or two he would 
 have arrived at Yucatan ; the discovery of Mexico, and 
 the other opulent countries of New Spain, would have 
 necessarily followed ; the Southern Ocean would have 
 been disclosed to. him, and a succession of splendid dis 
 coveries would have shed fresh glory on his declining 
 
 14 
 
158 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 age, instead of its sinking amidst gloom, neglect, and 
 disappointment. 
 
 20. The admiral, however, was intent upon discover 
 ing the supposed strait that was to lead him to the Indian 
 Ocean. He stood, therefore, southwardly for some moun 
 tains which he descried not many leagues distant, and 
 made Cape Honduras, and from thence proceeded east- 
 wardly, beating against contrary winds, and struggling 
 with the currents which sweep that coast. 
 
 21. There was an almost incessant tempest, with heavy 
 rain and awful thunder and lightning. His vessels were 
 strained so that their seams opened ; the sails and rig 
 ging were rent, and the provisions damaged by the rain 
 and the leakage. The sailors were exhausted with fa 
 tigue, and harassed with terror. Several times they con 
 fessed their sins to each other, and prepared for death. 
 
 22. During a great part of this time, Columbus suffer 
 ed extremely from the gout, and his complaint was ag 
 gravated by watchfulness and anxiety, so that at tunes 
 he thought his end approaching. His illness did not 
 prevent his attending to his duties ; he had a small cabin 
 or round house constructed on the stern, from whence, 
 even when confined to his bed, he could keep a look out, 
 and regulate the sailing of the ships* 
 
 23. At length, after struggling for upwards of forty 
 days to make a distance of about seventy leagues, he ar 
 rived, on the 14th of September, at a cape where the 
 coast made a sudden bend, and turned directly south. 
 Doubling this cape, he had immediately an easy wind, 
 and swept off with flowing sail, in conseqjuence of which 
 he gave it the name of Gracias a Dtos, or Thanks to God. 
 
 24. For three weeks he continued coasting what is at 
 present called the Mosquito shore, in the course of which 
 a boat with its crew was swallowed up by the sudden 
 swelling of a river. He had occasional interviews with 
 the natives, but a. mutual distrust prevailed between them 
 and the Spaniards. 
 
 25. The Indians were frightened a.t seeing a notary 
 of the fleet take out pen, ink, and paper, and proceed 
 to write down the information they were communicating ; 
 they supposed he was working some magic spell, and to 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 159 
 
 counteract it, they scattered a fragrant powder in the 
 air, and burnt it so that the smoke should be borne to 
 wards the Spaniards. 
 
 26. The superstitious seamen looked upon these coun 
 ter charms with equal distrust. They suspected the 
 people of this coast to be great enchanters, and that all 
 the delays and hardships they had experienced were in 
 consequence of the ships bein.g under some spell, wrought 
 by magic art. Even Columbus, and his son and historian 
 Fernando, appear to have been tinctured with this super- 
 stition, which indeed is characteristic of the age. 
 
 27. On the 5th of October, Columbus arrived at what 
 is at present called Costa Rica (or the Rich Coast.) He 
 began to find ornaments of pure gold among the natives. 
 These increased in quantity when he came to what has 
 since been called the coast of Veragua, where he was 
 assured that the richest mines were to be found. 
 
 28. In sailing along these coasts, he received repeated 
 accounts of a great kingdom in the west, where he under 
 stood the Indians to say, there were seaports and ships 
 armed with cannon ; where gold was so plenty, that the 
 inhabitants embroidered their garments and embossed 
 their furniture with it ; beside wearing it in coronets, 
 bracelets, and anklets ; and where they were armed with 
 swords, bucklers, and cuirasses, and were mounted on 
 horses, like the Spaniards. 
 
 29. These were evidently rumours of the distant king 
 dom of Mexico, imperfectly interpreted to Columbus, and 
 shaped and coloured by his imagination. He concluded 
 that this country must be some province belonging to the 
 Grand Khan, and must lie on the opposite side of a 
 peninsula, and that he would soon arrive at a strait lead 
 ing into the Indian Sea which washed its shores. 
 
 30. With these erroneous ideas, Columbus continued 
 to press forward in search of the imaginary strait, con 
 tending with adverse winds and currents, and meeting 
 with great hostility from the natives ; for the Indians of 
 these coasts were fierce and warlike, and many of the 
 tribes are supposed to have been of Carib origin. At 
 sight of the ships, the forests would resound with yells 
 and war whoops, with wooden drums, and the blast of 
 
160 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 conchs, and on landing, the shores would be lined with 
 warriors armed with clubs, and lances, and swords of 
 palm wood. 
 
 31. At length, having discovered and named Porto 
 Bello, and continued beyond Cape Npmbre de Dios, Co 
 lumbus arrived at a small and narrow harbour, to which 
 he gave the name of El Retrete, or The Cabinet. Here 
 he was induced to give up all further attempt to find the 
 strait. His ships were pierced in all parts by the worms, 
 and his seamen disheartened by adverse winds and 
 currents. 
 
 32. They considered themselves still under an evil 
 spell worked by the Indian sorcerers, and the comman 
 ders remonstrated against forcing their way any farther, 
 with ships so crazed and leaky. Columbus yielded to 
 their solicitations, and determined to return to the coast 
 of Veragua, and search for the mines which were said 
 to abound there. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 Return to the Coast of Veragua. Contests with the 
 Natives. [1502.] 
 
 1. ON the 5th of December, Columbus returned west 
 ward in search of the gold mines of Veragua. He had 
 not proceeded far, when the wind became so variable and 
 furious as to baffle all seamanship. For nine days the 
 vessels were tossed about, at the mercy of a raging tem 
 pest. The sea boiled at times like a cauldron ; at other 
 times it ran in mountain waves, covered with foam. 
 
 2. For a day and night the heavens glowed like a fur 
 nace, with incessant flashes of lightning ; while the loud 
 claps of thunder were often mistaken by the mariners 
 for signal guns of distress from their foundering com 
 panions. During the whole time there was such a deluge 
 of rain, that the seamen were almost drowned in their 
 open vessels. 
 
 3. In the midst of this wild tumult of the elements, the 
 
OP COLUMBUS. i61 
 
 ocean in one place became strangely agitated. The wa 
 ter was whirled up into a kind of pyramid, or cone, while 
 a livid cloud, tapering- to a point, bent down to meet it. 
 Joining together, they formed a column, which rapidly 
 approached the ships, spinning along the surface of 
 the deep, and drawing up the waters with a rushing 
 sound. 
 
 4. The affrighted mariners despaired of averting the 
 danger by human means, and began to repeat certain 
 passages from St. John the Evangelist. The waterspout 
 passed dose by their ships without injuring them, and 
 they attributed their escape to the miraculous efficacy of 
 their quotations from the scriptures. 
 
 5. An interval of calm succeeded, but the tempest-tost 
 mariners looked upon it as deceitful, and beheld with 
 alarm great numbers of sharks, roaming about the ships. 
 Among the superstitions of the seas is the belief that 
 these voracious fish have not only the faculty of smelling 
 dead bodies at a distance, but keep about vessels which 
 have sick persons on board, or which are in danger of 
 being wrecked. 
 
 6. For three weeks longer they continued to be driven 
 to and fro, endeavouring to make a distance of merely 
 thirty leagues, insomuch that Columbus gave this line of 
 sea-board the name of The Coast of Contradictions.* 
 At length, to his great joy, he arrived on the day of 
 Epiphany (the 6th of January) en the coast of Veragua, 
 and anchored in a river to which, in honour of the day, 
 he gave the name of Belen or Bethlehem. 
 
 7. The natives of the neighbourhood manifested the 
 same fierce and warlike character that generally pre 
 vailed along the coast, but were soon conciliated. The 
 Adelantado, with a band of men well armed, explored 
 the surrounding country, and particularly the neighbour 
 hood of the Veragua, where there were gold mines. 
 
 8. Quibian the cacique of that province, was a stern 
 warrior, cautious and taciturn, of tall and powerful frame. 
 He descended with a numerous train from his village, 
 which was situated on a hill, and met the Adelantado on 
 
 * La costa de los Contr astes. 
 
 14* 
 
162 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 the bank of the river, seating himself on a great stone 
 which his attendants drew out of the stream. Though 
 jealous of the intrusion of the Spaniards, he received 
 them with courtesy, for the lofty, vigorous, and iron form 
 of the Adelantado, and his resolute demeanour, were 
 calculated to inspire awe and respect. 
 
 9. He readily furnished Don Bartholomew with guides, 
 who took him about six leagues into the interior, among 
 magnificent foresis, where the soil appeared to be im 
 pregnated with gold, and the Spaniards collected a con 
 siderable quantity from the surface. They conducted 
 him also to a high hill, commanding a vast prospect, and 
 assured him that the whole country, for twenty days* 
 journey westward, abounded in gold. 
 
 10. The reports brought by Don Bartholomew of these 
 golden tracts, and the rumours of a rich and civilized 
 kingdom in the interior, produced a new illusion in the 
 mind of Columbus. He fancied that he had actually ar 
 rived at the Aurea Chersonesus, (or golden peninsula) 
 of the ancients, from whence, according to Josephus, the 
 gold had been procured for the building of the temple of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 11. Here then, the admiral determined to found a 
 colony, which he trusted would become the emporium of 
 this golden region. The Adelantado agreed to remain 
 here with eighty men, while the admiral returned to 
 Spain for reinforcements. 
 
 12. They immediately proceeded to carry their plan 
 into operation. Houses of wood, thatched with palm 
 leaves, were erected on the high bank of a creek, about 
 a bow-shot within the mouth of the river Belen. A 
 storehouse was built to receive part of the ammunition, 
 artillery, and stores ; the rest was put on board of one 
 of the caravels, which was to be left for the use of the 
 colony. 
 
 13. The houses being sufficiently finished to be habi 
 table, the admiral prepared for his departure, but the 
 river had subsided to such a degree that there was not 
 above half a fathom of water on the bar. Though his 
 vessels were small, it was impossible to draw them over 
 the sands at the mouth of the river, on account of a heavy 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 163 
 
 surf. He was obliged, therefore, to wait until the rains 
 should again swell the river. 
 
 14. In the mean time, one Diego Mendez, chief notary 
 of the armament, a man of zeal and spirit, and of a 
 shrewd prying character, and zealously devoted to the 
 admiral, suspected from some movements among the 
 Indians, a hostile design on the part of the cacique of 
 Veragua. Accompanied by a single companion, he 
 penetrated as a spy to the very residence of Quibian, 
 which was situated on the crest of a hill, and surrounded 
 by three hundred heads, on stakes ; dismal trophies of 
 enemies vanquished in battle. 
 
 15. The cacique was suffering from a wound in the 
 leg by an arrow. Mendez showed a box of ointment, and 
 pretended to have come to cure him, but found it impos 
 sible to gain admittance. He saw enough, however, to 
 convince him that an attack was about to be carried into 
 effect, and that it was merely delayed by the wound of 
 the cacique ; he hastened back, therefore, to Columbus 
 with the intelligence. 
 
 16. An Indian interpreter corroborated the report of 
 Mendez. He informed the admiral that Quibian intend 
 ed to come secretly at the dead of the night, with all his 
 warriors, to set fire to the ships and houses, and massacre 
 the Spaniards. 
 
 17. The Adelantado immediately determined upon a 
 counterplot. Taking with him seventy-four men, well 
 armed, he ascended the Veragua in boats, and landed in 
 the night at the village of the cacique. Lest Quibian 
 should take the alarm and fly, he ascended to his house, 
 accompanied only by Diego Mendez, and four other men, 
 ordering the rest, at the discharge of an arquebus to rush 
 up and surround the house. 
 
 18. The cacique, hearing of his approach, came forth, 
 and seating himself in the portal, desired him to advance 
 singly. Don Bartholomew complied, ordering Diego 
 Mendez and his four companions to remain at a little 
 distance, but to rush to his aid at a concerted signal. 
 He addressed the cacique by means of an interpreter, 
 inquired about his wound, and, pretending to examine it, 
 took him by the arm. 
 
164 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 19. This was the signal, at which four of the Span- 
 lards rushed forward, the fifth discharged the arquebus. 
 A violent struggle ensued between Don Bartholomew 
 and the cacique, who were both men of great muscular 
 force ; but, with the assistance of Diego Mendez and his 
 companions, Quibian was overpowered, and bound hand 
 and foot. 
 
 20. In the mean time, the main body of the Spaniards 
 surrounded the house, and captured the wives and chil 
 dren of the cacique, and several of his principal subjects. 
 The prisoners were sent off to the ships, while the Ade- 
 lantado, with a part of his men, remained on shore to 
 pursue the Indians who had escaped. 
 
 21. The cacique was given in charge to Juan Sanchez, 
 the principal pilot of the squadron, a sturdy and powerful 
 seaman. He was cautioned to be on his guard, as the 
 cacique was crafty and vigorous. " If he escapes from 
 my clutches," replied Juan Sanchez, vauntingly, " I will 
 give you leave to pluck out my beard, hair by hair." 
 
 22. On arriving at the boat, he tied his prisoner by a 
 strong cord to one of the benches. As they proceeded 
 down the^river, Quibian complained of the painfulness of 
 his bonds. Sanchez loosened the cord, therefore, from 
 the bench, but kept the end of it in his hand. The wily 
 Indian watched his opportunity, and. plunged suddenly 
 into the water, and the pilot ha d to let go the cord, lest 
 he should be drawn in after him. 
 
 23. The darkness of the night, and the bustle which 
 took place in preventing the escape of the other prison 
 ers, rendered it impossible to pursue the cacique, or even 
 to ascertain his fate. Juan Sanchez hastened to the 
 ships with the residue of tne captives, deeply mortified 
 at being thss outwitted by a savage. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 Disasters of the Settlement. [1503.] 
 
 1. SATISFIED that the vigorous measure of the Ade- 
 lantado had struck terror into the Indians, and crushed 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 
 
 165 
 
 their hostile designs, Columbus took advantage of a swell 
 ing of the river, to pass the bar with three of his caravels, 
 leaving the fourth for the use of the settlement. He then 
 anchored within a league of the shore, until a favourable 
 wind should spring up for Hispaniola. 
 
 2. The cacique Quibian had not perished in the river, 
 as some had supposed, Plunging to the bottom, he swam 
 for some distance below the surface, and then emerging 
 escaped to the shore. His home, however, was deso 
 late ; and to complete his despair, he saw the vessels 
 standing out to sea, bearing away his wives and children 
 captives. 
 
 3. Furious for revenge, he gathered together a. great 
 number of his warriors, and assailed the settlement when 
 the Spaniards were scattered and off their guard. The 
 Indians launched their javelins through the roofs of the 
 houses, which were of palm leaves, or hurjed them in at 
 the windows, or thrust them between the logs which 
 composed the walls,and wounded several of the Spaniards. 
 
 4. On the first alarm, the Adelantado seized a lance, 
 and sallied forth with seven or eight of his men ; Diego 
 Mendez brought several others to his assistance. They 
 had a short skirmish ; one Spaniard was killed, and eight 
 wounded ; the Adelantado received a thrust in the breast 
 with a javelin ; but they succeeded in repulsing the In 
 dians, with considerable loss, and driving them into the 
 forest. 
 
 5. During the skirmish, a boat came on shore from the 
 ships, to procure -wood and water. It was commanded 
 by Diego Tristan, a captain of one of the caravels. When 
 the Indians were put to flight, the boat ascended about a 
 league above the village, to a part of the river oversha 
 dowed by lofty banks and spreading trees. Suddenly 
 the forest resounded with yells and war-whoops, and the 
 blasts of conchs. A shower of missiles was rained from 
 the shores, and canoes darted out from creeks and coves, 
 filled with warriors, brandishing their weapons. The 
 Spaniards, losing all presence of mind, neglected to use 
 their firearms, and only sought to shelter themselves 
 with their bucklers. 
 
 6. The captain, Diego Tristan, though covered with 
 
166 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 wounds, endeavoured to animate his men, when a javelin 
 pierced his right eye, and struck him dead. The canoes 
 now closed upon the boat, and massacred the crew. 
 One Spaniard alone escaped, who, having fallen over 
 board, dived to the bottom, swam mider water, and es 
 caped unperceived to shore, bearing tidings of the mas 
 sacre to the settlement. 
 
