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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/4110.txt b/4110.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5559c46 --- /dev/null +++ b/4110.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2127 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Christopher Columbus, Volume 3, by Filson Young + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Christopher Columbus, Volume 3 + And The New World Of His Discovery, A Narrative + +Author: Filson Young + +Release Date: December 5, 2004 [EBook #4110] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, VOLUME 3 *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS + + AND THE NEW WORLD OF HIS DISCOVERY + + A NARRATIVE BY FILSON YOUNG + + + Volume 3 + + + +THE NEW WORLD + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE ENCHANTED ISLANDS + +Columbus did not intend to remain long at San Salvador. His landfall +there, although it signified the realisation of one part of his dream, +was only the starting-point of his explorations in the New World. Now +that he had made good his undertaking to "discover new lands," he had to +make good his assurance that they were full of wealth and would swell the +revenues of the King and Queen of Spain. A brief survey of this first +island was all he could afford time for; and after the first exquisite +impression of the white beach, and the blue curve of the bay sparkling in +the sunshine, and the soft prismatic colours of the acanthus beneath the +green wall of the woods had been savoured and enjoyed, he was anxious to +push on to the rich lands of the Orient of which he believed this island +to be only an outpost. + +On the morning after his arrival the natives came crowding down to the +beach and got down their canoes, which were dug out of the trunk of a +single tree, and some of which were large enough to contain forty or +forty-five men: They came paddling out to the ship, sometimes, in the +case of the smaller canoes which only held one man, being upset by the +surf, and swimming gaily round and righting their canoes again and +bailing them out with gourds. They brought balls of spun cotton, and +parrots and spears. All their possessions, indeed, were represented in +the offerings they made to the strangers. Columbus, whose eye was now +very steadily fixed on the main chance, tried to find out if they had any +gold, for he noticed that some of them wore in their noses a ring that +looked as though it were made of that metal; and by making signs he asked +them if there was any more of it to be had. He understood them to say +that to the south of the island there dwelt a king who had large vessels +of gold, and a great many of them; he tried to suggest that some of the +natives should come and show him the way, but he "saw that they were not +interested in going." + +The story of the Rheingold was to be enacted over again, and the whole of +the evils that followed in its glittering train to be exemplified in this +voyage of discovery. To the natives of these islands, who guarded the +yellow metal and loved it merely for its shining beauty, it was harmless +and powerless; they could not buy anything with it, nor did they seek by +its aid to secure any other enjoyments but the happiness of looking at it +and admiring it. As soon as the gold was ravished from their keeping, +however, began the reign of lust and cruelty that always has attended and +always will attend the knowledge that things can be bought with it. In +all its history, since first it was brought up from the dark bowels of +the earth to glitter in the light of day, there is no more significant +scene than this that took place on the bright sands of San Salvador so +long ago--Columbus attentively examining the ring in the nose of a happy +savage, and trying to persuade him to show him the place that it was +brought from; and the savage "not interested in going." + + +From his sign-conversation with the natives Columbus understood that +there was land to the south or the south-west, and also to the +north-west, and that the people from the north-west went to the +south-west in search of gold and precious stones. In the meantime he +determined to spend the Sunday in making a survey of the island, while +the rest of Saturday was passed in barterings with the natives, who were +very happy and curious to see all the strange things belonging to the +voyagers; and so innocent were their ideas of value that "they give all +they have for whatever thing may be given them." Columbus, however, who +was busy making calculations, would not allow the members of the crew to +take anything more on their own account, ordering that where any article +of commerce existed in quantity it was to be acquired for the sovereigns +and taken home to Spain. + +Early on Sunday morning a boat was prepared from each ship, and a little +expedition began to row north about the island. As they coasted the +white rocky shores people came running to the beach and calling to them; +"giving thanks to God," says Columbus, although this is probably a flight +of fancy. When they saw that the boats were not coming to land they +threw themselves into the water and came swimming out to them, bringing +food and drink. Columbus noticed a tongue of land lying between the +north-west arm of the internal lagoon and the sea, and saw that by +cutting a canal through it entrance could be secured to a harbour that +would float "as many ships as there are in Christendom." He did not, +apparently, make a complete circuit of the island, but returned in the +afternoon to the ships, having first collected seven natives to take with +him, and got under way again; and before night had fallen San Salvador +had disappeared below the north-west horizon. + +About midday he reached another island to the southeast. He sailed along +the coast until evening, when he saw yet another island in the distance +to the south-west; and he therefore lay-to for the night. At dawn the +next morning he landed on the island and took formal possession of it, +naming it Santa Maria de la Concepcion, which is the Rum Cay of the +modern charts. As the wind chopped round and he found himself on a +lee-shore he did not stay there, but sailed again before night. Two +of the unhappy prisoners from Guanahani at this point made good their +escape by swimming to a large canoe which one of the natives of the new +island had rowed out--a circumstance which worried Columbus not a +little; since he feared it would give him a bad name with the natives. +He tried to counteract it by loading with presents another native who +came to barter balls of cotton, and sending him away again. + +The effect of all that he was seeing, of the bridge of islands that +seemed to be stretching towards the south-west and leading him to the +region of untold wealth, was evidently very stimulating and exciting to +Columbus. His Journal is almost incoherent where he attempts to set down +all he has got to say. Let us listen to him for a moment: + + "These islands are very green and fertile, and the breezes are very + soft, and there may be many things which I do not know, because I + did not wish to stop, in order to discover and search many islands + to find gold. And since these people make signs thus, that they + wear gold on their arms and legs,--and it is gold, because I showed + them some pieces which I have,--I cannot fail, with the aid of our + Lord, in finding it where it is native. And being in the middle of + the gulf between these two islands, that is to say, the island of + Santa Maria and this large one, which I named Fernandina, I found a + man alone in a canoe who was going from the island of Santa Maria to + Fernandina, and was carrying a little of his bread which might have + been about as large as the fist, and a gourd of water, and a piece + of reddish earth reduced to dust and afterwards kneaded, and some + dry leaves--[Tobacco]--which must be a thing very much appreciated + among them, because they had already brought me some of them as a + present at San Salvador: and he was carrying a small basket of their + kind, in which he had a string of small glass beads and two blancas, + by which I knew that he came from the island of San Salvador, and + had gone from there to Santa Maria and was going to Fernandina. He + came to the ship: I caused him to enter it, as he asked to do so, + and I had his canoe placed on the ship and had everything which he + was carrying guarded and I ordered that bread and honey be given him + to eat and something to drink. And I will go to Fernandina thus and + will give him everything, which belongs to him, that he may give + good reports of us. So that, when your Highnesses send here, our + Lord pleasing, those who come may receive honour and the Indians + will give them of everything which they have." + +This hurried gabbling about gold and the aid of our Lord, interlarded +with fragments of natural and geographical observation, sounds strangely +across the gulf of time and impresses one with a disagreeable sense of +bewildered greed--like that of a dog gulping at the delicacies in his +platter and unwilling to do justice to one for fear the others should +escape him; and yet it is a natural bewilderment, and one with which we +must do our best to sympathise. + +Fernandina was the name which Columbus had already given to Long Island +when he sighted it from Santa Maria; and he reached it in the evening of +Tuesday, October 16th. The man in the canoe had arrived before him; and +the astute Admiral had the satisfaction of finding that once more his +cleverness had been rewarded, and that the man in the canoe had given +such glowing accounts of his generosity that there was no difficulty +about his getting water and supplies. While the barrels of water were +being filled he landed and strolled about in the pleasant groves, +observing the islanders and their customs, and finding them on the whole +a little more sophisticated than those of San Salvador. The women wore +mantillas on their heads and "little pieces of cotton" round their +loins-a sufficiently odd costume; and they appeared to Columbus to be a +little more astute than the other islanders, for though they brought +cotton in quantities to the ships they exacted payment of beads for it. +In the charm and wonder of his walk in this enchanted land he was able +for a moment to forget his hunger for gold and to admire the great +branching palm-trees, and the fish that + + "are here so different from ours that it is wonderful. There are + some formed like cocks of the finest colours in the world, blue, + yellow, red and of all colours, and others tinted in a thousand + manners: and the colours are so fine, that there is not a man who + does not wonder at them, and who does not take great pleasure in + seeing them. Also, there are whales. I saw no beasts on land of + any kind except parrots and lizards. A boy told me that he saw a + large snake. I did not see sheep nor goats, nor any other beast; + although I have been here a very short time, as it is midday, still + if there had been any, I could not have missed seeing some." + +Columbus was not a very good descriptive writer, and he has but two +methods of comparison; either a thing is like Spain, or it is not like +Spain. The verdure was "in such condition as it is in the month of May +in Andalusia; and the trees were all as different from ours as day from +night, and also the fruits and grasses and the stones and all the +things." The essay written by a cockney child after a day at the seaside +or in the country, is not greatly different from some of the verbatim +passages of this journal; and there is a charm in that fact too, for it +gives us a picture of Columbus, in spite of his hunt for gold and +precious stones, wandering, still a child at heart, in the wonders of the +enchanted world to which he had come. + +There was trouble on this day, because some of the crew had found an +Indian with a piece of gold in his nose, and they got a scolding from +Columbus for not detaining him and bartering with him for it. There was +bad weather also, with heavy rain and a threatening of tempest; there was +a difference of opinion with Martin Alonso Pinzon about which way they +should go round the island: but the next day the weather cleared, and the +wind settled the direction of their course for them. Columbus, whose eye +never missed anything of interest to the sailor and navigator, notes thus +early a fact which appears in every book of sailing directions for the +Bahama Islands--that the water is so clear and limpid that the bottom can +be seen at a great depth; and that navigation is thus possible and even +safe among the rockstrewn coasts of the islands, when thus performed by +sight and with the sun behind the ship. He was also keenly alive to +natural charm and beauty in the new lands that he was visiting, and there +are unmistakable fragments of himself in the journal that speak +eloquently of his first impressions. "The singing of the little birds is +such that it appears a man would wish never to leave here, and the flocks +of parrots obscure the sun." + +But life, even to the discoverer of a New World, does not consist of +wandering in the groves, and listening to the singing birds, and smelling +the flowers, and remembering the May nights of Andalusia. There was gold +to be found and the mainland of Cathay to be discovered, and a letter, +written by the sovereigns at his earnest request, to be delivered to the +Great Khan. The natives had told him of an island called Samoete to the +southward, which was said to contain a quantity of gold. He sailed +thither on the 19th, and called it Isabella; its modern name is Crooked +Island. He anchored here and found it to be but another step in the +ascending scale of his delight; it was greener and more beautiful than +any of the islands he had yet seen. He spent some time looking for the +gold, but could not find any; although he heard of the island of Cuba, +which he took to be the veritable Cipango. He weighed anchor on October +24th and sailed south-west, encountering some bad weather on the way; but +on Sunday the 28th he came up with the north coast of Cuba and entered +the mouth of a river which is the modern Nuevitas. To the island of Cuba +he gave the name of Juana in honour of the young prince to whom his son +Diego had been appointed a page. + + +If the other islands had seemed beautiful to him, Cuba seemed like heaven +itself. The mountains grandly rising in the interior, the noble rivers +and long sweeping plains, the headlands melting into the clear water, and +the gorgeous colours and flowers and birds and insects on land acted like +a charm on Columbus and his sailors. As they entered the river they +lowered a boat in order to go ahead and sound for an anchorage; and two +native canoes put off from the shore, but, when they saw the boat +approaching, fled again. The Admiral landed and found two empty houses +containing nets and hooks and fishing-lines, and one of the strange +silent dogs, such as they had encountered on the other island--dogs that +pricked their ears and wagged their tails, but that never barked. The +Admiral, in spite of his greed for gold and his anxiety to "free" the +people of the island, was now acting much more discreetly, and with the +genuine good sense which he always possessed and which was only sometimes +obscured. He would not allow anything in the empty houses to be +disturbed or taken away, and whenever he saw the natives he tried to show +them that he intended to do them no harm, and to win their good will by +making them presents of beads and toys for which he would take no return. +As he went on up the river the scenery became more and more enchanting, +so that he felt quite unhappy at not being able to express all the +wonders and beauties that he saw. In the pure air and under the serene +blue of the sky those matchless hues of blossom and foliage threw a +rainbow-coloured garment on either bank of the river; the flamingoes, the +parrots and woodpeckers and humming-birds calling to one another and +flying among the tree-tops, made the upper air also seem alive and shot +with all the colours of the rainbow. Humble Christopher, walking amid +these gorgeous scenes, awed and solemnised by the strangeness and +magnificence of nature around him, tries to identify something that he +knows; and thinks, that amid all these strange chorusings of unknown +birds, he hears the familiar note of a nightingale. Amid all his +raptures, however, the main chance is not forgotten; everything that he +sees he translates into some terms of practical utility. Just as on the +voyage out every seaweed or fish or flying bird that he saw was hailed by +him as a sign that land was near, so amid the beauty of this virgin world +everything that he sees is taken to indicate either that he is close upon +the track of the gold, or that he must be in Cipango, or that the natives +will be easy to convert to Christianity. In the fragrance of the woods +of Cuba, Columbus thought that he smelled Oriental spices, which Marco +Polo had described as abounding in Cipango; when he walked by the shore +and saw the shells of pearl oysters, he believed the island to be loaded +with pearls and precious stones; when he saw a scrap of tinsel or bright +metal adorning a native, he argued that there was a gold mine close at +hand. And so he went on in an increasing whirl of bewildering +enchantment from anchorage to anchorage and from island to island, always +being led on by that yellow will o'-the-wisp, gold, and always believing +that the wealth of the Orient would be his on the morrow. As he coasted +along towards the west he entered the river which he called Rio de Mares. +He found a large village here full of palm-branch houses furnished with +chairs and hammocks and adorned with wooden masks and statues; but in +spite of his gentleness and offer of gifts the inhabitants all fled to +the mountains, while he and his men walked curiously through the deserted +houses. + +On Tuesday, October 30th, Martin Alonso Pinzon, whose communications the +Admiral was by this time beginning to dread, came with some exciting +news. It seemed that the Indians from San Salvador who were on board the +Pinta had told him that beyond the promontory, named by Columbus the Cape +of Palms, there was a river, four days' journey upon which would bring +one to the city of Cuba, which was very rich and large and abounded with +gold; and that the king of that country was at war with a monarch whom +they called Cami, and whom Pinzon identified with the Great Khan. More +than this, these natives assured him that the land they were on at +present was the mainland itself, and that they could not be very far from +Cathay. Columbus for once found himself in agreement with Martin Alonso. +The well-thumbed copy of Marco Polo was doubtless brought out, and +abundant evidence found in it; and it was decided to despatch a little +embassy to this city in order to gain information about its position and +wealth. When they continued their course, however, and rounded the cape, +no river appeared; they sailed on, and yet promontory after promontory +was opened ahead of them; and as the wind turned against them and the +weather was very threatening they decided to turn back and anchor again +in the Rio de Mares. + +Columbus was now, as he thought, hot upon the track of the Great Khan +himself; and on the first of November he sent boats ashore and told the +sailors to get information from the houses; but the inhabitants fled +shyly into the woods. Having once postulated the existence of the Great +Khan in this immediate territory Columbus, as his habit was, found that +everything fitted with the theory; and he actually took the flight of the +natives, although it had occurred on a dozen other occasions, as a proof +that they mistook his bands of men for marauding expeditions despatched +by the great monarch himself. He therefore recalled them, and sent a +boat ashore with an Indian interpreter who, standing in the boat at the +edge of the water, called upon the natives to draw near, and harangued +them. He assured them of the peaceable intentions of the great Admiral, +and that he had nothing whatever to do with the Great Khan; which cannot +very greatly have thrilled the Cubans, who knew no more about the Great +Khan than they did about Columbus. The interpreter then swam ashore and +was well received; so well, that in the evening some sixteen canoes came +off to the ships bringing cotton yarn and spears for traffic. Columbus, +with great astuteness, forbade any trading in cotton or indeed in +anything at all except gold, hoping by this means to make the natives +produce their treasures; and he would no doubt have been successful if +the natives had possessed any gold, but as the poor wretches had nothing +but the naked skins they stood up in, and the few spears and pots and +rolls of cotton that they were offering, the Admiral's astuteness was for +once thrown away. There was one man, however, with a silver ring in his +nose, who was understood to say that the king lived four days' journey in +the interior, and that messengers had been sent to him to tell him of the +arrival of the strange ships; which messengers would doubtless soon +return bringing merchants with them to trade with the ships. If this +native was lying he showed great ingenuity in inventing the kind of story +that his questioners wanted; but it is more likely that his utterances +were interpreted by Columbus in the light of his own ardent beliefs. At +any rate it was decided to send at once a couple of envoys to this great +city, and not to wait for the arrival of the merchants. Two Spaniards, +Rodrigo de Jerez and Luis de Torres, the interpreter to the expedition +--who had so far found little use for his Hebrew and Chaldean--were chosen; +and with them were sent two Indians, one from San Salvador and the other +a local native who went as guide. Red caps and beads and hawks' bells +were duly provided, and a message for the king was given to them telling +him that Columbus was waiting with letters and presents from Spanish +sovereigns, which he was to deliver personally. After the envoys had +departed, Columbus, whose ships were anchored in a large basin of deep +water with a clean and steep beach, decided to take the opportunity of +having the vessels careened. Their hulls were covered with shell and +weed; the caulking, which had been dishonestly done at Palos, had also +to be attended to; so the ships were beached and hove down one at a time +--an unnecessary precaution, as it turned out, for there was no sign of +treachery on the part of the natives. While the men were making fires to +heat their tar they noticed that the burning wood sent forth a heavy +odour which was like mastic; and the Admiral, now always busy with +optimistic calculations, reckoned that there was enough in that vicinity +to furnish a thousand quintals every year. While the work on the ships +was going forward he employed himself in his usual way, going ashore, +examining the trees and vegetables and fruits, and holding such +communication as he was able with the natives. He was up every morning +at dawn, at one time directing the work of his men, at another going +ashore after some birds that he had seen; and as dawn comes early in +those islands his day was probably a long one, and it is likely that he +was in bed soon after dark. On the day that he went shooting, Martin +Alonso Pinzon was waiting for him on his return; this time not to make +any difficulties or independent proposals, but to show him two pieces of +cinnamon that one of his men had got from an Indian who was carrying a +quantity of it. "Why did the man not get it all from him?" says greedy +Columbus. "Because of the prohibition of the Admiral's that no one +should do any trading," says Martin Alonso, and conceives himself to have +scored; for truly these two men do not love one another. The boatswain +of the Pinta, adds Martin Alonso, has found whole trees of it. "The +Admiral then went there and found that it was not cinnamon." The Admiral +was omnipotent; if he had said that it was manna they would have had to +make it so, and as he chose to say that it was not cinnamon, we must take +his word for it, as Martin Alonso certainly had to do; so that it was the +Admiral who scored this time. Columbus, however, now on the track of +spices, showed some cinnamon and pepper to the natives; and the obliging +creatures "said by signs that there was a great deal of it towards the +south-east." Columbus then showed them some gold and pearls; and +"certain old men" replied that in a place they called Bo-No there was any +amount of gold; the people wore it in their ears and on their arms and +legs, and there were pearls also, and large ships and merchandise--all to +the south-east. Finding this information, which was probably entirely +untrue and merely a polite effort to do what was expected of them, well +received, the natives added that "a long distance from there, there were +men with one eye, and other men with dogs' snouts who ate men, and that +when they caught a man they beheaded him and drank his blood" . . . +Soon after this the Admiral went on board again and began to write up his +Journal, solemnly entering all these facts in it. It is the most +childish nonsense; but after all, how interesting and credible it must +have been! To live thus smelling the most heavenly perfumes, breathing +the most balmy air, viewing the most lovely scenes, and to be always hot +upon the track of gold and pearls and spices and wealth and dog-nosed, +blood-drinking monstrosities--what an adventure, what a vivid piece of +living! + + +After a few days--on Tuesday, November 6th--the two men who had been sent +inland to the great and rich city came back again with their report. +Alas for visions of the Great Khan! The city turned out to be a village +of fifty houses with twenty people in each house. The envoys had been +received with great solemnity; and all the men "as well as the women" +came to see them, and lodged them in a fine house. The chief people in +the village came and kissed their hands and feet, hailing them as +visitors from the skies, and seating them in two chairs, while they sat +round on the floor. The native interpreter, doubtless according to +instructions, then told them "how the Christians lived and how they were +good people"; and I would give a great deal to have heard that brief +address. Afterwards the men went out and the women came in, also kissing +the hands and feet of the visitors, and "trying them to see if they were +of flesh and of bone like themselves." The results were evidently so +satisfactory that the strangers were implored to remain at least five +days. The real business of the expedition was then broached. Had they +any gold or pearls? Had they any cinnamon or spices? Answer, as usual: +"No, but they thought there was a great deal of it to the south-east." +The interest of the visitors then evaporated, and they set out for the +coast again; but they found that at least five hundred men and women +wanted to come with them, since they believed that they were returning to +heaven. On their journey back the two Spaniards noticed many people +smoking, as the Admiral himself had done a few days before; and this is +the first known discovery of tobacco by Europeans. + +They saw a great many geese, and the strange dogs that did not bark, and +they saw potatoes also, although they did not know what they were. +Columbus, having heard this report, and contemplating these gentle +amiable creatures, so willing to give all they had in return for a scrap +of rubbish, feels his heart lifted in a pious aspiration that they might +know the benefits of the Christian religion. "I have to say, Most Serene +Princes," he writes, + + "that by means of devout religious persons knowing their language + well, all would soon become Christians: and thus I hope in our Lord + that Your Highnesses will appoint such persons with great diligence + in order to turn to the Church such great peoples, and that they + will convert them, even as they have destroyed those who would not + confess the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit: and after their + days, as we are all mortal, they will leave their realms--in a very + tranquil condition and freed from heresy and wickedness, and will be + well received before the Eternal Creator, Whom may it please to give + them a long life and a great increase of larger realms and + dominions, and the will and disposition to spread the holy Christian + religion, as they have done up to the present time, Amen. To-day I + will launch the ship and make haste to start on Thursday, in the + name of God, to go to the southeast and seek gold and spices, and + discover land." + Thus Christopher Columbus, in the Name of God, + + November 11, 1492. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE EARTHLY PARADISE + +When Columbus weighed anchor on the 12th of November he took with him six +captive Indians. It was his intention to go in search of the island of +Babeque, which the Indians alleged lay about thirty leagues to the +east-south-east, and where, they said, the people gathered gold out of the +sand with candles at night, and afterwards made bars of it with a hammer. +They told him this by signs; and we have only one more instance of the +Admiral's facility in interpreting signs in favour of his own beliefs. +It is only a few days later that in the same Journal he says, "The people +of these lands do not understand me, nor do I nor any other person I have +with me understand them; and these Indians I am taking with me, many +times understand things contrary to what they are." It was a fault at +any rate not exclusively possessed by the Indians, who were doubtless +made the subject of many philological experiments on the part of the +interpreter; all that they seemed to have learned at this time were +certain religious gestures, such as making the Sign of the Cross, which +they did continually, greatly to the edification of the crew. + +In order to keep these six natives in a good temper Columbus kidnapped +"seven women, large and small, and three children," in order, he alleged, +that the men might conduct themselves better in Spain because of having +their "wives" with them; although whether these assorted women were +indeed the wives of the kidnapped natives must at the best be a doubtful +matter. The three children, fortunately, had their father and mother +with them; but that was only because the father, having seen his wife and +children kidnapped, came and offered to go with them of his own accord. +This taking of the women raises a question which must be in the mind of +any one who studies this extraordinary voyage--the question of the +treatment of native women by the Spaniards. Columbus is entirely silent +on the subject; but taking into account the nature of the Spanish rabble +that formed his company, and his own views as to the right which he had +to possess the persons and goods of the native inhabitants, I am afraid +that there can be very little doubt that in this matter there is a good +reason, for his silence. So far as Columbus himself was concerned, it is +probable that he was innocent enough; he was not a sensualist by nature, +and he was far too much interested and absorbed in the principal objects +of his expedition, and had too great a sense of his own personal dignity, +to have indulged in excesses that would, thus sanctioned by him, have +produced a very disastrous effect on the somewhat rickety discipline of +his crew. He was too wise a master, however, to forbid anything that it +was not in his power to prevent; and it is probable that he shut his eyes +to much that, if he did not tolerate it, he at any rate regarded as a +matter of no very great importance. His crew had by this time learned to +know their commander well enough not to commit under his eyes offences +for which he would have been sure to punish them. + + +For two days they ran along the coast with a fair wind; but on the 14th a +head wind and heavy sea drove them into the shelter of a deep harbour +called by Columbus Puerto del Principe, which is the modern Tanamo. The +number of islands off this part of the coast of Cuba confirmed Columbus +in his profound geographical error; he took them to be "those innumerable +islands which in the maps of the world are placed at the end of the +east." He erected a great wooden cross on an eminence here, as he always +did when he took possession of a new place, and made some boat excursions +among the islands in the harbour. On the 17th of November two of the six +youths whom he had taken on board the week before swam ashore and +escaped. When he started again on his voyage he was greatly +inconvenienced by the wind, which veered about between the north and +south of east, and was generally a foul wind for him. There is some +difference of opinion as to what point of the wind the ships of +Columbus's time would sail on; but there is no doubt that they were +extremely unhandy in anything approaching a head wind, and that they were +practically no good at all at beating to windward. The shape of their +hulls, the ungainly erections ahead and astern, and their comparatively +light hold on the water, would cause them to drift to leeward faster than +they could work to windward. In this head wind, therefore, Columbus +found that he was making very little headway, although he stood out for +long distances to the northward. On Wednesday, November 21st, occurred a +most disagreeable incident, which might easily have resulted in the +Admiral's never reaching Spain alive. Some time in the afternoon he +noticed the Pinta standing away ahead of him in a direction which was not +the course which he was steering; and he signalled her to close up with +him. No answer, however, was made to his signal, which he repeated, but +to which he failed to attract any response. He was standing south at the +time, the wind being well in the north-east; and Martin Alonso Pinzon, +whose caravel pointed into the wind much better than the unhandy Santa +Maria, was standing to the east. When evening fell he was still in +sight, at a distance of sixteen miles. Columbus was really concerned, +and fired lombards and flew more signals of invitation; but there was no +reply. In the evening he shortened sail and burned a torch all night, +"because it appeared that Martin Alonso was returning to me; and the +night was very clear, and there was a nice little breeze by which to come +to me if he wished." But he did not wish, and he did not come. + +Martin Alonso has in fact shown himself at last in his true colours. He +has got the fastest ship, he has got a picked company of his own men from +Palos; he has got an Indian on board, moreover, who has guaranteed to +take him straight to where the gold is; and he has a very agreeable plan +of going and getting it, and returning to Spain with the first news and +the first wealth. It is open mutiny, and as such cannot but be a matter +of serious regret and trouble to the Admiral, who sits writing up his +Journal by the swinging lamp in his little cabin. To that friend and +confidant he pours out his troubles and his long list of grievances +against Martin Alonso; adding, "He has done and said many other things +to me." Up on deck the torch is burning to light the wanderer back +again, if only he will come; and there is "a nice little breeze" by which +to come if he wishes; but Martin Alonso has wishes quite other than that. + + +The Pinta was out of sight the next morning, and the little Nina was all +that the Admiral had to rely upon for convoy. They were now near the +east end of the north coast of Cuba, and they stood in to a harbour which +the Admiral called Santa Catalina, and which is now called Cayo de Moa. +As the importance of the Nina to the expedition had been greatly +increased by the defection of the Pinta, Columbus went on board and +examined her. He found that some of her spars were in danger of giving +way; and as there was a forest of pine trees rising from the shore he was +able to procure a new mizzen mast and latine yard in case it should be +necessary to replace those of the Nina. The next morning he weighed +anchor at sunrise and continued east along the coast. He had now arrived +at the extreme end of Cuba, and was puzzled as to what course he should +take. Believing Cuba, as he did, to be the mainland of Cathay, he would +have liked to follow the coast in its trend to the south-west, in the +hope of coming upon the rich city of Quinsay; but on the other hand there +was looming to the south-west some land which the natives with him +assured him was Bohio, the place where all the gold was. He therefore +held on his course; but when the Indians found that he was really going +to these islands they became very much alarmed, and made signs that the +people would eat them if they went there; and, in order further to +dissuade the Admiral, they added that the people there had only one eye, +and the faces, of dogs. As it did not suit Columbus to believe them he +said that they were lying, and that he "felt" that the island must belong +to the domain of the Great Khan. He therefore continued his course, +seeing many beautiful and enchanting bays opening before him, and longing +to go into them, but heroically stifling his curiosity, "because he was +detained more than he desired by the pleasure and delight he felt in +seeing and gazing on the beauty and freshness of those countries wherever +he entered, and because he did not wish to be delayed in prosecuting what +he was engaged upon; and for these reasons he remained that night beating +about and standing off and on until day." He could not trust himself, +that is to say, to anchor in these beautiful harbours, for he knew he +would be tempted to go ashore and waste valuable time exploring the +woods; and so he remained instead, beating about in the open sea. + +As it was, what with contrary winds and his own indecision as to which +course he should pursue, it was December the 6th before he came up with +the beautiful island of Hayti, and having sent the Nina in front to +explore for a harbour, entered the Mole Saint Nicholas, which he called +Puerto Maria. Towards the east he saw an island shaped like a turtle, +and this island he named Tortuga; and the harbour, which he entered that +evening on the hour of Vespers, he called Saint Nicholas, as it was the +feast of that saint. Once more his description flounders among +superlatives: he thought Cuba was perfect; but he finds the new island +more perfect still. The climate is like May in Cordova; the tracts of +arable land and fertile valleys and high mountains are like those in +Castile; he finds mullet like those of Castile; soles and other fish like +those in Castile; nightingales and other small birds like those in +Castile; myrtle and other trees and grasses like those in Castile! In +short, this new land is so like Spain, only more wonderful and beautiful, +that he christens it Espanola. + +They stayed two days in the harbour of Saint Nicholas, and then began to +coast eastwards along the shores of Espaniola. Their best progress was +made at dawn and sunset, when the land breeze blew off the island; and +during the day they encountered a good deal of colder weather and +easterly winds, which made their progress slow. Every day they put in at +one or other of the natural harbours in which that beautiful coast +abounds; every day they saw natives on the shores who generally fled at +their approach, but were often prevailed upon to return and to converse +with the natives on board the Admiral's ship, and to receive presents and +bring parrots and bits of gold in exchange. On one day a party of men +foraging ashore saw a beautiful young girl, who fled at their approach; +and they chased her a long way through the woods, finally capturing her +and bringing her on board. Columbus "caused her to be clothed" +--doubtless a diverting occupation for Rodrigo, Juan, Garcia, Pedro, +William, and the rest of them, although for the poor, shy, trembling +captive not diverting at all--and sent her ashore again loaded with beads +and brass rings--to act as a decoy. Having sown this good seed the +Admiral waited for a night, and then sent a party of men ashore, "well +prepared with arms and adapted for such an affair," to have some +conversation with the people. The innocent harvest was duly reaped; the +natives met the Spaniards with gifts of food and drink, and understanding +that the Admiral would like to have a parrot, they sent as many parrots +as were wanted. The husband of the girl who had been captured and +clothed came back with her to the shore with a large body of natives, +in order to thank the Admiral for his kindness and clemency; and their +confidence was not misplaced, as the Admiral did not at that moment wish +to do any more kidnapping. The Spaniards were more and more amazed and +impressed with the beauty and fertility of these islands. The lands were +more lovely than the finest land in Castile; the rivers were large and +wide, the trees green and full of fruit, the grasses knee-deep and +starred with flowers; the birds sang sweetly all night; there were mastic +trees and aloes and plantations of cotton. There was fishing in plenty; +and if there were not any gold mines immediately at hand, they here sure +to be round the next headland or, at the farthest, in the next island. +The people, too, charmed and delighted the Admiral, who saw in them a +future glorious army of souls converted to the Christian religion. They +were taller and handsomer than the inhabitants of the other islands, and +the women much fairer; indeed, if they had not been so much exposed to +the sun, and if they could only be clothed in the decent garments of +civilisation, the Admiral thought that their skins would be as white as +those of the women of Spain--which was only another argument for bringing +them within the fold of the Holy Catholic Church. The men were powerful +and apparently harmless; they showed no truculent or suspicious spirit; +they had no knowledge of arms; a thousand of them would not face three +Christians; and + + "so they are suitable to be governed and made to work and sow and do + everything else that shall be necessary, and to build villages and + be taught to wear clothing and observe our customs." + +At present, you see, they are but poor happy heathens, living in a +paradise of their own, where the little birds sing all through the warm +nights, and the rivers murmur through flowery meadows, and no one has any +knowledge of arms or desire of such knowledge, and every one goes naked +and unashamed. High time, indeed, that they should be taught to wear +clothing and observe our customs. + + +The local chief came on a visit of state to the ship; and the Admiral +paid him due honour, telling him that he came as an envoy from the +greatest sovereigns in the world. But this charming king, or cacique as +they called him, would not believe this; he thought that Columbus was, +for reasons of modesty, speaking less than the truth--a new charge to +bring against our Christopher! He believed that the Spaniards came from +heaven, and that the realms of the sovereigns of Castile were in the +heavens and not in this world. He took some refreshment, as his +councillors did also, little dreaming, poor wretches, what in after years +was to come to them through all this palavering and exchanging of +presents. The immediate result of the interview, however, was to make +intercourse with the natives much freer and pleasanter even than it had +been before; and some of the sailors went fishing with the natives. +It was then that they were shown some cane arrows with hardened points, +which the natives said belonged to the people of 'Caniba', who, they +alleged, came to the island to capture and eat the natives. The Admiral +did not believe it; his sublime habit of rejecting everything that did +not fit in with his theory of the moment, and accepting everything that +did, made him shake his head when this piece of news was brought to him. +He could not get the Great Khan out of his head, and his present theory +was that this island, being close to the mainland of Cathay, was visited +by the armies of the Great Khan, and that it was his men who had used the +arrows and made war upon the natives. It was no good for the natives to +show him some of their mutilated bodies, and to tell him that the +cannibals ate them piecemeal; he had no use for such information. His +mind was like a sieve of which the size of the meshes could be adjusted +at will; everything that was not germane to the idea of the moment fell +through it, and only confirmative evidence remained; and at the moment he +was not believing any stories which did not prove that the Great Khan +was, so to speak, just round the corner. If they talked about gold he +would listen to them; and so the cacique brought him a piece of gold the +size of his hand and, breaking it into pieces, gave it to him a bit at a +time. This the Admiral took to be sign of great intelligence. They told +him there was gold at Tortuga, but he preferred to believe that it came +from Babeque, which may have been Jamaica and may have been nothing at +all. + +But his theory was that it existed on Espanola only in small pieces +because that country was so rich that the natives had no need for it; +an economic theory which one grows dizzy in pondering. At any rate +"the Admiral believed that he was very near the fountainhead, and that +Our Lord was about to show him where the gold originates." + +On Tuesday, December 18th, the ships were all dressed in honour of a +religious anniversary, and the cacique, hearing the firing of the +lombards with which the festival was greeted, came down to the shore to +see what was the matter. As Columbus was sitting at dinner on deck +beneath the poop the cacique arrived with all his people; and the account +of his visit is preserved in Columbus's own words. + + "As he entered the ship he found that I was eating at the table + below the stern forecastle, and he came quickly to seat himself + beside me, and would not allow me to go to meet him or get up from + the table, but only that I should eat. I thought that he would like + to eat some of our viands and I then ordered that things should be + brought him to eat. And when he entered under the forecastle, he + signed with his hand that all his people should remain without, and + they did so with the greatest haste and respect in the world, and + all seated themselves on the deck, except two men of mature age whom + I took to be his counsellors and governors, and who came and seated + themselves at his feet: and of the viands which I placed before him + he took of each one as much as may be taken for a salutation, and + then he sent the rest to his people and they all ate some of it, and + he did the same with the drink, which he only touched to his mouth, + and then gave it to the others in the same way, and it was all done + in wonderful state and with very few words, and whatever he said, + according to what I was able to understand, was very formal and + prudent, and those two looked in his face and spoke for him and with + him, and with great respect. + + "After eating, a page brought a belt which is like those of Castile + in shape, but of a different make, which he took and gave me, and + also two wrought pieces of gold, which were very thin, as I believe + they obtain very little of it here, although I consider they are + very near the place where it has its home, and that there is a great + deal of it. I saw that a drapery that I had upon my bed pleased + him. I gave it to him, and some very good amber beads which I wore + around my neck and some red shoes and a flask of orange-flower + water, with which he was so pleased it was wonderful; and he and his + governor and counsellors were very sorry that they did not + understand me, nor I them. Nevertheless I understood that he told + me that if anything from here would satisfy me that all the island + was at my command. I sent for some beads of mine, where as a sign I + have a 'excelente' of gold upon which the images of your Highnesses + are engraved, and showed it to him, and again told him the same as + yesterday, that your Highnesses command and rule over all the best + part of the world, and that there are no other such great Princes: + and I showed him the royal banners and the others with the cross, + which he held in great estimation: and he said to his counsellors + that your Highnesses must be great Lords, since you had sent me here + from so far without fear: and many other things happened which I did + not understand, except that I very well saw he considered everything + as very wonderful." + +Later in the day Columbus got into talk with an old man who told him that +there was a great quantity of gold to be found on some island about a +hundred leagues away; that there was one island that was all gold; and +that in the others there was such a quantity that they natives gathered +it and sifted it with sieves and made it into bars. The old man pointed +out vaguely the direction in which this wonderful country lay; and if he +had not been one of the principal persons belonging to the King Columbus +would have detained him and taken him with him; but he decided that he +had paid the cacique too much respect to make it right that he should +kidnap one of his retinue. He determined, however, to go and look for +the gold. Before he left he had a great cross erected in the middle of +the Indian village; and as he made sail out of the harbour that evening +he could see the Indians kneeling round the cross and adoring it. He +sailed eastward, anchoring for a day in the Bay of Acul, which he called +Cabo de Caribata, receiving something like an ovation from the natives, +and making them presents and behaving very graciously and kindly to them. + +It was at this time that Columbus made the acquaintance of a man whose +character shines like a jewel amid the dismal scenes that afterwards +accompanied the first bursting of the wave of civilisation on these happy +shores. This was the king of that part of the island, a young man named +Guacanagari. This king sent out a large canoe full of people to the +Admiral's ship, with a request that Columbus would land in his country, +and a promise that the chief would give him whatever he had. There +must have been an Intelligence Department in the island, for the chief +seemed to know what would be most likely to attract the Admiral; and with +his messengers he sent out a belt with a large golden mask attached to +it. Unfortunately the natives on board the Admiral's ship could not +understand Guacanagari's messengers, and nearly the whole of the day was +passed in talking before the sense of their message was finally made out +by means of signs. In the evening some Spaniards were sent ashore to see +if they could not get some gold; but Columbus, who had evidently had some +recent experience of their avariciousness, and who was anxious to keep on +good terms with the chiefs of the island, sent his secretary with them to +see that they did nothing unjust or unreasonable. He was scrupulous to +see that the natives got their bits of glass and beads in exchange for +the gold; and it is due to him to remember that now, as always, he was +rigid in regulating his conduct with other men in accordance with his +ideas of justice and honour, however elastic those ideas may seem to have +been. The ruffianly crew had in their minds only the immediate +possession of what they could get from the Indians; the Admiral had in +his mind the whole possession of the islands and the bodies and souls of +its inhabitants. If you take a piece of gold without giving a glass bead +in exchange for it, it is called stealing; if you take a country and its +inhabitants, and steal their peace from them, and give them blood and +servitude in exchange for it, it is called colonisation and +Empire-building. Every one understands the distinction; but so few +people see the difference that Columbus of all men may be excused for +his unconsciousness of it. + +Indeed Columbus was seeing yellow at this point in his career. The word +"gold" is scattered throughout every page of his journal; he can +understand nothing that the natives say to him except that there is a +great quantity of gold somewhere about. He is surrounded by natives +pressing presents upon him, protesting their homage, and assuring him (so +he thinks) that there are any amount of gold mines; and no wonder that +the yellow light blinds his eyes and confounds his senses, and that +sometimes, even when the sun has gone down and the natives have retired +to their villages and he sits alone in the seclusion of his cabin, the +glittering motes still dance before his eyes and he becomes mad, maudlin, +ecstatic . . . . The light flickers in the lamp as the ship swings a +little on the quiet tide and a night breeze steals through the cabin +door; the sound of voices ashore sounds dimly across the water; the brain +of the Admiral, overfilled with wonders and promises and hopes, sends its +message to the trembling hand that holds the pen, and the incoherent +words stream out on the ink. "May our Lord in His mercy direct me until +I find this gold, I say this Mine, because I have many people here who +say that they know it." + +On Christmas Eve a serious misfortune befell Columbus. What with looking +for gold, and trying to understand the people who talked about it, and +looking after his ships, and writing up his journal, he had had +practically no sleep for two days and a night; and at eleven o'clock on +the 24th of December, the night being fine and his ship sailing along the +coast with a light land breeze, he decided to lie down to get some sleep. +There were no difficulties in navigation to be feared, because the ship's +boats had been rowed the day before a distance of about ten miles ahead +on the course which they were then steering and had seen that there was +open water all the way. The wind fell calm; and the man at the helm, +having nothing to do, and feeling sleepy, called a ship's boy to him, +gave him the helm, and went off himself to lie down. This of course was +against all rules; but as the Admiral was in his cabin and there was no +one to tell them otherwise the watch on deck thought it a very good +opportunity to rest. Suddenly the boy felt the rudder catch upon +something, saw the ship swinging, and immediately afterwards heard the +sound of tide ripples. He cried out; and in a moment Columbus, who was +sleeping the light sleep of an anxious shipmaster, came tumbling up to +see what was the matter. The current, which flows in that place at a +speed of about two knots, had carried the ship on to a sand bank, but she +touched so quietly that it was hardly felt. Close on the heels of, +Columbus came the master of the ship and the delinquent watch; and the +Admiral immediately ordered them to launch the ship's boat--and lay out +an anchor astern so that they could warp her off. The wretches lowered +the boat, but instead of getting the anchor on board rowed off in the +direction of the Nina, which was lying a mile and a half to windward. +As soon as Columbus saw what they were doing he ran to the side and, +seeing that the tide was failing and that the ship had swung round across +the bank, ordered the remainder of the