THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
The Landing in the New World. 
 
A LIFE OF 
 
 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 
 
 BY 
 
 HORACE ROSCOE ST. JOHN. 
 
 h 
 
 LONDON : 
 SAMPSON LOW, 169, FLEET STREET. 
 
In preparation, 
 BY THE SAME AUTHOR, 
 
 A 
 
 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO. 
 
 TWO VOLS. 8VO. 
 
 MR. H. R. ST. JOHN has for some years been engaged in preparing the 
 materials for this work. It is a narrative that has never yet been written, 
 and will trace, in minute detail, the progress of the Portuguese, English, 
 Dutch, and French in the Archipelago, from the earliest period to the 
 present day. To this, and to the rise and spread of piracy, the history 
 will be chiefly, if not altogether, confined ; for the pure native annals 
 present little to interest, and less to instruct, an European reader. Of 
 every island, as it is drawn within the circle of the narrative, an account 
 will be given. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THIS volume was at first written without the 
 aid of Washington Irving s work. The old 
 narratives, including that by the son of Colum 
 bus, and his own letters, supplied the body of 
 the biography, which I once intended to swell 
 to dimensions far more voluminous. The 
 American writer enabled me, with little labour, 
 to fill in suoh minute details as could be intro 
 duced into a narrative so slight, and it is as 
 much from feeling as from duty, that I con 
 gratulate Washington Irving on his work, and 
 America on the historian of her discovery. 
 The graceful style, and the warm spirit of his 
 writings, have made him a familiar friend with 
 the English reader ; and, in producing this little 
 biography of Christopher Columbus, I trust I 
 shall be considered rather as seeking to follow 
 in his track than as attempting to rival even 
 the most compressed version of his narrative. 
 In the "Life and Voyages" of Columbus, we 
 have one monument of his fame, engraved ela 
 borately with a picture of all his varied fortunes. 
 
 M3157Q8 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 But the story of the great navigator is elo 
 quent in moral and political lessons, and while 
 his frequent failures in early life create in the 
 mind a contempt for the mean obstacles that 
 stood in the way of his grand enterprise, the 
 success of his more mature career shows the 
 folly of succumbing too quickly to adversity. 
 Few men ever laboured longer without promise 
 of reward ; few men were more successful in 
 the great end of their ambition. His first aim 
 was to open the western world to the indus 
 trious energy of Europe ; his second, to build 
 on this great discovery the fabric of his own 
 fame and prosperity. What he sought to achieve 
 for Spain he triumphantly accomplished ; what 
 he sought for his own fortune he never found. 
 But there is no limit to the renown of his 
 adventures ; and mankind, more grateful in its 
 memory of the dead than generous in its appre 
 ciation of the living, has erected an imperishable 
 monument to him, as the discoverer of America. 
 
 If, not elaborate in its details, or complete 
 in its execution, this narrative be found a true 
 sketch of his career, it will have served its 
 purpose. As it is modestly presented, so I hope 
 it will be considerately judged. 
 
 HORACE ROSCOE ST. JOHN. 
 
 St. John s Wood, April, 1850. 
 
CHAPTEK I. 
 
 A.IX 1447 to A.D. 1484. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 ANCIENT BELIEF IN A WESTERN CONTINENT FAILURE OF 
 ATTEMPTS TO EXPLORE THE ATLANTIC DANGERS OF 
 
 THAT SEA ADVENT OF A DISCOVERER COLUMBUS 
 
 PLACE AND DATE OF BIRTH HIS FAMILY EDUCATION 
 
 EARLY OCCUPATIONS EARLY VOYAGES ADVENTURES AT 
 
 SEA REACHES LISBON HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE 
 
 HIS MANNERS MARRIAGE MEANS OF SUPPORT MAPS 
 
 RETIRES TO PORTO SANTO IDEA OF A NEW WORLD 
 
 GROUNDS OF THE BELIEF INVENTION OF PRINTING 
 
 SPREAD OF KNOWLEDGE DISCOVERY OF THE ASTROLABE 
 APPLIES TO PORTUGAL PROPOSAL REJECTED TREA 
 CHERY OF JOHN II TO GENOA TO VENICE HIS PO 
 VERTY FIRST VISIT TO LA RABIDA HOSPITABLE 
 
 RECEPTION CONFERENCE OF THREE WISE MEN PRE 
 PARATIONS TO VISIT THE COURT OF SPAIN CAMPAIGN 
 AGAINST THE MOORS CHARACTERS OF FERDINAND AND 
 ISABELLA. 
 
LIFE 
 
 CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 
 
 Unus erat mundus; duo sint, ait iste, fuere. GAGLIUFFI. 
 
 A.D. 1447. Ancient belief in a Western Continent. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF AMERICA was 
 J- the result of no sudden flash of conviction 
 passing through the mind of Europe. It was 
 the realisation of an idea born in antiquity, 
 nourished among heathen nations, and through 
 fifteen centuries of the Christian era. The 
 existence of a vast continent beyond the At 
 lantic was a vague belief supported by un 
 certain rumours among the philosophers of 
 remote times, and it is still a subject of spe 
 culation, whether an intercourse was at any 
 period carried on between classic Europe and 
 the western world. With many it was a fasci 
 nating dream ; with some it was a solid opinion, 
 
LIFE OF 
 
 Failure of attempts to explore the Atlantic. A.D. 1447. 
 
 and, with a few, it was the motive to action. 
 Undertakings were projected, commenced, aban 
 doned, renewed, and again forsaken, and still 
 the idea was not dissipated. The numerous 
 endeavours to explore the regions of the setting 
 sun proved it was upon no slender thread of pro 
 bability that mankind hung its belief in the ex 
 istence of a new world beyond the vast Atlantic. 
 Failure was accounted for, not by the folly of 
 the attempt itself, but by the chances of fortune, 
 or by the neglect and timidity of those who un 
 dertook it. Ships had been equipped and sent 
 forth beyond the bourne of waters, to return no 
 more. The Phoenician navigators sailed far 
 into this mysterious sea, and brought back ru 
 mours to confirm the general belief. The annals 
 of Carthage indicate discoveries, the exact record 
 of which is lost. From those times until the 
 fifteenth century, an intermittent series of expe 
 ditions maintained life in the idea. But hasty 
 preparations, ill -calculated arrangements, or 
 hearts growing suddenly faint, brought all en- 
 terprize to a common termination discourag^- 
 ment and failure. 
 
 It appeared that the Atlantic rolled an im 
 passable barrier of waves and storms between 
 the old world and that undiscovered realm 
 beyond. Its dark, tempestuous waters seemed 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 5 
 
 A.D. 1447. Dangers of that sea. Advent of a discoverer. Columbus. 
 
 to heave interminably to the west, even so far 
 as in reality to form the sleeping couch of the 
 sun. Hope was discouraged by frequent failure ; 
 until in the fifteenth century there came a man 
 to unlock the gates of the unknown world, and 
 throw open to the Christian nations regions 
 vast and rich for the employment and reward of 
 their industry. The mountainous billows of 
 the Atlantic were objects of no awe to him ; 
 his perseverance levelled all difficulties, his 
 courage defied all danger, and all mystery was 
 dispelled by his genius. 
 
 Ten cities, towns, and hamlets, claim to have 
 been the birthplace of Christopher Columbus. 
 Little mystery now hangs around the point, 
 although in favour of each place some discussion 
 is yet maintained. At Cogoletto is shewn a 
 cabin, on the sea-shore, wherein local tradition 
 points to the spot where his mother gave him 
 birth. But the discoverer himself names Genoa 
 as the place of his nativity ; desiring in his will 
 that a married member of his family should 
 perpetuate his name there, " for from thence I 
 came, and there I was born." Probably, there 
 fore, it was a Genoese woman who, in her na 
 tive city, rocked the cradle of Columbus. 
 
 Neither is the date of his birth marked accu 
 rately on the chart of time. In this he resem- 
 
LIFE OF 
 
 Place and date of birth. His family. A.D. 1447. 
 
 bled many other great men, whose lives form 
 so many eras in their national history. They 
 spend their early years among the unnumbered 
 and unnoticed millions. Gradually they elevate 
 themselves above the masses of the unknown, 
 and fix the admiration of mankind upon their 
 achievements ; and the world, dazzled, is intent 
 only on their present actions. When they are 
 dead, therefore, and posterity reviews their lives, 
 it often fails to trace them to the cradle, or in 
 deed far beyond that period when their genius 
 first shone above the common horizon of hu 
 manity. Columbus is said by some to have been 
 born about 1435 or 36, by others a decade 
 later; but, calculating from data supplied by 
 himself, I am inclined to believe that 1447 was 
 the year rendered memorable by the birth of a 
 man, than whom none greater has left his name 
 on the records of discovery. 
 
 That his father was a humble weaver or wool- 
 carder, is generally admitted. But as posterity 
 considers it necessary that the hero of a great 
 drama shall be of noble blood, it has assiduously 
 laboured to trace the lineage of Columbus to a 
 lofty source. However, it matters little. The 
 son of a weaver discovered America, and he 
 owed little of his success to the nobility. He 
 had no patron of illustrious title. None helped 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 
 
 A.D. 1457. Education. 
 
 him on, but all men of noble name seemed rather 
 to combine against him. In spite of them, how 
 ever, he won his way to the eminence of success 
 and celebrity. He had two brothers, Bartholo 
 mew and Diego, both enterprising seamen, and 
 one sister, whose career presents nothing of 
 interest. 
 
 The education of the navigator was of an 
 useful kind. He wrote well, was versed in 
 arithmetic, and made great progress in drawing. 
 At Pavia he studied grammar and the Latin 
 language ; geometry, geography, astronomy, and 
 navigation. From the first years of his life, the 
 adventurous career of a seaman was his ambi 
 tion; and the idea of discovering new lands may 
 be numbered among his earliest aspirations. The 
 civilization of Europe at the time of his birth was 
 ill calculated to nourish an enterprising spirit. 
 Geographical science was an exile. But during 
 the infancy and boyhood of Columbus a new era 
 dawned. The passion for discovery was stimu 
 lated by success, and Europe was emerging from 
 her monkish slumber into the light of a new 
 epoch. Thus, whilst the artificial obstacles of 
 his career were little and trivial, fortune was 
 great and grand in her assistance. 
 
 Leaving the University of Pavia at an early 
 age, Columbus is supposed to have spent some 
 
LIFE OF 
 
 Early occupations. Early voyages. A.D. 1459. 
 
 time with his father at Genoa, employed in 
 wool-carding. His son denies, but does not dis 
 prove this. Be it as it may, however, certain it 
 is that a life within the walls of that noble city 
 had no attractions for him. He longed to be on 
 the sea, although piracy was then so rampant that 
 a voyage to any distance presented dangers past 
 belief. The ocean was covered with buccaneers; 
 an intermittent war was waged against the Ma- 
 hommedan powers, adding considerably to the 
 merchantman s peril; but Columbus was eager for 
 a seafaring life, and entered upon it before the age 
 of fourteen. This part of his career is obscured 
 by gloom. No distinct accounts of it have been 
 transmitted to us, so that the first time we meet 
 the navigator on his element is in an expedition 
 fitted out at Genoa in 1459, by John of Anjou, 
 to recover the crown of Naples for his father, 
 Rene , Count of Provence. The Republic took 
 part in this enterprise with numerous privateers, 
 among whom was an adventurous Captain, 
 named Colombo, who, with another of the same 
 name, employed the services of the young navi 
 gator. He sailed with them on many voyages, 
 and is said to have embarked with the squadron 
 for Naples. This is disputed ; but there is no 
 doubt that he was once employed by Rene to 
 capture a galley off the port of Tunis. Arriv- 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 9 
 
 A.D. 1459. Adventures at sea. 
 
 ing at San Pedro, in Sardinia, he learned that 
 two ships and a carrack were with the galley 
 intelligence which damped the courage of his 
 crew, who, refusing to attack a force so superior, 
 resolved to return to Marseilles for reinforce 
 ment. The authority of Columbus could not 
 prevail against their fears. He ordered all sail 
 to be spread in apparent compliance with their 
 will : but, altering the compass, made rapid pro 
 gress towards the Cape of Carthagena, whilst 
 his men believed they were in the direct track 
 for Marseilles. We can pursue this adventure 
 no further, all record of it vanishing at this 
 point. But those who accompany Columbus on 
 his first voyage will remember the alteration of 
 the compass. 
 
 The crown of Naples, contended for during 
 four years, was finally won by John of Anjou, 
 but for a long subsequent period we find few 
 traces of Columbus. He is supposed to have 
 been engaged in the Mediterranean and up the 
 Levant sometimes in war, sometimes in com 
 merce, sometimes in predatory attacks on infidel 
 shores. It is related that he was captain in the 
 squadron of a great corsair, when a desperate 
 engagement took place with four richly laden 
 Venetian galleys, bound from Flanders, on their 
 way to Lisbon. His ship grappled with one 
 
10 LIFE OF 
 
 Reaches Lisbon. His manners. A.D. 1470. 
 
 opponent : showers of fiery missiles were ex 
 changed, and both vessels were wrapped in con 
 flagration. Columbus floated to the beach on an 
 oar, and thus, for the first time, trod Portuguese 
 soil. The account, however, is traditional, and 
 based on no certain testimony. 
 
 He arrived at Lisbon about the year 1470. In 
 the vigorous spring of life, though with grey hair, 
 his tall well-wrought figure, his fine face, and 
 kindling eyes, inspired an enthusiasm of ad 
 miration; whilst his courteous manners, his en 
 gaging discourse, his charity, kindness, and re 
 ligion, won the friendship and respect of his 
 associates. Wherever he appeared in Lisbon 
 he was esteemed, and his society was sought by 
 the learned, the curious, and the philosophical. 
 Accustomed to attend the religious services in 
 the convent of All Saints, he there met with 
 Donna Felippa, the daughter of Bartolomeo de 
 Palestrello, an Italian navigator of aristocratic 
 family, who had formed a colony, which he after 
 wards governed, on the newly discovered island 
 of Porto Santo. This lady was resident in the 
 convent. She had no fortune ; but the qualities 
 of her mind were of a high order. Columbus 
 successively formed an acquaintance, a friend 
 ship, and a deep attachment for her. She loved 
 him in return, and they married an union 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 11 
 
 A..D. 1470. Means of support. Maps. 
 
 which made Lisbon, for some time at least, the 
 home of the future discoverer. LJ 
 
 His father-in-law being dead, he took up his 
 abode in the house of his wife s mother, who 
 placed at his disposal all the charts, papers, and 
 memoranda which formed the wealth of the old 
 navigator. These nourished in the mind of 
 Columbus that love of discovery which after 
 wards ripened into so rich a fruit. Accident 
 contributed to stimulate this thirst. Being, by 
 marriage, naturalised in Portugal, he frequently 
 accompanied the expeditions of that nation to 
 the coast of Guinea, and when on shore as his 
 means were small devoted himself to the con 
 struction of maps for the support of his family. 
 Limited as was his income, however, he was 
 enabled, through strict economy, to assign a 
 portion of it to the support of his aged father 
 at Genoa, and the education of his younger bro 
 thers. His maps attracted much attention, as 
 geographical science was then confined with the 
 narrowest circle. 
 
 About this time Felippa inherited a little 
 estate at Porto Santo, where Columbus imme 
 diately took up his residence, and where his son 
 Diego was born. Being frequently in the society 
 of his brother-in-law, Pedro Correo, also a navi 
 gator, his attention was directed to the disco- 
 
12 LIFE OF 
 
 Retires to Porto Santo. Idea of a new world. A.D. 1470. 
 
 veries then making on the African coasts, to the 
 passage to India, and to the widely-diffused ru 
 mours of an unknown continent, or vast ar 
 chipelago in the west. These ideas received 
 strength from his geographical studies, which 
 shewed how vast a blank there was on the 
 general map of the world. Kumours and tra 
 ditions floated through Europe, were elabo 
 rated in the mind of Columbus, and moulded 
 into a solid opinion, based on three classes of 
 authority : reason, or the nature of things, the 
 testimony of learned writers, and the reports of 
 navigators. 
 
 That the earth was a terraqueous globe, which 
 might be travelled round from east to west, was 
 his first axiom. Now, the vast oriental hemi 
 sphere being the great object of discovery, it ap 
 peared clear to him that, sailing in a westerly 
 direction, the navigator must either pursue an 
 uninterrupted track across the ocean to the In 
 dian continent, or be opposed by the shores of 
 some unknown region. In either case the result 
 would be important. The rival cities of Venice 
 and Genoa were then the great trading powers 
 of Europe. The former almost monopolized the 
 commerce of the East, so that it was a national 
 pride that impelled Columbus to this great ad 
 venture, which might open a new channel to 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 13 
 
 A. D. 1470. Grounds of the belief. 
 
 the oriental seasj through which the wealth of 
 those exhaustless regions might pour into the 
 port of Genoa. It was a patriotic idea, and the 
 refusal to encourage him was a disgrace to his 
 native city. 
 
 The testimony of writers, ancient and modern, 
 also threw itself into the scale ; and no little 
 weight was added by reports of certain indica 
 tions of land in the west, which adventurous 
 navigators brought from that tempestuous re 
 gion. A piece of wood, elaborately carved, but 
 not with an iron instrument, had been found at 
 sea, thirteen hundred and fifty miles west of 
 Cape St. Vincent. A similar fragment had 
 drifted from the same quarter to Porto Santo, 
 whilst reeds of an immense size continually 
 floated from the west. In the Azores it was a 
 tradition that many huge pine trees, of an un 
 known species, had been wafted from the lands 
 of the setting sun ; and the bodies of two men, 
 belonging to a strange race, were also said to 
 have been cast ashore. Land had been dimly 
 and distantly seen by various navigators, whose 
 vessels had been carried by storms far westward 
 over the dark Atlantic; and, therefore, by a pro 
 cess of logic, not sophistical, Columbus judged 
 that an undiscovered region lay beyond that 
 sea, a fertile, peopled land, from which the in- 
 
14 LIFE OF 
 
 Grounds of the belief. A.D. 1474. 
 
 habitants of Christendom were shut out by no 
 natural law. 
 
 I am compelled briefly to indicate the grounds 
 of this belief. Washington Irving details them 
 fully, and attributes the success of the under 
 taking, in great part, to the existence of two 
 happy errors that of the immense extension of 
 Asia to the west, and that of the small size of the 
 earth. Much ingenuity has been exerted in the 
 attempt to dim the lustre of this great man s 
 name to detract from the merit of his discove 
 ries; but his biographer, to whom I have alluded, 
 roots up all such weeds of prejudice, jealousy, 
 and pedantic puerility. Around the memory of 
 every celebrated character is woven a web of 
 renown, in which all who seek to tarnish the 
 unsullied reputation find themselves entangled 
 to their own confusion. Columbus devoted 
 himself to study, and the conviction he arrived 
 at was reached after a long and laborious pur 
 suit. The idea was ripening in his mind: it 
 had acquired consistency as early as 1474. 
 He wrote in the summer of that year to Paulo 
 Toscanelli, at Florence, detailing his theory, 
 and was, by the reply of that learned man, 
 encouraged to prosecute the attempt. He 
 sent him a map, used afterwards in his first 
 great voyage. The correspondence was main- 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 15 
 
 A.D. 1477. Invention of printing. Spread of knowledge. 
 
 tained; the solid idea was revolved; the navigator 
 continued to make fresh studies, and to accumu 
 late probabilities in the intervals of his voyages 
 at sea, hoping, one day, with the aid of fortune, 
 to carry this vast enterprise into action. But, 
 too poor to fit out the necessary armament, he 
 was compelled to wait the tide of accident, and 
 would also have hesitated to make a journey to 
 such regions, unless armed with the sanction of 
 an European power. 
 
 The art of printing was now invented. It 
 opened the hidden mines of knowledge, and 
 drew forth the precious ore to be scattered over 
 Christendom. Information, hitherto embalmed 
 in musty archives, buried in monkish libraries, 
 and recorded only on perishable manuscripts, 
 now spread itself far and wide for the enlighten 
 ment of mankind ; and knowledge, which was 
 before the monopoly of the few, became the 
 property of the people, and chief weapon in the 
 struggle for liberty. Among the results of this 
 discovery was that it stimulated the curiosity 
 of the world. John II ascended the throne of 
 Portugal, and, animated with the general pas 
 sion, sent many expeditions to Africa, ambitious 
 of opening the long-sought route to India. The 
 discovery of the astrolabe since improved into 
 the quadrant then first enabled the seaman to 
 
16 LIFE OF 
 
 Applies to Portugal. Proposal Rejected. A.D. 1474. 
 
 ascertain his distance from the equator. Navi 
 gation, which had hitherto timidly crept along 
 the shores, not daring to put forth upon the 
 boundless sea, acquired courage to venture be 
 yond sight of land on the surface of the ocean, 
 where the waves rolled away further than the 
 eye could pursue them, and the sailor found 
 himself upon a watery wilderness the centre 
 of a circle, bounded on all sides by the meeting 
 of the clouds and the waves. 
 
 Immediately after this discovery, Columbus 
 made his first proposition to the court of Portu 
 gal. John II granted him an audience, listened 
 to him, was struck with his theory, and referred 
 him to a council of great and learned men, who 
 evinced their wisdom by ridiculing the project. 
 The king was not satisfied. He summoned a new 
 cabinet of noble sages, and they again declared the 
 scheme visionary, vain, and impracticable. John, 
 therefore, refused the application of Columbus ; 
 but, lending his royal ear to the advice of crafty 
 councillors, consented readily to do an act of 
 treachery. By the advice, it is said, of the 
 Bishop of Ceuta, who opposed all encourage 
 ment of the Genoese navigator, he dispatched a 
 vessel, with the ostensible object of carrying 
 provisions to the Cape di Verd islands, though 
 with the real design of cheating Columbus of his 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 17 
 
 A. D. 1476. Treachery of John II. To Genoa. 
 
 fame. But the crew of the caravel, having for 
 many days bent their cruise westward, through 
 a stormy tossing sea, without perceiving any 
 promise of land, lost courage, and returned to 
 Lisbon, declaring that the project of discovery 
 was no more than a presumptuous vision. 
 
 Columbus was incensed at this act, and re 
 fused though now solicited to renew negotia 
 tions with the king who had played so mean a 
 part. The sorrows of his life were begun : his 
 wife was dead, and he deeply mourned her loss. 
 We have no record of his domestic life ; but 
 doubtless it was a thornless path, for he dearly 
 loved Felippa, and her affection seems to have 
 been worthy of such exalted fondness. Lisbon 
 was no longer a home for him. Accompanied 
 by his son Diego, therefore, he privately left 
 it towards the close of 1476. Two reasons 
 are assigned for his secret manner of departure. 
 In the first place, the king might detain him, and 
 in the second, his affairs were in confusion, and 
 he feared arrest for debt. This is alluded to in a 
 letter written several years after by the King of 
 Portugal, inviting Columbus to return, and en 
 gaging to shield him from arrest, whether by 
 the civil or criminal officers. 
 
 From Lisbon he is supposed to have gone to 
 Genoa, where, in 1485, he repeated in person 
 
18 LIFE OF 
 
 His poverty. First visit to La Rabida. A D. 1470. 
 
 the offer he had made by letter. It was con 
 temptuously rejected. The republic was in a 
 declining state; her energies sank with her for 
 tune and her freedom, and she refused to under 
 take an enterprise which might once more have 
 lifted her to an exalted eminence among the 
 great commercial powers. But we have no au 
 thentic account of this transaction, or of that 
 which succeeded it at Venice, whose government 
 was equally deaf to the proposal. Once more 
 visiting Genoa, to make some arrangements for 
 the comfort of his father s hoary age, Columbus 
 again cast himself upon the world, wandering 
 from court to court, as a beggar, neglected and 
 despised, to offer to the princes of Christendom 
 an empire, more rich than the chrysorhean 
 streams of Lydia. 
 
 About two miles from the little seaport town 
 of Palos de Morguer stood the Franciscan con 
 vent of Santa Maria de Kabida. It still stands 
 a memorial of the discoverer s first arrival in 
 Spain. One day, as we are told by Garcia 
 Fernandez, a stranger on foot, accompanied by 
 a little boy, stopped at the gate and begged a 
 little bread and water for his child. The re 
 freshment was given, and just then the prior, 
 Friar Juan Perez de Marchena, passed. He no 
 ticed the traveller, was attracted by his appear- 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 19 
 
 A.D. 1476. Conference of three wise men. 
 
 ance, entered into conversation with him, and 
 learnt his history. Whence he was at that par 
 ticular time coming is conjectural. He was on 
 his way to Huelva, where resided a brother-in- 
 law probably Pedro Correa. 
 
 The prior possessed much knowledge, and a 
 large mind, unshackled with prejudice or pedan 
 try. He had studied geographical science, and 
 deeply interested as he was in the project of Co 
 lumbus, detained him as his guest, and sent for 
 Fernandez Garcia, the physician of Palos, who 
 was equally struck with the manner and appear 
 ance of the stranger. These three really wise 
 men conferred: the scheme was revolved, and the 
 mariners of Palos were consulted. One of them 
 stated that thirty years before he had been driven 
 by a storm so far to the north-west, that Cape 
 Clear, in Ireland, was to the east of him. Here, 
 although a heavy gale blew then, there was little 
 roll in the ocean. Had the waters stretched very 
 far beyond, he judged they would not have been 
 so smooth. This, therefore, was regarded as 
 indicating the existence of land to the westward. 
 Juan Perez undertook to introduce Columbus 
 to the court of Spain. He gave him a letter to 
 the prior of the monastery of Prado Fernando 
 de Talavera, confessor to the queen, and, there 
 fore, deep in her confidence stating the project, 
 
20 LIFE OP 
 
 Characters of Ferdinand and Isabella. A.D. 1484. 
 
 and asking for his assistance. The good friar 
 also undertook to maintain and educate Diego 
 in the convent. To him Columbus mainly owed 
 his success, and the navigator s remembrance of 
 the service was long and grateful. With him 
 he remained until the opening of 1*476, when the 
 court settled in old Cordova, to prepare for a 
 campaign against the Moors in Grenada. 
 
 Spain was now rising into wider power. The 
 Moorish dominion had shrunken within the nar 
 row boundaries of Grenada, and still the com 
 bined armies of Arragon and Castille pressed 
 upon them, to crush this last remnant of their 
 independence. Ferdinand and Isabella reigned 
 joint sovereigns of the kingdom. Her influence 
 was equal to his. She was, in many respects, 
 the reverse of her husband. Her mind was 
 powerful and vigorous, as her form was delicate 
 and beautiful. Her firmness, energy, and keen 
 intellect, her justice and generosity, display her 
 in striking contrast with her sordid husband, 
 whose mind was only susceptible of the ideas of 
 aggrandisement and gain. His ambition was 
 great, but superior to his wisdom. Simple in 
 his diet, persevering, devout, and somewhat af 
 fectionate, he was yet cold, selfish, and artful. 
 His ear was more readily opened to slander, and 
 that petty ribaldry which always greets the 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 21 
 
 A.D. 1484. Characters of Ferdinand and Isabella. 
 
 enunciation of a great theory, than to the lofty 
 ideas of an honourable ambition, or the just 
 praises of a great and good man. More readily 
 urged to attempt an acquisition to his empire 
 through the bloody path of conquest, than by 
 the peaceful means which Columbus proposed 
 to employ for the addition of a world to his pos 
 sessions, he shrunk from this small expense, 
 whilst he revelled in the immense preparations 
 for a long, desolating war. The queen s supe 
 rior wisdom saw the glory of the project. It 
 was a woman who consented to the equipment 
 of those vessels which brought back for their 
 cargo news of the discovery of a new world. 
 Fortunate was it for Spain that the influence of 
 this wife was not neutralised by the dull indif 
 ference of her little-minded husband. 
 
 These were the sovereigns whose reign was 
 to be rendered illustrious by the discovery of 
 America. For their aggrandisement and glory 
 Columbus was to enter the remote regions of 
 the unknown, where nature still held an undi 
 vided sway over man and his mother earth. 
 Fancy, of magical creative power, had already 
 painted an unfathomable ocean waves too high 
 to surmount, winds too dangerous to brave 
 that shut out from the navigator s enterprise the 
 mysterious lands beyond the Atlantic. Won- 
 
22 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 
 
 Ideas of the unknown world. A.D. 1484. 
 
 derful islands, moulded in all the forms and 
 tinted with all the hues of beauty, peopled by 
 an innocent race, bathed by gentle blue seas, and 
 breathed over by an eternal balm these were 
 the dreams of the poet s florid fancy; while 
 others imagined a desolate wilderness of land 
 and wave, where the hot sea surged for ever 
 upon dismal, bleak, and barren shores, the waste 
 and silent borders of creation. 
 
 Such were the tales told and repeated, while 
 the theory of Columbus, by king, court, and 
 country, was derided as the mad delusion of an 
 enthusiast. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 A.D. I486 to A.D. 1492. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 COLUMBUS ARRIVES AT CORDOVA CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE 
 MOORS INTRODUCTION AT COURT COUNCIL AT SALA 
 MANCA ARGUMENTS OP THE WISE MEN CAMPAIGN OF 
 MALAGA MISSION FROM JERUSALEM PROJECT TO DE 
 LIVER THE HOLY SEPULCHRE BEATRICE ENRIQUEZ 
 
 SECOND CONSULTATION AT LA RABIDA MISSION TO COURT 
 
 COLUMBUS HAS AN AUDIENCE OF THE QUEEN TERMS 
 
 PROPOSED NEGOTIATION ABANDONED RESOLVES TO 
 
 LEAVE SPAIN FINAL EFFORT BY LOUIS DE ST. ANGEL 
 
 THE QUEEN CONSENTS COLUMBUS OVERTAKEN AGREE 
 MENT DRAWN UP PREPARATION OF AN ARMAMENT 
 
 THE THREE SHIPS THE ANCHORS WEIGHED VOYAGE 
 TO THE CANARIES ENTER ON UNKNOWN SEAS. 
 
LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 25 
 
 A.D. 1486. Columbus arrives at Cordova. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 " The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared." 
 
 COLERIDGE. 
 
 p OLUMBUS came to Cordova early in 1486. 
 ^J To obtain an audience of the king and 
 queen was not easy. The Prior of Prado re 
 garded his scheme as a vision. He was poor. 
 He came in humble apparel, without pomp or 
 clamour, and, therefore, they gave him no ear. 
 Nor were circumstances favourable. The court 
 was then in the full excitement of a war against 
 the Moorish powers, whose formidable coalition 
 offered little promise of their speedy subjuga 
 tion. Other claims of variety and moment thus 
 pressed upon the king and queen, leaving them 
 no leisure to heed the importunities of an adven 
 turer. It is even questionable whether Fernando 
 de Talavera ever brought it to the royal ear. 
 So passed the summer and autumn. Columbus 
 supported himself by the construction of maps, 
 and, meanwhile, was introduced into the house 
 of Alonzo de Quintanilla, finance-controller of 
 Castille, who warmly encouraged his project. 
 By the aid of him and others he became ac- 
 
26 LIFE OF 
 
 Introduction at Court. Arguments of the wise men. A.D. 1486. 
 
 quainted with Pedro Gonzalez de Mendoza, arch 
 bishop of Toledo and grand cardinal of Spain. 
 
 He at first opposed religious objections to the 
 scheme, but, being no bigot, these were removed, 
 and Columbus explained his theory. Listening 
 with steady attention, the archbishop gradually 
 felt convinced that the project was based on rea 
 son. He became the firm friend of the navigator, 
 introduced him at court, and, by this means, 
 Columbus at length procured an audience of the 
 king and queen. The project struck them. They 
 referred it to a council of learned men astrono 
 mers and cosmographers. The conference took 
 place in the convent of St. Stephen, at Salamanca. 
 Unnumbered objections were urged. Was the 
 world round, and not flat, with the skies reared 
 above like a tent ? If so, were there any dwellers 
 in the opposite hemisphere ? Could men walk 
 thus hanging by their feet ? Could it rain, hail, 
 and snow upwards ? Could trees grow with their 
 branches downwards ? Even allowing this, 
 could ships, having once passed the central line, 
 sail back over the vast upward slope of sea ? If 
 not, then the thing was impossible. Such was 
 the logic of the learned men. Some said the 
 world was an island floating onwards through a 
 vast ocean, whose opposite shore was a limit to 
 the duration of created things. 
 
 The consultations of the council were inter- 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 27 
 
 A.D. 1489. Campaign against Malaga. 
 
 rupted by the great campaign of Malaga. The 
 court was perpetually in motion. Columbus kept 
 in its track. Regarded as a madman, pointed 
 at in the streets by children, who touched their 
 foreheads significantly as he passed, jeered and 
 scoffed by self-adoring philosophers, he con 
 tinued, never disheartened, always hoping, and 
 earning daily bread by his old pursuit of map 
 making. Occasionally he lived in the hospitable 
 houses of wealthy men. 
 
 The court, however, since it attached Colum 
 bus to its train by the magnetic influence of 
 promises, could not but defray a part of his ex 
 penses, and records of the sums thus paid him 
 remain in the archives of Simancas. Whilst 
 with the camp before Malaga, in 1487, he was 
 introduced to the Marchioness of Moya, who 
 became interested in his enterprise, and exerted 
 an useful influence on his behalf. In 1488 he 
 received an invitation to Lisbon from John II, 
 dated the 20th of March. But he declined, and 
 in 1489, when the Spanish court returned to 
 Cordova, the negotiation appears to have been 
 actively renewed. The sovereigns wrote to that 
 city, ordering that entertainment should be given, 
 free of expense, to one Christopher Columbus, 
 who was coming there to a conference with them, 
 which was postponed, say the annals of Seville, 
 
28 LIFE OF 
 
 Mission from Jerusalem. Beatrice Enriquez. A.D. 1481). 
 
 by the campaign, when this same Columbus was 
 found fighting in the foremost ranks, among the 
 boldest and the best. 
 
 During the siege of Boza two friars, em 
 ployed in the holy sepulchre at Jerusalem, ar 
 rived at the Spanish camp. They came with a 
 message from the Grand Soldan of Egypt, who 
 threatened to massacre all the Christians in his 
 empire, to destroy the holy sepulchre, and tread 
 the cross into the dust, unless the war with 
 Grenada were abandoned. The war was, never 
 theless, continued, but Isabella granted a yearly 
 sum of 1,000 ducats to the monks in charge of 
 the holy sepulchre, sending a veil of her own 
 embroidery to drape the holy shrine. Columbus 
 then conceived the idea which he nourished 
 until his death of devoting the profits of his 
 contemplated discovery to the deliverance of 
 the rocky tomb, where the Saviour s body once 
 was, from the power of a sacrilegious infidel. 
 
 But it were wearisome to detail the endless 
 efforts which he made, and the renewed disap 
 pointments which he suffered. Let me hasten on. 
 
 At Cordova, Columbus met Beatrice Enri 
 quez, a lady of aristocratic family, who probably 
 tied him to Spain more firmly than his patience 
 would have done. The nature of his connexion 
 with this woman is obscure. He does not ap- 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 29 
 
 A.D. 1490. Second consultation at La Kabida. 
 
 pear to have married her, but she was the mother 
 of his son and historian, Fernando, whom he 
 treated equally well with Diego, Felippa s child. 
 Relinquishing all hope of assistance from the 
 royalty of Arragon and Castille, he yet lingered 
 at Cordova, endeavouring to awake the spirit of 
 adventure in the minds of private men, whose 
 cupidity he sought to touch. He applied first 
 to the Duke of Medina Sidonia, whose vast 
 estates were princedoms in themselves, and sub 
 ject only in a modified fashion to the rule of 
 Isabella and Ferdinand. Temporising and ob 
 jecting for some period, this nobleman at length 
 refused to encourage the project. Celini saw 
 reason in the scheme, and held out hopes which 
 he afterwards withdrew, promising, however, to 
 use his influence with the sovereigns of Spain. 
 But Columbus was weary. An encouraging letter 
 from the French king determined him to pro 
 ceed to Paris. Once again, therefore, he arrived 
 at the gate of La Eabida, where, after an in 
 terval of seven years, he once more met his 
 friend, the worthy prior, who still maintained 
 Diego. On learning that Columbus intended 
 to depart the country with his son, the spirit of 
 Fray Perez was aroused ; Garcia Fernandez was 
 a second time called to a consultation ; and the 
 navigator, the monk, and the physician deliber- 
 
30 LIFE OP 
 
 Final effort by Louis de St. Angel. The queen consents. A.D. 1490. 
 
 ated upon further plans. They took the advice 
 also of Martin Alonzo Pinzon, the head of a 
 family well known for their adventures upon 
 the sea. This man offered his purse to assist 
 Columbus, advised him to renew his application, 
 and promised all possible help. 
 
 At length it was resolved to despatch a letter 
 to the queen from friar Perez, who had for 
 merly been her confessor : Sebastian Kodriguez, 
 an old pilot of Lepi, was selected for the mis 
 sion. He travelled to Santa Fe, before Grenada, 
 and at the end of fourteen days was again at the 
 convent, bearing a message to Juan Perez, in 
 viting him to court. 
 
 Now the friar tarried not a day, but, saddling 
 his mule, departed before midnight, and the re 
 sult of his mission was, that Columbus renewed 
 an active negotiation with the king and queen. 
 Still his terms were refused. Bigotry retained 
 its hold, and once again the adventurer, indig 
 nant, commenced his journey to France. 
 
 But Louis de St. Angel, receiver of the eccle 
 siastical revenues in Arragon, with many others, 
 entered warmly into the cause. He, in particu 
 lar, made a last effort at persuasion. The queen 
 was solicited. She wavered, hesitated, urged 
 the cost, feared to draw upon an exhausted trea 
 sury, but finally exclaimed " I undertake the 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 31 
 
 A.D. 1491. Agreement drawn up. 
 
 enterprise for my own crown of Castille, and I 
 will pledge my jewels to raise the necessary 
 funds."* 
 
 Columbus was overtaken by a mounted mes 
 senger, at a bridge two leagues from Grenada. 
 When assured that the enterprise was resolved 
 on, he came back to the Santa Fe. Here he had 
 an audience of the queen. An agreement was 
 drawn up, stipulating on the part of the adven 
 turer that he and his heirs for ever should enjoy 
 the office, honours, and prerogatives of admiral 
 in all lands discovered by him ; that he should 
 be viceroy in all such territories, with the privi 
 lege of nominating three candidates for the go 
 vernment of each island or province, of whom 
 the sovereign should choose one; that he should 
 retain for himself a tenth of all profits derived 
 from the collection of precious commodities, 
 whether by barter or otherwise ; that he, or his 
 lieutenant, should be sole judge in all disputes 
 arising out of traffic between those countries and 
 
 * For this there was no necessity. The funds were 
 drawn, chiefly, from the coffers of Arragon ; but Ferdi 
 nand advanced 17,000 florins. He did not fail, however, 
 to indemnify himself, when Columbus brought his first 
 gold from the new world. It was employed to gild the 
 vaults and ceiling in the saloon of the grand palace of 
 Sarragossa, built by the Moorish kings. 
 
32 LIFE OF 
 
 Preparation of an armament. A.D. 1492. 
 
 Spain, provided the High Admiral of Castille 
 enjoyed similar power in his district. 
 
 That he might fit out, at his private expense, 
 an eighth part of each enterprise, and retain an 
 eighth part of the profits. 
 
 These conditions being agreed to, it remained 
 to procure and furnish forth an armament. Co 
 lumbus, now more than forty-five years old,* 
 was relieved of much anxiety by the appoint 
 ment of Diego, his son, to an office of page at 
 court. To prepare him for this, two learned 
 men of Moguer undertook the completion of his 
 education. The navigator s mind, therefore, was 
 wholly turned to his enterprise. Now, however, 
 a new difficulty arose. The shipowners of Palos 
 refused to furnish vessels, while officers and men 
 could not be found willing to accompany the 
 expedition. The perils of that great voyage 
 were beheld through the magnifying medium of 
 superstitious ignorance. The Atlantic ocean was 
 peopled with the countless terrors which a timid 
 imagination can devise, and all shrunk from 
 
 * Washington Irving fixes his age at this period at 
 fifty- six. But Columbus, in a letter to the king and 
 queen, dated 1501, tells them he had been forty years at 
 sea, and began his mariner s life when he was fourteen 
 years of age. Thus my conjecture as to the date of his 
 birth receives its main support. 
 
Departure from Palos. Page 33. 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 33 
 
 A.D. 1492. The three ships. The anchors weighed 
 
 the adventure, until Martin Alonzo Pinzon re 
 deemed his promise by the equipment of a vessel 
 and an offer to embark, with his brother, Vi 
 cente Yanez, also a skilful navigator. At length 
 others followed, and Columbus found himself in 
 command of the Santa Maria, a large decked 
 vessel, prepared expressly/ for the voyage, which 
 bore the admiral s flag ;/ the Pinta, captained 
 by Martin Alonzo, withnis brother Francisco 
 as pilot; and the Nina, by Vicente. These 
 two were caravels light vessels, without deck 
 in the centre, but built up high at the stem and 
 stern. Equipped, manned, and furnished with 
 ample munition, this little squadron was, in ap 
 pearance, but a humble instrument to accom 
 plish a design so great. With the pilots, the 
 crew, notary, a physician, and surgeon, several 
 private adventurers, and their servants, the whole 
 number embarked was no more than one hun 
 dred and twenty. 
 
 Now, with religious ceremonies, confession, 
 and sacred communion, all was ready. On Fri 
 day, therefore, the 3rd of August, 1492, the sails 
 were set, and the three vessels, bound on their 
 mission of discovery, weighed anchor from be 
 fore Huelva, and bent their course towards the 
 Canary Isles. Glad in heart, but not yet con 
 fident that resolution would not fail his fellow 
 
34 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 
 
 Voyage to the Canaries. Enter on unknown seas. A.D. 1492. 
 
 voyagers, Columbus made all haste to lose sight 
 of Europe. On the third day the Pinta s rud 
 der was disabled. Alonzo Pinzon secured it 
 with ropes ; but these gave way, and the vessel 
 lagged on her course. The admiral, therefore, 
 touched at the Canaries, and for three weeks 
 sought another ship, but, finding none, caused 
 a new rudder to be made for the Pinta, and 
 started forth again. The eruption of Teneriffe, 
 witnessed by the crew, spread a panic among 
 them; but Columbus, bringing his scientific 
 knowledge to dispel this superstition, allayed all 
 fear, and induced them to proceed vigorously 
 on their way. Three caravels, mounting the 
 Portuguese flag, were reported to be cruizing 
 off the isle of Ferro. Suspecting John of Por 
 tugal of some sinister design, consistent with 
 the cunning treachery characteristic of that 
 prince, the admiral made all haste to leave the 
 navigator s usual route, and spread sail for the 
 unknown seas of the west. 
 
CHAPTEK III. 
 
 /.D. 1492. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 LOSE SIGHT OF LAND FEARS OF THE CREW COLUMBUS 
 ADOPTS A FALSE RECKONING OMENS OF WRECK VARIA 
 TION OF THE NEEDLE COLUMBUS EXPLAINS IT BIRDS 
 AT SEA THE TRADE WINDS WEEDY SEA CLOUDS MIS 
 TAKEN FOR ISLANDS CALMS CHANGE OF THE WIND 
 VAST COVERING OF WEEDS DEAD CALM THE SAILORS 
 
 REASON ON THE PRUDENCE OF THE VOYAGE CRY OF 
 
 "LAND!" CLOUD ILLUSIONS REWARD FOR THE FIRST 
 SIGHT OF A SHORE THEY SAIL TO THE WEST SOUTH 
 WEST RENEWED DISAPPOINTMENTS SAILORS RESOLVE 
 
 TO RETURN UNMISTAKABLE EVIDENCES OF LAND 
 
 SIGNS FLOATING ON THE WATER COLUMBUS ADDRESSES 
 
 THE CREWS THE NIGHT WATCH THE BEACON SIGNAL 
 FROM THE PINTA LAND ! 
 
LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 37 
 
 A.D. 1492. Lose sight of land. Fears of the crew. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 " Alone, alone all, all alone 
 Alone, on a wide, wide sea." COLERIDGE. 
 
 FOR three days a dead calm brooded over the 
 sea; but on the 9th of September, when 
 Ferro, the last of the Canaries, was grown dim 
 in the distance, a lively breeze sprung up, and 
 swiftly and steadily the three ships sailed to the 
 west. Fear now possessed the crews : lamenta 
 tions broke out, and a panic spread. Sight of 
 land was lost, and a strange region perhaps an 
 ocean without limit perhaps vast quicksands 
 and submerged rocks lay before them. Never 
 theless, Columbus, by dwelling on the wealth of 
 the undiscovered world, excited their imagina 
 tions, and revived the fainting spirit of enterprise. 
 Advancing rapidly before this powerful gale, 
 the admiral feared lest their great distance from 
 Europe might reawaken terror in the minds of 
 his fellow voyagers. The expedient of a false 
 reckoning of the ship s progress suggested itself, 
 and the crews were thus kept in ignorance of the 
 real breadth of sea they had traversed. On the 
 llth they saw floating part of a mast belonging 
 
38 LIFE OF 
 
 Variation of the needle. Columbus explains it. A.D. 1492. 
 
 to some large vessel, which was looked upon as 
 ominous of shipwreck. On the 13th, in the 
 evening, the variation of the needle was ob 
 served. It pointed no more to the north star, 
 but to the north-west, and gradually increased 
 its changing tendency. Nature s laws seemed 
 altered. They were in a trackless sea, where 
 even the mysterious guides of heaven failed 
 them. To the crews this circumstance ap 
 peared pregnant with alarm ; but Columbus in 
 geniously allayed their fears. / The needle, he 
 said, pointed to some stationary and unseen 
 point, and the motion of the Polar star caused 
 the variation of the compass. The solar system 
 was not then understood, and this explanation 
 received credence. The phenomenon is now the 
 source of no surprise, although its cause is still 
 unknown. This is a curious illustration of human 
 weakness. The most portentous wonders are dis 
 regarded because they are familiar, whilst no 
 velty, even of a trivial character, makes deep im 
 pression on the mind. The vast organization of 
 the universe, with the power that created it, form 
 matter of light discussion, whilst the smallest 
 deviation from the accustomed course of nature 
 affords food for more marvel than the noblest 
 and grandest operations of Almighty agency. 
 The morning of the 14th of September was 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 39 
 
 A.D. 1492. Birds at sea. The trade winds. Weedy sea. 
 
 ushered in with appearances of joyful augury. 
 A heron and a water-wagtail fluttered on the 
 wing around the rnast head, and were regarded 
 as promise of land. The next night they saw 
 something like a flame of fire falling from the 
 sky into the sea another sign of hope. They 
 now came under the influence of the trade winds 
 the steady, unvarying, unceasing breezes, 
 which follow the sun, and breathe over the 
 ocean between the tropics, from east to west. 
 Still onward, before this ceaseless gale, they 
 sailed, further, and still further, over the un 
 known, unnavigated ocean. 
 
 Large patches of weeds were now seen float 
 ing on the water, drifting from the west. Some 
 seemed to have been detached from rocks, others 
 to have been washed from river banks some 
 yellow and withered, others green and fresh. A 
 live crab was on one of them : this Columbus 
 carefully preserved. They saw also a white tro 
 pical bird, of a kind that never sleeps on the sea. 
 Tunny fish sported around the vessels, and re 
 called to the navigator s mind the description in 
 Aristotle, of certain adventurers, driven by 
 storms far into the west, where the waters were 
 clothed with matted weeds, and where the tunny 
 was in great plenty. He had now, he thought, 
 arrived in the Weedy Sea, described by ancient 
 mariners. 
 
40 LIFE OF 
 
 Clouds mistaken for islands. Calms. ~ n J492 
 
 On the 18th, the same breeze still blew over 
 a tranquil sea. Each vessel strove to be in ad 
 vance. The Pinta, a fast sailer, kept ahead, 
 and Alonzo Pinzon, hailing the admiral, told 
 him that a great flight of birds hovered in the 
 north, where some singularly shaped clouds, in 
 the peculiar light of sunset, assumed the appear 
 ance of islands. Columbus, however, detected 
 the delusion, and maintained his course. On the 
 next day the breeze sank, and drizzling showers 
 succeeded. Two pelicans visited the vessels, and, 
 as these are shore-loving birds, appeared to 
 herald land. Two hundred fathoms of line, 
 however, found no bottom to the sea. Columbus 
 judged that islands must lie to the north and 
 south; but, having engaged to sail westward, 
 refused to alter his course, although the sailors 
 murmured deeply when they thought of the vast 
 track of ocean they had left behind. 
 
 When, on the 20th, the wind veered to the 
 south-west, this circumstance, though unfavour 
 able to their progress, was hailed gladly, as the 
 unvarying gale, blowing from the east to the 
 west, appeared preternatural and mysterious. 
 Orchard-loving birds flew over head, with lively 
 songs cheering music to the sea-wearied navi 
 gators. These small songsters, they thought, 
 would not sing if wearied, and a long flight 
 from land must exhaust their strength. 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 41 
 
 A.D. 1492. Vast covering of weeds. Dead Calm. 
 
 At length the vessels entered upon a track of 
 water matted with a vast covering of weeds, 
 sweeping in huge floating fields as far as eye 
 could reach, and impeding their way, for the 
 breeze was weak and variable. The crews be 
 lieved this to indicate a shallow sea, and feared 
 to rush blindly on the rocky and desolate boun 
 daries of creation, where, amid breakers and 
 quicksands, the vessels would be engulfed in 
 inevitable wreck. Still the sounding-line sank 
 vainly in search of the sea-bed. Then the wind 
 fell, the weather calmed, the glassy sea scarcely 
 heaved under its influence. A whale rolled its 
 broad back above the water, and the sailors, who 
 found in every phenomenon the active source of 
 fear, dreaded lest in that sluggish sea they were 
 doomed to be fixed for ever. Columbus never 
 failed to account plausibly for these things ; but 
 mutiny threatened; alarm induced discontent, 
 and discontent appeared to forebode an open 
 and irresistible rebellion. On the 25th, however, 
 as though by a special providence, the glassy 
 ocean broke into a long heavy roll, and dispelled 
 the dread of an eternal stagnation. 
 
 The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew, 
 
 The furrow followed free 
 We were the first that ever burst 
 
 Into that silent sea. 
 
42 LIFE OF 
 
 The sailors reason on the prudence of the voyage. A.D. 1492. 
 
 The sailors still reasoned on the prudence of 
 proceeding further. They were now far beyond 
 the bounds of navigation; they had been wafted, 
 day after day, over unknown expanses of ocean, 
 and it appeared that they were sailing through an 
 illimitable sea, which rolled its waters to eternity 
 beyond. Provisions could not last for ever, and 
 every day lengthened the distance between them 
 and the known world. Still they did not under 
 stand how far they had in reality proceeded. 
 Knots of conspirators, nevertheless, clustered on 
 the decks, and whispered conversations nursed 
 the idea of rebellion into a definite resolve. 
 With some the project of casting the admiral 
 into the sea was actually conceived and medi 
 tated. Columbus, however, knew the tempers of 
 his men. Some he soothed, some he threatened, 
 some he encouraged with promises most calcu 
 lated to stimulate the fainting heart of adventure. 
 
 On the 25th, when the vessels were sailing in 
 close companionship, Columbus leaned over the 
 bulwarks of the Santa Maria, and conversed 
 with Pinzon in the Pinta. A map was thrown 
 from this vessel into that of the admiral, and 
 whilst he, with his pilots and several old seamen, 
 was contemplating the chart, Martin Alonzo 
 Pinzon gave a joyful shout, and cried, " Land ! 
 land ! Senor, I claim my reward !" He pointed 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 43 
 
 A.D. 1492. Cloud illusions. Reward for the first sight of a shore. 
 
 to the south-west, and Columbus, on his knees, 
 gave instant praise to God. Pinzon sang the 
 Gloria in Excelsis, and the crews mingled their 
 voices in a chorus of glad thanksgiving. 
 
 All eyes, from the highest points, strained to 
 wards the south-west. Night came on, amid 
 hope and exultation ; but morning brought dis 
 appointment, for a cloud, in the refracted rays 
 of the sinking sun, had deluded them. The light 
 of dawn melted it, and a blank horizon swept in 
 an unbroken circle round, ever widening as they 
 advanced. Again they steered westward, whilst 
 dolphins disported in the glassy sea, so calm 
 that the sailors swam for amusement, and flying 
 fish leapt upon the decks. 
 
 When they had proceeded, according to the 
 reckoning, five hundred and eighty-four leagues, 
 but in reality seven hundred and seven, from 
 the Canaries, they lost sight of birds, and the 
 weeds floated from the east. Thinking that they 
 had passed amid islands, widely separated, the 
 sailors murmured and menaced, but new indica 
 tions of hope suppressed their discontent. A 
 pension of thirty crowns had been promised, by 
 the king and queen, to him who should first dis 
 cover land. The cry was, therefore, constantly 
 heard, and disappointment was thus continually 
 renewed, until the admiral proclaimed, that 
 should one of the company give an alarm, and 
 
44 LIFE OF 
 
 They sail to the west south-west. Renewed disappointments. A.D. 1492. 
 
 no land be reached within three days, he should 
 entirely forfeit his claim. 
 
 A clamorous demand, in which Pinzon joined, 
 induced Columbus to steer west south-west. 
 Another grievous disappointment had occurred. 
 The Santa Maria s crew believed that the set 
 ting sun showed land. The Nina crowded sail 
 in advance, and soon, from her mast head, a flag 
 was waved, and from her deck a gun discharged, 
 in signal that a shore was seen. An electric 
 thrill of joy passed from ship to ship. Hope 
 ran high ; but the cloud melted, and it ebbed 
 away. In proportion to their exultation before 
 was their dejection now, and it was to appease 
 the consequent discontent that Columbus for 
 once consented to vary his course. For three 
 days, therefore, they sailed west south-west. 
 Green herbage, birds, tunny fish appeared plen 
 tifully, and the gale was as sweet as April 
 breezes in fresh and fragrant Seville. But the 
 evening of the third day closed in upon a bound 
 less horizon, ceaselessly receding from their 
 view, and the crews, almost as one man, insisted 
 that the prows should point homewards. The 
 admiral refused. Affairs were ripening to a 
 crisis, when now that all expedients seemed to 
 fail, and hope was well nigh worn out fresh 
 weeds floated by, a fish, known to inhabit only 
 rocky waters, swam around; a branch of thorn, 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 45 
 
 A.D. 1492. Signs floating on the water. Columbus addresses the crews. 
 
 covered with berries, tossed before them, and 
 they picked up a reed, a small board, and a 
 carved staff. Again Expectation stood tiptoe on 
 the prow, and the three vessels went gaily on, 
 steered by Hope, with joyful hearts on board. 
 
 At evening, when the usual vesper hymn was 
 sung, Columbus addressed his companions, re 
 minded them of God s goodness shown in the 
 storrnless voyage and tranquil sea, and in the 
 multiplied signs which had led them to the land, 
 promised long ago by hope. On leaving the 
 Canaries, he had predicted that, having sailed 
 two thousand one hundred miles, it would be 
 wise to shorten sail at midnight. Land might 
 intercept their course ere morning broke. This 
 precaution was now taken. A vigilant watch 
 was ordered, and a doublet of velvet, in addition 
 to the pension, was promised to him who should 
 first proclaim the sight of a shore. 
 
 Away westward they kept their slackening 
 course. An unremitting watch was maintained 
 on board. The day closed, the sun set, and night 
 fell. Columbus, from the lofty poop, stretched his 
 gaze towards the horizon, now growing dim in 
 the thickening light. At ten o clock, a glimmer, 
 as of a distant beacon, seemed to shine in the 
 west ; he called one of the company, asking him 
 if he saw a light in that direction. He said 
 
46 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 
 
 The beacons. Signal from the Pinta. Land. A.D. 149ii. 
 
 yes. But Columbus, unwilling to delude him 
 self with a fancy, called another, who mounted 
 the round house, but the appearance had van 
 ished. It soon shone out again, like a torch in 
 the sea-tossed bark of a fisherman, or a light 
 carried to and fro in a forest. Slight as was 
 this sign of hope, Columbus rested on it with 
 sanguine expectation. 
 
 Morning brought the blessed fulfilment. A 
 gun, fired from the Pinta, carried on its flash 
 the confirmation of their hopes the intelligence 
 that a land was seen. Rodrigo de Triana first 
 saw it. The new world was discovered, and the 
 navigator s long life of weariness, toil, and dis 
 appointment was crowned with success success 
 which opened to the nations of civilized Europe 
 rich, unbounded, and exhaustless fields of enter 
 prise. The reader who accompanies me further 
 will, doubtless, not fail to compare the savage 
 regions then first seen, with the flourishing do 
 minions now rising into yearly increasing power, 
 under the fostering influence of the great united 
 republic. The contrast between summer and 
 winter is not greater than that of the verdant, 
 fresh, and fruitful shores, first revealed to the 
 view of Columbus, with the populous city- 
 studded coasts, now marked with the thousand 
 features of a ripening civilization. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A.n. 1492. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 FIRST SIGHT OP THE NEW WORLD THE LANDING THANKS 
 GIVINGS COLUMBUS TAKES POSSESSION OF THE ISLES 
 
 JOY OF THE VOYAGERS WONDER OF THE PEOPLEFIRST 
 INTERCOURSE BETWEEN THE EUROPEANS AND INDIANS- 
 TRAFFIC SEARCH FOR GOLD SAN SALVADOR VOYAGE 
 ALONG THE COAST ADVENTURES WITH THE NATIVES- 
 PLEASANT INTERCOURSE MAGNIFICENT HARBOUR GOLD 
 
 REGION IN THE SOUTH CUBA DISCOVERED THE RIVER 
 OF SAN SALVADOR EXCURSION ALONG THE COAST MIS 
 SION INTO THE INTERIOR DREAMS OF WEALTH RE 
 TURN OF THE ENVOYS THE GREAT VILLAGE DISCOVERY 
 OF THE POTATOE OF TOBACCO INTERVIEW WITH THE 
 
 CHIEFS THEY ACCOMPANY THE ENVOYS FIELDS OF 
 
 MAIZE, SWEET PEPPER, AND COTTON SAIL IN QUEST 
 OF THE ISLE BABIQUE DESERTION OF THE PINTA 
 PINZON S JEALOUSY " BOHIO ! " DISCOVER THE 
 ISLAND HAITY. 
 
LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 49 
 
 A.D. 1492. First sight of the new world. The landing. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 " The lightly-launched canoe. 
 