 7. The Spaniards were so alarmed at the dangers 
 thickening around them, that, notwithstanding the re 
 monstrances of the Adelantado, they determined to em 
 bark in the caravel, and abandon the place altogether. 
 On making the attempt, however, they found that, the 
 torrents having subsided, the river was again shallow, and 
 it was impossible for the caravel to pass over the bar. 
 
 8. A high sea and boisterous surf also prevented their 
 sending off a boat to the admiral, with intelligence of 
 their danger. While thus cut off from all retreat or 
 succour, horrors increased upon them. The mangled 
 bodies of Diego Tristan and his men came floating down 
 the stream, and drifted about the harbour, with flights of 
 crows and other carrion birds feeding on them, and hover 
 ing, and screaming, and fighting about their prey. 
 
 9. In the mean time, the dismal sound of conchs and 
 war drums was heard in the surrounding forests, showing 
 that the enemy was augmenting in number, and preparing 
 for further hostilities. The Adelantado deemed it unsafe 
 to remain in the village, which was adjacent to the woods. 
 He chose an open place on the shore, where he caused 
 a kind of bulwark to be made of the boat of the caravel, 
 and of casks and sea chests. Two places were left open 
 as embrasures, in which were mounted a couple of fal 
 conets, or small pieces of artillery. 
 
 10. In this little fortress the Spaniards shut themselves 
 up, and kept the Indians at a distance by the terror of 
 their firearms ; but they were exhausted by watching 
 and by incessant alarms, and looked forward with de 
 spondency to the time when their ammunition would be 
 exhausted, or they should be driven forth by hunger to 
 seek for food. 
 
 11. While the Spaniards were exposed to such immi 
 nent peril on shore, great anxiety prevailed on board of 
 
OP COLUMBUS. 167 
 
 the ships. Day after day elapsed without the return of 
 Diego Tristan and his party, and it was feared that some 
 disaster had befallen them. But one boat remained for 
 the service of the ships, and they dared not risk it, in the 
 rough sea, and heavy surf, to send it on shore for in 
 telligence. 
 
 12. A circumstance occurred to increase their anxiety. 
 The Indian prisoners were confined in the forecastle of 
 one of the caravels. In the night they suddenly burst 
 open the hatch, and several flung themselves into the sea 
 and swam to the shore ; the rest were secured and 
 forced back into the forecastle, but such was their un 
 conquerable spirit and their despair, that they hanged or 
 strangled themselves with cords, which lay about in 
 their prison, and in the morning were all found dead. 
 
 13. The admiral feared that those who had got to 
 shore would stimulate their countrymen to vengeance. 
 Still it was impossible to send a boat on shore. At length 
 one Pedro Ledesma, a man of great strength and reso* 
 lution, being taken in the boat to the edge of the surf, 
 plunged into the sea, swam to shore, and brought off in 
 telligence of all the disasters that had happened. 
 
 14. He found the Spaniards preparing canoes to take 
 them to the ships when the weather should moderate. 
 They threatened that, if the admiral refused to take them 
 on board, they would embark in the remaining caravel, 
 as soon as it could be extricated from the river, and would 
 abandon themselves to the mercy of the seas, rather than 
 continue on that fatal coast. 
 
 15. The admiral was deeply afflicted at what had hap 
 pened. There appeared no alternative but to embark 
 all the people, abandon the settlement for the present, 
 and return at a future day, with a force competent to 
 take secure possession of the country. The high wind 
 and boisterous waves still prevented communication, and 
 the situation of those at sea, in crazy and feebly manned 
 ships, on a lee-shore, was scarcely less perilous than 
 that of their comrades on the land. " 
 
 16. Every hour increased the anxiety of the admiral. 
 Days of constant perturbation, and nights of sleepless 
 anguish, preyed upon a constitution broken by age and 
 
168 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 hardships. Amid the acute maladies of the body, and 
 the fever of the mind, he appears to have been visited by 
 partial delirium. 
 
 17. In the silence of the night, when, wearied and 
 sighing, he had fallen into a slumber, he thought he heard 
 a voice reproaching him. " Oh fool, and slow to believe 
 thy God !" exclaimed the voice, " what did he more for 
 Moses, or for his servant David 1 From the time that thou 
 wert born he has ever taken care of thee. When he 
 saw thee of a fitting age, he made thy name to resound 
 marvellously throughout the world. 
 
 18. " The Indies, those rich parts of the earth, he gave 
 thee for thine own, and empowered thee to dispose of 
 them to others according to thy pleasure. He delivered 
 thee the keys of the gates of the ocean sea, shut up by 
 such mighty chains, and thou wert obeyed in many lands, 
 and didst acquire honourable fame among Christians. 
 
 19. " Thou dost call despondingly for succour. An 
 swer ; who has afflicted thee 1 God, or the world ] The 
 privileges and promises which God has made thee, he has 
 never broken. He fulfils all that he promises, and with 
 increase. Thy present troubles are the reward of the 
 toils and perils thou hast endured in serving others." 
 Amidst its reproaches the voice mingled promises of 
 further protection, and assurances that his age should be 
 no impediment to any great undertaking. 
 
 20. Such is the vision which Columbus circumstan 
 tially relates in a letter to the sovereigns. He had a 
 solemn belief that he was a peculiar instrument in the 
 hands of Providence, which, together with a deep tinge of 
 of superstition, common to the age, made him prone to 
 mistake every striking dream for a revelation. The 
 words here spoken by a supposed voice, are truths which 
 dwelt upon his mind, and agitated his spirit in his waking 
 hours ; it was natural, therefore, that they should recur 
 vividly in his feverish dreams. 
 
 21. Immediately after the supposed vision, and after 
 nine days of boisterous weather, the wind subsided, the 
 sea became calm, the Adelantado and his companions 
 were rescued from their perilous situation, arid embarked 
 on board of the ships. Every thing of value was likewise 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 169 
 
 brought on board, and nothing remained but the hull of 
 the caravel, which could not be extricated from the river. 
 Diego Mendez was extremely efficient in bringing oif the 
 people and the property ; and, in reward of his zeal and 
 services, the admiral gave him the command of the cara 
 vel vacant by the death of the unfortunate Diego Tristan. 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 Voyage to Jamaica. Transactions at that Island. [1503.] 
 
 1. TOWARDS the end of April, Columbus set sail from 
 the disastrous coast of Veragua. Continuing along the 
 coast eastward, he was obliged to abandon one of the 
 caravels in the harbour of Porto Bello, being so pierced 
 by the worms that it was impossible to keep her afloat. 
 He then proceeded about ten leagues beyond Point Bias, 
 near to what is at present called the gulf of Darien. 
 Here he bade farewell to the main land, and stood north 
 ward, on the first of May, in quest of Hispaniola. 
 
 2. Notwithstanding all his precautions, he was carried 
 so far west by the currents, as to arrive, on the 30th of 
 May, among the cluster of islands called the Queen s 
 Gardens, on the south side of Cuba. During this time, 
 his crews suffered excessively from hunger and fatigue. 
 
 1 They were crowded into two caravels, little better than 
 mere wrecks, and which were scarcely kept afloat by 
 incessant labour at the pump. .,*;, 
 
 3. A violent storm on the coast of Cuba drove the 
 vessels upon each other, and shattered them to such a 
 degree, that the admiral gave up all further attempt to 
 navigate them to Hispaniola, and stood over, in search of 
 a secure port, to the island of Jamaica. Here, on the 
 24th of June, he anchored in a harbour, to which he gave 
 the name of Port San Gloria. 
 
 4. Seeisg that his ships were no longer sea-worthy, 
 and were in danger of foundering even in port, Colum 
 bus ran them aground, within bowshot of the shore, where 
 they were fastened together side by side. They soon 
 
 16 
 
170 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 filled with water. Thatched cabins were then erected 
 at the prow and stern to shelter the crews, and the wreck 
 was placed in the best possible state of defence. 
 
 5. No one was permitted to go on shore without 
 especial license, and the utmost precaution was taken to 
 prevent any offence being given to the Indians, who 
 soon swarmed to the harbour with provisions, as any ex 
 asperation of them might be fatal to the Spaniards in 
 their present forlorn situation. Two persons were ap 
 pointed to superintend all bargains, arid the provisions 
 thus obtained were divided every evening among the 
 people. 
 
 6. As the immediate neighbourhood, however, might 
 soon be exhausted, the zealous and intrepid Diego Men- 
 dez made a tour in the interior, accompanied by three 
 men, and made arrangements for the caciques at a dis 
 tance to furnish daily supplies at the harbour, in exchange 
 for European trinkets. He returned in a canoe which 
 he had purchased from the Indians, and which he had 
 freighted with provisions, and through his able arrange 
 ment the Spaniards were regularly supplied. 
 
 7. The immediate wants of his people being thus pro 
 vided for, Columbus revolved in his anxious mind the 
 means of getting from this island. His ships were be 
 yond the possibility of repair, and there was no hope of 
 a chance sail arriving to his relief, on the shores of a 
 savage island, in an unfrequented sea. At length, a mode 
 of relief occurred to him, through the means of this 
 same Diego Mendez whose courage and loyalty he had 
 so often proved. He took him aside to sound him on the 
 subject, and Mendez himself has written an account of 
 this interesting conversation, which is full of character. 
 
 8. " Diego Mendez, my son," said the venerable admi* 
 ral, " of all those who are here, you and I alone know the 
 great peril in which we are placed. We are few in 
 number, and these savage Indians are many, and of fickle 
 and irritable natures. On the least* provocation they 
 may throw firebrands from the shore, and consume us in 
 our straw-thatched cabins. 
 
 9. * The arrangement which you have made for pro 
 visions, and which at present they fulfil so cheerfully, 
 
OP COLUMBUS. 171 
 
 they may capriciously break to-morrow, and may refuse 
 to bring us any thing ; nor have we the means of com 
 pelling them. I have thought of a remedy, if it meets 
 your views. In this canoe which you have purchased, 
 some one may pass over to Hispanic-la, and procure a 
 ship, by which we shall all be delivered from this great 
 peril. Tell me your opinion on the matter." 
 
 10. Senior," replied Diego Mendez, " I well know our 
 danger to be far greater than is easily conceived ; but as 
 to passing to Hispaniola in so small a vessel as a canoe, 
 I hold it not merely difficult, but impossible, since it is 
 necessary to traverse a gulf of forty leagues, and between 
 islands where the sea is impetuous arid seldom in repose. 
 I know not who there is would venture upon so extreme 
 a peril." 
 
 11. Columbus made no reply ; but from his looks, and 
 the nature of his silence, Mendez plainly perceived him 
 self to be the person whom the admiral had in view. Re 
 suming, therefore, the conversation, " Senior," said he, 
 " I have many times put my life in peril to save you and 
 my comrades, arid God has hitherto preserved me in a 
 miraculous manner. There are, nevertheless, murmur- 
 ers, who say that your Excellency intrusts to me every 
 affair wherein honour is to be gained, while there are 
 others in company who would execute them as well as I. 
 I beg, therefore, that you would assemble the people, and 
 propose this enterprise, to see if any one will undertake 
 it, which I doubt. If all decline, I will then come for 
 ward and risk my life in your service, as I have many 
 times done already." 
 
 12. The admiral willingly humoured the wishes of the 
 worthy Mendez. On the following morning tfie crew 
 was assembled, and the proposition made. Every one 
 drew back, pronouncing it the height of rashness. Upon 
 this Diego Mendez stepped forward. " Senior," said he, 
 " I have but one life to lose, yet I am willing to venture 
 it for your service, and for the oad of all here present ; 
 and I trust in the protection of God, which I have expe 
 rienced on so many other occasions." 
 
 13. Columbus embraced this zealous follower, who im 
 mediately set about preparing for the expedition. Draw- 
 
172 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 ing his canoe on shore, he put on a false keel, and nailed 
 weather-boards along the bow and stern, to prevent the 
 sea from breaking over it. He then payed it with a coat 
 of tar, furnished it with a mast and sail, and put in pro 
 visions for himself, a Spanish comrade, and six Indians. 
 
 14. In the mean while, Columbus wrote a letter to Ovan- 
 do, governor of Hispaniola, begging that a ship might im 
 mediately be sent to bring him and his men to Hispanio 
 la ; and he wrote another to the sovereigns, entreating for 
 a ship to convey them from Hispaniola to Spain. 
 
 15. In this letter he gave a comprehensive account of 
 his voyage, and expressed his opinion that Veragua was 
 the Aurea Chersonesus of the ancients. He supposed 
 himself to have reached the confines of the dominions of 
 the Grand Khan, and offered, if he lived to return to Spain, 
 to conduct a mission thither to instruct that potentate in 
 the Christian faith. 
 
 16. What an instance of soaring enthusiasm and irre 
 pressible enterprise is here exhibited ! At the time he 
 was indulging these visions, and proposing new and ro 
 mantic enterprises, he was broken down by age and in 
 firmities, racked by pain, confined to his bed, and shut up 
 in a wreck on the coast of a remote and savage island. 
 
 17. The despatches being- ready, Diego Mendez em 
 barked with his Spanish comrade and his six Indians, 
 and coasted the island eastward. Their voyage was toil 
 some and perilous. When arrived at the end of the 
 island, they were suddenly surrounded and taken prison 
 ers by the Indians, who carried them three leagues into 
 the interior, where they determined to kill them. 
 
 18. A dispute arising about the division of the spoils, 
 they agreed to settle it, after the Indian fashion, by a 
 game of ball. While thus engaged, Diego Mendez es 
 caped, regained his canoe, and made his way back to the 
 harbour in it, alone, after fifteen days absence. 
 
 19. Nothing daunted by the perils and hardships he 
 had undergone, he offered to depart immediately on a 
 second attempt, provided he could be escorted to the end 
 of the island by an armed force. His offer was acc-ept- 
 ed, and Bartholomew Fiesco, a Genoese, who had com 
 manded one of the caravels, and was strongly attached 
 
OP COLUMBUS. . 173 
 
 to the admiral, was associated with him in this second 
 expedition. 
 
 20. Each had a canoe, with six Spaniards and ten In 
 dians under his command. On reaching Hispaniola, 
 Fiesco was to return immediately to Jamaica, to bring 
 tidings to the admiral of the safe arrival of his messen 
 ger ; while Diego Mendez was to proceed to San Do 
 mingo, and, after purchasing and despatching a ship, was 
 to depart for Spain with the letter to the sovereigns. 
 
 21. All arrangements being made, the Indians placed 
 in the canoes a supply of cassava bread, and each his 
 calabash of water. The Spaniards, beside their provi 
 sions, had each his sword and target. The Adelantado, 
 with an armed band, kept pace with them along the 
 coast, until they reached the end of the island, where, 
 waiting for three days until the weather was perfectly 
 serene, they launched forth on the broad bosom of the 
 sea. The Adelantado remained watching them until they 
 became mere specks on the ocean, arid the evening hid 
 them from his vi-ew, and then returned to the harbour. 
 
 CHAPTER XL1. 
 
 Mutiny of Porras. Eclipse of the Moon. Stratagem of 
 Columbus to procure supplies from the Indians. [1503.] 
 
 1. DAY after day, and week after week, did the poor 
 Spaniards keep a wistful look out upon the sea, for the 
 expected return of Fiesco, flattering themselves that 
 every canoe, gliding at a distance, might be the harbin 
 ger of deliverance. 
 
 2. Months elapsed, however, without his arrival, and 
 they began to fear that he and Mendez had perish- 
 ed. Enfeebled by past sufferings, present confinement, 
 and low diet, they became extremely sickly ; and their 
 maladies were heightened by anxiety and suspense. 
 Some gradually sank into despondency ; others became 
 peevish and impatient, and, in their unreasonable heat, 
 railed at their venerable and infirm commander as the 
 cause of all their misfortunes. 
 
 15* 
 
174 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 a 
 
 3. Among the officers of Columbus were two brothers, 
 Francisco and Diego Porras ; the first a captain of a 
 caravel, the other, notary and accountant general of the 
 expedition. They were vain and insolent men, who had 
 been appointed by Columbus to gratify their relative, the 
 royal treasurer Morales. Like many others whom the 
 admiral had benefited, they requited his kindness with 
 the blackest ingratitude. 
 