crew to cut away the mainmast and +throw the deck hamper overboard, in order to lighten the ship. This took +some time; the tide was falling, and the ship beginning to heel over on +her beam; and by the time it was done the Admiral saw that it would be of +no use, for the ship's seams had opened and she was filling. + +At this point the miserable crew in the ship's boat came back, the loyal +people on the Nina having refused to receive them and sent them back to +the assistance of the Admiral. But it was now too late to do anything to +save the ship; and as he did not know but that she might break up, +Columbus decided to tranship the people to the Nina, who had by this time +sent her own boat. The whole company boarded the Nina, on which the +Admiral beat about miserably till morning in the vicinity of his doomed +ship. Then he sent Diego de Arana, the brother of Beatriz and a trusty +friend, ashore in a boat to beg the help of the King; and Guacanagari +immediately sent his people with large canoes to unload the wrecked ship, +which was done with great efficiency and despatch, and the whole of her +cargo and fittings stored on shore under a guard. And so farewell to the +Santa Maria, whose bones were thenceforward to bleach upon the shores of +Hayti, or incongruously adorn the dwellings of the natives. She may have +been "a bad sailer and unfit for discovery"; but no seaman looks without +emotion upon the wreck of a ship whose stem has cut the waters of home, +which has carried him safely over thousands of uncharted miles, and which +has for so long been his shelter and sanctuary. + + +At sunrise the kind-hearted cacique came down to the Nina, where Columbus +had taken up his quarters, and with tears in his eyes begged the Admiral +not to grieve at his losses, for that he, the cacique, would give him +everything that he possessed; that he had already given two large houses +to the Spaniards from the Santa Maria who had been obliged to encamp on +shore, and that he would provide more accommodation and help if +necessary. In fact, the day which had been ushered in so disastrously +turned into a very happy one; and before it was over Columbus had decided +that, as he could not take the whole of his company home on the Nina, he +would establish a settlement on shore so that the men who were left +behind could collect gold and store it until more ships could be sent +from Spain. The natives came buzzing round anxious to barter whatever +they had for hawks' bells, which apparently were the most popular of the +toys that had been brought for bartering; "they shouted and showed the +pieces of gold, saying chuq, chuq, for hawks' bells, as they are in a +likely state to become crazy for them." The cacique was delighted to see +that the Admiral was pleased with the gold that was brought to him, and +he cheered him up by telling him that there was any amount in Cibao, +which Columbus of course took for Cipango. The cacique entertained +Columbus to a repast on shore, at which the monarch wore a shirt and a +pair of gloves that Columbus had given him; "and he rejoiced more over +the gloves than anything that had been given him." Columbus was pleased +with his clean and leisurely method of eating, and with his dainty +rubbing of his hands with herbs after he had eaten. After the repast +Columbus gave a little demonstration of bow-and-arrow shooting and the +firing of lombards and muskets, all of which astonished and impressed the +natives. + +The afternoon was spent in deciding on a site for the fortress which was +to be constructed; and Columbus had no difficulty in finding volunteers +among the crews to remain in the settlement. He promised to leave with +them provisions of bread and wine for a year, a ship's boat, seeds for +sowing crops, and a carpenter, a caulker, a gunner, and a cooper. Before +the day was out he was already figuring up the profit that would arise +out of his misfortune of the day before; and he decided that it was the +act of God which had cast his ship away in order that this settlement +should be founded. He hoped that the settlers would have a ton of gold +ready for him when he came back from Castile, so that, as he had said in +the glittering camp of Santa Fe, where perhaps no one paid very much heed +to him, there might be such a profit as would provide for the conquest of +Jerusalem and the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. After all, if he was +greedy for gold, he had a pious purpose for its employment. + + +The last days of the year were very busy ones for the members of the +expedition. Assisted by the natives they were building the fort which, +in memory of the day on which it was founded, Columbus called La +Villa-de la Navidad. The Admiral spent much time with King Guacanagari, +who "loved him so much that it was wonderful," and wished to cover him +all over with gold before he went away, and begged him not to go before +it was done. On December 27th there was some good news; a caravel had +been seen entering a harbour a little further along the coast; and as +this could only mean that the Pinta had returned, Columbus borrowed a +canoe from the king, and despatched a sailor in it to carry news of his +whereabouts to the Pinta. While it was away Guacanagari collected all +the other kings and chiefs who were subject to him, and held a kind of +durbar. They all wore their crowns; and Guacanagari took off his crown +and placed it on Columbus's head; and the Admiral, not to be outdone, +took from his own neck "a collar of good bloodstones and very beautiful +beads of fine colours; which appeared very good in all parts, and placed +it upon the King; and he took off a cloak of fine scarlet cloth which he +had put on that day, and clothed the King with it; and he sent for some +coloured buskins which he made him put on, and placed upon his finger a +large silver ring"--all of which gives us a picturesque glimpse into the +contents of the Admiral's wardrobe, and a very agreeable picture of King +Guacanagari, whom we must now figure as clothed, in addition to his +shirt and gloves, in a pair of coloured buskins, a collar of +bloodstones, a scarlet cloak and a silver ring. + +But the time was running short; the Admiral, hampered as he was by the +possession of only one small ship, had now but one idea, which was to get +back to Castile as quickly as possible, report the result of his +discoveries, and come back again with a larger and more efficient +equipment. Before he departed he had an affectionate leave-taking with +King Guacanagari; he gave him another shirt, and also provided a +demonstration of the effect of lombards by having one loaded, and firing +at the old Santa Maria where she lay hove down on the sandbank. The shot +went clean through her hull and fell into the sea beyond, and produced +what might be called a very strong moral effect, although an unnecessary +one, on the natives. He then set about the very delicate business of +organising the settlement. In all, forty-two men were to remain behind, +with Diego de Arana in the responsible position of chief lieutenant, +assisted by Pedro Gutierrez and Rodrigo de Escovedo, the nephew of Friar +Juan Perez of La Rabida. To these three he delegated all his powers and +authority as Admiral and Viceroy; and then, having collected the +colonists, gave them a solemn address. First, he reminded them of the +goodness of God to them, and advised them to remain worthy of it by +obeying the Divine command in all their actions. Second, he ordered +them, as a representative of the Sovereigns of Spain, to obey the captain +whom he had appointed for them as they would have obeyed himself. Third, +he urged them to show respect and reverence towards King Guacanagari and +his chiefs, and to the inferior chiefs, and to avoid annoying them or +tormenting them, since they were to remain in a land that was as yet +under native dominion; to "strive and watch by their soft and honest +speech to gain their good-will and keep their friendship and love, so +that he should find them as friendly and favourable and more so when he +returned." Fourth, he commanded them "and begged them earnestly" to do +no injury and use no force against any natives; to take nothing from them +against their will; and especially to be on their guard to avoid injury +or violence to the women, "by which they would cause scandal and set a +bad example to the Indians and show the infamy of the Christians." +Fifth, he charged them not to scatter themselves or leave the place where +they then were, but to remain together until he returned. Sixth, he +"animated" them to suffer their solitude and exile cheerfully and +bravely, since they had willingly chosen it. The seventh order was, that +they should get help from the King to send boat expeditions in search of +the gold mines; and lastly, he promised that he would petition the +Sovereigns to honour them with special favours and rewards. To this very +manly, wise and humane address the people listened with some emotion, +assuring Columbus that they placed their hopes in him, "begging him +earnestly to remember them always, and that as quickly as he could he +should give them the great joy which they anticipated from his coming +again." + +All of which things being done, the ships [ship--there was only the Nina] +loaded and provisioned, and the Admiral's final directions given, he +makes his farewells and weighs anchor at sunrise on Friday, January 4., +1493. Among the little crowd on the shore who watch the Nina growing +smaller in the distance are our old friends Allard and William, tired of +the crazy confinement of a ship and anxious for shore adventures. They +are to have their fill of them, as it happens; adventures that are to +bring to the settlers a sudden cloud of blood and darkness, and for the +islanders a brief return to their ancient peace. But death waits for +Allard and William in the sunshine and silence of Espanola. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE VOYAGE HOME + +Columbus did not stand out to sea on his homeward course immediately, but +still coasted along the shores of the island as though he were loth to +leave it, and as though he might still at some bend of a bay or beyond +some verdant headland come upon the mines and jewels that he longed for. +The mountain that he passed soon after starting he called Monte Christi, +which name it bears to this day; and he saw many other mountains and +capes and bays, to all of which he gave names. And it was a fortunate +chance which led him thus to stand along the coast of the island; for on +January 6th the sailor who was at the masthead, looking into the clear +water for shoals and rocks, reported that he saw the caravel Pinta right +ahead. When she came up with him, as they were in very shallow water not +suitable for anchorage, Columbus returned to the bay of Monte Christi to +anchor there. Presently Martin Alonso Pinzon came on board to report +himself--a somewhat crestfallen Martin, we may be sure, for he had failed +to find the gold the hope of which had led him to break his honour as a +seaman. But the Martin Alonsos of this world, however sorry their +position may be, will always find some kind of justification for it. It +must have been a trying moment for Martin Alonso as his boat from the +Pinta drew near the Nina, and he saw the stalwart commanding figure of +the white-haired Admiral walking the poop. He knew very well that +according to the law and custom of the sea Columbus would have been well +within his right in shooting him or hanging him on the spot; but Martin +puts on a bold face as, with a cold dread at his heart and (as likely as +not) an ingratiating smile upon his face he comes up over the side. +Perhaps, being in some ways a cleverer man than Christopher, he knew the +Admiral's weak points; knew that he was kind-hearted, and would remember +those days of preparation at Palos when Martin Alonso had been his +principal stay and help. Martin's story was that he had been separated +from the Admiral against his will; that the crew insisted upon it, and +that in any case they had only meant to go and find some gold and bring +it back to the Admiral. Columbus did not believe him for a moment, but +either his wisdom or his weakness prevented him from saying so. He +reproached Martin Alonso for acting with pride and covetousness "that +night when he went away and left him"; and Columbus could not think "from +whence had come the haughty actions and dishonesty Martin had shown +towards him on that voyage." Martin had done a good trade and had got a +certain amount of gold; and no doubt he knew well in what direction to +turn the conversation when it was becoming unpleasant to himself. He +told Columbus of an island to the south of Juana--[Cuba]--called +Yamaye,--[Jamaica]--where pieces of gold were taken from the mines as +large as kernels of wheat, and of another island towards the east which +was inhabited only by women. + +The unpleasantness was passed over as soon as possible, although the +Admiral felt that the sooner he got home the better, since he was +practically at the mercy of the Pinzon brothers and their following from +Palos. He therefore had the Pinta beached and recaulked and took in wood +and water, and continued his voyage on Tuesday, January 8th. He says +that "this night in the name of our Lord he will start on his journey +without delaying himself further for any matter, since he had found what +he had sought, and he did not wish to have more trouble with that Martin +Alonso until their Highnesses learned the news of the voyage and what he +has done." After that it will be another matter, and his turn will come; +for then, he says, "I will not suffer the bad deeds of persons without +virtue, who, with little respect, presume to carry out their own wills in +opposition to those who did them honour." Indeed, for several days, the +name of "that Martin Alonso" takes the place of gold in Columbus's +Journal. There were all kinds of gossip about the ill deeds of Martin +Alonso, who had taken four Indian men and two young girls by force; the +Admiral releasing them immediately and sending them back to their homes. +Martin Alonso, moreover, had made a rule that half the gold that was +found was to be kept by himself; and he tried to get all the people of +his ship to swear that he had been trading for only six days, but "his +wickedness was so public that he could not hide it." It was a good thing +that Columbus had his journal to talk to, for he worked off a deal of +bitterness in it. On Sunday, January 13th, when he had sent a boat +ashore to collect some "ajes" or potatoes, a party of natives with their +faces painted and with the plumes of parrots in their hair came and +attacked the party from the boat; but on getting a slash or two with a +cutlass they took to flight and escaped from the anger of the Spaniards. +Columbus thought that they were cannibals or caribs, and would like to +have taken some of them, but they did not come back, although afterwards +he collected four youths who came out to the caravel with cotton and +arrows. + +Columbus was very curious about the island of Matinino,--[Martinique] +--which was the one said to be inhabited only by women, and he wished very +much to go there; but the caravels were leaking badly, the crews were +complaining, and he was reluctantly compelled to shape his course for +Spain. He sailed to the north-east, being anxious apparently to get into +the region of westerly winds which he correctly guessed would be found to +the north of the course he had sailed on his outward voyage. By the 17th +of January he was in the vicinity of the Sargasso Sea again, which this +time had no terrors for him. From his journal the word "gold" suddenly +disappears; the Viceroy and Governor-General steps off the stage; and in +his place appears the sea captain, watching the frigate birds and +pelicans, noting the golden gulf-weed in the sea, and smelling the +breezes that are once more as sweet as the breezes of Seville in May. He +had a good deal of trouble with his dead-reckoning at this time, owing to +the changing winds and currents; but he made always from fifty to seventy +miles a day in a direction between north-by-east and north-north-east. +The Pinta was not sailing well, and he often had to wait for her to come +up with him; and he reflected in his journal that if Martin Alonso Pinzon +had taken as much pains to provide himself with a good mast in the Indies +as he had to separate himself from the Admiral, the Pinta would have +sailed better. + +And so he went on for several days, with the wind veering always south +and south-west, and pointing pretty steadily to the north-east. On +February 4th he changed his course, and went as near due east as he +could. They now began to find themselves in considerable doubt as to +their position. The Admiral said he was seventy-five leagues to the +south of Flores; Vincenti Pinzon and the pilots thought that they had +passed the Azores and were in the neighbourhood of Madeira. In other +words, there was a difference of 600 miles between their estimates, +and the Admiral remarks that "the grace of God permitting, as soon as +land is seen, it will be known who has calculated the surest." + +A great quantity of birds that began to fly about the ship made him think +that they were near land, but they turned out to be the harbingers of a +storm. On Tuesday, February 12th, the sea and wind began to rise, and it +continued to blow harder throughout that night and the next day. The +wind being aft he went under bare poles most of the night, and when day +came hoisted a little sail; but the sea was terrible, and if he had not +been so sure of the staunch little Nina he would have felt himself in +danger of being lost. The next day the sea, instead of going down, +increased in roughness; there was a heavy cross sea which kept breaking +right over the ship, and it became necessary to make a little sail in +order to run before the wind, and to prevent the vessel falling back into +the trough of the seas. All through Thursday he ran thus under the half +hoisted staysail, and he could see the Pinta running also before the +wind, although since she presented more surface, and was able to carry a +little more sail than the Nina, she was soon lost to sight. The Admiral +showed lights through the night, and this time there was no lack of +response from Martin Alonso; and for some part of that dark and stormy +night these two humanly freighted scraps of wood and cordage staggered +through the gale showing lights to each other; until at last the light +from the Pinta disappeared. When morning came she was no longer to be +seen; and the wind and the sea had if anything increased. The Nina was +now in the greatest danger. Any one wave of the heavy cross sea, if it +had broken fairly across her, would have sunk her; and she went swinging +and staggering down into the great valleys and up into the hills, the +steersman's heart in his mouth, and the whole crew in an extremity of +fear. Columbus, who generally relied upon his seamanship, here invoked +external aid, and began to offer bargains to the Almighty. He ordered +that lots should be cast, and that he upon whom the lot fell should make +a vow to go on pilgrimage to Santa Maria de Guadaloupe carrying a white +candle of five pounds weight. Same dried peas were brought, one for +every member of the crew, and on one of them a cross was marked with a +knife; the peas were well shaken and were put into a cap. The first to +draw was the Admiral; he drew the marked pea, and he made the vow. Lots +were again drawn, this time for a greater pilgrimage to Santa Maria de +Loretto in Ancona; and the lot fell on a seaman named Pedro de Villa, +--the expenses of whose pilgrimage Columbus promised to pay. Again lots +were drawn for a pilgrimage to the shrine of Santa Clara of Moguer, the +pilgrim to watch and pray for one night there; and again the lot fell on +Columbus. In addition to these, every one, since they took themselves +for lost, made some special and private vow or bargain with God; and +finally they all made a vow together that at the first land they reached +they would go in procession in their shirts to pray at an altar of Our +Lady. + +The scene thus conjured up is one peculiar to the time and condition of +these people, and is eloquent and pathetic enough: the little ship +staggering and bounding along before the wind, and the frightened crew, +who had gone through so many other dangers, huddled together under the +forecastle, drawing peas out of a cap, crossing themselves, making vows +upon their knees, and seeking to hire the protection of the Virgin by +their offers of candles and pilgrimages. Poor Christopher, standing in +his drenched oilskins and clinging to a piece of rigging, had his own +searching of heart and examining of conscience. He was aware of the +feverish anxiety and impatience that he felt, now that he had been +successful in discovering a New World, to bring home the news and fruits +of it; his desire to prove true what he had promised was so great that, +in his own graphic phrase, "it seemed to him that every gnat could +disturb and impede it"; and he attributed this anxiety to his lack of +faith in God. He comforted himself, like Robinson Crusoe in a similar +extremity, by considering on the other hand what favours God had shown +him, and by remembering that it was to the glory of God that the fruits +of his discovery were to be dedicated. But in the meantime here he was +in a ship insufficiently ballasted (for she was now practically empty of +provisions, and they had found it necessary to fill the wine and water +casks with salt water in order to trim her) and flying before a tempest +such as he had never experienced in his life. As a last resource, and in +order to give his wonderful news a chance of reaching Spain in case the +ship were lost, he went into his cabin and somehow or other managed to +write on a piece of parchment a brief account of his discoveries, begging +any one who might find it to carry it to the Spanish Sovereigns. He tied +up the parchment in a waxed cloth, and put it into a large barrel without +any one seeing him, and then ordered the barrel to be thrown into the +sea, which the crew took to be some pious act of sacrifice or devotion. +Then he went back on deck and watched the last of the daylight going and +the green seas swelling and thundering about his little ship, and thought +anxiously of his two little boys at school in Cordova, and wondered what +would become of them if he were lost. The next morning the wind had +changed a little, though it was still very high; but he was able to hoist +up the bonnet or topsail, and presently the sea began to go down a +little. When the sun rose they saw land to the east-north-east. Some of +them thought it was Madeira, others the rock of Cintra in Portugal; the +pilots said it was the coast of Spain, the Admiral thought it was the +Azores; but at any rate it was land of some kind. The sun was shining +upon it and upon the tumbling sea; and although the waves were still +raging mast-high and the wind still blowing a hard gale, the miserable +crew were able to hope that, having lived through the night, they could +live through the day also. They had to beat about to make the land, +which was now ahead of them, now on the beam, and now astern; and +although they had first sighted it at sunrise on Friday morning it was +early on Monday morning, February 18th, before Columbus was able to cast +anchor off the northern coast of an island which he discovered to be the +island of Santa Maria in the Azores. On this day Columbus found time to +write a letter to Luis de Santangel, the royal Treasurer, giving a full +account of his voyage and discoveries; which letter he kept and +despatched on the 4th of March, after he had arrived in Lisbon. Since it +contained a postscript written at the last moment we shall read it at +that stage of our narrative. The inhabitants of Santa Maria received the +voyagers with astonishment, for they believed that nothing could have +lived through the tempest that had been raging for the last fortnight. +They were greatly excited by the story of the discoveries; and the +Admiral, who had now quite recovered command of himself, was able to +pride himself on the truth of his dead-reckoning, which had proved to be +so much more accurate than that of the pilots. + +On the Tuesday evening three men hailed them from the shore, and when +they were brought off to the ship delivered a message from the Portuguese +Governor of the island, Juan de Castaneda, to the effect that he knew the +Admiral very well, and that he was delighted to hear of his wonderful +voyage. The next morning Columbus, remembering the vow that had been +made in the storm, sent half the crew ashore in their shirts to a little +hermitage, which was on the other side of a point a short distance away, +and asked the Portuguese messenger to send a priest to say Mass for them. +While the members of the crew were at their prayers, however, they +received a rude surprise. They were suddenly attacked by the islanders, +who had come up on horses under the command of the treacherous Governor, +and taken prisoners. Columbus waited unsuspectingly for the boat to come +back with them, in order that he and the other half of the crew could go +and perform their vow. + +When the boat did not come back he began to fear that some accident must +have happened to it, and getting his anchor up he set sail for the point +beyond which the hermitage was situated. No sooner had he rounded the +point than he saw a band of horsemen, who dismounted, launched the boat +which was drawn up on the beach, and began to row out, evidently with the +intention of attacking the Admiral. When they came up to the Nina the +man in command of them rose and asked Columbus to assure him of personal +safety; which assurance was wonderingly given; and the Admiral inquired +how it was that none of his own people were in the boat? Columbus +suspected treachery and tried to meet it with treachery also, +endeavouring with smooth words to get the captain to come on board so +that he could seize him as a hostage. But as the Portuguese would not +come on board Columbus told them that they were acting very unwisely in +affronting his people; that in the land of the Sovereigns of Castile the +Portuguese were treated with great honour and security; that he held +letters of recommendation from the Sovereigns addressed to every ruler in +the world, and added that he was their Admiral of the Ocean Seas and +Viceroy of the Indies, and could show the Portuguese his commission to +that effect; and finally, that if his people were not returned to him, he +would immediately make sail for Spain with the crew that was left to him +and report this insult to the Spanish Sovereigns. To all of which the +Portuguese captain replied that he did not know any Sovereigns of +Castile; that neither they nor their letters were of any account in that +island; that they were not afraid of Columbus; and that they would have +him know that he had Portugal to deal with--edging away in the boat at +the same time to a convenient distance from the caravel. When he thought +he was out of gunshot he shouted to Columbus, ordering him to take his +caravel back to the harbour by command of the Governor of the island. +Columbus answered by calling his crew to witness that he pledged his word +not to descend from or leave his caravel until he had taken a hundred +Portuguese to Castile, and had depopulated all their islands. After +which explosion of words he returned to the harbour and anchored there, +"as the weather and wind were very unfavourable for anything else." + +He was, however, in a very bad anchorage, with a