 That stemmed the studded archipelago, 
 O er whose blue bosom rose the starry isles." 
 
 BYEON. 
 
 ON Friday, 12th October 1492, early in the 
 morning, Columbus saw the new world. 
 A level green shore spread before him, covered 
 with trees, luxuriantly verdant, and beautiful 
 beyond fancy. Numbers of wild men issued 
 from the woods to gaze upon the white-winged 
 monsters of the sea. The anchors were cast. 
 The admiral, in rich scarlet attire, with the na 
 tional banner in his hand, descended into a boat, 
 which was well manned and armed, whilst the 
 two Pinzons entered others, each with the flag 
 of the expedition, worked with a green cross 
 and the initials of the Spanish sovereigns, sur 
 mounted by a crown. 
 
 The shores were approached. The boats 
 bounded over waters clear as crystal, and bright 
 even as light itself. Trees, hung with unknown 
 but beautiful fruits, were seen bending under 
 their delicious load ; wild flowers, of rare fra 
 grance and brilliant hues, spangled a turf more 
 
 E 
 
50 LIFE OF 
 
 Thanksgivings. Columbus takes possession of the isles. A D. 1492. 
 
 green than emerald. The earth was all beauty, 
 the air all balm. It may be said that the knees 
 of Columbus touched the land sooner than his 
 feet, for ere he stood erect, to gaze on his dis 
 covery, he was down in the posture of prayer, 
 giving thanks to God, with a swelling heart, and 
 eyes brimful of tears.* Then, unfurling the 
 Spanish banner, and, for the first time drawing 
 sword, he gathered round him the captains, the 
 notary, with the rest of those who landed, and, 
 naming the island San Salvador, declared it the 
 possession of Castille. All tendered him homage 
 as admiral and viceroy of Spain. It was thus, 
 says an ingenious writer, that the two worlds 
 were first introduced one to another. The na 
 tives looked on with simple wonder, while a 
 ceremony was performed which deprived them 
 of their natural liberty. 
 
 The voyagers now forgot their sufferings, and 
 clustered round Columbus with petitions for 
 
 * The prayer said to have been employed by Columbus, 
 and which was, by the orders of the king and queen, 
 made use of by Balboa, Cortes, and Pizarro, in their dis 
 coveries, was in Latin, and may be rendered thus : 
 
 " Lord God, Eternal and Omnipotent ! By thy sacred 
 word thou hast created the heaven, the earth, and the sea : 
 Blessed and glorified be thy name ; praise be to thy ma 
 jesty. It is a glory to be thy humble servant, and thus 
 let thy sacred name be recognised and acknoAvledged in 
 this new region of the world !" 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 51 
 
 A.D. 1492. Joy of the voyagers. Wonder of the people. 
 
 pardon, for favour, and with promises of future 
 obedience. Some kissed his hands, some em 
 braced his neck. Meanwhile the savages stood 
 by in wondering awe, supposing that the sea had 
 been the mother of some portentous monsters, 
 whose outspread wings had borne these strange 
 beings to their shores. Columbus, by his supe 
 rior figure, air, and manner, attracted their chief 
 attention. They approached the Spaniards, 
 touched their beards, smoothed their white 
 skins. The belief was universal that heaven 
 had rolled back its gates, and sent down its 
 messengers. It was no action of the admiral s 
 that undeceived them. But the surprise was 
 mutual. The copper-coloured natives, fearless 
 as truth, with agreeable countenances and bril 
 liant eyes, were variously painted. One young 
 girl, whose natural beauty was conspicuous 
 among her wild brethren, was surpassingly lovely 
 in form and feature. Columbus, imagining that 
 he was on an island at the extremity of Asia, 
 gave these people the appellation of Indians, 
 and since that name was pronounced by his lips, 
 on the 12th of October 1492, it has clung to 
 the aborigines of the whole of that western 
 world. The day passed pleasantly. The sailors 
 wandered freely among the groves, while the 
 admiral distributed gifts among the natives 
 
52 LIFE OF 
 
 First intercourse between the Europeans and Indians. A.D. 1492. 
 
 coloured caps, glass beads, hawks bells which 
 they received as gifts of priceless worth. The 
 simple aborigines some of whom were armed 
 with lances of wood, hardened at the end with 
 fire, or pointed with a fish bone were soon re 
 lieved of all apprehension, and visited the ships 
 in great numbers. Some swam, some put off 
 in light barques, called canoes, formed from a 
 single tree, and capable of holding from one man 
 to forty or fifty. These they skilfully paddled, 
 and, if over-set, easily righted, baling them with 
 calabashes their general substitute for glass 
 and earthenware. The smallest fragments of any 
 of the ship s utensils were eagerly picked up ; 
 but they had to offer in return only parrots and 
 cotton yarn. This commodity they gave, in 
 bundles of twenty-five pounds, for a mere trifle. 
 They brought also cassava, or cakes of sweetbread. 
 Small ornaments of gold were seen in the 
 noses of some of the savages, which they will 
 ingly exchanged for valueless trinkets ; but 
 Columbus forbade it, reserving the traffic as a 
 royal monopoly, with that in cotton also. En 
 quiring where the precious ore was found, the 
 natives pointed to the south, saying that there 
 dwelt a king so wealthy that he was served only 
 in vessels of wrought gold. In other islands, 
 they said, dwelt the traders in gold and gems, 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 53 
 
 A.D. 1492. San Salvador. Voyage along the coast. 
 
 who descended upon the neighbouring shores to 
 seek slaves. They were pirates also, and scars 
 were exhibited as the memorials of bloody strife. 
 The splendid region, described by Marco Polo, 
 appeared to be now discovered, and the heart of 
 the navigator beat high. Gold was his chief 
 object of search, since that alone could recom 
 mend him to the avaricious court of Spain. 
 
 The native name of this first discovered island 
 was Guanahacha. It retains that of San Sal 
 vador, and is one of the Bahamas which dot the 
 sea off the northern coast of Cuba. On the 
 morning of the 14th, Columbus started with 
 the boats for a general survey of its shores. 
 Steering northward, he found a harbour where 
 the fleets of all Christendom might safely ride. 
 The entrance was narrow ; but the water within 
 was as placid as the sky above it. Many large 
 rivers discharged themselves into the sea ; great 
 forests covered the island at intervals ; several 
 villages were seen, and the people in all instances 
 offered homage to the white men, as visitants from 
 heaven. They ran along the beach with fruits 
 and vessels of water. Some plunged into the sea, 
 and followed the boats. Seven of them were 
 taken, to learn Spanish, that they might act as 
 interpreters. Supposing that a settlement might 
 be formed here, the admiral s eye rested with in- 
 
54 LIFE OF 
 
 Adventures with the natives. A.D. 1492. 
 
 terest on a small broad-headed but narrow-necked 
 peninsula, which could easily be separated from 
 the land, remarking that it was an excellent site 
 for a fort. But the sailors being weary with row 
 ing, the ships were regained, and, well supplied 
 with wood and water, left San Salvador that 
 evening. They steered amid a multitude of low- 
 lying green islands, rising verdant even from the 
 water s edge, and continually multiplying to the 
 sight. The Indians mentioned more than a hun 
 dred names, and Columbus, bewildered, knew 
 not where next to land. Marco Polo told of 
 an archipelago of many thousand isles, on the 
 coast of Asia, where spices, and gums, and fra 
 grant trees, emitted clouds of balmy incense, 
 and this, it appeared, was the realisation of that 
 splendid dream. 
 
 He everywhere found the same primitive sa 
 vages simple, confiding, and wonder-stricken 
 at the apparition of the white men and their 
 ships. To all he behaved as to those of San 
 Salvador, and won their admiration and confi 
 dence. One of the Indians on board, neverthe 
 less, attempted to escape, for, expecting nothing 
 short of a speedy flight to the skies, or, perhaps, 
 a descent to some dismal realms below, he 
 plunged into the sea, and swam to a large canoe 
 filled with natives. A boat put off in pursuit. 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 55 
 
 A.D. 1492. Adventures with the natives. 
 
 The savages with their paddles outstripped the 
 white men with their oars, and, gaining the 
 shore, fled swiftly into the woods. Taking the 
 canoe with them, the sailors returned to their 
 ship. There was bad policy in this, for it 
 planted the young shoot of ill-feeling. Soon 
 after, a single native, in a canoe, approached 
 the .admiral s vessel, with a ball of cotton to 
 barter. The crew seized him ; but Columbus, 
 standing on the high poop of the Santa Maria, 
 ordered the trembling creature to be brought 
 up, treated him with all kindness, put a cap on 
 his head, gave him armlets of green beads, and 
 decorated his ears with hawk-bells. Then, re 
 turning him his ball of cotton, he restored him 
 his canoe, and the poor Indian was soon seen 
 amid groups of his admiring brethren, display 
 ing the gifts which the children of heaven had 
 bestowed. The captured canoe was then cut 
 adrift, to be regained by its deserters. The 
 vessel next overtook a solitary craft, paddled by 
 a single native, who, provided with a little cas 
 sava, a calabash of pure water, and a little paint 
 to improve his personal appearance, was intre 
 pidly making a voyage from island to island, to 
 signal the arrival of the ships. He was taken 
 on board, with his hollow tree, feasted with 
 bread, honey, and wine carried to his destina- 
 
56 LIFE OF 
 
 Pleasant intercourse. Magnificent harbour. A. D. 1492. 
 
 tion, and sent to the beach with his simple 
 barque, joyful in mind, but thoroughly amazed. 
 
 All night long the natives crowded to the 
 vessels, with offerings of fruit and sweet spring 
 water. They were enriched, feasted, and dis 
 missed. No gold, however, was seen with them. 
 Landing next morning, Columbus named the 
 island now called Exuma Fernandina. The 
 people seemed superior to any he had met with. 
 Some of the women wore broad girdles of cot 
 ton, and some a kind of mantle ; but most of 
 them appeared in the simplicity of nature. 
 Their lofty tent-shaped huts, neat and clean, 
 and shaded by trees, were constructed of woven 
 branches, reeds, and palm leaves. Their beds 
 were swinging cotton nets, called hamacs, whence 
 the name now so familiar in the navy was de 
 rived. 
 
 On the north-west coast of this island Colum 
 bus found a harbour, wherein a hundred ships 
 might be safe from storms. The beauty of these 
 lands was unparalleled, but disappointed the 
 Spaniards, who looked for gold and gems, in 
 stead of fertile soils and brilliant vegetation. 
 But reports lured them on. They sailed on the 
 18th from Fernandina in quest of Sanoeta, 
 which, as they were told, was wealthy beyond 
 description in precious metals and stones. The 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 57 
 
 A.D. 1492. Gold region in the south. Cuba discovered. 
 
 island was found to be of rare beauty, with a 
 pleasant variety of lakes, groves, streams, and 
 green grass land ; but with no great city, no 
 mines, no king of boundless wealth. Flights of 
 gorgeous parrots were disturbed in the woods, 
 and fish of strange species and dolphin hues 
 darted through the transparent water near the 
 beach. No animals, except the lizard, the dog, 
 the coney, and the harmless guana, were found. 
 Various accounts pointed southward, where 
 it was said lay an island called Cuba, rich in 
 gold, pearls, and spices, which abounded as the 
 dust of the earth, where large merchant vessels 
 came to trade. Another, named Bohio, was de 
 scribed as the crown of this wealthy region, 
 and thither Columbus resolved to steer, after a 
 visit to Cuba, when he would bend his course 
 to India, now, as he thought, within ten days 
 sail, seek the splendid city of Quinsai, and 
 return with the triumphant news to Europe. 
 Therefore, having named this island Isabella, 
 he sailed on the 24th, and sighted Cuba on 
 the morning of the fourth day, touching at 
 many places by the way. The towering moun 
 tains, the wide fertile plains, the valleys full of 
 promise, and the bold coast scenery of the 
 island, enchanted the navigator s eye. The 
 vessels approached. Every moment revealed 
 
58 LIVE OF 
 
 The river of San Salvador. Excursion along the coast. A.D 1492. 
 
 fresh luxuries of nature. They anchored at the 
 mouth of a noble river the San Salvador ; but 
 the same things were seen, the same rumours 
 heard. The natives were simple in their de 
 meanour, full of marvel at the sight of the 
 white men, and primitive in their modes of life. 
 The landscape glittered with bright colours. 
 Everything was variegated and of a rich hue. 
 The parrots, in vast flocks, and the scarlet fla 
 mingos, were only surpassed in brilliance by 
 the countless flowers and blossoms. The admiral 
 saw in everything signs of the wealth he coveted 
 for Spain spices in the balmy woods, pearls on 
 the shell-strewn shore, a genial climate in the 
 mild atmosphere. Villages, composed of large 
 well-constructed habitations, were seen on the 
 river banks, regularly laid out. Most of the 
 people had fled ; but some wooden masks, skil 
 fully carved, betokened more ingenuity than was 
 possessed by the natives of the Bahama group. 
 Sailing along the coast, the admiral, with his 
 three vessels, reached the Cape of Palms, and 
 thence skirted the shore, carrying on intercourse 
 with the natives, but forbidding his crews to bar 
 ter for anything but gold. From certain reports 
 received here, he was induced to send two of 
 his men on a mission to a monarch said to dwell 
 in a rich city of the interior. They were fur- 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 59 
 
 A.D. 1492. Mission to the interior. Discovery of the potatoe. 
 
 nished with abundance of trinkets, to sprinkle on 
 their way among the people, and were instructed 
 to observe the geography of the island, to tell 
 the king that the great admiral Columbus had 
 come to him on a special embassy, and to inquire 
 whether such drugs and minerals, of which they 
 were provided with specimens, existed in the 
 country. Six days were allowed them to go 
 and return. 
 
 During their absence the vessels were ca 
 reened, and Columbus occupied himself in the 
 examination of the coast. Showing the Indians 
 some pearls and gold, he received from them 
 accounts of a certain island Bohio where 
 such things were abundant, and whose cannibal 
 inhabitants were dog-headed. The mines he 
 put faith in, the dogs heads he disbelieved, be 
 cause the one was agreeable with his wishes, 
 the other repugnant to his reason. Indeed, he 
 easily persuaded himself of the inexhaustible 
 treasures to be discovered in this new golden 
 Chersonese. Making a fire to melt tar, a power 
 ful odour, resembling mastic, was emitted by 
 the burning wood; forthwith Columbus dreamt 
 of whole cargos of this precious gum. Search 
 ing for costly luxuries, they discovered the 
 humble potatoe. Thus, while seeking for pearls 
 and gold, and perfumes, to lavish on the volup- 
 
60 LIFE OF 
 
 Of tobacco. Fields of maize, sweet pepper, and cotton. A.D. 1492. 
 
 tuous luxury of a court, they found a root which 
 was to be the support and nutriment of millions. 
 
 On the 6th of November the two ambassadors 
 returned, saying that thirty-six miles thence 
 there was a collection of fifty large houses, with 
 a thousand inhabitants, where they had been 
 received with much solemnity, seated on pieces 
 of wood hewn in the forms of quadrupeds, and 
 feasted with delicious fruits. The villagers had 
 then, they said, sat down in a circle to hear the 
 admiral s message. On being informed that 
 gold and jewels were sought, they pointed to 
 the south, where, in the spice country, they 
 said, they were plentiful. The envoys then 
 returned with one of the principal men, his 
 son, and an attendant. On their way to the 
 ships, they saw many of the savages smoking 
 small rolls of a certain plant a custom which 
 much astonished them. These rolls the natives 
 called tobacco. They passed through spacious 
 fields well cultivated with sweet pepper, maize, 
 and potatoes, and were shewn vast quantities 
 of cotton, growing, and in various stages of rude 
 manufacture. 
 
 But the admiral s hopes still rested on the 
 discovery of some wealthy Indian region, where 
 "all gems, in sparkling showers," would pour 
 into his hand. Therefore, he sailed away from 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 61 
 
 A.D. 1492. Desertion of the Pinta. Discover the island Haity. 
 
 this coast, and through the channel between the 
 Bahamas and Cuba. On a lofty headland of 
 this island he erected a cross, to denote the 
 Spanish sovereignty, and standing boldly out to 
 sea, would have proceeded at once in search of 
 the isle Babique, but that contrary winds hin 
 dered him. 
 
 The Pinta now deserted. Her commander, 
 Alonzo Pinzon, who had long chafed under 
 the admiral s authority, had been tempted by 
 the offer of an Indian to conduct him to a 
 region rich in gold, and relying on the superior 
 sailing of his caravel, made away to windward, 
 baffling all pursuit. Columbus, grieved at this 
 treachery, cruized about until the 5th of De 
 cember, when an island of great size opened to 
 his view. The Indians cried "Bohio!" and 
 signified that it w r as peopled by a savage race, 
 whom it would be death to intrude upon. Still 
 the admiral never bent his rudder, but steered 
 straight on. The coast-dwellers fled, the ships 
 approached, and Columbus soon found himself 
 in St. Nicholas" 1 Harbour, Haity. 
 
 The land-locked port was bordered on either 
 side by groves of fruit trees. In front was a wide 
 plain, across which a fine river rolled from the 
 interior into the harbour. 
 
 This island, said the natives, was the home of 
 
62 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 
 
 Description of the natives. A.D. 1492. 
 
 an uncouth and cannibal race, divided into tribes, 
 governed each by its own chief. Savage and 
 fierce, they allowed no strangers to visit their 
 country ; but roved at night, in their canoes, 
 along the coasts of the Archipelago, seizing 
 young girls and children, to feast upon in the 
 luxury of their barbarian daintiness. The ad 
 miral valued these reports, in general, at what 
 they were worth, though he put faith in the 
 Isle of Amazons, and in the tales of gold and 
 gems more profuse than the sands on the sea 
 shore that assailed his ears as he advanced. 
 It is remarkable how this great man welcomed 
 the idlest tales that accorded with the creations 
 of his own conception. To rumours that sought 
 to turn him away from the accomplishment of 
 his chosen enterprise, he never gave ear; but 
 followed eagerly in the train of whatever ignis 
 fatuus of fancy seemed to dance before him in 
 the obscurity of the unknown, and to tempt him 
 on in the pursuit of his warmly-cherished hope. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 A.D. M92 to A.D. 1493. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 APPEARANCE OF HAITY THE YOUNG CAPTIVE THE 
 
 SEARCH FOR GOLD INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES 
 
 SAILORS PROPOSE TO REMAIN WRECK OF THE SANTA 
 
 MARIA ERECTION OF A FORT THE YOKE OF EUROPE 
 
 NEWS OF THE PINTA THE FORT FAREWELL FEAST 
 
 DEPARTURE MOCK FIGHT SAILS SPREAD THE PINTA 
 
 REJOINS MEETING OF COLUMBUS WITH PINZON WAR 
 LIKE TRIBE IN THE GULF OF ARROWS THE FIRST BLOOD 
 
 SHED UNFAVOURABLE WINDS GREAT TEMPEST VOWS 
 
 TO THE VIRGIN THE ADMIRAL S EXPEDIENT TO PRE 
 SERVE A RECORD OF HIS ADVENTURES THE PINTA AGAIN 
 DISAPPEARS THE STORM ABATES ARRIVAL AT ST. 
 
 MARY S PERFORMANCE OF THE vow TREATMENT BY 
 
 THE GOVERNOR STORMY VOYAGE ARRIVAL AT LISBON 
 
 CARGO OF THE NINA TREATMENT BY THE PORTU 
 GUESE KING EXCITEMENT CAUSED BY THE NINA S ARRI 
 VAL COLUMBUS LEAVES THE TAGUS REACHES PALOS. 
 
LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 65 
 
 .D. 1492. Appearance of Haity. The young captive. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 " All above them the dark heavens, 
 All around them the deep sea." 
 
 OIMILAR beauties, and similar savage coun- 
 O try similar wild people, were here disco 
 vered. A young girl was captured, and brought 
 on board. Her nose-ring of gold excited hope. 
 By kindness her confidence was soon won. The 
 trinkets with which the Spaniards adorned her 
 person seemed a source of deep delight, and 
 soon, by her friendly aid, the natives, to the 
 number of two thousand, were attracted to the 
 beach. A friendly intercourse was at once esta 
 blished. The navigator landed, and was de 
 lighted with this new discovery. The country 
 possessed a rich soil, and was varied with sweeping 
 undulations, lovely valleys, and bright streams. 
 From its resemblance to Andalusia, Columbus 
 named it Espaniola. Although, however, the 
 island was wealthy, the Spaniards were dissatis 
 fied. A gold region was their ambition. One 
 native chief the cacique Guacanagari visited 
 them in some state, and displayed a little of the 
 glittering ore ; but no monarch came down with 
 
66 LIFE OF 
 
 Wreck of the Santa Maria. Sailors propose to remain. A.D. 1492. 
 
 gong and timbrel and all the gorgeous pageant 
 of an eastern potentate, to welcome their arrival 
 at his shores. 
 
 On the 24th of December, being Christmas 
 Eve, the admiral s vessel was driven into a dan 
 gerous current, which left her a helpless wreck 
 upon the sands. The crew, being saved, were 
 treated hospitably by the cacique Guacanagari : 
 their merchandise was stored on land and pro 
 tected. The admiral became dejected after this 
 misfortune ; but a traffic for gold, and informa 
 tion that it existed plentifully in a mountainous 
 district in the interior, called Cibao, the region 
 of which Marco Polo had left his glowing ac 
 count, somewhat soothed his mind. 
 
 I might enlarge much upon their pleasant in 
 tercourse with the natives ; but this the limits 
 of my narrative forbid. They saw so much that 
 pleased them ; they received so much gold ; 
 they were so warmly welcomed, that many of 
 the seamen wished to forego the pleasures of 
 home, in consideration of the perils of the home 
 ward voyage, and entreated permission to be 
 come denizens of that remote island. Colum 
 bus heard the proposal, and resolved, with the 
 wreck of the Santa Maria, to build a place of 
 defence ; to arm it with her guns, and plant a 
 colony, which might thereafter flourish as a 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 67 
 
 A.D. 1492. Erection of a fort. The yoke of Europe. 
 
 great and fruitful branch of the mother country. 
 To the cacique it was represented that a force 
 would be left behind to protect him from his 
 enemies. He was delighted, and readily gave 
 the consent, which it would, indeed, have been 
 madness to withhold. The natives assisted in 
 the erection of the fortress. The work went 
 vigorously on. Meanwhile news was received 
 that the Pinta was anchored in a neighbouring 
 river; but a search for her was unsuccessful. 
 One ship one slowly- sailing barque, was left. 
 The tremendous voyage was to be made in her. 
 Life and fortune were to be committed to her 
 charge; and should she founder in the deep 
 Atlantic, the waters must engulf with her her 
 crew, and with them the knowledge of the new 
 world ; unless Pinzon should reach home, and 
 cheat Columbus of the fame of his discovery. 
 Either way the opening vista was gloomy. 
 
 In ten days the fort was built : the yoke was 
 put upon the Indian s neck, never to be shaken 
 off. The wild courser of the forest was bridled, 
 to wander free no more. A spacious vault was 
 surmounted by a wooden block house, sur 
 rounded by a broad deep ditch. Ammunition 
 was abundant, and the guns of the wrecked 
 caravel peered portentously through the loops. 
 The fort was named La Navidad ; and thirty 
 men, with Diego de Anna at their head, were 
 
68 LIFE OF 
 
 Farewell least. Departure. Mock fight. A.D. 1493. 
 
 chosen to be the garrison. The governor dying, 
 was to be succeeded by Pedro Guttierez, and he 
 by Rodrigo de Escobedo. A physician, a ship- 
 carpenter, a caulker, a cooper, a tailor, and a 
 gunner, were among the number. One boat, 
 with plenty of seeds to plant, and numerous 
 articles for traffic, were left with the colonists. 
 They were enjoined to be diligent in the collec 
 tion of gold, obedient to lawful authority, and 
 mindful of their allegiance to Spain. 
 
 On the 2nd of January 1493, Columbus 
 landed to take his farewell of the hospitable 
 cacique and his chieftains, feasting them, pro 
 mising to return with more costly presents, and 
 earnestly recommending the settlers to their kind 
 treatment. They promised to persevere in the 
 friendly path. The admiral had already secured 
 their esteem ; it was now his aim to win their 
 respect. This he accomplished by an innocent 
 display of the superior weapons of civilization. 
 A mock fight was ordered to take place. Swords, 
 bucklers, lances, cross-bows, arquebusses, and 
 cannon were employed. The lustre of the bur 
 nished steel, the whizzing bolt of the cross-bow, 
 and the sharp echo of the arquebuss, excited 
 their admiration, which deepened into awe, as 
 forth from the cannon s mouth the deadly hail 
 of stone balls went crashing through the trees, 
 and calling an echo from every hollow rock. 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 69 
 
 A.D. 1493. The Pinta rejoins. Meeting of Columbus with Pinzon. 
 
 On the 4th of January, a signal gun was fired 
 from fort Navidad. Then the solitary vessel 
 spread sail, and, steering eastward, passed a 
 tent-shaped, grass-covered promontory, which 
 they called Monto Christi. Kounding the cape, 
 they joyfully saw the white canvas of the Pinta 
 bellying before the wind, and every moment 
 drawing nearer. All hearts beat gladly, for 
 they were now not to steer through that dreary 
 silent waste of sea alone. Pinzon and Colum 
 bus met in apparent friendship. The one 
 volunteered much plausible explanation ; the 
 other refrained from a too close inquiry. The 
 Nina and her companion then began their 
 voyage. The discoverers were anxious to see 
 the old familiar shores of Europe, and novelty 
 could not induce delay. Having discovered a 
 river the Santiago whose sandy bed glittered 
 with particles of gold, and restoring to their 
 homes two girls, prisoners on board the Pinta, 
 they steered along the coast of Espaniola, and 
 reached Cape Cabron. There a tribe of war 
 riors, hideously painted, armed with bows, ar 
 rows, clubs, and heavy swords of palm-wood, 
 and adorned with parrots feathers, appeared in 
 strange contrast with the simple races hitherto 
 seen. These were supposed to be the savage 
 Caribs, dwelling, as they had been told, near 
 
70 LIFE OF 
 
 The first blood shed. A.U. 1493. 
 
 an island, peopled only by women, whom they 
 visited for a short period every year. Friendly 
 communication was commenced ; but the sa 
 vages, when the Spaniards were in some force 
 upon the beach engaged in barter, seized their 
 arms, and approached with cords, as though to 
 capture and bind the intruders on their soil. 
 
 In a moment the European steel was out, and 
 the first blood shed. Two natives were wounded, 
 and the rest, terrified by the flashing blades, 
 made off in hasty flight. What a war was then 
 commenced between the white and the Indian 
 race a war which has continually raged from 
 that day till now ! However, friendship was 
 restored, and the traffic renewed. The chief of 
 the tribe the Cinquayens, inhabiting a hilly 
 region on the coast, made terms of peace, and 
 sent to Columbus his coronet of gold, as an 
 offering of reconciliation. When he visited the 
 vessels, his reception was honourable and friendly. 
 Four of his young men consented to accompany 
 the ships, as guides, to certain eastern islands, 
 lying in the route to Spain. Leaving this place, 
 named by the admiral the Gulf of Arrows, 
 but now known as the Gulf of Semana, they 
 cruised for a short time in the neighbouring 
 seas; but home was the loadstone now, and once 
 more the vessel s bowsprit pointed to Spain. 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 71 
 
 A.D. 1493. Unfavourable winds. Great tempest. 
 
 The winds, which had favourably filled their 
 sails in their voyage to the Bahamas, were ad 
 verse to their homeward progress. The Pinta, 
 foremost before, was now in the rear, with her 
 foremast seriously injured. For many days 
 they were carried to and fro by the capricious 
 breeze ; but in the early part of February, 
 being in the thirty-eighth degree north, it 
 steadied, and their keels were again in the track 
 for Spain. The voyage was anxious: the ocean 
 was unknown ; to steer through it was perilous 
 and difficult. Unaccustomed to the variations 
 of the wind in these latitudes uncertain what 
 rocks and shoals, or other submerged dangers 
 might lie in their course, they sailed in the con 
 stant fear of wreck. 
 
 On the 12th of February, a tremendous 
 tempest burst, with lightning, thunder, and a 
 wind so furious that it drove the vessels on with 
 naked masts. The barques tossed and laboured ; 
 the waves broke over them, and far above and 
 wide around, amid the glare of the electric light, 
 and the repeated thunder peals, the black sea 
 rose and fell in mountains, with those helpless 
 vessels on its surface. Skill was vain; patience 
 seemed useless. The sailors took refuge in 
 superstition. Numerous beans were thrown 
 into a cap. Each man vowed that, should he 
 draw forth one which was marked, he would, 
 
72 LIFE OF 
 
 Vows to the Virgin. The Pinta again disappears. A.D. 1493. 
 
 bearing in his hand a wax taper five pounds in 
 weight, make a pilgrim s journey to the shrine 
 of Santa Maria of Guaclaloupe, provided Hea 
 ven would deliver them from their great peril. 
 The lot fell to the admiral. He resolved to 
 perform his oath. Another fell upon one of the 
 seamen to tread the pilgrim s path to the 
 chapel of Our Lady of Loretto. The expense 
 was to be defrayed by Columbus, to whom a 
 third lot was by chance assigned, to walk to 
 Santa Clara de Rioquer, to perform mass and 
 keep solitary vigil in the chapel. 
 