 4. Mingling with the people, they assured them that 
 Columbus had no intention of returning to Spain, having 
 in reality been banished thence by the sovereigns. His- 
 paniola, they said, was equally closed against him, and it 
 was his design to remain in Jamaica, until his friends 
 could make interest at court to procure his recall. By 
 these and other insidious suggestions, thSy gradually 
 prepared the people for revolt. 
 
 5. On the 2d of January, Francisco Porras suddenly 
 entered the cabin where Columbus was confined to his 
 bed by the gout, reproached him vehemently with keep 
 ing them in that desolate place to perish, and accused 
 him of having no intention to return to Spain. The ad 
 miral raised himself in bed, and, maintaining his calm 
 ness, endeavoured to reason with the traitor ; but Porras 
 was deaf to all argument. " Embark immediately, or 
 remain, in God s name !" cried he, with a voice that re 
 sounded all over the wreck. " For my part, I am for 
 Castile ! those who choose may follow me !" 
 
 6. This was the signal. "For Castile ! for Castile !" 
 was heard on every side. The mutineers sprang up on 
 the most conspicuous parts of the vessel, brandishing their 
 weapons, and amidst the uproar the voices of some des 
 peradoes were heard menacing the life of the admiral. 
 
 7. Columbus leaped out of bed, and tottered forth to 
 pacify the mutineers, but was forced back into his cabin 
 by some of his faithful adherents. The Adelantado sal 
 lied forth lance in hand, and planted himself in a situa 
 tion to take the whole brunt of the assault. It was with 
 the greatest difficujty that several of the loyal part of the 
 crew could restrain his fury, and prevail upon him to re 
 linquish his weapon, and retire to the cabin of his brother. 
 
 8. The mutineers, being entirely unopposed, took ten 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 175 
 
 canoes, which the admiral had purchased from the In 
 dians ; others, who had not been concerned in the mutiny, 
 joined them, through fear of remaining behind, when so 
 reduced in number : in this way forty-eight abandoned 
 the admiral. Many of the sick crawled forth from their 
 cabins, and beheld their departure with tears and lamen 
 tations, and would gladly have accompanied them, had 
 their strength permitted. 
 
 9. Porras coasted with his squadron of canoes to the 
 eastward, landing occasionally and robbing the natives, 
 pretending to act under the authority of Columbus, that 
 he might draw on him their hostility. Arrived at the 
 east end of the island, he procured several Indians to 
 manage the canoes, and then set out on his voyage across 
 the gulf. 
 
 10. The Spaniards had scarcely proceeded four leagues, 
 when the wind came ahead, with a swell of the sea, that 
 threatened to overwhelm the deeply laden canoes. They 
 immediately turned for land, and in their alarm threw 
 overboard the greater part of their effects. 
 
 11. The danger still continuing, they drew their 
 swords, and compelled most of the Indians to leap into 
 the sea. The latter were skilful swimmers, but the dis 
 tance to land was too great for their strength ; if however 
 they at any time took hold of the canoes to rest them 
 selves and recover breath, the Spaniards, fearful of their 
 overturning the slight barks, would stab them or cut oif 
 their hands. Some were thus slain by the sword, others 
 sank exhausted benea.th the waves ; eighteen perished 
 miserably, and none survived but a few who had been 
 retained to manage the canoes. 
 
 12. Having reached the shore in safety, Porras and 
 his men waited until the weather became favourable, and 
 then made another effort to cross to Hispaniola, but with 
 no better success. They then abandoned the attempt in 
 despair, and returned westward, roving from village to 
 village, and living upon the provisions of the Indians, 
 which they took by force if not readily given. If the na 
 tives remonstrated, they told them to seek redress at the 
 hands of the admiral, whom, at the same time, they 
 represented as the implacable foe of the Indian race, 
 
176 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 and bent upon gaining a tyrannical sway over their 
 island. 
 
 13. In the mean time, Columbus, left in the wreck with 
 a mere handful of srck and desponding men, exerted 
 himself to the utmost to restore them to health and 
 spirits. He ordered that the small stock of biscuit 
 which remained, and the most nourishing provisions fur 
 nished by the Indians, should be appropriated to the in 
 valids : he visited them individually, cheered them with 
 hopes of speedy deliverance, and promised that on his 
 return to Spain he would intercede with the sovereigns, 
 that their loyalty might be munificently rewarded. In 
 this way, by kind and careful treatment and encouraging 
 words, he succeeded in rendering them once more fit for 
 service. 
 
 14. Scarcely, however, had the little garrison recover 
 ed from the shock of the mutiny, when it was menaced 
 by a new and appalling evil. The Indians grew negli 
 gent in furnishing provisions. The European trinkets, 
 once so inestimable in their eyes, had sunk in value, by 
 becoming common. Many of the caciques were incensed 
 by the conduct of Porras and his followers, which they 
 supposed justified by the admiral ; others were secretly 
 instigated by the rebels to withhold supplies, in hopes of 
 starving Columbus and his people, or of driving them 
 from the island. 
 
 15. The horrors of famine began to threaten, when a 
 fortunate idea presented itself to Columbus. From his 
 knowledge of astronomy, he ascertained that within three 
 days then* would be a total eclipse of the moon, in the 
 early pan of the night. He summoned, therefore, the 
 principal caciques to a grand conference, appointing for 
 it the day of the eclipse. 
 
 16. When all were assembled, he told them by his in 
 terpreter, that he and his followers were worshippers of 
 a Deity who lived in the skies ; that this great Deity 
 was incensed against the Indians for neglecting to fur 
 nish his faithful worshippers with provisions, and intend 
 ed to chastise them with famine and pestilence. Lest 
 they should disbelieve this warning, a signal would be 
 given that very night in the heavens. They would be- 
 
The Eclipse of the Moon. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 177 
 
 hold the moon change its colour, and gradually losb its 
 light.; a token of the fearful punishment which awaited 
 them. 
 
 17. Many of the Indians were alarmed at the predic 
 tion, others treated it with derision ; all, however, await 
 ed with solicitude the coming of the night. When they 
 beheld a black shadow stealing over the moon, and a 
 gloom covering the face of nature, they were seized with 
 the utmost consternation. Hurrying with provisions to 
 the ships, and throwing themselves at the feet of Colum 
 bus, they implored him to intercede with his God to with 
 hold the threatened calamities, assuring him that thence 
 forth they would bring him whatever he required. 
 
 18. Columbus retired to his cabin, under pretence of 
 communing with the Deity, the forests and shores all the 
 while resounding with the bowlings of the savages. He 
 returned shortly, and informed them that the Deity had 
 deigned to pardon them, on condition of their fulfilling 
 their promises, in sign of which he would withdraw the 
 darkness from the moon. 
 
 19. When the Indians saw that planet restored pre 
 sently to its brightness, and rolling in all its beauty 
 through the firmament, they overwhelmed the admiral 
 with thanks for his intercession. They now regarded 
 him with awe and reverence, as one enjoying the pecu 
 liar favour and confidence of the Deity, since he knew 
 upon earth what was passing in the heavens. They 
 hastened to propitiate him with gifts ; supplies again ar 
 rived daily at the harbour, and from that time forward 
 there was no want of provisions. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIL 
 
 Arrival of Diego de Escobar at the Harbour. Battle, with 
 the Rebels. [1504.] 
 
 1. EIGHT months had now elapsed since the depar 
 ture of Mendez and Fiesco, yet no tidings had been re 
 ceived of their fate. The hopes of the most sanguine 
 
178 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 were nearly extinct, and many, considering themselves 
 abandoned and forgotten by the world, grew wild and 
 desperate. Another conspiracy was on the point of 
 breaking out, when one evening, towards dusk, a small 
 caravel was seen off the harbour. 
 
 2. It keot out at sea, and sent its boat on shore. In 
 this came Diego de Escobar, one of the late confederates 
 of Roldan, who had been condemned to death under the 
 administration of Columbus, and pardoned by Bobadilla. 
 There was bad omen in such a messenger. 
 
 3. Escobar was the bearer of a letter from Ovando, ac 
 companied by a barrel of wine and a side of bacon. The 
 governor expressed great concern at the misfortunes of 
 the admiral, and regret at not having in port a vessel of 
 sufficient size to bring off himself and people, but pro 
 mised to send one as soon as possible. 
 
 4. Escobar drew oft with the boat, and kept at a dis 
 tance awaiting the admiral s reply, and holding no con 
 versation with any of the Spaniards. Columbus wrote 
 to Ovando, depicting the horrors of his situation, and 
 urging the promised relief. As soon as Escobar receiv 
 ed this letter, he returned on board of his caravel, which 
 made all sail, and disappeared in the gathering gloom of 
 the night. 
 
 5. The mysterious conduct of Escobar caused surprise 
 and uneasiness among the people, but Columbus cheered 
 them w T ith assurances that ships would soon be sent to 
 take them away. He was secretly, however, indignant 
 at the conduct of Ovando, believing that he had purpose 
 ly delayed sending relief, in the hopes that he would 
 perish on the island, and that Escobar was a spy, sent 
 to ascertain whether he and his crew were yet in ex 
 istence. , 
 
 6. Still he endeavoured to turn the event to advan 
 tage, and sent two of his people to inform the rebels 
 of the promised relief, and offer them a free pardon, and 
 a passage to Hispaniola, on condition of their immediate 
 return to obedience. 
 
 7. Porras received the messengers apart from his men, 
 and accompanied solely by a few of the ringleaders. He 
 treated the generous offer of Columbus with insolence^ 
 
OP COLUMBUS. 179 
 
 demanding, as terms of peace, that one half of the ac 
 commodation of the shipping that should arrive should 
 be assigned to his party ; and that, in the mean time, the 
 admiral should share with them the sea stores and goods 
 which remained in his possession. When these demands 
 were objected to, he replied that, if not peaceably con- 
 ceded, they would be taken by force ; and with this me 
 nace he dismissed the messengers. 
 
 8. Finding that his men were moved by the offer of 
 pardon and deliverance, he assured them these offers 
 were mere artifices of Columbus, to get them into his 
 power. That the pretended caravel was a phantasm 
 conjured up by the admiral, who was deeply versed in 
 magic. In proof of this, he adverted to its mysterious 
 movements, arriving in the dusk of the evening, holding 
 communication with no one but Columbus, and suddenly 
 disappearing in the night. 
 
 9. "Had it been a real caravel," said he, "the crew 
 would have sought to converse with their countrymen ; 
 the admiral, his son, and brother would have embarked 
 on board ; at any rate, it would have remained a little 
 while in port, and not have vanished so suddenly and 
 mysteriously." 
 
 10. Having by these and similar delusions encoiu 
 raged them to persist in their rebellion, he inarched 
 them one day towards the harbour, to seize upon the 
 stores remaining in the wreck, and to get the admiral 
 in his power. 
 
 11. Columbus heard of their approach, but being con 
 fined by his infirmities, sent Don Bartholomew to reason 
 with them, and endeavour to win them to obedience. 
 The Adelantado, who was generally a man rather of 
 deeds than words, took with him fifty men well armed. 
 Arriving near the rebels, he sent messengers to treat with 
 them ; but Porras forbade them to approach. 
 
 12. The latter cheered his followers by pointing, with 
 derision, to the pale countenances of their opponents, who 
 were emaciated by recent sickness and long confinement 
 in the wreck ; whereas his men, for the most part, were 
 hardy sailors, rendered robust by living in the open air. 
 He assured them the followers of the Adelantado were 
 
180 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 mere household men, fair weather troops, who could never 
 stand before them. 
 
 13. He did not reflect, that with such men pride and 
 spirit often more than supply the place of bodily force, 
 and that his adversaries had the incalculable advantage 
 of justice and law upon their side. 
 
 14. Deluded by his words into a transient glow of cou 
 rage, the rebels did not wait to be attacked, but rushed 
 with shouts upon the enemy. Six of them had made a 
 league to assault the Adelantodo, but were so weh 1 receiv 
 ed that he laid several of them dead at his feet, among 
 whom was Juan Sanchez, the same powerful mariner 
 who had carried off the cacique Quibian. 
 
 15. In the midst of the affray, the Adelantado was as 
 sailed by Francisco de Porras, who, with a blow of his 
 sword, cleft his buckler, and wounded the hand which 
 grasped it. The sword remained wedged in the shield, 
 and before it could be withdrawn, the Adelantado closed 
 upon Porras, grappled him, and, being assisted by others, 
 succeeded in taking him prisoner. 
 
 10. The rebels, seeing their leader a captive, fled in 
 confusion, but were not pursued, through fear of an attack 
 from the Indians, who had remained drawn up in battle 
 array, gazing with astonishment at this fight between 
 white men, but without offering to aid either party. The 
 Adelantado returned in triumph to the wreck, with Por 
 ras and several other prisoners. Only two of his own 
 men had been wounded, one of whom died. 
 
 17. On the following day, the rebels sent a letter to 
 the admiral, signed with all their names, confessing their 
 misdeeds, imploring pardon, and making a solemn oath 
 of obedience ; imprecating the most awful curses on their 
 hea-ds should they break it. The admiral saw, by the ab 
 ject nature of the letter, how completely the spirit of 
 these misguided men was broken ; with his wonted mag 
 nanimity he pardoned thoir offences, merely retaining 
 their ringleader, Francisco Porras, a prisoner, to be tried 
 in Spain for his misdeeds. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 181 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 Voyage of Diego Mendez to Hispaniola. Deliverance of 
 Columbus from the Island of Jamaica. [1504.] 
 
 1. IT is proper here to give some account of the mis 
 sion of Diego Mendez and Bartholomew Fiesco. When 
 they had taken leave of the Adelantado at the east end 
 of the island of Jamaica, they continued all day in a di 
 rect course ; there was no wind, the sky was without a 
 cloud, and the sea like a mirror reflecting the burning 
 rays of the sun. The Indians who paddled the canoes 
 would often leap into the water to cool their glowing 
 bodies, and refresh themselves from their toil. 
 
 2. At the going down of the sun they lost sight of 
 land. During the night the Indians took turns, one half 
 to row while the others slept. The Spaniards, in like 
 manner, divided their forces ; wliile some took repose, 
 the others sat with their weapons in their hands, ready 
 to defend themselves in case of any perfidy on the part 
 of their savage companions. 
 
 3. Watching and toiling in this way through the night, 
 they were excessively fatigued on the following day, and 
 began to experience the torments of thirst, for the In 
 dians, parched with heat, had already drained the con 
 tents of their calabashes. In proportion as the sun rose, 
 their misery increased, and was irritated by the prospect 
 around them nothing but water, while they were perish 
 ing with thirst. 
 
 4. About midday, when their strength was failing 
 them, the commanders produced two small kegs of wa 
 ter, which they had reserved in secret for such an extre 
 mity. Administering a cooling mouthful occasionally, 
 they enabled the Indians to resume their toils. They 
 held out the hopes of soon arriving at a small island* 
 called Navasa, which lay directly in their way,, about 
 eight leagues distant from Hispaniola. Here they would 
 find water to assuage their thirst, and would be able to 
 take repose. 
 
 5. The night closed upon them without any eight ot 
 
 16 
 
182 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 the island ; tney feared that they had deviated from their 
 course ; if so, they should miss the island entirely, and 
 perish with thirst before they could reach Hispaniola. 
 One of the Indians died of the accumulated sufferings of 
 labour, heat, and raging thirst ; others lay panting and 
 gasping at the bottom of the canoes. Their companions 
 were scarcely able to continue their toils. Sometimes 
 they endeavoured to cool their parched palates by taking 
 sea water in their mouths, but its briny bitterness only 
 increased their thirst. One after another gave up, an cl 
 it seemed impossible that they should live to reach His 
 paniola. 
 
 6. The commanders, by admirable management, had 
 hitherto kept up this weary struggle with suffering and 
 despair ; but they too began to despond. Diego Mendez 
 sat watching the horizon, which was gradually lighting 
 up with those faint rays which precede the rising of the 
 moon. As that planet arose, he perceived it to emerge 
 from behind a dark mass, which proved to be the island 
 of Navasa, but so low, and small, and distant, that, had 
 it not been thus revealed by the rising moon, he would 
 never have discovered it. He immediately gave the 
 animating cry of "land." His almost expiring com 
 panions were roused to new life, and exerted themselves 
 with feverish impatience. 
 