rocky bottom which +presently fouled his anchors; and on the Wednesday he had to make sail +towards the island of San Miguel if order to try and find a better +anchorage. + +But the wind and sea getting up again very badly he was obliged to beat +about all night in a very unpleasant situation, with only three sailors +who could be relied upon, and a rabble of gaol-birds and longshoremen who +were of little use in a tempest but to draw lots and vow pilgrimages. +Finding himself unable to make the island of San Miguel he decided to go +back to Santa Maria and make an attempt to recover his boat and his crew +and the anchor and cables he had lost there. + +In his Journal for this day, and amid all his anxieties, he found time to +note down one of his curious visionary cosmographical reflections. This +return to a region of storms and heavy seas reminded him of the long +months he had spent in the balmy weather and calm waters of his +discovery; in which facts he found a confirmation of the theological idea +that the Eden, or Paradise, of earth was "at the end of the Orient, +because it is a most temperate place. So that these lands which he had +now discovered are at the end of the Orient." Reflections such as these, +which abound in his writings, ought in themselves to be a sufficient +condemnation of those who have endeavoured to prove that Columbus was a +man of profound cosmographical learning and of a scientific mind. A man +who would believe that he had discovered the Orient because in the place +where he had been he had found calm weather, and because the theologians +said that the Garden of Eden must be in the Orient since it is a +temperate place, would believe anything. + +Late on Thursday night, when he anchored again in the harbour of San +Lorenzo at Santa Maria, a man hailed them from the rocks, and asked them +not to go away. Presently a boat containing five sailors, two priests, +and a notary put off from the beach; and they asked for a guarantee of +security in order that they might treat with the Admiral. They slept on +board that night, and in the morning asked him to show them his authority +from the Spanish Sovereigns, which the Admiral did, understanding that +they had asked for this formality in order to save their dignity. He +showed them his general letter from the King and Queen of Spain, +addressed to "Princes and Lords of High Degree"; and being satisfied with +this they went ashore and released the Admiral's people, from whom he +learned that what had been done had been done by command of the King of +Portugal, and that he had issued an order to the Governors of all the +Portuguese islands that if Columbus landed there on his way home he was +to be taken prisoner. + +He sailed again on Sunday, February 24th, encountering heavy winds and +seas, which troubled him greatly with fears lest some disaster should +happen at the eleventh hour to interfere with his, triumph. On Sunday, +March 3rd, the wind rose to the force of a hurricane, and, on a sudden +gust of violent wind splitting all the sails, the unhappy crew gathered +together again and drew more lots and made more vows. This time the +pilgrimage was to be to the shrine of Santa Maria at Huelva, the pilgrim +to go as before in his shirt; and the lot fell to the Admiral. The rest +of them made a vow to fast on the next Saturday on bread and water; but +as they all thought it extremely unlikely that by that time they would be +in need of any bodily sustenance the sacrifice could hardly have been a +great one. They scudded along under bare poles and in a heavy cross sea +all that night; but at dawn on Monday they saw land ahead of them, which +Columbus recognised as the rock of Cintra at Lisbon; and at Lisbon sure +enough they landed some time during the morning. As soon as they were +inside the river the people came flocking down with stories of the gale +and of all the wrecks that there had been on the coast. Columbus hurried +away from the excited crowds to write a letter to the King of Portugal, +asking him for a safe conduct to Spain, and assuring him that he had come +from the Indies, and not from any of the forbidden regions of Guinea. + +The next day brought a visit from no less a person than Bartholomew Diaz. +Columbus had probably met him before in 1486, when Diaz had been a +distinguished man and Columbus a man not distinguished; but now things +were changed. Diaz ordered Columbus to come on board his small vessel in +order to go and report himself to the King's officers; but Columbus +replied that he was the Admiral of the Sovereigns of Castile, "that he +did not render such account to such persons," and that he declined to +leave his ship. Diaz then ordered him to send the captain of the Nina; +but Columbus refused to send either the captain or any other person, and +otherwise gave himself airs as the Admiral of the Ocean Seas. Diaz then +moderated his requests, and merely asked Columbus to show him his letter +of authority, which Columbus did; and then Diaz went away and brought +back with him the captain of the Portuguese royal yacht, who came in +great state on board the shabby little Nina, with kettle-drums and +trumpets and pipes, and placed himself at the disposal of Columbus. It +is a curious moment, this, in which the two great discoverers of their +time, Diaz and Columbus, meet for an hour on the deck of a forty-ton +caravel; a curious thing to consider that they who had performed such +great feats of skill and bravery, one to discover the southernmost point +of the old world and the other to voyage across an uncharted ocean to the +discovery of an entirely new world, could find nothing better to talk +about than their respective ranks and glories; and found no more +interesting subject of discussion than the exact amount of state and +privilege which should be accorded to each. + + +During the day or two in which Columbus waited in the port crowds of +people came down from Lisbon to see the little Nina, which was an object +of much admiration and astonishment; to see the Indians also, at whom +they greatly marvelled. It was probably at this time that the letter +addressed to Luis de Santangel, containing the first official account of +the voyage, was despatched. + + * + ***** + * + * + + "Sir: As I am sure you will be pleased at the great victory which + the Lord has given me in my voyage, I write this to inform you that + in twenty' days I arrived in the Indies with the squadron which + their Majesties had placed under my command. There I discovered + many islands, inhabited by a numerous population, and took + possession of them for their Highnesses, with public ceremony and + the royal flag displayed, without molestation. + + "The first that I discovered I named San Salvador, in remembrance of + that Almighty Power which had so miraculously bestowed them. The + Indians call it Guanahani. To the second I assigned the name of + Santa Marie de Conception; to the third that of Fernandina; to the + fourth that of Isabella; to the fifth Juana; and so on, to every one + a new name. + + "When I arrived at Juana, I followed the coast to the westward, and + found it so extensive that I considered it must be a continent and a + province of Cathay. And as I found no towns or villages by the + seaside, excepting some small settlements, with the people of which + I could not communicate because they all ran away, I continued my + course to the westward, thinking I should not fail to find some + large town and cities. After having coasted many leagues without + finding any signs of them, and seeing that the coast took me to the + northward, where I did not wish to go, as the winter was already set + in, I considered it best to follow the coast to the south and the + wind being also scant, I determined to lose no more time, and + therefore returned to a certain port, from whence I sent two + messengers into the country to ascertain whether there was any king + there or any large city. + + "They travelled for three days, finding an infinite number of small + settlements and an innumerable population, but nothing like a city: + on which account--they returned. I had tolerably well ascertained + from some Indians whom I had taken that this land was only an + island, so I followed the coast of it to the east 107 leagues, to + its termination. And about eighteen leagues from this cape, to the + east, there was another island, to which I shortly gave the name of + Espanola. I went to it, and followed the north coast of it, as I + had done that of Juana, for 178--[should be 188]--long leagues due + east. + + "This island is very fertile, as well, indeed, as all the rest. It + possesses numerous harbours, far superior to any I know in Europe, + and what is remarkable, plenty of large inlets. The land is high, + and contains many lofty ridges and some very high mountains, without + comparison of the island of Centrefrey;--[Tenerife]--all of them + very handsome and of different forms; all of them accessible and + abounding in trees of a thousand kinds, high, and appearing as if + they would reach the skies. And I am assured that the latter never + lose their fresh foliage, as far as I can understand, for I saw them + as fresh and flourishing as those of Spain in the month of May. + Some were in blossom, some bearing fruit, and others in other + states, according to their nature. + + "The nightingale and a thousand kinds of birds enliven the woods + with their song, in the month of November, wherever I went. There + are seven or eight kinds of palms, of various elegant forms, besides + various other trees, fruits, and herbs. The pines of this island + are magnificent. It has also extensive plains, honey, and a great + variety of birds and fruits. It has many metal mines, and a + population innumerable. + + "Espanola is a wonderful island, with mountains, groves, plains, and + the country generally beautiful and rich for planting and sowing, + for rearing sheep and cattle of all kinds, and ready for towns and + cities. The harbours must be seen to be appreciated; rivers are + plentiful and large and of excellent water; the greater part of them + contain gold. There is a great difference between the trees, + fruits, and herbs of this island and those of Juana. In this island + there are many spices, and large mines of gold and other metals. + + "The people of this island and of all the others which I have + discovered or heard of, both men and women, go naked as they were + born, although some of the women wear leaves of herbs or a cotton + covering made on purpose. They have no iron or steel, nor any + weapons; not that they are not a well-disposed people and of fine + stature, but they are timid to a degree. They have no other arms + excepting spears made of cane, to which they fix at the end a sharp + piece of wood, and then dare not use even these. Frequently I had + occasion to send two or three of my men onshore to some settlement + for information, where there would be multitudes of them; and as + soon as they saw our people they would run away every soul, the + father leaving his child; and this was not because any one had done + them harm, for rather at every cape where I had landed and been able + to communicate with them I have made them presents of cloth and many + other things without receiving anything in return; but because they + are so timid. Certainly, where they have confidence and forget + their fears, they are so open-hearted and liberal with all they + possess that it is scarcely to be believed without seeing it. If + anything that they have is asked of them they never deny it; on the + contrary, they will offer it. Their generosity is so great that + they would give anything, whether it is costly or not, for anything + of every kind that is offered them and be contented with it. I was + obliged to prevent such worth less things being given them as pieces + of broken basins, broken glass, and bits of shoe-latchets, although + when they obtained them they esteemed them as if they had been the + greatest of treasures. One of the seamen for a latchet received a + piece of gold weighing two dollars and a half, and others, for other + things of much less value, obtained more. Again, for new silver + coin they would give everything they possessed, whether it was worth + two or three doubloons or one or two balls of cotton. Even for + pieces of broken pipe-tubes they would take them and give anything + for them, until, when I thought it wrong, I prevented it. And I + made them presents of thousands of things which I had, that I might + win their esteem, and also that they might be made good Christians + and be disposed to the service of Your Majesties and the whole + Spanish nation, and help us to obtain the things which we require + and of which there is abundance in their country. + + "And these people appear to have neither religion nor idolatry, + except that they believe that good and evil come from the skies; and + they firmly believed that our ships and their crews, with myself, + came from the skies, and with this persuasion,--after having lost + their fears, they always received us. And yet this does not proceed + from ignorance, for they are very ingenious, and some of them + navigate their seas in a wonderful manner and give good account of + things, but because they never saw people dressed or ships like + ours. + + "And as soon as I arrived in the Indies, at the first island at + which I touched, I captured some of them, that we might learn from + them and obtain intelligence of what there was in those parts. And + as soon as we understood each other they were of great service to + us; but yet, from frequent conversation which I had with them, they + still believe we came from the skies. These were the first to + express that idea, and others ran from house to house, and to the + neighbouring villages, crying out, "Come and see the people from the + skies." And thus all of them, men and women, after satisfying + themselves of their safety, came to us without reserve, great and + small, bringing us something to eat and drink, and which they gave + to us most affectionately. + + "They have many canoes in those islands propelled by oars, some of + them large and others small, and many of them with eight or ten + paddles of a side, not very wide, but all of one trunk, and a boat + cannot keep way with them by oars, for they are incredibly fast; and + with these they navigate all the islands, which are innumerable, and + obtain their articles of traffic. I have seen some of these canoes + with sixty or eighty men in them, and each with a paddle. + + "Among the islands I did not find much diversity of formation in the + people, nor in their customs, nor their language. They all + understand each other, which is remarkable; and I trust Your + Highnesses will determine on their being converted to our faith, for + which they are very well disposed. + + "I have already said that I went 107 leagues along the coast of + Juana, from east to west. Thus, according to my track, it is larger + than England and Scotland together, for, besides these 107 leagues, + there were further west two provinces to which I did not go, one of + which is called Cibau, the people of which are born with tails; + which provinces must be about fifty or sixty leagues long, according + to what I can make out from the Indians I have with me, who know all + the islands. The other island (Espanola) is larger in circuit than + the whole of Spain, from the Straits of Gibralter (the Columns) to + Fuentarabia in Biscay, as I sailed 138 long leagues in a direct line + from west to east. Once known it must be desired, and once seen one + desires never to leave it; and which, being taken possession of for + their Highnesses, and the people being at present in a condition + lower than I can possibly describe, the Sovereigns of Castile may + dispose of it in any manner they please in the most convenient + places. In this Espanola, and in the best district, where are gold + mines, and, on the other side, from thence to terra firma, as well + as from thence to the Great Khan, where everything is on a splendid + scale--I have taken possession of a large town, to which I gave the + name of La Navidad, and have built a fort in it, in every respect + complete. And I have left sufficient people in it to take care of + it, with artillery and provisions for more than a year; also a boat + and coxswain with the equipments, in complete friendship with the + King of the islands, to that degree that he delighted to call me and + look on me as his brother. And should they fall out with these + people, neither he nor his subjects know anything of weapons, and go + naked, as I have said, and they are the most timorous people in the + world. The few people left there are sufficient to conquer the + country, and the island would thus remain without danger to them, + they keeping order among themselves. + + "In all these islands it appeared to me the men are contented with + one wife, but to their governor or king they allow twenty. The + women seem to work more than the men. I have not been able to + discover whether they respect personal property, for it appeared to + me things were common to all, especially in the particular of + provisions. Hitherto I have not seen in any of these islands any + monsters, as there were supposed to be; the people, on the contrary, + are generally well formed, nor are they black like those of the + Guinea, saving their hair, and they do not reside in places exposed + to the sun's rays. It is true that the sun is most powerful there, + and it is only twenty-six degrees from the equator. In this last + winter those islands which were mountainous were cold, but they were + accustomed to it, with good food and plenty of spices and hot + nutriment. Thus I have found no monsters nor heard of any, except + at an island which is the second in going to the Indies, and which + is inhabited by a people who are considered in all the islands as + ferocious, and who devour human flesh. These people have many + canoes, which scour all the islands of India, and plunder all they + can. They are not worse formed than the others, but they wear the + hair long like women, and use bows and arrows of the same kind of + cane, pointed with a piece of hard wood instead of iron, of which + they have none. They are fierce compared with the other people, who + are in general but sad cowards; but I do not consider them in any + other way superior to them. These are they who trade in women, who + inhabit the first island met with in going from Spain to the Indies, + in which there are no men whatever. They have no effeminate + exercise, but bows and arrows, as before said, of cane, with which + they arm themselves, and use shields of copper, of which they have + plenty. + + "There is another island, I am told, larger than Espanola, the + natives of which have no hair. In this there is gold without limit, + and of this and the others I have Indians with me to witness. + + "In conclusion, referring only to what has been effected by this + voyage, which was made with so much haste, Your Highnesses may see + that I shall find as much gold as desired with the very little + assistance afforded to me; there is as much spice and cotton as can + be wished for, and also gum, which hitherto has only been found in + Greece, in the island of Chios, and they may sell it as they please, + and the mastich, as much as may be desired, and slaves, also, who + will be idolators. And I believe that I have rhubarb, and cinnamon, + and a thousand other things I shall find, which will be discovered + by those whom I have left behind, for I did not stop at any cape + when the wind enabled me to navigate, except at the town of Navidad, + where I was very safe and well taken care of. And in truth much + more I should have done if the ships had served me as might have + been expected. This is certain, that the Eternal God our Lord gives + all things to those who obey Him, and the victory when it seems + impossible, and this, evidently, is an instance of it, for although + people have talked of these lands, all was conjecture unless proved + by seeing them, for the greater part listened and judged more by + hearsay than by anything else. + + "Since, then, our Redeemer has given this victory to our illustrious + King and Queen and celebrated their reigns by such a great thing, + all Christendom should rejoice and make great festivals, and give + solemn thanks to the Blessed Trinity, with solemn praises for the + exaltation of so much people to our holy faith; and next for the + temporal blessings which not only Spain but they will enjoy in + becoming Christians, and which last may shortly be accomplished. + + "Written in the caravel off Santa Maria; on the eighteenth of + February, ninety-three." + +The following postscript was added to the letter before it was +despatched: + + "After writing the above, being in the Castilian Sea (off the coast + of Castile), I experienced so severe a wind from south and + south-east that I have been obliged to run to-day into this port of + Lisbon, and only by a miracle got safely in, from whence I intended + to write to Your Highnesses. In all parts of the Indies I have + found the weather like that of May, where I went in ninety-three + days, and returned in seventy-eight, saving these thirteen days of + bad weather that I have been detained beating about in this sea. + Every seaman here says that never was so severe a winter, nor such + loss of ships." + + +On the Friday a messenger came from the King in the person of Don Martin +de Noronha, a relative of Columbus by marriage, and one who had perhaps +looked down upon him in the days when he attended the convent chapel at +Lisbon, but who was now the bearer of a royal invitation and in the +position of a mere envoy. Columbus repaired to Paraiso where the King +was, and where he was received with great honour. + +King John might well have been excused if he had felt some mortification +at this glorious and successful termination of a project which had been +offered to him and which he had rejected; but he evidently behaved with +dignity and a good grace, and did everything that he could to help +Columbus. It was extremely unlikely that he had anything to do with the +insult offered to Columbus at the Azores, for though he was bitterly +disappointed that the glory of this discovery belonged to Spain and not +to Portugal, he was too much of a man to show it in this petty and +revengeful manner. He offered to convey Columbus by land into Spain; but +the Admiral, with a fine dramatic sense, preferred to arrive by sea on +board of all that was left of the fleet with which he had sailed. He +sailed for Seville on Wednesday, March 13th, but during the next day, +when he was off Cape Saint Vincent, he evidently changed his mind and +decided to make for Palos. Sunrise on Friday saw him off the bar of +Saltes, with the white walls of La Rabida shining on the promontory among +the dark fir-trees. During the hours in which he stood off and on +waiting for the tide he was able to recognise again all the old landmarks +and the scenes which had been so familiar to him in those busy days of +preparation nine months before; and at midday he sailed in with the flood +tide and dropped his anchor again in the mud of the river by Palos. + +The caravel had been sighted some time before, probably when she was +standing off, the bar waiting for the tide; she was flying the Admiral's +flag and there was no mistaking her identity; and we can imagine the news +spreading throughout the town of Palos, and reaching Huelva, and one by +one the bells beginning to ring, and the places of business to be closed, +and the people to come pouring out into the streets to be ready to greet +their friends. Some more impatient than the others would sail out in +fishing-boats to get the first news; and I should be surprised to know +that a boat did not put off from the little pier beneath La Rabida, to +row round the point and out to where the Nina was lying--to beyond the +Manto Bank. When the flood began to make over the bar and to cover the +long sandbank that stretches from the island of Saltes, the Nina came +gliding in, greeted by every joyful sound and signal that the inhabitants +of the two seaports could make. Every one hurried down to Palos as the +caravel rounded the Convent Point. Hernando, Marchena, and good old Juan +Perez were all there, we may be sure. Such excitements, such triumphs as +the bronzed, white-bearded Admiral steps ashore at last, and is seized by +dozens of eager hands! Such excitements as all the wives and inamoratas +of the Rodrigos and Juans and Franciscos rush to meet the swarthy +voyagers and cover them with embraces; such disappointments also, when it +is realised that some two score of the company are still on a sunbaked +island infinitely far over the western horizon. + +Tears of joy and grief, shouts and feastings, firing of guns and flying +of flags, processions and receptions with these the deathless day is +filled; and the little Nina, her purpose staunchly fulfilled, swings +deserted on the turning tide, the ripples of her native Tinto making a +familiar music under her bowsprit. + + +And in the evening, with the last of the flood, another ship comes +gliding round the point and up the estuary. The inhabitants of Palos +have all left the shore and are absorbed in the business of welcoming the +great man; and there is no one left to notice or welcome the Pinta. For +it is she that, by a strange coincidence, and after many dangers and +distresses endured since she had parted company from the Nina in the +storm, now has made her native port on the very same day as the Nina. +Our old friend Martin Alonso Pinzon is on board, all the fight and +treachery gone out of him, and anxious only to get home unobserved. For +(according to the story) he had made the port of Bayona on the north-west +coast of Spain, and had written a letter from there to the Sovereigns +announcing his arrival and the discoveries that he had made; and it is +said that he had received an unpleasant letter in return, reproaching him +for not waiting for his commander and forbidding him to come to Court. +This story is possible if his letter reached the Sovereigns after the +letter from the Admiral; for it is probable that Columbus may have +reported some of Martin's doings to them. + +Be that as it may, there are no flags and guns for him as he comes +creeping in up the river; his one anxiety is to avoid the Admiral and to +get home as quickly and quietly as he can. For he is ill, poor Martin +Alonso; whether from a broken heart, as the early historians say, or from +pure chagrin and disappointment, or, as is more likely, from some illness +contracted on the voyage, it is impossible to say. He has endured his +troubles and hardships like all the rest of them; no less skilfully than +Columbus has he won through that terrible tempest of February; and his +foolish and dishonest conduct has deprived him not only of the rewards +that he tried to steal, but of those which would otherwise have been his +by right. He creeps quietly ashore and to his home, where at any rate we +may hope that there is some welcome for him; takes to his bed, turns his +face to the wall; and dies in a few days. So farewell to Martin Alonso, +who has borne us company thus far. He did not fail in the great matters +of pluck and endurance and nautical judgment, but only in the small +matters of honesty and decent manly conduct. We will not weep for Martin +Alonso; we will make our farewells in silence, and leave his deathbed +undisturbed by any more accusations or reproaches. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Christopher Columbus, Volume 3, by Filson Young + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, VOLUME 3 *** + +***** This file should be named 4110.txt or 4110.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/1/4110/ + +Produced by David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Now +that he had made good his undertaking to "discover new lands," he had to +make good his assurance that they were full of wealth and would swell the +revenues of the King and Queen of Spain. A brief survey of this first +island was all he could afford time for; and after the first exquisite +impression of the white beach, and the blue curve of the bay sparkling in +the sunshine, and the soft prismatic colours of the acanthus beneath the +green wall of the woods had been savoured and enjoyed, he was anxious to +push on to the rich lands of the Orient of which he believed this island +to be only an outpost. + +On the morning after his arrival the natives came crowding down to the +beach and got down their canoes, which were dug out of the trunk of a +single tree, and some of which were large enough to contain forty or +forty-five men: They came paddling out to the ship, sometimes, in the +case of the smaller canoes which only held one man, being upset by the +surf, and swimming gaily round and righting their canoes again and +bailing them out with gourds. They brought balls of spun cotton, and +parrots and spears. All their possessions, indeed, were represented in +the offerings they made to the strangers. Columbus, whose eye was now +very steadily fixed on the main chance, tried to find out if they had any +gold, for he noticed that some of them wore in their noses a ring that +looked as though it were made of that metal; and by making signs he asked +them if there was any more of it to be had. He understood them to say +that to the south of the island there dwelt a king who had large vessels +of gold, and a great many of them; he tried to suggest that some of the +natives should come and show him the way, but he "saw that they were not +interested in going." + +The story of the Rheingold was to be enacted over again, and the whole of +the evils that followed in its glittering train to be exemplified in this +voyage of discovery. To the natives of these islands, who guarded the +yellow metal and loved it merely for its shining beauty, it was harmless +and powerless; they could not buy anything with it, nor did they seek by +its aid to secure any other enjoyments but the happiness of looking at it +and admiring it. As soon as the gold was ravished from their keeping, +however, began the reign of lust and cruelty that always has attended and +always will attend the knowledge that things can be bought with it. In +all its history, since first it was brought up from the dark bowels of +the earth to glitter in the light of day, there is no more significant +scene than this that took place on the bright sands of San Salvador so +long ago--Columbus attentively examining the ring in the nose of a happy +savage, and trying to persuade him to show him the place that it was +brought from; and the savage "not interested in going." + + +From his sign-conversation with the natives Columbus understood that +there was land to the south or the south-west, and also to the north- +west, and that the people from the north-west went to the south-west in +search of gold and precious stones. In the meantime he determined to +spend the Sunday in making a survey of the island, while the rest of +Saturday was passed in barterings with the natives, who were very happy +and curious to see all the strange things belonging to the voyagers; and +so innocent were their ideas of value that "they give all they have for +whatever thing may be given them." Columbus, however, who was busy +making calculations, would not allow the members of the crew to take +anything more on their own account, ordering that where any article of +commerce existed in quantity it was to be acquired for the sovereigns and +taken home to Spain. + +Early on Sunday morning a boat was prepared from each ship, and a little +expedition began to row north about the island. As they coasted the +white rocky shores people came running to the beach and calling to them; +"giving thanks to God," says Columbus, although this is probably a flight +of fancy. When they saw that the boats were not coming to land they +threw themselves into the water and came swimming out to them, bringing +food and drink. Columbus noticed a tongue of land lying between the +north-west arm of the internal lagoon and the sea, and saw that by +cutting a canal through it entrance could be secured to a harbour that +would float "as many ships as there are in Christendom." He did not, +apparently, make a complete circuit of the island, but returned in the +afternoon to the ships, having first collected seven natives to take with +him, and got under way again; and before night had fallen San Salvador +had disappeared below the north-west horizon. + +About midday he reached another island to the southeast. He sailed along +the coast until evening, when he saw yet another island in the distance +to the south-west; and he therefore lay-to for the night. At dawn the +next morning he landed on the island and took formal possession of it, +naming it Santa Maria de la Concepcion, which is the Rum Cay of the +modern charts. As the wind chopped round and he found himself on a lee- +shore he did not stay there, but sailed again before night. Two of the +unhappy prisoners from Guanahani at this point made good their escape by +swimming to a large canoe which one of the natives of the new island had +rowed out--a circumstance which worried Columbus not a little; since he +feared it would give him a bad name with the natives. He tried to +counteract it by loading with presents another native who came to barter +balls of cotton, and sending him away again. + +The effect of all that he was seeing, of the bridge of islands that +seemed to be stretching towards the south-west and leading him to the +region of untold wealth, was evidently very stimulating and exciting to +Columbus. His Journal is almost incoherent where he attempts to set down +all he has got to say. Let us listen to him for a moment: + + "These islands are very green and fertile, and the breezes are very + soft, and there may be many things which I do not know, because I + did not wish to stop, in order to discover and search many islands + to find gold. And since these people make signs thus, that they + wear gold on their arms and legs,--and it is gold, because I showed + them some pieces which I have,--I cannot fail, with the aid of our + Lord, in finding it where it is native. And being in the middle of + the gulf between these two islands, that is to say, the island of + Santa Maria and this large one, which I named Fernandina, I found a + man alone in a canoe who was going from the island of Santa Maria to + Fernandina, and was carrying a little of his bread which might have + been about as large as the fist, and a gourd of water, and a piece + of reddish earth reduced to dust and afterwards kneaded, and some + dry leaves--[Tobacco]--which must be a thing very much appreciated + among them, because they had already brought me some of them as a + present at San Salvador: and he was carrying a small basket of their + kind, in which he had a string of small glass beads and two blancas, + by which I knew that he came from the island of San Salvador, and + had gone from there to Santa Maria and was going to Fernandina. He + came to the ship: I caused him to enter it, as he asked to do so, + and I had his canoe placed on the ship and had everything which he + was carrying guarded and I ordered that bread and honey be given him + to eat and something to drink. And I will go to Fernandina thus and + will give him everything, which belongs to him, that he may give + good reports of us. So that, when your Highnesses send here, our + Lord pleasing, those who come may receive honour and the Indians + will give them of everything which they have." + +This hurried gabbling about gold and the aid of our Lord, interlarded +with fragments of natural and geographical observation, sounds strangely +across the gulf of time and impresses one with a disagreeable sense of +bewildered greed--like that of a dog gulping at the delicacies in his +platter and unwilling to do justice to one for fear the others should +escape him; and yet it is a natural bewilderment, and one with which we +must do our best to sympathise. + +Fernandina was the name which Columbus had already given to Long Island +when he sighted it from Santa Maria; and he reached it in the evening of +Tuesday, October 16th. The man in the canoe had arrived before him; and +the astute Admiral had the satisfaction of finding that once more his +cleverness had been rewarded, and that the man in the canoe had given +such glowing accounts of his generosity that there was no difficulty +about his getting water and supplies. While the barrels of water were +being filled he landed and strolled about in the pleasant groves, +observing the islanders and their customs, and finding them on the whole +a little more sophisticated than those of San Salvador. The women wore +mantillas on their heads and "little pieces of cotton" round their loins- +a sufficiently odd costume; and they appeared to Columbus to be a little +more astute than the other islanders, for though they brought cotton in +quantities to the ships they exacted payment of beads for it. In the +charm and wonder of his walk in this enchanted land he was able for a +moment to forget his hunger for gold and to admire the great branching +palm-trees, and the fish that + + "are here so different from ours that it is wonderful. There are + some formed like cocks of the finest colours in the world, blue, + yellow, red and of all colours, and others tinted in a thousand + manners: and the colours are so fine, that there is not a man who + does not wonder at them, and who does not take great pleasure in + seeing them. Also, there are whales. I saw no beasts on land of + any kind except parrots and lizards. A boy told me that he saw a + large snake. I did not see sheep nor goats, nor any other beast; + although I have been here a very short time, as it is midday, still + if there had been any, I could not have missed seeing some." + +Columbus was not a very good descriptive writer, and he has but two +methods of comparison; either a thing is like Spain, or it is not like +Spain. The verdure was "in such condition as it is in the month of May +in Andalusia; and the trees were all as different from ours as day from +night, and also the fruits and grasses and the stones and all the +things." The essay written by a cockney child after a day at the seaside +or in the country, is not greatly different from some of the verbatim +passages of this journal; and there is a charm in that fact too, for it +gives us a picture of Columbus, in spite of his hunt for gold and +precious stones, wandering, still a child at heart, in the wonders of the +enchanted world to which he had come. + +There was trouble on this day, because some of the crew had found an +Indian with a piece of gold in his nose, and they got a scolding from +Columbus for not detaining him and bartering with him for it. There was +bad weather also, with heavy rain and a threatening of tempest; there was +a difference of opinion with Martin Alonso Pinzon about which way they +should go round the island: but the next day the weather cleared, and the +wind settled the direction of their course for them. Columbus, whose eye +never missed anything of interest to the sailor and navigator, notes thus +early a fact which appears in every book of sailing directions for the +Bahama Islands--that the water is so clear and limpid that the bottom can +be seen at a great depth; and that navigation is thus possible and even +safe among the rockstrewn coasts of the islands, when thus performed by +sight and with the sun behind the ship. He was also keenly alive to +natural charm and beauty in the new lands that he was visiting, and there +are unmistakable fragments of himself in the journal that speak +eloquently of his first impressions. "The singing of the little birds is +such that it appears a man would wish never to leave here, and the flocks +of parrots obscure the sun." + +But life, even to the discoverer of a New World, does not consist of +wandering in the groves, and listening to the singing birds, and smelling +the flowers, and remembering the May nights of Andalusia. There was gold +to be found and the mainland of Cathay to be discovered, and a letter, +written by the sovereigns at his earnest request, to be delivered to the +Great Khan. The natives had told him of an island called Samoete to the +southward, which was said to contain a quantity of gold. He sailed +thither on the 19th, and called it Isabella; its modern name is Crooked +Island. He anchored here and found it to be but another step in the +ascending scale of his delight; it was greener and more beautiful than +any of the islands he had yet seen. He spent some time looking for the +gold, but could not find any; although he heard of the island of Cuba, +which he took to be the veritable Cipango. He weighed anchor on October +24th and sailed south-west, encountering some bad weather on the way; but +on Sunday the 28th he came up with the north coast of Cuba and entered +the mouth of a river which is the modern Nuevitas. To the island of Cuba +he gave the name of Juana in honour of the young prince to whom his son +Diego had been appointed a page. + + +If the other islands had seemed beautiful to him, Cuba seemed like heaven +itself. The mountains grandly rising in the interior, the noble rivers +and long sweeping plains, the headlands melting into the clear water, and +the gorgeous colours and flowers and birds and insects on land acted like +a charm on Columbus and his sailors. As they entered the river they +lowered a boat in order to go ahead and sound for an anchorage; and two +native canoes put off from the shore, but, when they saw the boat +approaching, fled again. The Admiral landed and found two empty houses +containing nets and hooks and fishing-lines, and one of the strange +silent dogs, such as they had encountered on the other island--dogs that +pricked their ears and wagged their tails, but that never barked. The +Admiral, in spite of his greed for gold and his anxiety to "free" the +people of the island, was now acting much more discreetly, and with the +genuine good sense which he always possessed and which was only sometimes +obscured. He would not allow anything in the empty houses to be +disturbed or taken away, and whenever he saw the natives he tried to show +them that he intended to do them no harm, and to win their good will by +making them presents of beads and toys for which he would take no return. +As he went on up the river the scenery became more and more enchanting, +so that he felt quite unhappy at not being able to express all the +wonders and beauties that he saw. In the pure air and under the serene +blue of the sky those matchless hues of blossom and foliage threw a +rainbow-coloured garment on either bank of the river; the flamingoes, the +parrots and woodpeckers and humming-birds calling to one another and +flying among the tree-tops, made the upper air also seem alive and shot +with all the colours of the rainbow. Humble Christopher, walking amid +these gorgeous scenes, awed and solemnised by the strangeness and +magnificence of nature around him, tries to identify something that he +knows; and thinks, that amid all these strange chorusings of unknown +birds, he hears the familiar note of a nightingale. Amid all his +raptures, however, the main chance is not forgotten; everything that he +sees he translates into some terms of practical utility. Just as on the +voyage out every seaweed or fish or flying bird that he saw was hailed by +him as a sign that land was near, so amid the beauty of this virgin world +everything that he sees is taken to indicate either that he is close upon +the track of the gold, or that he must be in Cipango, or that the natives +will be easy to convert to Christianity. In the fragrance of the woods +of Cuba, Columbus thought that he smelled Oriental spices, which Marco +Polo had described as abounding in Cipango; when he walked by the shore +and saw the shells of pearl oysters, he believed the island to be loaded +with pearls and precious stones; when he saw a scrap of tinsel or bright +metal adorning a native, he argued that there was a gold mine close at +hand. And so he went on in an increasing whirl of bewildering +enchantment from anchorage to anchorage and from island to island, always +being led on by that yellow will o'-the-wisp, gold, and always believing +that the wealth of the Orient would be his on the morrow. As he coasted +along towards the west he entered the river which he called Rio de Mares. +He found a large village here full of palm-branch houses furnished with +chairs and hammocks and adorned with wooden masks and statues; but in +spite of his gentleness and offer of gifts the inhabitants all fled to +the mountains, while he and his men walked curiously through the deserted +houses. + +On Tuesday, October 30th, Martin Alonso Pinzon, whose communications the +Admiral was by this time beginning to dread, came with some exciting +news. It seemed that the Indians from San Salvador who were on board the +Pinta had told him that beyond the promontory, named by Columbus the Cape +of Palms, there was a river, four days' journey upon which would bring +one to the city of Cuba, which was very rich and large and abounded with +gold; and that the king of that country was at war with a monarch whom +they called Cami, and whom Pinzon identified with the Great Khan. More +than this, these natives assured him that the land they were on at +present was the mainland itself, and that they could not be very far from +Cathay. Columbus for once found himself in agreement with Martin Alonso. +The well-thumbed copy of Marco Polo was doubtless brought out, and +abundant evidence found in it; and it was decided to despatch a little +embassy to this city in order to gain information about its position and +wealth. When they continued their course, however, and rounded the cape, +no river appeared; they sailed on, and yet promontory after promontory +was opened ahead of them; and as the wind turned against them and the +weather was very threatening they decided to turn back and anchor again +in the Rio de Mares. + +Columbus was now, as he thought, hot upon the track of the Great Khan +himself; and on the first of November he sent boats ashore and told the +sailors to get information from the houses; but the inhabitants fled +shyly into the woods. Having once postulated the existence of the Great +Khan in this immediate territory Columbus, as his habit was, found that +everything fitted with the theory; and he actually took the flight of the +natives, although it had occurred on a dozen other occasions, as a proof +that they mistook his bands of men for marauding expeditions despatched +by the great monarch himself. He therefore recalled them, and sent a +boat ashore with an Indian interpreter who, standing in the boat at the +edge of the water, called upon the natives to draw near, and harangued +them. He assured them of the peaceable intentions of the great Admiral, +and that he had nothing whatever to do with the Great Khan; which cannot +very greatly have thrilled the Cubans, who knew no more about the Great +Khan than they did about Columbus. The interpreter then swam ashore and +was well received; so well, that in the evening some sixteen canoes came +off to the ships bringing cotton yarn and spears for traffic. Columbus, +with great astuteness, forbade any trading in cotton or indeed in +anything at all except gold, hoping by this means to make the natives +produce their treasures; and he would no doubt have been successful if +the natives had possessed any gold, but as the poor wretches had nothing +but the naked skins they stood up in, and the few spears and pots and +rolls of cotton that they were offering, the Admiral's astuteness was for +once thrown away. There was one man, however, with a silver ring in his +nose, who was understood to say that the king lived four days' journey in +the interior, and that messengers had been sent to him to tell him of the +arrival of the strange ships; which messengers would doubtless soon +return bringing merchants with them to trade with the ships. If this +native was lying he showed great ingenuity in inventing the kind of story +that his questioners wanted; but it is more likely that his utterances +were interpreted by Columbus in the light of his own ardent beliefs. At +any rate it was decided to send at once a couple of envoys to this great +city, and not to wait for the arrival of the merchants. Two Spaniards, +Rodrigo de Jerez and Luis de Torres, the interpreter to the expedition-- +who had so far found little use for his Hebrew and Chaldean--were chosen; +and with them were sent two Indians, one from San Salvador and the other +a local native who went as guide. Red caps and beads and hawks' bells +were duly provided, and a message for the king was given to them telling +him that Columbus was waiting with letters and presents from Spanish +sovereigns, which he was to deliver personally. After the envoys had +departed, Columbus, whose ships were anchored in a large basin of deep +water with a clean and steep beach, decided to take the opportunity of +having the vessels careened. Their hulls were covered with shell and +weed; the caulking, which had been dishonestly done at Palos, had also +to be attended to; so the ships were beached and hove down one at a time +--an unnecessary precaution, as it turned out, for there was no sign of +treachery on the part of the natives. While the men were making fires to +heat their tar they noticed that the burning wood sent forth a heavy +odour which was like mastic; and the Admiral, now always busy with +optimistic calculations, reckoned that there was enough in that vicinity +to furnish a thousand quintals every year. While the work on the ships +was going forward he employed himself in his usual way, going ashore, +examining the trees and vegetables and fruits, and holding such +communication as he was able with the natives. He was up every morning +at dawn, at one time directing the work of his men, at another going +ashore after some birds that he had seen; and as dawn comes early in +those islands his day was probably a long one, and it is likely that he +was in bed soon after dark. On the day that he went shooting, Martin +Alonso Pinzon was waiting for him on his return; this time not to make +any difficulties or independent proposals, but to show him two pieces of +cinnamon that one of his men had got from an Indian who was carrying a +quantity of it. "Why did the man not get it all from him?" says greedy +Columbus. "Because of the prohibition of the Admiral's that no one +should do any trading," says Martin Alonso, and conceives himself to have +scored; for truly these two men do not love one another. The boatswain +of the Pinta, adds Martin Alonso, has found whole trees of it. "The +Admiral then went there and found that it was not cinnamon." The Admiral +was omnipotent; if he had said that it was manna they would have had to +make it so, and as he chose to say that it was not cinnamon, we must take +his word for it, as Martin Alonso certainly had to do; so that it was the +Admiral who scored this time. Columbus, however, now on the track of +spices, showed some cinnamon and pepper to the natives; and the obliging +creatures "said by signs that there was a great deal of it towards the +south-east." Columbus then showed them some gold and pearls; and +"certain old men" replied that in a place they called Bo-No there was any +amount of gold; the people wore it in their ears and on their arms and +legs, and there were pearls also, and large ships and merchandise--all to +the south-east. Finding this information, which was probably entirely +untrue and merely a polite effort to do what was expected of them, well +received, the natives added that "a long distance from there, there were +men with one eye, and other men with dogs' snouts who ate men, and that +when they caught a man they beheaded him and drank his blood" . . . +Soon after this the Admiral went on board again and began to write up his +Journal, solemnly entering all these facts in it. It is the most +childish nonsense; but after all, how interesting and credible it must +have been! To live thus smelling the most heavenly perfumes, breathing +the most balmy air, viewing the most lovely scenes, and to be always hot +upon the track of gold and pearls and spices and wealth and dog-nosed, +blood-drinking monstrosities--what an adventure, what a vivid piece of +living! + + +After a few days--on Tuesday, November 6th--the two men who had been sent +inland to the great and rich city came back again with their report. +Alas for visions of the Great Khan! The city turned out to be a village +of fifty houses with twenty people in each house. The envoys had been +received with great solemnity; and all the men "as well as the women" +came to see them, and lodged them in a fine house. The chief people in +the village came and kissed their hands and feet, hailing them as +visitors from the skies, and seating them in two chairs, while they sat +round on the floor. The native interpreter, doubtless according to +instructions, then told them "how the Christians lived and how they were +good people"; and I would give a great deal to have heard that brief +address. Afterwards the men went out and the women came in, also kissing +the hands and feet of the visitors, and "trying them to see if they were +of flesh and of bone like themselves." The results were evidently so +satisfactory that the strangers were implored to remain at least five +days. The real business of the expedition was then broached. Had they +any gold or pearls? Had they any cinnamon or spices? Answer, as usual: +"No, but they thought there was a great deal of it to the south-east." +The interest of the visitors then evaporated, and they set out for the +coast again; but they found that at least five hundred men and women +wanted to come with them, since they believed that they were returning to +heaven. On their journey back the two Spaniards noticed many people +smoking, as the Admiral himself had done a few days before; and this is +the first known discovery of tobacco by Europeans. + +They saw a great many geese, and the strange dogs that did not bark, and +they saw potatoes also, although they did not know what they were. +Columbus, having heard this report, and contemplating these gentle +amiable creatures, so willing to give all they had in return for a scrap +of rubbish, feels his heart lifted in a pious aspiration that they might +know the benefits of the Christian religion. "I have to say, Most Serene +Princes," he writes, + + "that by means of devout religious persons knowing their language + well, all would soon become Christians: and thus I hope in our Lord + that Your Highnesses will appoint such persons with great diligence + in order to turn to the Church such great peoples, and that they + will convert them, even as they have destroyed those who would not + confess the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit: and after their + days, as we are all mortal, they will leave their realms--in a very + tranquil condition and freed from heresy and wickedness, and will be + well received before the Eternal Creator, Whom may it please to give + them a long life and a great increase of larger realms and + dominions, and the will and disposition to spread the holy Christian + religion, as they have done up to the present time, Amen. To-day I + will launch the ship and make haste to start on Thursday, in the + name of God, to go to the southeast and seek gold and spices, and + discover land." + Thus Christopher Columbus, in the Name of God, + + November 11, 1492. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE EARTHLY PARADISE + +When Columbus weighed anchor on the 12th of November he took with him six +captive Indians. It was his intention to go in search of the island of +Babeque, which the Indians alleged lay about thirty leagues to the east- +south-east, and where, they said, the people gathered gold out of the +sand with candles at night, and afterwards made bars of it with a hammer. +They told him this by signs; and we have only one more instance of the +Admiral's facility in interpreting signs in favour of his own beliefs. +It is only a few days later that in the same Journal he says, "The people +of these lands do not understand me, nor do I nor any other person I have +with me understand them; and these Indians I am taking with me, many +times understand things contrary to what they are." It was a fault at +any rate not exclusively possessed by the Indians, who were doubtless +made the subject of many philological experiments on the part of the +interpreter; all that they seemed to have learned at this time were +certain religious gestures, such as making the Sign of the Cross, which +they did continually, greatly to the edification of the crew. + +In order to keep these six natives in a good temper Columbus kidnapped +"seven women, large and small, and three children," in order, he alleged, +that the men might conduct themselves better in Spain because of having +their "wives" with them; although whether these assorted women were +indeed the wives of the kidnapped natives must at the best be a doubtful +matter. The three children, fortunately, had their father and mother +with them; but that was only because the father, having seen his wife and +children kidnapped, came and offered to go with them of his own accord. +This taking of the women raises a question which must be in the mind of +any one who studies this extraordinary voyage--the question of the +treatment of native women by the Spaniards. Columbus is entirely silent +on the subject; but taking into account the nature of the Spanish rabble +that formed his company, and his own views as to the right which he had +to possess the persons and goods of the native inhabitants, I am afraid +that there can be very little doubt that in this matter there is a good +reason, for his silence. So far as Columbus himself was concerned, it is +probable that he was innocent enough; he was not a sensualist by nature, +and he was far too much interested and absorbed in the principal objects +of his expedition, and had too great a sense of his own personal dignity, +to have indulged in excesses that would, thus sanctioned by him, have +produced a very disastrous effect on the somewhat rickety discipline of +his crew. He was too wise a master, however, to forbid anything that it +was not in his power to prevent; and it is probable that he shut his eyes +to much that, if he did not tolerate it, he at any rate regarded as a +matter of no very great importance. His crew had by this time learned to +know their commander well enough not to commit under his eyes offences +for which he would have been sure to punish them. + + +For two days they ran along the coast with a fair wind; but on the 14th a +head wind and heavy sea drove them into the shelter of a deep harbour +called by Columbus Puerto del Principe, which is the modern Tanamo. The +number of islands off this part of the coast of Cuba confirmed Columbus +in his profound geographical error; he took them to be "those innumerable +islands which in the maps of the world are placed at the end of the +east." He erected a great wooden cross on an eminence here, as he always +did when he took possession of a new place, and made some boat excursions +among the islands in the harbour. On the 17th of November two of the six +youths whom he had taken on board the week before swam ashore and +escaped. When he started again on his voyage he was greatly +inconvenienced by the wind, which veered about between the north and +south of east, and was generally a foul wind for him. There is some +difference of opinion as to what point of the wind the ships of +Columbus's time would sail on; but there is no doubt that they were +extremely unhandy in anything approaching a head wind, and that they were +practically no good at all at beating to windward. The shape of their +hulls, the ungainly erections ahead and astern, and their comparatively +light hold on the water, would cause them to drift to leeward faster than +they could work to windward. In this head wind, therefore, Columbus +found that he was making very little headway, although he stood out for +long distances to the northward. On Wednesday, November 21st, occurred a +most disagreeable incident, which might easily have resulted in the +Admiral's never reaching Spain alive. Some time in the afternoon he +noticed the Pinta standing away ahead of him in a direction which was not +the course which he was steering; and he signalled her to close up with +him. No answer, however, was made to his signal, which he repeated, but +to which he failed to attract any response. He was standing south at the +time, the wind being well in the north-east; and Martin Alonso Pinzon, +whose caravel pointed into the wind much better than the unhandy Santa +Maria, was standing to the east. When evening fell he was still in +sight, at a distance of sixteen miles. Columbus was really concerned, +and fired lombards and flew more signals of invitation; but there was no +reply. In the evening he shortened sail and burned a torch all night, +"because it appeared that Martin Alonso was returning to me; and the +night was very clear, and there was a nice little breeze by which to come +to me if he wished." But he did not wish, and he did not come. + +Martin Alonso has in fact shown himself at last in his true colours. He +has got the fastest ship, he has got a picked company of his own men from +Palos; he has got an Indian on board, moreover, who has guaranteed to +take him straight to where the gold is; and he has a very agreeable plan +of going and getting it, and returning to Spain with the first news and +the first wealth. It is open mutiny, and as such cannot but be a matter +of serious regret and trouble to the Admiral, who sits writing up his +Journal by the swinging lamp in his little cabin. To that friend and +confidant he pours out his troubles and his long list of grievances +against Martin Alonso; adding, "He has done and said many other things +to me." Up on deck the torch is burning to light the wanderer back +again, if only he will come; and there is "a nice little breeze" by which +to come if he wishes; but Martin Alonso has wishes quite other than that. + + +The Pinta was out of sight the next morning, and the little Nina was all +that the Admiral had to rely upon for convoy. They were now near the +east end of the north coast of Cuba, and they stood in to a harbour which +the Admiral called Santa Catalina, and which is now called Cayo de Moa. +As the importance of the Nina to the expedition had been greatly +increased by the defection of the Pinta, Columbus went on board and +examined her. He found that some of her spars were in danger of giving +way; and as there was a forest of pine trees rising from the shore he was +able to procure a new mizzen mast and latine yard in case it should be +necessary to replace those of the Nina. The next morning he weighed +anchor at sunrise and continued east along the coast. He had now arrived +at the extreme end of Cuba, and was puzzled as to what course he should +take. Believing Cuba, as he did, to be the mainland of Cathay, he would +have liked to follow the coast in its trend to the south-west, in the +hope of coming upon the rich city of Quinsay; but on the other hand there +was looming to the south-west some land which the natives with him +assured him was Bohio, the place where all the gold was. He therefore +held on his course; but when the Indians found that he was really going +to these islands they became very much alarmed, and made signs that the +people would eat them if they went there; and, in order further to +dissuade the Admiral, they added that the people there had only one eye, +and the faces, of dogs. As it did not suit Columbus to believe them he +said that they were lying, and that he "felt" that the island must belong +to the domain of the Great Khan. He therefore continued his course, +seeing many beautiful and enchanting bays opening before him, and longing +to go into them, but heroically stifling his curiosity, "because he was +detained more than he desired by the pleasure and delight he felt in +seeing and gazing on the beauty and freshness of those countries wherever +he entered, and because he did not wish to be delayed in prosecuting what +he was engaged upon; and for these reasons he remained that night beating +about and standing off and on until day." He could not trust himself, +that is to say, to anchor in these beautiful harbours, for he knew he +would be tempted to go ashore and waste valuable time exploring the +woods; and so he remained instead, beating about in the open sea. + +As it was, what with contrary winds and his own indecision as to which +course he should pursue, it was December the 6th before he came up with +the beautiful island of Hayti, and having sent the Nina in front to +explore for a harbour, entered the Mole Saint Nicholas, which he called +Puerto Maria. Towards the east he saw an island shaped like a turtle, +and this island he named Tortuga; and the harbour, which he entered that +evening on the hour of Vespers, he called Saint Nicholas, as it was the +feast of that saint. Once more his description flounders among +superlatives: he thought Cuba was perfect; but he finds the new island +more perfect still. The climate is like May in Cordova; the tracts of +arable land and fertile valleys and high mountains are like those in +Castile; he finds mullet like those of Castile; soles and other fish like +those in Castile; nightingales and other small birds like those in +Castile; myrtle and other trees and grasses like those in Castile! In +short, this new land is so like Spain, only more wonderful and beautiful, +that he christens it Espanola. + +They stayed two days in the harbour of Saint Nicholas, and then began to +coast eastwards along the shores of Espaniola. Their best progress was +made at dawn and sunset, when the land breeze blew off the island; and +during the day they encountered a good deal of colder weather and +easterly winds, which made their progress slow. Every day they put in at +one or other of the natural harbours in which that beautiful coast +abounds; every day they saw natives on the shores who generally fled at +their approach, but were often prevailed upon to return and to converse +with the natives on board the Admiral's ship, and to receive presents and +bring parrots and bits of gold in exchange. On one day a party of men +foraging ashore saw a beautiful young girl, who fled at their approach; +and they chased her a long way through the woods, finally capturing her +and bringing her on board. Columbus "caused her to be clothed"-- +doubtless a diverting occupation for Rodrigo, Juan, Garcia, Pedro, +William, and the rest of them, although for the poor, shy, trembling +captive not diverting at all--and sent her ashore again loaded with beads +and brass rings--to act as a decoy. Having sown this good seed the +Admiral waited for a night, and then sent a party of men ashore, "well +prepared with arms and adapted for such an affair," to have some +conversation with the people. The innocent harvest was duly reaped; the +natives met the Spaniards with gifts of food and drink, and understanding +that the Admiral would like to have a parrot, they sent as many parrots +as were wanted. The husband of the girl who had been captured and +clothed came back with her to the shore with a large body of natives, +in order to thank the Admiral for his kindness and clemency; and their +confidence was not misplaced, as the Admiral did not at that moment wish +to do any more kidnapping. The Spaniards were more and more amazed and +impressed with the beauty and fertility of these islands. The lands were +more lovely than the finest land in Castile; the rivers were large and +wide, the trees green and full of fruit, the grasses knee-deep and +starred with flowers; the birds sang sweetly all night; there were mastic +trees and aloes and plantations of cotton. There was fishing in plenty; +and if there were not any gold mines immediately at hand, they here sure +to be round the next headland or, at the farthest, in the next island. +The people, too, charmed and delighted the Admiral, who saw in them a +future glorious army of souls converted to the Christian religion. They +were taller and handsomer than the inhabitants of the other islands, and +the women much fairer; indeed, if they had not been so much exposed to +the sun, and if they could only be clothed in the decent garments of +civilisation, the Admiral thought that their skins would be as white as +those of the women of Spain--which was only another argument for bringing +them within the fold of the Holy Catholic Church. The men were powerful +and apparently harmless; they showed no truculent or suspicious spirit; +they had no knowledge of arms; a thousand of them would not face three +Christians; and + + "so they are suitable to be governed and made to work and sow and do + everything else that shall be necessary, and to build villages and + be taught to wear clothing and observe our customs." + +At present, you see, they are but poor happy heathens, living in a +paradise of their own, where the little birds sing all through the warm +nights, and the rivers murmur through flowery meadows, and no one has any +knowledge of arms or desire of such knowledge, and every one goes naked +and unashamed. High time, indeed, that they should be taught to wear +clothing and observe our customs. + + +The local chief came on a visit of state to the ship; and the Admiral +paid him due honour, telling him that he came as an envoy from the +greatest sovereigns in the world. But this charming king, or cacique as +they called him, would not believe this; he thought that Columbus was, +for reasons of modesty, speaking less than the truth--a new charge to +bring against our Christopher! He believed that the Spaniards came from +heaven, and that the realms of the sovereigns of Castile were in the +heavens and not in this world. He took some refreshment, as his +councillors did also, little dreaming, poor wretches, what in after years +was to come to them through all this palavering and exchanging of +presents. The immediate result of the interview, however, was to make +intercourse with the natives much freer and pleasanter even than it had +been before; and some of the sailors went fishing with the natives. +It was then that they were shown some cane arrows with hardened points, +which the natives said belonged to the people of 'Caniba', who, they +alleged, came to the island to capture and eat the natives. The Admiral +did not believe it; his sublime habit of rejecting everything that did +not fit in with his theory of the moment, and accepting everything that +did, made him shake his head when this piece of news was brought to him. +He could not get the Great Khan out of his head, and his present theory +was that this island, being close to the mainland of Cathay, was visited +by the armies of the Great Khan, and that it was his men who had used the +arrows and made war upon the natives. It was no good for the natives to +show him some of their mutilated bodies, and to tell him that the +cannibals ate them piecemeal; he had no use for such information. His +mind was like a sieve of which the size of the meshes could be adjusted +at will; everything that was not germane to the idea of the moment fell +through it, and only confirmative evidence remained; and at the moment he +was not believing any stories which did not prove that the Great Khan +was, so to speak, just round the corner. If they talked about gold he +would listen to them; and so the cacique brought him a piece of gold the +size of his hand and, breaking it into pieces, gave it to him a bit at a +time. This the Admiral took to be sign of great intelligence. They told +him there was gold at Tortuga, but he preferred to believe that it came +from Babeque, which may have been Jamaica and may have been nothing at +all. + +But his theory was that it existed on Espanola only in small pieces +because that country was so rich that the natives had no need for it; +an economic theory which one grows dizzy in pondering. At any rate +"the Admiral believed that he was very near the fountainhead, and that +Our Lord was about to show him where the gold originates." + +On Tuesday, December 18th, the ships were all dressed in honour of a +religious anniversary, and the cacique, hearing the firing of the +lombards with which the festival was greeted, came down to the shore to +see what was the matter. As Columbus was sitting at dinner on deck +beneath the poop the cacique arrived with all his people; and the account +of his visit is preserved in Columbus's own words. + + "As he entered the ship he found that I was eating at the table + below the stern forecastle, and he came quickly to seat himself + beside me, and would not allow me to go to meet him or get up from + the table, but only that I should eat. I thought that he would like + to eat some of our viands and I then ordered that things should be + brought him to eat. And when he entered under the forecastle, he + signed with his hand that all his people should remain without, and + they did so with the greatest haste and respect in the world, and + all seated themselves on the deck, except two men of mature age whom + I took to be his counsellors and governors, and who came and seated + themselves at his feet: and of the viands which I placed before him + he took of each one as much as may be taken for a salutation, and + then he sent the rest to his people and they all ate some of it, and + he did the same with the drink, which he only touched to his mouth, + and then gave it to the others in the same way, and it was all done + in wonderful state and with very few words, and whatever he said, + according to what I was able to understand, was very formal and + prudent, and those two looked in his face and spoke for him and with + him, and with great respect. + + "After eating, a page brought a belt which is like those of Castile + in shape, but of a different make, which he took and gave me, and + also two wrought pieces of gold, which were very thin, as I believe + they obtain very little of it here, although I consider they are + very near the place where it has its home, and that there is a great + deal of it. I saw that a drapery that I had upon my bed pleased + him. I gave it to him, and some very good amber beads which I wore + around my neck and some red shoes and a flask of orange-flower + water, with which he was so pleased it was wonderful; and he and his + governor and counsellors were very sorry that they did not + understand me, nor I them. Nevertheless I understood that he told + me that if anything from here would satisfy me that all the island + was at my command. I sent for some beads of mine, where as a sign I + have a 'excelente' of gold upon which the images of your Highnesses + are engraved, and showed it to him, and again told him the same as + yesterday, that your Highnesses command and rule over all the best + part of the world, and that there are no other such great Princes: + and I showed him the royal banners and the others with the cross, + which he held in great estimation: and he said to his counsellors + that your Highnesses must be great Lords, since you had sent me here + from so far without fear: and many other things happened which I did + not understand, except that I very well saw he considered everything + as very wonderful." + +Later in the day Columbus got into talk with an old man who told him that +there was a great quantity of gold to be found on some island about a +hundred leagues away; that there was one island that was all gold; and +that in the others there was such a quantity that they natives gathered +it and sifted it with sieves and made it into bars. The old man pointed +out vaguely the direction in which this wonderful country lay; and if he +had not been one of the principal persons belonging to the King Columbus +would have detained him and taken him with him; but he decided that he +had paid the cacique too much respect to make it right that he should +kidnap one of his retinue. He determined, however, to go and look for +the gold. Before he left he had a great cross erected in the middle of +the Indian village; and as he made sail out of the harbour that evening +he could see the Indians kneeling round the cross and adoring it. He +sailed eastward, anchoring for a day in the Bay of Acul, which he called +Cabo de Caribata, receiving something like an ovation from the natives, +and making them presents and behaving very graciously and kindly to them. + +It was at this time that Columbus made the acquaintance of a man whose +character shines like a jewel amid the dismal scenes that afterwards +accompanied the first bursting of the wave of civilisation on these happy +shores. This was the king of that part of the island, a young man named +Guacanagari. This king sent out a large canoe full of people to the +Admiral's ship, with a request that Columbus would land in his country, +and a promise that the chief would give him whatever he had. There +must have been an Intelligence Department in the island, for the chief +seemed to know what would be most likely to attract the Admiral; and with +his messengers he sent out a belt with a large golden mask attached to +it. Unfortunately the natives on board the Admiral's ship could not +understand Guacanagari's messengers, and nearly the whole of the day was +passed in talking before the sense of their message was finally made out +by means of signs. In the evening some Spaniards were sent ashore to see +if they could not get some gold; but Columbus, who had evidently had some +recent experience of their avariciousness, and who was anxious to keep on +good terms with the chiefs of the island, sent his secretary with them to +see that they did nothing unjust or unreasonable. He was scrupulous to +see that the natives got their bits of glass and beads in exchange for +the gold; and it is due to him to remember that now, as always, he was +rigid in regulating his conduct with other men in accordance with his +ideas of justice and honour, however elastic those ideas may seem to have +been. The ruffianly crew had in their minds only the immediate +possession of what they could get from the Indians; the Admiral had in +his mind the whole possession of the islands and the bodies and souls of +its inhabitants. If you take a piece of gold without giving a glass bead +in exchange for it, it is called stealing; if you take a country and its +inhabitants, and steal their peace from them, and give them blood and +servitude in exchange for it, it is called colonisation and Empire- +building. Every one understands the distinction; but so few people see +the difference that Columbus of all men may be excused for his +unconsciousness of it. + +Indeed Columbus was seeing yellow at this point in his career. The word +"gold" is scattered throughout every page of his journal; he can +understand nothing that the natives say to him except that there is a +great quantity of gold somewhere about. He is surrounded by natives +pressing presents upon him, protesting their homage, and assuring him (so +he thinks) that there are any amount of gold mines; and no wonder that +the yellow light blinds his eyes and confounds his senses, and that +sometimes, even when the sun has gone down and the natives have retired +to their villages and he sits alone in the seclusion of his cabin, the +glittering motes still dance before his eyes and he becomes mad, maudlin, +ecstatic . . . . The light flickers in the lamp as the ship swings a +little on the quiet tide and a night breeze steals through the cabin +door; the sound of voices ashore sounds dimly across the water; the brain +of the Admiral, overfilled with wonders and promises and hopes, sends its +message to the trembling hand that holds the pen, and the incoherent +words stream out on the ink. "May our Lord in His mercy direct me until +I find this gold, I say this Mine, because I have many people here who +say that they know it." + +On Christmas Eve a serious misfortune befell Columbus. What with looking +for gold, and trying to understand the people who talked about it, and +looking after his ships, and writing up his journal, he had had +practically no sleep for two days and a night; and at eleven o'clock on +the 24th of December, the night being fine and his ship sailing along the +coast with a light land breeze, he decided to lie down to get some sleep. +There were no difficulties in navigation to be feared, because the ship's +boats had been rowed the day before a distance of about ten miles ahead +on the course which they were then steering and had seen that there was +open water all the way. The wind fell calm; and the man at the helm, +having nothing to do, and feeling sleepy, called a ship's boy to him, +gave him the helm, and went off himself to lie down. This of course was +against all rules; but as the Admiral was in his cabin and there was no +one to tell them otherwise the watch on deck thought it a very good +opportunity to rest. Suddenly the boy felt the rudder catch upon +something, saw the ship swinging, and immediately afterwards heard the +sound of tide ripples. He cried out; and in a moment Columbus, who was +sleeping the light sleep of an anxious shipmaster, came tumbling up to +see what was the matter. The current, which flows in that place at a +speed of about two knots, had carried the ship on to a sand bank, but she +touched so quietly that it was hardly felt. Close on the heels of, +Columbus came the master of the ship and the delinquent watch; and the +Admiral immediately ordered them to launch the ship's boat--and lay out +an anchor astern so that they could warp her off. The wretches lowered +the boat, but instead of getting the anchor on board rowed off in the +direction of the Nina, which was lying a mile and a half to windward. +As soon as Columbus saw what they were doing he ran to the side and, +seeing that the tide was failing and that the ship had swung round across +the bank, ordered the remainder of the crew to cut away the mainmast and +throw the deck hamper overboard, in order to lighten the ship. This took +some time; the tide was falling, and the ship beginning to heel over on +her beam; and by the time it was done the Admiral saw that it would be of +no use, for the ship's seams had opened and she was filling. + +At this point the miserable crew in the ship's boat came back, the loyal +people on the Nina having refused to receive them and sent them back to +the assistance of the Admiral. But it was now too late to do anything to +save the ship; and as he did not know but that she might break up, +Columbus decided to tranship the people to the Nina, who had by this time +sent her own boat. The whole company boarded the Nina, on which the +Admiral beat about miserably till morning in the vicinity of his doomed +ship. Then