 Still the storm, with unabated violence, con 
 tinued to rage. The mariners then vowed that, 
 wherever they should land in a Christian coun 
 try, they would, barefooted and in their shirts, 
 go in solemn procession to some church, and 
 offer the Virgin thanks. Each man also made 
 his private vow. Meanwhile the Pinta disap 
 peared. The fear of her total loss grew strong. 
 In that case the Nina was again alone on the un- 
 navigated sea, liable every moment to founder. 
 If she perished, all record of her voyage would 
 be lost. The admiral, however, resolved to 
 make one effort to preserve the history of his 
 wanderings. Writing on parchment an account 
 of all their adventures, he sealed it, directed it 
 to Isabella and Ferdinand, with a written pro- 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 73 
 
 A.D. 1493. Arrival at St. Mary s. Performance of the vow. 
 
 mise of a thousand dollars to whomsoever should 
 deliver it, unopened, at the court. Wrapping 
 this memorial in a cerecloth, and enclosing it in 
 a cake of wax, he placed the whole in a large 
 cask, and committed it to the waters the crew 
 believing that he was engaged in the perform 
 ance of some religious rite. A similar barrel, 
 with similar contents, was placed on the poop, 
 so that, should the vessel perish, the story of its 
 wanderings might live. What became of the 
 cask that was cast afloat is a mystery. Perhaps 
 it was washed on some civilised shore, to be the 
 prolific source of curiosity among educated men; 
 perhaps it was thrown among savages, to whom 
 it must have been an object of utmost marvel ; 
 or, perhaps, it was dashed to atoms amid the 
 rocks of some wild unpeopled coast. 
 
 At break of dawn, on the 15th, land appeared, 
 and in two or three days the vessel rode safely 
 under the northern shore of St. Mary, in the 
 Azores. 
 
 The reception of the navigator and his com 
 panions was hospitable ; but the good feeling of 
 the governor and the people was of that untem- 
 pered kind which wears away with very little 
 friction. Whilst performing their vow to the 
 Virgin, the men met with uncourteous treat 
 ment from the inhabitants, and from the repre- 
 
74 LIFE OF 
 
 Stormy voyage. Arrival at Lisbon. A.D. 1493. 
 
 sentative of authority. Juan de Castaneda, as 
 a Portuguese, disclaimed all respect for Colum 
 bus and his sovereign; for John II had given 
 orders that, should Columbus arrive at any of 
 his ports, he should be seized and detained. The 
 wary admiral eluded the trap, put to sea again, 
 and, after a stormy voyage, arrived, on the 4th 
 of March, off the rock of Cintra, Lisbon. Dis 
 patching a courier to the court of Spain with 
 tidings of his arrival, he also wrote to the King 
 of Portugal, asking leave to refit in the harbour 
 of Lisbon, as to remain with his richly-laden 
 caravel at the mouth of the Tagus would neither 
 be safe nor convenient. Rumour had exag 
 gerated the value of her cargo, and piracy was 
 then so bold, that to snatch a prize at the very 
 entrance of a royal port, was an achievement 
 which had more than once been performed. 
 
 The commander of a war-ship next day pom 
 pously summoned Columbus on board, to give 
 an account of himself; but received for answer, 
 that the High Admiral of Spain was account 
 able to no Portuguese captain. Receiving this 
 reply, and learning that the navigator was really 
 of high rank, and, therefore, not to be treated 
 as common mortals, the commander changed 
 his tone, and visited the Nina with great pomp, 
 with courteous words, and proffers of assistance. 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 75 
 
 A.D. 1493. Cargo of the Nina. 
 
 Crazy, leaky, and battered, that little barque, 
 which had crossed so vast a wilderness of ocean, 
 attracted more observation than the proudest 
 gold -laden galleon that ever " walked the 
 waters." She carried the key of a great do 
 minion then wild, desolate, peopled by savages, 
 heathen, and degraded now the home of our best 
 offspring, the parent of wealth, the cultivated, 
 rich, Christian, and noble empire of civilization. 
 Let us contrast, mentally, the scenes which met 
 the navigator s eye when he first subsequently 
 trod on terra firma, forest covered, with 
 naked inhabitants with the noble cities, the 
 well -tilled lands, and the magnificent popula 
 tion of the majestic American republic. Here 
 we have an instance of that frequent occur 
 rence the son threatening to outgrow and 
 eclipse the sire. All former voyages, however 
 distant, dangerous, or novel, showed insignifi 
 cantly in contrast with that of Columbus. All 
 Lisbon thronged to see. The Tagus was bur 
 dened with vessels of every kind, each impelled 
 towards one common centre the crazy caravel, 
 with its precious burden the tidings of a new 
 world. 
 
 On the 8th of March, a letter arrived from 
 King John, inviting Columbus to Valparaiso, 
 some leagues from Madrid. Everything which 
 
76 LIFE OF 
 
 Treatment by the Portuguese king. A.D. 1493. 
 
 could contribute to the comfort of his crew 
 and his own magnificent journey, was ordered 
 to be given free of cost. Stormy weather, 
 which bound his barque in port, incited him to 
 accept this offer, otherwise distasteful, and he 
 proceeded to meet the king, to whom, in the 
 course of a long conference, he gave an account 
 of his voyage and his discoveries. John hinted 
 that these new countries, belonging to him, 
 might, perhaps, be included in the papal bull, 
 which granted to Portugal all lands discovered 
 between Cape Non and the Indies. This idea 
 received instant confirmation from the Solons of 
 the court, too eager to snatch at such a notion. 
 They suggested treachery proposed that the 
 admiral should be embroiled in a quarrel, and 
 honourably slain ; but John II, who basely en 
 deavoured to rob from Columbus the fruits of 
 his enterprise, refused to stoop to this baser act 
 of a dastard. However, he accepted a proposal, 
 that an armament should be fitted out, to seize 
 the newly-discovered lands, and actually chose 
 a commander for the expedition. Faria of 
 Sousa asserts, in extenuation of this mean policy, 
 that the admiral entered Lisbon with a vain 
 glorious exultation, in order, by displaying the 
 tokens of his triumph, to wound the heart of 
 the Portuguese monarch. Columbus was, mean- 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 77 
 
 A.D. 1493. Columbus leaves the Tagus. Reaches Palos. 
 
 while, conducted back to his ship under an 
 honourable escort, and, after a visit to the queen, 
 who much wished to see him, once more un 
 furled the sails of the Nina, and found himself, 
 on the 19th of March, in the harbour of Palos, 
 whence, seven months and a half previously, he 
 had emerged, in the full confidence of hope, to 
 win an unfading renown by the discovery of a 
 new world. 
 
 Here we naturally delay the narrative, to re 
 flect on the nature of the discoverer s success, 
 and the perils that had led him to it. 
 
 For years he laboured to inspire with the 
 spirit of his own ambition, some man wearing a 
 crown, whose wealth and power could alone 
 give action to his project. Poverty, toil, and 
 insult, hope baffled, and only cheered to be 
 disappointed, these were the fruits of his first 
 attempts. Then wrangling with kings about 
 ducats and doubloons ; then struggling with the 
 superstition of timid mariners ; then dangers 
 from the treachery of the Portuguese monarch ; 
 then perils from unknown oceans, and from 
 strange winds ; then mutinies, jealousies, and 
 defiance of authority all these were the diffi 
 culties that beset him, before the first view of 
 the Bahamas drove into oblivion, by its sweet 
 ness, the bitter rigours of his early life. 
 
78 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 
 
 Wanderings in search of gold, gems, and spices. A.D. 1493. 
 
 He wandered among the fresh and fertile 
 islands, in quest of gold, spices, gems, drugs, 
 and costly products of the earth. His eye was 
 ever longing for a glimpse of some superb city, 
 with marble walls and battlements, crowned 
 with a noble castle, and brilliant with all the 
 splendour of an eastern potentate. Instead of 
 naked savages, wild forests, and shores fresh from 
 the mould of nature, he every day expected to 
 burst upon the view of some magnificent retinue 
 passing through the gates of an imperial citadel, 
 in the midst of a populous and wealthy land. 
 
 Instead of this, the islands glowed with the 
 fresh tints of the infant earth. Fishes of dolphin 
 hues sported along the beach ; trees shaded the 
 sward ; streams of cool sweet water ran through 
 the plains; and landscapes, redolent with fra 
 grance, opened every moment to his view, as he 
 pursued " the unreached paradise" of his ambi 
 tion. Still the people were all wild, savage, and 
 blessed with happy poverty. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A.D. 1493. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 WELCOME AT PALOS PINZON s PATE COLUMBUS INVITED 
 
 TO COURT TRIUMPHAL PROGRESS, AND ENTRY INTO BAR 
 CELONA AUDIENCE WITH THE KING AND QUEEN HIS 
 
 SOJOURN AT BARCELONA ENNOBLED ANECDOTE OP THE 
 
 EGG THE PAPAL BULL NEW ENTERPRISE ARRANGE 
 MENTS PORTUGUESE CLAIMS TREATY THE SECOND 
 
 EXPEDITION SAILS VOYAGE TOTHECARRIBEE ISLANDS 
 
 THE CANNIBALS SKULLS AND BONES COOKING HUMAN 
 
 FLESH CAPTIVES EIGHT MEN MISSED THEY RETURN 
 
 SANTA CRUZ ATTACK OP CARIES THEY ARE OVERCOME 
 
 ADMIRAL S ANXIETY TO REACH LA NAVIDAD BURIAL 
 OP A BISCAYAN SAILOR INVITATION TO LAND A BAP 
 TIZED INDIAN LIBERATED DISCOVERY OF BODIES FEAR 
 
 FOR THE SETTLERS ARRIVE OFF LA NAVIDAD THE 
 
 SILENT BAY MESSAGE FROM THE CACIQUE THE ALARM 
 
 INCREASED VISIT TO THE SHORE THE RUINED FOR 
 TRESS THE SETTLERS FATE SPOILS OF THE FORT CON 
 DUCT OF THE COLONISTS CAONABO, THE CARIB KING 
 
 SLAUGHTER AT LA NAVIDAD. 
 
LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 81 
 
 A.D. 1493. Welcome at Palos. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 " Could man but leave thy bright creation so, 
 
 Nor it s fair promise from the surface mow 
 With the sharp scythe of conflict." BYRON. 
 
 THE navigator and his companions were 
 welcomed at Palos by their kindred, their 
 friends, and, indeed, by the whole population, 
 with shouts, with ringing of bells, and every 
 other expression of joyful greeting. Around 
 Columbus, as he passed along, all the towns 
 people thronged with praise and acclamation. 
 When he first came thither, it was on foot, with 
 a weary child, to beg bread and water at a 
 convent gate. Now, with the triumph of a 
 conqueror, he proceeded to the church, where 
 solemn thanks were given to God, for his pro 
 tection during the perilous voyage. The court 
 was at Barcelona, and the admiral resolved to 
 depart for Seville, and there wait its orders. 
 To that favourite city, therefore, he went, ac 
 companied by a retinue, and six Indians. Ten 
 had embarked ; but one died at sea, and three 
 fell sick at Palos. 
 
82 LIFE OF 
 
 Pinzon s fate. Columbus invited to Court. A.D. 1493. 
 
 Martin Alonzo Pinzon had and the coinci 
 dence is singular arrived at Palos on the same 
 evening. His voyage had been stormy ; but he 
 reached the port in safety, and hearing that 
 Columbus was already come, felt little pleasure 
 in the prospect of a meeting. He, therefore, 
 landed privately, and concealed himself from 
 observation. In his retirement, he received a 
 letter from the king and queen, in reply to one 
 which he had written, and being therein ad 
 dressed in the language of cold contempt, his 
 anger and remorse were unbounded. He had 
 behaved nobly when the scheme was ripening ; 
 he had assisted materially in its consummation; 
 but once stepping over the boundary of recti 
 tude, had not the courage to recross it, choosing 
 rather to pursue the open track of error and 
 now died, a broken-hearted, miserable, and re 
 morseful man, withered by his own self- con 
 tempt. His children are said to have cherished 
 a deep malignity against the family of Columbus. 
 . Isabella and Ferdinand, writing from Barce 
 lona, desired the admiral s attendance, to consult 
 upon a new enterprise. His progress to court 
 was one of brilliant triumph. Everywhere, the 
 multitude was gathered to admire and to applaud. 
 A vast and gallant concourse thronged from 
 Barcelona to meet him; and he entered the city 
 
Reception by Ferdinand and Isabella. Page 83. 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 83 
 
 A..D. 1493. Triumphal progi-ess, and entry into Barcelona. 
 
 surrounded, not by the spoils of a desolating 
 war, but by the trophies of a great and tearless 
 triumph. The Indians, painted and bedecked 
 with gold, led the procession. Behind them 
 were drawn cars, bearing numerous live parrots, 
 stuffed birds and beasts of great beauty, and a 
 rich display of golden bracelets and coronets. 
 Next rode Columbus, at the head of a glittering 
 troop ; whilst from every window, house-top, 
 and balcony, all ardent eyes were bent to gaze 
 upon him, who once had to beg his way from 
 court to court, to move the ambition of a king. 
 In the great saloon of the palace, was erected 
 a vast canopy of cloth of gold. Beneath it sat 
 the king and queen, with the rest of the court ; 
 and when Columbus entered all rose. Receiving 
 his homage with hesitation, the sovereigns re 
 quested him to sit down ! and describe his ad 
 venture. He told all that he had done, seen, 
 and experienced ; displayed his treasures of gold, 
 rare plants, and other things ; brought forward 
 the savage Indians ; and spoke with fiery enthu 
 siasm of the regions he had discovered. The 
 narrative affected the minds of Isabella and Fer 
 dinand so much, that they bent on their knees 
 to thank God for the great gift of dominion 
 which Columbus had for seven years offered for 
 their acceptance. Te Deum laudamus was 
 
84 LIFE OF 
 
 His sojourn at Barcelona. Ennobled. A.D. 1493. 
 
 chanted from the choir, and all the assembly 
 burst into a mingled melody of grateful praise. 
 
 During his sojourn at Barcelona, Columbus 
 experienced treatment at once honourable and 
 grateful. In the first enthusiasm of delight, 
 royalty lavished rewards on its servant. By the 
 exercise of that mysterious art, which has long 
 been practised, but never understood in Europe, 
 his blood was converted from plebeian black to 
 aristocratic blue ; a process which conferred on 
 him new worth, new titles to honour, new claims 
 upon the admiration of the common herd. * He 
 was assigned a coat of arms, with the royal castle 
 and lion, and a group of islands surrounded by 
 waves, inscribed in Spanish, " For Castile and 
 for Leon, Columbus found a new world." The 
 pension of thirty crowns was adjudged to him 
 as the first discoverer of land, since he had seen 
 the dancing light from the poop of the Santa 
 Maria. 
 
 At a banquet given to Columbus, by Pedro 
 Gonzales de Mendoza, Grand Cardinal of Spain, 
 a pert courtly person, somewhat jealous of the 
 admiral s honours, remarked, that although he 
 
 * With many of the old Spanish nobility it was be 
 lieved that the colours of patrician and plebeian blood 
 were actually different pure blue and vile black being 
 the epithets applied. 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 85 
 
 A.D. 1493. Anecdote of the egg. The Papal bull. 
 
 had discovered a new world, it was not, after all, 
 so wonderful, since many men could have done 
 the same thing. 
 
 Columbus made no reply; but, taking an egg, 
 requested the courtier to set it upon its end, and 
 make it stand thus. He failed ; and each of the 
 company tried in turn, but all failed. The ad 
 miral then took it, struck it on the table, broke 
 its end, and left it standing. The out-witted 
 courtier, surprised, exclaimed that any one could 
 have performed that feat. " Then why did you 
 not do it ?" replied Columbus. This was a suffi 
 cient rebuke. 
 
 The Spanish sovereigns, naturally proud of 
 this vast accession to their dominions gained 
 for them by him who had begged at the convent 
 gate now bethought themselves of securing the 
 title. The pope holding the empire over all 
 mysteries was applied to. With royal liberality, 
 he made an immediate grant, issuing a bull, 
 which declared that all lands discovered west 
 ward of a line drawn from pole to pole, a hun 
 dred leagues westward of the Azores, should 
 belong to Spain, and the eastward regions to 
 Portugal ; excepting such countries as already 
 submitted to a Christian power. Whether the 
 two tides of discovery might not come into 
 collision on their junction at the antipodes, was 
 
86 LIFE OF 
 
 Arrangements. Portuguese claims. A.D. 1493. 
 
 a question with which the pope did not distress 
 his mind. 
 
 This question being settled by a bull, it only 
 remained to fit out a new expedition. Juan 
 Rodriguez de Fonseca was made Patriarch of 
 the Indies ; and the control of all their affairs 
 committed to him. Officers were appointed, and 
 numerous arrangements made for the regular 
 government of the new world. All shipowners 
 were to deliver up their vessels when required ; 
 and it was proclaimed that no settling, either on 
 the islands or on terra firma, should be allowed, 
 unless by express permission. Twelve ecclesi 
 astics, among whom was a clever political friar, 
 named Bernardo Boyle, were chosen to convert 
 the heathens; the six Indians were baptised; 
 and after some angry negotiations with Portugal, 
 on the subject of territorial rights, Columbus 
 found himself admiral of a fleet of seventeen 
 ships, well manned, equipped, and laden, both 
 for settlement and conquest. Horses, cattle, 
 and domestic animals of all kinds ; grain, seeds, 
 vines, sugar-canes, grafts, and saplings; with 
 trinkets, beads, hand-bells, mirrors, and provi 
 sions, arms, ammunition, and medicines, were 
 shipped in abundance. Fifteen hundred persons 
 embarked. The preparations were hastened 
 with all possible diligence. A Portuguese vessel 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 87 
 
 A.D. 1493. Treaty. The second expedition sails. 
 
 had sailed from Madeira, and three caravels from 
 Lisbon, ostensibly to overtake her, and arrest 
 her westward voyage. Portugal, jealous of 
 Spain, was, in truth, endeavouring to defraud 
 her of her discovery ; but the affair was at 
 length, in 1494, settled by a treaty, in which 
 the line of partition indicated in the papal bull 
 should be moved as far as three hundred leagues 
 west of the Cape de Yerd Islands. Meanwhile, 
 Columbus proclaimed that he would seize all 
 vessels which he should overtake sailing to the 
 western world, punish their crews, and detain 
 them as prisoners. 
 
 On the 25th of September 1493, three large 
 vessels and fourteen caravels spread sail in the 
 Bay of Cadiz. Columbus, after taking leave of 
 his two sons, went on board, and gave to each of 
 his captains a sealed letter of instructions, with 
 orders not to open them unless a separation of 
 the fleet took place. This precaution he took 
 that he might create an absolute dependance on 
 himself, which might preserve uniformity. 
 
 On the 5th of October, the squadron anchored 
 at Gomera, for a supply of wood and water. 
 Here they procured some calves, goats, and sheep, 
 with eight hogs, a number of fowls, and the seeds 
 of oranges, lemons, bergamots, and many other 
 fruits which now flourish in immense abundance 
 
88 LIFE OF 
 
 Voyage to the Carribee Islands. A.D 1493. 
 
 in those lands. Contrary winds, calms, and storms 
 occurred ; but they proceeded vigorously, cheered 
 by anticipation, and by those lambent flames 
 always full of meaning to the superstitious 
 mariner* which glanced through the rigging 
 of a vessel tossed by tempests. On Sunday 
 morning, the 3rd of November, a lofty shore 
 came in view. Every heart beat high. Other 
 islands rose up one after another, and soon they 
 were steering through shallow narrow seas; 
 green coasts on either hand, green coasts behind 
 and in front, whilst brilliant swarms of parrots 
 winged their way, with playful gyrations, from 
 shore to shore. Columbus was rejoiced. He 
 led the fleet further into the Archipelago ; whilst 
 from every crowded deck rose songs of thanks 
 giving and glorification; but no human being 
 could be seen. Landing on an island, which he 
 named after his own ship, the Madegalente, the 
 
 * When the air, during a storm, is heavily charged 
 with electricity, these flames are sometimes seen flitting 
 about the masts and rigging of a vessel labouring in the 
 tempest. To sailors and no men are so superstitious 
 they have ever been full of mysterious omen. During 
 this voyage seven lights were seen burning round the 
 topmast, and they affirmed it to be the body of aint 
 Elmo, which would protect them from danger, chanting 
 praises and thanksgivings in acknowledgment of the 
 blessing. 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 89 
 
 AD. 1493. Voyage to the Carribee Islands. 
 
 admiral unfurled the banner of Arragon and 
 Castille, proclaiming all that region Spanish 
 territory. Thence they sailed to another, Gua- 
 daloupe, where they found astonishingly thick 
 groups of trees, some with fruits, some with 
 flowers ; and saw also a huge peaked mountain, 
 from the summit of which rolled many sparkling 
 streams. Over a lofty ridge a vast waterfall 
 foamed down from a stupendous height, which 
 the men declared to be a towering ridge of white 
 rocks. It was a noble stream, plunging over the 
 mountains, and lost in dazzling spray. 
 
 On the 4th, they discovered the first village, 
 consisting of square dwellings, constructed of 
 trees and branches, woven and thatched with 
 palm leaves. They saw here many geese and 
 large parrots, and discovered and tasted the de 
 licious pine-apple. The stern-post of a ship was 
 picked up. It doubtless belonged to some ill- 
 fated barque which had perished in the waters 
 of the old world, and of which this fragment had 
 been drifted to Guadaloupe by the changeless 
 current from Africa. It is probable that many 
 such relics of shipwreck had from time to time 
 rolled hither upon the waves, affording matter 
 of wonder to the natives. Or, was this the sole 
 record of some former adventure to search the 
 mysteries of the unknown western seas ? Several 
 
90 LIFE OF 
 
 The Cannibals. Skulls and bones. A.D. 1493. 
 
 children, who had been deserted by the savages 
 in the hurry of their flight, were discovered 
 among the huts. They were presented with 
 trinkets, and taught, at least for a short time, to 
 bless the advent of the strangers from Europe. 
 Numerous bones and skulls depending from 
 the roofs of the dwellings, like those ghastly 
 trophies which grace the houses on the river 
 banks of Borneo, caused the belief that this was 
 in reality the abode of the cannibal Caribs. 
 Columbus learnt from several natives who were 
 captured, that the island was inhabited by a pre 
 datory race, who, being in league only with two 
 other islands, carried on war against all the rest, 
 making use in their battles of poisoned arrows. 
 Like the pirates of the Indian Isles, they 
 landed on the peaceful coasts, surprised the vil 
 lages, slew the old and helpless, carried off the 
 young and handsome women to be slaves or 
 companions, and the men to be devoured. Eight 
 sailors, who had gone ashore with one of the 
 boats, were missed for several days. By no 
 means comforted by the accounts he heard, the 
 admiral ordered search to be made ; and the can 
 nibal nature of the people was proved by the 
 discovery of the head of a young man, still bleed 
 ing, depending from a beam, and portions of his 
 body stewing in a pot with some geese, whilst 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 91 
 
 A.D. 1493. Cooking human flesh. Eight men missed. 
 
 his limbs were roasting before the fire. Several 
 captives whom the savages had allowed to escape 
 during the panic caused by the apparition of the 
 fleet, sought refuge on board. Some women 
 also, who had been adorned with trinkets, and 
 sent to conciliate their tribes, returned com 
 pletely stripped ; and with them came a number 
 of young boys, whom the islanders were rearing 
 and fattening, until their plump lirnbs should 
 render them fit for the table of a dainty chief. 
 
 At length, when their recovery was nearly 
 despaired of, the eight wanderers returned. 
 Their haggard looks told what they had endured. 
 They brought with them several women, but 
 had not yet seen a man. Most of the warriors 
 were absent on the war path, leaving their brave 
 wives to defend the islands. The captain of 
 this party was put under arrest, and the men 
 were punished with stinted rations ; since Co 
 lumbus, rejoiced as he was at their return, was 
 careful to punish every breach of discipline. 
 
 Cruizing among the Carribees, they one morn 
 ing sent a boat ashore at an island, which they 
 named Santa Cruz. It was returning, with 
 some men and women, when a canoe, manned 
 by Caribs, suddenly rounding a little headland, 
 came full in view. The savages attempted to 
 escape, but, when closely pursued, faced about, 
 
92 LIFE OF 
 
 Attack of Caribs. A baptised Indian liberated. A.D. 1493. 
 
 and discharged a shower of arrows. Two Spa 
 niards were wounded. The Caribs were then 
 attacked and overpowered, with the loss of one 
 of their number. The prisoners were kindly 
 treated. Still pursuing this conciliatory course 
 of policy, Columbus continued his way through 
 the archipelago, visiting many islands, and dis 
 covering in them similar traces of cannibalism. 
 But the harbour and fortress of La Navidad 
 now chiefly filled his thoughts. The success of 
 the thirty settlers would be an omen of the 
 future prospects of his scheme of colonization. 
 Thither, consequently, he bent his way, after a 
 rapid glance at the wonderful island region he 
 had discovered. 
 
 Arriving at the eastern extremity of Espa- 
 niola or Hayti, a party was sent on shore to 
 bury a Biscayan sailor, who had died from a 
 wound inflicted by one of the Carib arrows. 
 Here the admiral was invited to land. The 
 natives promised him great stores of gold ; but 
 he had resolved not to drop anchor until La 
 Navidad was in view. At the Gulf of Semana 
 one of the baptised Indians was liberated. He 
 carried with him into the woods many presents, 
 with which it was hoped he would spread a 
 favourable opinion of the white race. He was 
 never seen again. Only one now remained in 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 93 
 
 A.D. 1493. Message from the cacique. The alarm increased. 
 
 the fleet. On the shore, near Monto Christi, 
 they discovered the bodies of a man and woman, 
 the former with a necklace of Spanish grass, 
 and his arms extended along a stake. It was 
 feared that these were Europeans, especially 
 when two others were subsequently found, one 
 with a beard, evidently a white man ; but de 
 composition had proceeded so far that recogni 
 tion was impossible. Gloomy foreboding now 
 took the place of expectant hope ; but the 
 natives confidingly thronged to the ships, a cir 
 cumstance which in part dissipated the alarm. 
 
 On the 27th, arriving off La Navidad, the 
 admiral ordered a discharge of ordnance, to 
 signal his arrival ; but no responding salute was 
 made. No light shone on the beach. The 
 darkness was silent as death, until midnight, 
 when the dip of paddles was heard. Presently 
 a canoe came alongside the admiral s ship. It 
 contained the cousin of Guacanagari, who had 
 sent Columbus two carved masks of wood, pro 
 fusely adorned with gold. He said that many 
 of the Spaniards had died of sickness ; some 
 had been killed by the natives ; others had re 
 tired to the remote part of the interior, to live 
 with their Indian wives. The cacique himself 
 had been attacked by a chieftain from the golden 
 mountains of Cibao, and his village destroyed. 
 
94 LIFE OF 
 
 The ruined fortress. The settlers fate. A.U. 1493. 
 
 He had been wounded, and now lay in a neigh 
 bouring hamlet. 
 
 Columbus was ill at ease when he heard this 
 account. He more than suspected that the 
 Spaniards had fallen out among themselves on 
 the usual subjects of strife women and gold 
 quarrelled with the natives, forgotten justice 
 and decency, irritated the Indians, and been 
 slain by them. He, therefore, awaited with 
 impatience the visit of Guacanagari. The day 
 broke and deepened into noon. Not a canoe 
 appeared, where formerly scores of them had 
 passed to and fro from dawn to sunset. Dead 
 silence and desertion reigned in the bay. A 
 boat s crew went on shore. The black charred 
 ruins of the fortress, broken chests, scattered 
 provisions, and remnants of garments, spoke 
 ominously of the settlers fate. No bodies 
 were discovered. The cacique s village was in 
 the same ruin. Exploring the neighbourhood, 
 Columbus reached another hamlet, also deserted ; 
 but, in the high grass between the houses, were 
 found concealed many European articles stock 
 ings, pieces of cloth, the anchor of the Santa 
 Maria, and a magnificent robe of Moorish ma 
 nufacture, which had not been unfolded since 
 it left Spain. 
 
 Arana had been directed, in case of danger, 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 95 
 
 A.D. 1493. Caonabo, the Carib king. 
 
 to bury all treasure, or throw it into the well. 
 But a careful excavation revealed no such stores. 
 Some melancholy catastrophe had, doubtless, 
 occurred. It soon came to light. Eleven bodies, 
 in widely scattered graves, were found, and from 
 some Indians whom the admiral fell in with, and 
 who spoke a few words of Spanish, he learnt 
 the dismal story. 
 
 All the colonists, with the exception of 
 Arana the governor, and one or two others, 
 were faithless to their trust. No sooner had 
 the fading sails of the Nina left them to their 
 own guidance, than they broke the restraints of 
 discipline, of honour, sobriety, and morals, and 
 afforded to the simple savages, to whom they 
 had hitherto appeared as the children of heaven, 
 a spectacle of gross brutality, well calculated to 
 obliterate all impressions of their divine descent. 
 