 7. By dawn of day they sprang on shore, and returned 
 thanks to God for their deliverance. The island was a 
 mere barren mass of rocks, but they found abundance of 
 rain water in hollow places. The Spaniards exercised 
 some degree of caution in their draughts ; but the poor 
 Indians, \\ hose toils had increased t he fever of their 
 thirst, gavM way to a kind of frantic indulgence, of 
 which several died upon the spot, and others fell dan 
 gerously ill. 
 
 8. After reposing all day on the island, and feasting 
 upon shell-fish gathered along the shore, they set off in 
 the evening for Hispaniola, the mountains of which were 
 distinctly visible, and arrived at Cape Tiburon on the 
 following day, the fourth since their departure from Ja 
 maica. Fiesco would now have returned to give the 
 admiral assurance of the safe ai rival of his messenger, 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 183 
 
 but both Spaniards and Indians refused to encounter the 
 perils of another voyage in the canoes. 
 
 9. Parting with his companions, Diego Mendez took 
 six Indians of the island, and set off for San Domingo. 
 After proceeding for eighty leagues against the currents, 
 he was informed that the governor had departed for Xa- 
 ragua, fifty leagues distant. Still undaunted by fatigues 
 and difficulties, he abandoned the canoe, and proceeded 
 alone, on foot, through forests and over mountains, until 
 he arrived at Xaragua, achieving one of the most perilous 
 expeditions ever undertaken by a devoted follower for 
 the safety of his commander. 
 
 10. He found Ovando completely engrossed by wars 
 with the natives. The governor expressed great con 
 cern at the unfortunate situation of Columbus, and pro- 
 mised to send him immediate relief; but Mendez remain 
 ed for seven months at Xaragua, vainly urging for that 
 relief, or for permission to go to San Domingo in quest 
 of it. The constant excuse of Ovando was, that there 
 were not ships of sufficient burden in the island to bring 
 off Columbus and his men. 
 
 11. At length, by daily importunity, Mendez obtained 
 permission to go to San Domingo, and await the arrival 
 of certain ships which were expected. He immediately 
 set out on foot ; the distance was seventy leagues, and 
 part of his toilsome journey lay through forests and moun 
 tains, infested by hostile and exasperated Indians. Im 
 mediately after his departure, Ovando despatched from 
 Xaragua the pardoned rebel, Escobar, on that reconnoi 
 tring visit which caused so much wonder and suspicion 
 among the companions of Columbus. 
 
 12. If the governor had really entertained hopes that, 
 during the delay of relief Columbus might perish in the 
 island, the report brought back by Escobar must have 
 completely disappointed him. No time was now to be 
 lost, if he wished to claim any merit in his deliverance, 
 or to avoid the disgrace of having totally neglected 
 him. His long delay had already roused the public 
 indignation, insomuch that animadversions had been 
 made upon his conduct even in the pulpits. Diego 
 Mendez, also, had hired and victualled a vessel at the 
 
184 LIFE AND VOYA.GE8 
 
 expense of Columbus, and was on the point of despatch 
 ing it. 
 
 13. The governor, therefore, exerted himself, at the 
 eleventh hour, and fitted out a caravel, which he put un 
 der the command of Diego de Salcedo, the agent em 
 ployed by Columbus to collect his rents in San Domingo. 
 These two vessels arrived at Jamaica shortly after the 
 battle with Porras, and brought relief to the admiral and 
 his faithful adherents, after a long year of dismal confine 
 ment to the wreck.* 
 
 14. On the 28th of June, all the Spaniards embarked, 
 friend and foe, on board of the vessels, and made sail joy 
 fully for San Domingo; but, from adverse winds and 
 currents, they did not arrive there until the 13th of Au 
 gust. Whatever lurking enmity there might be to Co 
 lumbus in the place, it was overpowered by popular sym 
 pathy for his late disasters. 
 
 15. The governor and the principal inhabitants came 
 forth to meet him, and received him with signal distinc 
 tion. He was lodged in the house of Ovando, who treat 
 ed him with the utmost courtesy and attention ; but 
 there were too deep causes of jealousy and distrust be 
 tween them fcr their intercourse to be cordial. Their 
 powers, too, were so defined in their several patents, as 
 to clash with each other, and to cause questions of 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 16. Ovando assumed a right to take cognizance of all 
 transactions at Jamaica, as happening within the limits 
 
 * Some brief notice of the further fortunes of Diego Mendez may be in 
 teresting to the reader. 
 
 When King Ferdinand heard of his faithful services, he bestowed re 
 wards upon him, and permitted him to bear a canoe in his coat of arms, 
 as a memento of his hardy enterprise. He continued devotedly attached 
 to the admiral, serving him zealously after his return to Spain, and during 
 his last illness. Columbus retained a grateful and affectionate sense of 
 his fidelity. On his deathbed, he promised Mendez that he should be ap 
 pointed principal alguazil of the island of Hispaniola. The promise, how 
 ever, was not performed by the heirs of Columbus. Mendez was after 
 wards engaged in various voyages of discovery, met with many vicissi 
 tudes, and died poor. In his last will, he requested that his armorial 
 bearing of an Indian canoe should be engraved on his tombstone, and 
 under it the following words: u Here lies the honourable Cavalier, Diego 
 Mendez ; who served greatly the royal crown of Spain, in the conquest 
 of the Indies, with Admiral Christopher Columbus, of glorious memory, 
 who made the discovery ; and afterwards by himself, in ships at his own 
 cost. Bestow, in charily, a pater noster and an ave-maria." 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 185 
 
 of his government. He set at liberty the traitor Porras, 
 and talked of punishing- the followers of Columbus for the 
 deaths of tiie mutineers whom they had slain in battle. 
 
 17. Columbus, on the other hand, asserted the absolute 
 jurisdiction given him by the sovereigns, in his letter of 
 instructions, over all persons who sailed in his expedi 
 tion, from the time of their departure from Spain until 
 their return. 
 
 18. The governor heard him with great courtesy and 
 a smiling countenance, but observed, that the letter gave 
 him no authority within the bounds of his government. 
 He relinquished the idea, however, of trying the faithful 
 adherents of Columbus, and sent Porras to Spain, to be 
 examined by the board which had charge of the affairs 
 of the Indies. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 Affairs at Hispaniola during the Administration of Ovan- 
 do. Return of Columbus to Spain. [1504.] 
 
 1. LET us here turn for a moment from pursuing the 
 story of the admiral, to notice some of the principal oc 
 currences which had taken place in Hispaniola during 
 the absence of Columbus. 
 
 2. A great crowd of adventurers, of various ranks, had 
 thronged the fleet of Ovando, all confidently expecting- 
 to make sudden fortunes. They had scarcely landed 
 when they all hurried off to the mines, which were about 
 eight leagues distant. The road swarmed like an 
 ant-hill. Every one had his knapsack of biscuit and 
 flour, and his mining implements on his shoulder. 
 
 3. Those hidalgos, or gentlemen, who had no servants 
 to carry their burdens, were fain to bear them on their 
 own backs, and lucky was he who had a Horse for the 
 expedition, for he would be able to bring bacK the greater 
 load of treasure. 
 
 4. They all set off in high spirits, eager who should 
 first reach the golden land ; thinking they had but to ar- 
 
186 LIFE ANI> VOYAOE8 
 
 rive at the mines, and gather gold, as easily and readily 
 as fruit from the trees. When they arrived, however, 
 they found, to their dismay, that it required experience 
 to discover the veins of ore ; that the whole process of 
 mining- was exceedingly slow and toilsome, and its re 
 sults precarious. 
 
 5. They digged eagerly for a time, but found no ore ; 
 growing hungry, they threw by their implements, sat 
 down to eat, and then returned to work. It was all in 
 vain. " Their labour," says Las Casas, " gave them a 
 keen appetite and quick digestion, but no gold." They 
 soon exhausted their provisions and their patience, and 
 returned to San Domingo half famished, downcast, and 
 despairing. Poverty soon fell upon these misguided 
 men. Some wasted away, and died broken-hearted ; 
 others were hurried off by raging fevers ; so that there 
 soon perished upwards of a thousand men. 
 
 6. Ovando was reputed a man of great prudence and 
 sagacity, and he certainly took severa 1 judicious measures 
 for the regulation of the island and the relief of the colo 
 nists ; but his policy was fatal to the natives. When he 
 had been sent out to supersede Bobadilla, the queen, 
 shocked at the cruel bondage which had been inflicted 
 on the Indians, had pronounced them all free. The 
 consequence was, they immediately refused to labour in 
 the mines. 
 
 7. Ovando, in 1503, represented, that this entire lib 
 erty granted to the natives, produced habits of idleness, 
 profligacy, and neglect of all religion. The sovereigns 
 permitted, therefore, that they should be obliged to labour 
 moderately, if essential to their well-being, but that they 
 should be paid regularly and fairly, and instructed in 
 religion. 
 
 8. Under cover of this hired labour, thus intended for 
 the health of soul and body, more intolerable toil was ex 
 acted from ttyem, and more horrible cruelties inflicted, 
 than in the worst days of Bobadilla. Many perished from 
 hunger, or sunk under the lash ; many killed themselves 
 in despair*; and even mothers overcame the powerful 
 instinct of nature, and destroyed the infants at their 
 breasts, to spare them a life of wretchedness. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 187 
 
 9. Even those who survived the exacted terms of labour, 
 and were permitted to return to their homes, which were 
 often sixty and eighty leagues distant, were dismissed so 
 worn down by toil and hardship, and so scantily furnish 
 ed with provisions, that they perished by the way. Some 
 sank down and died by the side of a brook, others under 
 the shade of a tree, where they had crawled for shelter 
 from the sun. 
 
 . 10. "I have found many dead on the road," says the 
 venerable Bishop Las Casas ; " others gasping under the 
 trees, and others in the pangs of death, faintly crying, 
 Hunger! hunger !" 
 
 11. The wars of Ovando were equally desolating. To 
 punish a slight insurrection in the province of Higuey, 
 at the eastern end of the island, he sent his troops, who 
 ravaged the country with fire and sword, showed no 
 mercy to age or sex, put many to death with the most 
 wanton, ingenious, and horrible tortures, and brought off 
 the brave Cotabanama, one of the five sovereign caciques 
 of the island, in chains to San Domingo, where he was 
 ignominiously hanged for the crime of defending his ter 
 ritory and his native soil against usurping strangers. 
 
 12. But the most atrocious act of Ovando, was the 
 punishment he inflicted on the province of Xaragua. 
 The exactions of tribute in this once happy and hospita 
 ble province had caused occasional quarrels between the 
 inferior caciques and the Spaniards : these were magni 
 fied by alarmists, and Ovando was persuaded that there 
 was a deep-laid plot among the natives to rise upon their 
 oppressors. 
 
 13. He immediately set out for Xaragua, at the head 
 of nearly four hundred well-armed soldiers, seventy of 
 whom were steel-clad horsemen. He gave out that he 
 was going on a visit of friendship, to make arrangements 
 about the payment of tribute. 
 
 14. Behechio, the ancient cacique of the province, was 
 dead, and his sister, Anacaona, had succeeded to the 
 government. She came forth to meet Ovando, attended 
 by her most distinguished subjects, and her train of dam 
 sels, waving palm branches, and dancing to the cadence 
 of their popular areytos. All her principal caciques had 
 
188 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 been assembled to do honour to her guests, who for seve 
 ral days were entertained with banquets and national 
 games and dances. 
 
 15. In return for these exhibitions, Ovando invited 
 Anacaona, with her beautiful daughter Higuenamota, and 
 her principal subjects, to witness a tilting match by the 
 cavalry in the public square. When all were assembled, 
 he gave a signal, and instantly the horsemen rushed into 
 the midst of the naked and defenceless throng, trampling 
 them under foot, cutting them down with their swords, 
 transfixing them with their lances, and sparing neither 
 age nor sex. 
 
 16. About eighty caciques were surrounded in one of 
 the principal houses, bound to the posts which supported 
 the roof, and put to cruel tortures, until, in the extremity 
 of anguish, they were made to admit the truth of the plot 
 with which their queen and themselves had been charged. 
 When self-accusation had thus been tortured from them, 
 fire was set to the house, and they all perished miserably 
 in the flames. 
 
 17. As to Anacaona, she was carried to San Domingo, 
 where the mockery of a trial was given her, in which she 
 was found guilty, on the confessions wrung by torture 
 from her subjects, and on the testimony of their butchers, 
 and she was barbarously hanged .by the people whom she 
 had so long and so signally befriended. 
 
 18. After the massacre at Xaragua, the destruction of 
 its inhabitants still went on ; they were hunted for six 
 months amidst the fastnesses of the mountains, and their 
 country ravaged, until, all being reduced to deplorable 
 misery and abject submission, Ovando pronounced the 
 province restored to order, and, in commemoration of his 
 triumph, founded a town near the lake, which he called 
 St. Mary of the True Peace.* 
 
 19. Such was the tragical fate of the beautiful Ana 
 caona, once extolled as the Golden Flower of Hayti ; 
 and such the story of the delightful region of Xaragua ; 
 a place which the Europeans, by their own account, 
 found a perfect paradise, but which, by their vile pas 
 sions, they filled with horror and desolation. 
 
 * Santa Maria de la Verdadera Paz. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 189 
 
 20. These are but brief and scanty anecdotes of the 
 ruthless system pursued, during- the absence of the ad 
 miral, by the commander Ovando, this man of boasted 
 prudence and moderation, who had been sent to reform 
 the abuses of the island, and above all to redress the 
 wrongs of the natives. 
 
 21. The system of Columbus may have borne hard 
 upon the Indians, born and brought up as they were in 
 untasked freedom, but it was never cruel or sanguinary. 
 He had fondly hoped, at one time, to render them chi- 
 lized and industrious subjects to the crown, and zealous 
 converts to the faith, and to derive from their regular 
 tributes a great and steady revenue. 
 
 22. How different had been the event ! The five great 
 tribes which had peopled the mountains and the valleys, 
 at the time of the discovery, and had rendered by their 
 mingled villages and hamlets, and tracts of cultivation, 
 the rich levels of the vegas so many " painted gardens," 
 Lad almost all passed away, and the native princes had 
 perished chiefly by violent and ignominious deaths. 
 
 23. " I am informed," said he, in a letter to the sove 
 reigns, " that since I left this island, six parts out of seven 
 of the natives are dead, all through ill-treatment and in 
 humanity ; some by the sword, others by blows and cruel 
 usage, others through hunger ; the greater part have 
 perished in the mountains, whither they had fled, from 
 not being able to support the labour imposed upon them." 
 
 24. He found his own immediate concerns in great 
 confusion. His rents and arrears were either uncollected, 
 or he could not obtain a clear account and a full liquida 
 tion of them. The continual misunderstandings which 
 took place between him and the governor, induced Co 
 lumbus to hasten his departure. He caused the ship in 
 which he had returned from Jamaica to be repaired and 
 fitted out, and another hired, in which he offered a passage 
 to such of his late crews as chose to return. 
 
 25. The greater part preferred to remain in San Do 
 mingo : as they were in great poverty, he relieved their 
 necessities from his own purse, and advanced money to 
 those who accompanied him for the expenses of their 
 voyage. All the funds he could collect were exhausied 
 
190 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 hi these disbursements, arid many of the men thus re 
 lieved by his generosity had been among the most violent 
 of the rebels. 
 
 26. On the 12th of September he set sail, but had 
 scarcely left the harbour when the mast of his ship was 
 carried away in a sudden squall. He embarked, there 
 fore, with his family in the other vessel, commanded by 
 the Adelantado, and sent back the damaged ship to port. 
 Fortune continued to persecute him to the end of this 
 his last and most disastrous expedition. 
 
 27. Throughout the voyage he experienced tempestuous 
 weather, suffering at the same time the excruciating tor 
 ments of the gout, until, on the 7th of November, his 
 crazy and shattered bark anchored in the harbour of San 
 Lucar. From thence he proceeded to Seville, to enjoy 
 a little tranquillity of mind and body, and to recruit his 
 health after his long series of fatigues, anxieties, and 
 hardships. 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 Fruitless solicitations of Columbus to be reinstated in his 
 Government. His last illness and death. [1504.] 
 