he sent Diego de Arana, the brother of Beatriz and a trusty +friend, ashore in a boat to beg the help of the King; and Guacanagari +immediately sent his people with large canoes to unload the wrecked ship, +which was done with great efficiency and despatch, and the whole of her +cargo and fittings stored on shore under a guard. And so farewell to the +Santa Maria, whose bones were thenceforward to bleach upon the shores of +Hayti, or incongruously adorn the dwellings of the natives. She may have +been "a bad sailer and unfit for discovery"; but no seaman looks without +emotion upon the wreck of a ship whose stem has cut the waters of home, +which has carried him safely over thousands of uncharted miles, and which +has for so long been his shelter and sanctuary. + + +At sunrise the kind-hearted cacique came down to the Nina, where Columbus +had taken up his quarters, and with tears in his eyes begged the Admiral +not to grieve at his losses, for that he, the cacique, would give him +everything that he possessed; that he had already given two large houses +to the Spaniards from the Santa Maria who had been obliged to encamp on +shore, and that he would provide more accommodation and help if +necessary. In fact, the day which had been ushered in so disastrously +turned into a very happy one; and before it was over Columbus had decided +that, as he could not take the whole of his company home on the Nina, he +would establish a settlement on shore so that the men who were left +behind could collect gold and store it until more ships could be sent +from Spain. The natives came buzzing round anxious to barter whatever +they had for hawks' bells, which apparently were the most popular of the +toys that had been brought for bartering; "they shouted and showed the +pieces of gold, saying chuq, chuq, for hawks' bells, as they are in a +likely state to become crazy for them." The cacique was delighted to see +that the Admiral was pleased with the gold that was brought to him, and +he cheered him up by telling him that there was any amount in Cibao, +which Columbus of course took for Cipango. The cacique entertained +Columbus to a repast on shore, at which the monarch wore a shirt and a +pair of gloves that Columbus had given him; "and he rejoiced more over +the gloves than anything that had been given him." Columbus was pleased +with his clean and leisurely method of eating, and with his dainty +rubbing of his hands with herbs after he had eaten. After the repast +Columbus gave a little demonstration of bow-and-arrow shooting and the +firing of lombards and muskets, all of which astonished and impressed the +natives. + +The afternoon was spent in deciding on a site for the fortress which was +to be constructed; and Columbus had no difficulty in finding volunteers +among the crews to remain in the settlement. He promised to leave with +them provisions of bread and wine for a year, a ship's boat, seeds for +sowing crops, and a carpenter, a caulker, a gunner, and a cooper. Before +the day was out he was already figuring up the profit that would arise +out of his misfortune of the day before; and he decided that it was the +act of God which had cast his ship away in order that this settlement +should be founded. He hoped that the settlers would have a ton of gold +ready for him when he came back from Castile, so that, as he had said in +the glittering camp of Santa Fe, where perhaps no one paid very much heed +to him, there might be such a profit as would provide for the conquest of +Jerusalem and the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre. After all, if he was +greedy for gold, he had a pious purpose for its employment. + + +The last days of the year were very busy ones for the members of the +expedition. Assisted by the natives they were building the fort which, +in memory of the day on which it was founded, Columbus called La Villa- +de la Navidad. The Admiral spent much time with King Guacanagari, who +"loved him so much that it was wonderful," and wished to cover him all +over with gold before he went away, and begged him not to go before it +was done. On December 27th there was some good news; a caravel had been +seen entering a harbour a little further along the coast; and as this +could only mean that the Pinta had returned, Columbus borrowed a canoe +from the king, and despatched a sailor in it to carry news of his +whereabouts to the Pinta. While it was away Guacanagari collected all +the other kings and chiefs who were subject to him, and held a kind of +durbar. They all wore their crowns; and Guacanagari took off his crown +and placed it on Columbus's head; and the Admiral, not to be outdone, +took from his own neck "a collar of good bloodstones and very beautiful +beads of fine colours; which appeared very good in all parts, and placed +it upon the King; and he took off a cloak of fine scarlet cloth which he +had put on that day, and clothed the King with it; and he sent for some +coloured buskins which he made him put on, and placed upon his finger a +large silver ring"--all of which gives us a picturesque glimpse into the +contents of the Admiral's wardrobe, and a very agreeable picture of King +Guacanagari, whom we must now figure as clothed, in addition to his shirt +and gloves, in a pair of coloured buskins, a collar of bloodstones, a +scarlet cloak and a silver ring. + +But the time was running short; the Admiral, hampered as he was by the +possession of only one small ship, had now but one idea, which was to get +back to Castile as quickly as possible, report the result of his +discoveries, and come back again with a larger and more efficient +equipment. Before he departed he had an affectionate leave-taking with +King Guacanagari; he gave him another shirt, and also provided a +demonstration of the effect of lombards by having one loaded, and firing +at the old Santa Maria where she lay hove down on the sandbank. The shot +went clean through her hull and fell into the sea beyond, and produced +what might be called a very strong moral effect, although an unnecessary +one, on the natives. He then set about the very delicate business of +organising the settlement. In all, forty-two men were to remain behind, +with Diego de Arana in the responsible position of chief lieutenant, +assisted by Pedro Gutierrez and Rodrigo de Escovedo, the nephew of Friar +Juan Perez of La Rabida. To these three he delegated all his powers and +authority as Admiral and Viceroy; and then, having collected the +colonists, gave them a solemn address. First, he reminded them of the +goodness of God to them, and advised them to remain worthy of it by +obeying the Divine command in all their actions. Second, he ordered +them, as a representative of the Sovereigns of Spain, to obey the captain +whom he had appointed for them as they would have obeyed himself. Third, +he urged them to show respect and reverence towards King Guacanagari and +his chiefs, and to the inferior chiefs, and to avoid annoying them or +tormenting them, since they were to remain in a land that was as yet +under native dominion; to "strive and watch by their soft and honest +speech to gain their good-will and keep their friendship and love, so +that he should find them as friendly and favourable and more so when he +returned." Fourth, he commanded them "and begged them earnestly" to do +no injury and use no force against any natives; to take nothing from them +against their will; and especially to be on their guard to avoid injury +or violence to the women, "by which they would cause scandal and set a +bad example to the Indians and show the infamy of the Christians." +Fifth, he charged them not to scatter themselves or leave the place where +they then were, but to remain together until he returned. Sixth, he +"animated" them to suffer their solitude and exile cheerfully and +bravely, since they had willingly chosen it. The seventh order was, that +they should get help from the King to send boat expeditions in search of +the gold mines; and lastly, he promised that he would petition the +Sovereigns to honour them with special favours and rewards. To this very +manly, wise and humane address the people listened with some emotion, +assuring Columbus that they placed their hopes in him, "begging him +earnestly to remember them always, and that as quickly as he could he +should give them the great joy which they anticipated from his coming +again." + +All of which things being done, the ships [ship--there was only the Nina] +loaded and provisioned, and the Admiral's final directions given, he +makes his farewells and weighs anchor at sunrise on Friday, January 4., +1493. Among the little crowd on the shore who watch the Nina growing +smaller in the distance are our old friends Allard and William, tired of +the crazy confinement of a ship and anxious for shore adventures. They +are to have their fill of them, as it happens; adventures that are to +bring to the settlers a sudden cloud of blood and darkness, and for the +islanders a brief return to their ancient peace. But death waits for +Allard and William in the sunshine and silence of Espanola. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE VOYAGE HOME + +Columbus did not stand out to sea on his homeward course immediately, but +still coasted along the shores of the island as though he were loth to +leave it, and as though he might still at some bend of a bay or beyond +some verdant headland come upon the mines and jewels that he longed for. +The mountain that he passed soon after starting he called Monte Christi, +which name it bears to this day; and he saw many other mountains and +capes and bays, to all of which he gave names. And it was a fortunate +chance which led him thus to stand along the coast of the island; for on +January 6th the sailor who was at the masthead, looking into the clear +water for shoals and rocks, reported that he saw the caravel Pinta right +ahead. When she came up with him, as they were in very shallow water not +suitable for anchorage, Columbus returned to the bay of Monte Christi to +anchor there. Presently Martin Alonso Pinzon came on board to report +himself--a somewhat crestfallen Martin, we may be sure, for he had failed +to find the gold the hope of which had led him to break his honour as a +seaman. But the Martin Alonsos of this world, however sorry their +position may be, will always find some kind of justification for it. It +must have been a trying moment for Martin Alonso as his boat from the +Pinta drew near the Nina, and he saw the stalwart commanding figure of +the white-haired Admiral walking the poop. He knew very well that +according to the law and custom of the sea Columbus would have been well +within his right in shooting him or hanging him on the spot; but Martin +puts on a bold face as, with a cold dread at his heart and (as likely as +not) an ingratiating smile upon his face he comes up over the side. +Perhaps, being in some ways a cleverer man than Christopher, he knew the +Admiral's weak points; knew that he was kind-hearted, and would remember +those days of preparation at Palos when Martin Alonso had been his +principal stay and help. Martin's story was that he had been separated +from the Admiral against his will; that the crew insisted upon it, and +that in any case they had only meant to go and find some gold and bring +it back to the Admiral. Columbus did not believe him for a moment, but +either his wisdom or his weakness prevented him from saying so. He +reproached Martin Alonso for acting with pride and covetousness "that +night when he went away and left him"; and Columbus could not think "from +whence had come the haughty actions and dishonesty Martin had shown +towards him on that voyage." Martin had done a good trade and had got a +certain amount of gold; and no doubt he knew well in what direction to +turn the conversation when it was becoming unpleasant to himself. He +told Columbus of an island to the south of Juana--[Cuba]-- called +Yamaye,--[Jamaica]-- where pieces of gold were taken from the mines as +large as kernels of wheat, and of another island towards the east which +was inhabited only by women. + +The unpleasantness was passed over as soon as possible, although the +Admiral felt that the sooner he got home the better, since he was +practically at the mercy of the Pinzon brothers and their following from +Palos. He therefore had the Pinta beached and recaulked and took in wood +and water, and continued his voyage on Tuesday, January 8th. He says +that "this night in the name of our Lord he will start on his journey +without delaying himself further for any matter, since he had found what +he had sought, and he did not wish to have more trouble with that Martin +Alonso until their Highnesses learned the news of the voyage and what he +has done." After that it will be another matter, and his turn will come; +for then, he says, "I will not suffer the bad deeds of persons without +virtue, who, with little respect, presume to carry out their own wills in +opposition to those who did them honour." Indeed, for several days, the +name of "that Martin Alonso" takes the place of gold in Columbus's +Journal. There were all kinds of gossip about the ill deeds of Martin +Alonso, who had taken four Indian men and two young girls by force; the +Admiral releasing them immediately and sending them back to their homes. +Martin Alonso, moreover, had made a rule that half the gold that was +found was to be kept by himself; and he tried to get all the people of +his ship to swear that he had been trading for only six days, but "his +wickedness was so public that he could not hide it." It was a good thing +that Columbus had his journal to talk to, for he worked off a deal of +bitterness in it. On Sunday, January 13th, when he had sent a boat +ashore to collect some "ajes" or potatoes, a party of natives with their +faces painted and with the plumes of parrots in their hair came and +attacked the party from the boat; but on getting a slash or two with a +cutlass they took to flight and escaped from the anger of the Spaniards. +Columbus thought that they were cannibals or caribs, and would like to +have taken some of them, but they did not come back, although afterwards +he collected four youths who came out to the caravel with cotton and +arrows. + +Columbus was very curious about the island of Matinino,--[Martinique]-- +which was the one said to be inhabited only by women, and he wished very +much to go there; but the caravels were leaking badly, the crews were +complaining, and he was reluctantly compelled to shape his course for +Spain. He sailed to the north-east, being anxious apparently to get into +the region of westerly winds which he correctly guessed would be found to +the north of the course he had sailed on his outward voyage. By the 17th +of January he was in the vicinity of the Sargasso Sea again, which this +time had no terrors for him. From his journal the word "gold" suddenly +disappears; the Viceroy and Governor-General steps off the stage; and in +his place appears the sea captain, watching the frigate birds and +pelicans, noting the golden gulf-weed in the sea, and smelling the +breezes that are once more as sweet as the breezes of Seville in May. He +had a good deal of trouble with his dead-reckoning at this time, owing to +the changing winds and currents; but he made always from fifty to seventy +miles a day in a direction between north-by-east and north-north-east. +The Pinta was not sailing well, and he often had to wait for her to come +up with him; and he reflected in his journal that if Martin Alonso Pinzon +had taken as much pains to provide himself with a good mast in the Indies +as he had to separate himself from the Admiral, the Pinta would have +sailed better. + +And so he went on for several days, with the wind veering always south +and south-west, and pointing pretty steadily to the north-east. On +February 4th he changed his course, and went as near due east as he +could. They now began to find themselves in considerable doubt as to +their position. The Admiral said he was seventy-five leagues to the +south of Flores; Vincenti Pinzon and the pilots thought that they had +passed the Azores and were in the neighbourhood of Madeira. In other +words, there was a difference of 600 miles between their estimates, +and the Admiral remarks that "the grace of God permitting, as soon as +land is seen, it will be known who has calculated the surest." + +A great quantity of birds that began to fly about the ship made him think +that they were near land, but they turned out to be the harbingers of a +storm. On Tuesday, February 12th, the sea and wind began to rise, and it +continued to blow harder throughout that night and the next day. The +wind being aft he went under bare poles most of the night, and when day +came hoisted a little sail; but the sea was terrible, and if he had not +been so sure of the staunch little Nina he would have felt himself in +danger of being lost. The next day the sea, instead of going down, +increased in roughness; there was a heavy cross sea which kept breaking +right over the ship, and it became necessary to make a little sail in +order to run before the wind, and to prevent the vessel falling back into +the trough of the seas. All through Thursday he ran thus under the half +hoisted staysail, and he could see the Pinta running also before the +wind, although since she presented more surface, and was able to carry a +little more sail than the Nina, she was soon lost to sight. The Admiral +showed lights through the night, and this time there was no lack of +response from Martin Alonso; and for some part of that dark and stormy +night these two humanly freighted scraps of wood and cordage staggered +through the gale showing lights to each other; until at last the light +from the Pinta disappeared. When morning came she was no longer to be +seen; and the wind and the sea had if anything increased. The Nina was +now in the greatest danger. Any one wave of the heavy cross sea, if it +had broken fairly across her, would have sunk her; and she went swinging +and staggering down into the great valleys and up into the hills, the +steersman's heart in his mouth, and the whole crew in an extremity of +fear. Columbus, who generally relied upon his seamanship, here invoked +external aid, and began to offer bargains to the Almighty. He ordered +that lots should be cast, and that he upon whom the lot fell should make +a vow to go on pilgrimage to Santa Maria de Guadaloupe carrying a white +candle of five pounds weight. Same dried peas were brought, one for +every member of the crew, and on one of them a cross was marked with a +knife; the peas were well shaken and were put into a cap. The first to +draw was the Admiral; he drew the marked pea, and he made the vow. Lots +were again drawn, this time for a greater pilgrimage to Santa Maria de +Loretto in Ancona; and the lot fell on a seaman named Pedro de Villa,-- +the expenses of whose pilgrimage Columbus promised to pay. Again lots +were drawn for a pilgrimage to the shrine of Santa Clara of Moguer, the +pilgrim to watch and pray for one night there; and again the lot fell on +Columbus. In addition to these, every one, since they took themselves +for lost, made some special and private vow or bargain with God; and +finally they all made a vow together that at the first land they reached +they would go in procession in their shirts to pray at an altar of Our +Lady. + +The scene thus conjured up is one peculiar to the time and condition of +these people, and is eloquent and pathetic enough: the little ship +staggering and bounding along before the wind, and the frightened crew, +who had gone through so many other dangers, huddled together under the +forecastle, drawing peas out of a cap, crossing themselves, making vows +upon their knees, and seeking to hire the protection of the Virgin by +their offers of candles and pilgrimages. Poor Christopher, standing in +his drenched oilskins and clinging to a piece of rigging, had his own +searching of heart and examining of conscience. He was aware of the +feverish anxiety and impatience that he felt, now that he had been +successful in discovering a New World, to bring home the news and fruits +of it; his desire to prove true what he had promised was so great that, +in his own graphic phrase, "it seemed to him that every gnat could +disturb and impede it"; and he attributed this anxiety to his lack of +faith in God. He comforted himself, like Robinson Crusoe in a similar +extremity, by considering on the other hand what favours God had shown +him, and by remembering that it was to the glory of God that the fruits +of his discovery were to be dedicated. But in the meantime here he was +in a ship insufficiently ballasted (for she was now practically empty of +provisions, and they had found it necessary to fill the wine and water +casks with salt water in order to trim her) and flying before a tempest +such as he had never experienced in his life. As a last resource, and in +order to give his wonderful news a chance of reaching Spain in case the +ship were lost, he went into his cabin and somehow or other managed to +write on a piece of parchment a brief account of his discoveries, begging +any one who might find it to carry it to the Spanish Sovereigns. He tied +up the parchment in a waxed cloth, and put it into a large barrel without +any one seeing him, and then ordered the barrel to be thrown into the +sea, which the crew took to be some pious act of sacrifice or devotion. +Then he went back on deck and watched the last of the daylight going and +the green seas swelling and thundering about his little ship, and thought +anxiously of his two little boys at school in Cordova, and wondered what +would become of them if he were lost. The next morning the wind had +changed a little, though it was still very high; but he was able to hoist +up the bonnet or topsail, and presently the sea began to go down a +little. When the sun rose they saw land to the east-north-east. Some of +them thought it was Madeira, others the rock of Cintra in Portugal; the +pilots said it was the coast of Spain, the Admiral thought it was the +Azores; but at any rate it was land of some kind. The sun was shining +upon it and upon the tumbling sea; and although the waves were still +raging mast-high and the wind still blowing a hard gale, the miserable +crew were able to hope that, having lived through the night, they could +live through the day also. They had to beat about to make the land, +which was now ahead of them, now on the beam, and now astern; and +although they had first sighted it at sunrise on Friday morning it was +early on Monday morning, February 18th, before Columbus was able to cast +anchor off the northern coast of an island which he discovered to be the +island of Santa Maria in the Azores. On this day Columbus found time to +write a letter to Luis de Santangel, the royal Treasurer, giving a full +account of his voyage and discoveries; which letter he kept and +despatched on the 4th of March, after he had arrived in Lisbon. Since it +contained a postscript written at the last moment we shall read it at +that stage of our narrative. The inhabitants of Santa Maria received the +voyagers with astonishment, for they believed that nothing could have +lived through the tempest that had been raging for the last fortnight. +They were greatly excited by the story of the discoveries; and the +Admiral, who had now quite recovered command of himself, was able to +pride himself on the truth of his dead-reckoning, which had proved to be +so much more accurate than that of the pilots. + +On the Tuesday evening three men hailed them from the shore, and when +they were brought off to the ship delivered a message from the Portuguese +Governor of the island, Juan de Castaneda, to the effect that he knew the +Admiral very well, and that he was delighted to hear of his wonderful +voyage. The next morning Columbus, remembering the vow that had been +made in the storm, sent half the crew ashore in their shirts to a little +hermitage, which was on the other side of a point a short distance away, +and asked the Portuguese messenger to send a priest to say Mass for them. +While the members of the crew were at their prayers, however, they +received a rude surprise. They were suddenly attacked by the islanders, +who had come up on horses under the command of the treacherous Governor, +and taken prisoners. Columbus waited unsuspectingly for the boat to come +back with them, in order that he and the other half of the crew could go +and perform their vow. + +When the boat did not come back he began to fear that some accident must +have happened to it, and getting his anchor up he set sail for the point +beyond which the hermitage was situated. No sooner had he rounded the +point than he saw a band of horsemen, who dismounted, launched the boat +which was drawn up on the beach, and began to row out, evidently with the +intention of attacking the Admiral. When they came up to the Nina the +man in command of them rose and asked Columbus to assure him of personal +safety; which assurance was wonderingly given; and the Admiral inquired +how it was that none of his own people were in the boat? Columbus +suspected treachery and tried to meet it with treachery also, +endeavouring with smooth words to get the captain to come on board so +that he could seize him as a hostage. But as the Portuguese would not +come on board Columbus told them that they were acting very unwisely in +affronting his people; that in the land of the Sovereigns of Castile the +Portuguese were treated with great honour and security; that he held +letters of recommendation from the Sovereigns addressed to every ruler in +the world, and added that he was their Admiral of the Ocean Seas and +Viceroy of the Indies, and could show the Portuguese his commission to +that effect; and finally, that if his people were not returned to him, he +would immediately make sail for Spain with the crew that was left to him +and report this insult to the Spanish Sovereigns. To all of which the +Portuguese captain replied that he did not know any Sovereigns of +Castile; that neither they nor their letters were of any account in that +island; that they were not afraid of Columbus; and that they would have +him know that he had Portugal to deal with--edging away in the boat at +the same time to a convenient distance from the caravel. When he thought +he was out of gunshot he shouted to Columbus, ordering him to take his +caravel back to the harbour by command of the Governor of the island. +Columbus answered by calling his crew to witness that he pledged his word +not to descend from or leave his caravel until he had taken a hundred +Portuguese to Castile, and had depopulated all their islands. After +which explosion of words he returned to the harbour and anchored there, +"as the weather and wind were very unfavourable for anything else." + +He was, however, in a very bad anchorage, with a rocky bottom which +presently fouled his anchors; and on the Wednesday he had to make sail +towards the island of San Miguel if order to try and find a better +anchorage. + +But the wind and sea getting up again very badly he was obliged to beat +about all night in a very unpleasant situation, with only three sailors +who could be relied upon, and a rabble of gaol-birds and longshoremen who +were of little use in a tempest but to draw lots and vow pilgrimages. +Finding himself unable to make the island of San Miguel he decided to go +back to Santa Maria and make an attempt to recover his boat and his crew +and the anchor and cables he had lost there. + +In his Journal for this day, and amid all his anxieties, he found time to +note down one of his curious visionary cosmographical reflections. This +return to a region