 Each man sought all for himself. They pil 
 laged the country, spoiled the natives of their 
 little treasures, and, not content with the com 
 panions assigned them by Guacanagari, robbed 
 the Indians of their wives and daughters. 
 Breaking into factions, the infant colony was 
 soon an example of riot and quarrel. Some 
 remained at La Navidad ; others departed in 
 quest of gold to Magnana, a province where 
 Caonabo, a Carib, was chief. At this time, the 
 
96 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 
 
 Slaughter at Navidad. A. D. 1493. 
 
 most powerful cacique on the island, he saw 
 with jealousy the new power which threatened 
 to eclipse his own. He acted as though he had 
 by intuition learnt the truth, which experience 
 has since confirmed, that the continuance of 
 native power is incompatible with a flourishing 
 foreign authority. In our own Indian empire 
 we have studied this lesson, and every year adds 
 force to the conviction. Marching down to the 
 coast, Caonabo suddenly attacked La Navidad, 
 cut off the Spaniards, killed many of their allies, 
 and wounded Guacanagari. Such was the fate 
 of the first Spanish settlement. 
 
 Yet which bears the heaviest guilt the fero 
 city of the savage, or the fierce cupidity of the 
 civilized man ? 
 
CHAPTER VII, 
 
 A.D. 1494. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 VISIT TO GUACANAGARI MUTUAL PRESENTS THE CAEIB 
 PRISONERS THE CACIQUE S VISIT TO THE SHIPS CATA- 
 
 LINA THE CAPTIVE SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOUR OF THE 
 
 CACIQUE ESCAPE OP THE PRISONERS SITE OF THE 
 FIRST CHRISTIAN CITY THE SETTLERS MURMUR 
 WEALTH OF THE COUNTRY ABUNDANCE OF GOLD 
 TWELVE SHIPS SENT HOME PROGRESS OF THE TOWN 
 
 THE ADMIRAL S JOURNEY TO CIBAO BEAUTIFUL PLAIN 
 THE GOLDEN REGION SURPRISE OF THE PEOPLE A 
 
 FORT BUILT INDIAN RELIGION BELIEF BURIALS 
 MANNERS THE HAPPY VALLEY EFFECTS OF THE IN 
 TRODUCTION OF CIVILIZATION PARALLEL OF GOOD AND 
 
 EVIL RETURN TO ISABELLA TEMPER OF THE SETTLERS 
 
 SICKNESS EMPLOYMENTS OF THE SPANIARDS 
 STRANGE LEGEND THE HAUNTED CITY DISPOSITION OF 
 FORCES FIRST DISTURBANCE OF PEACE PRISONERS 
 
 CONDEMNED TO DEATH PARDONED AT THE PLACE OF 
 
 EXECUTION COLUMBUS PREPARES FOR A NEW VOYAGE 
 SETS SAIL. 
 
LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 99 
 
 A.D. 1494. Visit to Guacanagari. Mutual presents. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 "What rainbow tints, what magic charms are found 
 Rock, river, forest, mountain, all abound." 
 
 BYRON. 
 
 TTISITING the cacique Guacanagari, Colum- 
 V bus found him anxious to destroy all doubt 
 of his fidelity. He shewed the many wounds 
 his subjects had received in defence of the 
 Spaniards, and, as all these had evidently been 
 inflicted with native weapons, his good faith 
 was believed. He was, above all things, anxious 
 to secure the friendship of Columbus, who was 
 attended, during his visit, by a train of Spanish 
 officers, richly dressed and armed. An amicable 
 intercourse, and an interchange of presents, took 
 place. Eight hundred beads of a valuable stone 
 called ciba, a hundred of gold, a golden coronet, 
 and three small calabashes full of the glittering 
 dust, were given for a number of knives, needles, 
 pins, hawks bells, mirrors, glass beads, and 
 ornaments of copper a metal prized by the 
 Indians in preference to gold. Guacanagari 
 represented that he had been severely bruised 
 
100 LIFE OF 
 
 The cacique s visit to the ships. A..D. 1494. 
 
 by a stone, although no trace of the wound 
 could be discovered. The Spaniards looked 
 upon him with an eye of suspicion ; but the 
 admiral acted as though he believed his tale, 
 and treated him with all imaginable kindness. 
 
 On board the admiral s vessel were several 
 Carib prisoners chained, with ten women de 
 livered from the cannibal islands. When Gua- 
 canagari came to visit Columbus, he was aston 
 ished at the vast armament, at the cattle, horses, 
 sheep, and swine, at all the articles of manufac 
 ture, and the whole economy of the vessels, 
 whose deep gloomy holds appeared awful as he 
 peered into them from the decks. Above 
 all, however, he was surprised at the sight of 
 those ferocious Caribs, manacled and powerless. 
 Among the women was one of superior mien 
 and beauty, whom the Spaniards called Catalina, 
 and with whom the cacique conversed so con 
 fidentially that suspicion awoke in the minds of 
 the crew ; but Columbus, unwilling that this 
 should be perceived, treated his guest with 
 respectful cordiality. Still doubt spoke in the 
 countenances of the Europeans. Guacanagari 
 took his leave. Next morning, unusual com 
 motion was observed on shore. The cacique s 
 brother came on board to trade, and was ob 
 served to converse privately with the captive 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 101 
 
 A.D. 1494. Escape of the prisoners. 
 
 women. An inquiry had previously been made, 
 how long the admiral intended to remain in the 
 bay. Columbus replied, that he should weigh 
 anchor within forty-eight hours. 
 
 When night was come, Catalina, in accord 
 ance with a concerted plan, plunged with her 
 companions into the sea. A beacon light burnt 
 on shore to guide them. Three miles of rough 
 water lay between. But they swam boldly on ; 
 pursuit was vain, for the beautiful captive was 
 already under cover of the forest before a boat 
 was rowed to the beach. Four of the others 
 were retaken. At early dawn, Columbus sent 
 to demand the restoration of the fugitives ; but 
 Guacanagari had fled, and not a solitary native 
 remained in the neighbourhood. All had dis 
 appeared, and the cacique, with the lovely 
 islander, was, doubtless, far away in the depths 
 of some intricate wood. The path of his flight 
 was marked by no trace, and, finding it impos 
 sible to discover a clue to his retreat, the admiral 
 made sail to a great harbour thirty miles east 
 ward of Monto Christi ; and here, landing the 
 emigrants, with the horses, cattle, pigs, and 
 sheep, the guns, provisions, small arms, and im 
 plements of all kinds, with all the necessary 
 stores, laid the plan of the first Christian city 
 to be named Isabella, in honour of the woman 
 
102 LIFE OF 
 
 The settlers murmur. Wealth of the country. A.D. 1494. 
 
 who had offered to pledge her jewels, that he 
 might carry his project into action. A church, 
 an arsenal, and a residence for the admiral, were 
 to be built of stone ; the other houses, in the 
 first instance, of wood, plaster, or any slight 
 materials, which might subsequently be replaced 
 by more solid fabrications. All fell eagerly to 
 work, but for a short time only, since with the 
 necessity for labour came discontent. Many 
 had come out with the vain idea of picking up 
 virgin gold in the river beds, of gathering rich 
 spices in every forest, and costly gums in every 
 grove, of collecting pearls without number on 
 the beach, and receiving precious gems in ex 
 change for every trifling commodity which they 
 chose to barter. 
 
 It being necessary to dispatch most of the 
 ships to Spain, Columbus was anxious that they 
 should carry back some richer cargo than the 
 dismal tale of La Navidad. He, accordingly, 
 sent an expedition into the interior, with the 
 view of discovering that golden region, built up 
 by imagination on the airy base of rumour. 
 Penetrating for some distance towards the centre 
 of the island, the explorers found large speci 
 mens of the virgin ore, and everywhere saw 
 indications of its abundant existence. Cheered 
 by their accounts, the admiral dispatched twelve 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 103 
 
 A.D. 1494. The admiral s journey to Cibao. 
 
 vessels, commanded by Antonio de Torres, with 
 a glowing account of the countries he had dis 
 covered; their productions, their beauty, and 
 their wealth, with a still more brilliant picture 
 of the prospective view. He requested addi 
 tional supplies, a number of miners and other 
 workmen, and recommended Pedro Margarite, 
 an Arragonian cavalier, and Juan Aguado, to 
 the good will of the sovereigns. The fleet 
 sailed on the 2nd February 1494, and, on its 
 arrival in Spain, spread abroad a description of 
 the new world, which strengthened the general 
 belief in its inexhaustible wealth and its un 
 paralleled beauty. 
 
 The city of Isabella rapidly rose into being. 
 But the energies of the workers lagged. Like 
 all schemers, the colonists soon lost spirit when 
 they found that the maturity of success did not 
 precede the cultivation of the soil, the sowing 
 of the seed, and the culture of the plant. Most 
 of them clamoured for a return to Spain. A 
 conspiracy was formed, whilst Columbus lay 
 sick on his couch, to seize the five remaining 
 ships; but it was discovered, defeated, and 
 punished. The admiral then started on an ex 
 pedition to the mountains of Cibao, leaving his 
 brother Diego in command. Bartholomew had 
 gone, many years previously, on a mission to 
 
104 LIFE OF 
 
 Beautiful plain. Surprise of the people. A.D. 1494. 
 
 the court of Henry VII, in England, and had 
 not since appeared. His courage, energy, and 
 honesty, would have been valuable at this period 
 of the New World s history. 
 
 At the head of a hundred men some mounted 
 clad in glittering steel armour, Columbus left 
 the beach, in the close array of battle, with the 
 broad banner of Spain flying in the van, whilst, 
 for the first time since the date of their creation, 
 those old woods and rocks reechoed back the 
 sound of drums and trumpets. Arriving the same 
 evening at the extremity of a pleasant plain at 
 the foot of a dreary rocky pass, they encamped. 
 Next morning, they marched through the wild 
 rocky defile, at the further end of which a noble 
 prospect burst to view. Far around, a splendid 
 plain dotted with the habitations of men, and 
 rich in all the luxury of tropical verdure 
 spread beyond the reach of vision. 
 
 Amid the clash of military music, in battle 
 array, with unfurled flag and arms displayed, 
 the little troop descended upon the plain, pass 
 ing many populous villages, and through sweeps 
 of varied cultivation. The Indians, awe-struck, 
 gazed in fearful wonder upon the strangers, 
 especially the horsemen. Imagining thafr the 
 beast and his rider formed one being, their as 
 tonishment exceeded all bounds when they saw 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 105 
 
 A.D. 1494. Signs of gold. Indian religion. 
 
 a man separating himself, as it were, in two. 
 They were a hospitable and simple race, and 
 such as their possessions were, they freely offered 
 them to the white men. Passing through this 
 beautiful region, the travellers entered another, 
 less lovely to look upon, but wealthier in their 
 eyes, because in the beds of numberless spark 
 ling streams glittered particles of virgin gold. 
 Columbus collected a considerable quantity of 
 the precious dust, and ordered a strong wooden 
 fortress to be erected. He named it St. Thomas, 
 proposing that it should establish the Spanish 
 authority in this golden region of Cibao. Traf 
 ficking, with glittering but tawdry trinkets and 
 the much-prized hawks bells, they collected 
 much gold, in small grains and lumps some 
 half an ounce in weight. The natives signified 
 that far beyond the mountains lay a district 
 where the ore might be obtained in large masses. 
 Columbus heard the description with delight, 
 and, sending small parties to explore the neigh 
 bourhood, was confirmed in his belief of the 
 wealth of this magnificent island. 
 
 It was now for the first time discovered, that 
 the Indians practised a kind of religion, believed 
 in certain powers, good and evil, and looked for 
 the rewards of justice and iniquity after death. 
 In every family a household god, of wood, stone, 
 
106 LIFE OF 
 
 Belief. Burials. Manners. A.D. 1494. 
 
 or clay, was worshipped. Every valley, every 
 rock, sea, river, grove, or plain, was presided 
 over by some deity, who ministered, according 
 to his disposition, to the many wants of man. 
 A populous world of mythology was believed in ; 
 wild ideas of creation, of the universal deluge, 
 of death, and a resurrection to immortality pre 
 vailed. Probably, when the first white men issued 
 from the rocky gorge, they appeared to the be 
 wildered tribes of the plain as the spirits of the 
 mountains, who had issued from their cavernous 
 abodes to take up a temporary habitation among 
 mortals. Had the Spanish troop passed over 
 the Vega, entered the hilly region of Cibao, and 
 appeared no more, this idea would, doubtless, 
 have been rooted in the Indian mind. As it 
 was, familiarity bred contempt, and the savages 
 learned that their visitors were men, more civi 
 lized indeed, but ruled by more degrading pas 
 sions than themselves. 
 
 The Indian burials were strange, and of 
 various mode. Qhiefs, on the bed of death, 
 were strangled, that they might not die like 
 vulgar men. Poor people were left in their 
 hamacs, with a provision of bread and water, 
 to expire at leisure, unless the cacique kindly 
 honoured their relatives with permission to use 
 the bow-string. Mystic dances were performed, 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 107 
 
 A.D. 1494. Effects of the introduction of civilization. 
 
 and numerous rites observed all tending, as 
 they believed, to smooth the road to heaven. 
 Paradise was said to be a lake-bordered region 
 in the west, where, in broad green valleys, 
 abounding in a certain pleasant fruit, the souls 
 of the dead concealed all day in rocky caves, 
 or hollow trees came forth at night to revel 
 and regale on the sweet fruits of the valleys. 
 Indeed, the ideas, the manners, and the lives of 
 these simple people, were pervaded by the most 
 unsophisticated spirit of harmony. They almost 
 realised, in the unclouded sunshine of their ex 
 istence, the fable of the happy hunting grounds ; 
 but with the first flourish of the Spanish trumpet, 
 and the flash of European steel, the seed of a con 
 quering civilization was planted; the spell of their 
 long enchantment was broken, and a new era, 
 marked by much of misery and contest, dawned 
 on the Indian race. It is a condition of humanity, 
 that with good we must accept a portion of evil. 
 Enlightenment and Christianity broke upon the 
 heathen darkness of the new world; but the 
 ravenous appetites, the selfishness, and the dis 
 cordant passions of the white men, introduced 
 evils, which, if they were not commensurate 
 with the good eifected, were, at least, foul blots, 
 to throw a blemish on the great results which 
 sprung from the discoveries of Columbus. 
 
108 LIFE OF 
 
 Return to Isabella. Sickness. A. D. 1464. 
 
 Returning to Isabella, the admiral found the 
 settlement thriving well. Nature willingly re 
 sponded to man s endeavours, and the prolific 
 earth yielded a ready return to toil. But sick 
 ness, dejection, and sullen discontent, weighed 
 upon the soul of enterprise. Intelligence came 
 from Cibao that an attack from the ruler of the 
 mountainous region was expected since the 
 Spaniards had, as usual, plundered the natives, 
 insulted their women, and sown the prolific 
 seeds of exasperation. Reinforcing his hill-fort 
 with twenty men, Columbus applied himself to 
 the settlement of Isabella. He employed the 
 settlers in all useful ways. He made them cut 
 roads, which the natives, though they would 
 not assist, did not oppose, not understanding 
 that it is the most effectual means to enslave a 
 savage people. 
 
 He also accustomed his people to the country, 
 endeavoured to dissipate their wild notions of 
 golden treasures, taught them that labour was 
 the true source of wealth, and that mills, gardens, 
 and meadows, were richer than the most ex- 
 haustless mine ; that industry alone possessed a 
 Midas power to turn all things to gold. 
 
 But provisions became scarce, medicines 
 failed, sickness increased, and discontent spread 
 rapidly through the little colony. Those of blue 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 109 
 
 A. u. 1494. Strange legend. The haunted city. 
 
 blood, whom Columbus, with too exalted an idea 
 of their zeal, called on to share in the general 
 labour, were not cautious in expressing their 
 resentment. Many of them soon filled their 
 graves, cut off by a virulent disease. 
 
 When Las Casas was resident on the island, 
 the abandoned city of Isabella lay desolate and 
 in ruins. A remarkable belief prevailed among 
 the people. The deserted town was regarded 
 as a fearful place. The wayfarer, they said, 
 heard portentous shrieks issuing, by night and 
 by day, from beneath its crumbling wreck. 
 Two Spaniards one evening entered the streets, 
 and met a number of men, richly attired in the 
 costume of the old nobility of Castille, with 
 broad hats and long rapiers, advancing in double 
 ranks along the footway. Saluting them, they 
 inquired whence they had come. The cavaliers 
 remained mute, but, courteously bowing, took 
 off their hats and their heads along with them, 
 and stood thus decapitated before the wayfarers, 
 who dropped senseless to the ground, whilst the 
 apparitions vanished. Such was the story 
 attendant on the early history of the settlement 
 of Isabella. 
 
 Columbus distributed his forces at various 
 points. The intercourse of Europe and the 
 new world was now changing its aspect. The 
 
110 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 
 
 Columbus prepares for a new voyage. Sets sail. A.D. 1494. 
 
 ties of harmony were dissolved, mutual enmity 
 was engendered, until an open contest was com 
 menced. The natives began with predatory 
 attacks. Some were caught in flagrante deri- 
 lictio, and condemned to lose their heads, but 
 pardoned by Columbus at the place of execu 
 tion. Loth to quit his pacific course of policy, 
 he sought by all means at his command to esta 
 blish his authority on the basis of peace and 
 civilization. 
 
 Meanwhile he made preparation for new dis 
 coveries, and leaving his brother Diego, with 
 four counsellors, to direct affairs, with two of 
 the largest ships in the harbour, sailed with 
 three caravels on the 4th of August. Visiting 
 Cuba, and steering along coasts where an Euro 
 pean face had never yet appeared, he was once 
 more delighted with the wondering simplicity 
 and the timid admiration of the natives. All of 
 them, at first sight of the Spaniards, mistook 
 them for celestial beings. Pity, that in all 
 cases they were undeceived by the gross bru 
 talities practised by their civilized brethren ! 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 A.D. 1495. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF JAMAICA APPEARANCE OF THE ISLAND AND 
 ITS INHABITANTS INTERCOURSE WITH THEM THE 
 
 QUEEN S GARDENS SOUTHERN COAST OF CUBA LAND 
 SCAPES SUPPOSED DISCOVERY OF THE CONTINENT 
 ERROR OF COLUMBUS THE OLD INDIAN CHIEF VOYAGE 
 TO HAYTI DANGERS AND FATIGUE BARTHOLOMEW 
 
 MADE ADELANTANDO MANAGEMENT OF THE COLONY 
 
 DURING THE ADMIRAL S ABSENCE CAONABO s CAPTURE 
 
 CONSPIRACY OF THE CHIEFS BATTLE, AND VICTORY 
 
 OF THE SPANIARDS REINFORCEMENTS FROM SPAIN 
 
 NOBILITY AND INDUSTRY COMMUNICATION WITH 
 EUROPE RISING OF THE NATIVES ARMY OF A HUN 
 DRED THOUSAND MEN GREAT BATTLE DEFEAT AND 
 SLAUGHTER OF THE INDIANS RAPID CAMPAIGN CON 
 QUEST OF THE ISLAND TRIBUTE CHANGE IN THE IN 
 DIAN S DESTINY INFLUENCE OF CIVILIZATION. 
 
LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 113 
 
 A.D. 1494. Discovery of Jamaica. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 " Sorrow and shame, to see with their own kind 
 Our human brethren mix, like beasts of blood 
 To mutual ruin, armed by one behind 
 Who sits and scoffs." SHELLEY. 
 
 T EAVING Cuba on the 3rd of May, Co- 
 J-J lumbus sailed directly south, and soon 
 perceived, in the distance, the dim blue peaks 
 of Jamaica. Its superb scenery impelled him 
 to name as Santa Gloria the bay in which he 
 first cast anchor, and which is now known 
 as St. Anne. The natives, as the caravels 
 drew near, manned more than seventy large 
 canoes, and approached with brandished spears 
 and terrific yells, as though to scare away the 
 majestic sea birds, whose advent was so sudden 
 and so marvellous. A few presents soothed 
 them ; the vessels sailed on their way, and at 
 length entered a spacious harbour on the western 
 coast. The whole beach swarmed with savages, 
 decorated with black paint, palm leaves, and 
 parrots feathers, who hurled their javelins in 
 showers against the ships. Two vollies from 
 the cross-bows, and the onset of a single dog, 
 
114 LIFE OF 
 
 The Queen s Gardens. Southern coast of Cuba. A.D. 1494. 
 
 put them to flight, when Columbus, landing, took 
 formal possession of the island, and christened 
 it Santiago; but it has retained its native name 
 of Jamaica. 
 
 However, an amicable intercourse was soon 
 commenced, and continued until Columbus set 
 sail for Cuba, and thence, steering far to the 
 north-east, entered an archipelago of islands; 
 some low, level, and sandy; others green, woody, 
 and fertile. Soft odours breathed among them; 
 birds of splendid plumage fled from shore to 
 shore, and fragrant blossoms were strewn over 
 the sea. Conceiving these to be the isles of 
 the Asiatic ocean, Columbus named them the 
 Queen s Gardens, in general; but one, in par 
 ticular, Santa Maria; the others were, for the 
 most part, uninhabited. He now sailed along the 
 southern coast of Cuba, where the land rose in 
 gentle round-backed slopes to the interior. The 
 mighty landscape was framed within forests ; 
 open expanses of meadow land spread in soft 
 undulations between ; one or two large rivers 
 flowed in a calm current from the hills, and 
 dashing streamlets sparkled through plains 
 rich with varied cultivation. Countless villages 
 peeped from amid the woods, and tall balmy 
 groves studded the intervals between the forest 
 land. The news of their arrival had not hitherto 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 115 
 
 A.D. 1494. Supposed discovery of the continent. 
 
 reached this region, and the gentle, hospitable 
 natives were eager in their welcome of the Sons 
 of Heaven. The melody of their wild chants 
 was borne out to sea after nightfall by a breeze 
 already heavy with the fragrant breath of that 
 spicy land. Everywhere they saw unknown 
 regions, strange tribes, new and wonderful ani 
 mals and productions. 
 
 It now occurred to the admiral that possibly 
 this was the great Indian continent, and he 
 sent round a notary, with four witnesses, to 
 every one of the company, demanding whether 
 he had any doubt that the land before him was 
 terra firma, the beginning and the end of the 
 Indies, across which lay the overland route to 
 Spain, and the navigation of whose coast would 
 lead them among civilized nations? All declared 
 their belief in this, and it was then announced 
 that, if any officer should capriciously retract his 
 expressed opinion, he should be fined ten thou 
 sand maravedis ; whilst all the inferior people 
 should risk the penalty of one hundred lashes 
 and the amputation of the tongue a tyranny 
 over opinion, for which, I infer, we must seek 
 an excuse in the undeveloped civilization of 
 the fifteenth century. In three days Columbus 
 might have rounded the extremity of Cuba, and 
 learnt his error ; but, as it was, he believed on 
 his death-bed that this formed a portion of the 
 
116 LIFE OF 
 
 The old Indian chief. A.D. 1494. 
 
 Asiatic continent. Parallels to this circumstance 
 may frequently be observed in our moral and 
 social conduct we pursue an object nearly to 
 its consummation, and relinquish it just when a 
 little more exertion of perseverance would bring 
 success ; we investigate a question, and consider 
 our judgment mature, when we have studied 
 nearly to that point, which would demonstrate 
 the fallacy or the evil of our pursuit. 
 
 Setting up a cross at the mouth of a river, 
 Columbus ordered solemn mass to be performed, 
 whilst numerous Indians headed by a man of 
 fourscore beheld the ceremony. When it was 
 over, the aged savage, who had walked to the 
 spot hand-in-hand with the admiral, addressed 
 him, saying that he approved of what he had 
 done, believing it to be a giving of glory to 
 God ; but warning him not to allow a thirst for 
 conquest to break the peace of that happy re 
 gion. Columbus assured him, through an inter 
 preter, that he was come as a friend, not as an 
 enemy. The old native was surprised and over 
 joyed at this; but still more so, when told of 
 the wonders and the grandeur of the kingdom 
 of Spain ; with its cities, its palaces, its armies, 
 and its fleets. Desiring to see this noble country, 
 he would have embarked on the spot, had not 
 his wife, with tearful lamentations, called up 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 117 
 
 A.D. 1494. Dangers and fatigue. Bartholomew. 
 
 the picture of the home which his departure 
 would desolate, and the sorrow of those whom 
 his absence would leave without their main prop, 
 in adversity and danger. The white-headed 
 Indian consented to remain in his wigwam. 
 
 Thence Columbus sailed along the southern 
 coast of Jamaica, and thence along the shores 
 of Espaniola, until, on the 4th of September, 
 the vessels anchored off the infant town of Isa 
 bella. The voyage was one of great peril, 
 and Columbus, overcome with long watching, 
 anxiety, and fatigue, lay in a death-like lethargy. 
 Awaking soon after the anchors dropped, he 
 was rejoiced by the sight of his brother Bartho 
 lomew, who had proceeded from England to 
 Spain, and thence been sent, in command of 
 three vessels laden with supplies for the colony. 
 The admiral, inexpressibly gladdened by his 
 arrival, created him adelantando, or lieutenant- 
 governor an act of authority which irritated 
 King Ferdinand. Jealous of any assumption 
 of responsibility by a subject, this monarch at 
 all times allowed his anger, at a trifling fault 
 committed, to out-run his gratitude for an im 
 measurable service rendered. 
 
 During the absence of Columbus, the affairs 
 of the colony had been stirred into a complicated 
 mass of confusion. Caonabo, the Carib king, had 
 
118 LIFE OF 
 
 Management of the colony during the admiral s absence. A.D. 1494 
 
 laid siege to the mountain fortress of Cibao. The 
 little garrison had spread slaughter through his 
 ranks. Ojeda, a bold-hearted young Spaniard, 
 had, with his few dauntless followers, vanquished 
 ten thousand enemies; but this victory, although 
 it created terror, did not inspire respect. The 
 licentious profligacy of the colonists at Isabella 
 scattered wide the feelings of enmity and re 
 venge. An armed coalition of native chiefs 
 was formed, and the admiral, on his return, at 
 once saw that the salvation of the settlement 
 must be effected by the most vigorous means. 
 Guacanagari now once more visited him. He 
 revealed a secret plot among the island caciques, 
 and promised the assistance of his forces.* But 
 skilful management was required. The admiral 
 resolved to effect, by stratagem, what it must cost 
 much blood to purchase with arms. Caonabo, 
 the Carib chief, was an enemy by no means 
 contemptible. His territory was naturally for 
 tified by ravines, forests, rivers, rocks, and mo- 
 
 * I may here briefly indicate the further career of this 
 chief. Faithful to the Europeans, he was cut off from 
 the sympathy of the islanders. The enmity of his fellow 
 caciques, the sorrows of the people, and the rapacity of 
 the conquerors, drove him to an obscure retreat among 
 the mountains, where he died, deserted, wretched, and 
 poor, in the land of which large provinces were once his 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 119 
 
 A. D. 1494. Ojeda s stratagem. Caonabo s capture. 
 
 rasses, more impregnable than granite ramparts. 
 But Alonzo de Ojeda engaged to take him alive 
 by a subtle manoeuvre. With ten chosen fol 
 lowers, mounted and armed, he reached the 
 populous town where Caonabo dwelt. He was 
 received with the courtesy which a brave man 
 deserved from an enemy equally fearless. He 
 asked the cacique to visit Isabella, there to con 
 clude a treaty, and lured him b) T the offer of the 
 church-bell long an object of wonder to the 
 Indians, who could not account for its gathering 
 the Spaniards to the house of worship, but by 
 the supposition that it spoke articulately in an 
 unknown tongue. 
 
 Caonabo consented. On the way home, they 
 arrived at a broad shallow river, whose clear 
 limpid waters tempted the cacique to bathe. 
 Ojeda then produced a set of polished-steel 
 manacles, bright as silver, which he described 
 as ornaments worn by Spanish kings, who had 
 received them as gifts from heaven. He pro 
 posed that the chief, putting them on, should 
 mount behind his horse, and astonish his sub 
 jects with them. Flattered by the idea, the 
 cacique consented, and the haughty Carib, thus 
 subdued by a trick, was presented to Columbus, 
 a manacled but not a humbled captive. He was 
 kept in chains and close confinement, but other- 
 
120 LIFE OF 
 
 Battle, and victory of the Spaniards. A.D. 1495. 
 
 wise treated kindly. Severe as it may seem, this 
 course was, perhaps, necessary, for conciliation 
 of this chief was impossible. They might cheat 
 him of his power, but could not break his un 
 conquerable spirit of enmity and independence. 
 When the admiral entered any room, it was 
 customary for all to rise ; but Caonabo sat un 
 moved, rising only when Ojeda approached. In 
 explanation, he said Ojeda had dared to visit his 
 territory and seize him, which Columbus had 
 not ventured to attempt. The brother of this 
 Carib chief, in revenge for his capture, made a 
 second assault on fort St. Thomas, in the Cibao 
 hills ; but his army of seven thousand men was 
 routed by a small body of horse under Ojeda. 
 
 Again the colony was becoming exhausted, 
 and again relief was brought from Spain in four 
 vessels, commanded by Antonio de Torres, who 
 was accompanied by a physician, an apothecary, 
 numerous mechanics, fishers, and labourers, in 
 finitely more valuable to the settlement than 
 hidalgoes of blue blood and refined ideas. A 
 rising colony needs no nobility to render it 
 prosperous, and one that is sinking, will accele 
 rate its dissolution by the encouragement of 
 birth and titles. In the dependencies, as in the 
 mother-country, industry and intellect are the 
 foundations of national greatness, whilst an aris- 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 121 
 
 A.D. 1495. Communication with Europe. 
 
 tocracy is the airy superstructure, imparting, 
 perhaps, elegance, but augmenting the substan 
 tial reality of the whole in proportion only as 
 an unity of interest is recognised between it 
 and the industry of the people. 
 