 1. THE infirmities of Conumbus were too great to 
 permit him to proceed to court, and he passed the winter 
 at Seville, in a state of bodily and mental suffering. 
 Care and sorrow were destined to follow him by sea and 
 land ; and in changing the scene, he but changed the 
 nature of his afflictions. 
 
 2. His affairs were all in confusion ; and had been so 
 ever since his arrest by Bobadilla. His revenues arising 
 in San Domingo were not rendered to him ; and his re 
 cent disastrous voyage had involved him in expenses, for 
 the greater part of which the crown remained his debtor. 
 
 3. In a letter to his son Diego he urges him to extreme 
 economy. "I receive nothing of the revenue due to 
 me," says he, "but live by borrowing. Little have I 
 profited by twenty years of toils and perils, since at pre 
 sent I do not own a roof in Spam. I have no resort but 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 191 
 
 an inn, and, for the most time, have not wherewithal to 
 pay my bill." 
 
 4. He wrote repeatedly to the sovereigns, and em 
 ployed the mediation of friends, to obtain the restitution 
 of his official honours, the settlement of his accounts, and 
 the relief of the seamen who had sailed with him in his 
 last voyage. His letters remained unanswered, his 
 claims unsatisfied, and a cold indifference prevailed with 
 respect to him. Finding- the inefficacy of letters, he at 
 tempted to set off for court in a litter ; but his increasing 1 
 maladies, and the inclemency of the season, obliged him 
 to abandon the journey. 
 
 5. In the mean time, the intrigues of his enemies were 
 prevailing. Porras, the ringleader of the late faction, had 
 been sent home for trial, but he went at large, favoured 
 by his relative Morales, the royal treasurer, through 
 whose means he obtained access to people in place, and 
 an opportunity to enlist their opinions and prejudices on 
 his side. 
 
 6. Columbus felt deeply the slights and neglects of the 
 cold hearted Ferdinand, and rested all his hopes of re 
 dress on the justice and magnanimity of Isabolla. His 
 reliance would not have been in vain, but during the time 
 of his solicitation she had lain dangerously ill. 
 
 7. " May it please the Holy Trinity," said he, in a 
 letter to his son, "to restore our sovereign queen to 
 health ; for by her every thing will be adjusted that is 
 now in confusion." Alas ! at the time he was writing 
 that letter his noble benefactress lay a corpse ! 
 
 8. The health of Isabella had long been undermined 
 by repeated shocks of domestic calamity. The deaths 
 of two of her favourite children, and of her grandson and 
 heir, together with the infirmity of intellect and conjugal 
 unhappiness of her daughter Juana, wife of the Archduke 
 Philip, were cruel wounds to her maternal heart. 
 
 9. The desolation which walks through palaces ad 
 mits not the familiar sympathies and sweet consolations 
 which alleviate the sorrows of common life. Isabella 
 pined in state, amidst the homage of a court, surrounded 
 by the trophies of a glorious and successful reign, and 
 placed at the summit of earthly grandeur. 
 
192 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 10. A deep and incurable melancholy settled upon ner, 
 which undermined her constitution, and gave a fatal 
 acuteness to her bodily maladies. After four months of 
 illness, she died in the fifty-fourth year of her age ; but, 
 long before her eyes closed upon the world, her heart had 
 closed upon all its pomps and vanities. 
 
 11. "Let my body, "said she, in her will, " be interred in 
 the monastery of San Francisco, in the alhambra of the 
 city of Granada, in a low sepulchre, with no other monu 
 ment than a plain stone, and an inscription. But I desire 
 and command, that if the king, my lord, should choose a 
 sepulchre in any church or monastery, in any other part 
 or place of these my kingdoms, that my body be trans 
 ported thither, and buried beside the body of his highness ; 
 go that the union we have enjoyed while living, and 
 which, through the mercy of God, we hope our souls will 
 experience in heaven, may be represented by our bodies 
 in the earth."* 
 
 12. Such was one of several passages in the will of 
 this admirable woman, which bespoke the chastened 
 humility of her heart, and in which, as has been well ob- 
 eerved, the affections of conjugal love were delicately 
 entwined with fervent religion and the most tender 
 melancholy. 
 
 1,3. She was one of the purest spirits that ever ruled 
 over the destinies of a nation. Had she been spared, her 
 benignant vigilance would have prevented many a scene 
 of horror in the new world, and might have softened the 
 lot of its native inhabitants. As it is, her fair name will 
 ever shine with celestial radiance in the early dawning of 
 its history. 
 
 14. The news of the death of Isabella reached Colum 
 bus while he was writing a letter to his son. He notices 
 it in a postcript, written , in beautifully touching and 
 mournful terms. 
 
 15. " A memorial," he writes, " for thee, my dear son 
 
 *The dying command of Isabella has been obeyed. The author of 
 this work has seen her tomb in the royal chapel of the cathedral of Gra 
 nada, in which her remains are interred with those of Ferdinand. Their 
 effigies, eculpturpd in white marble, lie side by side, on a magnificent 
 sepulchre. The altar of the chapel is adorned with bas reliefs, repre 
 senting the conquest and surrender of Granada. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 193 
 
 Diego, of what is at present to be done. The principal 
 thing is to commend affectionately, and with great devo 
 tion, the soul of the queen, our sovereign, to God. Her 
 life was always catholic and pious, and prompt to all 
 things in his holy service ; for this reason we may rest 
 assured that she Is received into his glory, and beyond 
 the cares of this rough and weary world. , 
 
 16. " The next thing is, to watch and labour in all mat 
 ters for the service of our sovereign, the king, and to en 
 deavour to alleviate his grief. His majesty is the head of 
 Christendom. Remember the proverb, which says, 
 when the head suffers, all the members suffer. Therefore 
 all good Christians should pray for his health and long 
 life ; and we, who are in his employ, ought more than 
 others to do this with all study and diligence." 
 
 17. During a great part of the spring Columbus was 
 detained at Seville by his maladies. The Adelantado in 
 the mean time, proceeded to court, to attend to his con 
 cerns. The latter was accompanied by the admiral s 
 younger son Fernando, then about seventeen years old. 
 in a letter to his elder son Diego, he inculcates the 
 strongest fraternal attachment ; alluding to his own bro 
 thers with one of those warm and affecting touches which 
 speak the kindness of his heart. 
 
 18. " To thy brother," said he, conduct thyself as the 
 elder brother should unto the younger. Thou hast no 
 other, and I praise God that this is such a one as thou 
 dost need. Ten brothers would not be too many for 
 thee. Never have I found a better friend, to right or 
 left, than my brothers." 
 
 19. It was not until the month of May that Columbus 
 was able to accomplish his journey to court. He, who 
 ,but a few years before had entered the city of Barcelona 
 in triumph, attended by the chivalry of Spain, and hailed 
 with rapture by the multitude, now arrived at the gates 
 of Segovia, a way-worn, melancholy, and neglected man ; 
 oppressed even more by sorrows than by his years and 
 infirmities. 
 
 20. When he presented himself at court, he was made 
 lamentably sensible of the loss of his protectress, the be 
 nignant Isabella. He met with none of that distinguished 
 
194 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 attention, that cordial kindness, that cherishing sym- 
 pathy, which his unparalleled services and his recent 
 suffering s had merited. Ferdinand, it is true, received 
 him with many professions of kindness ; but with those 
 cold, ineffectual smiles, which pass like wintry sunshine 
 over the countenance, and convey no warmth to the 
 heart. 
 
 21. Many months were passed by Columbus in painful 
 and humiliating solicitation. He endeavoured to bear 
 these delays with patience ; but he had no longer the 
 physical strength, and the glorious anticipations, which 
 had once sustained him through his long application at 
 this court. He was again confined to his bed by a return 
 of the gout, aggravated by the irritations of his spirit. 
 From this couch of anguish, he addressed one more ap 
 peal to the justice of the king. He no longer petitioned 
 for himself, but for his son Diego. He entreated that he 
 might be appointed in his place to the government of 
 which he had been so wrongfully deprived. 
 
 22 " This," said he, " is a matter which concerns my 
 honour ; as to all the rest, do as your majesty thinks pro 
 per ; give or withhold, as may be most for your interest, 
 and I shall be content. I believe it is the anxiety caused 
 by the delay of this affair, which is the principal cause of 
 my ill health." 
 
 23. This petition was treated by Ferdinand with his 
 usual evasions ; he endeavoured to prevail upon Colum 
 bus and his son to wave their claims to dignities in the 
 new world, and accept, in place thereof, titles and estates 
 in Castile. Columbus rejected all proposals of the kind 
 with indignation. He saw, however, that all further hope 
 of redress from Ferdinand was vain. 
 
 24. From the bed to which he was confined, he ad 
 dressed a letter to a friend, expressive of his despair. 
 " It appears," said he, " tha.t his majesty does not think 
 fit tp fulfil that which he, with the queen who is now in 
 glory, promised me by word and seal. For me to contend 
 to the contrary, would be to contend with the wind. I 
 have done all that I could do. I leave the rest to God, 
 whom I have ever found propitious to me in my ne 
 cessities." 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 
 
 195 
 
 25. In the midst of illness and despondency, when 
 both life and hope were expiring in the bosom of Colum- 
 bus, a new gleam was awakened, and blazed up for the 
 moment with characteristic fervour. He heard with joy 
 of the arrival from Flanders of King Philip and Queen 
 Juana, to take possession of their throne of Castile. In 
 the daughter of Isabella, he trusted to find a patroness 
 and a friend. 
 
 26. King Ferdinand and all the court repaired to Lo- 
 redo, to receive the youthful sovereigns. Columbus sent 
 his brother, the Adelantado, to represent him, and wrote 
 a letter to the king and queen, lamenting his being pre 
 vented by illness from coming in person. He expressed 
 a hope, that he should receive at their hands a restitution 
 of his honours and estates ; and assured them that, 
 though cruelly tortured at present by disease, he would 
 yet be able to render them services, the like of which had 
 never been witnessed. 
 
 27. Such was the last sally of his sanguine and un 
 conquerable spirit ; which, disregarding age and infir 
 mities, and all past sorrows and disappointments, spoke 
 from his dying bed with all the confidence of youthful 
 hope, and talked of still greater enterprises, as if he had 
 a long and vigorous life before him. 
 
 28. The Adelantado took an affectionate leave of his 
 brother, whom he was never to behold again, and set out 
 on his mission to the new sovereigns. He experienced 
 the most gracious reception, and flattering hopes were 
 given him that the claims of the admiral would speedily 
 be satisfied. 
 
 29. In the mean time, the cares and troubles of Co 
 lumbus were drawing to a close. The transient fire 
 which had reanimated him was soon quenched by accu 
 mulating infirmities. Immediately after the departure of 
 the Adelantado, his illness increased in violence. 
 
 3<X Finding that his end was approaching, he arranged 
 all his earthly affairs, constituting his son Diego his uni 
 versal heir, entailing his honours and estates on the male 
 line of his family, and providing for his brothers Don 
 Bartholomew and Don Diego, and his natural son Don 
 Fernando. 
 
196 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 31. In his will he enjoined that a portion of his reve 
 nues should be annually deposited in the bank of St. 
 George, at Genoa, until a sufficient sum should be accu 
 mulated to set on foot a crusade to the Holy Land ; for 
 the rescue of the holy sepulchre was, to the last, the great 
 object of his ambition, and he left a solemn charge upon 
 his heirs to aid personally in the pious enterprise. Other 
 provisions were made for the foundation of churches the 
 support of Beatrix Enriquez, the mother of Fernando the 
 relief of his poor relations, and the payment of the most 
 trivial debts. 
 
 32. Having thus scrupulously attended to all the claims 
 of earth, he turned his thoughts to heaven, observing all 
 the religious ceremonials of a devout catholic. In his 
 last moments he was attended by his son Diego, and a 
 few faithful followers, and he expired, with great resig 
 nation, on the 20th of May, 1506, being about seventy 
 years of age. His last words were, " Into thy hands, 
 O Lord, I commend my spirit."* 
 
 CHAPTER XLVL 
 
 Observations on the Character of Columbus. 
 
 1. COLUMBUS was a man of great and inventive genius. 
 The operations of his mind were energetic, but irregular. 
 His ambition was lofty and noble, inspiring him with 
 high thoughts, and an anxiety to distinguish himself by 
 great achievements. 
 
 2. He aimed at dignity and wealth in the same eleva 
 ted spirit with which he sought renown ; they were to 
 rise from the territories he should discover, and be com 
 mensurate in importance. The vast gains that he an 
 ticipated, he intended to appropriate to public pur 
 poses ; to institutions for the relief of the poor, to the 
 foundation of churches, and, above all, to crusades for 
 the recovery of the holy sepulchre. 
 
 3. He was tenacious of his rank and privileges, not 
 
 * In manus tuas, Domine commendo spiritum meum. 
 
OP COLUMBUS. 197 
 
 from a mere vulgar love of titles, but because he prized 
 them as testimonials and trophies of his illustrious deeds. 
 Every question of compromise concerning" them, he re 
 pulsed with disdain. " These things," said he, nobly, 
 " concern my honour." In his testament, he enjoined 
 on his son Diego, and whomsoever after him should in 
 herit his estates, whatever other titles might be granted 
 by the king, always to sign himself simply " The Ad 
 miral," by way of perpetuating in the family the source 
 of its real greatness. 
 
 4. His concktct was characterized by the magnanimity 
 of his spirit. Instead of ravaging the newly found coun 
 tries like many of his contemporary discoverers, who 
 were intent only on immediate gain, he sought to colonize 
 and cultivate them, to civilize the natives, to subject every 
 thing to the control of law, order, and religion, and thus 
 to found regular and prosperous empires. That he failed 
 in this, was the fault of the dissolute rabble which it was 
 his misfortune to command, with whom all law was 
 tyranny, and all order oppression. 
 
 5. He was naturally irritable and impetuous, and keenly 
 sensible to injury and injustice ; yet the quickness of his 
 temper was counteracted by the benevolence and gene 
 rosity of his heart. The magnanimity of his nature 
 shone forth through all the troubles of his stormy career. 
 Though continually outraged by the seditions of turbulent 
 and worthless men, arid that, too, at times when suffer 
 ing under anguish of body and anxiety of mind, yet he 
 restrained his valiant and indignant spirit, and brought 
 himself to forbear, and reason, and even to supplicate. 
 
 6. Nor should we fail to notice how free he was from 
 all feeling of revenge, how ready to forgive and forget on 
 the least signs of repentance and atonement. He has 
 been extolled for his skill in controlling others, but far 
 greater praise is due to him for the firmness he displayed 
 in governing himself. 
 
 7. His piety was genuine and fervent ; religion 
 mingled with the whole course of his thoughts and ac 
 tions, and shone forth in his most private and unstudied 
 writings. Whenever he made any great discovery, he 
 devoutly returned thanks to God. The voice of prayer 
 
 17* 
 
198 LIFE AND VOYAGES 
 
 and the melody of praise rose from his ships on discover, 
 ing the new world, and his first action on landing- was to 
 prostrate himself upon the earth, and offer up thanksgiv 
 ings. Every evening the Salve Regina, and other vesper 
 hymns, were chanted by his crew, and masses were per- 
 formed in the beautiful groves that bordered the wild 
 shores of this heathen land. 
 
 8. All his great enterprises were undertaken in the 
 name of the Holy Trinity, and he partook of the holy 
 sacrament previous to embarkation. He observed the 
 festivals of the church in the wildest situations. The 
 Sabbath was to him a day of sacred rest, on which he 
 would never sail from a port, unless in case of extreme^ 
 necessity. The religion thus deeply seated in his soul 
 diffused a sober dignity, and a benign composure, over 
 his whole deportment ; his very language was pure and 
 guarded, and free from all gross or irreverent expressions. 
 
 9. It cannot be denied, however, that his piety was 
 mingled with superstition, and darkened by the bigotry 
 of the age. He evidently concurred in the opin ion, that 
 all the nations who did not acknowledge the Christian 
 faith were destitute of natural rights ; and that the stern 
 est measures might be used for their conversion, and the 
 severest punishments inflicted upon them, if obstinate in 
 unbelief. 
 