of storms and heavy seas reminded him of the long +months he had spent in the balmy weather and calm waters of his +discovery; in which facts he found a confirmation of the theological idea +that the Eden, or Paradise, of earth was "at the end of the Orient, +because it is a most temperate place. So that these lands which he had +now discovered are at the end of the Orient." Reflections such as these, +which abound in his writings, ought in themselves to be a sufficient +condemnation of those who have endeavoured to prove that Columbus was a +man of profound cosmographical learning and of a scientific mind. A man +who would believe that he had discovered the Orient because in the place +where he had been he had found calm weather, and because the theologians +said that the Garden of Eden must be in the Orient since it is a +temperate place, would believe anything. + +Late on Thursday night, when he anchored again in the harbour of San +Lorenzo at Santa Maria, a man hailed them from the rocks, and asked them +not to go away. Presently a boat containing five sailors, two priests, +and a notary put off from the beach; and they asked for a guarantee of +security in order that they might treat with the Admiral. They slept on +board that night, and in the morning asked him to show them his authority +from the Spanish Sovereigns, which the Admiral did, understanding that +they had asked for this formality in order to save their dignity. He +showed them his general letter from the King and Queen of Spain, +addressed to "Princes and Lords of High Degree"; and being satisfied with +this they went ashore and released the Admiral's people, from whom he +learned that what had been done had been done by command of the King of +Portugal, and that he had issued an order to the Governors of all the +Portuguese islands that if Columbus landed there on his way home he was +to be taken prisoner. + +He sailed again on Sunday, February 24th, encountering heavy winds and +seas, which troubled him greatly with fears lest some disaster should +happen at the eleventh hour to interfere with his, triumph. On Sunday, +March 3rd, the wind rose to the force of a hurricane, and, on a sudden +gust of violent wind splitting all the sails, the unhappy crew gathered +together again and drew more lots and made more vows. This time the +pilgrimage was to be to the shrine of Santa Maria at Huelva, the pilgrim +to go as before in his shirt; and the lot fell to the Admiral. The rest +of them made a vow to fast on the next Saturday on bread and water; but +as they all thought it extremely unlikely that by that time they would be +in need of any bodily sustenance the sacrifice could hardly have been a +great one. They scudded along under bare poles and in a heavy cross sea +all that night; but at dawn on Monday they saw land ahead of them, which +Columbus recognised as the rock of Cintra at Lisbon; and at Lisbon sure +enough they landed some time during the morning. As soon as they were +inside the river the people came flocking down with stories of the gale +and of all the wrecks that there had been on the coast. Columbus hurried +away from the excited crowds to write a letter to the King of Portugal, +asking him for a safe conduct to Spain, and assuring him that he had come +from the Indies, and not from any of the forbidden regions of Guinea. + +The next day brought a visit from no less a person than Bartholomew Diaz. +Columbus had probably met him before in 1486, when Diaz had been a +distinguished man and Columbus a man not distinguished; but now things +were changed. Diaz ordered Columbus to come on board his small vessel in +order to go and report himself to the King's officers; but Columbus +replied that he was the Admiral of the Sovereigns of Castile, "that he +did not render such account to such persons," and that he declined to +leave his ship. Diaz then ordered him to send the captain of the Nina; +but Columbus refused to send either the captain or any other person, and +otherwise gave himself airs as the Admiral of the Ocean Seas. Diaz then +moderated his requests, and merely asked Columbus to show him his letter +of authority, which Columbus did; and then Diaz went away and brought +back with him the captain of the Portuguese royal yacht, who came in +great state on board the shabby little Nina, with kettle-drums and +trumpets and pipes, and placed himself at the disposal of Columbus. It +is a curious moment, this, in which the two great discoverers of their +time, Diaz and Columbus, meet for an hour on the deck of a forty-ton +caravel; a curious thing to consider that they who had performed such +great feats of skill and bravery, one to discover the southernmost point +of the old world and the other to voyage across an uncharted ocean to the +discovery of an entirely new world, could find nothing better to talk +about than their respective ranks and glories; and found no more +interesting subject of discussion than the exact amount of state and +privilege which should be accorded to each. + + +During the day or two in which Columbus waited in the port crowds of +people came down from Lisbon to see the little Nina, which was an object +of much admiration and astonishment; to see the Indians also, at whom +they greatly marvelled. It was probably at this time that the letter +addressed to Luis de Santangel, containing the first official account of +the voyage, was despatched. + + * + ***** + * + * + + "Sir: As I am sure you will be pleased at the great victory which + the Lord has given me in my voyage, I write this to inform you that + in twenty' days I arrived in the Indies with the squadron which + their Majesties had placed under my command. There I discovered + many islands, inhabited by a numerous population, and took + possession of them for their Highnesses, with public ceremony and + the royal flag displayed, without molestation. + + "The first that I discovered I named San Salvador, in remembrance of + that Almighty Power which had so miraculously bestowed them. The + Indians call it Guanahani. To the second I assigned the name of + Santa Marie de Conception; to the third that of Fernandina; to the + fourth that of Isabella; to the fifth Juana; and so on, to every one + a new name. + + "When I arrived at Juana, I followed the coast to the westward, and + found it so extensive that I considered it must be a continent and a + province of Cathay. And as I found no towns or villages by the + seaside, excepting some small settlements, with the people of which + I could not communicate because they all ran away, I continued my + course to the westward, thinking I should not fail to find some + large town and cities. After having coasted many leagues without + finding any signs of them, and seeing that the coast took me to the + northward, where I did not wish to go, as the winter was already set + in, I considered it best to follow the coast to the south and the + wind being also scant, I determined to lose no more time, and + therefore returned to a certain port, from whence I sent two + messengers into the country to ascertain whether there was any king + there or any large city. + + "They travelled for three days, finding an infinite number of small + settlements and an innumerable population, but nothing like a city: + on which account--they returned. I had tolerably well ascertained + from some Indians whom I had taken that this land was only an + island, so I followed the coast of it to the east 107 leagues, to + its termination. And about eighteen leagues from this cape, to the + east, there was another island, to which I shortly gave the name of + Espanola. I went to it, and followed the north coast of it, as I + had done that of Juana, for 178--[should be 188]-- long leagues due + east. + + "This island is very fertile, as well, indeed, as all the rest. It + possesses numerous harbours, far superior to any I know in Europe, + and what is remarkable, plenty of large inlets. The land is high, + and contains many lofty ridges and some very high mountains, without + comparison of the island of Centrefrey;--[Tenerife]-- all of them + very handsome and of different forms; all of them accessible and + abounding in trees of a thousand kinds, high, and appearing as if + they would reach the skies. And I am assured that the latter never + lose their fresh foliage, as far as I can understand, for I saw them + as fresh and flourishing as those of Spain in the month of May. + Some were in blossom, some bearing fruit, and others in other + states, according to their nature. + + "The nightingale and a thousand kinds of birds enliven the woods + with their song, in the month of November, wherever I went. There + are seven or eight kinds of palms, of various elegant forms, besides + various other trees, fruits, and herbs. The pines of this island . + are magnificent. It has also extensive plains, honey, and a great + variety of birds and fruits. It has many metal mines, and a + population innumerable. + + "Espanola is a wonderful island, with mountains, groves, plains, and + the country generally beautiful and rich for planting and sowing, + for rearing sheep and cattle of all kinds, and ready for towns and + cities. The harbours must be seen to be appreciated; rivers are + plentiful and large and of excellent water; the greater part of them + contain gold. There is a great difference between the trees, + fruits, and herbs of this island and those of Juana. In this island + there are many spices, and large mines of gold and other metals. + + "The people of this island and of all the others which I have + discovered or heard of, both men and women, go naked as they were + born, although some of the women wear leaves of herbs or a cotton + covering made on purpose. They have no iron or steel, nor any + weapons; not that they are not a well-disposed people and of fine + stature, but they are timid to a degree. They have no other arms + excepting spears made of cane, to which they fix at the end a sharp + piece of wood, and then dare not use even these. Frequently I had + occasion to send two or three of my men onshore to some settlement + for information, where there would be multitudes of them; and as + soon as they saw our people they would run away every soul, the + father leaving his child; and this was not because any one had done + them harm, for rather at every cape where I had landed and been able + to communicate with them I have made them presents of cloth and many + other things without receiving anything in return; but because they + are so timid. Certainly, where they have confidence and forget + their fears, they are so open-hearted and liberal with all they + possess that it is scarcely to be believed without seeing it. If + anything that they have is asked of them they never deny it; on the + contrary, they will offer it. Their generosity is so great that + they would give anything, whether it is costly or not, for anything + of every kind that is offered them and be contented with it. I was + obliged to prevent such worth less things being given them as pieces + of broken basins, broken glass, and bits of shoe-latchets, although + when they obtained them they esteemed them as if they had been the + greatest of treasures. One of the seamen for a latchet received a + piece of gold weighing two dollars and a half, and others, for other + things of much less value, obtained more. Again, for new silver + coin they would give everything they possessed, whether it was worth + two or three doubloons or one or two balls of cotton. Even for + pieces of broken pipe-tubes they would take them and give anything + for them, until, when I thought it wrong, I prevented it. And I + made them presents of thousands of things which I had, that I might + win their esteem, and also that they might be made good Christians + and be disposed to the service of Your Majesties and the whole + Spanish nation, and help us to obtain the things which we require + and of which there is abundance in their country. + + "And these people appear to have neither religion nor idolatry, + except that they believe that good and evil come from the skies; and + they firmly believed that our ships and their crews, with myself, + came from the skies, and with this persuasion,--after having lost + their fears, they always received us. And yet this does not proceed + from ignorance, for they are very ingenious, and some of them + navigate their seas in a wonderful manner and give good account of + things, but because they never saw people dressed or ships like + ours. + + "And as soon as I arrived in the Indies, at the first island at + which I touched, I captured some of them, that we might learn from + them and obtain intelligence of what there was in those parts. And + as soon as we understood each other they were of great service to + us; but yet, from frequent conversation which I had with them, they + still believe we came from the skies. These were the first to + express that idea, and others ran from house to house, and to the + neighbouring villages, crying out, "Come and see the people from the + skies." And thus all of them, men and women, after satisfying + themselves of their safety, came to us without reserve, great and + small, bringing us something to eat and drink, and which they gave + to us most affectionately. + + "They have many canoes in those islands propelled by oars, some of + them large and others small, and many of them with eight or ten + paddles of a side, not very wide, but all of one trunk, and a boat + cannot keep way with them by oars, for they are incredibly fast; and + with these they navigate all the islands, which are innumerable, and + obtain their articles of traffic. I have seen some of these canoes + with sixty or eighty men in them, and each with a paddle. + + "Among the islands I did not find much diversity of formation in the + people, nor in their customs, nor their language. They all + understand each other, which is remarkable; and I trust Your + Highnesses will determine on their being converted to our faith, for + which they are very well disposed. + + "I have already said that I went 107 leagues along the coast of + Juana, from east to west. Thus, according to my track, it is larger + than England and Scotland together, for, besides these 107 leagues, + there were further west two provinces to which I did not go, one of + which is called Cibau, the people of which are born with tails; + which provinces must be about fifty or sixty leagues long, according + to what I can make out from the Indians I have with me, who know all + the islands. The other island (Espanola) is larger in circuit than + the whole of Spain, from the Straits of Gibralter (the Columns) to + Fuentarabia in Biscay, as I sailed 138 long leagues in a direct line + from west to east. Once known it must be desired, and once seen one + desires never to leave it; and which, being taken possession of for + their Highnesses, and the people being at present in a condition + lower than I can possibly describe, the Sovereigns of Castile may + dispose of it in any manner they please in the most convenient + places. In this Espanola, and in the best district, where are gold + mines, and, on the other side, from thence to terra firma, as well + as from thence to the Great Khan, where everything is on a splendid + scale--I have taken possession of a large town, to which I gave the + name of La Navidad, and have built a fort in it, in every respect + complete. And I have left sufficient people in it to take care of + it, with artillery and provisions for more than a year; also a boat + and coxswain with the equipments, in complete friendship with the + King of the islands, to that degree that he delighted to call me and + look on me as his brother. And should they fall out with these + people, neither he nor his subjects know anything of weapons, and go + naked, as I have said, and they are the most timorous people in the + world. The few people left there are sufficient to conquer the + country, and the island would thus remain without danger to them, + they keeping order among themselves. + + "In all these islands it appeared to me the men are contented with + one wife, but to their governor or king they allow twenty. The + women seem to work more than the men. I have not been able to + discover whether they respect personal property, for it appeared to + me things were common to all, especially in the particular of + provisions. Hitherto I have not seen in any of these islands any + monsters, as there were supposed to be; the people, on the contrary, + are generally well formed, nor are they black like those of the + Guinea, saving their hair, and they do not reside in places exposed + to the sun's rays. It is true that the sun is most powerful there, + and it is only twenty-six degrees from the equator. In this last + winter those islands which were mountainous were cold, but they were + accustomed to it, with good food and plenty of spices and hot + nutriment. Thus I have found no monsters nor heard of any, except + at an island which is the second in going to the Indies, and which + is inhabited by a people who are considered in all the islands as + ferocious, and who devour human flesh. These people have many + canoes, which scour all the islands of India, and plunder all they + can. They are not worse formed than the others, but they wear the + hair long like women, and use bows and arrows of the same kind of + cane, pointed with a piece of hard wood instead of iron, of which + they have none. They are fierce compared with the other people, who + are in general but sad cowards; but I do not consider them in any + other way superior to them. These are they who trade in women, who + inhabit the first island met with in going from Spain to the Indies, + in which there are no men whatever. They have no effeminate + exercise, but bows and arrows, as before said, of cane, with which + they arm themselves, and use shields of copper, of which they have + plenty. + + "There is another island, I am told, larger than Espanola, the + natives of which have no hair. In this there is gold without limit, + and of this and the others I have Indians with me to witness. + + "In conclusion, referring only to what has been effected by this + voyage, which was made with so much haste, Your Highnesses may see + that I shall find as much gold as desired with the very little + assistance afforded to me; there is as much spice and cotton as can + be wished for, and also gum, which hitherto has only been found in + Greece, in the island of Chios, and they may sell it as they please, + and the mastich, as much as may be desired, and slaves, also, who + will be idolators. And I believe that I have rhubarb, and cinnamon, + and a thousand other things I shall find, which will be discovered + by those whom I have left behind, for I did not stop at any cape + when the wind enabled me to navigate, except at the town of Navidad, + where I was very safe and well taken care of. And in truth much + more I should have done if the ships had served me as might have + been expected. This is certain, that the Eternal God our Lord gives + all things to those who obey Him, and the victory when it seems + impossible, and this, evidently, is an instance of it, for although + people have talked of these lands, all was conjecture unless proved + by seeing them, for the greater part listened and judged more by + hearsay than by anything else. + + "Since, then, our Redeemer has given this victory to our illustrious + King and Queen and celebrated their reigns by such a great thing, + all Christendom should rejoice and make great festivals, and give + solemn thanks to the Blessed Trinity, with solemn praises for the + exaltation of so much people to our holy faith; and next for the + temporal blessings which not only Spain but they will enjoy in + becoming Christians, and which last may shortly be accomplished. + + "Written in the caravel off Santa Maria; on the eighteenth of + February, ninety-three." + +The following postscript was added to the letter before it was +despatched: + + "After writing the above, being in the Castilian Sea (off the coast + of Castile), I experienced so severe a wind from south and south- + east that I have been obliged to run to-day into this port of + Lisbon, and only by a miracle got safely in, from whence I intended + to write to Your Highnesses. In all parts of the Indies I have + found the weather like that of May, where I went in ninety-three + days, and returned in seventy-eight, saving these thirteen days of + bad weather that I have been detained beating about in this sea. + Every seaman here says that never was so severe a winter, nor such + loss of ships." + + +On the Friday a messenger came from the King in the person of Don Martin +de Noronha, a relative of Columbus by marriage, and one who had perhaps +looked down upon him in the days when he attended the convent chapel at +Lisbon, but who was now the bearer of a royal invitation and in the +position of a mere envoy. Columbus repaired to Paraiso where the King +was, and where he was received with great honour. + +King John might well have been excused if he had felt some mortification +at this glorious and successful termination of a project which had been +offered to him and which he had rejected; but he evidently behaved with +dignity and a good grace, and did everything that he could to help +Columbus. It was extremely unlikely that he had anything to do with the +insult offered to Columbus at the Azores, for though he was bitterly +disappointed that the glory of this discovery belonged to Spain and not +to Portugal, he was too much of a man to show it in this petty and +revengeful manner. He offered to convey Columbus by land into Spain; but +the Admiral, with a fine dramatic sense, preferred to arrive by sea on +board of all that was left of the fleet with which he had sailed. He +sailed for Seville on Wednesday, March 13th, but during the next day, +when he was off Cape Saint Vincent, he evidently changed his mind and +decided to make for Palos. Sunrise on Friday saw him off the bar of +Saltes, with the white walls of La Rabida shining on the promontory among +the dark fir-trees. During the hours in which he stood off and on +waiting for the tide he was able to recognise again all the old landmarks +and the scenes which had been so familiar to him in those busy days of +preparation nine months before; and at midday he sailed in with the flood +tide and dropped his anchor again in the mud of the river by Palos. + +The caravel had been sighted some time before, probably when she was +standing off, the bar waiting for the tide; she was flying the Admiral's +flag and there was no mistaking her identity; and we can imagine the news +spreading throughout the town of Palos, and reaching Huelva, and one by +one the bells beginning to ring, and the places of business to be closed, +and the people to come pouring out into the streets to be ready to greet +their friends. Some more impatient than the others would sail out in +fishing-boats to get the first news; and I should be surprised to know +that a boat did not put off from the little pier beneath La Rabida, to +row round the point and out to where the Nina was lying--to beyond the +Manto Bank. When the flood began to make over the bar and to cover the +long sandbank that stretches from the island of Saltes, the Nina came +gliding in, greeted by every joyful sound and signal that the inhabitants +of the two seaports could make. Every one hurried down to Palos as the +caravel rounded the Convent Point. Hernando, Marchena, and good old Juan +Perez were all there, we may be sure. Such excitements, such triumphs as +the bronzed, white-bearded Admiral steps ashore at last, and is seized by +dozens of eager hands! Such excitements as all the wives and inamoratas +of the Rodrigos and Juans and Franciscos rush to meet the swarthy +voyagers and cover them with embraces; such disappointments also, when it +is realised that some two score of the company are still on a sunbaked +island infinitely far over the western horizon. + +Tears of joy and grief, shouts and feastings, firing of guns and flying +of flags, processions and receptions with these the deathless day is +filled; and the little Nina, her purpose staunchly fulfilled, swings +deserted on the turning tide, the ripples of her native Tinto making a +familiar music under her bowsprit. + + +And in the evening, with the last of the flood, another ship comes +gliding round the point and up the estuary. The inhabitants of Palos +have all left the shore and are absorbed in the business of welcoming the +great man; and there is no one left to notice or welcome the Pinta. For +it is she that, by a strange coincidence, and after many dangers and +distresses endured since she had parted company from the Nina in the +storm, now has made her native port on the very same day as the Nina. +Our old friend Martin Alonso Pinzon is on board, all the fight and +treachery gone out of him, and anxious only to get home unobserved. For +(according to the story) he had made the port of Bayona on the north-west +coast of Spain, and had written a letter from there to the Sovereigns +announcing his arrival and the discoveries that he had made; and it is +said that he had received an unpleasant letter in return, reproaching him +for not waiting for his commander and forbidding him to come to Court. +This story is possible if his letter reached the Sovereigns after the +letter from the Admiral; for it is probable that Columbus may have +reported some of Martin's doings to them. + +Be that as it may, there are no flags and guns for him as he comes +creeping in up the river; his one anxiety is to avoid the Admiral and to +get home as quickly and quietly as he can. For he is ill, poor Martin +Alonso; whether from a broken heart, as the early historians say, or from +pure chagrin and disappointment, or, as is more likely, from some illness +contracted on the voyage, it is impossible to say. He has endured his +troubles and hardships like all the rest of them; no less skilfully than +Columbus has he won through that terrible tempest of February; and his +foolish and dishonest conduct has deprived him not only of the rewards +that he tried to steal, but of those which would otherwise have been his +by right. He creeps quietly ashore and to his home, where at any rate we +may hope that there is some welcome for him; takes to his bed, turns his +face to the wall; and dies in a few days. So farewell to Martin Alonso, +who has borne us company thus far. He did not fail in the great matters +of pluck and endurance and nautical judgment, but only in the small +matters of honesty and decent manly conduct. We will not weep for Martin +Alonso; we will make our farewells in silence, and leave his deathbed +undisturbed by any more accusations or reproaches. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +And every one goes naked and unashamed +Began to offer bargains to the Almighty +Believed that the Spaniards came from heaven +Dogs wagged their tails, but that never barked +First known discovery of tobacco by Europeans +High time, indeed, that they should be taught to wear clothing +Only confirmative evidence remained +Saw potatoes also, although they did not know what they were +Seeking to hire the protection of the Virgin + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of Christopher Columbus, v3 +by Filson Young + diff --git a/old/cc03v10.zip b/old/cc03v10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..52de51a --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cc03v10.zip diff --git a/old/cc03v10h.zip b/old/cc03v10h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..aa9ad4f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/cc03v10h.zip |