 Antonio de Torres brought a letter from the 
 court, addressing Columbus in a gratifying tone, 
 and proposing that a caravel should sail monthly 
 from Isabella, to carry news of its progress; 
 relating the progress of the negotiation with 
 Portugal, and requesting his return to be present 
 at a convention to settle the boundary line. 
 Another letter commanded the colonists to obey 
 Columbus, as the representative of the Spanish 
 authority. Knowing what slander had breathed 
 at home, the admiral would have gladly crossed 
 the sea, had not illness prevented him. 
 
 By the fleet which left for Spain, however, 
 he sent with Torres his brother Diego, to watch 
 the progress of affairs. The vessels were stored 
 with gold, specimens of other metals, fruits, 
 and rare plants. The value of the cargo was 
 increased by five hundred Indians, to be sold 
 in Seville for the profit of the crown. 
 
 Meanwhile the subjects of Caonabo were full 
 of hostility. The capture of their cacique in 
 censed them, and their anger was fomented by 
 the Indian chiefs. A large army took the field. 
 A battle was fought on the 27th of March 1495, 
 
122 LIFE OF 
 
 Army of a hundred thousand men. Great battle. A u. 1405. 
 
 within a few days march of Isabella. The whole 
 forest was alive with Indians. A hundred 
 thousand of them swarmed in immense lines 
 from right to left, scoffing at the small band 
 of white men two hundred infantry, twenty 
 horsemen, with a score of blood-hounds which 
 was arrayed to oppose them. There was a pause, 
 and then suddenly, from behind the thickets, 
 the infantry poured in several volleys, and, with 
 drum and trumpet sounding, appeared in little 
 groups in all directions, advancing suddenly 
 upon the naked army. The Indians closed up, 
 and whilst compacted in a mass, offered a broad 
 mark for the arquebus and the cross-bow. Then 
 Alonzo de Ojeda and his twenty horsemen, with 
 lance and sabre, charged, to the sound of a 
 blast of trumpets, full in the midst, and hewed 
 a passage through. The blood-hounds, let loose, 
 spread a panic through the woods. The Indian 
 host, thinned by the swords, lances, and arque- 
 busses of the Spanish infantry, trampled and 
 terrified by the horses, and torn by the dogs, 
 was routed with vast slaughter, and scattered 
 by an enemy nearly five hundred times their 
 inferior in number. Some fled to the distant 
 forests, some to dreary swamps, some to hill 
 tops, whence they made abject submission to 
 their foes. This first achievement was followed 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 123 
 
 A. n. 1495. Conquest of the island. Tribute. 
 
 by others. Columbus now marched from end 
 to end of the island, never allowing an enemy 
 to rest; but pushing on, fought and bivouacked, 
 fought and marched again, until the whole 
 population was subdued. The conquest spread 
 to every shore, and Espaniola became a province 
 of Spain. 
 
 Alonzo de Ojeda, with his mounted troop, was 
 always ready to dissipate opposition, and sweep 
 away the last remnants of native independence. 
 Having conquered, Columbus now applied him 
 self to lay the country under tribute. In the 
 provinces of the Vega, Cibao, and the mine dis 
 tricts, he exacted from each individual a yearly 
 payment of four Flemish hawks -bells full of 
 gold dust. The chiefs were subjected to higher 
 imposition Caonabo s brother, in particular, 
 being called on for two calabashes full of the 
 costly grain. In provinces producing none of 
 this metal, each Indian was required to contri 
 bute yearly a hundred pounds weight of cotton, 
 every man receiving, in shape of receipt, a 
 copper medal, to be worn constantly round the 
 neck, under pain of penalty. Subsequently 
 this rate was abated ; but the yoke fell heavily 
 on the natives. Gradually, fortress after for 
 tress was erected, and the chain securely riveted 
 upon Espaniola. 
 
124 LIFE OF 
 
 Change in the Indian s destiny. Influence of civilization. A.D. 1495. 
 
 The Indian s happy life was now a tradition. 
 Toil was his portion toil to satiate the rapacity 
 of a white invader. The project of starving 
 out their conquerors was planned ; but the 
 miseries they proposed to inflict upon the Euro 
 peans fell heavily among themselves. They 
 abandoned their fields and gardens, and retired 
 into the inhospitable and impracticable fast 
 nesses of the interior. Pent up in those dreary 
 regions, they perished, the prey of famine and 
 pestilence. Thousands died. At length, weary 
 of misery, the wretched Indians came forth and 
 submitted to slavery, that they might eat bread 
 and be restored to health. 
 
 But, if the people had cause to deplore the 
 advent of the white race, it received great stan 
 dard benefits from it. Columbus carried to the 
 New World eight cows and a small number of 
 cattle. That was three hundred and fifty-seven 
 years ago. Now what vast herds find pasture on 
 the prairies. Europe sent oxen to the western 
 world, and now from the western world Europe 
 draws a large supply of animal provisions. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A.D. 1495 to A.D. 1498. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 ENEMIES OP COLUMBUS AT HOME SLANDERS AND DEFAMA 
 TIONS THEIR SUCCESS THE COURT FORGETS ITS OBLI 
 GATIONS TO THE NAVIGATOR OFFICER SENT OUT TO 
 
 INQUIRE HIS ARRIVAL AT ISABELLA HIS CONDUCT 
 
 COLUMBUS SAILS FOR SPAIN DRIVEN BACK BY A STORM 
 WRECK OF SIX VESSELS ROMANTIC INCIDENT DIS 
 COVERY OF THE HAYNA MINES NEW SETTLEMENT 
 
 SAN DOMINGO COLUMBUS STARTS AGAIN CONFLICT 
 
 WITH AMAZONIAN WARRIORS CAONABO DISTRESS OF 
 
 THE MARINERS REACH SPAIN JOURNEY TO COURT 
 
 RECEPTION ACCUSATIONS CONFUTED NEW EQUIPMENT 
 
 DELAYS SAILS ON THE THIRD VOYAGE PERILS AT 
 
 SEA MIST HEAT RAIN DISCOVERY OF TRINIDAD 
 
 THE PEOPLE ENTER THE GULF OF PARIA DISCOVER 
 
 THE CONTINENT STRANGE APPEARANCES IN THE SEA 
 
 COLUMBUS S CONJECTURE RETURN TO HAYTI. 
 
LIFE OP CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 127 
 
 A.D. 1495. Enemies of Columbus at home. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 " Far to the right the restless ocean roared, 
 Whose bounding surges never keel explored., 
 If bounding shore, as Reason deems, divide 
 The vast Atlantic from the Indian tide." 
 
 CAMOENS. 
 
 A MAN, while reaping honour, wealth, and 
 fame, generally scatters also the seeds of 
 enmity. Columbus was building up for himself 
 an imperishable structure of renown; but his 
 very greatness was undermining him. His suc 
 cess abroad engendered jealousy at home. Nor 
 was this the sole source of slander. It fre 
 quently happens that to anticipate a charge is 
 to shift the cloak of guilt from our own shoulders 
 to those of another. The recreant Margarite, 
 whose influence had been the active cause of 
 troubles in the colony, with friar Boyle, whose 
 conscience was also heavy with the responsi 
 bility of the late seditions, fled to Spain, sought 
 the court, and poisoned the public ear with the 
 defamation of Columbus. That he neglected 
 the colony, that he deceived the king and queen 
 with false accounts of gold, that he had imposed 
 
128 LIFE OF 
 
 Slanders and defamations. Their success. A.D. 1495. 
 
 on the country the description of a region of 
 wealth, beauty, and plenty, for a desert, hideous 
 and unproductive these were the chief charges 
 laid against him. His frequent absence from 
 the colony was also made ground of complaint. 
 The public ear, in a corrupt country, thirsts 
 for slander and welcomes defamation. Liberty 
 alone makes a nation generous. These accusa 
 tions were heard eagerly, and readily believed. 
 An officer was dispatched to inquire into the 
 transaction. In case the admiral was found 
 absent, he should assume the direction of affairs ; 
 but at any rate was to institute inquiry, with 
 which he was to return and report. 
 
 Meanwhile limitless permission was given to 
 private individuals to adventure to Hayti, pro 
 vided all vessels sailed from Cadiz, under in 
 spection of the crown, and gave one-tenth of 
 their tonnage to the free service of the state, 
 paying a tithe of their cargo as tribute on re 
 turning. For every eight ships fitted out, Co 
 lumbus was to be allowed to freight one on his 
 own account. At this juncture the squadron of 
 Antonio Torres arrived in Spain, bearing news of 
 the admiral s success in his late voyage, the sup 
 posed discovery of the Asiatic continent, with 
 specimens of gold and costly merchandize. The 
 effect of this was, for a time, to popularize the 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 129 
 
 A.D. 1495. Officer sent out to inquire. His arrival at Isabella. 
 
 navigator. Fonseca, the bishop, had been en 
 trusted with the selection of an officer to inquire 
 into the affairs of the colony. He was known 
 to bear enmity towards the admiral, and the 
 crown, as a mark of favour, withdrew his au 
 thority, and itself appointed Juan Aguado, who, 
 about the end of August, sailed with four cara 
 vels, in company with Diego, the brother of 
 Columbus. 
 
 In October he arrived at Isabella, and imme 
 diately assumed power, harshly, pompously, and 
 boldly. Columbus was now in a distant native 
 town, and Aguado profited by his absence. In 
 the double character of a bully and a spy, he 
 raked up unreal grievances, and having, doubt 
 less, learnt his lesson at Seville, endeavoured, 
 on the admiral s return, to goad him into a vio 
 lent altercation. Failing in this, he welcomed 
 all accusations, all slanders, all the charges of 
 falsehood, all the insinuations of malice. Thus 
 stored, he prepared for his infamous mission to 
 the court, whose favour he had obtained through 
 the kindness of Columbus, who also resolved to 
 return, convinced that to plead successfully be 
 fore a throne, he must plead in person. All 
 things being ready, seven vessels left the port, 
 when a tempest, such as had not before occurred 
 in the memory of man, burst forth, and de- 
 
 K 
 
130 LIFE OF 
 
 Wreck of six vessels. Romantic incident. A.B. 1495. 
 
 stroyed four ships under the command of 
 Aguado, and two others. Only one the Nina, 
 survived. Whilst she was in repair, and another 
 was built from the fragments of wreck, tidings 
 of the discovery of some rich mines arrived. 
 
 A young native of Arragon, Miguel Diez, 
 having in a quarrel wounded one of the settlers, 
 fled, with five or six followers, to an Indian 
 village near the mouth of the Ozema, on the 
 south coast. The little community, which hos 
 pitably received the strangers, was governed by 
 a woman, who became deeply attached to Diez. 
 He returned her affection, and for some time 
 they lived lovingly together. But the young 
 Spaniard soon wearied of life in an Indian 
 village, and became melancholy. An outcast 
 from civilization, under the fear of punishment, 
 he dreaded to return, yet was not content to 
 remain. The beautiful cacique read the thoughts 
 of his heart. Knowing how the white man 
 loved gold, she revealed to him the existence of 
 certain rich mines, which he examined, and then 
 bade him go to his countrymen, persuade them 
 to abandon unhealthy Isabella, and found a 
 more salubrious city on the fertile banks of the 
 Ozema. He did so. His welcome news pro 
 cured his pardon. Forthwith a settlement was 
 planted on the banks of the Hayna ; and Diez, 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 131 
 
 A.D. 1496. Columbus starts again. Conflict with amazonian warriors. 
 
 returning to his Indian bride, whom he is sup 
 posed to have baptised and married, lived faith 
 fully with her. She bore him two children. 
 The gold mines of this place were found to be 
 extremely rich, and Columbus dreamed that he 
 had discovered the ancient Ophir. 
 
 On the 10th of March the two caravels, com 
 manded severally by Aguado and Columbus, 
 commenced their homeward voyage. Thirty 
 Indians, and a miserable crew of the most idle 
 and dissolute of the colonists, also embarked. 
 Caonabo was among the natives. The Euro 
 peans, with a comfortable impiety, ascribed to 
 heaven the misfortunes of which their own 
 vicious folly was the source. At Guadaloupe 
 they were attacked by a large body of female 
 warriors, who lined the shores, and discharged 
 flights of arrows to protect their land from in 
 vasion. A volley of fire-arms drove them into 
 the woods. Ten were captured. They were 
 tall women, finely formed, naked, but decorated 
 with feathers. One of them the wife of a 
 cacique was so swift of foot that her escape 
 would have been easy, had she not turned upon 
 her pursuer with the design to strangle him. 
 When the rest were set at liberty, she refused 
 to go on shore; she would, she said, remain 
 with the Carib chief, Caonabo. The men of 
 the island were away on the war path. 
 
132 LIFE OF 
 
 Distress of the mariners. Eeach Spain. A.D. 1496. 
 
 The homeward voyage was perilous and 
 tedious. Unacquainted with the more expe 
 ditious route, Columbus sailed in the latitude 
 of 22, and falling in with contrary winds, a 
 scarcity ensued, and they were driven to great 
 straits of hunger. The allowance of food to 
 each man was reduced to six ounces daily. The 
 admiral shared all dangers and privations ; but 
 in the midst of these never forgot his humanity. 
 The crew, desirous of reducing the consumption 
 of food, wished to throw the Indian captives 
 overboard; but he peremptorily refused. It 
 was now the 20th of May. Nine experienced 
 pilots were on board, but none could tell in 
 what region they were. Arguing from the 
 lapse of days, they concluded that Europe must 
 be near; but the skilful navigator, judging from 
 scientific observation, maintained that their 
 position was but little westward of the Azores. 
 The crews wished to crowd all sail; but, as 
 night was coming on, he foresaw danger in this, 
 and, as he had predicted, the dawn of morning 
 brought the island into view. This, and much 
 else, exalted him in the minds of his companions, 
 and probably saved him from many eruptions 
 of mutiny. 
 
 On the llth of June they anchored in the 
 Bay of Cadiz, reefing their sails just as the un- 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 133 
 
 A.D. 1496. Journey to court. Reception. Accusations confuted. 
 
 furled canvas of three caravels bellied in the 
 wind to make the voyage to Hayna with sup 
 plies. Caonabo had died on the way. Colum 
 bus, therefore, wrote to his brother, the adel- 
 tando, with this news, urging his attentive care 
 of the colony, and the diligent working of the 
 Hayna mines, near the river Ozema. Receiving 
 a kind letter from the court, he went thither, 
 clad humbly, in friars garb, and girdled with a 
 rope, but displaying, nevertheless, the bracelets, 
 necklets, and coronets of gold, which had been 
 collected as the spoils of the " exhaustless East." 
 The Indians accompanied him. They were all 
 decorated with precious ornaments, and Cao- 
 nabo s brother wore a heavy and massive golden 
 collar a splendid chain to gild the bitterness 
 of servitude. 
 
 Columbus was honourably received. Accu 
 sation was confounded, prejudice removed, and 
 suspicion dispelled by his bold denials, his 
 generous bearing, and his frank admissions. 
 The testimony of his fellow-voyagers supported 
 his character, and the treasures he displayed 
 gave a lie to those calumnies on the score of 
 deception. When slander had failed, secret 
 obstacles were thrown across his path, which suc 
 ceeded so far as delay went, for it was not until 
 the autumn that six millions of maravedis 
 
134 LIFE OF 
 
 New equipment. Delays. A.D. 1498. 
 
 (coins of little more than half a farthing value) 
 were ordered to be advanced for the equipment 
 of a new squadron. Royalty had run into deep 
 expenses, and could not well afford this sum. 
 
 A Spanish commander, in the service of the 
 crown, now arrived from Espaniola, and wrote 
 to the court, saying that on board his caravels 
 was a large amount of gold. On hearing this, 
 the king immediately swept the six million 
 maravedis into the bottomless sink of royal ex 
 penditure, and ordered that the sum should be 
 paid to Columbus out of the precious cargo just 
 arrived. This was nothing more than a number 
 of slaves, figuratively described by the gold 
 which was to be the fruit of their sale. 
 
 The equipment was thus delayed until the 
 spring of 1498, when Columbus, relieved of his 
 responsibility of an eighth part of the expenses 
 for three years, was offered a grant of land, with 
 the title of duke or marquis. He refused it, as 
 it would afford a new handle for slander. How 
 ever, in a will, dated 1498, he entailed his 
 estates, in virtue of permission accorded him so 
 to do. His heirs were to use no other signature 
 than that of "The Admiral", and a married 
 person of his family was always to remain in 
 Genoa, that the name of Columbus might be 
 perpetuated in his native city. The edicts 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 135 
 
 A.D. 1498. Sails on the third voyage. Perils at sea. 
 
 injurious to his interests referring to private 
 enterprise, were revoked, and courtly favour was 
 lavished in reparation of the grievances he had 
 endured. The king allowed him to take out a 
 number of persons in the royal pay to improve 
 the colony, and Isabella used every exertion to 
 promote the welfare of the Indians themselves. 
 The enmity of the mitred Fonseca whose 
 name is now coupled with all that is wretched 
 and contemptible retarded the day of departure 
 until the 30th of May 1498, when Columbus 
 sailed on his third voyage of discovery. Pro 
 ceeding to the Cape de Yerd islands, he steered 
 to the south-west. It was now the end of June. 
 A thick fog fell upon the sea, shutting out for 
 many days the light of sun and stars. This was 
 succeeded by an intense and burning heat. The 
 sun, nearly vertical, flooded the sea with over 
 powering rays: the decks dried up, the seams 
 opened, the tar melted, the casks burst, and the 
 provisions decomposed. 
 
 "All in a hot and copper sky, 
 
 The bloody sun at noon 
 Right up above the mast did stand, 
 No bigger than the moon." 
 
 Then a great rain fell, without any change in 
 the melting temperature, whilst the admiral, 
 with many of his companions, suffered griev- 
 
136 LIFE OF 
 
 Discovery of Trinidad. The savages. A.D. 1498. 
 
 ously, until at length a prosperous cool breeze 
 sprung up, and they sailed away west for seven 
 teen days. In gratitude for their deliverance, 
 Columbus resolved that the first land discovered 
 should be named Trinity. Suddenly, at mid 
 day of the 31st July, the peaks of three lofty 
 mountains appeared dimly defined against the 
 horizon. A nearer approach shewed that at the 
 base they united into one. Struck with this 
 singular coincidence, he immediately called the 
 island La Trinidad, the name it still bears. 
 
 Coasting this island, the navigators were 
 charmed with its verdure and beauty ; but, 
 as yet, discovered no traces of human beings. 
 However, they filled their casks from a limpid 
 rivulet, and thus refreshed, proceeded on their 
 way. Reaching El Gallo rock, they were met 
 by a vast number of savages, who came off in 
 canoes. They were fairer and of finer forms 
 than any yet seen, and many of them wore 
 cotton girdles about their loins, and fillets on 
 their heads. The flotilla hovered round the 
 vessels at a distance; but no attempt to com 
 municate with them was successful. After 
 paddling about for some time, engaged in 
 feasting their curious eyes on the novel arma 
 ment before them, they shot off in their swift 
 canoes, and were seen no more. Thence Co- 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 137 
 
 A.D. 1498. Enter the Gulf of Paria. The people. 
 
 lumbus sailed into the unnavigated Gulf of 
 Paria, encountering many perils among its un 
 known shoals and currents, and meeting with 
 many pacific adventures with the population of 
 its shores, infinitely more graceful in their 
 movements, more civilized in their appearance, 
 more industrious in their habits, than the natives 
 of Hayti. The coast was broken by beautiful 
 bays and quiet inlets, where the waves, after 
 their boisterous gambols, rolled in for a few mo 
 ments 1 peaceful rest. Forests, of magnificent 
 foliage, almost bent over the water, while, be 
 yond these, uplands of the richest green stretched 
 in wave-like undulations towards the interior, 
 and were threaded with numbers of glittering 
 streams. Some quiet hamlets were scattered 
 at intervals over the landscape, which was 
 brightened by an unclouded sun. The mari 
 ners beheld in this region the fair land of pro 
 mise. The natives brought great quantities of 
 inferior gold, with strings of rare pearls. Co 
 lumbus procured many specimens for transmis 
 sion to Spain. He had once mistaken an island 
 for a continent, and now, mistaking a continent 
 for an island, penetrated further and further 
 into the gulf, but was at length alarmed to find 
 the water becoming shallower and fresher, and 
 of a new colour. 
 
138 LIFE OP 
 
 Strange appearances in the sea. Columbus s conjecture. A.D. H98. 
 
 Accustomed to the majestic roll of the ocean, 
 the voyagers were alarmed by the contest of 
 the elements the flood from the land pouring 
 down from among remote hills and lakes, and 
 that of the sea, heaving in an unbroken surface 
 of many hundred leagues, here meeting in vio 
 lent strife. All things seemed changed. They 
 had come across waters dark and tempestuous, 
 with a damp atmosphere, and a murky heaven 
 over head: they were now in seas of bright blue, 
 with a pure sky and light balmy air. The posi 
 tion of the stars seemed different, the gales were 
 more soft, the land was more beautiful ; the 
 people were of a superior race, and all nature 
 appeared under a lovelier aspect. Columbus 
 began now to doubt his theory of the spherical 
 shape of the world, supposing it to possess the 
 form of a pear, on the taper end of which he 
 had now arrived, immediately below the sun. 
 The intricate navigation of this region, the 
 dangerous water-pass of the Boca del Drago, or 
 Dragon s Mouth, the time spent in lingering 
 along the tempting shores, with the return 
 voyage to Espaniola, occupied until the 19th 
 of August. Columbus meanwhile indulged in 
 speculations on the region he had discovered, 
 supposing that on the peak of this pear-shaped 
 world lay the deserted gardens of Eden, and 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 139 
 
 A.D. 1498. Return to Hayti. 
 
 that from the fountain of life, created by God 
 at the foot of the tree of forbidden fruit, flowed 
 the flood of fresh water that caused the com 
 motion in this sea, which he named the Gulf of 
 Pearls. 
 
 Further observation convinced him that the 
 rich and beautiful land that spread away on 
 either side of the gulf was no island, but a con 
 tinuation of the boundless Indian continent. 
 The earth rose, he supposed, lessening as it 
 approached the sun, and below the abandoned 
 seat of Paradise, was still favoured with a more 
 benignant sky, more genial air, calmer seas, and 
 fairer lands, with more delicious fruits, more 
 abundant wealth, and peopled by a more chaste 
 and happy race than any other region of the 
 world. The variations of the sky, the changes 
 in the landscape, the phenomena of the currents, 
 and the aspect of the coast, with its bold pro 
 montories and retiring bays all these, aided by 
 his fertile fancy and the supposed testimony of 
 travellers and writers, combined to support his 
 curious and poetical theory. 
 
 Ophthalmia now afflicted him so greatly, that 
 he was no longer able to enjoy the delightful 
 scenery of the coasts along which they ranged. 
 Rejoiced by his accumulation of costly pearls, 
 he was glad to reach Hayti, and meditated a 
 
140 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 
 
 Return to Hayti. A .n. 1498. 
 
 visit to the mines of Hayna; but a strange 
 current carried the vessels a hundred and fifty 
 miles below their destination, and the month 
 of August had consequently closed before he 
 reached the new colony. The result of the 
 voyage had been some important discoveries, 
 and the collection of much treasure. Europeans 
 and natives indeed, were well content, because 
 each flattered themselves they had over-reached 
 the others always a satisfactory thing. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 A.D. 1498. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 PROGRESS OF AFFAIRS DURING THE ADMIRAL S ABSENCE 
 
 GERM OF A NEW CITY THE ADELTANDO VISITS XARA- 
 
 GUAY PROCESSION OF WOMEN RECEPTION IN BEHE- 
 
 CHIO S CITY MOCK FIGHT ENTERTAINMENT RETURN 
 
 TO ISABELLA DISCONTENT INSUBORDINATION FORTI 
 FIED HOUSES REVOLT OF GUARIONEX DESECRATION OF 
 
 A CHAPEL, AND BURNING OF THE OFFENDERS NEW 
 
 VISIT TO XARAGUAY ANACAONDA ? S ASTONISHMENT 
 
 HER HOUSE REVOLT OF ROLDAN PROPOSES TO FLY TO 
 
 XARAGUAY PICTURE OF A CYBARITE LIFE THE AD 
 MIRAL RETURNS FLEET SENT TO SPAIN ARRANGE 
 MENTS WITH ROLDAN HE BREAKS THE AGREEMENT 
 
 COLUMBUS S LETTER TO THE KING AND QUEEN ROLDAN 
 RETURNS NEW CAUSES OF DISQUIET. 
 
LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 143 
 
 A.D. 1498. Progress of affairs during the admiral s absence. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 " Here, in the sultriest season, let him rest 
 Fresh is the green beneath those aged trees 
 Here winds of gentlest wing will fan his breast, 
 From heaven itself he may inhale the breeze." 
 
 BYRON. 
 
 DURING the absence of Columbus, the 
 erection of a fortress near the Hayna 
 mines had been commenced and carried out, 
 though with frequent interruptions, from the 
 continual necessity of detaching parties in quest 
 of supplies, as provisions were scarce. On the 
 lofty bank of the Ozema another place of de 
 fence was constructed. Here it was , proposed 
 to found a seaport, and with this view the first 
 house was erected the germ of a city now 
 flourishing and populous San Domingo. The 
 adeltando meanwhile visited various parts of 
 the island with an armed force, to rivet the 
 links of thraldom which Columbus had forged 
 and laid on. 
 
 Among the chiefs whom he proposed to ter 
 rify was Behechio, cacique of Xaraguay, a pro 
 vince so delightful as to be the traditionary site 
 of Paradise. He marched into this territory 
 
144 LIFE OF 
 
 The adeltando visits Xaraguay. Procession of women. A.D. 1498. 
 
 at the head of a powerful detachment. The 
 chieftain met him, with a host of savage war 
 riors; but none other than a friendly encounter 
 took place. Bartholomew was conducted to 
 wards the residence of Behechio a town situ 
 ated at the bottom of a deep narrow bay, now 
 known as the Bight of Leagon. As they ap 
 proached, a procession of women, singing songs 
 and waving palm branches, came forth to meet 
 them. The young matrons were girded with a 
 narrow band of cotton, the maidens with slight 
 fillets of leaves, their long hair falling down in 
 abundant tresses over their persons. They were 
 beautifully formed, with smooth soft skin and a 
 clear brown complexion. These nymphs, ar 
 ranging themselves before the adeltando, knelt, 
 and held forth the palms. Then came Anacaona, 
 the cacique s sister, borne in a litter by six In 
 dians. She wore a girdle of variegated cotton, 
 and a chaplet of white and crimson flowers, with 
 similar wreaths entwined about her neck and 
 limbs. Her name signified "The Flower of 
 Gold", and she was said to be the most beautiful 
 woman in that country, as well as an accom 
 plished poetess. 
 
 Conducted into the abodes of these hospitable 
 people, the Spaniards were feasted and enter 
 tained with various games. Of these, one was 
 the representation of a mock battle, in which 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 145 
 
 A.D. 1498. Return to Isabella. Insubordination. Fortified houses. 
 
 two armies of Indians fought with bows and 
 arrows. Four were killed and many wounded ! 
 The adeltando begged that this royal sport 
 might not continue, and the bloodshed ceased. 
 Having commenced their intercourse in this 
 friendly manner, it was concluded similarly 
 the cacique of the heavenly province of Xara- 
 guay engaging to pay tribute in cotton, for no 
 gold existed in that celestial region. 
 
 Returning to Isabella, Bartholomew found 
 insubordination rampant. Discontent and re 
 pining had completely usurped the place of 
 energy. Many of the colonists had deserted, 
 and the whole district was in ferment. A line 
 of five fortified houses was established between 
 the old town and San Domingo, and by means 
 of these, open rebellion was for a time prevented. 
 Still the murmurs of the disaffected were audible 
 enough. No fear of authority silenced them. 
 When the government sent out Aguado to in 
 quire into the admiral s conduct, they diverged 
 from the path of sound policy. That a colonial 
 governor, appointed by a despotism, may rule 
 with effect, it is necessary at least that he should 
 appear to enjoy the confidence of the supreme 
 department of power. Men will offer but an 
 equivocal obedience to an authority which they 
 are not taught to honour. The settlers presumed 
 
 L 
 
146 LIFE OF 
 
 Desecration of a chapel, and burning of the offenders. A.D. 1498. 
 
 on this in the case of Columbus. They saw him 
 checked, and therefore respected him less. The 
 Indian caciques caught the contagious idea, and 
 during the absence of the admiral a rebellion 
 broke forth. There is no epidemic like insur 
 rection. 
 
 The cacique Guarionex, who had nominally 
 become a Christian, was scoffed by his fellow 
 chiefs as an apostate, who renounced his reli 
 gion through the contemptible motive of fear. 
 This rankled in his breast ; but he must have a 
 fair excuse to retract. The white men soon 
 afforded it. A Spaniard seduced Guarionex s 
 wife, and he forthwith retreated again to his 
 heathen creed. The missionaries in his territory 
 then directed their efforts to the conversion of 
 another cacique, and removed from the district 
 with one baptised Indian Juan Matoo, whose 
 family, nevertheless, remained. A small chapel 
 was prepared for their use, and furnished with 
 a cross, an altar, and images. The natives 
 seized these emblems, broke, and buried them 
 in a field, whence, as tradition says, grew certain 
 roots in the form of a cross. The perpetrators 
 of this act were captured, and suffered death at 
 the stake ; but the same flame which consumed 
 them kindled the indignation of their country 
 men, and a rebellion broke forth which was not 
 easily extinguished. 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 147 
 
 A.D. 1498. New visit to Xaraguay. Eevolt of Eoldan. 
 