 10. In this spirit of bigotry he considered himself jus 
 tified in making captives of the Indians, and transporting 
 them to Spain, to have them taught the doctrines of 
 Christianity, and in selling them for slaves if they pre 
 tended to resist his invasions. 
 
 11. It is but justice to his character to observe, that 
 the enslavement of the Indians thus taken in battle was 
 at first openly countenanced by the crown, and that, 
 when the question of right came to be discussed at the 
 request of the queen, several of the most distinguished 
 jurists and theologians advocated the practice ; so that 
 the question was finally settled in favour of the Indians 
 solely by the humanity of Isabella. As the venerable 
 bishop Las Casas observes, where the most learned men 
 have doubted, it is not surprising that an unlearned mari 
 ner should err. 
 
OF COLUMBUS. 199 
 
 12. These remarks, in palliation of the conduct of 
 Columbus, are required by candour. It is proper to show 
 him in connexion with the age in which he lived, lest the 
 errors of the times should be considered his individual 
 faults. It is not intended, however, to justify him on a 
 point where it is inexcusable to err. Let it remain a 
 blot on his illustrious name, and let others derive a lesson 
 from it. 
 
 13. A peculiar trait in his rich and varied character 
 was an ardent imagination, which threw a magnificence 
 over his whole course of thought. A poetical tempera 
 ment is discernible throughout all his writings and in all 
 his actions. We see it in all his descriptions of the 
 beauties of the wild lands he was discovering ; in the 
 enthusiasm with which he extols the verdure of the 
 forests, the grandeur of the mountains, and the crystal 
 clearness of the running streams ; the blandness of the 
 temperature, the purity of the atmosphere, and the fra 
 grance of the air, "full of dew and sweetness." 
 
 14. It spread a golden and glorious world around him," 
 and tinged every thing with its own gorgeous colours. It 
 betrayed him into visionary speculations, which subjected 
 him to the sneers and cavils of men of cooler and* safer, 
 but more grovelling minds. Such were the conjectures 
 formed on the coast of Paria, about the form of the earth, 
 and the situation of the terrestrial paradise ; about the 
 mines of Ophir, and the Aurea Chersonesus of the an 
 cients ; and such was the heroic scheme of a crusade, for 
 the recovery of the holy sepulchre. 
 
 15. It filled his mind with solemn and visionary medi 
 tations on mystic passages of the scriptures, and on the 
 shadowy portents of the prophecies. It exalted his own 
 office in his eyes, and made him conceive himself an agent 
 sent forth upon a sublime and awful mission, and subject 
 to mysterious intimations from the Deity ; such as the 
 voice which he imagined spoke to him in comfort, in the 
 silence of the night on the disastrous coast of Veragua. 
 
 16. He was decidedly a visionary, but a visionary of an 
 uncommon kind, and successful in his dreams. The 
 manner in which his ardent imagination and mercurial 
 nature were controlled by a powerful judgment, and 
 
^00 LIFE AND VOYAGES OF COLUMBUS. 
 
 directed by an acute sagacity, is the most extraordinary 
 feature in his character. Thus governed, his imagination, 
 instead of exhausting itself in idle flights, lent aid to his 
 judgment, and enabled him to form conclusions at which 
 common minds could never have arrived, nay, which they 
 could not perceive when pointed out. 
 
 17. To his intellectual vision it was given to read the 
 signs of the times, and to trace in the conjectures and 
 reveries of past ages the indications of an unknown world, 
 as soothsayers were said to read predictions in the stars, 
 and to foretell events from the visions of the night. 
 " His soul," observes a Spanish writer, " was superior to 
 the age in which he lived. For him was reserved the 
 great enterprise of traversing a sea which had given rise 
 to so many fables, and of deciphering the mystery of his 
 age." 
 
 18. With all the visionary fervour of his imagination, 
 its fondest dreams fell short of the reality. He died in 
 ^ignorance of the real grandeur of his discovery ! Until 
 his last breath, he entertained the idea that he had merely 
 opened a new way to the old resorts of opulent com 
 merce, and had discovered some of the wild regions of 
 the east. He supposed Hispaniola to be the ancient 
 Ophir, which had been visited by the ships of King Solo 
 mon, and that Cuba and Terra Firma were but remote 
 parts of Asia. 
 
 19. What visions of glory would have broken upon his 
 mind, could he have known that he had indeed discover 
 ed a new continent equal to the old world in magnitude, 
 and separated by two vast oceans from all the earth hith 
 erto known by civilized man ! and how would his mag 
 nanimous spirit have been consoled, amidst the afflictions 
 of age, and the cares of penury, the neglect of a fickle 
 public, and the injustice of an ungrateful king, could he 
 have anticipated the splendid empires which would arise 
 in the beautiful world he had discovered ; and the nations, 
 and tongues, and languages which were to fill its lands 
 with his renown, and to revere and bless his name to the 
 latest posterity ! 
 
201 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Obsequies of Columbus. 
 
 1. THE body of Columbus was deposited in the con 
 vent of S. Francisco, and his obsequies were celebrated 
 with funeral pomp in the church of Santa Maria de la 
 Antigua, in Valladolid. His remains were transported, 
 in 1513, to the Carthusian convent of Las Cuevas, at 
 Seville, and deposited in the chapel of Santa Christo. 
 In the year 1536, they were removed to Hispaniola, and 
 interred by the side of the grand altar of the cathedral of 
 the city of San Domingo. But even here they did not 
 rest in quiet. .On the cession of Hispaniola to the French 
 in 1^95, it was determined by the Spaniards to bear them 
 off to the island of Cuba as precious relics, connected 
 with the most glorious epoch of Spanish history. 
 
 2. Accordingly, on the 20th of December, 1795, in the 
 presence of an august assemblage of the dignitaries of 
 the church and the civil and military officers, the vault 
 was opened beside the high altar of the cathedral : within 
 were found the fragments of a leaden coffin, a number of 
 bones, and a quantity of mould, evidently the remains of 
 a human body. These were carefully collected, and put 
 into a case of gilded lead, secured by an iron lock ; the 
 case was enclosed in a coffin covered with black velvet, 
 and the whole placed in a temporary mausoleum. 
 
 3. On the following day there was another grand con 
 vocation at the cathedral : the vigils and masses for the 
 dead were chanted, and a funeral sermon was preached 
 by the archbishop. After these solemn ceremonials in 
 the cathedral, the coffin was transported to the ship, at 
 tended by a grand civil, religious, and military procession. 
 The banners were covered with crape ; there were chants 
 and responses, and discharges of artillery ; and the most 
 distinguished persons of the several orders took turns to 
 support the coffin. 
 
 4. The reception of the body at Havana was equally 
 august. There was a splendid procession of boats to 
 conduct it from the ship to the shore. On passing the 
 
202 APPENDIX. 
 
 vessels of war in the harbour, they all paid the honours 
 due to an admiral and captain-general of the navy. On 
 arriving 1 at the mole, the remains were met by the gover 
 nor of the island, accompanied by the generals of the 
 military staff. They were then conveyed in the utmost 
 pomp to the cathedral. Masses and the solemn ceremo 
 nies of the dead were performed by the bishop, and the 
 mortal remains of Columbus were deposited in the wall, 
 on the right side of the grand altar, where they still 
 remain. 
 
 5. It is with deep satisfaction that the author of this 
 work is able to close his history with the account of a 
 ceremonial so noble and affecting, and so honourable to 
 the Spanish nation. When we read of the remains of 
 Columbus thus conveyed from the port of San Domingo, 
 after an interval of nearly three hundred years, as sacred 
 national relics, with civil and military pomp, and high 
 religious ceremonial, we cannot hut reflect that it was 
 from this very port he was carried offloaded with igno 
 minious chains, blasted apparently in fame and fortune, 
 and taunted by the revilings of the rabble. 
 
 6. Such honours, it is true, are nothing to the dead, 
 nor can they atone to the heart, now dust and ashes, for 
 all the wrongs and sorrows it may have suffered ; but 
 they speak volumes of comfort to the illustrious yet slan 
 dered and persecuted living, encouraging them bravely 
 to bear with present injuries, by showing them how true 
 merit outlives all calumny, and receives its glorious re 
 ward in the admiration of after ages. 
 
 NOTE. While this abridgment was going to press, the author received 
 a letter from Madrid, mentioning a recent circumstance, which may be of 
 some interest to the reader of this work. The emancipation of the Spa 
 nish Colonies in America had stripped the heirs of Columbus of all their 
 property, insomuch that his last direct descendant and representative, the 
 Duke of Veraguas, a young nobleman of worth and talent, was reduced 
 to extreme poverty. He instituted a claim upon the government for in 
 demnification, which has just been allowed. A pension of twenty-four 
 thousand dollars has been assigned him on the revenues of Cuba and 
 Porto Rico, tt is a circumstance highly to his credit, that, in the time of 
 his greatest, distress, he refused sums that were offered him for various 
 documents in the archives of his family, and particularly for autographs 
 of his illustrious ancestor 
 
 THE END. 
 
QUESTIONS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Page 3. Sec. 1, 2. Was any thing certain known of the Ame 
 rican continent before the fifteenth century? 3. What was 
 thought of the Atlantic ? 4, 5. What were the Arabian notions 
 concerning it ? 6. What is the object of the present work. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Page 5. Sec. 1. Where and when was Columbus born ? 2. What 
 %vas his parentage 1 What the sentiment of his son Fernando 
 on the subject ? 3, 4. What was his education ? 5. At what 
 age (iid he go to sea ? What was the nature of the seafaring 
 life in those days ? 
 
 Page 6. Sec. 6. Who did he first sail with ? 7. In what expe 
 dition ? What did he do at Tunis ? 8, 9. What battle was he 
 engaged in on the Portuguese coast ? 
 
 Page 7. Sec. 10. The event of that battle? 11. What are the 
 probable objects that led Uolumbus to Portugal 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Page 7. Sec. 1. Who patronized modern discovery? 2. What 
 were his ideas with respect to a route by sea to India? 3. What 
 errors had he to struggle against 1 ? 
 
 Page 8. Sec. 4. His measures to conquer them? 5. What aid 
 did he receive from the Pope ? 6. His death, character, and 
 motto ? 7, 8. The person of Columbus? 
 
 Pa^e 9. Sec. 9. His temper and manners? 10. His diet and 
 dress? His discourse ? His religious habits ? 11, 12. Who did 
 he marry ? Where did he first see her? Their circumstances? 
 
 13. How did this connexion operate upon his nautical pursuits ? 
 
 14. On what expeditions did he sail ? On what island did he 
 reside ? 
 
 Page 10. Sec. 15. What were the rumours among seamen con 
 cerning land in the Atlantc? 16. What of the island of St. 
 Brandon ? 17. What effect had these things upon the mind of 
 Columbus ? 18. What idea did he form respecting a new route 
 to India? 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Page 11. Sec. I. What did Columbus suppose to be the form of 
 the earth ? How much of its circumference did he suppose to be 
 
204 QUESTIONS. 
 
 discovered ? How was the remaining part filled up ? 2. What 
 was the opinion of the ancients witli respect to India? What 
 had Marco Polo done to confirm it ? 3. What was the opinion 
 of Alfraganus respecting the size of the earth ? What did Co 
 lumbus infer from that opinion ? 4, 5. What facts tended to 
 confirm the helief in lands to the westward ? 6. What regions 
 were described by Marco Polo ? 
 Page 12. Sec. 7. What and where was the island of Cipango 1 
 
 8. What was the plan of Columbus in his projected voyage? 
 
 9. What errors encouraged him? 10. 11. Effect of his theory 
 upon his conduct and character? 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Page 13. Sec. 1. What difficulties impeded the project of Co 
 lumbus? 2. Where did he sail in the interim ? 3, 4. What instru 
 ment was introduced into nautical use under the patronage of 
 John II. ? Its effects on navigation ? Upon the plans of Co 
 lumbus? 
 
 Page 14. Sec. 5. How was his proposition received by King 
 John ? How by his counsellors ? 6, 7. What artifice did they 
 resort to ? 8. How did Columbus act in consequence ? 9. 
 Where did he next go ? How did he conduct himself towards 
 his family ? 10. How was his proposition received by Genoa ? 
 
 Page 15. Sec. 11. How by Venice? Where did he send his. 
 brother Bartholomew ? Where did he go himself? 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Page 15. Sec. 1. Where is the convent of La Rabida situated? 
 Where is the port of Palos? 2. What happened at the gate 
 of the convent? 3. Who was Juan Perez de Marchena ? 4.. 
 How did he act towards Columbus ? 
 
 Page 16. Sec. 5. Who was Martin Alonzo Pinzon ? What -vd did 
 he yield Columbus ? 6. To whom did Juan Perez give Colum 
 bus a letter? 7. When did Columbus set out for the court? 
 8, 9. How did Ferdinand and Isabella govern their kingdoms? 
 
 10. What was the chancier of Ferdinand ? 
 
 Page 17. Sec. 11, 12. What were the person and character of 
 Isabella? 13. Her civil policy? 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Page 17. Sec. 1. What was the state of the Spanish court? 2. 
 How was Columbus received by Talavera ? 
 
 Page 18. Sec. 3, 4, 5. How was" he regarded by courtiers ? by 
 scoffers? by children? 6. What connexion did he form at Cor 
 dova? 7, 8. What proselytes did he gain? Who obtained an 
 audience for him with the king? 
 
 Page 19. Sec. 9, 10, 11. How was he received? What was tire 
 result of his audience ? 
 
QUESTIONS. 205 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Page 19. Sec. 1. Where did the grand conference take place ? 
 
 2, 3, 4. What were the prepossessions of the members against 
 Columbus? 5,6. What objections were made to his theory? 
 7. What is the excuse for them ? 
 
 Page 21. Sec. 8. Were there not religious objections ? 9, 10. 
 How did Columbus answer them? 11. What effect had his 
 reasoning? 12. What life did he lead during his solicitations? 
 
 Page 22. Sec. 13. What was the final decision of the council of 
 Salamanca? 14. What its effect upon Columbus? 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Page 22. Sec. 1. To what noblemen did Columbus apply ? With 
 
 what success? 
 Page 23* Sec. 2. To what court did he next turn his thoughts? 
 
 3, 4. What occurred on his revisiting the convent of La Rabi- 
 da ? 5, 6. What was the effect of the friar s intercession with 
 the queen ? 7. What did Columbus witness on returning to 
 the court? 
 
 Pa^e 24. Sec. 8. His appearance and conduct there ? 9, 10, 11. 
 What were his demands on his first negotiation ? How were 
 they received? What sneer was made respecting his terms? 
 How did he answer it ? Why was the negotiation broken off? 
 
 Page 25. Sec. 13. What was the conduct and determination of 
 Columbus in consequence? 14. Who remonstrated with the 
 queen? 15. What was the speech of Isabella respecting her 
 ; ewels ? 16. Where was Columbus when called back to court? 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Page 26. Sec. 1. How was Columbus received on his return to 
 court? 2. What were the stipulations agreed upon? What 
 ,his titles and authorities 1 What his share in the profits ? What 
 his jurisdiction as judge? What his privileges on contributing 
 an eighth of the expense? 3. Where and when were those 
 articles signed ? 
 
 Page 27. Sec. 4. What religious object had Columbus in his dis 
 coveries? 5. What was his proposition concerning a crusade? 
 6, 7, 8. What port was fixed upon for the embarkation ? What 
 orders were issued respecting ships and supplies ? 9. What post 
 was given to the son of Columbus? 
 
 Page 28. Sec. 10. How long had Columbus prosecuted his suit ? 
 How old was he when he succeeded ? What should his exam 
 ple teach? 11, 12, 13. How was the royal mandate received 
 at Palos ? 14. How did Pinzon behave ? 
 
 Page 29. Sec. 15. The effect of his conduct? 16. What of the 
 third vessel? 17,18. What was the force of th* squadron? 
 The nature of the ships? Their commanders? 19. The cir* 
 cumstances of their departure ? 
 