 Visiting Xaraguay once more, to receive 
 Behechio s tribute, with that of the inferior 
 caciques, who had filled a house with cotton, 
 and in addition offered great stores of cassava 
 bread, Bartholomew was surprised at what he 
 saw in the dwelling of Anacaonda. Intricately 
 wrought cottons were displayed in profusion, 
 with magnificent tables of ebony, worked with 
 out iron, and numerous other productions of 
 Indian industry. The cacique s generous wife 
 offered any of these as presents. She was de 
 lighted with the society of the whites. But her 
 astonishment was beyond fancy when she beheld 
 the caravel, which bore away the tribute, spread 
 its wide white sails, discharge its cannon in 
 salute, and move before the breeze, whilst strains 
 of martial harmony floated from its deck. These 
 were affairs conducted in the absence of Colum 
 bus extremely well and ably, and, with the 
 exception of the burning of the Indians, with 
 humanity. 
 
 But a new conspiracy was maturing, and 
 Francisco Roldan, a man under the heaviest 
 obligations to the admiral, was busy in directing 
 it. He defied authority, and proposed to his 
 followers to settle in Xaraguay, there to pass a 
 life of indolent luxury, with all nature, human 
 and inanimate, beautiful around them an Elv- 
 
148 LIFE OF 
 
 Picture of a cybarite life. The admiral returns. A.D. 1498. 
 
 slum, where, steeped in enjoyment, they might 
 spend the years in an unending circle of vo 
 luptuous pleasure. The lovely aspect of na 
 ture, the sweet climate, the teeming soil, the 
 simple, hospitable, easily-deluded people these 
 were by him pictured as enhancing the temp 
 tations to a settlement there. Guarionex, 
 also, again revolted, and a dangerous crisis 
 had thus arrived, when reinforcements from 
 Europe reached San Domingo, with the king s 
 confirmation of Bartholomew s title of adel- 
 tando. The rebellious cacique was overcome, 
 driven to the mountains, pursued, captured, and 
 imprisoned. The insurrection was most vigor 
 ously suppressed, but most mildly punished. 
 The first governors of Hayti thus set a lesson, 
 which it would be well for the humanity of 
 Europe were it taught in the schools of modern 
 policy. 
 
 When Columbus arrived from the Gulf of 
 Pearls, he found the country thus overrun with 
 the unchained passions of men. He confirmed 
 his brother s measures, denounced Koldan 
 who was joined by thirty-two Spaniards from 
 the ships and prepared himself with energy to 
 suppress this rising spirit of turbulence. Roldan 
 was now in Xaraguay, and there, openly avow 
 ing his proposed plan of sybaritic life, refused 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 149 
 
 A.D. 1499. Fleet sent to Spain. Arrangements with Roldan. 
 
 a pardon proffered, and wrote a plausible letter 
 to the king and queen of Spain, excusing his 
 rebellion, arid heaping libels on Columbus. This 
 missive was borne by a messenger, embarked in 
 a fleet of five vessels, just then sailing to Spain, 
 with a letter from the admiral to the sovereigns, 
 accompanied by ample specimens of gold and 
 pearls. The ships sailed on the 1 8th of October. 
 Before a month had elapsed, the struggle be 
 tween Roldan and the governor had a pacific 
 termination. An agreement was made, by 
 which it was arranged that the rebels should 
 embark in two caravels bound for Cadiz to be 
 fitted out within fifty days with their slaves 
 or wives, orders for full pay, and certificates of 
 good conduct. 
 
 Columbus then proceeded on a tour to dis 
 cover the condition of the island. Neglected 
 lands, scattered flocks, deserted mines, all the 
 marks of confusion presented themselves. Still 
 a prospect of better things was opened, when 
 he learned that Roldan s vessels, having been 
 driven back by a storm, were again in harbour, 
 and that the rebels now refused to go. Their 
 excuse was, that the equipment of the ships had 
 been delayed, that they were unfit for sea, and 
 ill provisioned; but, in reality, the turbulent 
 band was unwilling to relinquish the epicurean 
 
150 LIFE OF 
 
 Columbus s letter to the king and queen. AD. 1499. 
 
 luxury of Xaraguay. In addition to this source 
 of discouragement, arrived a letter from Fon- 
 seca, in reply to one of earnest representation 
 from the admiral. It was couched in the coldest 
 terms, and intimated that an inquiry into all 
 the affairs of the colony was pending. Crippled 
 by his weakness, and unarmed with the weapons 
 which his government might have granted him, 
 Columbus was compelled to make easy terms 
 with Koldan. The miscreant never moved by 
 any generous feeling fomented continual dis 
 content, and the admiral once more dispatched 
 a letter to the king and queen. He requested 
 assistance, but demanded that, as his rule was 
 considered unjust, a legal judge might be sent 
 out to relieve him of the responsibility of 
 punishments. He asked them to send to him 
 his son Diego, for his years were whitening, and 
 he felt the infirmities of age. He had intended 
 to depart for Spain at once, but various circum 
 stances deterred him. 
 
 Among these was the clandestine arrival, on 
 the west coast, under the command of Alonzo 
 Ojeda, of four caravels, on something like a 
 plundering expedition. Roldan was dispatched 
 to call him to account. He, having now been 
 received into employment, was anxious to blot 
 out the recollection of his flagitious acts, and 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 151 
 
 A.D. 1499. Ojeda s expedition. New causes of disquiet. 
 
 readily undertook the task. By a skilful move 
 ment he cut off the adventurer from his ships, 
 and extracted from him an account of his pur 
 pose. The expedition had been dispatched, 
 under the patronage of the perfidious bishop of 
 Fonseca, on a voyage of discovery. The pro 
 jectors hoped thus to reap what Columbus had 
 sown ; to profit by his labours, to their own ad 
 vantage. The vessels sailed in May 1499. They 
 had reached the southern continent and ranged 
 along its shores, six hundred miles west of the 
 Oronoko, to the Gulf of Paria. Thence, passing 
 through the Boca del Dragon, they had dis 
 covered the Gulf of Venezuela, passed through 
 the Carribee archipelago, attacked the natives, 
 and made many prisoners. Their voyage was 
 the longest hitherto made in this region. 
 
 The chief pilot of the squadron was Juan 
 de la Cosa, who sailed with the admiral on his 
 first voyage. Americo Vespusio sailed with 
 this expedition, and from him that vast conti 
 nent received its name. 
 
 By a series of well-managed manoeuvres, 
 planned by Roldan, Ojeda was at length de 
 prived of the strength of his expedition, and 
 compelled to depart the island, which he did 
 with threats of a speedy and more formidable 
 return. It is supposed he retired to the adja 
 cent coasts, and pursued the traffic in slaves. 
 
152 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 
 
 Trade iu human flesh. A.D. 1499. 
 
 This vile trade in human flesh is the great 
 blot on the discoverers who introduced civilized 
 Europe to the savage New World. In almost 
 all new regions, however, it has been established; 
 though what were the ideas of the barbarians on 
 the natural rights of humanity, it is impossible 
 to know. Men are easily seduced into slavery, 
 especially if sweetened by the idea that the 
 enslavers belong to a superior order of beings, 
 such as the tribes of the Carribee archipelago 
 considered the Spaniards. Perhaps they thought 
 submission a duty, though instinct occasionally 
 impelled them to resistance. 
 
 Nor were the Europeans slow to profit by 
 the weak ignorance of the natives. Gain was 
 their ambition, and selfishness, the universal sin 
 that rots into the heart to the decay of all its 
 natural virtue, blunted the edge of conscience, 
 and led them to see no injustice in slavery 
 the rupture of all the relations between man 
 and man. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 A.D. 1500 tO A.D. 1502. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 NEW TROUBLES GUEVARA S LOVE ADVENTURE ITS BANE 
 FUL RESULTS REBELLION OP MOXICA IT IS CRUSHED 
 MOXICA S FATE BUSY MALIGNITY IN SPAIN FRAN 
 CISCO BOBADILLA SENT OUT AS JUDGE, TO SUPERSEDE 
 COLUMBUS HIS CONDUCT ON ARRIVAL CONTRADICTION 
 
 OF THE ADMIRAL S MEASURES TREATMENT OF COLUM 
 BUS HE IS SENT HOME IN CHAINS HIS REMARKS 
 REACHES SPAIN IS ACQUITTED WITHOUT INQUIRY 
 BOBADILLA SUPERSEDED PREPARATIONS FOR A FOURTH 
 VOYAGE IT STARTS PROJECT TO DISCOVER A ROUTE 
 TO INDIA VOYAGE TO ESPANIOLA OVANDO REFUSES 
 SHELTER FROM A STORM TO THE ADMIRAL S SHIPS THE 
 TEMPEST WRECK OF A HOMEWARD-BOUND FLEET 
 COLUMBUS STEERS ALONG THE MOSQUITO COAST ADVEN 
 TURES ON THE WAY PEOPLE OF HUERTA SPLENDID 
 
 ISLANDS TRAFFIC FOR GOLD HOSTILE DEMONSTRATIONS 
 
 THE CHILDREN OF HEAVEN THE ADMIRAL S HAPPY 
 
 ERROR DISCOVERS PUERTO BELLO. 
 
LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 155 
 
 A. n. 1500. Guevara s love adventure. Its baneful results. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 "Again Columbus o er the hoary tide 
 Pursues the evening sun, his navy s guide." 
 
 CAMOENS. 
 
 NEW troubles broke forth. Don Hernando 
 de Guevara, a young Spanish nobleman, 
 who had been compromised in the recent out 
 breaks, was sent to Xaraguay, there to await 
 the departure of a vessel for Spain. Higuanota, 
 the daughter of Anacaonda, was a beautiful girl, 
 and won the heart of the youthful cavalier, pre 
 ferring him to Roldan, who was also her suitor. 
 This was an active source of jealousy, which 
 grew into a more serious hatred. Commanded 
 to leave the province, Guevara disobeyed, re 
 maining in the house of Anacaonda, with the 
 purpose of marrying the damsel, as soon as she 
 should be baptised. An angry contest ensued ; 
 but the young nobleman was compelled to lower 
 his tone before the authority of Roldan. From 
 this quarrel arose a plot of insurrection, which 
 exploded, and Guevara, arrested, was imprisoned 
 in the fortress of San Domingo. His cousin, 
 
156 LIFE OF 
 
 Rebellion of Moxica. His fate. A.D. 1500. 
 
 Moxica, in revenge, laid the plan of a new con 
 spiracy, which rapidly grew, and was about to 
 burst into a rebellion, when Columbus, by a 
 sudden surprise, seized the leader, with his con 
 federates, threw them into prison, and condemned 
 him to immediate death on a gibbet. Conducted 
 to the summit of the lofty fort, Moxica begged 
 a few moments delay, that he might confess his 
 sins. The indulgence was granted. The cul 
 prit delayed, hesitated, began anew, and cling 
 ing to each moment of life, commenced accusing 
 others instead of himself. Forthwith the ad 
 miral, incensed, ordered him to be hurled from 
 the ramparts an act which, however it may be 
 palliated, rests as a stain on the memory of 
 Columbus. 
 
 Malignity is always industrious. The ene 
 mies of Columbus at home, were unwearied in 
 their assailment of his character. Conscious 
 that a ready way to the ear of power lies through 
 the feeling of jealousy, they insinuated that he 
 designed to establish an independent authority 
 in the New World. Other accusations were 
 but wanting. He was an alien who despised 
 the Spanish nobles; he owed them vast debts 
 which he would never pay. They stunned the 
 royal ears with clamour, with an unceasing buzz 
 of defamation. 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 157 
 
 A.D. 1500. Francisco Bobadilla sent out as judge, to supersede Columbus . 
 
 To please the aristocracy, the king and queen, 
 with a weakness common to such personages, 
 consented to injustice, and sent out a judge to 
 the American islands. It was made his interest 
 to condemn the admiral. Francisco de Boba 
 dilla, a member of the household, was selected. 
 He was invested with ample power, and bore 
 letters to Columbus, requiring him, for himself 
 and his brothers, to yield up all authority, and 
 submit to the judge s will. Bobadilla, who was 
 poor, and therefore at the beck of the admiral s 
 wealthy enemies, sailed with two ships, about 
 the middle of July 1500. 
 
 Columbus was at fort Conception, Bartholo 
 mew was in pursuit of the rebels, and Diego 
 was at San Domingo, when, on the 23rd of 
 August, the two vessels anchored in this port. 
 Bobadilla soon made known his mission. He 
 learnt that seven of the rebels had been hanged, 
 and that five more, including the lover of Ana- 
 caonda s daughter, lay under sentence of the 
 gallows. Two Spaniards, swinging from gibbets, 
 were set down as proofs of the admiral s cruelty. 
 Swelling with importance, the judge imme 
 diately assumed authority opened the prison 
 doors, discharged persons in office, established 
 himself in the governor s house, and toojs pos 
 session of all his property, in gold, plate, arms, 
 
158 LIFE OF 
 
 His conduct on arrival. A.D. 1.000. 
 
 jewels, books, horses, and even public and pri 
 vate papers. He released the captives, not 
 through any impulse of mercy, but for an 
 ostentatious display of power, and, by every 
 means attracting the admiration of an idle, 
 grasping population, overthrew the fabric which 
 Columbus had so laboured to erect. His beha 
 viour to the discoverer was uncourteous, even 
 insulting. Having written in polite terms to 
 the new governor, Columbus, receiving no 
 answer, remained for some time in suspense; 
 but at length was summoned, by virtue of the 
 royal letters, to yield up all authority, and 
 appear before Bobadilla, who welcomed every 
 word from every individual who sought to pur 
 chase favour by defaming the fallen authority. 
 Arriving at San Domingo, the great navigator 
 was thrown into prison, with orders that he 
 should be put in chains. Even his worst ene 
 mies hesitated to perform this shameful task, 
 until a miserable cook, in the service of Boba 
 dilla, came forward to do that which the most 
 graceless jailor refused to undertake. Diego 
 and Bartholomew experienced the same indig 
 nities with their brother, who was, in the early 
 part of October, shipped a manacled captive 
 for Spain. Miscreants of all kinds were re 
 leased from confinement, and the founder of the 
 
> 
 
 Columljus Returns in Chains. Page 159. 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 159 
 
 A.D. 1501. Columbus is sent home in chains. His remarks. 
 
 colony was sent home in chains. Andreas 
 Martin, the master of the caravel, offered to 
 strike off the fetters. " No," said Columbus, 
 " since the king has commanded that I should 
 obey his governor, he shall find me as obedient 
 to this as I have been to all his other orders. 
 Nothing but his commands shall release me. If 
 twelve years of hardships and fatigues, of con 
 tinual dangers and frequent famines ; if the 
 ocean first opened, and five times passed and 
 repassed, to add a new world abounding in 
 wealth to the Spanish monarchy; and if an in 
 firm and premature old age, brought on by these 
 services, deserve these chains, it is fit then that 
 I should wear them to Spain, and keep them by 
 me as memorials to the end of my life." 
 
 Columbus forgave all injuries, but he could 
 not forget. He carried these irons about with 
 him during the rest of his life, and hung them 
 above his death-bed, requesting that they might 
 be buried with him. 
 
 Reaching Spain in the early part of 1501, 
 the tidings of his arrival quickly spread through 
 Spain. The discoverer of the new world was 
 a manacled prisoner ! Forthwith a cry of anger 
 was shouted through Cadiz, caught up at Seville, 
 and pealed from every city in the kingdom. He 
 was already an old man ; his hair was white, his 
 
160 LIFE OF 
 
 Is acquitted without inquiry. A.D. 1501. 
 
 tall figure bent, his eye had dimmed, his face was 
 furrowed with the cares of such a weary life. 
 Storms and dangers, fatigues and privations, 
 had shaken his frame, and his countenance was 
 shaded by a deep cast of sorrow. He, whose 
 abasement would not have been regarded with 
 anger, was looked upon as a martyr now that 
 he was persecuted. He wrote to the sovereigns. 
 Isabella read his letter, and he was at once set 
 free the court not waiting to receive the report 
 of Bobadilla. As in punishing they had not 
 inquired into his conduct, so in acquitting him 
 they forebore all inquisition. He appeared be 
 fore them on the 17th of December, attended 
 by an honourable pageant, and the violence of 
 his feelings, when introduced to the queen, 
 broke forth in a profusion of tears. All pos 
 sible means were resorted to to soothe him. 
 Bobadilla s accusations were disregarded, for the 
 mere sight of this great man threw denial in 
 the face of calumny. 
 
 Since the year 1495, numerous expeditions 
 had been fitted out by rival nations, and Spain 
 also had sent forth other of her sons to prose 
 cute the great adventure which the Genoese 
 navigator had begun. Meanwhile, at San Do 
 mingo, Bobadilla was urging the settlement to 
 confusion. His policy was consistent. He con- 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 161 
 
 A D. J502. Bobadilla superseded. 
 
 fiscated to his own use much of the admiral s 
 property; endeavoured to gain over the people 
 by permitting an unbounded licence, and, by 
 ruining the revenue, nearly ruined the colony 
 also, until he was recalled and replaced by a 
 more competent man Nicholas de Ovando, 
 more courteous and more able than his prede 
 cessor, but not less deficient in generosity and 
 justice. He was sent out with instructions to 
 root up the grievances which had sprung up 
 under Bobadilla s capricious rule; to enforce 
 restitution for Columbus and his brothers ; and 
 to carry to Espaniola a number of industrious 
 men, to take the place of the most dissolute, 
 who were to be returned to the mother-country. 
 With a fleet of thirty sail, Ovando put to sea 
 on the 13th of February 1502. When it had 
 not yet proceeded many leagues, a great storm 
 came on ; all merchandize was cast from the 
 decks, that the vessels might be lightened, and 
 one ship, with a hundred and twenty souls on 
 board, went down, with all her crew. The 
 shores were covered with articles thus lost, and 
 so great was the sorrow of the queen and king, at 
 what they supposed to be the destruction of their 
 whole expedition, that they shut themselves up 
 for eight days, in the strictest seclusion. Ovando^s 
 fleet reached its destination on the 1 5th of April. 
 
162 LIFE OF 
 
 Preparations for a fourth voyage. A.D. 1302. 
 
 Columbus remained in Grenada for nine 
 months, engaged in rebuilding his wrecked 
 affairs. He had opened a road to glory, con 
 quest, and wealth, and saw others thronging 
 through it, whilst he remained behind because 
 he was not a noble, because he had no family 
 influence, and little gold to supply its place. 
 Smiles and promises were showered on him. If 
 they had been of any worth, he was a wealthy 
 man ; but these in courts are plentiful, in lieu 
 of substantial assistance. Like spurious bank 
 paper, they deceive, until they are presented 
 and uncourteously returned. 
 
 To excite the crown to an enterprise to re 
 cover the holy sepulchre was now the object of 
 Columbus. It had been his favourite dream, 
 and his unfulfilled vow was ever present to his 
 memory. But the discovery of the passage to 
 India, by way of the Cape of Good Hope, 
 awakened his predominant, but now drowsy 
 passion for adventure, and he conceived the idea 
 of a new and more daring voyage. Persuaded 
 that somewhere between the coast of Cuba 
 which he still believed to be a continent and 
 the shores to the west of Paria, must lie the 
 easy route to the East, he proposed to solve the 
 problem to open a new channel for the dia 
 monds and other costly gems ; the gold, silver, 
 antimony, and pearls ; the porcelain, the silken 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 163 
 
 A.D. 1502. The expedition starts. Voyage to Espaniola. 
 
 and woollen fabrics, the precious odoriferous 
 woods, the camphor, the spices, and the drugs 
 of India. His proposition was listened to, and 
 towards the end of 1501, he went to Seville to 
 prepare his fleet. On the 9th of May 1502, his 
 fourth and last voyage of discovery commenced. 
 Four small caravels sailed from Cadiz a little 
 squadron, but directed by a great and soaring 
 mind. He was, according to his own calcula 
 tion, fifty-five years old (according to An- 
 drez Bernaldez, sixty-seven), with a somewhat 
 broken constitution, and feelings galled by 
 continual struggling against an adverse for 
 tune. No man was ever more successful as re 
 garded his enterprises ; no man was ever more 
 unsuccessful as regarded himself. Bartholomew 
 his brother, and Diego his son, were his com 
 panions. Steering to Ercilla, on the Morocco 
 coast, thence to the Grand Canary, thence to 
 the Carribee archipelago, and thence, contrary 
 to the king s orders, to Espaniola, he arrived 
 off San Domingo just as the fleet, wherein 
 Bobadilla was embarked in charge of a great 
 treasure, was about to sail. On board one of 
 the ships was a solid mass of virgin gold picked 
 up in a brook by a woman which was said to 
 weigh three thousand six hundred castellanos. 
 
 From various indications, Columbus knew 
 that a tempest was approaching. He wrote to 
 
164 LIFE OF 
 
 The tempest, "Wreck of a homeward-bound fleet. A.D. 1502. 
 
 Ovando, demanding leave to enter the port, and 
 warning him to delay the sailing of the fleet. 
 The governor was deaf to the request and the 
 caution. He disdained the advice, and forbade 
 Columbus to shelter his squadron in the harbour 
 of an island that might almost be called his own. 
 The only resource was to draw up the vessels 
 as close to the shore as possible, and await the 
 hurricane. It broke with irresistible fury; but 
 the admiral s squadron rode it safely through, 
 and, at the end of several days, tossed gently on 
 the subsiding waters of a sheltered bay. The 
 homeward-bound fleet, however, put to sea, and 
 was overtaken and scattered by the storm. Six 
 teen vessels foundered. The rest were driven 
 back, in a shattered condition, to San Domingo. 
 Only one and that contained the remnant of the 
 admiral s treasure reached Spain. Bobadilla, 
 Roldan, and Guarionex, the rebel chief of the 
 Vega, perished. 
 
 The four caravels, commanded by the navi 
 gator, then refitted at Point Hermoso, and 
 proceeded on their voyage. Columbus dis 
 covered many small islands near Jamaica, and 
 then sailed along the coast of Honduras, de 
 claring the whole region to be a dependency of 
 Spain. Thence, encountering many storms, 
 they rounded the Cape of Gracias a Dios, or 
 Thanks to God, and steered into a portion of the 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 165 
 
 A.D. 1502. Columbus steers along the Mosquito coast. 
 
 sea swept by. easy and favourable gales. They 
 were now off the Mosquito shore, and here, on 
 the 16th of September, a melancholy accident 
 occurred. A boat, attempting to enter the 
 mouth of a river, was swallowed up amid the 
 contest of the waves and the current, whereby 
 many lives were lost. Naming it the Rio del 
 Deserte, they proceeded along the coast, and 
 reached the fertile isle of Huerta, where the 
 inhabitants offered them many presents. Colum 
 bus refused these, saying that it was his practice 
 to barter, and to receive no gifts. Apparently 
 coinciding, the natives brought great stores of 
 provisions and curiosities, exchanging them for 
 toys and trinkets; but the Europeans found 
 every article tied up and left on the beach. 
 
 The people of Cariari the Indian name of 
 Huerta were a singular race, whose strange 
 manners impressed even the philosophical mind 
 of Columbus with the idea that they were 
 dealers in forbidden mysteries. It was there 
 fore with pleasure that he left the island, and 
 sailed along Costo Rica, which they explored in 
 the early part of October. They discovered 
 here an immense bay, sprinkled with a multitude 
 of isles, verdant and fragrant as those of the 
 utmost East. Pure gold was found in them, 
 and all along the coasts of Veragua, the precious 
 
661 LIFE OF 
 
 Traffic for gold. Hostile demonstrations. A.D. 150:2. 
 
 metal was obtained in plates and eagle-shaped 
 masses, which the natives gladly exchanged for 
 hawks bells, toys, and trinkets of the most 
 trifling value. Towns of considerable size were 
 seen. Every league brought in view the rnouth 
 of some river, some bay, some village, or some 
 island which no voyager had ever yet seen. The 
 population was dense, and the manners of the 
 Indians were gentle and not wholly without 
 refinement. Observing the great thirst for gold 
 displayed by the Spaniards, they shewed the 
 towns where the plates were wrought, and col 
 lected large quantities for barter. 
 
 Occasionally, hostilities were threatened. The 
 natives, alarmed at the strange armament which 
 appeared on their coast, gathered in vast multi 
 tudes, to the sound of their drums and trumpet- 
 shells, with clubs and spears and wooden swords, 
 to oppose the foe. With them, as in ancient 
 Home, stranger meant enemy ; but the flash of 
 a single cannon was sufficient to scatter the 
 naked host. The belief that the Spaniards were 
 children of heaven was then confirmed, and the 
 savages regarded with timidity those wonderful 
 warriors of the sea, who seemed to wield the 
 thunders and lightnings of the firmament. 
 
 The admiral, whose mind was full of the wild 
 and vague accounts left by ancient travellers, 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 167 
 
 A.D. 1502. The admiral s happy error. Discovers Puerto Bello. 
 
 grasped still more firmly the belief of which 
 everything he saw appeared a confirmation 
 that this was the coast of the teeming Indian 
 continent. It is remarkable with what ease the 
 mind will support a dear delusion, by evidence 
 which, if rightly interpreted, would destroy it. 
 But this error was fruitful in important results. 
 It led Columbus on. He discovered a new con 
 tinent whilst seeking the road to an old one. 
 On the 2nd of November the squadron rode in 
 the magnificent harbour of Puerto Bello, whose 
 lovely shores, covered with fruit trees, palm 
 groves, and fields of maize, were thickly dotted 
 with the habitations of man. 
 
 This place still bears the name that Columbus 
 gave it a name suggested by the beauty of the 
 landscape that framed the magnificent haven. 
 Orchards planted by nature with trees of deli 
 cious fruit, and flowers of various tint and fra 
 grance, covered the shores, and crops of prolific 
 Indian corn alternated with these delightful 
 groves and gardens. 
 
 Thence the navigator steered eastward, touch 
 ing at various points of the coast, and giving 
 names to each division of the region, from the 
 circumstances of time or place. One harbour, 
 where his company was amply refreshed, he 
 called the Port of Provisions ; one coast, where 
 
168 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 
 
 Conduct of the Europeans. A.D. 1502. 
 
 vexing winds were prevalent, he christened the 
 Coast of Contradiction; another little haven, 
 walled in with rocks, he designated The Cabinet. 
 At most of these places some intercourse was 
 carried on with the people. It was generally 
 pacific, but sometimes warlike. Europeans and 
 Indians quarrelled and mutually shed blood, 
 the latter roused to hostility by the licentious 
 insolence of the strangers. The flash of a few 
 guns usually drove the savages howling into 
 forests, and the white men retained the emi 
 nence they might have secured by gentler 
 means. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A.D. 1503 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ?HE VOYAGERS WEARY OP THE EXPEDITION THEY RETURN 
 
 TOWARDS VERAGTJA BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY ABUNDANCE 
 OF GOLD EXCURSIONS ON SHORE PLAN OF A SETTLE 
 MENT ERECTION OF BUILDINGS CONSPIRACY OF A 
 
 CHIEF ITS DEFEAT BY STRATAGEM CATASTROPHE ON 
 THE RIVER MASSACRE OF A BOAT S CREW THE 
 
 SPANIARDS ATTACKED INDIANS IN THE WOOD THE 
 
 SPANIARDS RETREAT TO THE BEACH FORTIFICATION 
 
 COLUMBUS AT SEA SUICIDE OF THE PRISONERS THE 
 
 ADMIRAL S DREAM THE SPANIARDS BROUGHT OFF ON A 
 
 RAFT TWO SHIPS ABANDONED WEARISOME VOYAGE 
 
 REACHES JAMAICA THE VESSELS RUN AGROUND AND 
 
 ROOFED ARRANGEMENT WITH THE INDIANS CANOE 
 
 VOYAGE TO ESPANIOLA ADVENTURES OF DIEGO MENDEZ 
 
 REBELLION OF PORRAS HIS CRIMES INDIANS REFUSE 
 
 PROVISIONS THE ECLIPSE. 
 
LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 171 
 
 A.O. 1502. The voyagers weary of the expedition. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 ITT arpuyerov dfpKtaKf.ro, oa/cpva 
 
 HOMEE. 
 
 THE enterprise of Columbus was still ardent 
 when that of his fellow-voyagers grew cold, 
 and the murmurings of discontent prevailed 
 against the fervour of his own enthusiasm : he 
 was compelled, about the end of November, to 
 turn his prow about, and sail in the van of the 
 squadron towards the Veragua coast. A wild 
 hurricane and a thunder-storm, terrible as it 
 only is in the tropics, tossed them to and fro for 
 nine days, when the apparition of vast water 
 spouts was a new source of marvel and alarm. 
 But Providence steered them to a port, where, 
 for three days, they lay beyond reach of the 
 tempest. Here they saw many native dwellings 
 perched amid the branches of trees, as is still 
 the custom in some of the Indian islands. 
 Arriving at the mouth of the river Veragua, 
 in the province of the same name, Bartholomew 
 was sent on shore to explore the district. Every- 
 
172 LIFE OF 
 
 Beautiful country. Abundance of gold. 
 
 where delicious landscapes opened to his view. 
 The route lay through a paradise of beauty and 
 plenty, where every man seemed rich in that 
 metal which was so dear to the Spanish heart. 
 Collecting a great quantity of it, the adeltando 
 returned to his brother with glowing accounts, 
 and these costly specimens. It was determined 
 to found a settlement on the river Belen, near 
 the Veragua. Columbus believed that from this 
 favoured province Solomon drew his wealth of 
 gold, for the soil seemed everywhere auriferous, 
 and every river appeared a new Pactolus, whose 
 glittering sands rolled down the riches of the 
 distant mountain mines. 
 
 Eighty men were selected to form the germ of 
 the colony. The erection of dwellings was com 
 menced on a little hill, belted by dreary woods, 
 and situated at the mouth of the river. An ample 
 magazine of arms, provisions, ammunition, and 
 stores was prepared, and every exertion which 
 their scanty means allowed was made to secure 
 their safety and subsistence. Columbus had 
 anchored within the bar of the stream, and 
 when he attempted to regain the sea, found the 
 water so much fallen that there was nothing to 
 depend on but patience. The cacique of Vera 
 gua, who had from the first viewed with jealousy 
 the visits of the white men, resolved to profit 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 173 
 
 A.D. 15C3. Conspiracy of a chief. Its defeat by stratagem. 
 
 by this circumstance, and a conspiracy was 
 formed to drive the foreigners altogether from 
 the land; but the plan, concerted with craft, 
 was met with equal cunning, and the chief 
 found himself a prisoner in Bartholomew s boat, 
 and rapidly proceeding down the river. Although 
 bound to one of the thwarts, he continued to 
 loosen the cord, and plunging suddenly into the 
 water, contrived to escape, in spite of a swift 
 pursuit. 
 
 The adeltando, who had, when the conspiracy 
 was discovered, boldly ventured into the interior 
 in search of the Indian camp, and there sur 
 prised the cacique in his dwelling, was thus 
 compelled to be content with the massive golden 
 ornaments which were the spoils of the place. 
 Two magnificent coronets were found, and of 
 these Bartholomew received one as the reward 
 of his achievement. The cacique, however, 
 was not daunted by his perils. The settlement 
 soon suffered from his anger, which was unmiti 
 gated, for his wives and children were on board 
 the vessels now standing out to sea. I have 
 described the dwellings of the Spaniards as 
 standing on an elevated spot girdled by the 
 forests. Through these the Indians came with 
 stealthy tread, and suddenly hurling a shower 
 of spears, burst from concealment with the 
 
174 LIFE OF 
 
 Catastrophe on the river. Massacre of a boat s crew. A.D. 1503. 
 
 hereditary war-whoop of their race. Several 
 of the Europeans and the adeltando among 
 them were wounded; but the enemy was 
 quickly repulsed. A blood -hound let loose upon 
 them completed the rout. 
 
 Meanwhile a boat, which had been dispatched 
 from the ships, was proceeding up the river in 
 search of good water. Suddenly countless small 
 canoes, filled with armed savages, swarmed 
 around it, in a spot between high shadowy 
 banks. The shrill blasts of the conch, the storm 
 of missiles, the yells and numbers of the as 
 sailants, struck the boat s crew with a panic, 
 and twelve of them were massacred. Only one 
 escaped, who leaped overboard, and, diving, 
 reached the shore, bearing the cheerless tidings 
 to the settlement. 
 
 Far around, in the forest, the roll of the war- 
 drum and the shouts of gathered multitudes 
 every moment becoming louder and more fierce, 
 told that the Indians were collecting from all 
 parts to share in the destruction of the colony. 
 The dark woods, which now swarmed with 
 savages, concealed them from sight and screened 
 them from attack. The village was no longer 
 tenable. Abandoning it therefore, Bartholomew 
 guided his followers to a spot near the sea, where 
 with a boat, some casks, and chests, a barricade 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 175 
 
 A.D. 150;}. Columbus at sea. Suicide of the prisoners. 
 
 was raised, defended by two guns, and here the 
 Spaniards resolved to make a last stand for life. 
 With their firearms they succeeded in keeping 
 the savages at bay ; but perils thickened round 
 them, and the corpses of the boat s crew now 
 floated over the bar, and added to the terrors of 
 their position. 
 
 On board the vessels now far out at sea 
 no better state of affairs prevailed. The pri 
 soners having made a desperate effort to escape, 
 were for the most part recaptured, and confined 
 closely in the forecastle for the remaining hours 
 of the night. Determined to die if freedom was 
 denied them, they one and all committed self- 
 slaughter. Some were found hanging, with 
 their feet drawn up, because the room was so 
 low-roofed ; others had strangled themselves 
 with ropes fastened to the boarding. This was 
 a melancholy disaster, and the admiral s distress 
 was increased by his fear for the fate of the 
 boat s crew which had gone in search of water, 
 A high raging surf seemed to forbid communi 
 cation with the land; but a bold pilot braved 
 the danger, swam through the white boiling 
 foam, learned the perilous situation of the people 
 on the beach, and came off to the ships with 
 the melancholy news. To abandon the settle 
 ment altogether, to leave it to certain desolation, 
 
176 LIFE OF 
 
 The Spaniards brought off on a raft. Two ships abandoned. A.D. 1503. 
 
 or to remain with all his force for its protection 
 were the courses open. To the first he was 
 grievously averse; the second he could not 
 dream of; but the third would shut him out for 
 ever from the civilized world. Days of suspense 
 were passed, and Columbus, on a bed of sick 
 ness, almost gave way to despair. He declares 
 that at this time a vision appeared to him, com 
 manding that he should hope, and trust in the 
 providence of God. His vigorous mind was 
 buoyed up by this creation of his imagination, 
 and he resolved to prosecute the project when 
 fortune should favour his design. But stormy 
 weather for some days prevented all intercourse 
 with the shore. No boats remained. All had 
 been either staved, swamped, or lost, so that 
 when at length the sea sank into a calm, it was 
 necessary to prepare a great raft. After two 
 days incessant labour, the stores were brought 
 on board, and the eighty Spaniards embarked. 
 One caravel had stranded, and its dismantled 
 hull remained on shore, a memento of the white 
 man s visit. 
 
 Another of the ships was abandoned at Puerto 
 Bello. Two crazy, leaky caravels, therefore, 
 contained the crews now sadly diminished 
 of the four vessels which had sailed with Co 
 lumbus on his fourth and last expedition of 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 177 
 
 A.D. 1503. Reaches Jamaica. The vessels run aground and roofed. 
 
 discovery. Scarcity, incessant disappointment, 
 weariness, and grief, made that voyage no happy 
 one. It was with the utmost labour, and at the 
 most imminent and constant peril, that they 
 steered over the tract of stormy sea that lay 
 between them and their earlier discoveries. 
 At length, having vainly endeavoured to reach 
 San Domingo, the admiral was compelled to 
 put into Puerto Bueno, in Jamaica. The 
 caravels were so riddled with holes, that, had 
 they been far out on the ocean, they must have 
 foundered; as it was, they were run aground 
 to prevent them settling down in the harbour. 
 Those stout sea-castles, therefore, which had 
 been driven by so many storms and waves, were 
 laid alongside in shallow water, and covered 
 with thatched roofs. The guns were disposed 
 with a view to defence, and thus the discoverer 
 of the New World was a prisoner of fortune in 
 the waters of Puerto Bueno. 
 
 Arrangements, of an equitable nature, were 
 made with the Jamaica Indians, who engaged 
 to supply the strangers with provisions, which 
 were to be paid for with articles of European 
 manufacture. Columbus pursued his accus 
 tomed policy of kindness and conciliation. In 
 deed, had all his fellow-voyagers, in all their 
 enterprises, resembled him, fewer pages in the 
 
178 LIFE OF 
 
 Canoe voyage to Espaniola. A.D. 1503. 
 
 early history of the western world would have 
 been polluted with stains of innocent blood. 
 But the prospect of remaining for ever in this 
 desolate place was cheerless in itself, and to the 
 last degree unwelcome to Columbus, who had 
 already projected many new voyages and a long 
 career of discovery. But how to communicate 
 with Espaniola? No barque, save a light canoe, 
 was at their disposal. And who would peril his 
 life in the voyage? Calling aside one of his 
 companions, Diego Mendez, the admiral asked 
 his opinion. Diego replied that the plan was 
 one of immense danger, and that he knew of no 
 one who would undertake the enterprise. Co 
 lumbus was silent, but bent a significant look 
 upon the other s face. Mendez then said, that it 
 had passed into a proverb among the crews that 
 he was chosen for every adventure of honour. 
 It would be well, therefore, to summon all the 
 people, propose the canoe voyage, " and if all 
 decline it, I will then come forward, and risk my 
 life in your service, as I many times have done." 
 All shrank from the enterprise, and Mendez, 
 who had purchased a canoe, furnished it with 
 a false keel, strengthened it with boards, payed 
 it with tar, set up a mast and sail, provided it 
 with provisions, and, with one Spaniard and 
 six Indians, entered on this strange voyage. 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 179 
 
 A.D. 1503. Adventures of Diego Mendez. Rebellion of Porras. 
 
 Landing at the extremity of the island, they 
 were seized by a great number of savages, who 
 carried them away to a distance, but quarreling 
 about the spoils, gave Diego an opportunity to 
 escape. The fate of his companions was never 
 known. Alone in the canoe, he traversed the 
 hundred miles of sea, and reached Puerto 
 Bueno, offering at once to renew his attempt, 
 provided a strong party would accompany him 
 to the shore at the extremity of Jamaica, to 
 protect his final departure. This was agreed 
 to, and Diego Mendez was, in the course of a 
 short time, paddling out to sea, in the direction 
 of San Domingo. 
 
 The community in the stranded hulks, having 
 waited long for the return of the canoe, betook 
 themselves to despondence and discontent, as 
 though relief were to be drawn from such 
 sources. Two brothers, Francisco and Diego 
 Porras, fanned the flame of mutiny, inducing 
 numbers to desert and accompany them in a 
 piratical cruize along the shore. The atrocities 
 they committed on the coast-dwellers, and the 
 Indians who accompanied them, almost forbid 
 belief. Columbus, weakened by fatigue, and 
 bowed by sorrow as he was, maintained order 
 in the ships, whilst the elder Porras and his 
 companions revelled in the luxury of debauch 
 
180 LIFE OF 
 
 Indians refuse provisions. A.U. 1503. 
 
 and rapine. But the natives, learning by fami 
 liarity to despise those strangers, whom once 
 they thought divine, and to disregard the trinkets 
 which they formerly prized as priceless trea 
 sures, grew weary of supplying provisions. 
 They became exasperated, and the admiral 
 feared that his worst misfortune was to come. 
 
 But nature seemed to lend itself to him, or 
 rather he seemed to borrow the weapons of in 
 finite power, to accomplish his designs. To 
 restore the impression of awe which the first 
 sight of those ships had created, it was neces 
 sary to devise some scheme. The natives were 
 shrewd enough to perceive the helpless condi 
 tion of the Spaniards, and, animated by what 
 appears the natural perversion of human nature, 
 took advantage of it. 
 
 Suddenly, Columbus, fertile in expedients, 
 summoned together the people and their chiefs. 
 He foresaw a visible eclipse of the moon, 
 and resolved to profit by the event. When 
 the concourse was assembled, he upbraided 
 them with their inhumanity, threatened the 
 vengeance of God on them, and predicted 
 that that very night the moon would first 
 appear of a bloody hue and then altogether 
 lose its light. By some the prophecy was re 
 garded, by many it was ridiculed. But when 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 181 
 
 A.D. 1503. 
 
 its accomplishment came, fear spread among 
 the people. The blackening heavens seemed 
 to bode a worse and more terrible phenomenon. 
 The caciques thronging to the caravels, implored 
 Columbus to turn away the evil, and forgive 
 the sins of which they believed they were now 
 about to pay the penalty. He promised to in 
 tercede with God, and retiring to his cabin, 
 remained there until the darkness began to melt 
 away ; then he issued from his seclusion, and 
 promised that the calamities should be averted, 
 if they would continue to supply the strangers 
 with food. The howling savages were over 
 whelmed with joy, and piled provisions before 
 the gracious admiral. 
 
 Meanwhile Porras and the other mutineers 
 were carrying on their cowardly depredations 
 against the people, whom they plundered and 
 insulted with all the insolence of superior power, 
 whenever their own strength was sufficient to 
 the task. Otherwise they cringed humbly to 
 the savages, and sought to gain their favour by 
 exciting their hatred against Columbus. He 
 had come, they said, to make himself king of 
 the Caribee Islands, where he would reign as a 
 ruthless tyrant, until all the native races were 
 enslaved under his authority. Already were 
 many of those beautiful regions, it was declared, 
 
182 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 
 
 Savage massacre of the Indians. A.D. 1503. 
 
 marked with a broad track by his destroying 
 hand, and if he mildly sought to gain influence 
 here, it was gently to bridle the tribes, whom 
 he would afterwards persecute with the bitterest 
 rigour. 
 
 Such was the malignity of Porras and his 
 companions. Some of their crimes were of still 
 greater magnitude. Fearing the admiral, and 
 tempted by the smoothness of the sea, they one 
 day embarked in canoes, intending to pass over 
 to a neighbouring island ; but, when they were 
 yet not twelve miles from land, a great storm 
 arose, and the Spaniards, fearing for their lives, 
 compelled their Indian companions to leap into 
 the water, and swim. The distance was too 
 great, and the exhausted wretches occasionally 
 clung to the canoes for aid, thus endangering their 
 balance. To secure their own safety, the white 
 men cut off the hands of the poor savages, and 
 stabbed or drowned eighteen of them, as they 
 followed the flotilla, vainly supplicating for 
 mercy. 
 
CHAPTEK XIII. 
 
 A.D. 1503 to A.D. 1796. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 EIGHT MONTHS PASS A SAIL APPEARS ATTACK ON THE 
 
 MUTINEERS CAPTURE OF PORRAS TWO VESSELS IN 
 
 SIGHT RELIEF ! OVANDO s POLICY HIS ATROCITIES 
 
 FATE OF THE PRINCESS ANACAONDA COLUMBUS LEAVES 
 
 PUERTO BUENO REACHES SAN DOMINGO HIS RECEP 
 TION HE SAILS FOR SPAIN VOYAGE TO EUROPE LAST 
 AND GREATEST PERILS CONDUCT OF THE KING DISAP 
 POINTMENT INGRATITUDE OF THE COURT SOLICITA 
 TION FOR JUSTICE KING PHILIP AND QUEEN JUANA 
 
 COLTTMBUS S LAST CODICIL TO HIS WILL HIS DEATH-BED 
 
 HIS GRIEFS HIS ASHES WANDERINGS AFTER DEATH 
 FINALLY BURIED IN CUBA MONUMENT TO HIS MEMORY 
 HIS CHARACTER. 
 
LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 185 
 
 A.D. 1503. Eight months pass. A sail appears. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 li And where he trod those bare and savage lands, 
 A mighty fabric, reared by freedom, stands." 
 
 ANONYMOUS, 
 
 " In that erewhile vast wilderness, 
 Remote from tyrants, wrong, and sore distress, 
 Where man may breathe, may live free life, nor see 
 How treacherous power, how barbarous kings, may be." 
 
 THOMAS ROSCOE. 
 
 HOPE itself sickened, as eight months passed 
 away without tidings from San Domingo. 
 Patience grew weary of waiting. At length, 
 when a new mutiny was about to break out, a 
 sail was descried, looming over the watery hori 
 zon. It did not approach near ; but sent a boat 
 into the harbour with a flitch of bacon, a barrel 
 of wine, and a letter of empty compliments from 
 Ovando. These were brought by Escobar 
 one who was under sentence of death when 
 Bobadilla opened the prison gates. This man 
 triumphed in his insulting mission, put the pro 
 visions on board, and retiring from the motion 
 less vessels, conversed with Columbus from a 
 distance, received a letter soliciting help, and 
 returned to the ship. The sails were soon lost 
 to sight, and the great discoverer was once more 
 
186 LIFE OF 
 
 Attack on the mutineers. Capture of Porras. Relief! A.D. 1503. 
 
 desolate almost hopeless. But his indomitable 
 mind refused to yield even before this new ac 
 cession of calamity. 
 
 Porras and his fellow-mutineers, being one 
 day quartered at an Indian village in the neigh 
 bourhood of the harbour, were visited by two 
 ambassadors from Columbus, with offers of re 
 conciliation and pardon. The adeltando followed 
 at a distance with fifty men, well armed, and 
 inflamed against this band of turbulent wretches 
 who stirred up the ill-will of the natives. Will 
 ing, however, to shew mercy, he sent forward 
 the envoys on their errand of peace ; but the 
 rebels replied with defiant insults, drew up in 
 order of battle, and charged, sword in hand, 
 upon the advancing troop. Many were cut 
 down, more were captured. Bartholomew him 
 self slew several. A short but bloody struggle 
 took place. The revolted party was defeated 
 and humbled, while Porras was taken prisoner 
 and placed in confinement. 
 
 The mutiny was thus suppressed ; but, doubt 
 less, others would have succeeded it, had not 
 the closing of that year of captivity brought 
 with it the joyful sight of two approaching sails. 
 Diego Mendez, after a voyage of toil and peril 
 by sea and an adventurous journey by land, 
 reached San Domingo, caused a ship to be fitted 
 out at the admiral s expense, and prepared to 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 187 
 
 A.I>. 1504. Ovando s policy. Fate of the Princess Anacaonda. 
 
 proceed to his deliverance. Ovando then, shamed 
 into exertion, furnished and equipped another 
 vessel, to be sent on this errand of humanity. 
 
 The source of his unmanly neglect lies bare 
 to the view. He enjoyed his post of governor; 
 he loved the sweets of power, and was loth to 
 relinquish a position at once of consequence 
 and profit. The natives, however, chafed under 
 his yoke, and their turbulent discontent was a 
 proof of his maladministration, since the exist 
 ence of dissatisfaction among large masses of the 
 people is the sure evidence of misrule, though the 
 quiet apathy of the multitude is not, vice versa, 
 a proof of honest government. Among the 
 other acts of Ovando was the hanging of Ana 
 caonda, the beautiful princess of Xaraguay, 
 with the cruel execution of several chiefs who 
 took part in those bloody and continual intestine 
 wars which were the fruits of Ovando s adminis 
 tration. But the weal of the subject is seldom 
 consistent with the will of the despotic ruler. 
 The settlers and the natives both were injured 
 by the policy of this governor, whose absolute 
 sway was, however, of brief duration. When 
 the account of his atrocities reached Spain, 
 Isabella then on her death-bed elicited a 
 promise from her husband that he would recall 
 Ovando, which he did after an interval of four 
 
188 LIFE OF 
 
 Columbus leaves Porto Bueno. He sails for Spain. A.D. 1504. 
 
 years. The king was eight-and-forty months 
 in collecting courage to keep his vow. 
 
 Columbus left Puerto Bueno on the 28th of 
 June, and on the 13th of August reached San 
 Domingo. Ovando was troubled for the conse 
 quences of his conduct. Receiving the admiral 
 with all conceivable courtesy, inviting him to 
 lodge in his house, and treating him honourably 
 as a guest, he endeavoured thus to efface the 
 recollection of his past brutality. The magna 
 nimous navigator suppressed all resentment, 
 kindly received the governor s attentions, and 
 made no strictures on his policy, until he set 
 Porras at liberty, and arrogated the supreme 
 authority to himself, refusing to concede even 
 a share of it to him to whom it belonged by all 
 the titles of justice. 
 
 Columbus then, on the 17th of September, 
 embarked for Spain; to leave for ever a ruined, 
 deserted man the vast region which forms his 
 monument, and which, so long as the earth shall 
 endure, will carry down the name of its dis 
 coverer, through the storms and tides of time, 
 through whatever revolutions may convulse the 
 world, through all ages, through centuries of 
 peace or war, until the confusion of created 
 things. Columbus has written his name on 
 every western shore, and even the unwrinkling 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 189 
 
 A. D. 1504. Voyage to Europe. Last and greatest perils. 
 
 sea, in every wave, is full of his memory. 
 Witnessing the departure of those gigantic 
 vessels, that periodically steam their certain way 
 over the three thousand miles of ocean, which 
 roll between these islands and that continent, 
 we are sometimes led to paint the contrast be 
 tween their confident conductors through the 
 now familiar waters of the west, and those little 
 barques, manned by Doubt and steered by daring 
 Adventure, that put forth, three centuries and a 
 half ago, to sail beyond the boundaries of the 
 known world, into a region all darkness and 
 mystery, to explore a waste of heaving billows, 
 that perhaps rolled upon the confines of creation. 
 His last voyage was full of peril. Seven 
 hundred leagues he sailed without a mainmast, 
 in a vessel which could scarcely hold together, 
 and at length reached Spain. He was now old. 
 The gout severely afflicted him. The queen, 
 his patroness, was in declining health, and the 
 king, withdrawing himself within the narrow T 
 circle of his own selfishness, refused to acknow 
 ledge the merit of the illustrious man who 
 crowned his reign with all its greatest glory. 
 When Bobadilla had replaced the admiral as 
 governor of Hispaniola, he took possession of 
 his house and his property: and the navigator 
 had endured losses which had never been re- 
 
190 LIFE OF 
 
 Disappointment. Ingratitude of the Court. A.D. 1504. 
 
 paired, grievances without redress, and insults 
 never wiped away ; and now, when he sought 
 restitution, mean excuses were employed to drive 
 him from the doors of justice. Ferdinand was 
 royal in his gratitude, and allowed the discoverer 
 of the New World to drag on the wretched 
 remnant of his years in hopeless and degrading 
 penury. He was a beggar when he entered on 
 his mission ; he was a beggar when he had ac 
 complished his triumph. The reader of Wash 
 ington Irving s beautiful work will find the 
 details of his miserable fortune far more fully 
 described than it is possible to describe them 
 here. I have rudely sketched the life of Co 
 lumbus; he has unrolled a panoramic view of 
 his career minutely and artistically painted. 
 "Little have I profited," says the navigator, 
 "by twenty years of service, with such toils 
 and perils, since at present I do not own a roof 
 in Spain. If I desire to eat or sleep, I have no 
 resort but an inn; and, for the most times, have 
 not wherewithal to pay the bill." Thus he was 
 left in want, and his seamen hardy companions 
 of his perils were inhumanly left in poverty, 
 cheated of the fruits of their long and laborious 
 service. 
 
 As long as Isabella lived, Columbus built his 
 hopes on her ; but she died, and the fabric fell. 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 191 
 
 A.D. 1504. Solicitation for justice. King Philip and Queen Juana. 
 
 Determined once more to appear at court, he 
 applied for permission to ride a mule, which the 
 king had interdicted, lest their general use 
 should depreciate the breed of horses ! This 
 privilege graciously granted, he went w^ith Fer 
 nando his second son, and entered Segovia 
 meekly mounted on the humble beast. 
 
 His solicitation was unceasing. He was not 
 avaricious, and only sought the just and honour 
 able reward, which is the ambition of every 
 honest man, and the right of every great public 
 servant. Lavish promises were the answers to 
 his petition. 
 
 King Philip and Queen Juana, the daughter 
 of Isabella, arrived just then from Flanders to 
 mount the throne of Castille. Bartholomew 
 went in the train of Ferdinand s court to meet 
 them. He hoped that they, at least, would 
 accord justice to his brother. But they lent no 
 ear to his petition, and Columbus, feeling that 
 the infirmities of age, the accumulated fatigues 
 of his life, and the consciousness of ungrate 
 ful treatment, were rapidly wearing away the 
 remnant of his strength, added a last codicil 
 to his will a document whereon his charitable, 
 generous, and provident character is legibly 
 impressed. He occupied some time in drawing 
 up papers of advice for his children. 
 
192 LIFE OF 
 
 Columbus s death-bed. His ashes. Finally buried in Cuba. A.D. 1796. 
 
 On the 20th of May 1506, he lay on his 
 death-bed. Sixty years of toil, the hardships 
 and privations of his voyages, the sorrows he 
 had endured, and the wrongs he had suffered, 
 had worn out this noble frame, and broken this 
 manly spirit. Crushed by the pressure of dis 
 appointment, Columbus died. Piety smoothed 
 his passage to the grave. "In manus tuas, 
 Domine, commendo spiritum meum", were the 
 words which preceded his last sigh. 
 
 The ashes of the dead were destined to be as 
 wandering as the career of living man. Buried 
 first in Valladolid, thence transported and in 
 terred with the remains of his son Diego, at 
 Seville ; thence carried to the chapel of the 
 cathedral in St. Domingo, they were finally laid 
 to rest in the cathedral of the Havannah, Cuba. 
 This last ceremony was enacted with infinite 
 pomp on the 15th of January 1796, when 
 Columbus had mouldered in his coffin for a 
 hundred and ninety years. Ferdinand, when he 
 had lost the greatest man in his kingdom, raised 
 a monument to his memory, with the laconic 
 inscription 
 
 " For Castilla y por Leon 
 Nuevo mondo hallo Colon." 
 
 "For Castille and for Leon, Columbus found 
 a new world"; "a record", says Washington 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 193 
 
 A.D. 1796. Columbus s character. 
 
 Irving, " of the greatest debt of gratitude due 
 to the discoverer, which the monarch had so 
 faithlessly neglected to discharge." 
 
 Of Christopher Columbus may be repeated 
 what was said of another who lived a beggar, 
 and was honoured after death with a marble 
 monument : He asked for bread, and the king 
 gave him a stone. Ferdinand thus recorded 
 the greatness of the discoverer, and at the same 
 time trophied his own baseness before mankind. 
 Such was the royal reward of a magnificent 
 achievement ; but it is, perhaps, vain to specu 
 late on the probable welcome of Columbus in 
 the first instance, and his treatment in the last, 
 had he applied to Spain for encouragement and 
 looked to Spain for reward. History, even when 
 most radiant, reveals only the dim outlines of 
 the past. We look upon the landscapes of de 
 parted time, not by a light like that of the sun, 
 but by the glare of a torch, that leaves vast 
 shadowy spaces unrevealed. Few can compre 
 hend the features of the present time, and still 
 more difficult is it to discern clearly, through 
 the dusky twilight of historical records, the 
 form and colour of the past. 
 
 Consequently, we can never certainly know 
 the temper and the condition of Spain at the 
 period when Columbus entered the country in 
 
194 LIFE OF 
 
 Columbus s character. A.D. 1796. 
 
 the course of his pilgrimage from court to court. 
 It could not have been more disheartening than 
 it was, and would, probably, have been better. 
 Had the nation possessed the power, he would, 
 in all likelihood, have inoculated them with the 
 inclination to pursue this noble enterprise. But 
 the despotic dominion of the court was wielded 
 only for the selfish purposes of ambition. King 
 and grandees were equally giddy on the eleva 
 tion of their authority. Power, like wine, is 
 an inebriating and inflammatory draught; but 
 as the whole vintage of the world could not in 
 toxicate its entire population, so power, justly 
 shared among the people, could never be wielded 
 to the detriment of the commonwealth, as by a 
 mad and drunken few. In Spain, however, the 
 honour of the country was at the foot of the 
 throne, and Ferdinand was barely dissuaded 
 not to spurn it from him, as the Portuguese 
 monarch had already done. 
 
 Boldness in the conception of an idea ; cou 
 rage in project ; soaring thought and energy in 
 action ; charity, piety, and humanity ; justice, 
 magnanimity, and unquailing bravery these 
 were some of the mental and moral qualities of 
 Christopher Columbus. He was grand in the 
 plan of his enterprises ; unwearied in their pro 
 secution. He was dignified in power, merciful 
 
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 195 
 
 A.D. 1796. Columbus s character. 
 
 in conquest, vigorous in conflict, benign to the 
 weak and poor, magnanimous in suffering, reli 
 gious and patient in distress. Grateful to those 
 who served, he bore no malice to those who 
 wronged him. Towards the king only who 
 treated him with an ingratitude so base was 
 he ever bitter in the utterance of a reproach ; 
 and if some of his actions in the New World 
 appear of equivocal humanity and equity, we 
 must not, in judging of them, apply the stan 
 dard of our own civilization to measure the 
 conduct of a conqueror in the fifteenth century. 
 
 Columbus would seem soon to have forgotten 
 his wife, and embarked on another stream, when 
 the channel of her affections was dried up by 
 death. This is a blemish on his nobility of 
 character ; but of this, as of every other equi 
 vocal action of his, we may say, things worse 
 by a thousand degrees have been perpetrated 
 and repeated by men whom the world has wor 
 shipped while they lived, and canonized as great 
 when they were dead. 
 
 Try the actions of Columbus by the test of 
 the times in which he lived, and it will be seen 
 that, so far from being a cruel, an avaricious, 
 or a mean-souled man, he was preeminent, 
 among a barbarous people, in barbarous times, 
 for his humane and generous character. 
 
196 LIFE OF CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 
 
 Columbus s character. A.D. 1796. 
 
 Show him among the countless heroes of the 
 world s idolatrous veneration, and he will appear 
 as snow to scarlet in the comparison. That he 
 ever did evil is a debateable point, while they, 
 for the greatest part, are famous for nothing so 
 much as for their crimes against God and man. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
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