206 QUESTIONS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Page 30. Sec. 1. When did Columbus set sail 1 2. What was 
 
 the nature of the chart by which lie sailed 1 
 Page 31. See. 7, 8. What was the conduct of the seamen on 
 
 losing sight of land ? 11. What of the variation of the needle ? 
 Page 32. Sec. 14. What of the trade wind ? 16, 17. What signs 
 
 of land cheered the seamen ? & 
 
 Page 33. Sec. 19, 20. How were they affected by the length of 
 
 the voyage? 21. What of the singing of the small birds? 
 Page 34. Sec. 24. 25. What did they apprehend from the patches 
 
 of sea weeds ? What from the calmness of the sea? 26, 27, 28. 
 
 What were their mutinous suggestions? 
 Page 35. Sec. 2933. What the false alarms of land ? The ef 
 
 fect of disappointments ? The firm reply of Columbus to his 
 
 crew ? 
 Page 36- Sec. 34. What dispelled all doubts? 35, 36. What 
 
 was the conduct of Columbus the eve of his discovery ? His 
 
 address to his crew? His arrangements for the night? 38- VVho 
 
 first saw a light on shore ? 
 Page 37- Sec 40. Who first saw land ? 41. The effect upon the 
 
 feelings of Columbus ? 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Page 38. Sec. 1. What was the appearance of the island in the 
 
 morning? 2, 3, 4. Describe the landing of Columbus. 
 Page 39. Sec. 5. How did his followers behave ? 610. What 
 
 was the idea of the natives respecting the ships and Spaniards ? 
 
 their behaviour. 
 Page 40. Sec. 11. What was the character of the natives ? 13. 
 
 What was the name of the island ? How came the natives to be 
 
 called Indians ? 15. What did they offer in barter y 16. What 
 
 intelligence did they give concerning gold ? 
 Page 41. Sec. 17. What were the conclusions of Columbus? 
 
 18. What did he think of the number of small islands? 22. 
 
 W^hat was the first account he heard of Cuba ? What land did 
 
 suppose it to be ? 
 Page 42. Sec. 23. What were his impressions on coasting Cuba ? 
 
 27. What traces did he meet with of the natives ? 
 Page 43. Sec. 29. What embassy did he send into the interior? 
 
 32. What strange article of luxury did the envoys meet with 
 
 among the natives? 
 Page 44. Sec. 34- What occurred during the admiral s cruise in 
 
 quest of the island of Babique ? 36- What did he think of 
 
 the desertion of Martin Alonzo Pinzon ? 38 How did he first 
 
 discover the island of Hayti? 
 Page 45- Sec- 40. What was the 
 
 CHAPTE 
 
 age 45- Sec- 2. Why did Columb 
 
 3- What interview took place with the inhabitants? 
 
 he appearance of the island ? 
 CHAPTER XII- 
 Page 45- Sec- 2. Why did Columbus name the island Hispauiola? 
 
QUESTIONS 207 
 
 Page 46- Sec- 8. Describe the interview with the young cacique 1 
 Page 47. Sec. 11. What was the first overture of friendship on 
 
 the part of Guacanagari ? 14- What were the circumstances of 
 
 the shipwreck of Columbus ? 
 Page 48 Sec- 17- What was the conduct of Guacanagari and 
 
 his subjects ? 
 Page 49. Sec. 19. How did the chieftain entertain Columbus? 
 
 20 What military display was made by Columbus ? Its effect 
 
 on the natives ? 23- What was the first account of the gold 
 
 mines of Cibao 1 
 Page 50. Sec. 24. What was the mode of life of the natives? 
 
 27. What effect had it upon the sailors 1 What new plan was 
 
 adopted by Columbus ? 
 Page 51. Sec. 30. What was the nature of the fort he built, and 
 
 of his instructions to the garrison ? 34. What were the circum 
 stances attending his departure ? 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Page 52- Sec- 1- How did they meet with the Pinta? 2- What 
 was the excuse of Pinzon ? What his real motive ? 3. Where 
 had he been ? 
 
 Page 53. Sec- 4- What did Columbus do at Rio de Gracia 1 5, 6. 
 Where was the first native blood shed by Europeans in the new 
 world 1 7. What was the name of the cacique of Ciguay 1 8- 
 His conduct ? 
 
 Page 54. Sec- 11 17. Describe the storm on the voyage home 
 ward. The vows made by the admiral and his crew. The 
 precaution taken by Columbus to perpetuate the fame of his 
 discovery in case of shipwreck. 
 
 Page 55- Sec 18 What land did he first arrive at? 19 22. 
 How was he received ? What occurred between him and the 
 governor ? 23- At what place in Portugal did he arrive 1 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Page 57. Sec. 1. The effect of the arrival in the Tagus ? 2. The 
 conduct of the people 1 
 
 Page 58. Sec- 3, 4 The treatment and reception of Columbus 
 by the king 1 ? 5, 6 What were the doubts of king John re 
 specting the discovery ? 7, 8, 9- What was the advice of his 
 counsellors ? 
 
 Page 59. Sec. 10- How did the king treat their advice ? 12. 
 What was the reception of Columbus at Palos ? 
 
 Page 60- Sec 16 What was the fate of Pinzon? What the 
 apologies to he made for his conduct? What the moral to be 
 drawn from it ? 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Page 61- Sec. 1. Describe the journey of Columbus to Barcelona. 
 Page 62. Sec- 2- His arrival and entrance there ? 3- The parade 
 
208 QUESTIONS. 
 
 of his Indian rophies? 4. The appearance of the streets ? 5. 
 
 What gavo s^Ok e. unity and grandeur to this spectacle ? 6. How 
 
 did the sove-cj^i. receive Columbus 1 
 Page 63. Stv. 7 P. How did he appear in their presence 1 His 
 
 looks? His c- Hid?if 9. His relation of his discoveries ? 10,11. 
 
 Describe die thank giving of the sovereigns and their court. 
 Page 64. Sec. 1*\ \\ ivt vow did Columbus make concerning 
 
 the holy sepulchre? 14, 15. What honours did he receive 
 
 What coat of arms am 1 motto ? 16. What concerning the pen 
 sion for first descrying hud"? 
 Page 65. Sec. 17. Ilelai tfie anecdote of the egg. 20, 21. What 
 
 idea was entertained concerning the newly discovered land? 
 
 What name did it receive ? 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Page 65. Sec. 1. What wac the nature of the bull obtained from 
 
 the Pope ? 
 Page 66. Sec. 2. In virtue of what authority ? 3. What was the 
 
 line of demarcation 1 4. W ho was appointed superintendent of 
 
 Indian affairs ? 6. What monk was sent as apostolical vicar 1 
 
 7. YVhat did Isabella for the Indians 1 
 Page 67. Sec. 8. What was the public feeling respecting the new 
 
 expedition ? 9, 10. Who was Alonzo de Ojeda? His person; 
 
 character 1 11, 12. His exploit"? 13. What dispute arose with 
 
 Fonseca ? 
 Page 68. Sec. 14. Its consequences ? 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Page 68. Sec. 1. Where did Columbus embark on his second 
 
 voyage ? What armament ? 
 Page 69. Sec. 3. The scene of his embarkation 1 4, 5. What 
 
 islands did he discover? 6, 7. What of the Caribs and their 
 
 cannibalism ? 
 Page 70. Sec. 8. Relate the anecdote of the eight stragglers, and 
 
 Ojeda s search after them. 12. Relate the conflict with the In 
 dian canoe. The valour of the females. 
 Page 71. Sec. 15. What was the original name of Porto Rico 7 
 
 18. What circumstance alarmed Columbus on landing on the 
 
 coast of Hayti ? 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Page 72. Sec. 1, 2. What occurred on arriving at La Navidad I 
 
 3. What was the st>ry of the Indians ? 
 Page 73. Sec. 5. What was the appearance of the shore on the 
 
 next day ? 6. What was the state of the fort 7 7. What search 
 
 did Columbus make? 8. What did he discover? 9. What 
 
 was the true story of the fortress ? 
 
QUESTIONS. 209 
 
 Page 74. Sec. 12. Who was Caonabo ? 14. What did he dp to 
 
 the fortress ? 
 Page 75. Sec. 16. What occurred in Columbus visit to Guaca- 
 
 nagari 7 18. What most amazed the chief on board of the ship" 
 
 19. Who was Catalina? 20. What was the advice of Friar 
 
 Boyle? 
 Page 76. Sec. 23. How was the escape of Catalina? 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Page 77. Sec. 1. Why did Columbus remove the colony; and 
 whither? 2. The name of the new town ? 3. How built? 4. 
 The sfate of the colonists 1 
 
 Page 78. Sec. 7. Why did Columbus send an expedition to Ci- 
 bao 1 8. The commander of the expedition 1 His route ? His 
 success 1 11. Who sailed for Spain 1 
 
 Page 79. Sec. 12. What did he take with him? What did Co 
 lumbus write ? 14. His advice respecting the Caribs? 15. How 
 was it received by the sovereigns? 16. The effect in Europe 
 of the arrival of the fleet ? 
 
 Page 80. Sec. 18. What were the murmurs of the colonists ? 20. 
 Who formed a conspiracy? How was it punished ? 21. What 
 was the disadvantage of Columbus ? 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Page 81- Sec- 1- What expedition did Columbus undertake ? 2. 
 
 What road did the Spaniards make across the mountains? 3. 
 
 What prospect did they see from the mountain ? 
 Page 82. Sec- 6, 7. How did they march ? How did the Indians 
 
 behave ? 8, 9- What was the appearance of the gold region ? 
 
 10. What fortress did Columbus build ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Page 83. Sec. 1. Who was left in command of St Thomas ? 2- 
 . What was the character of the natives ? 3. What was their 
 creed ? 
 
 Page 84- Sec- 4- What were zemes ? 5. What were the Indian 
 priests? 6. The festivals of a cacique in honour of his zemi? 
 8. The ideas of the natives respecting creation? 
 
 Page 85. Sec. 9, 10. Respecting the origin of man ? 11. Of wo 
 men ? 13. Respecting the deluge ? 
 
 Page 86. Sec. 16. Their treatment of the dying and dead? 18. 
 Their ideas of a future state ? 19. Their dances and areytos ? 
 
 Page 87. Sec. 20. What was their character for industry ? 21, 
 Why were they indolent? 23. How did they treat the Spaniards ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Page 88. Sec. 1. What tidings did Columbus receive after his 
 
 18* 
 
210 QUESTIONS. 
 
 return < How did he act ? 2- What was the state of the colo 
 nists at the harbour ? What did Friar Boyle 1 3, 4. What 
 gave offence to the cavaliers ? 
 
 Page 89. Sec. 5, 6. What was the fate of these cavaliers ? 7. 
 What superstitious story was told concerning them ? How was 
 their fate charged to Columbus, and what did Columbus resolve 
 to do, prior to sailing on discoveries ? 9. Who did he put at 
 the head of his forces ? What orders did he give him ? 
 
 Page 90. Sec. 10, Jl. What punishment did Ojeda inflict upon 
 Indian thie\es? 12, 13, 14. What did Columbus with the cap 
 tive cacique / Why did he pardon him ? What was the ex 
 ploit of a single horseman ? 15. Whom did Columbus leave in 
 command when he sailed ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Paae 91- Sec. 1. What was the plan of Culumbus in revisiting 
 Cuba ? 2. How was he received by the natives? 3- Why did 
 he steer for Jamaica 1 Its aspect ? 4. What of the natives, 
 and their canoes 
 
 Page 92- Sec- 5. Relate the story of the young Indian. 7, 8. 
 What was the queen s garden ? What did Columbus consider it ? 
 
 Page 93. Sec. 9. What of Ornofay? 10. The evening regale 
 along its coast ? 12. What made him suppose that he was in 
 the neighbourhood of Mangi ? 13. What was the story of the 
 archer, and the men in whfte ? 
 
 Page 94. Sec. 15. What of the party sent in search of him ? 16. 
 The probable origin of the story ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 Page 94- Sec- 1. What did Columbus hope to effect. by continu 
 ing his voyage ? 2. Why was he induced to abandon it / 
 
 Page 65- Sec- 3. What deposition did he require from his crew? 
 4. What would have been the effect had he continued on ? 6. 
 Relate the anecdote of the old Indian and his speech. 
 
 Page 96. Sec. 9. What was the reply of Columbus ? 10. What 
 the wish of the old Indian ? 11. What the incident of the ca 
 cique of Jamaica and his family? 
 
 Page 97. Sec. 14. His speech? 15. The reply of Columbus? 
 16. Whither did Columbus wish to proceed ? 17, 18. What 
 prevented him ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 Page 98. Sec. 1. Who did Columbus find at Isabella ? 2. How 
 had Bartholomew succeeded with henry? 4,5, 6. Describe 
 the person of Bartholomew. His temper. Manners. Dispo- 
 tion. His mental endowments. 
 
 Page 99. Sec. 7. What title did Columbus give him ? 8. What 
 
QUESTIONS. 
 
 had been the conduct of Margarite ? 9. His reply to Don 
 Diego 1 10. Who was his ally ? Their proceedings ? 11. 
 What was the conduct of the army ? 
 
 Page 100. Sec. 12. Its effects 1 13. What was the design of 
 Caonabo ? 14, 15. What of Ojeda and his picture of the Vir 
 gin ? 16. What of the attack on the fortress by Caonabo 7 
 
 Page 101. Sec. 18. What were the five domains of the island ? 
 
 20. What was the plot of the caciques ? What prevented it? 
 
 21. What occurred between Columbus and Guacanagari ? 
 Page 102. Sec. 22. What were the measures taken by Colum 
 bus ? 24. State the expedition of Ojeda. 
 
 Page 103. Sec. 27. What of the chapel bell? 30. What was 
 
 the artifice of the manacles ? 
 Page 104. Sec. 33. What the conduct of Caonabo as prisoner ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 Page 105. Sec. 1. What relief did Torres bring ? What letters ? 
 
 2. What did Columbus send by the ships ? 4. What did he hear 
 
 respecting the Indians? With what foice did he take the field ? 
 Page 106. Sec. 6. Where did he meet the enemy? 7. Describe 
 
 the battle. 10. What of Guacanagari ? 11, 12. What tribute 
 
 did Columbus enforce ? 
 Page 107. Sec. 13, 14. Its effects upon the natives? 15. The 
 
 nature of their ballads ? 
 Page 108. Sec. 18. What measures did they take in their despair ? 
 
 19. How did the Spaniards act in consequence ? 20. What 
 
 was the fate of Guacanagari ? 23. His character ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 Page 109. Sec. 1. Who misrepresented the conduct of Colum 
 bus at the court of Spain ? 3. What measure was taken in con 
 sequence ? 4. Who was Aguado 7 
 
 Page 110. Sec. 5. What was done with the slaves? 6, 7, 8. 
 How did Aguado act on arriving ? 9, 10, 11. How did Colum 
 bus conduct towards him? 
 
 Page 111. Sec. 12. What was the effect among the people? 13. 
 How did Aguado receive their complaints ? 14. Describe the 
 hurricane. 
 
 Pa^e 112. Sec. 17. Recite the story of Diaz. 20. How were his 
 tidings received at Isabella ? 
 
 Page 113. Sec. 23. What did Columbus infer from the mining 
 excavations ? 24. What of Diaz and his Indian bride ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 Page 113. Sec. 1. Whom did Columbus leave in command ? 
 What kind of people returned with him ? 2. What remarkable 
 . Indians ? 3. What Island did he touch at ? 
 
212 QUESTIONS. 
 
 Page 114- Sec- 4, 5. .What took place there ? 6. What of the 
 female cacique and Caonabo 1 7,8. What of the fate of Cao- 
 nabo ? 
 
 Page 115. Sec. 9. What happened in the return voyage? 10. 
 What of the crew when landing at Cadiz ? 12. What was the 
 appearance of Columbus 1 13. His reception by the sovereigns ? 
 
 Page 116- Sec. 15. What ships did he ask? 16- What caused 
 delay? 18. What new arrangements were made with Colum 
 bus? What title did he prefer? 
 
 Page 117. Sec. 21. What arrangements for the colony? 23. 
 What did Columbus propose with respect to criminals? 24. 
 What delays did he experience ? From whom ? 27. Who 
 treated him with insolence? How did he bear it 1 What was 
 his message to the sovereigns on the subject? 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 Page 118. Sec. 1. Why did Columbus change his route in the 
 
 third voyage? 
 Page 119. Sec. 2. What had he heard of main land in the south : 
 
 and its inhabitants ? 3, 4- What route did he take ? 5, 6, 7. 
 
 What weather did he experience ? 
 Page 120. Sec. 8. What island did he discover ? 9. What part 
 
 of the main land ? 10. AVhat gulf did he explore ? 
 Page 121. Sec. 14. What did he conclude from the vast body of 
 
 fresh water running into the sea ? 15. What did he infer as to 
 
 the shape of the earth ? 16. What as to the terrestial paradise? 
 
 18, 19. Why did he hasten for Hispaniola? 20. What strait did - 
 
 he pass through? 21. At what part of Hispaniola did he 
 
 arrive ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXX 
 
 Page 123. Sec. 1, 2. What fortress did the Adelantado build? 
 3, 4. Who was Behechio ? What of Xaragua? 5. Who was 
 Anacaono ? 
 
 Page 124. Sec- 7, 8. Describe the reception of Don Bartholo 
 mew by Anacaona. 9. His entertainment at Xaragua. 10. 
 What was the state of the settlement ? 
 
 page 125. Sec. 11. What cacique rebelled in the vega ? 12. 13. 
 The mode off-ending a letter? 14- The Adelantado s measures 
 with the rebels? 15. Effect of his clemency on Giiarionex? 
 
 Page 126- Sec. 16. What tribute did he receive at Xaragua ? 
 18, 19. Describe the arrival of the caravel. 20, 21- Who was 
 Roldan ? 
 
 Page 127. Sec. 22, 23. His intrigues ? 24. His proposition re- 
 specting the caravel ? 25. What did Don Diego with Roldan i 
 
 Page 128^ Sec- 26- Intrigues of Roldan among the caciques ? 
 7. How did he act at the public stores ? 28- His attempt on 
 
 27. 
 
QUESTIONS. 213 
 
 Fort Conception ? 30. What was the state of the island 1 31. 
 
 Who arrives from Spain ? The consequences ? 
 Page 129. Sec. 32, 33. What occurred between Roldan and Co- 
 
 ronaH 35. What of Roldan and Xaragua ? 
 Page 130. Sec. 36. What of Guarionex and Mayonebex 1 38. 
 
 Relate the expedition of the Adelantado. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 Page 131. Sec. 1. What did Columbus on his arrival ? 
 
 Page 132- Sec- 2. What ships arrived at Xaragua ? What 
 stratagem did Roldan use 1 3. What did Carvajal do ? 4. 
 What effect had his representations? 5. What did Columbus 
 offer 1 How was his offer treated ? 6. What of the muster at 
 San Domingo? 
 
 Page 133. Sec. 7. What did Columbus write by the ships ? 8. 
 What measures did Columbus then pursue with the rebels ? 9. 
 How did the rebels behave ? 10. What kind of letter was re 
 ceived from Fonseca ? 11. Its effect t 
 
 Page 134. Sec. 12, 13. The situation of Columbus? 14. What 
 capitulations did he make 7 15. What are repartimientos ? 16. 
 Who embarked in the caravels ? What did they take witn 
 them ? 17. What were Roldan s terms for himself? 18. What 
 of Pedro Reguelme 7 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 Page 135. Sec. 1. Who arrived at Hispaniola ? 2. Who was sent 
 against him ? 3, 4. What took place between them 7 
 
 Page 136. Sec. 5, 6. What induced Ojeda to make a voyage ? 
 Who gave him a license? 7. Who sailed with him? 8. De 
 scribe Ojeda s voyage. 9, 10. What took place on the coast 
 of Xaragua ? 
 
 Page 137. Sec. 11. What did Roldan s followers require ? 13, 
 14, 15. Relate the story of Guevara and the Indian beauty. 
 
 Page 138. Sec. 16. The plot against Roldan. 17. The plot of 
 Moxica. 18. How did Columbus act ? 19, 20, Relate the death 
 of Moxica. 
 
 Page 139. Sec. 21. What followed 7 What did Columbus look 
 forward to ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 Page 139. Sec. 1, 2. What slanders were circulated against 
 Columbus at court? 
 
 Page 140. Sec. 8. How was the king set against him? 4. What 
 took place at the Alhambra? 5. VVhat were the doubts of Isa 
 bella? 6. What was the determination of Ferdinand? 7. 
 Who arrived in the two caravels ? What of the Indian slaves ? 
 
 Page 141. Sec. 8, 9. What said Isabella ? How did she act? 
 
214 QUESTIONS. 
 
 ]0. Who was Bobadilla? His character ? 11. What din* he 
 hear on his arrival ? 12. What of the rebels ? Who were in 
 prison ? 
 
 Page 142. Sec. 13. How did the public act ? 14. What were 
 the first measures of Bobadilla? 15, 16, 17. What passed be 
 tween him and Don Dies^o ? 
 
 Page 143. Sec. 18, 19. What occurred at the fort? 20. How 
 did Bobadilla act with respect to Columbus? 21. What license 
 did he grant to the people ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 Page 143. Seel. What did Columbus write to Bobadilla? 2. 
 How did Bobadilla reply? 3. What rumour prevailed con 
 cerning Columbus ? 4. How did Columbus act on receiving the 
 letter of the sovereigns ? How was he treated on his arrival at 
 San Domingo? 5, 6, 7. Wjio put him in irons? How did he 
 conduct himself? 
 
 Page 145. Sec. 8. What did he write to Don Bartholomew ? 
 "The effect? 9. How were the brothers treated 1 10, 11, 12. 
 The state of San Domingo ? Of the rebels ? 
 
 Page 148. Sec. 13. What did Bobadilla determine? 14, 15, 16. 
 Describe the scene with Villejo. 17. Describe the departure of 
 Columbus. 
 
 Page 147. Sec. 18. His treatment on his voyage ? 19. His re 
 ply about his chains ? 20. What said his son respecting them ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 Page 147. Sec. 1. The effect of his arrival at Cadiz 1 2. His 
 
 letter to the queen 1 Its effect ? 
 Page 148 Sec- 3- What orders were issued by the sovereigns ? 
 
 4, 5, 6. Describe the interview of Columbus with the sovereigns. 
 
 7. What did they promise ? 8. Did Ferdinand reinstate him 1 
 Page. 149. Sec. 9, 10, 11. His real reasons for not doing sot 12. 
 
 13. His alleged reasons ? 
 Page 150. Sec. 14, 15. Who was Ovando? His character ? 16, 
 
 17, 18. What, were the errors of Bobadilla? His treatment of 
 
 the natives ? His exhortation to the colonists 1 
 Page 151. Sec. 20, 21, 22. The conduct of the colonists towards 
 
 the natives ? 23. What instructions were given to Ovando 1 
 
 24. How were the affairs of Columbus to be taken care of? 
 Page 152. Sec. 25. What of negro slavery ? 26, 27. What of the 
 
 fleet and retinue of Ovando ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 Page 152. Sec. 1, 2. What vow did Columbus call to mind ? 
 
 Page 153. Sec. 3. What volume did he arrange ? 4. What letter 
 did he write to the sovereigns ? 5, 6. What of Vasco de Gama 
 and his discoveries ? 7, 8. What strait did Columbus expect to 
 discover ? 
 
QUESTIONS. 215 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 Page 15-4. Sec. 1. The age and health of Columbus. 2. Who 
 accompanied him on his voyage? 3. What was his armament ? 
 4. Why did he touch at Hispaniola 1 5. The state of that place 
 on his arrival? 7, 8. What did he request of Ovando ? 
 
 Page 156. Sec 9, 10, 11. The circumstances of the storm ? 12, 13. 
 The fate of Columbus enemies? 14- The opinions of his son 
 and of Las Casas in the matter? 
 
 Page 157- Sec- 15, 16 The notions of the seamen- 17, 18- What 
 of the Indian canoe at Guanaga ? 19- What if Columbus had 
 steered for Yucatan 7 
 
 Page 158- Sec 20 24- What of his voyage along the coast? 25- 
 The anecdote of the notary? 
 
 Page 159- Sec- 26 What were the superstitions of the sailors? 
 27. What did Columbus find at Veragua ? 28,29 What were the 
 rumours of Mexico"? 30 Conduct of the natives along this 
 coast. 31- Where did Columbus give up his eearch after the 
 strait ? and why ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVHI. 
 
 Page 160. Sec. 1, 2, 3. What of the weather? Of the water 
 
 spout ? 
 Page 161. Sec- 4- What charm did the sailors use? 5. What 
 
 were their notions concerning sharks? 6. In what river did 
 
 they anchor ? 7. What did the Adelantado ? 8. Who was 
 
 Quibian? The interview with him? 
 Page 162. Sec. 9. What did the Adelantado find in the interior? 
 
 10. What were the ideas of Columbus respecting the coast? 
 
 11, 12. His plan of founding a colony? 13. What preve.ted 
 his sailing ? 
 
 Page 163. Sec. 14, 15. Who was Diego Mendez ? How did he 
 discover the plot of Quibian? 17. Describe the expedi.ion 
 against Quibian. 
 
 Page 164. Sec. 21. What of Juan Sanchez and Quibian ? 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 Page 164. Sec. 1. Where did Columbus anchor? 
 
 Page 165. Sec. 2, 3. What of Quibian and his assault ? 4. Wow 
 
 did the Adelantado act? 5, 6. What of Diego Tristan? His 
 
 fate ? 
 Page 166. Sec. 7, 8. The state of the Spaniards on shore? 9, 10. 
 
 Their measures for defence ? 11. State of the ships ? 
 Page 167. Sec. 12. What did the Indian prisoners? 13. What 
 
 of Pedro Ledesma? 14. What news did he bring from shore? 
 
 15, 16. What was the state of mind of Columbus? 
 Page 168. Sec. 17, 18, 19. Relate his vision. 20. Was it real or 
 
 imaginary ? 23. His embarkation. 
 
216 QUESTIONS. 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 Page 169. Sec. 1, 2. What was the route of Columbus to Ja 
 maica? 3. Where did he anchor ? 4. What did he do with 
 his ships ? 
 
 Pa;e 170. Sec. 5. What regulations did he make? 6. How 
 did Diego Mendez procure supplies 1 7 11. State the conver 
 sation of Columbus with Mendez. 
 
 Page 171. Sec. 12. What said Mendez before the crew? 13. 
 Describe his preparations for a voyage. 
 
 Page 172- Sec. 14, 15, 16. What letter did Columbus write? 
 17, 18. Describe the adventures of Mendez. 19. Who went 
 with him the second time? 
 
 Page 173. Sec- 20. The plan of the voyage ? 21. What did the 
 Adelantado ? 
 
 CHAPTER XL1. 
 
 Page 173. Sec. 1, 2. Describe the look out for the canoe of Fi- 
 
 esco. The anxieties of the Spaniards. 
 Page 174. Sec. 3. Who were Francisco and Diego Porras ? 4. 
 
 What were their slanders of Columbus ? 5. The scene between 
 
 Porras and the admiral ? 6. What did the mutineers ? 7. What 
 
 did the Adelantado ? 8. Describe the departure of the mutineers. 
 Page 175. Sec. 9, 10, 11. Their attempted voyage. 12. Their 
 
 conduct on shore. 
 Page 176- Sec. 13. How did Columbus act after their departure ? 
 
 14. What was the conduct of the natives ? 15- Relate the story 
 
 of the eclipse. 
 
 CHAPTER XLIl. 
 
 Page 177. Sec. 1, 2. Who arrived at the harbour? 
 
 Page 178. Sec. 3. What letter did he bring? 4. What was his 
 conduct ? What letter did Columbus write ? 5- What did Co 
 lumbus think of the visit of Escobar? 6. How did he act to 
 wards the rebels ? 7. What terms were demanded by Porras ? 
 
 Page 179. Sec. 8, 9. What falsehood did he tell ? 10. What at 
 tempt did he make upon the harbour? It. What did the Ad 
 elantado? 12, 13. What said Porras about his opponents? 
 
 Page J80. Sec. 14. Describe the circumstances of the battle. 
 Who fought with the Adelantado ? How was Porras treated? 
 What was done to his followers ? 
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 Page 181. Sec. 1. Describe the voyage of Mendez and Fiesco. 
 
 What did they most suffer from ? 
 Page 182. Sec. 7. At what small island did they touch ? 8- Where 
 
 did they land in Hispaniola? 
 
QUESTIONS. 217 
 
 Page 183. Sec. 9. Where did Mendez go? JO. What was his 
 success with Ovaud > ? 12, 13. What relief sailed for Jamaica? 
 
 Page 184. Sec. 14. Describe the embarkation, 15. The recep 
 tion of Columbus at San Domingo. 16. What differences oc 
 curred between him and Ovando ? 
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 Page 185. Sec. 1, 2. What adventurers embarked with Ovando ? 
 
 3, 4. Describe the pcene at the mines. 
 Page 186. Sec. 5. What was the fate of the gol<? hunters ? 6, 7. 
 
 What was the policy of Ovando towards the natives ? 8, 9, 10. 
 
 What were its effects ? 
 Page 187. Seo. 11. What of the province of Higuey and its ca- 
 
 cifjue? How did he invade Xaragua? 14. How was he re 
 ceived by Anacaona. 
 Page 188. Sec, J5, 16. What stratagem did Ovando practise? 
 
 Relate the massacre. 17. What was the fate of Anacaona ? 
 
 18. What the fate of her province? 
 Page 189. Sec. 21. What had been the intention of Columbus 
 
 with respect to the natives? 22. What of the five tribes and 
 
 their princes? 23. What did Columbus write on the subject? 
 
 24. What was the state of his own affairs ? 25- What did he 
 
 QO with his crews? 
 Page 190* Sec. 26. State his voyage and arrival in Spain. 
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 Page 190. Sec? 1. What detained Columbus at Seville ? 2. Wiiat 
 was the state of his finances? 3. What did he write U hi 
 son Diego ? 
 
 Page 191. Sec. 4- How were his letters to the sovereigns seat 
 ed ? 5. Who was injuring him at court? 6. On whom tiid i,e 
 relv for redress? 7, 8, 9. What had undermined the health of 
 Isabella? 
 
 Page 192. Sec. 10 Describe her decline and death. 11. What 
 aid she enjoin in her will ? 12, 13. Her character. Her influ 
 ence over the affairs of the new world ? 1 1 15, 16. How did 
 Columbus receive the news of her death ? W hat did lie write 
 to his son on the subject? 
 
 Page 193. Sec. 17, 18. Repeat his exhortation to brotherfv afiec- 
 tion. 19. How did he enter the gates of Segovia? 20. -How 
 was he received at conn*. 
 
 Page 194. Sec. 21 . What did he petition of the king ? 22. What 
 did he say as to his own claims? 23. What did the kinsj offer 
 him? How did Columbus treat his offer? 24. What did Co- 
 lumhttft write to a friend ? 
 
 Ptge 195. Sec. 25. What event gave him new ho pen ? 20, 27 
 What metfsage did he send to King Philio * 28. How was the 
 
218 QUESTIONS. 
 
 Adelantado received ? 30. Whom did Columbus constitute his 
 heir? Whom else did he provide for? 
 
 Page 196. Sec. 31. For what purpose did lie enjoin a deposit in 
 the bank at Genoa? What other provisions dia he make ? 32. 
 When did he die ? How oid was he at the time of his death 1 
 
 CHAPTER XL VI. 
 
 Page 196. Sec. 1. What was the natuieof his genius? His ana 
 bition? 2. What was his use of riches? 3. Why did he value 
 rank ? What title did lie most prize ? and why ? 
 
 Page 197. Sec. 4- How did he conduct as a discoverer? 5. 
 What was his temper ? How did he govern it ? 6. How did 
 he act towards his enemies? 7. How were his religious 
 feelings ? 
 
 Page 198. Sec. 8. What were his religious observances 1 9 
 What mingled with his piety ? 10. What was his error on the 
 subject of slavery ? 11. What may be said in palliation of it? 
 
 Page 199. Sec, 13. What of his imagination? 14- What specu 
 lations did it produce? 15- Its effect on his meditations? 1(\ 
 17. Its effect upon his conclusions and plans? 
 
 Page 200. Sec. 18. In what error did Columbus die ? 
 
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